The Pale Blue Eye - 2022 - USA

The Pale Blue Eye - 2022 - 6/10

 
A cadet has hung himself at newly established West Point.
Worse, while waiting for burial, his heart has been cut out.
A “retired” inspector is asked to investigate and solve this before the politicians try to close the academy.
No evidence, no witnesses.  Only a fey, Southern cadet offers odd assistance and speculations.
E. A. Poe.
Knowing Poe is in this leads one to wonder whether this will go the detective route or supernatural.
Darkly photographed, with a gallery of talent, including Robert Duvall,
Engrossing most of the way, although afterward one may realize how tenuous the script had been.

The Other One - 1946 - Mexico

The Other One - 1946 - 6/10
AKA - La Otra

 
Good sister Maria confronts twin, Magdalena, about propriety.
Mind you, goody Maria is poor, lowly paid, while her sister knows how to exploit her assets, as well as men.
One belittlement too many, and Maria impulsively switches places.  Permanently.
Not knowing of the corrupt skeletons in her tramp sister’s closet.
Mexican Noir of stolen identity has a great Dolores Del Rio shifting from mousy to seductress.
Melodramatic here and there, compensated with fantastic lighting and surprise twists.

Execution Squad - 1972 - Italy

Execution Squad - 1972 - 6/10
AKA - La polizia ringrazia

 
Oops, sorry!  I forget this robber, this murderer, this predator – has rights!
Not that even capturing criminals matters.
The press screams police brutality, guilty claim they were bed-wetters and can’t be blamed, or they have expensive lawyers.
Roma is besieged as laws protect criminals, not victims.
Until a private team, the “clean-up squad”, starts dispensing lethal justice where the courts have failed.
Citizens are thrilled, others recall the era of fascism.
Euro-Crime poliziotesschi is intelligent, yet talky.  Bloody and cynical.

The Spy’s Wife - 1972 - UK

The Spy’s Wife - 1972 - 5/10

 
“Off on a new mission, are we, dear?  Do be careful.”
And as soon as her espionage husband is away, the lover arrives and they begin checking for bugs.
Meanwhile, agent hubby is also going under covers.
Snide English comedy of anxiety and adultery.
Despite the nudge-nudge wink-wink premise, this manages to be dull.

Everything You Know Is Wrong - 1975 - USA

Everything You Know Is Wrong - 1975 - 5/10

 
Filmed “adaptation” of a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre,
Scattershot ramble through a minefield of ideas, speculations, fantasies.
Canines in space, UFO’s, the comet Kohoutek, grief I don’t know.
The troupe lip-syncs their original LP, visuals are cheap.
I saw this with a stoned out crowd, myself included, and quickly wished I had taken Barbs instead.
Essentially a 1960’s ensemble, the Firesign Theatre was popular with acidheads in the day.
This recent revisit reminded me I never found them funny.
Still goes.  For archeologists.

The Tourist - 2022 - Australia

The Tourist - 2022 - 7/10

 
After a near fatal (and deliberate) car accident, the man wakes in the hospital.
Memory gone, only a scrap of paper indicating an appointment in a small town cafe.
Which he visits, and after he leaves the table where he had been explodes.
Assassins begin to crawl out.
Wide sweeping thriller packed with characters, both quietly memorable and larger than life, not to mention laugh out loud comic moments.
Throughout, you start weighing between coincidence and prearranged.  Or Fate!
Likewise, virtually every single character.
As in our day to day, what folks say and what they show, it ain’t necessarily so.
Terrific, well written short series.

The Revisionaries - 2012 - USA

The Revisionaries - 2012 - 6/10

 
Texas School Board hearings and elections.
What this small group decides is what goes into or is purged from textbooks.
Science textbooks.  “Creation” equates to evolution or intelligent design.
History textbooks, renaming slaves as “workers”.
One board member is up for reelection, and we follow him.  One does not even reside in Texas.
The impact is that what goes in Texas becomes the norm for the US.
Docked a point because this has dated.
I would like to impact is now diminished, since texts can now be pod (print on demand).
Yet, day after day, societies stumble into a new LCD.

Who Shot Otto Mueller? - 2022 - Estonia

Who Shot Otto Mueller? - 2022 - 7/10
AKA - Kes Tappis Otto Mülleri?

 
Bully, oppressor, adulterer, rapist, murderer, successful businessman.
Yes, the list the suspects stretches long.  All of ’em family, at the dinner table minutes earlier.
Police arrive and start interrogating.  Trying to  decipher alternative truths.
Well structured and directed, in that testimonies overlap yet vary in small details.
Midway, I honed in on one individual, while Zelda suspected another.
Both wrong.

Death Of England - Delroy - 2020 - UK

Death Of England - Delroy - 2020 - 7/10

 
Side sequel to Death Of England, where here, Michael’s silent mate, Delroy, vents.
The pride of being British, of having a successful, if disreputable, steady career, and of his relationship.
What matters is not his reliability, his honesty, but his skin color.
In the colorblind world, race still matters.
So Delroy vents, a furious torrent of words, laced with biting humor
Hold tight and keep up.
Owing to Covid lockdown, this show closed after one performance.  Fortunately, it was filmed.

English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3125543

Rainbow Song - 2006 - Japan

Rainbow Song - 2006 - 7/10
AKA - Niji no Megami // 虹の女神

 
You don’t want to cross that line, understand?
You’re best friends, compadres, and if you attempt romance, you’ll destroy what you have.
Kishida was actually stalking another girl when his path crosses Aio’s.
Kishida is a bit aimless, head in the clouds, disorganized.
Aio is Type-A.  Motivated, focused, goal driven, a budding filmmaker.
You root for the couple, yet early on understand how doomed they are.
Haunting film of missed opportunities, has an equally memorable film within a film.
For those who “let someone get away”.

Cocaine Bear - 2023 - USA

Cocaine Bear - 2023 - 6/10

 
Drug smugglers pitch gymbags outta the plane over Chattahoochee National Park.
Small time enforcers come hunting, as well as a suspicious Fed agent.
No one realizes a black bear was the first responder, and now a raging addict.
Expect mayhem.
Uproarious film is packed with an assortment of baddies and insufferable passers by.
In other words, bear alert!  Wocka Wocka!
Well written, loads of jokes and situations.
Chances are Hollywood swill offers a bucketful of copy cat schlock.
Boycott those and watch this again.

The Night Affair - 1958 - France

The Night Affair - 1958 - 7/10
AKA - Le désordre et la nuit

The owner of a boisterous nightclub is troubled by partners, suppliers and women.
Most of his money stems from peddling drugs and flesh.
So, when a murder occurs, there is no shortage of suspects with motives.

 
Clues point to a young hostess, Lucky, pass-around companion and drug addict.
Moody film, set primarily during nights.  Hot jazz clubs, private parties, drunken fights.
Jean Gabin excellent as weary inspector who resists the easy path.
Solid French Noir.

Oh, Doctor! - 1925 - USA

Oh, Doctor! - 1925 - 5/10

Born sickly, then as an infant, Rufus is not expected to live long.
He defies the odds and persists to young manhood.
Despite being a worrywart and pronounced hypochondriac.
Enter the private – and quite pretty – nurse.

 
He decides to live, maybe a little.  Perhaps take a few risks.
Dated slapstick stars an exaggerated Reginald Denny.
Early Mary Astor role, she is a dish.

Pale Rider - 1985 - USA

Pale Rider - 1985 - 6/10

 
In a “later” Wild West, a small group of prospectors are intimidated, threatened by the larger firm.
Yes, think of them as the property developers of their day.
The larger group’s treatment of the environment is equally reprehensible.
Enter the righteous stranger, possibly straight from High Plains Drifter.
The look feels spot-on.  I’m referencing Silent era films, how they portrayed the West of two decades before.
The messages are heavy handed, weighing the film with self-importance.
Pacing is sluggish throughout and tropes borrow from other, better, Eastwood vehicles.

Small Time Crooks - 2000 - USA

Small Time Crooks - 2000 - 6/10

 
Inept criminal and his crack team of discombobulated stiffs plan the bank heist.
First, buy the adjoining, empty pizza joint.  As cover, the wife bakes cookies.
Mid-career Allen is loaded with gags and situations.
Allen and his crew of bumblers shoulder most of the laughs.
Not to be overlooked, though, is the sparkling chemistry between Tracey Ullman and the Woodster.
Along with the romantic Hugh Grant, here smoothly against type.

Mimic - 1997 - USA

Mimic - 1997 - 6/10

 
A new insect is lab-created to target cockroaches.
Only thing, it escapes into the wild (the subways) and starts growing.
Say, human size,  And with an appetite for the other white meat.
Silly monster outing is glorified B-film with A-list budget and casting.
Fans of Del Toro’s obsession with bugs, gross dissections, and suggestive darkness may enjoy.
This film was where Mira Sorvino went from Oscar winning rising star to perpetual “not quite”.

Putin And The Presidents - 2023 - USA

Putin And The Presidents - 2023 - 6/10

 
Five US Presidents so far, and counting.
Putin comes across as a calculating gambler.
Aside from Biden, the Presidents range from hopeful to gullible to appeasing.
Putin, while not necessarily sympathetic, is understandable.
He sees encircling democracies as a threat to his position, his regime.
Refashioning the Soviet Union is a long game, and he judges the West as short term players.
Democracy itself strikes me as a codeword for Capitalism.
That form seems to work best in societies that have an ascending middle class.

Howard’s End - 1992 - UK

Howard’s End - 1992 - 7/10

 
Lavish Merchant-Ivory production of impoverished gentry clashing with wealthy family.
Class comes into play as the impoverished are intelligent and more sympathetic to poorer connections.
Money is its own world, portrayed by a coldly dispassionate Anthony Hopkins.
Slow throughout, with gorgeous photography.
There are a lot of characters, and interweaving triangles.  One almost needs a playbook.
Subsequent viewings will reveal more subtleties.
Powerhouse cast.
Most worthwhile if you are in the mood for a leisurely journey though manners and distinction.

Stay Hungry - 1976 - USA

Stay Hungry - 1976 - 6/10

 
Peculiar, Southern Gothic film of crooks and bodybuilders.
The bad guys, once again, are property developers.
Gobbling up the block save for one holdout, the bodybuilding gym.
The moneymen slide in one of their own (Jeff Bridges) but he gets his head turned (Sally Field).
That’s the outline.  The whole film is odd vignettes and Southern proverbs.
An improvised rawness runs throughout.
Will appeal more to Southerners, and Schwarzenegger fans.

Present Laughter - 2017 - USA

Present Laughter - 2017 - 7/10

 
Garry Essendine, aging Romantic lead, aging Lothario, aging … well, that‘s it.  Aging.
Actually, he is well beyond the mid-life crisis age, closer to post-delusion.
Of course, female admirers do keep flocking to his nest and spending the night.
Lively Noel Coward romp of situations and sparkling dialogue.
Kevin Kline excels as the narcissistic, always “onstage” actor who cannot switch off.
Friends, colleagues, lovesick, assistants – all mere staff.
Dry ice humor from opening to closing curtain.

Bloody Friday - 1972 - Germany

Bloody Friday - 1972 - 6/10
AKA - Blutiger Freitag

 
The duo spring Heinz just before his sentencing.
Do they run?  Hide out?  No, they start planning another caper.
First they need guns, however.  Machine guns.
The bank heist is just the pretext for a high stakes ransom siege.
Euro-Crime has a mind-bending sequence intercutting the slaughter house with sopping carnality.
Foul language galore, sex scenes, blood and bullets.

Dark Harbor - 1998 - USA

Dark Harbor - 1998 - 6/10

Bickering couple, late for the ferry, heavy downpour.
Yet somehow they see something in a ditch.  A body!
Rather than keep driving and notify authorities later, they stop and investigate.
And before you can say, “I don’t think this is a smart idea” they bring the young male to their country home on their private island.

 
Slow thriller mixes ménage à trois with role-playing and gamesmanship.
Not exactly a mystery, this feels like a chamber play.

Burning Ambition - 1989 - Hong Kong

Burning Ambition - 1989 - 6/10
AKA - Lung Ji Zheng Ba  //  龙之争霸

The family boss is moving to Canada.  He announces Number Two son will take over.
The skirt chasing oldest son feels slighted and the boss is soon assassinated.  War erupts.
Throw in the dead chief’s brother, and ex-wife.
Mercenaries from Manhattan, as well as the family branch from Holland.

 
One watches this Frankie Chan actioner for imaginative fights.
Brawlings and shootouts must comprise 50% of the run time.
Memorable one-on-ones in an amusement park.
Storywise … mmm … yeah.
Another small gem from Hong Kong’s heyday.

Cocaine - 1922 - UK

Cocaine - 1922 - 5/10

As ever was, if one climbs high enough into the cocaine distribution web, one finds Number One to be a man of wealth and prominence.
With an increasingly reckless daughter, who requires a steady hand to tame her.
Oh!  Number Two, an oily sort, wants her.  Good enough.

 
Preachy melodrama with Jazz dancing and the temptations of moral turpitude.
The image I saw was pretty fair, the intertitles battered and too brief.
Most versions, you will have to provide your own musical score.

Copenhagen Cowboy - 2022 - Denmark

Copenhagen Cowboy - 2022 - 6/10

 
Three unconnected stories of Miu drifting through the Danish underworld.
At one point, Miu is referred to as a “lucky coin”.
Like the coin, she shows two sides.  Good luck or misfortune.
Fans of Nicolas Winding Refn (I’m grudgingly one) will declare this awash in style.
Detractors (on the fence here) will argue Refn is mired in stall.
Lengthy takes serve to permit viewers to feast on visuals, as well as act as padding the time.
Refn’s eye, which to me most resembles Cattet & Forzani, is his strength.
His storytelling, or lack of, is his prime weakness,
Stunning scenes aside, this offers neither substance nor emotional involvement.
The conclusion of the sixth episode seems to point toward Fantasy Island territory, which holds no interest for me.
Not that it matters.  Refn has unwisely aligned with NetFlix.
In patience and foresight, the cable behemoth rivals King Joffrey, who would axe this series.