Vultural

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Double Vision - 2002 - 6/10
AKA - Shuang Tong // 雙瞳

The first victim died in his office, drowned or frozen to death.
Next one was incinerated in her apartment, nothing else was even scorched.
By victim three, a strange bacteria has been isolated.
Taiwan police, out of their depth, consult the FBI, who send a profiler.
Early on, the two sides barely tolerate each other, and that never subsides.
Strange murder mystery mixes scientific investigation with supernatural underpinnings.
Amidst the deaths are Taoist scriptures, a secretive cult, and immortality.
Alert: Two endings are out there.

Poodle Springs - 1998 - 6/10

“Philip Marlowe, private investigations. I don’t take divorce cases?”
Marlowe hears the request for help, the address, then gunshots.
He alerts the police, then hits the crime scene first. And is now suspect #1.
The setup, the frame. The patsy, and old enough to know better.
Perhaps too old, perhaps that’s the problem. Marlowe is old.
1963, set in the border between California and Nevada, amidst shady wives, gunsels and greedy developers.
James Caan well cast as Marlowe, fading detective from an earlier era.
Top notch writing. Chandler started this, Robert Parker finished it, Tom Stoppard adapted it.
Convoluted, confusing at times, yet unlike – ooh – Big Sleep, this does tie up fairly logically.
Keep track of the three ladies. Fine Neo-Noir for mystery fans.

The Big Bluff - 1955 - 5/10

Ne’re-do-well Rick confers with girlfriend Fritzi, sexpot dancer and wed to a jealous man.
Rightly so, too, as Rick and Fritizi glide in and out of each other’s rooms at any given chance.
Rick has now stumbled onto a cash cow. An attractive New York heiress.
Whose days are numbered owing to an incurable heart ailment.
In better hands, perhaps a creative director of photography, this might have been something.
Director Lee Wilder (Billy’s brother) does not have a lick of style.
The overall look is cheap and sleazy, actually fitting for the tawdry plot.

Mansion Of The Living Dead - 1982 - 5/10
AKA - La Mansión de los Muertos Vivientes

Four waitresses (strippers) holiday at a beachfront hotel.
Save for a desk employee and a gardener, the sprawling hotel is deserted.
Also the beach, utterly empty.
Nearby, however, there is an abandoned monastery.
Where, one by one, the females investigate, to their peril.
Jess Franco “Horror” outing, lethargic in pace, is replete with liminal wastes and incessant winds.
The “dead” wear white robes, their faces disfigured with papier-mâché masks or shaving cream.

Scala!!! Or The Incredibly Strange Rise And Fall Of The World’s Wildest Cinema - 2023 - 7/10

The venue at Kings Cross spanning its reincarnation in 1978 until its 1993 demise.
Essentially a revival house, Scala screened older fare, grindhouse, exploitation, queer and experimental.
Audiences were a wild mix of LGBTQ, cineastes, action enthusiasts, headcases.
Array of film clips among talking heads (audience, creative types, critics, staff).
For buffs, those who hit the seats several times a week, this is essential!
If only to get ideas for those obscure gems you somehow missed.
Perfect companion to Ed And Pauline (2014).
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/scala-or-the-incredibly-strange-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-wildest-cinema-and-how-it-influenced-a-mixed-up-generation-of-weirdos-and-misfits-2023/english/10078129

When they showed the monthly calendars, I flashed back.
Both the Nuart and Sherman offered those, and Zelda and I would circle what we wanted to see.
Typically, we saw films 3-4 times a week. Unlike Scala, those theaters also carried arthouse fare.
Cleaner neighborhoods than Scala, yet audiences, especially late shows, were similar.

My Darling Clementine - 1946 - 7/10

Stopping over in Tombstone, the Earp brothers leave one in charge while they rest.
Next thing, their brother is murdered, cattle rustled, they’re broke and need jobs right quick.
Can you say Marshal Earp? And the prime suspects? The Clantons.
Dark, moody Western, heavily tinged with Noir.
Fonda ideal as Earp, Walter Brennan cast against type as the sinister Clanton.
Victor Mature a real eye-opener as the dying Doc Holiday.
Striking photography. Oh yes, and some business at the OK Corral.

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - 1963 - 6/10

Like the title, this one is too long, excessively over the top, and over-indulgent.
A dying criminal tells a motley group of fellow commuters where he had hidden a huge stash of loot.
Start your engines, ready, go, and they’re off!
Share the money? Please. This is every man (and woman) for themselves, and then some.
OK, at 31/2 hours, this goes on and on and on.
As a comedy, hit and miss, ranging from farce to gags to puns.
That said, there are a gallery of stars (film, TV, Broadway) throughout.
Starring, supporting, quick cameos.
Film fanatics, you owe it to yourself to view at least once. Stock up on popcorn, though.

Ulysses - 1954 - 6/10
AKA - Ulisse

Kirk Douglas makes an impressive Argonaut in this fantasy adventure.
The Trojan War is minimized for his ten year detour-packed return.
Highlights include Cyclops Polyphemus, and especially Circe, the sorceress.
Douglas and Silvana Mangano (dual roles) exhibit sensuous chemistry; one wishes they had shared other projects.
Too much time is given over to Penelope’s efforts to repulse her army of suitors.
Entertainment in fits and starts. Action great, exposition dull.

Tish - 2023 - 7/10

Excellent biography of the working class, Newcastle photographer, Tish Murtha.
Presented by daughter Elle, who has really done her homework.
Time and again, in interviews, she pulls out photos and items that charge the conversation.
From college courses and mentors, to art school, to acclaim.
Nor does this gloss over her obstinacy, her refusal to “make nice” and take mundane commissions.
Her anti-establishment stance empowers her work, and led to later challenges.
Fantastic photos throughout. Slideshow = https://tishmurtha.co.uk/
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/tish-2023/english/10078128

Targets - 1968 - 7/10

Horror film icon, Byron Orlok, is tired of it all. He is old-hat, old-fashioned, and wants to retire.
The everyday world is a more horrifying place than any of his creature features.
Even though the young scriptwriter has the perfect role for him, which will reinvigorate his career.
Meanwhile, a disturbed young husband tells his wife he suffers strange thoughts.
She does not listen. Actually, she cannot listen; she is shallow and empty.
Guns and ammunition stockpiled, and his fuse burns shorter.
While loosely based on Charles Whitman, this thriller eerily foretells weekly events in the USA.
For Boris Karloff, a superb role late in his career.

Vampire Lovers - 1970 - 6/10

The new neighbor arrives at the General’s ball only to be summoned away for an emergency.
Nonetheless, could the General take care of her ward, Marcilla? Of course!
And Marcilla, endears herself to the General’s niece, Laura, who soon weakens and dies.
Jump ahead.
After a coach crash, the hurrying ladyship agrees to entrust her niece, Carmilla, to another family.
And daughter Emma begins to waste away.
Stylish Hammer outing, Gothic settings, period costumes, rampant with lesbian overtones.
Le Fanu’s novella has been filmed numerous times, including a recent version in 2019.

The Inner Circle - 1946 - 5/10

Private investigator Johnny Strange advertises for a secretary.
In a heartbeat, Ginny Smith arrives and takes charge of the office, the caseload, and our thick-headed detective.
He’s soon up to his neck in the murder of a despised expose reporter.
The story bounces more than a pinball. Strange is framed, bailed out, beaten, rescued, ever three steps behind.
Marked as Noir, this is not. As a comedy, hardly.
B-Mystery, with a good supporting cast, while the “stars” stumble along.
Possibly the studio (Republic) was trying to emulate Boston Blackie.
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/the-inner-circle-1946/english/10078127

Hilde Warren und der Tod - 1917 - 5/10

Actress Hilde has trouble relating to her role, which involves a suicidal character.
“I’m young, beautiful, with a world awaiting!”
Death appears, and foretells, soon enough she will beg for his embrace.

Hilde has a steadfast admirer, who offers marriage.
Yet, there are so many handsome men. With one in particular.
Honey-tongued, also a robber, liar, murderer.
Film explores the joys and griefs of living. And the planted seed.
Early script by Fritz Lang is a morality tale.

The Knowing - 2023 - 6/10

Following a miscarriage, Lea isolates herself in the cabin.
Where she is plagued by a noisy, growling entity.
Opaque, psychological short mixes guilt, fear and regret.
Never really frightening, although many couples, trying for children, will relate with her despair and choices.
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/the-knowing-2023/english/10078126

The Mystery Of Room 327 - 2012 - 6/10
AKA - Chambre 327

Eve of his wedding, the young groom is found murdered in room 327 with a hooker.
Security cameras show the bride outside, and her handgun is found nearby.
Mom runs the hotel, erases the footage, hides the gun, lies to the police or evades answering.
French mystery is low on characterization (in fact, I disliked most of them).
That said, the writers have packed this with enough plotting and narrative for three films!
Rivals are trying to acquire the hotel, witnesses keep perishing, families argue.
Tight mystery that keeps one guessing until it plays a loose hand late in the proceedings.

About Dry Grasses - 2023 - 7/10
AKA - Kuru Otlar Üstüne

Samet is a popular grade school teacher. Pupils like him. Villagers admire and respect him.
He is, however, a brooding nest of unhappiness and resentment.

Samet loathes the isolated, backward countryside; he longs to return to Istanbul.
Following a complaint, he begins to quietly vent his malice.
Against select children, also friends.
This is a “measured” character study, carried by lengthy conversations.
This is packed with ideas, albeit the chords will likely strike Turkish viewers.
References are made to ongoing and previous battles. Kurds, PKK.
Marked by some as a comedy – no. This is rewarding, but requires patience and allotting 3 hours time.

Heretic - 2024 - 7/10

Two young missionaries from LDS visit the home of Mr. Reed.
Whom, soon enough, they refer to as Mister Well-Read.
Indeed, he is extremely well educated about the Latter Day Saints, as well as Catholicism and Judaism.
And older religions, very old. Iterations, he suggests, leading the conversation deeper.
Provocative thriller, not necessarily Horror, but filled with the allure and repulsion of uncomfortable questions.
Hugh Grant is exceptional, shading his character with charm, erudition, menace and madness.
Viewers, like Sisters Barnes and Paxton, grow increasingly ensnared in the sinister.

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? - 1971 - 4/10

Should America abandon God, so too shall God abandon America.
Alcohol, dancing, drug use, sex, ways of the flesh, even cartoons!
Bibles unread, teachings forsaken for lascivious behavior, lewd attire.
Until, without warning, Communists have overcome the nation.
Vast swathes of the populace are machine-gunned down, children indoctrinated, females raped.
Dire warnings! Potentially camp film flawed by constant proselytizing by Rev. Estus Pirkle.
That, and ignoring the reality of gun-happy America where millions of citizen own firearms.

Connell, Brendan - Upuaut

This reads like a found journal. A diary of sorts by one Guildo, a masseur. Superbly trained, gifted even, well paid, and revered by high-born clients. Or merely the rich.
There is no chronological structure, being more of a ramble, although entries often call back to earlier jottings.
Much of this is a jagged, non-linear, inner journey. As with most of us, Guildo has no inkling of any progression until the awareness that he is no longer who he was.
NOT EXACTLY A SPOILER – BUT – this transition accelerates with Chapter XLII when our narrator ventures into a tavern and impulsively orders what another patron is imbibing - Erbaluce, which acts as a catalyst on his perceptions of those around him. Indeed, and of himself, as well.
This is a challenging read, as you have to piece together the narrative from scattered entries and fragments. Highly rewarding.
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I Love Trouble - 1948 - 6/10

Early on, the mark wises up to the tail job by PI Bailey.
Her husband had hired the sleuth after she received threatening blackmail notes.
“Impossible! My young wife is such an innocent lamb.”
Bailey starts digging into the sweet girl’s past, and discovers a murky history.
Middling Noir never fully commits to darkness and fatalism.
Bailey is a tougher Boston Blackie, but he ain’t hard boiled.
Supporting cast will be amazing for Noir fans.
Columbia loaded this with numerous young females from their stable.

Black Butterflies - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Les Papillons Noirs

Trendy author “Mody” suffers writer’s block.
That is the only reason he accepts a commission to ghost write some aging nobody’s life story
Except, as the plot unfolds, the old man is an uncaught serial killer.
He and his female partner had slashed a trail of blood and sex across Europe.
Hearing the history, the callousness and violence begin to seep into the writer.
Troubling mini-series loaded with graphic violence and sexual configurations.
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The Wind - 1928 - 6/10

Southern belle Letty arrives from Virginia into Texas prairie.
The homestead ain’t much and outside breezes are more like gales.
Winds blow and blow and blow. (Being a Silent, one cannot experience how noisy this is.)
Worse for her, love struck menfolk start vying for her hand in marriage.
Prime Melodrama borders on hysterical and ham, seems more like theatre from the previous era.

The Guns Of Navarone - 1961 - 7/10

2000 British troops are stranded on a Mediterranean isle.
Rescue is thwarted by two massive German guns, capable of blasting any vessel.
The installation is impervious to aerial bombardment.
Solution? Crack experts on a suicide mission.
Rolling boil WWII film, packed with obstacles and tension.
Lacks the action of Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare but seems more realistic.
Plausible? I look the other way.

Celebration At Big Sur - 1971 - 6/10

Filmed during the era of mass festival gatherings, this might have been one of the coffin nails.
Although the festival occurred a month after Woodstock, this waited a bit.
The groups are more Folk oriented. Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, CSNY, John Sebastian, Mimi Fariña.
All in all, low key throughout, lacking overall energy.
If curious, by all means watch this 80” film, but don’t expect too much.