No Way Out - 1973 - Italy

No Way Out - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Tony Arzenta (Big Guns)

 
Under looked crime story mixes Noir with Euro-Crime.
The late assignment came on the day of his son’s birthday.
Afterward, Tony wants out, wants to be a father, not a mob assassin.
His boss will see what he can do, but Tony knows too much.
Syndicate heads from Sicily, Italy, Copenhagen, opt to retire him permanently.
Only the hit goes terribly wrong, whereupon Tony begins a string of vengeance.
Alain Delon, Richard Conte, Anton Diffring bolster a macho cast.
Plenty of chases, beatings, torture, while most speak from the sides of their mouths.
Viewers of Poliziotteschi should enjoy.

Dead Man’s Chest - 1965 - UK

Dead Man’s Chest - 1965 - 5/10

 
Reporters David and Johnny concoct a fake kidnapping to create “a story”.
Johnny, inside a steamer trunk, is in a van when said van is stolen by gangsters.
The van is used in a robbery, the trunk is missing, and for Johnny, time is ticking.
Neither his editor nor the coppers believe David (he is a reporter, after all).
Breezy Edgar Wallace is too lightweight on mystery and comedy.
Fans of later British telly will have a field day spotting future stars (eg: Inspector Morse).

Watch Me - 1995 - USA

Watch Me - 1995 - 4/10

 
Part of the endless string of “erotic thrillers” that packed video aisles during the VHS rental era.
Sexy new tenant Elise moves in, photographer Paul (also the landlord) begins spying.
Not to be outdone, she has her trusty telescope and is soon peeping in turn.
Landlord Paul with attractive girlfriend, with a half dressed model, with a naked specimen.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend, feeling neglected, begins her own frolics.
As always with plots like these, no one bothers with curtains, drapes or blinds.
Softcore for everyone, so say we all.  Watch Me?  Watch something else.
(No one makes flicks like this now; talentless amateurs post their own mattress antics on YouTube.)

Money Mad - 1908 - USA

Money Mad - 1908 - 6/10

 
Our character, begging on the sidewalk, plucks a dropped purse and reaps a windfall.
At the bank, he is exchanging the loot, and is spied on by two lowlifes.
“The weed of crime bears bitter fruit.”
D. W. Griffith would later rework one sequence into “The Musketeers Of Pig Alley” (1912).
Acting is still theatrical.  The bank scene can be viewed several times, a few sideshows.
Needs a restoration from Eastman House or UCLA.

V Efeket - 2024 - Serbia

V Efeket - 2024 - 6/10

 
Exciting Serbian series set among the theatre crowd.
The season opener gives those attending a prop malfunction.
The hanging sequence, well, someone sabotaged (lengthened) the support rope.
All the kicking and struggling by the heroic lead, no wonder it looked so realistic.
Police arrive, as do government agents, since a shady minister owns the building.
And the building used to be over a clandestine government agency.
Cops soon have a series of murders, and suspects, actors, who are trained to lie convincingly.

I believe this is a very good show.  HOWEVER.  The version I viewed had “Whisper” subtitles.
Those were atrociously bad.  A character’s gender was mixed, often thrice in a sentence.
Long patches of dialogue missed subs altogether.  Descriptive words were not remotely accurate.
A I in this case means Artificial Ignorance / Ineptitude / Incompetence.
“Whisper” CANNOT, at this time, decipher Serbian.
Unless you are a native speaker, avoid and wait for proper subtitles.

Closet Land - 1991 - USA

Closet Land - 1991 - 6/10

 
The female has been apprehended by the secret police, and turned over to an interrogator.
She is a writer of innocent children’s stories, so surely this is a mistake.
Claustrophobic, Kafka shrouded film feels very much like a two-act play.
Sexual tension pulses throughout.  Revelations about State surveillance comes as no surprise.
Acting is fine, although the dialogue is heavy handed, the themes obvious.
Preachy film grows more tiresome as the viewing clock ticks

Eat Me, Baby - 2023 - USA

Eat Me, Baby - 2023 - 5/10

 
Provocative title aside, this short is neither a romantic adult foodie yarn, nor configuration #4.
The date went OK.  Dinner, dancing.  Emma even brought Lester to her apartment.
She leaves to change, he’s rounding second base, yet decides to spike her drink.
Any guy could have warned him: girls have eyes in the back of their heads.
Oh, the ensuing unhappiness.

Prince Valiant - 1954 - USA

Prince Valiant - 1954 - 6/10  

 
Game attempt to adapt Hal Foster’s long running Sunday strip.
Technicolor, CinemaScope, location filming in England, hundreds of extras.
Though ten years too late, this evokes those splashy epics of the 1940’s.
Visually, this is beautiful.  Storywise, this based on a comic, so that is simplistic.
Acting is problematic, for every James Mason (who steals the film) there is Sterling Hayward as Sir Gawaine (?).
The biggest shortcoming is Robert Wagner in the title role.  He seems uneasy and uncertain throughout.
Watch for the scenery, costumes and action; overlook those miscast.

Nordland ‘99 - 2022 - Denmark

Nordland ‘99 - 2022 - 7/10

Alex tries to mend things with an ex-girlfriend.  Her current, drug-pushing boyfriend disagrees.
By the end of the episode, Alex has vanished and suspicion swirls in the Denmark village.
Local cops are disinterested, even though he is the second teen to mysteriously disappear.
Who starts searching?  His gun-toting sister, and his friends.

 
Into the illicit drug world, into rural backwoods, broken down cabins, secret lives.
Slow boil thriller has a brooding launch, then grows progressively darker.
Eight half-hour episodes.  Don’t be put off, this is not aimed for ADHD teens.

Mr Holland’s Opus - 1995 - USA

Mr Holland’s Opus - 1995 - 5/10

 
Classical composer (in his daydreams only) winds up being a high school teacher.
Soon finds out being a teacher leaves no time to work on his masterpieces.
Instead, he touches children, helps them along the great path of Life.
Feel-good material goes repeatedly into schmaltz.
First chair performers in high school or college band will eat this up.
Those of us who could barely play our instrument will relive old agonies.
Sentimental piffle.

What The Butler Saw - 1987 - UK

What The Butler Saw - 1987 - 7/10  

 
Geraldine applies for a secretary position, but Doctor Prentice requests she strip nude.
Her clothes disappear once his wife appears, followed by the bellboy who had earlier tried to rape the wife.
Also showing up is a medical inspector, Dr. Rance, who is completely mad.
Keeping up?  That’s the opening ten minute salvo in a riotous Joe Orton comedy.
Laced with more sexual innuendo than a keg-fueled party.
Dialogue is witty, extraordinarily intelligent, and delivered breathlessly.
A live theatre performance is best, yet the cast here is glorious.

Pickup On South Street - 1953 - USA

Pickup On South Street - 1953 - 7/10  

 
Candy is just supposed to deliver an envelope.
Doesn’t know what it contains, doesn’t care.
Doesn’t even know Federal agents are watching her.
One even sees her purse get pickpocketed long before she is aware.
Three time loser Skip is identified, but he refuses to cooperate.
If the Feds want it so bad, someone will be willing to pay large.
Tough Noir packed with thick skinned types.  Richard Widmark leads, and he never bends so much as an inch.  Even when you assume he is about soften, the cynical calculation emerges.
Thelma Ritter heartbreaking as the downtrodden, world weary Moe.

The Business - 2004 - UK

The Business - 2004 - 6/10

 
Frankie is handed a courier assignment, carrying a package to Spain.
Deliver to “wanted by British authorities” Charlie, owner of a trendy nightclub.
Charlie takes a shine to the lad, hires him as a driver, and soon enough he meets the gang.
Including the ferocious, murderous Sammy, the planner of the crew.
For Frankie, it’s sex, drugs and plenty of sunshine.
Fast moving spree revels in the heady 1980’s, the brash era of cocaine.
Propulsive soundtrack lays down hit after hit.

Satanic Hispanics - 2022 - Mexico

Satanic Hispanics - 2022 - 6/10

After a blazing entry, El Paso police find a nest of trafficked dead.
Along with a lone survivor, who repeatedly warns, “You are running out of time.”
And he shares a series of tales.  Misplaced magic, even vampires.

 
Consider, Halloween night, and the old geezer you ridicule, until the fangs are bared.
He has been around for centuries, but Daylight Savings Time still befuddles him.
Funny, bloody, barbed dialogue.

 
Or folk horror, atavistic rituals, scoffed at.
Leave home at your peril, however.

 
Then there are those annoying turistas, forever spying on forbidden rites.
Perhaps even video taping those, launching gruesome consequences.
Anthology series hits more than misses.  Nothing more than B-movies, but funny and good with brews.

Soft Shoes - 1925 - USA

Soft Shoes - 1925 - 6/10

 
Sheriff Pat, rancher out in west Texas, inherits and has to mosey to sin-city, San Francisco.
There, he encounters a cat burglar, Faith, and is soon embroiled in all sorts of mischief.
Action moves fairly well, the comedy is broad, with sly innuendo.
Writer / star Harry Carey is crowding 50 (he ain’t no Tom Mix).  He shows a flair for humor, yet his is still too old for the role, especially in any romantic scenes.
Current print has been wonderfully restored and tinted.  Old time Bay residents might view with nostalgia.

From Beyond - 2023 - Norway

From Beyond - 2023 - 7/10

 
Extraterrestrials arrive on Earth.  Accident, scouting, invasion?
Perspectives move from human observers to alien point of view.
Of course, know-it-all humans begin laboratory experiments.
While others, perhaps emulating Captain Kirk, share intimate relations with the newcomers.
Then, almost overnight, these new things seem to be overrunning the planet.
SciFi short from Norway blends found footage, newsreels, interviews, and is a mix of unexpected and bizarre.

The Reckoning - 2023 - UK

The Reckoning - 2023 - 7/10

 
The rise of Jimmy Saville from local DJ to national icon.
Along the way, “Top Of The Pops” and “Jim’ll Fix It”.
Relentless charity work leads to knighthood, meeting royals, meeting the Pope.
Yet behind the crowd pleasing funster lurks a darker soul.
One with an appetite for young girls, for children.
Cloaked behind fame.
Steve Coogan charismatic and frightening, superb job.

Zontar: The Thing from Venus - 1967 - USA

Zontar: The Thing from Venus - 1967 - 3/10

 
Our alien offers to come to Earth and help solve humanity’s problems.
(Just like politicians, tyrants, megalomaniacs, martinets, from Biblical times onward.)
Fortunately, for Zoltar, it reaches out to the one “scientist” gullible enough to believe a Venusian telemarketer.
In no time flat, our three-eyed, bat-winged, Cthulhu wannabe holes up in a cave and begins global domination.
Bad film, bad acting, ripoff script, and the characters are beyond stupid!
Connoisseurs of trash cinema, this is one dingy brown pile.

To Have And Have Not - 1944 - USA

To Have And Have Not - 1944 - 7/10

 
Ex-pat fisherman rents his boat out to US swells who could only land a fish in a grocery.
Set in WWII Martinique, France has fallen and the Caribbean colony comes under Nazi control.
Fishing gives way to smuggling, trafficking souls barely one step ahead of the Gestapo.
Then there’s a penniless female, stranded, as it were, on an island paradise.
Fast paced Noir boats electric chemistry between Bogart and Bacall, and bristling dialogue.
Bacall sings, Hoagy Carmichael plays piano.

If you desire further adventures (similar), check out the OTR “Bold Venture”.
https://archive.org/details/BoldVenture57Episodes

Alex Edelman: Just For Us - 2024 - USA

Alex Edelman: Just For Us - 2024 - 7/10

 
“I don't know if any of you grew up in a home like this.  We were never allowed in our living room.
Never. The living room is for guests and tragedies. And every piece of furniture is covered in plastic…”
Standup comedian shares painful wisdom, and a long story of going to a White Nationalist party in Queens.
Edelman is consistently funny.  The jokes, the punchlines, land and land and land.
This is NOT hit n miss.  This is a terrific performance.
Captured during a sold out run.
As one would say, can you believe it?
English subtitles = https://subdl.com/subtitle/sd1672290/alex-edelman-just-for-us/english

Fiend Without A Face - 1958 - UK

Fiend Without A Face - 1958 - 6/10

 
US military base (in Canada?) experiments with radar and telekinesis.
Before you can wonder what could go wrong, an invisible “entity” starts killing.
Victims have their gray cells sucked out, brains and spinal cords.
Soldiers are hapless, the base is overrun!
Once exposed, the creatures are laughable and creepy, a weakness of the film.
Especially for young viewers who imagined them to be under the bed or in the closet.
Or teenagers at the drive-in, aware death is everywhere so they better get busy now.
Not one of those so-bad-it’s-good films, but creative yet underwhelming.

Klara’s Box - 2024 - USA

Klara’s Box - 2024 - 5/10

 
Workday dawn, Klara wakes in her car after another night in her car.
At the cafe, she asks for coffee.  Instead, she is offered job.
“Just deliver a package.  Quick, simple.”
Until, midway through her “assignment”, a helpful soul appears to render free advice.
Toxic short of lies, half-truths, deceptions, in talky thriller.
Resolution = punt.

Annie Hall - 1977 - USA

Annie Hall - 1977 - 8/10

 
Through a series of flashbacks, Alvy tries to grasp how his romance with Annie collapsed.
City boy, small town girl new to the city, there is a Pygmalion element.
Childhoods differ vastly, as do outlooks and expectations.
Even the way they view each other, and worry how they are perceived.
Marvelous sequences break the fourth wall, especially with surprise cameos.
Gordon Willis cinematography elevates this from all preceding Allen works.
This is where Allen lost many old fans, expecting more silly farces.
A romantic comedy, wise and bittersweet, for adults.

Skylight - 2014 - UK

Skylight - 2014 - 7/10  

 
Three years after she walked out of her second family, Kyra receives two visitors.
Wayward son Edward, starting his gap year, asking why she left those years before.
“Think,”  Kyra says.  “Just think.”
Then, after Edward departs, the father, Tom, attempting, awkwardly, a pained reconciliation.
Searing performances from Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan of a broken relationship.
Funny, excruciating, contrasting spiraling greed and self-reformation.
Restaurateur Tom made his pile when Kyra was his right hand.
Now, both older, wisdom is a bitter tonic.
Main quibble for me, in an otherwise exceptional play, is the age discrepancy.
Supposedly 15 years apart, they look 30, perhaps 40, years apart.
English subtitles = https://subscene.com/subtitles/national-theater-live-skylight/english/3331454

Western Front - 1999 - UK

Western Front - 1999 - 7/10

 
Excellent, if limited documentary on the Western Front of the Great War.
This really focuses on strategies, key battles, and blunders.
High command, English and French, is shown as especially incompetent.
Millions of lives squandered while officers sipped tea in chateaus.
A couple of lingering survivors, each in their 90’s, shared memories.
Richard Holmes, military historian for Cranfield University, walks old battlefields, while presenting a digest of the war.