Sunset Strip - 2012 - USA

Sunset Strip - 2012 - 6/10

 
Glossy, shallow, but fun documentary of Sunset Strip, focusing primarily on the club scene.
Doc traces the earliest beginnings, when Sunset Blvd was a narrow lane running from Hollywood to Beverly Hills.
Then goes from nightclub era to music clubs to current Disneyfication.
Interviews with dozens and dozens of historians, musicians, movie stars, comedians, groupies ...
Film also gets the geography correct.  Less accurate docs might try to squeeze in places from Hollywood Blvd as well as Santa Monica Blvd.  Each had their own vibe.  Not only does this stick with the Strip, but it doesn’t bother with the meandering Sunset that snakes to the Pacific.
All Los Angelenos have their own version of the city.  In the doc, Hugh Hefner recalled the glitzy 50's nightclubs.  Others reminisce about the 60's - 70's - 80's or later.  Yet there has never been a “there” to LA.  It is ever a river that flows and changes.


Three Strip shorts -

The hippie chick is a couple of years older than me, and she was a bonefide teenybopper in the 60's.  Saw all the groups who were gone by the time I arrived.  Buffalo Springfield, Byrds, Love ...
She and friends were waiting in a club for the show when they saw a drunken bum stagger toward the stage.  Where is Security, they wondered.  Even more when the wino kept trying to climb the stage.  Eventually he succeeded, grabbed the microphone and started singing “Break On Through.”  The other Doors joined in, the drunk was Jim Morrison.

 
My brother visited me only once.  I gave him the whole experience.  Pink Flamingoes at the Nuart, Disneyland, Tower Records on Sunset, and a punk show at the Whisky.  The Weasels and The Dogs.
Midway through the Dogs’ set, two guys walked onstage.  One took the mic while the other dropped to the floor and started writhing in convulsions.
My brother started screaming,  “That’s Steve Jones singing!  And Paul Cook!  Sex Pistols!  The Sex Pistols!  This is the greatest moment of my life!!”

Tower on Sunset was one of my favorite record stores.  Even when I had no money, no car, I’d hitch a ride then walk.  The shop was a temple of music.  It was vast and stocked massive deep catalogue.  Current chart toppers would be stacked from the floor to waist high - 200 copies of vinyl, maybe?  One stand alone was a Beatles shrine.
Groups were always there for in-store events.  Or you’d see musicians or TV stars, just shopping.
Few people bothered them, and there was less gutter paparazzi back then.
I was pulling my MG out of the lot, this VW Karmann Ghia waiting for my space.
“Who’s that driving?”  I asked the hippie chick.
“Rod,”  she said.
“Rod Stewart?”
“No, Rod McKuen,”  she said.
“Oh.”
Rod Stewart I might have gone back into Tower to see what he was buying.  Poet Rod McKuen?
I’d seen him before.

A Certain Killer - 1967 - Japan

A Certain Killer - 1967 - 6/10
AKA - Aru Koroshi Ya  // ある殺し屋

 
Shiozawa, restaurant owner and short order cook, is actually a lethal hitman.
From time to time, yakuza gangs hire his services.  Expensive, but guaranteed.
A young prostitute attaches herself to him, then later a protégé.
Between methodical “jobs” there grows the triangle.
Money.  One who has, two who covet.
Fans of how-to assassinate films such as The Day Of The Jackal or The Mechanic (1966) will enjoy.
Mega-star Ichikawa Raizo coldly effective here, as he is in the sequel, A Killer’s Key.

The Crimean War - 1997 - UK

The Crimean War - 1997 - 7/10

 
Three-part documentary about an almost forgotten conflict.
This makes full use of photos, letters, engravings, drawings.
Talking heads are minimal - fine by me, too many speakers smack of padding.
First section deals with the causation. Russia wanting Istanbul,
Next is of the war itself, blunders, starvation or soldiers freezing.
Finally, the aftermath and the seeds laid for World War One.
Actual voices include Tennyson reading “The Charge Of The Light Brigade,” as well as one of the original buglers, playing the call to charge.

Forgotten Girls - 2007 - France

Forgotten Girls - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - Les Oubliées

 
Fifteen years after the sixth girl disappeared, another one vanishes.
The serial killer has resurfaced.
Not that murders are confirmed, for no bodies have ever been found.
Families, exhausted by despair, suspect the cold case detective is way over his limit.

 
Six part French mystery of forgotten victims and an officer who pushes himself to madness.
Directions shift throughout, rather like a lost car tackling meandering intersections.
Character study of driven individual fighting apathy, resignation and suspicion.

The Lady Vanishes - 1979 - UK

The Lady Vanishes - 1979 - 3/10

 
Another low bar.  One of the worst pieces of crap I’ve viewed in ages.
Pointless remake of the Hitchcock classic, featuring two godawful American leads, irritating music, and a wasted supporting cast.
Gabby nanny type, who may or may not be a spy, disappears from train in Nazi occupied territory.
Cybill Shepherd especially good/horrible as shrill, whining American heiress who demands to know what happened to her new English friend (underused Angela Lansbury).  I would have paid for anyone to have hurled her off the train, moving or stopped, off a bridge or into quicksand, didn’t matter.  She was painful.
A bored Elliot Gould plays the male hero.  Shepherd and Gould have the chemistry of a pair of cracked duck eggs.
The film that drove the final spike into Hammer.

Exit - 2020 - Russia

Exit - 2020 - 6/10
 

Contractors, hurrying to finish a house, discover the closet door is troublesome.
The closet is beginning to extend into a yawning, black tunnel.
What to do?
Russian short mixes the unexplained with the unresolved.
Nicely shot and acted, though I didn’t buy the “girlfriend” angle.
Her character feels like it was shoe-horned in.

Fast And Furious - 1939 - USA

Fast And Furious - 1939 - 5/10

 
Alert readers will spy the picture, then the date.
MGM might have assumed third time would be the charm for this overlooked series.
This is the weakest of the trio that includes Fast Company and Fast And Loose.
Those rare book dealers are back, but the only clue to their line of work is the office door.
Next thing, they are on their way to a beachside beauty pageant.
And - of course - murder, shifty characters, an abundance of liars.
Oh, almost forgot hundreds of stunning lovelies.
Directed by Busby Berkeley, but no dance numbers.
Forgettable fluff.  Catch the first installments before this.
Comment - Yet a third set of actors play the couple.

Fast And Loose - 1939 - USA

Fast And Loose - 1939 - 6/10

 
Breezy sequel to 1938‘s Fast Company.  Same characters, different lead actors.
Eccentric collector hires rare book dealers to buy rare Shakespeare manuscript from financially strapped tycoon.
There is also a first edition Milton that goes lost then found then lost.
Parties meet at the mansion, along with offspring, stock broker, gangsters, eventually the police.
Correcto mundo.  Killing.  For books!
Fast paced, a jumble of characters, assortment of motives, a plot that borders on gibberish.
Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery endearing as book hounds.
Amusing to see folks get riled up over the printed word, since so few buy actual books nowadays.

Fast Company - 1938 - USA

Fast Company - 1938 - 6/10

 
Police seem baffled!
Priceless books have been stolen.
Then a reputable dealer (ahem, the villainous George Zucco) is found dead!
Who can police turn to?
Why, a married couple who happen to be antiquarian book sellers.
Yeah, a pair of “readers."
Think Nick and Nora Charles, Thin Man, and the rest is easy.
Brisk, charming mystery that falls midway between the PreCode gangster era and Film Noir.
Dwight Frye has a decent supporting role (meaning not his typecast neurotic headcase) as forger.

Legend Of The Witches - 1970 - UK

Legend Of The Witches - 1970 - 5/10

 
Predominately nude “documentary” of history and practices of witches and covens in England.
Indoctrination, rites, magick, hand holding innocents traipsing round the bonfire.
Omniscient male narrator drones an already drowsy  experience.
Camera work, on the other hand, is excellent, given that the budget must have been a bag of tuppence.
Contrast is sharp, interesting angles throughout, effective use of shadows and firelight.
Probably quite steamy back in the day, a curio now.

Sign - 2011 - S Korea

Sign - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Sain //  サイン

 
Exasperating K-drama that takes forever to find its groove, only to perform a cliff dive at the end.
I cannot decide whether to blame incompetent writing or wrong headed directing, probably a combination.
Episodic show occurring in and around the NFS (National Forensic Service).  Yes, the coroners.  Corpse cutters.
A new crime/mystery happens ever few weeks and wraps in a couple of episodes.  In each time, the examiners are summoned to determine what transpired.  Some are frightening, one poignant, others are mis-assumptions.
Weaving throughout the narrative is the murder of a beloved pop singer, the cover up, the destruction of evidence, the conspiracy, and the bullheaded doctor who probes remorselessly toward the truth.
The doctor is extraordinarily unlikeable, argumentative, with the manners of a pitbull.  No way, no matter how gifted, such an individual would be tolerated in any structured hierarchy.
The three assistants are complete and utter idiots.  Their main purpose seems little more than comic relief.  Any professional skills they may possess is dwarfed by their moronic behavior.
After ten episodes, the characters (and writers) find their footing and the cartoon antics subside, the stories tighten.
Still ... viewers had to endure half the series before this locked into an intense thriller.
The final episode was moving - and preposterous.  The finale seemed rushed, contrived, and unbelievable.
There were well reported production problems, but the root cause seemed to point toward the writers who apparently had written themselves into a corner.

This was one of the chilliest K-dramas I have ever watched.  Most of this was photographed in bleak winter.  It looked downright cold.  Definitely not the travel postcard for Korea tourism.
Three lead male characters boasted spiky haircuts.  Couldn’t tell if this is a fashion trend, but it was noticeable.

Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age - 2021 - USA

Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age - 2021 - 7/10

 
Love letter to Broadway, circa 1959-1983.
Performers, producers, dancers, creators.
Recollections of backstage, big career breaks, camaraderie.
Numerous clips of old shows, including, though not limited to, “Love On A Mattress,”  “Barefoot In The Park,”  “Pippin,”  “A Chorus Line.”
The latter show concludes the documentary and runs 10”.  (Marvin Hamlish never mentioned, by the way.)
1983 is when AIDS begins to have a devastating impact on the community.
Feel good documentary, to be sure, but should be essential to theatre junkies.

The Witness - 2015 - USA

The Witness - 2015 - 6/10

 
Documentary with unanswered questions may prove frustrating.
Kitty Genovese was repeatedly stabbed in 1964.  Twice.  Half hour apart.
38 people watched from windows, no one helped, no one phoned the police.
Fifty years later, her brother searches for answers.  Truth.  Closure.
Such as, why no one tried to rescue her.  Especially since there were two attacks.
Or did the press bend the story?  Was this fake news?
Cross between a study of brother Bill and a remembrance of Kitty, the person.

The Apartment - 1996 - France

The Apartment - 1996 - 7/10
AKA - L'appartement

 
High powered computer exec, Max, just about to fly to Tokyo, believes he saw his old flame, Lisa.
He rushes after her shadow, but she’s gone.  So he misses his flight, does not tell anyone, and –
Oh, did I forget to mention his marriage is imminent?
Missed connections, betrayals, lies, deceptions.
Twists and reveals galore!  Inattentive souls, stick with reality shows.
Biggest problem is Max (Vincent Cassel), who has the attention span of a kitten.
Throughout, he is easily distracted, and thrown off any trail, by any female encounter.
Still, this is a must for thriller fans.  Remade as Wicker Park - 2004.

Mr. Hoppy’s Geheimnis - 2014 - UK

Mr. Hoppy’s Geheimnis - 2014 - 5/10
AKA - Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot

 
Absurd, feel good twaddle of lonelyhearts and tortoises.
Flat neighbors, one floor apart, chat from balcony to balcony.
She obsesses over her pet tortoise.  “Will he ever grow?”
He decides to help by substituting a slightly larger creature every couple of days.
To do so, he purchases 100 tortoises of varying sizes.  (I also spied some red eared sliders, but will ignore.)
Does she notice differing shell patterns? - No -
Do neighbors notice stench from 100 turtles? - No -
Pace is killingly slow (padded).  I kept reminding myself the original story had been written for children, hence the silly, clueless characters.
No ... children would have viewed them as foolish twits, too.

Genuine - 1920 - Germany

Genuine - 1920 - 5/10
AKA - The Tales Of A Vampire

 
Think vamp, not throat leech.  Not blood, its the wick that gets drained.
Genuine, priestess of an exotic religion, is captured by a rival tribe and turned savage.
Later, she is sold by slavers to a rich eccentric who keeps her caged in his lavish basement.
Mind you, menfolk are drawn to her, and she soon turns them into drooling love slaves.
Atmospheric sets outweighed by dell arte acting and plodding direction.
The tale crawls.  One could add a gallon of lubricant and the story would still creak.
Print I watched was in excellent condition, guitar score by Larry Marotta grows tedious by the end.

That Day We Sang - 2014 - UK

That Day We Sang - 2014 - 7/10

 
Pretty good recreation of what looks like a West End musical.
Filmmakers are shooting documentary of Manchester children, now 40 years later, who sang Purcell's 'Nymphs and Shepherds' and later cut a best selling 78 of that.
Story bounces back and forth between 1929 and 1969, showing characters as children and as adults.
As adults, two main characters attempt to connect.  We glimpse their lives, hear their stories.
Of course, being a musical, tunes sally forth at the drop of a hat.
Melodies are enjoyable, though not exactly hummable.
First rate acting - plus, all leads have good voices.  Tale is thin, but - please - this is a musical.
Recommended for fans of.

Are You Listening? - 1932 - USA

Are You Listening? - 1932 - 6/10

Bleak Pre-Code title from MGM, starring Billy Haines and a confusing assortment of blondes.
Haines writes and directs (commercials, comedies, dramas) for a radio station.

 
He carries on with another writer, deals with his scold of a wife (actress Karen Morley rips this).
A cynical film, Are You Listening has a dark tone and captures the anxiety of the Depression.
The other narrative is of the three sisters trying to “make it" in the City.

 
Women chase husband material (wealthy or high earners), men grope as casual predators.
Being Pre-Code, expect negligees, easy access relationships, unscrupulous villains.
Numerous old stars and character actors in downbeat film.

Dead End - 2003 - France

Dead End - 2003 - 6/10

 
Driving to the in-laws for Christmas Eve for the umpteenth trip, Dad decides to take a short cut.
Onto what turns out to be the longest, loneliest, most deserted woodland road in California.
While he and his wife bicker, the kids snipe in the backseat.  
“Turn around,”  says his wife,  “get back on the Interstate.”
Ha!  What guy does that?  Even as the route goes darker and more eerie.
I mean, sooner or later, things will get better, right?
And then the dying starts.
Christmas with relatives ... police must love this time of year.

Inside The White Slave Traffic and Traffic In Souls - 1913 - USA

Two “docu-dramas” released during the frenzied phenomena of white slavery paranoia.

Inside The White Slave Traffic - 1913 - 5/10

 
Inside The White Slave Traffic is the briefer and more crude of the pair.
An exploitation quickie, this roused censors and authorities wherever it was screened.
Female is lured into prostitution - where she remains for the remainder of the movie.
Despite two lost reels, this shows tricks for luring girls, slang words, and the nationwide network of slavers.
Outdoor photography in this captures dirt streets, boardwalks, horse and wagons.

*  *

Traffic In Souls - 1913 - 6/10

 
Traffic In Souls is a better film, storywise and budget wise.  At 88 minutes, this is also an early feature.
There are multiple storylines: the rich family, the two sisters, and two sets of girls who arrive in New York.
Methods and roles within the slave ring are displayed, also some eavesdropping technology.
Acting in both films is melodramatic.  (Pickford would largely change that.)
DVD of Traffic In Souls has an insightful commentary by historian Shelley Stamp.
Most of her comments pertain to social mores of 1913, film reaction, and white slave hysteria.

While I prefer Silent films from the 20's, the earlier films have their own creaky charm.
The look and attitudes hark back to the Edwardian or Gilded Age.
Moralizing inter-titles, declarative gestures, formal manners, swept away in the Roaring 20's.

Family Hunting - 2014 - S Korea

Family Hunting - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Kazokugari  //  家族狩り

 
Someone is slaughtering dysfunctional families.
Mass murder masquerading as suicide.
Overlooked series featuring a lot of guilty looking souls, and families with overwrought teens.
Deceptive camera work here, casting one character after another as spooky or creepy.
Plot well constructed, as well, layering clues, trails, doubts and fear.
Belief remains a slippery oil slick throughout as you hope, “maybe this person is a good one” ... “uh oh, maybe not.”
Absorbing, brief series.  Emotional outbursts and family drama may alienate disconnected types.

Seeds - 1968 - USA

Seeds - 1968 - 5/10

 
Gleefully perverse Christmas family reunion film.
Grindhouse mistletoe.
Acting on her own, Carol invites banned family members to Ma’s manor.
The alcoholic, foul mouthed, vindictive mother is the very definition of harridan.
Adult children arrive, a lascivious lot and screwed up to a soul.
Incest is their primary outlet and savory vice.
(For voyeurs, producers added close-up naked gropings with stunt torsos.)
Smutty, sleazy, exploitation, holiday stocking, stuffed with used, sticky condoms.

My Little Princess - 2011 - France

My Little Princess - 2011 - 6/10

 
Well done, if exceedingly disturbing mother / daughter story.
Isabel Huppert plays dysfunctional mom with artistic pretensions.  Self delusions far outweigh actual talent.
She takes up photography and starts taking shots of her 10 year old daughter.
Clothes start getting removed, heavy lipstick applied, and poses become sexually provocative.

 
Ma believes success has arrived as last and pushes boundaries even further.
The young girl, starting to grasp the concept of exploitation, tries to resist.
Unsettling and inappropriate in countless ways, also metaphor for parents as agents or pimps.
Huppert throws herself into this and is utterly convincing, though she is clearly too old for the role.
Newcomer Anamaria Vartolomei acquits herself well.

The Daughter - 2015 - Australia

The Daughter - 2015 - 7/10

 
Family pater prepares to marry half his age, trophy wife, as he closes the mill which his family has run for generations.
Invited is his damaged, alcoholic son who reconnects with old school friends.
His mother had committed suicide, and the new wedding rankles him.
He uncovers skeletons and must weigh what damage revealing the truth may cause against stoking his pity party.
The small town, likewise breaking apart with the mill closure, seems a metaphor for the family crisis.
Or vice versa.
Acting uniformly fine.  Paul Schneider memorable as self-righteous son.

Silent Night - 2021 - UK

Silent Night - 2021 - 6/10

 
Straight off, this is being marketed as horror.   It is not.  An apocalypse film, it is closer to Drama / SciFi.
Friends and family gather for the Christmas feast.
Apparently, the final feast.
Expect bad behavior, old injuries revisited, and the airing of dirty laundry
Humor is pithy and biting, although there is not enough.
Dramatic elements are a muddling non-event.
On The Beach (1959) may be the grandfather of these films, but this is weak water.
Another recent holiday apocalypse = Anna And The Apocalypse (2017).

Cover Up - 1949 - USA

Cover Up - 1949 - 6/10

 
More mystery than Noir.
During Christmas revels, an insurance investigator hits the small town where the most hated man has killed himself.
“Where’s the gun he shot himself with?”  – No idea.
‘What caliber of bullets were found?”  – Bullets, what bullets?
“Were there powder buns on his hands or clothes?”  – No, sir.
Smiling faces stonewall him the whole time.  
Meanwhile, a fetching young miss catches his eye.  So, add a dash of romance.
OTR buffs will recognize the template for Johnny Dollar.

The Hundred-Foot Journey - 2014 - USA

The Hundred-Foot Journey - 2014 - 6/10

 
Young Indian chef sets up establishment across from haute cuisine in rural France.
Rivalry turns into alliance when starchy matriarch realizes his culinary gifts can get her restaurant a second Michelin star.
Story has the depth of a soufflé and is longish, with nary a Frenchman in sight.
Produced by Oprah Winfrey and Stephan Spielberg (both US).  Directed by Lasse Hallström (Sweden) from an American novel.  Helen Mirren (UK) plays the Gallic proprietress.
Popular with the arthouse crowd, be they foodies, gourmets or gluttons.

Love And Crime - 1969 - Japan

Love And Crime - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - Meiji · Taishô · Shôwa: Ryôki Onna Hanzai-Shi

 
Japanese anthology compilation, heavy on sex and violence.
Predatory females work their assets for gain or revenge, based on actual individuals.
Sada Abe would be the most famous, or infamous, for the marathon bout of coitus climaxing in strangulation and castration.
Oden was the last female beheaded in Japan, and Toyokaku was a woman who murdered her way to her own inn.
Fast paced little film with ample nudity, killings, and corpses.
Knowing that these were real people may increase appreciation.
Male viewers might wish to avert their gaze when scissors appear.

Haunted - 1995 - UK

Haunted - 1995 - 6/10

 
Professor, author, spiritualist debunker, is asked to solve a slight haunting at the rural manor.
At the station he is met by the lovely sister of the home.
Home are her two brothers, and the frail, elderly, perhaps dotty, Nanny.
The stage is set, and unexplained occurrences start mounting.
Fairly predictable ghost story, based on a James Herbert novel.
Glossy looking, but terribly old-fashioned.

Born To Be Bad - 1934 - USA

Born To Be Bad - 1934 - 5/10

 
Cynical Pre-Code film about 22 year old unwed mother and her 7 year old son.
Mom earns money as an escort (figure it out) while junior runs with gangs and drinks mugs of beer at the house.
When he runs under a delivery truck, they exaggerate the injury and try to hustle the company.
Ought to be more fun, but mother and son play unpleasant to perfection.
One of the films the Legion Of Decency likely pointed at when wanting to tighten the Production Code.
Very young Cary Grant as naive company president, Loretta Young (before she became Miss Wholesome) as call girl.
Short - bitter tasting - with preposterous finale.

Lidice - 2011 - Czech Republic

Lidice - 2011 - 7/10

\

 
Suitable companion film to 2016‘s Anthropoid shows the Czech village of Lidice before - and after - the assassination of SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
There is a mirror narrative of one of the villagers, in prison for murder.
Two murders, different punishments:  incarceration versus liquidation.
The massacre of Lidice became infamous.
Staging and cinematography is excellent, and enough time is allotted to many characters so one gets a feel for them as individuals.

Anthropoid - 2016 - Czech Republic

Anthropoid - 2016 - 7/10

 
Overlooked World War II thriller about Operation Anthropoid.
The plot to assassinate SS Obergruppenführer of Czechoslovakia, Reinhard Heydrich.
Told entirely from the Czech resistance point of view.
The “based on” elements are easy to identify and ignore (such as any love interests).
Measured pace spotlights planning, internal arguing, and constant fear of betrayal.
Unlike other films, this offers the buildup, the event, the aftermath.
Breathtaking cinematography, by the way.

Swastika - 2007 - UK

Swastika - 2007 - 7/10 

The premise:  If we only demonize Hitler and associates, we fail to recognize they are also humans.
Thus we assume the next mass murderer will be easy to spot, being a monster.
This mixes rallies, parades, speeches with parties, cocktails, frolics.
Weird, watching Goering and Goebbels hand out Christmas gifts to children.

 
Footage from Leni Riefenstahl and Eva Braun’s home movies, with actual overheard comments.
Timeline runs from 1933-1938.  World War II and atrocities compressed in final five minutes.
A lot of footage I have never seen, and I have watched a fair amount over the years.
Nonetheless, this is not recommended for casual viewers, looking for a primer on Nazism.
I was initially unimpressed, yet this has a cumulative power.  Well done.

Pride - 2014 - UK

Pride - 2014 - 7/10

 
Feel good movie of LGSM (Gays Lesbians Support the Miners), circa 1984, when Thatcher tories struggled to break the coal miner union.
The government had seized the assets of the Mining Union and were literally starving miners into compliance.
Unlikely support came from gays and lesbians who raised money through bucket drives, later benefit concerts.
An awkward pairing, especially for blue collar males, and film goes into that.
Community is reluctant, unsure, uneasy.  Homophobia contagion, or fear thereof.
Still, LGSM were the only group that gave generous and consistent support.
Film features a slew of top actors, including Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton, as well as a fabulous 80's soundtrack.
Dominic West has show stopping moment when he teaches non-dancing miners that one of the quickest ways to catch the feminine eye is to kill on the dancefloor.

Waffle - 2020 - USA

Waffle - 2020 - 5/10

 
Mislabeled “horror” short is more a dramedy.  The comedy grates.
Gig employee Kerry hires out hourly as Best Friend for a rich girl’s slumber party.
Party of two, and the lonely richling Katie has the temperament of a Chihuahua.
Plot offers one or two possibilities, but goes nowhere.  Inferior audio miking.

The Founder - 2016 - USA

The Founder - 2016 - 7/10

 
Aging, over-the-hill salesman investigates one of his few “good” clients.
Pair of brothers doing gangbuster business with their hamburger stand.
Salesman offers to help them launch franchises and expand nationwide.
Against their instincts, the McDonald brothers agree.
Story of how Roy Kroc built an empire and took it away from the founders.

Mixed feelings watching this, much as I have mixed feelings about the McDonald’s chain.
Kroc is a predatory, unscrupulous wolf, but I think the brothers never could have rivaled his achievements.
Loved McDonald’s when they arrived in my town when I was 10.  Outgrew them by 18, but still visit when options are limited.  City to city, country to country, fare is predictable.  And those fries ...

Rakka - 2017 - Canada

Rakka - 2017 - 7/10

 
Terrific short, something between a pitch and a pilot.
Alien bipeds enslave humanity, torture and experiment, and start major terra-forming.
Resistance is small, and tiny victories result in harsh reprisals.
At barely 20 minutes, this alien invasion genre packs in a lot of images, action, storylines and proto-characters.
One element I did not care for smacked of tinfoil, that is a quibble.
Sigourney Weaver leads a solid cast, directed by Neil Blomkamp for new studio.
If there is interest ($$), they will craft more, and I would watch.
For what it is, Rakka is outstanding, though it is quite brief.

Gunman In The Streets - 1950 - France

Gunman In The Streets - 1950 - 6/10
AKA - La Traqué  (French language version)

 
Interesting pursuit Noir set in post WWII France.
Dane Clark plays an ex-GI who remained behind the war and set up a nice little black market operation.
When the film opens, he’s being transferred from jail to jury when he is sprung via armed attack.
From then on this is a cat n mouse police chase.
Clark’s colleagues are interrogated, hideouts smashed, ex-girlfriend followed.
As this was shot in France, the look and feel differs from American Noir.
The streets, the shops, the clothes, the faces, most notably a young Simone Signoret.
Aside from the location, the plot offers nothing fresh.
Clark slips catlike through police nets and his character is cold and unsympathetic.
Director Frank Tuttle was an early casualty of the HUAC blacklist which might have explained the European location.

Murder At Land's End - 2021 - France

Murder At Land's End - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à La Pointe du Raz

Local gendarme investigate the death of a village “character.”
Hers resembles suicide, and it occurs in the Bay Of The Dead, where the drowned meet Ankow.
Suspicions soon lead to another body.

 
The male / female cops do not flirt or trade innuendos.
Plot twists are few, though narrative jags add to unpredictability.
Gorgeous Brittany coastal scenery used to the full.

xxxHOLiC - 2013 - Japan

xxxHOLiC - 2013 - 7/10
AKA - ドラマ　ホリック

 
Inventive fantasy J-dorama based on anime based on manga.
Enroute from school, young student spies and is quickly whisked into the shop run by a dimensional witch.
What she runs is, plain and simple, a barter shop.  She can grant wishes - but - there is a price to pay.
In any exchange, there is always a price.

 
He can see ghosts.  On the street, in school, everywhere.  He is miserable.
The series has eight episodes, thirty minutes each.
One story involves a variation on the monkey’s paw.
Aside from the dimensional witch, there are ghosts (not the friendly sort, either), tainted blood, and a fetchingly cruel wasp spider.
The set design is spare yet elegant.  Costumes range from school uniforms to beautiful gowns to downright kinky.
This seems aimed for the young adult crowd, but anyone interested in Japanese folklore should appreciate.

Brontës Britain With Gyles Brndreth - 2021 - UK

Brontës Britain With Gyles Brndreth - 2021 - 6/10

 
The lives of three Brontë sisters, with attention to their Yorkshire upbringing
The landscape, as well as key dwellings, still surviving.
One work per sister is referenced, along with film representations.
Mr. Brndreth, as presenter, is akin to an infomercial questioner.
“I didn’t know that!”  “So here we are!”  “Oh, now I see!”
His enthusiasm, infectious, can prove a bit much at times.
Usual talking heads.  One I recognized from an episode of “The Secret Life Of Books”, where she all but called Charlotte Brontë a racist.

Beyond The Black Rainbow - 2010 - Canada

Beyond The Black Rainbow - 2010 - 5/10

 
Futuristic tale of company that helps you create “a better you.”
Except experimentation now seems their locus.
Camera work reeks of student film class:  slow dissolves, step printing, colorization.
Acting is ponderous and stilted to the nth degree.
The opening corporate mission statement indicates 1983 and the music remains 80's throughout.
Synthesizers and musique concrète.
A lot of visually impressive work undermined by exhausting, dreary, glacial pace.

Bodyguard - 1948 - USA

Bodyguard - 1948 - 6/10

 
Lawrence Tierney plays detective who ignores the rules and book one too many times and gets suspended.
Not to worry, he is approached to work as bodyguard for wealthy old lady.
She protests she does not need a bodyguard, then a bullet smashes though the window of her study.
Detective stays the night, follows her when she slips out at 4:00 AM, gets whacked on the head, wakes up in a car with a dead cop beside him, the car is on train tracks with an express train howling ...
That’s like the first ten minutes of this rapid fire B-movie.
Pace is terrific, from constant tracking shots to enough situations to fill six movies.
Breathless thrust of the narrative keeps one from wondering,  “What's the point?”  
Tierney also plays a “good guy.”   He’s no Boston Blackie, but it’s nice to view him in a role other than a caged tiger.
He has good chemistry with Priscilla Lane (her last role).
Script by a very young Robert Altman, of all people.

Silent Britain - 2006 - UK

Silent Britain - 2006 - 6/10

 
Film historian Matthew Sweet deep within the BBC vaults.
British silent films are often overlooked, especially compared with Hollywood or German cinema.
England had its own pioneers, stars, studios, and hits.
At an hour, this is not an in-depth survey, merely showcasing key films.
More films, including rarities, would have been better.