Yes, Madam!

Yes ,Madam! (Huang Jia She Jie) (1985)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Corey Yuen

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, John Sham, Hoi Mang, Tsui Hark

From: D & B Films Co. Ltd.

Better than you suspect a movie to be that has three important characters named ASPIRIN, STREPSIL & PANADOL

Recently I realized I needed to see more 80's Hong Kong movies and instead of something from the typically reliable Shaw Brothers, why not the first movie in what was a successful few years in the region for Cynthia Rothrock? It's definitely an 80's movie from HK... meaning that there are a few genres present, slapstick comedy in this case. As this is an incredibly violent picture where many people fly back many feet after being blasted with a big gun, three silly characters named after medicine may sound inappropriate for a tale involving bad guys looking for an important piece of microfilm, yet it manages to work.

In this case, opportunistic thieves (the medicine trio) steal items from a murdered man, one item in particular that microfilm. This is investigated by both a HK cop-Michelle Yeoh-and a detective from Scotland Yard-Rothrock. Both know how to kick ass and beat up many bastards, so it was indeed a good time with all the martial arts action and other action beats.... usually creative too. Panadol being played by Tsui Hark did help in that regard. Thankfully for me all the goofy characters (two of which I haven't mentioned yet were Yeoh's fellow police officers) were either inoffensively juvenile or were actually pretty amusing. Plus, one henchman looked like the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman in Hook...

This is largely what I expected (at first, the two leads don't exactly get along due to their different methods of doing their job, wacky 80's music, a lot of broken glass) but me and many others-even if they don't like all those elements-will be satisfied by all the violence and how well it was done.

Murders In The Zoo

Murders in the Zoo (1933)

Runtime: 62 minutes

Directed by: A. Edward Sutherland

Starring: Charles Ruggles playing an irritating role, Lionel Atwill, Gail Patrick, Randolph Scott, Kathleen Burke

From: Paramount

Part of a collection seemingly curated just for me. Specifically, this month on the Criterion Channel they added a 20 movie collection known as Pre-Code Paramount, a title that is self-explanatory. As I had actually already seen two of the films in the past, this is something I'll explore as long as it's available. Murders in the Zoo is something I've known of for years; after all, who can forget hearing that there's a Pre-Code picture which opens w/ a man getting his mouth sewn shut?

Lionel Atwill plays a zoologist who is insanely jealous of the attention that his pretty wife Evelyn (Gail Patrick, who by appearance was the Marion Cotillard of the 1930's) receives from men, whether his suspicions are correct or not. He is happy to kill those suspected suitors in grisly fashion that happens to involve zoo animals. Much to the movie's detriment was Charles Ruggles in his role as Peter Yates... no, not the famed director but rather an alcoholic man who was hired as the publicity director for the local municipal zoo. It was more the character's fault than the actor's that Yates was an irritating buffoon. I wouldn't have minded more of Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick as the zoo's laboratory doctor and his assistant who are also a married couple to be.

Thankfully there's only a few scenes of that doofus character so that does not completely tank the picture. The nasty moments involving snakes and alligators are still present and are pretty potent even before the Hays Code became a thing. What a real SOB Atwill played, which added to the macabre fun of this. Even with its flaws this was an unforgettable experience and not a film I am disappointed w/ after finally getting to check it out. After all, I received the surprise that during this time, you could imply that you soiled your pants! In the final act, Yates is almost bit by a mamba; after that experience, he asked Patrick's character if she knew a good laundry service in town. Admittedly, if I suddenly discovered there was a poisonous snake only a foot away from me, my pants would be soiled also.

 

The Mongolian Connection

The Mongolian Connection (2019)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Drew Thomas

Starring: Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam, Kaiwi Lyman, Sanjar Madi, Zhandos Aibassov, Tsetsegee Byamba

From: A few companies... in Mongolia and Kazakhstan

Not bad for a movie I only discovered a few hours before watching it on Friday night. For much of Saturday I was tied up with an activity that I'll mention in a review later this month of a movie related to the activity in question. But back to this motion picture: it had a title that was amusing, was done by a director named Drew Thomas who I will presume is an American, and had a plot that reminded me of the Ridley Scott Black Rain, of all things. It is a production of studios in Mongolia and Kazakhstan with most of the movie being set & filmed in the former. While not actually the first movie I've seen that was filmed in the country (that honor goes to a 2015 movie called The Doll which I am sure is a better riff on The Monkey's Paw than Wish Upon even if I've never seen Wish Upon myself and The Doll is only OK) and it features plenty of English dialogue, it's not a motion picture I regret giving a shot to.

Like with Black Rain, a troubled member of law enforcement (in this case, the FBI) has to transport a criminal across the Pacific Ocean back to his home country but things go awry. After that it does differ quite a bit from the Scott movie; this involves a criminal who is targeted and features two elements which will make most on Letterboxd go, “Uh, huh...” in a sassy tone: not only are there corrupt police officers, the lead villain is... a Russian. Insert your own pithy comments if you wish. There's some humor and yep it is hit or miss; one running gag is that for reasons unknown to me, Mongolia has both left hand drive and right hand drive vehicles.

It was a movie obviously designed for the West (there's even a mid-credits AND after credits scene) and nothing makes this a must-see. However, it was a fine watch and the same goes for the action scenes, whether they be brawls or shootouts. The story has various twists & turns and as there is a LOT of crap in all genres on Amazon thank heavens it had more to offer than just a look at a country I don't know that much about, let alone seen photos or video of. Besides, this movie has an amazing moment involving the FBI agent, who is named Wade Dalton and he's no John Dalton from Road House... or Rick Dalton for that manner. He's addicted to pills, which is a common problem-at least in the United States. That apparently isn't his only issue... you see, he takes pills for anxiety... as in his DOG'S anxiety pills! WTF?

 

Rituals

Rituals (1977)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Peter Carter

Starring: Hal Holbrook, Lawrence Dane, Robin Gammell, Ken James, Gary Reineke

From: Astral Bellevue Pathe

What a grim slice of Canuxploitation this was.

I've seen plenty of movies from Canada through the years; as this is on Shudder and it's a film I've heard a decent amount of buzz on, it was worth a viewing. Hal Halbrook as the lead also intrigued. The first act was rather amusing to me-the opening scene had the 5 protagonists (all doctors) discuss possibly open a specialized clinic... the punchline is that the clinic is for PENIS ENLARGEMENT SURGERY. From there is a hilarious airplane pilot we unfortunately see for only a few minutes and at the remote Northern Ontario woods that the quintet are at for a week of fishing, one of them brought alone a blowup doll!

What a turn it takes once the boots of all five are stolen one night. From there, the person or persons involved systematically trolls the group by F'ing with them and resulting in the group dynamic breaking down. There's plenty of yelling from everyone but it's understandable when they are picked off one by one in such a remote area and it was shown in the first act that there was conflict in the group even before things turn sour. Admittedly, there was a slow stretch or two for me and mix in how bleak this gets... thankfully this was still a fascinating watch seeing how each member of the group reacts psychologically to this trauma.

The cast as a whole was fine although unsurprisingly it was Holbrook that stood out the most as the lead. Naturally, the natural beauty of Northern Ontario was lovely to look at. Comparisons to such movies as Deliverance and Just Before Dawn are expected, although this is certainly different from both. This quintet is put through the wringer so it's not light viewing-yet there's no regrets for me as this wasn't so oppressively dour or miserable that it was as grueling a journey for the viewer as it was for the characters.

 

Riders of Justice

Riders of Justice (Retfaedighend Ryttere) (2020)

Runtime: 116 minutes

Directed by: Anders Thomas Jensen

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro

From: Several companies from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland

I wish I could have loved this like everyone else does...

Even if I am starting this a little later than expected, I am happy to once again unofficially participate in this yearly Letterboxd challenge. I won't watch 31 foreign pictures like those officially doing it but I always enjoy looking at the list of others, not to mention getting a push into checking out a wide variety of films from around the world. A requirement of the official challenge is to see something from Denmark and as I've heard many strong accolades for Riders of Justice, it seemed like the opportune time for me.

Regrettably, I didn't really like this movie. A dark comedy concerning a grumpy dad and moody teenage daughter losing their wife/mother to a tragic accident-only to have stat geeks convince them otherwise—at least to me that sounds rather odd and a clash of tones. Still, I saw this open-minded. Unfortunately, the dad was just an ass and I never warmed up to him... the dorks were more annoying than anything else which leads to a big problem I had: the humor was more “miss” than “hit” for me. Plus, Mads and those dorks teaming up was rather contrived.

The movie is not completely dire as there is violence and many punks dying, along with some moments that were amusing. But the “shocking” non sequitors that were allegedly done to be “controversial” or “edgy” elicited sighs from me instead of belly laughs and I had issues w/ the story in general which I can't get into as it's major spoiler territory. It was serious when it came to grief and how life is between a father and child when the mom passes away-unfortunately I know the feeling even though the deaths were far different as was the dynamic between parent and kid. Having “jokes” in the same movie as that sounded odd and that was not the right mix for me. I wish this wasn't so disappointing for me but I won't lie to the people of Letterboxd and I'll just be happy in knowing that some of the foreign films I see this month I'll enjoy much more than this.

 

I Saw The Godfather Theatrically

It wasn't the first time but getting to view it in a Dolby Cinema at an AMC Theatres was a delight. Of course the movie will look and sound marvelous in its upcoming 4K disc release. I don't need to give another review on how it's one of the best movies of all time so instead I'll mention the bad dinner I had right beforehand: 

Here's some advice: the Splitsville that's literally across the sidewalk from the cineplex used to be pretty good, despite the high cost of the food. I went there a decent amount of times over the years and never really had a problem. Last night I returned there for the first time in many months-now I have to swear off that place forever. The service was so bad I had to wave people over multiple times to the spot at the bar I was at just to get the most basic necessities of food & drink. If that wasn't bad enough, the chicken tenders I ordered came out in less than 5 minutes, as if it came straight out the microwave... I left an appropriate tip for the service I received (meaning minuscule) and I am happy to inform everyone never to give that place their patronage.

The Farmer

The Farmer (1977)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: David Berlatsky

Starring: Gary Conway, Angel Tompkins, Michael Dante, George Memmoli, Timothy Scott

From: Columbia

Oh, what a backstory this movie has.

What I was going to see yesterday for discussion today did not occur; it's a long story but it was because someone unexpectedly came over for the night. Because of circumstances beyond their control they (someone who doesn't live in the area) needed a place to crash and as I did not want to be out for much of the time they'd be there... plans changed. At least this arrived in the mail earlier yesterday.

For awhile now I've known of this movie, released on a limited basis by Columbia in '77 but for some reason it never received an official home video release until literally a few weeks ago. It was mentioned on the Lost Media wiki due to Code Red going far enough in the process of putting it out way back in '06 that they included the trailer on a few DVD's they put out at the time. Then nothing happened for years. Suddenly-and this I somehow missed out on at the time-for a few days in November '21, someone on YouTube uploaded a VHS taping of when the film briefly was on pay cable way back when... they got that taping from eBay. It was taken down but not before someone YouTube ripped the file and put it on Internet Archive, where it can still be found. However, the quality is as poor as expected from a VHS copy probably recorded at least 40 years ago. Suddenly, not that long after Scorpion Releasing announced they were putting it out, and the Blu came out only 3 months after the YouTube kerfuffle... it's all very strange to me and the questions I have about it likely will never be answered.

All of this said-and the disc purchased because who knows when or if it will be legally streamed anywhere-what is The Farmer? What's it all about? Well, it is a 70's revenge thriller surrounding a poor Georgia soldier just returning home from World War II who tries to make a go of it on his late father's small ranch but runs into problems. This includes a drunk guy crashing his car right by him and that subsequently introduced him to “The Outfit”, so oh s***. Bad things happen (including a sexual assault) so this causes the titular farmer to get suitably angry and sweet, sweet revenge he gets. Our hero

While this is not as good as Rolling Thunder and-as others have noted-there's a scene involving a marching band which OBVIOUSLY looked 70's instead of the 1945 setting (you see someone in the background wearing shorts and those period high stripey socks!) overall this was pretty good. It definitely has a 70's drama/thriller vibe, from its serious nature and methodical pacing which always intrigued... to bloody violence in the final act and vicious bad guys that use such weapons as acid. The crew of character actors present-Gary Conway, Angel Tompkins, Michael Dante, George Memmoli, etc.-definitely was an asset; I enjoyed the Hugo Montenegro score even though I'm not 100% sure what to think of funky 70's music being used for a movie set in the 1940's.

Those that enjoy movies like Rolling Thunder may feel like it is worth the shot to pay for the Blu disc; the Scorpion Releasing release contained no errors (something I unfortunately have to mention after all the news of disc problems in the past year) and while it is scant on special features, at least it looks and sounds quite good. The trailer compares the movie to Taxi Driver, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces... while not a perfect apples to apples thing and The Farmer doesn't rise to those heights, I am glad this apparently finally got an official release because of a random person's eBay purchase and subsequent YouTube upload.