Naked Alibi - 1954 - USA

Naked Alibi - 1954 - 6/10

 
Decent Noir with Sterling Hayden as no-nonsense police chief.
Drunk and disorderly baker brought in for questioning, provokes cops, gets smacked around.
Within days, three cops murdered and gruff chief suspects the family man, police brutality victim, the baker.
Plenty of false trails to keep viewer guessing.
Noir fatale, Gloria Grahame, plays cheap singer in low life Mexican cantina.

Shakespeare & Hathaway - 2018 - UK

Shakespeare & Hathaway - 2018 - 6/10

 
Daytime detective series, set in Stratford-upon-Avon, with male/female partners.
Stories are one-offs.  Robberies, sabotage, a bit of murder.
Police are involved, but TV detectives are always smarter than TV authorities.
Cheerful throughout, with wisecracks and light humor.
On par with the Agatha Raisin series, lacks the polish of Miss Fisher, superior to any Hallmark drivel.
S02-04 have come and gone, and been viewed.  I have been informed if there is a S05 I will be watching it.
Resistance is futile.

An Unpopular Woman - 2013 - Germany

An Unpopular Woman - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - Eine Unbeliebte Frau

 
The "unpopular" woman, Isabel, races through a cornfield, then makes a mistake, emerging into an open field.
Police soon arrive, as well as the forensic team.
Isabel was pretty much disliked by all.  She was mercenary, and slept with numerous males, most married.
Don’t start second-guessing the detectives, as another murder occurs, and a child kidnapping!
Based on a Nele Neuhaus novel, there is also, supposedly, a Cinderella undercurrent.
Confusing muddle of narratives and relationships, set in the equestrian sphere.
Better than “reality” TV, though.

The Serpent & The Rainbow - 1988 - USA

The Serpent & The Rainbow - 1988 - 5/10

 
Bill Pullman, field worker / anthropologist for Big Pharma, digs around in voodoo Haiti for cures.
Instructions are to find the “zombie drug” which supposedly will suspend life for a month.
Yeah, boss, wait till Marketing tries to overcome - “I ain’t gonna be no zombie” - consumer resistance.
Of course, he never gets that far.  Instead he gets embroiled with the Bébé Doc Duvalier police state and growing insurrection.
Some curious dream sequences fueled by voodoo herbal cocktails, but the film mostly staggers around.
Directed by Wes Craven, this looks ten years out of date, circa 1975.
Pullman’s hair stays fluffy the whole movie.
Wasted opportunity.

Medusa - 1973 - Greece

Medusa -  1973 - 3/10
AKA - To Kynigi Tis Medousas

 
My fault for not even glancing at the synopsis.
Dilettante playboy works cheap hustles and capers with strong arm casino owner.
Meanwhile, the playboy's sister tries to score Greek tycoon for husband.
Police sniff around, but seem more inclined to watch giggling arguments.
This film really blows.  The first ten minutes is taken up with dancing!
English spoken in most scenes, Greek in the others.  Not subtitled.
The plot feels improvised.  George Hamilton admitted he did this for a free vacation with his new wife, Alana.
I only loaded Medusa because it was in my box of 50 Crappy Horror flicks.
This ain't horror.  Only horror is brain cells being destroyed.  Rubbish from beginning to end.

Tehran - 2020 - Israel

Tehran - 2020 - 6/10

 
Mossad agent Tamar’s first mission goes wrong, badly wrong.
She is now running through the Iranian capital, intelligence teams in pursuit.
Iranian Intelligence wants her caught, while the Israelis want her rescued.  Maybe.  If not, perhaps silenced.
Tamar is resourceful enough to use and exploit others.
This series is a good cat and mouse thriller, tautly written, with neat twists.
And, not to be forgotten, that original mission, with or without Tamar, continues to spin.

My Cousin Rachel - 2017 - UK

My Cousin Rachel - 2017 - 6/10

 
Somber adaptation of Daphne du Maurier novel.
Young orphan is taken in by his older, single, male cousin.
After the youth comes of age, the cousin meets and marries an exotic English / Italian hybrid.
Just before he mysteriously dies.
Opinions and judgments of the widow, as seen through key characters, surge, ebb, and shift.
Despite several dramatic outbursts, film is coldly reserved.
Watchable, especially for costume drama buffs, but not particularly engaging.

Footnote - 2011 - Israel

Footnote - 2011 - 6/10
AKA - הערת שולים

 
Israeli story of two scholars.  The popular professor and the dour iconoclast.
Both nominated for the top Israel prize for Talmudic studies.
Oh, yeah, they are father and son, with all the rivalry that implies.
Bitter complications arise after the winner is announced.
Film very frustrating on multiple levels.  The way characters interact with each other.
Family members are introduced, troubles displayed, then nothing.
Females seem afterthoughts.
Well done, but I did not enjoy this at all.  Despite ads, it was not funny, either.

Red Wedding - 1973 - France

Red Wedding - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Les Noces Rouges

 
The deputy mayor, the wife of the mayor.
Both are married, locked in loveless matches.
Their attraction is immediate, and they soon lash and clutch like animals in heat.
While there are traditional routes of separation, divorce, a fresh connection, they chose a darker route.
Both characters seem poorly developed, surprising for a Chabrol film, and the tone is aloof.
They are not the most sympathetic nor the most rational.
A keen, if corrosive observation of soiled passions.

Night Of The Cobra Woman - 1972 - USA

Night Of The Cobra Woman - 1972 - 4/10

 
Alert readers will note cobra and woman in title.
I safely predicted snakes, nudity, jungle magic, and budget limitations.
While the headlined star is the delicious Joy Bang, the film belongs to Marlene Clark.
After being bitten by a Fire Brand cobra, WWII nurse acquires immortality though the venom.
For reasons unexplained, she also drains manly wicks to remain youthful.
Decades later, a blonde researcher tries to meet the nurse, only she upsets the equilibrium.
That, and the arrival of her boyfriend, who gets the snake woman's juices flowing.
Plot makes little sense, editing is jumpy, many breast shots.
For students of Serpentes, they appear in abundance.
Dumb film, fun in parts.  I watched to see Miss Bang.

The Sins Of Love - 1929 - Czechoslovakia

The Sins Of Love - 1929 - 6/10
AKA - Hríchy Lásky

The great Kristen leaves the village stage to find fame in the big city.
Where blustering, hammy stage actors are a dozen a kopek.
Accompanying him, however, is his demur wife, of bewitching face.

 
Of course, she is given a quick tryout and voilà.
Curtain calls, bouquets, stardom, and interest.
The handsome male lead and the theatrical impresario ponder how to move Kristen from the scene.

 
Kristen may be something of a buffoon, yet he is not blind.
For those who have seen any version of A Star Is Born, you know the template.
The video elements have been wonderfully restored.  Audio is another matter.
The new “score” resembles Ussachevsky with electronic blips, static, disembodied voices, etc … 

The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life - 2008 - France

The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life - 2008 - 6/10
AKA - Le Premier Jour du Reste de ta Vie

 
French drama following a middle class family for about a decade.
Film hones in on five specific - important - days for the family.
When the oldest moves out, a wedding, death . . .
Most of the actors will be familiar if you view enough French fare.
Nice soundtrack, several funny scenes, bits of drama, but nothing over the top or false.

The Phantom Strikes! - 1996/2013 - Fanedit

The Phantom Strikes! - 1996/2013 - 6/10

 

Another winning reworking from the folks at FanEdit.
Top job and a quality companion to The Shadow Strikes!
This Phantom is recast as a 30's black and white action ride.
Cheesy humor eliminated, nice removal of sloppy stunt work (visible wires and doubles), and reining in of Treat Williams’ original over-the-top, ham fisted acting.
The 1996 adaption of The Phantom was always a PG movie. Sex and violence very toned down.
Billy Zane was comfortable as The Ghost Who Walks, though he was awfully polite.
In addition, how on earth he preferred white-bread Kristy Swanson over smoldering Catherine Zeta Jones defied comprehension.
The edit is fun, breezy and light, and not as dark as many actual serials from the 30’s (meaning safe for sheltered family viewing).
This spirited romp through a 30's time tunnel is worth seeking out.
Good popcorn flick from BionicBob.

 

Innsmouth - 2019 - USA

Innsmouth - 2019 - 5/10

The writer arrives in the fabled port.
He’s heard things, stories, you understand?
Right quick he encounters strangeness.  Creatures and costumes.

 
This short stretches the HPL connection pretty thin.
Camera work and editing are good, sound is fine.
Dialogue is another matter.  The miking is atrocious, with ambient noise masking conversation.
Not that characters say anything particularly important.
Stick for the ending, it’s pretty loopy.

The Aviator's Wife - 1980 - France

The Aviator's Wife - 1980 - 6/10
AKA - La Femme de l'aviateur

 
François, a young postal employee catches an old flame departing his girlfriend's apartment.
The girlfriend denies everything.  Actually, she believes François is a creep.
Her opinion is confirmed when her swain he begins to stalk the other man.
During the course of an afternoon, he shares time with a high school student and they converse about women, choice, relationships, trust.
You know, the usual.   At least of you are a character in a French drama.
François is five years older than the young student, five years younger than his girlfriend.
With that in mind, one sees youthful optimism, growing awareness, cynicism.
No one is downright unpleasant, though tics, obsessions and overall flightiness could drain your patience.

Adrift - 2018 - Iceland

Adrift - 2018 - 7/10

Redford covered similar ground in 2014 with All Is Lost, but this has different perspectives.
Couple, taking schooner across the Pacific to the States, enter hurricane Raymond.

 
Once the masts go, the ship is driven by currents.
As with similar films, the boat is far removed from shipping lanes.  The pair are on their own.
The story enters survival territory, and is filled with flashbacks of how the couple met, how they connected.
Photography is impressive throughout, the plot logical, and one is immersed.
I have viewed a few films by director Baltasar Kormákur, his location shooting is stupendous.

Footsteps In The Dark - 1941 - USA

Footsteps In The Dark - 1941 - 6/10

 
Comedy - mystery starring Errol Flynn proves a fun change of pace for Warners’ action hero.
Investment broker pens best selling mystery novel under pseudonym.
Next he sets off solving real crimes, on the sly, with suspicious wife on his heels.
Breezy, lightweight, brisk paced fluff with solid Warners’ regulars in support.
Flynn and Brenda Marshall show genuine chemistry, and this might have made a good series.

The Beautiful Prisoner - 1983 - France

The Beautiful Prisoner - 1983 - 7/10
AKA - La Belle Captive

 
Walter finds a woman laying on the highway, bleeding.  The same girl he noticed at the club earlier.
Should he render aid, or carry on with his assignment?
Walter, you see, is an operative in a shadowy, criminal organization.
He drives her to stately mansion, lights blazing against the night.
And in entering, he is soon lost in a labyrinth of locked doors, déjà vu, double identities, illusions.
The belle captive may well have vampiric tendencies, in the best Jean Rollin manner.
Bewitching Robbe-Grillet film will keep his fans mesmerized, newcomers may depart in confusion.