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A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 9

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Mrs. Lowry & Son - 2019 - 6/10

By day, L S Lowry collects rent in impoverished neighborhoods.
At night, he dotes on his mother and paints his thoughts and moods on canvas.
His mother, who once had social aspirations, is controlling, cruel, and belittling.
No encouragement from that quarter whatsoever.
Not so much a character study as a “couple” study. Mother and son.
Aside from brief street scenes, and a few ghostly flashbacks, the dramatics play out inside their shared flat.
Acting is superb, but this is very stagebound.
Downbeat film may appeal to creative sorts, who generally receive limited encouragement.

Sideshow:
^

During a lunch break at the bygone job, I was scribbling another masterpiece.
One of my coworkers, an artist, said, “It’s so easy for you. All you need is a pen and any sort of paper. None of the expense of pads, canvases, paints, etc …”
“Oh yeah? How many of the girls here have you drawn, at your apartment?”
“Three, four,” he shrugged.
“And how many have asked you to sketch them?”
“Another five,” he smiled.
“You know how many girls ask me to write about them?” I asked. “Zero!”
Another coworker spoke. “You guys should be musicians. Girls throw themselves at us.”
^

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Poms - 2019 - 5/10

Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Pam Grier, Rhea Perlman play residents in a retirement community.
They decline the existing, rather cliquish, clubs, and instead form a cheerleading squad.
I kid you not. (And more proof I don’t control the remote.)
Formulaic, clichéd storyline wastes a good cast trapped in by-the-numbers script.
Who was the target audience anyway? Over 60’s females? Do enough still frequent movie houses to make a hit?
The females I watched Poms with enjoyed it more than I, and they laughed throughout.
Go figure.

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The Black Cat - 1981 - 6/10
AKA - Gatto Nero

Alright feline fanatics, and cat haters, line up!
In small village England, a medium tries to communicate with the dead.
He’d best hurry, because the deaths mount. All instigated by a growling black cat!
Odd Lucia Fulci film, loosely based on Poe (ha!), suffers from almost incoherent plot and poorly interacting characters.
The demises, of which there are quite a few, differ and are imaginative, especially when you keep in mind that the cat has to be a plausible killer.
Nonetheless, I’d like to hear how the feline(s) took direction.

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The Great Nazi Cash Swindle - 2004 - 6/10

Highly watchable documentary of a shadowy footnote in World War II.
Nazis decide to counterfeit Bank of English notes, then drop millions of them into the cities.
Afterward, rely on human greed and self-interest to hurl the country into financial chaos.
Interviews range from historians and financial experts, to a few, still surviving, actual counterfeiters, Jewish men from concentration camps.
The story takes interesting turns and will appeal to budding tycoons.
Nations have dodgy histories of counterfeiting during war times. Perhaps during peace times, too!

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Die Fälscher - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - The Counterfeiters

Based on Operation Bernhard, the secret unit inside Camp Sachsenhausen.
Objective, to counterfeit Bank Of England notes, then use the Luftwaffe to shower Britain.
This focuses on Salomon Sorowitsch, a master forger (also a Jewish prisoner) who ran quality control.
He is a “survivor’ compared with other characters who act as ethical pillars.
The film is based on a true story, but individuals have been modified and / or embellished.
Timelines have also been modified, and this also merges Operation Bernhard with Operation Andreas.
This is a solid film with brisk storytelling. The unnecessary historical tamperings irk me.

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Flirting With Fate - 1916 - 6/10

August is broke, behind on rent, can’t feed his two dogs. What’s his problem?
Oh, he’s a struggling artist. Say no more.
Still, he encounters a prim, starchy miss who makes his heart go boom-boom-boom.
Misunderstandings follow and then she troths to a rival.
In despair, Auggie hires Automatic Joe to murder him!
At which point, Fate laughs and turns the artist’s fortunes around.
Then the pace roars full throttle, with madcap chases, dizzying stunts, and farce humor.
Creaky film, threadbare plot, yet an excellent chance to witness Douglas Fairbanks in his prime.
Before he started making longer, heroic adventure films (not that those are lesser).

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I Wake Up Screaming - 1941 - 7/10

A rising socialite is found murdered! Prime suspects - her sportswriter boyfriend and her own sister.
The detective in charge is convinced of the boyfriend’s guilt and he begins to grind him down.
Highly influential, half forgotten thriller / mystery filled with flashbacks, pungent dialogue and pursuits.
For me, this is where the American "look” of Film Noir begins.

The story and characters are not Noir, however. Time is still, barely, pre World War II.
Returning G.I.s would carry disillusionment and a grimmer outlook. The tone of this harks to an earlier time.
An underrated Victor Mature fine as the cornered sportswriter.
Betty Grable, before her mass popularity, radiant as lush American good girl.
The star, though, is Laird Cregar (only 24, looks older), tackle sized with purring voice.

Cregar, and brilliantly stylized camera work.
I Wake Up Screaming is packed with angles, shadows, and inventive camera movement.
DVD has outstanding commentary by Eddie Muller: anecdotes, histories, tragic lives of Cregar and Landis.

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Gwen - 2018 - 6/10

“Steal a sheep and they’ll take your hand. Steal a mountain and they’ll make you a lord.”

Gwen, young sister Mari, and their mum struggle to keep their Welsh farm.
Mid 19th century, and Dad is away at war, understand? Things are difficult.
Dialogue is minimal in this, as is human interaction. The story is seen from Gwen’s eye,
The atmosphere, the natural world, crushes down. By and by, you realize the family is ostracized.
Standing in the back, not even lurking in the shadows, is a man of wealth and power.
An old story, one that extends into prehistory, of small people trying to hold onto what little they own.

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Pain And Glory - 2019 - 6/10
AKA - Dolor y Gloria

I watched because this is by Almodóvar, who I view as a spiritual nephew of Woody Allen.
And, as with Allen, just because this bears Almodóvar’s name, the result may not be a masterpiece.
Anyway, a renowned director (Almodóvar), suffers physical pain and creative crises.
Childhood reveries wash over his thoughts, he tries to connect with old friends and colleagues.
Banderas is exemplary is this, yet the actual story is so much watered down milk.
Damn little of the life on parade is noteworthy or compelling.
Perhaps golden to the aging director, the chapters come across as banal.

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Hagazussa - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - A Heathen’s Curse

Labeled as Horror, though I don’t necessarily agree.
Close in tone to 2016’s The VVitch, only the environment is more primitive, and the community more fragmented.
A mother and daughter live isolated from the nearby village. They raise goats, barter milk.
Because they are isolated, they are viewed with suspicion. Outsiders.
Film beautifully captures the austerity of hardship.
While slow (the girl, later woman, Albrun, often spends great lengths staring, seemingly vacantly), there is a lot going on. An immersion, if you will, into Nature, the pulsing life force.
This is also a tale of vengeance, though the distracted will probably miss it.
Well worth your time. And I still dislike the Horror label as I fear that will mislead casual sorts into expecting modern attitudes and plot devices. I wish there was another label.

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Kafka - 1991 - 7/10

Non-descript insurance clerk (and part time writer), Franz Kafka, finds himself entangled with revolutionaries, secret police, anarchists, spies, and the imperious palisade known as The Castle.
Highly stylized film by Soderbergh is part Noir, part Gothic.
Unsettling narrative steeped in paranoia and anxiety.
Third act “Castle” sequence borrows heavily from Brazil. The same black humor abides, though in Kafka it is more brittle, less fatalistic.
Dialogue often conveyed multiple meanings so one has to keep alert.
Outstanding set design (Prague) of empty streets, endless midnight.
Kafka’s works, like Orwell’s, grow disturbingly relevant to our era.

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5 Fingers - 1952 - 6/10

Consider Diello, lowly valet at the British embassy in neutral Turkey during World War II.
He is trusted, he has access to confidential documents, and he has aspirations elevate his social class.
That takes money, however. Money that the Nazis will pay … for documents.
Based on the real life spy, “Cicero,” James Mason plays the cold, cynical opportunist.
Though set in Ankara, most of the exteriors are Istanbul, and downright exotic.
Fans of Harry Lime will nod in approval of Diello.

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Love In Memory - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - 러브 인 메모리

Bittersweet K-drama of the lingering ghost.
Female has been in steady relationship with her dependable, analytical consort for seven years.
At times, however, she recalls the other boyfriend, her first love, whom she abandoned.
They were too different, she reminds herself.
She was ambitious, career driven, while he was an artist, head in the clouds.
Then she catches sight of him, and memories, accurate or nostalgic, gnaw her heart.
Refreshing to see how emotions of regret, hope and fondness are elaborated.
At one point I imagined a Hollywood remake - - and cringed.

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Our Kind Of Traitor - 2016 - 6/10

While vacationing - trying to rebuild broken marriage - in Morocco, professor Perry meets mafia boss, Dima.
They strike up a friendship. Then Dima asks for a favor.
Contrived, implausible spy thriller based on Le Carre’s novel.
Slick, yet empty headed, and, in many ways, this feels like a plot from the 80’s.
As turistas, middle aged Perry and wife Gail, make decisions teen travelers would avoid.
If you can go with the flow and switch your brain off, this is another way to kill two hours of your life.

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El Monte De Las Bujas - 1973 - 5/10
AKA - The Witches Mountain

Early on, we follow Carla as she arrives home to discover her cat has been killed.
By her young sister-cousin-daughter (?), because the cat terrorized her pet snake.
In quick order, Carla sets fire to the snake and child, flees to her ex-boyfriend (who says No), then drops from the film.
From there, the narrative follows the ex, Mario, a photographer, who takes an assignment to a cursed mountain.
Yeah, hang on, the story jumps throughout.
Though desolate, Mario’s camera catches images in the abandoned village, which the eye overlooks.

I enjoyed the photography. The atmosphere is forbidding, and the clothes and look drip 1970’s.
The ending is rushed and downright confusing. Nor is there any sort of mountain backstory.
Music reminiscent of Diamanda Galás.
Deeply flawed film “may” appeal to those who appreciate mood over mayhem.

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Einsatzgruppen: The Nazi Death Squads - 2009 - 7/10

Four part documentary of the units that accompanied or followed the Wehrmacht.
Maps, disturbing home movies, somber music, and interviewees.
The interviewees include historians, survivors, witnesses, and men who pulled the triggers.
The home movies are revealing on two levels. How German officers photographed the dirty work carried out by Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Russians against Jews, Catholics, intelligentsia, neighbors …
And that those films would have been developed back in the Fatherland, challenging the later claim of, “We didn’t know! That wasn’t anyone I knew!”
Similar themes can be found in Lost Home Movies Of Nazi Germany (2019).
Both are powerful reminders of what humanity is capable of. And likely will be capable of in our future.

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Maiden - 2018 - 7/10

High seas documentary.
In 1989, an all-female crew entered the Whitbread, round-the-world, sailing competition.
Scoffers declare women will quit, women will never get along, women are weak.
The girls do have problems, mostly through inexperience.
But they are also fairly fearless, taking the tightest route near Antarctica to shave time.

Mix of still photos, crewmates (and competitors) reflecting, newscasts, and home footage.
What is equally astonishing is the sheer amount of film taken at the time.
Well done, though the DVD extras bored me.

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Argon - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - 아르곤

K-drama about a television magazine news show.
Not the news/weather/sports show, but the special features.
Exposes, scoops, headlines, and human interest fluff.
Juvenile comedy mars first couple of episodes, though that vanishes if you hang with the series.
Decent drama, though few care about “news” any more. People hunt for, and believe what they want.
Limited crying in this, thank God, and no real romance.
Nice premise of rookie employee looking up to mentor she admired when she was younger.

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Crooked House - 2017 - 6/10

Stylish adaptation of the Agatha Christie murder mystery.
Ostracized private detective is approached by his old flame to investigate her family.
She suspects grandpapa was poisoned.
Family being wealthy and politically influential, police are hesitant to delve.
Once inside the suffocating manor, the detective realizes he is in a viper pit.
The beholden heirs hated or resented grandpapa, almost as much as they loathe each other and themselves.
Everyone, it transpires, is suspect. Everyone.

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Die Frau, Nach Der Man Sich Sehnt - 1929 - 6/10
AKA - The Woman Men Yearn For // Three Loves

Young heir to powerful industrialist embarks on his honeymoon.
One the night train, his wife slides into the sheets and eagerly awaits locomotive revels.
While out in the corridor, the heir spies Stascha, a damsel in distress.
What to do? Oh - Stascha is played by a young Marlene Dietrich.
He dumps his bride, halts the train, dashes across snowy woodlands, into a posh resort.
Story of naive swell getting embroiled with a shady couple.
Borders on melodrama, but the camera work is fluid and often ingenious.
Rollicking New Years Eve party is a highlight. Must for Dietrich aficionados.

Note - I’ve watched this Silent with two different soundtracks. Orchestral and piano.
Neither seemed to enhance the proceedings. Better luck, you.

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Sex And Sensibility: The Allure Of Art Nouveau - 2012 - 7/10

Fine three part documentary on the Art Nouveau period.
Paris - England - Vienna. Lalique, Mucha, Beardsley, Klimt …
Host Stephen Smith shifts between droll and skeptical, presenting well known icons and half forgotten masterpieces.
It is remarkable how many buildings and interiors survive, especially in light of two world wars and the public losing interest in the style by the 1910s.
There was a resurgence of interest with the counter-culture 60’s and it has been with us since.
Not essential viewing, but superior to never-ending dramatic fare.

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Scandal And Beauty - 2020 - 7/10

Mark Gatiss guides a loving tour of Aubrey Beardsley, young man in a hurry.
Painter extraordinaire of fin de siècle Victorian London.
Everything is touched in this. Early tuberculoses, approval by Burne-Jones.
Commission for Oscar Wilde, the Yellow Book, a series of misfortunes.
Beardsley’s energy and output is breathtaking. Quite a few of his drawings remain disturbing.

I have several books on / about Beardsley. I particularly recommend the one by Stephen Calloway.

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La Ragazza Nella Nebbia - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - The Girl In The Fog

A 16 year old girl disappears from her small village.
The media savvy inspector and his assistant are dispatched from Rome.
The inspector does not rely on DNA, forensics, science, but uses leaks to reporters to pressure suspects.
And yes, there are suspects. A stalker, and the fact that the girl belongs to the Confraternity Church, which the inspector regards as a cult.
The contrast of secretive villagers and cynical city interlopers is sharp.
Initially, I thought this was going to be patterned after Les Oubliées or Le Mystère du Lac, two French series with vanished girls.
Only no, the plotting here is diabolically clever, with a progression of twists that spring like traps

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Un Adultère - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Infidelity

Alice shares a flat with Morgane, and increasingly, Morgane’s boyfriend,
Desiring more freedom, 25 year old Alice hires an estate agent to find her a new apartment.
For no reason whatsoever, the young girl / older, married man drift into an affair.
Seems purely physical, guilt-free, even after one increases the risk of exposure.
Viewers expecting sophisticated chic will find bourgeois characters and settings.

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La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte - 1972 - 7/10
AKA - The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

“Centuries ago,” grandfather explains, “the black queen killed her sister, the red queen. But the red queen returned and killed six more people before killing her sister. And every hundred years, the curse repeats.”
“And when will the next hundred years be?” asks one girl.
“In 14 years …”
And so, 14 years pass. The sisters’ hate for each other escalates.
Until one accidentally kills the other.

Baffling Giallo set in the fashion world is loads of fun.
Part of the confusion stems from the two surviving sisters who look similar.
Also two of the models (one being Sybil Danning) who bear resemblance.

Delicious audio commentary by Alan Jones and Kim Newman.
Both are funny, informative, and extremely entertaining. It’s apparent they love this film.