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Still panning the 40s and 50s for gold Odd Man Out - surely one of the most beautiful black and white films ever made? A fairy tale Belfast of snow and rain and shadows full of acutely drawn characters ushering James Mason to his inevitable end. Wasn't sure about some of the knockabout stuff in the last third (Robert Newton a bit OTT for the mood) but the last reel redeems everything. A genuine must see. Armoured Car Robbery - meat and two veg heist caper, impeccably served. Lantern jawed Charles McCraw in pursuit of oily psycho William Talman and his odious stripper squeeze who loves her 'lettuce'. Lean, mean fun with a great splattery climax. The Prowler - James Ellroy calls this 'Perv Noir' in the extras - can't argue with that. Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes are great as the bad couple, although for once it's the lady who's done wrong. Great metaphorical climax atop a big pile of sand and shale in the middle of nowhere Between Two Worlds - wartime fantasy, a boat carting a crew of dead souls to heaven or hell. Ends up a series of moral platitudes - greed bad, mums good, honest joe good, big business bad etc etc. Dated to say the least. |
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The Chase (1946) A fast paced Noir thriller starring Robert Cummings, Michelle Morgan, Steve Cochran and Peter Lorre. Cummings is a WW2 veteran in Miami who gets a job driving for gangster Eddie Roman (Cochran). Following a typical job Cummings reluctantly agrees to take Roman's wife Lorna to Havana to escape the gangsters clutches. From then on the story becomes ever more twisted and the film takes on a dark almost dream like aura as reality becomes twisted and days turn into nightmares and everything is not as it seems. The film has a twist at the midway point that completely threw me. I wasn't sure what had happened. I actually thought i'd dozed off and missed a chunk of the story. I was as dazed and confused as Cummings in his fragile mental state. Once this all becomes clear we are left with a fairly gripping piece of Noir cinema, perhaps a little incoherent in places but still a satisfying journey into the steamy oppressive world of Florida crime. Miami Vice this ain't. The Chase is highly recommended and is definitely more Hollyweird than Hollywood. |
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The Divide (2011) Survivors of a nuclear attack end up holed together in Michael Biehn's shelter. As supplies and tempers wear thin the band of strangers begin to self destruct and find that often the enemy you fear most is trapped inside themselves Had The Divide not been entirely populated by characters you wish dead from the off it may have been a more satisfying piece of cinema. As it is Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens has given us a well made, tightly paced film, which is both psychologically and graphically quite nasty in places, especially it's depictions of sexual violence, but without anyone to sympathize with or root for in this post apocalyptic tale, the film ultimately fell short for me. |
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F13 Part 6. Jason Lives. Fun and funny entry into the series that more than makes up for the crap that is part 5. Also possibly the only slasher film with a Jean Paul Sartre sight gag. American Ninja 4. Jesus, this is f*cking top quality shite and make no mistake about it. I must confess that I didn't pay too much attention to the plot nor am I sure that it really matters as the film is basically a series of action scenes linked with the odd, minimal scene of talking. From what I could gather, an American Ninja fights other Ninjas who dress as Power Rangers in Africa with the aid of a gay theatre troop who may or may not be rehearsing a musical version of Mad Max 2. It had me grinning like a loon for the whole of it's running time. Excellent stuff and a new entry into my top ten favourite films seen this year. |
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Revenge of the Ninja. More Ninja mayhem this time from 1983. A Ninja gives up violence and moves to America to open an art gallery...all goes well until Masked Baddie Ninja turns up. This has everything you could want from an 80s action flick; bottle blond women in high knickers, endless fighting, close up stabbings and cuts, squibs, sumo rape, and a"cute" kid repeatedly kicking a woman in the vagina during a fight scene! The final fight between the two ninjas is bonkers and features a volley ball court, a robotic ninja arm in a jacuzzi, a shop dummy ninja, Russian doll swords that produce smaller and smaller weapons and last but not least an up the sleeve flame thrower! It also suggests that the baddie may have supernatural powers but is never expended on or explained. Recommended and on Netflix as is American Ninja 4. |
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Took a trip to Oldenburg this evening to see a couple of films at the International Film Festival currently underway. First up was the Dutch film Wolf about a young Morrocan immigrant living in the projects of an unnamed Dutch city. He has a difficult family life and gets by through theft and drug dealing while at the same time trying to make a career as a kick boxer. A fantastic film that manages to succeed even though the main character is not immediately likeable. The second film, Bag Boy, Lover Boy is probably best described as low budget and experimental. Its the only film that I was disappointed to miss at Fantasia so I was very pleased to see it on the Oldenburg roster. I wasn't disappointed. Its a character study following a young hot dog seller who becomes embroiled with a seedy photographer who wants to involve him as a model in making art. This will not be to everybody's taste, but if you like your cinema on the transgressive side this might be right up your street. I'll head back tomorrow evening to see Lost Soul, which many of you already had the opportunity to see at Fright Fest. Then its on to Hamburg on Saturday for Fantasy Film Fest. |
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