Portrait Of A Young Girl At The End Of The 60’s In Brussels - 1994 - Belgium

Portrait Of A Young Girl At The End Of The 60’s In Brussels - 1994 - 6/10
AKA - Portrait d'une Jeune Fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles

 
Michele impulsively drops out of high school, telling best friend Danielle.
Roaming the streets, she meets Paul, visiting Brussels from Paris.
They talk, wander about, share stories, but don’t quite bond.
Even though he is doing his military service, both are too young for anything serious.
As far as the 1960’s, forget it.
Music and hairstyles are passable, but the cars, posters, stores, CDs, pedestrians are 1990’s.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371356

The Ghost Writer - 2010 - France

The Ghost Writer - 2010 - 7/10  

 
Anonymous scribe gets hired to polish the memoirs of an ex-Prime Minister.
(Tony Blair is implied, although there is nothing overt to affirm that.)
The PM is holed up on a high-security, island fortress.
Soon enough, the ghost realizes the journal reveals too much national security.
That, and the job description failed to declare how hazardous it would be.
Top-notch thriller, blanketed in Noir, inside a claustrophobic setting.
Late era Polanski film, and a reminder just how potent he can be.

A Good Year - 2020 - Belgium

A Good Year - 2020 - 5/10
AKA - Een Goed Jaar

 
Erik receives an inheritance from an aunt.  Large manor with weedy grounds.
It is in deplorable condition, estate taxes are horrendous, and Erik is recently fired for malfeasance.
He hires a ride from low-level con-man, Lenny.
And after they discover a hidden, and small, cache of old wine they hook up with restorer, Judith.
Yes, such contrived plotting leaves much to be desired.
The trio are soon offering bottles to high-end collectors, saying the vino is from Hitler’s stash.
The first victim?  A mob boss (Russian, Eastern Europe).  Things soon get complicated.
I was hoping this would resemble [U]Faking Hitler[/U], but it does not.
As a comedy, I never smiled once.  Midway, I starte

Here - 2023 - Belgium

Here - 2023 - 6/10

 
Construction worker Stefan has a mandatory 4 week vacation.
He cleans the fridge, makes soup for friends, wanders Brussels and nearby forests.
Preparing to head to eastern Europe to visit family.
ShuXiu is a botanist, specialty moss.  She is also in the woods.
Measured buildup before the two meet, kindred spirits, passing ships.
Lengthy takes, allowing viewers to fill in their own conclusions.
Gorgeous photography contrasts Nature with Urban.
The narrative, however, is opaque and unresolved.
English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3350448

Daughters Of Darkness - 1971 - Belgium

Daughters Of Darkness - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Les Lèvres Rouges

 
Mid-winter, the young lord and his new wife arrive at an empty Belgium hotel.
The plan is the catch a ferry back to England.  Until a Hungarian countess arrives.
Despite his bride growing moodier by the moment, despite learning the Countess’s name is Báthory (!), the husband decides to linger.  Well, the noble’s secretary is sexy, if feral.
Countess Báthory, meanwhile, has designs, and is a subtle gamester.
Arthouse Horror rewards multiple viewings.  (Warning, languid pace.)
A moody, chilly film, essentially an updated spin on “Carmilla”.
Delphine Seyrig is perfectly cast: thoughtful, intellectual, weary, dangerous.
Do not overlooks John Karlen’s commentary, which is funny and affectionate.

Arcadia S01 - 2023 - Belgium

Arcadia S01 - 2023 - 6/10

 
Dystopian future finds citizens of high merit living in the Dome.
Merit is calculated by a score-keeping implant that tracks skills, IQ, work ethic, attitude.
Higher score members have perks, lower orders scramble to avoid the dread “2” and expulsion.
Of course, everyone is monitored night and day in this utopian police state.
Inspired work done with architecture, and making the most of costumes.
Nonetheless, the script has drawn the main family (all females) as utter dolts.
They are wide-eyed, trusting, gullible fools, repeatedly committing illogical and stupid decisions.
By E05, with more narrative track being laid down, I knew this series would not conclude.
A second season is announced, and this has the skeleton of a great yarn, if characters wise up.
Producers need to fire every single writer, however, and hire intelligent ones.

Note:  Last series I got from Seranova, Azimuth, Peter.  He was always scrupulous with subtitles.
I will be careful with a S02, foregoing hasty (“Me first! Me first!”) rabbits who deem AI subs, “good enough”.

Good People - 2022 - Belgium

Good People - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Des Gens Bien

 
Their car skids off the road, hurtles downhill, explodes into flames.
Tom escapes, while Linda is burned beyond recognition.  And they had been very much in love.
What the hey, she had been insured to the max, which will come in handy for Tom.
Debt, huge debt, embarrassing obligations.
Almost everyone buys his version of events.  Almost.
Tom can barely keep his lies straight, his anxiety is soaring, while the sexual blackmail is best left unmentioned.
Extremely funny murder series lacks complete closure (producers gambled for a S02 and lost), yet any viewer with a passable IQ should be able to stitch this up.

Forest Of The Missing - 2022 - France

Forest Of The Missing - 2022 - 6/10   
AKA - La Forêt des Disparus

 
A series of graves are discovered in the borderland between France and Germany.
All men, all murdered.  From recently to decades earlier.
Jurisdiction is murky, so both nations share in the investigation.
As does a judge currently on hiatus, suffering amnesia, though disturbed by flashbacks.
In and of itself, the plot is thin broth, although there are compelling side stories and detours.
The core is feminist empowerment, which I could never decide if it was preachy or mirrored today’s cultural zeitgeist.

Let The Corpses Tan - 2017 - Belgium

Let The Corpses Tan - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - Laissez Bronzer les Cadavres

 
The heist goes off flawlessly.
Armored truck shipment of gold bullion.  No survivors, no witnesses.
A hitch-hiking family is given a ride, however.
By chance, they are planning to visit where the robbers are hiding.
Suspicions are already mounting when cops arrive.

 
Arthouse crime thriller, drenched in bold colors, steeped in blood and sweat, chopped into visual fragments.
A surrealistic dream / nightmarish vibe pervades the film.
Viewers must sort through memories, baggage, delusion, hallucination.
In the heat, everything, everyone, reduces to primal essence.
Last film to date from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani.

Irina Palm - 2007 - Belgium

Irina Palm - 2007 - 6/10

 
The grandson needs expensive medical treatment.  Parents seem hopeless.
Only Grandma  pushes down all avenues to earn money despite her complete lack of modern skill sets.
Nonetheless, a few professions are timeless.  The oldest profession, for example.
In which she proves surprisingly adept and successful.
Marianne Faithful marvelous as the grandma whose desperation is stronger than her moral qualms.

The Translators - 2019 - France

The Translators - 2019 - 7/10
AKA - Les Traducteurs

 
The great author, well, the best-selling author, has a new book pending.
Expectations from the fanbase is immense.  For the publishing house, this book is make or break.
Nine translators are hired, then whisked to a secured, underground location (old castle, monastery).
Soon enough, a ransom note appears along with a slew of smuggled chapters.
Despite the security, there is a leak.
Taut thriller will appeal to mystery fans and book types.
There are, perhaps, too many characters.  Plus, the amount of money at stake indicates the writer is, who, Stephen King, Mary Berry?  Money now flows to disposable, repetitive TV shows.
Ignore these quibbles, however, as the twists and turns are diabolical, as is the plotting.

Tokyo Fiancée - 2014 - Belgium

Tokyo Fiancée - 2014 - 6/10

 
20 year old Belgium girl moves to Tokyo and offers to teach French lessons.
She gets one client, a male her own age, who seems to speak French passably well.
Nonetheless, money is money and they meet weekly.
Sparks don’t exactly fly as both seem to suffer cultural misperceptions of each other.
He introduces her to friends as his fiancée, she is convinced he is Yakuza.
Story winds in unpredictable directions and often dead-ends.
Several scenes were, perhaps, symbolic, except I was unable to comprehend their meaning.

The Devil’s Double - 2011 - Belgium

The Devil’s Double - 2011 - 7/10

 
A soldier gets coerced into becoming Uday Hussein’s (Saddam’s eldest son) body double.
Bit of cosmetic surgery, teeth implant, behavior training and voilà!
Soon the poor sap is viewing torture, rapes and dodging assassination attempts.
Dominic Cooper quite good as both flamboyant, maniacal Uday, and the more subdued Latif.
Filmmakers wisely chose to craft this as a full bore gangster saga.
Shootings, a gory evisceration, substance abuse, rampant sex, all during the tine of Gulf War 1991.
Opulent looking production, though docs reveal many of the visual tricks used.

Yummy - 2019 - Belgium

Yummy - 2019 - 6/10

Alison has found a budget hospital for her procedure.
In a decision that will horrify the casual fratboy, she opts for breast reduction, from F to B.
She fails to consider, when you go budget, you get what you pay for.

 
“You think, maybe, we can get out of here?”
Medical experiments gone awry soon lead to corridors packed with ravening corpses.
The kind that chomp down and spread the infection.
Splatter horror, spliced with twisted, laugh out loud moments.

Codici: A Mob Story (Capitolo Due) - 2022 - Belgium

Codici: A Mob Story (Capitolo Due) - 2022 - 6/10

 
During a funeral, a meeting is arranged between a mob boss and an emissary.
Questions regarding impulse decisions, unfortunate outcomes.
Brooding crime short from B.A. Productions is dialogue driven.
Violence is understated, acting and photography professional.
Subs = https://www.mediafire.com/file/1dsiv9fsiq2ximr/Codici_A_Mob_Story_Capitolo_Due_-_2022.srt

Misha Of The Wolves - 2021 - Belgium

Misha Of The Wolves - 2021 - 7/10  

In 1944, Nazis seize 7 year old Misha’s parents, ship them to the camps, place her with a Belgium family.
Still, she wants her real parents!  So, on foot, she sets off into the wilderness to find them.
She lives off the land, steals food from farmers, witnesses war atrocities.
More importantly, she is a adopted by a pack of wolves, who treat her as a cub and share food with her.
In the late 1990’s her amazing memoir is published.  Worldwide, she is acclaimed and lauded.  
After all, her survival was astounding.

 
Skeptics, cynics, scoffers, doubters, those who wonder at the veracity of miracle stories …
This one’s for you.

Callboys: S02 - 2019 - Belgium

Callboys: S02 - 2019 - 7/10

 
Second, and final, season of the misadventures of the studs for hire.
You might think, or foolishly hope, after the painful conclusions of the first season, these guys might have wised up.
Or matured.
One is older and wiser, two others make the Three Stooges look like Rhodes scholars.
Wes is in rehab.  Devon and Vleugels are incapable of sound judgment.
Even when they get lucky, gloriously lucky, Fortune turns terribly, horribly against them.
Slow to get going, but this finishes painfully funny.

You're Dead Hélène - 2021 - Belgium

You're Dead Hélène - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - T'es Morte Hélène

 
Maxime has a problem.  His girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, Hélène.
Ex as in, well, she’s in the afterlife – or ought to be.
Instead, she is with Maxime.  In the subway, in the cafe, on his dates.
Watching, commenting.
Stellar short rolls the gamut.  Funny, sexy, gory horror, heartbreak.
Intelligent and insightful example of more with less.

Welp - 2014 - Belgium

Welp - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - Cub

 
Inventive, gruesome, intense, all kinds of wrong horror, clearly in the slasher genre.
A pack of cub scouts head into the woods for camping fun.
Two of their den masters know locals shun the area.
Suicides and disappearances have left a dark legacy.
Almost forgot, one of the den leaders brings his dog.
Although the boys are ages 9-12, this Belgium horror ride is not for kids.
Children ... a dog ... understand - no one is safe.  Parents and dog lovers, this is not Disney.
Musical score is a synthesizer throwback.
Woods are packed with Rube Goldberg traps.
Hollywood remake highly unlikely.  Red meat for slash fans.

Raw - 2016 - France

Raw - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - Grave

 
Strict vegetarian Justine enrolls in premier veterinarian college.
During freshman hazing, she is forced to eat raw liver.
She acquires a taste for meat, and unsatisfied craving alters her personality.
Shocker from France and Belgium boasts  visual style and successfully captures the disorientation experienced by many college arrivals.
Justine's embrace of darker extra-curricular opportunities may upset the squeamish.
Plot holes are often forgotten as carnivore and more primitive appetites swing to the fore.
Moody excursion may leave an unsavory taste.
Animal lovers - consider the vet college setting.