Kommissar X: So Darling So Deadly (1966)

A step back in the series after DEATH IS NIMBLE DEATH IS QUICK, SO DEADLY SO DARLING feels so much like the first film that one wonders if this wasn't shot second and released third.

This time out Joe Walker and Tom Rowland end up is Singapore trying to help a scientist who has created a lens that will intensify a laser beam. The lens is wanted by the Golden Dragon a hooded bad guy with a huge army.

This is an odd film. The relationship between Walker and Rowland is the well written and mirrors the one they have through most of the series, with witty repartee, however the plotting is a complete mess. Walker and Rowland kind of stagger around and fall into fights which lead them in a direction were another fight happens. Nothing really makes any sense, its just European actors wandering around beating up Asian henchmen.

Its hard to believe that this film comes chronologically after DEATH IS NIMBLE... since it feels it feels like the bridge between that and the first film KISS KISS KILL KILL which had a sort of plot and sort of characters. Additionally a bunch of the actors from the first film carry over here in similar roles.

As messy as the film is, it's actually not bad if you like action films and aren't too demanding. The reason it isn't bad is that the film doesn't stop moving. It is constant motion from fight to place to fight to fight to place to place to fight... There is so much fisticuffs that you can't help but wonder how the heroes manage to keep their shirts spotless and undamaged.

High art this is not- pure popcorn chomping entertaiment it is.

Worth a look if you come upon it or are a fan of 1960's Euro-action

WILD (2016)

This is a review I started back during the KINO Festival in March and April last year and only recently finished.  At the time I reposted a piece by Joe Bendel. Now at last I'd like to weigh in on my own.

Ania is a lone wolf inhuman form. Staying to herself and not interacting with anyone except when she has to. One night she encounters a wolf in a nearby park and is thrilled. She decides to lure the wolf out again and capture it…taking it back to a small apartment. This changes her and makes her something different than she was.

Head spinning modern Grimm’s fairy tale (well of a sort) is a serious kick in the ass as expectations are upset and the film develops its own unique vibe. I've seen the film a couple of times now and I'm still not sure what the film is or if it's good or if I truly get it. Destined to be talked about and to develop a cult following WILD has a weird visceral effect on the viewer which kind of over rides reason. I would very much like to see the film yet again to get a better handle on it because it kind of knocks the legs out from under me. By the time of final fade out I'm kind of just staring at the screen mumbling about what I had just seen.

While to be honest I don't know if I like the film it is very recommended. WILD is one of the gems of this last years KINO despite not being for all audiences. Those of you who want off beat and thought provoking should put this high on your list. One of my cinematic finds of the year.

Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)

After two Oscar nominated documentaries (PINA and SALT OF THE EARTH) Wim Wenders returns to narrative filmmaking with a heavy drama that was shot in 3D.

I know you're asking yourself why anyone would shoot a straight and very heavy drama in 3D and were it any other filmmaker other than Wenders you would have a right to question it. However Wenders is a director who understands the medium and really understands what you can do with it. If anyone was going to shoot a drama in 3D and make it work it would be Wenders.

The problem is that the in making sure to use 3D for proper effect, he saddled himself with a really weak script.

The film follows James Franco, giving a real performance, who is a frustrated writer and who is emotionally distant. While heading home to his girlfriend a sled shoots out in front of him. Luck would have it that he didn't hit the child, however when he takes the boy home the terrible truth is revealed, the boys brother was with him and Franco killed him. What transpires over the rest of the film is everyone's search for answers and forgiveness- Franco for hitting the boy he didn't see, the boys mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) for not somehow stopping it,and even the surviving brother for simply surviving. Its a quest that takes 12 years.

Bjørn Olaf Johannessen's script is not big on answers. Life happens and we have to deal with it and that's commendable, its nice that he trusts his audience to be willing to work with him. But at the same time the film is really missing things like characters and meaningful human interaction. People stare a great deal and say oblique things. Watching the film on VOD I twice backed the film up because I thought I had missed something. I hadn't, simply where something should have been said there was just silence.

The lack of an engaging script is a shame because Wenders has assembled one hell of a cast. Franco, Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, Marie-Josée Croze and the rest of the cast are spot on and they nail the icy emotion of being broken perfectly. In the case of Franco its a revelation, more so coming on the heels of four or five films where he shamelessly over acted. Here his closed up nature is almost physical.

Its sad the script is so dead because Wenders and his cinematographer, Benoît Debie. have done what many people would have thought impossible, made a 3D film where the 3D helps the story. Debie and Wenders have fashioned a film where we are very much in the physical space of the characters. They give us real places inhabited by real people. More impressively the visuals create the mood. Any feelings we have are created by the spectacular imagery and the camera's motion through space. Ideally this should have come from the characters but here it is almost entirely by shot choice and image composition.

While this undoubtedly a Wenders misfire, it is an interesting one. If you have any interest in seeing a film that is visually impressive but don't mind that its dramatically frozen give it a shot. All others can take a pass.

Tromba the Tiger Man (1949)

Moody German thriller about a tiger tamer who returns to a circus after 7 years away. His act involves controlling tigers with hypnosis. However things are complicated since when he left the circus years before he was suspected by some in an accident which left one of his lovers injured. Worse one of his ex- girlfriends wants to go back to things being hot and heavy...and he's just met a new girl who is the daughter of the circus owner

A dark brooding film that gains numerous points from simply being in black and white. You may think I'm daft but it's true, this potboiler works simply because of the look of the film. Its exactly the thing you'd want to put on late on a dark and stormy night so you can cuddle with some one you love.

If you were to strip the black and white away or to look at the film straight on then you'd realize that the film is a sleazy potboiler. Of course the film over comes it and ends up being a great deal of fun.

Thank you Sinister Cinema for saving this from obscurity.

Stop Train 349 (1963)

True story of what happened when a sealed train traveling from Berlin through a divided Germany was stopped by East German authorities after it was discovered that an East German national had managed to get on board at an unscheduled stop (the train had wait for another to pass in front of it). It created a standoff that caught the world's attention.

Taut film largely gets everything right in its depiction of the East West tension of the Iron Curtain. The stark documentary like black and white photography puts you on the train. Not only are we on the train but we are  caught up in the action in away that few films manage to accomplish. It maybe 50 plus years since the events happens and 20 plus since the Cold War ended but we still feel the danger. By all accounts this largely forgotten film is one of the best at showing the real deal with the conflict between the Cold War sides to the extent that it was supposedly used by the military for training purposes.

While the the film does have some problems with the script, some of the dialog isn't quite sharp early on, the film hits its stride once the stand off begins and the fate of the passengers is put into question.

The cast is quite good with Sean Flynn, Errol's son, quite good as the American officer at the center of it all. If he seems at all awkward its because he's playing a young officer who is ultimately in way over his head. Equally good is Jose Ferrar as a crusty old journalist, first annoyed at having to take a train, and then happy at being in on the story of the century and then acting as a kind of sounding board for the various parties.

A sterling film of the sort that Unseen Films was started to highlight, this is a must see for anyone who loves good films. Why this little stunner isn't better known eludes me. I suspect that it's low budget origin and release by a small company kept it out of TV rotation for years. Until I ran across it in the Sinister Cinema catalog I had never heard of it- which is a shame since not only does it highlight an forgotten event in the Cold War it's also a damn fine thriller.

A must see.

Available from Sinister Cinema and Amazon and Amazon Streaming.

Again The Ringer (1965)

In the original German version of the film Klaus Kinski literally begins the film rising up out of a coffin (see below). Its a ghoulish little treat that sets the whole mood for what follows.

A rare sequel with in the German Wallace series, this film picks up where The Ringer (The Mysterious Magician in it's US release)  left off. The film is set in motion when a series of murders are committed and blamed on The Ringer.He of course had nothing to do with it and get more than a little annoyed at being blamed. He then returns to England in order to exact revenge on those who framed him.

A solid entry in the series the film balances the comedy and mystery that were the typical mix of the series with a great deal of success.  While not completely mysterious, the Ringer was revealed in the previous film, things move along at a good clip and hold your interest all the way to the end.

Definitely worth tracking down.

Kinski rises from the dead in the opening cut from most prints

In the name of the king

In the Name of the King is from Uwe Boll. Boll the whipping boy of film fans everywhere continues to make movies despite the fact that people "hate his films", which they go to even though they hate them. Yes I've disliked a number of his films, House of the Dead is one of the worst films ever made; Alone in the Dark is horrible, but plays better if you come in 25 minutes in and can make up what you've missed; and BloodRyne I liked, despite performances that ranged from good to nonexistent because it reminded me of the Italian Fantasy Films of the early 1980's. Boll is back in theaters with one of four films released world wide in 2007. (2007 is a busy year and included his boxing, literally, critics who despised his films-he won)

The plot of the film has something to do with Jason Statham, a farmer going off to take revenge after an evil horde invades his town, kills his son and kidnaps his wife. He travels with Ron Perlman and several other in a quest that leads them into several big battles and to the castle of the evil wizard Ray Liotta.

Watching the film I came to a rather odd conclusion, this is actually a pretty good, if very dense little film.The film looks good. the actors are all pretty much on the same page, the action is nicely staged, and the story is light years better than most of the direct to video films that were spawned by Lord of the Rings. This plays very much like we are in a real place so is unlike the dress up/ Ren Faire we've been getting lately (the Dungeons and Dragons films anyone?) I liked the film enough to look forward to getting it on DVD and the hunkering down and watching it on a rainy Sunday with my brother.

To be certain the film is not perfect. I could see tell at the outset that Boll's means of casting (through lots of money out close to the time they shoot in order to get any actor in need of quick cash to get bigger names then he has a "right" to) was going to be a problem in a few places. First off its going to produce a cast with accents all over the place, Ray Liotta, Jason Stratham, John Rhys-Davies, Leelee Sobieski and Burt Reynolds are all in different places vocally. Its also a problem in that the acting styles clash, with Liotta seemingly out of place and Reynolds, whom I never ever expected to see in a film like this, a bit too knowing.(I won't discuss the hair styles of any of them because that would take too long)

If the film itself has any problems its that its a long dense haul.A great deal happens and is discussed and after a about an hour I did begin to wear down. I'm sure once this hits DVD or cable it will play better where there can be breaks.

Boll is growing as a director. He's made a decent little fantasy. I look forward to seeing this again, and I'll even go see the threatened sequel.

Hanna D The Girl in Vondel Park (1984)

I think the only way this film could be more exploitive would be to have a rip roaring gun fight, and while that doesn't happen this is still manages to be one really sleaze exploitation film.

This is the story of Hanna. Her parents have split, her mother is a drunk with a younger boyfriend (who would much rather sleep with Hanna). Many of her friends are junkies and worse. Hanna gets money by letting people see her naked. Eventually her home life goes from dysfunctional to destructive (a short hop) and Hanna needs to escape. She begins to use heroine and eventually takes up with a guy who pimps her out. As her life begins to slide she meets a nice young man who falls in love with her and she tries to get clean. However her old life is still lurking out there.

This is a very sleazy film. Its a walk on the wild side. I have no idea if its true or not but the picture it paints isn't particularly pleasant. As an exploitation film its an okay time killer. The lead is good looking both in and out of her clothes. The gory details of the life of our heroine is suitably unpleasant. The problem is that after a while the film simply becomes very talky and repetitive. How many times will people shooting up shock? How many sex for money encounters where the girl secretly cries do we have to see before it stops effecting us? It all wears thin after a while and we become desensitized to anything by the second half (although the retrieval of the drugs in the rehab center is an exploitation classic)

If you want a sleazy exploitation film, and don't mind it repeating itself in the second half then see this movie. If you want anything else stay away.

KINO! 2013 New Films From Germany at MoMA Part 1 Oh Boy, Forget Me Not, Free Fall

For those not going to Tribeca this year there is plenty of other things going on in New York. Subway Cinema is running their Old School Festival  starting Friday and The Museum of Modern Art is running their annual look at new German cinema called Kino. Despite being swamped with pre-festival screenings for Tribeca (reviews start Monday) I had the chance to take in all six films that are being run in the Kino series.

Because of time constraints on my part I've written up all of the films in two posts with each covering three films. All of  the films deserve more than the short pieces that I have been able to give them, and in all fairness I may down the road give the films larger reviews. For now though I'm going to give you quick looks at three films today and three tomorrow.

OH BOY
One of the more lovely looking black and white films of recent years, this is a film that you'll want to see on the big screen simply for the look of the film. My reaction when the film started was simply to  murmur Oh My.

The film follows Nike Fischer, a nice guy who's action and inaction has set him on a course that forces him to look at all of the errors of his ways. Told in a frequently humorous, but not cruel way we watch how in rapid succession is dumped by his girlfriend, is denied his driver's license (after one too many drunk driving arrests), has to content with not having money to buy coffee, and is brought face to face with a girl from his past who he tormented when they were in school and she was fat. There's more  but Oh Boy is right.

A wonderful small scale film this is a film that I wasn't expecting to like and turned me into a fan. Its film that cleverly makes us examine our own lives again and again as we watch Nike forced to look back over his. This is one of those films that makes you wonder why it is that so many other independent producers can't do something similar or this good. This is the sort of film so many people try to make but fail to achieve. Definitely worth putting on your list of films to see.

FORGET ME NOT
David Sieveking's striking look at his mother, her Alzheimer's and how her family reacts and cares for her.

Wait! wait! come back, don't run away....

I'm joking, but you probably know as well I do that there is a nasty glut of films on similar themes out and about now, hell there are similar films at Tribeca, and for the most part what the world needs now is not another film on the subject unless the film is really good and brings something else to the table...Forget Me Not is really good and brings a complexity that other films lack to the table.

I'm not going to say much but there was a moment where what I thought was going to be a typical film turned, it was the moment when Sieveking is told that what he thought was his parents life was not their lives at all, or rather it was but that there was a complexity that he never expected to encounter. For example he didn't know that his parents had an open marriage... Further bumps occur which make this worth seeing, even if you don't like these sort of films (I don't).

Surprisingly I was shocked to find that the film isn't a maudlin affair. While there is some sadness, and perhaps a tear, there is a weird sense of hope.

I love to have my expectations confounded in a good way and Forget Me Not did just that. If you're going to see one film on a similar subject, see this one.

FREE FALL
To me this is probably the most disappointing film in the entire series, which is odd since this is the big opening night film. While it is better than some of the other films (see Revenants which I'm reviewing tomorrow) it's in it's way the least adventurous, and most cliched of the bunch.

The plot of the film has a young police officer in training, with a wife and baby of the way falling in love with one of his male co-workers. Handled expertly the film stalled for me because there was much of the film that I could plot ahead on. The film stalled for me when I found that if the pair hadn't been two men the film probably wouldn't have gotten any notice. To the fact it involved two men shouldn't have mattered it should have been about the characters and for me that wasn't the case. Yes I do understand that a story such as this is a big to do as far as the main stream, but gay cinema has been doing similar things for years but with a bit more real emotion behind it.

I should state that by no means is it a bad film and it is worth seeing. On the other hand it's just nowhere near as special as it thinks it is.

Broadways Deadly Gold (1969)

The film opens with a truck racing through the New York waterfront. On the radio we hear the report of a daring gold robbery.  The man backs the truck up to the waters edge and dumps the gold in the water. As he is making his escape, he's cornered by crook Costello and his men, they machine gun the fleeing man (who is actually an FBI man who infiltrated the gang) who, though wounded returns fire. However before the police can arrive he's finished off.  The police arrive and scoop up the gang.  At the funeral of the FBI man Jerry Cotton arrives and meets his boss who tells him the story and adds that Costello was broken out of jail by other crooks wanting the gold.

Last of the Jerry Cotton films is a round and round as everyone tries to deduce where the gold is. The dying agent mails the location to his girlfriend- however no one knows that until the second half when the film shifts to a get the key chase.

Assuming you don't look at the plot too closely, (frankly much of it is killing time) this is one of the better Jerry Cotton films in my humble opinion. What I like about the film is that it keeps moving, yes in circles, but it never bogs down. I also love that the film is full of action and beautiful women. Almost everyone is armed with a machine gun and Costello is an expert with grenades so lots of things go BOOM.

Yes the film is full of silly moments, Costello is broken out of a police van with much too ease, he wakes up from plastic surgery with a finely cropped beard and mustache, the grounds of the grave yard of Trinity Church in Manhattan seem to have been made by the Timelords in Dr Who since it's tiny confines hide a huge rambling expanse of graves and then a car blows up in a huge cataclysmic ball of flame people stagger out dazed but un-singed.

I really like this film a great deal and wish that the series didn't end here because Cotton was and is a great action hero. I'm impressed that despite it all none of the series are really bad, simply weaker when compared to others in the series. The best thing I can say is I'm ready to go back through them all again.

(Clever people will notice that the Cotton series has 8 films in it and Ive only reviewed 7 over the last week. I would have reviewed all of the films but as of this writing I still haven't tracked down Death in the Red Jaguar yet. When I do you can expect a review.)