The Brightening Air - 2025 - UK

The Brightening Air - 2025 - 7/10

 
Stephen abides in the decaying farmstead.
First, to take care of his mother as she deteriorated breath by breath.
Afterward, sister Billie, sharp and alert, although her cognition is muddled.
Enter older, successful brother Dermot, with plans to improve the estate.
Anyone might predict, family improvements seldom bode well for lesser members.
Biting play seems to borrow heavily from Chekhov.
Chris O’Dowd ideal as the slippery Dermot, with Rosie Sheehy’s Billie painfully memorable.
“… how much of living, is really just forgetting?”
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366932

The Hollow - 2024 - Bosnia

The Hollow - 2024 - 7/10
AKA - Kotlina

 
A frozen corpse is found outside the National Museum.
Detectives start investigating what appears to be a bad outcome for a homeless man.
Until the  body is stolen from the morgue.  Meaning, who was that person?
Excellent Noir, gloomy, fatalistic, set in Sarajevo, with its bitter history.
The music is downbeat and evocative, characters are hardened cynics.
A lot in five episodes, which conclude with an ironic, fitting ending.

Akabei - 2024 - Poland

Akabei - 2024 - 6/10

 
Karol (driving) is about to suffer more “relationship” issues.
Weronica will bring up meeting her parents … again.
Then, there is the strange female in red.  Does Karol know her?
If nothing else, he is drawn to the same type: brunette, long hair, curvy.
And while my bride has slept with a knife for decades, weapons aren’t always a good thing in the house.
Thriller for those who feel trapped with their partner de jour.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366593

The Carpet Of Horror - 1962 - Germany

The Carpet Of Horror - 1962 - 6/10
AKA - Der Teppich des Grauens

 
He intended to turn over evidence to Scotland Yard.
Too bad, he failed to notice the sphere roll onto the carpet, releasing poisonous gas.
Next man in the chain, a criminal chain, is equally blind, and just as doomed.
Fast-paced Krimi set in moonlit London, in between bright rooms.
The plot is convoluted to the point of confusion.  The Yard, secret agents, a sinister organization.
Empty headed, but fun.  I never grasped the aims of the thugs.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366934

The Kiss Of The Vampire - 1963 - UK

The Kiss Of The Vampire - 1963  - 6/10

 
Their motorcar runs dry of petrol in lonely territory.
Fortunately, for honeymooners Gerald and Marianne, the castle belonging to Dr. Ravna is nearby.
Who is hospitable, his castle sumptuously furnished, featuring gourmet meals!
Gerald, who drinks too much, fails to notice the good doktor has taken an interest in his bride.
Story has some interesting points, and one can always wallow in the decor.
For those desiring more Hammer flesh, more erotic steam, this may frustrate.

Angel Terminators II - 1992 - Hong Kong

Angel Terminators II - 1992 - 5/10
AKA - Huo Zhong // 火種

 
Disjointed Hong Kong actioner, packed with fights, yet incoherent plot wise.
Moon Lee and senior partner thwart a deadly robbery.
Meanwhile, a sextet of reckless youths get embroiled with a petty gang crew.
Behind all is a rising team of thugs led by Mad Dog.
Three or four half formed scripts jumbled together likely with an attitude that the audience won’t notice.
Waste of Moon Lee and Oshima Yukari, although their stuntwork is amazing.

Titanic Sinks Tonight - 2025 - UK

Titanic Sinks Tonight - 2025 - 7/10

 
Four part documentary on the maritime disaster.
Relying on old diaries and journals, this sticks close to timeline following the encounter.
Most are different voices from earlier docs, the focus details class privileges.
Most of this is reenacted interviews, limited recreations and sparse CGI.
This pairs well with Titanic: Death Of A Dream (1994), which runs 4 hours.
Worthwhile for those interested in the story, but not enough for those needing a term paper.

Shopworn - 1932 - USA

Shopworn - 1932 - 6/10

 
College grad, pre-med David and waitress Kitty overcome a frosty beginning.
Then the relationship becomes serious enough to consider marriage.
Noses soon twitch.  Kitty may be a nice girl, decent, but not our kind.  Our class.
Interference is hard-nosed, and the pair don’t stand a chance.
Plain faced Regis Toomey OK, if oldish, as the square son.
Stanwyck luminous as the smitten Kitty, with a core of steel.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366591

Everything Went Fine - 2021 - France

Everything Went Fine - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Tout s'est Bien Passé

 
Age 85, André suffers a stroke, a bad one, leaving him paralyzed on one side and incontinent.
Although he recovers somewhat, his original request to daughter Emmanuèle abides.
“Help me end it.”
While euthanasia is legal in nearby Switzerland, it is illegal in fiercely Catholic France.
André is not a feel-good individual.  Flashbacks show a faithless husband, and bullying father.
Film of conversations, memory, and journeys.
One’s age might inform their interest in this.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366592

Nightsiren - 2022 - Slovakia

Nightsiren - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Svetlonoc

 
Sarlota returns to her childhood village in expectation of an inheritance.
Only there is no such thing.  The home itself burned down years earlier.
Despite cellphones and computers, the village is a backwater.
Inhabitants are extremely superstitious, and Sarlota, the outsider, is soon perceived as a witch.
Meaning, she receives the blame for every misfortune.
Women as scapegoats.  Men with guns and fists.

 
Following a fete, there is an amazing sequence of a full moon sabbat.
Drug induced?  Actual, yet hidden?  There are ever depths to females.

Boundless, Actually - 2025 - Poland

Boundless, Actually - 2025 - 6/10
AKA - W Zasadzie Bez Granic

 
The female arrives at the detective’s office.
She has a complaint, a grievance against her husband.
Details, however, are jarring.
Moody Noir short, an amusing reveal, although opens and closes ominously.
Set in September of 1939, which would be a catastrophic time for Poland.

The Case Of The Howling Dog - 1934 - USA

The Case Of The Howling Dog - 1934 - 6/10

 
Perry Mason receives an impetuous client, who hands him $10,000 to draw up a will and deal with a dog.
Then the rich client disappears.  The owner of the dog?  Murdered.  Dog, too!
Main suspect, the attractive woman with the gun.
Fast moving film plays fair clues and twists.
William Warren adroit as slick, cool professional.
Perhaps a bit unethical, too, as one will see.

Weapons - 2025 - USA

Weapons - 2025 - 6/10

 
17 children go missing from the classroom, cameras show them running into the night.
Who gets the blame?  The new teacher.
What was she teaching them?  Parents demand.
We follow the teacher, who is pretty, who has trouble with alcohol, who picks up men.
Think of a Van Halen song set in the classroom.
Then, point of view shifts to a parent, then a cop, then a junkie.
Everyone interacts, and everyone is affected by a presence.
Paranormal thriller / mystery / horror (kinda) will hold your attention most of the way.
Superbly constructed, although it veers off the rails at the end.
Perhaps deserving another point.

Pride And Prejudice - 1940 - USA

Pride And Prejudice - 1940 - 6/10

 
Worth a watch for fans of lavish, old Hollywood adaptation of Jane Austen.
Two rich gentleman arrive in the countryside, eligible bachelors both.
Did I mention rich?
In no time, Mrs Bennet maneuvers to land a son-in-law for her daughter.
At barely two hours, this version has been cut to the bone, and hurries along.
Greer Garson, in her mid-thirties, looks too old, and resembles Miss Muffet.
Olivier, however, is ideal.  Reserved, aloof, coldly elegant.
One wonders if David Rintoul studied his Darcy for the 1980 series.