Recommend a movie

[Vultural]

Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship - 2008 - 6/10

Hugh Hefner produced documentary about risque goings on in the Silent era and Pre Code Hollywood.
Slick rehashing of well worn terrain. Sex sells, it always has.
Folks who protested never went to movies anyway.
Onscreen and off, misdeeds included Fatty, the murder of Desmond Taylor, mantraps Clara and Louise.
No mention of Convention City, Chaplin's escapades, Gary Cooper, Flynn , etc ...

[Vultural]

Watcher In The Attic - 1976 - 6/10
AKA -Edogawa Ranpo ryôki-kan: Yaneura no sanposha / 江戸川乱歩猟奇館 屋根裏の散歩者

Morbid and  twisted Edogawa Rampo story set in early 1920s finds bored man spying on his fellow residents.
He soon zeroes in on once-aristocratic female, now servicing gentleman callers.
Clients include a tycoon, as well as a man who frolics as a clown.

Voyeur and prostitute gradually escalate into murderous duo.
Relatively short film, though slow going.  Many scenes pan well arranged, symbolic visuals.
Whole production is steeped in a rotting sensuality.  Sex as decay.
Ample nudity throughout, not to forget one memorable smothering death.

[Vultural]

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.

[Vultural]

Last Train Home - 2009 - 7/10

Excellent documentary about Chinese migrant workers who jam trains every New Year to go back to the village and their families.
Shows the sweatshop conditions of two garment worker parents contrasted with the lush village they left behind.
No preaching or soapbox. This is how it is.
Parents toil, making clothes for Westerners, so their kids can attend school and have a chance at a better life.
Shot in Guangdong before and after the Beijing Olympics, and before the financial meltdown in 2008.
An unsettling future if one can look beyond today's horizon.
Planet Antfarm.

[Vultural]

Kill Your Friends - 2015 - 6/10

You ever wonder why pop music is so damned dreadful?
How inarticulate halfwits, scabbing lyrics a three-year-old would be ashamed of, soar up the charts?
Mostly, the herd is responsible.  You know, us, the feeble brained audience, especially when we are young and have discretionary income and limited tastes.
Oh, and there is also the A&R guy, force-feeding us crappy artists he thinks we might like.

Ferocious satire set in during the heyday of BritPop or Cool Britannia.
Our Artists & Repertoire rep is cynical to the core, ambitious, terrified of getting fired, and treacherous.  
He’s hunting for the next new group, next hit.  Longevity?  Sod off.
Time specific to the mid 90s (in five years, filesharing will start to destroy the vast majority of record labels).
Sharp edged, wicked comedy revs out of the gate, falters midway, then goes for the jugular.

[Vultural]

Female Jungle - 1955 - 3/10

On the brink of stardom, a blonde actress is strangled outside a cheap dive.
Stumbling out of the bar is an off-duty detective, senselessly drunk.
He had been dating a blonde, he wonders.  Was she ... did he ... He can’t remember.
Noir wannabe written, starring and produced by Burt Kaiser.
Poor script, amateurish direction sink this turkey.  (Bad and boring.)
Director favors reaction shots and cutaways - lots of them.
John Carradine plays elegant, sinister artsy type, Lawrence Tierney coasts.
Everyone else overacts, or worse, wait for partners to finish lines so they can say theirs.
Film introduced new actress, all hips, lips and curves, Jayne Mansfield.

[Vultural]

Tapas - 2005 - 6/10

Four minor storylines weave in and out of a minor tapas bar in Barcelona.
Characters ache for love, say goodbye to love, find love.
Random assortment of types and ages.
Mild diversion.
STILL ... If a movie is titled Tapas (or Tapas Bar) then, damnit, there ought to have been a lot more food!
This flick serves tiny portions of prep work and dining appreciation.
¿Muy gusto? Nada.

[Vultural]

Remainder - 2015 - 6/10

Man walking a crowded London street, notices windows shattering off a nearby skyscraper.
Next thing, something falls (appears to be scaffolding) smashes him to the pavement.
After months of rehabilitation, he returns to society.
His memories are shredded, but lawyers got him a £8.5 million settlement.
Naturally, his oldest, bestest friends - of whom he has no memory - are eager to help.
To its credit, as the guy throws money to restore memories, the narrative goes in unexpected directions.
Answers and truth seldom equate to happiness.
Slow initially, momentum escalates, as does the violence.

[Vultural]

Gothic & Lolita Psycho - 2010 - 5/10

Rough club in Neo-Tokyo caters to cage boxing, torture, blood wagers, Kimono fan dancers ...
Parasol spinning girl arrives, resembling Cher having a bad hair day.
She slaughters everyone in the room, just to get at the first notch on her list.
Yes - vengeance.  Flashback shows five black robed assassins murder her mother.
Truckloads of action and a fair bit of comedy.
The best “duel” was #4 with Lady Elle, a bubbly sort wearing skimpy schoolgirl duds.
This has decent fight choreography (I ran in slo-mo) with Elle  pausing to chat on her weapon phone.
Plot is paper thin, the acting is broad and goofy (eyepatch Elle is a jewel, though).
Mindless fun for pre-teens any age.

[Vultural]

Kings Of Pastry - 2009 - 7/10

Documentary about winning the red/white/blue collar of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
The finest pastry craftsmen of France.
To say competitors were obsessive would be an understatement.
I had friends who perched on the edge of their chairs watching this.
Me?  I found the tone a bit cool, the creations out there.
The final event is always the sugar creation, very fragile creations that shatter easily.
Worth watching if confection (creating or eating) is your thing.

[Vultural]

Rouge - 1994 - 8/10
AKA - Red

Fashion model accidentally runs down a dog.
She locates the owner to return the injured pet.
He is not remotely interested, he is too busy illegally eavesdropping on phone calls all around him.
Superb film of fraternity and disassociation.
The model is fully engaged in Life, the older man is not.
Even the secondary, tertiary narratives explore rejection, betrayal and loneliness.
Rich colours and arranged visuals enhance the moods and themes.
Arthouse, to be sure, yet ultimately this is a story of redemption, and it is never boring.
Final film in  Kieslowski’s trilogy and his final film - period - before his early death.

 

[Vultural]

Attack On Titan - 2015 - 6/10
AKA - 進撃の巨人

Fire up the barbeque grill!
Bygone, post apocalypse dystopia finds humanity lingering behind towering fortress walls.
Within fifteen minutes, the root of the apocalypse (100 years earlier) lumber inside.
30m tall, humanoid looking “titans” who soon get down to business.
Oh yes, carnivore chomping business.  Preferred food - tasty humans.
Gore galore as the giants squabble over dainties and rip ‘em apart.
Technology being at subsistence level, survivors wage a losing war using blades, gunpowder and dwindling petrol.
Based on popular anime which was based on popular manga, this is an efficient distillation.
Moreover, this live action version loses the immature comedy and most of the leads are at least in their twenties, rather than teens and tweens.
Savory film with wings or ribs.  Bon appétit.

[Vultural]

I Wake Up Screaming - 1941 - 6/10

Rising socialite found murdered!  Prime suspects - sportswriter boyfriend and the girl’s sister.
Detective in charge is convinced of boyfriend’s guilt and he begins to grind him down.
Highly influential, half forgotten thriller / mystery filled with flashbacks, sharp dialogue and pursuits.
For me, this is where “the look” of Film Noir begins.

The story and characters are not Noir, however.  Time is still, barely, pre World Wart II.
Returning G.I.s would carry disillusionment and a grimmer outlook.  The tone of this harks to an earlier time.
An underrated Victor Mature fine as the cornered sportswriter.
Betty Grable, before her mass popularity, radiant as lush American good girl.
The star, though, is Laird Cregar (only 24, looks older), tackle sized with purring voice.

Cregar, and brilliantly stylized camera work.
I Wake Up Screaming is packed with angles, shadows, and inventive camera movement.
DVD has outstanding commentary by Eddie Muller:  anecdotes, histories, tragic lives of Cregar and Landis.

[Vultural]

Nine Lives - 2016 - 6/10

Say you are a massively successful businessman, with titanic ego.
For her birthday, your small daughter asks for - again - a cat.
Instead of delegating your secretary, you yourself go to an obscure pet shop to get the feline.
And who’s running the cat shop?  Mr Perkins, or as he would say, Purrkins.

Only wait!  Before he can say, “I hate cats,"  the tycoon lies in a coma, his soul in the cat!
What to do, what to do?
I suspect because we are in a resurgence of television, movies, especially family fare, tend to get overlooked.
Jennifer Garner, Kevin Spacey, Christopher Walken headline a comedy of a man who almost loses family and soul.
Warning - there are cat antics aplenty.  Cat haters, consider yourself warned.

[Vultural]

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

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 nodded and said,  “Welcome to our world.”

[Vultural]

Les Herbes Folles - 2008 - 5/10
AKA - Wild Grass

French twaddle by Alain Resnais.
Marguerite has her purse stolen, Georges finds her cash empty billfold outside his car.
Before turning it over to the police, he goes through her cards and photos and grows obsessed.
Obsession turns into stalking.
These are not teenagers. He is around 65, she is 53.
After Marguerite complains, police warn Georges off.
Then Marguerite begins stalking him!
Shallow, utterly implausible, sheer nonsense.

[Vultural]

Rigor Mortis - 2013 - 7/10

How did this nifty Hong Kong gem fly under my radar?
Actor whose career is on the skids checks into a ramshackle high rise.
Suspends the noose, kicks the stool away, only to get rescued.
Building is a way-station or limbo or purgatory or simply a dump.  Take your pick.
Marketed as Horror, this is way too artsy and moody for cheap thrill seekers.
Suffice to say the building conceals souls that will not rest.
Dead - undead - unhappy dead - humans with a death wish.
Dazzling, inspired visuals.  Plenty of “wow, look at that” moments.
Like Del Toro’s Crimson Peak (which I did not care for overall)) this drips style.
Moody first halt, spells and conflict punctuate the second half.

[Vultural]

Tonite Lets All Make Love In London - 1967 - 6/10

Cinematic time capsule during the height of Swinging London.
Concert footage spliced with interviews (famous, forgotten or obscure).
Julie Christie, Lee Marvin, Michael Caine reflect on the times.
Mick Jagger muses upon a future where more people have less to do, and possible discontent.
Nightclub sequences, protest rallies, fashion, nudity, artists, with nonstop music.
Musical groups include “The” Pink Floyd, Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Rolling Stones.
For Pink Floyd fans,  Syd Barrett leads “Interstellar Overdrive."
Fast moving, rapid cut film relies on knowledge of faces, history and mores of the era.
Experimental work, part high concept, part pretentious meandering.

[Vultural]

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.

[Vultural]

Fallen Angel - 2007 - 6/10

Very dark, short series with Emilia Fox and Charles Dance.
Child kidnappings, severed limbs, and a locked freezer. All in the first part.
The following two segments were flashbacks, detailing the creation of a monster.
Much of this will be horrifying to parents.
Note - This is not an American production.  Outside of the States, children characters exist and suffer much as actual children.
The ending stretched plausibility.