ph: Dexter Navy
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Der Trafikant (2018)
A young man develops a friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.
Well-made, but somewhat stale historical drama based on a popular novel is watchable for its good cast, good settings and its suspenseful tale, but somewhat misses the light tone of the book.
Friday, November 13, 2020
Cube (1997)
Six complete strangers with widely varying
personalities are involuntarily placed in an endless maze containing
deadly traps.
Inventive horror fantasy, a closed room(s) drama, no holds barred.
On rewatching: Highly original and imaginative sci-fi keeps its audience on guard with its puzzling premise.
Halliwell*: "Teasing low-budget science fiction movie that makes the most of its puzzling qualities."
Maltin**: "Nerves start to wear thin, which may also apply to the
audience, as this intriguing film becomes highly unpleasant...with an
unsatisfying conclusion."
Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1972)
A goalkeeper is sent off during a game for committing a foul. He
spends the night with a cinema cashier, whom he kills afterwards.
Sparse,
unsettling crime melodrama portrays an alienated, unpleasant
protagonist in realistic German urban and rural settings without trying
to explain his irrational actions; nevertheless, a classic of the New
German Cinema era.
Halliwell**: "Disturbing film of the failure of communication, difficult but rewarding for the patient."
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its
inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking
humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor.
Big-budget
and star-cast adaptation of H:G. Wells' classic sci-fi novel lands a
fascinatingly wild and hilarious fail on almost every level, among which
Marlon Brando's ridiculous performance is only one of the many facets
you need to see to believe.
Halliwell (no star): "Incoherent horror, notable for one of Brando's more eccentric performances, mercifully brief."
Maltin*1/2: "Heavy-handed retelling of H.G. Wells' novel...Grotesque in the extreme, obvious, and ultimately pointless, but Brando devotees will want to check out his flamboyantly silly performance, and makeup buffs should admire Stan Winston's remarkable creations."
Maltin*1/2: "Heavy-handed retelling of H.G. Wells' novel...Grotesque in the extreme, obvious, and ultimately pointless, but Brando devotees will want to check out his flamboyantly silly performance, and makeup buffs should admire Stan Winston's remarkable creations."
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Monday, November 9, 2020
She-Man: A Story of Fixation (1967)
A soldier is forced to take estrogen and wear lingerie when he's blackmailed by a violent transvestite.
Strange, seedy cross-dressing drama has the pretense of enlightening its audience, but never misses out on any opportunity to be exploitative.
Sunday, November 8, 2020
La piel que habito (2011)
A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type
of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage, and his guinea pig is a
mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
Pedro Almodóvar successfully presents a very personal homage to old-school horror, with an especially obvious wink to Les yeux sans visage, all in the guise of an off-kilter melodrama.
Maltin**1/2:
"Unusually bizarre Almodovar offering...A provocative mix of horror and
melodrama with clear echoes of Frankenstein, slickly filmed and
designed. Full of the filmmaker's usual explorations of identity and
gender - which, ironically, stays too frustratingly close to its stylish
surface and never delivers the full emotional impact it should.
Banderas is appropriately intense as the obsessive doctor..."
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