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The Devil's Doorway
Aislinn Clarke, 2018
Horror
DVR - Film4


From TMDb:
In the autumn of 1960, Father Thomas Riley and Father John Thornton were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for 'fallen women', only to uncover something much more horrific.
Pretty standard 'found-footage' fare in terms of camerawork, jump scares, cheap effects and bleeding the anxiety of those with the camera to the audience via the sound of their breathing. It is however acted far better than many of that ilk. In terms of narrative it evolves into a run-of-the-mill tale of demonic possession which then devolves into an oft-seen (and mundane) 'lost in catacombs/tunnels' conclusion but it's all really just a backdrop for a scathing indictment on the historical behaviour of the Catholic Church in Ireland toward 'fallen' women and their offspring.





Roma
Alfonso Cuarón, 2018
Drama
Stream - Netflix


From TMDb:
In 1970s Mexico City, two domestic workers help a mother of four while her husband is away for an extended period of time.
Slice-of-life drama that's beautifully shot but for me suffers in the first half from being a little too uninteresting (it's not a great sign when one's primary thought is "how is it even possible for one single dog to sh*t that much?") but for sure the second half has no such problem. Cleodegaria's character is a decent focal point though and remains of interest throughout, with one scene being truly heartbreaking. The social disparity and unrest are also of interest but sadly not everything is quite so realistic, with the 'forest fire' being rather poorly staged imo.





You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The Incredibles
Brad Bird, 2004
Animation, Action, Adventure, Family
DVD


From TMDb:

Pretty decent affair that's paced quite nicely, engaging throughout and provides quite a few laughs whilst dealing with its themes of acceptance, fun, equality, fun, teamwork, fun, family and perhaps most of all - fun.


+

The Incredibles is a fun movie. I think it's very underrated.
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Le boucher - [The Butcher]
Claude Chabrol, 1970
Drama, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:
An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.
Nicely shot and acted Hitchcockian affair that's well augmented by the score imo. It manages to successfully build both intrigue and suspense by allowing the tale to be told through the relationship between Hélène and Popaul. Perhaps its greatest triumph though is in the final minutes, where the viewer is presented with what initially appears to be a rather pat conclusion yet is ultimately left wondering if perhaps Hélène might not be quite the innocent she has seemed all along, and just where her tale might lead.





Streets Of Ghost Town
Ray Nazzaro, 1950
Action, Music, Mystery, Western
DVR - TCM


From TMDb:
The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) and his sidekick (Smiley Burnette) look for stolen gold with a history.
Low-budget fare that, perhaps unsurprisingly, generally has fairly mediocre acting and a pretty routine tale which clearly utilises stock footage at times. It has a short runtime (under an hour) that mostly passes at a brisk enough pace though and does still manage to provide a little entertainment, even if the inclusion of Smiley Burnette certainly isn't a positive in that regard imo.





Heavenly Creatures
Peter Jackson, 1994
Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:
Wealthy and precocious teenager Juliet transfers from England to New Zealand with her family, and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. When their parents begin to suspect that their increasingly intense and obsessive bond is becoming unhealthy, the girls hatch a dark plan for those who threaten to keep them apart.
Reality based affair that I have to admit don't find the easiest film to like at first. Whether it's Winslet overplaying her English delivery, the somewhat mixed tone of the piece or a combination of the two I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is it's the fantasy sequences that eventually win me over and by the end I'm always a little surprised at how much I've actually enjoyed the experience.





All I Desire
Douglas Sirk, 1953
Drama, Romance
DVD


From TMDb:
In 1910, a wayward mother re-visits the family she deserted.
Decent enough affair that mostly stays out of being overly melodramatic and is acted and put together well enough. Unfortunately though it's not only rather predictable but also a difficult narrative for me to really empathise with, both of which reduces any impact of the closing stages.





Omsch
Edgar Honetschläger, 2013
Documentary
DVR - Filmbox Archive


From Filmbox Arthouse:
A full-length documentary, which is a record of an extraordinary long-term relationship of a middle-aged artist with his aged neighbor.
Modestly interesting watch, primarily because the neighbour is a centenarian with a fairly likeable personality and there is clearly a genuine bond between the two of them.





Heavenly Creatures
Peter Jackson, 1994
Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:

Reality based affair that I have to admit don't find the easiest film to like at first. Whether it's Winslet overplaying her English delivery, the somewhat mixed tone of the piece or a combination of the two I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is it's the fantasy sequences that eventually win me over and by the end I'm always a little surprised at how much I've actually enjoyed the experience.


Huge fan of this one.
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Logan's Run
Michael Anderson, 1976
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
DVD


From TMDb:
In the 23rd century, inhabitants of a domed city freely experience all of life's pleasures- but no one is allowed to live past 30. Citizens can try for a chance at being 'renewed' in a civic ceremony on their 30th birthday. Escape is the only other option.
Rather dated in terms of the effects and probably would have benefitted from being tightened up in terms of runtime but to an extent both of those are offset for me by Ms. Agutter being in it. The sets are a little eclectic (some good, some weak) and Box is downright laughable really but the core idea is one that appeals to me and it's generally an entertaining enough journey imo.





Ensayo de un crimen - [The Criminal Life Of Archibaldo de la Cruz]
Luis Buñuel, 1955
Comedy, Crime, Drama
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
A bizarre black comedy about a man whose overwhelming ambition in life is to be a renowned serial killer of women, and will stop at nothing to achieve it - but not everything goes according to plan...
Rather whimsical affair in which the principal characters are portrayed well enough and whilst it may lack the director's notorious flair for surrealism it still contains its own type of oddness, which for me makes it somewhat compelling even if it does sometimes feel a little 'flat' in places.


+



Perth: The Geylang Massacre aka Perth
Djinn, 2004
Drama
DVD


From TMDb:
Perth is the journey into the heart of Harry Lee, a 51-year-old part-time security guard and taxi driver. He belongs to a redundant generation, eclipsed by a fast-paced, elitist society that is mesmerized with education and status. Harry desires to leave the antiseptic streets of Singapore for his paradise on earth in Western Australia. His attempt to migrate is complicated when he takes on a job ferrying prostitutes.
Low-budget offering that clearly owes a huge debt to Taxi Driver and opts to have the voiceover and much of its dialogue in English, perhaps to try and appeal more to an international audience but the prime effects are to make the delivery rather stilted and unnatural whilst also highlighting how poorly written much of that dialogue is. The acting and direction generally isn't great either, while the sparse score really adds little to proceedings. The climactic violence is a little obviously staged in places but is at least a marked step up from what has gone before ... even if still very far from making that which precedes it worth sitting through.


+



Far North
Asif Kapardia, 2007
Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
DVR - Film4


From TMDb:
In the arctic, as Saiva is being born, a shaman declares that she is evil and will bring harm to all who become involved with her. Saiva is cast out of her tribe of herders and grows up to live a nomadic existence with Anja, a young woman she adopts as an infant. Then Loki, an injured and starving soldier, stumbles into their isolated lives. The women nurse him back to health, but treachery, violence and doom await them all.
Mostly sedate affair that's shot quite nicely, well enough acted and a perfectly watchable tale - albeit one that's rather predictable in the way it plays out .... even if the exact manner might not be.


+



South Of Death Valley
Ray Nazzaro, 1949
Western
DVR - TCM


From TMDb:
When Steve Downey arrives to reopen his brother-in-law's gold mine, he finds a war between the ranchers and the miners. Ashton has had the water poisoned killing cattle. When Ashton's men find Steve's hat, they kill Tom Tavish and frame Steve for the murder. Escaping jail the Durango Kid goes into action.
Another low-budget typical Sat-matt type affair with the 'Durango Kid' and Smiley Burnette. The tale is a run-of-the-mill one designed not to be taxing on the brain, but even so still might provide a reasonable level of entertainment were it not persistently interrupted by the inane antics of Mr. Burnette or the (admittedly far more tolerable) musical interludes of Tommy Duncan and his Western All Stars.





Ching yan - [The Beast Stalker]
Dante Lam, 2008
Action, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:
Sergeant Tong is wracked with guilt after he unwittingly kills a young girl whilst capuring a criminal named Cheung. When the girl's sister is later kidnapped in a ploy to get Cheung released, Sergeant Tong vows to find and rescue her before she comes to harm.
Not a film that begins well, with the feel of a cheap, rather poorly made effort, but thankfully it doesn't take too long to improve in most regards. Whilst the production values may not particularly impress in places and the tale certainly proves fairly run-of-the-mill, it does however manage to become a pretty effective watch, that's mostly quite nicely paced and draws the viewer in. Unfortunately once the tale has been resolved the coda is overly drawn out imo which renders it not particularly effective and does somewhat mark down that which has preceded it.


+



The Rare Breed
Andrew V. McLaglen, 1966
Western
DVR - Film4


From TMDb:
When her husband dies en route to America, Martha Price and her daughter Hilary are left to carry out his dream: the introduction of Hereford cattle into the American West. They enlist Sam "Bulldog" Burnett in their efforts to transport their lone bull, a Hereford named Vindicator, to a breeder in Texas, but the trail is fraught with danger and even Burnett doubts the survival potential of this "rare breed" of cattle.
Given it's clearly light-hearted tone much of the time I'm surprised Comedy isn't listed as one of the genres for it. Unfortunately whilst it's generally well enough made and acted, for me it feels like a Disney movie that's neither earnest enough to really appeal as a western nor consistent enough to work well as a parody. Add in Juliet Mills and Jimmy Stewart sharing the same screen (both of whose voices I can find irritating) and sadly it proves to be just the type of movie I struggle to engage with.


+



Kingston Avenue
Armel Hostiou, 2013
Drama, Romance
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
Vincent has followed the woman he loves to New York. But they're not getting along anymore. Stubborn, he's going to try to do everything to get her back.
A short (45 min) slice-of-life drama that has a rather unsympathetic lead and struggles to be believable. That the director subsequently turned this into a feature (Une histoire américaine) of roughly twice the length two years later is a little surprising, but perhaps that longer version is better fleshed out and has more depth? Aside from gaining some enjoyment from when Sofie Rimestad's secondary character was on screen I very much doubt I'll ever bother to find out though.


+



Revenge
Coralie Fargeat, 2017
Action, Horror, Thriller
DVD


From TMDb:
Jen's romantic getaway with her wealthy (married) boyfriend is disrupted when his friends arrive for an impromptu hunting trip. Tension mounts at the house until the situation culminates in an unexpected way.
A tale that definitely requires an awful lot of suspension of disbelief and one that would have benefitted from not using mixed languages (especially during the set-up) as the accents when speaking English are somewhat off-putting imo. There are a few moments of violence/gore within that are worthwhile but they languish within a film that despite its obvious absurdities and the odd self-indulgent moment bafflingly also seems to expect to be taken seriously. Less can certainly be more, sadly this also proves that more can be less too.





Gardiennes
Adeline Picault, 2017
Drama
DVR - Filmbox Arthouse


From TMDb:
Acha and Myriam, fifteen years old, are bored out of their skulls in their social housing project. Sam, the leader of a gang of boys, asks them to be gardiennes for him. Honored, they stand in front of the main entrance of Building C, convinced they are participating in exciting drug deals.
Short (14 min) piece that's paced and shot quite nicely and is generally engaging enough even if ultimately it doesn't really have much to offer.