Malevolent - 2018 - UK

Malevolent - 2018 - 6/10

 
Sister-brother, Angela and Jackson, rescue owners of troubled homes.
Houses ghosted by unhappy spirits, restless souls.
They cleanse dwellings ... for a price.  They are also complete frauds.
The latest client lives in Scotland’s hinterlands, the building is an old school, not derelict, but neglected.
And - there is definitely something wrong with the place.
Good thriller - not necessarily horror - with dark twists throughout, and shady lead characters.

A Florida Enchantment - 1914 - USA

A Florida Enchantment - 1914 - 6/10

Lillian, come into her inheritance, journeys from New York to Florida to advise Fred there is no impediment to their marriage.
Fred is part of a posh hotel, and duties include indulging wealthier females.
Which Lillian observes.
Enter the MacGuiffin.  A box containing 100 year old tribal seeds – which can cause sex reversal.
Naturally, Lillian swallows a seed.  Well, she was really irate.
Soon, she becomes a predatory feMALE.

 
She also force feeds seeds down her maid and fiancé Fred.
What follows is a cascade of sex-reversal, transgender comic innuendo.
I imagine 1914 audiences tittered at this, but now much of the humor is dated caricatures and stereotypes.
Modern audiences, often intolerant and judgmental of previously accepted norms, may scorn this.
In other words, know thyself.

The Mill And The Cross - 2011

The Mill And The Cross - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - Mlyn i Krzyz

 
Arthouse cinema with Rutger Hauer, Michael York and Charlotte Rampling.
Deliberately paced film shows the creation of Bruegel’s The Way To Calvary.
Hauer, as Bruegel, explains to his patron (York) various aspects of the composition.
Tree of Life on one side, Tree of Death (catherine wheel) balanced on the other.
I was ignorant of Flemish history and couldn’t understand why red garbed Spanish conquistadors were killing heretics.
Looked it up, the start of the Eighty Years War for Dutch independence was imminent.
Every image was a jeweled painting in costume and design.
Film fell somewhere between Monk’s Book Of Days and Parajanov’s The Color Of Pomegranates.

Tell Me Something - 1999 - S Korea

Tell Me Something - 1999 - 7/10
AKA - Telmi Sseomding // 텔 미 썸딩

One of the two films that launched S Korea into global cinema (Shiri being the other).
Slick, stylized police horror / thriller manipulates genre tropes throughout.
Black plastic bags containing chopped bodies keep turning up.
Unfortunately, heads, torsos, arms, legs, don’t match.
After dismemberment, someone jumbles them before bagging.
There is a pattern, and a common link.
All the bodies - men - had dated, and broken up with, one woman.

 
The daughter of a reclusive artist, she hides secrets.
Meanwhile, the case detective is under investigation for taking bribes.  Both souls are deeply flawed.
Rain pours constantly, and interiors are gloomy, mirroring the emotional unhappiness of the characters.
Some have compared this with Se7en, and it does resemble early Fincher, but this is no copycat.

Inside The Mind Of Agatha Christie - 2019

Inside The Mind Of Agatha Christie - 2019 - 6/10

 
The mistress of murder, profiled in 45”.
For newcomers to Christie, this covers it all:
The first marriage, her disappearance, years in the Middle East, various residences.
Talking heads include historians and family members.
For most, I suspect, this will be old hat.
I have never read her novels, only a few stories, “The Mousetrap,” TV and film adaptations.
Nevertheless, I knew the whole history.
My favorite part were the comments about her notebooks.
Deconstructing her methods, choices, and plotting.  That, to me, was “inside the mind.”

Unforgivable - 2011

Unforgivable - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Impardonnables

 
Aging French writer suffers block and opts to recharge in Venice.
After one year, he has a young wife, and his grown daughter has run away ... again.
He hires a detective to find his daughter, then hires another to trail his wife.
No, it was not as interesting as is sounds.
Snooze inducing narrative, boring characters, offset by nice shots of Venice.
For diehard French film buffs.

Bloodride - 2020

Bloodride - 2020 - 6/10

 
Six part horror omnibus from Norway.  Each episode thirty minutes.
A family, new to the hamlet, discovers prosperity can be bartered for.
One’s perfect life, a girl realizes, can be ruined by a petty scribbler.

 
As with most anthologies, quality varies, with the bookends being the strongest.
The new teacher, open and enthusiastic, starts digging into a buried mystery.
Then there’s the office party.  My God! in any country, these are insufferable.
Bad enough we have to work with these people, but get drunk with them?  Please.
Oh, did I say office party from Hell?

Murder In Collioure - 2015 - France

Murder In Collioure - 2015 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à Collioure

 
A body, stuffed in a wooden barrel, packed with nails and glass shards, rolls down a steep hill.
Yeah, another grisly yet imaginative murder in the French countryside.
The local detective is assigned a partner from a nearby province.
I was hopeful for a bit.  The assigned partner struck me as old enough to be the detective’s father.
Plus, the female detective lived with another woman.  So, perhaps the door to romance was sealed.
No such luck.
Police procedural, rather creative, with more energetic writing, and diverse yet memorable characters.
For all that, this remains a formula, weekend mystery.

Dragon Swamp - 1969 - Hong Kong

Dragon Swamp - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - 毒龍潭

 
Vintage Shaw Brothers movie that itself is a throwback to an earlier, less bloody, era.
Plot involves the theft of a magical jade sword, with which the holder can control the martial arts world. In effect, the universe!
That said, the sword also is cursed and means doom for those who wield it.
Not as much fighting and swordsplay as one might expect, though there were a couple highly choreographed and stylized battles.
Main character, Qing-erh, is one of the most gullible and trusting females around.
She is also an orphan. Her family was severed by the sword when she was an infant, but as she starts hunting for the blade she makes fateful encounters.
A lot of fun, though I imagine part of the enjoyment depends on your tolerance for old school Hong Kong movies.

Trance - 2013

Trance - 2013 - 6/10

 
Another brain mixer from Danny Boyle.
After the heist comes off, key mole Simon cannot remember where he stashed the theft.
Gang members beat and torture him without success.
Plan B:  Hypnosis.  Hire a hypnotist to get him to remember.
And then, plans go off the rails.  Simon has other memories, buried.
Smart film, with a lot of tricks and twists.
Those who keep checking their messages during this one will quickly get lost.

The Great Underground War - 2015 - UK

The Great Underground War - 2015 - 5/10

 
5 part documentary on tunnel warfare during World War I.
Talking heads (of varying value), reenactments, maps and vintage newsreel footage.
Mine techniques, explosion strategies, counter tunnels, and the heavy death toll.
Three episodes cover the western theaters of Verdun, Ypres, and the Somme.
The final two were of more interest to me, covering the Alpine war between Austria and Italy.
Indeed, the fourth episode featured no tunnels, just mountaineering warriors.
Possibly for war or history buffs, this felt padded to me.
E17 of The Great War (1964) covered the underground war succinctly in 15 minutes.

See Here My Love - 1978

See Here My Love - 1978 - 5/10
AKA - Écoute Voir...

 
Private detective Claude (Catherine Deneuve) is hired by young lord to investigate recent break-ins at his manor.  Then he hires her to rescue a female “friend” who has been indoctrinated into a religious cult.
Meanwhile, electronic transmissions affect villagers, a radio station may be involved.
What do these have to with anything?  Who knows!
The story bounces like a pinball, recalling campy Avengers episodes.
Deneuve is another matter.  She obviously prepared for her role, playing her detective cool and remote.
Her character, self reliant and thoughtful, is years ahead of its time.
Deneuve fans will want to watch, but for detective buffs, this is sloppy.

Hex - 1980 - Hong Kong

Hex - 1980 - 6/10
AKA - Xie // 邪

 
There’s a body missing.  Probably out in the village pond.
The two women ought to know, since they pushed it in there.
Bodies are troublesome, though, they often won’t stay put.
Wait, back up.
Chun marries into a rich household, but the gilded days dwindle.
Angry, bitter, he drinks, complains, beats servants and his wife.
The early plot resembles Diabolique, but after that, buckle up!
The house interior is gorgeous, and the film is jam packed with jump scares.
One can only imagine Hong Kong and Kowloon cinema theaters roaring at this one.
Eerie, creepy thriller is wild, and a guilty pleasure.

Make Up - 2019

Make Up - 2019 - 5/10

 
Ruth comes to visit her boyfriend on the Cornwall coast.
He works at a beach community, overhauling during off-season.
Ruth could work, too, but she seems more inclined to chill.  To do nothing.
Disappointing film cannot find its identity.
Is it a horror film?  A mystery?  A “relationship” drama?
Angles are offered with neither explanation nor resolution.  Characters are poorly developed.
A dark ambiant score favors the horror mystery genre (though at one point I commented,  “If you replace the music here with Beach Boys or Erasure, the whole vibe changes.”).
Result of this writer director vanity project is a muddle.

A Company Man - 2012 - S Korea

A Company Man - 2012 - 6/10
AKA - Hoesawon //  회사원

 
Large Korean metal exporting firm is actually a front for murder and assassination outfit.
One of the top trigger men has gotten bored, weary, exhausted and wants out.
Apparently, he's never watched a single movie about trying to leave the mob.
Expect the usual crescendo of suspicion, mistrust, "severance package," and noisy finale.
Interestingly, most of the characters behaved as bored 9-5 office drones - with weapons in desk drawers.
Derivative, copy cat fare, featuring many players from the much better K-Drama Ghost (Phantom).

The Devil Makes Three - 1952 - USA

The Devil Makes Three - 1952 - 6/10

 
Captain Eliot returns to postwar Munich, looking for the family he knew … before.
Older members did not survive Allied bombing.
The daughter, however, who the captain still sees as a teenager, has ripened over the years.
And works as a B-girl in the nightclub circuit.
There is so much in this film to recommend.  The nightclubs recall heady Weimar days.
The whole mystery of the black market and smuggling.  Location filming in Munich, Austria, and Berchtesgaden.
Yet the romantic element between Gene Kelly and Pier Angeli drags the proceedings into snoozeville.
The pair have no onscreen chemistry, delivering their exchanges as if they are addressing mannequins.

Climbing Blind - 2020

Climbing Blind - 2020 - 6/10

 
Jesse Dufton, barely visible in red jacket, ascends Scotland’s sheer Old Man Of Hoy.
Per title, Mr. Dufton is blind.  Moreover, he is leading, not following.
Meaning, he has to feel for handholds and footholds.
No belay line.
Documentary touches on his backstory, and preparations leading to this climb.
At barely an hour, this is concise, well photographed, and will be must-view for mountaineering enthusiasts.

Tyrannosaur - 2011

Tyrannosaur - 2011 - 6/10

 
In your face character studies with Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman.
Angry old man, boiling with rage and self destruction, meets devout, Christian shop owner, with violent skeletons in her own closet.
Despite the title, no dinosaurs.
The path to redemption seems fraught with swearing, beatings, and blood.
Rough film - pet lovers, you ought to avoid this one.

Black Widows - 2014 - Finland

Black Widows - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - Mustat Lesket

 
Above.  Happy men (husbands) with unhappy women (wives).
Would the males be so jovial if they knew their boat would soon explode, with them on it?
Because those unhappy wives planted a bomb.
Afterward, the widows must deal with investigators, shady business partners, studs drawn by their single status.
Some good mystery angles, lightened with laugh out loud humor.
Again and again, they have to deal with the unexpected.
That, and they can’t always rely on each other.  Indeed, I found two to be weak links.
Wildly popular, dark series from Finland spawned copycats in Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, the Middle East, India, Mexico, Scandinavia and the Czech Republic.  (For English speakers, subbed not dubbed.)

+++

Two years later, there is S02.  Several loose threads are taken up, but not necessarily stitched.
New characters enter, fresh narrative track is laid down.  Nothing essential, however.
Midway, the tempo and energy begins to flag, as if the creative crew is padding, hoping for a S03.
Which never transpired, leaving this series with multiple unresolved storylines.

 

Murder In The Land Of The Cathars - 2020

Murder In The Land Of The Cathars - 2020 - 5/10
AKA - Meurtres en Pays Cathare

 
Amateur photographer (above) is found murdered at an exhibition of the Inquisition of the Cathar sect.
Since the prime suspect (covered in blood) is brother to the lead detective, an outsider is dispatched.
Who just happens to be an ex-beau.  Really?  Is France so cozy?
Writers toss in subplots and ramp up the suspect list.
Outdoor locations are NOT taken advantage of.
The victim seems an afterthought.

Elles - 2011 - France

Elles - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Sponsoring

 
Dreary goings-on of two working girls.
Juliette Binoche portrays freelance writer interviewing two college girls who service gents for extra money.
No drug abuse, no criminal element, no pimps.
Just a pair of 18 year olds doing the deed with well-mannered, well-dressed, well paying johns.
The high-priced call-girl fantasy that some believe.
Arthouse twaddle.  Snoozeville.