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).

Kanashibara - 2007 - Canada

Kanashibara - 2007 - 6/10

 
Young male grieves in the basement, dreams tormented by the death of his girlfriend.
Who may – or may not – be physically / spiritually there.
Damaged look works to exacerbate the nocturnal state.
Dreamlike short of haunted possession.

Another Life - 2001 - UK

Another Life - 2001 - 5/10

 
Edith is wowed and wooed by shipping agent Percy.
He dodges Great War duty by feigning injury, does she care?
By the 1920’s their marriage soured, 27-year-old Edith meets the 18-year-old Frederick.
Our couple launch a torrid affair, heightened by her wild romantic fantasies.
The upshot?  Murder most foul.
What ought to be a murder mystery is overblown kitsch.
Perhaps the director was trying to show Edith’s addled mental state.
He failed.  Angel (2007) carried that off better, although many disliked Ozon’s film, too.
Based on Edith Thompson, whose real story is more compelling.
English (AI generated) subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3350844

Sorceress - 1974 - USA

Sorceress - 1974 - 3/10

 
A couple decide to fleece his poker friends.
She pretends to be a fortune teller, then helps the men enact fantasies.
After filming various stuff-the-muffin encounters, extortion time.
Andrea (♪ More, More, More ♪) True rassles in one section. Sonny Landham another.
Dreary, boring, with nary a whiff of magic.