Category Archives: Cinema Reviews

French film writer and director Robert Bresson brings a very different vision to film in “A Hasard Balthazar. According to Bresson, film should be its own art form, devoid of influence by other art forms. He makes a distinction between “movies,” which he describes as plays filmed by directors, and “cinema.” Cinema, he postulates should…

In "The Insult,” Lebanon-born writer/director Zia Doueiri takes on a tough social issue in mid-eastern life - the role of honor - and how it limits options to resolve long-standing conflicts. But wrapped into the story is a sharp social/political critique that got the film banned in most Muslim countries. The storyline involves a Christian…

What are the implications of a 10-year-old Saudi Arabian girl dreaming of something unheard of? Something no young girl there has ever done? Yet something that is commonplace almost everywhere else? The dream of owning her own bicycle? Bicycles, she is told, are for boys. They are dangerous for girls. They threaten her social standing…

Screen Writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse created a script that director Stephen Hopkins uses to give the audience a solid, well-crafted film. There is nothing in the craft of this film that is spectacular, but nothing is anywhere near sub-par. It is what one has come to expect from experienced, professional filmmakers. The audience is…