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Vultural

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Join date
19-Aug-2013
Last activity
5-Jul-2025
Posts
4,941

Post History

Post
#1526559
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Menu - 2022 - 7/10

The Hawthorne, exclusive restaurant. How exclusive? On its own island.
Expensive? Prices run into four figures.
Yet tonight, as in every night, tables for twelve are sold out.
And the meal, a multi course cavalcade, is a building presentation of art.
The guest list is composed of critics, “foodies”, loud-mouthed wannabees, entitled, and snobs.
Vicious satire on cork sniffers and swooning nibblers who rhapsodize over their consumption.
Acid laced meal of Bitter Feast (2010), Boiling Point (2021), seasoned with the bitter bile of Flux Gourmet (2022).
Eat, drink and be merry.

Post
#1526557
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

La Cérémonie - 1995 - 7/10

Disturbing psychological thriller based on Ruth Rendell novel.
Distracted wife interviews maid applicant, explains duties, gives a tour of the house.
Does or does not run background check.
The maid, it is revealed, has one glaring shortcoming, which gnaws at her more than anything.
Maid falls under the influence of busybody mail clerk,
and two females bond over resentments, secrets, worries, and grudges.
Tension is tightened throughout until the last reel.
One of Claude Chabrol’s more accessible films.
Huppert and Bonnaire pitch perfect as amoral pair.

Post
#1526218
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Wayward Cloud - 2005 - 6/10
AKA - Tian bian yi duo yun // 天邊一朵雲

Half sibling to 1999’s The Hole. In the earlier film, torrential rain, in this one drought.
Water flows briefly each day, residents rely on melons to slack thirst.
A seemingly abandoned apartment building houses a film crew making porn videos.
Tenants wander listlessly, engage in bored sex, browse the empty video shop.
This is mostly wordless. While there may be meaning, I did not think too hard.

As with The Hole, the favorite parts for me were the weird-beyond-belief musical numbers.
Prudes, beware numerous mid-core pornographic sequences. γνῶθι σεαυτόν
Subs = https://subscene.com/subtitles/the-wayward-cloud-tian-bian-yi-duo-yun/english/2997328

Post
#1526204
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Glass Tomb - 1955 - 5/10

Step right up! Look at Sapolio, the starving man!
Pel promotes sideshow artists, carnival acts, etc …
Newest gig, the man who won’t eat for the next seventy days.
Meantime, while all the carnies are partying, a murder is committed in the upstairs flat.
Dull story, lacks mystery, lacks tension, and the carnival world is not explored.
Lackadaisical commentary by Richard Roberts wanders and is misinformed, saying this was Ireland’s lone Noir.
(Check out Behind Green Lights and Railroaded (1946), along with Open Secret and Raw Deal.)

Post
#1526167
Topic
What are you reading?
Time

Malfi, Ronald - Cradle Lake

A deceased father ignores his own offspring and bequeaths his rural North Carolina home to nephew Alan. City dweller.
Except the city hasn’t been going so well. After two miscarriages, his wife is despondent. Both blame stressful NYC. Free home in a new state might mean a new start!
Soon, soon, soon, events eddy and Alan realizes the new community conceals secrets. The biggest being … what’s the name of this novel again?
Time and again, Malfi reveals an angle or plot turn and I think, “too early for this.” Only the disclosure is OK because he has a sackful of narrative twists in reserve.
A Cherokee journey took me unawares and was an original detour, much appreciated.
Unfortunately, entering the final act, professor Alan seems to lose his common sense along with his bearings. Levels go over the top. “Things” besieging the home, within and without, disappear in the rearview mirror, unexplained. I found the conclusion dissatisfying.

Post
#1525959
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Under Milk Wood - 2014 - 8/10

“Oh, isn’t life a terrible thing, thank God?”
Dylan Thomas’ radio drama receives a magnificent interpretation via a luminous cast.
A dizzying rush of images, character sketches, plots, lies, treachery, regrets.
Language flows forth like a gushing spill.
One seizes upon an instant, before being propelled onward into another.
Crossing of memory and dreams, recollections true and misremembered.
“Remember me. I have forgotten you. I am going into the darkness, of the darkness forever. I have forgotten that I was ever born.”
Subs = https://subscene.com/subtitles/under-milk-wood-2014/english/2995796

Post
#1525958
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Hanzo The Razor: The Snare - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Goyôkiba: Kamisori Hanzô jigoku zeme

Hanzo, the sheriff with the big blade, prepares to interrogate.
One does not want to be interrogated by this man, trust me.
Treasury officials have devalued the currency, forcing desperate citizens into crime.
Hanzo, venting his disdain at officials stumbles across an illegal abortion site.
This is merely the beginning of slave traffic, government criminality, murder attempts.
Storylines churn at a furious pace. Speaking of churning, so does our big blade officer.
Middle outing of an extremely sleazy trilogy. Only Japan offers nuggets like this.

Post
#1525784
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Amityville Horror - 1979 - 6/10

The previous homeowner murdered his whole family.
A year on, the house is available – cheap!
So the new family snaps it up, moves in … and Pa starts weirding out.
What to do? Stay and get slaughtered? Or keep asking, “What’s going on?”
The house upsets a nun, a priest, a paranormal sensitive.
Any family with a lick of sense would flee.
Based on a huge bestselling book, which was based on “true events”.
Haunted house clichéd to the max in enjoyable if predictable, outing.

Post
#1525783
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Cry Wolf - 1947 - 6/10

Sandra arrives at her late husband’s family home.
Wife? Widow? “Why, we never knew he was married!”
The narrative soon goes into one of mutual suspicion.
Is this woman a gold digger? Did her husband’s brother have something to do with his death?
One watches this to see Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck together – their only pairing.
Noirish looking, although this is more mystery / thriller.
Not enough tension in an underwritten script.
Watchable if you run across it while surfing late night.

Post
#1525782
Topic
What are you reading?
Time

Brossard, Chandler - The Wolf Leaps

His pale face looks out of place in the Harlem bar. A tourist, slumming? Or a prospect? One of the hookers sizes him up, approaches. After a few comments, he follows her to a grimy room. Money is exchanged and the bed soon squeals. And at that point, the priest develops a taste for dark meat.
Back at the parish house, the wife of our Episcopalian priest contemplates her miserable existence. Awful neighborhood, disgusting residents, not to mention her husband, a male with “needs”. How happy she had been in the days of her all-girls school, with soft female companions. Sappho beckons.
Then there is the pimp, sweet talking charm to the friendly waitress. She’s wasting her life on her feet all day when she could earn so much more on her knees or on her back. He’d pocket half, and promise her it’s for them, their future. Just have to coax her away from her family, her boyfriend. Easy.
Chandler’s style is lean, not a sentence wasted. Not surprisingly, after this novel of adultery, lesbianism and prostitution was written in 1962, publishers shunned it. When it was finally published in 1973, few in white bread America bought it.
Headlong rush down grubby Harlem backstreets.

Post
#1525623
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Savage Nights - 1992 - 7/10
AKA - Les Nuits Fauves

Jean prefers men, although something about Laura fascinates him.
Their mutual attraction is such that they become sexually intimate.
Afterward, and not straight away, he confesses that he is, and has been, HIV positive.
At times maddening film of lust, obsession, and disinterest.
Jean is selfish, in denial, perhaps empty emotionally and spiritually.
Directed and starring Cyril Collard, based on his own novel.
At times insightful look at gay cultures, some underground, others known.

Post
#1525467
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Rolling Stones: Live L’Olympia Theatre - 2003 - 7/10

Professional capture of the band in a smaller venue.
Fans who want a show of greatest hits may pause, however.
One of the lures for this is the inclusion of many lesser performed numbers.
“Live With Me”, “Hand of Fate”, “No Expectations”, “Stray Cat Blues”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, “That’s How Strong My Love Is”, “Going to à Go-Go”, “Love Train”, “Respectable” …
Charlie is effortless and concise, Mick poster child for dynamism, Keith and Ron walking cadavers.
Although there is a horn section, keyboards, background singers, the mix leans towards the guitarists.
The cutting is much to rapid to study the musicianship.
Mere quibbles. Stones’ fans, you know this.

Post
#1525338
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

School Of Death - 1975 - 6/10
AKA - El Colegio de la Muerte

Yes, sometimes our girls need minor correcting. Especially Leonore, here.
The “school” is something between orphanage and detention hall.
Once the girls are old enough they are hired out to families / employers unknown.
One unforgettable client has a face completely burned away.
Not to suggest he isn’t quite sane, but he does like using his scalpel on those girls.
Film moves too slowly for its own good, but boasts a stylized Gothic look.
Another film that is pure Hammer, except it is not Hammer.
By any other name, Inspector Coldman could be Wilkie Collins’ Sergeant Cuff.
Undercurrents of white slave trafficking poorly exploited.

Post
#1525173
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Best Hotel On Skid Row - 1990 - 6/10

“Life in here is an ode to the low-income blues.”
Rooms at the Madison are $8.20 a night. No hot plate. Coin-op TV sets.
Or you could crash in the all night movie house for $2.50.
Cheaper? Sleep in the alley.
Profiles of a few tenants. Where they came from, what they left behind, how they live now.
Some are resigned, a few clutch pipedreams. Such is life.
Narrated knowingly by Charles Bukowski.
Ideal double bill for this is It Was A Wonderful Life from 1992.

Post
#1524946
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Poison Rose - 1966 - 5/10
AKA - Du mei gui // 毒玫瑰

The inspector listens on the other sided of the two-way mirror.
Oh, the sexy lounge club singer is bad, but she’s low fruit.
He wants the whole gang, and the kingpin behind them.
So he sends a third detective undercover, after the first two were killed.
Lightweight Shaw Brother film is part police, part espionage (with gadgets and 007 music cues).
The story percolates along, pausing for romance and musical numbers.
Better Shaw Bros are out there – and worse.

Post
#1524944
Topic
What are you reading?
Time

Tuttle, Lisa - The Dead Hours Of Night

A truly capital selection of choice stories here.
“Objects In Dreams May Be Closer Than They Appear”, the opener, launches on a high note and things climb from here. A woman, her ex, and a house spied but not found twenty years earlier. Enter modern technology, satellite imaging. Those more wise understand that warnings to the curious cross cultures and centuries. A very Aickmanesque tale.
So how do you react to loathsome creatures on the sidewalk? No, not the vomit splashed drunk. The cockroach twitching on its back, the quivering, obviously sick rat. Do you ignore? Do you squash it underfoot? How about if your partner brings it home, as in “Replacements”? Are you empathetic?
Precious little to explain in “My Pathology”. To paraphrase an old co-worker of mine, “it’s just another typical tale about the Philosopher’s Stone and a teratoma.” Love and obsession, not in that order.
“The Dream Detective” spurred an annoyed reaction, I’m afraid. Friends arrange a blind date at their home, but the forced couple never hit it off. No chemistry. Or they suffer standards. Besides, the female, Grace, confesses to an ability to enter dreams. Intervene, interfere, or so she says. The narrative goes deeper still, becoming absorbing with each page – only to come to an abrupt stop! This was going full steam. Where’s the rest?
To fellow gardeners who have fought the persistent invader, “Vegetable Love” will flick your fury. Tuttle’s character deals with Japanese knotweed. For us in Dixie, the beast is Kudzu.
At one time or another, if we are lucky or unlucky, we receive “The Book That Finds You”. Here, the roots of Aickman are again evident, along with a glimpse of Tuttle’s personal history.
This is really an excellent, well-chosen collection, and since it is a Valencourt Book, reasonably priced.

Post
#1524821
Topic
FanEdit Reviews - Post Your Reviews Here
Time

Three Fveking Bears (Rambo, et al) - Vilgefortz

Filesize = 7.6 GB, Video = 1920 X 1080p AVC, Audio = 192 kbps AC-3, 2-Channel stereo. No subs.

“Why are you pushing me?”
Rambo’s initial story, totally reworked, via flashbacks and voiceovers.
The flashbacks work to propel the narrative pace of this irreverent actioner.
Contemplative lulls are fewer here. Prudish Americans ought to brace for steamy nudity, as well.
The voiceover work is funny as hell. Rambo sounds like he is sippin’ syrup throughout, just about to nod off into permanent dreamland.
Here and there, the image is battered, though not overly so.
Dialogue is fairly clear – I gripe about this frequently. I listened through headphones.
Too bad Neglify is no longer reviewing. This is one he should have enjoyed.

Post
#1524820
Topic
FanEdit Reviews - Post Your Reviews Here
Time

Miami Vice: 03 Redemption - RangerKris

Filesize = 5.14 GB, Video = 512 X 384p AVC, Audio = 317 kbps AAC, 2-Channel stereo. No subs.

Mix of two early episodes (“Evan” and “Definitely Miami”), both Crockett focused.
The editing is smooth throughout, gliding the stories back and forth.
Stylishly, the stories are very different, one mostly dark, the other bright.
“Evan”, from S01, has a more subdued color palette than “Definitely Miami”, which is more saturated, and probably how most remember this series.
Music terrific in this one, although the dialogue is muffled half the time.
Filesize strikes me as too large for the video and audio.
At 77 minutes, the length of time is spot on.
RangerKris changed into Ranger613 after this, then dropped out of the hobby.
Too bad, he was improving each time out.

Post
#1524819
Topic
FanEdit Reviews - Post Your Reviews Here
Time

Terminator Extended Edition - Rhythm Rice

Filesize = 1.2 GB, Video = 720 X 418p AVC, Audio = 128 kbps AAC, 2-Channel stereo. No subs.

Deleted scenes are reinserted, making for a longer experience.
Not necessarily better, however.
The excised scenes are of lower quality, visually and sometimes audibly.
Moreover, they do not, to my way of thinking, add much to the characters.
Sarah, in fact, seems a little more dippy.
Her exchanges with Reese reveal almost no chemistry between the leads.
Reese’s observations, though, are haunting.
The knowledge that all this will be gone, swept away within a generation is chilling.
Likewise, his acknowledgement that he is a man out of place in this time, that he does not belong, is a painful truth and should have been left in.
I enjoyed watching this, can appreciate the professional work done, but I doubt I will ever rewatch.

Post
#1524818
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

eXistenZ - 1999 - 7/10

Yes, yesterday’s future draws closer everyday.
In the near future, players are immersed in heady games via bio-port into their nerve cord.
Once the game is underway, you cannot differentiate actual from virtual.
Mistakes prove lethal.
Complicating matters are outside terror groups, rebels, who sabotage the games and corporations.
Thoughtful, provocative actioner, eerily prescient, more so every year it seems.
A chilly film, however, with limited chemistry between the leads.

Post
#1524029
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Chocolat - 2000 - 6/10

Late 1950’s, small French village, into which arrives the widow woman and daughter.
Even though the village is little more than a hamlet, she sets up a chocolate shop.
Chocolate, being a luxury item, straight off I’m growing skeptical.
How can locals afford this? How does she source ingredients?
Not to worry, a dalliance between her an a Roma guitarist provides distraction.
During release, this was the big artsy hit with mainstream viewers (usually one film per year).
I didn’t “get it” then, and still don’t. Yes, yes, no soul.
Romantics and fable lovers, this should suit you better.

Post
#1524028
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle - 1992 - 6/10

The home-wrecker. Usurper. The hot babysitter, the childless au pair.
After Peyton loses her infant, she opts to enter a new family.
Mind you, the family in question, rather the wife, she holds responsible for the death of her husband.
Once in the home, small moves, worming her way deeper as a steamy, alternative mate.
Charged erotic thriller is too classy for that genre with a strong cast of rising faces.
Rebecca De Mornay could work these roles in her sleep at this time.
Sinister date film.

Post
#1523891
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Safe - 1995 - 6/10

Carol, poster child for the ideal suburban life.
Picture perfect home, high earning husband, and she retains physical attractiveness.
After she suffers an allergic reaction, hidden anxieties surface.
Fear turns into phobias, worsened by “advisors”.
Julianne Moore offers nuanced portrayal of the soul swirling into Mysophobia / Nosophobia.
In 1995, this scenario seemed implausible. With the Covid pandemic, rabbit holes multiply.