A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop (2010)

☆ ☆ ☆

A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop (2010) – Y. Zhang

This surprising Chinese remake of the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple begins as a candy-coloured slapstick comedy and gradually turns darker (in tone).  Yimou Zhang uses his pictorial skill to set the film in an artificial landscape in the distant past where at least they still have noodle shops, even if the cops run everywhere in formation with an odd sort of siren voiced by the wind.  A greedy miser’s young wife is having an affair with one of his employees and when he finds out, he hires a crooked cop to kill them both.  However, greed wins over evil – or wait, love triumphs over evil and greed – or wait, no one stays dead – or wait, everyone dies in the end.  It has been too long since I saw Blood Simple but I assume its twisty plot has been replicated here as a sort of fable that ends as a cosmic joke.  I suspect the original is far better but this remake stands as a valiant effort to do something different with the material.   

  

Jurassic World (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆

Jurassic World (2015) – C. Trevorrow

Implausible.  Ha, ha.  Of course, that could stand as a review of the very first Jurassic Park film in 1993 too; however, the new third sequel contains many more absurdities.  But, hey, I hear you saying that “plot” isn’t why one watches this kind of film and you are right – it is all about the monsters.  I have never been a big fan of CGI but I’ll admit that as the years go by the technology gets slicker.  So, there are many “life-like” dinosaurs here, large and small, and they move realistically and kill and eat a lot of people (sometimes less than realistically).  Spielberg was executive producer but he handed the directing reins to relative newcomer Colin Trevorrow.  He doesn’t exactly make a hash of it but, as I said, the plot, as well as the characters and the script, are wafer-thin.  Any intended moral commentary about genetic engineering and the military is pretty ham-fisted. Nevertheless, this was probably rip-roaring in the theatre (and in 3D?) but at home the inadequacies are more obvious.  Still, it doesn’t lose your attention and as an example of the latest whiz-bang graphics, it’s fine, if a bit gruesome.

The Vampire Lovers (1970)

☆ ☆ ½

The Vampire Lovers (1970) – R. W. Baker

At the start of Hammer Film’s decline, they took advantage of the era’s growing permissiveness to merge their longstanding interest in vampires (who are by nature the most erotic of monsters) with an effort to attract viewers with titillation (which admittedly wasn’t too far from their agenda with their previous period costumes for actresses). Here, Ingrid Pitt, with her Garbo-like Polish accent, makes a redoubtable lesbian vampire (from the oft-filmed tale by Sheridan Le Fanu), seducing (and killing) the young ladies of the village, under the watchful eye of Christopher Lee surrogate, John Forbes-Robertson. Unfortunately, the best and spookiest scene occurs before the opening credits roll and from then on in things are rather lacklustre, although presented with Hammer’s usual flair for set decoration. Peter Cushing makes what amounts to a guest appearance. Look elsewhere for your British horror thrills.

Violent Saturday (1955)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Violent Saturday (1955) – R. Fleischer

Take one part noir-ish bank heist film featuring Lee Marvin with a bad cold and another part widescreen Technicolor over-the-top sub-Sirkian melodrama (including alcoholics, peeping toms, and nymphos), add a heaping helping of Victor Mature, stir well.  Garnish with Ernest Borgnine playing Amish.  The result is a bizarre cocktail that is rather intoxicating in its strangeness even as the ingredients threaten not to hold together at all.  The dusty vistas of Arizona look great with their several shades of dirt and Fleischer frames the action well even if things get a bit coagulated at times.  The sudden violence (of the title) comes as a surprise in the final moments.  This could have after-effects.  Do not drive after consuming.   

Park Row (1952)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Park Row (1952) – S. Fuller

Clearly a labor of love for director Sam Fuller who financed this NY newspaper story out of his own pocket in order to do it his way.  The result is a punchy gutsy drama that sees an idealist new editor (Gene Evans) of a start-up paper fighting a larger corrupt rag that uses its wide circulation and power maliciously.  The publisher of that other paper (Mary Welch) is wrong-headed but her underlings use real violence to try to smash the smaller new paper.  At the same time, Fuller didactically shows us the mechanics of printing a newspaper and the birth of new technologies and innovations.  Although a case could be made that the cigar-chomping editor is his surrogate, we also know that he was a copy-boy (perhaps a “printer’s devil”) when he was a kid.  Park Row, the street in NYC near The Bowery where newspapers had their offices/presses, is artificially recreated on a studio set where Fuller is able to move the camera around in long tracking shots and nothing “real” distracts from the sense that we are in 1886.  A big part of the story focuses on France’s donation of the Statue of Liberty to America and the newspaper’s involvement in securing donations for the pedestal on Beddoe’s Island.  A gritty slab of history told from the heart.

Graduate First (1978)

☆ ☆ ☆

Graduate First (1978) – M. Pialat

This is the first film I’ve watched by Maurice Pialat and perhaps it isn’t the right place to start.  A mostly plot-less but engaging look at a bunch of 19-year-olds finishing their schooling in northern France (a town called Lens).  These kids are largely aimless, living in a depressed economy, without too many options aside from getting married or leaving.  They sleep late, kick around the local café/bar, and sleep with each other.  Pialat largely avoids commentary and the parents who do make an appearance are reasonably easy-going about everything.  A philosophy teacher turns up now and again to offer encouragement and the film’s “message” about having to unlearn everything you already knew (when learning philosophy… but it may apply to becoming an adult too).  The young non-professional actors are mostly interesting and their improvisation seems natural enough -- spending 80 minutes of time with them was fine.  You have to draw your own conclusions about whether these kids are destined for drudgery due to poor choices or whether this is a natural state of affairs for late teens/early twenties youth who nevertheless get their acts together (somehow).  Pialat doesn’t stick around to find out.   

  

Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)

☆ ☆ ☆

Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) – J.-H. Bong

The directorial debut from Joon-Ho Bong (Snowpiercer, The Host) is a quirky comedy of sorts about a grad student under pressure who loses it over a neighbour’s barking dog.  A nerdy office worker gets involved in the search for the lost dog(s) and the film follows his story and hers.  There are some eccentric characters and odd moments (yes, they do eat dogs in Korea, apparently) but the whole thing seems designed primarily to demonstrate Bong’s flair as a director.  So, this feels a bit like an audacious show-reel at times and one wonders whether anyone would be interested in this kind of plot otherwise.  And, yes, apparently the film did bomb financially at home.  Nevertheless, it allowed Bong to graduate to better things (Memories of Murder, Mother) en route to his Hollywood blockbuster success.  So, there are some interesting moments here but this is probably only for the curious.