whynot2 Reviews

The Last Voyage of the Empress (2005 TV Movie)

An OK Exploration of a Major Shipping Disaster That You Probably Haven't Heard Of

[6/10 · 1 April 2019]

Discovered on a random search for information on the 'Empress of Ireland' after I ran across a passing reference in a book. I'd call it a fair presentation of the material, providing a fairly detailed exposition of the events leading to the disaster, and to a lesser degree, the fallout.

To my taste, the 45 minute show did focus a bit too much on the then-contemporary dives on the wreck, and conflicting opinions between the investigators, which felt very much to me like the result of a meeting room session where someone asked, 'how can we try to make this more interesting.'

In summary, I left with a less-than-crisp understanding of the hypothesis; it filled both my curiosity and 45 minutes of my time. I'm not sure I'd would have found it satisfactory outside of the curiosity outside of the reference that I had run across.

Oona (1970)

Interesting -- If You Fancy Yourself a Porn History Buff

[2/10 · 24 October 2012]

My, oh, my...what a blast. From the past. I have no recollection as to how this 1970 bit of soft-core made it onto my radar, but there it was, helping me along a couple of treadmill strolls.

The immediate response is one of a form of nostalgia, or perhaps, because nostalgia carries at least a bittersweet connotation, a long- forgotten memory, of long narrow adult bookstores, with a curtain across a door at the back, and beyond, some number of filmstrip booths or machines, hungry for quarters. The quarters were usually fed to them with a prayer, to who exactly I'm not sure, that the machine would accept the offering and play the silent filmstrip, and that the said filmstrip would in some way resemble the small, dim, faded 'posterette' on the machine. And, oh yes...that no one else would draw closer, trying to judge the relative merits of the 'program' on the basis of the viewer's response and persistence.

Oona is half a notch above such fare, the only differences being the length of the show (about 65 minutes vs. 7 or 8 minutes for the 8 mm show) and the attempt to weave a modicum of, if not plot, then context, around the titillation. On second thought, perhaps those characteristics are as much a reason to place Oona a half notch below the peep shows.

Oona was released less than 2 years before Deep Throat – oh, how the landscape changed, and so quickly. It shows quite a bit, but not everything and certainly not all that was shown a short time later. And, aside from titillation, there isn't much there: crew- and camera-aware 'actors', extremely sparse and dated sets, even for 1970; a ludicrous attempt at plot and dialogue, an errant cat (there should have been a 'no animals were hurt...' announcement), and abrupt cuts. What is there, then? A 1970 hippie groove reminiscent of Spinal Tap in the period before their attempted tour, a few reasonably attractive people, as long as you can judge appearance, grooming and style by the 1970 standard, and, really, a time capsule into that relatively short time interval, between the time when erotica was solidly underground (and stag films were exactly that), and the emergence of Deep Throat and the entire porn business as we know it today.

Enjoy it if your perspective on erotica includes a curiosity that is so broad as to include an interest in how it was handled over the eons. Otherwise, skip it – there many, many much better ways to spend your time.

Life (2009)

Absolutely Amazing, But Not Perfect

[9/10 · 31 January 2010]

I certainly take no issue with the overwhelming positive reviews that preceded mine: the series provided amazingly photographed and dramatically presented insight into the diversity of life on the planet. We watched the entire series, and wish we had kept track of the number of times that we said "Oh. My. God." or "That is so bizarre..." Very much like "Planet Earth", "Life" demands a renewed sense of wonder of all that surrounds us.

Having said that, and to take nothing away from the indisputable positive attributes, I thought that the series fell something just short of 'absolutley perfect'.

At the highest level, information, and video images (albeit amazing ones) are presented quickly and are short. I'd liken the effect to flipping through a NGM, as opposed to reading the articles. The effect is strong, but I was left thirsting for a little more hard information. I realize that one could probably do a 10 part series on any one of the many lifeforms that are touched on in any single episode. But I still felt somehow shorted...like I was being shown shots to maximize the 'wow!' factor and emotional response, rather than present information.

which leads to the more specific criticism: over and over again, my wife wondered...where the heck is that, and what is the scale of that thing??? With respect to the former, general place names are given, but many aren't that familiar to me...some sort of mapping segue would have been nice. I fully acknowledge that such would need a really artistic touch in order to avoid a 'cheapening' effect, but would satisfy our curiosity. Perhaps even part of the 'special features' on a DVD set? With respect to the latter, many times, we were shown amazing pictures of bizarre creatures, but often with no sense of scale. Size or mass range was sometimes mentioned, often times it wasn't. Often times, especially with the amazing photography, one couldn't really tell of the subject was 1 inch, 1 foot or 1 yard in size.

Notwithstanding these comments, I'm looking forward to buying the set when they come out, and look are hoping that they contain the sorts of 'making of' features that were included on the "Planet Earth" set.

Malls R Us (2009)

A dearth of information, so many questions unanswered...

[3/10 · 4 November 2009]

Caught this on a documentary channel; I was fairly disappointed, although I suppose that might be as much an issue with me not getting the information that I'd like to have, as opposed to the quality of the program.

The show describes, albeit it in broad, vague terms, the demise of many malls in the U.S., and in Canada. It's a real phenomenon: Trafalgar Village was redeveloped into a Home Depot in Oakville; Unicity was redeveloped into a Walmart in Winnipeg, with many others around North America. 'Malls R Us' illustrates this trend with images of abandoned or near-abandoned malls. These images are sad; of course, in the same way that driving through an older town's largely abandoned downtown is sad. The program then goes on to show where new malls are happening: in the developing economies of Asia, and in the hyper-rich areas of the Middle East.

The odd thing about the approach is that, I feel like I'm being asked to be sad and nostalgic for the malls closing around me, while malls are definitely postured as environmentally unsound and destructive to existing local economies where they are being built. It struck me as an odd clash of sentiments. 'Malls R Us' disappointed me with a real lack of information, or hypothesis, or presentation of an alternative. Why malls are closing, or going down-market in North America, really isn't explored beyond an insinuation that it is due to the rise of the big-box retailer. I'd like a more complete understanding of that trend. Yes, business migrated over a few decades from 'downtown' to the suburban malls, and now it is migrating from suburban malls to big box retail. It's hard not to pick up an insinuation that 'we consumers' should have spent our dollars in the downtown stores, and having failed to do that, we should spend them in the malls, rather than at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Staples. I've yet to see a creditable analysis as to what might be the practical basis for that sentiment. Perhaps the 10% or 15% saved is truly meaningful to those in that part of the economy where outgo and inflow are pretty much the same?

'Malls R Us' aligned malls with the values of 'conspicuous consumption'. I'm not sure that's fair. I'm old enough to remember 8 story Eaton's stores in downtowns; what preceded malls certainly promoted conspicuous consumption, as do the big box stores that follow. I would have liked much more information, to answer some of the questions I had and still have.

Edit: So, I just realized that length of 'Malls R Us' is shown as 78 mins; the presentation that I saw was squeezed down into a 58 or so minute slot. I hate when they do that.

EXPO: Magic of the White City (2005 Video)

Good subject, good raw material, Fair presentation

[7/10 · 13 June 2009]

My interest in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair was stoked by a read through Larson's recent bestseller ' The Devil in the White City', and abetted by a flip through 'The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Piece'. For someone similarly interested, this documentary is well worth the time and effort; for the more casual audience, it might be worth sticking on a channel should you click by; I'm not sure it warrants a purchase or rental.

Amongst the pros, the roughly 2 hour show presents a wealth of imagery of and about the event, primarily period photographs and drawings, fleshing out Larson's descriptions of the illusory grandeur of the event and grounds; the referenced book focuses on architecture and, if I recall correctly, is limited to 93 images. In other words, the value is in the wealth of imagery.

My criticisms echo those of others. I found the period material to be interesting, but found the inclusions of modern footage of animals and fish, and re-enactments, shot in brilliant, bright color, to be jarringly disjunctive. I'll state my prejudice: I am not a fan of re-enactment to begin with, and the ones in this production just don't seem to fit. The narration Gene Wilder is adequate; but definitely not as captivating as a Mark Steel, James Burke or Morgan Freeman. Or, come to think of it, some of my better teachers. It does appear that this was an attempt to gain a bit of celebrity panache. There are also way to many shots of beer steins. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.

A couple of side notes: I listened to some of the commentary and was frankly puzzled. I'm not sure that the concept of a commentary isn't a bit redundant in a documentary, and the commentary provided here really just provides an alternative (or additional) narrative about the fair. It is annoyingly unmatched to the images on the screen: additional discussion of the Chicago labor riots are on screen as the commentators discussed previous Paris expositions; fund-raising commemorative stamps are discussed over unrelated images of Wild Bill Hickok, and what appears to be a first hand account of a visit to the fair is recited over the re-enactment of the mayor's assassination.

I visited the 'Art at the Fair' special feature. My options included 'with music' or 'with commentary'—selecting the latter revealed that this is where the producer and writer chose to discuss their sources for material in general. I might have thought that the commentary might have dealt with the 'Art at the Fair'.

The 'Art at the Fair' special feature provide, without commentary, an illustration of how the pendulum swings. This feature is shown as rated PG for nudity and violence. The art on general display at the fair included a lot of fully nude and frank statuary and paintings, albeit in a classical style. It amused me to contemplate this brazen display, requiring a PG warning in 2009, in this age of morbid horror over 9/16 of a second of breast exposure.

In summary, the content of this documentary rates something like 4.5 out of 5, with respect to its ability to satisfy my curiosity. The presentation of the material warrants something like a 2 out of 5, for an overall total of 6.5 or 7.

The Fashionistas (2002 Video)

My Waterloo?

[6/10 · 26 November 2008]

Like another reviewer, I'm no spring chicken. I remember when there was really no porn, followed by the arrival of 'Blow-Up' and 'I Am Curious, Yellow' and then a lot more porn, and then the ambitious porn of the 70s, and finally the sinking of the mess into sub-genre 'specialties' that exists today. I consider myself a pretty jaded fan, and have seen a fair bit of rough and tumble stuff over this period.

When I heard about this movie, I was definitely looking forward to it, hoping that perhaps it would lead to a renaissance of sorts. I actually saw the show in Las Vegas before the movie, and that abetted my interest.

So…what did I find in Fashionistas? It was definitely high concept, artistically oriented sexually oriented material. Production values, lighting, blocking are all at the upper boundary of what you'll find in the industry. The individuals involved are attractive, fashions provocative and edgy. I'm not sure I'd say there's a story in the sense of a Dickens novel, but there is definitely an attempt to create context and atmosphere, which I think is all one should hope for in a porn production.

So what's not to like? For me, the whole thing didn't come together, at least not in a way that resonated with me. The movie was long, much longer than it should have been. Many sex scenes ran too long. The start of one coincided with the beginning of a workout, and was still running when I shut the treadmill down. Attractive people performing wild, rough sex, I found, does not necessarily make for an 'attractive' product, although I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why. I've seen and enjoyed 'nastiness', I guess the specific tone of the nastiness here, along with the length of the scenes and movie worked against my interest.

Watching the movie also made me reflect on the evolution of porn. Anal sex was wild and provocative when it arrived on scene. At this point, I'm left to wonder if very nearly every sex scene needs to incorporate it, and often as the most significant thing going on. And when did 'spitting' become erotic? I must have missed that development completely.

I do fully respect what this movie attempted to do, and most of my vote score is actually for the pretense and ambition. Unfortunately, the 'effect' marks are much lower.

It's a Bikini World (1967)

We've Come a Long Way...

[1/10 · 6 June 2008]

Having actually watched this (while doing other stuff!), I was left to wonder: who really watched these movies when they first came out? I was in elementary school through the 'beach movie era', and found them lame and vapid then… I found sharper wit, and more emotive acting, in my Saturday morning Bugs/RoadRunner/Sylvester cartoons.

I'd really love to know how "It's a Bikini World" got written, made, and put together. There's just so much that's wrong.

I'm not looking for gritty realism, but the jokes are so, so bad…if one understands the difference between a joke and groaner, these are groaners. The slapstick is awkward and clumsy: check out the 'cake in the face' segment. These are supposed to be teens…or, at least, the target audience for a magazine called 'Teen Scream' but Pickett was 29 in 1967. And, I might add, a mature 29.

The race segments, especially the 'cross-country' segment, were interminable and devoid of either humor or excitement, with the possible exception of the appearance of a camel-race segment.

So why did I even start to watch this? I was curious to see the musical acts. Now, remember, this movie was released in 1967, a time when a whole new sense of cool was evolving. And you really can't help but feel that the acts appearing in this movie knew that all to well. Each of them has something approaching a teeth-clenched "We've got to get new management…" look about them. Except for The Animals. Now remember, the Monterey Pop Fest was held in 1967…Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and The Who were the cutting edge, and time has told us that's definitely where Eric Burdon wanted to go. The Animals were unraveling, and it was a substantially revised line-up that released the fairly psychedelic "Winds of Change" album only a few months later. All this just to lead into: with all due respect to the other reviewer, I have never seen a performer so stoned and so looking like he wanted to be somewhere else than Eric Burdon when singing "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place."

Meat Loaf: Three Bats Live (2007 Video)

I Know It's Subjective, But I Really, Really Enjoyed This.

[10/10 · 31 March 2008]

Apparently, many people think it's completely creepy, entirely inappropriate, and perhaps even darned near illegal for the 60 year old 'beast' to even appear on the same stage as the 28 year old, lithe, delicate, and gorgeous 'beauty', let alone perform, as a duet, such an incendiary number like "Paradise By the Dashboard Light", being as it were, a paean to lustful, and, yes, presumably youthful sexual experience.

Furthermore, some comments also alluded to the general 'skankiness' of both female performers; please wait while I telegraph the headline to the news room: " 'skankiness' appears at rock concert". And, of course, this condition is entirely Mr. Meatloaf's fault because, clearly, appearing in latex, leather, or what one reviewer described as " a barely-there cheerleading outfit and white hooker boots" is not something a young lady rock performer would ever do willingly without a desperate economic need and/or, probably, daily physical abuse.

As for me, whether in the minority or not, I'd rate this is one of my favorite concert DVDs. Way over the top, of course, but that's Meatloaf. It's theatre, man, THEATRE. I didn't feel 'creeped out'; I was definitely thinking, "Wow, those people can perform!" Meatloaf was at his sharpest and as theatrical as I've ever seen. Aspen Miller's vocals and presentation were captivating; CC's background vocals were 'just right', and she added a lighter, buoyant 'let's rock this joint' feel to the proceedings. The band looked absolutely delighted to have an arena to play in that evening, and more than willing to show their appreciation for the opportunity by returning energy and virtuosity.

Personally, I found that I responded poorly only to Meatloaf's duet with Marion Ravn; "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" isn't my favorite sort of song (and if I did want to listen to it, I'd probably go find Celine), and the much more nuanced and subtle delivery of the ballad simply left me craving for some more 'raucousness'.

And lest one think I rate my concert DVDs in accordance with their 'skankiness' factor, I'd say my other most favorite concert DVD is Neil Young's 'Heart of Gold'; which I guess, might be representative of how some people, clearly, would prefer Meatloaf to 'age' as a performer. Having seen '3 Bats Live', I'd say, there's time for that later. Enjoy this show in the meantime.

Public Enemies (1996 Video)

Yes, It Is That Bad. *** Possible Spoiler***

[1/10 · 30 March 2008]

Is this movie as bad as some claim? In my opinion, yes it is. I wasn't going to comment, noting that quite a few comments have already been made, ranging from 'awful' to -not nearly so bad...'. However, I can't resist.

What do you make of a movie that has, on the DVD cover. the phrase "the real story of "Ma BArker and her boys...", and the standard "any similarity to actual persons..." disclaimer in the credits? I'm not naive, but in this case, it's a pretty relevant observation regarding this movie.

Several comments knock the performances. They are pretty awful, Roberts, Russell, Milano and Stallone have something like 315 movies and TV shows listed between them. They can act, or at least perform.

However...the dialog is not to my taste, and quite unintentionally funny at times. The story arcs didn't seem to be anything but the barest minimum required to string specific scenes of violence and melodrama together.

Direction and screen writing has to be faulted: Amyrillis giggles after seeing Ma Barker's violent temper and finishes with "Take The Girl!"?????. What ever you think of Alyssa's acting abilities...some screenwriter wrote that line or reaction, and/or some director shot it, and said, 'OK, that's good enough, no need to retake that, that's credible...' One footnote: I did pick up my copy for $1.99 or $2.99 in a grocery story discount bin; the running time is shown as 91 mins, and I note that the running time is listed on IMDb as 95 mins. I don't know what 4 minutes I'm missing, but I acknowledge that if those 4 minutes were of the right sort of person in the right sort of situation, my rating might soar to 3 or 4 out of 10. As I saw it, 1 / 10 is what I must vote.

My Daughter, My Angel (2007)

Individuals' responses to a conflicted 'situation' = acceptable entertainment

[6/10 · 12 December 2007]

Watched this on the satellite movie channel, and found, in the end, that it was fairly slight but entertaining. More so than many other movies, I found myself going through stages of like and dislike as My Fille, Mon Ange played out. My most serious condemnation, I think, is that I never completely got out of the mode of knowing that I was watching a movie (and the accompanying feeling of...how are they trying to manipulate me), as opposed to simply getting engrossed in the story.

My single largest 'like', I think, was more "relief" than like: the storyline and the start of the movie had me wondering if these was going to be an unsubtle morality tale depicting the, gasp, horrors of pornography and pornographers. That's not a good thing, because I like both my heroes and my villains, even pornographers, to be a whole lot more rounded than that.

By the end, though, this was clearly a depiction of one family's response to an evolving situation, and it's pretty clear than there's not a lot of ground higher than the rest. Almost every character is depicted as conflicted or ambiguous in some way. Mr. Dagenais reacts viscerally to the prospect of his daughter having exhibitionistic sex, notwithstanding that he finds out about this while surfing porn sites while his wife waits in bed for him. The porn producer has a business to run, but in the end, gives Nathalie the opportunity to opt out...which she declines. Nathalie is going wild in Montreal, but we also see her writing an exam the morning of her shoot. She also clearly smiles at herself, looking into a mirror while having sex. Angelique criticizes Nathalie for contemplating doing a web porn shoot, but is a druggie stripper.

So, then, I'd argue that the themes are 'over-reaction' and dichotomy, and the resulting risks and conflicts.

The story was interesting enough, and I thought the performances were, on the whole, quite good.

The things I didn't like, and there were a few: - the non-linear story track didn't seem to be that effective or well-handled to me... - some of the dialog, and some of the acting, seemed a trifle clichéd and overwrought; some of that may have been 'lost in translation while on the way to the subtitles' effect, but I'm not sure... - I found the 'as subtle as a 2-by-4' observations about the decline of the church to be ineffectively heavy-handed.

One plot aspect that got in the way of my enjoyment is the concept of the enforceability of Nathalie's contract to 'perform'... I am definitely not an expert, but I don't think that any contract for sexual services is enforceable--and if the issue were 'pressed', I'm confident that criminal law regarding assault and sexual assault would trump the civil contract. And if Nathalie did break the civil contract, the pornographer's recourse would be limited to the losses incurred, which he would have to prove. So, I thought this was an extraneous plot element that really didn't add anything beyond table thumping opportunities.

My last comment, in passing: the keywords for this movie include anal sex and painful sex. While I can see where one might have inferred same should one be inclined to rush to that inference, I'd argue that the scenes are much too brief, much too ambiguous to conclude that either occurred.

The Fashioned in Saint-Tropez (1983)

Perfect for the treadmill...

[5/10 · 22 October 2007]

How can I not like this? I came across it in the process of retiring videotape technology. Talk about a time shift. I would estimate that I recorded this off late night French television, circa 1985, or about 22 years ago, and found it now, in the process of clearing out some videotape boxes. Wow.

What's not to like? The movie is in French, I'm unilingual Anglophone, but could follow the plot about as well as a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoon. It's laughable, but then, so is the plot in a Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoon, and how many of those have we watched? I couldn't help smile...the earnest Disco soundtrack... the 80's big hair, which having lived through the 80's I have no problem with... the 80's fashions... those little gym shorts on the guys, the one piece rompers on the girls, disco dresses...sigh.

My 22 year old videotape copy wasn't too sharp, but Cote D'Azur scenery will always raise a movie a couple of points in my estimation. And that's the flora, fauna and geology. I found the players all to be charming, and, the girls to be perky, bright, fit and yes, beautifully unenhanced.

How can you not like a movie that ends with a group of 10 or so attractive young people bare chested and thigh deep in the deep blue Mediterranean? But remember, this review is written in the context of the purpose sought...try to stay loose on the treadmill while watching Shindler's List or Requiem for a Dream...

Love Rites (1987)

Like a classical, albeit ribald, poem with images, for better or worse...

[6/10 · 20 October 2007]

Frankly, the fact that the version I saw was distributed by a company called 'cult epics', along with the clearly misrepresentative artwork, might make some people (like me perhaps?) wonder is this will be a titillating bit of European exploitation. And, come to think of it, one who might have seen the much earlier 'The Beast' might find it easy to imagine that Borowczyk had headed off more clearly into the exploitative genre.

However, I found that 'Love Rites' didn't incorporate the elements of exploitation' as I see them: there's not much gore to speak of, there really isn't that much nudity, and what sexual activity there is, is too muted to be exploitive.

Watching 'Love Rites' was, to me, much more like a reading classical poetry, classical poetry that combines the romantic and the ribald, to be sure. Although not as familiar as I'd like to be, the thought regularly occurred to me, this related more to Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, or a ribald Shakespearean tale, than Basic Instinct, Unfaithful, etc...

I relaxed and accepted the movie as such. I don't for a minute, regard the seduction exchange across the subway tracks as being realistic in the sense that I think that two people would sit across from each other for an extended period and parry thusly. However, I did find it extremely poetic in the sense that not only the ideas were of interest, but that the cadence, rhythm, and phonetic aspects were all part of the exchange. I actually thought that scene itself to be just a real classic little piece of cinema, delivering much more than what any simply description of what went on could possibly imply.

My criticism of the 'Love Rites' focuses on the last third or so, when the tables are turned. I can't help but wonder if there wasn't a more complementary, perhaps more subtle alternative way to develop that idea of 'turn-about'. The idea would have presentable without any blood, and while I'm not looking for realism, I just have this sense that 'turn-about' could have been accomplished, and depicted, without having to buy into the concept of a fit, healthy, larger male being physically overpowered by his quarry. In my darkest moment, I wondered, gee, maybe Boro thought he'd better add an exploitive element to 'Love Rites'.

By the end, I was thinking back to the first 2/3 or so of the movie, thinking, wow, that was pretty cool, and at the climax, more or less shrugging and thinking, 'oh well, I guess they had to end it somehow...' 6 out of 10, for poetry and word and vision, and a creative idea; marks docked for what felt to me to be a forced and inconsistent conclusion.

But, hey, I'd be the first to agree that I don't really know anything at all.

Deviant Obsession (2002 Video)

'B', no a 'C', no, a 'D' Movie...

[1/10 · 17 April 2007]

I'm a nice guy, and I like to think of myself as genre-tolerant. And, I guess by that, I mean I try to consider a movie in the context of the genre that it resides in. If nothing else, that saves me from feeling like I should be saying really nasty things about people or films, which I don't like doing.

The plot in this one was patently obvious, the production values very low and sets, uhm, simplistic. The acting rose into "good for a high school play" territory from time to time. My feeling was this was filmed in a day -- please tell me it was.

Worst of all, the sex , while reasonably plentiful, was fairly mundane, hampered by, at least in my copy, a "sound-over" that was inconsistent with the action (climatic moans and shrieks while lying on a bed undoing a bra???). There was definitely no "edge" to it at all--nothing distinguishing or interesting, and with surprisingly quick cuts.

My vote is a "1" then, with the following summary statement: would have been better if the filler stripper material at the club was expanded, and the rest of the movie condensed.

The Pyx (1973)

An interesting premise, somewhat effective performances...but.

[4/10 · 4 October 2006]

I picked this up in a cheap DVD bin. I immediately recognized as 1 of 2 movies that I saw when I was a starving (pretty much literally) student living away from home for the first time, in 1973, and couldn't resist picking it up and giving it a look, that many years later.

As other reviewers have noted, the promotion for the movie is pretty, ahem, imaginative. There's not a lot of sex (hardly any, actually), very little nudity, any reference to homosexuality is passing and irrelevant, there is no horror other than the horror of murder and violent death by knife and gun (we need more???), and it is not oriented towards the supernatural beyond the fact that the villains dabble in black masses -- there are no otherworldly events, no actual contact with the devil a la Rosemary's Baby or Devil's Advocate.

So it's really a detective story. The device of tracking parallel time-lines does add some suspense and tension (exactly what did happen to this girl, and will the detective crack the case); however, I found that the tension peaked somewhere around mid-movie, and the trip to the end more or less plodded to anti-climatic conclusions to both time-lines.

Unrealistic (as I imagine them) scenes certainly contributed to that plodding effect. At one point, amidst wild gunfire, a uniformed policeman tells the arriving detective, "he's up there and he's got one of our men as hostage", and then resumes shooting in the general direction. Uh, yea.

Now, there are unexpected pleasures to be wrought from watching obscure movies now and then, and while I generally am pretty resistant to the 'oh wow, I've been there' effect, I did find the 1972 vintage shots of 'Place Jacques Cartier' and 'Rue St. Paul Est', well before the resurrection of the area as "Old Montreal' to be such a surprise.

The Occult History of the Third Reich (1991 Video)

Somewhat interesting, but not all that well done...

[5/10 · 20 September 2006]

(I've checked the spoiler box just as insurance against being blacklisted -- but really...does anyone not know how this plot unfolded?) Very briefly...

I found the subject matter, which I would summarize as a recounting of the connection between occult and mystic beliefs and the development of Nazi ideology and practice, to be interesting. I found such aspects as the origin of the term and concept of 'Aryan' as interesting given that this is a term that is, I think, often used without any real sense of its original meaning.

I found the video series itself to be somewhat lackluster. The information provided in each of the 4 episodes becomes increasingly repetitive -- perhaps this was of help when it was broadcast in 4 television episodes over a month, but over 4 successive workouts, the repetition seemed blatant and unnecessary.

As is the case in many historical documentaries, a wide range of stock and 'found' clips are used, many times, presumably because they are of the right era and location, and perhaps, with the right background music, evocative of the emotional response that one might be expecting at any given juncture. But many of them really don't specifically relate to, or add information to, the narration.

Which brings a third point: I'm too lazy to try to find out, but I wonder if the narration were honed and groomed and turned into, say, a magazine article, how long it would be? My sense is that this might result in a much more efficient transfer of information than watching the 4 episodes over the 3+ hours.

Lastly, I don't spend a lot of time looking for this stuff, but the 4th episode included about as long a clip from a Hitler speech as I've seen anywhere, complete with translation via subtitle. Interesting to try to imagine yourself in a different time and place, and try to assess the charisma of such a figure.

My Best Friend's Wife (2001)

Mildly Interesting Take On The Subject...

[6/10 · 8 July 2006]

Picked up for $2.99 in the 'previously viewed' bin, I'd summarize this as, 'not as good as hoped, but better than feared'.

'My Best Friend's Wife/Grownups' was engaging enough. Personally, I find the topic intriguing and have an inherent interest in seeing how different treatments. This movie really isn't comedic, rather, I'd say perhaps 'romantically melodramatic in a somewhat witty way'. I found the characters to be reasonably believable. The plot turns and some of the dialog, seemed somewhat less so. Personally, I thought that directly tying Steve's interest to the loss of the move to San Francisco, and Amy's interest to a direct trade for starting a family, as a bit of an unnecessary stretch. Those aspects of the plot just seemed to be a 'too obvious' screenwriter's device to get past the 'first they said no, now they need to say yes' problem.

As such, my capsule review would be: "A worthwhile rental for those with a bit of interest in the topic, probably not strong enough to interest anyone who doesn't.'

9 Songs (2004)

Art Is Where You Find It, and Not Where You Don't Find It...

[9/10 · 30 March 2006]

Recently, circumstance has resulted in (somewhat uncharacteristic) visits to a few art galleries, and I have been reminded that art can evoke a very strong response, even as it involves as static an exercise as looking at a painting or a sculpture. I would also observe forthrightly, that the reaction to any given piece, will vary in intensity and nature from one individual to another, and that there probably exist some individuals who do not experience much of a reaction at all.

I finally found 9 Songs in a video sales outlet (the major rental chains near me don't carry it), and watched it one evening when I had the house to myself. I wanted to watch it because I am tend to be curious about what lies around the fringe; having watched it, I would say that it was highly effective in the same way as a resonant piece of art is. I won't be baited into a discussion as to whether it is 'art' or not; I simply state that it my experience watching this movie was similar to what I have experienced in galleries, a sort of, "wow, what was that, why did it capture my thoughts as it did, and why did it affect my mood?"

9 Songs certainly doesn't work like the movies that we're much more familiar with. There isn't a story per se; it doesn't attempt to charm through the use of wit or slapstick, there aren't wildly imaginative plot twists, it doesn't depend on the celebrity cache of the cast, and it's certainly doesn't depend on a plethora of unreasonably fiery explosions, caricature characters, and so on. However, my own experience is that it did an amazing job of conveying the mood, emotion, desire, and intensity of the early stages of a ultimately short term relationship between individuals at a stage of life and in a situation when all of those things are extremely important. The tension of desire and need between the two characters is palpable, I think as palpable as any portrayed anywhere.

One probably can't consider 9 Songs without contemplating the question 'Is it porn?' 'Porn' is a term that has become so loaded as to cease to be useful. I am not put off by explicit depictions of sexuality, and 9 Songs certainly does depict sexuality explicitly. 9 Songs resembles what most of us commonly think of us 'porn' only to that extent. It doesn't look or sound like the broader base of porn: the bodies are refreshingly real, the settings realistic, the sounds of lovemaking muted, and the camera work all-encompassing but not acutely focused, all of which serves to differentiate 9 Songs from the vast bulk of that $2.6B to $3.9B (US) industry so many of us profess to hate. And while eroticism is undoubtedly in the eye (?) of the beholder, some may find the portrayal of convincing people playing in the context of a palpable relationship to be surprisingly so.

Visions of Passion (2003 Video)

Pleasant people & good surgery vs. pretty bad dialog, acting and plot line

[2/10 · 27 March 2006]

I picked up this DVD, thinking that it might be something quite mindless to watch while on the treadmill. Boy, I called that right.

This movie is considered in the context of its genre, that being that peculiar variety of fluffy soft core sexiness, striving to be erotic without being explicit or overly crass.

The principals are attractive, and special kudos are due to some very capable cosmetic surgeons. However, the acting is not, ahem, subtle, looking a bit like community theatre or a fairly good high school play. The dialog, and the storyline, is on par with your typical Saturday morning cartoon (if they still have those). Come to think of it, the acting brings to mind the level of animation in most of those cartoons.

Probably most surprising, the supposed sexy bits really aren't that effective. Oh, the lingerie is very nice, but I found these scenes to be fairly short, and somewhat inherently disjointed. There wasn't much flow, and the editing not really smooth: Oh, there's a bit of Scotty with Jeannie, oh there's Scotty with Lucy, oh there's Lucy with Jeannie, and then it's cut back over to the storyline.

My favorite line in the movie: Jeannie, in the midst of a whole 75 minutes of pretty clumsy dialog, responds to something Lucy says, "Oh Lucy! Who writes your stuff???" Or something like that, it really doesn't seem worthwhile to go back and check it exactly.

Emanuelle in America (1977)

Appreciate the Chutzpah, more than the movie.

[5/10 · 17 March 2006]

Watched this in 3 30 min segments while on the treadmill.

I don't think I could ever say that I 'liked' this movie (and I certainly don't think I'd want to admit seeing it to most of our friends!). The story is corny, acting fair, and the aesthetics very mid-seventies. Some of the people are beautiful; some much less so, certainly by today's criteria.

What I do appreciate about the movie is that there can be no mistake: focus groups were not a part of the this movie's creative process! (And if they were, it frightens me to think of where they got the participants.) It's really a 'is it fish/is it fowl' thing. There are visuals and episodes of sex that are erotic, although they are well spaced and treated somewhat in a disjointed manner, compared with today's erotica. There are a few episodes that only some, with a unique bent, will find erotic (but many might find interesting...). And there are segments that will turn most stomachs, are genuinely off-putting to me (and I don't think I'm easy to put off), and may well undo any sense of the erotic that might have developed.

I have watched it, I have come away with a renewed contempt for 'polical-correcteness' and focus-group marketing, appreciation for the man's nerve, and a desire to get some of the images out of my mind.