Vultural

Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story - 2012 - 7/10

Booker Wright, owner of his own cafe, also waiter in an upscale Whites Only restaurant.
Greenwood, Mississippi 1965.
Freedom Riders had been coming into the South since 1961, challenging racism and Jim Crow laws.
After the KKK murdered three, the Federal Government intervened.
In 1965, NBC aired a documentary, “Mississippi: A Self Portrait” and Booker was among those interviewed.
Dressed in his waiter whites uniform, he was funny and he was candid.
At odds with all other speakers who declare how improved and nice Mississippi is.
This 2012 doc is a “follow-up” documentary, filmed by the original documentarian’s son.
Solid job comparing 1965 Mississippi with 50 years on. What’s changed, what ain’t.
The doc suggests a connection between Mr. Wright’s comments in 1965 and his last chapter, of which I wanted more proof, less theory.

Nothing Sacred - 1937 - 5/10

A young woman learns she has work related radium poisoning.
Following a financial settlement, she goes to Manhattan to live her last days in style.
A grubby reporter then starts a deathwatch column on her final days.
Except, mistakes had been made.
Acclaimed as a great screwball comedy, this is anything but.
Carole Lombard overacts with her usual weepy, ditzy schtick.
Frederic March is an insufferable cad. The pair have no chemistry, no comic timing.

Candlestick - 2014 - 5/10

“Friends” gather at Jack’s for a dinner date.
In homage to the game Clue, the ominous candlestick arrives on the coffee table.
Loaded conversation, drinking, and gamesmanship progress.
Action occurs on one set, or, for one scene, outside on the street.
Lines are mannered, direct from drama school.
Seriously, this is like watching an Off-Broadway or fringe London theatrical production.
Note - I might have foolishly paid $30.00 or £20.00 to sit through this.
Characters are 99% predictable to the point of being talky cartoons, minus any satire.

Oddities include - three principals wear the same shade of maroon (shirt - dress - tie).
Music, what scant amount there is, apes Bernard Hermann.
Unless Jack spins a record, in which case he plays a 78 (yes, a 78 rpm vinyl and few turntables do 78).
Jack’s phones (two of ‘em for one flat) are both landline, rotary dial.
Hipster wannabe.
Attend community theatre or college boards, instead of this.

Vardeman, David - An Angel Of Sodom

Who let this guy loose?
The opening title story is a wild read and an avalanche of deranged images. Fifteen year old Jackie weighs 342 lbs, his knockers are the envy of most girls. Under his belt lurks his mantool, buried beneath folds of flesh. Folds that prove resistant to hygiene, so they waft like only body stench can.
Such is merely the opening of a painfully funny novella.
Within weeks, however, Jackie experiences “growing up” lessons, and his outlook detours into a sadder perspective.
Oh, the novella is written without commas or quotes. Yeah, yeah, the author is being artsy.

“… I’ve always had to do the wrong thing to find out what the right thing would have been …”
So sighs Mrs. Windbourne, pondering her quietly misspent life. She has struck up a conversation with a new friend in “Stomboli” as their cruise ship circles the volcanic island of the same name. Both females, one insecure, the other incisive, drink cocktails on deck, and their exchanges grow ever more irrational and incoherent.

The next outing bears a conversational tone, with a repetitive narrative style. Meaning a phrase or sentence is echoed in varying degrees. This repetition, for me, became like an annoying coworker.
Anyway, “A Young Guy And His Career” might just as well be Detection 4 Dummies. One morning, Wally decides he is a detective. He posts an advertisement, and lands his first case within 15 days. From there, the tale moseys from Pigge to pig. I kid you not. A satire on hard boiled dicks and the Great American Way, if a little hammy.

“Tramp On The Street” is another long tale. Opening paragraphs resemble a standup monologue. Our narrator’s mother has just died – so – doing as you or I, he heads to the local saloon.
The usual table, the usual cronies, spouting alcohol soaked wisdom and philosophy. Much of your sympathy here may depend on your thoughts on the human race.
There are one or two interludes where our narrator, Kap, leaves the table and reflects. Situations, observations, paths untaken. Mr. Vardeman enters more serious territory here, before stepping back and returning to sarcasm de jour.

This is not a collection to trot through or to read solo, one story after another. The author’s voice has a “samey” quality, and I found it best to space these between stories or novels by varying writers.

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.