A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Demon Ward - 2013 - 5/10
AKA - Akuryô Byôtô // 悪霊病棟



And just how evil is this hospital wing? Wait till patients receive the bill!
There is the new hospital, where patients who see the apparition, drop dead.
Then there’s the old hospital across the way, where the nurses have to enter for some medicine or equipment, in the middle of the night, no power, just their flashlight.
What lurks within? Yes, a ghost, demon with black teeth, that bites.
And leaves victims dead or infected.
Half hour horror series is cheap looking, poorly acted, with a copy cat script.
Finale (episode 10) was more compelling, but it took me over three years to get there.

[Zaharoff]

Millennium - 1996 - 8/10



A remarkable series, too dark, too bleak, too far ahead of its time.
Ex-FBI profiler, Frank Black, retired (burned out?), is recruited by the Millennium Group.
In addition to criminal analysis, Black has second-sight, a gift and a curse.
S01 episodes are akin to “monster of the week”. Serial killers, conspiracy, occult.
The second season delved deeper into the Millennium Group.
Remember, this aired as 2000 approached, along with the dread Y2K phobia.



S03 was a retrenchment of sorts, with no overlying arc.
In the end, I think Millennium was too grim, remorseless, for viewers hoping for another X-Files.
I also find it remarkable that this aired on FOX and that FOX gave it a three year run.
A modern media company like Netflix would have whacked it at 10 episodes.
Lucy Butler seems to be more active than ever nowadays.
Fine documentary.

[Zaharoff]

Confessions Of Boston Blackie - 1941 - 6/10



A counterfeit statue, an auction gone awry, exchange of bullets, a death.
Who is in attendance? Inspector Farraday. And who does he suspect?
As always, brisk B-film, packed with action and banter.
In this, Blackie’s “ex” surfaces, to shake him down for money.
Otherwise, Runt and George Manleder return to give Blackie inadequate assistance.
Formula fun. If you missed something, you didn’t miss much.

[Zaharoff]

All You Need Is Death - 2023 - 6/10

Anna and Aleks freelance, scouring Ireland for obscure folk ballads.
Their patron / boss / tutor Agnes particularly covets songs that are completely unknown.
They hear of one, passed from one female down to the next, in a remote village.
There, Rita sings Anna the song, not Aleks, for no man has ever listened to it.



The song has been passed, but a promise has been broken.
From there, death and the long hunt for the culprits.
Imaginative tale of a cursed song, akin to a forbidden phrase or image.
Pagan sequences from time to time provide a distant history.
I was absorbed throughout. The ending was an utter fail for me, however.
Felt like the “writer/director/producer” paid crowd service to genre Horror fans.

[Zaharoff]

Western Front - 1999 - 7/10



Excellent, if limited documentary on the Western Front of the Great War.
This really focuses on strategies, key battles, and blunders.
High command, English and French, is shown as especially incompetent.
Millions of lives squandered while officers sipped tea in chateaus.
A couple of lingering survivors, each in their 90’s, shared memories.
Richard Holmes, military historian for Cranfield University, walks old battlefields, while presenting a digest of the war.

[Zaharoff]

Skylight - 2014 - 7/10



Three years after she walked out of her second family, Kyra receives two visitors.
Wayward son Edward, starting his gap year, asking why she left those years before.
“Think,” Kyra says. “Just think.”
Then, after Edward departs, the father, Tom, attempting, awkwardly, a pained reconciliation.
Searing performances from Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan of a broken relationship.
Funny, excruciating, contrasting spiraling greed and self-reformation.
Restaurateur Tom made his pile when Kyra was his right hand.
Now, both older, wisdom is a bitter tonic.
Main quibble for me, in an otherwise exceptional play, is the age discrepancy.
Supposedly 15 years apart, they look 30, perhaps 40, years apart.
English subtitles = https://dl.subdl.com/subtitle/3308402-3331454

[Zaharoff]

Annie Hall - 1977 - 8/10



Through a series of flashbacks, Alvy tries to grasp how his romance with Annie collapsed.
City boy, small town girl new to the city, there is a Pygmalion element.
Childhoods differ vastly, as do outlooks and expectations.
Even the way they view each other, and worry how they are perceived.
Marvelous sequences break the fourth wall, especially with surprise cameos.
Gordon Willis cinematography elevates this from all preceding Allen works.
This is where Allen lost many old fans, expecting more silly farces.
A romantic comedy, wise and bittersweet, for adults.

[Zaharoff]

Klara’s Box - 2024 - 5/10



Workday dawn, Klara wakes in her car after another night in her car.
At the cafe, she asks for coffee. Instead, she is offered job.
“Just deliver a package. Quick, simple.”
Until, midway through her “assignment”, a helpful soul appears to render free advice.
Toxic short of lies, half-truths, deceptions, in talky thriller.
Resolution = punt.

[Zaharoff]

Fiend Without A Face - 1958 - 6/10



US military base (in Canada?) experiments with radar and telekinesis.
Before you can wonder what could go wrong, an invisible “entity” starts killing.
Victims have their gray cells sucked out, brains and spinal cords.
Soldiers are hapless, the base is overrun!
Once exposed, the creatures are laughable and creepy, a weakness of the film.
Especially for young viewers who imagined them to be under the bed or in the closet.
Or teenagers at the drive-in, aware death is everywhere so they better get busy now.
Not one of those so-bad-it’s-good films, but creative yet underwhelming.

[Zaharoff]

Alex Edelman: Just For Us - 2024 - 7/10



“I don't know if any of you grew up in a home like this. We were never allowed in our living room.
Never. The living room is for guests and tragedies. And every piece of furniture is covered in plastic…”
Standup comedian shares painful wisdom, and a long story of going to a White Nationalist party in Queens.
Edelman is consistently funny. The jokes, the punchlines, land and land and land.
This is NOT hit n miss. This is a terrific performance.
Captured during a sold out run.
As one would say, can you believe it?
English subtitles = Alex Edelman: Just for Us English subtitles - SUBDL