Vultural

The Hateful Beast - 1970 - 6/10
AKA - Nihon Bôkô Ankokushi: Onjû // 日本暴行暗黒史 怨獣

Two vagabond criminals arrive in the village from Edo.
One seeks dishonest coin, the other murderous revenge.
First things first, the angry one murders a prostitute and tries to frame an old adversary.
Here, events are interesting: as the two foes tell the same tale – differently. And it is never clarified.
Heady amount of sex throughout, fitting since sex and female betrayal permeate the history.
Brooding tale, borrows from Noir with characters doomed by Fate, personal wounds, flawed assumptions.

Grim Reaper - 1976 - 4/10

Salvation takes but a moment, yet damnation is eternal.
Ma and son Tim are dedicated church goers, while Pa and son Frankie drink and watch football.
Frankie races stock cars, a deadly sport filled with horrific crashes; and one afternoon …
And since Frankie ain’t saved, Hell claims his soul.
Rest of the film is Pa wrestling with faith.
Guest evangelists include Jerry Falwell and Jack Van Impe. The proselytizing is numbing.
Stock car pileups are a highlight, as are the bizarre Biblical reenactments.
Actors in headgear, robes, Roman Centurions, etc … talking with Southern drawls.
I can only knock this so much. It was earnestly made, if incompetent.

Fahrenheit 451 - 1966 - 7/10

Thoughtful adaptation of Bradbury’s prescient novel grows more relevant with each year.
Fireman Montag works to incinerate books. All books. Reading has been outlawed.
Instead, the populace is addicted to shallow, mindless television programming.
Montag’s wife is typical. She is childlike, stunted intellectually and emotionally.
All well and good for him, until he is challenged by another female to actually read one of the books.
Intense thriller, futuristic effects, and a lush Bernard Herrmann score.
Elephant in the room: Instead of outlawing books, stop teaching children how to read.
Books are still banned to this day.
Would-be oppressors do not want citizens to think.

The Deepest Breath - 2023 - 5/10

Take a deep breath, then dive. Down, down, down, deep as you can.
Then return topside, still using that same breath.
Run out of air, lose consciousness, get disoriented. Too bad.
In competitions, there are scuba divers, but because of compression they can only observe.
There are “support divers” who risk their lives on a single breath so deep divers can compete.
Early on, in this documentary, I began to dislike key players.
I never bought their stories, the “relationship”, words increasingly rang off-key.

Traitor: S02 - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Reetur 2

Alfred Vint returns, higher this time in the Estonian Defense Ministry.
He still receives payments from his Russian masters, but he is also blackmailed by them…
Intelligence now has him in their sights, however, even as he undermines security further
A smart espionage thriller, low on action such as bullets or explosives.
This is stealth, surveillance, spying, gathering intel.
Vint can be extraordinarily maddening, as he is one slippery bastard.
Both seasons have been quality, and a trailer for S03 shows promise.
Advise you wait for good subtitles; A I remains undesirable.

Femme - 2023 - 7/10

Jules, cross-dressing entertainer, needs cigarettes during the show.
The neighborhood is rough, in the convenience shop thugs wander in.
Insults thrown, Jules replies in kind, and receives a brutal beating.
Much later, he recognizes one of his attackers, and realizes he is a closeted homosexual.
The slow, cold craft of revenge ensues
Deep exploration of fear, rage, identity, inadequacy, even possessive jealousy.
The two performers give their characters a depth that belies their surface simplicity.
Off kilter thriller, not for all tastes, not for phobes.

Mayes, Elaine - It Happened In Monterey

Essential book for any attendee, fan or collector of the 1967 Pop Festival. Perfect companion to the Pennebaker documentary, as well as a beaming contrast to the cranky collection by Joel Selvin.

Mayes was there, in the photographers pit, and this book is bristling with her photos, black and white, as well as color.

Chapters are broken up by each day, further divided into afternoon and night performances. There are shots of almost every artist, along with fairground attendees. The book is also filled with recollections from performers and audience members. Some reflect on the event, others on how things have changed – or have not.

This is a true artifact of a brief, too brief, magical moment.

As of 2024, Elaine Mayes is still selling signed copies through her website. Support the artist.

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop And Gangster Films That Ruled The '70s - 2012 - 7/10

Thorough documentary on Italian film subgenre that followed Spaghetti Westerns, concurrent with Giallo.
The Poliziotteschi.
Influences for these films were Bullitt, Dirty Harry, French Connection.
Italian style. More gunplay, bloody violence, crazy chase sequences, nudity, and corruption.
Key interviewees include John Saxon, Franco Nero, Henry Silva, Antonio Sabato, Fred Williamson, Leonard Mann, Joe Dallesandro, along with writers, producers, directors.
Methods explained. As with Hong Kong, no sound during shooting. Stunts real, guns loaded, jumping from speeding cars – yes, the actors did that.
Reasons why these were wildly popular in Italy and much of the world, yet flopped Stateside.
Fast paced, funny, informative, this is an outstanding overview, although not necessarily an introduction.
Filmed just in time, as many of the subjects are now gone.

Blind Corner - 1963 - 6/10

Hit composer Paul, his loyal secretary and manager, watch as a new tune swings up the charts.
Missing is Paul’s wife, she of hot skirts and a painter boyfriend.
Paul is blind and in the way, and, well, accidents could be arranged.
Interesting Brit Noir (very late in the Noir run) is loaded with sex and a few twists.
Musical / dance numbers catch one offguard, yet seem typical and fitting.

The Lady In The Death House - 1944 - 5/10

The psychologist, the female being blackmailed, and the prison doctor / executioner.
Soon, one will be accused and convicted of murder, and the other, her boyfriend, will have to throw the switch.
While the psychologist will hurry to find out what happened (since movie police are too lazy).
Cheap PRC Noir is too much the psychologist smoking in the gents club, telling the tale.
Acting is routine, save for Lionel Atwill in his “post orgy infamy” period.
A curio - this film has more clock wipes than I have ever seen.

Kapop - 2003 - 3/10

“Hear what? I didn’t hear nothing!”
After masked men try to forcibly rape a village girl, a ghost offers to settle scores if she can take possession.
Before long, men are slain, dangling genitalia bitten and horribly mutilated.
And even though menfolk KNOW a demon is in their midst, anytime a girl drops her shorts and says, “Happy hour!” foolish men follow their swords.
Bizarro Thai flick is 50% nudity, crazy floating ghost-head nonsense, and a van of visiting high schoolers.
Yes, add dead teenager trope to the mix.
The females are beautiful, the men oafish, acting amateurish.
Body Jumper preceded this and is better.

Sleeping Beauty - 1959 - 7/10

Maleficent, a powerful witch / sorceress, bears a grudge after a royal slight.
She curses infant Princess Aurora to die at age sixteen.
In many ways, this is a darker version of Snow White (1937).
Disney’s most ambitious animation (until 1989) seems an elaboration on the fairy tale.
Despite being a Disney film, an undercurrent of anxiety haunts the film, giving it an adult feel.
Maleficent’s transformation at the end astounded me as a child.
Depending on screen size, this still packs a punch.
To this day, it looks fantastic! Disney clearly spent a lot of time on this and it shows.
Not surprisingly, my mother always adored Snow White, while my brothers and I preferred Sleeping Beauty.

Rappaccini’s Daughter - 1980 - 6/10

Melancholy adaptation of Hawthorne’s tale of a scientist, his unknowing subject, and the observer.
The garden where daughter Beatrice spends her nights are lushly overgrown.
Their fragrance, an intoxicating aroma masking a sinister craft.
The scientist / botanist researches down an evil path.
Acting is stiff, stagebound (bad actors or bad directing?).
Dialogue is preachy and melodramatic, lacking the detached restraint of the story.

A Very British Scandal - 2021 - 7/10

How very unpleasant.
Sordid breakup of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963.
She comes across as an insatiable narcissist, he an alcoholic financial sponge.
Both are extraordinarily repellent and crass. Aristocratic white trash.
Acting is fierce and unsettling; one gathers the narrative is quasi-faithful.
Champions of women’s empowerment will be sorely vexed.
Margaret is hardly a role model, while the world she inhabits – it’s a man’s world.

And Justice For All - 1979 - 6/10

Defense attorney has issues with one of the court’s sterner judges.
In between trying to defend clients, and being thwarted, he looks in on his grandfather, dabbles in romance.
This is a cynical take on idealistic TV courtroom dramas of the ‘60’s and 70’s.
(Mind you, nothing beats the smiling cynicism of the black and white Perry Mason.)
The judge in question gets in trouble, and hires, you got it, his long time nemesis.
For me, this is one of his films where Al Pacino dropped his cool reserve, and began louder acting.
Served him well, although Michael Corleone’s intensity remains preferable to yelling marathons.
Jack Warden as half-cocked judge, unforgettable.

Things To Come - 1936 - 6/10

Script by H. G. Wells, futuristic film of a seemingly endless war.
The desolation, the exhaustion, the rising of tribes.
The war itself seems a continuation of the Great War (1914-1918), and not at all what WWII would be.
Fascism and totalitarianism was rising during this time, so the themes were in the air, so to speak.
I always rewatch this whenever the library or revival house offers.
Some of the acting is hammy (Ralph Richardson is over-the-top).
The tone can be preachy, and strikes me as too hopeful regarding man’s eventual mastery of his impulses.
Sets and photography by Menzies – THAT is why one watches!

Dangerous Corner - 1983 - 6/10

One gathers the evening began as a cocktail party until a surprise confession led to interrogations and recriminations.
Not attending is Maurice, who apparently committed suicide following a money theft.
Not everyone believes he stole the money. Fewer believe he would have committed suicide.
Balance of whodunit and inquisition, all set in one room.
Stagey, talky, and I did get confused early on sorting the relations between six characters.
Subdued, well acted (early Daniel Day Lewis), with a gallery of faces who dominated 80’s - 90’s Brit shows.

Every House Is Haunted - 2023 - 6/10

The realtor told them, “The house was haunted.”
For the young couple, the price is affordable, the location away from the city.
It will be a chance for them to heal.
Home, alone, Maya begins to see the ghosts, because she is “special”.
Then more ghosts appear, those who stayed, for a reason.

The Secret Of Roan Inish - 1994 - 7/10

Magical film for adults, for families.
Fiona and young brother go to live with grandparents.
Their mother has died, and Pa is increasingly incapable.
Grandma has a long memory, and shares lore and secrets.
One being, a distant ancestor had been a selkie, and that bloodline continued.
And when young Jamie is swept away, it the seals claiming one of their own.
Sweeping coastlines, along with myths and the value of family.
I viewed originally during the initial run in a theater packed with families. Children were spellbound.

Burden Of Dreams - 1982 - 8/10

The madman and his monomania. In this case, director Werner Herzog.
Attempting to physically move a 320 ton vessel, letting cast and crew get injured during filming.
The mutual respect / hatred between Herzog and Kinski. Murders attempted.
An early, outside look at Herzog who has always been maddeningly opaque as a documentarian, as well as an individual.
An essential accompaniment to Fitzcarraldo.
Mere stories, memoirs, recollections are insufficient.
This films the madness, the recklessness, the obsession.
Another documentary of crazy filmmaking – Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.

Fitzcarraldo - 1982 - 8/10

The madman and his dreams.
Irishman Fitzcarraldo, late to the Peruvian rubber rush, leases a patch of land on the other side of the Andes.
The distance between upper river Ucayali and lower Pachitea is a few hundred feet.
If he could haul a boat to the higher water, then the area could be exploited.
Fitzcarraldo is driven, and lashes his workers (who abandon him) and then another tribe.
Deeply problematic production remains a must-see for arthouse types.
Klaus Kinski is the definition of intense here, while the photography is masterful.

Various (Editor: Richard, Sam) - Beautiful / Grotesque

Mixed assemblage of the body poetic.
Roland Blackburn’s “God Of The Silvered Hall” occurs in the loveliest of settings, the coroner’s morgue. The torso was a shredded ruination, yet Patience spied the small tattoo that appeared to be - really - a recipe.
“Threnody” by Jo Quenell is a song of guilt by Lydia, who understands she is not responsible – this time.
“The Queen Of The Select” showcases the tourists, timid degenerates, venturing into the deep end of depravity, ignorant of the restless pit dwellers.
“Swanmord” gave me a headache. Enough.
Editor Richard’s own tale, “The Fruit Of A Barren Tree”, is an excursion into the grief that never fades, does not ebb, yet when watered, flourishes.

Head - 1968 - 7/10

Man, when this TV series concluded, it went out with a bang.
This insane, almost incoherent, spoof of television, film, music, celebrity.
For all its crazy humor, parade of cameos, mile-a-minute comments, there is more apparent depth.
Throughout is the fabrication, the plastic ness of artistic freedom or license.
The implication, by extension, is that everyone is manipulated.
Not just the four Monkees, but the creators and moneymen, as well as the viewers.
All empty puppets.

Pixote -1980 - 7/10
AKA - Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco

Uneducated, unwashed, uneducated. The abandoned, disposed children of Rio de Janeiro.
Ten year old Pixote is already a petty criminal, message runner for gangs, glue sniffer.
A hellish stint in prison reinforces violent tendencies, erodes humanity.
An unflinching look at the underbelly, the disease that is incarceration, and corrupt law.
Pixote is sympathetic, in many ways funny, even here and there, an innocent.
Until he’s not.
Beautifully ugly film, wrenching at times, otherwise prescient of what is coming.

Black Cat - 1991 - 6/10
AKA - Hak Mau // 黑猫

Hong Kong remake of La Femme Nikita. Expect action overload and carnage.
Jade Leung plays the highly neurotic girl who is trained (Simon Yam) into the assassin, Black Cat.
Killer action, especially when well oiled plans go haywire.
Romantic elements merely muddy the proceedings. Leung at this point, was not skillful enough.
Those scenes range from cloying to maudlin.
Fans of classic Hong Kong films will enjoy (probably fast-forward the dull stuff).
Worth a look for its excessive violence, but this pales next to the Bresson original.