Vultural

A Certain Killer - 1967 - 6/10
AKA - Aru Koroshi Ya // ある殺し屋

Shiozawa, restaurant owner and short order cook, is actually a lethal hitman.
From time to time, yakuza gangs hire his services. Expensive, but guaranteed.
A young prostitute attaches herself to him, then later a protégé.
Between methodical “jobs” there grows the triangle.
Money. One who has, two who covet.
Fans of how-to assassinate films such as The Jackal or The Mechanic (1966) will enjoy.
Mega-star Ichikawa Raizo coldly effective here, as he is in the sequel, A Killer’s Key.

The Crimean War - 1997 - 7/10

Three-part documentary about an almost forgotten conflict.
This makes full use of photos, letters, engravings, drawings.
Talking heads are minimal - fine by me, too many speakers smack of padding.
First section deals with the causation. Russia wanting Istanbul,
Next is of the war itself, blunders, starvation or soldiers freezing.
Finally, the aftermath and the seeds laid for World War One.
Actual voices include Tennyson reading “The Charge Of The Light Brigade,” as well as one of the original buglers, playing the call to charge.

Forgotten Girls - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - Les Oubliées

Fifteen years after the sixth girl disappeared, another one vanishes.
The serial killer has resurfaced.
Not that murders are confirmed, for no bodies have ever been found.
Families, exhausted by despair, suspect the cold case detective is way over his limit.

Six part French mystery of forgotten victims and an officer who pushes himself to madness.
Directions shift throughout, rather like a lost car tackling meandering intersections.
Character study of driven individual fighting apathy, resignation and suspicion.

The Lady Vanishes - 1979 - 3/10

Another low bar. One of the worst pieces of crap I’ve viewed in ages.
Pointless remake of the Hitchcock classic, featuring two godawful American leads, irritating music, and a wasted supporting cast.
Gabby nanny type, who may or may not be a spy, disappears from train in Nazi occupied territory.
Cybill Shepherd especially good/horrible as shrill, whining American heiress who demands to know what happened to her new English friend (underused Angela Lansbury). I would have paid for anyone to have hurled her off the train, moving or stopped, off a bridge or into quicksand, didn’t matter. She was painful.
A bored Elliot Gould plays the male hero. Shepherd and Gould have the chemistry of a pair of cracked duck eggs.
The film that drove the final spike into Hammer.

Exit - 2020 - 6/10

Contractors, hurrying to finish a house, discover the closet door is troublesome.
The closet is beginning to extend into a yawning, black tunnel.
What to do?
Russian short mixes the unexplained with the unresolved.
Nicely shot and acted, though I didn’t buy the “girlfriend” angle.
Her character feels like it was shoe-horned in.

Fast And Furious - 1939 - 5/10

Alert readers will spy the picture, then the date.
MGM might have assumed third time would be the charm for this overlooked series.
This is the weakest of the trio that includes Fast Company and Fast And Loose.
Those rare book dealers are back, but the only clue to their line of work is the office door.
Next thing, they are on their way to a beachside beauty pageant.
And - of course - murder, shifty characters, an abundance of liars.
Oh, almost forgot hundreds of stunning lovelies.
Directed by Busby Berkeley, but no dance numbers.
Forgettable fluff. Catch the first installments before this.
Comment - Yet a third set of actors play the couple.

Fast And Loose - 1939 - 6/10

Breezy sequel to 1938‘s Fast Company. Same characters, different lead actors.
Eccentric collector hires rare book dealers to buy rare Shakespeare manuscript from financially strapped tycoon.
There is also a first edition Milton that goes lost then found then lost.
Parties meet at the mansion, along with offspring, stock broker, gangsters, eventually the police.
Correcto mundo. Killing. For books!
Fast paced, a jumble of characters, assortment of motives, a plot that borders on gibberish.
Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery endearing as book hounds.
Amusing to see folks get riled up over the printed word, since so few buy actual books nowadays.

Fast Company - 1938 - 6/10

Police seem baffled!
Priceless books have been stolen.
Then a reputable dealer (ahem, the villainous George Zucco) is found dead!
Who can police turn to?
Why, a married couple who happen to be antiquarian book sellers.
Yeah, a pair of “readers."
Think Nick and Nora Charles, Thin Man, and the rest is easy.
Brisk, charming mystery that falls midway between the PreCode gangster era and Film Noir.
Dwight Frye has a decent supporting role (meaning not his typecast neurotic headcase) as forger.

Legend Of The Witches - 1970 - 5/10

Predominately nude “documentary” of history and practices of witches and covens in England.
Indoctrination, rites, magick, hand holding innocents traipsing round the bonfire.
Omniscient male narrator drones an already drowsy experience.
Camera work, on the other hand, is excellent, given that the budget must have been a bag of tuppence.
Contrast is sharp, interesting angles throughout, effective use of shadows and firelight.
Probably quite steamy back in the day, a curio now.

Sign - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Sain // サイン

Exasperating K-drama that takes forever to find its groove, only to perform a cliff dive at the end.
I cannot decide whether to blame incompetent writing or wrong headed directing, probably a combination.
Episodic show occurring in and around the NFS (National Forensic Service). Yes, the coroners. Corpse cutters.
A new crime/mystery happens ever few weeks and wraps in a couple of episodes. In each time, the examiners are summoned to determine what transpired. Some are frightening, one poignant, others are mis-assumptions.
Weaving throughout the narrative is the murder of a beloved pop singer, the cover up, the destruction of evidence, the conspiracy, and the bullheaded doctor who probes remorselessly toward the truth.
The doctor is extraordinarily unlikable, argumentative, with the manners of a pitbull. No way, no matter how gifted, such an individual would be tolerated in any structured hierarchy.
The three assistants are complete and utter idiots. Their main purpose seems little more than comic relief. Any professional skills they may possess is dwarfed by their moronic behavior.
After ten episodes, the characters (and writers) find their footing and the cartoon antics subside, the stories tighten.
Still … viewers had to endure half the series before this locked into an intense thriller.
The final episode was moving - and preposterous. The finale seemed rushed, contrived, and unbelievable.
There were well reported production problems, but the root cause seemed to point toward the writers who apparently had written themselves into a corner.

This was one of the chilliest K-dramas I have ever watched. Most of this was photographed in bleak winter. It looked downright cold. Definitely not the travel postcard for Korea tourism.
Three lead male characters boasted spiky haircuts. Couldn’t tell if this is a fashion trend, but it was noticeable.

Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age - 2021 - 7/10

Love letter to Broadway, circa 1959-1983.
Performers, producers, dancers, creators.
Recollections of backstage, big career breaks, camaraderie.
Numerous clips of old shows, including, though not limited to, “Love On A Mattress,” “Barefoot In The Park,” “Pippin,” “A Chorus Line.”
The latter show concludes the documentary and runs 10”. (Marvin Hamlish never mentioned, by the way.)
1983 is when AIDS begins to have a devastating impact on the community.
Feel good documentary, to be sure, but should be essential to theatre junkies.

The Witness - 2015 - 6/10

Documentary with unanswered questions may prove frustrating.
Kitty Genovese was repeatedly stabbed in 1964. Twice. Half hour apart.
38 people watched from windows, no one helped, no one phoned the police.
Fifty years later, her brother searches for answers. Truth. Closure.
Such as, why no one tried to rescue her. Especially since there were two attacks.
Or did the press bend the story? Was this fake news?
Cross between a study of brother Bill and a remembrance of Kitty, the person.

The Apartment - 1996 - 7/10
AKA - L’appartement

High powered computer exec, Max, just about to fly to Tokyo, believes he saw his old flame, Lisa.
He rushes after her shadow, but she’s gone. So he misses his flight, does not tell anyone, and –
Oh, did I forget to mention his marriage is imminent?
Missed connections, betrayals, lies, deceptions.
Twists and reveals galore! Inattentive souls, stick with reality shows.
Biggest problem is Max (Vincent Cassel), who has the attention span of a kitten.
Throughout, he is easily distracted, and thrown off any trail, by any female encounter.
Still, this is a must for thriller fans. Remade as Wicker Park - 2004.

Mr. Hoppy’s Geheimnis - 2014 - 5/10
AKA - Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot

Absurd, feel good twaddle of lonelyhearts and tortoises.
Flat neighbors, one floor apart, chat from balcony to balcony.
She obsesses over her pet tortoise. “Will he ever grow?”
He decides to help by substituting a slightly larger creature every couple of days.
To do so, he purchases 100 tortoises of varying sizes. (I also spied some red eared sliders, but will ignore.)
Does she notice differing shell patterns? - No -
Do neighbors notice stench from 100 turtles? - No -
Pace is killingly slow (padded). I kept reminding myself the original story had been written for children, hence the silly, clueless characters.
No … children would have viewed them as foolish twits, too.

Genuine - 1920 - 5/10
AKA - The Tales Of A Vampire

Think vamp, not throat leech. Not blood, its the wick that gets drained.
Genuine, priestess of an exotic religion, is captured by a rival tribe and turned savage.
Later, she is sold by slavers to a rich eccentric who keeps her caged in his lavish basement.
Mind you, menfolk are drawn to her, and she soon turns them into drooling love slaves.
Atmospheric sets outweighed by dell’arte acting and plodding direction.
The tale crawls. One could add a gallon of lubricant and the story would still creak.
Print I watched was in excellent condition, guitar score by Larry Marotta grows tedious by the end.

That Day We Sang - 2014 - 7/10

Pretty good recreation of what looks like a West End musical.
Filmmakers are shooting documentary of Manchester children, now 40 years later, who sang Purcell’s ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’ and later cut a best selling 78 of that.
Story bounces back and forth between 1929 and 1969, showing characters as children and as adults.
As adults, two main characters attempt to connect. We glimpse their lives, hear their stories.
Of course, being a musical, tunes sally forth at the drop of a hat.
Melodies are enjoyable, though not exactly hummable.
First rate acting - plus, all leads have good voices. Tale is thin, but - please - this is a musical.
Recommended for fans of.

Are You Listening? - 1932 - 6/10

Bleak Pre-Code title from MGM, starring Billy Haines and a confusing assortment of blondes.
Haines writes and directs (commercials, comedies, dramas) for a radio station.

He carries on with another writer, deals with his scold of a wife (actress Karen Morley rips this).
A cynical film, Are You Listening has a dark tone and captures the anxiety of the Depression.
The other narrative is of the three sisters trying to “make it" in the City.

Women chase husband material (wealthy or high earners), men grope as casual predators.
Being Pre-Code, expect negligees, easy access relationships, unscrupulous villains.
Numerous old stars and character actors in downbeat film.

Bell, Peter - Sacred And Profane

Seven strange stories, encounters, though not necessarily with ghosts or spirits.
Rather, the lingering presence, the blood saturated ground, the touch of the Divine.
A professor enjoying / enduring an outing to a priory chances upon a singular nun. Curious, he wanders off the proscribed route, and nears “The Ice House” where the atmosphere and mystery constrict.
“Haunted” is told by Pauline, recently divorced, made redundant, and – worse – forced to live with her mother again. Wandering, she spies the desolate house, where she and her childhood best friend suffered a falling out. After all those years, the house still exerts a palpable force.
Readers who enjoy drinking liquid fire will envy the side-tracked narrator in “A Wee Dram For The Road.” Flavors complex, yet subtle. The tumbler, not to quaff, but to savor, to lock into memory.
The quest, both spiritual and academic, takes Dr. Fox behind the Iron Curtain. In essence, he is tagging along behind his more gifted colleague, recognized and respected. “The Strange Death Of Sophie Van Der Wielen” mixes the passion of the explorer with the guilt of the survivor, or onlooker.
Bell is consistently dependable, packing a lot of emotional oomph inmost of his works. Sacred And Profane lines up with other books of his I have read.

Jacobi, Carl - Smoke Of The Snake

Intended as the fourth collection for Arkham House, this Fedogan & Bremer provides a satisfying cap to Jacobi’s works.
A contemporary of HPL, his stories span a longer sweep of time. Decades.
Indeed, one of the included titles, I remember reading in Whispers magazine.
There are tales of black magic, voodoo, or opium steeped madness.
One or two glide through the realm of SciFi, though none of “hard SciFi” and all are light-touched and amusing.
Readers who still have a taste for bygone pulp (Howard, Cave, Rohmer, Wandrei) will find this a late night treat.

Dead End - 2003 - 6/10

Driving to the in-laws for Christmas Eve for the umpteenth trip, Dad decides to take a short cut.
Onto what turns out to be the longest, loneliest, most deserted woodland road in California.
While he and his wife bicker, the kids snipe in the backseat.
“Turn around,” says his wife, “get back on the Interstate.”
Ha! What guy does that? Even as the route goes darker and more eerie.
I mean, sooner or later, things will get better, right?
And then the dying starts.
Christmas with relatives … police must love this time of year.

Inside The White Slave Traffic and Traffic In Souls

Two “docu-dramas” released during the frenzied phenomena of white slavery paranoia.

Inside The White Slave Traffic - 1913 - 5/10

Inside The White Slave Traffic is the briefer and more crude of the pair.
An exploitation quickie, this roused censors and authorities wherever it was screened.
Female is lured into prostitution - where she remains for the remainder of the movie.
Despite two lost reels, this shows tricks for luring girls, slang words, and the nationwide network of slavers.
Outdoor photography in this captures dirt streets, boardwalks, horse and wagons.

Traffic In Souls - 1913 - 6/10

Traffic In Souls is a better film, storywise and budget wise. At 88 minutes, this is also an early feature.
There are multiple storylines: the rich family, the two sisters, and two sets of girls who arrive in New York.
Methods and roles within the slave ring are displayed, also some eavesdropping technology.
Acting in both films is melodramatic. (Pickford would largely change that.)
DVD of Traffic In Souls has an insightful commentary by historian Shelley Stamp.
Most of her comments pertain to social mores of 1913, film reaction, and white slave hysteria.

While I prefer Silent films from the 20’s, the earlier films have their own creaky charm.
The look and attitudes hark back to the Edwardian or Gilded Age.
Moralizing inter-titles, declarative gestures, formal manners, swept away in the Roaring 20’s.

Family Hunting - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Kazokugari // 家族狩り

Someone is slaughtering dysfunctional families.
Mass murder masquerading as suicide.
Overlooked series featuring a lot of guilty looking souls, and families with overwrought teens.
Deceptive camera work here, casting one character after another as spooky or creepy.
Plot well constructed, as well, layering clues, trails, doubts and fear.
Belief remains a slippery oil slick throughout as you hope, “maybe this person is a good one” … “uh oh, maybe not.”
Absorbing, brief series. Emotional outbursts and family drama may alienate disconnected types.

Seeds - 1968 - 5/10

Gleefully perverse Christmas family reunion film.
Grindhouse mistletoe.
Acting on her own, Carol invites banned family members to Ma’s manor.
The alcoholic, foul mouthed, vindictive mother is the very definition of harridan.
Adult children arrive, a lascivious lot and screwed up to a soul.
Incest is their primary outlet and savory vice.
(For voyeurs, producers added close-up naked gropings with stunt torsos.)
Smutty, sleazy, exploitation, holiday stocking, stuffed with used, sticky condoms.

My Little Princess - 2011 - 6/10

Well done, if exceedingly disturbing mother / daughter story.
Isabel Huppert plays dysfunctional mom with artistic pretensions. Self delusions far outweigh actual talent.
She takes up photography and starts taking shots of her 10 year old daughter.
Clothes start getting removed, heavy lipstick applied, and poses become sexually provocative.

Ma believes success has arrived as last and pushes boundaries even further.
The young girl, starting to grasp the concept of exploitation, tries to resist.
Unsettling and inappropriate in countless ways, also metaphor for parents as agents or pimps.
Huppert throws herself into this and is utterly convincing, though she is clearly too old for the role.
Newcomer Anamaria Vartolomei acquits herself well.

The Daughter - 2015 - 7/10

Family pater prepares to marry half his age, trophy wife, as he closes the mill which his family has run for generations.
Invited is his damaged, alcoholic son who reconnects with old school friends.
His mother had committed suicide, and the new wedding rankles him.
He uncovers skeletons and must weigh what damage revealing the truth may cause against stoking his pity party.
The small town, likewise breaking apart with the mill closure, seems a metaphor for the family crisis.
Or vice versa.
Acting uniformly fine. Paul Schneider memorable as self-righteous son.