REUNION (2024)

 

Directed By: Chris Nelson 

Written By: Willie Block and Jake Emanuel 

Cinematography: Dino Parks 

Editor: Rick Grayson 

Cast: Billy Magnussen, Lil Rel Howey, Jamie Chung, Nina Dobrev, Jillian Bell, Michael Hitchcock, Chace Crawford, Dianne Doan, Cassandra Blair, Shaun White 

Snowbound at their high school reunion, former classmates uncover a murder and scramble to identify the killer among them before they’re all iced out for good.

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This film is OK a pretty good time waster though it’s comparison to the similarly themed and released television series from Apple TV THE AFTERPARTY is truly it’s downfall, which is a shame as if not for that this would’ve been a good comedy

So if you haven’t seen THE AFTER PARTY, this actually might be something you’ll enjoy but if you have, you’ll see how much more creative the show is with it story as well as similar characters in their development in African-American protagonist who looks more and more like the guilty party, the unexpected reveal of the killer and an Asian female love interest for one of the characters. 

What is film does have going for it is a good cast. That all deserve better, but strangely always seem cast in these types of films that goes straight to streaming have interesting premises but don’t quite live up to their potential and could easily be better and seem to lack a certain flare

I will admit I have a weakness when it comes to actress Jamie Chung. I remeber her from THE REAL WORLD reality television show and is one of the breakout successes of it but never given that respect or credit.  as I believe her to be one of the most beautiful actresses who seems to never get the right or that many good roles she should definitely be a star by now, but seems stuck in these clunky, comedies and roles where she has very little breakout potential, but is easily the most interesting or best thing in it. In films like this. BURNING PALMS, STONE COLD FOX and the television series LOVECRAFT COUNTY. Though at least she is constantly working 

She’ not alone most of the cast are recognizable and deserve better then this Billy Magnussen, Lil Rel Howey, Jillian Bell, and Nina Dobrev as most of them have been scene stealers  and comedic relief in bigger films. They just never quite got their chance to shine in their own high-quality film.

It also doesn’t help that by the end once the killer is revealed it just feels like they just threw it out there because they were running out of time as they don’t really explain motive they give a blanket one, but after you’ve spent so much time with these characters, it would be nice if it ran a bit deeper than what we are given

The film is a perfectly fine time waster but it seems to just get by and never go for the juggler when it can. It never takes the opportunities it sets up. It never quite pushes the envelope or trusts itself to go further or be better so that it always just stay safe and in the mid range and you can feel the frustration watching it.

The cast seems to be having fun and enjoying each others company. As half of them are exec producers and producers of the film. 

The one thing it does have going for it is that it does set out clues so you can’t say that the ending is made up and it does have a high rewatch ability factor even if it doesn’t quite succeed.

Grade: C 

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY (1972)

 

Directed By: Sergio Martino

Written By: Sauro Scavolini, Ernesto Scavolini and Adriano Balzoni

Story By: Sauro Scavolini and Luciano Martino

Based On the story “THE BLACK CAT” By: Edgar Allan Poe 

Cinematography: Giancarlo Ferrando 

Editor: Attilio Vincioni

Cast: Edwige French, Anita Strinberg, Luigi Pistilli, Angela La Vorgna, Ivan Rassimov, Daniela Giordano, Ermelinda De Felice, Enrica Bonaccorti 

A string of murders are committed near the estate of a degenerate author, whose abusive relationship with his wife is further complicated by the arrival of his manipulative niece.

Always a fan of longer movie titles as they come across poetic and almost like the log line or heart of the film. Then again it could just be the translation of the title in English from Italy. When actually it’s based on a line from the film’s director Sergio Martino’s earlier and much better film THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. VARDH 

This twisted erotic thriller has giallo implications. Only other than the beautiful lead Anita Strinberg everything else comes across not glamorous and even ugly. Not as stylish as it seems to try to be. Though the film can be sexy at times and has at least one memorable seductive sex scene. The females amongst the cast are the only beauty this film ends up having other then maybe production design. 

One can see why the leading man played by Luigi Pistilli is mad throughout. He’s A suspect in a few murders of female companions and lusting after Edwige French’s character. Who is supposed to be his niece. She is not only ravishing but She seems to have sex with every other character except for him at least for most of the film

No, as the film and lead are so abusive and misogynistic it’s hard to see where exactly the movie is going or care about most of the characters.

Only one main character approaches any sympathy the only other decent characters are supporting or die way too soon

Now the film is abuse and violence as foreplay as the main couple have a dysfunctional, almost S&M relationship not that the fetish factor makes it dysfunctional as that can be normal. Their relationship has just too many problems throughout.

The lead characters, horrible teeth don’t exactly help sell them as likable or even handsome maybe in a rugged British or masculine manly way that was more in vogue at the time, but once the story does come back into focus and spells it out a little more and you feel the same

The film isn’t stylish enough to really impress or make an audience take notice. The soundtrack isn’t really that impressive either as it becomes more annoying at times as it goes along and even at a little over 90 minutes, this film could’ve been shorter, but that would take away from the films atmosphere that keeps trying to build

The inclusion of an African-American character only to be fetishized and brutalized quickly, but that is how the film treats most of the female characters, including random ones only one of them ever truly takes command to make sure she doesn’t stay that way well the other one tries

The ending makes up for it, but it takes so long to get to it to showcase and explain why certain actions needed to be taken and the relationships between certain characters

Ms. French is no slouch, but not as grand. Even as a moral conniver. If one has seen enough of these movies for all the twists and surprises the filmmakers try to give. You can figure out the ending pretty easily. As it reminds you of a TALES FROM THE CRYPT  episode that guy was on for too long and isn’t as fun though perfectly fits.

Though that is also where the film truly gets interesting while offering an Edgar Allan Poe type ending. Which upon research is what the film is based on. 

Grade: C 

MEDUSA DELUXE (2022)

 

Written & Directed By: Thomas Hardiman

Cinematography: Robbie Ryan

Editor: Fouad Gaber

Cast: Luke Pasqualino, Lilit Lesser, Clare Perkins, Kayla Meikle, Kae Alexander, Harriet Webb, Darrell Silva, Debris Stevenson 

A murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing contest. Extravagance and excess collide, as the death of a contestant sows seeds of division in a community whose passion for hair verges on obsession.

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This mystery film set at a hair styling competition has proven to me that, I have yet to see a satisfying film set at hairstyling competition unless you wanna count the documentary good hair 

This film is beautifully filmed all in one take. So you admire the creativity and talent involved in that, but frankly that is all the film has to offer… craft. Yet no real depth or characters. 

As like the film THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER after a while, you just don’t care who the killer is. You just want this film to end. as for the few interesting characters. You never really get a chance to truly get to know them. Before the film leaves them for others. 

you’re constantly wondering the specifics of this murder, as you’re getting information secondhand and through different points of view. as the film occasionally keeps handing the narrative over to a different character or a set of characters

So that while the technical parts of the film are quite amazing. You just wish that there was more of a story or at least a better one as for all its technical achievement. It just seems to lack that heart where the audience wants to have interest then by the end, when all of a sudden done it kind of ends with a whimper so even if you had some excitement as to how it all ends once it does it just feels like there should’ve been more as it just feels like OK. How do you even really feel like it’s ending? It’s just that the filmmaker decided this will be a good place to stop

As the filmmakers clearly put so much concentration in passion into making sure they can get this film done all in one shot. You just wish they would’ve put that much energy and work into the story as well as that is where the film truly suffers and unfortunately, so does the audience 

Though the film does have its moments, especially when there’s an impromptu choreographed musical sequence near the end that actually breathe some life into the film. Which you wish there was more of throughout even as a surprise to keep you intrigued and more on your toes. 

unfortunately, in the end it’s style over substance which one can get works, considering where it is set. Which is a shame as one had such hope for the film. 

Grade: C-

FEDORA (1978)

 

Directed By: Billy Wilder

Written By: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond 

Based On a Story By: Tom Tyron 

Cinematography: Gerry Fisher 

Editor: Stefan Arnstein and Frederic Steinkamp 

Cast: William Holden, Marthe Keller, Hildegard Knef, Jose Ferrer, Frances Sternhagen, Mario Adorf, Stephen Collins, Henry Fonda, Michael York 

Famous film star Fedora has died. At her funeral, movie producer Barry Detweiler recalls how only two weeks previously, after much difficulty, he approached her and asked her to star in a movie of his. The encounter revealed some disturbing things about her life, and now more will be revealed after her death.

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This was unfortunately Billy Wilder’s last produced film. Where he had his long time co-writer I. A. L. Diamond riding with him. What a film to go out on though. 

Surprisingly, it’s not a comedy. It’s actually a drama that works as a companion piece with his classic Sunset Boulevard for some people. The movie will not rise to the occasion or reputation of that film, even with both films having William Holden as one of the main stars. 

Fedora is a different animal as it’s kind of a detective story and a mystery yet not the traditional one where we do into the past and current state finding out about a character in their history as well as a film that has something to say about Fame stardom Hollywood movies character And identity as well as beauty

Just like Sunset Boulevard a love letter to the industry that at that point for Billy Wilder was passing him by and putting him out to pasture, but he wanted to show he still had what it took and wanted to take or tell a grand powerful story while also having a cynical side 

This film is more intimate, even though it’s sad Moore in the Greek islands so while it should be epic and scope, he manages to make it feel a little more personal, a little more private, even when dealing with a Hollywood star 

That is what also sent to Sunset Boulevard, as we have an aging legendary actress who has become reclusive and might be delusional, who still believes her own Fame and the people around her, enable it, even though it might lead to her destruction mentally 

And also involves William Holden‘s character, desperate to find the star and trying to hang his own Fame or come back on her cocktails, though through investigation and revelations becomes a lot closer than he ever expected to come to her, and she has quite her own story to tell that he must discover Rather than it being told directly

It works like a detective, nor even though most of the scenes take place and playing daylight in the way that the Moor investigates in the more that he thinks he knows the more is actually revealed sometimes directly, but also sometimes subtly for the audience to discover just as he does so in that way, it feels kind of interactive, but it also feels like an ode to glamour that at the time was disappearing, they send off to classic films, classic Hollywood and thinking behind it. It actually ends up being a perfect swan song for Billy Wilder, who still even after this film, was trying to get films made in this new Hollywood, but couldn’t get hired no matter how eager he wants to work, used up and thrown away, which can be set of the main character in this town that’s the theme feels more autobiographical

For him 

It’s a beautiful prince of filmmaking that feels like it’s from a timeless bygone era. As they do my make films like these anymore 

Grade: B+

HAMMETT (1982)

 

Directed By: Wim Wenders

Written By: Ross Thomas, Dennis O’Flaherty and Thomas Pope 

Cinematography: Joseph Biroc

Editor: Janice Hampton, Marc Laub, Robert Q. Lovett and Randy Roberts 

Cast: Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner,  Richard Bradford, Roy Kinnear, Elisha Cook, Lydia Lei, Michael Chow, R.G. Armstrong, Sylvia Sidney, Jack Nance, Samuel Fuller, David Patrick Kelly 

Fictional account of real-life mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, and his involvement in the investigation of a beautiful Chinese cabaret actress' mysterious disappearance in San Francisco.

This is a strange film that unfortunately commit the worst crime of all it feels a bit bland and basic by the end 

It feels like the film is trying for a recreation as it takes place on sites that you can tell are sets.  which only adds to the artificiality of it all, which is deliberate but also as we are being placed in a story, and the main character is a writer of such stories living them out we can never quite tell what is true and what is being made up. A world of stylization and an homage to studio bound detective thrillers. As well as being in a world of imagination. 

This is a production that could’ve been filled with more imagination and inspiration as it just seems to go along. Another touch might have been if it had been filmed in black and white to make it feel more of the period that it takes place in and timeless.

Though Wenders is listed as the official director of the film, the film doesn’t seem to fit his style as his films are filmed the more creatively the film is rumored to have been shot by Francis Ford Coppola who produced the film under his American zoetrope studio afterward to be more conventional. 

So that the behind the scene story itself or rumors about this film are more fascinating than the final project unfortunately

The film isn’t a biopic of famed writer, Dash Hammett but the story of a writer caught up in one of his own detective story plots as he works as a private eye on the side and seems to get inspiration from his cases.

The film is enjoyable, offering Frederick Forest, the rare leading role and he does well with it as well as Marilu Henner as his name she should’ve gotten more films as she had the looks in the talent to go further in her career as she is one of the other bright spots in this well-stocked movie 

The film ultimately is a success as long as you’re not looking for more than your typical detective starring murder mystery that stays more small scale but includes all the cliché so much so that it just feels like a typical 1940s detective story only made in the early 80s, supporting cast so many classic All-Star character actors

Grade: C 

THE POSSESSED (1965)

 

Directed By: Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini

Written By: Luigi Bazzoni, Franco Rossellini, Giulio Questi and Ernesto Gastoldi 

Based on the novel by: Giovanni Comisso

Cinematography: Leonida Barboni 

Editor: Nino Baragoli

Cast: Peter Baldwin, Salvo Randone, Valentina Cortese, Pia Lindstrom, Pier Giovanni Anchisi, Ennio Balbo, Verna Lisi, Philippe Leroy 

Famous writer Bernard travels to a small lakeside town for an off-season winter vacation. He checks into an old hotel owned by Enrico and his daughter Irma expecting to meet Tilde, the maid he had a crush on the last time he visited the town. However, he discovers that Tilde has committed suicide, and when he meets the local photographer, Bernard learns that she was pregnant. He becomes obsessed with finding out whether she really committed suicide and to guess what really happened. When Enrico's son Mario and his wife Adriana arrive at the hotel, Bernard has daydreams about Tilde's fate.

MISSING (2023)

 

Written & Directed By: Nick Johnson & Will Merrick

Story By: Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty

Cinematography: Steve Holleran

Editor: Austin Keeling & Arielle Zakowski 

Cast: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Megan Suri, Amy Landecker, Joaquim DeAlmeida, Tim Griffin, Daniel Henney, Lauren B. Mosley, Jasmin Savoy Brown

After her mother goes missing, a young woman tries to find her from home, using tools available to her online.