ksf-2 Reviews

Dark Waters (2019)

small town takes on big corporation

[6/10 · 22 May 2024]

Some big names... ruffalo, hathaway, robbins, pullman. Rob bilott is a fancy corporate lawyer, used to defending the large corporations against lawsuits. But this time, a friend of the family convinces him to take up a case against dupont, which may be polluting the local waters. Looking at the dead and damaged cows (and humans!), bilott agrees to take on the case. Uphill battles for bilott... family life, personal life, push-back from the defendent. Threats to the farmer's family. Lack of co-operation. Lack of support from his own law firm. And the more he digs, the more evidence he finds! Will any judge take this seriously? It's pretty good, but nothing really too new. Only that it's related to the development of dupont's teflon. Directed by todd haynes. He was nominated for far from heaven. Directed carol (also based on a true story!) and velvet goldmine. Just for reference, the film erin brockovich came out in 2000... that was based on the court case against PG&E, for events which had started in 1966, and were still happening in 1993 and later.

Basil (1998)

period piece... old london

[6/10 · 21 May 2024]

A brit production, where the two leads are american. Basil's older brother had shamed the family, so he was sent away. Basil has always been careful around his dad, but there may be a showdown coming! Father doesn't approve of the young lady for whom basil has fallen. Mannion has become basil's friend, and will try to help. Julia's father agrees to the wedding, but they may not consummate the marriage until it is too late for basil to be dis-inherited. It's okay. The first half is pretty slow. The script is rather sparse, and we feel the desolation that basil feels. Twists, turns, intrigue. In the close-ups, faces, eyes, wallpaper, paintings are quite vivid. In the wide shots, everything and everyone is a bit faded, or foggy. It's possible they did something to the film to give it an aged look, like sepia. Directed by radha bharadwaj. Story by wilkie collins.

Dinner Rush (2000)

one night in a restaurant

[8/10 · 20 May 2024]

A night in an italian restaurant in new york city. Some shady mobsters, some cops. Dudes in the kitchen, who are deep in debt from gambling. And of course, a food critic. Lou cropa owns the joint, but his son udo is the chef. A very good one. But they disagree on what kind of food to serve. Keep an eye out for john corbett at the bar.. .he was chris on northern exposure. A small role for sandra bernhard. A trivia contest with the bartender. A fun surprise about an hour in, from one of the female servers. It's very good! Keeps moving, never loses your attention. Interesting story. Directed by bob giraldi. Acc to the trivia section, he actually owns the restaurant where they filmed all this! Danny aiello had been nominated for "do the right thing". I'm surprised that he wasn't also nominated for moonstruck! (the entire cast of moonstruck should have been nominated)

The Avengers (1942)

wartime flick with the usual patriotic messages

[6/10 · 19 May 2024]

Called the day will dawn in europe, but the avengers in canada and the united states. It's a brit film. Reporter colin metcalfe (hugh williams) is assigned to the european beat, after hitler moves into poland. When the germans sink his boat on the way to norway, no one seems to believe him. But he does fall for kari (young deborah kerr, in an early role), the captain's daughter. And as the german ships come into the harbor, pretending to be merchant ships, colin is abducted and held prisoner by the germans. Will metcalfe ever get to tell what he knows? Will his stories make a difference? The script is peppered with patriotic messages. A call to take action, avoiding neutrality, as hitler moves into more euro countries. Acc to imdb, this was released in the united kingdom in june 1942, so both britain and the united states were already actively in the war by then. This seems to start the story from earlier, before britain was involved in action. Directed by harold french. According to wikipedia dot org, french lost his own wife in a bombing raid in 1941. Produced by general films, and distributed in the united states by paramount. It's a little disjointed, but does show the chronology of events in europe.

Expresso Bongo (1959)

making a star

[6/10 · 19 May 2024]

Laurence harvey was a huge film star in the 1950s and 1960s. Cliff richard really was a heart-throb singer, and was supposed to be the elvis of england. When hustler/agent johnny jackson spots bert rudge singing and playing bongos in a joint, jackson is sure he can make him into something huge. And make plenty of dough for himself! But dixie collins has plans of her own! And she's willing to cut bert in for a bigger percentage. It's pretty good! A little campy... apparently this started as a musical show, so every now and then they break out in song. The synchronized dancing of the three teen couples in the nightclub was just silly and awkward. A fun bit where they sing "nausea", and take it out on the sidewalk! It takes a little while to catch on to the heavy brit accents. And some pretty adult material in the stripper stage show about ten minutes in! Directed by val guest. Story by wolf mankowitz. Laurence harvey died so young at age 45.

The Matador (2005)

two guys walk into a bar...

[8/10 · 17 May 2024]

Pierce brosnan can play anything! Comedy, james bond. Here, julian is in mexico city, on an assignment. Out of boredom, he starts telling danny (kinnear) about his work. As a professional hitman. He's been having panic attacks, and has goofed up his last couple assignments, so now the big shots are coming for him! Julian even shows up at danny's house in denver. This is similar to the "in-laws" from 1979... the whole time, we're not even sure if julian is telling the truth about any of this. Some big secrets get revealed right near the end. It's really good! I like this one. Written and directe by richard shepard.

The Fargo Kid (1940)

a cowboy trying to prove his innocence... again

[6/10 · 16 May 2024]

Tim holt, in .... a western! With ray whitley. And his band, of course. Fargo is on his way to micaville, and meets a shady character along the road. When he gets to town, they mistake him for someone else. And for some reason, fargo goes along with it. Which gets him into big trouble later. The usual neatly pressed outfits, and misunderstandings. Not the tightest storyline. Co-stars jane drummond, cy kendall. It's a B shortie film from RKO... only 63 minutes. A couple songs by ray whitley's band. I'll give this one an "okay". Nothing fancy. Directed by ed killy. Story by w. Tuttle. Sadly, tim holt, jane drummond and cy kendall all died young.

Past Lives (2023)

minimal script. interesting story.

[7/10 · 15 May 2024]

Such a minimal script. We learn right at the start that hae sung is going to new york to visit an old girlfriend from the past. But nora has married... and we know it happened partly because she needed a green card. But when arthur, the husband voices his jealousy, nora reassures him. They all go to dinner and drinks, and discuss in-yun, the korean belief of connection. Fate has brought nora and arthur together, as a married couple now. Nora and hae sung may meet from time to time. These connections are part of life, perhaps many lives, and life times. Discussion of korean beliefs, traditions. Parental expectations. It's pretty good! But may not be for some. Written and directed by celine song. This was nominated for two oscars!

No Other Woman (1933)

long term goals

[7/10 · 14 May 2024]

Bickford and dunne had just recently gotten into films with talkies, and dunne got top billing here. In the story, jim and anna are getting married. Their families have always worked at the steel mill, but anna wants more for them. When they partner with a neighbor on a startup, things go well for a while. Until jim starts spending time in the big city. He falls for a money-grabbing woman, who tries to come between them. Courtroom drama, divorce trial, lies. They pack a lot in during the 58 minute quicky from rko! It's not bad, for a B film. Directed by walter ruben. Died young at 43. Dunne and bickford were both nominated for many oscars; they must have been up against formidable films not to have received any!

Jules (I) (2023)

Quirky but fun.

[8/10 · 14 May 2024]

Ben kingsley, jane curtain. An alien has crashed in milton's back yard. But when he tells people, no one takes him seriously. Milton introduces him to a couple of his own friends, but about fifty minutes in, things take a turn. When a thief tries to harm milton's friend, the alien takes action to stop it, from far away. Somehow the alien just knew it was happening. And the alien seems to need cats, for some reason. That part is never really explained. This is supposed to be pennsylvania, but it sure looks like the hills of los angeles. It's a very different ben kingsley; in this one, he's very quiet and un-assuming. And you'll recognize harriet harris... she was bebe on frasier. It's quite good, if you're ready for a quirky film. Directed by marc turtletaub. He was nominated for producing miss sunshine. Story by gavin steckler. Curtain had already played an alien in the coneheads, and dated an alien in the third rock television series.

The Royal Hotel (2023)

two chicks on walkabout

[6/10 · 13 May 2024]

Two canadians, hanna and liv (julia garner and jessica henwick), are backpacking across beautiful australia. When they run out of money, they sign up for a work program. Which seems to be in a bar, where everyone is rude, or at least abrupt. In the middle of nowhere. They start to warm up to the locals. And the locals slowly warm up to them. Some of them. Keep an eye out for billy the drunk... hugo weaving was tick, in priscilla. And in a bunch of hobbit films. But when a substance abuse problem catches up with one of them, and the men of the town get out of control, things are changed forever. It's pretty good! Kind of a lesson in human nature. Directed by kitty green.

China Sky (1945)

drama for murrican doctors in china

[6/10 · 13 May 2024]

Politics in china, during world war two. A japanese prisoner must be kept alive so he can stand trial, per chen ta (quinn). American doctor thompson ( randolph scott) comes back to to the hospital with his new american bride (ellen drew). The premise is just ridiculous! What doctor would bring his new bride to a place that is getting bombed daily? And what silly, glamorous, new bride would want to go to such a place knowing before she arrived that it is an active target daily? And the silly bride constantly accuses hubby of cheating with female doctor durand (warrick). We spend a lot of time listening to the accusations from the bride. A lot of exaggerated people and personalities, to make sure the audience back home gets the patriotic message. Lots of stock war footage. Lots of fake, pigeon chinese-american language spoken by everyone. Some spy intrigue. Directed by ray enright, who had started with mack sennett! Story by pearl buck, who also wrote dragon seed and good earth! An okay film from rko.

Jalopy (1953)

later chapter of the bowery boyz

[6/10 · 12 May 2024]

A seldom shown bowery boys film! From bill beaudine, who directed SO many of the bowery films. Leo gorcey is the leader of the bowery boys, who manage to get into all these crazy adventures. His brother and father are in this one as well. Racing cars, the boys end up accidentally inventing a better racing fuel. Will it work? Can they recreate it? The guest in this one is sweater girl bobbie, played by jane easton. It's fun! The usual verbal goofups by slip mahoney (gorcey), as they loiter at louie's shop. It's as silly and nonsense-ical as all the others. Just sixty two minutes of wacky, zany fun. Filmed at the culver city racetrack. Researching the stadium online, it appears that the stadium was sold the year after this film was released, and turned into factory buildings. Leo gorcey's dad would pass away in 1955, and leo stopped making bowery boys films after that. Leo himself would die pretty young at age 51.

Edge of Darkness (1943)

pretty serious WW II flick

[6/10 · 11 May 2024]

Plunk in the middle of world war two (although they didn't really know it at the time). Gunnar and karen (errol flynn, ann sheridan) are secretly part of the norwegian resistance when the germans come knocking. Now karen and her family are being watched. It's very "all or nothing"... either you are with us or against us! They keep reminding us that one has to take a stand in wartime. No middle ground. It's pretty good. Very much the propaganda films to show how brutal the german troops were. Small roles for ruth gordon, walter huston, judith anderson. Various issues like fog, actor schedules, and legal court cases against one of the stars stalled production. Based on the book by william woods. Directed by lew milestone; he had won oscars for western front and arabian nights! Such an early role for gordon... I always think of her in her later roles... she was already in her mid forties, even here. It's good, but very much a serious, war time flick.

China Doll (1958)

mature in ww II film made later

[7/10 · 10 May 2024]

Victor mature, was huge in the 1940s. This was filmed in 1957, and released in 1958, but mature tells us it's really 1943, at about 23 minutes in. Pilot cliff brandon (mature) wakes up from his hangover and finds that he has accidentally purchased a chinese girl, shu jen. Li li hua had started acting in the 1940s and worked for years in film, in china and the states. Roles for denver pyle, ward bond. Bond was best known for wonderful life and maltese falcon, but died quite young. Smallish role for danny chang. He was in hollywood for about ten years. It's good, but all the talk about cashing in on a soldier's life insurance made it sound a little cheap. I don't think they would have spoken that way during the war itself. Things were taken much more seriously, and patriotic. Shu jen and brandon make up and come to a an understanding. Fun song "suppose" at about 56 minutes, sung by steve (john desmond). And when shu jen is in the family way... brandon re-considers things. Which hollywood would have had to dance around, during the actual 1940s. It's pretty good. A bit silly, and sentimental, but oh, well. Directed by frank borzage. He had won two oscars way back when.

The Legion of Missing Men (1937)

exotic adventure in far-away lands. sort of.

[6/10 · 9 May 2024]

Ralph forbes is bob carter. When his brother don joins the foreign legion, it's the beginning of troubles for them both. When they visit the local cafe, hala the singer starts trouble for don. When he refuses to listen to friendly warnings, he's under arrest. And that's just the start of his troubles. Now the battalion is up against the local sheik. It's an okay tale, and it moves right along, at sixty two minutes. The sound and picture quality are both pretty rough. I recognize the location vasquez rocks, northeast of los angeles. Directed by hamilton macfadden for monogram pictures. This appears to be the only role that hala linda had. Forbes, who had started in silent films, died young at 46.

Ender's Game (2013)

very similar to starship troopers.

[6/10 · 9 May 2024]

Asa butterfield, just after hugo. Harrison ford, ben kingsley. The ant-like formics will try again to conquer earth. And the gamers and strategists are the best fighters. Colonel graff and major anderson want ender in the fighter program asap. A fair amount of competition and violence among the trainees, right from the start. The script, the sets, the scenes...unfortunately, it all feels a bit low budget; i guess this was just about when cgi was starting, so the budget was probably spent on that and the big names. It didn't help that graff and anderson were bickering so often. And almost everyone in the film is out to get ender... made me wonder if this was aimed at a younger crowd, which wouldn't analyze it so closely. It's just not as clean and crisp as hugo was. Directed by gavin hood. I really liked his films official secrets and eye in the sky. Original story by orson card, circa 1985. The story is SO similar to starship troopers, by heinlein. Which came out first, of course. Interesting trivia: card attended BYU, and is actually a direct descendant of young himself.

Deceit (2004 TV Movie)

marlo thomas... the later years

[5/10 · 8 May 2024]

Deceit ... the marlo thomas one, from 2004. She was already 67 by now. When her husband dies on his boat, ellen mccarthy discovers the amount of debt her husband had gotten into. And because the body has never been found, she can't sell the house or car. This is just the beginning of the bad news. Checks for large amounts written to strange names. Her husband's friend ken claims he had no part of these secret companies. Strangers are showing up in her yard, and she's getting threatening phone calls. And answering machine messages. But she doesn't seem to tell the cops, who could have gotten involved sooner. Kind of a weakness in the story. She even finds solid evidence that someone is lying, and instead of giving it to the police, she gives it to someone she hardly knows.... i guess some of these could be chalked up to a grieving widow, but she misses so many chances to give evidence to the cops. And is it customary to have someone identify a body at the scene of a possible crime? Wouldn't they do that at the morgue, after the coroner had prepared the body? Beautiful scenery of new zealand, although i don't remember them ever talking about the location. It's okay... not quite as bad as the ratings show here. It's all explained at the end. Can't say too much, to avoid spoilers. Directed by john young... was nominated for emmies for china beach and for west wing. From the novel by clare francis. Check out francis on wikipedia dot org ....she was a (british) master sailor, and sailed across the atlantic alone. Twice.

Bernard and Huey (2017)

lots of talking! it's okay.

[6/10 · 7 May 2024]

A story originally by jules feiffer! If you don't know his work, check him out on wikipedia dot org. When huey (david koechner) shows up out of the blue, he just takes over bernard's (jim rash) life and routine. And dates a lot of women! Huey already has his own issues. When bernard starts seeing huey's daughter, no-one is sure what to think of it. We keep flashing back to when they were kids, and see the same kind of relationship between them. You'll recognize koechner from the office and anchorman. When things don't turn out like everyone planned, can they at least be happy with where they are now? Dating, timing, change. It's pretty good. Has a lot of talking. Directed by dan mirvish. Rash won his oscar for writing the descendants screenplay.

Carry on Up the Khyber (1968)

silly, fun, slightly dirty brit comedy

[8/10 · 6 May 2024]

Sir ruff diamond is the governor of the british outpost at the khyber pass. But the kazi hates them, and wants to destroy them. So far, the governor has been protected by the "devils in skirts", the kilted military regiment, the third foot and mouth brigade. Some naughty jokes here... including when the locals lift up one of the kilts to see if they really are naked underneath. When they find underwear underneath, the burpas decide to attack! Even the film title "khyber pass" is a british reference to someone's butt. Lots of clever, sometimes quite dirty word play. Even a gay stereotype joke about thirty minutes in. So many dirty jokes, especially when the brits end up in the harem... such things would never have made it past the american censors! At one point, he even tells the fakir to leave... by saying "Fakir, off!" it's pretty funny! Directed by gerald thomas.

Holiday in Mexico (1946)

silly storyline, but some fun names

[6/10 · 5 May 2024]

Xavier cugat and josé iturbi ! Jeff evans is ambassador to mexico. And right at the start, his daughter christine sings something so high it almost hurts. That's sixteen year old jane powell, in her third film role. Eighteen year old brit roddy mcdowall is stanley, who thinks he's in love with christine. But she doesn't have time for such things. There's something weird about stanley's voice... it sounds like it's been dubbed by a five year old. Maybe his british accent was too strong and needed to be replaced. The awesome grady sutton is in here as iturbi's personal assistant. Christine is throwing a party, and wants everything to go just right. It's pretty good. Most of the story is silly, but it's fun to see iturbi and cugat perform in their prime! Mcdowall and powell went on to become pretty big hollywood stars. Pidgeon was nominated for two oscars...for mrs. Miniver and mrs. Curie. And check out that cool giraffe piano iturbi plays at 87 minutes, while christine sings! More on it in the trivia section and in wikipedia. Although wikipedia credits it to someone else, a few years later. Directed by george sidney. All in living technicolor.

Hello Lonesome (2010)

a study of relationships.

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

We observe several everyday people. Neighbors, friends, blind dates, as they meet up in various ways. The one thing they all had in common was being alone. One couple meets on a dating app. An older, younger couple starts spending time together when one can't drive any longer, and the nice neighbor helps run errands. The voice-over actor decides to be more social. He calls up an old girlfriend. He tries to reunite with his daughter, and even makes buddies with the delivery guy who brings his work assignments. Some twists, turns, some challenges. Happiness, sadness. It's all life. Written and directed by adam reid. He has won a bunch of film fest awards. It's very sweet... kind of a study of human relationships.

Digging for Fire (2015)

these people are terrible house guests!

[6/10 · 3 May 2024]

Rosemarie dewitt, jake johnson are lee and tim, who stay in a friend's house on a vacation. While there, tim finds a gun and a bone in the back yard dirt. And obsesses over digging up the yard to find more, with a bunch of loud, rowdy friends. Lee takes the kid and drives to her parents, which seems to be the beginning of a naughty night for her. Appearances by orlando bloom, sam rockwell, judith light, ron livingston, mike birbiglia. Tim does a whole lot of philosophizing, in between shovels of dirt. He doesn't seem capable of just plain small talk. Lots of scenes stapled together, but not much of a story. A clever scene when lee says "daddy is home, doing his homework"... cut to daddy, smoking a joint, as the camera pans past the tax forms. I'm guessing they won't be invited back to stay at this house! They dig up the yard, wear the owner's clothes, and break things. Terrible people. Directed by joe swanberg. Dewitt is married to livingston, probably best known for office space! He and johnson have appeared in other films directed by swanberg. Jude, the young boy also happens to be the director's son! It's a bit slow... needed more of a cohesive story. It could have been great.

La Chèvre (1981)

silly caper in mexico.

[6/10 · 2 May 2024]

When a millionaire's daughter goes missing in mexico, who will track her down? They find a guy who is just as accident prone as the bigshot's daughter, and send him on his way. The film is pretty much a collection of unlucky pratfalls for françois perrin, played by pierre richard. Nothing seems to go right for him. Gérard depardieu is campana, who is supervising the operation with perrin. Depardieu was only 33 at the time. Not much of a real plot here, but it's a low key adventure in mexico. Some fun scenery from mexico and france. Lame story and lame acting. Written and directed by francis veber. It's just okay. The translation of subtitles is pretty bad.. don't trust them! Less than optimal for this one!

Black Dragons (1942)

response to the bombing at pearl harbor

[5/10 · 1 May 2024]

A hollywood response to the bombing at pearl harbor. Bela lugosi has many names, and also seems to have many roles in this film! Clayton moore, seven years before playing the lone ranger. A group of foreign agents is getting knocked off one by one. So much stock footage used! And some of the poor quality can be attributed to the copyright expiration. Anyone could make a copy of a copy, and sell it. The script is pretty cheesy. The acting is pretty cheesy. But it's interesting to see lugosi and moore. Directed by bill nigh. He had started with mack sennett and the keystone cops in the silents. Also directed a bunch of the mister wong films. Did I mention that it's pretty cheesy?