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Please share with us which films you saw last week. It would be great if you could include some comments on each film. It would be awesome if you could also take some time to comment on everyone else's viewings (if you're like me, "real life" sometimes gets in the way, so no need to feel obliged).
This is what I saw:
★★★★ = loved it /// ★★★ = liked it a lot; ~7/10 /// ★★ = has interesting elements; ~6/10 /// ★ = did very little for me; ~5/10 and lower
Another week filled with mediocre noirs, but at least it is December now so I can ease off on the mediocre noirs for a while.
Good-Time Girl (1948). Sympathetic to a teenager in trouble with police, a female magistrate tells the young woman of the downwards spiral of a similar juvenile offender in this British melodrama. The film is a little too obvious as a message movie to fully click with the framing device feeling both extraneous and distracting, though it is neat to see a young Diana Dors as the teen in the wraparound segment. As for the central tale, bits and pieces play out like a soap opera, however, Jean Kent's performance is generally down-to-earth and her brief experiences in a 1940s reform school are engaging. Some of the sexual harassment (of a minor) scenes are also pretty interesting to watch in this day and age; society has really changed. The film has some very cool shadowy shots too, though this is more of a noir stylistically than thematically or narrative-wise. (first viewing, online) ★★
Money Madness (1948). Desperate to make the bank loot that he stole seem legit, a daring criminal hatches a complex plan that involves marriage under false pretences, Munchausen by proxy and murder in this low budget noir. For a film clocking in at less than 75 minutes, the plot feels overly elaborate. The project is also heavily reliant on the female protagonist being too scared to say or do anything, which renders her a pretty lifeless character, having to rely on an alternate love interest to solve her problems for her, and Frances Rafferty is hardly compelling in the role. Fortunately, Hugh Beaumont is in excellent form as the cunning male protagonist, and with several memorable moments -- including one that may well have been the inspiration for the "little friend" scene in De Palma's Scarface -- the movie is encapsulating whenever he is on screen. (first viewing, online) ★★
Noose (1948). Also known as The Silk Noose, this odd motion picture from Britain focuses on a fast-talking female who journalist takes on a group of racketeers. The movie has been described as a film noir and with many memorable and atmospheric shots in low and limited lighting, the project certainly looks as sumptous as the best pictures of the American noir cycle. The overall film though is closer to a His Girl Friday style comedy with witty exchanges as Carole Landis talks her way in, out and around everyone. The comedy slant also brings a rather lighthearted tone though, which clashes very uncomfortably with the shady racketeers angle. Amidst all this, there are no especially intriguing characters beyond Landis despite a couple of fun supporting turns. In short, this is a real mess of a movie, if one with scattered interesting elements. (first viewing, online) ★
Hell's Island (1955). Hired to locate a precious ruby that may or may not be in possession of his former girlfriend, a Las Vegas bouncer is convinced to help his old flame's wrongfully imprisoned husband on the side in this complex colour noir. Despite an exotic Caribbean location, the film is mostly shot in studio and while intriguing at first, the ruby ends up being little more than a Hitchcockian MacGuffin. Some of the twists and turns involving the imprisoned husband are decent, yet this side of the film often feels at odds to the central ruby smuggling plot with a menacing Francis L. Sullivan rather randomly coming and going as the man who hires the protagonist. Paul Picerni also has some solid moments towards the end as said husband. Nobody else here offers anything of particular note and both the main character and femme fatale are a little dull. (first viewing, online) ★
Hit and Run (1957). Unhappily married to a much older man, a former showgirl is convinced by her extramarital lover to kill her husband in a hit-and-run crime, and then dissemble the car to hide the evidence in this low budget noir entry. The premise is undeniably intriguing with things only growing more interesting as a sly twin brother emerges upon learning of his brother's untimely death. It is almost halfway in though before the titular incident even occurs though and while writer-director Hugo Haas is excellent balancing a double role in which he becomes an increasingly taunting presence, it is only his scenes as the twin that are of any note. The film is also burdened by loud musical cues and extreme close-ups to spell out the most dramatic moments, plus the ending is oddly comical. It is a bit of a shame since the premise is so clever and unique. (first viewing, online) ★
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971). After an intriguing opening in which a wealthy man tortures and murders a prostitute who reminds him of his deceased wife, this luridly titled giallo becomes a dialogue-heavy affair with little of note happening until halfway in. The stuff that happens halfway in is interesting though with suggestions of something supernatural afoot as the man remarries but is then haunted by sounds and fleeting images of his dead wife that may or may not just be in his mind. Things become especially twisted in the final quarter of the movie with many memorably macabre moments. The film does not fully work since it encourages us to sympathise with the prostitute-killing protagonist and see him as a pure victim of circumstance, but this is a reasonably engaging look at longing, guilt, grief, greed and other human vices. (first viewing, online) ★★
The Woman of Fire '82 (1982). Bearing more in common with Fire Woman than The Housemaid, this third (!) version of the same tale from Ki-young Kim feels redundant as we are treated yet again to experiences of a housemaid made pregnant by her married employer. This version benefits from nifty ticking clock imagery - and the rape scene, depicted through a montage of cuckoo clocks and fetuses, needs to be seen to be believed. This is the most melodramatic version too though with the jilted wife's hysterics completely overdone. The housemaid actually bonds a bit with the kids this time, despite them calling her a "stray dog", but this renders their fear of her poisoning them nonsensical and silly. If nicely visualised in 2.35:1 widescreen, this offers little beyond the alternate spin that Fire Woman already placed on The Housemaid. (first viewing, online) ★★
Liebestraum (1991). Visiting his terminally ill mother in a small Illinois town, a successful writer becomes entangled with a controversial plan to demolish a murder site building in this neo-noir from Mike Figgis. With the Leaving Las Vegas director at the helm, Leibestraum expectedly looks and sounds great with lots of low lighting and some very effective semi-surreal nightmare scenes. To call the plot of the film a mess would, however, be an understatement. As the protagonist predicts or seems to foresee a near-fatal accident, things initially seem intriguing. This precognition angle soon dissolves into the background though with the film dawdling between a lackluster romance and slow walks of the building to be demolished. None of the characters are the least bit engaging either, though it is interesting to see Kim Novak in her last screen role. (first viewing, DVD) ★
Blades of Blood (2010). Their country on the brink of war, this historical action movie follows the experiences of a blind Korean swordsman and his protégé as they try to stop a corrupt and dishonorable man from seizing power. Or something like that. The plot and politics at hand here are murky, unclear and uninteresting with a lot of sentimentality and personal grudges thrown into the mix. The film sort of works though when the blind swordsman is given centre focus. The humour as he trains his underling generally clicks and it is of course great to watch him fight so deftly when purely relying on sound. He is absent from over half of the film though, and try as the young lead actor does to make something of his role, he is stuck with a formulaic character out to prove himself as a real man, ashamed of the fact that he is a concubine's son. (first viewing, Blu-ray Disc) ★
The Man from Nowhere (2010). Rescuing the kidnapped daughter of his next door neighbour, a young man with a violent past singlehandedly takes on a drug and organ smuggling ring in this Korean action film. With a precocious young girl and mysterious male protagonist, the parallels to Leon: The Professional are striking, yet this lacks the emotional oomph of the Luc Besson film since there are only a couple of brief scenes dedicated to the pair bonding before she is kidnapped - and she is mostly a supporting player thence onwards. The film stumbles a bit when trying to flesh out the title character's past too, never quite establishing why he wants a surrogate daughter so much. That said, this is a pretty gripping film either way, especially towards the end when the violence turns graphic and brutal. Some of the stunts are downright amazing too. (first viewing, online) ★★
Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? (2008). His first child on the way and nervous about how commonplace terrorism may be for his kid growing up, Morgan Spurlock goes on a futile quest to the Middle East to track down Osama bin Laden in this comic documentary. Spurlock is a fun personality, and much like his Super Size Me and Greatest Movie Ever Sold, this is an entertaining watch from start to finish and there some imaginative animated sequences and original songs in the mix. Spurlock does not, however, succeed in linking his search for Osama to his parenthood anxieties. He also spends far more time asking locals what they think of America rather than what they think of Osama and where he is. All of the interviews are pretty interesting though, especially those showing normal, peaceful Islamic families living their lives. (first viewing, DVD) ★★★
30 Minutes or Less (2011). Skilled at creating explosive devices but too nervous to rob a bank themselves, two aspiring criminals strap a bomb vest to a pizza delivery driver and threaten to detonate the device unless he robs the local bank in this comedy from Ruben Fleischer of Zombieland fame. The story is a little complex and the first twenty minutes do not flow well with the film constantly cutting between the pizza guy and bomb makers in a parallel plots. From the moment the plots converge though, the film rarely lets up with many laugh-out-loud moments at the expense of how everyone is such an amateur - including hitmen and policemen supporting characters. The premise is pretty interesting too, like a more twisted variation of blackmail, with ambiguity as to whether or not the bombers are unhinged enough to just explode the device anyway. (first viewing, online) ★★★
Doomsday Book (2012). Three short films about end of the world scenarios are linked together in this sci-fi anthology from Korea. The first tale is mediocre, involving a zombie apocalypse as the result of contaminated meat and introducing little that we have not seen time and time again. The second tale, directed by Jee-woon Kim (of I Saw the Devil fame) is excellent though with thoughtful ruminations on artificial intelligence and human perceptions as a group of Buddhist monks become divided about what to do with a robot who claims to have found enlightenment. Is it a malfunction or has he just embraced the teachings of Buddha? The third tale is less successful - but it is relatively fun in a darkly comic way as a young girl discovers that she might be responsible for a meteor heading towards Earth - and it offers a nice conclusion for the movie. (first viewing, online) ★★★
The Berlin File (2013). Spies for both North and South Korea try to work out what went wrong when an illegal arms sale results in an unexpected shootout in this action thriller. The film benefits from some superbly crafted action sequences, including bits in which the camera crashes through glass window roofs with plummeting actors, however, it is a lot less satisfying as an espionage narrative. It is over an hour in before the plot begins to make sense and while some of the betrayal and testing of loyalty stuff that emerges in the second half is interesting, it is also hard to care by such a late point in the story and with such enigmatic characters. For the action scenes, intense communication moments in a bugged apartment and violent final confrontation, this is sort of worth a spin, but it will probably appeal more to those well versed in North/South tensions. (first viewing, online) ★★
Okja (2017). Set in the near future, this Korean fable focuses on teenager who tries to save her genetically modified "super pig" pet from being slaughtered by the corporation that bred the pig for food production. As a message movie, Okja is far from subtle and the borderline comical caricature supporting characters lead to the tone of the project occasionally feeling off, but the central story is nevertheless powerful and told with flair. The visual effects used to create the creature are divine with super pig doing enough small things to convey its emotions while always seeming animalistic. Seo-hyun Ahn provides a strong turn too as the girl at the centre of the tale who finds herself pulled between animal activists and the evil corporation bigwigs, both factions of which may be more interested in using her as a pawn for their own causes than anything else. (first viewing, online) ★★★★
The Spice melange...
Makes me wanna watch Lynch’s film again, I only saw it as a kid.
No, but you're right, I'm currently not too drawn to the mobster lifestyle movies, and if anything will sway my decision to see this one faster, it'll probably be my desire to see a high budget period piece more than anything else, but there's no rush for that.
I remember not knowing they were on the program, and hence being pleasantly surprised, especially by 'Do pivnice', my only first viewing on that night, which as we said ties with "Valerie" quite well, while the large screen and room acoustics also really made its word- and music-less spooky atmosphere more pronounced. 'Stoker' beats both when it comes to pure cellar explorations though 
