ph: Marian Sell
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
Au bout des doigts (2018)
The music is the secret of a young man, a subject about which he dare not speak in his neighborhood, where it lags behind with his friends.
Good cast, nice to look at, but utterly cliche-ridden and predictable tale of taming the genius from skid row.
Class of 1999 (1990)
Robot teachers have been secretly placed in the schools where the students have run riot.
Trashy sci-fi actioner with a put-on message; watch it waste its star cast's talents!
Halliwell (no star): "A sort of robot Blackboard Jungle, aimed at teenage audiences in love with violence."
Maltin*1/2: "Heavy-handed film wavers between high camp and taking itself seriously as a message movie! Keach goes overboard as a maniacal robot operator."
The Eyes of My Mother (2016)
A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.
Haunting, atmospheric dark tale in wonderful black-and white has a strong David Lynch-feel to it, but is just as disturbing in its own right.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
First Lines: Philip Kerr - If the Dead Rise Not
It was the sort of sound you hear in the distance and mistake for something else: a dirty steam barge puffing along the River Spree; the shunting of a slow locomotive underneath the great glass roof of the Anhalter Station; the hot, impatient breath of some enormous dragon, as if one of the stone dinosaurs in Berlin's zoo had come to life and was now lumbering up Wilhemstrasse.
Joker (2019)
In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime.
Dark and intense dive into a madman's mind is a fascinating as well as disturbing experience, largely due to Joaquin Phoenix's frenetic, mesmerizing performance.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Monday, May 11, 2020
Color Out of Space (2019)
A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.
Entertaining H.P. Lovecraft adaptation has a nice B-movie touch to it, while offering some good and imaginative special effects and a deliciously over-the-top performance by Nicholas Cage.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Session 9 (2001)
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
Above-average horror tale has mystery and a slightly creepy atmosphere, but soon becomes quite predictable.
Maltin**: "Genuinely spooky film unfortunately suffers from underdeveloped characters...Claustrophobics beware."
