Vultural

Pink Floyd: The Making Of Dark Side Of The Moon - 2003 - 6/10

Entertaining, generally informative documentary of the genesis and creation of the classic album.
Aside from band members, talking heads include engineer Alan Parsons and influential critics.
Band members are interviewed separately and are civil toward each other.
This album, they regard as their finest moment as a unit.
Subsequent problems that would wedge the group are merely alluded to.
All members in 2003 are alive, lucid, although some recollections vary.
The techniques were so very old school, no computer software in 1973.
Not necessarily essential, yet fascinating for fans of the group.

Untamed Mistress - 1956 - 3/10

In India, two white hunters listen to a dying maharajah talk of a strange tribe.
Gorillas, who kidnap women. White women.
Scene shift, and they are in Africa (elephants, lions, giraffe) where they meet the well dressed, well fed, Velda.
Painful adventure film sees our crew wander sets then gape at footage of wild Africa.
And yes, there are gorillas. They stalk, they fight, they dance.
They kill. What’s theirs stays theirs.
Spectacularly bad.

Workers Or Shirkers: Victorian Benefits - 2019 - 6/10

Things never change. You want to aid the less fortunate, those down on their luck, the injured.
The lazy, the idlers, the spongers, the loafers? Not so much.
Traces the earliest solutions, devised by those ever-industrious Victorians.
From the workhouse, to unemployment benefits.
Until the government money begins to tap out.
Then the rabble hear a posh phrase – austerity measures.
Even today, no easy solutions, perhaps no solutions.

Hotel Europa - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Das Weiße Haus am Rhein

Emil returns to Germany after World War I, carrying a dark secret.
The victorious French have requisitioned the family Dreesen Hotel, yet Emil is able to broker a deal allowing the family and staff to remain, giving the French commanders luxury service.
The hotel is struggling, although Emil has new ideas, bold concepts, at odds with traditions.
Two-part series goes from 1918-1938, an era of uneasy peace, building to war.
No dates are mentioned, so those with a knowledge of history and events might fare better.
Dignitaries include Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, both of whom actually stayed in the hotel.
The “events” are eerily accurate, family dramas – who knows.

Here Be Monsters - 2023 - 6/10

Most people would not call us hunters, but monsters.
Over white wine and barbequed meat, the girls discuss reasons why they do what they do.
Or should not do. Olivia wants to abandon the long practice of sourcing their own meat.
Luna disagrees, no matter that the last meal was only nine years old.
Disturbing horror, set in wooded Los Angeles (Mulholland?).

Cocaine Fiends - 1936 - 4/10

Small town Jane flees to the bright lights, meets Nick who gives her “headache powder”.
Soon hooked, and with few prospects, Jane finds illegal work.
Brother Eddie soon arrives, hunting his wayward sister.
Another of Life’s suckers, he’s soon on the powder himself.
Preachy melodrama, often shown in tandem with Reefer Madness, a better, and campier, film.
Actually, this is a remake of The Pace That Kills (1927), likewise more energetic and fun.
Watch if you must, but this is dull and dreary.
Hey, kids! Try this, instead,

Glory - 1989 - 7/10

During America’s Civil War, Massachusetts forms a regiment of black volunteers.
Training, drilling, facing the same discrimination as before.
Yes, the narrative goes into that, but this is a war film, with a lot of action.
The cast is exceptional
While historical accuracy is a bit suspect, the historical elements ring true.
Characters, motivations, prevailing attitudes.
Somewhat ignored during its release, and awards were spotty, this has aged well.

Uncle Vanya - 2024 - 7/10

Vanya and his niece have managed the large rural estate for years.
The money flowing to his brother-in-law, The Professor, a pompous, untalented scholar.
Forcibly retired, the penniless sponger arrives with a much younger trophy wife.
Insists on changes to the daily routine to suit his predilections.
Meanwhile, the trophy wife catches the eye of menfolk.
Chekhov’s play skews class and education, industry and indolence.
Well acted, although like “Hamlet” I have never warmed to this play.
Others laughed throughout.
Acquired taste.

Mark Strikes Again - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Mark Colpisce Ancora

Detective Mark works undercover in the plaza, catching petty drug dealers and small thieves.
By chance, he is drawn into a team of terrorists, specialty – assassination.
Italian police brass approve, as does Interpol, who wants Mark to gain trust and find the leaders.
Euro-crime flick dashes along with shootings, bombings, betrayals.
Surprisingly, things misfire from time to time, like when street thieves snatch a purse carrying a bomb.
Franco Gasparri exudes breezy charm, and he is not one of those unstoppable killing machines.
Alas, this was to be his last film.

The Pyx - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - The Hooker Cult Murders

Elizabeth, business class prostitute, swan dives off the roof of a tall building.
Did she leap, or was she pushed? Suicide or murder?
Police investigations into her death dovetail with Elizabeth’s final days.
Gloomy Horror laced with fatalistic Noir.
Plummer spot-on as the taciturn, cold blooded detective.
Karen Black quite good was the working girl, requested by a “special client”.
Overlooked during its run, worth a look by fans of diabolical religious films.

Walk The Walk - 1970 - 5/10

Film opens as the heroin addict struggles with the monkey.
From the religious iconography, we soon realize he is a seminary student.
That’s right before he goes to a zonked out hippie party to score more –
And instead he picks up a floozy redhead, or maybe she scores him.
Numerous set-pieces in this, no narrative, no coherence.
Bernie Hamilton (later the captain of Starsky & Hutch) is the only capable actor.
Most of the dialogue appears to be looped.
For those who like weird or bad cinema, this calls for you.
Lovingly restored by Nicolas Winding Refn.

Weighell, Ron - Child Of The Dawn

A grief stricken husband takes the plunge and embarks into the netherworld, seeking his wife.
Leighton is no adept, nor a master; he is a mere dabbler. A wealthy tourist, perhaps he assumes his earthly skills will serve in the chaotic afterlife.
Things go terribly wrong. Fortunately, an adept is at hand, Malcroft, as well as his disciple. Along with Leighton’s two adult children, both of whom possess gifts.

Once this story gets going, the energy is propulsive.
Three narratives, Leighton in the void, his artistic son and the disciple beside his near-lifeless body, while his spiritualist daughter and adept Malcroft race to Egypt, enlisting the ferocious Mona.
To attempt a summoning that Aleister Crowley shirked, and regretted to his dying day.
The Egyptian track is the meat of the book, and is a thumping, pulpy adventure.
Much of this echoes “Entombed With The Pharaohs” (HPL / HH), and is claustrophobic, dangerous, laced with exploits.

This can be read as a page-turner, in which case this is a lot of fun.
Weighell has jammed this with references, however. Readers with an interest in Egyptology will seize with delight. Me, I know major deities, I know Bast (living with felines means awareness of Bastet is de rigueur). The ruins of Bubastis? Never heard of it. Weighell makes it unforgettable.
Other references dance around. Aleister Crowley, to a lesser degree Austin Osman Spare.
Again, these are backgrounded. You can enjoy this book, knowing nothing of them.

Down the line, if curious, there are plenty of areas to explore.
The novel is an erudite cliffhanger from a master storyteller, with a fond afterword from Ron’s widow, Fran.

Sister Long Legs -1960 - 6/10
AKA - Chang tui jie jie // 長腿姐姐

Jingfang has two eligible daughters.
Although Binbin is underage and a terrible flirt, and Tingting pushes men away with those black frame glasses and her dismissive attitude.
And there are so few attractive (ahem, rich) single men available.
Plus, other women are pushing their own daughters front and center.
Romantic comedy of wealth and manners and assumptions.
For those who have lived or visited, this offers a peek at Hong Kong, way, way back when.

Groundhog Day - 1993 - 6/10

TV weather guy (Bill Murray) as a world-class, self-centered jerk.
He hates his job, hates the assignment (please, groundhog reports), hates the small town and the folk.
His contempt is all too evident.
Fate, however, can play cruel jokes, and not always on innocent rubes.
He is caught in a loop, one Groundhog Day follows another, with no end.
Of all the flimsy plots, yet this Rom-Com works, despite the concrete female thespian.
Murray is droll, sardonic, cynical, frustrated. Terrific range. Film has dated, though.

Film Emigration From Nazi Germany - 1975 - 6/10
AKA - Filmemigration aus Nazideutschland

Documentary made in the late 1960’s consists of interviews with those who fled Nazi Germany, or their descendants.
Five episodes, each with its own focus;
1 Why leave? Who helped them leave?
2 Those who went to France, Belgium, England. Worse antisemitism, work restrictions.
3 USA. Unions refusal techs, writers can only make suggestions. Free reins to composers and directors.
4 Hollywood restricts acting roles: Nazis, professors, scientists, later Communists and terrorists
5 War over. Return to Germany or remain? Forever an outsider.
These are long take, often labored interviews, and may be wearisome to casual viewers.
For cinema connoisseurs, this is a fascinating back alley.

Tabloids On Trial - 2024 - 6/10

Specifically, the British tabloids, from embellishing stories to outright lying.
Earlier, where were those journalists getting their facts?
Hacking phone calls, hacking voicemails, burglarizing homes.
Wait, friend! Isn’t that illegal?
Maybe, yet if the culprits are off-duty, freelancing coppers, then forget it.
The tabloids have a war chest of billions, with politicians and authorities in their pockets.
Who can fight? Who has enough financial firepower and cachet?
Think of a Prince. One the tabloids have been smearing for years.
One whose mother, the tabloids caused the death of.

Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler - 2005 - 7/10

90 minute biography from the Douglas Fairbanks Museum.
Tidy overview of his life, Broadway career, Hollywood comedian, then action icon.
Numerous clips from many films, quality varies depending on restoration.
Hosts do a good job encapsulating the man, painful personal history, achievements.
If nothing else, for founding United Artists with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D W Griffith.
One must overlook the somewhat amateurish quality of this.
Miking is not always the best, set choices are odd, and it feels like the budget was modest.
If you can forgive limitations, you should enjoy this labor of love documentary.

The Summer Of 42 - 1971 - 6/10

Coming of age story of teenage boy developing a crush on a war bride, husband deployed overseas.
Easy to see why, Jennifer O’Neil is absolutely radiant.
The photography is lush, soft focus. Music by Michel Legrand is unforgettable.
Much is accurate across years. Insecurity, fumbling dates, the attempts at being serious.
Seaside locations add a pervasive melancholy, compounded by the undercurrent of the ongoing war.
Funny, sentimental, aching at times.

The Importance Of Being Oscar - 2024 - 7/10

Meteoric rise, sordid fall, quiet resurrection of the Irish poet and playwright.
Infatuation with Miss Langtry, marriage to Constance.
The American tour, the burgeoning fame both for works and appearances.
Bosie, and only Bosie is listed as a dalliance.
Alastair Whatley one man show makes a spellbinding evening of wit, intellectualism and pathos.
Referenced: “Earnest”, “De Profundis”, “Ballad Reading Gaol”.
Essential for fans of Wilde.
Excellent companion to Prisoner C33 from 2022.

The Thirteenth Hour - 1947 - 6/10

Steve, swerving to miss a drunk driver, plows into a gas station.
No one saw the other car, his freight truck is wrecked, his license suspended.
How will he keep his small transport firm in business?
Especially with the larger competitor trying to quash him.
Add some murders, and Steve’s luck tumbles from bad to worse
Late entry in “The Whistler” series is a routine Noir with a few twists.
Surprisingly good restoration for a lesser B-film, commentary by historian Eloise Ross.
Richard Dix’s last film in the series, and his final film, period.

Shining Sex - 1976 - 6/10

A reserved couple invite a cabaret dancer back to their rooms.
Threesome, she assumes. Except it is anything but.
The female is an inter-dimensional, studying human behavior, the male is her servant.

Early on, the dancer is smeared and drugged with ointment.
This will inevitably kill her, but first she is tasked to assassinate three.
The plot in a nutshell, is SciFi, leaning toward Alphaville minimalism.
This is a lethargic, dreamlike mood piece, sopping with fluids.

Sex is used as control, seduction, extermination.
Losing track of time, which is a theme, equates to losing life.
The obliterating power of the long night, that grows into the lost weekend, then the missing week.
For sybarites, voyeurs, and fans of Jess Franco.

Of Unknown Origin - 1983 - 6/10

Rising New York corporate shark Bart is fast tracked to make VP, owns a beautifully restored brownstone, and has a gorgeous wife (Shannon Tweed debut).
And an oversized, especially destructive rat. Chewing power cables, infesting food stocks, shredding living areas.
While Bart has a major business deadline, the rodent takes greater priority.
Man vs rat packed with jump scares, tension, and ridiculous comedy.
Intentional or not – unsure.
The audience I watched with started laughing midway until the credits.

Music For The Movies: Bernard Herrmann - 1992 - 7/10

From Citizen Kane (1941) to Taxi Driver (1976).
Overview of extraordinarily gifted, if testy, composer and conductor.
Herrmann was one who broke with the style of compositions derived from the European Romantic tradition.
Talking heads include composers, musicians, directors, an ex-wife, friends.
Analyzed is his use of ostinati (repeating musical patterns), also the break with Hitchcock.
At an hour, this skims along and covers roughly a quarter of his film output.

The Good, The Bad, And The Weird - 2008 - 6/10
AKA - 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈

Exciting Korean Western set in Manchuria, 1939, just before World War II.
An assassin is tasked with stealing a treasure map, carried by a Japanese diplomat on a train.
Things get messy when a lowly bandit winds up with the map first and flees on his motorcycle.
Further complicating matters, a bounty hunter arrives in pursuit of the hitman.
Add a large gang of thieves, add a Japanese army detachment!
Gunfights? You gotta be kidding. Likewise, topnotch camera work and incredible stunts.
Homage to Spaghetti Westerns, although lightweight, lacking the edge Leone would have given.
Pre-fame Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Jung Woo-sung in over-the-top adventure.

The Mysterious Lady - 1928 - 6/10

Her mission: steal some plans off the Austrian officer.
Romance and lies. If necessary, seduction.
Garbo excels as the femme fatale, ala Mata Hari.
Conrad Nagel fine as the dashing, smitten officer.
Being an espionage thriller, the pace is low key, despite the stakes.
Evocative lighting by candles, cigarette smoke.
For those who never understood the “fuss” about Garbo, she is lovely in this.