Daughters Who Pay - 1926 - USA

Daughters Who Pay - 1926 - 6/10

 
Foolish Larry confesses his difficulties to sister, Margaret.
He has embezzled company funds to play the stock market and has lost $10K.
She pleas with his boss, who has his own troubles.
His son is smitten with a cabaret dancer, the exotic Sonia.
Sonia, a Russian expat, is imperiled by the local Communist cell.
Overly complicated, but the narrative moves swiftly.
Marguerite de la Motte is striking throughout, centering the movie.
Nevertheless, anytime the head baddie appears (Bela Lugosi) his face holds the screen.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - 2023 - UK

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - 2023 - 6/10  

 
A team murders their way to a crack theft and the British government activates a rogue unit.
Next, the unit jets from one location to the next while the plot breathlessly keeps pace.
Brisk, extremely brisk, Guy Ritchie caper film has few lulls.
Photography and settings mirror Bond or Mission Impossible franchises.
Jason Statham helms the team, delivers one-liners and is an unstoppable fighting machine.
Hugh Grant and Josh Harmett both extremely funny throughout.
Guy Ritchie could do this in his sleep, but I enjoyed more this one than his last few outings.
Diverting, if mindless popcorn.

The Nightingale - 2018 - Australia

The Nightingale - 2018 - 7/10  

1825, the English redcoats struggle to civilize the Australian Outback, what would become Tasmania.
Wholesale genocide of local tribes, and the use / abuse of convict labor – slaves.
Women are property, tribal women, rape holes.
Clare is Irish, attractive, too attractive, and the English lieutenant takes her by force.
She is, after all, property.  Then events take an uglier turn.

 
Ostensibly a tale of boiling vengeance, strung out over several days.
Also growing understanding, tolerance, then acceptance, amidst barbarity and brutality.
Revenge runs deep, though, and the vast majority of the populace, citizens and enforcers, hide blood soaked hands.

Jude - 1996 - UK

Jude - 1996 - 6/10

 
Jude is intelligent, but working class.  And in 1895, class is preeminent.
No matter how intelligent he is, university doors are firmly closed.
His marriage falters and the subsequent affair whit his cousin bucks social conventions.
Well acted, and fairly faithful to the Thomas Hardy novel I had to read in college.
This is, however, bleak, depressing, brutal and tough sledding throughout.
Edinburgh photography, the Scottish grey, adds considerably.
Kate Winslet, as the free spirit, crushed, is unforgettable.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World - 2017 - Canada

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World - 2017 - 6/10

 
Early on, we see a stand-in for Link Wray power chording his hit, “Rumble”.
The high points are the main contributors.  Wray, Buffy Saint Marie, Redbone, Mildred Bailey, Robbie Robertson, Jesse Ed Davis, Randy Castillo, Charley Patton.
These stories enrich the proceedings, although the chronology is jumbled.
Other speakers, such as talking heads, often come across as climbing a bandwagon, wanting to be part.
Then again, others claim heritage, which I found distracting.
My life, I’ve heard boasts of having 1/16th or 1/32nd or 1/64th percent of tribal blood.
Most of the doc is intelligent and informative, but a handful of wannabees soured this a little.
Tuscarora section is a gem.

Paris Police 1900 - 2021 - France

Paris Police 1900 - 2021 - 7/10  

 
Perhaps better for French history majors, but one should be able to keep up with references.
In this case, the ongoing, divisive Dreyfus Affair, which the military is unable to cover-up, and agitators are exploiting.
The root is anti-Semitism, which, like any hatred, is a toxic stew of hatred of the other, self-hatred and fear.
Dreyfus is background to the sexual intrigues, assassinations, beatings, animal cruelty.
And yes, the treatment of animals in this is fairly shocking.
E07 ends on a momentous cliffhanger.  The resolution of that is particularly lame.
Excellent series, and I plan to view the followup, Paris Police 1905.

The Ultimate Degenerate - 1969 - USA

The Ultimate Degenerate - 1969 - 4/10  

Maria, bored with her lesbian exhibitionism, answers a classifieds for sex-work.
Soon she is involved in nude go-go dancing, whipped cream, striptease, cigar stuffing.

 
The “boss” is a wheelchair confined nutjob, into sadism and accidental murder.
Lots of photographs are taken, inventive usage of corncobs, bondage, I lost track.
Full nude throughout, although not necessarily arousing.

 
The music consists of classical chamber, bachelor pad lounge, bump ‘n grind.
Smutty peep show concludes with an orgy of sadism.
Note:  My opening titles read “The Degenerate”.  No “Ultimate”.

The Miracle Club - 2023 - Ireland

The Miracle Club - 2023 - 6/10  

 
1967, and the faithful, hopeful, still pray that a miracle may happen at Lourdes.
Four women, one with a son, the other three with a bitter history.
One has just traveled from Boston for her estranged mother’s funeral.
They take the bus, then the ferry, only to find hotel rooms must be shared.
A drama of grievances, a sad history that will never stay buried, possible forgiveness.
Some of the side-stories (menfolk) are cliché, but this is a warm Irish film, with plenty of salt.

The Anonymous Heroes - 1971 - Hong Kong

The Anonymous Heroes - 1971 - 6/10  
AKA - Wu Ming Ying Xiong // 無名英雄

 
Light-hearted adventure set between the Chinese revolutionary period and WWII.
Japanese are referenced, but they are only supplying weapons at this stage.
Two devil-may-care brothers agree to help the revolutionaries, and are joined by a feisty female.
While this boasts numerous action sequences, the narrative moves along.
The planning, the theft, a wild chase involving a train and galloping horsemen.
I don’t really know the history of that era, so I’m sure I missed out on references.
Nevertheless, what a wild ride, with a trio of charmers.

Forest Of The Missing - 2022 - France

Forest Of The Missing - 2022 - 6/10   
AKA - La Forêt des Disparus

 
A series of graves are discovered in the borderland between France and Germany.
All men, all murdered.  From recently to decades earlier.
Jurisdiction is murky, so both nations share in the investigation.
As does a judge currently on hiatus, suffering amnesia, though disturbed by flashbacks.
In and of itself, the plot is thin broth, although there are compelling side stories and detours.
The core is feminist empowerment, which I could never decide if it was preachy or mirrored today’s cultural zeitgeist.

Wake In Fright - 1971 - Australia

Wake In Fright - 1971 - 7/10  

 
Beware, beware, beware.
School is out for the six week Christmas break.
Teacher John Grant is bound for the Sydney beach and his girlfriend.
First, a stopover in Bundanyabba, where he gets caught up in local pastimes of drinking, carousing, gambling.
Gambling to the extent that he loses all his money and has to stay.
Australian outback presages Mad Max and Wolf Creek and is scarier than either.
Be warned, the midnight kangaroo hunt is just that – an actual hunt with dozens of killings.
Otherwise, this will stay with you for months, perhaps haunt you enough to stay home this year.

Fist Of Legend - 1994 - Hong Kong

Fist Of Legend - 1994 - 7/10  
AKA - Jing wu Ying Xiong // 精武英雄

 
Martial arts master Chen Zhen returns to a troubled Shanghai.
Time is 1937, and the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Chen’s teacher had been killed in a duel with a karate master, and Zhen suspects foul play.
True or not, honor is now at stake, for the Chinese, for the Japanese.
Perhaps Jet Li’s finest film, with outstanding fights.
By this time, however, his onscreen personal of dour & sour stone face is entrenched.
Final duel with General Fujita is classic Hong Kong cinema.

Milk Teeth - 2020 - USA

Milk Teeth - 2020 - 6/10

 
Anyone who hates flossing, this opens with the dangers of over-zealousness.
A barter is extended.  Teeth for wishes.
Consider, he is in the orphanage and desperate for adoption.
Prospective parents come, and choose other boys.
Underlying terror, but overly dark.

Mouths Of Sand - 2020 - Spain

Mouths Of Sand - 2020 - 7/10  
AKA - Hondar Ahoak

 
Recently reactivated Inspector Garcia is called in about the disappearance of Captain Josu.
Everyone in the small Basque port assumes Josu is dead, and refers to him in the past tense.
As with most mysteries, there is thicket of suspects with motives.
Josu had been convicted of smuggling and drug-running a decade earlier.
Inspector Garcia pursues the drug angle, rather than the disappearance proper.
Upsetting the entire local equilibrium and economy.
Unusual mix of legends and mysticism adds color to this short series.
Spanish production, although Basque is the primary language.