Vultural

Land Girls - 1998 - 6/10

During WWII, three young women are dispatched to work farms while the men are off fighting.
A flirt, a reserved studious sort, a romantic dreamer.
Friendships, emotional entanglements, and work.
Stories are not hackneyed, but somewhat predictable.
Scenery is lush and will be eagerly devoured by armchair pastorale travelers.
Easy rolling film with a lovely feel for time and place.
I saw this when it first came out, and it still offers a nostalgic charm.

Count Dracula - 1977 - 7/10

Criminally overlooked version of the Carpathian count.
Louis Jourdan readily has the elegance and panache of the aristocrat.
The story is faithful, right down to the moonlight snack Vlad offers to his brides.
Darkish throughout, and much of the colors seem drained.
Frank Finlay makes a worthy adversary as Van Helsing, yet Jourdan dominates every scene.
Why has this never had a restoration? This is one of the most faithful versions of the count.

Dracula In Istanbul - 1953 - 5/10
AKA - Drakula İstanbul’da

Young lawyer travels to Romania to help reclusive count buy kiosks in Istanbul.
Gloomy castle, one wife, aroused and thirsty, rooms forbidden entry into.
For thirty minutes, the plot is fairly faithful, until the scene shifts to Istanbul.
The lawyer’s wife, Güzin, is a cabaret dancer, while her sister, Sadan, is a sleepwalker.
Dancing, dancing, more dancing, coupled with declining health, and red-eyed bats.
Final act brings back Count Drakula, as well as his enemies, led by Dr. Nuri.
Curiosity got the better of me – again.

Savage Three - 1975 - 7/10
AKA - Fango Bollente

The three work for a huge computer / data-information company.
Work is monotonous and dehumanizing.
They are cogs in an electronic grid.
Releasing steam, and to feel alive, they engage in escalating criminal behavior.
Provoking riots, car theft, causing traffic accidents, beatings, murders, rapes, brutality.
The theme is 40-50 years ahead of its time.
Excellent German commentary equating this prescient film with ongoing human madness.
Dallesandro leads a forceful cast in what turned out to be a fantastic surprise for me (I was expecting a routine Poliziottesco or Euro-Crime).

Eyes In The Night - 1942 - 6/10

An old flame reenters Norma’s life, and this time he is seducing her 17 year old step daughter.
For advice, Norma seeks out her blind friend, private eye Duncan Maclaine.
Who soon deduces nefarious activities swirl about Norma’s quiet home.
While blind, Mac’s remaining senses are as razor keen as a Hollywood scribe’s imagination.
As with so many disabled crime fighters, he has a formidable sidekick in his dog, Friday.
MGM programmer could have been a franchise, but faltered after a second installment.

The Black Pirate - 1926 - 6/10

After his father is slain by pirates, the young lord secretly joins the ship, biding his time for revenge.
In short order, he out duels the buccaneer captain and becomes leader.
Followed by romance (a princess!), treasure, and ship to ship combat.
The drama, the story, drags a little.
Huge compensation – if you can find it – this was shot in early Technicolor.
Douglas Fairbanks, trim and fit, performs amazing stunts.
Chief among them, the sail shredding, copied in numerous swashbucklers.
Several DVD / BluRay choices (of varying color saturation) are available.
https://www.silentera.com/video/blackPirateHV.html

No Hands On The Clock - 1941 - 6/10

Private eye Humphrey, on his honeymoon in Reno, is tasked with finding a missing man.
Several shady ladies fuel his new bride’s jealousy, while mobsters try to rub him out.
There are also scattered murders, suspicious cops, and FBI agents.
Pre-Boston Blackie Chester Morris glides effortlessly through muddled, percolating script.
I never knew what happened to the son, or why gangsters assumed Humphrey was one of them.
Jean Parker, as the new bride, makes a great foil to Chester.
Typical B-film: fun, forgettable.

Madame Blanc Mysteries: S01 - 2021 - 6/10

After her husband dies, wife Sally (antiques dealer) goes to France to tidy affairs.
Where she learns he had been murdered by his “other” wife.
Whom no one ever describes, even though they all saw her.
Spotty local mysteries follow, with a weak, ongoing arc of the husband’s death.
While set in France, most of the cast are Brits in postcard series in the cozy world.
Alright if you curb your brain – I tagged the murderer by the first episode.

Night Shift - 2021 - 6/10

Two sheriffs chat in the coffee shop, one rookie, one seasoned.
Next, break-in at the bowling alley.
The rookie is an eager beaver, while the older man digs into the alley’s history.
Horror short grows progressively darker and creepier.
Director David Pratt is someone to keep an eye on.

Connell, Brendan - The Heel

Mitch peddles wampum; tribal trinkets to souvenir shops, tourists and rubes.
He works on a dodgy commission, sometimes legit. Business is alright for an idle existence, which suits his lack of ambition.
The rest of his days and nights are devoted to the restless pursuit of female loins and petals.
In this pulp romp, Connell channels Bukowski, then filters the proceedings through Russ Meyer’s lurid lens.
Situations and descriptions exaggerate into laugh out loud nonsense.
Hardly a masterpiece, but wildly over the top trash.

Nude On The Moon - 1961 - 5/10

Doris Wishman nudie cutie finds our old professor and sidekick rocketing off to the moon.
Where – believe it or not – moon folk are all nude (well, they wear jumbo panties).
How can you differentiate them from Earthlings? By their pipe cleaner antennas!
Aside from a fair amount of volleyball in a pool, action is limited to strolling about.
Inspired shooting location at Coral Castle in Florida (which I have been to).
Performers are, by and large, healthy sized.

The Guy Who Came Back - 1951 - 5/10

Ex-football hero is now middle aged, washed up, feeling unwanted.
During World War II the services would not even have him due to injuries.
The first half, borderline soap opera is so much household melodrama.
Things do perk up with a female promoter (Linda Darnell) where he attempts nonsense.
Will there be a big football fame at the end?
Will an aging, overweight ex-star perform wonders?
As a kid, I loved this film. Now, Hollywood schlock.

The Fence - 2022 - 6/10

“Just don’t go leaving this laying about,” the motorbike dealer warns Steven.
Do young men ever listen? He leaves it outside the front door, and 10 minutes later it’s stolen.
From then, this becomes a quest through council estates Bristol, mid 80’s.
A journey through con men, petty thugs, opportunistic hustlers, drugs.
By turns cynical and comical. Everyone, it seems, is on the fiddle.
Attractive, sympathetic cast helps this immensely.
May resonate more with Brits who recall the 1980’s.

The Hunt For Salamander - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Otdel Izdirvane

Kamen leads the 4-man MWD team. An
MWD is an elite, national Missing Persons unit. It is an above the law, violent, crew.
After a morning jogger is murdered for no reason, they hone in on a recently released convict.
What follows are assassinations, frame-jobs, cover-ups, interference from politicos.
A trail begins to surface (feels improvised to me).
Late in the series, we hear about the Salamander organization – think SPECTRE.
Europol has been after Salamander, yet the organization is completely hidden.
Villains get shuffled, the narrative goes into a higher gear, and then … the show flat out ends!
Thirteen episodes, loose threads galore. What happened? They run outta money?

Howard - Valentine - Possessions And Pursuits

Young Lord Clyro comes across a relic in Istanbul. He is drawn to it. The item, a mirror, exerts an almost supernatural pull, and yet it seems a holy piece. A portal into a higher plane. While churches often attempt to reflect the house of God, the relic offers a glimpse of the city of God.
No sooner has Lord Clyro returned to England when claimants and would-be possessors begin circling.
John Howard’s novella weaves through the impoverished gentry, the arrogant collectors, scholars, servants and those sensitive to the magic.

As ever was, the new head has determined to limit the annual pagan festivities. While seemingly harmless, the very notion of pre-Christian celebrations rankle. Rayment is an outsider, not a participant, yet in “Masque And Anti-Masque” he bears witness to the stealthy contesting.

By accident – no – say chance, or Fate, Phillip encounters the operator of “The Prospero Machine,” one of those coin-operated gadgets that dispenses a fortune card.
The cards themselves offer veiled predictions, advice, charms.
Phillip, impoverish poet (are there ever rich poets nowadays?) is hired to pen new mantras and wisdom for the next ream of cards.
Those who still puzzle over Mazzaroth will be caught in this spell.

Selvin, Joel - Monterey Pop

If memory serves me correctly, this came out in 1992 in conjunction with the 4 CD / 4 cassette box set from Rhino Records.
Book and music were not packaged together, but it was understood they complimented each other.

Mr Selvin takes a chronological approach to the festival.
The genesis, feverish planning, a day by day survey of artists and set lists, aftermath, final thoughts.
In addition, this is packed with photos. Black and white, as well as color, by Jim Marshall.

There is a pronounced Northern California bias, along with a scornful dismissal of anything Los Angeles.
Nonetheless, this is an enchanted book, a souvenir of the flash of a moment.

Better would probably be two documentaries: Pennebaker’s Monterey Pop (1968), and the American Experience’s “Summer Of Love” (2007). (Selvin’s comments in the latter remain crabby and cranky.)
In this book, he cannot bring himself to acknowledge that the vacuous, superficial Angelinos that he loathes so much, actually pulled the festival off.

The Green Street Hooligans - 2005 - 7/10

Expelled Harvard student heads to England to rebuild.
There, he wanders into a football firm and gradually acquires a taste for violence.
Elijah Woods seems something of odd casting. Sometimes believable, other times less so.
Viewed as a “continuing education” story, this works better, especially as Matt grows into a formidable male.
Developing useful skills and instincts.
Based on a novel, which I read per my wife’s recommendation, this can be brutal at times.

Meet Boston Blackie - 1941 - 6/10

First of a long running series is a solid mystery, boasting pre-Noir photography.
Chester Morris is the breezy Blackie, reformed thief (although his main nemesis, Inspector Farraday, never believes that).
In between romancing attractive females and damsels in distress, Blackie solves the crime de jour.
This outing, Nazi spies and German submarines out beyond Coney Island.
No great shakes, but engaging and entertaining.

The Dresser - 1983 - 7/10

The aging “ACTOR” working repertory, touring the provinces in wartime England.
It’s a living – barely – but the salad days are behind, both for him and his dresser who comes across as something between a batman and a one-man cheerleading team.
A sharp eye examines the deprivations and frugality of the period, as well as the aging men.
Trying to do “King Lear” on a slender budget.
Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay are peerless.

The Big Broadcast Of 1938 - 1938 - 5/10

Last fling of a mediocre franchise.
Skits and musical numbers in fast-paced if dull retread. A formula gone tired.
Bob Hope sings, what will be his signature song, “Thanks For The Memory” (assuming viewers still remember who Hope was, let alone his song).
W C Fields romps through chaotically funny scenes, although few and far between.

The Young Lovers - 2021 - 5/10
AKA - Les Jeunes Amants

Late shift, Dr. Pierre meets Shauna, friend of a dying patient, before she disappears.
Fast forward sixteen years, and Pierre and Shauna meet again.
He remembers her, she does not recall him.
She is 70. He is in his 50’s, married, yet smitten.
Why? What do they have in common? Where is the attraction?
Older woman, younger man story, sans logic, sans rationale.

Snake Sisters - 1984 - 5/10

The snake lays sixteen eggs; three extra large ones hatch out as human females.
Life is idyllic on the tiny island until the females begin menstruating.
Then they start seeking another sort of snake.
Nudity throughout, quite a bit of sex, and eating (implied) of animals.
I don’t know the history, so don’t know if this is pure fantasy or based on Filipino folklore.
Definitely a curio, and perhaps more for seekers of such.

Daughters Who Pay - 1926 - 6/10

Foolish Larry confesses his difficulties to sister, Margaret.
He has embezzled company funds to play the stock market and has lost $10K.
She pleas with his boss, who has his own troubles.
His son is smitten with a cabaret dancer, the exotic Sonia.
Sonia, a Russian expat, is imperiled by the local Communist cell.
Overly complicated, but the narrative moves swiftly.
Marguerite de la Motte is striking throughout, centering the movie.
Nevertheless, anytime the head baddie appears (Bela Lugosi) his face holds the screen.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre - 2023 - 6/10

A team murders their way to a crack theft and the British government activates a rogue unit.
Next, the unit jets from one location to the next while the plot breathlessly keeps pace.
Brisk, extremely brisk, Guy Ritchie caper film has few lulls.
Photography and settings mirror Bond or Mission Impossible franchises.
Jason Statham helms the team, delivers one-liners and is an unstoppable fighting machine.
Hugh Grant and Josh Harmett both extremely funny throughout.
Guy Ritchie could do this in his sleep, but I enjoyed more this one than his last few outings.
Diverting, if mindless popcorn.

Joshi, S T - Something From Below

Well – actually the something is from beyond, perhaps above and beyond,
A meteorite. Which somehow finds its way deep into the coal mine.
After the unexplained death of her Pa, college grad Alison, chemistry major and rural oblivion escapee, reluctantly returns to the homestead, digging for answers.
Locals are close lipped, no one knows nuthin’. She perseveres, and we get this novella.
Mr Joshi keeps this potboiler a low simmer, although there ain’t much by way of meat or vegetables in this SciFi / Horror stew.
Talking, asking, theorizing, guessing, footwork, midnight excavations.
The story leans against HPL’s “The Colour Out Of Space”, and the conclusion feels like hashed goods.