This is a Nigerian film that made headlines a couple of years ago and given the growing prominence of Nigerian cinema, it seemed appropriate to watch one of them. It has been lauded as a film about female empowerment but I think this applies more to real life more than the in-story events. Lead actress Genevieve Nnaji is also the director and main scriptwriter so it’s very much her show.

This is one of those based on a real story films about events that took place in the early 2000s. In some ways, it’s a fairly straightforward recounting of the story and doesn’t boast of anything especially dazzling. But I rather appreciate how it is clear and informative with only very minimal embellishment of the facts. Also, the film highlights the role of student reporter Rebekah Rombom in breaking the story though her name is changed for the purpose of this film but doesn’t mention that its scriptwriter Mike Makowsky was also a student in the same school during that time.

My post about the previous Michelangelo Antonioni film we’ve watched, L’Avventura was not very kind to it. That was probably because I didn’t really understand it. La Notte is considered the next film of a trilogy and for a while it seemed like it would be heading the same way. Then everything clicked together during the final scene and now that I have some time to process, the more I think about this film, the more I like it. This is usually a sure sign that the film is a true masterpiece.

This was added to my list because I thought it appropriate to properly sit down and watch at least one Charlie Chaplin film. I’m sure most of us have childhood memories of watching snippets on the television but I don’t think I’ve ever watched one in its entirety. This one is considered one of his best and is the first full-length film he directed himself. He is also surprisingly credited for the musical score and yet it is child actor Jackie Coogan who steals the show. Unfortunately Coogan’s personal story would later turn out to be one of the earliest examples of child actors being taken advantage of by their parents.

Here is another film by Yasujirō Ozu, though of course a much less well known one than Tokyo Story. I originally thought that this was part of the director’s so-called Noriko Trilogy but it turns out that this doesn’t count because although actress Setsuko Hara appears in it, her character here is named Akiko. It’s extra confusing how all the same cast members appear but playing different roles. The themes here are less sharply defined as well but it still makes for an excellent family drama.

Given the title and the poster, you might expect this to be another nature documentary. In fact this is more about the people who live in the Antarctic stations, particularly those who endure a full year there through the dark winter season, isolated from the rest of the world. Given that I’ve previously worked in remote locations as part of the logging industry, this had added resonance and I really enjoyed the details of what they daily routines looked liked.

I still consider The Tree of Life to be one of my favorite ever films but I haven’t anything Terrence Malick has made since then due to how awful the reviews are. This most recent one has been better received but still isn’t considered as good as his earlier work. Its subject is surely a worthy one, being one that fits well with Malick’s personal spirituality and it shows flashes of brilliance. But it also goes on for too long and feels too repetitive and you get the feeling that the people around him are just too reluctant to call out the grandmaster of cinema for merely passable work.