Wicked Woman - 1953 - USA

Wicked Woman - 1953 - 5/10

Bottled blonde steps off the bus in the boondocks, rents a room in a dumpy boarding house, hires on as waitress in low end dive.
Another role in the checkered career of Beverly Michaels, who seemed to glide from one trashy film to another.
This one exudes sleaze. Flophouse sets filled with low life schemers and their petty dreams.
The plot is no inspirational theme, rather seduction and greed. Souls fighting for loose change.
Characters are broken failures, and everything they attempt seems to collapse.
Not really dark enough or fatalistic to be a Noir proper, but sour candy for the fans of Michaels, and as good a film as any to start if you’re tempted by, or have a weakness for, hard blondes.

The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich - 1968

The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich - 1968 - 7/10

Groundbreaking documentary is showing its age.
Based on Shirer’s thick book (1000+ pages), this neatly slots into rise - apex - fall.
Compared with later, longer documentaries, this qualifies more as a survey.
Despite that, this is an excellent primer, and worthwhile if one cannot commit the time for more thorough explorations.
One of the best elements of this are the interviews with survivors, including those who actually knew Hitler, or knew others of the inner circle.
This firsthand retelling is missing from virtually all subsequent histories.

Suzanne’s Career - 1963

Suzanne’s Career - 1963 - 6/10
AKA - La Carrière de Suzanne

Bertrand is a pharmacology student, fellow student Guillaume is more affluent, and a womanizing ne’er do well.
At a party, they meet Suzanne and Guillaume decides to bag her because she looks “easy”.
Later, he decides to leech her savings. Think In The Company Of Men (1997).
Bertrand isn’t much better, the weak friend who tacitly approves such mistreatment.
Suzanne is a cipher, independent yet submissive, intelligent yet displaying poor judgment.
One of Éric Rohmer’s moral tales.

Watcher In The Attic - 1976 - Japan

Watcher In The Attic - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Edogawa Ranpo ryôki-kan: Yaneura no sanposha

江戸川乱歩猟奇館　屋根裏の散歩者

Morbid and twisted Edogawa Rampo story set in early 1920’s finds bored man spying on his fellow residents.
He soon zeroes in on once-aristocratic female, now servicing gentleman callers.
Clients include a tycoon, as well as a man who frolics as a clown.

Voyeur and prostitute gradually escalate into murderous duo.
Relatively short film, though slow going. Many scenes pan well arranged, symbolic visuals.
Whole production is steeped in a rotting sensuality. Sex as decay.
Ample nudity throughout, not to forget one memorable smothering death.

Spoorloos - 1988 - Netherlands

Spoorloos - 1988 - 7/10
AKA - The Vanishing

While refueling at the large, touristy gas station, the girlfriend disappears.
No one sees anything, there are no surveillance cameras, only a grainy snapshot.
Wisely, or maddeningly, the director does not show us, either.
We view numerous “possibilities,” though these are not red-herrings.
We simply see what the boyfriend sees, or later, remembers.
Gripping study of the training and false starts of a blossoming sociopath.
Remade a few years later in compliance with American attitudes and expectations.

Toys Are Not For Children - 1972 - USA

Toys Are Not For Children - 1972 - 6/10

Jamie is twenty years old, going on eight.
With a young woman’s curves, and the emotional maturity of a child.
Jamie works at a toy store, where she is exceptional. She really knows her toys.
She is popular with customers. Especially male customers, postman, delivery men, guys just hanging around.
Innocent Jamie is a hot pussy in heat, catnip for horny tomcats.
At home, her bedroom is crowded with toys. Special favorites share her bed.
As mentioned, Jamie really knows her toys. Intimately.
A lot of viewers trash this film because, I think, they expected exploitation.
This is sordid, unpleasant, the path of a girl who will eventually work on her back for a living, or on her knees.
The print I saw was in marvelous shape, with a so-so audio commentary.

Cargo - 2009 - Switzerland

Cargo - 2009 - 6/10

Space SciFi from Switzerland.
The exhausted planet Earth has been mostly abandoned.
Folks are saving coins and heading for Rhea, the great new world.
Travel takes eight years in massive cryogenic cargo ships.
After three years, our heroine is roused, suits up as glorified patrol guard, and prowls the vast emptiness of dim corridors.
Why? There is a stowaway loose, endangering lives and the ship itself.
Gradually, darker discoveries emerge.
Several CGI shots, luckily kept to a minimum. Predictable, derivative plot.
Decent, post industrial “wet” sets.
(Just curious, why doesn’t leaking water freeze in space? Heating a massive vessel so that water puddles about strikes me as a colossal waste of energy. Sorry.)
Not a bad film, but not a great one, either.

The Dead Room - 2018

The Dead Room - 2018 - 6/10

“Christmas Ghost Story” that has nothing to do with Yule.
Aging voice actor (Simon Callow) regales younger colleagues with how horror stories were in better days.
He is a traditionalist and has scant sympathy with modern scripts of gore splatterings and exclamations.
Nevertheless, carry on!
The new sound studio is actually an old location, reported to be haunted.
Bah, nonsense! Until the old ham begins hearing faint traces, catching fleeting images.
Story, written by Mark Gatiss, is perfunctory and not especially original.
BBC, if you are listening, please approach another writer next outing.
Personal suggestion, Reggie Oliver.

Brand New Testament - 2015 - France

Brand New Testament - 2015 - 7/10
AKA - Le Tout Nouveau Testament

Behold, God!
Lo! The Divine One Himself. After creating the world, the air, the firmament, and all that, He is bored.
So He sits all day in His celestial office, pecking away at His computer, creating laws and certainties that only exist to irritate, foil and flummox his worshipers.
Yes, us.
The story, however, a comedy, is about His daughter, who longs to escape and “do things” like her older brother.

Alt-Right: Age Of Rage - 2018 - USA

Alt-Right: Age Of Rage - 2018 - 6/10

Topical documentary shuffles interviews with leaders of Alt-Right and Antifa.
Attempts to be non-judgmental, each side will find something to cheer for their team.
This struggle still strikes me as early days. My take is times will harken to the Weimar era, and a lot of blood will flow.
Most of the footage was of the Charlottesville riots. As in Weimar Germany, police stood idly and watched.
For those curious to know how Americans seemingly abandoned their moral compass, this is poor guide.
The history is not yet written.

A Dark Song - 2016

A Dark Song - 2016 - 6/10

Grieving mother hires occult specialist to help her contact her deceased child.
Lengthy setup as proper location is found, supplies stored, preparations begun.
Pace of this will vex the impatient.
This is about the ritual, the process, the incantation.
Exterior photography is spectacular and forbidding, while the house seems a character in itself.
Events begin to go awry, and you realize mother and interlocutor each have unspoken agendas.
For the more knowledgeable, the ritual in question had been attempted by Aleister Crowley.

Until Death - 1987 - Italy

Until Death - 1987 - 6/10
AKA - Per Sempre

Rainy night, a struggling husband is buried alive by his young, pregnant wife and her lover.
Six years later, the couple are still together, but their relationship is rocky, and the man has no use for the wife’s needy son
Another stormy night, and the drifter appears, seeking shelter.
Soon enough, he assists the wife in her cafe and befriends the child.
Italian TV movie boasts inventive camera work and the luscious Gioia Scola, but the script, despite trying to keep the viewer guessing, treads familiar territory.
Some of the son’s nightmares are memorable, hands clawing through plastered walls for one.
Not bad, but not great, either.

The Grand Seduction - 2013 - Canada

The Grand Seduction - 2013 - 6/10

Charming narrative of lies here.
Tiny fishing harbor in Canada is dying. No money from fishing, folks leaving for the city.
They are in the running for a petrochemical processing factory, however, if they can get a resident doctor.
A big city doctor is shanghaied in, then the web of deceit spins.
By turns laugh out funny, then sadly amusing, almost depressing.
Those who have witnessed the death of their childhood home will relate.
Distaff cousin of The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, without Mr Grant.

Trois Femmes en Colere - 2016

Trois Femmes en Colere - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - 3 Angry Women

Well, not necessarily that angry.
Grandma, a feminist firebrand in the 60’s, realizes the young generation does not care, has no will to struggle, and that she and her sisters fought for … for what?
In one way, she has outlived her time, in another, she carries an unpleasant ghost of an earlier time.
Femme number two is her daughter, snared in an “open marriage.”
Meaning, husband can cheat at will. Yet if she does …
Femme number three is the granddaughter, medical student, whose boyfriend wants her to be his support, rather than an equal partner.
OK enough concepts. The males are not necessarily despicable or domineering. They merely take advantage and exploit their fortune.

The Fat Black Pussycat - 1963 - USA

The Fat Black Pussycat - 1963 - 4/10

Abysmal film, somehow oddly watchable.
Black-gloved killer prowls Greenwich Village, targeting the Bohemian set.
Beatniks, poets, dancers, poseurs and loose women.
A very square police detective gets nowhere interviewing the hipper-than-thou denizens.
He ventures into the Fat Black Pussycat Cafe, goes to swinging parties, hooks up with an anthropology professor.
Acting is uniformly dismal. Lots of pre and post coital situations, though.
Directing is terrible, editing worse.
The second half jumps all over the place with little coherence.
Extras include trimmed sex scenes and alternate ending, likewise incoherent.
Must-see for bad film connoisseurs.

Ditch Day Massacre - 2016

Ditch Day Massacre - 2016 - 5/10

Dead teenager flick. Falls squarely into Revenge cinema as opposed to Slasher.
Six high schoolers skip classes to have a day party.
Swimming pool, booze and banging.
Unknown to them (being blind from drinking and squirming) the stranger has slipped inside.

There is a backstory, which I shall not go into.
Suffice to say the theme is of brutal justice, with no regard to bystanders.
Acting is as expected. Production shows limited budget.
Gore is minimal for the genre.

Murders At The Zoo - 1933

Murders At The Zoo - 1933 - 6/10

Pre-Code nasty misses greatness because it pulls its punches.
Lionel Atwill plays Gorman, a sportsman (meaning he shoots piles of animals), who ships a big collection to the zoo.
Early on, however, we witness how he deals with a rival for his wife’s affection.
Binding the man and stitching up his mouth before abandoning him to the hungry jungle.
Other particularly cruel offings follow.
Unfortunately, Paramount defused this throughout with comic humor, which undercuts the tone.
Better, since the wife had a wayward eye, would have been to juice the sexual angles.
Directed by Eddie Sutherland, who I’ve always regarded as loose change,
Coulda, shoulda been terrific.

L’ecole de la Chair - 1998 - France

L’ecole de la Chair - 1998 - 6/10
AKA - The School Of Flesh

Bored rich female initiates an affair with surly rent boy.
Beforehand, she had been warned by several of his ex-lovers / victims.
Challenge or self destruction?
Following the initial docking maneuver, they play games and test each others boundaries.
The plot, or what masquerades as a plot, are cobbled together set pieces.
Likewise the assembly of supporting characters, though some are more memorable.
Despite the occasional twist, interlude in the bazaar, and raw emotions, from the very beginning, one realizes this is not the happy ending love story.
French, not too talky, though there is quite a bit of dialogue.

Wagon Tracks - 1919 - USA

Wagon Tracks - 1919 - 6/10

Stodgy, William S Hart western, though Hart vehicles typically carry the dust of Victorian theatre boards.
Hart goes to meet his younger brother, a recently graduated doctor, arriving on a paddle-wheeler.
While card playing, however, the young man has been gunned down.
Hart, leading the wagon trail to Santa Fe, ponders how the cull the guilty out of the herd.
The print I saw was wonderful, the tinting outstanding.
Even small details such as inter-titles, feature imaginative touches.

At barely an hour, the pace is unhurried, and effectively evokes the Old West.
Hart knew and was friends with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and he strived for authenticity in his Westerns.
A first class production.

Bamboo House Of Dolls - 1973 - Hong Kong

Bamboo House Of Dolls - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Nu ji Zhong Ying // 女集中營

Wonderful exploitation sleaze from the Shaw Brothers.
Japanese troops attack a hospital, murder most of the patients, drag all the attractive nurses, kicking and screaming, to an internment camp.
Viewers familiar with the WiP genre can predict the following:
Rapes, beatings, tortures, a lesbian commandant, prison catfights, stoolies, and wardrobe limitations.
Indeed, all prisoners wear flimsy blue tops and skimpy blue panties.
Those outfits are shredded or ripped off every five minutes, exposing huge swathes of gratuitous nudity.
Subplots involve hidden gold and spies.
Compared with other WiP fare, this is on a par with the Ilsa series.

French Cancan - 1955 - France

French Cancan - 1955 - 6/10

After Henri’s establishment closes, he regroups and decides to launch another.
This time, he will revive a bygone, notorious dance number, the cancan.
Love affairs, misunderstandings, arguments and pitfalls.
Will he be ever able to open his cabaret, the Moulin Rouge?

Afterward, I knew this was going to cost me.
“You never said this was a musical.”
“C’mon, Jean Gabin stars, Jean Renoir directs, in color!”
“It was like an MGM musical. Bloated nonsense. I don’t see how you like these things.”
“Big screen, too! Old fashioned magic.”
“When the Miss Fisher movie comes out, we’re seeing it. You owe me.”
“Aww, man …”
“And I renewed the subscription to the Hallmark Channel.”
“Oh, bummer, dude!”
“Dudette.”

Kampf um Norwegen: Feldzug 1940 - 1940

Kampf um Norwegen: Feldzug 1940 - 1940 - 6/10
AKA - Battle For Norway: 1940 campaign

Nazi propaganda overwhelms with details, grows tiresome.
Documentary shows invasion and conquest of Norway in 1940.
Animated campaign maps are helpful, also a wealth of images.
Every skirmish is mentioned with scant fighting footage.
As propaganda, this is not vitriolic hatred, but more the morale booster.
Why German is in the war with Norway (it’s the fault of the English).
The presentation struck me as dull until the last section, the conflicts around Narvik, where the Allies were giving the Kriegsmarine and Gebirgsjägers a hard time of it.
Goebbels, supposedly dissatisfied, mothballed this and it was considered lost until found in 2006.

Chi-Raq - 2015 - USA

Chi-Raq - 2015 - 5/10

Spike Lee somehow reworks Aristophanes’ hysterically funny “Lysistrata” into a preachy tirade.
Fable of women withholding sex until rival gangs make peace (no peace, no piece) blended with with gun violence, diatribes against the NRA, posters of victims, whatnot.
Essentially, there are two films: one a broad comedy, the other, if handled correctly, a savage indictment of how US gun owners value guns more than life.
The message is heavy handed, and, to be honest, embarrassing to see Lee present a film so awkward.
Fully, half the scenes are carried on a couple beats too long, dragging the pace.
Apologists defend this film saying it is not a comedy, but rather a satire.
Sorry, satire generally uses a razor honed knife. Lee swings Fred Flintstone’s club.
On the plus side, much of the dialogue is rhyming couplets, and the “Lysistrata" business is funny as hell.
The cinematography is terrific, with several lush looking set designs.
Moreover, one of the best characters is Samuel Jackson’s chorus, Dolmedes.
Once he utters the phrase, “signifying monkey,” you immediately recognize Dolemite!
Otherwise, a fine cast wasted and wicked concept bungled. A shame.

Budapest Noir - 2017 - Hungary

Budapest Noir - 2017 - 6/10

Fine Neo-Noir set in 1936 Budapest, as nearby Fascism and Nazism unmoor Hungary’s stability.
A journalist unexpectedly ends up paying for an attractive woman’s meal.
Two beats later, he is assigned to a nearby murder of a prostitute, who turns out to be the female earlier.
The reporter’s itch sends him to the morgue, where the body has disappeared.
Then the hunt. Why the cover-up? Why was she murdered? Most of all, who was she?
No new ground here, though for Noir buffs any new, good film is a quiet celebration.
Though shot in Budapest, the usual turista locations are absent.

Have Sword, Will Travel - 1969

Have Sword, Will Travel - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - Bao Biao // 保鏢

The yearly shipment of gold is due to be shipped to the emperor.
Alas, the leader in charge of protecting the wealth has aged and lost his kung fu.
He summons help from a young couple, while a powerful outlaw clan strategizes.
Into the midst arrives a stranger, with astounding swordplay prowess.
This character gets compared to Eastwood’s Leone gunslinger, though my take is Shane.
Leisurely paced action film is a bit over complicated romance wise, but the final sequence is a dazzler.
With the ensuing bloodshed, I imagine John Woo must have viewed this.

Cuadecuc, Vampir - 1971 - Spain

Cuadecuc, Vampir - 1971 - 6/10

Christopher Lee filmed Count Dracula for Jess Franco in 1970, with a powerhouse cast.
While the narrative was faithful to Stoker, the budget was meager and it showed.
Nevertheless - during filming, director Pere Portabella lensed this strange dish.
Black n white, silent film, consisting of outtakes, over-exposures, and oddities.
Such as, you’ll see the clapperboard from time to time, also cameras, actors hanging around, laughing.
The music is a mix of ambiant, musique concrète, lounge, and empty silence.
Sets are atmospheric, the pace is lethargic.
Some have slotted this into arthouse territory, but it strikes me as an art installation.
Meaning something you might see in a museum or gallery, watch it for 10-20 minutes, then drift away.
Definitely a curio.

Count Dracula - 1970

Count Dracula - 1970 - 6/10
AKA - Les Nuits de Dracula

Faithful retelling of Stoker’s novel, up to a point.
Christopher Lee as the elderly count who grows more youthful as the film progresses (years before Coppola’s take).
Excellent Barcelona locations, effective music, solid acting, are all undercut by indifferent direction.
Aside from his usual money problems, one gets the feeling Jess Franco simply lost interest.
No nudity, certainly no hard core pornography that mark many of his films.

The print I saw was outstanding, and boasted a fine commentary by historian David Del Valle and actor Maria Rohm.
Rohm is sharp and her answers insightful. Glad she participated, otherwise hers would be lost history.

The Ice House - 1978

The Ice House - 1978 - 6/10

Opaque ghost story is confusing, unresolved, yet worthwhile for the patient.
Brother-sister cultivate a spa for affluent souls, left bereaved, embittered, adrift.
Paul, bruised from a divorce, receives extra attention from the sibling caretakers.
In nearby woods, a mysterious icehouse holds a strange allure for him.
That, and the fragrant night flowers that twine the exterior.
Heavy on atmosphere, short on explanations, this may exasperate those who desire stitched endings.
I enjoyed this, perhaps one should not hunt for meaning.

Crawl - 2019 - Serbia

Crawl - 2019 - 6/10

“There’s a gator in the bushes, he’s calling my name …” (courtesy M Hatchet)
Gator country! Wail, baby!
In the middle of a Force 5 hurricane, the estranged daughter decides to check on dear ole pa.
She finds him, under the house, in a HUGE crawl space, where he’s busted up.
Meanwhile, the basement fills with water. Jeopardy!
Hold on, boss. There’s an alligator down there. Double jeopardy!!
Make that two gators!!! Outside, in the flooded streets, there are even more. Chomping down.
Fairly serious Nature killing film (not Sharknado crap) has great saurians, though too much family time.
Hurricane effects look good, and there are meals aplenty!

Tracks - 2013 - Australia

Tracks - 2013 - 6/10

Based on the true story, and I gather this was more or less accurate as two of the original participants appear in the Bonus section, along with numerous photos.
27 year old female decides to hike 1600+ miles across the Australian outback to the Indian Ocean.
With her are four camels and her faithful black dog.
A photographer acquaintance helps her get National Geographic sponsorship, but Tracks is a lonely trip.
Existential, metaphysical journey, though difficult to tell if she actually “changes.”
We don’t really grasp Robyn’s before and after. The physical journey is the movie.
At the end, I was like, “Is that it?” “Why did she …?’
Self discovery - perhaps best understood by oneself.

Des Femmes Disparaissent - 1958

Des Femmes Disparaissent - 1958 - 6/10
AKA - Women Disappear

Pierre argues with his girlfriend, Beatrice.
He orders her to stay home, she replies we’re not married.
“It’s girls night out,” she exclaims, and off she goes, along with her friends.

Yes, she lied. The girls are going to a party put on by successful men. Suitable men.
Those men, fashion designers, shipping magnates, doctors, are likewise liars.
They peddle skin to exotic Mediterranean locales.
White slave trade, older than Rome.
Fast moving, busy French film with a memorable assortment of villains.

Victorian Sensations - 2019

Victorian Sensations - 2019 - 6/10

Three part documentary set in the late 1890’s, when starchy Victorians hurtled into the Modern world.
Scientific advancements, decadent literature, and interest in the paranormal.
Each topic is hosted by a different presenter, like a docent guide through the era of change.
Writers most mentioned include Wells (in each episode), as well as Wilde, Symons, and Stoker.
Beardsley devotees, fear not, there is a titillating side path into several of his illustrations.
There are omissions, to be sure, in this jaunt, but what is here should hold your interest throughout.

The Guest - 2018 - S Korea

The Guest - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - The Hand // 손

A hot-headed cop, an exorcist priest, and a psychic from a shaman family meet in a bar.
In between bottles of soju, they strategize how to combat Park Il Do.
Park Il Do, or Sohn, is a powerful demon who possesses humans and forces them to murder.
Such is the arc of this K-drama.
Individual stories play out, two episodes at a time, as the trio get drawn into a lopsided struggle.

The contrast of Catholicism and shamanism is a curious one, and I wish that had been explored deeper.
The series finale is excessive and wordy, but many of the episodes are pretty creepy.
Gruesome, too.

Dawson City: Frozen Time - 2016 - USA

Dawson City: Frozen Time - 2016 - 7/10

Documentary manages to mingle the Klondike gold rush, with the history of a boom town, with a celebration of resurrected silent cinema.
In 1976, during a construction dig, 500+ reels of nitrate film were excavated and eventually shipped to curators.
The story relates the rise and demise of boom town, Dawson City, with newsreels and old photos.
For film buffs, there is plenty of name dropping of those who passed through and later became giants.
The most eye-opening was the owner of the brothel, whose descendants peddled different real estate, and rose in prominence.
The rescued reels themselves, as presented, seem in poor to atrocious quality.
I enjoyed the history parts, town and gold fever, but the found film stock, literally the reason Dawson City got back on the cultural map, to be meager and of abysmal quality
With the credits, I was going, “That’s it?”

Blinded By The Light - 2019

Blinded By The Light - 2019 - 6/10

Late 80’s England. Javed is buffeted by skinheads, a domineering father, and the thought of being lost.
Then he is turned on to the music, rather lyrics, of Bruce Springsteen.
The Boss is considered passé in the New Wave 80’s, but his words still resonate with the disenfranchised.
Midway, I turned to the person who picked this and said, “This reminds me of Bend It Like Beckham."
Terse answer. “Same writer, same director, same producer.”
Feel good material, and a bit recooked.
Springsteen fans (I am not one) should enjoy.

Gone Girl - 2014 - USA

Gone Girl - 2014 - 6/10

I got stuck watching this, but I knew it would be coming so I never read a single review, comment, blurb.
Only knew it was about a wife who vanishes from a troubled marriage.
That encapsulates the plot, and the less you read or know, the better you may enjoy.
The problems regarding habeas corpus absentia are glossed over.
Unless I missed an update to Law 101, no body = no crime.
Not that that curtails media sharks and the resultant street circus.
Ben Affleck fine as out of his depth, slippery husband, though the film is awash with repellent creatures.
Nasty little time, more or less recommended.

A Bay Of Blood - 1971 - Italy

A Bay Of Blood - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Reazione a catena

An elderly lady is noosed from her wheelchair and left dangling.
The assassin emerges from shadows and is himself slain.
Next, greedy and murderous heirs begin to migrate to the bay manor.
And blood flows and flows.
This ain’t high art but it is an excellent Giallo by Bava.
Film is packed with killings and attractive females.
If you anticipate swim sequences and couplings, so did Bava.
Often hard to keep track of who is killing who - I mean that as a plus.

Be sure to check out insightful audio commentary by Bava biographer Tim Lucas.

La Fille Inconnue - 2016 - France

La Fille Inconnue - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - The Unknown Girl

After a long day, female doctor and intern prepare to close the office for the night.
They ignore the door buzzer of a much-too-late caller.
Next day, police arrive, examine surveillance footage, then tell the doctor the young girl - who had perhaps been seeking refuge - had been murdered after fleeing from the clinic door.
Guilt then drives the doctor. To find out who the dead girl was, why she was running, from what.
Thriller suffers from detached presentation.
My (admittedly) limited empathy never engaged and I never cared about a single character.

Agatha Christie And The Truth Of Murder - 2018

Agatha Christie And The Truth Of Murder - 2018 - 6/10

I wonder if this will be an ongoing holiday series? Like the iffy ghost stories?
Agatha Christie famously disappeared for eleven days in 1926.
In this mystery, she responds to a plea to solve a murder.
Set in a country manor, Christie lures suspects with the ruse of an inheritance.
Nicely photographed, with recognizable faces in the cast.
Decent story, and certainly miles ahead of any Hallmark mystery (of which I get to view plenty).

The Great Battle - 2018 - S Korea

The Great Battle - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Ansisung // 안시성

Do you still have an appetite for epic siege warfare?
Along the line of Helm’s Deep and Minias Tirith?
This is, at least, is based on a historical event, circa 650.
Chinese Emperor Taizong invades Goguryeo (Korea) with 200,000 battle tested warriors.
Armies and forts collapse before him, until he faces the relatively small fort of Ansi.
This features some amazing set pieces mixed with slo-mo sequences that seem derivative of 300.
The series of move-counter move strategies are inventive.
Although over two hours, lulls are sparing are serve to aid character development, which is lacking in this.

The Mask Of Dimitrios - 1944 - USA

The Mask Of Dimitrios - 1944 - 7/10

Old Warners Brothers chestnut pairing Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet.
A writer of mysteries learns of the death of a career criminal in Istanbul.
Curious, and seeking inspiration for the next book, he follows the trail of crime across Eastern Europe.
Along the way, an old henchman for the villain enters and offers to pool information.
Film filled with flashbacks, betrayals, lies, and increasing danger.
The look is straight up Film Noir, hard shadows and fog, and while locations bounce from Istanbul to Athens to Budapest, the reality is 100% back lot. (Europe was a bit unstable in 1944.)
This is a terrific rainy night film, with Greenstreet and Lorre superb. Numerous low angle shots of Greenstreet make him seem enormous and imposing.
Supporting characters memorable, as well, as you find yourself believing their stories, only to wonder afterward how much is deception, how much self deception.
How little kindness there is in the world today.

L’année Des Méduses - 1984 - France

L’année Des Méduses - 1984 - 6/10
AKA - Year Of The Jellyfish

Beach story of young girl (from sixteen to eighteen) learning ébats de boudoir.
She is attracted to an older male, a cross between pimp and gigolo.
To her annoyance, he finds her mother more alluring.
The girl hones her seduction technique on others, from cynical jades to unwary innocents.
When injuries occur, too bad.
Cynical narrative of souls lacking moral compass.
An unexpected and, for me, enjoyable surprise, is the score, which seems lifted from a period Slasher film.
Menacing, descending scales and staccato reveals! Out of place, yet rather amusing.

Viewer alert - Most of the proceedings transpire on a class conscious nude beach.
Brace for generous displays of full frontal nudity.

Scent Of Mystery - 1960 - USA

Scent Of Mystery - 1960 - 6/10
AKA - Holiday In Spain

Vacationing Mr Larker thinks he witnesses a murder attempt and becomes a busy body.
The target, a fetching female, informs him how very mistaken he is.
Nevertheless, with a foot-dragging cabbie (a droll Peter Lorre), he continues to meddle.
Despite the shallowest of plots, the picture quality and scenery of Spain is breathtaking.
In 1960, this was a wide, three screen Cinerama production.
The print I saw had been seamlessly configured into the Smilebox format.
Originally, this was also released in Smell-O-Vision (another gimmick to lure TV viewers). Missing here, but you can figure out what the aromas were and where.
Empty headed, but should please those drawn to this.

The Revenge Of Doctor X - 1970 - USA

The Revenge Of Doctor X - 1970 - 3/10
AKA - Venus Flytrap // The Devil Garden // The Double Garden // Body Of The Prey

Indescribably bad, even for me. And boring, to boot. Calamity!
Rocket scientist, Doctor Bragan, grows increasingly unstable at NASA command.
A Japanese vacation is suggested.
While driving up from Cape Canaveral, he pit stops at a Tarheel car garage / snake farm.
Out back are Venus flytraps. He digs one up, boxes it up and carries it past Japanese Customs.
Relaxing near an active volcano, he has a brainstorm that humans might be descended from plants!
Ipso boingo, a scientific genius might be able to transform that Venus flytrap into a humanoid.
The dialogue is stilted, the dialogue is muffled. Lead actors took thespian lessons from drain plugs.
Music bounces from lounge to koto to Bach, and is inappropriate throughout.
Aside from a bevy of topless diving girls, the only entertainment in this is the giant flytrap.
Clearly, the veggie claptrap took Method classes. Script by Ed Wood, Jr.

Family Romance, LLC - 2019 - USA

Family Romance, LLC - 2019 - 7/10

Above, the man is a fraud, the fish is mechanical, in the back, the hotel clerk is a robot.
A Werner Herzog film, do not trust your eyes, do not trust your ears.
Herzog is a trickster. His documentaries often contain fictitious elements, and vice versa.
After being absent 11 years, a father arranges a meeting with 12 year old daughter Mahiro.
Only he is not her father. He is an actor hired by Mom to impersonate him.
Paid impersonators are a cottage industry in Japan, actors hired for weddings, funerals, parties, etc …
Globally, this has gone on for time immemorial (think escort services), but Japan has taken this further.
A Bride For Rip Van Winkle (2016) was the first I heard of this.
Thus noted, Herzog has given this a realistic edge, this does not feel like a movie.
The camera keeps a chilly distance, while “father” seems inappropriately close, creepy at times.
For Herzog fans, this is a good one. Just be wary.

A Bride For Rip Van Winkle - 2016 - Japan

A Bride For Rip Van Winkle - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - Rippu Van Winkuru No Hanayome // リップヴァンウィンクルの花嫁

The plight of the painfully shy in the conformist world.
Sharper if the individual is seemingly friendless and adrift.
Part time / temp teacher casually drifts into wedding with blasé boyfriend.
She hires “friends” to fill her side of the chapel, her divorced parents pretend they are together.
False fronts for appearances. Society can be a harsh judge, however.
In the middle section, she begins a relationship with one of the phony friends.
The third act, I viewed as the inevitable flowering of her fake sandcastle.
Three hour “awakening” story, I suppose, can be broken up into one hour episodes and viewed as a J-dorama.
The director makes his points about loneliness and alienation, though I wish he trimmed and pushed the pace.