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Body Heat follows that friend, Ned Racine (William Hurt), who has just started an affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). As he learns about her husband's wealth, Ned agrees to murder him – figure no one'll care – so she can inherit his money. Emergency time. Time out. Of course, things are more than a little askew, as Ned will eventually discover.

This is one of those frequent mentions when the topic of 80s films come up that I hadn't seen, but what a pleasant watch it was. First, the atmosphere is so well transmitted that you can feel the humidity and the heat through the screen. But most of that falls also on Hurt and Turner's steamy and effective performances. Not only do they have an undeniable sexual chemistry, but they are pretty darn good in their roles.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot and the Neo-noir Hall of Fame

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Talk about two opposing viewpoints. Makes me want to see it too.

The Pearl of Death (1944) - This opens on a ship headed for England. A courier is carrying the priceless and reputedly cursed Borgia Pearl bound for the Royal Regent Museum. It's stolen by Naomi Drake (Evelyn Ankers), a confederate of master thief Giles Conover (Miles Mander). She inveigles an elderly clergyman to carry the hidden pearl through customs for her but the old man isn't who he seems to be either. Once it's safely at the museum Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) inadvertently aids Conover in acquiring it. When captured the pearl is not in his possession so the authorities eventually have to let him go.

A string of murders divert Scotland Yard and Holmes' attention with all the victims found with their backs broken and sprawled in the midst of piles of broken pottery. Holmes gets to the bottom of it of course but also ends up facing off against a gigantic misshapen assassin. This turned out to be a pretty good entry in the franchise with the hulking killer, AKA "The Hoxton Creeper" (Rondo Hatton), adding a touch of the gruesome to the proceedings.

80/100


The House of Fear (1945) - In this one Holmes is visted by insurance agent Mr. Chalmers (Gavin Muir). He recounts a story of his clients, seven bachelors who have banded together and taken up residence at a Scottish castle near the village of Inverneill. The castle is called Drearcliffe House and the men have dubbed themselves the "Good Comrades". One of the men took delivery of an envelope which contained seven orange pips (or seeds). He was soon enough murdered and his body horribly mutilated.

After a few days a second good comrade receives a letter containing six seeds with his battered body straight away found at the bottom of a nearby cliff. Chalmers explains that his company holds insurance policies totalling 100,000 pounds on the dwindling group of men. He suspects that one is killing off the others in order to cash in and petitions Holmes for his help.

When Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive another murder has occurred with the body burned beyond recognition. The detective is helpless to stop additional murders from happening at the castle along with the nearby village's tobacconist. It goes without saying that Holmes eventually cracks the case and it involves secret passageways and hidden rooms and Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) of Scotland Yard blundering around. All essential elements of a tidy and involving Holmesian mystery. It acquits itself quite nicely.

80/100

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7801299

Wolfen - (1981)

Horrifying murders in New York City have Detective Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney), Detective Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora) and Coroner Whittington (Gregory Hines) jumping about in this police procedural, wolf-themed horror/crime film. I'm surprised that Finney looks as old as he does in this, considering it's the early 80s (he was in his mid-40s) - but that's beside the point. It's his character that's a little bonkers. I found the movie itself somewhat middling, but I really appreciated the screenplay, which includes so much grist about Native American traditions, spiritual theory and lupine-associated stuff. At the very least, it was not lazy filmmaking. Overall, it does a little more than the stock standard film of it's type would.

6/10


By http://www.impawards.com/intl/uk/2021/after_love.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69540628

After Love - (2020)

Islamic convert Mary Hussain's (Joanna Scanlan) husband dies suddenly, and she finds out he'd been living a secret life for many years in this touching, well-acted drama. Reviewed here, in my watchlist thread.

7/10

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Le Cercle Rouge opens with a made-up Buddhist saying that references fate and how certain people will undoubtedly meet in "the red circle", regardless of the path they take. That is the case with both Corey and Vogel, as well as the other characters that circle around them as they prepare to carry out a heist; from the drunken but skilled marksman they chose as their third partner, to the shifty fence they expect will help them sell the goods after, or even the persistent Mattei.

The film starts with a bang, as we see Vogel escape Mattei, while Corey is released from prison only to go back to his usual doings. They still haven't met each other, but they're both proving from the get go that "nothing can change a man's basic nature". They meet through a spectacular case of luck and chance – you know, that "red circle" – and immediately learn to respect each other as they set out to commit this heist.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot and the Neo-noir Hall of Fame

Sofia Coppola has done something nobody else could do: she portrays Elvis as boring.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

1st Rewatch...My opinion of this film remains the same from my initial viewing. A conventional murder mystery done in by a fuzzy screenplay that works overtime at being imaginative, but just exhausts the viewer. The best thing about this movie is a bone-chilling performance by Jared Leto.

Sin City is split into four different stories, two of which are split into two, resulting in six parts. The main stories follow the man with the badge, Hartigan, and a man with a gun, Marv (Mickey Rourke). The former is trying to stop a serial child rapist, while the latter is a hulking beast of a man determined to find the murderer of a prostitute he fell in love with.

Two things stand out from Sin City. First, it has a hell of a cast that, in addition of the already mentioned, includes Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen, Rutger Hauer, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Michael Madsen, and many others. The second thing is its peculiar visuals in black-and-white, with select colorization, all of which help make this look and feel like its taken out of the comic book.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot and the Neo-noir Hall of Fame

This Canadian documentary is an absolute knockout - and also one that should come with big trigger warnings. I will not elaborate on the specifics of what the case in the documentary is about, other than to say it is, largely, a father's quest to seek justice (and some degree of closure) for his 13-year-old daughter.
It is a very compelling documentary in that it provides some background into what "traditional" justice usually entailed in some small Indian villages, while at the same time providing some much-needed hope that things have changed with time, and that perpetrators of certain kinds of crimes will be much more likely to get the punishment that they absolutely deserve.

Dang, coincidentally tried to watch this last night. Not in theaters & not streaming.

Netflix recently acquired worldwide rights, so they should be adding it in most countries (not in Canada, where you can see it free online)

Good. I want to see this.

The Quiz Lady (2023)
Well The Quiz Lady let me down. I was laughing heartily 35 minutes in, before I left for work. Awkafina played a curmudgeonly woman, our quiz lady, and Sandra Oh is her manic pixie dream girl sister. It was fun to see Sandra Oh playing a character so far removed from her usual ouevre. She is such a good actress It ripped off Keanu with a kidnapped pet sub plot, but I was really looking forward to the rest of it.
When I came home, I turned it on and was very disappointed. It seemed kind of lame. I don't know what happened in 10 hours. But it lost its sparkle. I was really looking forward to some light entertainment.

I think I’m the only person who liked this movie

I think Stirchley likes it.

The Shop on Main Street (1965)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Pursuit to Algiers (1945) - This being the only Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes film that I had not watched, I've officially seen all 14 of them. In this one Holmes and Watson are enlisted to escort Prince Nikolas of Rovenia home after his father is assassinated. There are separatists and opposition forces who don't want the heir to the throne to make it home. Plenty of red herrings abound with Holmes and Watson having to take different modes of transportation.It turns out as you might expect with Holmes and Prince Nikolai supposedly perishing in an airplane crash. Watson in the meantime has boarded a steamship bound for Algiers where the prince was to be delivered to his handlers. It doesn't take long for the supposedly deceased Holmes and Nikolas to show up onboard.

There's certainly no shortage of suspects on the S.S. Friesland starting with Sheila Woodbury (Marjorie Riordan) an American singer who is suspiciously agitated to find the detective aboard. At an unscheduled stop in Lisbon three men, Gregor (Rex Evans) Mirko (Martin Kosleck) and Gubec (William 'Wee Willie' Davis) board the ship. An unsuccessful attempt is made to remove Holmes from the equation. The three assassins have to bide their time knowing full well that the closer they get to Algiers the greater the chance the crown prince will slip through their fingers.

This isn't one of the better Holmes offerings mostly because there's not a lot of sleuthing to be had. And as incongruous as it might sound there's also way too many musical numbers. But in the end it's still a Holmes adventure and worth watching.

70/100

Ginger & Fred (1986)