A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 168

They Call Her … Cleopatra Wong - 1978 - 6/10

Near-perfect counterfeit currency is flooding several Asian countries.
Police and government agencies are stymied.
Interpol contacts their best agent: hard living, hard loving, Cleopatra Wong.
Who, following the trail, zeroes in on the convent.
You got it. Nuns. And yes, a new subgenre for me, nuns with guns.

For lazy travelers, Cleo scuttles from Singapore to Hong Kong to Manila.
Accompanied by kitschy, action stock music.
Dubbing is a parody of clichéd stereotypes.

Lots of martial arts, long chases (one on Singapore’s cable car.
Of course, nuns with guns. Who’s going to resist that?

Devil’s Diner - 2025 - 7/10
AKA - Tiem an Cua Quy

The dark companion to Midnight Diner, as this is where visitors lose their souls.
This presupposes human nature is inherently evil, and weak.
Sins include greed, anger, delusion, pride, suspicion.
Diners enter, and with a smile, the owner coaxes them toward retribution, and eventual payment.
While cloaked in Horror, this has definite Asian sensibilities.
Revenge, while sweet, carries a cost, a terrible cost.
Acting ranges from adequate to excellent. Everything else, pretty accomplished.

Odd Girl - 2019 - 6/10

Social misfit Belinda somehow gloms onto the cool crowd, although most scorn her.
There is something repellent about her, yet she is so hungry to blend in.
To make a friend – any friend. Someone agreeable, and willing.
Warning short about the dangers of embracing the pariah.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356784

Riesending - 2022 - 6/10

Riesending, as in the massive cave labyrinth in Germany, somewhat explored.
Josef is injured in a rockfall, his skull cracked with internal bleeding.
After a 12 hour climb, one of his companions reaches the surface and seeks help.
Officially, the job belongs to Mountain Rescue, only they are inexperienced with caves.
Professional cavers arrive from Austria, from Italy, even further, yet they are sidelined.
The German Ministry does not want to appear incapable. Delays and excuses go into days.
The caving scenes are accurate and well done (I caved myself for 15 years).
What gets on one’s nerves and drag the film are the surface arguments and doubletalk.
Barely mentioned in one text is the cost to taxpayers of having to rescue an outdoor adventurer once again.
(The rescue ultimately was €1 M, and the “rescuers” left behind 1 ton of garbage inside the cave.)

Missing Noir M - 2008 - 8/10
AKA - Siljongneuwareu M // 실종느와르 M

“A history of injustice manipulating justice to kill off justice.”
Exceptional K-drama. Bleak, true-to-life, set amidst modern realities.
A small team is formed to work on unsettled cold cases.
An ex-FBI agent with too many killings for the Bureau. A hot-headed cop. A computer hacker with a past.
The opener is a two-parter, with clues for imminent murders, ala Se7en.
There are other two-parters, as well as stand-alones.
Contrary to the usual clichéd formats, the team don’t exactly bond, but begin to buckle under the stress.
The final episodes are pitch black and, unfortunately, eerily prescient of today’s normal.
For those skeptical of justice in this world, in this life, this is for you.

The Witches Of Salem: The Horror And The Hope - 1972 - 6/10

Following a fire and brimstone sermon, the young girls seek out … the voodoo lady.
Who describes the Sabbat, the blood, the dancing, the hollering. Men and women.
Most listen in rapt attention. While the guilty and proud reveal the devil’s presence.
Persecution – hysteria – execution. Of the young girls? Or the outcasts?
As a video “Cliff notes” of the witch trials, this is a bare bones condensation.
Acting is a bit toppish, but makes for a quick study.

The She-Butterfly - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Leptirica

Vule makes the fourth miller that year to be murdered.
Villagers curse their bad luck, wonder if a vampire is among them.
More importantly, who will mill their grain?

Wait! There’s young Strahinja, who desperately wants to marry the village beauty, Radojka.
Radojka’s father refuses, however, as Strahinja is poor. So, he accepts the perilous miller job.
Like males in general, he fails to see the depths within the girl he desires.

Superstition with scattered pratfall comedy.
An hour film that packs several themes, history, village lore.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356785

Forgotten Silver - 1995 - 6/10

Documentary / biography of Colin McKenzie, New Zealand filmmaker of the Silent era.
A true innovator, yet is seemed everyone one of his breakthroughs collapsed.
His earliest film stock, for example, relied on albumen. He was arrested for stealing 2000 eggs.
Years before Vitaphone, he developed sound, yet his players only spoke Chinese.
Thus it goes, inspiration undermined by a complete lack of common sense.
Overlooked gem from Peter Jackson, coming between Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners.

Crowhaven Farm - 1970 - 6/10

Maggie was not supposed to inherit the farm, but forces intervened.
Indeed, Fate’s hand casts its shadow throughout her time at the farm.
She keeps having flashbacks of, perhaps, an incarnation 300 years earlier.
Something to do with witch trials, torture, betrayal.
Meanwhile, her marriage is troubled owing to an insecure and jealous husband.
An early TV movie, clearly lensed in California, has pacing problems and a loose story.
Hope Lange miscast as the young wife, Cindy Eilbacher memorable as the grudge holding Jennifer.

The Voice Of Merrill - 1952 - 6/10
AKA - Murder Will Out

Jonathan is the first suspect interviewed.
The acclaimed author, playwright, caustic intellectual.
Then there is Hugh, lesser writer, not really up to scratch.
Finally, the publisher, bit of a bungler with finances that one.
All three knew Jeanne, up until she was murdered. Well, she was a conniving blackmailer.
Police deal with three suspects with no alibis.
Jonathan has the plummy dialogue, as well as the give as can get wife, Alycia.
Sharp cozy mystery spins like a play, and in a good way.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356783

The Terror Of The Tongs - 1961 - 5/10

The Count and the Master. Oops! The leaders of the Red Dragon Tong.
Opium smugglers, dealers in flesh and gambling in 1910 Hong Kong.
Merciless rulers of the Oriental capital of vice
Until they get of the wrong side of Captain Jackson, whose energetic fist is ready to resist!
This is bad in so many ways. Westerners wearing Asian makeup.
Fights that are American wrestling rather than martial arts. A lazy, confused plot.
Still, one gets to watch Christopher Lee and Roger Delgado ham it up.

The play Epic The Musical is a fantastic adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey! A truly innovative iteration that brings the story to life like never before. I highly highly recommend it!

Backwoods - 2019 - 5/10

Austere adaptation of H P Lovecraft’s “The Picture In The House”
Finding a “deserted” house, a young man enters and then sees a case of books.
Only the home is not deserted, and the ancient inhabitant shuffles in.
Slow boil horror sets a gloomy mood, with inspired pictures reminiscent of Lee Brown Coye.
Dialogue is poorly caught, however.

Black Box Diaries - 2024 - 7/10

After drinks with a potential new boss, a passed-out Shiori is escorted to the Sheridan and raped.
Then congratulated. She got the job!
He is a media mogul, friend to Japan’s president, an untouchable man.
Shiori is a mere journalist, yet she is outraged and decides to use the courts.
Revealing documentary of Japan’s widespread tolerance for rape.
(Age of consent for girls is 13.)
Many support her, though police are warned off from someone at the top.
Uncomfortable from beginning to end.

Love From Mother Only - 2003 - 6/10
AKA - Amor Só de Mãe

Fihlo’s mother is pious and in poor health. Not dead, though.
Which is what his girlfriend, prostitute Formosa, urges him to hasten.
Oh yeah, she is also a devil worshiper.
By and by, Satan digs his claws into both, with gruesome results.
Festering Brazilian horror reeks of sweat, semen and blood.
Nudity and positions coaxing the hapless fool.
Warned, you be.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356786

Conan The Barbarian - 1982 - 6/10

Decent adaptation of Robert E Howard’s Cimmerian hero.
Village destroyed by the Snake Cult, young Conan grows up thirsting for vengeance.
Milius was blessed with casting (James Earl Jones, Max Von Sydow, really?), an Oliver Stone script, and Ron Cobb’s design.
Money was spent on this, yet it still looks meager.
Simply not enough extras for the epic sprawl.
Nonetheless, I do watch this repeatedly, I appreciate the stunts, grim humor, and lack of CGI.

The Night Porter - 1974 - 6/10
AKA - Il Portiere di Notte

Ex SS officer Max has been incognito, working in the Vienna hotel.
Until camp victim / lover Lucia stumbles across him.
They renew their “relationship”, best described as toxic and obsessive.
Less taboo today (especially as nations nudge toward fascism again) this still provokes.
The SS imagery, the dangers to themselves and other hiding Nazis, songs, attire.
Tone gradually gets saturated in claustrophobia and paranoia.
Enjoyment / appreciation might hinge on how ruinous were your sexual relationships.

Marathon Man - 1976 - 7/10

“Is it safe?”
Nazi loot, diamonds, form the McGuffin of this high stakes espionage piece.
The younger brother is an idealist, the older is dodgier, a middleman between worlds.
Young innocents are ever drawn into shadows, and here is no exception.
Dustin Hoffman fine as the ordinary soul caught up, Laurence Olivier unforgettable.
Poster child for generations of dental practices.
Exceptional thriller as it unfolds, afterward don’t overthink the logic.

Crime Is Her Game - 2019 - 6/10
AKA - Le Crime Lui va si Bien

French female buddy cop mini-series.
Straitlaced, by-the-book transplant from the city, and the local who shirks protocol and actually does illegal acts.
The chemistry is awkward, the mysteries routine, supporting players mere caricatures.
Notwithstanding, this never takes itself too seriously.
Murders here and there, amidst jokes and jibes.
Mid-tier, but acceptable when you want a break from cozy or Scandinavian.

Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched: A History Of Folk Horror - 2021 - 8/10

The term “folk horror” is now as overused as “Film Noir”.
Any eerie film with a tree, there you go. Or sheep, my God!
Notwithstanding, this is a marvelous overview.
No idea how many films are referenced. 100+.
UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, the States (mostly the South and Appalachia).
Are there missing favorites? Sure. Overlook that.
At three plus hours, you might want to break this down piecemeal.
And make notes, lots of films for your to-view list.
Horror buffs, an essential primer and guide to help you wander the world.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357056

Super Cop - 1992 - 7/10
AKA - Police Story 3 // 警察故事３超級警察

For many Westerners, this is where Jackie Chan exploded.
Top Hong Kong cop “Kevin” teams up with Beijing Interpol officer “Jessica”.
Target, a powerful lord, with Kevin infiltrating as a friend.
With Michelle Yeoh as the Chinese cop, one should expect action on a colossal scale.
Indeed, the stunts in this are off the scale (Hollywood relied on explosions and one-liners),
As with all Jackie Chan films of this era STAY for the credits (outakes).

The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act Of Man - 1975 - 6/10

Rains fell and fell and fell, swelling the earthen dams.
Pittston’s general boss scanned the dam, declared it safe, and left the holler.
At 8:00 AM, cracks appeared in Dam 3. By 8:03, it failed; rushing waters destroyed Dam 1 and 2.
132 million gallons roared though 15 hill communities.
125 deaths, 546 homes destroyed, another 310 damaged and condemned.
Pittston promised to pay $15,000 per home, then lowered that $3000.
Folks got trailers. After all, Pittston had fended off citations and fines for years
The governor and officials were in their pockets. And them poor hillbillies, white trash.
Confession: Two years later, 1974, I started work at Buffalo Creek. High explosives, strip mining.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357057

Wake - 2010 - 7/10

After her father died, Charmaine was no longer under his control.
Reckoned an “old maid” she was now free to find herself a fella.
She sought out the conjure woman, holding a box of specifications.
Handsome, green eyes, sharp dresser, and capable of satisfaction.
After the barter, the demoness said she’d find out.
Charmaine found out.

Deep Rising - 1998 - 5/10

Shorthand: Titanic meets Abyss meets Aliens.
Skipper of a crap boat ferries a cargo bad hombres to the South China Seas.
Where luxury liner Argonautica, on her maiden voyage, has stalled dead in the water.
Turns out the hombres are mercenaries with high powered weapons.
And the Argonautica suffers a slight squid infestation.
Mindless mayhem, cobbled from numerous other adventure flicks.
Writer / director Sommers hasn’t a single original idea in his head.
Hollywood, please save humanity’s IQ and quit funding this guy.

A Window On Washington Park - 1913 - 6/10

The young millionaire (in 1913!) suffers ennui, stares out at the wintry park.
Spies an older man, clearly a gentleman, now enduring harder days.
Invites him inside, shares a meal, hears the story.
Of an over-possessive father, whose sternness caused his daughter to elope.
Silent tale brushes Melodrama with broad theatrical strokes.
Spare sets and painted backdrops.
I predict Artificial Intelligence will routinely clean print damage in a few years.