REVIEW: It Couldn’t Happen Here (1987)
Pop stars Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, known internationally as the Pet Shop Boys, take a melancholic stroll through a warped, deteriorating England in Jack Bond’s surreal art film It Couldn’t Happen Here. It was a commercial failure on release … Continue reading REVIEW: It Couldn’t Happen Here (1987)
REVIEW: Anime Supremacy! (2022)
‘Very few cartoons are broadcast live,’ said the animation producer to Homer Simpson, ‘it’s a terrible strain on the animator’s wrists.’ This advice clearly went unheeded by the cast of Anime Supremacy!, a Japanese workplace drama in which rival teams of … Continue reading REVIEW: Anime Supremacy! (2022)
REVIEW: She Remembers, He Forgets (2015)
Gigi (Miriam Yeung) is a travel agent yearning to undertake more travel herself but is instead stuck in Hong Kong thanks to her workaholic architect husband Shing-Wah (Jan Lamb) – who may be cheating on her. A class reunion causes … Continue reading REVIEW: She Remembers, He Forgets (2015)
REVIEW: Love and Other Cults (2017)
Here is the weirdest thing that happens in Eiji Uchida’s feature Love and Other Cults. Three teenage boys have called a telephone number that was scrawled onto a bathroom wall and are expecting a young woman to turn up to … Continue reading REVIEW: Love and Other Cults (2017)
REVIEW: Fall (2022)
Two women climb a 600-metre abandoned television tower, only to get stuck at the top with no way of getting back down. There is something nice about these human-versus-nature stories, which by their very construction use a minimum of locations, … Continue reading REVIEW: Fall (2022)
REVIEW: Arabian Nights (1942)
One of the most valuable film distributors in Australia is Via Vision who, via Madman Entertainment, release a superb range of classic and foreign features to bluray – oftentimes films that have never even had a local DVD released before. … Continue reading REVIEW: Arabian Nights (1942)
MASTERPIECE: Zodiac (2007)
There are many good films released around the world every year. Masterpiece celebrates the best of the very best: genuinely superb works of cinema that come with FictionMachine‘s very highest recommendation. If we had our own Criterion Collection, these are the films we … Continue reading MASTERPIECE: Zodiac (2007)
REVIEW: Jinpa (2018)
Jinpa (played by actor/poet of the same name) drives a lorry along a Tibetan plateau. He comes across like a truck-driving rock star, dressed in dusty leather clothes with a constantly present pair of shades. One day he runs over … Continue reading REVIEW: Jinpa (2018)
REVIEW: Emily the Criminal (2022)
In Emily the Criminal, a modest crime drama gets mixed with strong character work and a savage social critique of American society. The overall effect is superb: had I managed to see the film last year it likely would have … Continue reading REVIEW: Emily the Criminal (2022)
Silence and Sorrow | The Naked Island (1960)
In 1960 an independent Japanese production company sat on the verge of bankruptcy. Using a shoestring budget and shooting entirely on location, one of their regular directors shot what was expected to be the company’s final film. The Naked Island, … Continue reading Silence and Sorrow | The Naked Island (1960)
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