Sandy’s Film Reviews

656 Films have been rated or reviewed by Sandy.

Why We Fight (2005): BBC/ARTE. Unfortunately still very relevant. Covers the entire period from Eisenhower (1961) to Iraq II 2001 (40 years). A calm weighing of all points – USA is an aggressor state. Vidal wittily sums up the "United States of Amnesia".
Happy as Lazzaro (2018): Shows a feudal lifestyle that could be 1000 years old, but is contemporary, labourers exploited by the landowner only to then live in squalor in the city. A very diverse and talented cast have created a movie that is completely unique, unlike any other.; DVD $29.95
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018): Very clever, w/stunning graphics. Entertaining w/great music. Esp. funny if you know the Musee d'Orsay & Paris. Interest in art, acrobatics, car chases & dreams will also help. Amusing take–off of great artworks, all transformed into Dadaism.
Hustlers (2019): Trashy but stylish decade in the life of a group of strippers; friends, to a degree. Shallow charactersisation & lack of motivation other than shallow material greed eroded a sense of progression. NZ prostitutes have different values from these women.
Anna (2019): Nice Russian spy thriller, sharply plotted. Never a dull moment!rnA bit like a version of the French Nikita, updated, though the loyalties are less convincing.; Blu-Ray $24.95
High Art (1998): Well–designed & structured in New York. Fascinating characters, all well–acted. Witty, amusing and, yes, pointed.
Miseducation of Cameron Post, The (2018): Cleverly edited & never banal. Chloe Moretz shines in the lead role. One's heart bleeds for her. Interesting & distinctive story with a witty dialogue, but the ubiquity of religious belief in the US is tyrannical. Intelligent and brave.
A Vigilante (2018): Very unusual social thriller, women–centrist. Spare in style. Fine acting & very intense. Realistic violence and psychological tension and hate. Well done.
Quills (2000): Paris 1794 Marquis de Sade composes Justine in the unconvincingly clean Charenton Asylum, where inmates can have their own rooms. Perfectly cast, with Kate Winslet the innocent maid longing for indecencies. Lacks the depth of Marat/Sade 1967
Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben) (2018): Farhadi treats families like onions–he gently peels back the layers which expose unexpected truths. He well understands the human heart. This movie wonderfully shows complex extended family interactions yet is simultaneously a taut, convincing thriller.; DVD $24.95

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Sandy’s Film Reviews