A few reviews . . (film or TV) — Page 172

The Last Ten Days - 1955 - 6/10
AKA - Der Letzte Akt

Berlin is encircled by the Soviets and Americans.
Hitler berates generals, studies maps that he thinks hold hundreds of thousands of fresh troops.
For most down in his bunker, carpe diem. Drink, sing, boff, await annihilation.
Based on diaries and interviews, this may or may not accurately portray events.
Albin Skoda memorable as a conflicted Hitler, half mad, scarred after the 20 July Plot.
A late Pabst film, shot as an elevated docu-drama, worthwhile for fans of this director.

Soapdish - 1991 - 6/10

Ratings are bad, the “star” suffers a relationship crisis, supporting players joust for the throne.
Hit and miss comedy set in the realm of soap opera.
Very much a parody of the genre, with particularly good comic casting.
Downey, droll and wry, Field with emotional outbursts, Kline a master of timing, Moriarty the caustic femme.
Their strengths, however, don’t always mesh.
Earlier sections play like theatre, gears sometimes slipping until the final act, sheer farce.
Nostalgia for some, as soaps have declined in viewership.

Street Law - 1974 - 6/10
AKA - Il Cittadino si Ribella

Wrong place, wrong time. Carlo is in a bank during an armed holdup.
He tires to retain his own money, but is kidnapped and beaten for interfering.
Manly pride wounded, he vows revenge. Murder.
Trying to infiltrate the Underworld gives him nothing but more danger.
Euro-Crime is bookended with adrenaline and violence.
Mid-section more leisurely as Carlo plans, fails, inches closer to retribution.
Franco Nero connects as the highly strung vigilante, Barbara Bach underutilized.

The Shawl - 1989 - 6/10

An exploratory interview. Miss A consults psychic John for advice.
She is careful, knowing that there is a strong chance he is a charlatan.
Next scene, glibly boasting to his protégé / lover, Charles, we realize he is a money seeking fraud.
Female intuition notwithstanding, the séance is arranged.

David Mamet chamber play of mystery and deception.
Multiple deceptions, since, human nature being as it is, lies are common.
Unlike many Mamet plays, the language is fairly clean.

Mask Of The Evil Apparition - 2021 - 6/10

After two bombs, director Alex Proyas fell to working short films.
Perhaps hoping to claw back to the big leagues.
Barefoot and confused, the young girl finds herself in the wet city.
She decides to trust one of the brothers inside a bar, just as pursuit begins.
A great looking short, steeped in shadows and powerful visuals.
The story itself is unresolved, and may have been a pitch for the Dark City TV series.

The Truth About Cats And Dogs - 1996 - 6/10

Veterinarian and radio chat show advisor Abby lads a blind date with a hot stud.
Only thing, he’s interested in her via her voice, not the short frump package.
Hey! How about my gorgeous model neighbor impersonating me?
So, our guy soon loves beauty and the brain, and he cannot put two and two together.
Because he has the perception of a blind gerbil without a cane.
Forced complications in far-fetched RomCom.
Wisecracking, sharp Garofalo is best thing here. Other leads miscast.

The Seventh Curse - 1986 - 6/10
AKA - Yuen Chun Hap yu Wai See Lee // 原振侠与卫斯理

The maiden is about to be sacrificed.
In steps the hero, Yuan, who rescues her, and is cursed for meddling.
Blood curse, seven stages, and with the seventh he will die.
What to do? Consult good friend Wisely (Chow Yun Fat) who recommends returning to Thailand.
Over-the-top, bonkers adventure flick that merely flirts with coherence.
Action, sex, blood vessels bursting during sex, shootouts, monsters, skeletons, rocket launcher, fighting monks.
Great Hong Kong adventure. Not Top 50, but a lot of fun.

Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp - 1970 - 5/10

So, late at night, past 2:00 AM, you’re so hammered you cannot fall asleep or pass out.
Switch on late night TV, endless river of mindless dreck.
You jump channels until you reach a nightclub where a chimpanzee band is performing.
Until you realize this hopping joint is a meeting place for spies.
Good agents APE versus baddies CHUMP.
Beyond weird, Lance Link could only have emerged at the tail end of the 60’s.
My brain eventually seized, as I wondered: they play instruments, drive cars, ride motorcycles.
Someone trained them? Why aren’t they in politics?

We All Lie - 2024 - 6/10
AKA - Hun Yin Gong Lue // 婚姻攻略

Top drama writer Su Li and actor husband Shuheng have a picture perfect marriage.
Except he is romping the sheets with Yingying, an earthier, more carnal oriented female.
Of course, the wronged wife finds out and quickly plots revenge, financial and career wise.
Whereupon the adulterous pair work to get even.
C-drama of deception, vengeance, and scheming bounces along for awhile.
Until the narrative loses momentum and a mushy sidetrack enters.
Then, all downhill into soap opera weeping and flowers.
I suspect the Chinese morality police took the punch bowl away.

Murder In Rouen - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à l’Abbaye de Rouen

The body tumbled from one of the tall spires.
Suicide, accident, or homicide?
Previously disgraced Inspector Mège, arrives; who is as ill-tempered as they come.
Dislikes journalists, treats colleagues like staff.
This one is all urban, all the time, with dizzying aerial shots inside and outside the abbey.
Mystery is well designed, although as corpses mount you’ll will zero in on the guilty.

Animal Farm - 1954 - 7/10

After a barnyard revolution, a hierarchy of equals is established.
Except … some animals are more equal than others.
Leaders and drones. The workers.
True believers are swiftly displaced by domineering power grabbers.
Highly effective and harrowing adaptation of Orwell’s cautionary novel.
Whatever ‘ism you join, belong to, or fall under, 99% of us are destined to be pawns.

Rio Bravo - 1959 - 7/10

The brother of a land baron rancher, accidentally kills a man in the saloon.
Incarcerated in the town jail, waiting for the territorial marshal to conduct him to the courthouse.
Meantime, the powerful brother tries to cut a deal, then musters gunfighters.
What is essentially a Western standoff mixes tension with bullets.
Doesn’t hurt that the cast features John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan.
Also young Ricky Nelson, who never caught the film breaks.
Excellent old-fashioned Western, although the genre would be rewritten within a decade.

Walking Back - 1928 - 6/10

Whew, the unbridled energy of flaming youth, Jazz Age.
Drinking, dancing, gambling, prizefights, horse racing, reckless exuberance.
Desperate for a date with sizzling Patsy, Smoke Thatcher “borrows” a neighbor’s car.
Telling himself, “borrowing isn’t stealing.”
Thing is, Smoke is a middle class wannabee, limited budget, no connections.
The pace is furious, dialogue laced with 20’s slang, and then the gangsters.
Cecil B. DeMille’s salacious touches spray throughout.

Crá - 2024 - 7/10

Mom had vanished a decade earlier.
Some thought foul play, others that she fled.
The husband was a monster and the business plunging into bankruptcy.
Until, rising from the bog, the corpse rises, showing signs of murder.
Theories increase as quickly as suspects.
Slow boil Irish thriller, set in bleak, lonely boglands.
Unsavory souls, hustlers and buried histories.
Forced village camaraderie masks bleak existence.

Yokai Monsters 100 Monsters - 1968 - 6/10
AKA - Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari // 妖怪百物語

Yes, the woods are dangerous, dark and deep, with forces lurking everywhere.
Yet, the perfidious and treacherous souls of men are much worse.
The wealthy landowner (property developer) plans to tear down the shrine and houses for a brothel.
In cahoots, the crooked, corrupt local magistrate. Well, profits outweigh public needs.
An evening of sake and ghost stories culminates with a purification –
Which the men of power forego, scoffing at superstition.
There are about five narratives in this, but everything stitches well and moves briskly.
Monsters are old school puppets, costumes, acrobatics, pasteboard.

The Pledge - 1981 - 6/10

The fate of the highwayman. Rob, ride hard, live well, for the gallows await.
Flashbacks and voiceovers recall crimes and revels.
Memories recalled from the final prison cell, or the gibbet.
Later, confederates recall their pledge to honor the corpse.
Moody, brutal short of the glamorous life.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3358862

Out Of Time: The Material Issue Story - 2021 - 6/10

Documentary of the fondly remembered, yet ill-fated Chicago group
Focus on singer, songwriter, frontman Jim Ellison throughout.
That is a bit light, however, as afterward, Ellison remains an enigma.
Chronology weaves with hit songs, along with studio labors.
Although the heads reflect on missed greatness, power pop has always struggled.
As do most groups in general. There is “the moment”, brief and brilliant, then the fade.
Their debut album “International Pop Overthrow” was very popular and it was on heavy rotation in our record store.
The second fared less well, the third not at all.
Most groups break up at this point, a few slog on, Ellison chose a darker route.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3358863

Maria Marten, Or The Murder In The Red Barn - 1935 - 6/10

Beware, lovely minx, what the squire proposes is actually “a moment of pleasure, a lifetime of regret”.
Succumbing to urges, Maria finds herself in “trouble” a few months later.
As for the squire, played by the incomparable Tod Slaughter – well – he’s no Mr. Darcy.
“Ah, fair maiden, let us visit the abandoned red barn before we elope.”
Lively Melodrama bolstered with full blooded performances in theatrical rendition.
Viewing experience is between music hall and regional theatre, yet tremendous fun.
Loosely based on the real Red Barn Murder, which I first heard about on Shedunnit.

The Resurrected - 1991 - 6/10

The client glides into the office.
Blonde, wearing a gold satin outfit, lips red enough to halt a cavalry charge.
Only there’s a wedding ring. Her husband is missing.
Happened after he unearthed a portrait of a bygone ancestor.
With whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Oh yeah, the husband’s name is Charles Dexter Ward.

Get the flaws out of the way first.
For the first hour, the directing and photography is atrocious.
Closeups galore, amateurish reaction shots, and a Deckard style narration.
A cross between cheap TV and tacky.
The flashback sequence of 1771 goes straight into classic HPL.
Exploration of the subterranean catacombs is eerie and spooky.
And the finale is a real doozy.

Miscreant - 2019 - 6/10

Just a series of unfortunate events.
Wrong place, wrong time, not knowing someone’s identity.
Three deaths, one house, one survivor. Police interrogation.
Short thriller / drama is well done, save for an ending that flat quits.

Hard Truths - 2024 - 7/10

For Pansy, one more day of the same.
Cleaning the home that no one appreciates, arguing with people on the street, venting anger at her sister.
Her anger issues are now beyond toxic; they are destroying her and damaging those around her.
Rage and fury mask depression and emotional problems.
Much as this might sound like an endurance trial, this is terribly funny at times.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste is a tour de force throughout.
Like many here, I know real people like Pansy. I’ve worked with them.
One is my neighbor. I am the only one on the block who will still chat with her.

Cause Célèbre - 1987 - 6/10

The first marriage was for love, until he perished at the Somme.
Next, one of convenience, which fizzled after a few years.
Third time lucky, older man with money, until the funds and vigor ran dry.
Enter the 18-year-old handyman, chauffeur. Imposing and virile.
Afternoon romps until the husband’s skull is bludgeoned.
Based on the life of Alma Rattenbury, half the film is courthouse proceedings.
Theatrical imprint is strong in this. Fine acting, but not especially engrossing.

Mussolini: Son Of The Century - 2024 - 8/10

Dazzling series of Il Duce’s rise from Fascist fringe to taking control of Parliament.
Plot encapsulated = The self-serving usurps democracy.
Luca Marinelli is utterly mesmerizing: funny, honest, brutal, manipulative, fearful.
This moves at a furious pace, compressing events and overlapping images. Lavish production values.
Sex, violence, profanity, blasphemy, along with the treachery that accompanies politicians,
Bristling dialogue will thrill or terrify. “Fascism is the rule of force. It is the will of a few imposed on the will of many. It’s the law of the stronger. It’s hatred, it’s mass excitement, it’s anger. It’s contempt for weakness and doubt. And whoever gets in the way …”
The rare beast that is frightening and nervous laughter.
For whatever reason, not yet airing in the USofA.

No Man Is An Island - 1962 - 6/10

Early in the Pacific War, Guam is overrun and occupied.
Navy radioman Tweed is one of a handful who are overlooked and escape to the hills.
Well, not for long. The Japanese are no fools and soon scour the island.
This is based a real serviceman who eluded search parties for over two years.
Good war movie, with perhaps less action than run and hide.
Hunter fine as the furtive Tweed.

The Dead Woman From The Way Of St. James - 2025 - 6/10
AKA - Der Galicien-Krimi: Die Tote vom Jakobsweg

The corpse washes ashore, thrown from the cliff, carried by the tide.
Lungs filled with freshwater indicate murder.
The new chief is from Valencia, far rougher than Santiago, pilgrimage destination.
And yes, although there are murders, blackmail, lies, this mystery is steeped in religion.
Imagery, proverbs, character backgrounds, turistas, vocations.
German production takes a page from French mysteries via photography.
Mind you, this is set in Spain, characters have Spanish names, yet German is spoken.