Vultural

Genius - 2016 - 7/10

Unexpected story about the relationship between writer Thomas Wolfe and his early editor, Maxwell Perkins.
To be honest, I have not thought of Wolfe since the 70’s, and even then he had faded into memory, eclipsed by the dandy, Tom Wolfe.
Thomas Wolfe, played by an outstanding Jude Law, is boisterous and ebullient, a gushing force of nature.
Perkins, an in-control Colin Firth, struggles to rein in his literary excesses which mirror the author.
Note - The first draft of his second novel, “Of Time And The River,” ran 5000 pages!
Character story of two men, with late 20’s New York in the background.
(Neither the Jazz Age nor Roaring Twenties nor Great Depression are indicated.)
Generally, I find stories about writers duller than faded wallpaper.
Genius does not have the usual scribbling, typing, pacing the floors anguish.
Instead, this bares the arguments over words, sentences, paragraphs.
The craft of editing reams of art into a form that will attract as many readers as possible.

The Great Passage - 2013 - 7/10
AKA - Fune wo amu // 舟を編む

Within the publishing firm, the sales division is only too happy to transfer their worst salesman to the dictionary division - considered career death.
Once there, the nebbish bookworm excels and gradually rises through the small ranks.
The updated edition, titled “The Great Passage,” takes 15 years of checking, cross-checking, verifying, re-verifying definitions and meanings before it finally reaches publication.
As the world shifts from print to digital.
Not altogether dull, the story moves at its own leisurely pace.
By any standard, geeky and better suited to obsessive bibliophiles.

Tabloid - 2011 - 7/10

Errol Morris documentary.
If you are British, and of a certain age, you might remember the antics of Joyce McKinney and her Manacled Mormon boyfriend.
In 1977, Southern belle McKinney flew to London to free her Mormon boyfriend, to de-brainwash him back into loving her.
She kidnapped him from London, drove him to Devon, chained him to a bed, removed his magic Mormon underpants, and frakked his brains out for 3 days.
Then Scotland Yard became involved. And the High Court.
British tabloids had a field day with this one.

One of the reporters termed McKinney “barking mad.”
A hoot of a story and never boring, with escapes, disguises, revelations, and cloning!

The White Ribbon - 2009 - 8/10
AKA - Das Weiße Band - Eine Deutsche Kindergeschichte

Unsettling story of corruption and secrets within a small village.
A malicious booby-trap opens the stage for escalating accidents, each growing more sinister.
Black n white film, set in 1913 (for you non-history types, one year before the onset of World War I).
The schoolteacher is our guide and narrator. He unearths truths, he guesses at others, he shares rumors - and lets us know rumors are just that. He is not omniscient, however, and they may frustrate some of you.
Uncertainty and mystery shroud almost every sequence.
I normally do not care for children in leading roles.
These are exceptionally directed. A strait-laced mix of guilt, evasion, secrecy.
Innocents could be the rare souls in this.
I did not enjoy watching this, I did not like it,
Nevertheless, this is an outstanding piece of cinema and I strongly recommend it.

Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle - 2005 - 6/10

Biography that focuses as much on what-if as well as on what-happened.
Interviews include Sutcliffe’s sister and an early college roommate - pre-Lennon.
Manager Allan Williams details Hamburg musical adventures, while Voormann and Kirchherr discuss Sutcliffe’s artistic endeavors.
Lennon both attacked and defended, while McCartney reaps the most ire.
Geoffrey Giuliano seems to be one of the sources for this doc - caveat emptor.
Nothing “new” here for knowledgeable Beatles’ fans, though seeing several of his abstract works in full screen will be a treat.
This is not dodgy material by any stretch, just listen with a wary ear.

Margin Call - 2011 - 7/10

Bit of a remix of Stone’s Wall Street.
Late night, the firm realizes they are heavily overextended. To the point of bankruptcy.
Very cynical film, with no moral compass.
Also infuriating for karma believers as it mirrors our current era regarding consequences - or lack of same - for misdeeds.
Powerhouse cast includes Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany.

Little Deaths - 2011 - 4/10

Three part anthology involving sex and death.
First part follows a couple trawling homeless girls for an evening of jollies.
“Sure, drink as much wine as you want, dearie.”
Second part, very weak, has something to do with Nazi experiments, drugs, a naked man wearing a welder’s helmet.
Third is yet another couple who are into role playing, betrayal, and revenge.
Oh, and cynophobia.
Arty, pretentious, soft core piffle.

Pieces Of April - 2003 - 7/10

The “other” great, cautionary Thanksgiving film.
Katie Holmes shines as the rebellious, once self-destructive daughter who invites her estranged family to NYC for turkey dinner.
Patricia Clarkson superb as the mother who sadly cannot recall a single warm moment with April, and for whom the expiration stamp is imminent.
Alison Pill as fussy, hovering daughter rounds out a terrific female trio, as the males - all excellent - seem more supporting roles.
While the family drives towards NYC, April realizes the oven is dead.
Warning flags of disaster flap furiously.
Touching, memorable film.

Family Weekend - 2016 - 6/10
AKA - Familieweekend

Pa invites his three adult offspring to the family manor.
Though he suffered a recent heart attack, none bothered to visit the hospital.
They were too busy with plodding careers, going downhill.
None are blind, however. Dad, while ailing, remains wealthy. Is an inheritance imminent?
Netherlands comedy of manners pivots from droll to farce to brusque.
Characters wear agendas openly, money of course, which burns their fingers throughout.
Entertaining, if slight.

Wonderwall - 1968 - 5/10

Trippy, boring, silly, pretentious, outta site gas, take your pick.
Introvert research scientist peeks through a hole in his crowded upstairs flat and spies on lovely Jane Birken’s psychedelic fairyland.
Often, when younger colleagues ask about the 60’s, this is what they imagine.
Vibrant clothes, perfumed incense, everyone attractive and rich.
If only . . .
At times, Wonderwall is glossy fun. Other times this is killingly dull.
Music by George Harrison, sometimes evocative, sometimes annoying.

Forever Amber - 1947 - 5/10

For whatever reason, I decided I needed to watch this cheeseburger.
Based on an “indecent” book, this “indecent” movie is little more than refried Gone With The Wind.
Amber lusts after Bruce, an indifferent cavalier, possibly because she is beneath him socially.
To elevate her status, she works her way up the male chain.
Linda Darnell’s beauty is well captured, and she retains a trace of innocence and hope throughout.
All of the men are fine, from lovers to friends to the king.
Except for love stud Bruce, who is stiff and dull (Cornell Wilde, no surprise). Their relationship is flame and wet wood.
Costumes are fabulous, sets are beyond cheap. Music overpowers dialogue at times.

Tools (Toolbox Murders) - steFANedit

steFAN creates an interesting mix of the 1977 and 2004 Toolbox Murders.
The ‘77 is sleazier, boasts name actors, and nudity. The ‘04, helmed by Tobe Hooper, was a stumbling attempt.
While neither are top notch Slasher, both have their moments, which steFAN zoomed in on.
He keeps the best parts of the ‘77 (the killings and the cheesecake) purges the rest.
Purges dialogue from the ‘04 and pushes the pace.

Video - 720 X 480p MPEG. Overall, this is pretty sharp. The older film has noticeable grain, but it was not damaged or marred.

Audio - 5.1 448 kbps AC-3. Are you kidding me? 5.1 for a cheesy Slasher flick? Darned generous. No subs. Dialogue is clear, save for mushmouth Ned.

Narrative - The trick, and this was very clever, was to front-load the earlier film as a flashback. Killings, body disappearances, inactivity. Building restoration, however, reawakens the monster. The story then focuses on the later era and scattered clues. The symbols and signs make neat trail markers. The plot is coherent, though one does wonder what the killer was doing for twenty odd years.

Enjoyment - OK. As mentioned, neither is must-see. steFAN does a great job giving us the best of the first film, and he hurries the remake along so it never lags. Genre fans, yes, head on down.

Fans of Maniac, steFANedit worked in much the same manner and his edits are well worth tracking down.

Battlestar Galactica: That Sought-After Sun - Menbailee

Upfront, I did not notice glitches or problems with any technical elements. For some reason the DVD was not smooth in my BluRay, though it was fine in the computer and backup DVD player.

I have viewed the BSG series multiple times. Once I even watched the whole thing in reverse order. The finale I must have watched 4-5 times. Moore’s commentary, too.

I very much enjoyed Menbailee’s cut. Truth to tell, I did not notice major changes in the narrative up to and during the assault on the Colony. I wanted to see this edit, however, for Menbailee’s alternate endings, and these did not disappoint.

Closure points were much better this time, though arguably sadder. Bittersweet. Starbuck’s exit was no longer “magic.” Likewise for other character arcs. The series always embraced dark realism over happy fantasy. The original ending always felt, to me, like Moore had fallen back to his old Star Trek days and had punched the optimistic reset button.

Highly recommended to long time fans, though rookies to the series may be lost.

Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming - BionicBob

I must confess I hated the original series, and actually viewed BGOS when it originally aired. Week after week, my brothers and I sat through crap such as Voyage Bottom Sea (or Anything by Irwin Allen), Lost In Space, Suck Rogers, and Battlestar Ponderosa.
We were so desperate for SciFi we would have watched a Pigs In Space marathon. Hmmm, now there’s an edit.
When Bionic Bob put this up, I pounced.
Guys, his reworking is terrific. Opening sequence, insertion of scenes from “Razor” and “The Plan”, seamless.
Losing human cylons was okay, though I wondered why BB even bothered with Gaius Baltar. (Or Boxey for that matter. No Muffit II, the daggit, thank God.)
I didn’t hear any audio problems, aside from the perky Colonial theme.
Still, for execution, this is top tier. Solid 9.

Home For The Holidays - 1995 - 7/10

When I first got married, my father offered sound advice,
“Start your own traditions.”
Growing up, I had witnessed my parents try and fail to do just that.
Season after season, our family bundled into the car and spent the holidays with Dad’s parents or with Mom’s.

Home For The Holidays shows grown children making the yearly pilgrimage to their parents home.
They have already started their own families, their own traditions, their own story, yet it is so hard to break free.
Old resentments surface, siblings who have become strangers - if they ever knew each other to begin with, observing the parents, once so vibrant, growing old, becoming frail.
The Thanksgiving get-together gone to hell.
Movie shifts from laugh out loud funny to poignant to almost desperately sad.
Charles Durning sums up the next holiday nicely, “I can’t wait for goddamned Christmas.”
Another reminder of why I never visit my family or Zelda’s family during the holidays.

Murder In The Tarentaise Valley - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Roches Noires

Hitching a ride, young Julien climbs into a stranger’s truck and vanishes.
Twenty years later, his body, frozen, reappears.
An inspector from Lyon arrives and begins rooting through the past.
A past locals would sooner stay buried.
Clumsy, forced love angle notwithstanding, there are numerous secrets and twists in solid mystery film.
Gorgeous winter photography in the French Alps.

Sobibór - 2018 - 5/10
AKA - Собибор

Concentration camp in eastern Poland, near Russian border, bears constant influx of arrivals.
Political prisoners, Poles, Belgium, Jews, Russians.
Bad behavior by Nazis, stoic endurance by incarcerated.
Rebellion brews as the war crawls to a conclusion.
Heavy handed direction is further marred by one-dimensional acting across the board.
This is certainly neither Son Of Saul, nor Come And See.
Worse, the film exhibits the recent Russian practice of dubbing all non-Russian speakers.
Voice actors, male and female, speak in a listless monotone.

Girl Shy - 1924 - 7/10

Silent era slapstick.
Harold Lloyd plays shy milquetoast who pens [I]The Secret Of Making Love[/I].
Actual females, however, make him extraordinarily nervous.
What to do, then, when love arrives? As well as a rival for her affections.
Jokes cascade furiously, with mishaps and a hair raising dash-to-the-altar finale.
Scenes of downtown Los Angeles, circa 1923, provide a portal into bygone, emptyish avenues.

The Hourglass Sanatorium - 1973 - 7/10
AKA - Sanatorium Pod Klepsydra
AKA - The Sandglass

Difficult, at times baffling, journey into memory.
Józef arrives at the sanatorium where his father is dying – check that – has died.
The director says death has been suspended, as they manipulate time.
Father is dead, yet he is not dead (he exists in Józef’s memory).
The labyrinthian institute seems the de facto maze of recollection.
His childhood in the boisterous shtetl mixes with historical personages and incidents.
Waxwork mannikins suggest, but do not illuminate.
Logic and linearity are submerged, memory is deceptive and cluttered.
Much of this eluded me. I know little of Polish history, nor have I read many stories by Bruno Schultz, on which this is based.
While I was often lost, the visuals, surrealistic and dreamlike, kept me riveted throughout.

Project Nim - 2011 - 7/10

In the early 70’s, chimp infant Nim was taken from his chimpanzee family and given to a human family.
The concept, backed by Columbia University, was to see if chimpanzees could learn sign language skills.
Absorbing documentary from start to finish.
The family was the wrong choice as they let Nim grow up undisciplined and he developed anti social habits.
Like biting a face off.
Humans drifted in and out of Nim’s life, some honestly cared for him, others were disease experimenters.
Says a lot about animal medical testing, and human tendencies to anthropomorphize pets. Dog owners, take note.
Encouraging film for primates everywhere.

The Second Mother - 2015 - 6/10
AKA - Que Horas Ela Volta?

Val works for affluent family as nanny, housemaid, cook, laundress, do-it-all.
She has a roof over her head, is paid, is a member of the family - more or less - and exploited.
The estranged daughter Val had to abandon years earlier, to send money back to, invites herself to stay for a period.
The girl, studying for college entrance exams, is an unsettling, confident force.
Film delves into several conflicts: generational, class, merit.
Hardly a subtle film, viewers may feel their sympathies frayed by every character.

Late August, Early September - 1998 - 7/10
AKA - Fin Août, Début Septembre

French drama follows a group of friends as they, more or less, relate to each other and to the ailing writer in the center of their midst.
Gabriel breaks up with Jenny who, nevertheless, wants him back even though he is in a relationship with Anne.
These are creative types - artists, writers, designers, publishers - who form an unrelated family.
Most seem constantly broke, yet dine out frequently and wear nice clothes.
Characters are supposedly young adults maturing, but many are too old to be believable.
Very talky, and little seems to get accomplished all around, though fans of French cinema are used to this.
Whether you enjoy might depend on personal taste and if you can relate.
I actually belong to one of those “unrelated families” so this was easy for me to identify with.
Note the release date: The whole publishing angle - actual books and readers - strikes me as long, long ago now.

Kaydara - 2011 - 5/10

An independently filmed chapter of the Matrix oeuvre.
Six minutes of clay-mation followed by fifty minutes of live action / CGI.
Some impressive special effects for a film made for $5.00, but slender in the way of narration.
Battles and fights, but thankfully, no Zion nonsense.
Still up on YouTube in 720p.

Fighting With My Family - 2019 - 6/10

Still miss Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey)? She’s here, as is Florence Pugh and Nick Frost.
So is Vince Vaughn and Dwayne Johnson (AKA - The Rock).
Last detail is a heads up. This is a biopic of female wrestler, “Paige.”
Tight knit, wrestling obsessed, family promotes matches in villages and small venues.
If only they could catch a break, say, from a WWE scout, then they could roar in arenas.
Dreams come true, somewhat, in this follow by numbers, feel good flick.
Acting is fine, the story is corny.
Wrestling enthusiasts might applaud, maybe. They may not appreciate the arena as scripted.

Misbehaviour - 2020 - 6/10

Docu-drama of the 1970 Miss World competition, disrupted by a budding feminist movement.
Focus is on three individuals: Bob Hope, blindsided at how much the world has changed. Eric Morley, contest promoter, trying to navigate a new reality, longing for the 1950’s. Sally Alexander, reluctant voice of the movement.
Non period music. Fashions seem unspecific. The film doesn’t “feel” right.
For a film launching the Women’s Liberation Movement, producers play it safe and opt for feel good.
Adequate.