A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Are You Awake? - 2023 - 6/10



Dale works as an “alarm clock”, going into homes, rousing sleepers.
Ensuring they are “awake”.
Gradually, the feeling of disconnection seeps. From clients, and within Dale herself.
“What do I enjoy? Is this life worth anything at all?”
An elliptical short, of alienation, depression, and quiet despair.
English subtitles = https://subscene.com/subtitles/are-y...nglish/3309000

[Zaharoff]

The House On Bare Mountain - 1962 - 4/10



Granny Good runs the home for good girls.
There are some morning exercises and learning, but mostly the girls traipse around naked.
An upcoming party promises to get out of hand.
Yeah, it’s all a front, since Granny runs a bootlegging business from the basement.
This is akin to Benny Hill meets Doris Wishman.
Silly, juvenile. Why Nicolas Winding Refn chose to restore this is beyond me.

English subtitles = https://subscene.com/subtitles/house...nglish/3309595

[Maria B.]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

At first I thought these women were redshirts from Star Trek.

[Zaharoff]

Objective, Burma! - 1945 - 6/10



Rousing WWII action finds Errol Flynn and company deep in Burma, taking on the Japanese.
Good flag waver, good morale booster, this still gave Flynn subsequent grief.
Burma was ostensibly a British sphere, not States.
Worse, Flynn was making movies instead of serving. He had tried enlisting in all branches, but was rejected owing to health (malaria, TB, VD).
Enough background. As a movie, this plays pretty well. Plenty of gritty action.
Mostly exterior photography, as well, rather than a soundstage.
Flynn good as stolid leader, foregoing his clichéd devil may care flamboyance.

[Zaharoff]

Sitting Target - 1972 - 7/10



Following a major heist, Harry is pulling a long stretch.
His girlfriend doesn’t want to wait 15 years.
And … well … she met someone. And – she’s – sorta – pregnant.
Infuriated that another man is sleeping with his woman, Harry busts out.
Hard-nosed Brit Noir benefits from a minimal use of music, which I prefer.
Standout, imaginative photography is flashy yet not distracting.
Macho cast bolstered by a seething Oliver Reed and the ever-alert Ian McShane.

[Zaharoff]

Abigail’s Party - 1977 - 7/10



Beverly and Lawrence new neighbors Angela and Tony for a meet ‘n’ drink get-together.
Both couples are, financially, entering middle class.
Socially, however, lower class roots are evident.
Both males are insecure, although Lawrence feigns education and artistic pretensions.
Beverly is the real force: dominant, gauche, tasteless, belittling, pushy.
Very black comedy of the doomed party from Hell.
Like all of you, I have been to these events, sat close-mouthed while “Beverly” annihilated the room ambiance.

[Zaharoff]

The Wandering Earth 2 - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Liu Lang di Qiu 2 // 流浪地球2



Messy and excessive prequel to 2019’s W E 1.
Whereas the first was juvenile and mindless, this has more reach, and more flaws.
Our sun is going supernova. Earth first, then the entire solar system.
Two solutions: move the entire planet – or transfer humanity to computer files.
Terrorism erupts when leaders decide to cancel the Digital Life Project.
Visual eye-candy is tremendous, and the action is go-go-go.
The propaganda is overt. Those from the West complain, whine, quit.
Only China perseveres, finds solutions, saves humanity.
Three hours. Important Easter egg in credits.

[Zaharoff]

La Femme Nikita - 1990 - 7/10



Nikita is a drug addict, and, accidentally, a cop killer.
Clandestine operation offers a deal: live, but you work for us.
She is cleaned up, trained, and emerges as a very stylish assassin.
First and best of a plethora of lethal femme flicks.
This one has style to burn, as well as emotional hooks.
Anne Parillaud is outstanding. Remade as the tepid Point Of No Return.

[Zaharoff]

Black Cat - 1991 - 6/10
AKA - Hak Mau // 黑猫



Hong Kong remake of La Femme Nikita. Expect action overload and carnage.
Jade Leung plays the highly neurotic girl who is trained (Simon Yam) into the assassin, Black Cat.
Killer action, especially when well oiled plans go haywire.
Romantic elements merely muddy the proceedings. Leung at this point, was not skillful enough.
Those scenes range from cloying to maudlin.
Fans of classic Hong Kong films will enjoy (probably fast-forward the dull stuff).
Worth a look for its excessive violence, but this pales next to the Bresson original.

[Zaharoff]

Pixote -1980 - 7/10
AKA - Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco



Uneducated, unwashed, unwanted. The abandoned, disposed children of Rio de Janeiro.
Ten year old Pixote is already a petty criminal, message runner for gangs, glue sniffer.
A hellish stint in prison reinforces violent tendencies, erodes humanity.
An unflinching look at the underbelly, the disease that is incarceration, and corrupt law.
Pixote is sympathetic, in many ways funny, even here and there, an innocent.
Until he’s not.
Beautifully ugly film, wrenching at times, otherwise prescient of what is coming.