Homeland (US, 2011)

Although Homeland included some longueurs in its 12 parts, they were more than justified by the gripping feature-length final episode. But what was particularly extraordinary about the programme, co-produced by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation’s Fox 21, is that it actually dramatised why someone might become a terrorist. Whether the character of the conflict-full antagonist, Brody, [...]

The Ides of March (US, 2011)

George Clooney’s at it again, co-writing and directing a terrific political movie (see also Good Night, and Good Luck (US, 2005). It’s as if he’s, almost single-handedly, trying to resurrect the political cinema that Hollywood produced in the early 1970s. The Ides of March reminded me of The Candidate (1972); though, as I haven’t seen it [...]

Margin Call (US, 2011)

Imdb says this film cost under $4m to make which suggests its excellent cast (Spacey, Irons, Bettany, Moore, Tucci) made the movie because they wanted to make a statement against the banking system that’s still sending millions into destitution after the 2007 collapse. Writer-director, J.C. Chandor (it’s the first time he’s directed a feature), has [...]

The Secrets in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos, Argentina-Spain, 2009)

This Oscar winner needs knowledge of Argentina in the 1970s, a CIA backed military dictatorship, to make full sense of it but I suspect it’s tale of underdogs taking on the system for justice would entertain anyway. There are some excellent set pieces – such as the one above where our protagonists meet their prey [...]

Why We Fight (US, France, Canada, UK, Denmark, 2005)

This film focuses on why the US invaded Iraq from the claim it was involved in 9/11 to Bush’s statement that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with that ‘watershed’ attack. However it contextualises these years by explaining America’s neo-colonialist project throughout the 20th century and bookends the film with Eisenhower’s swansong speech as President [...]

The Age of Stupid (UK, 2009)

This is a quite brilliant documentary about the disaster of climate change that capitalism cannot possibly do anything about as it’s, as the film states, predicated on expansion and when you’ve only one planet of resources… An SF framing device places an archivist, Pete Postlethwaite, in 2055 looking back at the ‘age of stupid’ – [...]

State of Play (US-UK, 2009)

The remake of the excellent BBC political thriller from 2003 deftly transfers the narrative to Washington DC and updates the ‘state of the nation’ message. The original six-parter had nearly six hours to play with, however the necessary compression is skilfully wrought though the motivation of the politicians is less clear in the film. Kevin [...]

Sex Traffic (UK-Canada, 2004)

Channel 4′s brilliant two-parter lays bare the mechanics of sex trafficking through three intertwined narratives: John Sim’s do-gooder NGO; a victim (brilliantly played by Anamaria Marinca); the capitalist ideology that creates the conditions for thousands of women being entrapped into sex slavery. If the ending is slightly pat, at least the ‘happy-ever-after’ is compromised by [...]

Waltz with Bashir (Vals im Bashir, Israel, Germany, France, US)

There’s been some discussion about how Persepolis and Waltz the Bashir have brought animation to ‘maturity’ with their serious take on the world. No doubt this remark has been made many times and is a symptom of people suddenly having their preconceptions about animation challenged. Why animate a film/drama documentary about the massacres in Sabra [...]

Yella (Germany, 2007)

Yella being stalked by her husband as she leaves for the west. I watched this based on a recommendation by Roy Stafford and knew nothing about it. I enjoy watching films without preconceptions (as far as that is possible) but that method of viewing can result in missing large parts of the subtext (er, if [...]