Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story - 2007 - USA

Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story - 2007 - 7/10

 
Good documentary of the rise and demise of the premier soul label of the 60’s, 70’s.
Survivors reminisce, packed with performance footage.
Simmering in the background, is the ugly reality of racist Memphis.
While Stax’s late era financial woes cannot be carpeted over, other issues get a light tread.
Mention is made of Booker T. and the MG’s departing, reasons are like soft sighs.
Deeper history can be found online, yet for what this is, it is highly enjoyable.

Iris - 2016 - France

Iris - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - In The Shadow Of Iris

 
Banker husband pays for expensive lunch while wife waits outside.
Long enough for his wife to be kidnapped!
Police are summoned, try to devise a trap, but the quarry is slippery.
Glossy thriller comes packed with twists and confusing characters.
(Other reviewers note males all sport beards - the females are long haired brunettes.)
Engrossing French mystery, though the characters are too clever by half.

Loft - 2008 - Belgium

Loft - 2008 - 6/10

 
Belgium original film, not the 2014 remake.
Five married guys share a pricey loft where they bring twinkies and bang-bunnies.
Wives, what little we see of them, are weak, clueless, insecure.
Then one of the guys strolls in with his bag of vino and sees naked hottie in the blood soaked bed.
Narrative bounces from police interrogations to flashbacks to alibis and false trails.
Easy enough to follow, though premise remains far fetched.

Dream Home - 2010 - Hong Kong

Dream Home - 2010 - 6/10
AKA - Wai Dor Lei ah Yut Ho  // 維多利亞壹號

 
Is it so much to want a home of your own?  A place to call your own?
Since childhood, since real estate goons pushed everyone out of her Hong Kong hutong, that is all Sheung dreamed of.
Unfortunately, Hong Kong property prices are in the stratosphere.
Part of this is a historical drama.  The real estate, the Takeover, the gig economy.
The other half, however, is pure slasher.  Inventive at that, too.
Narrative bounces.  Just pay attention to “dates” and “times.”
This may be darkly funny, or a sour reminder, depending on ones housing plight.

Kontroll - 2003 - Hungary

Kontroll - 2003 - 6/10

 
Loose narrative of shady ticket inspectors working Budapest subways.
They hunt an aerosol punk named Bootsie, as well as a hooded figure (resembles Banksy) who pushes passengers into oncoming trains.
Filled with dark humor and seedy nightlife, no office folks at all, let alone tourists.  Street people, pimps, alcoholics, bullies, lost souls.
Fairly accurate feel for the Hungarian underground, which is rightfully infamous among seasoned turistas. *
Inspectors cluster at main exits and generally target visitors.  There are always fines.
Worthwhile film, whether you’ve been busted in Keleti or not.

*  Note:  My bride was once busted in Keleti by ticket cops, I can vouch for the accuracy of this part of the story.

Goodbye Dragon Inn - 2003 - Taiwan

Goodbye Dragon Inn - 2003 - 6/10
AKA - Bú sàn  //  不散

 
Deliberately misleading / baffling last night inside a vintage Taipei movie house.
Few customers fill the rows for a final showing of 1967's Dragon Inn.
Men wander back halls and storage rooms, smoking cigarettes throughout.
Are they are ghosts - or lost souls?
The ticket taker limps from one empty area to another, performing nightly duties.
Little transpires in this haunted environment, allowing viewers - this one, at least - to reflect on the passing of movie palaces.
I recall entertainment shrines being filled with SOLD OUT audiences.
In recent times, however, attendance plummeted.
The cast of this is intriguing, containing members of the 1967 Dragon Inn, influential Taiwanese martial arts classic that I somehow have not caught.
Goodbye Dragon Inn is pretentious twaddle or quietly insightful.  Mix of both.

Aquarius - 2016 - Brazil

Aquarius - 2016 - 5/10

 
Sônia Braga plays Clara, last tenant at the Aquarius, an old two story apartment in Recife, Brazil.
Her neighbors sold off to a property developer who intends to demolish and erect a high rise.
Clara won't budge, however.  Mind you, the Aquarius sits on the beach!
Conflict escalates between the 65 year old woman and the developer and his tactics.
Ostensibly a character study, I found Clara unsympathetic and inconsiderate.
Flaws don't mean she is in the wrong, though.
While I do not understand Brazilian property laws, I have tilted against developers a time or two.
Film itself is overlong, with many scenes extending three or four beats past their limit.
Blame the writer-director for self indulgence and leaving pointless sequences in the final cut.

The Battle Of The Rails - 1946 - France

The Battle Of The Rails - 1946 - 6/10
AKA - La Bataille du Rail

 
Above, in all likelihood, the face of the French Resistance.
Ordinary railroad workers.
From sabotage to passive aggressive delays.
Eventually, tasked to stall the Wehrmacht from speeding reinforcements to Normandy.
Frustrated German reactions are often funny in this how-to derail trains manual.
Perhaps because this came out immediately after the war, this has an immediacy, a freshness, a vibrancy, lacking in later war films, especially as time lengthened.

Resolution - 2012 - USA

Resolution - 2012 - 4/10

OK, lemme get this straight.
Nebbish leaves his hot blonde wife (newly pregnant, ole flying circus position gone forever in a few months), so he can spend a week with childhood buddy, who is a meth addict, living in rural oblivion.

 
Weird snapshots show up, peepers stare into the house at night, video tapes, odd sounds.
After a day or so, the straight guy starts to wonder if the shack - on Indian burial grounds - may be cursed.
Displaying zero common sense, he stays put, musing aloud,  “What is going on?”
I could well point the looking glass at myself, wondering why I select crap like this.
Not to give anything away, but if you’re one of those types who applaud open endings, this has your name on it.
Plenty of sites out there explain (or try to explain) the ending.  Good luck.

Maciste In Hell - 1925 - Italy

Maciste In Hell - 1925 - 6/10
AKA - Maciste al Inferno

 
A demon kidnaps prime physical specimen Maciste and ferries him to Hell.
There, he contests with endless hordes of demons and wretched souls -
and - struggles with the temptations of barely clad demons of the female persuasion.
Oh, but a single kiss can be the undoing of the morally sturdy.
Very busy film.  Loads of action.  Guest characters include Lucifer and Satan!
Lavish production values.  Costumes?  Most of the underworld wears next to nothing -- or nothing.
Save for Maciste, who seems to keep his business suit on most of the time.
Bodywise, Maciste takes after the old-fashioned circus strongman (think Rodrigo Quast) and not today’s steroid pumped fantasy figure.

Postcards From The 48% - 2018 - UK

Postcards From The 48% - 2018 - 6/10

 
As time hurtles onward, this one-sided “documentary” grows from curio to irrelevant,
Assembled here are voices, thoughts, warnings from members of 16 million who, during the Brexit referendum, voted to remain in Europe.
Filmmaker David Wilkinson makes his points, even extends to prospect of a revote.
That did not occur.
What this exposes is the perils of democracy of the uneducated and undereducated.
An electorate misinformed, poorly informed, or who never bothered with “facts.”
As if there are facts in politics, or if truths are accepted by all.

More balanced was “Europe: Them Or Us” (2016), though now equally meaningless.

Europe: Them Or Us - 2016 - UK

Europe:  Them Or Us - 2016 - 7/10

 
Out of date already.  Two part documentary geared for then topical Brexit vote.
First part deals with the formation of the Common Market, and the UK’s reluctance to join.
UK does join, of course, and the second part details the EU, free migration, and mistakes made.
Presenter does a fine job trying to be fair, though as an outsider, I have no idea.
Curious souls may find this interesting as there is plenty of history, less shown on news shows.

The Shiver Of The Vampires - 1971 - France

The Shiver Of The Vampires - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Le Frisson des Vampires // Sex And Vampires

 
Newlyweds Isle and Antoine, still in gown and tuxedo, are driving to their honeymoon.
First, a sidetrip to her cousins whom she has not seen since she was small.
Alas, the cousins died recently under mysterious circumstances. and villagers warn of evil at their castle.
The pair decide to visit nevertheless, and then opt to spend the night.  In separate rooms.
An early Jean Rollin film, so expect well composed sets, beautiful women in sheer gowns, and vampires.
At points, no dialogue, followed by characters talking in paragraphs.
Neither a scary nor a frightening film, this beckons with a trancelike charm.
Mind you, I am partial to Rollin.
Impatient souls may bemoan a lack of fluids in this, and limited running and carrying on.

Plush - 2011 - USA

Plush - 2011 - 6/10

 
While Kathy works late, a burglar breaks into her place and begins ransacking.
He overlooks the stuffed bear because - well - it’s just a plush toy.
Short quickie provides bullets, splatter, and laugh out loud moments.
Fans of the Muppets’ “Bear On Patrol”, give this a look.

The Angel’s Share - 2012 - UK

The Angel’s Share - 2012 - 6/10

 
Likeable Scottish comedy / drama opens with misfits ordered to perform community service for petty crimes or drunken behavior.
Main character has a steady squeeze who wants him out of a multi generation blood feud.
After a day trip to a distillery, coincidences pile up, stretching disbelief and plausibility quite thin.
As mentioned, the overall good-natured tone glosses over this, and you root for their most peculiar caper.
Subtitles an absolute must!  Brogue is indecipherable at times, and many phrases sounded like Gaelic.

In Darkness - 2018 - UK

In Darkness - 2018 - 5/10

 
Muddled thriller of blind concert pianist overhearing death of upstairs neighbor.
Thugs come calling,  "What did you see!"  -  "I'm blind."
Cops have questions.  "Sorry, I was wearing headphones."
Her secrecy masks a personal agenda, and overshadows the mystery of who killed the upstairs neighbor and why.
Therein lies a major problem with the narrative structure.
Focus often swings to side plots at the expense of other side plots.
Deliberate confusion is to be anticipated in a mystery, yet one expects a degree of logic.
The script (co-written by the director and the lead, hmmm) suffers too many threads that need pruning.
Decent, if well worn, premise, marred by excessive busyness.

Act One - 2015 - USA

Act One - 2015 - 7/10

 
Theatre junkies!
Adaptation of playwright Moss Hart’s memoir of the same name.
Childhood, early forays into the theatrical world, writing.
Then the first partnership with George S. Kaufman and the agonizing rewriting of their first play.
Engaging, funny, with appearances and name dropping of the Algonquin Circle.
And that may be a problem for those who don’t know references.
Theatre impresarios, Edna Ferber, Dorothy Parker, backers, etc …
Tony Shaloub peerless as Kaufman, Hart’s father, and an older, wiser Hart, gazing back.

Sightseers - 2012 - UK

Sightseers - 2012 - 6/10

 
Black comedy of repressed, middle aged female escaping thumb of domineering mother, who is slipping into dementia.
The female meets a slightly older man, they take off on a roadtrip - holiday - sightseeing tour, leaving Ma in the muddle of her short wired brain.
Straight off, the female realizes her boyfriend has a slight problem with order and rage, though he compensates by stoking her romping appetites.
Creeping body count on this.  Each death one was at once grisly and funny.
Litterbugs, PETA members, health enthusiasts, if the tag applies, beware.

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo - 1964 - Japan

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo - 1964 - 6/10
AKA - Shinobi no Mono Zoku Kirigakure Saizō  //  忍びの者 続・霧隠才蔵

 
Story picks up immediately after 4 (Siege) as Saizo successfully rescues his lord before Ieyasu captures him.
Ieyasu continues to consolidate power and for most of the players this is a back-pedaling game.
Stunt work holds up well, it must have been eye popping in 1964.
Adversaries build alliances, and use ninjas for assassination and counter intelligence.
A bitter tasting love story pierces some of the darkness.
Nevertheless, this episode has a fatalistic tone that seeps into everything. 

Truman - 2015 - Spain

Truman - 2015 - 7/10
AKA - Una Sonrisa Ala Vida

 
Tomás flies from Canada to visit his friend Julián in Madrid.
Julián, actor, ex-leading man, heartthrob, is winding up his affairs; Tomás acts as our observer.
Wry observations about preparing for ones final departure.
The film captures how friends and family deal with, or ignore, Julián's situation.
Despite the subject matter, this is neither maudlin nor depressing.
Nor is it chuckles and giggles, the buffoonish bucket-list preferred by shallow studio moguls.
A soft spoken film, with emotions barely suppressed under the skin.

Kill Your Darlings - 2013 - USA

Kill Your Darlings - 2013 - 7/10

 
Drama about hitherto unknown chapter of Beat history, focusing on young Allen, Bill and Jack, before the kiss of fame.
Oh, and Lucien Carr, too, the violent bad boy who broke taboos and laws, and seems a guru to Allen.
Period jazz music woven with current sounds.  Hit and miss there, though in commentary, director defends the modern choice.
The look of the movie, Noirish throughout, added to the uncertainty and air of menace.
I was distracted, however, wondering, 'I never heard of this story.  Is this true?  This must be fiction.”
The events were accurate, simply forgotten until rather recently.
Gay press has been trumpeting this flick since its release, but don’t be put off if you are squeamish.
Good story, shuttered view of sordid choices by young turks.