The Pyx - 1973 - Canada

The Pyx - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - The Hooker Cult Murders

 
Elizabeth, business class prostitute, swan dives off the roof of a tall building.
Did she leap, or was she pushed?  Suicide or murder?
Police investigations into her death dovetail with Elizabeth’s final days.
Gloomy Horror laced with fatalistic Noir.
Plummer spot-on as the taciturn, cold blooded detective.
Karen Black quite good was the working girl, requested by a “special client”.
Overlooked during its run, worth a look by fans of diabolical religious films.

Walk The Walk - 1970 - USA

Walk The Walk - 1970 - 5/10

 
Film opens as the heroin addict struggles with the monkey.
From the religious iconography, we soon realize he is a seminary student.
That’s right before he goes to a zonked out hippie party to score more –
And instead he picks up a floozy redhead, or maybe she scores him.
Numerous set-pieces in this, no narrative, no coherence.
Bernie Hamilton (later the captain of Starsky & Hutch) is the only capable actor.
Most of the dialogue appears to be looped.
For those who like weird or bad cinema, this calls for you.
Lovingly restored by Nicolas Winding Refn.

Sister Long Legs -1960 - Hong Kong

Sister Long Legs -1960 - 6/10
AKA - Chang tui jie jie  // 長腿姐姐

 
Jingfang has two eligible daughters.
Although Binbin is underage and a terrible flirt, and Tingting pushes men away with those black frame glasses and her dismissive attitude.
And there are so few attractive (ahem, rich) single men available.
Plus, other women are pushing their own daughters front and center.
Romantic comedy of wealth and manners and assumptions.
For those who have lived or visited, this offers a peek at Hong Kong, way, way back when.

Groundhog Day - 1993 - YSA

Groundhog Day - 1993 - 6/10

 
TV weather guy (Bill Murray) as a world-class, self-centered jerk.
He hates his job, hates the assignment (please, groundhog reports), hates the small town and the folk.
His contempt is all too evident.
Fate, however, can play cruel jokes, and not always on innocent rubes.
He is caught in a loop, one Groundhog Day follows another, with no end.
Of all the flimsy plots, yet this Rom-Com works, despite the concrete female thespian.
Murray is droll, sardonic, cynical, frustrated.  Terrific range.  Film has dated, though.

Film Emigration From Nazi Germany - 1975 - Germany

Film Emigration From Nazi Germany - 1975 - 6/10
AKA - Filmemigration aus Nazideutschland

 
Documentary made in the late 1960’s consists of interviews with those who fled Nazi Germany, or their descendants.
Five episodes, each with its own focus;
1  Why leave? Who helped them leave?
2  Those who went to France, Belgium, England. Worse antisemitism, work restrictions.
3  USA.  Unions refusal techs, writers can only make suggestions.  Free reins to composers and directors.
4  Hollywood restricts acting roles: Nazis, professors, scientists, later Communists and terrorists
5  War over.  Return to Germany or remain?  Forever an outsider.
These are long take, often labored interviews, and may be wearisome to casual viewers.
For cinema connoisseurs, this is a fascinating back alley.

Tabloids On Trial - 2024 - UK

Tabloids On Trial - 2024 - 6/10

 
Specifically, the British tabloids, from embellishing stories to outright lying.
Earlier, where were those journalists getting their facts?
Hacking phone calls, hacking voicemails, burglarizing homes.
Wait, friend!  Isn’t that illegal?
Maybe, yet if the culprits are off-duty, freelancing coppers, then forget it.
The tabloids have a war chest of billions, with politicians and authorities in their pockets.
Who can fight?  Who has enough financial firepower and cachet?
Think of a Prince.  One the tabloids have been smearing for years.
One whose mother, the tabloids caused the death of.

Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler - 2005 - USA

Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler - 2005 - 7/10

 
90 minute biography from the Douglas Fairbanks Museum.
Tidy overview of his life, Broadway career, Hollywood comedian, then action icon.
Numerous clips from many films, quality varies depending on restoration.
Hosts do a good job encapsulating the man, painful personal history, achievements.
If nothing else, for founding United Artists with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D W Griffith.
One must overlook the somewhat amateurish quality of this.
Miking is not always the best, set choices are odd, and it feels like the budget was modest.
If you can forgive limitations, you should enjoy this labor of love documentary.

The Summer Of 42 - 1971 - USA

The Summer Of 42 - 1971 - 6/10

 
Coming of age story of teenage boy developing a crush on a war bride, husband deployed overseas.
Easy to see why, Jennifer O’Neil is absolutely radiant.
The photography is lush, soft focus.  Music by Michel Legrand is unforgettable.
Much is accurate across years.  Insecurity, fumbling dates, the attempts at being serious.
Seaside locations add a pervasive melancholy, compounded by the undercurrent of the ongoing war.
Funny, sentimental, aching at times.

The Importance Of Being Oscar - 2024 - UK

The Importance Of Being Oscar - 2024 - 7/10

 
Meteoric rise, sordid fall, quiet resurrection of the Irish poet and playwright.
Infatuation with Miss Langtry, marriage to Constance.
The American tour, the burgeoning fame both for works and appearances.
Bosie, and only Bosie is listed as a dalliance.
Alastair Whatley one man show makes a spellbinding evening of wit, intellectualism and pathos.
Referenced: “Earnest”, “De Profundis”, “Ballad Reading Gaol”.
Essential for fans of Wilde.
Excellent companion to Prisoner C33 from 2022.

The Thirteenth Hour - 1947 - USA

The Thirteenth Hour - 1947 - 6/10

 
Steve, swerving to miss a drunk driver, plows into a gas station.
No one saw the other car, his freight truck is wrecked, his license suspended.
How will he keep his small transport firm in business?
Especially with the larger competitor trying to quash him.
Add some murders, and Steve’s luck tumbles from bad to worse
Late entry in “The Whistler” series is a routine Noir with a few twists.
Surprisingly good restoration for a lesser B-film, commentary by historian Eloise Ross.
Richard Dix’s last film in the series, and his final film, period.

Shining Sex - 1976 - France

Shining Sex - 1976 - 6/10

A reserved couple invite a cabaret dancer back to their rooms.
Threesome, she assumes.  Except it is anything but.
The female is an inter-dimensional, studying human behavior, the male is her servant.

 
Early on, the dancer is smeared and drugged with ointment.
This will inevitably kill her, but first she is tasked to assassinate three.
The plot in a nutshell, is SciFi, leaning toward Alphaville minimalism.
This is a lethargic, dreamlike mood piece, sopping with fluids.

 
Sex is used as control, seduction, extermination.
Losing track of time, which is a theme, equates to losing life.
The obliterating power of the long night, that grows into the lost weekend, then the missing week.
For sybarites, voyeurs, and fans of Jess Franco.

Of Unknown Origin - 1983 - Canada

Of Unknown Origin - 1983 - 6/10

 
Rising New York corporate shark Bart is fast tracked to make VP, owns a beautifully restored brownstone, and has a gorgeous wife (Shannon Tweed debut).
And an oversized, especially destructive rat.  Chewing power cables, infesting food stocks, shredding living areas.
While Bart has a major business deadline, the rodent takes greater priority.
Man vs rat packed with jump scares, tension, and ridiculous comedy.
Intentional or not – unsure.
The audience I watched with started laughing midway until the credits.

Music For The Movies: Bernard Herrmann - 1992 - USA

Music For The Movies: Bernard Herrmann - 1992 - 7/10

 
From Citizen Kane (1941) to Taxi Driver (1976).
Overview of extraordinarily gifted, if testy, composer and conductor.
Herrmann was one who broke with the style of compositions derived from the European Romantic tradition.
Talking heads include composers, musicians, directors, an ex-wife, friends.
Analyzed is his use of ostinati (repeating musical patterns), also the break with Hitchcock.
At an hour, this skims along and covers roughly a quarter of his film output.

The Good, The Bad, And The Weird - 2008 - S Korea

The Good, The Bad, And The Weird - 2008 - 6/10
AKA - 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈

 
Exciting Korean Western set in Manchuria, 1939, just before World War II.
An assassin is tasked with stealing a treasure map, carried by a Japanese diplomat on a train.
Things get messy when a lowly bandit winds up with the map first and flees on his motorcycle.
Further complicating matters, a bounty hunter arrives in pursuit of the hitman.
Add a large gang of thieves, add a Japanese army detachment!
Gunfights?  You gotta be kidding.  Likewise, topnotch camera work and incredible stunts.
Homage to Spaghetti Westerns, although lightweight, lacking the edge Leone would have given.
Pre-fame Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Jung Woo-sung in over-the-top adventure.