Reviews

Devil Girl from Mars is a decent early Sci-Fi movie that reveals its roots as a stage play by being more plot and character oriented than is typical of this type of movie. Indeed, the people and events are pretty engaging, if predictable, and it was fun for me to see a dazzling young Hazel Court as Ellen. Patricia Laffan plays the eponymous martian invader with a stony, menacing arrogance and she wears the costume extremely well. Devil Girl is certainly light-years removed from the classic Forbidden Planet, though that film was released only two years later. However, if you view it with a lenient eye, it can be a fun ride at just over one hour.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of expertise that went into this short feature. The visuals were solid and the effects were not over-done. One of the pluses was the actors. Both were competent and appealing and the chemistry between them was very good.

The film did not try to do too much: having a dramatic event and an arc of a relationship was plenty to keep the viewer engaged. In fact, my only real "minus" was that I was left wanting more exploration of the characters (you can do only so much in the 17-minutes of running time). In short, I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a bit of romance with their Sci-fi.

Schultze Gets the Blues is an endearing, poignant, character-driven movie. It revolves around a recently retired miner in a small German town who tends his garden, drinks beer, and plays polkas on his accordion. He hears a zydeco song on the radio one day, and his music-of-choice and his routine are changed forever. He travels to the Louisiana Delta where his old world manners and grace help him bridge the language barrier. The movie is heartwarming and touching, and I can easily see why it garnered many awards. It is full of interesting touches where the clever screenplay helps to bring depth to several of the characters. Beautifully photographed with some gorgeous shots of both the German and Gulf Coast locales, Schultze Gets the Blues is a carefully paced, yet engaging film. It is in German with English subtitles.

A moving study of character and relationships: 9 stars

The Sleepy Time Gal is a character study about life and life's ending. It centers on Frances (Jacqueline Bisset), a writer and former DJ who is dying of cancer. She is seeking to clarify and perhaps gain closure on several relationships in her life, primarily with her son (played by Nick Stahl) and Bob, a former lover. A parallel story tracks the daughter, Rebecca (played by Martha Plimpton) whom Francis gave up for adoption at birth, and Rebecca's search for her birth mother.

The Sleepy Time Gal features excellent performances (especially by Bisset) and very strong writing and direction by Christopher Munch. While some might be put-off by the movie's relative lack of strict linear story-telling (that may make scenes seem disconnected), I found that the narrative style contributed positively to the movie's impact. For me, a person's life is a complex tapestry of events and relationships, not a tidy story.

I give The Sleepy Time Gal a solid 9 out of 10 stars and recommend it highly. I'd further recommend getting the DVD version and watching the deleted scenes after watching the movie. That's what I did, and I feel that it provided further insights about the characters and actions.

This is a movie devoid of zippy special effects and whiz-bang action sequences. However, if you want interesting, realistic characters and can tolerate a little ambiguity, The Sleepy Time Gal should meet with your approval.

Wonderful Movie--like "Walking Tall", but with a Brain!

Riveting and darkly humorous, Coup de torchon (Clean Slate) is a remarkable study of a breakdown of ethics and reason. Philippe Noiret plays a sad sack police chief in 1930s French West Africa who gets no respect: not from his faithless wife, not from local hoods, not from community "leaders". Tilting toward a murderous solution, he remarks to the new teacher in town how concepts of right and wrong get blurry from disuse, like the French grammar rules which get rusty in the African outpost.

Coup de torchon features excellent performances from all the leads (especially Noiret and Isabelle Huppert),outstanding direction and camera work, and compelling settings and visuals. It is loaded with outstanding touches, such as the contrast between the Police Chief's reaction to the boys at the film's beginning and his reaction to them as a changed man near the end. Best of all, director Bertrand Tavernier has us sympathizing with the Chief and rooting for him until he crosses our personal ethical line -- which is further down the road (at least for me) than one would imagine. I enjoyed the helpings of "just desserts" the Chief served out, even as they escalated, finally beyond what I could buy into.

I heartily recommend this movie to those looking for a thought provoking and challenging viewing experience. The Criterion Collection transfer was gorgeous, as usual.

This movie was among the series of Val Lewton movies that were rather hastily made in an unsuccessful attempt to "save" RKO from going under finacially. As was true of all of the series (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The 7th Victim, etc.), Isle of the Dead is a much better movie than one would expect under the circumstances of its production. True, putting a curly blonde wig on Boris Karloff and casting him as a Greek general was a stretch, but I love Karloff and he was not asked to change his wonderful British accent for the role. It is well-written and Mark Robson's direction is competent. Overall, it is a solid, suspenseful film.

Viewed now (June 2020), in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic, several plot elements take on added significance. The movies follows a group of people who discover that there is a deadly infectious disease affecting them. The advice of the doctor is to 1) quarantine on the island, so as not to spread the disease to the mainland, 2) wash hands frequently, 3) keep out of close contact with one another, and 4) especially avoid groups. The threat of the disease is compounded by the increasing mental instability of their leader, who becomes increasingly dangerous and erratic.

For those viewers who can still appreciate a movie from the mid-1940's, Isle of the dead can provide an interesting bridge to the current day.

The Shout is a movie that tells the story of a wildly mysterious man named Crossley (played by Alan Bates, "Quartet") who insinuates himself into the home and marriage of a couple (played by Susannah York, "Images" and John Hurt, "Alien"). Crossley claims to have acquired Aboriginal magic, allowing him to do many things including shouting people dead. He soon has the avant-garde composer husband both transfixed and horrified, while he seeks to use his powers to enchant the wife. The Shout is wonderfully written and features outstanding performances by all the leads, especially Bates. It excels at creating a mood which is unsettling and mysterious, reminding me of "Possession" and "Don't look now" in terms of leading the viewer to venture into the events as they unfold. I recommend it highly, and if you are like me, you will find it warrants repeated viewings.

Imagine: A movie about a succubus and the demon Asmodeus (Lust) that is not a sexploitation, does not wink at the camera, and is, if anything, classy as opposed to sleazy. I was pleased and surprised. Dom Sary (Sara's House) was well shot, carefully paced, and the sets were reminiscent of the Hammer Films attention to period detail. As a horror movie about sex, temptation, and the dangers of them, Dom Sary includes some gore and nudity. But, the film is really quite restrained and nothing seems gratuitous. It features plenty of suspense and tension as one fears for the protagonist's well-being, not to mention his soul. There were no jump scares, intrusive special effects, or violent action sequences. If, instead of the typical mindless whiz-bang, you would like a well-honed story of the supernatural, give Dom Sary a look.