Recommend a movie

[Vultural]

La Ferme Aux Loups - 1943 - 6/10
AKA - Wolf Estate

Bouncy French mystery finds two fledgling newspaper hounds investigating murder of Russian homeless man.
The lead deadends, so the pair head to the country with the boss’s attractive secretary.
During a howling thunderstorm, their car breaks down and they seek shelter in an “old dark house."
Inside - hey, there’s that dead Russian bum!
Not the most original, yet fast paced, light on its feet, with rather salty dialogue.
Thinking afterward, I wondered if this was filmed in Vichy France.

[Vultural]

Code Inconnu: Récit Incomplet de Divers Voyages - 2000 - 7/10
AKA - Code Unknown

Closer translation might be “Unknown Code: Incomplete Stories of Diverse Voyages.”
Brilliant, if challenging film, with scant attempt at linearity.
Tangled storylines weave in and out, clash, or disappear abruptly.
Characters do not listen, do not want to listen. are distracted, are absorbed in their glorious selves.
Communication, human’s so-called forte, is near-impossible.  (Deaf children open and close the movie.)
Haneke turns us (cinema viewers) into clueless onlookers.
We can assume backstories, fabricate motivations, or tune out and scroll the phone.

[Vultural]

Blood And Roses - 1960 - 7/10
AKA - Et Mourir de Plaisir

Beautiful retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla,” updating the setting to modern Italy.
Carmilla is despondent over the approaching nuptials of her cousin Leopold, whom she loves.
She is moody, fascinated with a more superstitious past.
After a fireworks show gone awry, Carmilla, drawn to the cemetery, encounters a supposedly long dead vampire, Millarca.  Unsettling developments ensue.
Erotically charged film, sans nudity.  Sets, costumes, and fall outdoors are all gorgeous, though the print I viewed seemed washed out.  My copy was also dubbed English.
The final act is surreal and imaginative.  One of Vadim’s best films.

[Vultural]

White: Melody Of The Curse - 2011 - 5/10
AKA - Hwa-i-teu: Jeo-woo-eui Mel-lo-di // 화 이 트: 저 주 의 멜 로 디

Oft told story of one artist appropriating another’s creativity
This set in the K-Pop competitive sphere.
Pink Dolls have never broken big and face their last chance at success.
Backdancer Eun-joo finds a VHS labeled “White” of an unknown group, auditioning a catchy song.
Pink Dolls claim the song, update the arrangement and choreography, fight over who sings lead.
And then, one by one, disasters strike group members.
The music is hook laden, the girls are cute, but this is predictable Horror.
May work better for Asian pop buffs, or frighten ten year olds.

[Vultural]

Parasyte: Part 1 - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - Kiseijuu // 寄 生 獣

A silent invasion slithers into Japan.
Translucent, millipede like creatures burrow into ear canals, devour brains, take over human bodies.
Once in control, their appetite for fresh meat takes over.

High school boy, Shinichi Izumi, is only partially infected as parasyte, Migi, inserts into his hand instead of skull.
The two have arguments, petty and philosophical, embarrassing and ethical.
More light-hearted than anticipated, with awkward teenage behavior and youthful romance.
Based on a 1988 manga, which I have not read, so I have no idea how faithful this was.
Too juvenile for my taste, yet had memorable scenes throughout..

Parasyte: Part 2 - 2015 - 6/10
Kiseijuu: Kanketsuhen // 寄 生 獣 完 結 編

A different, blacker film altogether, right down to the somber music.
The sequel is filled with action and carnage.
Younger characters have grown up.  Parasytes are trying to find a way to co-exist or conquer.
Humans have gotten wise to the parasites and unleash the firearms.
Once again, there are moral discussions about a given species “right to exist.”
(I recalled similar themes in 1985‘s Robotech, particularly the third section involving the Invid   Japan has always struck me as a rather insular nation, so I wonder what was going on in the 80s there.)
Part 2 was more satisfying for me, the characters more assured, with less jokes.
Good cheer is replaced with violence.  Possibly an ugly ride for those expecting Part 1.

[Vultural]

Collateral Beauty - 2016 - 6/10

Opening sequence, young entrepreneur inspires his crew with his credo of “Love, Time, and Death.”
Next scene, three years on, after personal tragedy he is an emotional zombie, building elaborate domino cascades while the company perishes.
Partners concoct a strategy to wrest voting control away from him.
The hire three stage actors to play the above mentioned, Love - Time - Death.
Although dark fare, there is a fairytale element in this reminiscent of Touched By An Angel.
Large name cast tries hard with fluff, better suited to Hallmark or Lifetime channels.

[Vultural]

Eglima Sta Paraskinia - 1960 - 6/10
AKA - Murder Backstage // Εγκλημα στα Παρασκήνια

Fun Greek Noir.  Popular club beauty is killed in her dressing room.
Knife still inside, doors and windows locked.  Aha, locked room mystery!
Police interrogate performers and employees, jealous rivals and stage door johnnys.
Most of the actual investigating, however, comes from a newspaper owner.
Nose for a scandal, or attempting to cover something up?
He bustles from swank nightclubs to strip joints to tenements, many still rubble after Nazi occupation.
Fast paced, photography full Noir, though dialogue is more light and playful.

Oh, and lest any Greek readers grow anxious, the strip dancer is an Italian import, since no good Greek girl would ever take her clothes off with the lights on.  Perish the thought!

[Vultural]

Camera Store - 2017 - 6/10

1994, Christmas Eve day.  Amateur hour for procrastinating shoppers.
Set inside a mall back when malls were popular and people still bought film rolls.
Change is in the air, however.  Digital.
The two burnouts who run the dying store have squandered their ideas, their dreams, their youth.
Despite some acid dialogue, this Yule timed yarn is devoid of good will toward men.
Christmas, mean spirited and most unmerry.
Production screams theatre play.

[Vultural]

Sure, kid, why do you think they call it dope?

Three “drug” films from the Silent era.

For His Son - 1912 - 6/10

D W Griffith warns against the dangers of cola, especially DopoCoke.
An entrepreneur adds cocaine to his cola drink, hoping to leave a healthy business to his son.
Sales are robust, including those to the son who becomes addicted.
Note - At one time, Coca-Cola’s recipe included 9 milligrams of cocaine per 7 ounce bottle.
Although the amount gradually diminished, Coke did not become cocaine free until 1929.

The Devil’s Needle - 1916 - 6/10

]

Artist, in search of inspiration, borrows his model’s needle.
Wow, does that pep up the old vigor!
In no time flat, he is addicted, impoverished, and all but raving.
Slow beginning, and actor Tully Marshall is too old for the women who are attracted to him.
Norma Talmadge fine as model.  In fact, I usually see her as stuffy or starchy and she is warm and funny.
Imaginative scene (above) of buzzed artist staring into fireolace, seeing pixies.

The Mystery Of The Leaping Fish -- 1916 - 7/10

One of the funniest drug movies.
Douglas Fairbanks stars as detective Coke Ennyday consumes enough controlled substances to put himin company with Keith Richards and Mötley Crüe.
The leaping fish are inflatable fish, enjoyed by beach-goers riding the waves.
Police and Coke investigate dope smuggling, as well, although Mr Ennyday probably won’t turn any confiscated powder over to the evidence room.
Pace is frantic, with a stream of jokes and visual gags.  Story by Tod Browning.  
I still find it amazing this survives, let alone was made in the first place.

[Vultural]

Agatha Raisin: S01 - 2016 - 6/10

Cross between Murder She Wrote and Midsomer Murders.
Blonde bobbed Agatha moves from London to the quiet Cotswolds.
Turns out her hamlet is killing capital of Britain.
While the DCI can break a mean “Word Up,” the police are generally a step behind.
Fortunately for villagers, Ms Raisin is shrewd and obstinate.
Pleasing locations, nice ensemble of repeating support characters.
Predictable as meatloaf, but comfort food or TV is not always unwelcome.

[Vultural]

Barbed Wire Dolls - 1976 - 4/10

Women in prison film.  Sleaze overload by Jess Franco.
Ladies are incarcerated in Castillo, in Mediterranean or Caribbean.
The warden wears short shorts and a monocle, and is also a lesbian (surprise!).
Plot is a carousel of sexual violations, torture, prisoners lolling about in undress in their cells.
Repeat - repeat - repeat.
Clearly Franco (who appears as the deranged daddy in slow-motion flashback) had no script, no ideas.
Cobbled together from motifs from better, well more original, women in prison films, this lazy filmmaking grows downright boring after awhile.
Franco completists?  Watch it, chalk it up, move to a hopefully better piece of crap.

[Vultural]

That Darn Cat - 1965 - 5/10

Perpetually hungry Siamese cat gets involved with ruthless bank robbers.
Family friendly Disney fare was old-fashioned when it first came out.
Now, perhaps harder to tell.
After robbing the bank, and kidnapping a teller, two criminals (nicely cast with Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin) hide in plain sight - in the middle of town.
When DC (Darn Cat) strolls in, seeking a handout, the teller puts her wristwatch on his neck.
Will owners figure out this clue?  Will authorities rescue the hostage?
The “young people” were dated back when, today they appear old.
Gags are more hit than miss, plot is silly, cat acts like a cat.
I wanted to enjoy this, because I think I did at one time.

[New_One]

Collateral Beauty - 2016 - 6/10

Opening sequence, young entrepreneur inspires his crew with his credo of “Love, Time, and Death.”
Next scene, three years on, after personal tragedy he is an emotional zombie, building elaborate domino cascades while the company perishes.
Partners concoct a strategy to wrest voting control away from him.
The hire three stage actors to play the above mentioned, Love - Time - Death.
Although dark fare, there is a fairytale element in this reminiscent of Touched By An Angel.
Large name cast tries hard with fluff, better suited to Hallmark or Lifetime channels.

​This movie is actually not really that bad, but its emotionally manipulative without understanding how human emotion is actually work.  Smith looks like not really that good in this movie, but it does not mean that he is not capable on drama.  I am really hoping that they could do it better

[Vultural]

The Sense Of An Ending - 2017 - 6/10

Aging man receives official notice of an inheritance.
A ghost from his past bequeaths a diary from an even older ghost, a childhood friend.
Flashbacks unroll memories, some accurate, others filtered.
Story is much the unraveling of the riddle.
Perceived betrayal worms through the man’s assumptions and impulses.
Despite twists and surprises, despite a strong cast, the ending left me flat.
It was like the director opened up the “aha” door, then kicked it closed abruptly.

[Vultural]

Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse - 1933 - 7/10
AKA - Testament Of Dr Mabuse

A disgraced ex-policeman infiltrates the nest of thieves.
Discovered, he barely escapes in time to phone his old inspector.
Nevertheless, the ex-cop is driven insane by something unseen.
He only had moments to scrawl one word on a windowpane - Mabuse.
Yet, criminal mastermind Dr Mabuse was committed to the lunatic asylum eleven years earlier.
Fritz Lang resurrects one of his greatest characters, though the story follows the Inspector.
Fast paced mystery, not as ground breaking as the 1922 original, but an excellent sequel.

[Vultural]

Chronicle Of The Third Reich - 2006 - 6/10

At four installments, this only skims the history of the Third Reich.
World War II doers not commence until E03.  And E04 sees Russia and the Allies turn the tide.
The obvious target might be history beginners, though buffs will find interesting aspects.
Much of the footage is rarely seen, and several subjects differ from the usual.
Instead of the 1936 Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics (Bavaria) is shown.

A lot of commentary is given to funding.  How did Nazi’s pay for the Wehrmacht?
Reich Minister Albert Speer is shown frequently.
Only three talking heads (historians), and the course is a dispassionate, middle one.

[Vultural]

Another Heaven - 2000 - 6/10
AKA - Anazahevun // アナザヘヴン

Police arrive at a grisly murder scene.
Top of the victim’s skull is removed, gray matter simmers on the stove.
Other slayings follow, all reek of sexual congress.
The plot roars out of the gate with mounting horrors and kinky characters.
Alas, at the mid point of this Japanese cop show, the director eases off the accelerator.
The momentum never returns, the hectic energy dissipates.
The first half reminds me of a HK Cat III film, the second half methodically resolves.

[Vultural]

Play It Again, Sam - 1972 - 7/10

Early Woody Allen film, overflowing with gags.
Allen’s friends arrange dates for him, but he is nervous, overexcited, and the dates fail spectacularly.
Even when he seeks advice from Bogart, he botches that.

Nice of cinematography of San Francisco, and a light directorial hand help make this an early gem.
This remains funny throughout, with many film references that buffs will recognize.

[Vultural]

I Am Not Your Negro - 2016 - 8/10

Quasi-documentary of author James Baldiwn carries a lot of bite.
Based on his never finished proposed novel incorporating Medgar Evans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
Traces and analyzes the almost futile misunderstandings of whites who have never come to terms with blacks living in their midst.
Baldwin’s voice ranges from resigned to despairing to righteous anger.
The filmmaker incorporates recent clashes, pointing the obvious:  this is an unhealed sore, not remotely on any curative path.
This is a brilliant, insightful work, yet will be blistering for most.
We are, for any who bother to look, segregating society again, physically and socially.

[taytoy]

@Vultural

I wasn't aware of this doc, and with nothing less than a rare 8/10 from you... I've read James Baldwin in my adolescence. It was some sensorily aching but beautiful reads and, quite frankly, it opened my mind on issues that were unbeknownst to me. It resonated personally as it did when I dove into Pasolini's work.

I've just read today that Moonlight director Barry Jenkins is about to adapt If Baele Street Could Talk by the eponymous writer. Fingers crossed.

Thanks, Leslie!