Sonhando com Milhões (1963)

*spoilers below*

A tax inspector is going through the tax declaration of some big sugar mills who have defrauded the IRS on a large amount of money in taxes. At that time, his maid is sacked by his wife and, through happenstance, goes to work for the owner of one such company. She then acts as an intermediary between the defrauders and the tax inspector, with the mission of bribing him into exonerating the companies from the payment of their due taxes and fines. The inspector's wife -- who is fed up with her materially mediocre life -- is the maid's ally in her mission.

This drama deals with a chronic problem in Brazil: corruption of public agents. It exposes the social and psychological mechanisms through which corruption comes to happen. In Brazil, things haven't changed much from what they were at the time this movie was made. The ending leaves a certain amount of doubt in the viewer as to whether the author was being naive or cynical. (*big spoiler ahead*) The protagonist does not yield to the temptation of accepting the bribe, and is "rewarded" for his honesty with a job offer in one of the companies he was auditing. He accepts it, and everyone is happy. Though this goes unstated, this would be a very clever way of getting rid of the tax problem for the companies in question. The film does not see a moral problem in it for the protagonist. The maid remarks that "sometimes honesty is rewarded" and that's that. As I said, that is either very naive or very cynical. Anyway, although the film has merits and depicts a very real situation, its sense of humor isn't terribly sophisticated, and neither is the dramatic development.

Rating: 37

Gisaengchung (2019)

Englisht title: Parasite

A young man fakes a diploma in order to be hired as a private English teacher for a rich girl. He manages to get the whole household staff fired and replaced by members of his family. Complications ensue.

Social inequality is the theme here. It has some clever touches and twists, and does a fine balance of humor and horror. Its director states that the title is a two-edged sword, but, according to Wikipedia, an Irish critic named Kehoe was not satisfied with the film because it will not cause "riots in the streets". The revolutionary potential of Irish critics is something not to be taken lightly. Still according to Wikipedia, and on a perhaps lighter note, the Associated Press, that paragon of progressivism, thought that the Academy Awards made up for not acknowledging women in the past by acknowledging diversity in 2019. Yes, absolutely. South Korea is one of the most diverse countries in the planet, and you can check that out by watching this movie, which shows pets of assorted breeds getting along just fine under the same roof.

Rating: 60

Guns Don't Argue (1957)

Made by putting together several episodes of TV show Gang Busters, possibly with some new material added to it, this is an episodic narrative about several famous criminals of the 1930s, e.g., Dillinger, Van Meter, Karpis, the Barkers, Floyd, etc. The stories are fictionalized to varying degrees.

My assessment about this film would be roughly the same as that of Gang Busters, which I reviewed prior to it. Overall, a passable entertainment, except that character Ma Barker, as it is depicted here and in many other films and assorted media, is a notorious and ridiculous fabrication which somehow I find hard to enjoy.

Rating: 37

Gang Busters (1955)

This movie was edited from three episodes of the eponymous TV show which specialized in fictionalized versions of real life crimes. These three episodes dealt with a fellow named Pinson, who escaped several times from prison. A former fellow inmate who worshipped him went to extremes to draw his attention.

Very low-budget criminal thriller. One sequence allegedly inspired another in Taxi Driver, according to the latter film's director. Not exactly high art but has a tough quality which makes it kind of exciting in a very low-brow manner.

Rating: 39

The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)

The sheriff of a small town recruits some convicts to fight Mexican bandits.

Western without much stamina. The plot is busy in the movie's first half with finding a motivation for the protagonist's involvement in the fight against the bandits; the second half is basically a series of action sequences which involve some ingenious gadgets and lots of shooting.

Rating: 33

Assassination Tango (2002)

An American assassin travels to Buenos Aires to perform a hit on a retired Argentinian general. Things don't go as planned as the general suffers an accident and is hospitalized. While he waits he meets a tango dancer and learns to dance the tango. Then some more things don't go as planned.

Quite unsatisfactory blend of drama with thriller. It falls flat on both departments. It is not an overly unpleasant movie, though.

Rating: 33

Cops and Robbersons (1994)

A nice suburban family lodges two cops who are doing a stakeout on the house next door to them. The family head is a fan of cop shows.

By-the-numbers comedy with a predictable sense of humor, but watchable all the same.

Rating: 45

Stranger on the Run (1967)

A bum arrives at a small town looking for a certain woman and gets into real trouble with the sheriff and his men, who represent the railroad company. He is helped by some cattle ranchers who are in opposition to the railroaders. Later, he gets further help from a widow whose son wants to become a lawman.

Cliché-ridden Western made for television. Though it is professionally done, and the story flows at a sufficiently steady pace, an overall feel of dullness pervades the thing.

Rating: 41

Action Jackson (1988)

The Detroit police investigates a series of murders of union leaders of the automobile sector. The owner of an automobile industry is behind those murders. A cop who got demoted in the past because of that industrialist investigates the case by his own initiative.

This film has some spectacular explosions and glass smashings, but the script seems to have been written in a hurry. The most conspicuous moment of silliness takes place at a hairdresser salon whose owner makes for a very improbable informant. Overall, professionally filmed but forgettable.

Rating: 33

Hollow Triumph (1948)

Alternative title: The Scar

A criminal on the run from a gangster whose casino he tried to rob finds out he has an almost exact lookalike in the person of a psychoanalyst. It so happens that said criminal has some medical background thanks to having been a student of medicine for two years.

Entertaining crime drama. Don't expect too much plausibility from it, but there are some clever plot twists and some equally clever psychological insights too. This film is curious also for the fact that, while dealing with the subject of dead ringers, it features a leading lady who looks remarkably like the leading lady in Samson and Delilah; also curiously, both actresses were married in succession to the same man. The leading actor in this film must have had a special liking for this subject matter, seeing as he went on to direct a TV movie named Dead Ringer in 1964.

Rating: 51

D.O.A. (1949)

A public notary from a small town decides to take a few days off in San Francisco and, while there, has his drink switched with a poisoned one at a bar. He then has only a short time left to live, and devotes that time to finding his killer. The first clue comes from his secretary and girlfriend: she had phoned to tell him that a man was looking for him. He had refused to take that call, and now that man is dead.

Ingenious thriller which, for some reason, is labelled as a film noir, although I fail to see enough noirish elements in the film. There are some weak points in the plot, but overall it abides by logic. It is a fairly entertaining movie. I had watched the 1988 remake long ago, and liked it too. Christopher Mulrooney (1956-2015), a writer whose Internet-published film reviews I enjoy reading, wrote a somewhat hallucinatory yet interesting review of this film.

Rating: 51

Suna no onna (1964)

English titles: Woman in the Dunes; Woman of the Dunes.

An amateur entomologist spends the night at a small village and finds himself trapped there, living in a sand pit with a young widow.

This is one of those films which have no transcendental meaning whatsoever, and precisely because of that are viewed by critics and intellectual viewers as a 'parable', or anyway ellicit multiple philosophical interpretations. After all, there is nothing like a blank slate for writing whatever one wants on. One thing there is agreement upon, however, is that it is visually attractive, and well filmed. As for the narrative, I guess that by imposing a relatively logical development upon a very far-fetched premise, the film somehow manages to engage the viewer's attention. The user reviews on IMDB are very amusing, and I advise you to read them all. My favorite excerpt (by Platypuschow, on this link) is:

*begin quote*
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Don't look up when going down a sand bank on a rope
Damp deserts aren't a thing
Pregnancy can be smelt
*end quote*

Rating: 53

Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933)

English titles: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse; The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse

A supercriminal who has been committed to a psychiatric institution spends his days writing criminal plans who are then collected by the institution's chief psychiatrist. Concurrently to that, a series of crimes are committed by a gang of criminals run by someone who identifies himself as that supercriminal but is never seen by them. A police inspector investigates the issue.

Sequel to Dr. Mabuse the Gambler which is even sillier than its predecessor and considerably less interesting. Again, one has to admire the technique with which it was filmed, but this time the whole affair feels like pushing the boundaries of nonsense a little too far, without a body of ideas which might amuse the viewer or provide commentary on political or social issues.

Rating: 45

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922)

English titles: Dr. Mabuse the Gambler; Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime.

Second viewing of the first part; first viewing of the second.

An archcriminal uses hypnosis to win at card games; he is a master of disguise, and also manipulates the stock market and runs a money counterfeiting operation. A police inspector (here for some reason called 'state prosecutor') investigates his crimes and, little by little, arrives at his true identity.

Very well made criminal drama, with stunning interiors and brilliantly executed exteriors as well. The text is juvenile in its ideas, and has a terrible credibility problem in the way the titular character performs his psychological manipulations, seeing as he apparently doesn't even have to be near his victims to hypnotize them, among other inconsistencies. The existing ideological interpretations of the main character are somewhat disparate; you can read a summary of them on the film's Wikipedia page and decide for yourself which ones are reasonable.

Rating: 60