Recommend a movie

[Vultural]

House Of The Dead - 1978 - 2/10

Insomnia sufferers, check this out.
Grade-D omnibus “horror” anthology.
Not truly terrible, just cheap, awful, and mind-thudding dull most of the time.
Man is in town for the annual plumbers convention, also for a chance to cheat on his wife.
During a ****ial downpour, his cabbie does not drop him in front of his hotel, but instead the mortuary.
Inside, the attendant gives him a casket viewing tour, and slowly delivers the story behind the deaths.
First two tales “best,” though they are still crap.  A school teacher who hates kids, and a homicidal swinger.
Both display more energy, and both are unintentionally funny.
Steep downhill after those.
Actors are almost recognizable TV character bit players.
Big hook for some of you - Filmed entirely in Oklahoma!

[Vultural]

Savages - 2012 - 6/10

Reefer wars movie, directed by Oliver Stone, who was apparently watching too many Tarentino flicks.
Mexican drug cartel tries to muscle in on boutique, California growers, expecting them to roll over and agree to anything.
Kidnappings, ambushes, and gunplay follow in due course.
I watched the unrated version.  Violence and mayhem, no nudity.

Stone is usually good providing background info, but that was lacking in this film.
The reason Mexican cartels are trying to get a foothold in the States is because their product, slagged in the States as "pedro" is losing marketshare to US grown "hydro."  Latter being more potent, and more expensive.
As more states decriminalize, then legalize, marijuana, cartels lose power and influence (ref: mobsters during Prohibition).  So the argument goes.
Stone barely touched this area, and it would have made the plot more coherent, and character motivations clearer.
The premise that a band of stoners, even ex military, could take on a powerful cartel is difficult to accept.

[Vultural]

Sinister - 2012 - 6/10

Promising thriller missteps early, succumbs to cliche, tired writing, formula.
True crime writer, Ethan Hawke (aarrgghh, another plot with that most boring main character, the writer), moves family into home where previous family was mass murdered.
Of course, he neglects to tell his wife any of those details.
In no time flat, he discovers cans of film reels, disturbing clues, and bumps in the night.
Does he move the family out?  Ha, silly.
OK enough production, but the plot has been done dozens of times.

[Vultural]

Silver Linings Playbook - 2012 - 5/10

Mainstream film I resisted, but was eventually overruled against.
Grieving, dysfunctional widow meets mental case who doesn't like taking his meds.
Parents are noisy, loud and street spectacles.
In a nutshell, white trash.  (Yeah, that ain’t PC.)
When these types are your neighbors, you shun them.
When they are your coworkers, they are generally bosses, and you hate them.
Yet, when a movie is made about them, everyone hollers,  "Masterpiece!" and it gets a load of Oscar nods.

[Vultural]

Borgman - 2013 - 5/10

No, not 7 of 9, nor Locutus.   Arthouse - horror - message film from Netherlands.
This is either an adult fairy tale or modern day allegory or disturbing parable or . . .
Wait.  According to the booklet, the director declares he deliberately kept the script open-ended, open to  audience interpretation.  The result is at once unsettling and infuriating.
Unwashed, on-the-run homeless man knocks doors in exclusive neighborhood, asking to take a bath.
One husband refuses and kicks him out, then the wife permits him in later.
Hot bath with a tray of food and glass of wine.
More transients arrive and occupy the outdoor guest house.  Soon the killings begin.
One of the darkest themes is dream invasion and manipulation, so characters turn against each other.
Is this a xenophobic metaphor for illegal immigrants displacing W Europeans?
Is the wife a sleeper agent?  Is this a riff on Invasion Of Body Snatchers?
Pied Piper update?
Cold - sometimes creepy - more often irritating.
Who knows?  As noted, the lack of resolution will strike many as a sputtering mess.

[Vultural]

Lucky Them - 2015 - 6/10

Character study of aging music critic (Toni Collette) ordered to do article on vanished icon.*
Tracking the missing is just the device.  The story is about standing in place, unable to move forward.
She still prowls small clubs, has one night stands with increasingly younger musicians.  (Collette, 40, resembles 50.)
Worse, the music magazine she contributes to advises her that her readership is down.  She is irrelevant.
The movie becomes a road film, and an old admirer offers assistance if he can film her journey.
Thomas Hayden Church steals every single scene as ultra rich, socially clueless companion.
Funny throughout, filled with tunes you might enjoy in clubs, but never actually give your money for.

* The reclusive artist trope is an oft used one, but it is invariably a myth.
Most artists run out of things to say, grow old and out of step, or their option is not renewed.
They don’t vanish - they are merely discarded, then forgotten.
Stepping away while you are still potent and disappearing for decades is no small trick.
J D Salinger - Syd Barrett - Garbo - Bobbie Gentry - are a small group.

[Vultural]

The Matrimony - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - 心中有鬼

For many, title is dead giveaway.
Matrimony = Horror film.
Ghost story set in 1930s Shanghai.
New wife receives orders from chronically depressed husband DO NOT venture into a locked room . . .
Quicker than she can say, “This door is creaky,"  she channels her inner Pandora.
Lush sets, understated acting, definitely a mood piece, but an old fashioned ghost story.
Main problem is ham fisted sound mix, with music and effects cranked to the max during spooky moments.
Otherwise, decent "Ooooo story."

[Vultural]

Shiri - 1999 - 7/10
AKA - Swiri  //  쉬리

Shiri was one of those films that put Korea on the map for Asian action fans.
Also a viewed as a passing of the action genre torch following the Hong Kong takeover in 1997.
Narrative revolves around a breakaway N Korean unit trying to disrupt peace gestures.
Espionage cat and mouse punctuated with high voltage gunfire sequences.
In the midst of all that a love story tries to blossom.
Red meat for Asian fanboys.  Loosely remade into IRIS.

[Vultural]

Side By Side - 2012 - 7/10

Documentary hosted by Keanu Reeves.
He interviewed dozens of directors, cinematographers, editors, color designers, etc . . .  about the ongoing transition from old technology to new.
From photo chemical film to digital.  And the impact on movies, as we see them.
Many can't wait to iron out the flaws and drawbacks with the new.  Others were wistful about the loss of "magic" as part of the artistry disappears, replaced by technology.
Highly engaging for film buffs.

 

[Vultural]

The Wrecking Crew - 2008/2015 - 7/10

 

 

Documentary of famed studio musicians who played on countless hits from mid 60s to mid 70s.

These were the go-to guys for Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Sinatra, John Philips, many, many others.

Denny Tedesco (son of guitarist Ted Tedesco) started filming in the 90s and it took almost 20 years to finish.

Tons of still photographs, tunes, and talking heads.  Faces included Dick Clark and Frank Zappa, both RIP.

Apparently much of the delay involved music clearances.

 

 

Must watch for Boomers and rock snobs.

Couple of serious quibbles cannot be overlooked.

One, little mention of troubles, drugs, other difficulties   The feel-good sheen is suffocating at times.

Two, chronology bounced.  Story opened with Brian Wilson and classic Beach Boys recordings.

Aloud, I’m saying,  “Where’s Phil Spector?  They worked for him first.  Brian was in the Wrecking Crew.”

Spector was covered, but he came later in the doc.  The early history of the group itself came after that.

Three - and this comes from Wikipedia:

The "Wrecking Crew" name is strongly disputed by Carol Kaye, who has stated in interviews, "We were never known as that. Sometimes we were called the Clique, but that's a Hal Blaine invented name for his own self promotion in 1990, and most of us are really, really angry about that film, too." Research by Songfacts concurs, noting "We couldn't find any references to "The Wrecking Crew" in any publications from the era.

I enjoyed this, though I enjoyed it with a wary grain of salt.

 

[Vultural]

The Impossible - 2012 - 7/10

Vacationing family tries to stay together after being hammered by tsunami in Thailand.
Based on actual events.
No syrup or sugar coat on this one.  Just the struggles to survive, stay alive, find help.
Naomi Watts, Ewan MacGregor as leads are dependable as ever, actors playing kids are good.
Lush scenery, great effects (helped by a robust sound mix), harrowing scenes.
Must see for you folks who prefer holidays at the beach.

[Vultural]

Dark Places - 2015 - 6/10

Tightly wound, adult thriller with Charlize Theron playing troubled survivor.
When she was 8, her family was mass murdered.  For thirty years, she lived on charity, royalties from a ghost written memoir, envelopes with cash or cheques from accident onlookers.  Now the money has dried, and she still has no job skills, no employment history.
A conspiracy club offers money if she tries to discover what truly happened.
And down the grim, trashy rabbit hole she goes.
Adapted from an earlier book by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), this has less fireworks and is less over the top.
Theron’s character is haunted and bruised, with no super abilities or genius IQ.
Story is more believable than Gone Girl, and the feel is more realistic.

Note - Not necessary, but older viewers might remember the mass hysteria over Satan worship, with possession and sacrifices, that was a cultural feature of the 1980s.

[Vultural]

Black Line - 1960 - 6/10
AKA - Kurosen chitai / 奇想活劇傑作選 石井輝男 黒線地帯

Terrific little Noir from Japan.
Reporter is investigating underworld prostitution ring (the Black Line), and he is royally set-up.
One minute he is drinking with a pimp, next minute he wakes next to a strangled hooker, his tie around her throat.
From there, the pace shifts into high gear, as he tries to solve the mystery and elude police.
It’s great how so much gets packed into 80 minutes.
Murders, go-go dancers, drug smuggling, a rival journalist, near captures.
A procession of lovely, malicious, female distractions try to slow him down whenever possible.
Memorable fight inside either a mannequin warehouse or adult inflatable “female companion” warehouse.
Bluesy, raucous jazz score just heightens the experience.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Vultural

[Vultural]

John Dies At The End - 2012 - 5/10

After taking a new drug, "soy sauce," two stoners stumble into the parallel world.
Clever film, but too wordy by far.  Exposition delivers much of the plot.
Some genuinely funny moments, offset by strangeness.
All the leads are fine, effects OK.
By the end, however, I was hearing Peggy Lee singing, "Is That All There Is?"
My expectations were too high after reading so much acclaim for this one.
If I caught this in a better mood, I might have given it a 6.

For all that, I just bought the book.  What a pezhead.

[Vultural]

Berberian Sound Studio - 2012 - 3/10

Toby Jones plays sound designer hired to work on 70s Italian horror film.
Think Argento or Fulci (Zombie, Demons . . . )
Interesting for the first half hour, bogs down, grows pretentious, artsy, preposterous.
Reviews have been all over the map for this one.
Film looks good, though dark, and does a fine job showing how effects were made.
Jones plays his character one-note, the narrative wanders then stops.
Horror for the wine n cheese crowd.

[Vultural]

3 Coeurs - 2014 - 5/10
AKA - Three Hearts

Tax accountant misses the last train, ends up walking midnight streets with a woman out buying cigarettes.
He suffers panic attacks, she has esteem problems.
They make a date to rendezvous in Paris later, only one gets stood up.
All tailspin from there.
One character relocates abroad - the other hooks up with their sibling!
Mind you, the  original midnight strollers had never exchanged phone numbers, let alone names, so the subsequent encounter was sheer coincidence.  - Fate -
Or, the hand of a clumsy writer.
There is also the possibility that everything that occurred after that missed date is all dream-time.
An even worse cheat, especially since that notion is postulated yet never resolved.
I am trying to be careful here, trying not to spoil a muddled movie.
The denouement dovetails to that missed rendezvous again with yet another potential outcome!
Enough to give arthouse films a bad name.

[Vultural]

Port Of Forty Thieves - 1944 - 6/10

Decent Republic programmer.  More mystery than Noir.
Merry socialite wants to inherit multi-millionaire husband’s estate.
He vanished over seven years ago, so she hires lawyer to establish the death legally.
Slight wrinkle - clues, such as cheques signed by missing millionaire, keep appearing.
Impossible, the wife thinks - and knows - since she murdered him.
At less than an hour, this B-film speeds along with more murder, attempted murder, blackmail.
One darkly enjoyable element is Stephanie Bachelor’s portrayal of the widowmaker.

Cheerful and sunny throughout, when scheming, even when killing, she is a woman who enjoys her work.
Nice to see.

[Vultural]

Amour - 2012 - 7/10

Long term marriage impacted after the wife suffers small stroke.
Then another.  Before you know it, she is almost helpless.
Unflinching movie, best appreciated by those of a certain age:
Meaning, you have more days behind you than in front of you.

Not sentimental, but you could see how vital and important the couple had been.
Everyone gets forgotten, however.
Extremely well done, I did not care for this at all.

[Vultural]

Take Joy: The Magical World Of Tasha Tudor - 1996 - 5/10

Documentary about the acclaimed childrens illustrator.
I recognized her from an article in the old Victoria magazine, and I must confess I recalled many of the illustrations from childhood books.
Some, such as those for Secret Garden, famous and unforgettable.

The film was saccharine sweet, cloying, more perfect than Martha Stewart's wildest fantasies.  
Ms Tudor dressed and determinedly lived in the 1830s.
After awhile, I smelled a rat and checked online to see just how perfect her life had been.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2010/11/09/sons_of_vt_author_settle_fight_over_her_2m_estate/

[Vultural]

God Help The Girl - 2014 - 8/10

Three minutes in, I asked,  “Is this based on a musical?”
The females who selected this quickly answered,  “I hope not.”
There were songs throughout - lots of them.
Internal songs, numbers for a prospective concert, others, to quote Mr Wilson, busy doing nothing.
A small percentage will love this film, destined to become a cult fave.  A greater proportion will shrug or dislike.
The cinematography is stylized and lush.  For some, and this will be the last spike, there are dance numbers.
Odd coming of age tale, omitting the typical love angle.
Troubled girl escapes from clinic / halfway house, goes to Glasgow, tries to work on her song craft.
The theme is of the friends you make in your late teens, early twenties.  Your peers.
The ones who help you through the awkward, often painful transition into adulthood.
The ones who, for the briefest of springs, mean the whole world to you.

Yet that period is so very brief.
Bittersweet, and again, not everyone will enjoy.