Boys From County Hell - 2020 - Ireland

Boys From County Hell - 2020 - 6/10

 
“I was thinking we could route the bypass a wee bit and avoid those stones.”
“Local bullshite.  There ain’t no 300 year old vampire under that cairn.  You knock it down!”
And thus the ancient cairn is knocked down, and soon blood flows in the village lanes.
Witty comedy mixes alcohol and plasma, jokes and stakes.
Well traveled tale, yet the lads are a game bunch, if inept.
Friends, followers and foes of Abhartach, join Bram and refill your glasses with this one.

Lady From Chungking - 1942 - USA

Lady From Chungking - 1942 - 6/10

 
Anna Me Wong leads the resistance in a small village, occupied by Japanese forces.
The Chinese are hiding weapons and biding their time.
Japanese general Kaimura, known as the Butcher, is arriving, which signals an offensive.
Meanwhile, two Flying Tiger pilots have crashed, one is captured, one rescued.
Fast moving chest-beater, laden with jingoistic propaganda.
Still, one watches for Anna Mae in a rare starring role, and she is terrific.

Turkish Star Trek - 1973 - Turkey

Turkish Star Trek - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda

 
The Enterprise orbits planet M-113 where Professor Crater and his wife are the only dwellers.
Aside from desperately needed salt, they want to be left alone.
Complications follow when one of the landing party is killed, body drained of salt.
Finding a patsy, Professor Crater teleports Ömer away from a forced marriage, light years distant.
The whole Trek stuff is completely faithful to “The Man Trap” episode.
As for Ömer, he is a fast-talking buffoon, out of place, clueless, yet surprisingly quick to grasp.
He excels in annoying Mr Spak to distraction.
There is a lot to enjoy in this insane spoof, which abounds in other references.
Uncredited, but listen for “Echoes” by Pink Floyd.

Idle Wives - 1916 - USA

Idle Wives - 1916 - 6/10

 
Ah, domestic bliss.  Arguments and tantrums round the kitchen table.
Elsewhere, a husband dallies with an old flame, his suspicious wife spying from nearby.
While a young girl, defying her mother, goes out walking with a man of bad reputation.
By chance, all enter the movie palace to view “Life’s Mirror”.
Where they see on the silver screen, characters eerily enacting their own situations.
Morality film, brushed with melodrama, once feared lost, until two reels surfaced a few years ago.

Paris Was A Woman - 1996 - UK

Paris Was A Woman - 1996 - 6/10  

 
Following the Great War, numerous Americans flocked to Paris.
The Twenties roared, the dollar was strong, and the Depression years away.
Among them, women, creative types, completely stifled in the heartland.
Writers, poets, painters, journalists, publishers, photographers.
Less recognized than the men of the Lost Generation because they were female.
Brief documentary highlights the leading lights, although the audio is often garbled.
Companion to the book of the same name, which is highly recommended.

Good People - 2022 - Belgium

Good People - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Des Gens Bien

 
Their car skids off the road, hurtles downhill, explodes into flames.
Tom escapes, while Linda is burned beyond recognition.  And they had been very much in love.
What the hey, she had been insured to the max, which will come in handy for Tom.
Debt, huge debt, embarrassing obligations.
Almost everyone buys his version of events.  Almost.
Tom can barely keep his lies straight, his anxiety is soaring, while the sexual blackmail is best left unmentioned.
Extremely funny murder series lacks complete closure (producers gambled for a S02 and lost), yet any viewer with a passable IQ should be able to stitch this up.

Coup de Chance - 2023 - France

Coup de Chance - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Stroke Of Luck

 
Woody Allen continues his long observations of insecurity, infidelity and jealousy.
This outing, per the title, “chance” is a major element.  Not Fate, chance.  Randomness.
Alain sees Fanny on the sidewalk, and they share a quick conversation.
They had known each other in a New York high school, where Alain had been too shy to approach Fanny.
Not so now, as Alain increasingly flirts and hits on her, all the while aware she is married,
To a wealthy man, an older man, a very jealous and suspicious man.
A relationship drama (similar to Rohmer) shifts remorselessly into much darker territory.
Not the home run Allen fans always hope for, yet very good.
And a “good” Allen is still better than most films out there.

1920 - 2008 - India

1920 - 2008 - 6/10

 
Lisa tries to tell her new husband, something about the house is amiss.
Men, as ever, never listen until too late.
The house is huge, gorgeously appointed, but the owner wants it torn down and replaced with a luxury hotel.
Young architect Arjun accepts the task of making preliminary measurements and new plans.
Not knowing about the previous architects, both of whom perished in the house.
The ”spirit” of the house is not going to go quietly.
Big, flamboyant Hindi film is wildly over-the-top, most agreeably so.
There are 6-7 plots, locked rooms, flashbacks, possessions, revelations.
Musical numbers, of course.  Supernatural stuff is all old school, no CGI.

The Little Stranger - 2018 - UK

The Little Stranger - 2018 - 6/10

 
Dr. Faraday, village doctor, almost believes the family when they say they are cursed.
Or at least their home, Hundreds Hall, in the family for generations, has turned against them.
The house, as Faraday recalls from his childhood, is a far cry from the 1919, post-Great War fete he attended.
Wealth, a platoon of servants, glorious grounds, the effortless charm of it all – all gone.
Wars, crushing death taxes, village flight to the industrial cities.
Along with the house, the Ayres family, reduced to mother, invalid son, daughter, is a dying stock.
Gothic mystery, tinged with supernatural elements, proceeds slowly and darkly.
Go in expecting low-key events and you may appreciate this better.

Berlin 1933: Diary Of A Metropolis - 2023 - Germany

Berlin 1933: Diary Of A Metropolis - 2023 - 7/10
AKA - Berlin 1933: Tagebuch einer Großstadt

 
Compiled from diary extracts, letters, newspaper reports, film, newsreel footage.
Month by month chronology from residents living in and observing events during 1933.
Early on, street battles continue between the Nazi SA and the Communist Red Front.
By the end of December, democracy was finished.
What staggers is how swiftly the National Socialists, once in power, moved.
Enemies were persecuted, imprisoned, murdered.  Opposition intimidated and crushed.
Radio and film were soon brought to heel, public opinion controlled.
After 1933, events only picked up momentum.

Next Goal Wins - 2014 - UK

Next Goal Wins - 2014 - 7/10

 
Bottom ranked football club from American Samoa has yet to score a goal, let alone win a match.
While in FIFA, the players are not professionals, they have day jobs, some are students.
Other clubs are better equipped and boast world class talent.
Seeking help, FIFA sends them a Dutch coach prior to the next qualifiers.
He is demanding, is an outsider, does not altogether understand the culture
Nevertheless, they begin to improve.
Big hearted documentary of teammates striving for a little respect.
Beware the Hollywood adaptation, reducing originals to stereotypes and caricatures.
English subtitles = https://subscene.com/subtitles/next-goal-wins-2014/english/3286581

Sick Of Myself - 2022 - Norway

Sick Of Myself - 2022 - 7/10
AKA - Syk Pike

 
Self-preening in the age of narcissism.
Some bleat that “look at me” is unique to our current era.  Au contraire.
Narcissists are older than Gyges.  Signe and boyfriend Thomas continue an endless line.
Thomas is an up-and-coming hot artist, whose “sculptures” are from stolen items.
Signe is an attention wannabee.  She embellishes, deceives, fabricates.
Not enough to sustain interest, however, as she discovers.
Until she physically disfigures herself, then lying that hers is a rare disease.
My anger at these social failures soon gave way to laugh out laughter.
Very black comedy about one of the countless societal diseases afflicting our species.

Architecture 101 - 2012 - S Korea

Architecture 101 - 2012 - 7/10
AKA - Geonchukhakgaeron // 건축학개론

She waits in his office, his old flame, who he pretends not to remember.
Yet, how could he forget?  She was his first love, perhaps his only love.
Until she broke his heart.
Now she wants him to renovate her father’s home.

 
Bittersweet romance of the couple who drifted apart 15 years earlier.
Cross-cutting with them during their freshmen year in the university.
Hopeful, naïve, an aspiring pianist, an architecture student.

 
Encouraged by the professor to explore their neighborhood, examine it.
They share the bus, share dreams, only their envisioned futures differ.
Story will resonate with those who had “everything” with their first love, until they didn’t.

My Dearly Beloved Detective - 1986 - Soviet Union

My Dearly Beloved Detective - 1986 - 6/10
AKA - Moy Nezhno Lyubimyy Detektiv

 
“No, I’m sorry, he is a fictional character.  However, since we tired of endless people coming here with their troubles, we formed our own detective agency.  And … my name is also Holmes.”
Delightful, if daffy, comedy of the famed Baker Street sleuths, Shirley Holmes and Jane Watson.
Main mystery is when Scotland Yard asks them to find their missing Inspector Lester.
This features a number of songs, one or two dance numbers.
Something for the more cultured amongst us.
English subtitles = https://subscene.com/subtitles/my-dearly-beloved-detective/english/3279578