Vultural

On The Wave - 2013 - 7/10
AKA - На Bолне

One of the better, and more unusual, documentaries on surfing.
Typically with surf docs, the photography is spectacular.
The focus here is not on the masters of the extreme, the professional big wave riders.
These are ordinary people. Balinese, French, Spanish, German, and Russians, a lot of Russians.
All discuss the attraction of the sport, the mysticism they feel when navigating the ocean on a small board.
A few venture into hyperbole, but most have a sense of joy and communion with Nature.
Bookended with footage of professional Kelly Slater, probably for the 2018 USA release of this doc.

Unfinished Song - 2012 - 5/10

Sappy, feel-good, old people movie.
Buncha old coots and fossils meets Glee.
Sound awful, Bob?
Terence Stamp plays angry curmudgeon married to Vanessa Redgrave.
Will his character thaw? Warm, or even sing?
Songs were either frivolous, or cynically chosen to yank heartstrings.
One of the films that begs the question, “Are we dead yet?”

The Bookshop - 2017 - 6/10

Any movie with bookshop in the title could go two ways. Feelgood or 451°.
A widower buys a long empty house in small village in order to establish a bookstore.
Circa 1959, a time when society still read, either for enjoyment or self improvement.
Problem is, she is ignorant of the village dynamics, that someone else had coveted the house for years, though never acted on their ambitions.
For readers, the interior of the bookshop, often any bookshop, is a magical world of possibilities.
The shop interior, as well as one character’s delight in new books, new authors, are high points in this film.
The narrative is lethargic, however, and a sense of inevitably pervades.
True to life, smiling village folk mask indifference and resentment toward outsiders.
Also, the two prime “villains” are little more than cartoon facades.
Limited enjoyment. Those expecting You’ve Got Mail (a film I loathed), might do well to bypass.

Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege - 1964 - 6/10
AKA - Shinobi no Mono Kirigakure Saizō // 忍びの者　霧隠才蔵

The narrative picks up 14 years after the last storyline.
New characters are introduced with actors from the previous trilogy (Raizô Ichikawa, Tomisaburô Wakayama).
(This has confused some viewers. This is perhaps not a series to binge through.)
Anyway, the Shogun has conquered all of Japan save for one holdout fortress.
Ninjas slither for both sides. For coin, for honor. Assassinations and intelligence gathering.
A romance is squeezed in with a fallen noblewoman, and all stops are pulled out for an explosive finish.

Open Grave - 2013 - 6/10

Excellent thriller, with one of those “must-not-disclose” plots.
I will just jot the opening five minutes.
Man wakes up deep down in a pit.
Climbs out, goes to a house filled with five others.
No one knows why they are there. Or who they are. Or what they are supposed to do.
From there, film sets off into several rabbit holes.
Viewer only gets clues as the characters discover them.
Definitely worth a look.

The Split - 1968 - 6/10

Tough guy, Jim Brown, assembles a crew for a hefty cash withdrawal.
Football playoffs. Tickets, cash only. Smooth as silk, friend.
Heist film has its points. Strong cast, led by Brown playing McClain (AKA - Parker).
He has interesting, ofttimes amusing, methods in selecting his team.
The heist, once underway, is almost clockwork in its precision.
Of course, as the title bears out, there is a split involved, where the plot twists in weird directions.
Decent caper flick, though the action scenes are sorry, not even up to TV level.
(Bullitt, in comparison, was also released in '68.)
Jim Brown, leading a team of white gangsters, is still startling, and sadly, still unusual.

The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie - Gatos

Overlooked, difficult Cassavetes film about seedy nightclub owner who owes the mob large. Slate will be wiped if he performs a small service. Reference title. The film plays like homage to French new wave of Truffaut, Godard, Resnais. Gazzara very much in the Delon mold.

Video - No artifacts or problems. Source material was never glossy or crisp, but the blacks are solid and the afternoon scenes never washed out. There is an awkward transition around the 19 minute mark. Fade to black ought to have been smoother, followed by an abrupt arrival of the mob.

Audio - Sound as good as it gets, which doesn’t say a lot. Plenty of mumbled, garbled dialogue, a shooting that sounds like a backfire, and a poorly miked Gazzarri’s. Can’t fault Gatos for this, and there was nothing worsened by his edit.

Narrative - This edit skews more grindhouse, less arthouse. The pace remains slow, but if you doze you realize you missed a lot. This version is more straight ahead, less contemplative. No nitpicking here, but it seems like a lighter version. Had this been the released film, I suspect it would have done more business, but eventually, Cassavetes fans would have flocked to the longer, director’s cut.
Gatos chopped much from this - quite a bit, actually - but retained the integrity of the story.

Enjoyment - I did enjoy this. More than I thought I would. Over the years, I have viewed The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie numerous times. Watched it at the Nuart every time it screened, later rented the VHS, then bought a copy. This was very much the LA of my late teens and Cassavetes did a haunting job capturing the late, late night.

Note - Gazzarri’s (where the Gazzara character runs his nightclub) was a hugely popular rock club, so every time I watch this I look for street rats I used to see nightly outside Gazzarri’s, the Strip, or on the Boulevard near the Pussy Cat.

Well recommended, with the warning that Gazzara behaves like a normal man caught in a vise. Modern, epic heroics do not apply. Wonderful little film, and Gatos’s edit is a nice way to introduce Cassavetes work to the uninitiated.

The Game (SAW / SAW II) - Maniac

Nope, not that beloved jumble of nonsense by David Fincher. Rather FE badboy Maniac spliced together SAW and SAW II into a carnage free-for-all. Mr Maniac will sometimes give me pause, especially with his rougher cuts. Newcomer alert! Maniac is the very definition of video nasty. The SAW franchise is likewise an equal opportunity slayer. Male female, young old, race whatever. Everyone suffers.

Video - 1920 X 1080p AVC. Editing itself is fine, though scenes tend to ping pong. The tales employ different color palettes and the varying sources are noticeable. Darks remain solid throughout, though the detective sections, especially in the depths, can be grainy. Quibbles aside, Maniac’s editing skills are sharp.

Audio - 128 kbps 2-Channel, AC-3. No subs. Some of the dialogue is murky, and the gamester Jigsaw is not always the clearest. Not that that is a failing in a film like this. I listened through headphones and several passages were mono, probably from the source. The overall sound mix is excellent.

Narrative - Three, maybe three and a half stories tossed together. They do not tie in with each other, nor does this fall into the anthology category. There is a casualness that borders on random in this. As far as “story” proper, there is none, and the narrative is incoherent. Sliced snippets flawed souls in pain.

Enjoyment - Not as much as other Maniac efforts. For such a hard trim, this edit drags. Too much time is given to conversations. One never gives a damn about a single character, so you won’t care about what they have to say. Two of the threads were resolved, the combination octet was not, and the mother daughter miniature felt tacked, then dismissed. Folks who are well familiar with the SAW franchise will enjoy this.

Again - THIS “GAME” IS NOT THE MICHAEL DOUGLAS FILM. Don’t weep later.

Redhook - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - The Teeth Of The Stars

An joint mission between MI5 and Miskatonic U goes tits up.
A survivor tracks down Professor Redhook, trying to learn what happened, and what is happening.
The story, catastrophe if you will, is retold in flashback and clipped scenes.
Not quite as HPL as the creators would have you think, this resembles an X-Files pitch.
At 10 minutes (including credits) there is simply insufficient time to develop a narrative.
Too bad, for there are some OK ideas in this.

Snaked Fear - 2011 - 3/10

Box art looked awful, I grabbed it anyway. Stooge.
Film opens with a drug or gangsta betrayal at copter crash site.
Fake fire and fake smoke were tipoffs to production values.
Main plot follows blonde and daughter as they veer off the paved road into Arizona desert.
She runs over a snake, which causes dozens of snakes to start hunting her.
An old desert man tells her, “Snakes will come for a 100 miles.”
Echoey sound mix. Either the boom was too distant or the automatic gain picked up wind.
Everyone sounded like they were inside a steel drum. Much of the whiny dialogue is inaudible.
Snake POV shots were low on ground, through a purple or violet piece of plastic.
Movie budget matches my IQ for watching this spuge.

Fly-By-Night - 1942 - 5/10

Brisk Paramount programmer.
Doctor picks up, rather is hijacked by escaped mental patient.
The patient is dispatched soon enough, but not before sharing vital intelligence with the doctor.
At that point, however, the doc is wanted by police, G-men, and bad guys in dark suits.
Our hero does what most men would do, he kidnaps a pretty female to help him.
B-mystery moves quickly, and Nancy Kelly and director Siodmak would go on to better things.
There are easily 100 better “couple on the lam” flicks out there.
If you seen 'em all, though, this is OK late night nonsense.

Spy City: S01 - 2020 - 7/10

Anyone who enjoyed Dominic Cooper in Fleming (2014) will revel in this.
Berlin, 1961, MI6 agent Fielding Scott is sent to still-partitioned Berlin to root out a traitor.
The CIA, KGB, MI6, Stasi, French snoop and circle warily around each other.
Informants, betrayers, and onlookers meddle, get in the way, or turn face.
Fielding, disliked by pretty much all parties, is the fox in the henhouse, ruffling everyone’s feathers.
Series gives an accurate nod to history, for in 1961 the Soviets would tire of East Germans fleeing West.
Characters are sharply drawn and recognizable, though loyalties are cloaked.
Exceptional espionage series builds tension throughout until the breaking point.

My Love, Don’t Cross That River - 2013 - 5/10
AKA - 님아, 그 강을 건너지 마오

An aged couple go about their day to day routines.
They have already been married 70 years. He is 95, she 90.
We never learn how he worked when younger, their struggles.
They have six living children, six others died at an early age. One during the war (WWII? Korea?)
One suspects the husband suffers mild dementia, that is not dwelt on.
They horse around, giggle. Perhaps hamming in front of the camera, or prompted by the director.
A lot of people loved this documentary. I don’t care for treacle.

Fleming - 2014 - 6/10

Potentially memorable 4-part series falters due to indifferent writing, wobbly storylines.
Dominic Cooper, usually a prune type, good as aimless Ian Fleming, the family disappointment.
Episodes linger over dalliances with eager young females, and his growing influence in Naval Intelligence.
Characters were based on actual people, relationships fairly honest, and most of the history accurate.
Fleming, being an embellished account, one should mistrust the “actiony” bits, however.
Fair warning - Last 20“ of the final episode are a plodding shamble.
Nice hints of Bond: plot turns, music cues, even players (eg: aide Monday makes an ideal Moneypenny), maintain interest, though the overall series is rather a crusty bore.

Stolen Death - 1938 - 7/10
AKA - Varastettu Kuolema

Finland, circa 1904, tries to break free of Czarist rule.
Revolutionaries, printing subversive flyers and broadsheets, progress to seeking weapons.
The secret police hunt them, an arms dealer blackmails them, and traps lay everywhere.

One of the last Expressionist films, the narrative moves too quickly for its own good.
Indeed, twenty minutes in, I paused this, quite confused, to research.
After the initial release, 15 minutes were cut (though preserved), reason for the narrative jumps.
Film scholars theorize the girl is actually a prostitute, sleeping with Russian soldiers for guns.
The arms dealer / blackmailer is her pimp.
And he doesn’t count on her falling in love with one of the revolutionaries.

Camera work is memorable throughout, though the print is battered.
Finland actually has the complete cut, so a restored version is possible.
The director only made five films, before dying in World War II, age 29.

Simon And Garfunkel: Songs Of America - 1969 - 6/10

More an assemblage than a documentary by director Charles Grodin.
While the duo’s songs play underneath, period news unreels.
Vietnam, demonstrations, civil unrest, counter culture, Kennedy, King, another Kennedy.
What informed the music, the audience for the music.
Rehearsals, studio sessions, traveling.
Finally, concert footage. Within a year, the pair would break up. Cause (my take) diminished trust.
A curio, an opaque time capsule. Passions of the period may be lost on those who did not live through the 60’s.

Wish You Were Here - 2012 - 6/10

Two Australian couples head to Cambodia for partying and heavy drinking.
One couple returns, one person remains behind, one disappears without a trace.
The story gets teased out during ninety some minutes.
No great revelations. I predicted one of the twists early on.
Strength was in how characters found themselves bound to secrecy.
For most souls, however, keeping secrets proves next to impossible.

I don’t keep up with industry news very well.
Does anyone know how that Esmail BSG reboot is doing?

Howard, John - The Voice Of The Air

Three novellas with architect Dr. Cristian Luca.
One set during “Greater Romania,” after the Great War with rumblings of WWII.
The second is set following the war, a nation behind the Iron Curtain.
The third, much later, finds a nation accustomed to the yoke, beginning to rebuild.
In the second work, Luca protects a time box, a battered biscuit tin, holding treasure.
Faded photos, postcards, torn maps, fragments of correspondence. Each item, carefully pulled out, examined, evokes memories.
Streams course throughout of what is lost, how one adapts, or fans new dreams into flame.
As an architect, Luca is a master of the line, and an adept of the space between the lines.
That, is the powerful magic of the book. The suspension of space.
The first two novellas were originally issued in editions now impossibly rare and priced accordingly.
Egaeus offers those, and the third, in this reasonably priced edition.

Ed And Pauline - 2014 - 7/10

Theater owner Ed Landberg and film critic Pauline Kael form an unlikely team in 1950’s San Francisco.
The Cinema-Guild and later Studio brought in foreign films, indies, and old movies people had heard about, yet had never viewed. Things like Citizen Kane, or Casablanca, or Brief Encounter, or The Bicycle Thief.
Kael wrote reviews and columns in the program guide, before relocating to New York.
At less than 20", this short effectively captures what it was like in the pre-VHS rental days.
There was either late-night television reruns of old movies, or the revival house.
The latter was almost exclusive to the largest cities.

By the 70’s, repertory cinema houses dotted the Los Angeles landscape.
They always showed a double-feature. The hippie chick and I attended two or three times a week.
After we moved away, we discovered what a hinterland the rest of the country was.
Almost.
Aside from museums, there were film societies.
One subscribed, and a $35.00 yearly ticket got you one movie a month.
French, German, Cassavetes, etc … Pure arthouse fare.
At the end of the season, members were given a list of 50-60 prospective titles and we voted on what we wanted to see next season. The Top 12 were ordered.

Love In Andalusia - 2019 - 5/10
AKA - Coup de Foudre en Andalousie // Coup de Foudre à Séville

During Claire’s birthday party, her sister Laura presents her a stunning red dress.
“It will be prefect to wear at MY WEDDING!! Yes, everyone, I’m getting married!!”
For the umpteenth time, Laura upstages Claire’s event.
Shift now to Sevilla (for travel types, this has terrific location filming), where Claire meets fiancé Alvaro and the entire family.
But no Laura, who is missing (and who has stranded prospective bridegrooms before).
No worries. Claire and Alvaro decide to start searching for the wayward betrothed.
Clichéd family characters, predictable romantic comedy fluff.

Disconnect - 2013 - 7/10

Several ongoing stories, sometimes interconnecting, showing souls more plugged into devices than relationships.
Identity theft, online gambling, chat rooms, sexting, bullying, underage porn, exposure, spying.
Most reflect the Zeitgeist of the times, but to be fair, the writing seldom stoops to cliché or “happy.”
Similar to Crash, (the 2004 film, not the 1996 carwreck), Short Cuts, and numerous others.
Finale overused the slo-mo to distracting effect.
Although I find it hard to believe people are so gullible and trusting, they are indeed.
In addition, their desperation to belong, to be accepted, can be devastating.
Technology exposes the weaker members to the merciless.

Bacurau - 2019 - 7/10

Following the death of her 94 year old grandmother, Theresa returns to her village of Bacurau.
She arrives riding in the water truck, since authorities have dammed the river upstream.
First indication there is something amiss.
For reasons unexplained, someone or something is trying to squeeze the villagers.
We observe residents, their struggles, romances, endurance.
A half hour in, from out of nowhere, one of the villagers, riding home, is followed by a small UFO.

Right off, I get tremendously excited. UFO, middle of oblivion, this must be the Zanti misfits!
Well, that was not to be, but several scenes later Udo Kier appears and the plot accelerates.
Slow boil actioner will reward the patient.

Game Night - 2018 - 7/10

C’mon, do people still play charades at home? Pictionary?
So if you say, “Well, maybe. I dunno.” you could buy into this.
Friends gather monthly to play said games, eat snacks, shun creepy neighbor.
Until one of the role playing dramas takes an unexpected dark turn.
And it becomes a high octane race to solve.
Once this thriller builds up momentum, it is like an express.
Better, this is packed with jokes. Situations, one-liners, characters.
Believe most of the ratings and avoid reading spoilers, this is a fun film!

World’s End - 2013 - 6/10

Yet another quasi apocalyptic comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
High school mates reunite to try and finish hometown pub crawl they attempted and failed 20 years earlier.
Pegg’s character annoying at first, but struck me better as the tone and tempo of the plot intensified.
As with all this duo’s films, the last act loaded stale action and a lazy finale.
Good premise, wish these guys could finish as well as they start.
(Hmm, sounds like a common female dating lament.)