Vultural

Two O’Clock Courage - 1945 - 6/10

Gent staggers along darkened street, a nasty gash in his head.
Fortunately, an attractive female cabbie picks him up, realizes he has amnesia, then takes a shine to him.
Because … a high profile murder has been committed and he could be suspect Number One!
Tom Conway in easy going B-film mystery, with many pluses for Noir fans.
This has one of Jane Greer’s earliest roles, Anthony Mann directs, Jean Brooks has a key part.
There are comic elements, so while this has the Noir look, as well as an edge, this is more light hearted.

Watching this reminded me how astonishing the output was of this generation of players.
Most worked in films (later TV), radio shows, theatre boards, even commercials.
Richard Lane, for example, who plays a nosy reporter in this, had 176 acting roles, countless OTR shows, and was Los Angles announcer for roller derby as well as wrestling matches.

Dark Matter - 2015 - 5/10

SciFi programmer that borrows from other, better, series.
Out in the galaxy, six shipmates wake from cryo-sleep, discovering their memories have been wiped.
Not to worry, the interstellar void has the internet.
Soon enough they discover they are wanted mercenaries!
Like all poorly written stereotypes (are they bad souls or good), they squabble, bond, reveal their pasts.
Hey - what about that memory loss?
The ship, the Raza, is spacious, with wide walkways, large quarters (with showers!).
Oh, and ducts, the kind one can crawl around in. Everyone still uses handguns, too. Really?
Appears the so-called creators swiped from Firefly, an altogether superior show.
Turkey leftovers for non-demanding souls. S02? Not for me.

Ewers, Hanns Heinz - The Hearts Of Kings

I had finished Ewers’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, including the historical extras found in the fat Side Real Press edition. On Side Real’s website, I found a link to AJNA Bound, and there, this book.
Slim book, nicely presented, with illustrations that match the darkly amusing novelette.
An elderly, perhaps dying, artist summons the Duke of Orléans, son of the King.
He has a life’s work of paintings he wishes to sell, and he informs the Duke that he, acting for the State, will pay his price.
The compositions, as described, and as illustrated, are repellent and yet irresistible.
The young Duke, a stand in for you and I, is slow to grasp exactly what is on offer.
Short decadent tale, told with glee by a madman.

Mr. Sunshine - 2018 - 8/10
AKA - Miseuteo Syeonsyain // 미스터 션샤인

High stakes K-drama set primarily in the early 1900’s, a few years before the Sino-Russian War.
In the 1870’s, slave boy, Choi Yu-jin escapes a death sentence and goes to America.
Flash ahead a few decades, and Eugene Choi, Marine Captain, is assigned to the US legation in Korea.
The small nation is filled with would-be partners: the English, Russians, Americans, Japanese.
Seeking control.
Friendships and alliances ebb and surge, knives are drawn to carve up the country.

More than most K-dramas, the characters are nuanced and well developed.
Attention to detail is astounding. The series looks like a million bucks.
In line with historical events, the tone grows increasingly fatalistic and foreboding, and begins to deliver one emotional punch after another.

Several romances (this is a K-drama!), in between a lot of “history.”
The personages and facts are as shifty as modern history.
There was a Righteous Army, there was a war between Russia and Japan.
And Koreans fought desperately to retain their sovereignty.
Yet the globe has a dire history of the small oppressed by the powerful.

Underverden - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Darkland

Late Liam Neeson territory here, without Mr. Neeson himself.
Meaning, the path of bloody revenge.
After Yasin botches a bank robbery, he is brutally murdered.
His older brother, a heart surgeon, begins to investigate.
Dr. Zaid, violently warned off, opts to train his fighting skills.
Yes, just what your own family physician or dentist would do.
Not a bad film, helped by a 80’s synth score and a cadre of baddies.
Aside from the suspension of disbelief, which is considerable, the “heroic” Zaid, is, in many ways, less sympathetic than the head villain.

Steep - 2007 - 6/10

Documentary catches the “extreme sport” of steep downhill skiing.
I found the early section more enjoyable.
The pioneers in the early 70’s who skied the Grand Teton and Chamonix.
Hard core guys who climbed to the top, then leapt forth.

55 minutes in, however, we hit the later crew. Moneymakers.
Guys who ascend using helicopters, one who jumps with a parachute.
The phrase “film season” is mentioned in the same breath with “performing.”
Cashing in, the elite daredevils ferry rich turistas into back ranges and peddle exclusivity.

These shows, along with numerous Mount Everest docs, inspire self centered smurfs to demand this experience.
Endless lines up Everest, a chain of helicopters in Alaska, followed by,
“Oops, I done fall! Hep me! Hep! How am I gonna pay? I’m entitled! Hep!”

I Remember You - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Ég man þig

Young married couple and female friend decide to rehab a derelict building into a summer B n B.
The building and abandoned church are on a remote Icelandic isle.
Concurrently, an elderly woman commits suicide in a church leaving authorities a puzzle.
Solid mystery creeps into haunting territory.
One individual in particular seems cursed, or they possess second sight.
Two thirds in, an odd, perhaps Icelandic theory mixes with perceived Christian symbolism.
Nothing too original here. Atmospheric surroundings, and narrative jumps should hold your attention.

The House By The Cemetery - 1981 - 5/10
AKA - Quella Villa Accanto al Cimitero

Doctor Peterson dumps his wife and shacks up with his girlfriend in the rambling house.
Before the opening credits, he murders her, then commits suicide.
Yeah, yeah, backstory. Next, Doctor Boyle decides to continue Peterson’s research.
He takes his headcase wife, and whiny moppet son Bob, to the same big ole house.
By the cemetery. Inside, the cellar door is nailed shut. For how long, you wonder.

The family hears voices, sobbings. The house is haunted. Do they bolt out the door?
There’s a burial slab inside the house. Who is buried there? Whoa, it’s Professor Freudstein!
A mysterious babysitter is hired. Moppet Bob chats with a girl no one else sees.
On and on. Lucio Fulci film piles incidents and ideas slapdash, with no thought of continuity or logic.
An utter mess. Nevertheless, I sat there, transfixed, wondering what would happen next.

Under Siege - 1992 - 6/10

Though considered “too mainstream” by Seagal’s old school fans, this remains a guilty pleasure
From the era of “action heroes” (which bloated into “super heroes”), Steven Seagal plays lowly Navy cook on a battleship that falls under the control of mercenaries.
Seagal, you guessed it, more than a mere cook, takes on the hijackers.
Mindless film benefits from excellent villains, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey.
Even the second tier villains are great.
Seagal, also, is not a one man show. He receives assistance from supporting characters.
Followed by an inferior sequel and a seemingly endless stream of chest-thumping duds for Seagal.
“It’s not a job, it’s an adventure.”

Ladies Who Do - 1963 - 6/10

A char woman finds a tossed cigar in the trash, wraps it in a scrap of paper, a gives to the retired Colonel, whose home she also cleans.
And that scrap of paper? An internal memo from property speculators.
The Colonel phones his broker, shorts a position to the tune of £5000, and then cleans up.
He shares his profits, and the woman realizes she has a new tactic to save her block from - you guessed it - property developers.
Beady eyed satire strikes a lot of marks. Class divisions, income levels, unions, police.
A bit dated, but the comedy rollicks along, and Peggy Mount is an unforgettable force of nature.

Parasite - 2019 - 7/10
AKA - Gisaengchoong // 기생충

A film of levels. Strata. Ground floor, upper floors. Basement, sub-basement.
Likewise, social levels. Class.
Poor family struggles to survive in pricey urban South Korea.
They mooch wifi and toil low-end, piece work jobs, but life is not sweet.
Via an old classmate friend, the son lands a tutoring job for a privileged daughter.
You watch, as the family maneuvers to shift themselves into the household, cuckoo like.
Inside, economic and social disparities slowly bloom with an aroma that everyone keeps sniffing.
A simmering boil, this will likely be viewed differently, depending on your economic situation.
Affluent will say, “Demand references and check them.” Poor, “Welcome to our world.”
Middle class, however, who are slipping globally, will recognize their future with horror.

L’Amant Double - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Double Lover

Ex model, now museum attendant, sees a psychiatrist for personal issues.
Quicker than you can read the professional ethics guidelines, they have an affair, and she moves in with him.
Then, like Pandora, she begins to wonder about this perfect partner.
And soon discovers he has a secret twin. Also a psychiatrist!
Or - is this simply him, combing his hair differently?
Or - maybe she isn’t exactly cured. Is she imagining things?

François Ozon thriller lurches between suspense and far-fetched.
More sex and nudity than some cultures will approve of, as well as mirrors (for those of you into symbolism) in almost every scene.

The Flu That Killed Fifty Million - 2018 - 7/10

Excellent documentary of the influenza that killed 50-100 million in 1918-1919.
Far, far more died than those in the Great War.
Accurately pinpoints where it began (Kansas, not Spain) and the exact individual.
Pioneering efforts to discover and control were limited by technological shortcomings, as well as officialdom in denial.
For the latter, think climate change deniers who hold political power.
Modern reenactments are minimal, this relies more on vintage photos, newsreels, charts.
Great if you are into this.
Afterthought in 2018 was not if there will be another pandemic, but when.

Influenza 1918 - 1998 - 6/10

Part of the “American Experience” series.
As such, there are a couple of talking head “experts” along with a host of individuals sharing their memories.
So you have these seniors, who were young children in 1918, airing their experiences.
There are newsreels, vintage photos, yet minimal science, scant history.
In contrast, The Flu That Killed 50 Million from 2018, kept a detailed history and reenacted dialogue using letters, journals and memoirs. That version gets the nod from me because the history is better.
Topical - US politicians in 1918 denied the growing crisis and kept reassuring the public.
One senior gave a good definition of their “age of innocence.”
“… we really didn’t know what was ahead …”

Foto Proibite di Una Signora Per Bene - 1970 - 6/10
AKA - The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion

“Today, I quit smoking, and drinking,” Minou muses while lolling in the bubble bath. “I ought to stop these pills, too.”
All the while, she puffs, pops and swigs.
Nerves, understand? And she is a trifle unstable.
Minou then dresses provocatively, walks the wharf at night, and attracts a stalker.

Too late, she is in deep to blackmail and sexual gamesmanship.
Early “erotic thriller” boasts plenty of skin, hardly any nudity.
The plot layers madness with tension, ending with a satisfying who and why.

Biblia Koshodô no Jiken Techô - 2013 - 7/10
AKA - Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia’s Case Files
ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖

Wonderful J-dorama for people in love with reading, addicted to books - real books, especially used books.
Set in a cozy, golden hazed bookshop, Biblia Antiquarian Bookshop Case Files revels in ordinary, seemingly impossible mysteries that proprietress Shinokawa has an uncanny knack for deciphering.
Just as well, too, as the puzzles get harder and ofttimes deadlier with each week.
Many of the problems are affairs of the heart, others plunge into the obsessive realm of book collectors.
Therein might hint why this imaginative, clever series fared so poorly ratings wise.
Non-readers might have felt excluded, believing it was targeting a very limited audience.
Then again, a lot of people don’t like books and actually dislike reader types.
Shinokawa’s tall male assistant, Goura, acts as Watson to her Holmes, asking questions about the books referenced, and jumping to impulsive (invariably wrong) solutions to the mysteries.
Marvelous little series. Perfect for wet nights.

Note: If you need subs, I overhauled. – – https://subscene.com/subtitles/antiquarian-bookshop-biblias-case-files-biblia-koshodou-no-jiken-techou/english/1161627

The Town That Loves Books: Arts At Hay - 2014 - 6/10

Documentary on the biggest book fair in Britain, in small Hay-on-Wye.
Dealers, publishers, authors, celebrities, fan-fiction, fans, rain rain rain.
Doc is hopeful one frame, worrisome the next.
On one hand it is reassuring to see people buying and taking an interest in books.
On the other, publishing houses are dwindling, and it is harder for new writers, save celebrity authors.
Thanks to self publishing, anyone can be an author! Though no one may buy your book.
I watched this with avid book types - they were in a happy place.

Quiet Please: Murder - 1942 - 6/10

Brisk thriller / mystery, with the main characters very much the villains.
Smoothie George Sanders is a rare book thief.
After well-publicized thefts, he creates quality forgeries which he peddles to unscrupulous collectors.
They can’t well verify if the book is real, and if they find out, who can they complain to?
Great plan, eh?
Except one forgery is sold to a Nazi agent, buying for Hermann Goering.
During a blackout, Sanders and his duplicitous colleague (sensual Gail Patrick) find themselves trapped in a vast public library, along with a private investigator and those pesky Nazis, demanding a refund!
Fun little B-movie, very much of its time.

Barneys Books And Bust-Ups: 50 Years Of The Booker Prize - 2018 - 6/10

Lightweight overview of the Booker prize.
Early days (including the sugar cane roots of Booker), growth of importance, controversies.
Most of the interviewees are winning authors and judges.
Prize money seems OK, the real aspect of the award lies in publicity and increased book sales.
Complaints include elitism, veiled lobbying, and surprisingly, from the winners, that owing to scheduled appearances, they usually cannot return to writing for a few years.
Nevertheless, readers (a dying breed) will find this entertaining.

The Antique: Secret Of The Old Books - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Biblia Koshodô no Jiken Techô // ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖

Condensation of several novels by En Mikami limits its focus to shopkeeper Shioriko, and her part time assistant, Daisuke.
Possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of books, Shioriko struggles to keep her shop afloat, while fending off threats from an obsessive / psychopathic book collector.

Daisuke’s story is more the mystery of his recently deceased grandmother, and her forbidden love affair.
Shioriko, unfortunately, is underwritten. Replace the constant book in her hands with a cellphone, and she would be any naval gazing soul of today, more interested in elsewhere than people in front of her.
The grandmother’s story is set in 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics.
Played by Kaho (Tokyo Vampire Hotel), she is a ramen cook. Full of life, and curiosity.

Her relationship with a struggling writer is the emotional core of the movie.
The modern story with the collector is forced and poorly done.

A better experience might be Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia’s Case Files from 2013.
With 11 episodes, it offers a deeper, richer exploration of Mikami’s novels.

Is anyone else still following the Axanar project?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=85&v=d7-FDvIbGlQ

Memoirs Of A Murderer - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - 22-Nenme no Kokuhaku: Watashi Ga Satsujinhan Desu
22年目の告白－私が殺人犯です

Modus operandi: strangulation, with a bound and gagged onlooker nearby.
A close relative, permitted to survive, bear witness, live with despair and guilt.
Spree killing of 5 murders, before the murderer mysteriously disappears.
Police departments and news agencies fail to unearth the killer.
Months elapse, then years, until the statute of limitations passes by.
And then, the killer surfaces, peddling his tell-all book.

An instant best-seller! Society goes berserk, the killer is “really cool.”
Police are infuriated, yet stymied. A lone senior news anchor decides to challenge the killer.
Gripping thriller manages to be a brilliant twist n turn tale, as well as a rotten exposé of the shallowness of society and their fascination with celebrity, even the celebrity of monsters.

American Factory - 2019 - 7/10

Six years after GM shut a truck factory in Dayton, Chinese investors reopen it as an auto glass manufacturer.
Told from both Chinese and American perspectives, this doc shows the uneasy progress.
The Chinese are accustomed to hard work and long hours. Environmental concerns, not so much.
The American crew are ex-UAW members. Benefits and pay offered are slim.
Unlike the Japanese, a generation earlier, Chinese ownership is wide-eyed to the cultural differences.
Growing pains are rocky, and provocative politicians and union organizers stir discontent.
Watching the overweight and slow-walking Americans in this film had me shaking my head.
Their movements were sluggish, their minds less nimble, and I just knew how this would flow.
The Chinese think long term, which you grasp by the end of the film.
^

Confession: I was once a dues paying member of the United Mine Workers.
The era of unions seems very distant now.
^

Le Dos Au Mur - 1958 - 7/10
AKA - Back To The Wall

Jacques thought Gloria loved him. Their three year marriage is passionate, strong.
Until he realizes he is a fool, a sap, the classic cuckold.
There is a younger man. A struggling actor, with a two seat sport car.
A feckless man who had discarded Gloria years before, yet her flame for him burned.
Jacques, rich, powerful, sets out to destroy the relationship.
Dark mystery, filled with shadows, positions the infatuated couple against a calculating, faceless foe.
Cruelty runs hand in hand with despair in bleak gamesmanship.
Everyone earns a mix of sympathy and disdain.

The Song Of Names - 2019 - 7/10

The young violinist, unknown yet already heralded as a genius, disappears even as the audience fills the theatre.
Then there is nothing. Decades pass, he seems erased from the planet.
Via flashbacks, he arrives from Poland to England in 1939. September arrives, Germany invades Poland, Europe is engulfed in World War II. Blitz ravaged England becomes home to the prodigy.
Decades after the mysterious disappearance, the violinist’s childhood friend finds a loose thread.
From there, the reclusive history and fallout.
Time and again, when souls vanish, ofttimes they have their reasons. Private reasons.