Imaginos: Blue Öyster Cult’s Occult Rock And Roll - 2021 - USA

Imaginos: Blue Öyster Cult’s Occult Rock And Roll - 2021 - 6/10

 
Partly, it was the butchery that the Old World inflicted on the New World.
Partly, it was Spanish lust for the shining silver and bright, bright gold, and the plundering of both.
Along with the black obsidian mirrors, whereby innocence corrupted experience.
Leading to unimaginable slaughter in Europe generations later.
Lengthy documentary on BÖC’s long gestating, deeply flawed, screwed-up-by-the-label, final album.
First twenty minutes detail Sandy Pearlman, inspiration, creative architect, poseur, Svengali, warped.
Best guess, based on writings, interviews, recollections by others.
Second twenty minutes follow the Soft White Underbelly, the Stalk Forrest Group, the enigmatic Bill Gawlick, the group climbing, peaking, faltering, shadowland.
Final hour – Hour – is all about the troubled “Imaginos”.  From the Soft Doctrines to Mutant Reformation.
For diehard fans of Susie and Desdinova and the Four Winds Bar.

A slice of King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NblmKnOIL-4

The Zone Of Interest - 2023 - UK

The Zone Of Interest - 2023 - 7/10  

 

An ideal, well-manicured backyard, perfect for raising a family.

Pity the adjoining property is a noisy 24 hour factory, Auschwitz.

A nearby stream is contaminated with ashes, dust, other objects from time to time.

And the fresh country air?  Well, it’s not so good is you are asthmatic.

Nonetheless, Commandant Höss and his large family enjoy the posting.

The tone draws heavily from Hannah Ardent’s concept of the banality of evil.

From individuals to mobs, most are mere “joiners”; willfully blind or clueless functionaries.

Chilling film that pairs well with Son Of Saul (2015).

Duel - 1971 - USA

Duel - 1971 - 7/10

 
Grindhouse distillation, par excellence.
Businessman, taking the cut through the backwoods highway, annoys - irritates - disrespects the wrong character.
A 1955 Peterbilt, battered, scarred, swathed in diesel and dust.
The businessman, a nervous, high strung Nellie, swiftly realizes that Peterbilt means to murder his punky Plymouth Valiant, with him inside!
Barely any dialogue, just cat and mouse, murderous chase sequences.
A fantastic scene occurs when the Peterbilt thunders side by side with a freight train
Horns blaring, two primeval beasts roar recognition.

The Assassin - 1993 - Hong Kong

The Assassin - 1993 - 6/10  
AKA - Sha ren zhe Tang Zhan  //  刺客新傳之殺人者唐斬

 
Bao Jia is caught, trying to escape with his betrothed / girlfriend.
He is sentenced to an infamous prison where his eyes are stitched shut and the torture begins.
From here on, the film grows ever more brutal and darker, splashing blood and nudity.
Lesser known Hong Kong actioner boasts swordplay in spades.
Much of the look mirrors The Bride With White Hair and prefigures Blade.
With so much fighting, the narrative – if you can call it that – barely hangs together.
Doesn’t help that the subtitles are old school Hong Kong, nonsensical English.

The Green Marker Scare - 2012 - Ireland

The Green Marker Scare - 2012 - 6/10

Teenage, private-eye Noreen helps her detective dad.
Until the car accident.  On his deathbed, he tells her his was no accident, but murder.
Whereupon she starts her own investigation.

 
Should you stick with this, the story tightens into an ugly, uncomfortable tale of murder, abuse, coverups.
Noreen and partner Cian are soon over their head, against agencies they do not comprehend.
Akin to Nancy Drew in a real world Hell.

 
Animators were ages 9-10-11, and never given a shooting script, thus unaware of the sinister, very adult narrative.
The crude, dayglow animation may put some off, yet the story of mystery and horror will haunt you for awhile.

The Intruder - 1975 - USA

The Intruder - 1975 - 4/10

 
Cheap (very cheap) looking variation on “And Then There Were None”.
A boatload of passengers arrives on a remote isle off Nassau.
Most are related to a deceased relative who supposedly left behind a hidden stash of gold bullion.
Once the yacht departs, once visitors start wondering about their situation – the dying starts.
Inept script. “Say, it’s a lovely night for a moonlight walk.”  “Sure.”  Next instant, lightning and lashing rain.
Or - when half the party are dead, everyone outdoors chasing, one female decides to take a bubble bath.  
Conversations packed with pregnant pauses and reaction shots.
Within fifteen minutes, I knew who the killer was!
Three “name” actors in this, two snuffed early on, the third is a no-show until late.

The Pedlar Man - 2023 - UK

The Pedlar Man - 2023 - 6/10  

 
Seaside yarn.
The stranger arrives at the busy quay, bustling with tourists and locals.
Masks he has to sell, and the crowds, giddy with delight, buy and wear.
Recommended by friends of Machen, this unsettling short smacks of Aickman or Ligotti.
I wonder if the creators were aware of Thomas Tessier’s Father Panic's Opera Macabre.
English subtitles = https://www.mediafire.com/file/rj4xujncfr1qtsz/ThePedlar-2023.srt/file

Paris Police 1905 - 2022 - France

Paris Police 1905 - 2022 - 6/10

 
Five years have passed since Paris Police 1900, yet the brutality of the 15th century endures.
Where the first outing wrestled with huge issues, the Dreyfus Affair, street riots, attempts to undermine stability, this focuses on bodily functions.
Prostitution, sodomy, syphilis, perverts, inverts, quack cures, who does what to who, and who photographs the deeds.
The themes are simply not as compelling.
Chances are, this would have carried more weight 40 years ago – and it never would have been made.
Acting and direction are stellar, lavish sets, gloomy cinematography, stark tone.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls - 2003 - USA

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls - 2003 - 7/10  

 
(I have not read Biskind’s controversial book upon which this is based.)
By the mid-1960’s, Hollywood was finished, going broke, audiences watching TV.
Who comes to the rescue?  All the young kids with zest, fresh ideas, and stories for younger audiences.
Coppola, Scorsese, Speilberg, Lucas, Polanski, Friedkin, Bogdanovich, etc …
This makes for an absorbing view, especially for buffs who should KNOW most of the films and interviewees.
That said, the premise that Hollywood was a shuttered graveyard is wholly erroneous.
Studio outings included: Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Dozen, Funny Girl, Butch Cassidy, Planet Apes, …..
An alternative documentary covering similar territory would be A Decade Under The Influence, also from 2003 with many of the same participants, although that is equally biased.

Message In A Bottle - 2023 - UK

Message In A Bottle - 2023 - 6/10

 
War explodes into the peaceful, happy community.
Family and neighbors decide to make the watery voyage to a new country.
Theatre story is all dance, set to the music of Sting.
My bride, one-time dancer, still aficionado, voiced her criticisms.
Dancers were great, choreography uninspired.
Ballet exercises mixed with break-dancing.  Not telling a story, merely jumping about the stage.
Me?  Music was poorly presented.  Compressed mono.
Moreover, half the tunes hailed from Sting’s old group (who went unmentioned).