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Reviews
A Kind of Murder (2016)
Good basis but shallow, neo-noir needs another 1/2 hour
I feel this as neo-noir... while others compare to older noir. It's a bit understated, only 1-1/2 hour long... it could use the missing 1/2 hour to bring it home. It feels a little disjointed, slices stitched together with one backfilled infidelity. Nuances span the 60s decade perhaps... fedoras to numb/drug existence. 3/4 through the film, I got the feeling there should/could be a significant twist coming. The twist was... not solidly concluding the main story arc... perhaps ...a feeling of one of those 'leave it to the audience to decide' ...between simplistic wash or darkly.... what, isn't well hinted. Another half hour could provide more development in first 3/4 (such as for Clara, and lies) and for the last 1/4, a more definite convoluted author ending for the main character instead of a simple pained grin and a conflicting two-sentence write-out between wrong and guilt.
The Fugitive: Death of a Very Small Killer (1967)
Kimble, the doctor
Title: "Death OF a Very Small Killer" Escaping onto a fishing boat to Mexico... Kimble is soon already sick and lying down in the next scene, and the captain picks some pills up from the table beside Kimble without even opening a bottle. It's likely the doctor may have already asked, or might have some idea what they were. Self-diagnosis? We can assume he knew he was sick... a cough, a fever... probably he came to know it was pneumonia and that he was taking penicillin... what else could he do on a fishing boat? Later, what does Dr. Howell do, but prescribe some glucose.
Kimble -might- have been a 'world' INfamous doctor... not famous for his medical skills; he was just a pediatrician in small-town Stafford, Indiana... but blackmailed here, we see him as a professional, not just a wound binder.
The local village staff works for the 'brilliant' Dr. Howell... he's pretty much in total control ...and the staff does as they're told... including working with another 'American', Dr. 'Barret'.
Later, the answer to Kimble's question about 'reserve' medical supplies was... "-all- the supplies are kept in the medicine closet". In other words, Kimble was fishing for a secret stash of Howell's... and found that the staff person he asked didn't know of any... and there was none. A few days there, and Kimble never opened the refrigerator... but he intends to treat his patients with all available resources.
As for the romance... a great deal of The Fugitive's plots, and luck, come from the women he encounters. This episode is a professional working environment, under the nose of Dr. Howell, with limited 'free' time. There would be little partying or passion, only brief releases from the tension of the medical research and treatment... and a lot of time working closely together, caring for others.
This episode is light on the drama of persecution and flight... actually, light on Kimble's story, with more time spent on others... but it shows he is a patient's doctor It is also the 13th highest-rated episode in the IMDb ratings for the series. 12/30/09
Vacancy (2007)
'Snuff film'? What's wrong with this picture?
Spoilers? The whole movie was spoiled. Otherwise with some good acting, I like Luke W., love Kate B. (quit smoking!), and Frank W. is good to see, but I'm disappointed they're associated with something cheesy like this... sensationalizing 'snuff' films is just a -bad- idea. The plot/thread is just too thin, short, shallow. You can see the director/producers have the skills to present a film like this with some 'craft'... from slick opening and closing production reminiscent of Hitchcock films/trailers... but... the cheesy 'snuff' films shown in this movie should appeal only to the worst motivations. I'm -really- disappointed they chose to have "extended snuff scenes" hyped on the DVD. Right... let's get some 'cheap thrills' watching more detailed brutal killings of random people, done in cheesy videotape style. Very Sad. Pushing the 'envelope' too far. I'd say those three actors are probably disappointed to be associated with commercialized packaging like that... trying to make 'snuff films' attractive, with 'extended scenes', brutal stabbing spasms, hanging, etc. Just a bit more sick than usual horror effects, because of their 'homey' nature. Save that for the documentaries. Gritty? Sick!
I guardiani del cielo (2000)
Torture, unfortunately
Peter Weller (RoboCop) is in this movie... well, we all have to work to pay our bills.
The movie is just not even what I'd charitably call a 'B' movie... it is tortuously drawn out... not well written, not Hollywood-made (and if you value 'indies' above Hollywood, then this is still even below Hollywood-made)... simply sub-par. I picked this up as a rental hoping it would be an Indiana Jones (or something) knock-off... I wish it could have been.
Lots of camera work where it simply lingers too long on the actor... the (bad) dialog is done, overdone, burnt offering done... just not well done.
The 'wonder' and awe is not there... even though you're led up to the wall and bashed into it at the end. I don't want to quit watching very many movies in the middle (or beginning)... but I would have, if someone else didn't insist on fast forwarding through parts to see the end.
It needs to be re-edited just to hope it could be a 'B' movie... I really don't think it can be. Lionsgate included previews of other movies that you could tell were just as far off the mark for video entertainment... a line of excruciating time killers. I didn't really expect this kind of quality still existed... not in the U.S. at least?
In comparison, "Sahara" is a blockbuster... at least Sahara made a professional effort... and I don't mean effects/explosions. I mean a script that could be spoken and not in silent era dramatics.
Ooh, simple-minded story, ear-painful dialog... even bad fight scenes. Sorry, I'd watch "Titus", twice, before this. It's punishment.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004)
Very period piece, almost Shakespearean 'play'
To enjoy this movie, you'd best like a heavy period piece of old world costumes and 'heavy' dialogue... it -is- interesting to see this group of actors doing this kind of film, a little 'stilted' initially, not their usual venues. DeNiro may feel a little out of context to some, but if you can make allowance, he still does a decent job... I didn't feel as comfortable with Kathy Bates' character. Harvey Keitel I thought also did well, and F. Murray Abraham a little too 'bubbly' but that -was- his character... everyone a little out of usual character. Overall, esp. at first, it feels more like a play, than a movie... with a hint of stage facades, rather than locations. If nothing else, I savored DeNiro's quote (something to the effect of) "The cessation of these meetings, I find good compensation for death". That one should be in this film's 'memorable quotes' section. This is a staged piece for the actors involved, but fun for them and some of us... probably much too slow for most, and rather simply summed up in the end... as perhaps a play would be.