Vultural

Nothing To Hide - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Le Jeu

Said it before, dinner parties – the worst.
On the night of a lunar eclipse, three couples and a spare meet up.
A comment about privacy, openness and secrets, leads to a game.
Everyone will leave their phones on the dinner table.
Any calls or texts will be answered, comments read out loud, pictures shown.
Oh yeah, these are middle-aged adults, not twenty year olds.
Who knew phones would be so busy? Callers would post images, express demands.
Uncomfortable laughs mix with squalid exposures.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Arthurs Gesetz - 2018 - 6/10

Wife Martha convinces Arthur to endure a work accident.
“Think of all the insurance money we will collect! Besides, you have another hand.”
Arthur is a fool. Stupid, perhaps. I mean, he didn’t notice the surveillance camera near the power saw?

Nevertheless, hope springs eternal! Arthur falls in love with a singing prostitute.
I kinda lost track of the death count in this black comedy.
They are numerous and they are fairly inventive.
Short series is laugh out loud funny, yet extremely mean-spirited.
Caveat emptor.

Engstrom, Elizabeth - Nightmare Flower

I should have liked this collection; I wanted to like this collection. But I couldn’t, for a number of reasons.
The stories, by and large, have a remote, cool tone, as if each narrator was disengaged. Consequently, I never felt sympathetic with characters, let alone their activities.

Two titles, “Nightwind” and “Rain”, pits characters against elemental weather, although I wondered, what was the point of each?

I won’t kick other tales, wasting your time and mine.

The last, longest, and finest, is the novella “Project Stone”. This seems more a conspiracy thriller than horror yarn. An anxiety ridden urbanite finds refuge in a gated desert enclave. Peace of mind comes with a price, of which she contentedly ignores. This feels like a very 90’s take, akin to an “X-Files” episode from that period.

Valencourt books are always affordable and worth a look, but, for me, this was wet powder.

Lone Wolf (Wolf Creek - Wolf Creek 2) - Maniac

Maniac combines Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek 2 into one blood drenched fantasy reel for Mick Taylor lovers. Mind you, a little of smiling Mick goes a long way.

Video - 1920 X 1080p AVC. Day scenes were vivid, nights equally so. I like how the two movies have been shuffled somewhat. The first half seems to have more cuts and editing, and moves quicker as a result. Much of the finale occurs in Mick’s “den,” a grisly bachelor pad, with more static camera work.

Audio - Dialogue (Mick’s nonsense, along with whimpering, pleading, groaning, etc …) is clean, though Mick’s Oz Outback accent can be a strain at times. No subs, although hardsubs given for German hikers. No unusual fadeouts, music cuts. New Isham music is effective.

Narrative - As noted, a little of this goes a long way. Most of the cuts are of the “meals” or victims, so must viewers will not develop much empathy for them. Not that you have much empathy with Mick, he’s still the spooky neighbor you try not to engage with.
To be blunt, the narrative is huntin’ - hurtin’ - killin’.

Enjoyment - Ohhhhhhhhhh, not so much. I liked both features, they seemed to breathe more. This edit is a remorseless grind. To be fair, Maniac retained the dread of both films, the trapped, doomed ambiance that worms into the viewer’s gut. Few of Maniac’s edits are happy rides. This nasty slice shredded humanity will surely please Maniac’s fans.

Alien Elements (AvP) - ThrowgnCpr

I must confess I have a fondness for AvP, and rewatch it frequently.
Early on, some odd business relocates AvP from the Pole to the pyramids.
It feels shoehorned in and is awkward.
Once our modern (future) team is inside “the pyramid,” the tempo charges ahead.
No idea who characters are, other than they act as quick meals for the xenomorth.
Despite sharp editing throughout, the story is a bit of a jumble sale.
Interesting ideas, but fairly incoherent. I wanted to like this.
Part of me wonders if this was a learning experience for the editor, as he certainly went on to craft on a higher level.
Worthwhile short, nevertheless. Especially for fledgling editors, seeing the baby steps of editors who are now leaders.

Ripley (Alien3 & Resurrection) - Job Willins

Editor Job Willins previous edit - Derelict - was an arresting and entertaining comparison of two of the stronger entries in the Alien canon. If anything, Derelict shows how much the Prometheus lot echoed / borrowed / swiped from the original Alien movie. This second edit mixes two of the most misunderstood, if not roundly disliked Alien films, Alien³ and Resurrection. Skepticism notwithstanding, I dropped in to have a look.

Video - 1280 X 720p MPEG-4. As with Derelict, Ripley is also rendered black n white. Too dark, especially in the first third, to my liking. Brightness could be boosted a bit, and yes I understand filmmakers use smoke and shadows to mask budgetary limitations. I strained to make out foreground details. A curious thing I noticed was two (2) video streams. After demuxing, the smaller stream revealed itself to be a series of ten still frames. Time markers for the editor perhaps? Or perhaps an abandoned menu design? I had never seen that before.

Editing itself was uniformly fine. Now and then, an inspired cut from one film to another. Most struck me as random.

Audio - 2 Channel AAC, 251 Kb variable. No subs. Despite being a pair of actioners, the dynamic range is not especially sweeping. Dialogue understandable throughout.

Narrative - Ripley suffers in comparison with Derelict. Ripley is two films from two different periods of the timeline. The edited story bounces about like a pinball. There seems no reason for this. The editor simply could have assembled his film chronologically, rather than this random method. Both storylines are weak on plot. Characters are poorly drawn, and even Ripley is barely more than a cipher. This is especially true for the Resurrection half.

Part of the problem lies with the original films themselves. Garbage in, garbage out, as the saying goes. Job Willins is trying to forge a superior viewing experience from poor stories.

Enjoyment - Less than ecstatic, I’m afraid. I disliked both films when I first screened them theatrically. They failed to improve after seeing on VHS and later DVD. The stories are simply weak, the characters unmemorable. This edit did nothing to improve my opinion.

The closing credits ought to have mirrored the opening credits, by the way. The closing credits, rolling to oblivion, are too busy and an unfortunate choice.

Stuck Together - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Huit Rue de l’Humanite

French comedy about apartment renters enduring early Covid restrictions.
Obsessive compulsive, cavalier, greedy opportunists, puppy love.
Add the smug landlord and a quack biologist, looking for a cure (and any stray pets).
Although characters are more caricatures, this is packed with funny situations and witty jousting.
Despite its fuzzy warm heart, there is an edge to this, an undercurrent of the days when Corona was out of control.

Life Is Beautiful - 2022 - 5/10
AKA - Insaeng-eun Areumdaweo // 인생은 아름다워

You wouldn’t guess it, but Se Yeon has cancer. A month, two months, tops.
She makes a checklist of things she wants to do before dying.
Her family, meanwhile, still treats her as a doormat.
The husband is a rude, insensitive boor, the children indifferent. One wishes Mom were gone.
Years before, she made the wrong choice and lost her first love. Her schoolgirl crush.
Is he still somewhere? Could she find him?
While her family continues to treat her like dog scrapings, Se Yeon pushes optimistically ahead.
Comedy / musical (!) makes for an uncomfortable watch, in may ways, morbid.
Vintage K-pop songs + lavish dance numbers = sheer schmaltz. The finale, tasteless.
Being kind, this got lost in translation … or is simply too Korean for me.

Muse - 2017 - 6/10

The professor’s live-in girlfriend is tired of hiding their relationship.
Post-grad student Beatriz would stir comments, perhaps cost him tenure.
Before he can decide, however, Samuel gets entangled with the “Seven Ladies”.
The mystery of the muses, the ones who inspired and tormented artists over centuries.
Fairly unique storyline, although the bones of this are classic quest. Who? Why?
Sensual and bloody throughout, dashing assumptions, as well.
Fine Gothic supernatural thriller.

Miss Barton’s Famous Cakes - 2019 - 6/10

Miss Barton makes prize-winning cakes.
So highly sought after, that two detectives arrive to warn her about two escaped convicts.
Both of whom are desperately hungry for her cake, and both, apparently, are impersonating detectives!
Wry humor predominates in exceptional looking short.

The black and white is pure Noir fused with high Gothic.
Atmospheric Noir score, as well, although the story itself is fluff.

Strange Confession - 1945 - 6/10

Part of Universal’s “Inner Sanctum” series. Viewers expected thrills or supernatural will be disappointed.
Stodgy drama, bordering on corn, finds brilliant chemist exploited by his boss, who soon takes a shine to his wife.
This feels like “product” and in many ways, it is.
The audio commentary, itself quite hit and miss, explains how Hollywood churned out films for the WWII home front.
With the war’s end, there would never be such strong casting for a B-film (Lon Chaney Jr, Lloyd Bridges, Brenda Joyce, J. Carroll Nash …). Sets would be fewer and cheaper. The commentary, when focused, serves the film.
The print itself shows outstanding restoration, far beyond what one might expect for such a small vehicle.
J. Carroll Nash steals the movie.

The Head: S02 - 2022 - 7/10

Despite the heavy death toll at Polaris VI, research continues.
After all, while humanity parties on, global warming escalates.
Arthur is determined as ever to find a solution and immortalize his name.
Just as Maggie is equally driven to destroy him.
The scene now shifts to a huge research freighter in the South Pacific.
An uneasy crew, more so after the initial death.
More characters this time out who I intensely disliked and kept hoping were next.
Drifting into formula now, yet this remains a taut thriller.

Judas Kiss - 1998 - 6/10

Heist film, yet from the onset, this defies expectations.
Security is distracted.

The heist is the kidnapping a of tech mogul, and runs slick with a small hiccup.
A bystander appears and needs to be liquidated. Only the victim is a politician’s wife.
Feds are involved to the chagrin of the detective in charge, who did not want the case to begin with.

The narrative careens all over kingdom come, with flashbacks, twists, adult situations.
Diverting enough mystery set in New Orleans, although a real mystery is why two Brits play the two coppers.
Rickman, by the way, cannot drawl a Southern accent for the life of him.

Hell Hole - 2021 - 6/10

Mason is not employee-of-the-month material.
Lazy, goof-off, shirker, lolling in this truck (Tonka?) instead of making his rounds.

Not surprisingly, his clumsiness causes an accident. A calamitous one.
Comic horror short seems to be building toward something (a longer film?).
Ridiculous, creative use of miniatures.

Shattered - 1991 - 6/10

Dan emerges from the car crash a physical and mental mess.
Total amnesia.
Luckily, his wife is there to help him rebuild his memories. Or is she?
Ditto his business partner wants to help. Or does he?
Old fashioned thriller about the dangers of the truth.
Or the dangers of not knowing.
Stereotyped premise has been told better, although this is adequate for a Saturday night.

Nolan, William F. - The Winchester Horror

Old-fashioned potboiler that Nolan could pen half asleep.
A midnight séance in the famous house rouses long dead Sarah Winchester. From that point on, trespassers in the home receive brutal deaths.
Meanwhile, psychic investigator Kincaid accepts the request of a police officer friend to hunt for his missing sister, herself heavily drawn to psychic truths and realities.
The novella switches back and forth, from Winchester House to Kincaid.
Any reader will foretell the inevitable encounter between dwelling and seeker.
Fast moving yarn which proudly shows its Pulp roots.
One to read with a smile, before tucking back into the shelves.

Design For Living - 1933 - 6/10

Titillating Pre-Code ménage à trois
Two men (best friends), one woman, who decide to live together platonically in Paris.
Funny film of manners, dialogue and situations.
Sly and naughty, yet never overt, which is probably why the Production Code passed it.
I suspect censors knew there was “something” about this that offended, but could not identify.
In ’34, the Code tightened and this was banned.
Sophisticated comedy, perhaps a bit starchy now.

The Getaway - 1972 - 7/10

Newly paroled con, Doc, is tasked with a bank heist.
In the background, corrupt politicians and calculating mob bosses.
As with most film heists, events swiftly go up in flames.
Hit and miss action film, worthwhile to see McQueen in prime form, blessed with Peckinpah’s red-blooded direction and a hard-nosed script by Walter Hill.
Plot and twists better than most action flicks.
Still, one watches this for McQueen and bullets. 12 gauge 00 shells. Gun hounds will go crazy watching this.

Pension Metsä - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - ペンション メッツァ

Gentle, soft-spoken series about the proprietress of a rural guest house.
Each episode (of six) sees one visitor arrive, talk about life, perhaps their past or a future, share a meal.
Discussions are contemplative, meditative, whimsical, philosophical.
If you desire action, emotional drama, or answers, this is not the place.
This is a quiet show, the house is something like a rest oasis
Those who peer deeper will grasp the passage of time, and how transitory is one’s journey.
Regulars at the Midnight Diner will feel at home.

Pride And Prejudice - 1980 - 8/10

This gem is often overlooked, eclipsed in popularity by the 2005 film and the superlative 1995 series.
Airing just before the 1980’s asserted its own identity, this 70ish production boasts great costumes and exteriors.
Most of the drama occurs in drawing rooms, libraries, dens, where the flat 1970’s look suffers.
The casting, however, is the strength of this, and it is impeccable.
Moray Watson and Priscilla Morgan as Mr and Mrs Bennett are marvelous, polar opposites.
Both Mary Bennett and Charlotte Lucas receive more due here than in any other version.
The leads, Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul, possess an electric chemistry.
Garvie makes a keen, witty, observant Eliza, barely keeping herself in check.
Rintoul’s Darcy is austere, aloof, ever alert. Watching them fence is thrilling.
Excellent companion / contrast to the 1995, and perhaps the closest in spirit to Austen’s novel.

Wilkinson, Charles - The Harmony Of The Stares

A strong grouping of musically themed works.

During a local recital, Philippa notices her pianist is not the usual Nigel. The replacement, a somewhat furtive sort, is intense and perhaps better suited to her voice. Tracking him down, however, proves difficult in “The True Accompanist”.

Amersham, the second oboist, is delighted to learn he will solo in the premier of a newly composed work. Pity that the first-chair oboist disappeared like that. In “The Oboists” – well – no cause in airing unpleasantness here.

Rules, restrictions, obligations. The bane of neighborhood associations and villages. And for individualistic souls who forego norms, there are always reprisals. “The Festival Of Conformity” makes one wonder why Trevidge ever moved to the village in the first place.

After he disposed of his manservant, Windrell had to deal with the inquisitive neighbors. As well as the flooding, the rising river levels that keep forcing locals onto his higher ground. What comes “Walking In From The West” adds to his anxiety. This story features a touch of SciFi.

For me, most of these stories are more accessible than previous Wilkinson I have read. Could be I am simply grasping him better.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? - 2022 - 6/10

Childhood best-friend Raz tells Zoe he intends to have an arranged marriage.
He probably should have waited, as Zoe is a documentary filmmaker and begs to film the whole process.
The matchmaker, screening candidates, awkward meetings, interviews with happy arranged marriages.
Consistently funny (Emma Thompson is a hoot), yet the last act veers into a different direction.
Much of the steam and energy also evaporates, causing me to wonder (you’re not going there, are you?”
Rom-Com is a cousin to My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), although that confection had a hard center while this is marshmallow filled.

A Taste Of Flesh - 1967 - 4/10

Another blunder. I thought I was acquiring another of the “of her flesh” series by Michael Findlay.
Wrong. This is a Doris Wishman roughie.
Two armed men invade the apartment of two women and a friend.
Assassins, it turns out, who run at the mouth.
Appalling film boasts flesh, but suffers from being boring.
The actors are inept. My theory is Wishman hired thespians at a nearby truckstop.

A fantasy sequence carries lesbian overtones, which make some giddy.
I’m ambivalent whether such was the living arrangement or not.

Gipsies - 1921 - 6/10
AKA - Cikáni

Giacomo plies the canals of Venice, dreaming of his betrothed, Angelina.
Deck mates warn him, “Trust not fortune nor women, both are deceitful and changeable.”
Thus, when the handsome, wealthy stranger appears, so disappears Angelina.
Giacomo, forlorn, gazes out at the empty waters. End of Prelude.

Time passes and the narrative fragments into several overblown stories.
Orphaned children, accused women, jealous menfolk.
Melodramatic acting, flailing arms, contorted facial expressions.
Wonderful restoration of this obscure Czechoslovakian Silent.
Modern score serves the story.

Wetherby - 1985 - 6/10

Early, a prophesy is spoken, which could resonate today:
“Logic also tells us that there must be constraints. That if people went around saying exactly what they feel, the result would be barbarism.”

The young man shows up out of the blue.
Friendly, yet withdrawn, moody. Suicidal, too, as it turns out.
His death stirs undercurrents throughout the community.
Old memories, resentments, faded promises, dashed obsessions.
I watched when it first screened (never having heard of Hare) and did not know what to make of it.
Still a puzzle, a film of aching loneliness, of disconnection within ones community.