Tuesday 31 December 2019
The King (2019)
Hal, wayward prince and heir to the English throne, is crowned King Henry V after his tyrannical father dies. Now the young king must navigate palace politics, the war his father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life.
Great historical drama with great period detail, cinematography, amazing battle scenes and overall good performances - and a twist ending of sorts.
Quiet Please: Murder (1942)
A book thief and forger sells a fake book to a Nazi through a female agent, and a detective tries to uncover who the forger is and gets in the middle of a three way struggle for rare books and revenge in a public library.
Interesting crime drama with a rather complex plot playing mainly in a library; George Sanders steals the show, though.
Halliwell*: "Unusual, stylish second feature."
Maltin**1/2: "Offbeat, intriguing yarn...Murder and romance expertly woven into story."
Saturday 28 December 2019
The Edge of Love (2008)
Two feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant, charismatic poet who loves them both.
Nicely produced with good period detail, this melodrama lacks any dramatically meaningful development, and Dylan Thomas is portrayed as such a disagreeable person that one wonders what all the fuss is about.
Maltin*1/2: "Mawkish soaper...Means to be lyrical and insightful, but the characters are superficially rendered and the actors fail to rise above the material. It seems of minor importance that the poet is Dylan Thomas and the story is "inspired, in part, by actual events.""
Cry of the Werewolf (1944)
A young woman raised by gypsies hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to protect.
Low-budget horror tale is rather silly and not quite imaginative.
Maltin**: "OK low-grade thriller."
Thursday 26 December 2019
Don't Kill It (2016)
An ancient demon terrorizes a tiny Mississippi town.
Tongue-in-cheek demon hunt with lots of gore, but basically, it's just run-of-the-mill fare.
Clinical (2017)
A psychiatrist tries to put her life back together after a violent attack by seeking to repair the life of a new patient, but he has his own terrifying history.
Disappointing psychological horror drama presents an overwrought plot so full of construed twists that one looses any interest on the outcome.
Monday 23 December 2019
True Detective, Season 3 (2019)
A macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.
Third time round the series continues in expected top quality of production, and again it's the two lead's extraordinary performances that holds the interest; the plot itself develops quite slowly and is construed a bit too complicatedly.
Sunday 22 December 2019
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
A young nurse takes care of an elderly author who lives in a haunted house.
Slow-paced gothic drama fully relies on atmosphere and visual brilliance and at times creates David Lynch-like moments of surreal horror, but, in the end, it's just another ghost story.
Friday 20 December 2019
L'ordre et la morale (2011)
Dissidents in a French colony attack a police station and take hostages.
Straightforward, anti-imperialist war drama with a clear message; conventionally staged, but quite effective for the intended purpose.
The Forest (2016)
A woman goes into Japan's Suicide Forest to find her twin sister, and confronts supernatural terror.
Well-made horror drama with some good nature settings and Natalie Dormer giving a credible twin performance, but it's all utterly predictable; you can see the twist ending coming by simply looking at the plot's premise.
Sunday 15 December 2019
The Perfection (2018)
When a troubled musical prodigy seeks out the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.
Well-made, especially visually brilliant, horror drama with multiple twists; quite watchable, but gory, and maybe a bit too clever for its own good.
1922 (2017)
A simple yet proud farmer in the year 1922 conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to assist, but their actions have unintended consequences.
This superb Stephen King adaptation is less a horror story, but rather a period tragedy about guilt, loyalty and human frailty; enhanced by top-notch performances and good atmospheric cinematography.
Friday 13 December 2019
Side Effects (2013)
A young woman's world unravels when a drug prescribed by her psychiatrist has unexpected side effects.
A highly convoluted mystery with multiple twists somehow works with its excellent performances and intelligent direction.
On rewatching: Still good for a second viewing, well-made in all departments.
Maltin***: "Intriguing film noir-type story...with modern pharmaceutical twist keeps you guessing right to the end, although its characters are not especially fun to spend time with."
Gerald's Game (2017)
While trying to spice up their marriage in their remote lake house, Jessie must fight to survive when her husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her handcuffed to their bed frame.
Well-made, imaginative psycho-thriller delivers the goods with some twists, but is mainly watchable for Carla Gugino's appropriate performance.
Our Godfather (2019)
Documentary about Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking Italian mafia boss ever to turn against Cosa Nostra.
Very insightful documentary explores, not without some suspense, the personal fate and human toll of a Mafia renegade, and on its way reveals some insight in this form of organized crime.
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