Escher: Journey To Infinity - 2018 - Netherlands

Escher: Journey To Infinity - 2018 - 6/10

 
Grrr.  Neither fish nor fowl, this.  Not a biography, nor an analysis of the man’s work.
Much of this is history (lite) and a travelogue, traipsing with Escher from one country to another.
Neither world war is mentioned, though the lead-up to WWII is alluded to.
Two surviving sons provide family incidents and anecdotes.
Escher’s personality, not here.  Art historians or curators?  No.  Just Graham Nash.
One gets the impression the producers did not know, and were not curious, about Escher.

My wife, like Graham Nash, was one of those hippies whom the mathematical artist impressed.
She still has books on him, as well as a framed glass plate which has survived seven relocations.
Had the filmmakers consulted at least one of her books, this might have had more substance.

Tokyo Fist - 1995 - Japan

Tokyo Fist - 1995 - 7/10
AKA - Tokyo Fuisuto //  東京フィスト

 
Salaryman invites boyhood friend, now a boxer, home for dinner.
The more virile friend quickly charms, seduces, and swipes the wife.
The business man, showing some steel, hits the boxing gym, starts running, builds his stamina and endurance.
Sparring matches turn ugly, while the wife discovers her own steel fetish.
Glorious, blood spurting fights throughout.
Same crew that did Tetsuo films.

The Uncanny - 1977 - Canada

The Uncanny - 1977 - 6/10

 
How about perilous paws?  Chilling claws?  Or feline fiends?  Or tabby terrors?
Anthology series showcases those murderous monsters.  Housecats.
An elderly woman changes her will, leaving her profligate nephew scat, the bulk to her cats.
The scheming maid decides to interfere, running afoul of a pack of growling inheritors.
Another story finds hammy horror actor Valentine De’ath (whom everyone calls VD) recently bereft.
Luckily, his new lust interest resembles a young version of his dead wife.
Too bad the cat is such a sourpuss.
Silly movie has fine cast, and a winking sense of humor, but it plods and scenes extend too long.
Then again, how about uncanny tails?

The Dollmaker - 2017 - USA

The Dollmaker - 2017 - 6/10

 
After their young son dies, the parents hear whispers of a skilled doll maker.
And yes, what he fashions is astonishingly lifelike.
There are two stipulations, however:  The doll can never go outside, and it can only be held for a specific amount of time each day.
When there are rules, they will be broken.
In this short, there are consequences.

Vidal Sassoon: The Movie - 2010 - USA

Vidal Sassoon: The Movie - 2010 - 6/10

 
Glossy documentary of the revolutionary hair designer, now beginning to slip into memory.
Filled with old footage and recent interviews with friends, family, and Sassoon himself.
Earlier years were more informative:  His participation in underground groups opposing Mosley’s English pro-fascist parties.
Also his service during 1948 Arab-Israeli war.  Followed by the apprenticeship, then the fame.
Plenty of Swingin’ 60’s footage, the five point cut, and survivors recalling the past.
Any hint of negativity (three divorces, one child committed suicide, selling off the business) omitted.
Still hear the commercial tag - “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”

Murder In Maussane - 2017 - France

Murder In Maussane - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Crime Dans Les Alpilles  (Crime in the Alpilles)

While taking early morning photos of Roman ruins, Caroline is shot dead through the eye.
Soon on the scene are the local inspector and lead prosecutor, dressed apparently for casual cocktails.

 
Rather than investigate local marksmen, they interrogate relatives, neighbors, passersby.
Those who answer,  “I don’t know” they toss in jail.
The whole time, our leads act like immature adolescents, and have the chemistry of used socks.
Sadly, this is no parody, but merely a poorly written French mystery which fails to take advantage of gorgeous Provence mountain scenery.

Sumo Vixens - 1996 - Japan

Sumo Vixens - 1996 - 5/10

 
One of the questionable delights of the Kei Mizutani box set.
Minor yakuza gang, the Domino agency, covets land owned by ailing auntie of closed Women’s Sumo group.
His men cannot handle the wrestlers so he hires ruthless female squad.
Film climaxes with major female sumo tournament.
Silly comedy, forced to farcical stupidity.
Technical note - The video transfer on the DVD is terrible.
On the other hand, these are “topless” female sumo wrestlers, and all very thin.
Puritans beware, copious nudity abounds.

A Married Woman - 1964 - France

A Married Woman - 1964 - 6/10
AKA - Une Femme Mariée

 
Charlotte, twenty something, has an affair with Robert, stage actor.
He presses her to divorce her husband and marry him.
Husband Pierre is older, affluent, and is a busy private pilot, often away.
While fetching, Charlotte comes across as kittenish, a bit of a coquette.
She does not work, she has a maid, her days are empty.
Indeed, she strikes one as vapid, superficial, adrift.
Writer director Godard puts her in situations of analyzing her body, face, against advertising images.
I imagine this was “modern” and perhaps pre-feminist in depictions of Charlotte’s pressures and choices.

Lost Love - 1978 - Japan

Lost Love - 1978 - 6/10
AKA - Genshiryoku Sensô  //  映画「原子力戦争

Under the looming nuclear plant, two youths are found dead on the beach.
Police label it a suicide pact and close the case.
A reporter is unconvinced, noting the male was an engineer at the nuclear facility.
The other skeptic is the dead man’s wife of barely six months.
Then into the village arrives the white suited Tokyo pimp.

 
The suicide girl, she was his!  She was a good earner.  He is losing money!
He is the wild card, bull in the china shop, upsetting police, local families, those with agendas.
Actually, he is a joy to watch, shameless, concerned only with his lost revenue.
Prescient story predates Chernobyl by six years, Fukushima by thirty.
A persistent music theme resembles a dissonant “Somewhere” by Bernstein, which itself borrowed from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5.

Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World - 2014 - Switzerland

Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Dark Star: HR Giger's Welt

 
Less a traditional bio journey than a study of a working artist in the twilight of his time.
A photographer trails a frail Giger in the last year of his life (he died, age 74, soon after filming concluded).
We see his support staff, assistants, current wife, ex-wives, agent, curator.
Another character is his maze like home, crammed, literally crammed with packed bookcases, paintings, memorabilia, including human skulls.
There is his museum, as well as a bar which must be seen to be believed.
Documentary excels if you want to see the artist and his obsessions with birth-sexuality-death.
As for the man himself, the individual underneath, not as much.

And While We Were Here - 2012 - USA

And While We Were Here - 2012 - 6/10

 
Troubled couple go to Naples.  He to play viola for concerts, she to work on WWII book.
Gorgeous settings of isle of Ischia, offset by serious tale of a husband and wife who no longer communicate.
She meets a 19 year old, still very boyish, though reckless and full of life.
“Chick flick” which will resonate more with female viewers.
The plot meanders around as the young wife (Kate Bosworth - quite good in this) broods much of the time, then starts thinking and rethinking, all the time listening to recordings of her grandmother, recalling her youth.

A Small Family Business - 2014 - UK

A Small Family Business - 2014 - 6/10

 
Theatre junkies, curtain up!
During the Covid lockdown, the National Theatre began limited airing of stage classics.
Jack McCracken retires from his job, ostensibly to take the helm of his father-in-law’s manufacturing business.
The company, once prosperous, now struggles.  An insider is stealing.
As Jack digs, he uncovers fiddles, side deals, blatant appropriation, crimes petty and major.
Human rationalizing of “no one will notice a little bit missing” applies.
From my (admittedly cynical) viewpoint, the moral dilemmas are nether comic nor surprising.
This also is not the funniest Alan Ayckbourn play I have seen, though the actors try their best. 

The Human Monster - 1939 - UK

The Human Monster - 1939 - 6/10
AKA - The Dark Eyes Of London

 
Corpses keep floating in the river Thames.
Probably nothing unusual there, except these were well-heeled gentleman.
Curiously enough, most had been insured by Greenwich Insurance, run by Dr. Orloff.
Inspector Holt, paired with Chicago’s Lt. O’Reilly, keeps running across Orloff, playing by the smiling Bela Lugosi.
No prize if you guess who the criminal mastermind might be.
Police work dominates over chills, yet the atmosphere is good.
Especially sequences set in the Institute For The Destitute Blind.
Thriller based on Edgar Wallace novel would be remade as Dead Eyes Of London (1961), and Gorilla Gang (1968), with the 1961 Krimi being the best of the three.
Still, Bela is always watchable, and he is good in this.

Mr. Nice - 2010 - UK

Mr. Nice - 2010 - 6/10

 
Biopic of Welsh hash smuggler, Howard Marks.
Lightweight, by the numbers approach as young Marks goes to Oxford, discovers reefer.
Next thing, he’s collaborating with IRA patriots to smuggle Afghan hash.  Money for lifestyle or guns.
Big deals in the US, swimming pool stylin’ in Mallorca.
Several funny anecdotal scenes, yet nowhere does this dig for substance.
Some of the cinematography intrigues as they have characters drive or walk in front of obvious rear projection of 60's or 70's exteriors.
Too long at two hours, and still too shallow.
Rhys Myers (as Howard) distracted by reminding me of Liam Gallagher.

 

News From Home - 1976 - France

News From Home - 1976 - 6/10

 
Young Chantal Akerman moved from Belgium to New York in 1971.
Pre-Internet, she received steady correspondence from family, especially nagging Mother.
Later, once back in Europe, she decided to return to New York, film locations, and read her mother’s letters.
Not quite a documentary, and many viewers have found this terribly slow.
My wife, a native New Yorker, was increasingly mesmerized.  At one point she even commented,  “That’s the garment district.”
Aging New Yorkers may appreciate, and I suspect it was intriguing to Europeans in the 1970’s.
A better time capsule of New York from that period might be Kojak.
Even earlier, N.Y.P.D. aired in the 60‘s and shows an even grittier Gotham.

Dark Doors - 1974 - Spain

Dark Doors - 1974 - 6/10
AKA - Emma, Puertas Oscuras

 
Early José Ramón Larraz psychological shocker.
Emma has been in an accident.  Head injury.
After her release she appears less than stable.  If she ever was.
In many regards, she is childlike, shy, quiet, yet possessing a fearful temper.
And does that ever play out, explosively, unexpectedly, throughout this film.
Audio commentary by Bryan Martinez by turns enlightening, repetitive.

Submarine - 2010 - UK

Submarine - 2010 - 6/10

 
Quirky overload in this coming-of-age romantic comedy set in Wales.
Depressed, low key youth meets moody, rebellious girl.
His parents are oddballs, the neighbor is  mullet wearing, New Age motivational speaker.
Mostly set in school, the few students showcased are weirdos.
Nicely acted by newcomers, though cutesy script felt like a sack of marshmallows.
Fans of eccentric overload will enjoy this more than I.

Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit - 2016 - UK

Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit - 2016 - NA (not finished)

 
Comments about Paxman's Britain's Great War can be applied to this documentary in spades.
Ms Beard, a prestigious Cambridge don, is enthusiastic and infectious.
Again, though, she is in every single scene.  Including bits where she is walking or driving.
She is also given to odd facial expressions, contortions, grimaces, which I found distracting.
I wanted to watch this.  I wanted to like it.
Perhaps there is a clause in celebrity presenter contracts, that they must appear in 75% of the footage.
Overload for me.  Bummer.

Dokument: Unterwasser Festung R'lyeh - 2047 - R'lyeh

Dokument:  Unterwasser Festung R'lyeh - 2047 - 8/10
AKA - Document: Underwater Fortress R'lyeh

Tantalizing what-if footnote in World War II history.
Between October and December 1944, the HMS Helford, frigate in the South Pacific, discovered wreckage of a German submarine, U-603.
To this day, anything related to the incident remains classified by the Admiralty.
Such as, what was a British frigate doing in the South Pacific?  Aside from its commander (Charles George Cuthbertson), nothing is known of HMS Helford.

 
Fortunately, recently unearthed materials near Wewelsburg Castle provide a glimpse into the German side of the mystery.
U-603, reported missing in February 1944, had been sent midway between New Zealand and the southern tip of South America.
Aside from crew and Kapitän Hans-Joachim Bertelsmann, there were two scientists, an anthropologist, an archaeologist, a linguist, and Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, reported to have been assassinated in 1942.
By 1944, the war was going badly for Germany, but this unit was following clues written by a reclusive Rhode Island scholar.  Supposedly, there were undersea ruins and a force of unspeakable power at the coordinates 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W.
In the vast nowhere of the South Pacific, the area was known as R'lyeh.

Apparently, U-603 found the ruins, titanic in scale.  A yawning entrance, equally immense, appeared to descend.
According to the dive team, within the structures were compartments, inexplicably dry.
That, and there was "something."

 
The final transmission from the u-boat indicated that Heydrich and specialists were going into the ruins, with the intent of subduing and controlling the "something" that had been found.
At that point, the documentary sidesteps into a trove of speculation, theories and nonsensical, Cassandra like warnings that become ludicrously far-fetched.  And tiresome.
This is packed with newsreel footage, maps, vintage radio messages, superb drawings, a few reenactments, and a gallery of talking heads.
The first 3/4 of this is outstanding.  The final twenty minutes were, frankly, preposterous.
I docked my score a point for that.  That said, I added a point for the sheer incongruity in the producers choice of narrator:  Robin Leach.
A sample of the prose, delivered in his over the top voice,  "... deeper into the ghastly, gargantuan chapel of grotesqueries and grim menace ..."  or  "... as a coruscating crescendo splashed flames into minds shattered by the crepuscular crypt poised over the chasm of ..."
Pure lunacy, and a must-see documentary!

Death Diner Disciples - 2047 - R'lyeh

Death Diner Disciples - 2047 - 6/10

 

 

“… The roadside diner, tattered remnant of the American Dream, now fading into twilight.
Not your ordinary diner, either, this is set 200 yards off State Route 101, accessible though an overgrown dirt track.
Behind the cafe, beyond the trees, lies the South Bay, breeding home for things best left unspoken.
Tonight, especially tonight, the unwary are drawn in.
A double date, two loud males who intend to plunder the innocence of their college dates.
Their giggling victims, wide eyed and smiling, are a murderous duo, having butchered a dozen in as many months.
Pastor Calvin, expelled by his flock for drunkenness, marches west, ever west.
Delia, fleeing a final police summons, backpacks into the woods, towards the darkening skies.
Finally, the lost traveler, Vincent Davies, architect, taking a shortcut … into Hell.
For tonight … is Samhain.”

So goes the opening narration for this el cheapo.
(To my mind, producers ought to have hired a Rod Serling voice impersonator.)
After the opening, black vehicles arrive and numerous robed individuals emerge.
Acolytes of, yeah, you guessed it, Cthulhu.
Very busy narrative with 36 different plots.  Don’t even try to keep up.
Acting is grade C, the script seems written by attention deficit disordered minds, and there are audio sync problems. 
Not to mention insane logical errors.
Like, all of a sudden the diner has electrical power?
Or, the diner, nestled in an overgrown thicket, relocates to the shore line?  How?
Terrible across the board.
I would rate this lower, but for the untimely ends of the film participants, and for urban legends regarding those who disrespect M. Cthulhu.

Godzilla Vs Cthulhu - 2047 - R’lyeh

Godzilla Vs Cthulhu - 2047 - 7/10

 
Cranky lizard with paint peeling breath confronts the tentacled lord of R’lyeh.
Somnambulant buildup of greedy developers trying to seize a small, impoverished seaside monastery.
(Ever notice developers are always greedy, always bullying poor folks?)
Valiantly, the Sisters Of Graceful Tides hold a music concert to raise funds.
Shonen Knife, screeching a cover version of Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla,” icurs the wrath of Godzilla who always hated the chorus.  Squawking and flaming, he crashes ashore.
Then, as terrified screams and howls somehow fuse into "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," you guessed it, dread Cthulhu heaves from the waves.
At this point, the Japanese fondness for hentai results in truly horrifying erotic grappling, which will not be elaborated upon further.
The pace hits overdrive and action roars nonstop.  Yakuza hitmen arrive, as well as vegan mercenaries on Vespa scooters, nude nuns with knives, parachuting Russian bodybuilders, a squad of over-sexed female lifeguards, and an annoying old alcoholic woman in a squeaking wheelchair.
Red hot flames - roasted brains - blood oath claims - gangbang chains - putrid stains
In other words - absolute must see classic!