Vultural

Hot Stuff - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Paura in Città // Fear In The City

A dozen convicts bust out of the slammer, and crime in Roma escalates.
When the local force is insufficient, who do they recall from probation / suspension?
Yeah, Murri. The unorthodox detective, the violent one, dishing out knuckles and lead.
Rapid paced Euro Crime thriller boasts a frenzied car chase, lengthy gun battles (including a great one in a cemetery), a slice of skin, and a meddling legal do-gooder.
Maurizio Merli dominates every scene as ruthless, take no prisoners cop.
James Mason as commissioner looks out of place, never at ease until near the end.

Great Canal Journeys: S02 - 2014 - 6/10

Once again, Timothy West and wife Prunella Scales helm the narrow boat on four canal trips.
Four part documentary offers canal history, beautiful scenery, and a leisurely pace.
Prunella’s cognitive decline more pronounced in this series, especially the latter episodes.
This may distress Fawlty Towers buffs.
The couple are in their 80’s and deal with her condition as best they can, but you feel for them.
Credit the filmmakers and stars for unflinching honesty.
She often drifts into a fog - he can get irritable.
Worth a watch, even if you have not viewed S01.
Robert Aickman fans, restoring the canals was his passion.

Faulks On Fiction - 2011 - 6/10

Author Sebastian Faulks strolls through memorable character roles in novels.

1. The Hero = Tom Jones - Robinson Crusoe - Sherlock
2. The Lover = Darcy - Heathcliff - Tess - Chatterley
3. The Snob = Emma - Pip - Jeeves - Bond
4. The Villain = Fagin - Fosco - Dracula - Steerpike.
   Passages are read aloud. Critics and writers discuss the novel, focusing on the topic character.
   For non-reading souls, there are movie and BBC adaptation clips for every example.
   Bookworms, yes, worth your time. Non-readers, not essential viewing.

Das Spielzeug von Paris - 1925 - 6/10
AKA - Célimène, la Poupée de Montmartre // Red Heels

Miles, British diplomat in Paris, is engaged to Dorothy.
That is, until he catches sight of Célimène, the hottest dancer in the theatre.
Amused, she soon bewitches and seduces Miles, who, intoxicated, proposes marriage.
Marriage? How bourgeois.
Like her, Miles is young, has vigor, stamina and recovery, but Célimène also favors an elderly viscount who gives her diamonds and furs. Plus, there is the adulation of her wild theatre attendees.
Decadent Michael Curtiz film has glamourous sets, risqué costumes, and a ripe Lily Damita (Errol Flynn’s thorn).
Nonetheless, high melodrama of a pair of ménage à trois.

While We’re Young - 2014 - 7/10

Middle aged couple meet younger versions of themselves.
They start to hang out together, bounce ideas, share.
Both men are documentary filmmakers.
Middle aged Stiller has been toiling on his film for 10 years.
The younger man is hungry, and driven, and perhaps not all he seems.

There is a palpable undercurrent of the middle age glance in the mirror.
The older couple want to stay relevant, but they don’t quite grasp the “sharing” mentality of the coming generation.
Marked as a comedy, it is droll and subversive.

Death In Paradise: S01 - 2011 - 6/10

Fish out of water detective series.
Tight ass London inspector transferred to Caribbean Honoré.
Apparently that is a murder destination as there is killing every episode.
Always plenty of suspects, but our hero hones in on insignificant details - and - voilà!
Throughout, he misses cold, rain sodden London and gripes about sunshine and warmth.
Easy to take - easy to forget. Multiple seasons followed.

SiREN - 2016 - 5/10

B-Horror flick with imaginative touches.
Quartet of fratboy males out celebrating stag party for soon-to-wed mate.
They find a Gothic sporting house nestled in remote backwoods.
Skimpy hotties, rooms catering to perversion, occult entertainment.
Running the brothel is necromancer Nyx (homage to Lord Of Illusions?) who peddles a special girl.
Picture her as a lesser demon, if you will, the ravenous kind.

Despite low expectations early on, my hopes rallied, only to wither in disappointment.
Budget restrictions aside, filmmakers are adroit in imbuing this with atmospheric quality.
The whole Nyx and outré environment is more than one typically sees in fratboy horror.
Naw, the film is sunk by the four friends, terrible actors all, given puerile dialogue.

Coffy - 1973 - 7/10

Not necessarily Oscar quality film, but a highly enjoyable one.
Coffy cemented Pam Grier’s rep as one badass broad.
This is a full bore, revenge ride, as nurse by day (vigilante by night) takes on drug pushers and the mob.
Funky soundtrack - not great, not bad.
Most of the story is set in the milieu of pimps and whores.
The king pimps flash exuberant 70’s over the top style, the hookers flash breasts. Lots of them.
Overdoses, beatings, stabbings, shootings, car chases.
All the while, Nurse Coffin kills and kills.
This put Pam Grier on the map and remains hugely entertaining.
Kick-ass introduction to Blaxploitation.

Murder By Decree - 1979 - 6/10

Holmes and Watson take on Jack the Ripper!
Gothic sets, period costumes, keen eye for detail, as well as historical underpinnings.
As ever, there are a raftload of Ripper theories, and this touches one of them.
Popular when this played, since dismissed as implausible.
This is as much a horror film, as it is a mystery.
James Mason underplays Watson; his is more of the gentleman than we usually see.
Christopher Plummer is a forceful Holmes, and perhaps too emotional.
He is the strength and weakness of this.
Solid effort by Bob Clark between Black Christmas and A Christmas Story.

Alice In Acidland - 1969 - 5/10

Dreary warning of moral turpitude.
High school graduate Alice goes to pool party with friend.
Poolside, Alice smokes her first cigarette.
Menfolk, ignore her and surround the curvy blonde, who, we discover later, is an outta control sex addict.
Alice and her friend go from tobacco to alcohol to climbing naked into the bathtub, groping and kissing.
Tobacco, booze, what’s next? You got it! Marijuana, swinging nympho sex, moccasins and Indian beads.
Sleazy, black n white sexploitation quickie offers a steady flow of female nudity.
Black n white until Alice hits LSD! Then it’s color female nudity, often double or triple exposed!
Dull film has a better thought-out soundtrack than it deserves.
Going from cocktail jazz (think pianist Paul Smith) to percussion to hippie lite to porno grindhouse to trippin’ psychedelia.

Heartbeat - 1968 - 7/10
AKA - La Chamade

Classic French arthouse from the late 60’s.
Young “girlfriend” of older, affluent man lives in a glittering strata of parties, concerts and dress dinners.
During a croquet match she meets magazine editor her own age.
Sparks ignite and she leaves her very posh life to embrace in seedier digs.
To soon, she needs to find a job.
And she has to start looking at price tags.
Quiet rebuke against dazzled souls who declare love conquers all.
Of course, one of the main reasons for watching this is a young Catherine Deneuve who is radiant.

Miner’s Mountain - 2019 - 6/10

Following a deadly incident, the local sheriff is investigated by the Feds.
Civil cop – bad cop routine.
Narrative deliberately jumbled, mixing horror, mystery, and local history.
Production and acting in this short are first rate.
Closing credits ought to be studied by all aspiring movie makers.

Various (Editor: Goodstone, Tony) - The Pulps

Published in 1970, this was one of the earlier overviews of the pulps.
Goodstone gives a brief history from the 1890’s Munsey magazines to the collapse in the 1950’s.
The “Golden Era” of the 30’s-40’s makes up the bulk of this thick, coffee table book.
Fifty color plates showcase a wide variety of genres.
In my copy, the third book of signatures used cheaper paper and that section has turned brown.
Very appropriate.
Stores categorized by genre: Western, Aviation, Horror, SciFi, Detective, Girls In Peril, Bad Girls, etc.
Which meant I read some I never would have, particularly the westerns, or aviation adventures.
I was surprised by how many names I had more than passing familiarity with.

The Woman With The Hungry Eyes - 2006 - 6/10

Overcooked documentary of Theda Bara, the original Vamp.
Hers is old fashioned, out-of-date by the 20’s, dell’‘arte acting. Highly melodramatic.
Alas, much of this has the feel of a padded homework assignment.
Modern actors recreate scenarios, and amateurish animation surfaces from time to time.
Out of place, a newsreel crawls across the screen bottom frequently. Strange.
That said, this is perhaps the best documentary we shall ever see on Ms Bara.
Better, this doc has clips from her few, very few, surviving movies, and loads of stills.
The bulk of Bara’s films were destroyed in a 1937 fire at the Fox warehouse.
Much as I am kicking this, this doc is a must for Silent film fans!

Sherlock Holmes And The Leading Lady - 1991 - 6/10

Christopher Lee as Holmes, Patrick Macnee as Watson play older versions.
Warm, almost emotional.
An assassination plot, and Irene Adler add to the mix.
Location filming in Luxembourg (though one exterior sure looked like Bran Castle to me).
Beautiful costumes, musical numbers by J Strauss (male singer - Engelbert Humperdinck).
Not a bad film, but lightweight.
Warmer and fuzzier than the Rathbone versions, and nothing like Jeremy Brett’s portrayal that began a few years previous.

Special When Lit - 2010 - 6/10

Documentary on the pinball machine, focusing almost exclusively on collectors and gamers.
Midway, five minutes of history is shown, but by and large this is talking heads.
Primarily about playing pinball in their youth, or showcasing rooms packed with machines.
“Pinball was everywhere.” No, it wasn’t. When I grew up, only the local amusement park had them.
“Pinball was illegal for 30 years.” Oh? I had no idea.
Odd documentary. Then again, I watched.

Captain Fantastic - 2016 - 6/10

Survivalist, home schooled family climbs into the van and heads to the city for Mom’s funeral.
Cultural encounter between “visionary” family and the “ordinary” American world.
Well educated children who have learned to process knowledge vs No Child Left Behind.
The physically fit tribe surrounded by gassy, sugary waddlers.
A bit one-sided, more so idealistic, aimed to please an audience of parents.
Aspects of non-social skills barely hinted at, nor is the reality of how they fund their lifestyle.
I enjoyed this while watching, immediately second-guessed once credits rolled.

Note: I have witnessed and worked with home-schooled kids, some of whom suffer abysmal social skills.
Note: I fully understand why home-school parents do not want their children in public school.

The Toll Gate - 1920 - 7/10

Hard scrabble western.
Outlaw leader (William S Hart) advises gang the reward for them is too high and they ought to disband.
Not surprisingly, the men opt for one final big score. Train carrying a hefty payroll.
Only the train is packed with lawmen and the Army. The men are cut to pieces - save for the outlaw leader, and the snitch who betrayed his companions.
From here on, the story is one of vengeance.
Slow going, seldom dull, but a moral code - typical of Hart - overlays the tone.
Interesting to observe the clothes, hats, manners, far different from TV Westerns or films from the 40’s onward.
Hart is not the easiest of silent stars to watch - Tom Mix is loads more fun, though more rhinestone.

Nocturnal Animals - 2016 - 7/10

Betrayal, death, revenge. Template of the thriller. This outing, two interweaving narratives.
Glossy, sterile Hollywood Hills and the midnight scrub of West Texas.
Los Angeles artist receives a manuscript from her ex.
As she reads the dark tale, she overlays herself, her daughter, and her ex onto the protagonists.
Middle of the night, family travels the backroads, and encounters drunken joyriders.
Mistake piles onto mistake with grim consequences.
Academy honchos totally snubbed this one, save for a riveting Michael Shannon as the hard lawman.

Katla - 2021 - 6/10

Promising mystery flirts with folk horror throughout.
After the volcano eruption in Vik (Iceland) most of the village is deserted.
The first stranger arrives, covered in mud, naked underneath.
Turns out she was in Vik twenty years earlier, and she has not aged.
Only wait! Her older version is actually living in Sweden.
Then another mud covered person arrives, one who had disappeared a few years earlier.
Followed by a boy, who – you get the picture.
At six episodes this would have been excellent. Unfortunately, there are eight and the midsection is repetitive and padded.
Moreover, the locals, a depressed bunch, are casual beyond belief toward the new arrivals.
To a soul, they are like, “Oh, hi. I though you were dead. Are you hungry? Would you like a burger?”
This undercuts tension, and the unrelenting tone of saturated grief is tiresome.

Firestorm - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - 風暴

Reassuring to know Hong Kong is still capable of cranking out a classic heist flick with action overload.
After a somewhat artsy opening, the lens focuses on a gang preparing an armored car robbery.
Cops led by Andy Lau are on the alert, but too slow.
Several other capers follow.
Plenty of style in this. Terrific stunts. In extended gunfights, both sides seem to use tracers.
Fantastic looking.
Docked a couple points for lack of substance. Narratives are frenetic and incoherent.
Great time waster, but not top tier.

Lee, Edward - A Little Magenta Book About A Dollhouse

A year or so earlier, I had read Lee’s Witch Water. In the intro, he declared his admiration for M.R. James, and his hope that he would one day write like the good don. Followed by the Witch Water pastiche. Sheer twaddle.
The Magenta Dollhouse again opens with Lee effusing his adoration of James, then gets down to “recreating” his style.
Reginald Lympton collects dollhouses. Vain, pompous, he is wealthy enough to be among the top echelon of collectors. So when he receives word of a hitherto unsuspected example, he bolts off. This in spite of the fact that his voluptuous wife eagerly offers herself to him.
Not to worry, this being a Lee work, the good wife shall feel the throb of his prodigious stallion soon enough. As will the yearning shopgirl, the wanton neighbor next door, I forget who else. All pendulous and sopping. Lee is ever the horny 14 year old.
I have read every supernatural story by M.R. James. I have no idea which one(s) he is emulating. Perhaps I missed one carnal fevered jewel. As always, know thyself.

Parallel Mothers - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Madres Paralelas

Two unmarried women meet at the maternity clinic.
Babies are born, then BOTH infants need to be placed under observation.
Afterward, a growing unease develops as to whether the right babies are with the right mothers.
Complications compound matters.
Terrific Almodóvar film also has ongoing story of excavation of unmarked graves.
While skirted deftly, this subplot simmers in the background.
At times, there is a Hitchcock feel to this.

Miss Mend - 1926 - 6/10
AKA - Мисс Менд

Four hour, Silent serial from Soviet Union. Three, long-as-hell chapters that should have been chopped to 12.
Miss Mend is a typist who witnesses a strike over at the Rocfeller Cork Factory!
Also watching are members of the press: journalist, photographer, office boy.
Male trio is box o rocks dumb (call ‘em Dimwit, Halfwit, and Nitwit) but the yarn is more them, less Mend.
The group get mixed up with this rich swell who wants to donate his fortune to the Bolsheviks.
However, a powerful Capitalist agency wants to thwart him.
Worse, massacre thousands of innocent Russians!
Story - mostly set in (CCCP’s version of) the US of A - is fast moving but jumps all over kingdom come.
Good luck keeping track of motivations and who’s on which side.
Fairly casual death count in this, without flinching from suffering the smallest.

Ghosts Or Fantasms - 2005 - 6/10
AKA - Gespenster

Troubled teenage girl, doing community service, watches an older girl beaten by two men.
The chance encounter leads to bonding - sort of.
The older girl is harder, manipulative and demanding. The younger girl had dreamed of the older one, and there is now a sense of wish fulfillment and projection.
Secondary plot follows a middle aged women, recently released from a medical institution, who searches for the child she lost over a decade earlier.
A girl who would be just about the same age as the young protagonist.
The movie, while filmed in hard light, has a dreamlike quality to it.
One could view any or all of the character comments or histories as real - or fantasies.
Likewise the characters themselves.