A few reviews

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Thanks. I do often say nowadays when I'm struggling that there is no real reason life should be fair or easy. But "a nice place to live" is open to wide interpretation.

[Zaharoff]

Change Of Plans - 2009 - 6/10
AKA - Le Code A Change



French dinner party from Hell.
Spousal sniping, family conflicts, old flames, food nazis.
There were almost too many characters, but by the end of the film you knew who was who and what their stories were.
Passable. Some reviewers were too harsh. What did they expect?
Going in, I knew this would be a talky dinner party.
One character, praying inside the church, echoed my own thoughts every time I have a party to attend.

“Lord ...
Give me the strength to go to this damn dinner!
Give me the strength to pretend, to laugh.
To ask questions, when I don't care about the answers.
To pretend that I'm there, when I'm far away.”

[Zaharoff]

The Invisible Man - 2020 - 5/10

A wife escapes her ultra rich, abusive husband in the middle of the night.
(Cliché of the dominating male has been used umpteen times.)
She hides in terror, he is a tech guru and … well … can anyone really hide nowadays?
15 minutes in, the crisis is over, threat vanished. Cecilia can relax her guard.
Then, as she stares at empty spaces, one wonders if she is losing her mind.



Slick looking tech effects, used late and sparingly, that would have been WOW!! 20 years ago.
The first hour is excruciatingly slow, and aside from the tech angle, this is a rehash.
Panders to victim mentality. Cynical me wonders if the writer/director calculated this for a Me-Too audience.

[Zaharoff]

My Old Lady - 2014 - 6/10



Beware the free lunch. The surprise gift.
Or, in this movie, the inheritance.
Destitute Yank spends his remaining funds to fly to Paris to see the property his father willed him.
Several floors, nice grounds, worth a fortune - with a catch.
A viager. The former owner, the lone resident who receives a monthly payment of €2000 from the new owner.
For Americans, think reverse mortgage.
One might predict all sort of comic implications, but no, this curdles into drama.
The whole film smacks of theatre boards, which is just what it was.
Mostly a two set play with the stone broke American, the elderly British resident, and her daughter.
Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas.
All scratching to clutch tight to the property.

[Zaharoff]

Un Témoin Dans la Ville - 1959 - 6/10
AKA - Witness In the City



The train screams through the French countryside.
Masking the frantic shrieks she makes as she …
Well, the affair was over, she was clingy, and she already had a husband.
She committed suicide. Yeah! That was it!
There is a loose end, however. In fact, from one frayed end another unravels.
The path darkens to murder. Tracking, hunting, elimination.
Film has a marvelous sense of place. Midnight Paris.
Neon, strip clubs, coffee shops, cheap hotels, bars.
Shadowy couples, fugitives, night owls.
All relying on ferrymen for hire. City taxi drivers.
Whose jaded eyes know all the doors of disgrace and desire.
Moody jazz score enhances classic Noir of best laid plans and loose ends.

[Zaharoff]

Jour J - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Wedding Unplanned



Juliette and Mathias meet at the costume party.
She takes a fancy to him and soon works him out of his Superman outfit and into her Wonder Woman.
Later … “Call me?” – “Uh, what, sure.” – “Here’s my card,” which she tucks into his clothes.
Next day, back in the flat he shares with blonde Alexia. “What’s this card? And who is Juliette?”
“What? Oh, that, oh, emm –”
“Juliette, wedding planner. Omigod! Yes! I mean, I do! What a surprise!!!”
Preparations begin. And who is hired to plan the nuptials?
Why, Mathias’ one night stand, Juliette, who, it transpires, Alexia knew and bullied when J was an ugly duckling.
Broad French comedy borrows from many films, but it moves briskly and the audience laughed frequently.
Chances are this is a good date film - unless - your date misinterprets this as a proposal hint.

[Zaharoff]

The Babadook - 2014 - 7/10



Disclosure: I don’t like kids, especially undisciplined, over-indulged kids.
I have a problem with single mommies and sons who are way too touchy feelie.
I also dislike any film where children are in danger, a cheap trope of terror.
Chances are, if you are a parent - enjoy rambunctious children - or see nothing wrong with a 7 year old who still sleeps in Mom’s bed, you may adore this.

Outstanding acting from Essie Davis as distracted, still grieving mother whose husband died seven years earlier.
As well as newcomer Noah Wiseman who is extraordinarily annoying with his fears, homemade weapons, creepy acts toward other children, and clinginess. To be fair, who allowed this child to be so? Yes, good ole Ma.
For the bedtime read, he discovers the Babadook (a bad book?) book.
Apparently, merely by reading, the ‘dook is summoned forth.
In no time flat, the dumpy home sounds with late night knocks, groans, deep sighs, ebony shadows.
Real or imagined? The film never lets on the for the longest time.
Meanwhile, mother and son behavior declines noticeably, and others take note.
Much as I appreciated the acting and deft, slight of hand directing, I disliked the characters intensely and wanted them eaten.

[Acutely decayed]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

I disliked the characters intensely and wanted them eaten.

apropos of nothing.. but fun fact.. I worked (when I use to work) with the people who donated all the furniture to this film...

[Zaharoff]

Home - 2008 - 6/10



For ten years, the family of five has been living in a beat up, pre-fab wreck of a house less than twenty meters from an abandoned highway. Funding for the road dried up ten years ago and they have enjoyed rural bliss.
Without warning, road crews arrive, shift all their belongings next to the house, install guardrails.
Next day, traffic arrives. First a trickle - then a steady stream - finally bumper to bumper.
Endless honking and exhaust fumes.
Film follows how they cope ... and how they don’t cope.
Acting, led by Isabel Huppert, fine across the board in downbeat movie.

Big problem with the plot is few countries would permit them to remain. Certainly not France, where this is set.
Governments would seize the land by eminent domain (compulsory purchase, resumption, acquisition, expropriation, etc ...) to protect themselves from potential liability or legal conflicts.

[Zaharoff]

Kingdom: S02 - 2019 - 7/10
AKA - Kingdeom S02 // 킹덤



Meaner, rougher, more treacherous, and certainly bloodier than Season 01.
The contagion has scorched vast swathes of the countryside.
Even rallying support, the crown prince faces a menace that swells exponentially.
Meanwhile, those in power continue to deny, while turning the horror to their advantage.
As before, this has an uncomfortable resemblance to unnamed nations during the Covid deaths.
For commitment avoiders: S02E06 @ 37” there is a closure, if you want to end it there.
Others, watch on. S03 will air when it airs.
(Netflix owns this series, and the K-drama fanbase have expressed concerns the US firm may “milk” the series.)