Vultural

The Little Match Girl - 1928 - 6/10
AKA - La Petite Marchande d’Allumettes

Creative silent short from Jean Renoir of classic Hans Christian Andersen tale.
Young girl sets out during a bitter cold blizzard and attempts to sell matches to bustling pedestrians.
She peers into the window of the toy shop, and the glamorous - and warm - restaurant.
Catherine Hessling makes a good waif, in the best tradition of Mary Pickford.
Fantasy sequences are imaginative, and the props, clearly models, lend a fairy touch.

Whirlpool - 1970 - 6/10

Aspiring fashion model accepts an invitation to spend the weekend with the older model.
Far out in the country, in a lovely home the woman shares with her “nephew,” Theo.
The older woman, Sarah, and Theo enjoy a cozy relationship, yet they apparently relish company.

On the surface, Whirlpool resembles the arthouse swinging films such as those by Radley Metzger.
This veers into conte cruel, however, as Theo deals malicious games, and both Sarah and Theo are natural voyeurs.
Audio is crap. This was filmed “silent” and the dialogue looped afterward, along with a fine music score.
Photography is first rate, well composed indoor and out.
The director made point of contrasting firm, youthful flesh with wrinkles. Including the adult sequences.

After leaving the Yardbirds, Keith Relf formed Renaissance, in similar mold, before forming Armageddon.
Renaissance, now featuring Annie Haslam on vocals, went the rock-jazz-prog route.
Albums you might want to investigate - “Prologue” and “Ashes Are Burning”.

Captain Beyond, especially the first album, where the songs segue and blend seamlessly.

My brother is a huge fan of Transatlantic. I don’t “get” these guys, but their pedigree is impressive.

At another joint I frequent, members are keen on Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=iOk5OvYQ7zQ

Don’t want to forget Galneryus. Raise My Sword!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBxPljqt0M

There are some documentaries out there. I’ll queue into the few review thread.

The Wild Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia - 2009 - 5/10

Long awaited sequel to Dancing Outlaw, which made an unlikely cult star out of Appalachian mountain man, tap steppin’, Jesco White.
This time out, the whole clan is featured.
Cussing, fighting, breeding, shooting, stabbing, nudity - male and female.
Will thrill fans and horrify the unwary.
The family strike me as a more calculating bunch, “acting” for the camera in the era of faux celebrity.
NONE of them have the charism and naiveté of Jesco in the earlier film.

Dancing Outlaw - 1991 - 7/10

The documentary that made Jesco White famous.
Thirty minutes showcasing mountain step dancing, Elvis worship.
Murder, fried eggs, Freebird, burning up your damn car, guilt.
Filmed in Boone County, West Virginia, forgotten crannie of the American Dream.
This is about as authentic as they come. I’ve been in this neck of Appalachia hundreds of times.
Fame and exploitation soon followed, along with groupies, tattoos, hipsters and phonies.
The sequels are less fun, this is the genuine article.
^

I first saw this while visiting family , just after the initial airing.
My middle brother had the VHS playing, and for half a tick I thought it was him dancing on that swayback bridge.
“What the hell. Where’d he learn to dance like that?” I wondered.
I realized it was not him, but I knew the Appalachia landscape.
“Where is that?” I asked.
“Boone County. Where Dad lives.”
Like a million other Southerners, I got a VHS copy pronto!
I shared with coworkers who loved it. Jesco’s fame spread like kudzu.
For twenty years, every time I visited Dad in his rural oblivion, I hoped to catch a Jesco concert, jamboree, or step-off. Never happened.
My youngest brother and his band actually met Jesco during 2006’s JescoFest. A benefit concert put on by 60 groups to help Jesco buy firewood for the winter. Three day weekend. Earned $600.00.
It was considered a success.
^

White Lightnin’ - 2009 - 3/10

What a piece of shooo.
Opening credits read “Inspired by Jesco White.”
First third, maybe, though I think the filmmakers exaggerated.
From there, the story diverges straight into hillbilly nightmare.
Not following the Jesco’s well documented life at all.
In other words, more ghouls exploiting Jesse White.
I have probably watched Dancing Outlaw a hundred times.
Fun - funny - hopeful.
This film is a mess. Exteriors don’t even look like Appalachia.
Carrie Fisher as Pris (read Norma), however, is truly inspired casting!

Psychedelic Britannia - 2015 - 6/10

Easy overview for newcomers.
Catches the trendy era of 1965 until the decade ending rot.
Hallucinogenics freely discussed (LSD being legal in early days).
UFO Club given a fair amount of comment, Alexandra Palace less.
Major bands name-checked (Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Incredible String Band, Procol Harum …).
Mandatory interviews with wrinkling survivors.
There is only so much one can distill into an hour documentary.
If curious about the depths of 60’s English psychedelia, track down the Fading Yellow series of LPs and CDs.

Seven Deaths In The Cat’s Eyes - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - La Morte Negli Occhi del Gatto

Gothic slash mystery set in cursed Scottish castle.
The manor crumbles, the male heir is insane, aging matriarchs argue over money.
There is also a manipulative doctor and a predatory vixen and a niece kicked out of the convent.
Also a caged, perhaps murderous, orangutang. And lets not forget that ever watchful feline.
While often lumped with Giallo, the crimson splash is infrequent and the color palette is dark.
Interesting international cast wait their turn to get knocked off.
OK for Gothic fans, but those seeking more mayhem will be unsatisfied.

Give Me Your Hand - 2008 - 4/10
AKA - Donne-moi la Main

Twin 18 year old brothers set off from France to a funeral in Spain.
To say farewell to the mother who had abandoned them.
They hitch hike and spend most of their time fighting and arguing.
Early in the narrative, a cute girl quits her job to tag along with them … just like in real life.
After pop the weasel with each, she exits.
Ditto, two bang bunnies who slow down in their car.
Slow, unfunny, with unlikeable leads. I longed for them to wander into a Hostel inn.

Nuremberg Nazis On Trial - 2006 - 7/10

Not the full docket, this three part series focuses on Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer.
Rather than a united front, each uses their own strategy to defend their wartime activities.
Allied psychologists try to glean information and determine mental stability.
Newsreels, re-enactments, and interviews with surviving onlookers.
Well researched. Should be informative to casual viewers.
Though that era is now several lifetimes ago, history has a tendency to repeat.

Please Give - 2010 - 6/10

New York husband and wife own a boutique furniture resale shop.
They buy merchandise from children of recently dead oldsters.
Wife (Catherine Keener) suffers guilt from profiteering from bereaved, gives cash to street bums, tries volunteer work.
Their next door neighbor is 91, hair dyed carrot orange, cranky, with no check switch.
Yet she has possessions! As well as a granddaughter (Amanda Peet) with whom the husband starts flirting.
If you have grandma or mother from hell, you will relate.
Savage bitchy dialogue.

Bad Banks: S01 - 2018 - 8/10

Razor honed brief series will be a banquet for fans of Wall Street and The Big Short.
Not necessarily a tasty feast, depending on how the financial world treated you. Or still does.
Global investment bank in Germany structures major loans, works a takeover, shifts money.
Shifting is loose phrase. Shifting sums of money, allegiances, realities, relationships.
D and back-stabbings get confused at times, and some of the emotional points held scant interest for me. (Though I daresay the “human angle” is why most viewers tune in.) [
Drinking, drug abuse, meaningless sex, nudity, profanity, will keep interest from flagging.
Perfect for cynics of all ages.

Bad Banks: S02 - 2020 - 7/10

Second series picks up where BB: S01 concluded.
Jana and her team are assigned to a fledgling online financial company.
Their goal is to capture the independent upstart and bring it under the heel of the commercial institution.
Expect cooked books, quicksand alliances, betrayals, and a web of lies.
Ramifications include massive layoffs, economic chaos, and potential loss of life here and there.
This is not an easy series (this ain’t NetFlix).
Target viewers seem to be persons who keep an eye on their personal savings and grasp leverage, offshore, and reassignment double-speak.
Whether you have savings or not, this series lets you see how quickly a handful can ruin your future.

Never Let Me Go - 2010 - 7/10

Cloning becomes reality in the 1950’s.
Replicas are created as organ donors.
By the 70’s and 90’s, most are expected to survive four procedures before “completion.”
Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Charlotte Rampling lead a strong cast in parallel-universe tale of identity and being.
Rumination on whether clones possess souls.
Melancholy, rainy afternoon film, and definitely not stereotyped Sci-Fi.

Weather Girl - 2009 - 5/10

Noooo!
Whiney story masquerading as romantic comedy or date night film.
35 year old “sassy” weather girl quits her job after male coworker plays hide the sausage with blonde anchor.
Then - miracle! - she meets a supposed 29 year old male (the age he gives). Sparks kindle.
The lead female character is actually 40 and looks it.
Unfunny chick flick
Do not confuse this with the 1996 classic with Kei Mizutani. That is a must for cult fans.

This 2009 version with blonde doof is mediocre date flick diversion.

Ordeal By Innocence - 2018 - 7/10

Mother is brutally murdered. Damning evidence incriminates the son. Awaiting trial, he is murdered.
A few years later, Father prepares to remarry a bossy, trophy wife. The other children live unhappy lives.
Then the stranger arrives, with testimony that profoundly upsets everyone.
Nicely turned adaptation of Agatha Christie mystery is a devil of deception.
The spotlight of whodunit focuses on one after another.
Mother, it seems, was a right piece of work.
Beautifully shot three-parter, though the chilly tone may put some viewers off.
Irresistible for Christie fans.

The Headless Woman - 2008 - 5/10
AKA - La Mujer Sin Cabeza

In spite of a title like that, I knew what I was heading into with this Argentinian drama.
While driving home, a woman’s cellphone rings. So, of course …
She strikes something. She sees a shape back on the road, but is too shaken to investigate. Instead, returns home, dazed.
Her world is filled with dozens of relatives. Husband, brother, male cousins, females, children.
A “close” and confusing family. Close, as in a quickie with a male cousin, a female niece with lesbian tendencies.
Minor characters such as doctors, gardeners, patients, random neighbors wander into the scene, disappear.
Confused? Yeah, so was our heroine. a meandering Virginia Woolf caricature.
Rich enough to suffer a guilt complex without facing any consequences.
Many viewed this as a thriller, symbolizing society’s refusal to accept responsibility. Others felt it a snooze.
Arthouse crowd was, not surprisingly, divided about this.

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger - 2010 - 5/10

God … Has it really been thirty years since Silence Of The Lambs was released?
Yes, indeed, and going by Hopkins’ physical appearance here, the first 20 were hard years.
He plays a man suffering a mid-life crisis, who divorces his wife (Gemma Jones) and subsequently marries his rent-by-the-position B-girl.
There are four or five plots working simultaneously, featuring Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin.
This was not a comedy, nor was it one it one of Woody Allen’s darker films.
This was an odd construction, more about individuals losing their way.
The voiceover was invasive. The narrator was clearly American, yet the film was set in London.
Moreover, the narration did little to advance the plot or provide illumination.
It merely echoed the obvious.

El Critico - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - The Film Critic

The plight of the film critic. Forced to watch an unhealthy diet of pap, pretension, redundancy, stupidity.
No wonder our critic in this Argentina film is negative, cynical, and single.
He is being allowed to squat in his apartment which is being razed, and may soon be homeless.
Then he finds the perfect apartment! Except a woman has beaten him to the lease.
What ensues, to his disgust, is attraction, squabbling, soaring violins, breathless kisses, running.
He is trapped as a romantic comedy cliché.
El Critico, a rather uncertain comedy, will be better suited to viewers who are familiar with the RomCom genre and the obligatory tropes.

Death Note - 2006 - 8/10
AKA - Desu Nōto // デスノート

I haven’t had this much fun since Battle Royale, the first one.
A wonderful chess match, horror film.
I say horror loosely, as it is also a thriller, a mystery and a detective yarn.
Light inherits the Death Note journal. Anyone’s name written in the book will die.
Although Light targets criminals, the best intentions often go astray.
“L” spearheads the search for Light’s secret identity.
Move followed by counter-move. Wildly popular, great flick. The sequels pale.
Avoid US version, aimed at those with an IQ of a carrot.

5-Headed Shark Attack - 2017 - 4/10

Every time I think the girls have tired of shark flicks, another finned loser appears.
True love, I suppose, never dies.
Anyway, a multi-mouthed shark rears its heads off Puerto Rican shores (clearly before Hurricane Maria and the massive restoration projects launched by the Donald Administration).
Local cops seek guidance from folks who run the big aquarium that is foundering financially.
The insatiable shark chomps other sharks, tasty humans, even a whale!
Not as asinine or cynical as the Sharknado franchise, yet this is still crap.
Early in the story, when two-legged meals (aquarium staff) climbed onboard, I commented about a member.
“Back in 80’s Slasher films, that person would be victim Numero Uno. By the PC mid-90’s, that person would be untouched. Nowadays, no idea.”
Thirty seconds later, that person was Unhappy Meal #1. No PC guidelines in this winner.

Four Nights Of A Dreamer - 1971 - 6/10
AKA - Quatre Nuits d’un Rêveur

Marthe, poised on the middle of the bridge, is stopped from leaping by Jacques.
That’s night one. Over the ensuing three nights, they share each other’s stories.
Jacques comes across as stalker lite, but he is a painter so one may forgive him and assume he is studying faces.
Marthe suffers “relationship” problems. The sort where you consider suicide.
Their meetings occur at night, and director Bresson has a wonderful eye for rain blurred streets.
Not much goes on, actually, but this is an atmospheric film for night owls.

Forbidden Lie$ - 2007 - 6/10

Norma Khouri penned the international bestseller, “Forbidden Love,” about the honor killing of her best friend, Dalia.
Then an Australian journalist exposed the book as a hoax.
This movie follows Khouri back to Jordan, where she repeatedly alters the story, dates, names, places.
She always has a new explanation, a fresh excuse.
Discoveries mount, old sins are exposed.
Fascinating portrayal of the chronic liar.

David Crosby: Remember My Name - 2019 - 7/10

I feared this would be yet another “victory lap” from a dimming star.
Not so. Crosby delivers a caustic commentary on his past behavior and treatment of females and bandmates.
One telling statement is that none of his previous mates will have anything to do with him.
Drugs played their part, but so too did an inflexible attitude, or as he put it, just being a jerk.
Crosby, refreshingly, never glosses over misdeeds - a sharp contrast to docs curated by family members.
This is everything that Echo In The Canyon (2018) should have been.

Echo In The Canyon - 2019 - 5/10

Overhyped documentary seems created primarily for an uninformed homage concert.
Leading SoCal musicians took up residences in Laurel Canyon from the mid-60’s onward.
Surviving relics air their history of what times were like. The fog of misremembered nostalgia hangs.
A great many people and bands omitted, chief among them: The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Zappa’s cronies.
The retro concert showcase more current performers who do not seem to grasp the songs.
So-called “classic” songs were originally sung by musicians in their twenties, brimming with optimism and hope.
Modern concert event is performed by aging X-ers (in their 40’s-50’s) too old and too jaded for optimism, having grown up with a worldview of irony and sarcasm.
I had been looking forward to this since I first heard of it. Sadly, this was a major disappointment.
My bride, equally soured, began playing Byrds albums to wash the new arrangements from her ears.

Donkey Punch - 2008 - 5/10

Another dead teenager plot.
Seven Brits, vacationing in Mallorca, hook up for a night of booze, drugs, and mattress action.
Aboard a yacht, no less.
When rough sex leads to accidental death, paranoia mounts … as does the death count.
Characters had IQ’s smaller than a sea sponge, though they were inventive with choice of weapons.

Note: Subs may be necessary. Characters from Leeds and N England had strong accents, not always understandable.