The Hairdresser Mysteries - 2026 - UK

The Hairdresser Mysteries - 2026 - 5/10 

 
Lily opens a retro shop in a new town, along with best mate Clara.
They arrive, and murders soon begin – which she has a talent for solving!
Mysteries in this are bland, poorly written and uninspired.
Prime example of stale formula and bad writing.
Cast seems alright.  The entire creative team ought to be replaced.

The Botanical Avatar Of Mademoiselle Flora - 1965 - France

The Botanical Avatar Of Mademoiselle Flora - 1965 - 6/10 
AKA - L’avatar Botanique de Mlle Flora

 
Flora is having a one-sided affair with a soldier.
He wants someone to cook, wash his clothes, buy his cigarettes, listen to him kvetch.
In short, he wants a maid – or his mommy.
Flora wants romance, would be fine with mattress action.
Settles for indoor and outdoor gardening.
Bernadette Lafont, fetching in A Gorgeous Girl Like Me (1972), vengeful in A Very Curious Girl (1969), is enticing here as the frustrated minx.

Mario Cantone: Laugh Whore - 2005 - USA

Mario Cantone: Laugh Whore - 2005 - 5/10 

 
Standup routine before a sympathetic audience.
Catone jabs his Italian upbringing, mocks a bit of current events, kicks the South.
His impersonations are first rate:
Streisand, Hepburn, Stanwyck, Rivers, Cher, Oprah, etc …
Mostly gay icons; I am unsure whether he is being ironic or venting hostility.
His is not respectful homage, he skewers and ridicules.
Snarky comments mask envy and resentment.

Der Bomberpilot - 1970 - Germany

Der Bomberpilot - 1970 - 5/10 

 
Near the end of the Third Reich, the cabaret trio keep performing.
After the war, they struggle together and independently to find work.
Pastry shop, stenographer, one seeks a position at a retirement home for dogs. 
Eventually, they reform as a cabaret trio, reviving their old act for Yanks.
Audio is out of sync (deliberately), numerous wardrobe malfunctions.
Tone ranges from comic to ironic to jeering.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3373033

Smashing Time - 1967 - UK

Smashing Time - 1967 - 5/10 

 
Two young Northern birds arrive in Swinging London.
Fame and glamor beckon, until they realize they have been robbed.
They manage to get “hostessing” jobs, but success continues to sidestep them.
English slapstick seems like a mad cousin to the “Carry On” films.
Terrific cast, crazy 60’s look, yet everything is too much.
No real meat, while everyone tries so very hard.

Black Dynamite - 2009 - USA

Black Dynamite - 2009 - 7/10 

 
Combat vet, and ex-agency operative, returns to street action after his brother is killed.
Who ya gonna trust?  Pimps, drug dealers, government honchos?
Everyone is victim, everyone is guilty in no-holds-barred parody / homage.
One doesn’t need to be fluent in Blaxploitation flicks, but it wouldn’t hurt.
If nothing else, check out Shaft, then Dolemite.
Laugh out loud funny throughout,  and the “look” (16mm) is vintage gold.

Allelujah! - 2018 - UK

Allelujah! - 2018 - 7/10 

 
Old and in the way.
Oldsters in the geriatric wing of the Bethlehem Hospital, the Beth.
They are, excuse me, taking up space.
Oh yes, the Beth is profitable, but the bed turnover is too low for Whitehall.
Births, injuries, and surgeries come and go, but old folks only go once – at their end.
Alan Bennett play is funny, biting, sad, and, for anyone who follows the NHS, uncomfortably accurate.

The Full Monty - 1997 - UK

The Full Monty - 1997 - 6/10  

 
The glory of Sheffield, mills closed, men out of work.
Available jobs akin to “want fries with that?”
Gaz and Dave steal scrap, lose scrap, trying to earn a pittance.
When they see a poster for a male striptease act, they decide to offer a local version. 
Aside from one, these are not model specimens.
Unpleasant, uncomfortable comedy is laugh out loud and sad.

John Waters: This Filthy World - 2006 - USA

John Waters: This Filthy World - 2006 - 7/10 

 
Your mileage may vary.  I had seen Waters doing a live variation of this show in 2004.
Only a handful of what I recalled remained here.  Apparently, he frequently modifies this one-man show.
For fans, this is wonderful stuff, if a little dated (shock ain’t what it was).
Childhood, Baltimore, moviemaking, insane incidents, sexual experiences, actors.
I do remember, during the live show, him telling how buddies used to wear tennis shoes in the large Baltimore department store, let them get ripped up on the escalator, then receive brand new replacements!

Vivacious Lady - 1938 - USA

Vivacious Lady - 1938 - 6/10

 
Milquetoast professor goes to the Big Apple to fetch a feckless cousin.
In the nightclub, he spies the songbird and it’s love at first sight.
Within two days, they are married and heading back to small town USA.
Where he does tell his parents, his students, or fiancé that he wed a blonde lounge singer.
What would others think?  Dude, grow a spine.
Jimmy Stewart with his bumbling, stammering shtick grows tiresome; the romance rang false.
1930’s RomCom has dated badly for me.  Resonated more with Depression audiences.

High Heels And Low Lifes - 2001 - UK

High Heels And Low Lifes - 2001 - 5/10 

 
Ray is an artiste and snooper, eavesdropping on phone calls to make audio collages.
Until girlfriend Shannon boots him from her flat for forgetting her birthday and being a dick.
On his equipment, however, she and mate Frances, hear an ongoing robbery.
Then attempt to blackmail the thieves for a percentage.
Amusing heist comedy, as shallow as a birdbath.
Has its moments, but you will have to shave your IQ to enjoy.

You’ve Got Mail - 1998 - USA

You’ve Got Mail - 1998 - 5/10  

 
Kathleen owns a small children’s bookshop in Manhattan (!).
Coming soon to her neighborhood, a behemoth book chain (think Borders, RIP).
No worries, she thinks.  Meantime, she carries an online romance with a username.
Straightforward encounter here, not a convict, 12-year-old, Prince Of Nigeria.
You can predict this one.  As huge scale and predatory pricing destroy competition.
A RomCom with a contrived love angle that defies logic or belief.
Hated this when it screened, still find it emotionally sleazy.

Shark Girl - 2024 - USA

Shark Girl - 2024 - 3/10 

 
The nuclear power plant near Venice Beach (!?!) has a leak that goes unreported (!?!). 
A great white shark swims into the discharge and is altered.
How?  Who knows?  It bites model Heidi, altering her … mouth.
Heidi now sorts obstacles and difficulties the old-fashioned way.  Chomp-chomp-chomp.
Not scary, not funny, not campy.  Script is beneath stupid.
Aside from the two playing Ron and Gina, none of the thespians tried to act.
Appeared to be directed by an AI bot via cellphone.

California Schemin’ - 2025 - UK

California Schemin’ - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Rap duo Silibil N’ Brains can’t catch a break in 2003.
Not because Billy and Gavin lack talent, because they are Scots.
Solution, adopt American accents and declare they are Californians.
Whereupon, kissy-kissy-kissy, welcome to the label, say disdainful Londoners.
Film flashes an edge of persona overruling true self.
Lies and self-deceit, one individual a world class dick.
Based on the real duo.  Suggest watch Kneecap first.

Fallen Angels - 2026 - USA

Fallen Angels - 2026 - 6/10 

 
Julia and Jane have comfortable marriages.
Searing passion extinguished, marriages of stale friendship.
Besides, the two ladies are pals above honor … until.
French flame Maurice, with whom both had been intimate, is coming to visit.
Pals above honor begone!  Out come the claws and rivalries.
Noël Coward domestic comedy is tart and witty in the opening and final acts,. 
Midsection is sodden drunkenness, which some find hilarious.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371750

Obituary - 2023 - Ireland

Obituary - 2023 - 6/10

 
Elvira is the obituary columnist for the small town.
Paid when, and only when, she has an obit to write.
She has bills, a father to support.  What’s a girl to do?
Well, if neighbors were to start dying, and she pushed villainous types …
Irish black comedy begins well, ends strongly.
In-between, drama, soap and meandering.
The double edged “luck of the Irish” applies often.

How To Murder A Rich Uncle - 1957 - UK

How To Murder A Rich Uncle - 1957 - 6/10 

 
Henry has done his best, but repairs and Inland Revenue have decimated the family fortunes.
Salvation may be coming in the form of his Uncle George, family blacksheep.
Who decamped ages earlier to American, bought worthless land, that had oil underneath!
Now George wants to return, and Henry ponders an inheritance.
Especially if something untoward were to happen to dear old uncle.
Oh, the best laid plans of mice and Englishmen.
Mischievous black comedy of traps and murder, and Fate laughing up her sleeve.

Manhandled - 1924 - USA

Manhandled - 1924 - 6/10

 
Tessie toils against a tide of customers in a large department store.
The struggle in the subway is just as onerous.  New York is not for the faint.
Boyfriend Jim is a mechanic, at night a cabbie.
He is trying to save enough for marriage, and perfect an invention.
Tessie wants to go out;  if Jim is too busy, she goes with the rich swells.
Comedy, the genre I would not associate with Swanson, but she is funny here.
Mind you, she has to impersonate a countess, so out comes the wardrobe.

Deep Cover - 2025 - UK

Deep Cover - 2025 - 6/10

 
Police try a new angle to infiltrate some of the savvier gangs.
Hire actors, improv actors, capable of thinking and talking on their feet.
Yes, the concept is pretty darned silly.  Just buy it, and trot along.
Fast comedy relying on situations, characters and clever dialogue.
Most of the cast seem to be having a full tilt blast.
Extra credit to Orlando Bloom as the crazy Marlon, as the outta control Roach.

Elaine Stritch: Live At The Liberty - 2002 - UK

Elaine Stritch: Live At The Liberty - 2002 - 7/10

 
Stritch delivers her one-man show before a full house.
Some Broadway songs, light footwork (she is bumping 80), stories.
Stories are packed with names, shows, incidents, sweet triumphs, crashing disappointments.
Then there is her drinking.  Completely out of control, she admits.
How she had “rules” for drinking, which she broke.  Plus, she made huge mistakes.
She is bitterly funny, caustic, troubled, perhaps, by memories.