Vultural

Keanu Reeves. He’s knowledgeable about the craft (reference Side By Side).
The films? His choice.

Squid Game - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Ojing-eo Geim // 오징어 게임

Sat on this over a year before watching. Chief concern? Global hype.
And yes, this has been overhyped, primarily by Western viewers who have never seen Asian TV.
Nonetheless, it does make an easy entry into K-dramas (the violent ones), although I doubt most newcomers are reading subtitles (as many declare) but are viewing dubbed episodes.
Watch the subbed if you can, if spite of inferior translators (for example, oppa is NOT “old man”).
Anyway, a huge assortment of financial losers are recruited to compete is a slate of deadly games.
None know how lethal these are until after the carnage of the first match.
Although there are hundreds of competitors (bodies), the series follows about ten.
Ensuing rounds continue gruesome eliminations.
The J-dorama Alice In Borderland aired before this, as did movies Escape Room, Running Man, shoot, “Fun And Games” from the old Outer Limits.
Hardly original, Squid Game is lavishly made, though not as fiendishly plotted as the finest K-dramas.
A Netflix series, this does not suffer the usual “Netflix ending”, meaning this has a passing conclusion.

Maybe I’ll Come Home In The Spring - 1971 - 6/10

After living with her hippie boyfriend, Dennie returns to home in suburbia.
Parents, though delighted she is back, have no idea why she left in the first place.
Their middle class life is wonderful! Barbeque, cocktails, conformity.
Dennie is trying, really trying to readjust (the hippie lot was harder than she thought).
Yet, watching her parents, their friends, we observe the stifling home she fled.
Plus, her younger sister, desperate to escape, repeatedly voices the negative.
A perfectly cast Sally Field, Flying Nun in her rearview mirror, is the beating heart of this.
People idealize the Sixties, forgetting the rotten ending for so many, for so much.

Sing Street - 2016 - 8/10

Joyous, “let’s put a band together” story set in mid 80’s Dublin.
Chocked with tunes from the era, as well as the band’s own compositions.
The early numbers are dreadfully funny, though the band improves quickly.
Typical of the time, they also make videos, with like a 5p budget.
The female star of the videos is the unreadable girl across the street, who transfixes the lead singer.
No great revelations plotwise in quite likeable film.
Cast is almost perfect. Don’t just watch the videos, watch it whole.
Wonderful movie and great pairing with God Help The Girl.

Run Lola Run - 1998 - 7/10
AKA - Lola Rennt

Manni phones Lola, begging her to find cash to repay a gangster.
If she cannot find the money in twenty minutes, he will rob a bank.
And Lola runs.
Three times, each time running moments ahead or behind (note the overhead train).
Manni and Lola are only lightly sketched, their relationship even less so.
The film itself is breathless action, the run against time, against destinies.
Brilliantly conceived and executed alternate timeslips.

Soylent Green - 1973 - 6/10

Yesterday’s future today!
New York in 2022, where Earth is massively overpopulated.
A tiny sliver of humanity live like royalty, blue bloods of wealth and power.
For the teeming unwashed, jobs are nonexistent, utilities are gone, and food dwindling.
Humanity is a barely controlled planet of beggars.
Plotwise, when one of the captains of the food supply is murdered, a detective investigates.
Unsettling Charlton Heston led SciFi grows more relevant each year.
Swelling populations, by the way, are rarely mentioned – in 1973 or today.
Give this film another generation or two, see how accurate predictions were.

Sound It Out - 2012 - 7/10

Documentary about the last surviving record shop in Teeside.
The owner is a music expert, his loyal assistant has his own expertise, the backroom girl runs the computer and ensures they make money.
Obsessive collectors are profiled, 99% of whom are guys.
They share their stories, display their treasures, warble on and on about the glories of vinyl.
One man - owner, I think - commented that vinyl holds memories.
Fair enough. I used a similar phrase when reviewing All Things Must Pass, doc about the demise of Tower Records.
This would make a fine companion to that, and in many ways is more satisfying.
Watching the tiny survivor after the monster chain failed to crush it.

I have friends from my record shop days. A few still dream about setting up a record store, mostly vinyl.
Anytime they float the idea, I shake my head.
This shop is exactly how they envision it, and exactly why I always tell ‘em no way.

As you progress from episode to episode, I imagine you are picking up speed with this.
Be awhile before you get to “Lamentation” and the first appearance of Lucy Butler.

The Pleasure Girls - 1965 - 6/10

Country girl arrives in Swinging London and moves into flat with several other girls.
Boys, money problems, parties, clothes shopping, moral decisions.
Considerably fresher and more realistic than 1969’s Take A Girl Like You.
This has a grittier edge and seems a good period piece showing that time.
Ian McShane and Francesca Annis lead, with Klaus Kinski as well dressed slumlord.
The parties and gambling are reminiscent of those in A Hard Days Night only more middle class.
Obscure music track, too. I couldn’t tag a song.
The European cut features nudity, sexual situations, and graphic violence.

Iris - 2001 - 7/10

Inventive biopic of author Iris Murdoch with husband, John Bayley.
Shown young and giddy with life. Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville.
And far older, beset with Alzheimer’s and decline, Judy Dench and Jim Broadbent.
A memorable film of love and devotion, ecstasy and loss.
Their lives are shown in flashbacks and “moments”.
One of those trajectories that grow more worrisome with each passing year.

Plenty - 1985 - 6/10

During World War II, Susan fought with the French Resistance.
Little did she suspect, that would be a personal and emotional high point.
She cannot, or will not, readjust to a less stressful life.
With friends, associates, lovers, Susan vents, or abuses, or allows herself to be corralled.
Her character is a maddening study in frustration and disappointment.
A film I appreciated more than enjoyed.
Likewise Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Susan, though not Susan herself.

Another year, another bump.
Any progress?

Ooh, RoccondilRinon last visited months ago.
Hope you are well.

Lady Snowblood - 1973 - 7/10
AKA - Shurayukihime // 修羅雪姫

Vengeance, born in the snow, swaddled in prison clothes.
Sato’s husband and son are murdered by village criminals.
After she kills one of the attackers, she is sent to prison where she sleeps with the guards.
Why? She hopes for a child to carry on her revenge.
Enter daughter Yuki.
While this film contains deadly fights and outrageous bloodletting, it is rungs above routine actioners.
The photography is exquisite, backstories and methodology serve a soiled narrative.
This film was later plundered wholesale by another, who credited himownself as writer.

Total Recall - 1990 - 7/10

Get your ass to Mars.
Construction worker Quaid suffers recurring nightmares. Wife and coworkers keep a worried eye on him.
Nevertheless, they fail to notice when he visits an implant outlet, and buys the memory of a vacation.
Then all hell breaks loose, and he is pursued across the city by gun happy agents.
So where does he go? Naturally, the fourth planet.
Based loosely on Philip K. Dick’s novel, this is a 90’s action film on steroids.
Verhoeven’s rendition is over the top and constantly entertaining.
Sinister villains Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox, and for Sharon Stone, a breakout role.
For me, sadly, this was the last Schwarzenegger film I really liked.

Hidden Identity - 2015 - 5/10
AKA - 신분을 숨겨라

Have only my own impatient self to blame for this.
Normally, with J-doramas and K-dramas, I wait to read end of year reviews on Dramabeans or similar sites.
Hidden Identity hailed from the same crew that did Bad Guys and had an excited buzz.
So, I didn’t bother reading any comments. More fool me.
Elite, 5-member unit works outside usual law enforcement agencies to topple criminals.
Arc of the narrative is the pursuit of “The Ghost,” a mysterious unknown mastermind who is plotting … something.
Action primarily fisticuffs, production values cheap, script padded, in run-of-the-mill cop show.
16 episodes ought to have been trimmed to 10.
Every character is wooden faced serious. At first I blamed bad acting, but I had seen these actors in IRIS, Bridal Mask, Vampire Prosecutor, as well as several movies where they were more than capable.
No, the fault is clichéd writing and lame directing. Can’t say how many lengthy reaction shots of every single team member I saw. Easily two or three times an episode.
Hidden Identity = Boring Identity.

Roscoe, Theodore - The Wonderful Lips Of Thibong Linh

Fairly old book has been in the shelves for years, finally getting around to reading.
A trio of 1930’s Pulp adventures.
The first, “On Account of a Woman,” follows an intrepid pair, a Yank and Australian, as they spy a haunting statue, fiercely guarded by an Arab tribe. How much would museums pay for this, they wonder. Well, they wonder pretty high and plan to steal the female statue. The best laid plans, however.
Published in 1936 in Adventure, this strikes me as more clearly aimed at juvenile readers, with fisticuffs and hijinks aplenty.
Next, “The Voodoo Express,” a cracking adventure set in Haiti. Legendary gold, a forgotten express train, a treacherous voodoo priest. Oh, what men will endure once they discover their fellow man has access to untold riches. Lengthy tale is evocative of the jungle and a page turner.
The closer is “The Wonderful Lips of Thibong Linh,” set in French controlled Vietnam and Cambodia. A Legionairre is given a secret document to take to Hanoi. Previous couriers have been murdered, so he decides to take a circuitous route. Instead, he rescues the beautiful Thera, priestess of the goddess, Thibong Linh, who is the key to – you guessed it – untold wealth.
Another romp through exotic jungles, with some masterful twists.
Theodore Roscoe provides forward and afterword.
He was also still alive when I purchased my copy, and I like to think he got a couple of dollars.

Boyd, Daniel - Easy Death

Action layered, tongue-in-cheek, robbery caper set during winter blizzard. Circa 1951.
Plus one, narrative told from multiple points of view and in jumbled chronological order - though with dates and times in each chapter to help guide the reader.
Plus two, intelligent characters, most with a droll sense of humor.
Plus three, the caper goes wrong in numerous directions and for almost all parties.
Negative, the lead character uses syntax akin to a hillbilly Yoda. Not affected dialect, just peculiar phrasing that was noticeable.
A romp of a seasonal story, nevertheless, that scatters in several directions but connects nicely by the end.

CSchmidlapp has given me permission to share his Hard Target edit.
If interested, send me a PM. Likewise you could PM CSchmidlapp, per his original instructions.
Please, one-post bots or leeches, boost your post count before requesting.

What Happened Was - 1993 - 7/10

You joke with coworkers, maybe go out for a drink, flirt if you want stokes.
But you don’t date coworkers. Understand? NEVER date coworkers!
Jackie invites Michael to her apartment for dinner.
Dinner, right? Not a date. And how would you perceive this, big boy?

Both are socially awkward. Youth gone. Dating scene behind them.
They are nervous, misreading signals left and right.
Trying to relieve anxiety, each utter jokes that misfire. Badly. Cringe worthy.
I’m barking at the TV, telling him to compliment her hair, her dress, quit mansplaining.
My bride is telling Jackie, don’t try so hard, settle down, stop talking so much.
Turns out both are closet writers, and Jackie draws him into her closet and reads one of her children’s stories.

Mother of God.
Repeat. Don’t date coworkers. Understand? NEVER date coworkers!
Even when I first met Zelda, even when she repeatedly hit on me.
I refused to go out with her … until I got fired.

Biarritz Surf Gang - 2017 - 6/10

In 1980, the French gang owns the waves at La Grande Plage. The waves, the girls, the trophies, the drugs.
With tournaments, comes competition: Americans, South Africans, Australians.
For whatever reason, they really had a problem with the latter. Probably because the Aussies took the girls.
At home or away, the French were a destructive bunch, smashing property, brawling, getting loaded.
Six members are interviewed and profiled. Drugs and crime claimed half.
While some went pro and surfed in Bali, Hawaii, the world, others lived behind bars.
Documentary suffers from excessive, rapid cutting.
Character studies are fine, though viewers desiring a traditional surf doc should seek elsewhere.

The Mad Doctor - 1940 - 5/10

Dull mystery / thriller, not completely without interest.
After psychiatrist’s ill bride tires of being sick and expires, he relocates to the big city.
Where he quickly meets a suicidal female with a tendency to stand on the outside ledge of tall buildings.
Luckily for her, he’s a psychiatrist. Fortunately for him, she’s rich. An heiress.
Predictable, slow in stretches, with a title that telegraphs any plot twists.

Ole Basil Rathbone (the shrink) and Martin Kosleck (chauffeur / sidekick) maintain a curious, eye raising relationship throughout.
Apparently the men live together and share a past studded with troublesome secrets.
They bicker, scheme, and engage in dark business together.
How this escaped Production Code censors is beyond me.

Trapped - 1949 - 6/10

Counterfeiters vs. the Secret Service.
This starts off as a docu-drama of G-men and their efforts protecting the great American way.
Then settles down to business, as the Feds spring a convict they think they can control.
Ha! Nobody pulls the strings on this guy (an ice cold Lloyd Bridges).
He wants his gang back, he wants his old flame (smoldering Barbara Payton), and he wants the plates.
The deck is stacked in this Noir, and you suspect how events are going to roll.
Yet you watch and root for the bad guys.
Because life ain’t fair for none of us, especially for those who take their chances.

Temptress Of A Thousand Faces - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - Qian Mian mo Nu // 千面魔女

Energetic Hong Kong crime spree finds the above villainess robbing the elite.
“The world is full of rich and powerful people, who devise and exploit loopholes. They are no better.”
A nice little dig, that the filmmakers deliver then return to action.
And Lordy, this film has the action. Shootouts, Kung fu fights, girl fights. thrilling escapes.
Other times, our femme fatale deals with do-gooder women who try to stop her.
True to her name, she dons a face mask of her rival, then beds the boyfriend, squeezing him dry, all the time letting the goody two-shoes watch.
Truly crazy film with an army of female warriors, the top secret base, all manner of tortures.
More than anything, what this reminds me of is Danger: Diabolik (1968).

A Decade Under The Influence - 2003 - 7/10

Broad overview of US filmmaking in the freewheeling 70’s.
At the close of the 60’s, film moguls passed into the sunset, and what seemed to get released were cash bleeding musicals.
Independent directors, taking their cues from European arthouse films of the 60’s, stepped into the creative vacuum.
Stories were less epic, less fantasy, more personal, more relatable to modern audiences.
Doc covers a lot of ground in 2 hours. A multi-episode series might have been better. That said, since this first aired in 2003, many of the commentators have died. So perhaps this captures voices that might have been lost.

Many individuals not mentioned, or they declined to participate. That’s always the way these shows go.
The end of the 70’s saw smash commercial hits Jaws and Star Wars earn record profits.
Investors purchased studios as cash cows, focused on blockbusters and tent poles, and dialed down personal films.
Doc assumes passing familiarity with titles of the era.