Tag Archives: english

Glamorous Night (1937) Brian Desmond Hurst, Mary Ellis, Otto Kruger, Victor Jory, Drama

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The popular Ivor Novello musical play Glamorous Night was given a conservative film treatment in 1937–minus much of the Novello score that had made it famous. Opera singer Mary Ellis plays an opera singer (why not?) who falls in with a band of roguish but likeable gypsies. Mary manages to convince her Bohemian cohorts to rescue the King from the machinations of his ambitious prime minister. As “cast insurance” to make certain that Glamorous Night would get American bookings, Hollywood character actors Otto Kruger and Victor Jory are given leading roles. The US distributors also sliced the film down from 81 to 65 minutes, through the simple expedient of removing several songs.
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Afterimages (2014) Tony Kern, Sheena Chan, Pamelyn Chee, Daniel Jenkins, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

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A group of film students burn paper effigy cameras for the wandering spirits during the ghost month in Singapore and receive a collection of horror movies in return. The first film received, GHOST POOL LEG, revolves around Chinese superstition in which ghosts are believed to pull swimmers legs to drown them. The second movie, XIAO BAO BAO, focuses on a young woman’s haunting experience after taking a postmortem photograph of a suicide jumper. The third movie, SKIN DEEP, finds a group of shoppers stuck in a mall elevator with a mysterious and beautiful woman who holds a terrible secret. The fourth film, REKINDLING, features a heartbroken hawker, a missing China bride, and the mysterious ring she left behind. The final film comes with a price.
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Bananas (1971) Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalbán, Comedy

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One of Woody Allen’s earlier, more slapstick-oriented efforts, Bananas tells the story of Fielding Mellish (Allen), a neurotic New Yorker who follows the object of his affections, Nancy (Louise Lasser), to the fictional Central American country of San Marcos, where she is involved in a revolution. Nancy wants nothing to do with Fielding, but he soon becomes a guest of the country’s dictator (Carlos Montalban), before accidentally becoming the leader of San Marcos himself. Fielding is eventually shipped back to the US and tried as a subversive, but being that this is a comedy, and an especially light one at that, everything works out in the end. A far cry from Allen’s later, more somber films, Bananas still works as an often hilarious amalgam of sight gags, one-liners, and bizarre asides.
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Fleisch / Spare Parts (1979) Rainer Erler, Jutta Speidel, Wolf Roth, Herbert Herrmann, Horror, Thriller

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A honeymooning couple (Jutta Speidel and Wolf Roth) are hunted down by mysterious kidnappers in cahoots with the evil landlady who runs a hotel. The woman manages to escape, but the man is whisked away by two medics in an ambulance. The bride enlists the help of a truck driver with a CB radio and uncovers a fiendish international plot to provide black-market organs. The ghouls take parts from the bodies of healthy young and extremely unwilling human victims.
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Between Love and Goodbye (2008) Casper Andreas, Simon Miller, Justin Tensen, Rob Harmon, Drama, Music, Romance

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Love makes the world go round. At least that’s what Marcel and Kyle believe, until they suddenly discover that love can alternatively flip the world upside-down. When certain elements are set into motion, they tend to stay in motion. If tampered with, they can spin out of control. Marcel and Kyle are in love at first sight, and even though they can’t legally marry, they will find a way to make it work. French Marcel marries their lesbian friend Sarah so he can stay in the USA with Kyle. Together they can overcome any obstacle, hurdle any barrier. Together they cannot be stopped. Enter Kyle’s sister April, a former prostitute. She needs a place to crash, but for how long? Taking a quick dislike to Marcel, April methodically drips poison into their happiness. But where Marcel sees a conniving woman with a not-so-hidden agenda, Kyle only sees his sister – in need. And how do you choose between family and the love of your life? Why should you have to?
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