g-moff Reviews

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)

Totally underrated

[8/10 · 14 August 2023]

Imho this is a typical (slightly lascivious) 1960s comedy with elements of Bond/Bullit/Clouseau/Fantomas et al. In a nutshell: a mad scientist. A sometimes quite clumsy mad scientist's assistant. A huge secret dungeon. An incompetent secret agent. A dozen machine-produced robot bikini girls (well, no surprise here). At the end a long motorbike/car chase which mutates into a cable car chase which mutates into a boat chase. Last but not least the unforgettable Vincent Price who probably had loads of fun playing his character. PS There is a sequel to this movie which feels rather disappointing than recommendable.

This Is London (1953)

Once there was a casual everyday glory...

[7/10 · 5 October 2020]

At least that's what this documentary seemingly indends to transmit. Watching it in 2020 felt to me like watching a cheesy outdated class society promotion film. It might probably still be enjoyable for members of the upper middle class / upper class and/or notorious royalists. But be advised: the 'Empire' was already gone in 1953... Seven stars anyhow due to some historically interesting takes.

Kings of the Road (1976)

Everything indeed has changed

[8/10 · 21 May 2017]

"Everything has to change". This is the good-bye message which character Robert leaves to character Bruno after a few days of joint traveling through the 197ies West German countryside. Actually, not traveling: Bruno works as an independent cinema equipment repairman who visits small town cinemas to check their projector stuff and took Robert as a passenger after witnessing his rather clumsy suicide effort. Both are somehow reluctant (or unable) to really get involved with life and other people. They seem to have plenty of time, no hurry for both of them. And thus this movie proceeds at a snail's pace. Tormenting it felt sometimes and I was thankful for the "pause" button of my DVD player. "Kings of the road" was shot in 1976 West Germany. Watching it in 2017 felt really odd to me. Nowadays' motto sounds rather like 'modernize or tear down' - 'keep a tight schedule' - 'time is money' - 'everyone for himself' etc. - well, you know. 7,5 (=8) of 10 anyhow for remarkably beautiful takes (mind the side view mirrors!) and very adequate last minutes. In general, the combination of visually stunning shots and a rather dragging storytelling might actually strengthen the sustainable impression this movie is able to produce - if you can bear watching it all through.

Imperium (I) (2016)

The (skinny) boy who lived....

[9 September 2016]

I watched this movie because I was curious how Radcliffe would look and perform in a non-Potterish-environment. Well, in my opinion he was the wrong cast. To get inside a white supremacist group, his character pretends to be a former marine who just came back from Iraq. Unfortunately, Radcliffe looks as if he'd never seen a gym even from outside and certainly not like an ex-marine at all. Actually he looks as if he'd just finished high school. His undercover story looks totally implausible though right from the beginning and the fact that nearly all of his new 'comrades' couldn't figure that out made it hard for me to watch the movie until its end. Imho it is neither a good character study nor a convincing portrayal of right-wing extremists nor notably thrilling. No rating. Better watch "Betrayed" (1988).

Adventure in Berlin (1952)

Lame thriller with some interesting postwar Berlin shots

[5/10 · 9 January 2016]

I don't want to say much about the story, it didn't really thrill me. It's generally about counterfeited dollars, a love affair, some (car) chases, a little bit of the upcoming cold war conflict in postwar Berlin. There are some plot holes, the acting is neither especially good nor bad, camera-work OK though. The only reason to watch this imho are the shots of postwar (West-) Berlin (with incredible clean streets by the way). I found them really interesting, especially because I have lived there for many years. - A much more recommendable, but very rare 1950ies Berlin movie is "Am Tag als der Regen kam" with classy actors like Froebe and Adorf plus a better story. Or, of course, "The Third Man" - but that's situated in Vienna.

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009)

about indifference

[7/10 · 20 June 2015]

The movie is about a guy - Brad McCullam - who killed his mother with a sword while she was having coffee in a neighbours' house. There are witnesses, very soon after the murder police appears and the chief investigator Havenhurst (William Dafoe) tries to find out the motives while the murderer seems to keep two hostages in his house across the street. The whole movie feels very calm, very un-tense the whole time. No dramatic "swat" action (although a "swat" team appears), no drastic violence scenes, no last-minute-twist etc. So it might not be the appropriate feed for the usual car-chase-loving-crowd. But it's worth watching imho. We see Havenhurst investigating, he appears to be an experienced, sovereign cop. He talks to the murderers' fiancée and another of his acquaintances. In several flashbacks we find out that McCullam had an intense, possibly morbid relation to his mother. He also started to act disconcerting after a trip to Peru where he saw all his fellow travellers dying in a river. With Havenhurst we realize step by step that Macallums increasingly obvious-odd disturbances were never reported to a doctor or anyone else who could've handled his problems professionally. Even shortly before the murder, when McCullam begs two neighbours to hit him with a baseball bat before he 'will do it', nothing happens. No one interferes. So he gets arrested and that is nearly the end of the movie. There is no moral judgement. His fiancée and others might've prevented the murder, their 'good intentions' kept them from it. Also, McCullam might've tried to prevent his Peru travel mates from going on their fateful rafting voyage, but he didn't. Although 'god' told him not to join them. The whole movie is presented in a semi-documentary style which fits to Herzog who has shot several documentaries in his career. Additionally it fits to the fact that this story is based on a similar murder case. The score is excellent. Summary: a life gone wrong. Some close bystanders might've seen it coming, though.

Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf (1931)

How to shrink a classic novel into 90 minutes and get away with it quite well

[8/10 · 14 July 2014]

Döblin's Berlin, Alexanderplatz is probably a not filmable book anyway. F.e. all the kaleidoscopic elements he has been using like ad slogans, newspaper articles, multiple points of view etc etc etc are really hard to transfer into a movie. Well, it's expressionistic. And definitely outstanding. RW Fassbinder developed a 13-hour-series (plus a rather personal and debatable epilogue) from the material which imho was partly brilliant and partly awfully boring. Of course, the characters had much room to develop here. Whatever, it seems to have gained 'cult' status in some circles. This movie is quite the opposite. It has condensed the original story to a 90-minute-piece which works surprisingly well. Döblin helped with the script, the movie is fast-paced but gets the basic idea of the book. Or better, of it's main character Biberkopf (and also his opponent Reinhold). So, I recommend watching this as at least a comparison to the RWF series. The shots of 1931 Berlin alone make it worthwhile, they add an 'authentic' effect and even Zeitgeist to it (the novel had been published just two years before). That was something the RWF version (shot in 1979) could never really provide.

Neue Vahr Süd (2010 TV Movie)

Schwach

[5/10 · 10 April 2012]

Zugegeben: die köstliche Romanvorlage ist sehr dialoglastig und deshalb schwer verfilmbar. Man hat sich hier vielleicht bemüht - allein, es blieb dabei. Überstürzt stolpert der Film in die Handlung, um dann alsbald ins Stocken zu geraten. Man sieht zwar immer wieder denselben Golf 1 und dieselbe Straßenbahn an derselben Steintorviertelecke vorüberziehen, aber das reicht definitiv nicht, um eine glaubwürdige Atmosphäre aufzubauen. Trotz einzelner stimmiger Details sehnt man alsbald das Ende herbei. Auch die arg milchgesichtigen Darsteller hinterlassen keinen einprägsamen Eindruck. Leider wird einem Nichtkenner der Literaturvorlage auch nicht klar, warum der Film nun so heißt, wie er heißt. Da empfehle ich doch lieber das Buch - das bietet über 600 Seiten beste Unterhaltung und ein Gefühl: ja, so war es.

Operation Ganymed (1977 TV Movie)

@gregg-35 - some comments about his review

[8/10 · 31 August 2010]

I agree that the special effects in this movie are really sub-standard compared to what was possible in 1977 (it was a low-budget movie), but the story itself is interesting and pretty clear and there is never a doubt that the 5 (and not "about 4" - did you really watch this movie???) survivors make it back to earth and are stranded in Mexico (more precise: at the deserted Baja California coast). The water is a problem for these survivors because they carry a small portable filter with which they can produce drinkable water from salt water (that's why they stay at the coast at the beginning) but not enough for all of them. What makes this movie interesting imho is the fact that they managed to survive the tough two years return voyage only by strict self-discipline whilst being in the small space capsule, but as soon after they have reached the earth orbit, all the suppressed group dynamics and character differences are starting to show and lead to the group's breakup. Don, the scientist, who is the physically and mentally weakest of those who survived, is, on the other hand, the most flexible of all and he is the only one who can adapt to their new situation.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king (2006 Video Game)

a worthy and final (?) part of the BfME series

[9/10 · 31 May 2010]

This game is as beautiful as its predecessors. Playing it on the "evil" side mostly, there are a few new characters and units, its duration is about as long as BfME2, some levels are tactically demanding, some others provide additional time pressure. You probably will not manage to win all levels on the first attempt (mid-level). It was a lot of fun to play and I am really sad that there is no further add-on to play. The story is set before the other two BfME games: the "Witch-King" has to assemble an army (no surprise here) and conquer the northern kingdom of Arnor - there is an epilogue though... One flaw: I could not play it on XP without switching off my firewall and anti-virus software, so for online-gamers this might be a serious disadvantage or even a reason not to buy it. PS am I really the first to write an IMDb review for this fantastic game, nearly four years after it has been published?! incredible...

Krabat (2008)

Unsatisfying compared to the novel

[6/10 · 13 March 2009]

The story is set in the European 30-year-war and is about a young homeless boy (Krabat) who ends up as an apprentice in a mill. Its miller is in fact a dark magic master who needs 12 apprentices to get the mill going. Every year, one of the apprentices has to die to keep the master alive; this does, no surprise, somehow frighten the apprentices... There is a way to become free again: through the love of a girl. Etc. etc. guess what happens? Right... The movie is based on Ottfried Preußler's "Krabat" novel which I recommend very much. The movie I don't recommend so much. It starts OK, setting is OK, actors are OK, Krabat slowly unfolds the mill's secrets - but after about two thirds of the movie, it slows down somehow and you can pretty much guess what's gonna happen. Problem is that vital elements of the book were left out: a confrontation between the master and a straying legendary wizard (the master loses and therefore the apprentices learn that he can be beaten) and a magical journey to the magnificent Saxon capital Dresden, which certainly should have been included into the film. Also, in the book it takes three years (which are actually nine years outside the mill) until the final showdown; in the film one year has been omitted and, knowing the book, I felt rather disappointed and betrayed about that. It might not be that bad if you don't know the book. Like other commentators, I recommend not to watch the movie in case you have read the novel; if you haven't you might watch it and get entertained a little but not too much.

Falco - Verdammt, wir leben noch! (2008)

positively surprised

[8/10 · 31 December 2008]

Just watched the movie and felt positively surprised afterwards although I am no particular connoisseur of his music. Falco is being portrayed as an ingenious but also emotionally unstable artist who has problems finding the right approach towards his own feelings, but also - and even more - towards others'. His early life seems to be like a series of clichés: he suffered from the loss of two siblings (which were born dead), his father left family early, he was a very gifted kid but dropped school anyway, started to consume drugs & alcohol etc. etc. Well yes, we have seen that in "Ray" or "Walk the line" in a similar way already, so why watch this movie too? I'd say it is the plausible atmosphere, the good acting & setting and a lack of over-exaggerated tragedy. The movie shows no 'decisive' situation which changes all his life at once. It is, although commercial successes happen of course, rather a long way down in his battle between self-pity and hubris, stimulated by drugs, alcohol and excessive lifestyle which leads to Falco's fatal car accident, may it have been suicide or not. So, no good ending as in the two other musician portraits I've mentioned earlier above; instead, there is a fatal addition of "Leaving Las Vegas" in it.