Huh I really need to catch up with Ringo Lam especially Wild Search. Are you on letterboxd?
No. The two main sites I swing by are here and the nihilist forum devoted to Thomas Ligotti.
Deconstructing Harry - 1997 - 7/10
Harry is a quasi-autobiographical novelist, pilfering his own history and that of family and friends.
(Nothing new there, I’m afraid. Artists swipe from everyone around them, me included.)
Harry, played by Allen, has substance abuse issues, is a womanizer, self-loathing and arrogant.
A dark, uncomfortably funny film, gouging fame and pride.
There is a memorable side trip, make that down side, to Hell, where Harry argues with Satan.
Film is packed with moments, but much of the humor consists of in-jokes at Allen’s expense.
Many “know” something about Allen, or think they know him, based on the rumor cesspool.
A sticky, ugly joyride, best for strong stomachs.
Note: The gallery of talent for this, even bit-parts, is incredible.
Death Of England - 2020 - 7/10
One man, tour de force by Rafe Spall.
Working class man is severely buffeted by outside disorder.
Brexit implications emerging.
Michael’s racist father, over stimulated during the 2018 World Cup semis.
He hurtles back and forth across a slim stage, spewing rage, despair, ever on the brink of completely losing it.
Spall is riveting. Spitting lines a mile a minute, slipping into characters. His father, mother, sister, customers.
The energy is boundless, even engaging with audience members.
Nonetheless, this is quite English. Viewers should have a tight grasp of Brexit before and after.
Likewise football, particularly the year 2018, when “It’s Coming Home” promised so much.
Valentine, Mark - Time, A Falconer: A Study Of Sarban
Labor of love from Mr. Valentine will be a trove for ardent fans of Sarban, a curio for the casual.
Sarban”s (John William Wall) life, long experience and success in the diplomatic corps, along with sundry relationships. The latter seems a mixed selection of suppressed longings and misspent alliances. Compared with his civil service, his personal life is somewhat shrouded.
Most readers will delve into his literary progress, which launched almost happenstance. But of this wife’s prodding, there may well have been no Sarban.
The book flows nicely and is enlightening. One wishes Sarban had written more, yet writing is largely an unrewarding task.
Kudos to Mr. Valentine for a biography that yields more than expected.
Wild Search - 1989 - 6/10
AKA - Ban wo chuang tian ya // 伴我闖天涯
Detective Mew receives a tip of a major gun deal.
The bust goes wrong, with most escaped or dead, including the mother of a small girl.
Gritty Ringo Lam actioner dawdles midway, yet boasts explosive set pieces.
Chow Yun-Fat’s Mew is underwritten (brief mention of the deaths of his wife and son).
Nevertheless, he shares warm chemistry with Cherie Chung (the small girl’s aunt).
Comic breaks don’t always play well, and the film has a bit of a hashed feel.
While not as well known as more famous examples, this is prime Hong Kong cinema.
Demons Of The Mind - 1972 - 6/10
Fleeing through the woods, Elizabeth is befriended by a young, hermit scholar.
After an idyllic night, she is recaptured and taken back to the forbidding manor.
Home of the baron. Her father. Whom one realizes is a control type. And mad.
Set somewhere in middle Europe, this well shot Hammer production touches on several taboos.
Cursed bloodlines, incest, Christian zealotry, surviving paganism.
Fair amount of female nudity, as well as romping.
Despite a languid pace, there are enough goings-on to hold interest.
Japan’s Nazi Alliance Mastermind - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - A Man Who Aligned Japan With The Nazis
WWII footnote,
Hiroshi Ōshima, Japanese ambassador to Berlin, helps align the two nations.
He was influential in writing the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936, followed by the Tripartite Pact in 1940.
The notion that the Axis would aid each other was folly, with dire consequences.
His prediction that the Wehrmacht would trounce the Red Army was a catastrophic miscalculation.
Interesting documentary based on cassette tapes Ōshima recorded in the 70’s, fleshed out with an assortment of talking heads and experts.
The Climb - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - L’Ascension
Nadia likes Samy enough, but does not want a deeper relationship.
He has no job, no prospects, and yet he declares, “What if I climb Mount Everest for you?”
Foolish boasts aside, Samy finds backers and is soon in Katmandu.
Climbing experience? What climbing experience?
Mountain scenery is beautiful, although the narrative stays on Samy’s struggles, in a light manner.
Feel good movie recycling the fish out of water template.
Scoff at the plausibility all you want, this was “inspired” by the true story of Nadir Dendoune.
Thank you for the thread and links!
Restoration - 1995 - 7/10
Meandering story of the feckless soul.
Merivel is court physician to Charles II.
He indulges numerous vices, neglects his calling.
Events intrude in 1665 and 1666, the Plague and the Fire.
Robert Downey makes interesting casting, although he is quite good as the debauched roué.
Despite a sprawling narrative, the story is coherent, the settings superb.
Most of the cast is excellent (Meg Ryan seems clueless).
Surprisingly entertaining and apparently overlooked.
War Sailor - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Krigsseileren
Ship’s cook Alfred is in the middle of the Atlantic when World War II breaks out.
Home country Norway had declared neutrality before the conflict, yet Nazis quickly occupy the nation.
Alfred and friend Sigbjørn work on merchant ships supplying England, and witness incredible losses.
Three part series offers glimpses of the homeland, underscoring the chaos and poor communication.
Two installments are seagoing, full of tension and at times carnage.
Finale is post war adjustments, bearing scars to the grave.
If wondering, this is not Hollywood.
Official Competition - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Competencia Oficial
The fabulously rich man realizes he has left no mark other than wealth accumulation.
He decides to finance a movie. A prestige film. Arthouse. With the very best talent.
The director is controversial, award-winning, difficult, unpredictable.
She requests two leads: the premier actor, and biggest “star”.
Then the rehearsals. Where tsunami sized egos begin to clash.
Much is exaggerated to absurd lengths. Personalities and situations.
Entertaining comedy, packed with in-jokes for cinema buffs and theatre players.
That is a liability, however, as only a select audience with “get this”.
Tonight Or Never - 1931 - 6/10
She has the vocal talent, the pipes, but does not have the oomph.
The passion. For she has not lived, has not suffered.
Somewhat on a whim, opera starlet Nella initiates an affair with an admirer, despite hearing reports he is a gigolo.
Once risqué comedy seems dated now, plods at times, and is over talky, perhaps owing to its Belasco roots.
Swanson is melodramatic throughout, a diva in Chanel.
Alison Skipworth underutilized.
The Beasts - 2022 - 7/10
AKA - As Bestas
Only gradually does Frenchman Antoine realize how despised he is in his new Spanish home.
The villagers, impoverished farmers, counted on the gigantic wind turbines to provide a financial windfall.
Antoine, with his organic methods, his middle class background, was among those who vetoed.
Nor can he make the locals, who are less worldly, less educated, understand his reasons.
They only know the hate they feel.
Slow burn thriller of the stubborn idealist, wary eyed in lonely country.
White, Edward Lucas - Little Green Book Of Grue
I won’t go into “Lukundoo” which every Horror reader will have in at least one collection.
Early on, there is an auto accident in “The House Of Nightmare”. I had to remind myself of the 1906 publication. Roadworthy motor cars were still very new. The house where our driver seeks shelter has seen better days and is in dilapidated condition. The story itself seems even older than the manse, and you will predict every plot turn.
“A Picture Puzzle” concerns the stolen child, a precious daughter. So much has passed, however, that her case has gone cold. Parents clutch hope, and find distraction when a most peculiar puzzle box arrives unannounced.
“Amina” is a desert adventure, while “The Song Of The Sirens” is a seafaring yarn, moving slowly across the waves until it reaches uncharted territory in the Indian Ocean, somewhere off Madagascar.
Sea spray yields to blissful terror, to melodies bewitching. Think lotus eaters.
Little Green Grue is a well rounded, well chosen collection. Credit editor Kelly Laymon (yes, related to Richard) for selecting and sequencing. This is probably my favorite of this years crop of little books.
Over Your Dead Body - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Kuime // 鬼門食女
Frictions emerge during rehearsals of “Yotsuya Kaidan”, a classic ghost story.
As the leading man / lady start to drift apart, the new ingenue becomes a love rival.
Roles begin to bleed into reality, to the point some see apparitions.
Highly stylized film mixes theatrical with cinematic with physical obsession.
Viewing The Ghost Of Yotsuya (1959) a few years earlier, prepared me for the bones of the story.
While visually arresting throughout, this may be too leisurely, too stagey, for restless types.
The Battle Of Hermann - 1924 - 6/10
AKA - Die Harmannschlacht
Too long have the Germanic tribes endured the Roman yoke.
Enslavement is still that, no matter how friendly the captors, how light the chains.
As always, once the occupiers start stealing womenfolk, weapons emerge.
Stodgy Silent suffers from too many characters, many with similar names.
Battle spectacles pocket sized. Acting in broad strokes.
Costumes, especially Germans looking like Vikings, enjoyable.
Life On Mars - 2006 - 7/10
Innovative, influential series that launched numerous imitators.
DCI Sam Tyler, struck by a speeding car, reawakens not in 2003, but 1973.
He is now DI Tyler, transfer from Hyde, and policing in 1973 Manchester is a different animal.
Violence, graft, language riddled with swearing, pervasive sexism, racism, intolerance, a sunken dream.
He is the proverbial square peg, admired and distrusted, respected and resented.
Sparrings with DCI Gene Hunt range from harrowing to excruciatingly funny.
The “look” is terrific: clothes, cars, music. Nothing elaborate, just enough to evoke the 70’s.
S01 funny and poignant, S02 darker and provocative. The conclusion, nailed it!
If you decide to view, choose wisely. Episodes run an hour. If less, beware cuts.
The Andromeda Strain - 1971 - 6/10
After a space probe lands, a deadly, hitherto unknown contagion snuffs out a small desert town.
Scientists rush to the scene, then try to isolate the virus before it spreads to populated areas.
Thoughtful thriller (courtesy Michael Crichton) plays out in what seems like realistic time.
A small team of specialists attempt to isolate the pathogen, while not pointing blame (military?) for bringing it back.
Tech is dated now, but the parallels to current outbreaks could not be sharper.
If only officials could reassemble this team for today’s widespread pandemic.
Crisp, Quentin S. - Erith
He needs to go to the Erith office in order to sort his housing allowance.
The train may well stop there, maybe the bus. Neither schedule lists Erith.
Oh, yes, he does ask. Answers are vague.
Why can’t he simply visit his own council branch? Procedure. One follows procedure. Period.
A flow of journeys, along with varying perceptions of the route. The narrator’s view, filtering his own anxieties with the theatrical dress he overlays on Erith itself.
For me, Mr. Crisp can be daunting, and my method has always been to simply read. Read, keep turning pages until I match step with his rhythm.
Now and then you may feel you are in Aickman territory. You are not. Crisp’s voice is distinctive.
Erith shifts from anxious, to comical, to suppressed frustration with each page.
Terrible Things - 2022 - 6/10
“Tell us what the world was like before it hated us.”
A survivor explores the bleak landscape.
With a few lines of dialogue, we gather what was.
As for the future of the traveler, unknown.
The Navigators - 2001 - 6/10
In the 70’s, I belonged to the UMW (United Mine Workers), small fry in a huge crew.
Come the 80’s, I was still blue collar, high steel, only now the force was 3 or 4, tops.
A Master, a Journeyman, a Helper or two. Often either a Master or a Journeyman and one Helper.
In ten years, the blue collar world had altered dramatically.
By the 90’s the same do-more-with-less downsizing hit Retail jobs.
This bleak Ken Loach film captures that, although it comes across as twenty years late.
The “navigators”, the BritRail workcrew, attend the meeting about privatization.
About competing for customers. Only gradually do they grasp they are competing for hours.
Payroll cuts, less safety, untrained temps. Our future ain’t never what we envisioned.
Alice In Borderland: S02 - 2022 - 7/10
AKA - Imawa no Kuni no Arisu // 今際の国のアリス
Never would have predicted this.
I enjoyed S01 up until it faltered at the Beach.
Was unsure if I wanted to view this season, until the fans raved deliriously.
Vestiges of Tokyo are disappearing under vegetation.
Players survive in pockets, form temporary enclaves as the games grow more elaborate.
For a second season, there is a wealth of narrative track, in deeper, richer veins.
Secondary, even tertiary players assume major roles.
Just how much is packed into eight episodes is astonishing.
Much relies on S01, so one must see that season first,
A few installments boast separate contests, with glimpses of still other games.
This season is more thoughtful as characters grapple with the value of human life.
What determines value? Merit, money, education? Who decides?
Is Life itself even worth the struggle, worth living? How about freedom?
Imaginative ending, too, in this well thought-out series.
”Your life is yours. Don’t follow someone else’s path."
Kyuma
To The Limit - 1995 - 4/10
After her boyfriend is murdered, Vickie Lynn revives her CIA training to track the killers.
Meantime, a Vietnam vet sees his wedding shot-up to hell, so he wants the killers.
The team complete (Anna Nicole Smith and Joey Travolta), the narrative spirals.
If you try to pay attention to the plot, this may distract you into enjoying it more (plot being jumpy and incoherent).
Smith offers nudity a few times, although these hew close to her Playboy videos.
Action is average, explosions probably from a fireworks stand.
Curious about Anna Nicole? None of her films are that hot. To The Limit may be the best, although it never showcases her exuberance.
I have long puzzled over why there is no documentary pertaining to her murder (follow the money).
Mrs. Warren’s Profession - 2021 - 6/10
Not that it is even mentioned, but the profession is the oldest one.
Mrs. Warren’s expertise has enabled her to put daughter Vivie through college.
Mother and daughter are strong characters, proto feminists.
A George Bernard Shaw play, the language is preachy, pompous, dull at points.
The message is dated and timely, female must empower to avoid shackles.
Over talky, stagebound, with players rooted to their marks, speechifying.