Vultural

Shepherd - 2021 - 5/10

Eric lays a rose on Rachel‘s casket as it lowers.
Next, he ferries across the sound to begin work as shepherd on a remote island.
Right away, I wonder about the voyage, the ferryman, the isolation.
Is Eric dead?
The film is too steeped in mood and atmosphere for its own good.
Eric is not remotely sympathetic. So much so, midway, I started hoping he would hang himself.
Common complaint: sound design overwhelms dialogue.

French Quarter - 1978 - 5/10

Exploitation sleaze succumbs to artistic overreach.
Young girl, after burying pa, leaves the bayou and catches first bus to New Orleans. (Nice outdoor photography of late 70’s New Orleans.)
Being blonde, shapely, and wearing a granny dress that is see-through against the light, the only job position she is able to find is stripper in a cheap club.
This part held my interest, though as a dancer that girl is godawful.
All too soon, she wants out and goes to an apothecary shop, where she is promptly drugged for sex traffickers.
Then - outta nowhere - she wakes up in 1910, in a sporting house in Storyville.
Her role is the same, though, to be auctioned off as a genuine virgin.

Abundant nudity in the brothel, voodoo dancers out in the woods, and a busy snake add some interest.
Nevertheless, the plot crawls into love territory and the narrative stumbles like a weekend drunk.
Piano player in the bordello is Jelly Roll Morton. The small boy playing the cornet, Satchmo Armstrong.
Oh yeah, the 1910 scenes are all fuzzy around the corners. Artsy.
Anyway, the vintage period goes on and on and on, diluting the vibrant sleaze of the 1970’s.
One gets the impression they were striving for Pretty Baby.
Cast includes Bruce Davison and Virginia Mayo, with music by Dick Hyman.

Victory Of The Faith - 1933 - 6/10
AKA - Der Sieg des Glaubens

By such spider threads, history survives.
The fifth Nuremberg Rally.
Leni Riefenstahl, approached late to film the event, had only a few days to organize.
Similar to Triumph Of The Will, this is very much a rough draft.
Opening and closing marches, boy drummers, speeches.
On the other hand, there are huge differences.
Such as the SA dominating the opening. Older faces, veterans of the World War I.
Seen also are Göring, Goebbels, Streicher, Speer, von Papen … and … Röhm.

Who would be assassinated within a year during the Night Of The Long Knives.
The editing and camerawork in the first half is masterful, but by the second half feels disorganized.
Laden with too many speeches, the pace slows.
Nevertheless, after Röhm’s murder and the dismantling of the SA, Hitler ordered all prints of this destroyed.
Riefenstahl had brought a copy to England in 1934, where it was lost, until discovered in 1980’s.

Callboys: S02 - 2019 - 7/10

Second, and final, season of the misadventures of the studs for hire.
You might think, or foolishly hope, after the painful conclusions of the first season, these guys might have wised up.
Or matured.
One is older and wiser, two others make the Three Stooges look like Rhodes scholars.
Wes is in rehab. Devon and Vleugels are incapable of sound judgment.
Even when they get lucky, gloriously lucky, Fortune turns terribly, horribly against them.
Slow to get going, but this finishes painfully funny.

What We Do In The Shadows - 2014 - 7/10

Four older guys share a flat in Wellington.
They bicker about chores (dirty dishes a particular problem), have meetings, find activities.
For them, the day begins around 6:00 PM. Oh yeah, they are vampires.

Hilarious documentary follows the gents as they go clubbing, heckle werewolves, invite humans to dinner.
All are chatty - well - Petyr, 8000 years old, is more reserved.
Inventive, droll, good-natured. Reminded me of This Is Spinal Tap.
Though like Tap, tails a bit in the final twenty minutes.

Death In A French Garden - 1985 - 6/10
AKA - Péril en la Demeure

Unemployed male catnip becomes guitar tutor to daughter of affluent parents.
The wife initiates an affair almost immediately.
In the cafe, his female neighbor talks suggestively of differences between the brunette bush and the blonde bush.
Also, in the cafe, the waitress leans forward (twice) to display swaying charms.
Did I mention his pupil was a rich daughter? Does she want him also? Ha, silly.
For all that, this is not a sex comedy.
Surveillance VHS tapes appear, suggesting blackmail.
Really, don’t people, even adulterers, bother with curtains?
Tone steadily darkens (reference title) as traps from various partners snap down.

Wharf Angel - 1934 - 6/10

On the run from the coppers, he dashes into a saloon / brothel.
He is hidden, and spends the night with one of “the girls”.
Next day, he ships out for China, as stevedore.
He and shipmate Turk become fast friends and discuss the girl back home.
Not knowing, it’s the same girl.
Pre-Code boiler of drinking, fights, murder and sex.
Worthwhile if only to see Dorothy Dell, of whom Fate proved unkind.
The hard faced doll, masking the yearning soul.

Dead Quiet - 2016 - 4/10

My bad, my bad, my bad.
The “award winning” short hails from 2018, not 2016.
Here, Lt. Cross (donned in cargo pants and a t-shirt) drives his sedan into the outback.
After a squad goes missing, he attempts a solo recon – rescue.
Beware credits where written / directed / starring is one name.
Quite poor, and overlong at 11”.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché - 2021 - 6/10

Flawed documentary of the X-Ray Spex frontman.
Poly (Marianne Elliott) Styrene’s story, what there is of it, may be of interest to fans.
Not particularly in-depth, this skips lightly over troubled areas.
Why? Because the main writer / director is Styrene’s daughter.
Who delivers the bulk of narration in a listless monotone, as if she is bored out of her mind.
Shown above, the daughter talks about herself almost as much as she talks about Mom.
The doc feels like a family obligation, doing a duty.
Wish someone else had taken a crack at this.

Raw Deal - 1986 - 6/10

Mid-tier Schwarzenegger vehicle, made during the stokin’ ten year box-office run.
Here, an ex-colleague asks Arnold to infiltrate a Chicago mob.
Might as well as him to join a ballet troupe.
Anyway, he sidles in, and the formula unfolds.
Alpha male confrontation, scattered violence, bad music choices.
Sleek 80’s look, boasting a cast of strong villains (Robert Davi, Sam Wanamaker).
Not the best Schwarzenegger film, yet crackles more energy than most of his ensuing output.

Rich Hall’s Presidential Grudge Match - 2016 - 7/10

Sick of politics already? Well, too bad.
Rich Hall is an American ex-pat living in Britain.
He hosts comedy specials, trying to explain the nuances of American life.
Such as, in this one, the glorious history of US presidential campaigns
This is a topic ripe for skewering, slashing and bludgeoning.
Thrill as he predicts who will win in 2016!
Mercilessly funny, unless your are still gloating or raging.

Where’s Poppa? - 1970 - 6/10

To see a comedy this uncomfortable, one usually hunts down Brit fare.
Not so here.
Gordon is an attorney, middle aged, single, still caring for his mother.
Mom suffers dementia, the bat crazy nuts kind.
Not abusive or hateful, but grossly inappropriate, tushie.
Ruth Gordon gleefully revels in this role, and is the main reason to watch.
If you are dealing with aging, senile parents, this may be irresistible or repellent.
Not for the squeamish. γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Hansard - 2019 - 7/10

Theatre junkies, from boards to capital steps to bedrooms.
The bloom of love, faded, withered, their marriage one of sufferance.
For all that, the habits of love still wear like shackles.
Diana and Robin met and married in 1968.
Desire overcame political stances, but by 1988 (when this is set) Thatcherism is rising.
One partner is a party man, a guaranteed vote, for a side that coaxes fear for support.
The other partner is staunch Labour, yet apparently a limousine liberal.
Razor barbed play, one act, one set.

Vexed: S01 - 2010 - 7/10

Three episodes of acid comedy, satirizing cop shows.
Toby Stephens jaw-dropping as clueless, no-check-switch, politically incorrect police inspector.
Lucy Punch as his sharp-tongued partner, prone to violent outbursts.
Truly funny in a mean, cruel, black-humored manner.
For those who appreciated Touch Of Cloth, only more wicked.
yνῶθι σεαυτόν

I never viewed S02.
It aired two years later and supposedly replaced one character and toned down Stephens’ cringe producing behavior.
If true, too bad. Suits making creative decisions.

Almost finished with The Expanse: S05.
I knew, I KNEW, I should have quit after S03.
Now it’s a soap opera, with crybabies.
Humans fighting. Is this how far we have advanced since leaving the caves, the jungle?
And handguns? Really? First seen in the Song Dynasty (@1000 AD), weaponry is still projectiles?
Star Trek had more imagination.
The Rings? I dunno, maybe we’ll get back to those.
Writers, please, think! Reach out!

Yeah, I’ll watch S06 eventually.
Hamhead.

Vengeance Of The Phoenix Sisters - 1966 - 6/10
AKA - San Feng Zhen wu Lin // 三鳳震武林

Escaped convicts attack the compound, killing everyone, but specifically the man who had sent them to prison.
Wife, too. They searched for the children, but they had escaped.
Oh, well, they are just little girls.
Fifteen years on, those little girls are grown, and now seek revenge.

Compelling Taiwan swordplay actioner boasts stylish camerawork and an imaginative score.
The fight choreography, and there are numerous conflicts, pales next to Shaw Brothers.
On the other hand, the cinematography compensates.
Tight closeups, handheld work, chaotic battles. Ingenious and creative.
Recommended for wuxia fans who have seen ’em all, here’s a recent rediscovery.

Dr. Terror’s House Of Horrors - 1965 - 6/10

The final man to enter the train compartment is Dr. Schreck, translated as Terror.
When his bag falls, tarot cards scatter out. Curious, the other passengers inquire.
And each is given a reading of their future.
Five chapter anthology is, predictably, hit or miss.
The best ones seem to be the odd numbered.
Werewolf curse, voodoo warning, vampire bride.
Always a pleasure watching Cushing and Lee.

The Winter’s Tale - 1992 - 6/10
AKA - Conte d’hiver

Part of Eric Rohmer’s “four seasons” quartet.
Young couple enjoys idyllic summer romance.
End of vacation, she gives him her address with, “Visit me as soon as you are in my town!”
Next scene = 5 years later.
Female is now a single mother with daughter who is almost 5. Hmmm.
She has two different suitors, neither of whom she is much interested in (still carries the torch).
Turns out she gave “summer fling” the wrong address.
She insists that was accidental, and has been settling for Mr Right-Now.
French fans, you know if this interests you.

Of the four “season” films (I have viewed all, and own two), I would recommend Conte d’Automne as the first title for adults to investigate, with Conte de Printemps second.

Spin A Dark Web - 1956 - 6/10
AKA - Soho Incident

“Are you a good boy? Can you do what you’re told?”
Not exactly to the first, but yes to the second.
Jim, from Canada, boxer and electrician, hunts for work in Soho.
And falls under the spell of Bella.

Her brother Rico bets on races, runs a small mob, tries to lay off the heavy stuff.
Bella is another matter, however.
Not a typical fatale, but she’s cold as stone, and manipulative.
And Jim is soon doing what she tells him to do.
This has a strong sense of place, Soho in the 1950’s.

Chicken With Plums - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - Poulet Aux Prunes

Overlooked arthouse film exudes dreamlike atmosphere.
French film, with French leads, but the setting is Tehran and so is the story.
Renowned violinist loses his will to live after his beloved instrument is destroyed.
Film tracks his final eight days, each day filled with flashbacks and music.
The tone skips from comic to poignant to heart-breaking.
One views this more for images and scenes. The color selection is radiant.

On a cerebral level, logic is subservient to plot.

• POSSIBLE SPOILERS -
  Meaning, for twenty years main character was globe-trotting concert violinist, suddenly he is a school teacher?
  Or - when he decides to die, no one intervenes to stop him?

That said, the film does state from the onset,
“Persian fairy tales always begin this way.”
Viewed that way, one should suppress skepticism and simply enjoy.

The Yellow Ticket - 1918 - 6/10
AKA - Der Gelbe Schein // The Devil’s Pawn

Sluggish melodrama of Polish Lea who adopts another’s identity to attend Saint Petersburg medical school.
A foreigner, and Jewish, she needs a “yellow ticket” to be in Russia.
She cannot afford rent, but her landlady is understanding.
Besides, the landlady runs a club akin to a sportin’ house, where Lea can be nice to the gentlemen.
Overacted throughout, but this is 1918 and a good vehicle to see Pola Negri.
Nazis tried, and failed, to destroy all copies of this.

The Witch Of King’s Cross - 2021 - 7/10

“…Touch me with tongues of black fire. Night, freakish night, sets me free."
Poet, model (for Norman Lindsay), painter, occultist, sybarite, witch.
Arrested, investigated, works confiscated, burned, careers ruined (Sir Eugene Goossens).
Splashy biography of the notorious, scandalous artist, Rosaleen Norton.

Her paintings, dense with sexuality, black magic, darkness, created a maelstrom in 1950’s Australia.
Concise documentary proves an excellent gateway for curious jades.

Aftertaste - 2020 - 6/10

End of the date, she asks him to head upstairs and wait for her.
She opens the refrigerator, then drinks a packet of blood.
First warning that something may be amiss in this relationship.
Moody short is long on style and tension, likewise conversation.
Conclusion does not proceed along traditional lines, and is somewhat frustrating.

West Of Zanzibar - 1928 - 8/10

A “friend" tells shocked husband that his wife is leaving with him.
When the husband protests, the friend pushes him off a balcony. He falls and breaks his back.
Permanently paralyzed.
Later the wife returns, only to die, leaving hubby with an illegitimate daughter to raise.
The husband vows revenge against the man who stole his wife, and against the brat.
Eventually he tracks his rival to Zanzibar. He plots revenge, using the daughter whom he had raised in a brothel.

One of the most sordid and unpleasant of all Silent films, Tod Browning’s Zanzibar still packs a wallop.
Lon Chaney amazing as embittered man, consumed by vengeance. Lionel Barrymore his slippery rival.
The opening, which I described above, takes about five minutes, and the plot moves like brushfire.
Ignore sappy ending which was likely pegged on to appease censors.
Wonderfully ugly film.

Weighell, Ron - King Satyr

If you are like me, sometimes you feel like a skin rash is imminent when reading overripe prose of Clark Ashton Smith, Ray Bradbury or Jonathan Gale. Such is the prologue of this novel, and I was fearful my flesh would rebel. Was the whole book going to be like this?
In a word, no. This is a masterful excursion – excursions – into various pasts. Chiefly the late 1960’s - 70’s, though it frequently harks back to the 1920’s or fin de siècle London.
Cyrus Burton, exposed to a fleeting summer Mystery, soon follows a path. To learn as much as he can about Alphonsus Gaunt, occult artist, in a certain sinister vogue at one point, subsequently fallen into disgraced obscurity.
Although the novel is structured along lines of the classic quest, it is jammed with historical references and studded with diversions. Who was Alphonsus Gaunt patterned after? Or Nicholas Hallam? Rosaleen Norton, was there such a person? Time and again, I paused reading to research.
“Be warned, Pagan,” said once, but implied throughout. This is a wander into the realm of satyrs, Pan, Dionysus, rites, worship. Of a world suppressed until forgotten, though, as murmured by Machen, it is merely shrouded by a flimsy veil.
Weighell’s grip on the reins is sure throughout, with casual reveals, previous seekers, and the perils of wisdom. King Satyr is a bittersweet, vibrant capstone, showing the writer at a creative peak.
This has only recently gone OP. As of this writing, copies remain available at honorable booksellers at reasonable prices.