Lyssa humana: 2020-10-11

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Well-made biopic with an excellent cast does a good job as a portrayal of the man, but sparks no excitement or has anything original to add to the story.

Maltin**1/2: "Respectful but routine biographical drama...Elba is excellent in all phases of this saga, while Harris does the best she can with an underwritten part as his wife Winnie."

A day in the life, Mar 20

A day in the life, Mar 20, magpie on the lookout

Friday, October 16, 2020

Family Romance, LLC (2019)

A man is hired to impersonate the missing father of a young girl.

With a topic as if created for Werner Herzog, this (fictional) story is slyly presented in his unmistakable documentary style with lots of amazing and surprising moments.

Valerie Van der Graaf

New Stuff: Auschwitz: The Nazis & the 'Final Solution'

Cathee Dahmen

ph: Claude Guillaumin

L'Inconnu du lac (2013)

Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.

Austere, but intense crime mostly set in a singular location is fascinating for its audacity, although the unnecessarily sexually explicit scenes are a bit off-putting.

Xiao Wen Ju

New Stuff: The New Yorker

(art: David Plunkert)

Who's That Girl?

ph: Serge Sarkisoff

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Photographer: Harry Goodwin

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Goodwin

Sylvia Kristel

Cause for Alarm! (1951)

An invalid husband wrongly believes his wife and doctor are conspiring to kill him and outlines that suspicion in a letter, which causes a serious concern when he ends up dying anyway.

Interesting daytime Noir thriller neatly dials up the dread factor, until the plot is resolved in a surprising and humorous twist.

Halliwell*: "Minor-league suspenser, watchable but disappointingly handled."

Maltin***: "Simple, effective thriller...Tension builds, and there's a neat plot twist."

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Carmen Garitano

ph: Fernando Gomez

Today's Cat

Ling Ling Chen

ph: Jongha Park

A day in the life, Mar 19

A day in the life, Mar 19, objet trouvé

Kristina Bazan

New York

New York Flatbush Avenue in the early 1980s.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Olga Kurylenko

First Lines: Glen Duncan - The Last Werewolf

'It's official,' Harley said.

Monday, October 12, 2020

Madalina Ghenea

Les Amants de Montparnasse (1958)

Biographic movie about the last year of the famous Italian painter Modigliani.

Masterfully directed and photographed melodrama perfectly assimilates its genre - the misunderstood, self-tortured genius artist who hurts and betrays all those (mainly women) who love him despite all his behaviour.

Halliwell*: "Moderate biopic, though with an unconvincing performance by Philipe."

Maltin**1/2: "Unusual biography...plays up the women in his life but at the same time presents a harshly realistic view of the Parisian art world and its denizens. Philipe is fine as the impoverished, boozing - and romantic - lead."