Dangerous Encounters: First Kind - 1980 - Hong Kong

Dangerous Encounters: First Kind - 1980 - 7/10 
AKA - 第一類型危險

As a prank, three teens set off a small bomb in an afternoon cinema.
They are observed, however, by an older girl who soon dominates them.

 
Wan-chu, sister of a cop, is a sociopathic who has already tortured and killed small animals.
(Warning: This is explicitly shown onscreen.)
She forces the boys to raise the stakes, with more bombs, tourist kidnapping, money theft.
Police involvement, the triads, and a cutthroat gang of Western arms merchants.
Tsui Hark’s third film is a nihilistic beaut.  Bitter, ugly, and unsavory.  And violent!
Lin Chen-Chi as Wan-chu is unforgettable.

Trengellick Rising - 2023 - UK

Trengellick Rising - 2023 - 6/10 
AKA - Trengellick ow Sevel

 
Disgraced soldier Pascoe is dispatched to Trengellick, small village on the Cornwall coast.
Assignment: watch for an invasion force.
He immediately discovers the locals are a nefarious lot, brutal and murderous.
Gothic film is rough, rugged, atmospheric (and much too dark).
https://www.trengellickrising.com/

Idiocracy - 2006 - USA

Idiocracy - 2006 - 5/10 

 
The future ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.  Pessimists, it might / could be worse!
Volunteers for cryo-sleep awaken 500 years into future dystopia.
A world where intelligent couples stopped breeding for generations.
While the LCD multiplied and stupidified.
Resulting in a world where electrolytes rule!
Well conceived satire lacks bite, playing the future for laughs, rather than ripping the jugular.

Godfather: Part III - 1990 - USA

The Godfather: Part III - 1990 - 6/10   

 
Michael Corleone attempts to legitimize the family business, but old allies and rivals keep pulling him back.
Michael, now in his sixties, is troubled by guilt (??) amidst other concerns.
While this lacks the punch of the first two films, it does a fair job concluding.
Michael’s sister Connie reveals a tiger, while dead brother Sonny’s son, Vincent, is a piece of work.
Throughout, a fatalistic sense hangs over everyone, and the tone is elegiac.
The Godfather Coda: The Death Of Michael Corleone is the edit preferred by Coppola.

Foreign Correspondent - 1940 - USA

Foreign Correspondent - 1940 - 7/10

 
New York newspaper sends “Huntley Haverstock” to investigate the goings-on in Europe.
In Amsterdam, he finds intrigue and murder, and mouthpieces jockeying for influence.
As Europe begins to burn, our reporter flees to England, steps ahead of assassins.
Rousing flag-waver aimed at US audiences, still clutching the “we’re neutral” stance.
Joel McCrea fine as the everyman reporter.
Goebbels, of all people, admired this, declaring it excellent propaganda.

Strictly Dynamite - 1934 - USA

Strictly Dynamite - 1934 - 6/10 

 
Radio personality Moxie exists on stale jokes and gags.
So, he hires a serious, high brow writer, to class up his act.
Screwball comedy, fast-paced, forced, silly, kinda typical.
Moxie’s dame, a delicious Lupe Vélez, ticks plenty of Pre-Code boxes.
Her staccato delivery masks the steam and blatant innuendo.
Not to mention she intoxicates the gag writer - in front of his wife - then  sweeps him off to Atlantic City for the weekend and has her way with him.
Only wish I liked Durante better.

The Survivors - 2025 - Australia

The Survivors - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Answers may lie in the coastal caves that flood during high tide.
One girl went missing, was forgotten; two men drowned, were enshrined.
Another local took blame, others shoulder massive guilt.
Fifteen years pass, until an outsider arrives, asking all manner of questions.
Before her death.
Enjoyable thriller mystery chock full of suspects, motives and secrets.
Along with jealousies, resentments, buried longings.
Bit of an emotional overload at times.

096 - 2020 - USA

096 - 2020 - 6/10 

 
Debriefing of the head researcher following an escape and subsequent deaths.
How had the subject, #096, breached containment?
How had safety protocols failed?
Mix of interrogation room and outside conflicts, mostly in night.
Limited explanations will be fine for those with imaginations.
Others might ask Chat or ask their mom for help.  γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Axanar: The Gathering Storm - 2026 - USA

Axanar: The Gathering Storm - 2026 - 5/10 

 
Twelve years on, a mid-sequel to Prelude To Axanar sporadically pops online.
Technically, this is a faint echo of Prelude – NOT the cinema everyone longed for.
Lead players Hatch and Graham are RIP; their screen time is scant.
Kate Vernon has been replaced by a cheap wig.  Klingon K’omak evokes an elderly hippie.
Reluctant to kick this too much, as what they have accomplished on a budget is impressive.
The spark is gone, however, and people I trust say there is something rotten with this.

The Rapture - 1991 - USA

The Rapture - 1991 - 6/10 

 
Sharon works a numbing phone line job, yet come night she is a hedonistic swinger.
Drugs, alcohol, empty sex.  Diverting in your teens and twenties, less so as Life turns into reruns.
All changes when she listens to and joins a holy roller sect who believe the Apocalypse is nigh.
Well, there is man time, and there is God time.
Powerful drama, often quite muddy logic wise, but with plenty for atheists and the devout to ponder.
Not the least of which is suffering, obedience, redemption, and free will.

Gemma Bovary - 2014 - France

Gemma Bovary - 2014 - 6/10 

 
Village baker Martin notices the arrival of the English transplants.
The Bovarys, Charles and Gemma.
Martin, who knows his Flaubert inside out, begins to see or imagine parallels between Emma and Gemma. 
Less suspense than one would have imagined.
The Bovary marriage and possible problems glossed over.
Beautifully shot film, and Atherton is radiant, yet the hand of Fate lies heavy.

Concordia - 2021 - Germany

Concordia - 2021 - 6/10

 
The gated, monitored city of Concordia, with thousands of surveillance cameras.
On the streets, in offices, cafes, in homes, bedrooms, bathrooms.
Observing, listening, studying heart rates, impulses.
The more invasive the AI community is, the safer everyone is.
Until the mysterious murder of one of the techs.
Being a guarded city, police are not permitted inside, and local agents attempt to solve.
The conclusion a bit open, scores swing depending on which side of optimist/pessimist spectrum one is.

The Unfaithful - 1948 - USA

The Unfaithful - 1948 - 6/10

 
The prowler forced his way into the house.
Chris, whose husband was away, feared for her life.
The dagger found its way into her hand, then into him.
Open and shut, self-defense, right?
First third of this is Noir, dominated by John Hoyt as the detective.
Middle is the not-so-fast mystery angle, slowly revealed.
Last third is ladies melodrama, peppered with Eve Arden as the barb tongued viper.

Queens Of Evil - 1970 - Italy

Queens Of Evil - 1970 - 6/10 
AKA - Le Regine

 
Free spirit David helps a wealthy man with his flat tire.
The older man talks of how freedom is hopeless against the scented petals of intoxicating females.
Soon enough, David is forced to take a detour and reaches a lonely house with three sisters.
One is lusty and savage, the other intellectual, the third innocent and demur.
He keeps meaning to push on, finds excuses to remain.
Even as the air of strangeness about the environment unsettles him.
Moody, languid film, steeped in atmosphere, with horror at the periphery.

Island Of Terror - 1966 - UK

Island Of Terror - 1966 - 6/10 

 
Researchers, aiming for a cancer cure, accidentally create a silicone based life form.
One that needs calcium (bones) to grow and multiply.
The island off of Ireland is small, and has numerous cows.  And tasty humans!
Entertaining SciFi / Horror romp builds slowly, while the silicates multiply every six hours.
For all that, this feels like a glorified Doctor Who outing. 

Dragonfly Eyes - 2017 - China

Dragonfly Eyes - 2017 - 6/10 
AKA - 蜻蜓之眼

 
Qing Ting, training to be a nun, is dissatisfied with ongoing restoration and leaves the monastery.
The abbot warns her that the outside world is more uncertain, more difficult.
She hires on at a diary factory, attracts an admirer, is terminated.
Works at a dry clearing shop, refuses to appease a haughty customer, is fired.
At the restaurant, customers complain and she is released.
Voiceovers and voice actors carry the narrative.
Entire film composed / assembled from hundreds of hours of surveillance videos.

Johanna Enlists - 1918 - USA

Johanna Enlists - 1918 - 6/10 

 
Enlisting … well, not exactly.
For Johanna, she might as well be living in 1418; her life is primitive and backbreaking.
Until the artillery regiment camps on the Ransallar farm in Pennsylvania.
A whole regiment of eligible menfolk.  And she is the lone attraction.
The main two suitors include a handsome lieutenant and a stalwart private.
I assumed going in, that with Mary Pickford and William Desmond Taylor involved, this would be schmaltzy.
This is classic Pickford, and she emotes intensely.
She was also honorary colonel (and godmother) to the 143rd Field Artillery (shown in this).

Everyone Is Lying To You For Money - 2025 - USA

Everyone Is Lying To You For Money - 2025 - 7/10 

 
“Hey, sucker, step right up!  I am going to make to rich!”
Documentary on the repeated rise and fall of various crypto currencies.
Folks launching them reap a windfall before the crash, leaving “investors” with nothing.
Sad to watch folks lose, then keep trying, because they believe.
Equally annoying to see Hollywood A-listers whore themselves for loose change.
Those who obediently watch influencers: Were you really born to follow?
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3373833

The Age Of Gold - 1930 - France

The Age Of Gold - 1930 - 5/10 
AKA - L’Age d’Or

 
A political / religious procession is interrupted by a couple spawning in the mud.
They are forcibly separated, but Fate has seemingly entwined their destinies.
Taboo breaking “comedy” from Buñuel and Dali has scandalous scenes (tame today).
During an outdoor party, lust triumphs.
Satire mocking bourgeois conventions still has an edge.

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man - 1976 - Italy

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Uomini si Nasce Poliziotti si Muore

 
Generic buddy cop film is packed with action, chases, gunfights, nudity.
Fred and Tony are the Special Squad, meaning “don’t bring criminals back alive.”
While cheerful throughout, both are borderline assassins.
Flimsy plot has the force seeking the elusive mastermind, Pasquini.
Fred and Tony “interview” his sister, first by undressing, then by …
In a twist, however, she exhausts both detectives and they give up.
Think Starsky & Hutch, the TV show (not the family friendly film), except with ridiculous violence.

Tuner - 2026 - Canada

Tuner - 2026 - 6/10 

 
Boy meets girl.  Ruthie is a pianist, aspiring composer.  Nik is a piano tuner, with over-sensitive hearing.
Oh, yeah, Niki also needs money, a sizeable amount for his hospitalized mentor, Harry.
To augment his income, he works as a safe-cracker for a small gang of thieves.
Pitch plausibility out the window now.
Coincidences mount, histories are fabricated to support chance.
Ruthie and Niki had warm chemistry, yet one suspects theirs is a temp hookup.
Probably not the RomCom you were hoping for.

Feng Shui 2 - 2014 - Philippines

Feng Shui 2 - 2014 - 5/10 

 
The wicked bagua mirror returns for more happiness and havoc.
In the previous film, the mirror went to a new family – opening flashback indicates cruelty.
Now a young thief has snatched it.
This part is quite interesting, set in shantytown, traveling by boat, everyone scrabbing.
Once the bagua rewards him, he moves up, into the middle class and formula sets it.
Too bad, the story went stale.

The Wonderful, Horrible Life Of Leni Riefenstahl - 1993 - Germany

The Wonderful, Horrible Life Of Leni Riefenstahl - 1993 - 8/10 
AKA - Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl

 
Best known for Olympia, Triumph Of The Will, and perhaps the lesser known Victory Of Faith.
Early on, Riefenstahl  was an accomplished actress before turning her hand to directing.
This doc came out when she was 90 (she would live until 101), and she remained defiant.

 
While endlessly interesting, I was always aware this was a self instigated documentary, a tie-in with her memoirs.
The films she made for the Nazis proved to be her legacy, and damnation.
Although she was investigated by US forces after WWII, cleared “without prejudice”, the stigma clung until death.

Post Nosh - 2003 - UK

Post Nosh - 2003 - 6/10 

 
Say Graham Kerr married Martha Stewart and they aired their own cooking show.
With bizarre recipes and outlandish commentaries.
Where one has a drinking problem, the other is a social climber.
Where the jokes are so sly, they might slip past until you think on them later.

Chestnut Man: S02 - 2026 - Denmark

Chestnut Man: S02 - 2026 - 6/10 

 
A copycat killer has been restaging a bygone serial killer’s modus operandi.
This time, victims are given a countdown via a nursery rhyme, then hunted down.
The detective duo is back, although freighted with an ex-romantic liaison.
(Don’t date coworkers – EVER – the relationship will only fail.)
Narrative is intricately plotted (contrived?), with tight suspense.
Those who like family drama, backgrounds, et al, those are here, too.