Adieu poulet (1975)

 U.S. title: The French Detective

Title translation: Goodbye, Cop

While posting political propaganda for a mayoral candidate, a man is assaulted by a gang who works for the opposing candidate and dies as a result of it. A cop intervenes and is murdered. The main suspect disappears and the police starts searching for him. While the candidate who employed the suspect tries to exonerate himself from all responsibility for the crimes, the two detectives in charge of the investigation find that claim hard to believe.

Largely unremarkable cop thriller which focus on the theme of police corruption. The plot consists basically of the two protagonists fighting the corrupt establishment and employing the most implausible tricks to overcome the obstacles to their investigation. The two main actors are good, and the film is eventful, professionally made and not too long.

Rating: 38

Lo sceicco bianco (1952)

 English title: The White Sheik

An Italian couple in Rome for their honeymoon gets separated when the wife sneaks out to search for her idol, an actor in soap opera photo strips. At the studio where that actor works, she is deceived into boarding a truck which then leaves for a location shooting. When the husband's relatives arrive for a family lunch, he has to make phony excuses for the wife's absence.

Though featuring a few noteworthy individual sequences -- the initial street sequences in Rome and the photo shoot mainly sticking in my memory -- the script's weaknesses are apparent by around midfilm and make for a rather unexciting second half. The characters are very one-dimensional and convey a stereotypical depiction of the lower middle class. Although far from unwatchable, it's safe to say that, hadn't this film's director and co-writer achieved superstar status among filmmakers through his subsequent films, this film would probably be forgotten today.

Rating: 48

Les tontons flingueurs (1963)

 U.S. title: Monsieur Gangster

Literal translation of the French title: The Gun-Toting Uncles

Fernand, a businessman with a criminal past, gets a call from Louis, one of his former criminal associates who is dying. Louis wants Fernand to take over his criminal organization after his death. The respective heads of the different branches of that organization are not happy with that situation. On top of that, Fernand becomes responsible for Louis's teenage daughter.

Mildly entertaining comedy with a completely implausible premise. The part about becoming the girl's tutor or adoptive parent is OK, though for modern times (and perhaps even for 1963) the control he applies over an 18 year-old seems a little excessive. As for the part of taking over the gang, the fact that he accepts it (and as a matter of fact that the dying man would want it in the first place) is beyond belief. The revolt of his new underlings is plausible and even just if one sees it through their eyes. This makes for a less than likeable protagonist who seems to achieve success in his goals apparently by mere tough talking and posturing. The trouble which ensues on both fronts -- parental and, say, managerial -- is exploited for humor -- in this case a somewhat childish humor with an overabundance of dialogue which reportedly has become an object of cult.

Rating: 45

You Only Live Once (1937)

Man is released from prison, marries his sweetheart, gets a job, and buys a house. He is then fired, and framed for a crime he didn't commit.

Melodrama which is ridiculous and entertaining in equal proportions. I guess in those post-depression years it was kind of normal to fantasize about criminals with a golden heart -- the protagonist here had a special fondness for frogs -- and this film really goes all the way in making the Law, and much of law-abiding society, look bad, and outlaws look good. But what makes this piece of shitheaded propaganda so entertaining is that everything in it is absolutely top quality: its shrewdly concocted -- and wildly implausible! -- script, its amazing expressionistic shots, its two superb main performances, etc, etc. Needless to say, the people involved in making this film were reasonably well-off -- some of them very well-off -- and so were never really affected by things like poverty on one side, and street crime on the other. Audiences at the time probably were wary of this kind of discourse, and the film lost money, though over the years it undoubtedly recovered from that initial loss.

Rating: 52

Der Boden unter den Füßen (2019)

 English title: The Ground Beneath My Feet

Lola is an executive at a corporate consulting firm whose sister Conny has schizophrenia. Lola has a relationship with Elise, who works with her and is her hierarchical superior. Lola starts to get suspicious phone calls.

**spoilers below**

Tautly directed drama with some serious plot problems which detract from the film's effectiveness. The biggest flaw is connected with the phone calls Lola gets. Surely it would be quite implausible that Conny would be able to get both a phone to make those calls and the assistance to set them as anonymous. But even setting aside this issue, and ascribing Lola's gullibility to her psychological condition, there is a deeper logical flaw. Lola looks for psychiatrical assistance claiming she is hallucinating. But her phone rang in front of several other persons. Surely everyone would think she was completely nuts if she started to answer inexistent calls. She would probably be forced to get a medical license. So, it simply does not make sense. There is a strong suggestion of gaslighting here, and also in other events further ahead, though nothing is really ever explained, as the film opts for a deflating denouement. Another huge plot point which requires a huge suspension of disbelief is how Lola sets her suicidal sister in a flat with a balcony. What was she thinking, for pity's sake? And hasn't she heard of protection nets? Critics seemed to like the film, probably placing a higher value on the film's subtext of social commentary, visible in the exchanges with the street beggar, and on the exposition of the cruel mechanics of corporate capitalism.

Rating: 40

Cento giorni a Palermo (1984)

French-dubbed version (title: Cent jours à Palerme)

In 1982, a general who became known for his successful fight against terrorism is appointed prefect -- a kind of administrative officer who also has authority over the police, from what I gather -- of Palermo, with the mission of putting a stop to organized crime.

Very dull account of real events. It's a mechanical film consisting of brutal assassinations, bureaucratic meetings (both of law agents and of criminal ones), and some extremely tedious interludes about the protagonist's relationship with a younger woman and his qualms of conscience about endangering her life. There is a speech in the movie which goes like that: "The real question that should be asked in Sicily, like in all other countries, is how to have only one power, a state with its institutions and laws. We can't share power with the provocateurs, the violent, or the dishonest." Now let me quote the famous definition of fascism given by Benito Mussolini: “Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.”

Rating: 30

Cangaceiros de Lampião (1967)

 A couple of newlyweds returning from the church is surprised by the presence of a gang of outlaws hiding in their house. The bandits rape the wife and flee. The husband vows to avenge himself.

Brazilian revenge movie which follows the conventions of a Western, although in this case it should be called a Northeastern if it were to reference the Brazilian region where it is set. In its first section it exploits its criminal subject for shock value. After that, the film becomes duller as its engages in several extended fight scenes with rather poor choreography. 

Rating: 31

The New Kids (1985)

Loren and Abby lose their parents and go to live with their uncle who has an amusement park. The two teenagers are bullied by a local youth gang led by a psychopath.

Run-of-the-mill youth thriller which initially builds up some tension but lacks originality and completely fails to deliver a climax worthy of that name. The acting is serviceable and, in some cases, even impressive.

Rating: 31

Un taxi pour Tobrouk (1961)

English title: Taxi for Tobruk

During World War II, four French soldiers in a jeep  get stranded in the African desert. They take a German prisoner.

Tedious war drama which reportedly was the most watched French film of its year in France. Everything in this film is predictable and cliché. Also, the plot bears considerable similarity with that of the much superior Sahara (1943), a fact which seems to have gone unnoticed in reviews. For justice's sake, the fine cinematography lends the film a certain aesthetical appeal, and the actors are competent. The dialogue, credited to an experienced professional, is mostly painfully uninspired, but does include a curious speech, by a Jewish character, who was against setting the German prisoner free: "But me, I don't forget anything. I'm the nasty one, the spiteful one. I don't like being a cuckold. When I started reading Hegel, you guys were already on Mein Kampf. The French always are a book too late." I wonder whether this speech was created by the writer of the original screenplay, whose mother was Jewish, or by the dialogue man, who was an anti-semite.

Rating: 35

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

About a guy who enlists in the army during World War II, but refuses to use a rifle (even during training). He faces some resistance, but goes on to be a medic. His outfit's mission is to take the titular ridge in Okinawa.

Cliché-ridden "true story" with a particularly absurd leading character and fine battle sequences.

Rating: 37

Chère inconnue (1980)

 U.S. title: I Sent a Letter to My Love

A woman and her cripple brother live together. She places a personal ad under a pseudonym in the newspaper looking for a companion, and receives a reply... from her own brother!

This is one of those premises which look promising but seem to be difficult to develop into a complete story. Perhaps in the source novel it delves into some interesting points which in the movie got lost or were just implied. Anyway, it is all very frustrating.

Rating: 30

A Ilha dos Paqueras (1970)

A cruise ship is transporting some beautiful models to a fashion show. Two stewards on the ship keep flirting with them. On the trip back, they meet again and the two men devise a plan to be with them on a supposedly deserted island which they happen to pass by on their route.

Terrible comedy which starts with a certain level of technical professionalism and falls into sheer amateurism after a while. Some really pretty girls and a mildly agreeable soundtrack are the only things that keep the movie from being totally unwatchable.

Rating: 11

Rocky II (1979)

 Rocky is a previously unknown boxer who became somewhat of a celebrity after a fight with a world champion which Rocky lost by points. Being in dire need of money, what with his wife having their first child, Rocky accepts a rematch with the same guy.

The Rocky movies are noteworthy for two things: they have working-class characters, and they have an individualistic worldview. In a way, they do a reductio ad absurdum of individualism by implying that a guy must be punched to a pulp to escape his miserable condition. The big problem is that this irony is lost on most viewers, who get stuck in the enjoyment of very elementary emotions and come out of the movie with a sense of vindication for the poor hero. As a user review by one darin-wissbaum in IMDB very appropriately points out, around the sixth or so sequel "if you count how many times Rocky has been hit in the head and face he should either be dead or a vegetable". Anyway, this was 1979, and the next year Reagan was elected, marking a conservative turn in the U.S., so there you have it. The film is technically well made, and, though decidedly on the dull side, it is watchable, barely.

Rating: 32

Unfaithfully Yours (1984)

 Based on the homonymous 1948 film.

An orchestra conductor is married to a younger wife. Some apparently incriminating evidence is brought to him concerning his wife's activities while he had been on a trip. Further inquiries by him seem to point to a violinist who plays with his orchestra as her lover. He devises a retribution.

This begins as an examination of communication and the sources of its failure; in its final section, it is a contrasting of plans with their realization. So, the general theme seems to be Ideal vs. Real. I don't remember the source movie too well, but, from what I have read, the two do not differ a great deal in plot. That movie ascribed the misunderstanding to an artist's "creative temperament" (I take the words from Wikipedia). Well, explaining creativity through garbled communication is certainly intriguing. Anyway, this film is not an examination of paranoia: the husband was provoked by fortuitous misinformation; besides, the film implies that women do cheat, and so mistrust is not in itself unreasonable. Overall, it is a nice pastime, and the acting is very good.

Rating: 52

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)

 Alfie and Helena, an elderly couple, get divorced because Alfie wants to live as a young man. Helena starts consulting a fortune teller. Their daughter Sally is married to Roy, a writer. Due to financial pressures, Sally gets a job in an art gallery. Roy starts flirting with a woman he spots through his window. Sally becomes attracted towards her boss. Alfie marries a call girl.

Agreeable dramatic comedy which relies on somewhat overused themes and concepts, but still manages to entertain due to its polished text and its very competent cast. One of the central themes in the movie is the need for faith, and an amusing insight it displays is how peculiarly cruel the people under the spell of a particular creed can be.

Rating: 51

Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)

A drug dealer has a dent in his reputation and decides to assassinate a famous police chief as a means to restore it and thus secure an upcoming drug deal. It turns out that at the moment of the attempt someone else is in the police chief's car instead of him. The police chief takes advantage of being presumed dead to conduct a secret investigation on the criminals who attempted against his life.

Much of the humor here is a rehashing of jokes which are recurrent on the series. It manages to be funny at times; at other times it is mildly annoying, or simply dull. There is an idea here (a female actress which plays a male character impersonating a woman) which may have been the germ to the filmmaker's remake, a few years later, of Viktor und Viktoria (1933). The last act, at a Hong Kong shipyard, has an uncanny resemblance to one of the hypotheses put forward regarding the recent catastrophe in Beirut.

Rating: 45

Rio Fantasia (1957)

Four friends from a small town who have formed a musical quartet move to a big city in the hopes of becoming widely known. A TV producer becomes interested in one of them, a woman, and rejects the remaining three men. She becomes a star, and her former companions struggle to land a contract as a trio.

Drama with some comic bits and some musical numbers. Conventional and predictable, but done with a certain competence; the musical numbers are mildly agreeable.

Rating: 34

Cala a Boca, Etelvina (1958)

Adelino lives above his means and is constantly harassed by creditors. He fails to keep his payments on the fur coat he bought for his wife, and, after it has to be returned, she decides to leave him. On that same day, Adelino's uncle, from whom he expects to inherit a fortune, drops in to stay for a few days. Adelino doesn't want his uncle to know his wife left him, and so he makes his maid pass off as his wife.

Unimaginative comedy. The second half is filled with mildly attractive musical numbers. Not a terrible film; it is effectively staged and paced.

Rating: 33

O Gato de Madame (1956)

A wealthy woman's cat escapes and she places an ad promising a reward to the person who finds it and returns it. A poor shoe shiner finds the lost animal and plans to collect the reward, but is kidnapped by a gang who also covets the reward.

Poor comedy with a very basic comicity. The 50s ambiance and cityscapes are quite interesting to watch, though.

Rating: 32

Zui quan (1978)

 English title: Drunken Master

A young man gets involved in a series of conflicts and his father hires an old martial arts instructor with a reputation of extreme rigor to discipline him. The young man is terrified at first and flees; he eventually accepts to undergo the training.

Curious fight comedy with elaborate choreography and childish humor. The central thesis of enhancing fighting performance through alcoholic intoxication is absurd but probably just intended for comic effect. The protagonist learns in the end to stop fearing his feminine side and instead use it to his advantage.

Rating: 51