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The Railrodder
Gerald Potterton, 1965
Comedy
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
After literally swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, an Englishman takes a country trip across Canada on a railcar.
'Silent' short (24 min) that has the odd bit of invention with a few moments of mirth and is nice enough as a tour across Canada but it does feel like a throwback to a bygone age with little new to offer and personally I'd prefer to remember Keaton from his prime.





You may or may not have seen it, but there's a nice sort of companion piece that goes along with this short film. Buster Keaton Rides Again:




You may or may not have seen it, but there's a nice sort of companion piece that goes along with this short film. Buster Keaton Rides Again:
Thanks, I wasn't aware of it. Will give it a squint sometime this week



Buster Keaton Rides Again
John Spotton, 1965
Biography, Documentary
Stream - YouTube


From TMDb:
This film is a documentary about the filming of one of Buster Keaton's movies: The Railrodder (1965).
Pretty nice accompanying piece to The Railrodder that holds the interest throughout, combining biographical info on Keaton alongside a 'making of / travelogue' and a little local interaction at some of the places along the journey. The 'making of' incorporates a look behind the scenes at some of the highlights from the film and is fascinating (the sixty-nine year old Keaton still wants to be as bold with his stunts as he can be), whilst the bio gives a little feeling for the man which compliments the travelogue nicely. All-in-all a pleasant watch and thanks to @James D. Gardiner for bringing it to my attention.


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A Gunman Has Escaped
Richard M. Grey, 1948
Crime, Drama
DVD


From TMDb:
In this crime drama, three gem thieves must get out of London after they kill a man. Friction between the men increases as they hide out on a farm and then get back on the road. Trouble ensues when one of the three begins suspecting the others of treachery.
Low-budget affair that suffers from some poor acting and for much of its runtime is clearly set-bound. Both the characters and dialogue are rather mixed in terms of believability but the tale still remains oddly watchable and at under an hour isn't paced too badly.


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Boy With A Flute
Montgomery Tully, 1964
Crime, Drama
DVD


From TMDb:
An advertisement in the personal column brings elderly Mrs Winters to town with her Salviani painting and leads her to an adventure she could never have imagined.
Short (29 min) that would have been better without the narrator imo and would have benefitted from employing a little more intrigue but is otherwise generally presented well enough and acted quite nicely.


+



Les perruches - [The Parakeets]
Julie Voisin, 2013
Music
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From IMDb:
Lili, an ill young woman, is faced one morning with the sudden loss of her hair. The imagination of her friend Laura is going to change the course of a day, which had badly begun.
Ultra low-budget short (14 min) that was presumably filmed on a phone, though unfortunately not one with the greatest of resolutions. The tale is rather slight but does have a little heart and the uplifting ending plus the dedication leads one to presume was made with very good reason - which makes me want to rate it a little more favourably than I perhaps otherwise might.





Shuttle
Edward Anderson, 2008
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:
When two friends return from a girls weekend vacation in Mexico, they find themselves stranded at the airport. Trying to get home safely, they board an airport shuttle for the short trip. But once their feet cross the threshold of the shuttle, a night that had started like any other turns terrifying, and the ride home becomes a descent into darkness.
A decent enough premise but sadly the writing is so inept that despite a fair few moments of action dotted throughout it's actually a rather lifeless affair that would be hard pressed to surprise even the most gullible audience member with any of its machinations. With a similar level of surprise this won't be making my 2000s ballot. Yeah, I know - shock, horror!





The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Ivan Barnett, 1950
Horror
DVD


From IMDb:
A traveller arrives at Usher mansion to visit his friend Roderick (Kaye Tendeter) and discovers that Roderick and his sister (Gwen Watford) have been inflicted with a strange disease.
Low-budget British version of the Poe tale that starts really poorly with a short prologue beset by wooden acting and stilted dialogue, thankfully the feature itself does generally improve on that but it's still a rather amateurish affair at times. It does at least have the occasional nice piece of imagery and tries to develop a little atmosphere in places whilst, of course, the tale on which it is based is a good enough one to retain an interest in proceedings anyway.





Death Goes To School
Stephen Clarkson, 1953
Mystery
DVD


From TMDb:
Detective Inspector Campbell (Gordon Jackson) looks into the murder of a teacher at a girls school where there are a number of suspects, including her colleagues and the married man she had been seeing.
No frills murder mystery that's nicely enough acted and although it neither really generates any atmosphere nor gives the viewer any chance to play sleuth the tale is not without interest. Parts being told via flashback is not unusual and quite suitable, but having one of the characters occasionally voice their inner thoughts in a past tense during parts set in the present really doesn't sit so well and imo sadly does detract a little from proceedings. There is a little humour at one point and whilst by modern standards there are unsurprisingly some very antiquated viewpoints expressed, the lesbian inference at one point was certainly unexpected.


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King Of The Underworld
Victor M. Gover, 1952
Crime, Drama
DVD


From TMDb:
A sinister crook is implicated in blackmail, greed for emeralds, a secret formula and murder. Thee episodes from a 1952 British television series called "Inspector Morley, Late of Scotland Yard, Investigates" were joined together and released theatrically.
Suffers from poor production values at time and its clearly meagre budget shows whilst the acting is not exactly of the highest standard. The tales are serviceable though, even if they do come across as sub-standard Sherlock Holmes adventures at times, and the whole does actually manage to provide a level of entertainment as long as one's expectations are not set for anything higher than Saturday matinee type of fare.





Searching
Aneesh Chaganty, 2018
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
DVR - Film4


From TMDb:
After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop.
Missing person mystery that gave me very mixed feelings. On the one hand it's competently made whilst the tale mostly both evolves quite nicely and manages to maintain interest (the rather lengthy exposition in the closing stages would have benefitted from being pared back somewhat though imo). On the other though, I find the protracted bouts of computer interaction rather irritating and it's much more difficult for me to connect emotionally with any of the characters or immerse myself in proceedings as I'm constantly aware I'm merely watching a presentation.


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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Searching
Aneesh Chaganty 2018
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
DVR - Film4


From TMDb:

Missing person mystery that gave me very mixed feelings. On the one hand it's competently made whilst the tale mostly both evolves quite nicely and manages to maintain interest (the rather lengthy exposition in the closing stages would have benefitted from being pared back somewhat though imo). On the other though, I find the protracted bouts of computer interaction rather irritating and it's much more difficult for me to connect emotionally with any of the characters or immerse myself in proceedings as I'm constantly aware I'm merely watching a presentation.


+

I felt the opposite about Searching. I'm not on any social media sites, so I found it fascinating to watch the way the movie played out through the computer. I liked the movie, and would probably rate it around
+ to
.
__________________
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



I felt the opposite about Searching. I'm not on any social media sites, so I found it fascinating to watch the way the movie played out through the computer. I liked the movie, and would probably rate it around
+ to
.
That's kewl - it's average rating on IMDb is far more in-line with yours than mine so my view is obviously something of an outlier on it.



Belle à croquer - [Delectable You]
Axel Courtière, 2017
Comedy, Fantasy
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
Oscar Mongoût, a gourmet cannibal, burns with love for a neighbor in his building, the very vegetal Miss Carrot. But this passion seems destined to fail: she is vegetarian, while he has a severe case of vegetable phobia. Things take a drastic turn the evening she invites him to dinner.
Somewhat bizarre short (15 min) that mixes both live action and animation quite inventively at times. Whilst the brief tale may not excite that much in and of itself, the presentation is colourful, not unenjoyable and has possibly one of the most alluring carrots thus far in cinematic history.


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Australia
Lino Escalera, 2017
Drama
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
Friday, 11 p.m. Carla, a woman in her forties, is alone in her office. She gets a call. It's Raúl, a young guy who sells cocaine. Tonight will be the last night that Raúl works as a dealer. He wants to change his life.
Short (14 min) that's technically decent but unfortunately the premise is rather difficult to believe and whilst the dialogue at least sounds fairly natural it's not completely believable either.





National Lampoon's Vacation
Harold Ramis, 1983
Adventure, Comedy
DVR - TCM


From TMDb:
Clark Griswold is on a quest to take his family on a quest to Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don't go exactly as planned.
Got to admit I have absolutely no idea why this is so highly regarded. On the plus side (I guess) Chevy Chase isn't as obnoxious in it as I expected him to be (still far, far more ego than talent though), Beverly D'Angelo is easy enough on the eye and I did get a little amusement at briefly seeing such a young Jane Krakowski. Sadly though that's about it for me as the 'humour' was generally weak and the whole mostly rather dumb, lifeless and uninspired imo.


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Hvítur, hvítur dagur - [A White, White Day]
Hlynur Pálmason, 2019
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
DVR - BBC Four


From TMDb:
In a remote Icelandic town, an off duty police chief begins to suspect a local man to have had an affair with his wife, who has recently died in a car accident. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones.
Primarily a character study for most of the runtime and being Icelandic it should come as no surprise that it's a little quirky at times. The acting is decent (Ida Mekkín Hlynsdóttir as the little girl is very good in one scene in particular) and although it starts a little vaguely it does slowly build and maintain interest before unfortunately, for me, the plot strays a little too far from credulity in the closing stages.





I'll Hide, You Seek
Anne Richardson, 2018
Drama
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From IMDb:
Alice, our painfully shy young heroine, is an old soul with a vivid imagination. Having just moved next door to the historic church with her mother and father (the new Episcopal priest), she's still grieving the loss of her former life and having a hard time making friends.
Unremarkable short (11 min) that contains a positive message but sadly doesn't have anything new to offer. The editing could be better in places and although the acting is tolerable the dialogue really isn't that good imo.