The Girls At The Back - 2022 - Spain

The Girls At The Back - 2022 - 7/10
AKA - Las de la última fila

 
Solidarity.  The sort that only best friends, childhood friends, often share.
So, when one is diagnosed with cancer, they all shave their heads and go to the beach.
They have agreed not to discuss the C word, and to take dares.
Step out of their routines, their comfort zones.
Brief series one should not rush through.
Flashbacks surface and disappear without warning.  As do internal conversations.
The women, in their 30’s, are full of life, and more perceptive about friends than themselves.
Chick drama.  γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Night Shift - 2023 - India

Night Shift - 2023 - 6/10

 
Dheeraj works as a cabbie, working himself to exhaustion.
He has not met his quota and must keep driving, then picks up a fare hurrying to reach the airport.
Unaware she is a troublemaker, an instigator.  Who claws into his loneliness.
Hindi short is a moody Noir, using conversation to push the story.

Razor Blade Smile - 1998 - UK

Razor Blade Smile - 1998 - 5/10

 
Eileen Daly parlayed her intro-host role for Redemption/Salvation Films into this attempt.
Lilith, turned vampire 100 years earlier, works as an assassin.
Targeting members of the (trendy in the ‘90’s) Illuminati.
Despite being a vampire, she relies on firearms (or sword).
Her wardrobe is leather or vinyl to display her silicone boost.
Flashy at times, other moments beyond cheap.
Nevertheless, the cast seems to be having fun with moronic script.

Mystery 101 - 2020 - USA

Mystery 101 - 2020 - 6/10

 
Hallmark whodunit film series, far above their usual fare.
Professor Amy Winslow teaches crime fiction at the local university.
Detective Travis Burke relocates from the big city, unaware of the crimes and murders in the sleepy community.
These programs rely on the charisma and chemistry of the lead characters.
Most flail somewhere between smirking and smarmy.
In Mystery 101, the players look, act and behave like adults – not arrested adolescents.
The puzzle plots are fair to good, and the character arc reaches a nice conclusion.
Except – the canned Spam IQ of Hallmark tacked on an incongruous 30” cliffhanger.
Before the canceling the series.

Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS - 1975 - USA

Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS - 1975 - 6/10

 
Ilsa, Nazi commandant of a POW camp, tortures female captives, exhausts menfolk.
Warning to men, this is not a female to disappoint.  You better have endurance.
As for female prisoners, Ilsa is a doctor who experiments with pain thresholds.
Expect flesh and fluids in mean exploitation.
Thus said, I have viewed this several times.  It is “superior” to the in-name sequels.
Not that you will listen, if you see / buy one Ilsa, you’ll get ’em all.
Hey!  If the prison camp looks familiar, it was Stalag 13 in “Hogan’s Heroes.”

Naked Poison - 2000 - Hong Kong

Naked Poison - 2000 - 5/10
AKA - Shou xing xin ren lei// 獸性新人類

Office lackey Man Chi is bullied and taunted by colleagues and superiors.
Instead of approaching girls, he prefers upskirting and peeping at neighbors.

 
A spineless milquetoast, who, despite that, longs for the clout of authority.
After grandfather dies, Man Chi takes over the medicine / herbal shop.
And concocts a potent aphrodisiac.  Females devolve into sex starved slaves.
Cat III nasty boasts a lot of soft core ruttings, and sticky business when potion side effects hit.
Not as lurid as it pretends to be.  I imagine Cat III was given because of the unsavory undertone.

The Bravados - 1958 - USA

The Bravados - 1958 - 7/10

 
Douglass arrives in the small town to watch a hanging.
Four outlaws.  The men Douglas had been tracking after they murdered his wife.
Instead of a hanging, the men escape, and Douglass leads the posse.
Hard-edged, violent Western of obsession and self-righteous vengeance.
Gregory Peck, who I usually view as a pompous ham, is exceptional as the man blinded by fury.
While not listed as such, this is a terrific Noir.
I grew up on the black & white version, and that is how I prefer to view this one.

Magnum Force - 1973 - USA

Magnum Force - 1973 - 7/10

 
Inspector Harry Callahan returns in this, in many ways, more violent sequel.
Thanks to good lawyers and lenient courtrooms, criminals are escaping justice.
Only, not quite.  A small unit is single-handedly dispensing judgment.  Lethal judgment.
The message here is more heavy handed than Dirty Harry.
Might makes right.  Agitprop.  Be aware of this and you should appreciate this one.
The poliziotesschi Execution Squad came out a year before and I wonder if that informed this film.

War Of The Satellites - 1958 - USA

War Of The Satellites - 1958 - 5/10

 
Every time the Space Agency tries to place a satellite into orbit, boom!
Soon we learn, the Spiral Nebula Ghana has banned humanity from exploring space.
They take telepathic control of the agency chief.
Cheapo Roger Corman has no real plot, dime store sets, and only two of the players can act.
No matter.  This moves like mad.  You can only register one implausibility before another displaces it.
Thrilling entertainment when I was a kid.  Even now, watchable.

An Easy Girl - 2019 - France

An Easy Girl - 2019 - 6/10
AKA - Une Fille Facile

 
Sofia arrives in Cannes to visit her younger cousin, Naima.
Naima, torn between going into acting or becoming a chef has her head turned.
For Sofia doesn’t really work.  She is attractive and knows which parties and yachts to crash.
Sofia is a high class moocher.  Not quite a call-girl, yet she receives very expensive gifts.
Muddled, empty-headed coming of age film, packed with nudity and boffing.
A few of the actual actors have more interesting experiences than these characters.