The Wormwood Star (1956)

 

Hollywood Story (1951)

 

During the 1950s Hollywood, an independent producer unwisely opens a can of worms when he decides to make a movie about the 1929 unsolved murder of a famous silent-film director.

Competent crime mystery with an intriguing Hollywood plot is vivid and fairly suspenseful; a more straight attempt by horror expert William Castle.

Halliwell*: "Adequate potboiler with a reasonably absorbing plot and glimpses of silent stars."

Maltin++1/2: "Loaded with potential that's mostly unrealized. Strongest asset is location filming around Hollywood and the old Chaplin studio."

 

Banshun (1949)

New aquisition: Tenet (2020)

 

June Havoc

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Havoc

Let Them All Talk (2020)

 

A famous author goes on a cruise trip with her friends and nephew in an effort to find fun and happiness while she comes to terms with her troubled past.

Carefully directed cruise ship drama with some humorous elements is fully enjoyable first and foremost for its excellently assembled ensemble; there's never a dull moment.

Shocker (1989)

Animus Magazine

 

Animus Magazine

Samantha Robinson

 

(ph. Neil Krug)

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Robinson_(American_actress)

Papurika (2006)

 

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.

Wildly imaginative and sometimes disturbing and shocking anime is a fascinating watch, although its plot is difficult to follow; best described as an attempt to capture the fantastic and illogical world of dreams.

Maltin***: "Vivid psychedelic images highlight this Japanese anime...With its imaginative visuals, this is a trip worth taking." 

Pulse (2006)

 

New acquisition: Sight & Sound

 

Gena Rowlands

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gena_Rowlands

New acquisition: Batman (1989)

 

The Old Maid (1939)

Aniara (2018)

 

A spaceship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the consumption-obsessed passengers to consider their place in the universe.

Big-scale sci-fi epic with excellent special effects presents a complex tale of a hopeless odyssey into the vast nothingness of space and relentlessly explores the impact on the population of the spaceship. 

 

Seven Sinners (1940)

 

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)

 

To save his career, a writer for television advertising wants a famous actress to endorse a lipstick. In return, he has to pretend to be her new lover.

Pretty wild satire is something like a work of pop art with its glaring colors and collage-like editing, but the humor is often in your face and hit and miss.

Halliwell (no star): "A too-wild satire on TV commercials: less frenzied direction and gag-writing would have prised more humour from the situations."

Maltin***1/2: "Clever satire...springboard for scattershot satire on 1950s morals, television, sex, business, etc. Director-writer in peak form." 

The X Files (1996)

 

La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

 

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Exuberantly imaginative fantasy (more horror than just a surreal fairy tale) is mesmerizing throughout due to its fascinating settings and visuals, some of them disturbing, too; the plot itself is a bit perplexing in its twists.

Halliwell*: "A bizarre hyper-active fantasy that yields many incidental pleasures, although coherence is not among them."

Maltin***: "Provocative fantasy...Although dramatically uneven, this mix of Oliver Twist and BRAZIL is a marvel of production design, with sumptuous visuals and painstaking invention." 

Peggy Shannon

(ph: Otto Dyar)

Delicatessen (1991)

 

In a post-apocalyptic world the landlord of an apartment building occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.

Wildly imaginative madcap black comedy seems to know no boundaries and comes up with fast-paced twists and surprises, all made with style and panache.

Halliwell***: "A gruesome theme given an exuberant, witty, cartoon-like treatment."

Maltin***1/2: "At the very least, this is the most original and entertaining comedy about cannibalism made to this date. Brown-and-white color schemes, which would ordinarily look like a lab mistake, contribute to the film's trenchant visual style." 

The Sleeping Beauty (1954)

New acquisitions: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

 

Dolores Faith

 

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Faith

Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

 

In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.

Idiosyncratic adaptation of a Jonathan Lethem novel reduces the original's narrative into a superbly acted and cast and complex neo noir crime drama; the 1950s period settings are excellent.

Blade Runner (1982)

 

New aquisition: Wall Street (1987)

 

Veronica Lake

Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

 

A female WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.

Basically silly mash-up of several genres with a agreeable feminist touch is pulp indeed, but a lot of fun to be had along the way.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Charlotte et son Jules (1960)

 

A jilted man rants at his mostly silent former lover. 

Satirical early short film by Jean-Luc Godard (who dubs Belmondo's voice) is slightly amusing for the misogynist and madcap rant the guy delivers, but does get enervating soon.