A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

El Critico - 2013 - 6/10
AKA - The Film Critic



The plight of the film critic. Forced to watch an unhealthy diet of pap, pretension, redundancy, stupidity.
No wonder our critic in this Argentina film is negative, cynical, and single.
He is being allowed to squat in his apartment which is being razed, and may soon be homeless.
Then he finds the perfect apartment! Except a woman has beaten him to the lease.
What ensues, to his disgust, is attraction, squabbling, soaring violins, breathless kisses, running.
He is trapped as a romantic comedy cliché.
El Critico, a rather uncertain comedy, will be better suited to viewers who are familiar with the RomCom genre and the obligatory tropes.

[Zaharoff]

Life Itself - 2014 - 6/10



Recent documentary, bordering on feel-good, about America’s favorite film critic.
Covers the bases from childhood, newspaper years, partnership with Siskel, demise.
Much is made of influence Ebert had, but the impact for me was from Sneak Previews on.
Back in the early 80s, Siskel and Ebert were one of the first to feature extended clips.
That was invaluable when deciding what film to spend my cash on.
Also, unlike more so-called literary critics, the Chicago pair never spoiled a plot twist,
nor did the reader have to wade through pages of text - seldom necessary for fresh releases.
At the end of it all, however, Ebert was a film critic.
His influence waned, as has the influence of all critics. The films omits that aspect.

The critical process, circa 1980 -
Sneak Previews: “Take 2: Going to the Movies"
S2E22 - Sneak Previews Take 2 3/6/80 on Vimeo

Siskel Ebert 1981: Take 2: Going to the Movies, The Black Marble - YouTube

[Zaharoff]

Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story - 2013 - 6/10



By the numbers documentary of the publisher of Penthouse.
Mr Guccione's early struggles to establish himself as an artist, before launching the magazine.
Fights with self righteous moralizing zealots, the building of a publishing empire that included Omni and Spin.
Then not recognizing times were changing.
Assorted family and colleagues reflect, mostly positively, on the man they knew.
The doc feels shallow, like the producers built this up from online sources.
In other hands, perhaps this would have been better . . . perhaps not.
Guccione, Hefner, Flynt may not have been as compelling as their facade or empires.

Rolling Stone's profile of Guccione fills in more details than the doc -
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture...cione-20101021

[Zaharoff]

Boogie Nights - 1997 - 7/10



Cowabunga!
Rise and fall and rise again of Dirk Diggler, inside the happy family of porn.
The 70s San Fernando Valley recreated in sweeping detail.
Costumes, soundtrack, hairstyles, even the Reseda opening shot (where I saw many a film), all were spot on.
Likewise, the laid back So Cal vibe, the hopeful insecurity of most of the characters.
Film seemed to run a bit long and was excessive, though, to be fair, excess defined the 70s.
Story also glossed over the predatory nature of the business.
Despite flaws, a wonderful movie, and a breakthrough for many young performers.

Recruiting on Hollywood -

Spoiler

Off Hollywood Boulevard, there used to be a huge magazine/newspaper stand. Might still be there.
On display were newspapers from all 50 states.
Tourists would linger there, as well as kids who were lonely, broke, lost.
I was 19 and all that. Within six months, I would have one foot in the gutter, but at the time I was still optimistic.
Men in sunglasses and gold chains prowled near the stand, evaluated the meat, made the offer.
“Hey, my man, you ever thought about being in movies?”
I only got it once, and I shrugged a no. Don’t know why I got it, either, I was too thin.
Mostly girls, pretty girls, were approached. I saw several follow the tout out of earshot, then talk.
Never saw them again.
Anyway, that magazine rack was prime hunting territory for fresh faced, homesick kids.
At least back in the 70s.

[Zaharoff]

The Mountain Between Us - 2017 - 6/10



All flights are canceled due to bad weather and approaching storm.
Undeterred, two very insistent travelers charter a prop plane because they are in a hurry.
Before one can say, "Hey, look at those black clouds," there is a malfunction and down they go.
Had the pilot filed a flight plan? Had either passenger phoned home? Ha ha.
Survival story of a man, a woman, and a dog, set amidst breathtaking Rockies.
The strangers are personality opposites, and yet there is a cliché about opposites.
Wait a minute! You mean this is a romance story?
Do characters pluck along? Find burnable wood? Know how to make a fire? Find shelter?
Acceptable premise, marred by ludicrous love story. Unless L-O-V-E is your thing.

The Dog

Spoiler

Yeah, how about that canine?
The females I watched this with were distracted during the film.
"What's going to happen with that dog?" "They better not kill that dog!" "Omigod, the dog ran off!"
Me - "Look, two humans are half dead from starvation and hunger. Not Fido, though, bounding all over the snow like that white stuff is cocaine."
Mr Dog, obviously not a method actor.

[Zaharoff]

Cold Prey - 2006 - 5/10



Norwegian dead teenager flick.
After some business with a chase early on, newspaper and TV reports indicate 100+ skiers have mysteriously disappeared.
Cut to a SUV with five teens out for snowboarding jollies.
The serious couple, the horny couple, the jokster. Then they find - whoa! - a deserted ski lodge.
Predictable slasher genre. I knew who would die first, and who would survive or die last.
I knew this would be generic, but I couldn't stop myself.
Bubble head.
.
.
.
.
OK, here's a cheat.
Faneditor Mikedrew67 overhauled this and Cold Prey 2 into one film, calling his version "Frozen Death."
The first installment boasted the original concept but was marred by too many lulls. The sequel suffered a sense of repetition, yet the pace drove quicker. Even better, higher body count, and not just civilians, but cops.
The edit was heavy on Part 01. Establishing and getting to know characters. Part 02 was the last third of the edit, and the pace was hammer down.
The edit is a satisfying Slasher film, if mindless blood letting tempts you.

[Zaharoff]

Hermann Goering: Nazi Number One - 2006 - 7/10



In depth biography of Reichsmarschall Goering, head of the Luftwaffe.
Childhood, member of Von Richthofen's Flying Circus during World War I, eventually the smiling, genial face of the Nazi party, the one the common folk could relate to.
Loaded with details: his first marriage, his foot dragging regarding European war, morphine addiction, his retreat into dreams once the war soured.
A more ordinary soul, dishonest with sympathetic points, in the midst of clinical architects of the new order.
A wealth of his home movies were unearthed for this doc, which should pique the interest of history buffs.

[Zaharoff]

The Lady Vanishes - 1979 - 3/10



Another low bar. One of the worst pieces of crap I’ve viewed in ages.
Pointless remake of the Hitchcock classic, featuring two godawful American leads, irritating music, and a wasted supporting cast.
Gabby nanny type, who may or may not be a spy, disappears from train in Nazi occupied territory.
Cybill Shepherd especially good/horrible as shrill, whining American heiress who demands to know what happened to her new English friend (underused Angela Lansbury). I would have paid for anyone to have hurled her off the train, moving or stopped, off a bridge or into quicksand, didn’t matter. She was painful.
A bored Elliot Gould plays the male hero. Shepherd and Gould have the chemistry of a pair of cracked duck eggs.
The film that drove the final spike into Hammer.

[Zaharoff]

Berlin: Metropolis Of Vice - 2005 - 7/10



Free-for-all tour of 1920's Berlin, widely considered one of the most decadent time/place cities ever.
Film takes its cues from Mel Gordon’s “Voluptuous Panic” and is packed with images, most which cannot be shown here.
Much had to do with the defeat of Germany at the end of World War I, the annihilation of so many men, runaway inflation, as well as the sense of devil take the hindmost.
Tourists flocked to Berlin, mostly because German runaway inflation meant that everything - and everyone - was inexpensive.



On parade are cabarets, gay clubs, lesbian clubs, transvestite societies, nudist associations, the sex museum, drugs, alcohol, S&M and prostitutes, legions of prostitutes - male, female, mother & daughter combos, pregnant females, obese types, deformed or paraplegic, sugar lickers, racehorses, grasshoppers, half-beavers, gravelstones, kontroll girls, boot girls, half silks . . .
Of course, the inevitable backlash arrived with the rise of the National Socialist Party.
Part of the “Sin Cities” trilogy.

[Zaharoff]

Babylon Berlin - 2017 - 8/10



Exceptional series set in Weimar Berlin.
A train, streaking from the Soviet Union, is hijacked into Germany amidst bloodshed and conspiracy.
Police, city and state, chase thin trails into nightclubs, embassies, bordellos, pornography studios.
Cops vs the Red Front, Soviet spies vs Whites, gangsters and embezzlers.
Berlin in the late 20s, early 30s was an anything goes place and this series captures that.



Knowledge of the Weimar era is not essential, but would certainly help.
Production values are excellent, this is a gritty, well designed thriller.
Several of the set pieces, nightclub sequences in particular, are spectacular.
S01 builds, S02 follows immediately and is the payoff.