Another week, another batch of movie-watching goodness.
WE BURY THE DEAD (AUSTRALIA)/ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (JAPAN... 2026, THEATER) Two completely different early '26 movies, same core plot for both. In "WBTD" Daisy Ridley plays a woman with marital trouble that joins a military-backed civilian volunteer force tasked with cleaning the Tazmania islands after a U.S.A. weapon "accidentally" turns the entire population into either corpses or zombie-like, semi-sentient beings. She eventually escapes on her own to reach the resort her hubby was attending on business, running into all types of "Walking Dead"-type characters/situations along the way. 'It's fine,' but nothing you haven't seen before done better in countless zombie flicks.
Ditto for "AYNIK" (troubled young woman joins civilian clean-up crew studying giant outer space flower that landed on Earth a year prior) except the story goes full "Groundhog Day"/"Edge of Tomorrow." Since it's Japanese anime at least the visuals and designs of the killer flowers/mecha suits make the repetitive battles go down easier. Another 'it's fine,' but a neutered ending that walks back a heartbreaking finale makes the overall narrative feel like a pointless waste of great assets.
SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS (1948, INDICATOR 4K UHD) Ealing Studio brought Technicolor spectacle to the U.K. for the first time with this lavish adaptation of Helen Simpson's historical novel. Love be damned as 15th-century German monarchy marries Princess Sophie Dorothea (Joan Greenwood) to the womanizing English prince George Louis (Peter Bull) to lay the groundwork for a claim to the British crown. A chance at true love emerges when Swedish Count Philip Konigsmark (Stewart Granger) falls for Dorothea's charm, even though his loyalty to the Bavarian crown calls on him for military leadership. For a Technicolor spectacle (which shines in this impressive and exquisite 4K transfer) "Saraband's" use of darkness/shadows, particularly during the tense swashbuckling finale, steals the show. Fans of old-fashioned epics (or Stewart Granger) will love it.
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION The sequel to the end-of-the-world disaster movie released during the 2020 COVID pandemic is only worth seeing to laugh at the plot armor that keeps Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin and their useless now-teenage son alive through one natural disaster or man-made military ambush after another. It's a perfect flick to leave streaming on the background while sorting laundry or painting walls, not something worth going to theaters for.
ABEL FERRARA/ZOË LUND DOUBLE FEATURE: MS. 45 (ARROW 4K UHD, 1980) & BAD LIEUTENANT (1992, KINO LORBER 4K UHD) Ferrara may be the director of "Ms. 45," but damn if Zoë Lund doesn't carry this r@*# revenge/vigilante urban fantasy on her shoulders. More tragedy than revenge (lots of innocents die, including the shy-but-likable person Thana was before her same-day dual attacks), Zoë's sad eyes and emotive face say so much they compensate for everyone else's dialogue being banal nonsense. The time capsule of New York in its late 70's grindhouse prime doesn't hurt, but l can't emphasize enough how Zoë Lund's performance in "Ms. 45" is feminist iconography 101.
Even though Lund co-wrote "Bad Lieutenant" and has a small role (which sadly mirrors the way Zoë offed herself in 1999), the stylistic directorial choices of a more seasoned Abel Ferrara are front and center this time around. Chief among these choices is letting an inobtrusive, non-judgemental camera capture Harvey Keitel go for broke in his portrayal of a drug-addicted, womanizing and gambling NYPD LT whose downward spiral accelerates when confronted with a r@%!d nun that forgives her attackers. It might be NC-17 and hard to watch at times, but "BL" one-ups even the all-mighty Martin Scorsese at portraying the angst of Catholic guilt co-existing in the life of a sinner faced with a shot at redemption with a high price he's terrified to contemplate accepting. NYC at its pre-Disney dawn is another feather in this flick's cap. 🫣😎
Another week, another batch of movie-watching goodness.
ReplyDeleteWE BURY THE DEAD (AUSTRALIA)/ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (JAPAN... 2026, THEATER)
Two completely different early '26 movies, same core plot for both. In "WBTD" Daisy Ridley plays a woman with marital trouble that joins a military-backed civilian volunteer force tasked with cleaning the Tazmania islands after a U.S.A. weapon "accidentally" turns the entire population into either corpses or zombie-like, semi-sentient beings. She eventually escapes on her own to reach the resort her hubby was attending on business, running into all types of "Walking Dead"-type characters/situations along the way. 'It's fine,' but nothing you haven't seen before done better in countless zombie flicks.
Ditto for "AYNIK" (troubled young woman joins civilian clean-up crew studying giant outer space flower that landed on Earth a year prior) except the story goes full "Groundhog Day"/"Edge of Tomorrow." Since it's Japanese anime at least the visuals and designs of the killer flowers/mecha suits make the repetitive battles go down easier. Another 'it's fine,' but a neutered ending that walks back a heartbreaking finale makes the overall narrative feel like a pointless waste of great assets.
SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS (1948, INDICATOR 4K UHD)
Ealing Studio brought Technicolor spectacle to the U.K. for the first time with this lavish adaptation of Helen Simpson's historical novel. Love be damned as 15th-century German monarchy marries Princess Sophie Dorothea (Joan Greenwood) to the womanizing English prince George Louis (Peter Bull) to lay the groundwork for a claim to the British crown. A chance at true love emerges when Swedish Count Philip Konigsmark (Stewart Granger) falls for Dorothea's charm, even though his loyalty to the Bavarian crown calls on him for military leadership. For a Technicolor spectacle (which shines in this impressive and exquisite 4K transfer) "Saraband's" use of darkness/shadows, particularly during the tense swashbuckling finale, steals the show. Fans of old-fashioned epics (or Stewart Granger) will love it.
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION
The sequel to the end-of-the-world disaster movie released during the 2020 COVID pandemic is only worth seeing to laugh at the plot armor that keeps Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin and their useless now-teenage son alive through one natural disaster or man-made military ambush after another. It's a perfect flick to leave streaming on the background while sorting laundry or painting walls, not something worth going to theaters for.
ABEL FERRARA/ZOË LUND DOUBLE FEATURE: MS. 45 (ARROW 4K UHD, 1980) & BAD LIEUTENANT (1992, KINO LORBER 4K UHD)
Ferrara may be the director of "Ms. 45," but damn if Zoë Lund doesn't carry this r@*# revenge/vigilante urban fantasy on her shoulders. More tragedy than revenge (lots of innocents die, including the shy-but-likable person Thana was before her same-day dual attacks), Zoë's sad eyes and emotive face say so much they compensate for everyone else's dialogue being banal nonsense. The time capsule of New York in its late 70's grindhouse prime doesn't hurt, but l can't emphasize enough how Zoë Lund's performance in "Ms. 45" is feminist iconography 101.
Even though Lund co-wrote "Bad Lieutenant" and has a small role (which sadly mirrors the way Zoë offed herself in 1999), the stylistic directorial choices of a more seasoned Abel Ferrara are front and center this time around. Chief among these choices is letting an inobtrusive, non-judgemental camera capture Harvey Keitel go for broke in his portrayal of a drug-addicted, womanizing and gambling NYPD LT whose downward spiral accelerates when confronted with a r@%!d nun that forgives her attackers. It might be NC-17 and hard to watch at times, but "BL" one-ups even the all-mighty Martin Scorsese at portraying the angst of Catholic guilt co-existing in the life of a sinner faced with a shot at redemption with a high price he's terrified to contemplate accepting. NYC at its pre-Disney dawn is another feather in this flick's cap. 🫣😎