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Born Bad
Born Bad (2011 Video)
Bad to the bone
26 December 2014
While BORN BAD story-wise isn't better or worse than a thousand other Lifetime Originals, I liked one thing about it: the villain is motivated by just plain old-fashioned lust. This, in contrast to so many Lifetime villains who terrorize and kill because they've seen the original STEPFATHER movie and are obsessed with killing their way to the "perfect family!"

Also, the filmmakers didn't stint on the action. Poor Meredith Monroe has to fight off three home invaders with her hands duct-taped part of the time, and with only minimal help from the rest of the family.

Again, there's nothing original to be found here, but the pace is fast, the acting is vivid if never subtle, and the main guy playing the villain is enjoyably detestable.
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Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Didactic Doldrums
18 August 2008
Here's a story... of a lovely lady... who wanted safety and predictability in her forthcoming marriage...

And here also... is another lady... and all she wants is bohemian rhapsodies...

Okay, there are certainly worse and duller Woody Allen movies, but this is nowhere even his modest achievements, and part of the problem is that Allen gives us no more than didactic sketches of his two main characters, Vicky and Christina, courtesy of an extremely tedious voice-over.

Javier Bardem comes off as a little more three-dimensional, but not by much.

Oddly, the day after I watched VCB in the theatre, I saw Edward Burns' 1996 SHE'S THE ONE for the first time. No one would ever think STO a masterpiece of social melodrama, but without a lot of cumbersome backstory Burns' story gave viewers characters that were well-thought out as characters standing on their own and in interaction with other characters.

I wish Woody Allen could do this well again.
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Problem Girls
Problem Girls (1953)
No problem here...
20 September 2007
Just a sharp, compact little B-picture partly written by Jack (Indestructible Man) Pollexfen. Unlike a lot of the "girls dormitory" pictures of the 40s and 50s-- largely a boring lot, save for GIRLS TOWN-- this one is lively and in some cases, very funny. Check out actor Anthony Jochim as a weird old doctor at the girls school, who despite having murdered his wife in days of yore proves to be of invaluable help to the sterling young hero investigating corruption at the school. The Mephisto Waltz sequence is a howl! Also lots of familiar faces from the B's: Beverly Garland, Mara Corday, Joyce Jameson... if TCM shows it again check it out!
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Judex
Judex (1916)
One of the first "superheroes?"
11 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
That's approximately what the advertising on the DVD says, but it would be more proper to say that Judex (whose name means "Justice") is a continuation of the basic idea of the obsessed revenger of wrongs, as with the 1903 character the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Judex does have what could *almost* be called a costume, in that at times he dresses all in black, with a hat and cloak that might remind some of the pulp-hero The Shadow. His face, though, is completely exposed, so his attire is more of a correlative of his mood than some bigger-than-life symbol of his mission. Judex's actor Robert Creste is often seen in ordinary clothes, even in some of his encounters with the villains, so there really doesn't seem to be any question of a "secret identity." There's no fantastic content to speak of and Judex doesn't even get into what one could term "fights." Another adjective applied to JUDEX in the advertising is "dreamlike." I've seen this applied to Feullaide's other serial LES VAMPIRES and didn't think it applies to that one either. The photography of JUDEX is admirably staged but all of the events are entirely mundane, never for a moment suggesting the metamorphoses of dream. Carl Dryer's VAMPYR or even Melies' TRIP TO THE MOON are far more suggestive in their respective usages of imagery than anything I've seen from Feullaide. And sorry, I don't get that much from Musidora, iconic "vamp" though she may be.

JUDEX itself is entertaining in a slow-paced way, but it's largely a quaint curiosity.
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