A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 173

The Incredible Shrinking Man - 1957 - 7/10

Out fishing, Scott encounters a thick fog, probably radioactive.
In time, he begins to shrink. There is no cure, and no foretelling how much he will diminish.
One can watch this for the terror angles, and some of the encounters are life and death.
Then there is the existential horror of losing your identity, recalibrating, then losing more identity.
This plays out with his wife Louise, and later a carnival worker, Clarice.
Boys will relish the battles, men will grasp the loss of stature (masculinity).
Women may possibly say, “Oh, look at the cute cat!”

The Beguiled - 1971 - 7/10

Wounded Union soldier, deep behind Confederate lines, is taken to an all-female school.
They - girls, teachers, headmistress, staff - they should turn him over to Confederate authorities.
Instead, they take a shine to the flattering, handsome man.
The school slowly tuns into a fox in the henhouse scene.
Jealousies, competition, as well as sexual shenanigans heat the pot to boiling.
Southern Gothic drama finds the soldier (Eastwood) in control and out of his depth.
He never quite grasps how dangerous the female can be.
Underrated Eastwood film, challenging fan-base expectations.

Survive Style 5+ - 2004 - 6/10

“What’s your function in life?”
A birdman, an ineffective murderer, a British assassin, burglars.
Random stories that barely connect, linked by Vinnie Jones’ menacing character…
None are particularly compelling, and the interest factor declines right quick.
All feel like improvised sketches.
As for comedy, this was too silly for me.
I never laughed, just wondered why I bought this one.

Wisconsin Death Ride - 1999 - 6/10

Hard to categorize this kinda/sorta Docu-drama.
Wisconsin, 1890-1900, in and around Black River Falls.
Newspaper articles, diaries, medical extracts.
The mines close, one of the banks fails after a bank run, people go to hell.
Insanity, suicides, arson, murders, adultery, epidemics, underage assassins.
One man lays himself down or railroad tracks, another blows his head off with dynamite.
Intermittently, modern scenes indicate how “normal” the area is today.
Funny at times, yet my take was how easily people slip into madness – or murder.

West By God - 2023 - 6/10

Nelly spots Dane across the pool.
She knows he’s a dealer, but agrees to go for a ride.
One deal misfires, but mostly they drive around, talk, gaze at the hills.
Title refers to West Virginia, and this short captures some of the emptiness.
Lot of opportunities have dried up there, so dealing – it’s a living.

Charley Varrick - 1973 - 7/10

“The last of the independents,” states crop-duster Varrick, who now adds bank robbery to boost earnings.
Most recent one, in a podunk, one-horse town, nets $750 K.
Which Varrick (a droll Walter Mattheu) realizes is laundered Mafia money.
And they‘ll be coming, with more persistence than local police and the FBI.
The mob dispatch “Molly” (Joe Don Baker), charming, polite, brutally terrifying.
A great heist flick, where amazing luck becomes the worst luck of all for the thieves.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island - 2025 - 7/10

Herb accepts an offer of a suitcase of cash to perform at a small island.
Unbeknownst, his ex-musical partner has also been invited.
Despite artistic chemistry, there is a history of damaged personal feelings.
Old partner Nell is married and long out of music, while Herb is a sellout, or artistic compromiser.
Advertised as a “big-hearted comedy”, this is a soft ballad of loss.
Lost youth, lost love, lost moment. Hopes, mere flickers.
Yet, as with many losses, what fills the void is unpredictable.

The Enchanted - 1984 - 7/10

The old neighbor, Booker, tries to warn him about the peculiar brood.
Following a few years at sea, young Royce returns to the empty family farm.
Living out in the woods are the Perdrys, who offer help – for a pittance.
The oldest girl, Twyla, puts the glamour on Royce, and she is soon in his bed.
Milking the stamen, as well as clouding his reason.

Perhaps too slow for many, Southern yarn set on the fringes between subsistence and the backwoods.
I recognized the landscape almost immediately. Florida scrub. Slash pines, palmetto, cypress, moss.
Strange, hypnotic film of border crossings, and the tenuous veil between worlds.