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Vultural

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Join date
19-Aug-2013
Last activity
13-Oct-2025
Posts
5,116

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Post
#1504966
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

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.

Post
#1504965
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

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).

Post
#1504964
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

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.

Post
#1504818
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Dark City - 1998 - 7/10

John Murdoch wakes, mind a blank, not knowing his identity or name.
One thing he learns dead soon, he is wanted for a string of ugly murders.
A detective is assigned and the first person he investigates is Murdoch’s nightclub singer wife.
Murders, amnesia, police, nightclub singer, this is full bore Noir.
Only this is far more, with puppet masters yanking the strings nightly.
An audacious film, melding SciFi and Noir, an elusive quarry and rival hunters.
Director Proyas, who burst out of the gate with a few terrific outings, now seems to have faded.

Post
#1504817
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Key Witness - 1947 - 5/10

Embarrassing B-film, grouped with Noir, but is more a feeble attempt.
Milton is a draftsman for an architectural firm.
Spare time, he invents novelties. Mostly, though he is a weak willed doormat
While Milton’s wife is away, his buddy drags him to the horse races then brings girls to his home!
Of course Milton, who still sleeps in twin beds with the missus, doesn’t know which end of the female is which, and he falls asleep in his bed. While his date gets herself murdered.
From here, the plot gets increasingly inane.
For a Columbia film, this looks extremely cheap. The photography, the sets, shoot, the clothes don’t fit!
And the script is nonsense, waddling from one idea to another like a drunken goose.

Post
#1504816
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Monster - 1925 - 5/10

On lonely country road, cars crash and drivers disappear. Most perplexing to dense locals.
Meek clerk studies his “How To Be A Detective” manual and wonders aloud (in inter-titles) about the empty mental institution nearby.
First third of film packed with stale jokes, uninspired gags.
Naturally, a trio wind up in the sanitarium.

Look out! The asylum director is none other than Lon Chaney.
Events darken considerably, though comic relief springs at the worst moments.
One wonders if film makers worried audiences might die of heart-attacks.
Creaky, stagebound, mostly tiresome, punctuated with a few grisly, if not startling sequences.

Post
#1504723
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

That’ll Be The Day - 1973 - 7/10

Late 1950’s, early 1960’s, Jim is aimless and angry.
School bores him and he finds petty jobs at a pub, then an amusement park.
A Lothario to the core, he disposes of females as quickly as he hooks them.
He treats his best friend shabbily, lets everyone around him down, escapes into music.
In short, he is extremely unlikable, and a 70’s version of the “angry young men.”
For all that, this is spectacular at recreating the look, feel and music of the era.
Costars include Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Billy Fury.
View as a British Invasion roots story.

Post
#1504722
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

White Mischief - 1987 - 6/10

An aging tycoon and his trophy bride arrive in Kenya from England.
The stunning wife is fresh chum to hungry sharks.
Kenya in the 1940’s resembles Weimar Berlin. Anything goes.
Drugs, gambling, wife swapping, extramarital affairs, the occasional murder.
Ah, there you go.
The debauchery angles are more entertaining, the decadent behavior to break the boredom.
Plus, it feels like the actors were enjoying themselves far more in that section.
The police business, the mystery element, saps the film.

Post
#1504721
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Shooting For Socrates - 2014 - 6/10

Sheesh, how many football shows are there? I don’t review half the ones I sit though.
This isn’t even Premiere League, which is what the girls follow. This is World Cup. 1986.
Anyway, Northern Ireland somehow made it into the World Cup tournament back in 1986.
Up against the mighty Brazil.
The film contrasts the situation back in Northern Ireland during the time of the “troubles” and the Thatcher Government with the sport hopes. Troubles are alluded to, rather than the confrontational display.
The film is about underdog Northern Ireland getting division play against Brazil, captained by their philosophical leader, the title named, Socrates.
Little training shown, and round play is more from the TV onlooker perspective.
Passable - though I’ve seen better - this is sorta feel-good, but more souvenir for aging fans.

Post
#1504631
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Woman In The Dunes - 1964 - 7/10
AKA - Suna no Onna // 砂の女

An insectologist, on vacation, lodges for the night with a village woman.
Her home lies at the bottom of a sand pit, which is constantly collapsing.
Next day, he frantically searches for an escape.
She is resigned to Fate, especially since villagers are aware and do nothing.
What follows is frustration, rage, tears, sexual release, desperation and the sheer pointlessness of existence.
Haunting photography throughout, although the pace is deadly slow, mirroring the ennui of the pair.
Definitely NOT the casual evening, popcorn flick.

Post
#1504630
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Nice Guys - 2016 - 6/10

Better than Inherent Vice, not as good as Boogie Nights, this detective mystery does a nice job evoking the shallow, at times over the top, 70’s.
Gosling and Crowe laugh out loud funny as bickering duo who stagger into hitmen, cover ups, porn stars, and great parties.
Plot completely derivative of TV of the era - “”Starsky & Hutch,” “Columbo,” “Streets Of San Francisco,” many more - take your pick.
Song choices were wrong, clothes and cars acceptable.
Angourie Rice, as Gosling’s daughter, is a gem, though her admittance to adult parties - never, ever, ever.
Lightweight. Keep expectations down and you’ll enjoy more.

Post
#1504444
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Last Weynfeldt - 2010 - 6/10
AKA - Die Letzte Weynfeldt

Adrian, art connoisseur and advisor, finishes the suicide note, loads the derringer, points.
Then wait! How about a last martini?
And at the bar, a female sidles up and makes conversation.
Audiences are immediately on guard, Adrian is not, and that rings false.

Because in the art scene, he would be accustomed to hustlers and frauds,
Execution is whimsical and the result seems a cheery mystery.

Post
#1504443
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Gargoyles - 1972 - 6/10

“Shucks no, this ain’t no hoax, this here is the genuine article, found up in them hills.”
A professor and his daughter view the odd skull inside a New Mexico tourist trap.
Corny spiel, fake skeleton, hoax for gullible turistas. The site burning down soon afterward, coincidence.
Strange events increase, however, as do the legends.
Early TV movie suffers budget limitations in sets and photography.
Casting Cornell Wilde likely used up a big percentage of the funding.
Costumes and makeup (Stan Winston) are first class.
For all that, this remains a decent horror film, with an original spin on the ancient demons.

Post
#1504442
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Après Vous - 2003 - 6/10

Late night, taking a shortcut, a head waiter notices a suicide attempt.
He intervenes - rescues, if you will - and takes responsibility for the man.
Lesson 1) Don’t take shortcuts. Lesson 2) Mind your own business.
The wannabe suicide is a hopeless mess. No job, no place to live, no self esteem.
Crucially, his girlfriend recently dumped him.
Just like you or I, the waiter sets out to rebuild the guy’s life.
Cotton candy, French fluff. Not too talky, but certainly strains believability.

Post
#1504303
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Audition - 1999 - 7/10
AKA - Ōdishon // オーディション

Blind dates are the poor man’s crapshoot. Prospects from friends or family even worse.
Say, why not devise questions, create an audition set, and let attractive candidates talk naturally?
Shigeharu even has a friend who is a film producer, willing to assist.
And the plan works! He makes a connection with an absolutely gorgeous Asami.
As with all romance stories, there are a few hiccups to overcome.
Gleefully perverse Takashi Miike “date” film grows ever more unsettling as the clock ticks.
Admired and reviled by critics, a warped mirror to pinku eiga.
Not for the squeamish.

Post
#1504302
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Ghost Story - 1982 - 6/10

A gentlemen’s secret, suppressed for fifty years, seems to have awoken.
The old men, once vital, now frail, realize a supernatural predator has returned.
This is late night, cozy horror, already out of step with the times.
Casting is impeccable, with three Hollywood icons (Fairbanks, Astaire, Douglas) in final performances.
Eroticism and violence are tightly reined, so much you can probably watch this uncut on TV nowadays.
During its initial run, and after Dawn Of The Dead and Alien, this just came across as quaint.

Post
#1504301
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Canals: The Making Of A Nation - 2015 - 7/10

Another canal documentary.
Usually, these focus on the traveler, be they an experienced boat person or some pseudo celebrity who exclaims and gushes in feigned astonishment.
Other docs follow the hiker, traipsing the tow paths.
Those are more picture postcards.

This one is more in depth. Six 30’ episodes follow the engineers who dreamed and designed them, geologists who learned to read the earth, financiers who floated stock shares, navvies (navigators) who provided the sheer muscle, and the boat people who worked the narrow boats.

Recently restored canals are now flooded with daytrippers and the genteel.
The doc flashes a lens at a more troubling possibility - tenants who cannot afford a home.
Always uncertain is the future, though.

Post
#1504159
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

The Bride With White Hair - 1993 - 6/10
AKA - Bak fat moh lui zyun // 白髮魔女傳

Gracious, what an amazing film!
The uneasy successor to the Wu-Tang clan faces a new enemy.
A highly potent set of conjoined twins, seemingly bent on world annihilation.
Spearheading the army of evil, the Wu-Tang leader’s childhood girlfriend.
Doomed romance, superb use of lighting (indoor sets), wild battle sequences.
Dark fantasy from Hong Kong’s golden era.
Followed by a sequel (which ain’t much).

Post
#1504158
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Magical Mystery Tour - 1967 - 6/10

The movie Beatles’ fans pretend to forget about.
Fab Four (wizards) climb aboard a bus bound for anywhere.
The bus is merely a conveyance to reach assorted destinations.
Once there, a musical number.
Plot is nonexistent in this stoned mess, filmed in the Psychedelic 60’s.
Much of the English daft humor will escape viewers, as well as music hall homages.
Think knock-off, amateurish Monty Python, though they were two years away.
Watch for the music, and for the Beatles.

Post
#1504157
Topic
A few reviews . . (film or TV)
Time

Ricki And The Flash - 2015 - 5/10

Feel-good smoothie about mom who abandoned kids and husband decades earlier to pursue rock n roll fame.
Now she returns to straighten everyone’s lives and remind them how special they are and how much mommy still loves them.
Story is predictable and contrived. Characters are pencil lite sketches.
The bar where she and her band perform decades old cover songs looks like a cliché, and the lower echelon clientele would never drink enough to keep the rent paid in Tarzana (ain’t no cheap rent in that Valley burg).
Streep likely had fun playing a rocker (even a failure), but the character is as shallow as a birdbath.

Post
#1504156
Topic
What are you reading?
Time

Aadland, Florence - The Big Love

Part tell-all slice, part defensive explanation.
Mrs Aadland recounts daughter Beverly’s years as Errol Flynn’s final girlfriend.
Wide-eyed gullible (Mr Flynn drank? Did drugs?), yet also calculated (Beverly will be the next Mrs Flynn).
Popular in its day and critically well received, Aadland’s memoir is inexplicably OP at present.
I had sought this on and off for years, and after watching the recent Kevin Kline film searched harder.
Will interest Flynn fans, though the film used this book as a template and will be easier for most to find.