Berlin Syndrome - 2017 - Australia

Berlin Syndrome - 2017 - 5/10
 

Wide-eyed Australian turista arrives in Berlin.
Instead of seeing sights, she makes easy friends and chats.
Talks a bit too much, to be blunt, which tailspins into her ordeal.
Lazy script, based on a predictable novel, of a truly ignorant soul.
Has this girl never viewed Horror flicks or stalker films?
Has she never dated?  Learned to deflect probing questions?
How about, letting people know where she is?
Later on, how come she waits until late in the afternoon?
I could go on and on.  Producers may well assume their audience is gullible, too.

The Favourite - 2018

The Favourite - 2018 - 6/10

 
Glossy drama of the power behind the throne.
In this case, Lady Marlborough behind Queen Anne.
First half drips style.  Indeed, this may remind seasoned viewers of Orlando or Plunkett & Macleane.
Staccato paced, acid drenched dialogue, blast furnace humor, make this irresistible arthouse.   
Unfortunately, the second half is an utter reversal.
The narrative plods, colors are leached out, and proceedings are glum and serious.
Yes, the director is making a point - and following history - but the enjoyment swoons off the cliff.

Weekend - 2011 - UK

Weekend - 2011 - 6/10

 
Two gents meet at a noisy club, leave together, spin a fling.
Talking predominates, sharing childhoods, experiences, no different from straight couples.
One suffers commitment anxiety, the other wants to explore the possibility of "what if."
Per title, this occurs during a long weekend.
Hopeful reviewers have dropped the love word, assuming a blissful relationship can be formed in a weekend.
Casual viewers, some sex scenes might put you off.

The Flesh And Blood Show - 1972 - UK

The Flesh And Blood Show - 1972 - 5/10

 
Too early to fall into the Slasher genre, this is the timeless concept of knocking off characters one by one.
Cat And The Canary (1927) and And The There Were None (1945) are examples.
Assorted actors answer the audition call at a long shuttered Brighten playhouse.
Soon enough, they realize something is amiss.
Almost a decent thriller this.  The location is underutilized, however, and the characters are sketches.
As with the earlier The Big Switch (1968) producers load up the skin to spark lulls.

 
This is a better film than that one.  Acting, photography, script invention.
As with the earlier film, the tempo drags, though flashback and whodunit angle were slick.

Studio 54 - 2018

Studio 54 - 2018 - 7/10

 
Surprisingly entertaining documentary of the influential, of polarizing, New York nightclub.
Story proceeds chronologically, with perhaps faithful recollections by survivors.
Best friends Rubell and Schrager acquire a discarded CBS studio, renovate, issue invites.
Within months, the club was a must, as rich, famous and celebrities alike partied inside to extravagant sets.

 
Lined queued and admittance for the rabble incited a torrent of dark passions.
The doc mentions this resentment and envy, as well as the anti Disco sentiment at the time.
Producers either underplay the hatred of the time (for disco, for gays, for blacks, for liberated females), or they flat out simply never comprehended expressions outside the Manhattan glitterati.    
No shirking from the downfall, however, and narrators seem honest - and likeable.
One aspect I truly appreciated was the unbreakable  bond between Rubell and Schrager.

The Whistleblower - 2010

The Whistleblower - 2010 - 6/10

 
Recently divorced mother (Rachel Weisz), loses custody of daughter, and promises to relocate across the country to be near her.
To earn a lot of money, as quick as possible, she hires on with contract firm as UN peacekeeper in Bosnia.
She stumbles into the world of sex trafficking and slavery, and gradually discovers the scope and coverup.  Part and parcel of the latter are the procurers and chief clientele.
Unpleasant film, with beatings and torture, based, sadly, on true events.
The actual contractor was Texas based, DynCorp.

Love Education - 2006 - Hong Kong

Love Education - 2006 - 5/10
AKA - 禁室培慾之愛的俘虜

Swinging Hong Kong photographer is catnip to the ladies.
“Take my picture, please!”  “Ooh, I love nudity, yes, please touch me!”
Then one evening, he spies a moody female, dark eyed Yumi, drinking in a smoky bar.
What’s the phrase?  One moment of passion, a lifetime of regret.

 
Turns out she is possessive to the nth degree.  From blindfolds to handcuffs to steel manacles.
She encourages obedience.  Yumi’s helpers include fire rods, kitchen knives, garden tools.
“Those last pictures of me are no good.  Make me look beautiful, or else!”
Oh, yeah, she drains that wick of his daily – if you catch my drift.
Glossy, Cat 3 sopping with blood, flashing plenty of hot skin.

Let It Rain - 2008

Let It Rain - 2008 - 4/10
AKA - Parlez-Moi de la Pluie

 
French pap.
Wayward trio attempts to film pretentious documentary, focusing on the female's political ambitions.
The two males can barely find a lens cap, let alone the start button.
Orbiting around are needy siblings, insecure types, who bore viewers into slumberland
Attractive looking film.  A fine cast is sadly wasted in a story plodding nowhere.

Apocalypse: World War I - 2014 - France

Apocalypse: World War I - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - Apocalypse la 1ère Guerre Mondiale

 
Five part French documentary, colorized throughout.
Certainly not as essential as other WWI docs, this should appeal to wars buffs, despite some caveats.
There are no talking heads or historians.  Old film and newsreels predominate.
Sound effects have been added (explosions, gunfire, marching feet, etc ...) and those serve to enhance.
As mentioned, this is colorized - heavily.  So much so that the sharpness and contrast suffers,
Images are noticeably flattened or blurry.
Original narration was in French.  The English dubbed speaker has a snooze inducing monotone.
More carnage and brutality in this documentary.  Starvation in Berlin, atrocities in Armenia.
Surprisingly, a lengthy reveal of prostitution and military brothels.

Colette - 2018 - UK

Colette - 2018 - 6/10

 
Keira Knightley, acceptable for once, in a costume drama.
Though unlikely to win awards or acclaim, Knightley plugs along and does not appear lost in a sea of finery.
Story follows Colette’s early years (long pigtale notwithstanding, there is no way the actor resembles a 14 year old).
Husband Willy enlists young bride into his writing stable.  Her creation, “Claudine” proves a runaway bestseller.
Willy takes credit, society suspects the truth, Colette finds solace in affairs.
I imagine outraged audiences decry such exploitation.  I wonder how they feel inside the museum, admiring large installations by the modern “artist” who maintain a crew – a factory – to do the actual creating.
Movie covers a lot of territory, has a glossy surface, and feels shallow.
Decent companion to 1972 French film, La Naissance du Jour, which shows the writer’s later years.

Break Of Day - 1980

Break Of Day - 1980 - 6/10
AKA - La Naissance du Jour

 
Summer 1927.  Writer Colette is at her St Tropez beach cottage, with one servant, one dog, two cats, and a slow parade of visitors.
She is working on "Break Of Day," recalling her mother through their correspondence, analyzing her own life, studying friends, dissecting their motives, mimicking overheard phrases, writing drafts, tearing them up.
Organizing the myriad influences, some useful for her novel, others shelved for later.
The color scheme is vibrant, in contrast with the story, which is internal in nature.
Movies about creative sorts (painters, sculptors, writers) are invariably dull because of the incremental nature of creating.  Most juice things up with dramatics or substance abuse.
La Naissance du Jour does not fall prey to those tropes, and is the better for it, though it is languid.

Pride & Prejudice: Having A Ball - 2013 - UK

Pride & Prejudice:  Having A Ball - 2013 - 7/10
 

Irresistible documentary for hardcore Janeites and casual Austen fans alike.
This focuses on that key element of the Regency world for the young, the ball.
Dance steps were actually fiendishly complicated, and physically demanding.
Status could be seen in choice of candles, desserts served, as well as clothes.
Speaking of clothes, female knickers were crotchless.  Male clothing was very form fitting, to display . . . mmm . . . simply to display.
Casually mentioned was how increasingly modern, and wrong-headed, modern adaptations of P&P have become.
If you have reread Austen numerous times, if you have multiple film versions of P&P, S&S, as well as Emma, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion, not to mention Lost In Austen (w/ Downtown intact), then this documentary is for you.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν.  If you are a Janeite, rate this much higher.

Altes Geld - 2015 - Austria

Altes Geld - 2015 - 8/10
AKA - Old Money

 
Gleeful, diabolical entertainment here!
A delicious Udo Kier plays the wealthy patriarch, dying of liver disease.  He makes a proposal.
Whoever delivers a healthy organ will inherit the family "business."
Relatives, advisors, employees, wolves in suits, sharks in gowns, rip into each other.
Treachery, incest, kidnapping, backstabbing, more incest, murder, blackmail, torture.
Moreover, despite my comments about German comedy, this is laugh out loud funny.
Mean spirited, midnight humor aimed for cynical adults.  Eight parts, Austria.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Tea With The Dames - 2018

Tea With The Dames - 2018 - 6/10

 
Entertaining, enjoyable eavesdrop on four grand dames of British theatre.
For West End goers, the comments are delicious and rare clips make this a must see.
This is feel-good material, however, meaning uncomfortable topics often result in silences.
Therein is the, not problem, but lack of substance with this documentary.
Despite the wine and laughter, one can sense their guardedness.
Also, I cannot help but wonder if questions were given ahead of time and spontaneous answers were prepared.
Don’t want to sound churlish, because this is gregarious history, and the sharp exchanges are frequently laugh out loud funny.

Exam - 2009

 Exam - 2009 - 6/10

 
Eight job candidates are seated in a featureless room.
Simple rules are given.  Such as, if you leave the room, you are disqualified.  If you speak with the guard, you are disqualified.  Then they are given 80 minutes to solve an enigmatic question.
After a few elections, the remaining realize there are rules, yet outside the rules, anything goes.
Treachery, deception, violence.  Personalities unleash. Mind games yield to mob rules.
Taut little suspenser, though feels a wee bit stagebound.

Blind Love - 2004 - Japan

Blind Love - 2004 - 6/10
AKA - Waisetsu Sutêji: Nando mo Tsukkonde // わいせつステージ　何度もつっこんで

 
Blind girl is attracted to a short statured ventriloquist.
Only thing, she mistakes the taller, younger apprentice for the original.
The apprentice, a ne’er do well, exploits her handicap.
Written differently, this could be farce.  This is a wistful, poignant tale, however.
Lonely people, beaten souls, individuals who have no place in modern Japan.
Be warned, this is a pinku eiga (sexual rompings abound), many participants are not fitness buffs.

Punk In London - 1977

Punk In London - 1977 - 7/10

 
On the scene documentary showcasing the early movement at its rawest.
Mixed performances by the Killjoys, X-Ray Spex, Adverts, Clash, Chelsea, Jam, and others I could not recognize.
Top venues and hangouts, the Marquee, Roxy, Rough Trade, mentioned.
Big problem with this is groups were not identified, the audio ranged from OK to murky, and this was a German production.
Aside from interviews, all narration was in German.
Still, the energy was electric, on fire performances.
Arguably Punk at its creative, freewheeling peak, before the money, the deals, and the compromises.
Terrific doc for many, will leave others baffled.

Compartiment Tueurs - 1965

Compartiment Tueurs - 1965 - 7/10
AKA - The Sleeping Car Murder

 
Tight French thriller.  The locked room mystery, or here, murder in the train compartment.
Sleeper car.  Six berths, one mysterious death.  Strangulation.
The victim seems to have been innocent, and no one seems to have noticed.
Passengers scatter to their lives, police remain baffled.
Until those uninvolved passengers begin to meet the Reaper.
Film starts at a decent pace (ie; 1965), though momentum builds and by the finale is breakneck.
Script adroitly keeps viewers guessing throughout.

The Man With The Glass Eye - 1969

The Man With The Glass Eye - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - Der Mann mit dem Glasauge

 
After the show ends, a chorus line girl is chauffeured to posh hotel for business hijinks.
Before sordid naughtiness climaxes, an assassin in trenchcoat kills the john with a hurled knife.
Scotland Yard swings into action and begins hunting for the female --
-- who is poisoned the next day backstage at the variety theater!
Peppy, late-in-the-cycle, Krimi features a vivid, late 60's look, as well as a campy late 60's plotline.
“Based” on Edgar Wallace writings (much as the later Bond films were “based” on Ian Fleming novels).
Racketeers elude the police, while the assassin eludes all.
Noisy, rattling diversion, but essentially a guilty pleasure for Krimi fans.
Alert! - Despite Scotland Yard, English names, this is a German language production.

Poetry - 2010 - S Korea

Poetry - 2010 - 7/10
AKA - 시

 
Bitter Korean film of the spirit vs the flesh.
66 year old grandmother went to clinic for hurt arm, after testing was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's.
She is raising her teenage grandson during the peak rebellion years.
You want to hate the kid, but he is only a teenager.
He is making bad friends, bad decisions, and on the brink of learning the definition of consequences.
The story is the grandmother Mija's, however, trying to protect her grandson, going to class to learn how to write poetry, all while the light of understanding is flickering out.
Well done, not for the ostrich.

The Seventh Victim - 1943

The Seventh Victim - 1943 - 7/10

 
When funding for her private school stops, young Mary embarks to Greenwich Village, searching for older sister Jacqueline.
There, however, shadows gather.
She discovers Jacqueline had sold her prospering business and vanished.
Marked as Horror, this is more Gothic Noir, with creative lighting throughout.
Tension is more suggestion and implied, rather than crimson lashed.
Peculiar resolution, though, and Beaumont’s wishy character is uneasy to modern eyes.