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[Vultural]

Angels Without Wings - 2006 - Japan

Angels Without Wings - 2006 - 6/10
AKA - Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshitachi // 翼の折れた天使たち

 
Late night J-dorama follows four different girls (one per episode) who have gotten lost in Tokyo.
One works as an escort so she can buy expensive fashions.  Another makes adult films.
One works a phone sex line, another is lucky with gambling, unlucky in love.
Each receive unexpected assistance, guidance, and there is something of a closing moral.
I imagine most of the females are idols, trying to break into film.
Watchable, neither cloying nor preachy.  Good stories for those about to fledge.
English subtitles = https://subscene.best/subscene/154050

[Vultural]

Madame Blanc Mysteries: S01 - 2021 - UK

Madame Blanc Mysteries: S01 - 2021 - 6/10 

 
After her husband dies, wife Sally (antiques dealer) goes to France to tidy affairs.
Where she learns he had been murdered by his “other” wife.
Whom no one ever describes, even though they all saw her.
Spotty local mysteries follow, with a weak, ongoing arc of the husband’s death.
While set in France, most of the cast are Brits in postcard series in the cozy world.
Alright if you curb your brain – I tagged the murderer by the first episode.

[Vultural]

Hotel Europa - 2021 - Germany

Hotel Europa - 2021 - 6/10
AKA - Das Weiße Haus am Rhein

 
Emil returns to Germany after World War I, carrying a dark secret.
The victorious French have requisitioned the family Dreesen Hotel, yet Emil is able to broker a deal allowing the family and staff to remain, giving the French commanders luxury service.
The hotel is struggling, although Emil has new ideas, bold concepts, at odds with traditions.
Two-part series goes from 1918-1938, an era of uneasy peace, building to war.
No dates are mentioned, so those with a knowledge of history and events might fare better.
Dignitaries include Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, both of whom actually stayed in the hotel.
The “events” are eerily accurate, family dramas – who knows.

[Vultural]

Crisis In Six Scenes - 2016 - USA

Crisis In Six Scenes - 2016 - 6/10 

 
Late 1960’s, a free-spirited radical invades the home of her quasi-aunt and husband, straitlaced middle-class types.
Lenny (a good Miley Cyrus in a one note role) is on the run following a bombing and shootouts.
She is opposed to all isms save for the utopian Communism.
Woody Allen’s foray into a series has its moments and gags, but often treads water.
Aside from fashion models, most 60’s agitators were more scruffy.  Lenny is Hollywood.
Best episodes are the first and last (homage to A Night At The Opera).
Historical references seem like cliches, plus a lot of characters for six half hour episodes.
Not as bad as the Allen or Cyrus hate legions decry.

[Vultural]

Kafka - 2024 - Germany

Kafka - 2024 - 7/10

 
Inspired construct / retelling of the writer’s personal life, work life, writing, outlook.
Kafka’s domineering family, his circle of friends, suffering women.
Then there are the ever-present men in dark suits or trench coats.
Major works are shown as daydreams or nightmares.
 

 
Visual style enhances the overall surreal outlook.
Tone at once paranoid, pointless, despairing, and painfully funny.
Kafka is among a select few who realize life is meaningless, with participants the butt of a cosmic joke.