Vultural

Bright Leaves - 2003 - 7/10

Gaze longingly, nicotine fiends. Green fields of burley.
Ross McElwee documentary about the decline of great grandfather’s empire, and tobacco itself.
The sire brought out the Durham Bull blend, crushed when Duke released pre-rolled Bull Durham cigarettes.
Duke today is a charitable foundation, a university, global empire, and probably the cause of millions of cancer deaths.
McElwee is forgotten, though survives in an old Gary Cooper film, Bright Leaf (that was blend that grew in North Carolina).
This follows the typical meandering pace of all Ross McElwee docs, delivered in his soft Southern cadence, and his usual wit.
Definitely worth seeing, though Sherman’s March is McElwee’s most accessible flick and the one to hunt down.

Iron Sky: Director’s Cut - 2012 - 6/10

Nazis! On the Moon!
A battalion of the Third Reich fled WWII aftermath and hid out on the dark side of the Moon.
Sixty years later, their base is discovered and they launch blitzkrieg.
Funny satire with great looking old school contraptions.
Political / military humor was dead on, Sarah Palin lookalike as gun totin’ US President! What’s not to like?
Other elements felt forced. Example: the racial purity storyline.
Still quite funny with unexpectedly nice SciFi action sequences.
The Director’s Cut added additional special effects after early profits rolled in.
The sequel … dear me …. How could the creative team have stumbled so ineptly?

The Sign Of Four - 1932 - 6/10

Downright creaky rendition of the detective mystery.
Arthur Wontner looks like the oldest filmed Holmes, though resemblance to the Paget drawings is uncanny.
This comes across, to this viewer, as a bridge between the theatre versions (Gillette, Saintsbury), and Universal adaptations (Rathbone).
This may prove too modern for purists, as there are motorcars, as well as speedboats.
There are also a few elements from other stories cobbled in.
Nevertheless, this is well done. You could do a lot worse.

Grave Robbers - 1989 - 6/10
AKA - Ladrones de Tumbas

The Holy Inquisition prepares to execute a Satanist.
“You wait! I will be back! Generations from now, I will – aarrgghh.”
Sure enough, 300 years later a truckload of twenty year olds break into the cemetery.
Nearby, four girls set up their campsite. And – two peasants saunter in their horses.
What’s that add up to? Lots of killin’, Fred.
Mexican horror film borrows from dozens of films. Who cares?
Mayhem in the cemetery, in the crypt, in the graveyard, in the desert, in the church.
This dashes merrily along, full of energy, blood everywhere.

Football’s Fight Club - 2002 - 7/10

Two part BBC documentary about the rise of football hooligans in the 70’s.
Casuals, firms, riots on the island and abroad.
Comprehensive and well done.
The copy I saw left much to be desired, as it came from a YouTube broadcast.
Essential viewing for rowdier viewers to look for themselves!

A Lonely Place To Die - 2011 - 6/10

Pursuit thriller set in the Scottish highlands.
Group of vacationing mountain climbers discovered a kidnapped child.
They free, only to discover the kidnappers are murderous.
The chase is on, and our increasingly stupid climbers barely keep one step ahead of the kidnappers.
The “victim” was an annoying, shrill screamer, and the climbers kept yelling, “Where are you? Where are you?” every time they eluded their trackers.
Plot twists were fairly unexpected, location shots were great, story is formula.

Joseon X-Files - 2010 - 7/10
AKA - Gichalbirok // 기찰비록

Young official is hired by Imperial house to investigate unexplained phenomena.
He gets a superstitious strong man cop for muscle, and teams with a scientific, medical female.
Their boss is a chain smoking (pipe) shadowy man who always knows much more than they do.
Sound familiar? Except this riff on the X-Files is set in 17th century Joseon (Korea).
Twelve episodes that include extra-terrestrials, alternate realities, witchcraft, political cults, and a couple head scratchers.
Definitely worth tracking down if you are a jonesin’ for fresh Mulder and Scully fare.

Friday Night - 2002 - 7/10
AKA - Vendredi Soir

Laure packs up her apartment and prepares to move in with François.
Drives through rain soaked Paris where, owing to a subway strike, streets are snarled.
Motorists are urged to help out, pick up passengers, if possible.
Laure offers a ride to a heavy set man, one a little rough around the edges.
Gradually, within the claustrophobic car interior, and the man’s sporadic nervous energy, Laure wonders what she had invited in.
Haunting film evokes loneliness and the nocturnal hours better than known, themed works.
Snatches of scenes pass by constantly. Fellow drivers, pedestrians, lovers, shoppers, diners.
Individuals making their way through the city stream, of whom we are the onlookers.

Damsels In Distress - 2011 - 5/10

Forgettable “comedy” about a group of girls who man the Suicide Prevention building at Seven Oaks College.
Completely all over the map, as the damsels try to improve fellow students, educate frat boys, succumb to romantic perils, invent dance routine.
Dialog preposterously overwritten, arch and conflated. Nobody - nobody - talks like that. Not even in a Shepard or Stoppard play.
I saw this because I had enjoyed director Stillman’s previous works (Metropolitan, Barcelona, even Last Days Of Disco), but those were all from the 90’s.
Damsels reeks of comeback desperation.

Carmilla - 2019 - 6/10

While the story is set in Victorian times, the film evokes the Regency countryside.
Young Lara is bitterly disappointed when Charlotte has become mysteriously ill and cannot visit.
Soon enough, however, a nearby carriage accident leaves a lovely guest recuperating in her home.
Carmilla. Who cannot remember her family, or where she came from.
As Carmilla settles in, Lara becomes smitten while the household is unsettled.
Beautiful, dream like film may move too slowly for impatient viewers.
Much is unspoken, more is repressed, leaving this a film open to interpretation.

The Corpse Packs His Bags - 1972 - 6/10
AKA - Der Todesrächer von Soho

Soon to depart hotel guests find someone has thoughtfully packed their bags!
Alas, once outside, those soon to depart become the dearly departed, thanks to a thrown knife.
Scotland Yard investigates.
Hang on. The inspector contacts a friend, a best selling mystery author, and a photographer. Next, the doctor who was at the scene, except the inspector is more interested in getting the receptionist out of her glasses.
Everyone frequents a nightclub which is a front and run by shadowy types.
Stories spin out in all directions. The narrative is incoherent. I lost track of why the killings were occurring.
Many belittle this as another lame Jess Franco effort, but it is not a bad film.
True, the plot makes no sense, but it is entertaining and the humor is sly.
Better than most of the late cycle Krimi films I have watched.

Swing Girls - 2004 - 7/10
AKA - スウィングガールズ

Charming, feel good story of summer school underachievers wandering into a swing group.
When the school band gets ill, a group of girls agree to learn instruments to encourage the baseball team.
Terrible are the results.
A stubborn handful persevere and practice outside stores, in karaoke clubs, along the river.
For those of you who were ever in high school band, you will recall the scales, the warmup, the endless rehearsals.
And just like your own experience, within six months they are in a groove.
Innocent film that ends with a rousing flourish. Play loud.

Pieces Of Me - 2012 - 6/10
AKA - Des Morceaux de Moi

IMDB reads “mother-daughter” film, but this is coming of age.
Younger daughter, Erell, is increasingly frustrated by high maintenance mom, who suffers MS.
She lives in small village, her friends are resigned or simply going nowhere.
Everyday, the same ole, same ole.
Until her older sister returns after a four year absence.
As Erell narrates, “Things are the same, but they are not the same.”
One aspect I enjoyed was watching the “kids” (17-19) strike out, break free.
No idea how common this is in France, or Europe.
Now, in the States, 30 year old offspring are still dependent on parents.
Aside from that observation, while this was well acted, I was never engaged.

A Hard Days Night - 1964 - 9/10

Classic film capturing the Beatles during their meteoric, giddying ascent.
Funny, witty, irreverent, featuring great songs, gear clothes, posh clubs …
The lads would continue to grow in fame and importance, but there is something especially exciting about this period, when they were streaking to heights unknown.
So many of my young friends and colleagues assumed the Fab Four were Sgt Pepper or The White Album.
No so. The early period was essential, and terrific fun.
The final 12 minutes or so, the concert, Richard Lester somehow, brilliantly, capture lightning in a bottle.
Sheer exuberance, and a tonic.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Silent (Coppola’s 1992 film) - Paulisdead2221

The Coppola classic, transformed into a pre 20’s Silent film.
An inspired reworking, though not without faults.
First - and many members commented on this during the “in progress” stage - the font for the inter-titles is difficult to read and the type is too small. Adding to this, the inter-titles often disappear before one is able to digest them.
Second - the original two hour running time has been condensed to one hour. Events rush at a furious pace so that the narrative is often confused. Newcomers to the story will be lost.
Better, there are two Philip Glass scores available. The Kronos Quartet and the solo piano from the restored 1931 Dracula.
The color tinting on this is magnificent, from enhancing the mood for specific scenes to coloring a flash of lightning or tiny detail.
Faneditor “Paulisdead2221“ shines here.
Recommended, though anticipate those inter-titles.

Dreams (Requiem Of A Dream) - Adabisi

Ambitious short by Adabisi of 2000’s “Requiem Of A Dream,” focusing on the collapsing relationship between Harry and Marion (Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly).
Straight off - I never liked the original film. Leto and Connelly have zero chemistry, and even though the actors are only a year apart, Connelly looks old enough to be his mother.
That said, this is a damn good short, as Adabisi effectively gets to the heart of their story.
The rollicking pace sweeps the viewer along, though the narrative gets a bit incoherent at points.
I still dislike the movie, but I really enjoyed Adabisi’s crystallized synth.

The Sukaiwaka Fortress (The Hidden Fortress) - ssj

Modification of Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, major inspiration for Star Wars.
Changes here are subtle and sweeping.
All music has been replaced with John Williams’ scores.
Here and there, subtitles have been altered with Star Wars phrases and references.
This is well done. Faneditor “ssj” also provides a FULL commentary track which will prove invaluable for aspiring editors as well as the curious.

The Sukaiwaka Fortress

Russell, R B - Past Lives Of Old Books

Generous collection of essays that spark memory, suggest new authors, recall explorations in dusty shelves.
Straight off, there is a piece on Baron Corvo. More specifically, the groundbreaking biography of Corvo by Symons. This biography has long beckoned to me, although Corvo’s works do not hold the same allure.
Narrow boat enthusiasts will appreciate the essay on Aickman and Rolt. There are documentaries on their efforts to save / restore the English canal system, but Aickman’s efforts are seldom credited.
Sylvia Townsend is referenced in three essays, one for her “Lolly Willowes.” I swiftly ordered a copy of that for my wife (so I could read it, as well).
Russell’s personal recollection and subsequent visits to what traces of Copsford lingered is evocative and blows aside some of the dust.
“Visiting Chydyck” should tempt fans of Machen, Townsend (again), and Powys. Both dwelling and turbulent inhabitants are given brief sketches.
“The Cocteau Twins” had me lift my hands, recalling old debates. The record shop had a small clique of Cocteau Twins fanatics. The largest contingent were Pixies adherents (a group I never understood). Then there was one soul (ahem) who waved the Dead Can Dance banner. Despite arguments about which group was “best”, the ensemble that received the steadiest in-store play, year after year, was This Mortal Coil. Classic 4AD albums evoke a time and place for me. Those under Ivo-Watts have a heady fin de siècle aesthete.
Some of my favorite essays were on book collecting and book dealers, most gone now. The breath of nostalgia hangs over these. A time when odd finds were easier to stumble across, a time of price variances - sometimes in your favor, sometimes not, a time before the Internet made collecting more homogenized. His recollections of bygone book dealers mirrored my own experiences. A few wonderful souls who were passionate about books, offset by dismal sorts who were contemptuous philistines.

Zone Blanche: S01 - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - Black Spot

Eight part French series set in deep woods village.
Though set in the middle of nowhere, mischief and deviltry occur constantly.
Murders, missing females, shootings, run concurrent with traditions and rituals.
The small Gendarme branch is extremely busy, and is not helped when an exiled district attorney from Paris arrives.
A constant presence is the surrounding forest, a primeval wilderness, which may harbor an unknown.
This series carries a strong Twin Peaks feel, as interpreted by Dana Scully.
Though each episode is a singular story, there is also a connecting arc.
While I enjoyed this, the ending left me dissatisfied.

Euphoria - 2017 - 6/10

Successful artist, Ines, travels to Europe to spend time with the more reserved Emilie.
Once together, both head to a rural spa where Emilie makes an announcement to her perpetually too-busy sister.
For Ines, time has run out. The spa is where the affluent depart in their own way.
Much of the sisterly interaction feels forced; their dialogue is especially artificial.
The rest, I could buy somewhat, despite staff appearing unprofessional (tuck in shirts, please).
Aside from one older male, no other clients are drawn.
Potentially interesting film, let down by indifferent commitment.

The Cabin In The Woods - 2012 - 7/10

I watched this grudgingly. Definitely not the Joss Whedon fan.
The dialogue he writes for actors strikes me as twee and arch.
Film opened with 5 college kids driving for a weekend in the woods.
Christ, another dead teenager flick.
I hung with the movie, however, because there were mysterious lab technicians in a parallel narrative.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Deep into the plot, threads converge into a neat twist and a hair raising finale.
Belongs in every Horror fan’s shelf.

Jiro Dreams Of Sushi - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - 小野 二郎

Documentary about tiny, hole in the wall, sushi bar in a Tokyo subway, run by 85 year old Jiro.
The place seats 9, the reservation list is for one month, prices start at ¥30000 yen ($350 - £241 - €304).
No drinks, no appetizers. Just sushi.
Apprenticeship lasts a decade. Michelin gave the place three stars.

Squeamish Alert

Part of the hutong who viewed this - those who selected it - went hysterical when some of the servings were far, far fresher than they had anticipated.
There was screaming in the room and hands over eyes.
You have been warned.

The House Of Mystery - 1923 - 7/10
AKA - La Maison du Mystère

Ten episode silent serial from France.
Straight off, serial rules do not necessarily apply to surviving Silents, likewise European serials.
After marrying his childhood sweetheart, Julien is convicted of murder and sent to Devil’s Island.
While imprisoned, his boyhood friend runs his factory for him, and secretly attempts to seduce his wife.
Events spin out over twenty years, before – during – and after the Great War.
Blackmail, murder attempts, harrowing escapes, fights, disguises.
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler came out a year before, and may have been an influence, especially with the disguises.
Nonetheless, the French DNA predominates. Interiors, clothing, attitudes.
While only ten parts, each episode runs approximately 40 minutes. Few bonefide cliffhanger endings, though no cheats.
The print I viewed had been immaculately restored, excellently tinted, nicely subbed.

None Shall Escape - 1944 - 6/10

Reichskommissa stands trial before an Allied tribunal for crimes committed in Poland.
Narrative quickly shifts into flashbacks, not to show how he became a monster, but rather how his growing power and influence permitted more heinous activities.
One understood early on, this man was a bitter and rotten soul.
Movie is preachy at times, to be expected, yet note the date.
World War II was ongoing at this point, and victory was not necessarily a foregone conclusion.
Camerawork is impressive throughout, and the story must have been an eye-opener to the home front.
Can’t say I enjoyed this, yet it was impressive, especially considering when this was lensed.

Enter Nowhere - 2011 - 6/10

Perhaps judged over harshly by the Horror boys, Enter Nowhere resembles a lost episode of The Twilight Zone.
During the height of the opening convenience store hold up, the scene cuts to a stranded woman in the forest.
Eventually, the strangers number three. They walk for hours, and end up back at a derelict shack.
There is no easy way out of the forest. Food begins to run out as they start comparing stories and secrets.
An indie thriller with nice twists. I suspect fanboys got mad because there was no gore, no T n A.
There is an Eastwood, however.