Recommend a movie

[Vultural]

Helpless - 2012 - 7/10
AKA: Hoa-cha

Nice paced Korean mystery.
Enroute to introduce his fiancée to his family, the boyfriend stops at a gas station for coffee and snacks.
Inside the car, the girlfriend answers her cellphone.
The boyfriend returns to an empty car.
He cannot find her.  The police are uninterested, dismissing it as bridal jitters.
The boyfriend hunts harder, discovers she was not who she claimed.  His fiancée was an imposter.
Eventually he hires a friend / relative (?), ex-police to track her down.
All that occurs early on in dark, downward spiral of a tale.
Solid mystery / thriller.  Absorbing date flick, especially if your partner keeps secrets.

[Vultural]

Home - 2008 - 6/10

For ten years, the family of five has been living in a beat up, pre-fab wreck of a house less than twenty meters from an abandoned highway.  Funding for the road dried up ten years ago and they have enjoyed rural bliss.
Without warning, road crews arrive, shift all their belongings next to the house, install guardrails.
Next day, traffic arrives.  First a trickle - then a steady stream - finally bumper to bumper.
Endless honking and exhaust fumes.
Film follows how they cope ... and how they don’t cope.

Big problem with the plot is virtually few countries would permit them to remain.  Certainly not France, which is where this is set.
Governments would seize the land by eminent domain (compulsory purchase, resumption, compulsory acquisition, expropriation, etc ...) to protect themselves from potential liability or any legal conflicts.  

Acting, led by Isabel Huppert, fine across the board in depressing movie.

[Vultural]

The Master Key - 1945 - 6/10

Universal serial set in 1938, before W W I I.
Secret Nazis and Nazi sympathizers plan to buy up all the US manufacturing companies and corporations they can.
That way, once war starts, they will own the States.
To accomplish their task, they need money - lots of it.
Fortunately, they have copied the orotron, a device that can extract an endless supply of gold from sea water.
Combating this conspiracy is one FBI agent, one police detective, and a plucky female newspaper reporter.
Luckily tor them, there is an empty theater hall nearby, filled with juvenile delinquents who don’t like Nazis, either.
Fast paced cliffhanger with fairly good twists - the usual cheats, nice cast, inventive plot.  

[Vultural]

The Love Punch - 2013 - 4/10

Tedious, forced comedy, undermined further with a totally implausible script and broad over-acting.
Felt like rehashed 60s farce.
Pierce Brosnan (who does not look well here) plays soon-to-retire tycoon who sells business, only to discover he sold to a corporate raider who emptied all accounts, including pensions.  His included.
With ex-wife (Emma Thompson) and two neighbor friends he decides to crash the raider’s wedding and steal a diamond worth £10 million.
OK, call me jaded.  £10 million is the haul?  For his pension account, his ex’s retirement, other colleague’s money, the kids’ money, etc ...  £10 million?
Moreover, didn’t his company have lawyers or accountants to protect from that?  Or litigate afterward?
Pensions are usually sacrosanct.  Separate from all other elements of negotiations.  So I never bought that angle.
Their method of crashing a wedding - which I shall not spoil - is preposterous.
Trust me, my wife and I have crashed many a wedding, domestic and abroad.  Always for champagne and nibbles.
This film is OK enough if you are undemanding and in the mood for old fashioned corn.

[Vultural]

Barefoot - 2014 - 7/10

Far-fetched romantic comedy of hustler who meets wide eyed naive soul in mental hospital.
The hustler is a ne’er-do-well, heavily in debt to criminal types.
He takes the girl back to his rich New Orleans family to pass as his girlfriend as he tries to weasel money from dad.
Predictable, a bit by the numbers, and the premise of using that girl is more than a little creepy.
Yet I found myself warming to the story, mostly because of Evan Ward’s luminous portrayal.
She truly nails this childlike innocent.  She glows throughout, and viewers might find themselves looking at the world through her eyes.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and despite preconceptions.
Mind you - syrupy romance all the way.  Date movie.

[Vultural]

Abuse Of Weakness - 2013 - 7/10
AKA - Abus de Faiblesse

One of those films that might impel you to hurl rocks at the screen.
Isabelle Huppert more or less plays Catherine Breillat who directed and wrote the screenplay for this.
Based on her own unfortunate - maddeningly foolish - experiences.

Film director suffers a stroke, spends months regaining her abilities.
During that time she scripts her next film, even sees the man she wants to cast as male lead.
A con man, embezzler, thief, hustler, scam artist.
Despite friends and family repeatedly warning her to eject him from her life, she gets enmeshed deeper with him.
He always has a big deal afoot, and needs investment capital.
As in . . . her cheques.
Most of the lines and excuses he uses a high school girl would roll her eyes at.
There were times during the film, audience members were shouting out loud at her.
Be warned.

[Vultural]

Beyond The Lights - 2014 - 6/10

Musical / drama / love story.
Off duty cop, working security for singing sensation, halts her lame suicide attempt.
Will Fate draw them together?  Will they fall in love?
Neither seem to be living their own lives, but instead follow “the plan” of their parents.
Nice quota of tunes.  Lip syncing by the star, and MTV montages with chart toppers.
What struck me by the end was that the lead characters had more or less switched roles and destinies.
I don’t think that was deliberate, either.
Had trouble with the love story, too.

[Vultural]

Dragon Swamp - 1969 - 6/10

Vintage Shaw Brothers movie that itself is a throwback to an earlier, less bloody, era.
Plot involves the theft of a magical jade sword, with which the holder can control the martial arts world. In effect, the universe!
That said, the sword also is cursed and means doom for those who wield it.
Not as much fighting and swordsplay as one might expect, though there were a couple highly choreographed and stylized battles.
Main character, Qing-erh, is one of the most gullible and trusting females around.
She is also an orphan. Her family was severed by the sword when she was an infant, but as she starts hunting for the blade she makes fateful encounters.
A lot of fun, though I imagine part of the enjoyment depends on your tolerance for old school Hong Kong movies.

[Vultural]

Trance - 2013 - 6/10

Latest brain mixer from Danny Boyle.
After the heist comes off, key mole Simon cannot remember where he stashed the theft.
Gang members beat and torture him without success.
Plan B:  Hypnosis.  Hire a hypnotist to get him to remember.
And then, plans go off the rails.  Simon has other memories, buried.
Smart film, with a lot of tricks and twists.
Those who keep checking their messages during this one will quickly get lost.

[Vultural]

My Old Lady - 2014 - 6/10

Ha!  Beware of the free lunch.  The surprise gift.
Or, in this movie, the inheritance.
Destitute Yank spends his remaining funds to fly to Paris to see the property his father willed him.
Several floors, nice grounds, worth a fortune - with a catch.
A viager.  The former owner, who lives as resident and receives a monthly payment of €2000 from the new owner.
For Americans, think reverse mortgage.
One might predict all sort of comic implications, but no, this darkens into serious drama territory.
The whole film smacks of theatre boards, which is just what it was.
Mostly a two set play with the stone broke American, the elderly British resident, and her daughter.
Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas.
All scratching to clutch tight to the property.

[Vultural]

A Company Man - 2012 - 6/10

Large Korean metal exporting firm is actually a front for murder and assassination outfit.
One of the top trigger men has gotten bored, weary, exhausted and wants out.
Apparently, he's never watched a single movie about trying to leave the mob.
Expect the usual crescendo of suspicion, mistrust, "severance package," and noisy finale.
Interestingly, most of the characters behaved as bored 9-5 office drones - with weapons in desk drawers.
Derivative, copy cat fare, featuring many players from the much better K-Drama Ghost (Phantom).

[Vultural]

Coffee Town - 2012 - 6/10

Nice, overlooked comic gem.
Denizens of small coffee shop discover their hangout could be turned into a food bistro.
Instead of deadbeats fixed like barnacles to tables all day, pushy, noisy eaters will arrive.
And lingering, loitering, chilling all day, will be gone with the tape deck.
So they evolve an absurd plan to stop that.
Funny on multiple levels:  situation, farce behaviour, clever wordplay.

I enjoyed this, but to tell the truth I never glanced more than a second at laptop types (mostly guys) sitting in coffee shops.  I assumed most (mostly guys) were safely eyeing porn without mom, wife, girlfriend looming.
I also think this world is already disappearing, as laptops give way to phones for the majority.

[Vultural]

Tyrannosaur - 2011 - 6/10

In your face character studies with Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman.
Angry old man, boiling with rage and self destruction, meets devout, Christian shop owner, with violent skeletons in her own closet.
Despite the title, no dinosaurs.
The path to redemption seems fraught with swearing, beatings, and blood.
Rough film -- pet lovers, you ought to avoid this one.

[Vultural]

Elles - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Sponsoring

Dreary goings on of two working girls.
Juliette Binoche portrays freelance writer interviewing two college girls who service gents for extra money.
No drug abuse, no criminal element, no pimps.
Just a pair of 18 year olds doing the deed with well mannered, well dressed, well paying johns.
The high priced call girl fantasy that some believe.
Arthouse twaddle.  Snoozeville.

[Vultural]

Le Code A Change - 2009 - 6/10

French dinner party from Hell.
Spousal sniping, family conflicts, old flames, food nazis.
There were almost too many characters, but by the end of the film you knew who was who and what their stories were.
Passable.  Some reviewers were too harsh.  What did they expect?
Going in, I knew this would be a talky dinner party.
One character, praying inside the church, echoed my own thoughts every time I have a party to attend.

“Lord ...
Give me the strength to go to this damn dinner!
Give me the strength to pretend, to laugh.
To ask questions, when I don't care about the answers.
To pretend that I'm there, when I'm far away.”

[Vultural]

Vinyl - 2012 - 6/10

Cynical spoof of youth oriented music biz.
After four aging punkers bury a mate, they get drunk and jam up a can't miss single.
Only no one is interested in old gits.  Same as it ever was.
Undeterred, the leader auditions a group of spotty faced kids to lipsync for them.
The whole time, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the youngsters once the old farts stepped out and jeered, "Yeah, that's us!" which was their plan.
Disturbing undercurrent in keen satire.
Juicy role for Phil Daniels as the never say die front man.
Top soundtrack by The Alarm.

[Vultural]

Oblivion - 2013 - 6/10

Austere set design and intriguing premise cannot overcome fuzzy direction and a lazy script with major loopholes.
Post-apocalypse Earth (aliens this time out).
Planet is radioactive toast and most of humanity has relocated to Titan.  No, not nearby Mars, but far beyond the asteroid belt, and orbiting Saturn.
While big siphons suck Earth’s oceans dry for Titan plumbing pipes, rogue aliens keep blowing things up.  They shoot down spherical battle bots, as well.  Jack (Cruise) is the janitor.
Film, based on a comic, which swiped from dozens of TV shots and movies, hasn’t a single original thought or idea.  This would have made a tight 30” Twilight Zone episode, instead of a 2+ hours trudge.
Minimal action, more cerebral fare, though this does have its advocates.  Especially if you are in the Solaris / Cargo fold.
Don’t get me going about the flight recorder or why aliens scamper on four legs early, two later.

[Vultural]

Last Of Robin Hood - 2013 - 6/10

Kevin Kline terrific as world weary Errol Flynn in his last years.
Movie spotlights relationship with 15 year old Beverly Aadland and her eagle eyed mother.
From what I have read on and by Flynn, events seemed accurate.
Flynn was still a name star, but the glamour roles had dried up a decade earlier. (Warners dropped him in ‘53)
There were mentions of Oscar nods for The Sun Also Rises and Too Much, Too Soon but nothing came of those.
Fine acting all around in a warts n all portrayal.  No one escapes.
Bad reviews seem more from fans who prefer the rollicking swashbuckler, not the worn out wreck.
Kline captures the charm and grace that never failed the man.

Last hurrah - Flynn & Aadland on the Red Skelton Hour (episode aired posthumously).

[Vultural]

Wasteland - 2012 - 6/10

Solid criminal revenge set in that happiest of places, Leeds.
Recently released con enlists three buddies to take down the thug who set him up, the local drug kingpin.
Characterizations were a bit weak as the focus was on scouting, planning, and the caper.  
Lean film that wasted little time, and thankfully did not suffer Guy Ritchie wannabee-ness.
Perhaps a bit cute near the end.
Impressive debut from first time director.

[Vultural]

Kill Me Three Times - 2014 - 6/10

Engaging black comedy of a contract hit, a pair of eloping lovers, theft, insurance fraud.
Mildly complicated, with flashbacks and multiple narratives, but all characters are identifiable and fleshed out.
Difficult - in a funny way - to keep track of who is cheating on who.
Simon Pegg plays a professional hitman with a sardonic sense of humour.
Western Australia provides stunning backdrop.
Style over substance, but nails every one of its marks.