Black Dynamite - 2009 - USA

Black Dynamite - 2009 - 7/10 

 
Combat vet, and ex-agency operative, returns to street action after his brother is killed.
Who ya gonna trust?  Pimps, drug dealers, government honchos?
Everyone is victim, everyone is guilty in no-holds-barred parody / homage.
One doesn’t need to be fluent in Blaxploitation flicks, but it wouldn’t hurt.
If nothing else, check out Shaft, then Dolemite.
Laugh out loud funny throughout,  and the “look” (16mm) is vintage gold.

Tiger - 2013 - Poland

Tiger - 2013 - 5/10 
AKA - Tygrys

 
She may look human to us, but she is the cat of the house.
Territorial and fiercely protective.  Her human is HER human.
Woe to any other female who encroaches on her home.  Or mates with her male staff.
Olszańska eerily emulates the feline, although the short borders on objectification.

The Hidden - 1987 - USA

The Hidden - 1987 - 6/10

 
Los Angeles cops have their hands full with a spree murderer.
Mild mannered citizen, only he is now a raging killer.
After an onslaught of bullets, the perp is taken to hospital, where he is expected to die.
He expires, except what possessed him jumps.
An alien body jumper, with a taste for Ferraris, automatic weapons, and carnage.
Enter an FBI agent, knowledgeable about the quarry, in whatever host.
Wild SciFi, Horror, buddy cop flick, years ahead of its time.

San Francisco - 1968 - UK

San Francisco - 1968 - 6/10

 
Experimental film by Anthony Stern dashes through every nuance of the Bay city.
Police, hippies, military, office workers, day time, night time, everyday activities, orgiastic happenings.
Flits through neighborhoods like a dragonfly on amphetamines.
The pace is frantic, fueled by an early version of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive”.
Cuts are so dizzying and blurry, you might wish you had dropped Owsley’s acid.

Rose Of Nevada - 2025 - UK

Rose Of Nevada - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Thirty years on, the self-named ship slips into port.  Abandoned.
A skipper appears who will pilot the craft, yet they need a two man crew.
Enter the visiting stranger, and an impoverished local.
Who step into the shoes of the lost crew … in more ways than one.
Rugged film does not flinch from the realities of fishing.
Unexplained elements are fine, although the plot grows repetitive.
Overall bleak tone along the lines of Bait and Enys Men.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372674

Allelujah! - 2018 - UK

Allelujah! - 2018 - 7/10 

 
Old and in the way.
Oldsters in the geriatric wing of the Bethlehem Hospital, the Beth.
They are, excuse me, taking up space.
Oh yes, the Beth is profitable, but the bed turnover is too low for Whitehall.
Births, injuries, and surgeries come and go, but old folks only go once – at their end.
Alan Bennett play is funny, biting, sad, and, for anyone who follows the NHS, uncomfortably accurate.

A Scene At The Sea - 1991 - Japan

A Scene At The Sea - 1991 - 7/10 
AKA - あの夏、いちばん静かな海

 
Deaf trash collector, Shigeru, finds a broken surfboard on his route.
He clumsily repairs it, begins trying to master the waves.
Along the way, he picks up a girlfriend, Takako, also deaf.
For aspiring surfers, this film is encouraging.
Shigeru falls over and over and over, yet he persists.
To the point where he does improve.  Never world class, but that’s not the point.
Low-key Takeshi Kitano film.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372673

The Healing - 2012 - Philippines

The Healing - 2012 - 6/10 

 
Seth takes her dying father to a tiny village where a miraculous “healer” lives.
The results are astounding.
So much so, that ailing friends and neighbors demand she take them. 
The next time, something is different.  The healer is tired, but they insist.
Back home, miracles.  Then … a dark reckoning.
Philippines supernatural, with a whiff of earlier Hong Kong horrors.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372672

Blue Rita - 1977 - Switzerland

Blue Rita - 1977 - 5/10 
AKA - Das Frauenhaus

 
Blue Rita is the name of the club and the proprietress.
Serving a clientele of the sophisticated and jaded.
It is also a place where Blue Rita and her lesbian operatives capture and torture spies.
Extorting information and bank accounts.
Absurd Jess Franco flick is awash in nudity and Pop Art.
Interesting camera work and angles, although I suspect a targeted porn audience would grow bored.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372671

Stella Blómkvist - 2017 - Iceland

Stella Blómkvist - 2017 - 6/10 

 
Stella is supposedly a lawyer.  Maybe she is the courthouse once.
The rest of the time, she acts like a private eye, along with a lot of alcohol and sex.
Three two-part episodes, mostly of risqué behavior of Iceland’s rich and powerful.
Prime minister beleaguered, rich kids terrorized, Chinese influencers.
Scenery underutilized and not enough to tempt armchair travelers.
OK enough mysteries, but none meriting a rewatch.
Heida Reed (Stella) looks and walks like a runway model.

Volcano - 1997 - USA

Volcano - 1997 - 5/10 

 
I think there were two volcano disaster flicks in ‘97.
Both equally silly.
Here, activity is occurring in the Los Angeles sewers.
Ain’t no colony of alligators neither.  Nor is it the long heralded “big one”.
Tommy Lee Jones hams his way throughout.
Formula script, characters behave like a party of squirrels.

The Whispering Shadow - 1933 - USA

The Whispering Shadow - 1933 - 5/10 

 
Aforementioned crime lord remains unseen, yet murders by radio waves (and TV for those few early adopters).
Nevertheless, he, his henchmen, and a whole mess of extras pursue the Czar’s jewels.
Mascot serial is cheap across the board: plotting, direction, logic, characters, action.
Bela is the best thing in it, and the main reason to view.
If you suffer insomnia, watch to help you kill another night.

Murder In Orléans - 2017 - France

Murder In Orléans - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à Orléans

 
During the annual festival, the female playing Joan of Arc is murdered by crossbow arrow from 100 yards.
Ha!  That ought to narrow down suspects.  I mean, that takes skill, right?
The victim was beloved by all, well, maybe not.
Detective duo is son-in-law / mother-in-law combo.  C’mon, really?
Hither and yon, interrogate and theorize, sniff the home life.
Contrived mystery will hold interest, although afterward one might think, “Hey, did them say contrived?”

The Woman In Red - 1935 - USA

The Woman In Red - 1935 - 6/10

 
Professional horsewoman meets amateur polo player.
Shelby works for rich Nicko, who is territorially possessive about Johnny.
Dressage, polo, stables, investors.
Nouveau riche vies with impoverished aristocrats.
I wonder if this had been a spicier Pre-Code a year earlier.
Stanwyck solid as ever, Raymond boyishly handsome, but bland.

The Full Monty - 1997 - UK

The Full Monty - 1997 - 6/10  

 
The glory of Sheffield, mills closed, men out of work.
Available jobs akin to “want fries with that?”
Gaz and Dave steal scrap, lose scrap, trying to earn a pittance.
When they see a poster for a male striptease act, they decide to offer a local version. 
Aside from one, these are not model specimens.
Unpleasant, uncomfortable comedy is laugh out loud and sad.

Sinatra: All Of Nothing At All - 2015 - USA

Sinatra: All Of Nothing At All - 2015 - 7/10 

 
Two-part, four (4) hour biography of “the Voice” will be plenty for the genuinely curious.
For legions of fans, possibly not enough.
With permission from the Sinatra estate, this has a trove of photos personal items. 
Most everything is here: early chronology, crooner, Hollywood, Vegas.
As well as more unsavory avenues: philandering, the Mob, politics.
Cringe at the 4 hr length if you will.  After Sinatra’s death in 1998, a local station broadcast a ten hour documentary.
Oh, had I only I taped it. 

White Hell Of Pilz Palu - 1929 - Germany

White Hell Of Pilz Palu - 1929 - 6/10 
AKA - Die Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü

 
Know-it-all mountaineer, Dr. Johannes, pooh-poohs the guide’s warning about the winds.
Before he can say, “Well, maybe I was –”  there goes his wife, into the crevasse.
He becomes obsessed, wandering the cliffs in a futile search for years.
Enter a young couple, and history begins to repeat.
Creaky story, a bit melodramatic, but the 1929 location photography and stunts are impressive.
For better or worse, this opened doors for Leni Riefenstahl, perhaps one too many.

John Waters: This Filthy World - 2006 - USA

John Waters: This Filthy World - 2006 - 7/10 

 
Your mileage may vary.  I had seen Waters doing a live variation of this show in 2004.
Only a handful of what I recalled remained here.  Apparently, he frequently modifies this one-man show.
For fans, this is wonderful stuff, if a little dated (shock ain’t what it was).
Childhood, Baltimore, moviemaking, insane incidents, sexual experiences, actors.
I do remember, during the live show, him telling how buddies used to wear tennis shoes in the large Baltimore department store, let them get ripped up on the escalator, then receive brand new replacements!

A Pale View Of Hills - 2025 - Japan

A Pale View Of Hills - 2025 - 7/10
AKA - Tôi yama-nami no Hikari // 遠い山なみの光

 
Etsuko puts the family home up for sale, deeming it is too big for one person.
Daughter Niki shows to help pack.  The women have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ relationship.
Except Niki is now curious.  Why did you leave Nagasaki?  What was it like?  Why did you move to England?
Narrative shifts between 1950’s occupied Nagasaki and 1980’s England.
Also, Etsuko seems to mix her memories with those of her friend, Sachiko.
Beautiful cinematography, yet the storylines are blurred, resolution vague.

A Hero Never Dies - 1998 - Hong Kong

A Hero Never Dies - 1998 - 6/10 
AKA - Chan Sam Ying Hung // 眞 心 英 雄

 
Two triads are at war, bosses hiding timidly, while top hands Martin and Jack lead their sides.
After a brutal shootout in Thailand, decimating both sides, the two enforcers are left for dead.
Not so fast.  Both slowly recuperate.
Nevertheless, do the bosses recognize their enforcers afterward?
Super-stylized homage to gun flicks of the 1980’s with minimal dialogue.
Borrows liberally from John Woo, as well as Kinji Fukasaku.

Battlestar Galactica: Razor - 2007 - USA

Battlestar Galactica: Razor - 2007 - 7/10

 
A nice, brief return to form coming between soggy S03 and staggering S04.
This could pretty much have been called “Pegasus” since the bulk of the story occurs on that ship.
The vessel under Admiral Cain takes a more belligerent course than Galactica.
Wonderful flashback scene during the first Colonial War is a highlight and SHOULD have been a spinoff.
Character study of XO Smith shows writers could still create concise, compelling stories.

Ground Swell: The Other Side of Fear - 2022 - USA

Ground Swell: The Other Side of Fear - 2022 - 7/10

 
This opens and closes at Navare, Portugal.
In-between: Jaws, Pipeline, Mavericks.
The big waves, fifty to one-hundred feet.  The monsters.
If you want travelogues or board stunt work, this ain’t it.
This is surf porn, with lots of drone camerawork.
View with the biggest screen you can find.

The Haunted Palace - 1963 - USA

The Haunted Palace - 1963 - 6/10 

 
The village of Arkham finally has enough of Curwen, the aristocratic dabbler.
Even dying, he swears vengeance on the Arkham descendants.
100+ years pass and the estate goes to his descendant, Charles Dexter Ward.
A hilltop palace, with two surviving (?) servants and a framed portrait.
Guess whose personality begins to overrule young Ward?
Poe title, Lovecraft setting and characters, Price and Chaney give good performances.

Outside The Wall - 1950 - USA

Outside The Wall - 1950 - 6/10 

 
Larry, in the prison since he was 15, receives a pardon and enters the big city at 30. 
His ignorance of society pales next to his innocence of females.
Who, despite his reticence and reserve, are attracted to him, mostly with ill intent.
Basehart does well as the naive Larry, quickly calloused and tempted back into the old life.
Prison itself is misrepresented as a happy place, full of smiles.

Arctic Circle 2 - 2023 - Finland

Arctic Circle 2 - 2023 - 6/10 
AKA - Ivalo 2

 
Five years on, detective Nina has moved: school for her daughter, hospital for dying mother.
Assassinations and a disappearance draw her back to Ivalo, where she teams with a Russian cop.
Police work and mystery of the lodge are attractions.
Nina’s family business remains a waste of time and grinding gears.
She is a terrible mother, why do writers insist on weighing down this series with oily soap?