An Evening With Groucho - 2022 - USA

An Evening With Groucho - 2022 - 8/10  

 
Frank Ferrante’s one man play about the one, the only, Groucho!
Growing up with a stage mother who pushed the sons into showbiz.
Lengthy recollections of Chico, less of Harpo and Zeppo, a bit of Gummo.
Other reminisces include Margaret Dumont, Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, T.S. Eliot (that relationship would make a play in and of itself).
I believe he performs every song.  The energy is electrical.
He climbs into a good-natured Baltimore audience and engages members into the madness.
Ferrante has been enacting Groucho for 30+ years, 3000 shows.
If you cannot make his show, this is well photographed and miked.
Marx Brothers fans, essential!

About Elly - 2009 - Iran

About Elly - 2009 - 7/10
AKA - Darbareye Elly

 
Exasperating thriller from Iran might have you hurling items at your screen.
Some ten years after their college days, friends decide to weekend together at the Caspian Sea.
One of the guys is recently divorced, so a single woman is invited as marriage bait.
Pressure on her is immediate and uncomfortable.
Twenty minutes in, Elly (marriage bait), who has turned reluctant, disappears.
Kidnapped?  Walked away on her own?  Murdered?  Eaten by a bear?  Who knows.
Authorities arrive - questions - turns out none of the friends even know Elly’s last name.
The focus pinpoints on Sepideh, the wife who invited her.
Sepideh is a nest of white lies, deception, manipulation.
Because of the constant lying, where even explanations are untrustworthy, you want to scream.

Note to onlookers:  Opening credits show money going into an alms box, supposedly to grant safe travel.
Someone’s money gets stuck, foreshadowing later events.

Topsy-Turvy - 1999 - UK

Topsy-Turvy - 1999 - 7/10

 
Overlong, excessive, but enthralling story of the genesis of “The Mikado”.
Gilbert & Sullivan are experiencing a dry patch, when Gilbert, touring a Japanese section of the Great Exhibition, is suddenly inspired.
So much of this is a how-to: rehearsals, fittings, problems. All intriguing to watch.
Not to mention the usual crises and insecurities of players.
There is the new Savoy, and the coming age (telephones!).
Dazzling sets, vibrant costumes, a sly sense of humor.
Memorable music, which is still being performed today.
Labor of love from Mike Leigh is a delicious tribute.

Sea Fever - 2019 - Ireland

Sea Fever - 2019 - 6/10

“Get out of your comfort zone,”  her professor advises Siobhán.
So she does her field research on the fishing boat, Niamh Cinn Oir.
Meanwhile, the coastal authorities warn Skipper Gerard to avoid one section.
So he steers the ship right in … until, too late … he encounters the reason.

 
Now the “thing” is in the hold, and the crew is succumbing.
Nice horror outing mixes terrors with science.  Caution with human greed.
Claustrophobic, messy splatter across a rusty trawler.

Bron Broen: S01 - 2011 - Denmark

Bron Broen: S01 - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - The Bridge

 
Corpse is found on Øresund Bridge, midway between Denmark and Sweden.
Police from both countries arrive and they will decide jurisdiction when the identity is discovered.
Wait a minute -- The body is actually cut in half --  No, it’s two separate bodies put together.
The murders are the beginning of a series of well planned events and symbolic deaths.
Brief series starts slow, but accelerates to red-line quickly.
Not to be missed is the female Swedish detective, Saga.
She has virtually no social skills, and no check switch - and is painfully funny - but her counterparts recognize her crack investigative skills.

One Stormy Night - 1943 - Romania

One Stormy Night - 1943 - 6/10
AKA - O Noapte Furtunoasa

 
Rumanian comedy, filmed in the middle of World War II, which aroused my curiosity.
Set in the 1860's, a jealous husband suspects his wife of infidelity.
The chief culprit seems to be a sissified dandy, who always turns away from the man’s glare.
The only one he trusts is his live-in assistant, and from the opening scene we know how very wrong he is.
Narrative moves quick and plunges into farce numerous times.
Several of my favorite sequences occur in the music hall - which, alas, were not translated.
In fact, the few subtitles available are only “fair” at best.
A cursory glance online suggests this is a classic, as there is a recent theatrical version on YouTube, as well as a TV production from the 80's.
Comical proceedings fairly amusing, though poor subs (again, few available) are tedious.

Turtle Diary - 1985 - UK

Turtle Diary - 1985 - 7/10

 
Quiet story, marketed as a romantic comedy, though it does not fit into that category.
Two souls, not necessarily lonely yet they are alone, chat at the London aquarium.
They decide to kidnap two sea turtles, and release them into the sea.
This could easily succumb to farce, or become a strident “message” film.
It never does, however.  Pinter adapted the script, and it is an understated gem.
Glenda Jackson and Ben Kingsley give lessons on how to use gestures and glances, instead of wordy dialogue.
Still not on DVD, streaming copies have poor video resolution.

Black Sands - 2021 - Iceland

Black Sands - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Svörtu Sandar

 
Police thriller set in remote Iceland town.
The dead body, a survivor, and a young officer who has been charting a series of accidental deaths in the region.
The main protagonist is not that cop, but Anita, returning from Reykjavik.
Apparently she left because of her abusive mother, a chain smoking, passive-aggressive type.
Anita, like most TV crime solvers, is screwed up.  She never even bothers to wear a uniform, she wears the same sweater day after day after day.
Episode after episode, more characters reveal their script-written weirdness.
Plot and pacing are pretty good.  Characters and motivations, cliché city.

Not Waving, But Drowning - 2012 - USA

Not Waving, But Drowning - 2012 - 6/10

 
Almost tempted to bump an extra point for style and music alone.
Story of two friends heading off to New York, entering glamorous territory.
At the last minute, the father of one girl refuses to let her go.
Dual narratives from then on.
One girl struggles in New York, meeting dirt types, as well as better souls.
Left behind, the other girl finds work in an assisted living home for seniors.
Both try to stay in contact, but everyone knows how hard it is to stay connected with texts or phone.
Even as they miss each other, you realize they are on different currents, drifting apart.
After awhile*, this held my interest.  The movie is very much female oriented, though, and the two I sat next to responded and related more strongly than I did.

*awhile = An unrelated short film precedes the movie.
Apologists are defending it, but it does not fit, is slow and stagnant.
It only runs 15 minutes.  Fast forward if you start nodding off.

Sherpa - 2015 - Nepal

Sherpa - 2015 - 7/10

 
Revealing documentary on the Everest pack mules, the sherpas.
Unstated, but clearly evident, is the disparity between the privileged and the impoverished.
A staggering amount of tourists now insist on “conquering” Everest.
Most carry nothing.  Sherpas shoulder massive packs and set up ladders for them.
Tourists need WiFi, hot meals, and an ease unimaginable a generation earlier.
Of course, fees start at $100,000.
Good companion to 2015‘s Everest.
For those who have Everest on their bucket list, global warming is on the rise, as are climbing deaths.

Souvenir: Part II - 2021 - UK

Souvenir:  Part II - 2021 - 6/10

 
Story continues immediately after events from the first film.
Grieving, emotionally numb, Julie finds solace in her parent’s home.
Gradually, however, she starts drifting back to film school.
There, she begins to resurrect her graduation effort.
The “creativity process” is the most compelling aspect of this movie
As with the first installment, I cannot decide if the main actor is talented or a vacuous sponge.
I am starting to blame the writer / director for a muddled script, choppily edited.

Everest - 2015 - UK

Everest - 2015 - 7/10

 
Based on the 1996 summit expedition where eight lost their lives.
Film excels at revealing the preparation, support staff, and Wild Westish camps.
Also showing how crowded and competitive Everest tourism has become.
Affluent tourists, to be sure, yet many, many of them.  Too many.
Tour guides know as many as possible must reach the top.  Otherwise, future bookings will suffer.
Breathtaking photography, mostly in the Himalayas, though not 100%.
Interesting Making-Of doc reveals backdrops (eg: lift chairs).
Admirable, and a good companion to 2010‘s The Wildest Dream.

The World Of Kanoka - 2014 - Japan

The World Of Kanoka - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Kawaki  // 渇き。

 
After her daughter goes missing, she contacts her ex.
Ex-husband, ex-detective, ex-father.  Repellent failure on every front.
He ought to take his meds, which don’t stop him from violent outbursts.
Or from raping his wife, beating up schoolgirls, fighting with police or yakuza.
Meanwhile, there is the absent daughter, whose life echoes that of Alice.
“… who fell into a hole so deep. that she kept falling …”
Volatile (understatement) Neo Noir drenched in sex, violence, gore, torture, fatality.
Seijun Suzuki on acid.  Caveat emptor.

Shepherd - 2021 - UK

Shepherd - 2021 - 5/10

 
Eric lays a rose on Rachel‘s casket as it lowers.
Next, he ferries across the sound to begin work as shepherd on a remote island.
Right away, I wonder about the voyage, the ferryman, the isolation.
Is Eric dead?
The film is too steeped in mood and atmosphere for its own good.
Eric is not remotely sympathetic.  So much so, midway, I started hoping he would hang himself.
Common complaint:  sound design overwhelms dialogue.

French Quarter - 1978 - USA

French Quarter - 1978 - 5/10

 
Exploitation sleaze succumbs to artistic overreach.
Young girl, after burying pa, leaves the bayou and catches first bus to New Orleans.  (Nice outdoor photography of late 70’s New Orleans.)
Being blonde, shapely, and wearing a granny dress that is see-through against the light, the only job position she is able to find is stripper in a cheap club.
This part held my interest, though as a dancer that girl is godawful.
All too soon, she wants out and goes to an apothecary shop, where she is promptly drugged for sex traffickers.   
Then - outta nowhere - she wakes up in 1910, in a sporting house in Storyville.
Her role is the same, though, to be auctioned off as a genuine virgin.

 
Abundant nudity in the brothel, voodoo dancers out in the woods, and a busy snake add some interest.
Nevertheless, the plot crawls into love territory and the narrative stumbles like a weekend drunk.
Piano player in the bordello is Jelly Roll Morton.  The small boy playing the cornet, Satchmo Armstrong.
Oh yeah, the 1910 scenes are all fuzzy around the corners.  Artsy.
Anyway, the vintage period goes on and on and on, diluting the vibrant sleaze of the 1970’s.
One gets the impression they were striving for Pretty Baby.
Cast includes Bruce Davison and Virginia Mayo, with music by Dick Hyman.

Victory Of The Faith - 1933 - Germany

Victory Of The Faith - 1933 - 6/10
AKA - Der Sieg des Glaubens

 
By such spider threads, history survives.
The fifth Nuremberg Rally.
Leni Riefenstahl, approached late to film the event, had only a few days to organize.
Similar to Triumph Of The Will, this is very much a rough draft.
Opening and closing marches, boy drummers, speeches.
On the other hand, there are huge differences.
Such as the SA dominating the opening.  Older faces, veterans of the World War I.
Seen also are Göring, Goebbels, Streicher, Speer, von Papen … and … Röhm.

 
Who would be assassinated within a year during the Night Of The Long Knives.
The editing and camerawork in the first half is masterful, but by the second half feels disorganized.
Laden with too many speeches, the pace slows.
Nevertheless, after Röhm’s murder and the dismantling of the SA, Hitler ordered all prints of this destroyed.
Riefenstahl had brought a copy to England in 1934, where it was lost, until discovered in 1980’s.

Callboys: S02 - 2019 - Belgium

Callboys: S02 - 2019 - 7/10

 
Second, and final, season of the misadventures of the studs for hire.
You might think, or foolishly hope, after the painful conclusions of the first season, these guys might have wised up.
Or matured.
One is older and wiser, two others make the Three Stooges look like Rhodes scholars.
Wes is in rehab.  Devon and Vleugels are incapable of sound judgment.
Even when they get lucky, gloriously lucky, Fortune turns terribly, horribly against them.
Slow to get going, but this finishes painfully funny.

What We Do In The Shadows - 2014 - New Zealand

What We Do In The Shadows - 2014 - 7/10

Four older guys share a flat in Wellington.
They bicker about chores (dirty dishes a particular problem), have meetings, find activities.
For them, the day begins around 6:00 PM.  Oh yeah, they are vampires.

 
Hilarious documentary follows the gents as they go clubbing, heckle werewolves, invite humans to dinner.
All are chatty - well - Petyr, 8000 years old, is more reserved.
Inventive, droll, good-natured.   Reminded me of This Is Spinal Tap.
Though like Tap, tails a bit in the final twenty minutes.

Death In A French Garden - 1985 - France

Death In A French Garden - 1985 - 6/10
AKA - Péril en la Demeure

 
Unemployed male catnip becomes guitar tutor to daughter of affluent parents.
The wife initiates an affair almost immediately.
In the cafe, his female neighbor talks suggestively of differences between the brunette bush and the blonde bush.
Also, in the cafe, the waitress leans forward (twice) to display swaying charms.
Did I mention his pupil was a rich daughter?  Does she want him also?  Ha, silly.
For all that, this is not a sex comedy.
Surveillance VHS tapes appear, suggesting blackmail.
Really, don’t people, even adulterers, bother with curtains?
Tone steadily darkens (reference title) as traps from various partners snap down.

Wharf Angel - 1934 - USA

Wharf Angel - 1934 - 6/10

 
On the run from the coppers, he dashes into a saloon / brothel.
He is hidden, and spends the night with one of “the girls”.
Next day, he ships out for China, as stevedore.
He and shipmate Turk become fast friends and discuss the girl back home.
Not knowing, it’s the same girl.
Pre-Code boiler of drinking, fights, murder and sex.
Worthwhile if only to see Dorothy Dell, of whom Fate proved unkind.
The hard faced doll, masking the yearning soul.

Dead Quiet - 2016 - Australia

Dead Quiet - 2016 - 4/10

 
My bad, my bad, my bad.
The “award winning” short hails from 2018, not 2016.
Here, Lt. Cross (donned in cargo pants and a t-shirt) drives his sedan into the outback.
After a squad goes missing, he attempts a solo recon – rescue.
Beware credits where written / directed / starring is one name.
Quite poor, and overlong at 11”.