Saltychikha - 2017 - Russia

Saltychikha - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - The Bloody Duchess // Krovavaya Barinya // Кровавая барыня

From an early age, Darya had been placed (institutionalized) in a convent.
Her mother had been homicidally mad, and the father feared the trait was inherited.
Nevertheless, business competitor want an alliance, a marriage of wealth.
Whereupon Darya is wedded to the troll, not the handsome stud.
Following the first murder, she begins to spiral.

 
True, there are forces moving against her.  Assassination attempts and kidnapping.
She flees to the countryside, then vents her fury and insanity on her serfs.
The woodland witch ingratiates herself; she has grievances against the villagers, as well.

 
Handsome Russian production suffers melodrama at points.
Based on the real Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova who tortured and killed almost 200 servants.

Must Read After My Death - 2017 - USA

Must Read After My Death - 2017 - 7/10

 
Allis left behind 300 pages of journals, 50 hours of audio tapes, and 201 home movies.
Detailing a fraying marriage, dysfunctional family, resentments, rages, psychiatry.
Not just for Allis, or roving-eye husband Charley, but the children, too.
Made miserable by their parents, growing up in the turbulent 1960’s.
Doc both engrossing and painful, allowing viewers to place fault.
Bugbear: cars seldom matched years (eg: during the 60’s, videos showed 1940’s creampuff cars).  
Sadly, I could equate some of their children with families I knew.

From one of my essays = “There are times individuals shouldn't be allowed relationships at all.  Pets, friends, children, lovers, spouses.  With the best intentions we maim them all.”

 

Seam - 2017 - USA

Seam - 2017 - 6/10

 
The Seam is the borderzone between humanity and cognizant machines.
An agreed “reservation” after a global war between the two.
Machines also include lifelike cyborgs, living with humans.  Partners.
Forbidden partners, punishable by extermination.
SciFi leans on BSG themes.  Superb Jordan locations, OK CGI, slick editing.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370958

Murder In Saint-Paul De Vence - 2017 - France

Murder In Saint-Paul De Vence - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Le Prix de la Vérité

 
The deceased is already floating in a large swimming pool.
Open and shut.  Too much alcohol, fell in, drowned.
Until a female inspector from Lyon arrives.  And deduces … murder.
Plenty of suspects, very few motives, in a small town OWNED by the rich man.
Convoluted throughout, with extended narrative track laid down at the end.
Feels like they painted themselves into a corner and had to create a solution.

Never Hike Alone - 2017 - USA

Never Hike Alone - 2017 - 6/10

Hiker and podcaster Kyle notices the “No Trespassing” sign and steps over it.
He needs to make up time and decides on a shortcut by the lake.
Hey, there’s an abandoned campsite here!

 
Crystal Lake?  Didn’t something happen here back in the 80’s?
Jason somebody?  Sounds like a campfire myth.
Homage to a franchise builds slowly, but it gets there.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3369821

Murders In Auvergne - 2017 - France

Murders In Auvergne - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres en Auvergne

 
Jennifer had hardly been popular, firing many from the health spa.
New visitors required new methods and new faces.
Not oldsters who had worked there for decades.
Her death, murder actually, yielded plenty of suspects.
The following murder, however, seemed unrelated.
Tangled French mystery benefits from no romantic entanglements.
Lead delivers one-note performance, similar to his role in Murders in Valenciennes.

Million Yen Women - 2017 - Japan

Million Yen Women - 2017 - 7/10 
AKA - 1,000,000 Yen no Onnatachi // 100万円の女たち

 
Five females appear at Shin’s doorstep, each paying 1M monthly to live there.
There are rules: No questions, no familiarity, no physical contact.
Shin is a writer.  Not a bestseller, but admired by a few.
Females prove a mixed bunch.  From innocent to hardened, creative to repressed.
Overall narrative is one of who invited them, and why?
And why does it become so deadly dangerous?
Quirky, imaginative, unexpected, only the Japanese do shows like these.
Koreans would go over-the-top, Americans wallow in clichés.
Oh, and there is a kitten, romping freely!

Murder In Sarlat - 2017 - France

Murder In Sarlat - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à Sarlat

 
Clues include references to ancient feuds between peasants and aristocrats.
Oh, and a big clue jutting from the chest.
The paired investigators apparently had an anonymous fling a few years earlier.
So he, a wad of insecurities, starts whining, wondering if he was unmemorable.
This was unnecessary, as the mystery, the history, the suspects, are all fine.
Ignore the forced romance, and focus on the slithering heels.

Murder In Lille - 2017 - France

Murder In Lille - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Les Crimes Silencieux

 
The victim, swinging from the noose, had been highly unpopular.
Our new captain arrives with her daughter and traumatized husband in tow.
Suspects include the dead man’s wife, her lover, as well as the new captain’s dad, a retired judge.
There are several elements of conflict which elevate this over most of these TV films.
Romance is dysfunctional in this one, which is a plus in my book.

Backstroke - 2017 - USA

Backstroke - 2017 - 6/10

 
Amber and Jake blow off some steam and head out to the woods.
They find a revolver in the Buick’s glove compartment
Into the woods, then into a lake.  Trees flaring red, yellow and orange of autumn.
Perfect.  Until the stranger appears.  Ever so polite.
Aren’t they all?  At first.

Tragedy Girls - 2017 - USA

Tragedy Girls - 2017 - 6/10

 
McKayla and Sadie are high school podcasters, influencers, reporting on a series of killings.
Police are not interested, classmates bored, and their numbers (followers) are low.
What to do?  They could … arrange some of their own killings.
Black comedy of Slasher films relies on venomous dialogue over gore.
Social media’s dark side, says one observer, narcissism and shallowness.
Fear not car wreck watchers, deaths do steadily mount, a lot of them.
One views for the two femmes, however, who are sweetly irresistible.
Good soundtrack, too.

Wait For Your Laugh - 2017 - USA

Wait For Your Laugh - 2017 - 6/10

 
Highly entertaining biography of Rose Marie.
From 3-year-old radio star, Baby Rose Marie to voice character on Garfield.
Most will recall her from The Dick Van Dyke Show and Hollywood Squares.
From beginning to end, relentless touring and stage shows.
Powerful friends include Al Capone, Joe Fischetti and Bugsy Siegel.
There are some spare reenactments of characters, but this is mostly footage and interviews.
Even at 94, she remains fierce and funny throughout.

Night Shift - 2017 - USA

Night Shift - 2017 - 6/10

 
Security guard patrols the sprawling building.  Offices, corridors, conference rooms, parking lots.
Same ole routine, until one locked door will not open.  Pained noises within.
Complex is vast, vigilance is tiring, and, being alone, the guard has no backup.
Tightly wound thriller, quite well done with bare bones crew.
Excellent quasi-Rachmaninoff music heightens mood.

The Hunger - 2017 - Norway

The Hunger - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Gutten er Sulten

 
Everyone wants to be noticed.
Jørgen is envious of the bad boys, but he is too scrawny, too poor to gain acceptance.
Maybe Lucifer tattoos, even with a marker, will confirm intent.
If nothing else, visit the lair.

 
Bruising short of alienated youth, the rage of dissatisfaction.
For those for whom all the worldly trophies cannot equate with oblivion.

Midnight Clear - 2017 - USA

Midnight Clear - 2017 - 6/10

 
Dad loves Christmas.  He also exhibits simmering anger this year.
Add a wee bit of instability, and Dad frightens his wife and children.
Family traditions ain’t always what they’re cracked up to be.
Short film, stick for the twist.
Holiday fare for Grinch and Krampus celebrants.

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold - 2017 - USA

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold - 2017 - 7/10

 
Imaginative biography of the writer’s life, influences, and works.
The first hour staggers through the Sixties, into the mendacious 80’s.
Vogue fashions, California sunshine, peaceful hippies and the corroded underbelly.
Marriage to John Dunne struck me as hothouse, tightly bound, not to the exclusion of friends and colleagues, yet few are in the closest zone.
This is both informative to newcomers, and perceptive for fans of her books.
Talking heads in this are well known, to say the least.

Reasons To Be Cheerful - 2017 - UK

Reasons To Be Cheerful - 2017 - 7/10

 
Blockheads, assemble!  Ian Dury musical follows a pair of stiffs trying to see a concert.
Vinnie tells of when he and mate Colin schemed to attend a sold out Hammersmith show.
It’s also tribute to Vinnie’s father who has gone blind, yet remains defiantly anti-establishment.
In between, sometimes out of nowhere, the songs, pounding, aggressively in your face.
The Graeae Theatre Company features an all-disabled cast, though you will not notice after a few minutes.
Filmed live in a pub club, the sound is a mixed bag.
During dialogue / monologue volume is too low, whereas musical numbers roar full throttle.
The mixing person should have easily corrected this during or afterward.

The Furies From Borås - 2017 - Sweden

The Furies From Borås - 2017 - 6/10

 
PG adaptation of Anders Fager’s brutal, sexually charged story.
Here, the blood, the semen, the alcohol, and other lubricants are minimized.
Nevertheless, a male sacrifice is sought out for the rites, and the “meat” is culled.
His chances?  One drug addled male and a fistful of sturdy, ravenous girls.
High school production shows budget limitations, and the graphic carnality is only hinted at.
The tone is correct and the furies seem accurate, rather than Hollywood kewpies.

Waiting For You - 2017 - UK

Waiting For You - 2017 - 6/10

Near his death, his father spills a few secrets son, Paul.
“Brown … shoulda been mine … sacks of pearls … still in the house.”
At the funeral, Paul tries talking with his father’s fellow war veterans, now old men.
None are inclined to rake up the past.
Instead, following the slimmest of hints, Paul heads off for France.

 
Where a thicket of reserved characters, locked rooms, and admonitions to mind his own business, interlace.
Quiet mystery (perhaps too quiet for its own good) of the soul far from home, unsure of what he should be hunting for, unaware of how deep into the morass he is heading.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World - 2017 - Canada

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World - 2017 - 6/10

 
Early on, we see a stand-in for Link Wray power chording his hit, “Rumble”.
The high points are the main contributors.  Wray, Buffy Saint Marie, Redbone, Mildred Bailey, Robbie Robertson, Jesse Ed Davis, Randy Castillo, Charley Patton.
These stories enrich the proceedings, although the chronology is jumbled.
Other speakers, such as talking heads, often come across as climbing a bandwagon, wanting to be part.
Then again, others claim heritage, which I found distracting.
My life, I’ve heard boasts of having 1/16th or 1/32nd or 1/64th percent of tribal blood.
Most of the doc is intelligent and informative, but a handful of wannabees soured this a little.
Tuscarora section is a gem.