logo Sign In

A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 2

Author
Time
 (Edited)

The Forbidden Door - 2009 - 6/10
AKA - Pintu Terlarang

Sculptor Gambir had an exhibition where all his works sold out.
He is a red hot property, married to a beautiful wife, envied by many, including close friends.
Is life great, or what?
Gambir would like to expand beyond his black cast sculptures (of heavily pregnant females), but is threatened with exposure if he does so.
His mother, wanting grandchildren, complains about his erectile dysfunction to everyone.
Graffiti messages distract him. Visions of a boy, brutally beaten. A secret establishment. The clinic.
Random voices. Pig masks. Stray, meaningless, characters. A narrative that grows incoherent.
Surreal mystery / thriller from Indonesia also doses arthouse, horror and gore.
While elements seem lifted from other films, writer-director Joko Anwar manages to stitch the threads by the end.
Hang with those credits, too!

Author
Time

I am loving this thread and some of these reviews - it certainly hepls me choose what to watch soon.

Thanks, Vultural 😃

The FE Renegades thread; from the people who post ‘go kill yourself’, ‘fuck you’, ‘let’s throw abuse’, and more at OT staff & members. Four years on and still throwing accusations, slurs and abuse at the OT & anyone outside their Salacious Crumb filled clique. + FE Discord “to vent” more at the OT. Wook’s take.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Ford V Ferrari - 2019 - 7/10

High octane, deafening porn for gearheads.
A failed bid to acquire the house of Ferrari ends in a personal insult to Mr. Ford II.
Royally pissed, Ford decides to compete and win at Le Mans.
Key to this is enlisting Carroll Shelby, who insists on his acerbic driver, Ken Miles.
Three racing sequences are high points in tale of mechanics and creative sorts navigating the competitive arena as well as corporate interference.
According to my gearhead friends, overlooking some “Hollywoodisms,” the story is fairly accurate historically.
FvF is a classic, if old-fashioned, summer flick. Studio executives showed themselves to be just as moronic as Ford execs by releasing this in November.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Jour J - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Wedding Unplanned

Juliette and Mathias meet at the costume party.
She takes a fancy to him and soon works him out of his Superman outfit and into her Wonder Woman.
Later … “Call me?” – “Uh, what, sure.” – “Here’s my card,” which she tucks into his clothes.
Next day, back in the flat he shares with blonde Alexia. “What’s this card? And who is Juliette?”
“What? Oh, that, oh, emm –”
“Juliette, wedding planner. Omigod! Yes! I mean, I do! What a surprise!!!”
Preparations begin. And who is hired to plan the nuptials?
Why, Mathias’ one night stand, Juliette, who, it transpires, Alexia knew and bullied when J was an ugly duckling.
Broad French comedy borrows from many films, but it moves briskly and the audience laughed frequently.
Chances are this is a good date film - unless - your date misinterprets this as a proposal hint.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Where’s My Roy Cohn? - 2019 - 8/10

Ever wonder why democracy swallows poison? Because of gullible suckers, like you and me.
Beady-eyed documentary targets the corrupt legal gun for hire.
The whisperer in Senator McCarthy’s ear, Mafioso counselor, mentor to Trump.
Never concede, never apologize, attack, double-down, attack.
This seems fairly accurate (I’ve read about Cohn for decades).
If you want to see the US President’s coach, watch this.
Not that the serpent is a newcomer to the global garden.
The amoral individual endures across ancient Rome to Stalinist CCCP into current government cabinets.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Nyrkki - 2019 - 7/10
AKA - Shadow Lines

Outstanding espionage thriller set in Cold War Finland.
Mid 1950’s, the nation had recently gained “independence” from the Soviets.
Helsinki becomes a locus of spies and intelligence agents.
The Fins desire advantages the West has on offer, but do not want to antagonize the Russian bear.
Real events that play out in the series include the return of the Porkkala Naval Base, and the contentious presidential election of 1956.

The production design is fantastic throughout. These folks really did their homework.
Period fashions, hairstyles, even makeup, all pretty accurate.
From vintage cars to music to dialogue (meaning, no modern phrases).
Writing is taut, with barely any fat, following the compact Finnish intelligence team as they maneuver between the KGB and the CIA, as well as politicians and military forces.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

One Man, Two Guvnors - 2012 - 7/10

Theatre junkies, hark!
During the Covid lockdown, the National Theatre began limited airing of stage classics.
James Corden as Henshall lands a gig as batman for gangster, Roscoe Crabbe.
Then another job working for Stanley Stubbers, the man who killed Roscoe.
Killed? What? Confused? Not as much as Henshall, who admits he does get easily confused.
Rapid fire comedy mixes situations, innuendo, farce, and musical interludes!
Note: This is live theatre, so expect audience reactions.
As of 2020 06, YouTube still offers one full show each week. FREE!

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Délice Paloma - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - Paloma Delight

Algerian film of low level con-artists, grifters, scammers.
Ostensibly a counseling service, the ladies arrange divorces, damage store rivals, peddle flesh.
Film opens as the boss of the clique, Aldjeria, is released from three years in the prison.
Two of her previous cohorts, disguised in nun habits, greet her under the bridge.
From there, flashbacks unfold the final big deal, before it went wrong.
Interesting look inside Algeria.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Searching - 2018 - 7/10

Near the end of semester, the sophomore daughter disappears.
Probably with friends, maybe on a camping trip.
Eventually the father grows concerned, phones the police, and begins looking himself.
He is tech savvy, but a neophyte in his secretive daughter’s world of social networking.
Soon, the father realizes he doesn’t really know his child, at all.
Well constructed thriller with corkscrew twists – and – on second viewing, cannily placed hints and clues.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

El Cuerpo - 2012 - 7/10
AKA - The Body

Diabolically clever thriller from Spain.
Wealthy, powerful woman dies mysteriously, and police begin sniffing her much younger, trophy husband.
Early on, her body disappears from the official morgue. No body, no autopsy.
And then, the smug husband begins receiving messages, clues, that maybe his wife ain’t so dead.
Events transpire during a long night inside the facility, while a ominous storm rages outside.
Highly effective plotting, though plausibility teeters on the edge at times.
Whodunit and why-dunit should keep most guessing until the end.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Bob le Flambeur - 1956 - 6/10
AKA - Bob The Gambler

Bob made a big score 20 years ago, but did time for it.
Now, he is something between an old gangster and retired.
He advises old friends, listens to eager younglings, is chums with a detective, tries to protect women.
Akin to an aging knight. Crooked, yet with a sense of honor.
Gambling is his weakness. He seems to pick horses. With cards, Lady Luck is cruel.
A breezy, perhaps empty, life.
Forty minutes into the film, the caper germinates and begins to unfold.
The story, the music, the details, everything ratchets up.
Excellent French Noir, hang with it.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Planet Of The Humans - 2019 - 5/10

Much hyped documentary misses the plot and settles for meaningless consolation shot.
Early on, the narrator shows how far the human population has spiked in the last century.
Then, and for the bulk of the doc, he launches an exposé of renewal energy.
The fraud and deception of “green.”
From environmental groups and leaders who have prostituted themselves to corporations, to the clueless masses who say, “Coal, bad. Biomass, good.”
Biomass means forest removal, clear cutting, habitat annihilation.

Late in the show, a few souls reference over-population again.
Then back to chainsaws. A diversion that misses the point.
The current Earth population is close to 8 billion.
Including you and I. So, would you give up air-conditioning in summer? Heat in winter?
An endless stream of clean water? Healthy food? A spacious place to live?
These take a toll. Is everyone entitled to modern comforts?
Guess what, sucker.
Welcome to Planet Of The Hypocrites.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Four Flies On Grey Velvet - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - 4 Mosche Di Velluto Grigio

Studio drummer is stalked by unknown man in sunglasses.
Eventually, he tracks the man down, confronts him, and - oops - accidentally kills him.
Unfortunately, the percussionist is photographed by a disguised stranger.
Our hero seeks advice, doesn’t listen. His cute blonde wife wants to help him sleep, he turns a cold shoulder.
Aside from pounding his drum kit, they guys is just weak.
Killings, meanwhile, slowly swirl around the passive drummer. Friends, hired help, and closer.
Director Argento offers gorgeous visuals, and deaths are delivered with creeping tension.
Score is an imaginative mix of prog rock and Morricone, and plenty of drumming!

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Utopia: S01 - 2013 - 8/10

“Where is Jessica Hyde?”
Brilliant series set in the near future or today!
Online gamers find clues to the sequel of a legendary graphic novel.
Independently, and then collectively, they search for it.
Nor are they alone. Two other hunters leave a trail of blood and death in their wake.
Highly imaginative series piles on twists, revelations, conspiracy, and splatter.
Most diabolical, near the end, viewers are tempted into darkness.
Me? I switched teams and began rooting for the bad guys.

Note: S01 concludes with a a couple of open doors, which I could live with.
There is a S02, which I am not inclined to view. Reading between the lines, I gather that season advances incrementally (meaning less original ideas, more padding). Season 3 was canceled. Caveat emptor.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

A Life At Stake - 1955 - 5/10

Edward’s designer homes are hot sellers … until his partner gambles away the business.
Now Edward finds himself in a cheap boarding house, broke, a one man pity party.
Then comes the offer, from a moist piece of cheesecake.

She’s a realtor “We buy property. You build, I sell. We’ll be rich.”
Only problem, Ed has no capital.
“That’s OK,” purrs Doris, “I’ll pay your share, or rather my husband will.”
“Husband?”
“He’s always away on business,” she leans forward. “I’m alone.
“Still, my husband will want to insure you, because if anything happens to you, he’ll lose his investment.”
”Insure me?” Ed starts to wake up. “For how much?”
“Ooh, $300,000.”
That’s the scam. He’ll be worth more dead than alive. But Ed is desperate, so he accepts.
Cheap Noir is Grade-C hash.
Quality supporting cast, offsets the chronically wooden Keith Andes.
Editing is crappy, but there is a cool Les Baxter score.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

La Storia Vera Della Signora Dalle Camelie - 1981 - 6/10
AKA - Lady Of The Camellias

Sumptuous dramatization of Alphonsine Plessis.
Her rise from impoverished beggar, to seamstress, prostitute, courtesan.
Difference between the latter two seems money. Clientele. Rich clientele.
Story rollicks along quick march, touching the bases of a shallow life.
Glossy trash.
Based on Marie Duplessis who was likely the Kim Kardashian of her era, and about as interesting.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Sprengbagger 1010 - 1929 - 6/10
AKA - Explodigger 1010

After grueling nonstop work, Engineer Hartmann develops plans for a dynamite packing excavator.
Think gigantic strip mining machine.

Hartmann suffers burn out, so he heads to the bucolic countryside.
There farmers still harvest using scythes, horses draw wagons, and the windmill is the focus.
Relaxing, enjoying rural downtime, Hartmann discovers coal, a mountain of it, lies under the soil.
“Summon the explodigger!”
Film jerks back and forth between the stridency of machines and the lethargy of wheat.
To further hammer the message, our engineer is torn between his modern assistant and gentry lass.

Ham fisted tale, somewhat reminiscent of Metropolis, though lacking any subtlety.
Music, based on original score, is extremely aggressive, even in the backwoods.
Acting is over the top, by 1929 or any standards.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Color Out Of Space - 2019 - 5/10

“Hey, J J, listen to this! Nicolas Cage doing a Lovecraft movie!”
– Lovecraft. As in romance? Or Kama Sutra bouncing?
“A space rock strikes a farm in the backwoods! Then bizarre things start spreading out.”
– Oh, a remake of that “Annihilation” movie?
“No one believes the farmer, meanwhile colored lights turn everything weird.”
– Like in “Annihilation”? Only with crafty love sex, right? Like “Lifeforce”? Whoa! Loved that one! None of those tentacles and testicles though.
“Who needs sex when we got Cage! Who’s gonna go full-bore Nick Cage wacko in the last act.”
– What he does. Any partnership funding? Help defray costs?
“Yeah! Llama Owners Worldwide are kicking in $500 and fresh milk so long as we include llamas in the story.”
– OK, what’s another million, more or less. Who’s the target audience?
“Need you ask?”

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Daughter Of Darkness - 1948 - 6/10

Gothic take on the agent provocateur.
Emmy is shunned and ostracized by the women in a small Irish parish.
She seems mild mannered, reserved, fey even, yet males are drawn to her then driven to distraction.
Her lone protector is the priest, until village women order him to send her away.
Emmy relocates to a bucolic farm, where the females’ radar quickly flares.
Film is a sea of shadows and odd angles.
While Emmy is not a striking beauty, all of us have encountered plain faced honey pots.
Though she is aware of her siren quality, male desire seems repulsive.
Hers is an arresting character; as layers of innocence and naïveté peel away, there is a fundamental core of evil.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

They’re Playing With Fire - 1984 - 5/10

English professor hires besotted student to varnish her yacht.
Once aboard, she puts the moves on him, followed by the pink sticky.
Afterward, she asks if he can do a teeny, tiny little favor for her.
Of a criminal nature.
Lest you roll your eyes, she is not your sophomore English teacher, but steamy Sibyl Danning.

She disrobes often, keeping our dim lad baffled and motivated, while events swirl.
This claptrap thriller is part dime mystery, part Slasher, part horny teenager flick.
Bodies pile up, support characters come and go for no reason, atrocious 80’s generic songs.
Garbage, but I’ve seen worse, and I shall likely watch even more dismal fare in the future.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Airplane II: The Sequel - 1982 - 6/10

Reused jokes, gags, and characters from 1980’s Airplane, itself a spoof of Zero Hour! (1957), and the 1970’s Airport franchise.
Maiden flight of the space shuttle Mayflower goes awry.
Passengers are doomed!
I had not seen the 1980 original since it played theatrically, so the jokes struck me as fine.
Many of the gags, and especially cameos, are dated. Only older viewers will “get them.”
The Zuckers are not involved with this, and it shows.
Woke warning: some jokes are sexist, homophobic, or have cultural stereotypes.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Shoutout to editor M77’s “Mayflower Madness,” an inspired short of this flick.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

From Caligari To Hitler: German Cinema In The Age Of The Masses - 2014 - 8/10
AKA - Von Caligari Zu Hitler: Das Deutsche Kino im Zeitalter der Massen

Masterful documentary on Weimar cinema.
Although the focus is primarily on Murnau and Lang, numerous directors are profiled.
As well as piles of films. Note: the prints of most are outstanding.
The premise is of the vanished Weimar era, obliterated by National Socialism and World War II.
Can audiences get a feeling of the times, the people, the mood, via the movies made during that period?
For Silent buffs, this is extremely welcome, consider these two updated episodes from 1995‘s Cinema Europe.
I have watched easily two thirds of the films referenced, yet was thrilled to find other titles to track down.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Pulgasari - 1985 - 5/10
AKA - Chosŏn’gŭl // 불가사리

Young males depart their beloved village to become mountain bandits and oppose the dastardly ruler.
The wicked despot, in turn, imprisons women and elders, and smelts their pots and shovels to make swords!
Ye, verily do the rich and powerful oppress the poor and weak.
Then, a miracle! A starving village smith fashions a small totem out of rice and mud.
The totem awakens, devours pins and nails, and Lo! begins to grow prodigiously.
Soon, the now towering metal force allies with villagers in sweeping battles with the malevolent king!
The growling beast would fit in with Japanese monsters, the feel is vintage Shaw Brothers.
Though cheap looking, there are numerous fights, thousands of extras, and the villainous tyrant is wily.
To be honest, I cut this North Korean goof fest some slack because … well … it’s the first film I’ve ever seen from that country.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

We’ll Take Manhattan - 2012 - 6/10

1962, David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton land in New York to do a photo-shoot for Vogue.
Their chaperone, senior editor “Lady Clare” represents the tried and true, upper crust look.
Firebrand Bailey is brimming with new ideas, offbeat angles, freeform shooting.
In the middle is inexperienced Shrimpton, who lacks the class and looks of glamour doyens.
Sharp cinematography throughout. (How did they make the UN, which looked rundown last time I saw it, appear pristine?)
I think the history is so-so, yet acceptable.
My bride, however, steeped in “fashion,” from current to the 60’s of her youth, nitpicked every now and then.
Aside from songs, the score seems from Cool Jazz.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Amazon: What They Know About Us - 2020 - 6/10

Hey, it’s just a little bit of my privacy, right?
And there’s so much I get in return!
Documentary is not so much the rise and dominance of the commercial behemoth, but more it’s morphing into a data-mining and surveillance corporation.
Insiders include early employees and early investors. Few insiders are from 2006 onward.
Not necessarily chilling, unless you have an Alexa listening device in your home (one guy had 4).
And yes, Corporate employees do listen to recordings from inside homes, but those are random and anonymous, designed to make life better and easier.
Disclosure: Of the FAANGs, I shun four of them, but it is damn hard to bypass Amazon.