A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 128

The Prey Of The Wind - 1927 - 6/10
AKA - La Proie du Vent

Owing to turbulent weather, Pierre is forced to land east of France, on castle grounds.
There, he recuperates from injuries and falls under the spell of Countess Elizabeth.
Then he discovers the rightful countess, Helene, imprisoned, who begs him to help her escape.
Story becomes a watch and wait slow boil.
Which sister is truthful? Is either? Does Pierre still need to remain, or is he a captive?
Fairly creaky French thriller borders on melodrama. Fine restoration.

The Protégé - 2021 - 6/10

Moody and Anna are a hit team. Assassins. Except they only murder bad people.
Please. Really?
After a death – payback – Anna targets the top man responsible, and his cartel of henchmen.
Samuel Jackson as Moody is fine, the action sequences are crisp and well done.
Dialogue is a treat, especially between Maggie Q and Michael Keaton.
Keaton, by the way, has a marvelous role as the sardonic right hand.
The narrative, the script itself, is an empty-headed muddle.
There is no “there” to the last two acts. No reasons, no denouement.

What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? - 1969 - 6/10

Aunt Alice? Oh, she called herself Mrs. Dimmock and hired on as companion to Mrs. Marrable.
How many companions has Mrs. Marrable gone through already? Four? Five?
Good help is so hard to find. Funny how they all left in the middle of the night.
Of course they had no relatives, poor dears. No friends. Nobody missed them.
And Mrs. Marrable (above)? Despite her airs, she is poor. And rather mad.
Desert mystery shines a mean edge and cruel tone.
Odd how the general populace is so easily deceived by surface charm and platitudes.

Tschugger: S01-02 - 2021 - 7/10

Detective Bax is having a bad run.
Wife Gerda has dumped him, he is currently trailing two low-level stoners.
Worse, he has made a poor impression on a visiting HQ investigator.
Let’s not go into his unprofessional attire, which matches his boorish social skills.
You may assume things can’t get worse.
Oh, yes, they can!
Extremely funny satire on cop shows and buddy flicks.
Two five-part seasons, half hour each, with a hair raising finale.

The House With Laughing Windows - 1976 - 7/10
AKA - La Casa Dalle Finestre che Ridono

Stefano arrives at the tiny village by boat.
Hired to restore a fresco of the assassination of Saint Sebastian. A gruesome depiction.
He settles in quickly, manages to sleep with a few ladies, and the restoration proceeds.
Nevertheless, he receives warnings about the fresco, the village. That he should depart.
The isolation builds throughout, as Stefano is shunned, and village, forest, even his own rooms seem empty.
While this lacks the stylistic flourishes of Giallo, the atmosphere and tone is overwhelming.
Not really Horror, but a thriller that delivers and a mystery that exemplifies “be careful what you ask for”.

Julie - 2018 - 6/10

Julie’s big birthday bash and everyone is there!
Well, not Daddy. Plus, the majority of the revelers are moochers who mock her.
Julie is insecure, graceless, a sponger herself and ugly to her two friends.
In a nutshell, she is a resentful, privileged 7 year old in a 33 year old body.
Left-handed adaptation of Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” is well cast and has its moments.
Julie is a toxic soul, however, and her complaints and comments come across as whiny bleating.
She is inappropriate throughout, wallowing in her pity party.

Infernal Affairs - 2002 - 7/10
AKA - Mou gaan dou // 無間道

Triad member Lau enrolls in the police academy, rises through the ranks, yet is criminal to the core.
Chan is expelled from the police academy, then joins the Triads (though he is actually undercover).
Sound somewhat familiar? Yes, Scorsese remade this in 2006 as The Departed.
(The remake is exceptional, and Scorsese, unlike most copycats, graciously credited the HK version.)
While similar to the remake, Infernal Affairs is a considerably darker experience.
For one thing, this is steeped in the ramifications of the 1997 handover to China.
The promise of “One country, two systems” swirls through the film.
Spawned a terrific prequel, then a so-so sequel. View the first two.

Swimming To Cambodia - 1987 - 7/10

Spalding Gray, raconteur, delivers a monologue on Southeast Asia.
Particularly, Cambodia and the rise of the Khmer Rouge and subsequent genocide.
Weaving in and out are comments of The Killing Fields in which he had a small part.
The performance runs funny to terrifying, remaining desperately human.
Riveting theatre, beware of cut versions.

Henry V - 1944 - 7/10

Rousing, old-fashioned spectacle serves as epic achievement and morale booster (during WWII).
The young king, still regarded as a wastrel, finds tensions with France near breaking point.
Solution? Invade and conquer, despite having smaller forces.
The Technicolor is, at once, dazzling and distracting. The colors are beyond belief.
The battle sequences are outstanding. Transitions between the Globe and locations are inspired.
For all that, the film is – not stilted – pretty. Shiny.
Olivier is masterful, although you always know this is Sir Laurence.

Woman In The Moon - 1929 - 7/10
AKA - Frau im Mond

Pioneering SciFi about travel to the Moon for, what else, riches!
Professor Manfeldt proposes there is gold on the dark side.
Venture capitalists sign on, and the spaceship is created.
Although about “space travel”, greed predominates. And some romance.
I have seen this twice live with a pianist. A new Kino release has an excellent score.
At 3+ hours in length, you should settle in for a long experience.
Very spotty “science” in this, yet much of the “rocket” depictions would echo in the later V2.

Fascination - 1979 - 6/10

After a gold heist, Marc hides in an “empty” chateau.
Well, there are two maidservants who seem to be involved with each other, and interested in him.
He dallies, unaware that the chateau belongs to a countess, a vampire, who will soon arrive.
Stylized Jean Rollin film has a meandering plot drifting though a dreamlike setting.
While slow, especially by today’s standards, almost every scene is visually arresting.
Gothic, lesbian vampires, beautiful fashions, nudity, moody score, creeping dread.
Good intro to Rollin for the curious.

Wonderland - 2003 - 6/10

Ugly, flip side to Boogie Nights, this one based on real events.
Porn stud John Holmes, career in the trash can, is suspect #1 in the death of four.
Low on cash, fried out brain cells, Holmes and drug buddies decide to rob a mobster.
Afterward, police try to untangle conflicting versions of events.
Repellent tale is grisly and frustrating, not leastways because of so many loathsome players.
The tone, the vibe, however, seems spot on, spitting the filthy payment due that came at the end of the 70’s.
Val Kilmer nails John Holmes, yet the whole cast is solid.
Gloriously slimy escapade, not a prissy docudrama.

Scenes From A Mall - 1991 - 5/10

Fans knew this wasn’t a “Woody” film. Knew it suffered scathing reviews.
Nevertheless, we viewed.
Woody Allen and Bette Midler play a happily married couple whose marriage has hit a crisis.
Allen and Midler show great chemistry, yet their characters are extremely dislikeable.
They bicker, squabble and lash out. Inside the mall, at a time when malls had become less popular.
The movie feels improvised, or poorly edited.
Mazursky attempting Altman, without the latter’s touch.

The Waves Of Memory - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Les Ondes du Souvenir

A corpse is found in a steel mill, shuttered 40 years already.
Who gets the call? Yes, Detective Clara and her forensic anthropologist boyfriend.
This duo is stale, their relationship spinning in the mud.
The mystery? The body is soon identified, so this becomes a case of who did it and why.
Back history might resonate with viewers who remember strikes and police conflicts.
The focus, however, remains on Clara and her soppy boyfriend.
There was never much chemistry between the two. Hopefully, this is their last pairing.

Darby’s Rangers - 1958 - 6/10

Hollywood tale of the formation of the 1st Army Ranger Battalion.
Major Darby is assigned to form and train recruits based on the British Commandos.
Harsh and grueling training is offset by wartime romances.
Later combat appears filmed on indoor sets.
At times schmaltzy, at times flag-waving, this was once a staple of late night television.
Years later, I thought about the relationship between the prissy lieutenant and the feisty Italian girl.
Those sorts of impulse war nuptials resurfaced in countless Noir films and OTR mysteries.
Yarns where husbands and wives barely knew the other, and schemed murder.

Housekeeping - 2018 - 6/10

Sophia works in the Corporate Suites, posh rooms for high tier businessmen.
On the surface, clients seem respectable, although the trashed rooms reveal otherwise.
Hard to tell whether she is repelled by, or attracted to, evident debauchery.
Short thriller of envy, attraction, disillusion.

Maids were frequent customer at an previous workplace of mine.
They bought small UV lights to find stains of dried bodily fluids, anywhere and everywhere.
Stories shared illuminated our revolting species.

Matinee - 1993 - 6/10

Flock, you fans of Horror schlock!
Film impresario Lawrence Woolsey (please, William Castle) arrives in Key West during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
What for? He’s promoting a new film, “Mant”, half man, half … you got it.
Castle was the master of gimmicks, and this one includes Rumble-Rama
John Goodman is colossally funny, and he is the star showcased on promotional material.
Nevertheless, the story follows bored teens and puppy love amidst potential nuclear annihilation.
Surely, the producers could have seen the error of the script and made the film about Woolsey.
What remains is alright. What could’ve been … well … bummer.

• Update -
  For those who would like to see Mant! A short.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVEjdGQSzc8

The House Of Mirth - 2000 - 7/10

Social beauty faces dilemma: marry for money vs. marry for love.
Even though Lily is thoughtful and selective, choosing is excruciating.
Nor is she skilled at the games, the rivalries, the schemes.
While time as her “most desirable” status, drains from the hourglass.
Another adaptation of an Edith Wharton, this provides stark contrast to The Age Of Innocence.
The latter is gorgeously opulent, where The House Of Mirth is gloom soaked gray.
Stakes seem lower in this, although consequences are harsher.
Not to my taste, yet a darkly powerful film.

The Other Me - 2019 - 7/10
AKA - Eteros Ego

Greek series picks up after the 2016 film.
Once again, a cryptic serial killer leaves clues.
The first film checked Pythagoras, this mirrors the Labors Of Theseus.
Murders mount and Colonel Barasopoulos asks Dimitris to assist.

Dimitris, with Asperger’s Syndrome, is not as kooky or weird as most handicapped sleuths.
Sometimes a talky series, there is ongoing history of Theseus referenced.
Sets in this are unbelievably vast and spacious.
The mental clinic alone is a huge installation!

Violent Naples - 1976 - 7/10
AKA - Napoli Violenta

Inspector Betti transfers to Naples, along with his methods of police brutality.
And Napoli is a hotbed of robberies, beatings, rapes, homicidal chases.
Criminals range from street punks to bank robbers to corporate thieves.
Those white collar slicks in expensive suits.

Anyone curious about the Euro-Crime genre, this is a cracking good one!
The violence is extraordinary, the pace is outta control hectic.
Inventive pursuit on a funicular, and memorable scene involving a bowling ball.

Night Shift - 1982 - 6/10

Milquetoast morgue attendant is given graveyard shift.
And a new assistant, the hyper-charged Blaze (Michael Keaton, exceptional).
Soon, they concoct the money-making plan of turning the morgue into a brothel.
The hookers are fashion model dishes.
One of the attendants even falls in love with a prostitute.
Light-hearted Ron Howard comedy glosses the sleazy aspects.
Meant to be a breakout role for Henry Winkler, Keaton grabs the spotlight.

Three Day Millionaire - 2022 - 5/10

Fishing port Grimsby barely survives. One trawler, one canning factory.
And unknown to all, developers are trying to acquire the town.
Land, you see, they ain’t making it anymore. Especially seafront property.
Film is a muddle of comedy – camaraderie – caper.
Tell the truth, it is a mess, trying to check off too many tropes.
Let’s not forget romances. Three of them, no, four!
Feelgood breeze, but this is not Full Monty time.

The Ceremony - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Gishiki // 儀式

Post World War II, Masou and his mother return to Japan after imprisonment in China.
They are the latest of the Sakurada family to return, whether they want to or not, into the family fold.
Unspoken is why they were in Manchuria (undoubtedly when Japan claimed it as Manchuko).
Young Masou meets his cousins and begins his role in the clan.
So much of this is told through childhood flashbacks, as the adult Masou and cousin Ritsuko race to an emergency.
Gradually. childhood observations reveal a corrupted family, ruined from within.
One realizes how incestuous relationships are. The casualness of the rot.
Elements of this escaped me, although I gathered the family is a metaphor for post war Japan.

Target Earth - 1954 - 5/10

Alien robots invade deserted New York City.
How did New Yorkers know about the imminent invasion? How did they flee so completely? Where did they go?
Silly me. A handful of Manhattanites abide. Alcoholics, suicide types, killers. Yay humanity.
The pace drags, the story ain’t much. Run and / or get zapped by beams.
Our formidable aliens resemble robots that kids made out of cardboard refrigerator boxes (with codpiece).
At one point the military want to nuke Gotham. They should have bombed this film instead.

Venus Beauty Institute - 1999 - 6/10
AKA - Vénus Beauté (Institut)

While stories weave around the three beauticians and the owner, the center of the film is on Angèle.
Already in her forties, she declines an offer to manage a new location.
And the owner reminds her, she is no longer a “girl”.
Nevertheless, Angèle still chases after men, at times with desperation.
Comedy stems from numerous oddball clients.
The undercurrent of women trying to clutch youth is a sad one.