Vultural

Murder In Lisieux - 2019 - 6/10
AKA - Les Ombres de Lisieux

Inside the convent, the statue of a saint comes to life.
Wait a minute, there’s a corpse concealed inside that statue!
At which point, the usual male / female detective duo arrive.
Who was the victim? Why was she murdered? Who killed her?
The convent setting provides a twist, as do the sisters.
The mother superior and male detective have a loose connection (fans of DI Cromwell and Mother Helen, not here).
Aside from the nunnery, routine French crime mystery.

How To Be Bohemian - 2015 - 6/10

How indeed? Is there even such a thing anymore?
Three part series hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell.
First episode offers historical perspective of early 19th century Paris Decadents, popularized in famous book, “La Vie de Bohème.” Followed by London types, Pre-Raphaelites and Aesthetes, think Wilde and Beardsley.
Second episode focuses on Bloomsbury Group and the “bright young things.”
The first episode were creative souls, striving against social norms, working for success on their own terms.
The second were mostly rich, privileged souls with affluent bank accounts.
Third episode begins at the 60’s, sweeps to today. Creative types followed by wannabees.
Bohemia commodified and sold to middle class and hipsters who hope “looking unique” is the same as “being unique."

Numerous talking heads throughout. Some informed, some funny, others are aging, pretentious old farts.
Host Mitchell comes off as a bit bourgeois, though that is actually refreshing in light of affected posing elsewhere.
Poseurs, pretenders, limited sorts roundly loathed by all.

Hard Boiled - 1992 - 7/10
AKA - Lat Sau San Taam // 辣手神探

Action seekers, you better have seen this five times already!
Triad gang is smuggling weapons into Hong Kong.
Police aren’t powerless, yet they seem two steps behind.
Aside from maverick cop, Tequila. (Following The Killer, this propelled Chow Yun Fat to global stardom.)
Also receiving accolades were Tony Leung as the undercover cop, and Anthony Wong, the mob boss.
What really stood out – and still stands out – are the action sequences.
Imaginative, dazzling, superbly choreographed, they put to shame other so-called action films.
One of many titles that put Hong Kong on cinema’s map … for awhile.

Looking For Mr. Goodbar - 1977 - 6/10

Theresa, schoolteacher by day, clubrat by night, sleeping around, popping pills.
Part of this is her blossoming out of an ugly girl adolescence, and rebellion against her uptight Catholic family.
Bar shots and club scenes are alright. The “adult” stuff is listless (though Gere has energy to spare) .
Keaton was acclaimed, since this was a real break from her Woody Allen roles, but I didn’t get her.
Day time: passionate. Dating scene: disinterested, bored, the proverbial dead fish lay. Quaaludes?
Dreary, moralizing film proves a real downer.
Loose sex in the ‘70’s (pre-AIDS) was shallow, freewheeling, and much more fun.

Plastic - 2014 - 4/10

Expected disappointment with this one, and duly received.
Caper heist with cardboard characters, plot holes an eight year old could spot, useless scenery, MOR tunes.
UK con men quartet get in trouble with small time Eastern European boss and his two thugs.
Yep, four good guys vs three villains. Guys, acquire handguns, target practice, or press in foreheads.
Easy, Barney.
These supposed “good” hoods - who steal credit cards and rip off rubes - are naive 20 year olds.
Still, in less than two weeks they work out how to heist $2 M, vacation in Miami, hire a private jet!!
So smart, so special.
Despite arguments, colossal errors, wayward romance, “the plan” unfolds.
Predictable - boring - with contempt for viewer IQ.

I keep hoping. First time I heard of the Gilbey brothers was Rise Of The Footsoldier, a cracking good mobster flick.
Firm member becomes enforcer then accumulates power. Damn good film.
Next, A Lonely Place To Die with stupid, baked-potatoes-for-brains, hikers stumbling across kidnapping plot.
Every character had zero common sense and negative likability.
Plastic is yet another step down into comatose creativity.
Guy Ritchie without style.

How To Survive The End Of The World - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - Evacuate Earth

Multi-episode documentary mixes science with speculation.
What if … the planet were struck with a global pandemic (this aired 2013).
Or flood waters covered the earth, or the orbit shifted, moving us away from the sun.
Or weather turns wilder, deadlier.
Experts describe scenarios and possible solutions.
The add-on episode, encounter with a neutron star, lives up to the alternate “Evacuate Earth” title.
It was also wise enough to pinpoint those who, during rescue, would push themselves to the front of the line.
The wealthy, who may lack necessary skill-sets. And politicians, who excel at provoking conflict.
Curiously, what is not delineated is irreversible, runaway global warming. Oh, the irony.

No Man’s Land - 2016 - 7/10

Theatre junkies! Harold Pinter, eh? You are hardcore.
The celebrated man plays host to a lesser acquaintance, the minor poet.
Through the evening, both men drink, and drink.
Two other men arrive, thuggish attendants to the celebrated man.
Act one is easy enough to follow. Act two seems to swirl into sodden incoherence.
Drinks in hand, they talk, and talk. Braggadocio, flawed memories, confusion.
Quite funny at times, other times I felt like I was hearing rambling drunks before they nodded off.

Is Amanda Knox Guilty? - 2014 - 5/10

And do we care anymore? Not so much.
Documentary started fine, then began to stumble often.
It meandered around, much like the Italian prosecutors, and lacked focus.
Blood - blood is the trail. Evidence - pinpoint the evidence.
As with the OJ Simpson trial, the murdered victim was an afterthought.
The suspects - the circus whooped and hollered around the suspects.
One is left with the sour taste that Miss Knox knows “something,” did “something,” may even be culpable.
The documentary, however, is shallow and never penetrates.

The Housemaid - 1960 - 7/10
AKA - Hanyeo // 하녀

The piano teacher moonlights at the factory, giving singing lessons.
His wife is overworked at home, so he hires a maid to assist.
The girl is barely above beggar status, but she sexually ensnares the teacher.
Dark film of possession. Rain sodden, Noir photography, Expressionistic angles.
Our “hero” is a doomed weakling, causing untold havoc in his family.
Eun-shim Lee is mesmerizing as the sly, unstable maid. (Apparently audiences so hated her character so much, her career was finished).
For viewers wondering why so many females eyed the teacher, consider the “man shortage” after the Korean War.

Murder By Death - 1976 - 6/10

Five famous amateur detectives are summoned to stately Twain manor.
There, they are informed a murder shall occur at midnight, and they will not be able to solve it.
Thereby tarnishing their reputations, and leaving their host as the greatest mastermind of them all!
Written by Neil Simon, opening credits by Charles Addams, featuring a gala of stars: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester …
Spoofed are Sam Spade, Nick & Nora Charles, Charlie Chan, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot.
Heavy on gags (many wildly politically incorrect), they can be enjoyed by all, though genre buffs will relish.

Manhattan Night - 2016 - 4/10

Investigative journalist meets mysterious blonde at party of new newspaper owner.
Journalist and wife (a doctor) live in secret hideaway home in middle of Gotham.
Nevertheless, a blonde is still a blonde and the journalist has zero instinct for trouble.
Soon enough he is snared in murder, blackmail, beatings, shootings.
Not a cop in sight.
Cliché piles upon cliché.
Thriller relies on stereotypes, leaps into absurdity.
Hard to tell what is worse, stupefying clichés or situations and twists that turn preposterous.
Fine cast of actors are trapped in a script less organized than a sonata of hamster farts.

Louis Prima: The Wildest! - 1999 - 7/10

Spotty documentary scores on energy level alone.
This one really charts the music. The career in New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas.
From his early beginnings, the combos, the band leader, retrenchment back into the combo.
And in Vegas, with Keely Smith, Sam Butera and the Witnesses, he strikes gold!
Prima built Vegas. No brag, fact. His performances, which ran from midnight until 6:00 AM, were pure energy.
Other entertainers, from singers to Hollywood stars, attended, observed, learned.
This is no deep documentary, though.
Surviving band-mates interviewed, along with his manager.
Only two of his five wives interviewed. Only children from his final marriage interviewed.
The personal stuff … it ain’t there. Curious, go to Wikipedia.
What this is, is 90’ of unstoppable, breathless entertainment.

Napoleon Ist An Allem Schuld - 1938 - 6/10

A history buff, Napoleon Bonaparte fanatic, envisions himself as emperor reincarnate.
Consequently, he is invited to be one of the speakers at a Bonaparte convention in Paris.
Where he gets entangled with a chorus girl.
And compounds matters by telling camera snapping reporters she is his daughter.

For a Reichsfilme, this is rapid fire comedy, packed with innuendo, bordering on farce.
There are also several major musical numbers, one featuring showgirls in Napoleon headgear.
Always amusing, though not laugh out loud funny, since I was keeping up with subs.

De Surprise - 2015 - 7/10

After a series of botched suicide attempts, Jacob decides to do it right.
He hires professionals to erase him from this existence permanently.
Elysium - Professional guide to your final destination.
“Of course we can accommodate you, sir. Would you have a favorite location, activity, or perhaps option E?”
“Oh, yes! Option E, just surprise me.”
Sad moody film turns into droll comedy once our protagonist discovers he cannot change his mind.
Dutch movie shifts from poignant to laugh out loud funny to violently lethal.

Crawford, F Marion - Uncanny Tales

The definition of crusty stories. What one would listen to or share in bygone gentleman’s clubs. Leather armchairs, cigars, pipes, glass of port or whisky.
“The Dead Smile” circles two hopeful lovers. Waiting for knowledge, or enlightenment, to dispel an unspoken taint, so they may marry, burden eased.
Our narrator acquired the house, and a splendid one it is – aside from the teensy issue of “The Screaming Skull.” Nor, he feels, should it scream at him. It was only an offhand comment.
“Man Overboard” and “The Upper Berth” are both nautical adventures. Riggings, seaspray, heaving waves, as well as the odd ghost or two. One can always try to ignore.
To extend this collection, a few stories from Crawford’s sisters have been included. For me, the most memorable was “A Shadow On A Wave,” by Madame von Rabe. Neither a haunting, nor at first blush a supernatural spell, it is a memory of passion. A great Passion between an artist and half-glimpsed muse. Our artist is smitten with Venice, and the city is gloriously described. In affairs of the heart however, he is heedless of messages and consequences.

The Rescue - 2021 - 7/10

Documentary of the schoolboys (soccer squad) and their coach, trapped in a cave as monsoon laden waters rise.
First in were the Thai Navy SEALS, accustomed to underwater missions, but not cave diving.
Next, a tiny group of aging, British hobbyists, who regard cave diving as fun and relaxing.
Gripping documentary is chronological, shows the MAJOR effort involved, the global media circus, the politics and “face” obstructions, and does not shy away from the implied threats to the divers.
Superbly photographed.

When younger, I caved for over a decade. The water was usually ice cold. Water levels were often knee high, a few times, waist high. Whenever it reached out necks, we turned around. If the next step was a dropoff or hole, that would prove a catastrophe. We often suspected there were chambers and spectacles in the depths, but proper gear was beyond us. This doc shares the lure and tranquility of caving, so long as you are not claustrophobic.

Terror On The Rappahannock - 2020 - 6/10

Horror short blends racial injustice with the sins of the father.
Add a malevolent force active on Halloween night.
A little heavy handed, but the editing stands out, negotiating several storylines.
No real surprises or twists. Worth a watch, though.
Borderline subs = https://subscene.com/subtitles/terror-on-the-rappahannock/english/2786074

The Brest Fortress - 2010 - 7/10
AKA - Fortress Of War // Брестская Kрепость

No-holds barred WWII guts n glory film, told from the besieged Soviet point of view.
In 1941, the Soviets were unprepared, poorly trained, complacent, and, if you recall your history, supplying raw materials to their German “ally” up to the last hour.
The Brest fortress is an obsolete relic, ill equipped for the Wehrmacht, at its zenith in '41.
Film scores in not being jingoistic or packed with propaganda. Poor planning results in failure.
Even heroism is no match for Stukas, Panzers and machine gun fire.
Film is problematic, however, in that it provides scant background details.
Nothing is shown of the German planning for Operation Barbarossa, or the overall offensive around Minsk.
Of course, the entire film is from the Soviet defenders’ perspective, and they would be likewise ignorant of German High Command strategy.
There are also an awful lot of characters in this and roles and ranks are often confusing.
Don’t let that deter you, if curious. Hunt down the documentary series Soviet Storm if truly interested.

Meet The Feebles - 1989 - 7/10

Trials and tribulations of the weekly variety skit show.
The star diva, growing fatter by the day. Her lover / club owner, who cheats on her and deals drugs on the side. The porn films being filmed in the basement. The star comedian who has caught a deadly disease.
This barely covers a fraction of the shenanigans of this black comedy satire.
Fans of the Muppets, this a parallel world on crank.
Shocking, hilarious, subversive. NOT FOR PRUDES, please!
Swearing, sex, drug abuse, violence, unforgettable musical numbers.

Note: When Fellowship Of The Ring came out on DVD, I bought stacks of Feebles and placed them at checkout, with signage, “Also by Peter Jackson!” We sold through quickly and repeatedly. Not one ever came back, but I’m sure folks expecting the Shire were surprised.

The Rocketeer - 1991 - 6/10

Part of the pulp derived films that flourished in the 1990’s (Dick Tracy to The Shadow to The Phantom). All fun and empty headed.
Cliff finds a jetpack prototype that can send him airborne.
It could also be used by combat troops, which draws interest of spies and sellouts.
This suffers from insufficient action, subdued colors, along with an awfully wholesome tone.
The Rocketeer came after Raiders Lost Ark, and faltered at that bar.
Later pulp adaptations were more tongue in cheek, not so here.
Well cast, this should appeal to fans of Jennifer Connelly.

Man Up - 2015 - 7/10

Well done British romantic comedy scores all around.
Jaded relationship failures “meet cute” then have the great first night date.
Go figure.
They down multiple shots, strike at a bowling alley (are there even lanes in London?), quarrel, bond, deceive, lie.
And yes, deception lurks at the core of this comedy.
Points for using fairly unglamorous leads, kicking them into cringe situations.
Points for positive portrayals of Millennials, not cast as self-absorbed, delusional twats.
Feel good material, with melancholy undercurrent.
Possibly rated this higher than it deserves because the other suggested title was guy kryptonite, Sex In The City 2.

Surely someone will invent a game changer.
A matter diffuser, or an energy burst that loosens molecular bonds.
Guns are a convenient fallback, I suppose.
Protoculture would have made an interesting weapon.
Or was it the proto molecule?
Ha ha, Robotech lives!

A Man’s Story - 2009 - 7/10
AKA - The Slingshot // Namja-I-Yaki // 남자이야기

K-drama squarely in the revenge genre.
Unlike Western vengeance that revels in payback and blood satisfaction, this studies the consequences of revenge.
The corrosion of the soul, and unhappiness that wounds friends and strangers.
Cha Do Woo, trying to acquire a competitor, destroys dozens of smaller companies. Collateral damage.
Kim Shin’s brother loses all. Business, money, respect, finally his life.

Kim vows to destroy the man responsible.
If that means going to prison, if that means joining with gangsters, if that means stealing … so be it.
The rich playboy, Cha Do Woo, is a marvelous villain.

A poised, polished sociopath, who regards 95% of humanity as dirt.
He has an easy time in early episodes, yet as stakes mount, ethics plummet.
Obstacles must be crushed in pursuit of his grandiose scheme.
Both opponents analyze and exploit the weakness of each other.
Very much a chess match played across boardrooms and stock exchange.
Limited weeping - hooray. Clever plotting throughout, the end stitches a few threads, leaves a few unresolved.
Yong-ha Park (Kim Shin) was on a meteoric ascent with this, his final work before his suicide.

Angry, Raucous, And Shamelessly Gorgeous - 2021 - 6/10

Anne, living abroad for three decades, is lured back to the States to receive an achievement award.
She misinterprets, however, and believes she will also be acting in her historic play.
Where a younger actress has already been cast.
Sharp tongued comedy of the plight and shading of aging female actors.
Airing during the height of Covid Pandemic, this ”Zoom” show lies between theatre and television.
Throughout, there are obvious, visible, video edits. So much for “live” theatre.
Since the producers tweaked there, why not repair the audio issues?
Phylicia Rashad’s voice is poorly caught most of the play, as is Alicia Stith’s.

Dossier 51 - 1978 - 6/10

Dominique is promoted to a high level diplomatic position.
Immediately, security agencies, spy operatives, set about to discover any weakness.
Once found, they will exploit to control the individual.
This has a documentary feel, with witnesses and subjects interviewed throughout.
The diplomat’s mother, ex-schoolmates, an old flame, neighbors, babysitter.
Despite touches of humor, this is an arid, cynical progression.
Throughout, neither the diplomat nor his equally surveilled wife are aware.