Hive

Hive (2021)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Blerta Basholli

Starring: Yllka Gashi, Cun Lajci, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha, Adriana Matoshi

From: Film companies from Kosovo, Albania, The Republic of North Macedonia & Switzerland

This is for all the UK people that will finally have the opportunity to watch this movie later in March. At Sundance last year it was the first movie to win the big three prizes at the festival-if you're especially cynical you wonder if both the critics and fans at said festival were “being woke” by selecting a movie concerning women fighting against the patriarchy and the true story origins... the ratings on Letterboxd aren't as over the moon although there have been many occasions where even us dorks on this site don't agree with the effusive praise lavished on certain movies.

But I don't want the tone to be negative on a movie I rate as “very good” when there are plenty that did not like it as much. Oh, and I know that me mentioning Kosovo as one of the countries is controversial as only half the members of the United Nations even recognize Kosovo as a country. I really know little about the topic to have an opinion if Serbia should still rule that area or not; as the movie is set during the Kosovo War of 1998-1999, the setting is a small village located on land claimed by Kosovo and the crux of the plot revolves around lead character Fahrijie's husband having gone missing & presumed dead... I'll recognize them at least for the purposes of this review.

Plus, I haven't seen much in the way of cinema from Serbia, Kosovo, Albania or the Republic of North Macedonia. This was not the cheeriest tale; after all, it's about rampant sexism in that small village where if any woman even so much as receives a driver's license, she's viewed suspiciously and negatively by the men. Imagine the struggle Farhije has to endure: her husband possibly dead, having to manage her hubby's honey farm, her teen daughter acting like a typical teen daughter, an old dad that doesn't get around so well anymore, and having to convince the other women around to join together for an entrepreneurial opportunity. There's even a sexual assault. Much to my relief this wasn't 84 minutes of misery; there are charming and heartwarming moments also. The interesting story was well-told and it was one heck of a lead performance from Yllka Gashi.

In the United States Hive was recently added to the Criterion Channel; speaking of “being woke”, I am sure some would levy that charge against that service. Considering some of the material they have available for a limited time, sure... then again they have so much available to select from, there's a surfeit of selections no matter what's added or subtracted each month. Anyhow, I do understand some of the criticisms I've heard but the overall story and the powerful lead performance won me over.

Raw Deal

Raw Deal (1986)

Runtime: 106 minutes

Directed by: John Irvin

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar, Darren McGavin

From: DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group

I always like to gain murderous revenge to the strains of The Rolling Stones.

For the past few days and ending tonight, my cable provider has offered all the HBO and Cinemax channels for free. The DVR has received a workout during those days, although most of what I have recorded won't be watched until at least sometime in April. However, this was seen live late last night. I'm always down for 80's Arnold, even if this was far from his best or most entertaining movie during the decade.

It's a simple tale where Arnold is a former FBI agent who is asked to do a mission “off the books” to bust up the Chicago mob. As he's in an unhappy marriage he seemed all too eager to romance an attractive blonde as part of his undercover act... the end product is fine although the story isn't always told in the most exciting, logical or clear fashion.

Thank heavens then that Arnold has his charm. While delivering acres of dialogue isn't exactly his strength I can't complain about his performance. There at least was some hilarity for me. For example, him deciding to gun down the bad guys during an exciting bullet-filled finale that is started off by his placing a Rolling Stones cassette in his Buick and the killing starts w/ their most famous tune (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Or, the amazing 80's music you hear throughout. Or the other destruction that happens. Or how the opening seems like it was directed by Hal Needham: to the sounds of a country song by Ricky Skaggs is a wacky chase where Arnold in a Jeep is chasing after a motorcycle through a collection of different settings in a small North Carolina town.

While there are “better” Schwarzenegger pictures I still need to revisit and discuss here, this at least was something nice to watch for free last night.

Nightmares Come At Night

Nightmares Come at Night (1970)

Runtime: 85 LONG minutes

Directed by: Jesus (Jess) Franco

Starring: Diana Lorys, Paul Muller, Jack Taylor, Colette Jack, Soledad Miranda

From: Prodif Ets./Vaduz

^^Insert gif of Christian Bale & Kermit the Frog nodding in agreement at each other^^

Yes, I mainly watched this due to its billing as coming from the tiny country of Liechtenstein-heck if I know if anything was actually filmed in Liechtenstein-and the hilarity of its title. Furthermore, it's somehow the first Jesus (Jess) Franco I've ever seen. While I did not care for this movie, as Franco has almost 200 (!) titles to his credit on Letterboxd, I'll choose something in the future which presumably will be more my speed. Nightmares Come at Night gave me the initial impression that Franco was something who as a director was a horny man who loved naked women & lesbians, but I know he has to be more than that.

This was two unfinished Franco films combined together (rather obviously) into a finished product that was a cure for insomnia. The first had a young brunette woman (Anna) who was seduced by a blonde and they have a toxic relationship; furthermore, the brunette starts having dreams where she's murdering people. A doctor tells Anna those fantasies aren't real but is he trustworthy? Then, there's a totally shoehorned in subplot which comprises of only a few minutes of footage where cult favorite Soledad Miranda and a random dude wish to rob the house of the first couple as they apparently have riches... like I said, it feeling like a natural part of the plot does not occur.

While it has a nice Bruno Nicolai score, too much of this was just dreadfully dull. Anna used to be an exotic dancer in Zagreb (as you do) and her stage show was known for being drawn-out affairs... what a metaphor for the film. I need more than extended scenes of tedium, women making out and clumsy “is it a dream?” logic to entertain me. Franco remade this twice (!) as The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff and Alone Against Terror; perhaps I'd prefer those. The movie was obscure for many years before the print was found and subsequently restored-plenty did and do get more out of this than I did.

Man With A Movie Camera

Last night I saw another silent. This one is a Letterboxd favorite (or "fav" to speak like the kids now) that's a 1929 picture from the Soviet Union: 

Somehow, it seems more poignant to watch this famous experimental Soviet silent short now; not only does it show life in Moscow, but also in Kyiv and Odesa... to clarify I do NOT support Putin's plan to once again unify Russia w/ Ukraine. With real life out of the way, I can mention that of course it was Letterboxd that I heard of this oddity years ago. Experimental pictures are typically not my thing so this explains the long delay in even giving the sub 70 minute movie a chance.

Turns out, it was such a vibrant and lively thing with all the camera and visual tricks used by director Dziga Vertov that it deserves such a high rating. Split screens, jump cuts, the movie sped up or slowed down, Dutch angles, freeze frames, tracking shots, and even a split screen tracking shot at one point... it is so wild that a few times you see the filmmakers film a scene then that scene is shown from their perspective. What must have Soviet audiences thought when they saw something so alien for the time? For certain this seems decades ahead of its time, and apparently that's how long it took people to accept this.

It is a look at life in the area, whether it be a panoply of different jobs that were held by the citizens, to something more casual such as a magician entertaining little children. As expected for a piece of art that was purely visual and featured no words spoken & the only text on screen was an opening scene explanation, the movie is better seen than described. Besides, others on Letterboxd have written better reviews of this than I ever could. If you don't care for “experimental movies” either, that should not preclude you from at least giving this a chance.

The Scarecrow

Last night I saw a quick short and unsurprisingly for something starring Buster Keaton, I rate it highly: 

Whenever I don't have the time or inclination to watch anything feature length, I should more often what I did last night and check out some sort of short. In this case it was one from Buster Keaton I hadn't seen and the 18 minute length was perfect.

This is set on a tiny farm (which suspiciously looks to be on the outskirts of Los Angeles...) and the two bros who lives there are Keaton and a portly fellow played by Joe Roberts. After various sight gags in the farmhouse, the two feud over another farmer's daughter; as Sybil Seely is cute, it's understandable. Appearance-wise, think 1920's Milana Vayntrub. From there come many laughs involving a terrier dog-played by the real life dog of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who was to star in this but those infamous legal troubles had already began-and Sybil's dad, played by Keaton's real life father. The pooch was well-trained; I mean, he could even climb a ladder. And yes, there was a gag involving the titular item, not to mention the Keaton hallmark of "a chase on foot".

Come to think of it I need to see more shorts from the likes of Buster, Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, and acts that are less famous in modern times but probably would provide plenty of chuckles from me. This ending on a solid note means that The Scarecrow was very good overall, and-barring those who don't like silents in general-even those without a brain can probably at least like this...

The Last Matinee

The Last Matinee (Al Morir La Matinee) (2020)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Maximiliano Contenti

Starring: Luciana Grasso, Julieta Spinelli, Franco Duran, Pedro Duarte, Ricardo Islas

From: An absurd number of production companies from Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico

Not even Uruguayan Brooke Shields can make me say that this was a good movie.

For awhile now I've known of this movie; after all, a retro horror flick inspired by giallos and the setting of the black gloved killer being an old movie theatre in 1993--of course that will get buzz from the likes of Bloody Disgusting-of course, they were the ones who helped release it in the United States. The fact that this comes from Uruguay of all countries and that made it perfect for this month. Unfortunately, this doesn't come close to being as awesome as Demons... and is not as good as many of the actual giallos I've viewed before.

In 1993 Montevideo, a black gloved killer who has a fixation on eyeballs (at least this was familiar w/ the genre) roams around a sparsely populated cinema showing some wacky movie about Frankenstein's monster-something directed IRL by the actor playing the killer. Sure, it has synth music and some colorful lights-as you'd expect from a retro genre example. Regrettably, most of the characters you see are loathsome A-holes... people I couldn't stand and did not even enjoy seeing suffer a gruesome demise. The lead girl-running the projector by herself on this night so that her ill father can receive a break-and a young boy are both cool. Other than that—it's full of irritating dumbasses who I quickly rejected and all the conversations between them (yes, while a movie's playing) made me really not like the first half.

The second half is more tolerable once the deaths start happening but it was not enough to save this for me. Of course, many people enjoyed this more than I did so YMMV. The gore did look nice at least; plus there were some laughs. One of the A-holes said that a random girl looked like Brooke Shields. Once you see her—eh, not quite. “ Uruguayan Sarah Hyland” is not the perfect comparison yet is at least more accurate. Also, someone receives “a hand shandy” over his blue jeans, leading to the expected messy result! That's for those that giggle over such things-like myself...

Agent 505-Death Trap Beirut

Agent 505-Death Trap Beirut (Agent 505-Todesfalle Beirut) (1966)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Manfred R. Kohler

Starring: Frederick Stafford, Genevieve Cluny, Chris Howland, Willy Birgel, Renate Ewert

From: A few companies in West Germany, Italy, France, and Lebanon

I would love to dine at a place known as CHEZ POPEYE.

Via a random YouTube channel I just stumbled across that has a lot of obscure movies from the past (mainly from Europe) it was time to see a Eurospy movie, a genre that was white-hot over there for a few years after the first Bond films were white-hot successes. As I've only seen a few of those before and all were at least amusing, the need to see another one was strong. There was no lack of choice on that channel-and many had incredible titles-yet this was chosen due to the Lebanon setting and my recognizing the star-Frederick Stafford. Most likely will have only seen him in Hitchcock's Topaz, a film I like more than most. Unlike the serious spy he played there, this was one of the roles where he was a stereotypical Connery Bond... making some quips, being more concerned w/ getting laid than investigating in a brisk manner, etc.

A sheikh who only has four fingers on one hand has an insidious scheme to kill everyone in Beirut. Of course it's an over the top scheme and of course the general idea may sound tired at first. While not a must-see, at least I was amused by the expected tropes. I'm not referring to the sexism; what I mean is the gadgets, the bizarre ways of killing someone that someones succeed, the exotic locations (Beirut and the area at least looked lovely in the mid 60's; this includes the restaurants*), the double-crosses, people undercover, etc.

Stafford looks the part as a suave secret agent, so no surprise he was later in a few OSS 117 pictures. Even with some rather implausible moments and bits I thought were silly at best, overall this was a pleasant hour and a half diversion. There was enough competent action, an impressive helicopter stunt & a nice jazzy Morricone score to leave me feeling satisfied.

* The movie has some fake restaurants/clubs known as The Red Cockatoo and The Green Elephant; an establishing shot shows a real life eatery actually known as Chez Popeye, with Popeye the Sailor Man on the sign. If only they had a scene in there.