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Film & TV on DVD - John Doe News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

FilmInk - Film & TV on DVD

The White Planet - A FilmInk Review

September 10th 2007 00:00

The White Planet (Le Planete Blanche)

John Doe freelancers for the Australian movie magazine Filmink and this review appears in the latest issue and has just been published online at filmink.com.au. Hope you enjoy it.

Original French Poster

Rating: G
Time: 86 Minutes
Country: France
Director: Jean Lemire, Thierry Piantanida and Thierry Ragobert
Cast: Jean-Louise Etienne
Distributor: Madman Cinema
Worth: $8.00
Released: September 6th

In this era of increasing environmental awareness many documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth and A Crude Awakening make there point with cold facts and frightening statistical probabilities.

The White Planet is a new documentary about the eco-cycle of the Arctic Circle which instead opts to make its plea for help through intimate images of the native wildlife and splendid landscapes of ice and snow.

In a traditional Attenborough style we track migrations, feeding habits and the rituals taken by individual species in order to survive in the harsh and unforgiving terrain.

The stars of the show are the Polar bears whose habitat is dwindling at a startling rate. Astounding footage of a mother nursing her new born cubs while sheltered beneath the ice is a highlight.

The daring camera work also captures up close and personal shots that observe the other land dwellers including massive herds of Elk on the move, lone Wolves hunting and Buffalo vying for dominance.

Unique footage of the elusive creatures existing in the freezing oceans beneath the glaciers conjures a sense of wonder. Walrus, seals and whales frolic in a sea littered with a myriad of glowing, abnormally shaped companions and food sources.

The cinematography is of a typically high standard for this type of venture, the pictures communicate the majority of the information. The narration providing the just enough detail to compliment what we are witnessing onscreen.

Documentaries like this are an essential window into the geographically isolated and desolate parts of Earth that few of us will ever see first hand. Refreshing in its lack of agenda, The White Planet highlights the importance of preserving this critical component of our world.

A clip from the film The White Planet

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: FilmInk, Documentaries

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Into Great Silence (2005) - A FilmInk Review

April 13th 2007 08:09

A FilmInk Cinema Review by John Doe

This review appears in the May 2007 issue of FilmInk. Available at newsagent’s NOW.

Regular visitors to the site will know that I freelance for FilmInk magazine. The new issue is on the shelves and for the first time in a couple of months one of my reviews was published. So as a bit of self promotion I will publish the review here. As always, hope you enjoy it.

Cinema Poster: Now Playing in Australia

Title: Into Great Silence
Rating: G
Time: 164 minutes
Country: Germany/France
Director: Philip Groning
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Worth: $11.00
Released:March 10

In the 12th century a strict wing of the catholic religion called the Carthusian Order was established. Isolated in the vast landscape of the French Alps, the house of the Grand Chartreuse is still shrouded in mystery, and it took the makers of this documentary over four years to gain access to this architectural enigma.

Director Philip Groning’s Into Great Silence puts us into a quiet and almost alien environment. Silence, repetition and rhythm are the foundation for the life of the Carthusian Monks and for this film. Don’t look for a narrator to guide you on the journey, or for clever sound design to keep your attention, this is a solemn meditation on life in servitude.

Remember to breath.

Carefully shot, a picture tells a thousand words and as solitude and stillness seep from the screen you are transported into a world where time has no meaning. Blurred and obscure colours come into focus as pixels, like grains of sand join to form an image, using darkness and light to stimulate the senses, time seems to stand still.

Self disciplined, under a vow of silence, a passing plane remind us we are in modern times, seeing a member writing with a ball point pen behind the walls almost seems like an out place technology.

Into Great Silence is a mood piece, and ultimately a paean to the power of silence, as we follow the dedicated monks on their daily routine. While watching the endless routine of bible studies, chores and meditation, the gentle nature of the order and its ability to let members escape hectic 21st century life becomes clear.

With it’s obviously lugubrious pacing, some will find the documentary a cure for insomnia; others may well see the face of god in this spiritually enlightened film.

Now Showing in selected cinemas.

Below you can soak up a trailer for the film that offers further insight into the type of cinematic experience "Into Great Silence" offers.

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The Caiman (2006); In Cinemas

November 16th 2006 08:41

A FilmInk Cinema Review by John Doe

The Caiman

This review appears in the December 2006 issue of FilmInk. Available at newsagent’s NOW.

Regular visitors to the site will know that I freelance for FilmInk magazine. The new issue is on the shelves and that means my contributions get put up here for you to enjoy. Hope you dig it.

Poster-In Cinemas November 23

Title: The Caiman
Rating: M
Time: 112 Minutes
Country: Italy
Director: Nanni Moretti
Cast: Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy, Daniele Rampello, Giacomo Passarelli, Michele Placido, Silvio Berlusconi, Virzi, Paolo Sorrentino, Dario Cantarelli, Carlo Mazzacurati, Cecilia Dazzi, .
Distributor: Palace Films
Worth: $12.00/$15.00
Released:November 23

“The Caiman is a film about love, a homage to cinema and a political film” says Director Nanni Moretti. Winner of Cannes’ Palme d’ Or for his last film, The Son’s Room this long awaited follow up sees the Director being the first to attack Italy’s infamously corrupt Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The film tells the story of a fictional B movie Producer Bruno Bonomo, (Silvio Orlando), who's currently on a downward slide, with both his professional and personal lives crumbling.

Bruno's studio is under threat of repossession and his wife Pauola (Margherita Buy), the star of his most successful films is divorcing him while his two sons are struggling to understand.

When things seem at there lowest ebb, aspiring Writer/Director Teresa (Jasmine Trinca) hands him her screenplay for The Caiman. Named after a South American Alligator, her film is the story of the murky politician.

From here the tale spirals into a dazzling mix of colourful imagery and editing. Inter cutting sequences from the imaginary film and incorporating archival footage of the real man. Simultaneously we follow the gentle evolution of Bruno as he rebuilds his shattered private life and struggles to complete his vision at any cost.

Performances from all the players are excellent, the script is full of wit and surprising tenderness. The complexities of family drama blend into the energetic world of cinema and hyperactive political parody delivering a farcical satire on Italian Cinema that will satisfy world movie fans.