A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Plus - another feastacular!

Z-108 - 2012 - 7/10 (Zombie scale ratings)
AKA: Zombie 108 or Qi cheng



Just when I worry Asian films have become slick, mainstream, middle-of-the-road bores, along comes a demented throwback to previous times.
Escaped virus turns Taipei into Deadsville.
SWAT team joins gangsters against hordes of lurching, running zombies.
Meanwhile, most of the strippers are captured by sex psychopath and his pet octopus.
Drug use, rampant nudity, chaotic plot, carnage, gore, silliness.

Great scene where obnoxious reporter questions girl,
"Your whole family has been murdered! Tell our viewers how you feel. How sad are
you? Oh, were you bitten? Aaarrrgggh!!!"

[Zaharoff]

Lang Historie Kort - 2015 - 7/10
AKA - Long Story Short



Ensemble movie tracks eight or nine friends for two or three years.
Multiple characters seem confusing, but attentive viewers will catch the rhythm and faces soon enough.
Transitory relationships, established friendships, marriages fresh and stale.
At the center is Ellen, who keeps making poor choices as far as men.
Stories advance at various parties. New Years, wedding, birthdays ... Alcohol lubricates misbehavior.
Those who favor French fare or Woody Allen romantic dramas should enjoy.

[Zaharoff]

Ghost House - 2017 - 6/10



I'm inclined to indulge this cobbled together horror outing. It has strong points and liabilities.
American couple visit Bangkok, searching for adventure amidst their romance.
The female takes photos of anything and everything.
Being turistas, neither of them ask permission or consider others.
She is particularly drawn to ghost houses, or shrines to the dead.

Plot is a mix of other horror films and themes, from It Follows to "dead wet girls."
It is not predictable, though, as it changes course throughout.
Thailand visuals are nice, and seem accurate. (most of the rooms I stayed in had a similar greenish tint)
Sound mix is moody ambiant. Story itself, while clichéd, rarely drags.

[Zaharoff]

Shinya Shokudô - 2009 - 7/10
AKA - Midnight Diner



Melancholy series of nightowls and insomniacs who gather at the cafe open between midnight and 8:00 AM.
Half hour episodes of lives lonely, broken or dead-ended.
Individuals who missed opportunities, compromised their dreams, outlived their time.
While the cafe has a small, fixed menu, the owner seems able to fulfill all requests.
Mostly simple fare, but each evokes memories or underscores a personal story.
At each conclusion, tips or techniques for that night's recipe are shared.
This is one of the very best late night J-dorama, and fairly easy to find.
Watching between midnight and 2:00 AM, which was when I viewed, may enhance the mood.

[Zaharoff]

A Date With The Falcon - 1942 - 5/10



Second outing for George Sanders' suave thrill seeker and police meddler.
Early on, he is supposed to be flying off with his not-yet-wed bride on their honeymoon.
When a pair of dark eyes and thick eyelashes beckon, his fiance is forgotten.
The plot - if you tend to be charitable - is of a kidnapped synthetic diamond inventor.
Misunderstandings with police, banter with lovelies, and glowering heavies cannot disguise a fluff story.
Film relies on Sanders' charm, but is beneath his talents.

[Zaharoff]

It! - 1966 - 5/10



Museum warehouse burns down and only surviving artifact is tall, black, ugly looking statue.
And ... whenever folks are alone with said statue, they keep dying.
Because, the dark stone is actually a golem!
Cheap looking film with a minimum of actors plays like bad television.
Better - or worse - Roddy McDowell seems to channel Norman Bates and Seymour Krelboyne in portraying the nutso, dotty assistant curator.
Not awful enough to enter the rarefied echelon of Bad Cinema, yet there are enough dreadful proceedings to satisfy aficionados of dreck.

[Zaharoff]

La Main Passe - 2014 - 6/10
AKA - The Table Turns // The Main Pass



Offbeat French femme fatale revenge film.
Wife confronts husband's mistress, telling her to back off.
In the next beat, the women realize he has a new bang bunny and is cheating on both of them.
A low level attorney gets entwined with Mistress #1, who starts to exhibit psychological neuroses.
Oh, yeah, said attorney also happens to be a kleptomaniac!
Not that I'm giving much away, this occurs in the first ten minutes of this trashy thriller.
Clever females, men with the IQ of head cheese.
Good enough, I suppose, if you're in the mood.

[ToALonelyPeace]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

Shinya Shokudô - 2009 - 7/10 AKA - Midnight Diner Melancholy series of nightowls and insomniacs who gather at the cafe open between midnight and 8:00 AM. Half hour episodes of lives lonely, broken or dead-ended. Individuals who missed opportunities, compromised their dreams, outlived their time. While the cafe has a small, fixed menu, the owner seems able to fulfill all requests. Mostly simple fare, but each evokes memories or underscores a personal story. At each conclusion, tips or techniques for that night's recipe are shared. This is one of the very best late night J-dorama, and fairly easy to find. Watching between midnight and 2:00 AM, which was when I viewed, may enhance the mood.

Yep. I watched two seasons and even tried to make some of the stuff.

[Zaharoff]

Florence Foster Jenkins - 2016 - 6/10



Entertaining, amusing biopic, though I can understand why many turned a deaf ear.
Meryl Streep splendid as daffy, delusional society dame who inflicts her voice onto Carnegie Hall and to wax cylinders for perpetuity.
Mrs Jenkins suffers pitch problems, insecure attack, wobbly control, on and on ...
In this telling, audiences were mildly sympathetic, though giggling occurred in film and in reality.
Hugh Grant equally fine as supportive, protective husband.
Her singing numbers, though, are going to kill many of you.

Movie buffs often have a fondness for bad.
Genuine bad. Not calculated Sharknado rubbish, bur rather Ed Wood working at the zenith of his powers.
Likewise music. Singers like Tiny Tim, Claudine Longet, Karen Dalton will be an acquired taste for most, yet I do spin them up from time to time.
Your own “guilty pleasure” taste in music ought to inform you of how you will react to Mrs Jenkins.

[Zaharoff]

After Hitler - 2016 - 7/10
AKA - An Dèidh Hitler



Two part documentary of Europe in the five years after the end of World War II.
The mass starvation, dislocation of millions, the survival of widows and orphans.
After the Soviet Union took control of eastern Europe, they took steps to take Greece, Germany, and any other country who would listen.
The West eventually countered, but almost too late.
Pretty much an unknown chapter for most.
Overall enlightening despite a lot of territory covered.
Note: I am increasingly unsurprised by how casually clueless many are of history.