A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Growing Up Female - 1971 - USA

Growing Up Female - 1971 - 6/10

Time capsule of what it was like to be a US female at the start of the 1970’s.
From an early age, roles are defined, futures narrowed.
Girls interviewed are children, teens, early twenties, a 40-year-old mother.
The unspoken desire is freedom, equality, the chance of self-actualization.
Not necessarily mandatory viewing, yet current females surrendering equality ought to watch.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370774

 

[Zaharoff]

The Fare - 2014 - USA

The Fare - 2014 - 7/10

Car driver Harris rolls down a deserted stretch of nowhere.
Seems like a prank, but no, the fare is waiting along the road.
Attractive, a little sad, Penny climbs in, gives her destination.
Both talk freely, swap quips, enter an easy camaraderie.
Until the cab nears a storm, then Penny vanishes.

Next scene, Harris heads towards the fare, Penny … into the storm.
Small film with a tremendous heart.
Timeslip, classic mythology, well realized story.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370772

 

[Zaharoff]

Specimens - 1982 - Ireland

Specimens - 1982 - 5/10

Extraterrestrials near Earth, Stone Age.
A giant robot is gathering specimens, in this case, a Neanderthal.
When, suddenly, a volcano erupts, and the robot sinks into the molten earth.
Millennia later, coal is being removed from a deep pit.
Tons of soil loosened, the ground splits, and the robot … oh, no!
Whatever batteries it runs on, I want some.

 

[Zaharoff]

Paradise Of Terror - 1965 - Philippines

Paradise Of Terror - 1965 - 5/10

The plane is flying over enemy territory (Vietnam), ferrying a diplomat and an Asian Colonel.
Rebel gunfire strikes the aircraft, everyone parachutes to safety.
Lost in the tropical jungle, they come across a modern house.
Air-conditioned, meals prepared, showers, coffee, ghostly women from time to time.
Lethargy sets in, their missions forgotten, they become lotus eaters.
Excellent photography, an adequate cast, yet the story lacks oomph.
Too much talking, rather than elaborating on the mysterious house.
Subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370771

 

[Zaharoff]

Fuze - 2025 - UK

Fuze - 2025 - 7/10

During construction, a World War II bomb is discovered in London.
A big one, a blockbuster.
The Army bomb squad is summoned, neighborhood evacuated, police cordon off the area.
Meanwhile, a small crew of robbers gets to work in the basement adjoining a bank.
Fabulous caper film, operating on multiple levels. Army, police, civilians, criminals.
If you enjoy heist movies, watch it cold.
Avoid reviews, sorry, most will spoil the countless twists that await.

 

[Zaharoff]

Scent Of A Spell - 1985 - Japan

Scent Of A Spell - 1985 - 7/10
AKA - Masho no Kaori // 魔性の香り

Leaving the waterside poolhall, a journalist sees a women jump into the waves.
He rescues her, forgetting the old rule that when you save someone, you are responsible for them.
Indeed, Akiko moves in with Esaka, and they have a torrid affair.
Even though Akiko is married, and her husband will not grant a divorce.
Akiko’s husband has moved his mistress in with them, yet will not divorce.
Leaving Akiko unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous.
Erotic thriller / arthouse / Noir drenched in rain, waves, body sweat.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370955

 

[Zaharoff]

Elaine Stritch: Live At The Liberty - 2002 - UK

Elaine Stritch: Live At The Liberty - 2002 - 7/10

Stritch delivers her one-man show before a full house.
Some Broadway songs, light footwork (she is bumping 80), stories.
Stories are packed with names, shows, incidents, sweet triumphs, crashing disappointments.
Then there is her drinking. Completely out of control, she admits.
How she had “rules” for drinking, which she broke. Plus, she made huge mistakes.
She is bitterly funny, caustic, troubled, perhaps, by memories.

 

[Zaharoff]

Shock Waves - 1977 - USA

Shock Waves - 1977 - 5/10

The boat carrying tourists starts having trouble. Engine, navigation.
Matters worsen when they encounter an orange mist, and a derelict ship.
Captain goes missing (RIP Skipper) so they row towards a small island.
Lone inhabitant, a weathered SS officer, who realizes the derelict is a dangerous vessel.
Carrying unstoppable, unkillable Nazi zombies!
Cheap Horror outing suffers from budget constraints, poor plot, repetitive sequences, and it is dull.

 

[Zaharoff]

Pretty Baby - 1978 - USA

Pretty Baby - 1978 - 6/10

Jollies in a New Orleans sporting house, 1917, prostitution still legal.
A photographer arrives, wanting to take photos of the ladies – and he will pay.
Rambling goings-on include the auctioning of a 12-year-old virgin (very good Brooke Shields).
More costume drama than one might expect, with stray quiet moralizing that many audiences miss.
Antonio Fargas memorable as a Scott Joplinish character.
I recall the marketing campaign splashed titillation rather than historical drama.
Unpleasant aftertaste.

 

[Zaharoff]

The Horror From Beyond - 1965 - Philippines

The Horror From Beyond - 1965 - 5/10

Beyond what? Lo, a wooden coffin, floating, retrieved by a fisherman.
Inside, an intact skeleton, perfectly connected, even when manhandled.
Following a death (#1), police consult local scientists, leading to death #2.
No one notices the skull turn this way and that, listening or watching.
Soon enough, Skelly dons some clothes (modesty, please!) and toddles to a barbeque.
More killings ensue as ole bag-o-bones shambles along.
Despite bullets and science and law enforcement and our lonesome killer, this is Dullsville.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370956

 

[Zaharoff]

The Gaucho - 1927 - USA

The Gaucho - 1927 - 6/10

Fairbanks had been making a string of towering blockbusters when he wrote and starred in this.
A girl receives a miracle and the power to heal, and a village grows around her.
The village becomes wealthy, drawing the attention of a powerful bandit.
Enter El Gaucho, leader of a rival gang.
A moody, dark film, with too much religious babble (yes, audiences differed in 1927).
Different from Doug’s manic comedies, thrilling actioners. From what I’ve read, he was feeling old.
Would that the film was primarily Doug and the steamy Lupe Vélez (above).

 

[Zaharoff]

Uzumaki - 2000 - Japan

Uzumaki - 2000 - 7/10
AKA - Spiral // うずまき

Her boyfriend is the first to succumb to the lure of the spiral, vortex, swirl.
Such is the initial infection, accelerating after his death (by washing machine).
The town is rapidly afflicted, and the obsession with spirals leads to physical alterations, deformities.
Steeped in rain soaked atmosphere, this runs between HPL and Lynch, more so the latter.
Meaning, with Lovecraft there “might” be an explanation. Here, naught.
Worth watching for weirdness alone, adapted from a manga which I have not read.

 

[Zaharoff]

Deep Cover - 2025 - UK

Deep Cover - 2025 - 6/10

Police try a new angle to infiltrate some of the savvier gangs.
Hire actors, improv actors, capable of thinking and talking on their feet.
Yes, the concept is pretty darned silly. Just buy it, and trot along.
Fast comedy relying on situations, characters and clever dialogue.
Most of the cast seem to be having a full tilt blast.
Extra credit to Orlando Bloom as the crazy Marlon, as the outta control Roach.

 

[Zaharoff]

Seam - 2017 - USA

Seam - 2017 - 6/10

The Seam is the borderzone between humanity and cognizant machines.
An agreed “reservation” after a global war between the two.
Machines also include lifelike cyborgs, living with humans. Partners.
Forbidden partners, punishable by extermination.
SciFi leans on BSG themes. Superb Jordan locations, OK CGI, slick editing.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370958

 

[Zaharoff]

Powaqqatsi - 1988 - USA

Powaqqatsi - 1988 - 6/10

“Life In Transformation”
Followup film to Koyaaniqatsi (1982) is not a sequel, is more a view of changing cultures.
This implies the simplistic life is superior to our modern one.
Better to be a farmer or fisherman than toil in an industrial, urban world.
The message was repeated ad nauseam, until it felt preachy and ham-fisted.
Did not care for the Glass music this outing.
Exceptional photography, although not assembled / edited as well as before.

 

[Zaharoff]

Manhandled - 1924 - USA

Manhandled - 1924 - 6/10

Tessie toils against a tide of customers in a large department store.
The struggle in the subway is just as onerous. New York is not for the faint.
Boyfriend Jim is a mechanic, at night a cabbie.
He is trying to save enough for marriage, and perfect an invention.
Tessie wants to go out; if Jim is too busy, she goes with the rich swells.
Comedy, the genre I would not associate with Swanson, but she is funny here.
Mind you, she has to impersonate a countess, so out comes the wardrobe.

 

[Zaharoff]

Deep Water - 2026 - Spain

Deep Water - 2026 - 6/10

Lithium batteries, dude. Unpredictable and inflammable.
Fire in the cargo hold, and passenger airliner must ditch in the Pacific.
Survivors soon discover they are shark bait.
A whole mess of sharks, attracted by the kicking, flailing, bleeding, squealing meals.
Summer popcorn flick, although batteries go off in aircraft every week.

 

[Zaharoff]

Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait - 2025 - Canada

Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait - 2025 - 6/10

The antique shop is by appointment only, Whitlock is fussy.
Nevertheless, thieves try and fail to steal an oval portrait.
Then there is the downsized art student, painter, Ava, who Whitlock befriends.
Three threads, but each have additional sideplots.

For a low-budget affair, the photography is excellent.
The musical score is old-fashioned, grandiose, sweeping, perhaps too loud at points.
The side narratives seem tacked on, while the main line glides between mystery, thriller and melodrama.
Aside from the two leads, others are “re-actors”, waiting for their lines, then speaking awkwardly.
Ava is nicely turned, riding bad luck. Whitlock is straitlaced, mannered, a throwback.
Poe’s story is incorporated, and Edgar resonates, along with a dash of Bierce, perhaps Fitz-James O’Brien.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370957

 

[Zaharoff]

What Lurks Beneath - 2024 - Canada

What Lurks Beneath - 2024 - 4/10

World War III breaks out … again.
Undersea denizens are fed up with humanity annihilating the planet so an emissary is sent.
Via the torpedo hatch arrives the attractive nude blonde.
Not to nitpick, how did she open that hatch door from underwater?
How come the submarine only has a crew of 7 with 2 Brit advisors?
How does the “stowaway” wander the vessel?
Terrible script comes off as watery Alien copy-clone.

 

[Zaharoff]

The Stranger - 2025 - France

The Stranger - 2025 - 7/10
AKA - L'Étranger

Meursault is roused early. Telegram informs him his mother has died in the retirement home.
His employer gives him two days. He sits through the vigil, attends the planting, returns to work.
Also reconnects with Marie, with whom he has an affair, then agrees to marry.
Is he in love? No. Did he grieve for mom? No. Is he ambitious at work? No.
Not that Meursault is bored. He is simply disinterested, disconnected. Lifeless.
Even facing criminal charges, he couldn’t care less.
Ozon’s adaptation of the Camus novel is detached, forcing viewers to watch abstractly.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3371179