Recommend a movie

[BorisVictor]

Many thanks for your hard work, so many movies recommendations!

[Vultural]

 . . . so many movies recommendations!

​Keeping the thread alive, Boris.  Waiting for a surge!

 

Love Crime - 2010 - 7/10

Kristin Scott Thomas plays ambitious, manipulative boss, who claims credit for all the work done by her junior.
Of course, she earns a much higher wage and a tidy bonus.
Meanwhile, her subordinate, Isabelle, lays a trail of vengeance via deception.
Solid French revenge film with some nice twists and turns.
Another excuse to root for the baddie.

 

[Vultural]

Chi-Raq - 2015 - 5/10

Spike Lee somehow reworks Aristophanes’ hysterically funny “Lysistrata” into a preachy tirade.
Fable of women withholding sex until rival gangs make peace (no peace, no piece) blended with with gun violence, diatribes against the NRA, posters of victims, what-not.
Essentially, there are two films:  one a broad comedy, the other, if handled correctly, a savage indictment of how US gun owners value guns more than life.
The message is heavy handed, and, to be honest, embarrassing to see Lee present a film so awkward.
Fully, half the scenes are carried on a couple beats too long, dragging the pace.
Apologists defend this film saying it is not a comedy, but rather a satire.
Sorry, satire generally uses a razor honed knife.  Lee swings Fred Flintstone’s club.
On the plus side, much of the dialogue is rhyming couplets, and the “Lysistrata" business is funny as hell.
The cinematography is terrific, with several lush looking set designs.
Moreover, one of the best characters is Samuel Jackson’s  chorus, Dolmedes.
Once he utters the phrase, “signifying monkey,” you immediately recognize Dolemite!
Otherwise, a fine cast wasted and wicked concept bungled.  What a shame.

[Vultural]

Air Doll - 2009 - 7/10

An inflatable toy (think lonely gentleman's action toy) wakes up one morning and realizes she has developed consciousness.
She wanders the neighborhood, makes friends, even finds a job at a video store.
Emotions begin to flower and she has trouble with those.
A moody, melancholy film about loneliness and emptiness.
Yet also about opening your heart, despite the inevitable pain.
Haunting, minimalist score.

[Vultural]

Sound It Out - 2012 - 7/10

Documentary about the last surviving record shop in Teeside.
The owner is a music expert, his loyal assistant has his own expertise, the backroom girl runs the computer and ensures they make money.
Obsessive collectors are profiled, 99% of whom are guys.
They share their stories, display their treasures, warble on and on about the glories of vinyl.
One man - owner, I think - commented that vinyl holds memories.
Fair enough.  I used a similar phrase when reviewing All Things Must Pass, doc about the demise of Tower Records.
This would make a fine companion to that, and in many ways is more satisfying.
Watching the tiny survivor after the monster chain failed to crush it.

I have friends from my record shop days.  A few still dream about setting up a record store, mostly vinyl.
Anytime they float the idea, I shake my head.
This shop is exactly how they envision it, and exactly why I always tell ‘em no way.

[Vultural]

Candlestick - 2014 - 5/10

Curious, stagebound mystery.
Seriously, this is like watching an Off-Broadway or fringe London theatrical production.
Normally, I might have foolishly paid $30.00 or £20.00 to sit through this.
Loaded conversation, drinking, and gamesmanship one evening at Jack’s flat.
Action occurs on one set, or, for one scene, outside on the street.
Lines are mannered, direct from drama school.
In homage to the game Clue, the ominous candlestick arrives on the coffee table.
100% of the audience can foretell someone will get a headache sooner or later.

Oddities include - three principals wear the same shade of maroon (shirt - dress - tie).
Music, what scant amount there is, copies Bernard Hermann.
Unless Jack spins a record, in which case he plays a 78 (yes, a 78 rpm vinyl!).
Jack’s phones (two of ‘em for one flat) are both landline, rotary dial.  Other characters use cellphones.
Dialogue is neither witty nor clever.

[Vultural]

Picking Up The Pieces - 2000 - 6/10

Murder and dismemberment open up this black comedy that shifts gears into religious satire.
Woody Allen plays Tex, a kosher butcher living in Texas.
Sharon Stone is Candy, his trampalicious wife.  She won’t stay buried.  Well, her hand won’t stay buried.
In due time it is revered as a sacred relic. - - Swear, I ain’t making this up.
Cheech Marin, Kiefer Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Lou Diamond Philips, Eddie Griffin bolster a big cast in this terrible nonsense.
Several scenes filmed in a trailer park.
Music by Flaco Jimenez.
Be advised, this is NOT a Woody Allen script.

[Vultural]

Another Year - 2010 - 6/10

Quiet slice from Mike Leigh.
Happily married couple (Jim Broadbent & Ruth Sheen) and the friends who pass in and out of their life.
Events move from season to season.
Nothing earth shaking, though Lesley Manville was terrific as the desperately lonely best friend.

[Vultural]

Cobain: Montage of Heck - 2015 - 5/10

Quirky bio-pic of happy-go-lucky --- oops, wait a minute!

“Authorized documentary” of the troubled musician.
Primarily told from talking heads, with little challenging or fact-checking.
At two plus hours, this goes on way too long and is heavily padded with animated doodles.
Kurt’s ma and Kurt’s wife are each glossy, and each defend and excuse themselves.
Kurt’s wife repeatedly assures that she never cheated on Kurt.
Who is not here - Grohl, Vig, any honcho from Geffen or UNI, fellow grunge band members, the word “grunge,” Seattle.

“History is written by the victors”

[Vultural]

I’ll See You In My Dreams - 2015 - 7/10

Unexpected romance at the retirement home.
Woman visiting her girlfriends is persuaded to participate in the next speed-date mingler.
Males are over-earnest, sad-sacks, overdosed on erectile meds, or simply lonely.
Female friends urge her to move into the senior center, share the good times!
The woman (Blythe Danner) has her own home, dog, pool guy, daughter who visits occasionally, and freedom.
Then the handsome stranger from Texas arrives.  Sam Elliott.
Narrative is absorbing because the plot veers in unexpected directions frequently.
Just when you conclude, “This is going to --” the story hard turns.
Same thing with characters.  Just when you feel reassured - or worried - Fate skips across the surface.
These are all people with miles of time behind them, precious little road ahead.
You hope for the best, but

[Vultural]

Like Crazy - 2011 - 6/10

British exchange student falls in love with Los Angeles based student.
During courtship, both revealed they were parents only child.
She over-stayed her visa and was not allowed to return.
They try to maintain their relationship, then try to meet others, try to forget, try to hold on.
Bittersweet romance grinds into the real world.
Both characters flawed but likable, which make their failures more poignant.

[Vultural]

Southbound - 2015 - 6/10

Horror anthology dosed with the surreal.
Opening sequence is strongest and sets the tone.
Two men, covered in blood, roar down desert highway.
They are caught in a time loop, similar to Triangle (2009), which permits “things” on horizon to catch them.
That sequence hands off to the next, three female musicians (young and leggy) who get a flat tire.
As if by chance, a car conveniently arrives and offers a lift.
Obviously, those females don’t know a basic horror rule:  DO NOT CLIMB INTO STRANGERS’ CARS.
Story hand-off transitions are OK, but resolutions for each tale are weak or absent.
This is a “keyhole” view of transient types and misdeeds in southwestern badlands.
Expect no explanations and you might enjoy better.

[Vultural]

Slashed Dreams - 1975 - 3/10
Originally title - Sunburst (neither title relates to the plot)

STARRING ROBERT ENGLUND!!
Sure, boss, whatever.
Another delight from my Chilling Classics box (50 awful films, $5.00).
College couple head for remote mountains to visit dropout friend.  (Car buffs, they drive a VW Thing!)
Pace is slow, scenes dawdle.  Nothing much happens for 50 minutes in very 70s looking film.
Eventually, the couple skinny dip in a lake and get heckled by hillbilly duo, the girl is promised “good time” later.
Do they get outta Dodge?  Heck no.
They bed down in a ramshackle cabin.  Door won’t close, there is no lock.
Being liberal arts majors, the pair sleep naked.
Later - “Psst, did you hear something?  I think someone’s insi ---  Aarrgghh!!"
Film has six - count ‘em - six musical interludes by nondescript female lounge singer.  Slasher musical.
20s vaudeville crooner Rudy Vallee plays a country storekeeper.  He sings too.  Hell.
Oh yeah, Englund?  He shows in the final ten minutes.  This was his second role - Freddy K is a decade away.

[Vultural]

The Ides Of March - 2011 - 3/10

Absurd political thriller set amidst the US primary season.
Five or ten minutes in, the main character (Gosling - the smartest guy on the team) takes a phone call and begins a series of stupid - STUPID - decisions.
He did things your high school student council rep would have shunned.
Intelligent actors, good sets, excellent concept, completely undermined by contrived, incompetent script.
I wish I had counted how many times the people in my room were yelling, "No!"  "Stop!"  or  "You idiot!"  before every moronic action.
Then again, maybe this is symbolic of politicians in general?  Doubtful.

[Vultural]

Amy - 2015 - 8/10

Two hour documentary of jazz singer, Amy Winehouse.
Creators unearthed rare materials, including 14 year old Winehouse singing for a friend’s birthday.
Her phenomenal vocal gifts are train-wrecked by substance abuse and pathetic reliance on toxic males
Can you say boyfriend (later husband)?  Can you say estranged father?  Latter reappeared after her success.
Doc brilliantly captures the thrill of her dizzying ascent, yet it is also painful, excruciating at times, to watch her make those colossal errors of judgment that eventually led to her death.
An argument was postulated that had Miss Winehouse stuck with more “Frank" oriented material, stayed in the Jazz orbit, she might still be alive and releasing.  Mind you, I listen to a lot of current jazz chanteuses.  They sing for ecstatic, cult audiences.  And theory or no theory, “Back In Black" was a monster, and whether she was prepared or not, Winehouse found herself on the tiger of fame.
Extraordinarily well done, though one viewing will probably be more than enough for most.

[Vultural]

Learning To Drive - 2015 - 6/10

After husband walks out of 20+ year marriage, wife decides to take driving lessons.
This is set in New York City where one can live a lifetime without a car.
Plot avoids the usual marital conflicts and roots of divorce.  View this as a no-fault breakup.
The story follows the wife's increasing self reliance.
Getting out of the apartment, envisioning a trip to her daughter in Vermont.
The Punjabi cabbie teacher’s story is more sketch, as are all male figures in this.
Ending struck me as improbable.  Other elements (how does she afford NYC rent) implausible.
A quiet film, but a lot goes on.  Will resonate more with female viewers (it did here).

[Vultural]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2011 - 5/10

Girl escapes from a backwoods cult, where the lot of womenfolk is cookin', dishes, gardening, and spawning.
She hides at his sister's lakeside retreat.
Are culties following her?  Or is she ghosted by private demons? Do I care?
Kept checking the time often during this one.
Hated every single character.

[Vultural]

The Limey - 1999 - 8/10

Dazzling tour de force from Soderbergh in one of his smaller, artier projects.
Career criminal (menacing Terence Stamp), out of prison, learns daughter died in Los Angeles.
As he investigates, obstacles and foes try to thwart him, confirming his suspicions.
Violence is this is casual, often throwaway, often funny.  Blink - say at the pool - you may miss it.
At its essence, a revenge film, this is a masterclass in editing.
Layered flashbacks and a diced narrative might confuse ADD souls, though alert viewers will have few difficulties.
Acting across the board (Peter Fonda, Lesley Ann Warren, Barry Newman, Luis Guzmán) terrific.
Music score weaves 60s pop with brooding piano.
Bickering audio commentary with Soderbergh and scriptwriter Lem Dobbs insightful re:creative compromises.

[Vultural]

Freeheld - 2015 - 6/10

Biopic of Laurel Hester, New Jersey cop for 23 years who developed Stage 4 lung cancer.
When she requested her pension be awarded to her life partner, Stacie, the county board (all male) declined her request.
Multiple reasons are offered, though the main one is - Gasp! Your life partner is ..?  You mean, lesb --?
Scenes inside committee meetings seem one-sided.
Most controversial social debates display multiple voices:  pro and con.  That is glimpsed in the 2007 documentary Freeheld on which this film is derived.
Movie comes off as over-earnest, heart tugging, emotionally manipulative.
Not that there is anything ostensibly wrong with that, fine movies do so often.  Yet this is obvious.
Those expecting Julianne Moore to echo her portrayal from Still Alice will be disappointed.
Midway, her character disappears and yields center stage to others.

[Vultural]

Behind The Burly Q - 2010 - 7/10

Ba da bing! Va va voom!
Documentary about the heyday of burlesque.  Era of strip tease, before shaved and pierced became de rigueur.
Mostly interviews, remembrances.  Alan Alda spoke of his father, a burlesque comedian.
Dozens of stories from still living performers (many died soon after filming). Fabulous photos.
Hard to wrap my mind over the notion of daily matinée shows.  Talk about happy hour.