A few reviews

[cannibal cop]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

Cockneys Vs Zombies - 2012 - 6/10

4/10

I actually had pretty high hopes for this one. The idea had potential.

The old gangster dudes from "Snatch" barking incomprehensible rhyming slang while blowing away zombies? How could it fail? is the question. And this movie provides a very detailed answer.

[Zaharoff]

Legend Of The Witches - 1970 - 5/10




Predominately nude “documentary” of history and practices of witches and covens in England.
Indoctrination, rites, black magick, hand holding innocents traipsing round the bonfire.
Omniscient male narrator drones an already drowsy experience.
Camera work, on the other hand, is excellent, given that the budget must have been a bag of tuppence.
Contrast is sharp, interesting angles throughout, effective use of shadows and firelight.
Probably quite steamy back in the day, a curio now.

[Zaharoff]

Who Killed Nancy - 2009 - 7/10




Nancy Spungen was killed Oct 1978. Six months later, boyfriend-suspect Sid Vicious died of an overdose.
Case closed, everyone decided "Sid did it."
Police records reveal there were actually six suspects.
This documentary picks up the threads with mixed results.
Lots of interviews with friends, drug buddies, roadies, etc ... As well as a solid soundtrack.
Narrative meanders and never quite targets the prime alternative.
One has the impression Sid didn't kill Nancy (witnesses confirm he was passed out) ... but who did? And why?
This should have been better.
Essential, nevertheless, for fans of The Great Rock-N-Roll Swindle or readers of Jon Savage's “England's Dreaming,” or anyone who moshed in punk shows.

[Zaharoff]

Stella í Frambðdi - 2002 - 6/10
AKA - Stella Runs For Office




Odd, to say the least, political comedy from Iceland.
The leading party watch and giggle as rivals repeatedly sabotage themselves.
Until campaign advisor Stella emerges as a darkhorse contender.
Weirdly funny film with out of place music interludes:
A woman plucking a chicken while listening to “Sway,” two blue collar guys dancing to “Big Spender,” the drunken inspector seizing the microphone in a revue.
Many laugh out loud moments. Other times, I knew I was missing jokes and references.
Definitely not Scandinavian Noir.
Quirky - foreign - way off the path.

[Zaharoff]

The Blade - 1995 - 7/10
AKA: Dāo / 刀

Spectacular Hong Kong swordsplay actioner.
Stuntwork is dazzling in this, and I would not be surprised if dismemberment had occurred.
Rivalry within a swordsmith’s fortress creates tension and discontent.
Outside the walls - somewhere - marauding bandits pillage at will.
The landscape is splattered with various battles and bloodbaths, while bandit numbers swell.
What they really need, however, are more swords.




Exceptional Tsui Hark film, though less known, perhaps, because it is relentlessly grim, dark, bleak.
No heroes here. Survivors, betrayers, murderers.
Violent retelling of the one-armed swprdsman tale.
Hong Kong released quite a number of pessimistic films fore-shadowing the takeover.
Hard Boiled, Burning Paradise, Black Sun, are a few that come to mind.
The Blade will be an action lover’s dream.

[Zaharoff]

Borderland - 2007 - 6/10




Three University of Texas grads cross from Brownsville into Matamoros, Mexico for 'shrooms and poon.
One is kidnapped by drug mafia who practice Palo Mayombe, a bloody offshoot of Santeria.
They want an Americano sacrifice.
The movie is well shot, with a good feel for the border zone. Kids who look for trouble usually find it.
Nudity, drug use, language and extreme violence.
The ending became far fetched.
The actual DVD features a documentary on the real story, based on Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, practitioner of black magic, torture, human sacrifice.

http://docslide.us/documents/constan...fall-2007.html

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

There's something really strange about The Blade. It's not like the other Hark films I've seen. Scenes where I wasn't sure what was going on.

[Kevin]

Can't wait to see the first 10/10. Looks like Page Turner comes closest so far.

[Zaharoff]

Quote Originally Posted by Kevin

Can't wait to see the first 10/10.

Don't hold your breath.

Never Let Me Go - 2010 - 7/10




Cloning becomes reality in the 1950's.
Replicas are created as organ donors.
By the 70's and 90's, most are expected to survive four procedures before "completion."
Keira Knightly, Carey Mulligan, Charlotte Rampling lead a strong cast in parallel-universe tale of identity and being.
Rumination on whether clones possess souls.
Melancholy, rainy afternoon film, and definitely not stereotyped Sci-Fi.

[Zaharoff]

Gespenster - 2005 - 6/10
AKA - Ghosts or Fantasms



Troubled teenage girl, doing community service, watches an older girl beaten by two men.
The chance encounter leads to bonding - sort of.
The older girl is harder, manipulative and demanding. The younger girl had dreamed of the older one, and there is now a sense of wish fulfillment and projection.
Secondary plot follows a middle aged women, recently released from a medical institution, who searches for the child she lost over a decade earlier.
A girl who would be just about the same age as the young protagonist.
The movie, while filmed in hard light, has a dreamlike quality to it.
One could view any or all of the character comments or histories as real - or fantasies.
Likewise the characters themselves.
French / German production.