Vultural

The Mortuary Collection - 2019 - 7/10

Horror anthology, well written, ghoulishly delivered.
Twisted morality plays, one subversive pastiche.
Oh, and not to forget the opener that functions as an appetizer.
There is the misadventure of a manicured fratboy and his safe (unsafe) sexual activities.
Followed by the marriage (death do us part) gone wrong.
Concluding with “The Babysitter Murderer” which is what the sitter is watching on the tube, unknowing that a child murdering psycho killer has escaped!
This makes for laugh out loud juxtapositions of screen action vs in-house mayhem.
Clancy Brown fans, this one!

Witness In The Dark - 1959 - 6/10

Decent British B-movie, Noirish quickie.
Elderly woman murdered in her flat. Lone witness passed the assassin on staircase.
Only problem, she is blind.
Police question repeatedly for even the slightest detail she can recall.
Time clocks less than an hour and the mystery (or lack of) breezes along.
Curious side glance at post war, gray market economy.

Elegance And Decadence: The Age Of The Regency - 2011 - 6/10

Entertaining, sometimes enlightening three part documentary hosted by Dr. Lucy Worsley.
Nice companion if you read or watch Jane Austen and an good overview of formal Regency, meaning the ten year period while George III was unfit and son George ruled as Regent.
Architecture, fashion trends, art, rebellion, poets and revolutionaries.
The era begins during the Napoleonic wars, ends as smoke belching factories transform England.
Worsley can be an acquired taste, but she is always enthusiastic and easy to understand.
Producers opted for a modern soundtrack - a growing trend - which is often distracting.
Pink Floyd - The Beatles - The Who - too many others to mention.
In a similar period, I also watched another three parter, Rude Britannia and the first episode also covers this time with salacious and naughty illustrations.

Satan In High Heels - 1962 - 6/10

Stacey, working the cooch show at the carnival, robs her hop-head husband and flies to New York.
A “talent scout” sizes her up right quick, and Stacey is brought in to audition at Pepe’s.
While higher class than the burlesque, Pepe’s is an upscale gin joint.
Stacey is repackaged into a glossier object of desire, although her impulses remain doggedly primal.
Flirting, affairs (with the owner, his son, and Pepe), drinking, homicidal urges.
The narrative perks along, in a tawdry, sleazy route, and would have been taboo in ’62 – for any who saw it.
For a cheap indie film, this looks terrific!
Songs vary from smokey (Stacey’s moan is something between Nina Simone and Julie London), to funny.
I enjoyed the mixed audience of aging debauchees and Greenwich Village bohos.
Study the lower cast names, most are the production crew.
Recent restoration by Nicholas Winding Refn is the one to watch.
Subs = https://subscene.com/subtitles/satan-in-high-heels

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) - 2010 - 7/10

Who indeed?
Insightful biography of Nilsson, songwriting shooting star of the 70’s.
He penned a string of monster hits (“One,” “Without Her,” “Coconut,” “Jump Into The Fire,” “My And My Arrow”) though he also punched the charts with huge cover versions (“Everybody’s Talkin’ “ and “Without You”).
Beloved by numerous musicians, including The Beatles, he reveled in success and excess.
A drinking problem and public bad behavior landed him in tabloid headlines and an early grave.
Old footage, interspersed with reminisces by wives, relatives, peers (eg: Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Richard Perry, Brian Wilson …).
As with similar tales, rousing to watch an artist succeed with their talents, sad to view self-destruction.

Lords Of Salem - 2012 - 6/10

Radio DJ Heidi receives a wooden box with a vinyl recording inside.
She plays it on the air and it profoundly affects her as well as many female listeners.
Record player? People who actually listen to radio at night?
Go with it, OK?
Heidi lives in an old brick apartment. Her neighbors include aging, nosy biddies.
Plus, a disquieting shadow who lives in the “empty” apartment.
Extremely slow going, but moody and downright nervy at times.
For the unwary, this is a Rob Zombie film. A director one loves or hates.
I found his previous outings to be stupid, unfunny, poorly filmed, amateurish.
As mentioned, Lords Of Salem creeps along, if possible, each act gets slower.
It is a “haunted” story and probably falls into sub-category of Chick Horror.
Expect a lot of nudity. Mostly female, though most appear to be of the clutch who clean buildings at night or work fast food joints.
Those expecting supermodels or firm fleshed ingenues, consider this a warning.

Cafe Society - 2016 - 6/10

Waste of superb cinematography and plum cast.
Woody Allen re-explores the past again, this time 1930’s Hollywood and Gotham.
Young man tries and fails to make his mark in Tinsel Town - career and romance.
Parallel story of his mobster brother building a more lucrative, if dubiously successful, criminal path.
There was an excellent film in here, I’m convinced, but this ended up a muddled mess.
The two storylines do not connect well, and characters are undeveloped.
Final half of film ran out of steam.
OK Allen film. Not his best, not his worst. Disappointing for me.

Emma - 2016 - 6/10

What was this? A busted pilot?
Well done, two-part French cop show.
Veteran officer Vitulo is assigned a new partner, Emma, with the runway model looks.
Knowledgeable, quick, yet utterly ignorant in many aspects.
Why? Because she is a test. A prototype android officer.
This concept has been done too many times to reference.
Emma, however is surprisingly, endearingly funny.
Completely clueless about the nuances of law and order.
“Stop! There is a lawbreaker, jaywalking.” Or “Doctor cannot disclose patient information, even dead ones. Criminal.”
Writing is deft and ingenious. Too bad there were only two episodes, or perhaps that is for the best.

Iris - 2014 - 5/10

Final movie of legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles proves a shallow disappointment.
The cameras trail after unlikely fashion icon, Iris Apfel, without getting at the essence of her, or how she achieved her position.
She and her husband have a home on Park Avenue, another in Palm Beach.
These are plainly ultra-rich. How did they accumulate such wealth?
(Note: Wiki indicates they ran a textile firm for 40 years. Commerce barely touched on in film.)
Her so-called taste, which favored clunky and garish beads is praised by all with not a single dissent.

When the husband casually mentions how difficult Jackie Kennedy was, Iris quickly closes the topic saying they are not allowed to discuss any of their work dealing with the White House.
(Wiki indicates the couple did White House restorations for Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton.)
Nonetheless, Maysles let that slide. Indeed, much passed unquestioned.
Feel-good, surface skipper, of a 80 minute soufflé.
I ended up with a cynical suspicion that so many designer and curators praised and gushed over her because she was in her 90’s and they lusted after her collection.
Those of you who have a wacky grandma or auntie - - there but for fortune …

Äkta Människor: S01 - 2012 - 7/10

Uneven parallel reality series where hubots (robots - cyborgs - cylons) are ubiquitous in society.
They are tireless, work without complaint, and are programmed to be maddeningly cheerful.
Employers love ‘em, human coworkers - who are being displaced - are less thrilled.

A subset of hubots is programmed differently, or simply lacks programming.
They have free will and are on the run, led by the sinister Niska.

Several themes are explored over ten episodes: Hubot rights, cloning, government control, black market modifications, human - hubot relationships (and all that implies), discrimination, age ism.
There is also the uneasy reality of humanity being supplanted by our creations - as if we have done such a spectacular job of our stewardship.
Good SciFi / Speculative show, though the creators bit off more than they could chew.
This is the original Swedish series, with subtitles.

The World Over - 2018 - 6/10

Messing about in the basement, Cass finds a strange key.
Like Pandora, her curiosity is aroused, and she soon scrapes off plaster to reveal a keyhole.
At this point, she grows leery. Nonetheless, her husband, like Adam, yields to temptation.
And into the doorway he disappears.
Effective short mixes the supernatural with the parallel.
Restrained, provocative, creepy, and a warning.

Too Much (Little) Love - 1998 - 6/10
AKA - Trop (peu) d 'amour

Patience and stamina draining French drama.
Also quite talky, no surprise there.
40 year old movie writer / director invites young author to his country estate.
She is a green 18, but he finds elements of her draft screenplay intriguing.
At the manor is wife #2 (25ish) and his daughter (16).
Insecurities, jealousies, game playing, bickering launch almost immediately.
The 18 year old is exceptionally irritating and adept at pushing emotional buttons.
Acting is great in that viewers wind up hating all characters.
Females around me winced and said, “Welcome to our world.”

5 Flights Up - 2014 - 6/10

Arthouse / indie film set in Brooklyn of two seniors considering selling their flat.
There is a hefty financial inducement to sell (estimate - $1 mil), but mostly those five flights, no elevator.
Diane Keaton plays an ex-schoolteacher, Morgan Freeman an artist whose work is currently passe.
Leisurely paced slice of life, low on action, though huge events are happening.
For the couple, this could be the last move / last major decision they get to make.
They brace for the blitz of prospective buyers, as well as idlers who look because they are bored.
Ratings on this seemed segregated by age demographics.
Younger viewers bored - older viewers spellbound.
Those who have all the time in the world, those whose days are numbered.
Numerous flashbacks of the couple, forty years younger, when they dated then married in the 70’s.
Possibly better appreciated by those 45 and older.

Beware - Cooking Show Alert ! !

I watched four seasons of the US reboot of the British culinary show.
Eventually, I abandoned the US show in disgust. It was fraudulent, it was rigged, it was bait n hate.
The US FOX “reality" version was not about improving cooking skills, the focus was pseudo drama.
The hosts (presenters) ought to be ashamed.
One of the contestants (Ben Starr) had a revealing blog about what went on behind the scenes of the FOX trolls.
In comments, numerous souls suggested the Australian version.

MasterChef Australia S01 - 2009 - 7/10

From=the onset, when one contestant made a dismissive comment about another’s dish, the host gently chastised him with, “We’re not about that, mate. We are not that kind of show.”
This set a bar. Then there were elements omitted from US version because they were “boring.”
After a contestant was eliminated, the two host chefs gave remaining contestants a “Master Class.”
Top recipes with tricks and technique how to prepare.
When a winning team ate at a trendy restaurant, afterward they entered the restaurant kitchen to learn how to cook the dishes. Once a contestant won an individual challenge, they got to square off against a celebrity chef.
The challenger invariably lost, but they were coached and helped throughout.
This was how those home chefs picked up their “skills.”
Were there unseen backstage dramas, rivalries, other problems?
Cram 20 souls together and, of course, there will be friction. Those were not aired.
To its credit, the Australian version focused on individuals helping and supporting each other.
For viewers who prefer the positive experience, MC Australia is for you.
Those who prefer animosity, backstabbing, grudges (know thyself) MC USA is your poison.

Falling For Figaro - 2020 - 6/10

Successful financial fund manager, on the eve of a major promotion, decides she wants to be an opera singer.
Buckets of cash at her disposal, she drives to Scotland, where an ex-opera star, ex-vocal coach resides.
Will the soured diva take her on? Will our protégé fall for the coach’s assistant / student?
Predictable rom/com holds tight to formula.
Similar to 2013’s One Chance; in some ways better, in other ways poorer.
Those who watch the occasional rom/com, this will be endurable. For genre fans, irresistible.
Watch for Rebecca Benson as a terrified contestant whose brief role is hilarious and electrifying.

Prospero’s Books - 1991 - 6/10

Over-the-top adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
A wizard living in exile attempts to thwart his daughter’s affair.
Not to spoil for those unfamiliar, but this contains vast stretches of nudity.
There is tremendous activity in every shot, from one end of the frame to the other.
This can be distracting, at times overwhelming.

Greenaway, after the success of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover was given free rein and he took full advantage.
Cinema at once self-indulgent and truly breathtaking!
Greenaway fell off my radar for awhile, but I enjoyed Goltzius And The Pelican Company, which in look and feel echoes Prospero’s Books.

The Young Marrieds - 1972 - 4/10

Playboy husband lunches at strip clubs, bangs bunnies in the woods, goes home to uptight wife.
How uptight? Well, they certainly do “everything” as far as sex-dial positions go.
He just wants her to be more outgoing, exhibitionist.
An omniscient narrator dispenses dime store psychology throughout in this hard core, moral tale.
Curious souls still investigate this movie because this was the last film from the prince of bad films -
Ed Wood Jr.
Vintage porn. Slow, dreadful acting, cheap looking in every way.
To be fair, the look (clothes, hair, interiors) was fairly spot on. Crappy dune buggys were a rage, too.
Music was instrumental rock at the club, lounge for thrusting.
Sleazy junk - Wood aficionados will need to seek this out.

A Very Curious Girl - 1969 - 6/10
AKA - La Fiancée du Pirate

Revenge film about the maltreated village slag.
After Marie’s mother is killed by a hit n run, and her pet goat comes to a bad end, she methodically gets even.
No more kissing and cuddling with menfolk to warm the nights. Now it’s, “Money first.”
Village men pay. And pay. Marie may not be easy on the eyes, but she is easy - - when cash is offered.
When irate wives refuse to give husbands money, the men barter watches or possessions.
When elders try to persuade her to cease, she offers a little persuasion of her own.
Even though this is likely set in the late 1960’s (a poster with Belle de Jour is in one scene), one gets a feeling this could have been set in Medieval France.
Look quick for Louis Malle as the penniless Spaniard, “no tengo dinero,” who scores, nevertheless!

Verdun: Visions d’histoire - 1928 - 7/10

Long (150 minutes) dramatization / reenactment of the historic battle for Verdun during World War I.
This is helped along with some stock footage, as well as maps, diagrams, and rough animation.
WWI had ended only a decade earlier, so original audiences would have been quite familiar with the history.
Tactics are shown for both German and French. Victories are noted, as are defeats.
British troops are referenced, but they were busy at the Somme.
Yanks would not enter the war until 1917, a full year after Verdun.
For history buffs - especially war buffs - this is interesting throughout.
“French” companion to the BBC series, The Great War (1963).

Dead Again - 1991 - 6/10

Branagh’s followup to Henry V is a Hitchcockian mystery.
A private eye accepts a client with amnesia, suffering terrible nightmares.
Strangers, it turns out they have something of a history. Perhaps.
The narrative is veiled there (unless you watch the trailer) and maintains good suspense.
Two mysteries begin to dovetail: a current story and a flashback.
Not full Noir, but elements used really enhance this, along with a few Gothic flourishes.
Derek Jacobi is delicious.
Old-fashioned whodunit, updated in a good way.

The Secret Life Of Books: S02 - 2016 - 6/10

Superior followup to the first series (S01 marred by inferior presenters).
This season is a trifle more “English” with several titles less known outside of Britain.
Episodes include Spenser’s “Faerie Queen,” Lear’s “Nonsense Songs,” Eliot’s “Mill On The Floss.”
Also “Confessions Of An Opium Eater,” “Cider With Rosie,” and “Swallows And Amazons.”
Each show is a mere 30 minutes. Hosts read from the book, talk of their relationship with it, and the legacy of book and author.
Book lovers need no recommendation. Others, this is a literary way to kill a half hour.

The Judas Breed (Mimic) - TMBTM

I saw Mimic years ago during a preview. Del Toro was in attendance to field questions, including the ever popular, “Is this film autobiographical?”
It played well enough that night, and I enjoyed it.
Disillusion set in swift once I bought a copy and watched at home.
Sloppy narrative, poor characters.
(For Sorvino in particular, Mimic was where her slide began.)

Video - Intelligent reconstruction throughout. Good editing and good choices of what to edit.

Audio - Clean 2-channel audio. Subs, yes, though unnecessary. All dialogue clear.

Narrative - This – this is where the edit gleams, even in the abandoned subway darkness. The story no longer bounces around, as if the flashbacks provided important information, but is more linear, more coherent. The annoying Chuy has been marginalized as much as possible, as has the “baby blues” theme. The “science” of the judas bugs remains sketchy, but this is not the film to overthink.

Enjoyment - For all its gloss and high octane cast, Mimic still cannot escape its cheap B-Horror roots. The last act is little more than a bug hunt and succumbs to cliches.
No mistake, though, this is better, much better, than the Del Toro original. Solid late night Horror. Even better if you watch in your friend’s roach infested home.

NOTE!! Sit through those credits! Two bonuses await.

The Empire Begins (Prequel 3-in-1) - Darth Awesome

Fan-editor Darth Awesome combines all three Star Wars prequels into a single viewing experience, running two hours forty minutes. The heaviest trims come from Phantom Menace. The main sequence is the duel between Darth Maul vs Obi Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn. For action fans seeking Clone Wars, this ain’t it. Though Darth Awesome describes it as rise of Empire, fall of Anakin, the story is really a character study of Anakin Skywalker, with all the good and bad that entails.

Video editing had nice transitions, a couple scene shifts were marvelous.
Audio 2.0 stereo. No subs. At any given time, dialogue was understandable, during combat, street activity, whispered conversations.

Not scratching here, but pointing things out. Planet Kamino barely appears, to me a startling omission. As noted, all but eight minutes of Phantom Menace was jettisoned. The battle on Geonosis was minimized. Duly noticed and missed. General Grievous, on the other hand, was no loss. I could go on and on, parts I missed, others I was happy to see gone. The narrative holds together, but this is a story about Anakin, and I don’t particularly care for this Jedi. Exchanges with Padme remain awful, specifically because of utter lack of chemistry between the leads.

Grumbles aside, Mr Awesome’s edit is OK. I rewatch E02 and E03 occasionally, E01 never. There is clever invention in this effort. Definitely recommended, especially to those who can tolerate the Christensen films. For those who hated them, I doubt this will improve your opinion.

The Killing Joke (Birds Of Prey) - Jack Tourette

Batman Consecution short.
I was / remain unfamiliar with the source material - never heard of, let alone saw - Birds Of Prey
The video quality was poor, the editing a bit heavy handed.
Audio was a decent 2-channel, dialogue clear.
The narrative was really interesting, however, and by the end I wanted a larger peek into that world.
As noted by another reviewer, this was also a pretty good Joker tale.
Enjoyed this a lot.

Boiling Point - 2021 - 7/10

Character study of a head chef nearing the end of his tether.
Andy, recently divorced / separated, has finally found a flat after a spell of homeless status,
The health inspector has just docked his restaurant a massive two points.
Main cause, sloppy paperwork, which one gathers is due to Andy’s personal problems.
Stressors include tardy employees, a food critic arriving, an old mentor, food shortages.
One thing after another.
The camerawork is spectacular, lingering on one character, then latching on to another.
After twenty minutes, I realized that had not been a single edit.
In essence, a one take feature. Spellbinding.