Feng Shui - 2004 - Philippines

Feng Shui - 2004 - 6/10 

 
Joy finds a mirror on the bus, left behind by a passenger.
The mirror is a bagua design, meant to bring good luck to the possessor.
And indeed, Joy’s luck soars.  Job promotion, husband gets a bonus, the new house.
Alas, there is no free lunch; for each fortune, there is a death.
The bagua is a cursed thing, with a deeply ugly history.
Film mixes greed, Daoism and supernatural elements.

Mārama - 2025 - New Zealand

Mārama - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Mary Stevens receives passage money and hints about her parents.
An orphan, she travels from New Zealand to York, only to learn the man who contacted her is dead.
Local landowner Nathaniel empathizes and offers her a position as governess. 
The little girl is precocious, but the manor itself repeatedly sends warnings.
Mary Stevens, part of the Maori, possesses second sight and realizes the house has terrible secrets.
Brooding film, especially dark, draws from a wellspring of Maori culture and British colonialism.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371749

Obituary - 2023 - Ireland

Obituary - 2023 - 6/10

 
Elvira is the obituary columnist for the small town.
Paid when, and only when, she has an obit to write.
She has bills, a father to support.  What’s a girl to do?
Well, if neighbors were to start dying, and she pushed villainous types …
Irish black comedy begins well, ends strongly.
In-between, drama, soap and meandering.
The double edged “luck of the Irish” applies often.

The Cat - 1991 - Hong Kong

The Cat - 1991 - 6/10
AKA - Wèisīlǐ Zhī Lǎomāo // 衛斯理之老貓

Alien monstrosity invades Hong Kong, along with a bitter foe from another system.
Our alien heroes are a pixieish girl and a forceful black cat.
How forceful?  Friend, wait till you behold the epic battle it has with a Rottweiler.
Luckily for us, the adventurer Wisely gets involved.

 
Best way to fight?  Bottles of vodka, set ‘em on fire.  Books, what?
The ridiculous story is matched by the effects.
Glorious nonsense!  Better Wisely film to see is Seventh Curse.
Oh, how I miss HK energy from this era.

The Last Angry Man - 1999 - USA

The Last Angry Man - 1999 - 7/10 

 
“We're going to become guilty, in my judgment, of being the greatest threat to the peace of the world.”
1967, Wayne Morse, Senator from Oregon, challenging onset of the Vietnam War.
A modified liberal, he was, first and foremost, senator for the people of Oregon and the US, not donors.
A politician who fought for the little guy, average Americans, and not Big Business.
Never one to follow party lines, he switched sides, lambasted both for failures.
Morse was one of two senators who refused to give the President power to make war on his own.
Whereas the others shirked their responsibility to be a check and balance to unbridled power.
History repeats itself.  "All this has happened before. All this will happen again."

Evils Of The Night - 1985 - USA

Evils Of The Night - 1985 - 4/10 

 
As with Corman’s Not Of This Earth, there was a breakdown in intelligence.
Aliens land near a small college town and taken over an empty (??) hospital.
They seek human blood platelets to rejuvenate their dying species.
Kidnapped donors must be between 16-24 years old.
Whereupon the extraterrestrials gasp, “So few students!  What is this summer vacation thing?”
Not to worry, a nearby lake is packed with swimsuit twenty-somethings, drinking and doing pokey-pokey.
Stupid drive-in flick, piss poor dialogue, comatose plot, directed by a zombie.
Nonetheless, where else will you find Julie Newmar, John Carradine, Tina Louise, Neville Brand in one film?

Tomb Of Frankenstein - 1964 - Ireland

Tomb Of Frankenstein - 1964 - 6/10 

 
The creature emerges from the rubble, staggers in bright sunshine.
Is rescued by an alchemist, who works to revive it.
Meantime, two entitled bucks pursue a young lass, ripe for sport.
Modern Silent, pretty faithful to classic Universal themes and look.

Airport - 1970 - USA

Airport - 1970 - 6/10 

 
All star cast in this Grand Hotel in the sky.
An overworked airport administrator, philandering pilot, suicidal passenger, blizzard. 
Based on Arthur Hailey novel, this piles on characters and jeopardies.
Slow buildup examines motivations and backstories may gall the impatient.
Exciting in its day, spawned a string of “disaster” films.
Frequent flyers today, check out the leg room in coach!

Murders In Pyla - 2014 - France

Murders In Pyla - 2014 - 6/10 
AKA - La Disparue du Pyla

 
When a skeletal corpse is unearthed in her old hometown, Elise immediately thinks it is her lost sister.
She was there that night a decade ago, when Laura disappeared.
Turns out, she was correct.  The remains are her sister’s.
Followed by a half dozen theories, suspects, accusations, lies.
Elise finds Laura’s diaries and begins investigating on her own.
Better than many French tele-mysteries, in that there is no romance, and the police are secondary.
Suspect #1 is easily guessed early on, however, which is unfortunate.

Party Girl - 1958 - USA

Party Girl - 1958 - 6/10 

 
Chicago chorus girl Vicki catches the eye of hood Louis, and mob lawyer Farrell. 
Mob boss Rico owns both men, Vicki, and the club where she dances.
Farrell arranges a raise for her, but she causes him to question his ethics.
Splashy film is categorized at Noir, it is not.  This is a homage to 1930’s gangster flicks.
The story is routine, yet the cinematography is eye-popping.
Pity this was an MGM release, as this genre was never their forté.

Tricʞ - 2000 - Japan

Tricʞ - 2000 - 6/10 
AKA - トリック

 
Naoko is an unsuccessful magician.  Behind in rent, she accepts a challenge from a physicist.
Ueda refutes magic and spiritualism, and the pair are soon a team.
Seeking out phony mediums, shamans, cults, curses.
There are also a pair of police detectives who provide comic relief.
Word to the wise, Japanese comedy, often lowbrow, can be an acquired taste.
Cheap looking, two-part episodes birthed more seasons and four movies.
New fans of Yukie Nakama ought to hunt this down.

Code For The People - 2026 - USA

Code For The People - 2026 - 6/10 

 
Doc on the capitalization of the internet.
Focusing on Open Source vs the Walled Garden.
The latter is a closed system (Facebook / X) whereby someone owns the site, sets the rules.
Which can be arbitrarily modified for profit or politics.
While ideals are spoken, this does come across as a shady commercial for Wordpress.
For what it’s worth, I have sites on Blogger (Walled) and Wordpress (Open).
I also use pre-telemetry Windows and Linux.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371748
Doc = http­s://codeforthepeople.com/

The Fog Of War - 2003 - USA

The Fog Of War - 2003 - 8/10 

 
Ex-President of Ford Motor Corp, ex-USA Secretary of Defense (JFK and LBJ).
At 85, Robert McNamara converses with Errol Morris, detailing insights, blunders, successes, failures.
What he had learned from the troubled Vietnam War, as well as dealing with ordinary frictions.
Morris distills over 24 hours of interviews into 11 Lessons (learned).
#1: Empathize with your enemy.
#2: Rationality alone will not save us.
#5: Proportionality should be a guideline in war.
#6: Get the data.
#7: Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
#8: Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
#9: In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
#10: Never say never.
#11: You can't change human nature.
Sadly, global leaders never learn a damn thing.  Reference #11.

Samson And Delilah - 1949 - USA

Samson And Delilah - 1949 - 6/10 

 
The strongest man on Earth makes an impact on a fiery beauty.
Even though he desires to marry the older sister, young Delilah maneuvers to get the proposal.
Which he snubs!  Oh, the fool man, ignorant of the “woman scorned” and such.
She seeks vengeance, while Samson becomes a bitter foe to the Philistines.
Lavish sets, glorious Technicolor, and Mature I always found enjoyable.
Cecil B. DeMille Biblical hokum is spectacle throughout.  Not must see, but great popcorn.

Depression: The Woman Who Lives At Night - 1980 - Turkey

Depression: The Woman Who Lives At Night - 1980 - 5/10 
AKA - Gece Yasayan Kadin

 
Artist and his model.
After painting, panting.  Almost forty minutes of hardcore.
Then, domesticity.  Hey!  Our model is an invalid, in a wheelchair.
Her family fusses over her.  At night, however, sure enough, back to the studio.
The man grows possessive, and the female - whoa, what a temper.
Mystery angle is so-so, while the porn dominates.
Owing to economic woes, Turkey permitted adult films from the late 1970’s until a coup in 1980.
Most erotica was banned or destroyed, this is a rare survivor.
https://grokipedia.com/page/depression_the_woman_who_lives_at_night

Angel And The Badman - 1947 - USA

Angel And The Badman - 1947 - 6/10 

 
Wounded gunman Quirt collapses near a Quaker home.
Though warned how dangerous he is, they tend his wounds, and daughter Penny develops a crush. 
Being the West, and relatively lawless, there are several encounters with bristling guns.
The Quaker influence is a powerful moral fiber throughout.
While violence threatens to explode, it seldom does.
Alternative for those who view John Wayne westerns as speechifying shoot-‘em-ups.

US Go Home - 1994 - France

US Go Home - 1994 - 6/10 

 
Adolescents Martine and Marlène are desperate to attend the party.
Until they arrive and realize parents are active, and chances of losing virginity are zero.
Instead, they travel to another gig, further, with an older crowd, alcohol, and a sexual vibe.
Little occurs, everything occurs, as the girls are bored, terrified, furious, listless.
Older brother Alain, chaperone, is too busy chasing his own desires to notice.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371747

How To Murder A Rich Uncle - 1957 - UK

How To Murder A Rich Uncle - 1957 - 6/10 

 
Henry has done his best, but repairs and Inland Revenue have decimated the family fortunes.
Salvation may be coming in the form of his Uncle George, family blacksheep.
Who decamped ages earlier to American, bought worthless land, that had oil underneath!
Now George wants to return, and Henry ponders an inheritance.
Especially if something untoward were to happen to dear old uncle.
Oh, the best laid plans of mice and Englishmen.
Mischievous black comedy of traps and murder, and Fate laughing up her sleeve.

Hotel Monterey - 1972 - USA

Hotel Monterey - 1972 - 6/10 

 
First feature by Chantal Akerman is a slow, unblinking look inside a decaying New York hotel.
Empty hallways, ghostly staircases, flaking basements, mindless elevators.
A few residents are seen, many enfeebled, others lifeless.
Once on the rooftop, Manhattan skyline can be seen, the city rousing to life.
Good pairing with Akerman’s News From Home (1976).
Better, however, might be Nightshift (1981) observing the ennui of the lobby.
Note: In the mid-70’s, I worked graveyard shift in a hotel; Hotel Monterey equates to my memories.

Mad Detective - 2007 - Hong Kong

Mad Detective - 2007 - 6/10 
AKA - San Taam // 神探

 
Bun is highly effective, if highly troubled.
Has the ability to get inside the criminal’s mind, in numerous cases, minds.
Meaning, villains with multiple personalities.
Thing is, he was pretty much flat out nuts.  Once off his meds, even worse.
Uncomfortable Johnnie To vehicle of crime, insanity, and the false narrative. 

Thunderball - 1965 - UK

Thunderball - 1965 - 7/10

 
SPECTRE hijacks a NATO aircraft, seizes two nuclear bombs, and demands ransom.
All 00 agents are activated, with Bond heading to Nassau to investigate the pilot’s sister.
Of course, SPECTRE agents are also there, a mix of useless henchmen and sharks.
Nevertheless, there are two iconic villains in Emilio Largo #2, as well as Fiona Volpe.

 
Awash in style, this is quintessential 007.  Connery’s panache sets a gold standard.
While the impatient may whine during lengthy search sequences, this holds up well.

Checkmate - 2024 - USA

Checkmate - 2024 - 5/10

James works through his grief with a counselor.
Mom had died and the guilt is overpowering.
Brother Nick arrives periodically, and demands a repeat chess match.
Which he wins consistently, all the time berating and belittling James.
For those plagued by pessimism and self hate, this offers a dark corner of pain.

I Cover The Waterfront - 1933 - USA

I Cover The Waterfront - 1933 - 6/10

San Diego reporter Miller has been trying to get the goods on Eli Kirk for years.
Kirk is a lowly fisherman, who has a sideline in smuggling Chinese into the country.
Kirk has an attractive daughter Julie, loyal, optimistic, patch of sunshine in the squalor.

 
Miller, not disclosing who he is, woos her and wins her affection, and trust.
Bleak Pre-Code has problem in that Miller is a classic heel, on par with the reporter in Nothing Sacred.
Smuggler Kirk more sympathetic, protective of his daughter and fishing crew.
Concluding scene defies normal behavior.

Full Metal Jacket - 1987 - USA

Full Metal Jacket - 1987 - 7/10

 
Maggots, excuse me, young men, drafted into Uncle Sam’s Marine Corps.
Enduring the brutally savage gunnery sergeant, Hartman, before being shipped to Vietnam.
Just before the Tet Offensive.
Kubrick’s film is terrifying and polarizing.  The Hartman / Pyle conflict searing.
Perhaps a little lopsided, as boot camp lingers long after the deployment.
Easier Vietnam odyssey than Apocalypse Now, which is richer.

Embassy Of The Free Mind - 2024 - Italy

Embassy Of The Free Mind - 2024 - 6/10

 
Museum of books rare, banned and burned.  Filled with progressive ideas, dangerous ideas.
Manuscripts and books from the 15th century and later.
Mysticism, alchemy, astrology, Kabbalah, Cabbalah, Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, the Illuminati.
Not to overlook the River of Life, tying elements together.

 
The speakers, patrons and curators, are earnest idealists.
Who believe, truly, if we only pursue and connect what bygone “scientists” left unfinished, we might remake the world.
“Why are we here?” “What is the meaning of it all?”
In many ways, I felt sad for them; for me, ours is not the right world for them.
When power is held by tyrants, knaves and the deranged, books are burned and intelligence murdered.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371357