Rachel Getting Married - 2008 - USA

Rachel Getting Married - 2008 - 6/10

 
Yes, it is her big day, but troubled sister Kym is draining all the energy, accidentally or accidentally on purpose.
Kym is out of rehab for years of substance abuse.  Self-destructive and a chronic liar.
Everyone blames her for the death of a relative.
Family conflict, with a provocative black sheep who garners no sympathy from family or viewers.
The usually perky Anne Hathaway is simply wonderful as the toxic disease on two legs.
Anyone who has witnessed or participated in baggage loaded nuptials, rehearsals, receptions will recognize.
Planning to marry soon?  Yours could be similar.  Reluctant attendees = Destination Wedding.

The German - 2025 - Israel

The German - 2025 - 6/10

 
Uri and Anna have been married and at the kibbutz for 25 years.
Son Eitan primed to join the air force, daughter Tamar to graduate university.
Uni, developer of a new irrigation process, needs to fly to Germany to seal the deal.
Compounding matters, Mossad asks Uri to deliver a small packet.
Germany, where horrible memories and an uneasy past lurk near the surface.
Where the recipient, an ex-Nazi, perceives something in Uri.
Mossad is delighted and Uri is pulled deeper into darkness and away from the kibbutz.
What follows is a high-strung thriller that buckled at the end.
The finale is truncated.  Either producers could not find an ending, or opted for season 2.
I found the overall conceit completely implausible.

The Protectors - 1972 - UK

The Protectors - 1972 - 6/10

 
Ever wonder what happens to old spies, those who retire?
For example, Napoleon Solo, post his stint with U.N.C.L.E.
He might freelance.  Provide protection, surveillance, conveyance.
Join forces with an Italian countess and a suave French operative.
At half an hour each, episodes hurry along.
Do not expect character development or much narrative track.

 
Nyree Dawn Porter, the Countess, had been approached by The Avengers.
Reluctant to follow Emma Peel, she wisely declined, and her character hews closer to Cathy Gale.
Fun series, lacking greatness, but action packed, spectacular locations, and an irresistible theme song.

Love Gets A Room - 2021 - Spain

Love Gets A Room - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - El Amor en su Lugar

 
Theatre troupe, imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII, put on a play to raise spirits.
A musical comedy, weaving the play with personal choices.
Playwright Patryk plans to escape after the show and wants ex-flame Stefcia to accompany.
She, however, is in love with the caddish leading man.
The theatre is full, a stoic audience longing for a night to forget their desperate fears.
In the front row, an SS officer, theatre lover himself or something more sinister?
Outstanding camera work, easy to overlook if one is caught in the story.

Homicidal - 1961 - USA

Homicidal - 1961 - 6/10  

Emily strolls into a Ventura hotel, requests the “younger” bellboy to carry her bag.
Upstairs, she offers him $2000 to marry her that night – followed by an annulment.
Like you or I, he says sure, hotstuff.
Once the Justice Of The Peace does the deed, Emily stabs the JP dead and flees.
End of intro.

 
Think the killing is over?  No, sir, Emily is one busy, one twisted blonde.
She tortures an invalid, flirts with her sister-in-law’s boyfriend, buys strychnine.
Cheap, messy William Castle flick, with an icy performance by Joan Marshall.

Anticipation Of The Night - 1958 - USA

Anticipation Of The Night - 1958 - 6/10

 
Experimental film spiraling from dusk to dawn.
Silent, no sound.  Blurred images, rapid pans, repeated settings.
From woodlands to what appears to be an amusement park, packed with children late at night.
I viewed with the mindset that this was a museum installation and I was OK with that.
My attention bounced from absorbed to bored to deep concentration to checking the clock.

The Sea God - 1930 - USA

The Sea God - 1930 - 5/10

 
The skipper has the worst luck.  One, his name is Pink.  Two, he loses all his money gambling.  Three, he bets his boat, loses that.  Four, his sweetheart, Daisy, is back with his hated rival, and engaged!
Hope springs eternal, however, when a dying seadog tells him where a fortune in pearls can be found.
So long as those pesky cannibals keep away.
Stodgy adventure film set in the South Seas (ahem, Catalina Island).
Fay Wray and Richard Arlen have sparse chemistry, despite making several films together.

Le Sauvage - 1975 - France

Le Sauvage - 1975 - 6/10

 
Ever of her wedding, Nelly flees her future husband, or more likely, his huge, rambunctious family.
After her nightclub boss refuses her back pay, she swipes his Toulouse-Lautrec.
And winds up on Martin’s island.  Where he grows vegetables and subsists off the land.
Martin is trying to escape the rat race; Nelly is the rat race, obsessed with money and the value of everything.
Silly French RomCom boasts powerful leads in Catherine Deneuve and Yves Montand.
Support includes Tony Roberts and Dana Wynter, set in Venezuela.
Comedy seem forced, may depend on your attitude.
Still, not often you see Deneuve so capricious.

The Jangling Man: Martin Newell Story - 2022 - UK

The Jangling Man: Martin Newell Story - 2022 - 6/10

 
Meandering documentary (fitting actually) of the iconoclast musician and poet who shuns the music biz.
Youth barely mentioned, read “This Little Ziggy”.  Bands are checked, with tune snips.
Mostly, this is Newell in his home studio, accent on home.
Plenty of talking heads, primarily musicians, certainly not the London critics.
Giles Smith seems a big omission.
While this rambles, by the end you have a good feel for Martin as an individual.
Fans of Newell ought to bump my score a couple points.
Never heard of him, but like vintage pop and psychedelia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heKeeC_ADcA

Highest 2 Lowest - 2025 - USA

Highest 2 Lowest - 2025 - 6/10

 
Glossy remake of the Kurosawa classic from 1963.
Music mogul, King, regrets selling part of his empire, now seeks to retake control.
His son is kidnapped, an exorbitant ransom demanded, only it was not HIS son, but his chauffeur’s.
Pay the ransom and lose the company?  Or refuse and face the wrath of social media?
The moral dilemma.  Bear in mind, Hollywood is not Japan.
Slick, beautiful shots of New York.  The film is overlong, however, and great stretches stagnate.
Moreover, the logic of the demands (Swiss francs) and the fund transfers defy belief.

Gunn - 1967 - USA

Gunn - 1967 - 6/10  

 
A retired mob boss is liquidated on his boat.
Even though the new cartel warns him, Peter Gunn owed the old man.
And as the new chief starts squeezing, casino owners cry for help.
Reboot of the vintage TV series seems out-of-step from the start.
1967, the Summer Of Love, yet the interiors are Jazz clubs and gangsters in fedoras.
The mystery angle is good, great twist, Stevens laid back (seems too old to lure the ladies, though).
For the cult of Sherry Jackson, she has a meaty role and is as intoxicating as ever.
Look for Carol Wayne at the end.

Bookish - 2025 - UK

Bookish - 2025 - 7/10

 
Mr. Book sells used books.  Also assists the Yard on occasion.
After all, he has a letter from Mr. Churchill.
Period mysteries set between the end of WWII and the Swinging Sixties.
Plenty of rubble and resentments, and, of course, murders.
Superb looking series.  A trio of two-part episodes.
Clues are strewn, but usually a big one is saved for the final reveal.
Compared with other cozies, there is a meaner edge to this, setting it apart.

Murders In Valenciennes - 2018 - France

Murders In Valenciennes - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Les Disparus de Valenciennes

 
Florian had been working on the history of the fatal mining disaster.
Until he was found hanging, a steel chain around his neck.  Murdered.
Responding are two French officers, long estranged brothers.
Mean-spirited throughout, what with bickering, resentments, class rancor.
This one does not rely on scenery, but very plot driven.
No end of malfeasance, too.  Dark edge that cuts to the conclusion.