Inequality For All - 2013 - USA

Inequality For All - 2013 - 7/10

 
Robert Reich addresses the college auditorium, as well as a room filled with blue collar.
Trying to explain where the middle class went, how everyone is financially broke.
And how the very few, the 1% at the top have so much wealth, that they can buy or tilt elections.
Reich is thoughtful, reasonable, trying to explain in simple language.
The worrying thought is that wealth disparity is even greater today than it was in 2013.
Solutions require political will, which is impossible for politicians without backbones.
Of course, we, the electorate, keep reinstating failures again and again.

Midnight Clear - 2017 - USA

Midnight Clear - 2017 - 6/10

 
Dad loves Christmas.  He also exhibits simmering anger this year.
Add a wee bit of instability, and Dad frightens his wife and children.
Family traditions ain’t always what they’re cracked up to be.
Short film, stick for the twist.
Holiday fare for Grinch and Krampus celebrants.

Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey - 2019 - UK

Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey - 2019 - 6/10

 
Always sigh inducing when a presenter puts their own name first and foremost.
Historian Lucy Worsley sweeps the songs from pagan into Medieval into the Great War.
Admittedly, the earlier Wassail songs seem more fun, their stories not over-told.
Plenty of carols in this, also a fair bit of fill to pad the time length.
Good as atmosphere, purring in the background while revels are ongoing.
For the more adventurous, check out The Unthanks: A Very English Winter (2012).

Close Your Eyes - 2023 - Spain

Close Your Eyes - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Cerrar los Ojos

 
While working on “The Farewell Gaze”, the movie that was never finished, the lead actor simply disappeared.
Decades later, a popular “missing persons” show hires to old director to try and find the actor.
After all, there was never a corpse found.  Conspiracy theorists have flourished.
The quest into forgotten paths pulls him and the viewer along.

 
Film is beautifully lensed, quietly acted, and the bookends are magical.
(One wishes the abandoned “Farewell Gaze” was available.)
There is leisurely paced, and there is plodding.  This is agonizingly slow.
Sluggish, and overlong.  The narrative is not that rich, nor are the characters.
Arthouse cinema – know thyself.

Siren X - 2008 - Japan

Siren X - 2008 - 4/10
AKA - Yôjo Densetsu Seirên X: Mashô no Yûwaku

 
The video crew heads out to a remote lake to shoot a “mini-skirt adventure”.
A polite way to V-porn.  While refusing onscreen stuffing, the lead female aspires to a honorable career.
Fortunately for the menfolk, they have landed themselves near the neighborhood water demon.
A succubus, who even has her own minimally furnished, stately manor.
Yes, the men are soon bounced till they drop.
Noisy proceedings resemble coked-up, frantic gophers.
Enjoyment may depend on one’s dating circuits.

The Sweeney - 1975 - UK

The Sweeney - 1975 - 6/10

 
Hard-hitting, in-your-face series of London’s Flying Squad (Sweeney Todd).
Followup to Regan (1974) and a huge influence on Life On Mars.
Coppers try to nab petty crooks, get stymied by procedures, watch efforts come to naught.
Gritty, brutal at times, with John Thaw and Dennis Waterman an effective team.
Likely on a par with Starsky & Hutch as far a mayhem, except the odds more balanced here.
The team, the squad, the department, they lose their fair share of rounds.
These are also men who smoke, booze, swear, shirt chase.
Hardly a slick series, either.  A bitter, melancholy vibe pervades their world.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - 2005 - USA

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - 2005 - 6/10  

 
It’s a downright shame.  In fact, it stinks, this being the Christmas week.
Lockhart, fleeing from a botched robbery, somehow gets cast in a Hollywood movie.
The role, a detective.  Training him will be a real PI, Gay Perry.
Poolside, Lockhart eyes the hotties, just before he is involved with murders.
While something of a shaggy dog yarn, there are multiple narratives and backstories.
The root is pulp fiction, with hardboiled dicks, lost femmes, broken dreams.
Humor very dark in this, with Downey a scattered, unreliable narrator.
Val Kilmer floors it as the cynical, barb wielding shamus.
Ain’t much Yule here, aside from Santa and cocktail waitresses resembling Hugh Hefner’s wet dream.

It’s A Wonderful Knife - 2023 - USA

It’s A Wonderful Knife - 2023 - 4/10

 
The sinister  Angel Of Death launches a series of murders during Christmas.
After two kills, high schooler Winnie snuffs him – and – look who our killer is!
One year later, the town of Angel Falls has moved on, save for Winnie, who is miserable.
So miserable, she wishes she had never been born.  And lo, it is granted.
Soon, without Winnie, the town suffers a reign of blood.
Intriguing premise, mutating the classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) into a slasher.
The script is poor, however, ranging from Hallmark to ignorance of the horror subgenre.
Direction is clunky, unimaginative and dull, lacking humor, style, thrust and reverence for the genre.
A lot could have done with this concept, pity it was handled by the inept.

Once Upon A Murdoch Christmas - 2016 - Canada

Once Upon A Murdoch Christmas - 2016 - 6/10

 
During holiday revels, the rich. I mean really rich, are being robbed.
Their gifts are pawned or exchanged, the resultant funds used for practical necessities.
The Toronto force investigates, but the thieves are technologically advanced.
Indeed, for fans of steampunk, there are outrageous gadgets and scenes.
Despite that, the plot is overly schmaltzy, and saccharine to disbelief.
Side plots are even more corny.
Escapist Christmas fare, lacking edge, yet fine for family viewing.

This Is Christmas - 2022 - UK

This Is Christmas - 2022 - 7/10  

 
“Since we all take the same train every day, I’d like to invite you to the first annual Christmas party for passengers in this compartment.”
Ah, the chance gesture of goodwill and holiday bonhomie.  Inviting absolute, total strangers.
Adam’s cynical girlfriend warns they are likely psychopaths, drooling homeless, or insistent fundamentalists.
Nevertheless, he feels somewhat unmoored this season and reaches out.
British Rom-Com manages to be farfetched and predictable.
Yet, it is a charming, feel-good story, and one of the best ones in the past few years.
Hallmark has so saturated the season with syrup and formula, it is worthwhile to mention rare quality.

Violent Night - 2022 - USA

Violent Night - 2022 - 6/10

 
Santa, disillusioned with another crop of holiday ingrates, gets sodden at the pub.
Before climbing into the sleigh and later inadvertently crashing an unmerry heist.
High tech band of thieves have invaded the maximum security fortress of the ultra rich.
Bludgeoned proceedings are stuffed with black-humored comedy.
Couple of mushy bits that sog the dash-along pace, but these are few.
For those who appreciate Yule mayhem, there are nods to perennial favorites.
Prefer Christmas crimson of the splashed kind?
Suffer no guilt.

Fatman - 2020 - USA

Fatman - 2020 - 6/10

 
In a world of limited to no consequences, it is unsurprising Santa is dispensing more coal than toys.
Chris is also suffering a crisis of faith, although wife Ruth tries to rally his cheer.
Add a wealthy, spoiled, sore-loser of a little boy, furious with his lump of coal.
Who hires a professional hitman to snuff the fatman.
Needless to say, there is a lot going on in this rambling holiday fantasy.
It does coalesce somewhat, yet the focus is not on Yule.
An odd film, not the first choice for family viewing, unless your kids giggle at a rising body count.
If so, perhaps anthracite may be fill future stockings.

Home For The Holidays - 1972 - USA

 Home For The Holidays - 1972 - 6/10

 
No, not the Thanksgiving classic with Holly Hunter and Robert Downey.
Here, Pa summons his estranged daughters to his bedside.
The girls blame their odious-to-the-core father for their mother’s suicide.
“My new wife!”  he wails.  “She’s poisoning me!”
“So, what do you want us to do about it?”
“Why, kill her!”
There are a few decorated trees, one of the females hums a carol.
Otherwise, this is a knock-em-off whodunit.
Bland made-for-TV movie, wasting a terrific cast.

Street Of Chance - 1942 - USA

Street Of Chance - 1942 - 6/10

 
Only afternoon, you’re strolling easy on the sidewalk, when a chunk of rubble bounces off your head.
Regain consciousness and, “Hey, my name is Frank Thompson!  Why are all my initials DN?”
Oh, no!  He had been suffering amnesia, and in his previous state had been a sinister type.
Worse, several shady characters are chasing him.
Narrative is the search for identity, what Frank did – if he actually did it.
Burgess Meredith lacks the oomph to carry this.
Plus, Frank’s loyal wife is a mousy brunette, alter-ego Danny’s girl is torrid blonde, Claire Trevor.
Massive plot holes, photography is pre-Noir, although close.
Sheldon Leonard is the absolute best thing in this.

The Heart Of Texas Ryan - 1917 - USA

The Heart Of Texas Ryan - 1917 - 4/10
AKA - Single Shot Parker

 
Texas Ryan being the bossman’s daughter, just returned from a fancy Eastern finishing school.
Parker is the ranch foreman, a rootin-tootin, hijinks lovin’ cowpuncher.
Out in the sagebrush are cattle rustlers, led by a wily Mexican, who wants that new filly, Miss Ryan.
Lots of action, shooting, horses running all over, steers, saloons, whatnot.
Plot is skimpier than a jackrabbit.  Romance?  Educated girl, wild, boozing cowboy?
I reckon they’ll last a shade longer than this hour film.  Print is in terrible condition.

Being There - 1979 - USA

Being There - 1979 - 7/10

 
Chance, simpleton, is tossed onto the streets after his elderly benefactor dies.
By contrivance, he finds a home with another wealthy, influential family.
The satire expands as his vacuousness is mistaken for wisdom.
His naive comments are heard as thoughtful insight.
When much younger, I dismissed this film as sheer nonsense.
Nowadays, I realize humanity can and will believe all manner of tripe as gospel.
Relevant when it came out; relevant now in our era of “influencers”.
Chance, however, is an innocent, whereas most influencers range between self-serving and malicious.

Of Human Bondage - 1934 - USA

Of Human Bondage - 1934 - 6/10

 
Aspiring artist Philip is advised he lacks talent, imagination.
Disappointed, he returns to London and eventually becomes a doctor.
Well and good, until he meet, and becomes smitten with, trashy waitress Mildred.
From this point, this becomes a soapy melodrama.
Why would a doctor …?  And why would a waitress spurn advances from a rich physician?
Leslie Howard well cast as the human doormat, Bette Davis as the disdainful idol.
Although everyone knows characters like this is real life, the lengthy attraction here seems incomprehensible.

The Ghost Writer - 2010 - France

The Ghost Writer - 2010 - 7/10  

 
Anonymous scribe gets hired to polish the memoirs of an ex-Prime Minister.
(Tony Blair is implied, although there is nothing overt to affirm that.)
The PM is holed up on a high-security, island fortress.
Soon enough, the ghost realizes the journal reveals too much national security.
That, and the job description failed to declare how hazardous it would be.
Top-notch thriller, blanketed in Noir, inside a claustrophobic setting.
Late era Polanski film, and a reminder just how potent he can be.

What’s Good For The Goose - 1969 - UK

What’s Good For The Goose - 1969 - 4/10

 
Norman, fifty-something bank clerk, picks up two free-spirit female hitchhikers.
After a quickie fling with Nikki, he imagines he is in love, and his life unravels.
Swinging 60’s film mixes silly farce with nudge-nudge innuendo.
Norman would NEVER pull any hot girls of the time.  Too old, no money, no power.
Benny Hill would have better luck, at least he had a sense of humor.
Speaking of which, as a comedy, this is a dismal failure.

To Kill A Tiger - 2022 - Canada

To Kill A Tiger - 2022 - 7/10

 
“She should just marry one of the boys.  That would solve it.”
So say the village females, after a 13-year-old child is attacked and raped by three men.
You read right, their “solution” is for her to marry the rapist.
Her father, Ranjit, decides to press charges, unheard of in India, where females are routinely raped.
Documentary observes the indifference, then ostracism by neighbors.
There are outside support groups, seen simply as “outsiders”.
Court, as is most nations, is agonizingly slow.
Throughout, “marry your rapist” is offered as the wisest counsel.
Significant watch, especially for fathers with daughters of any age.

The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh - 1971 - Italy

The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Lo Strano  Vizio Della Signora Wardh

 
Even though Julie has married diplomat Neil, an ex-lover, the abusive Jean, provokes her.
Then, there is her friend’s handsome cousin, George, to whom she is attracted.
Meanwhile, Vienna is besieged by a razor blade serial killer!
More?  Yes, there is much more in this stylish and sex charged Giallo.
Edwige Fenech, as ever, is easy on the eyes.  Likewise, the eye-popping 1970’s Italian interiors.
Frequent nudity, hairpin plots packed with flashbacks and twists.
One of the better titles of this genre, and one that stitches together nicely.
Subs for COMMENTARY TRACK ONLY = https://subscene.cam/download/3352040

Starve Acre - 2023 - UK

Starve Acre - 2023 - 6/10

 
Asthmatic son Owen exhibits anger issues, starts therapy, before a felling.
Parents Richard and Julie grieve in different ways.
She withdraws into isolation, he unearths and excavates a buried past.
Along with bones, which seem to be resuscitating.
Slow, brooding film demands patience and intelligence from viewers.
You must intuit subtleties on your own, nothing is handed to you, let alone explained.
Sister Harriet is our alter-ego, and she is likewise stymied by lack of communication.
Moody, atmospheric, until the finale which is stupefying.

Captain Ron - 1992 - USA

Captain Ron - 1992 - 6/10

 
Milquetoast family inherits Clark Gable’s old schooner, the Wanderer, which needs work (box of matches?).
They hire the very shady Cap‘n Ron to sail the boat and them from Bermuda to Miami.
How many boozy situations and adventures can you envision?
Well, the writers and cast could concoct a lot, lot more.
This makes an OK family film, (a good stoner flick), and a laugh filled romp.
Just don’t think.  “A shark ate your eye?”

The Fix - 2024 - South Africa

The Fix - 2024 - 5/10

 
Don’t take drugs if you don’t know what they are!
Well, if you’re young, you don’t care.  If old, you trust Big Pharma.
Near future, global air quality has deteriorated to toxic levels.
Breathing drugs are insufficient, and seem reserved for quality citizens.
TV model Ella accidentally quaffs a vial of an experimental test.
Her body begins to mutate, and all manner of characters begin pursuing her.
Overlook budget limitations, and a script that needs tightening.
A good dystopian SciFi buried by poor direction, mediocre cinematography.

The Mystic - 1925 - USA

The Mystic - 1925 - 6/10

Why hoodwink Hungarian villagers for loose change, when you can go to the States and fleece rich Americans?
Madame Zara and her Gypsy act arrive in New York and start the big swindle.

 
Aside from the swells at the private séance, there is a young heiress.
As well as her older guardian, quietly embezzling to play the stock market.
A Tod Browning film, this lacks the callous bite his output is usually steeped in.
Acting is fine, although one can envision Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore in key roles.

A Good Year - 2020 - Belgium

A Good Year - 2020 - 5/10
AKA - Een Goed Jaar

 
Erik receives an inheritance from an aunt.  Large manor with weedy grounds.
It is in deplorable condition, estate taxes are horrendous, and Erik is recently fired for malfeasance.
He hires a ride from low-level con-man, Lenny.
And after they discover a hidden, and small, cache of old wine they hook up with restorer, Judith.
Yes, such contrived plotting leaves much to be desired.
The trio are soon offering bottles to high-end collectors, saying the vino is from Hitler’s stash.
The first victim?  A mob boss (Russian, Eastern Europe).  Things soon get complicated.
I was hoping this would resemble [U]Faking Hitler[/U], but it does not.
As a comedy, I never smiled once.  Midway, I starte

The Critic - 2024 - UK

The Critic - 2024 - 7/10

 
Theatre critic Erskine and popular actor Nina Land, whom he skews mercilessly.
He is convinced she possesses “talent” yet fails to deliver, because she tries too hard.
Meantime, a change of leadership at the paper, means all jobs are uncertain.
Erskine is asked to tone down the malicious venom in his reviews.
“But that’s what readers want.”
Rather, he takes a more subtle course to deal with the new publisher.
Trenchant, manipulative thriller steeped in poison, set amidst the theatre boards.
A must for theatre fans, but a torturous ride.

The Bigamist - 1953 - USA

The Bigamist - 1953 - 6/10

 
Once Eve and Harry start the adoption process, the secret starts to emerge.
After all, there are deep background checks.
Salesman Harry, dividing his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles, has things to hide.
Hey, reference the title!
Narrative shows how Harry came to have two better halves.
Marked as Noir, this is not.  This has enough soap for a bubble bath.
Still, a good Ida Lupino film and, I think, the last feature she directed.

Bram Stoker Agus Dracula - 2011 - Ireland

Bram Stoker Agus Dracula - 2011 - 6/10

 
Documentary focusing on Stoker’s Irish upbringing, influences, peers.
While Henry Irving is discussed, this is more Érie-centric.
The Wilde’s are given prominence, including the fact that Stoker “took” Oscar’s first love.
Stoker, embraced by neither Ireland nor England, considered himself an in-betweener or liminal writer.
The different point of view is especially compelling.
Likewise, Transylvania as substitute for Ireland.  Folktales include Abhartach and graveyard ghosts.
Most of this is in Irish, make sure there are subtitles.
Stoker fans, an essential watch.

Dracula’s Bram Stoker - 2003 - Ireland

Dracula’s Bram Stoker - 2003 - 6/10

 
Nice overview of the theatre manager and writer of influential horror.
Childhood, college where he excelled,  Friends with the Wilde’s.
London, working as Irving’s manager, meeting the cream of society and the intelligentsia.
In between, writing stories, essays, articles, and working on “The Un-dead” which would be renamed.
Numerous talking heads include Neil Jordan, Christopher Lee, Paul Murray, Leonard Wolf …
The Irving period is well represented, as is his marriage, and latent inclinations.
His slapdash writing of Dracula, jotting whenever he had a moment, resulted in the unique structure.

A Whistle Stop Tour - 2024 - UK

A Whistle Stop Tour - 2024 - 6/10

 
Short where critic Kim Newman gabs about “The Whistler”.
Primarily the eight film series from Columbia, though he touches on the long running OTR series from Signal Oil, as well as the TV series, of which I was unaware.
Fans of the Dix series will find nothing new, nor is this an introduction to the series.
From a remastered box set, unavailable in the US.
I wasted time studying titles in Newman’s shelves.

Stoker - 2013 - UK

Stoker - 2013 - 6/10

 
After India’s father dies in a horrible car accident, her wayward Uncle Charlie appears.
Swiftly establishes himself in the estate as if born to it, and just before subsequent disappearances.
Slow, very slow boil thriller of the smiling predator, recognized by the moody daughter.
That said, there are several cruel twists, and formula expectations were foiled.
In essence, while this goes nowhere, the journey itself is perverse.
Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode memorable as the distorted pair.
Nicole Kidman almost perfect as widowed Southern belle, all too eager to move on.

Night Angel - 1990 - USA

Night Angel - 1990 - 3/10

 
Out of the oozing swamp she emerges.  Then, into negligees and onto power brokers.
Grade-D erotic thriller overlaid with succubus tropes, masked with a Lilith persona.
She slithers her way to Siren Magazine where she intends to pervert a mass readership to wickedness.
Actually, my encapsulation makes more sense than this inept attempt.
No one can act (why is Karen Black in this?), relying on facial grimaces, smirks and double-takes.
Low-light, softcore romping, latex prosthetics, and a script penned by a poodle.
Near the conclusion, there is a whacked out demonic orgy with effects and costumes that is imaginative.
If you must.  English subs = https://subsource.net/subtitle/night-angel-1990/english/10057734

Turkish Detective - 2024 - UK

Turkish Detective - 2024 - 7/10

 
Young detective Suleyman transfers from London to Istanbul.
Where he finds, police handle things differently.
Exotic police procedural.
Series of two-part mysteries, that are anything but routine.
Connecting the series is an arc of Suleyman’s girlfriend, violently attacked in Istanbul.
Domestic affairs I could take or leave, but they seem to be a fixture now.

Conflict - 2022 - USA

Conflict - 2022 - 7/10

 
“If a man’s got an open mind, he can’t keep anything in it.”
“… there’s one great incentive to human endeavour at work in the world today, that’s the incentive of the upper ten to keep things as they are.”
Heady, drawing room play set in the 1920’s, as the upstart Labour Party challenges the Tories.
Disparities referenced include class, wealth, gender.
This is post Great War England, pre-Depression, although there is mention of nations building armaments.
Lady Dare has a steady fella in Ronnie, but theirs is habit, not passion.
Then there is Tom, ex-schoolmate of Ronnie, whose pride and family were shattered by the War.
In time, the two become rivals in the constituency.
Very modern play, still resonates today, as our own disparities continue to widen and deepen.

The Maid - 2005 - Singapore

The Maid - 2005 - 6/10
AKA - 女佣

 
Rosa arrives from the Philippines to Singapore.
Auspiciously, it is the seventh month.
The Gates of Hell yawn open, spirits with a grievance emerge.
Rosa’s employers try to explain, try to warn her.
The girl is ignorant, however, makes mistakes, offending the ghosts.
Packed with jump scares (that soon grow tiresome) and wooden acting.
Script boasts a few twists, will be OK for those who sample different horror themes.
English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3351398

Night Watch - 1973 - UK

Night Watch - 1973 - 6/10

 
Yes, it is raining.  Pouring down hard, actually.
Nonetheless, Ellen spies a corpse in the empty house.
Sitting in a chair, throat slashed.
Police arrive.  Body, what body?  Conclude Ellen is overt-anxious.
And she is overwrought.  Her husband, best friend, and doctor want to place her in “a home”.
Roiling thriller pushed by Elizabeth Taylor’s neurotic performance.
Probably overlooked, and worth watching.
English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3351397

Libido - 1965 - Italy

Libido - 1965 - 6/10

 
Young boy Christian observes his father and blonde female in the mirror-lined pleasure room.
Just before dad murders her, then commits suicide.
Two decades of psycho-therapy later, Christian stands to inherit a wealthy estate.
Three days before that, he chooses to spend time in the haunted manor.
With his wife, always hovering, soothing, reassuring and reminding.
His guardian, who stands to maintain his status should Christian be institutionalized.
With the guardian’s oversexed, kittenish wife, provocative and rapacious.
This borrows heavily from Diabolique (1955), yet is a tight, claustrophobic thriller.
Innuendo laced dialogue includes = “She took your big piece with her little piece.”

Blind Lucky - 2015 - Germany

Blind Lucky - 2015 - 6/10

 
Yes, with the right kit, you can jack any car you want.
Even one that belongs to a psychotic, vindictive criminal.
Who, in short order, has you suspended by chains.
And who opens up a new world of pain.
Nasty little short.  Proof of concept for a feature.

Last Warning - 1928 - UK

Last Warning - 1928 - 6/10

 
During the climactic moment, the lead actor and owner is struck dead.
Curtain lowered, the audience confused, the police arrive.
Whereupon the body disappears, and is never found.
The building is now cursed, and lies dormant for years.
Until a new producer decides to revive the doomed play, “The Snare”.
Lively shocker is full bore Gothic, undermined by melodramatic, hammy acting.

Tea War: The Adventures Of Robert Fortune - 2001 - UK

Tea War: The Adventures Of Robert Fortune - 2001 - 6/10  

 
This may be of more interest to hardcore* tea drinkers.
By the 1840’s , the English were avid fanatics of the stuff, but felt restricted by China’s virtual monopoly.
Mr Fortune was sent to study techniques and collect as many tea plant varieties as possible.
He circumvented officials, inspectors, rules, laws, and customs, bringing a trove to India.
The documentary states this was one of the greatest thefts in history.
Unmentioned, were than most of the Chinese plants were unsuited to India and died.
Moreover, English preference was for brisk tea, meaning astringent or bitter.  With milk.
Not Lapsang Suchong or Keemun.

Tea preference test.  * Hardcore types answer 2.
1 – Herb tea or flowers  2 – Tea leaves.
1 – Teabags  2 – Loose tea leaves
1 – Mug or cup  2 – Really, please.  Kettle, pot, cups and saucers.
1 – Sugar with milk or lemon  2 – Black

Finding Neverland - 2004 - UK

Finding Neverland - 2004 - 7/10  

 
James Barrie, enduring another theatrical flop, wonders about his career … and marriage.
He strikes up a friendship with a youngish widow and especially her four children.
Observing the children at play, he is inspired to write “Peter Pan”.
Low-key story benefits from quiet performances by Depp and Winslet.
Later, I chatted with a few Barrie fans who were appalled at the historical inaccuracies.
Perhaps the less one knows, the better the enjoyment.
Endearing family film.

Dredd - 2012 - UK

Dredd - 2012 - 6/10

 
Our dystopian future, the herd packed in squalid cities.
Crime is dealt with harshly by “Judges” who also act as jury and executioner.
A brutal slaying occurs in Peach Trees highrise.
Judge Dredd is dispatched with a rookie, one with psychic abilities.
The movie proves to be an extended, glorified shooter game.
Dredd ascends, killing a multitude of baddies.
Pretty good for what it is (far superior to the Stallone effort).
Producers let the DP go wild and it shows; this is a stylish actioner.
Expect blood.

Woman Of The Hour - 2023 - USA

Woman Of The Hour - 2023 - 7/10  

“Alrighty now!  After a few questions Miss Sheryl, you’ll choose your date.  We won’t tell you that one of our contestants just happens to be serial killer Rodney Alcala.  Our bad, oops.”

 
The meat of this Dating Game thriller is Rodney, photographer, charmer, ladies man.
One by one, females get taken by the soft-spoken praise.  Strokes.
Chronology bounces a little, but there are always dates posted.
Sheryl’s story is more fictionalized, and pushes a misogyny message.
97% of men in this are lechers, liars, enablers.
Film entertaining, despite the preachiness.

In the mid 70’s, I drove to Los Angeles and enrolled at Cal State.  I was on my own, poor and needed income.  The student jobs center had various listings.  Including contestant on “The Dating Game”.  I couldn’t believe it!
I declined, although I gather plenty of theatre majors signed up.  (Northridge was a TV feeder school.)
Instead, my first job was at a liquor store.  It wasn’t “The Dating Game”, but it was memorable.

Siren: Erotic Ghost - 2004 - Japan

Siren: Erotic Ghost - 2004 - 5/10
AKA - Shin Yôjo Densetsu: Seirên // サイレン：エロティックゴースト

The heist went better than planned, with a sweet haul.
Enroute to the hideaway, the men rendezvous for supplies, except the female sees the cash.
They kidnap her.  She’s cute, and will provide jollies while they wait.

 
Until the thieves begin dropping dead.
And cute or not, she can drain the wick from the stick.
Cheap V-film is predictable, spotty acting, shoddy photography.
English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3351082

Joy House - 1964 - France

Joy House - 1964 - 6/10
AKA - Les Félins

Probably not Marc’s best idea, banging the mob boss’s girl.
A whack crew after his head (literally), has him briefly, before a quick escape.
Even sheltering in a church soup kitchen proves perilous.
Until two wealthy American females hire him as chauffeur.

 
There are agendas.  One sizes up Marc.  Height, weight, hair, build.
The younger model studies his trousers.
Gangsters, a petty crook, treacherous females, a labyrinthine manor.
Great Gothic mystery with layer upon layer of deception and silken control.

Murder In Cantal - 2023 - France

Murder In Cantal - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres dans le Cantal

 
The disagreeable owner of a gourmet restaurant is murdered while fishing.
Prime suspect?  His less talented son, who stands to inherit, and who is a classic lecher.
Not to worry, everyone around despised both men, so police have numerous hot leads.
Decent procedural loaded with poor alibis and pleasant lies.
A subplot involves a deceased child – waste of time.
Another subplot involves ailing senior parents – likewise superfluous.

Au Revoir Les Infants - 1987 - France

Au Revoir Les Infants - 1987 - 8/10

 
Amidst World War II, the French Catholic boarding school seems immune.
The priests, however, have quietly sheltered a few Jewish boys.
Being children, somewhat innocent and unwary, they lack guile for secrecy.
Power Louis Malle film, based on an incident in his childhood.
A quiet film, keenly observant of daily slights and treacheries.
Casual betrayals and justifications.
The ordinariness of the day to day cloaks a chilling, wartime reality.
Masterclass cinema.

Birthday Girl - 2001 - UK

Birthday Girl - 2001 - 5/10

 
OK, most of us receive assorted emails from hot Ukrainian girls, or Russian babes wanting you!
Most of us will mark SPAM, click DELETE, then search for honest relationships at Pornster.
Not our mild-mannered bank clerk, who accepts the Russian bride offer.
Said bride arrives with her male cousin and his male friend.
I’m barking at the screen, “Dude, that cousin is Vincent Cassel!  Run!  He is up to no good.”
The “comedy” is lame, romance lukewarm, thrills predictable.
For a better Nicole Kidman thriller, check out Malice (1993).