UnknownDoomer Reviews

Crime Zone (1988)

A ray of light in a dark kingdom

[5/10 · 29 April 2024]

Distant future. A dystopian society with elements of a rigid caste system, in a world after a nuclear war. The city where the burning blonde Helen and the melancholy Bone live. A place in which they, on the one hand, want to succeed, and on the other hand, from which they want to escape. One day they get such a chance when someone named Jason gets in touch and offers them to steal the disk in exchange for him taking them outside the oppressive location. The announced mission does not bode well, but there probably won't be another chance. The heroes get to work, but, as sometimes happens, one thread pulls behind it a whole series of other events and, being nobody yesterday, the heroes turn into involuntary "runners in the shadows".

Most of this picture consists of obvious and not so obvious oppositions. The location is called the "City of the Sun", but it is always night here and it rains regularly. Local law enforcement agencies, in addition to their uniforms, distinguished by a stylish gothic make-up, adhere to strict discipline and formalities, but their behavior and regulations are not much different from the morals of frostbitten street mercenaries. Here, regulated prostitution coexists with restrictions on personal freedoms and hopeless devastation coexists with thriving sectors. The killing of unwanted elements has been turned into an element of entertainment broadcasts. Otherwise, there is a typical "high tech, low life" set and attention to small details, traditional for the cyberpunk genre, somewhat diluted with elements of neo-noir.

This film does not pretend to be any highly artistic or pompous messages, the plot is straightforward and individual scenes could use more elaboration, at the same time, the overall atmosphere is quite at the level, so in particular for the same one-time viewing in the evening or two.

Cherry 2000 (1987)

Redhead

[6/10 · 28 April 2024]

* Do not bring robots after eleven. That's the rule.

* Fine.

* We have a large assortment of Frenchies, Johns and Marilyns. You don't have to bring your own.

* Do you have Cherry?

* Cherry?... Where are you actually from?

2017. Evening. A representative of the corporate sector, at the same time a somewhat naive idealist, heads home, where a romantic dinner awaits him with his ideal android wife. For some reason our hero is not aware of the danger of mixing electrical matters and water, which is why the general idyll is suddenly disrupted by the short circuit of his passion. Indirect and explicit attempts by random people he meets and his entourage to divert attention to "real" women turn out to be futile - the main character only needs his "Cherry". The fact that local urban realities have reduced any, not just marriage, relationships into the format of a contract that has become an unshakable routine, full of many strict responsibilities on both sides, clearly not conducive to the once former, somewhat normal communication, does not add anything positive. By request of the hero who has given up, but has not lost hope, someone E. Johnson, a guide, will have to come to his aid, who will have to find a suitable duplicate, that is, consider the shell, of the lost passion and load the preserved data into it. From this moment the most interesting thing begins - the abandoned robot warehouse is located far away, in a dangerous zone, somewhere in the desert of Nevada, and behind the city limits and a beautiful picture hides a dangerous wasteland, which is in the complete power of local, rather peculiar, psychopaths. The "private detective" himself also turns out to be not quite the one the hero expected to see, and their meeting, in every sense, will turn out to be fatal.

Despite the sagging plot and atmosphere in places, the very peculiar combination of cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic elements, many small iconic details, such as, in particular, the fact that the previously mentioned meeting will be scheduled in a town with the catchy name "Glory Hole", chandeliers in the room in the form of "Pac-Man" or the fact that the future partner wears an "Ignity" t-shirt and drives a taut, orange 1965 Ford Mustang, makes the film interesting. Futuristic interiors, gloss and measured life here are combined and contrasted with scorched earth, canyons, diesel punk, rusty cars and colorful elements living somewhere near the ruins of Las Vegas. Otherwise, there is a fairly typical set for the genre - chases, shootouts, a romantic line, a little humor, and varied satire regarding pop culture. This work differs from other genre paintings in the absence of a clearly expressed emphasis on dark tones. I would also separately note that for those who loved "Fallout: New Vegas" (2010) or "Cyberpunk 2077" (2020), this film may be interesting in its own way.

Max Headroom (1985 TV Movie)

Garbage broadcast

[6/10 · 27 April 2024]

Gloomy future. Deserted streets. Media syndicates. Edison Carter is a hard-hitting reporter. One day he indirectly traces the existence of advertising, which has a dual impact on the subconscious of its consumers. On the one hand, they become addicted to watching it, on the other hand, like a drug, it is quite capable of killing some of those who happen to see it. The undesirable effect itself is not purposeful, but rather a specific by-product of a technical invention, but, as usual, ratings come first. The people standing behind the scenes are trying in vain to intimidate the reporter. Ultimately, a combination of circumstances will lead to the appearance of an alter ego - a computer version of himself with, at first glance, a strange call sign - Max Headroom. It is this digital form that will be destined to bring a little justice to the world. Where such a strange name came from can be understood in one of the scenes.

The action in this television film is presented primarily in the form of a vague, sometimes semi-documentary chronicle, with many screens, equipment, three-dimensional projections and faces in the frame. To some extent, this makes it similar to FMV quests, which became widespread with the onset of the nineties of the last century, both on the IBM PC and the 3DO console that appeared in 1993 in particular. The short running time, just under an hour, puts it on the same shelf as short films. Otherwise, it's difficult to say anything about the movie itself without obvious spoilers, so instead I'll focus on two other components.

First, in 1987-1988, an eponymous series was aired that lasted for two seasons and fourteen episodes, about an hour each. Secondly, the work, which is not particularly well known in our country, largely received cult status due to an incident on real television that occurred on November 22, 1987. An unidentified hacker managed to go on the evening live broadcast of the WGN-TV television channel, which was operating in Chicago, USA in those years. For about a minute and a half, the man hiding under the mask of Max Headroom was fooling around in a very unique way, at the same time essentially ridiculing both the TV channel itself and the media in general. The story that same evening was repeated on the consonant name WTTW. Today both the entry itself and the description in detail can be found in the same Wikipedia.

Trancers (1984)

Retrowave

[6/10 · 27 April 2024]

* "Hey, what are you doing?!"

* "Only teddy-boys walk around with dry hair".

Noir, neon lights, dirty streets, a bit of the distant future and the near past, as well as what today is called synth / retrowave - the main components of this film. They are in many ways part of the typical set of the genre to which it relates. Cyberpunk.

The main character, represented by a policeman with the sonorous name Jack Death, in a unique way will go back in time about 300 years ago, namely to Los Angeles in the 1980s, in search of one of his goals. An already difficult task is overshadowed by one more detail - the criminal can subjugate other people to his will, turning them into kind of obedient dolls. The protagonist also has personal motives.

The plot of the story may seem basic and not distinguished by any originality, but in the process the narrative outline will acquire many small interesting details. Among them, in particular, one can separately highlight the aspect of how the hero will gradually have to get used to new realities for him, in matters from food to moving through the streets, as well as a new company in the person of a "local" blonde.

The overall action will unfold quickly, without unnecessary embellishment or explanation, complemented by a good atmosphere, a feature with time dilation and an unexpected twist in the finale. The total timing was less than an hour and a half. This fact, however, was compensated in a peculiar way by a whole series of successors, but, unlike the original, apparently they turned out to be practically not in demand, partly likely due to a departure from the initially given vector.

By the way. The hero from the recently announced game "Nobody Wants to Die" (2024) in its concept is somewhat reminiscent of the character from this film. A couple of other details also suggest similar associations.

Decoder (1984)

Tech / Noir

[5/10 · 26 April 2024]

Industrial and urban landscapes, a predominance of dark tones, laconic dialogues, and an electronic soundtrack - the four main components of this film, which can be classified as a rather rare subgenre of techno-noir. The atmosphere and surroundings, as quite regularly happens in an art house, significantly prevail over everything else.

In order to somehow minimally connect the mentioned elements into a single whole, a storyline was conceived dedicated to a certain F. M., who spends a little more than all his free time on musical experiments. One day he discovers that the population is under the control of a corporation hidden in the shadows called "Muzak". As it's main instrument, it uses specifically processed, hypnotic music, in fragments of which hidden messages are sewn (here one cannot help but suggest analogies with the works of John Carpenter, be it "Aliens Among Us" (1988) or the more peculiar "Videodrome" (1982)). If you edit one of the tapes with such recordings, you can get the opposite effect. Quite naturally, his hobbies fall into the attention spectrum of mysterious people and an agent with the call sign Yeager is sent to hunt for him. The main character also has a girl who performs in a peep show and is interested in frogs.

It would be possible to dwell in more detail on certain subtleties and twists and turns of the plot, such as the same diner where paramilitary orders reign, but this makes not much sense, since they serve only as a necessary background for the audiovisual elements. The artistic component is periodically diluted with real documentary inserts. In particular, the riots shown in the films are a real chronicle, and the action itself probably takes place somewhere in the western part of Berlin. In the context of local electronic-industrial music, there are a couple of notable tracks. In contrast to the somewhat similar in spirit, but much more highly specialized "Liquid Sky" (1982), it almost does not flow into obsessive, white noise - certainly a plus for the overall action.

In the end, I note that with all that has been said, the picture is still specific, an extraordinary example of a cult project, but for a narrow circle of people, that does not pretend to be anything more. In other words, if you liked certain elements from the first "Terminator" (1984), then this picture may either fine to watch or seem like just a set of strange, incoherent clips.

Alphaville (1965)

Thinking non-logically is a crime

[7/10 · 25 April 2024]

* "Clear. My morals and supernatural calling are against a weak physical and mental form that is easily controlled by techniques."

* "You have strange ideas, Monsieur Cousion."

A noir detective arrive on a planet millions of light years away, where specific orders reign. Explicit expressions of emotion, like "Equilibrium" (2002), are prohibited. Undesirable words that do not fit into the local dystopia are subject to removal - in particular, none of the locals know what "consciousness" means. Everything in these areas is run by a mainframe named "Alpha-60", whose work is supported by a group of engineers led by a fugitive scientist. The entire population follows the instructions of a huge machine, some of which are sometimes understandable only to its specific makeup. The hero needs to find the fugitive and either eliminate him or return him to his home planet.

In essence, based on such a description, one would initially expect moderately ordinary science fiction, reflecting the spirit of its time, if not for a single comma - the film was directed by Jean-Luc Godard, known for his generally unusual view of, among other things, familiar things and, probably, who was at the peak of his creative potential at that moment. This same film was the first film I watched by this director, out of the five that I selected for one of my lists.

In general, a conventionally ordinary task turns out for the main character into a whole series of strange situations, against the background of which various rhetorical and philosophical questions are raised, such as what is "normality", logic and thinking as such, and the emphasis from completing the original mission gradually shifts to what in order not so much to successfully get out of a distant and strange world, but not to go crazy along the way. In addition to everything, the pretty daughter of the desired abstract antagonist, named Natasha, comes into his field of vision, and the hitherto aloof character becomes unable to pass by. Her views on things, in contrast to the main protagonist, will also be questioned.

It is worth noting that despite the designated genre and some inclusions of science fiction, the city landscapes and other objects here are the streets of France of those years, and various kinds of additional clutter are kept to a minimum. The result is an unusual effect.

You can evaluate the film in two ways, probably, if you wish, it can easily be transferred to the category of pseudo-intellectual sketches on the topic of the day, which have lost all relevance over time, but, at the same time, you can look at the context from a completely different angle, among other things, drawing different parallels with the now technogenic day today's.

Liquid Sky (1982)

Pop-art

[4/10 · 25 April 2024]

This work tells about the everyday life of a group of semi-abstract representatives of the fashionable bohemian-underground scene of New York, whose life consists of three main components - fooling around, random sex, dangerous substances. Their sluggish stay is diluted... by the arrival of a UFO, which first kills and then steals the bodies of the lost partygoers, and does this exclusively in cases where it concerns either the second or the third. Somewhere in between a lover of conspiracy theories, who suspected something was wrong, arrives at this "celebration of life", straight from Berlin. He, at the same time, is a kind of a hunter of other civilizations, trying to unravel this complicated story. It is characteristic that neither his appearance nor other events make absolutely any impression on the local inhabitants. Everything that happens is sometimes diluted by a rather viscous, or rather sometimes very annoying, semblance of sound effects, which is objectively not suitable for a full-fledged soundtrack, as well as a specific color filter.

In other words, the film, shot by immigrants from the USSR, is an example of pure art, occasionally slipping somewhere in the borderland between outright blackness and trash, where form greatly prevails over content. A purely hypothetically interesting concept, but overall a dubious presentation.

To some extent, the overall situation is saved by the style and surroundings, which in their own way indirectly reflect the then, early eighties, environment of individual industrial punks and fans of electronic music, whose images in particular intersect with the same now classic in the person of the group Kraftwerk from Germany, but only remotely. A specific image should not necessarily be associated with a descent into trash, and the narrative should not be detached. Techno, which subsequently came into use, and the local "chaotic gurgling" are not the same thing. However, apparently, the director had a strong vision for all these matters, like Andy Warhol, sometimes understandable only to him. Due to these factors, around the middle of the running time, it becomes simply boring to watch.

Finally, for a brief comparison, in particular, I recommend searching on the well-known video platform for "Punks, Goths & Mods on Irish TV" (1983).

Fallout (2024– )

Film production and its components

[7/10 · 12 April 2024]

Let's start with the fact that those who were expecting a dark, melancholic drama with complex philosophical explorations in the spirit of "The Book of Eli" (2010) or the opposite, full of killer action in the form of "Doomsday" (2008), will be disappointed. Fans of art house and "Six-String Samurai" (1998) are also unlikely will like the adaptation. Amazon's Fallout, although it has a little bit of everything in it, ultimately remains a predominantly evil satire with elements of fan service, taking the ideological and conceptual basis of the controversial fourth part of the game series.

The shelters are safe, but the wasteland is lifeless only at first glance. Monsters come not only in the form of cockroaches, water creatures, but also people. Consumerism of the fifties played a cruel joke on its ideological inspirers. The authors quickly go over the top, paying a lot of attention to small details, references and key elements, some of which, however, will only be understandable to hardcore fans of the genre. A scene later they joke about the fact that the "Brotherhood of Steel" uses old technologies to collect technologies, while simultaneously sarcastically noting that there is no practical use for a toaster found in a scorched desert. They immediately switch to the next segment, without really plunging into the context. This approach is reflected in its own way on the main characters:

• A shelter resident raised on high ideals is forced by circumstances to go to the surface and face harsh reality.

• A boy who miraculously survived, tormented by moral dilemmas, builds his career in the "Brotherhood of Steel".

• Ghoul cowboy. An ambiguous character with a partially vague past, whose image and behavior, adjusted for local realities, are almost completely copied from the "Man in Black" from "Westworld" (2016-2022).

At first all three will be united by the search for a certain object that can change the fate of the entire surrounding surviving world. Along the way, the main story arc, as usual in an "RPG with Action elements", is diluted with several side stories of varying degrees of interest.

During flashbacks, when one of the characters indulges in rhetorical reasoning, a third kind character interrupts him with an apt thought - they are all just a product for later consumption, so it's time to forget about art and any meaningful depth in a world ruled by corporations and a joyful consumer culture. What serves as a small plot digression is equally applicable as a verdict on the first season. The film adaptation is not bad in its own way, but at the same time, it's required to understand its specifics and what lies at its core, so as not to expect from it what it is not.

Beyond Desire (1995)

Weird fatal couple

[4/10 · 26 March 2024]

Speaking about thrillers with elements of eroticism, as well as those involved in them, initially, to a lesser or greater extent, labeled in category "B", which could perhaps only be filmed in the nineties, four components involuntarily catch our attention, in smaller or larger proportions accompanying both categories - murders, a moderately twisted plot, profanity, mainly using one single word, nudity. And if in the first case the mentioned components often serve as a kind of addition to the overall action, then in the second usually the emphasis on them completely fills the frame.

Actually, the film in question can be classified as one of these category "B" products. There are two main characters. Served fourteen years for a murder he didn't commit, pretending to be Elvis Presley, an eccentric guy. A person of not particularly difficult behavior, in the person of Kari Wuhrer, who in particular may be known to fans of computer games for her role as Tanya in "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2" (2000), driving around here in a red Corvette.

Chance brings them together somewhere in the vicinity of Las Vegas and together they decide to be a kind of "Bonnie and Clyde", with the difference that they oppose themselves not to law enforcement agencies, but to the Italian mafia. The narrative moves at a ragged pace, but gradually gains momentum, covering locations from a landfill with neon signs, city backyards and desert to the Hoover Dam.

Meanwhile, returning to the introduction. Sometimes in some B-movies you can sometimes find some interesting details, but here everything succinctly fits into what has been said, or, to put it another way, apart from the varying degrees of Kari's clothes and undress, there is nothing special to look at.

Fara (1999)

Flashbacks, hippies, bankers and Angela Davis

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

Melodrama, diluted with criminal aspects and peculiar humor. An unlucky cook named Farah refuses his inheritance in the form of a bank and an account with a round sum. This situation, on the one hand, does not suit an old, but now cynical, acquaintance who was left behind, as well as a blonde who happened to turn up with a sick son in the person of Kristina Orbakaite, who urgently needs money. An acquaintance of the main character decides to take advantage of this fact in his own way, but everything does not go according to plan.

The main plot and generally short running time are diluted with regular flashbacks to the early seventies. Farah's difficult childhood, combined with personnel for the struggle for black rights in the person of Angela Davis and local representatives of the hippies, who also found a place in modern times.

There are a lot of flashbacks, the logic sags in places, the action periodically slips into farce, but the overall level is more or less maintained.

Dikiy vostok (1993)

Eastern madness

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

* Who was that?

* Ivan Taiga.

* Who? Taiga?

* Yeah. The one. Elusive.

* And what? Can't anyone catch him?

* Who the hell needs him?

"The Last Soviet Film" - says the slogan. Briefly a few facts:

* Initially it was assumed that the entire "Kino" group would star in the film. Whether the film would have been better in the end is anyone's guess. It was replaced by the group "Tequilajazzz", which had just been formed at that time.

* Filming took place in autumn and winter in Kyrgyzstan and in spring in Almaty.

* The work quite clearly stands on the same field as "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" (1981), while taking the theme of the eastern as a basis, i.e. The opposite of western, Soviet cars and things. If you wish, you can find other less / more obvious borrowings, such as the episode with potatoes from "Chapaev" (1934), and also that the number of heroes, seven, refers to the corresponding Japanese work.

* Project exists only in a draft version.

The outline of the plot is like this. Somewhere in the steppe lives a circus dynasty of lilliputians. They are attacked by a crazy gang and are unable to resist them on their own. In order to somehow cope with the situation they go to the nearest semblance of a populated area, the only cultural establishment in which there is a bar and something like a hotel where they play German porn. In that area, for 100,000,000 of a certain currency, they plan to hire a free mercenary, who along the way will be accompanied by a non-talkative guy in dark glasses, a drunkard, a fatal blonde in a convertible, whose name is... Marilyn, a trickster in a mask, a guy with an eagle.

Sounds crazy? However, the further narrative does not require any special comments. Here is the case when it is difficult to convey the atmosphere in words, you need to watch it and the further verdict may be exactly the opposite. From recognizing this work as pretentious trash to drawing analogies with the same "Six-String Samurai" (1998), which I personally didn't like for anything other than the soundtrack at the time.

The Place on a Grey Tricorne (1993)

No meaning

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

Several gloomy everyday life of a young resident of Almaty. Empty lengthy conversations, cigarettes and alcohol, chance meetings, the same spontaneous showdowns, rare writing of poems and plays for the table - a typical set of his activities for the day. In essence this film can be called a continuation of a given vector presented by the other films from Kazakhstan, with the difference that this time the narration is told on behalf of an indigenous, but at the same time leading a marginal lifestyle, a resident of the capital, who, unlike the previous heroes, is deprived of any - principles that are understandable, including those that seem to him, and in a peculiar way, trying in vain to find meaning in life, randomly alternating the above-mentioned elements.

Master Vostoka (1992)

Wrong place, wrong time

[4/10 · 26 March 2024]

A somewhat crude, amateur-made action movie with oriental motifs. Actually, in view of this aspect, which in its own way exploits the principle "it's so bad that in some places it's good", it stands out in its own way from the background of other countless and faceless brothers in the genre, although certain borrowings from the same "Fanat" (1989) suggest themselves. Martial arts master Kim In Ho teaches at his own school, but finds himself caught between two fires. On the one hand late Soviet morals in relation to such training still remain rather ambiguous. On the other hand local criminals are interested in training their "infantry" in the right direction, but they are refused, and the adoption of his younger brother, independent beyond his years, does not help them. According to the laws of the genre, the latter dies as a result of a spontaneous showdown and the hero, once impregnable as a rock, goes on the warpath.

Krysinyy ugol (1992)

Forbidden art

[4/10 · 26 March 2024]

A former karate trainer returns after serving several years in prison for his once forbidden hobby. The world around us manages to transform during this time, but the old resentment towards those who once contributed to the imprisonment of a comrade has not gone away, and other aggravating circumstances are added to it, so that revenge and another round of confrontation in the form of a lone hero against criminal structures and the sold out police will not force itself wait.

Beyond the framework of this typical plot synopsis, the fleeting chase on a Lada, and also the fact that Alexander Inshakov, who was later involved in the creation of the cult "Brigada" (2002), was noted here, there is nothing special to say.

Idealnaya para (1992)

Moderate erotic comedy

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

Two married couples take part in the filming of a romantic film in the south of the country. Men decide to diversify their time in an unusual way - at night they secretly change places and spend time with each other's passions, but their "swinger plan", thought out to the smallest detail, does not go as planned, since the wives, having recognized that something was wrong, simultaneously pull off the opposite scheme . Thus, while at first it seems that they are sleeping with each other's wives, in fact it turns out the opposite, different situations unfold around this fact and the creation of the mentioned canvas will only add some confusion.

If today someone tried to make a film with a similar concept, then, probably, at best, some kind of absolutely passable pornography would come out and not so much in the sense of the content itself, but in the setting and other elements. Here the situation is different and the film, despite its purely "perestroika" specifics and perhaps partly due to the short running time, looks quite tolerable and does not slide into obvious trash and waste, which could well be expected, taking into account the year of release. Separately can note the good soundtrack.

Shtemp (1991)

Typical, local crime movie

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

Notable for some movie moments, such as the main character's escape from prison, which suggests a reverse association with "Beyond the Final Line" (1991), but otherwise a generally formulaic detective story in the form of a confrontation between a single character, a principled criminal investigation inspector, a double agent and a diverse mafia in Moscow, which also included some people from law enforcement agencies.

Almost all the action is packed into the last 10 minutes of the film. In the final conversation between the two bigwigs of the criminal business, one interesting detail emerges, reflecting the spirit of the times - soon the bandits of the old formation will have to start worrying not so much about party leaders, incorruptible elements from the police or KGB officers, but about the lawless people who have poured into the capital, to whom the old principles are completely alien .

Adjusted for the times, dozens of works of this kind are now being released on the local conventional TV channels, as a result, like a number of other films, it is particularly notable for its purely extraordinary, some representation of the short "perestroika" period.

Den lyubvi (1990)

The lights in the darkness will shine for the people in Russia...

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

The Dakar Rally, criminal showdowns, elements of cheap... no, not erotica, but rather pornography, presented together with ragged editing, with obvious and not obvious borrowings from Western works of that period, like the same "Cobra" (1986) , footage from which was partially included in the film itself. This is how we can briefly describe this "late-perestroika" action movie.

A certain organized crime group wants to carry out an operation to remove and further sell several KAMAZ vehicles on the black market, but the plan is derailed due to the arrival of an investigator for particularly important cases and the detention of one of the key figures, but the leaders of the mentioned structure not only do not particularly despair, but also decide to take radical measures - to instruct the local "sixes" from the local "winder" (a now forgotten term that previously designated radical youth groups) to carry out a very peculiar diversionary maneuver on the day on which the key operation was moved, which should consist of a series of chaotic rape.

At first the situation goes according to plan, the city plunges into chaos, the police immediately forget about the trucks, but two minor aspects fall out of the attention of the "great planners". The first - a two-faced blonde, who is also a student of a culinary vocational school, who is also a friend of the further mentioned young lady, proposes to take into account the principle of "Rape? So the queen of a beauty contest is a best pick". The second - the "winder" keeps the "weak in spirit" artist in its ranks. Both personalities will subsequently play their part in this twisted play.

Events take an even steeper turn after the former racer, the adoptive father of the aforementioned modest winner of the competition, together with his real father, an engineer who has just landed at the nearest airport from Germany, decide to play Rambo for two, dashingly dealing with the kind but not all, but part of the mentioned gang - the remnants of it, among other things, will literally storm the local police station. In addition to all that has been said, the confusion of what is happening here and there is accompanied by a good soundtrack.

However, despite the efforts made, the ending will be tragic according to "perestroika" for the vast majority of participants on both "sides of the barricades", except for one mysterious, dark figure, who turns out to be the main recipient of the benefit in the form of the mentioned technology.

V gorode Sochi tyomnye nochi (1989)

Student and a plumber or two criminals?

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

At first it may seem that this film is a typical set of sketches from the life of an ordinary student and a plumber who deals in fraud, the story of which could well unfold somewhere in the early or mid-Soviet seventies, but only at first glance. In the process the picture acquires increasingly darker colors, the failed plumber turns out to be a repeat offender with two convictions, gradually getting lost in the context of where, when and who he managed to "shoe", how and for what amount, and the student turns out to be a riotous person, in the course of what is happening, how another and a character who is losing the meaning of life, in her own way moving to nowhere over the heads of the personalities around them. Ultimately, a confluence of different circumstances will bring them together in the city of Sochi and, as is typical for "perestroika" cinema, there will be no happy ending.

Zhenshchina dnya (1989)

Love triangle in "perestroika" Kazakhstan

[6/10 · 26 March 2024]

An intricate classic love triangle, the action of which takes place on the streets of "perestroika" Almaty. The mentioned figure is represented here by those who are considered to be the conventional creative intelligentsia, briefly diluted by a strange, mysterious stranger who attracts the attention of the main character, jaded with her former lifestyle, in the person of Alika Smekhova.

On the one hand it seems to be an unremarkable romanticized melodrama and on the other there is a certain abstraction here that allowed this film to quite spontaneously sneak into my mostly gloomy list.

If do not take into account the romantic line, then, like other films of a similar nature, it can be interesting in displaying small details that reflect an unusual time segment.

Avtoportret neizvestnogo (1989)

Thrashing through life

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

A writer lost in life wanders through the city's back streets. A random, or maybe not entirely, coincidence of circumstances leads him to a provincial regional cinema, which in the current era of shopping and entertainment centers has now become rather a rare relic. Gasoline is running out, it's raining outside, and then a truck is blocking the passage - with nothing else to do, the main character decides to stay for a session showing different fragments of his life. Further the tossing back and forth and various random fellow travelers are interspersed with the general surrealism of what is happening.

It can be assumed that such a unique message gives a chance to rethink one's life and, perhaps, correct some aspects of days long gone by, but the film does not give a clear answer to this question, just as in its near-philosophical research it is objectively far from well-known examples in this subgenre, like the same "Stalker" (1979). However, given the year of release, it would be at least somewhat naive to expect anything other than a concrete jungle.

2-Assa-2 (2008)

Unnecessary continuation

[1/10 · 26 March 2024]

An indirect completion of the quadralogy, which is an absolutely incomprehensible hodgepodge of flashbacks from the first film inserted here and there (the murder of the main antagonist is shown several times), performances of the "Leningrad" group coupled with drunken showdowns, filming of another film by the director, "Anna Karenina" (2008) and sluggish action (constituting perhaps the smallest part of the running time), which in a very unique way continues the plot of the original film, while indicating that the action of the first took place in the "perestroika year" of 1987, although the latter seemed to indicate 1980. Why and for whom was this filmed - the question is open and rhetorical.

Love, Death & Robots (2019– )

A mixture of "Black Mirror" and the classic "Twilight Zone"

[7/10 · 26 March 2024]

What is said in the title is the answer to the question if I were asked to briefly describe this collection of short films. From the first there is a penchant for conventionally acute social themes and exaggerated cruelty, and from the second a mixture of genres from science fiction to horror with the obligatory unexpected plot twist at the end.

They say that the viewing sequence for different users may differ depending on certain parameters. I personally watched the collection on Netflix, I haven't tested this theory, maybe there is something underneath it, although fundamentally it doesn't affect anything. The videos are not connected to the plot in any way.

It is worth noting that those who are especially impressionable and suspicious, as well as those who are not fans of modern short films, should immediately pass by most of the videos in the selection, since the level of "anatomical" cruelty, gore and other guts in the frame is relative (and more often without) in each second video subjectively repeats a number of fatalities from the latest parts of "Mortal Kombat" combined. Perhaps the presence of one of the authors of "Deadpool" is having an effect here, but it seems that this is the general tendency of the genre today, when it comes to modern short films from England or the USA - maximum bloody action, straightforward eroticism, and a pinch of semantic load.

Everyone who is not too lazy has already gone over the general points, so to describe in a nutshell I will draw (where I can and I see the point) an analogy from the category if you liked it, then you can pay attention to the following in movies, games, less often somewhere else along the next gradation :

+ - subjectively liked it.

+/- "watchable." ? - strange.

• nothing particularly interesting.

(!) - an additional designation for the "relatively" context of "not moderate" volumes of blood and other "obscenities". In case anyone wants to bypass them.

18:

(!) + 1. Sonnie's Edge. CGI graphics. A typical sketch of the cyberpunk genre.

• 2. Three Robots. A parable about eternal human shortcomings and idiosyncrasies in the interpretation of three robots that are not similar to each other. The closest statement on the topic is "WALL-E" (2008).

(!) ? 3. The Witness. Again CGI, but with an emphasis on realism. I forgot the name of this technique... I'll leave it without comment. "Memento" (2000) by Christopher Nolan.

+/- 4. Suits. No comments. If you're interested in big, walking mechs, then when it comes to games, "MechCommander "(1998-1999) and the "BattleTech" (2018) are worth a look.

(!) - 5. Suckers of Souls. Anime. Lots of blood. The semantic load is level with the latest parts of "Another World" with Kate Beckinsale. If you like vampire themes, I recommend the very first part, which was released in 2003. As well as the classic RPG genre - "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" (2004). Or wait for the sequel.

+/- 6. When the yogurt too... 3D animation. And another philosophical parable. Similar to 2.

(!) + 7. Beyond the Aquila Rift. CGI in space with a twist at the end. CGI is of a level we probably won't see in games for years to come. But who knows. To play - "Mass Effect 2" and 3.

+ 8. Good Hunting. Not a bad anime with a touch of steampunk and erotica. Google "steamgirl". If you're lucky, you'll end up on a site with a clear combination of the first and second.

• 9. The Dump. 3D. "District No. 9" (2009).

(!) - 10. Shape Shifters. CGI with an emphasis on realism about the heavy burden of werewolves in the war in Afghanistan.

• 11. Helping Hand. A parable about self-sacrifice. "Moon 2112" (2009).

? 12. Fish Night. Graphic style: "Cel-shading". See the entire "Borderlands" series from Gearbox.

+/- 13. Lucky 13. Again space and battles in it. A parable about superstitions.

+ 14. Zima Blue. An abstract meditative creation about the search for the meaning of life. "Exit Through the Gift Shop" (2010).

+/- 15. Blindspot. An ordinary outing of "shadow runners" in a typical cyberpunk. See the "Shadowrun" trilogy of games.

+/- 16. Ice Age. The only video with real actors + CGI. I'll leave it without any other comments.

• 17. Alternative Histories. A "what if?" story. The drawing style is somewhat reminiscent of modern 2d flat, used here and there. Specifically in the context of the plot - the trilogy of "Wolfenstein" games, starting with "The New Order", "The Man in the High Castle".

(!) - 18. The Secret War. CGI + mysticism. Play "Singularity" (2010).

As for the rating, minus two points for the degree that is clearly on average too bent with the component of the formula according to the principle "sea of blood and mountains of corpses" == cool!. Not cool.

And another minus point for the combination of this matter with the often lack of semantic load as an element as a whole. The pretentiousness of some conventionally art-house authors is annoying. In contrast, one way or another, we have already seen all of this to one degree or another in different, sometimes better, packaging. So, I got 4 out of 18 full pluses: "Sonnie's Edge", "Beyond the Aquila Rift", "Good Hunting", "Zima Blue".

Kindred: The Embraced (1996)

First try, mediocre try

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

I'm not a particular fan of vampire themes in general, but I've watched some things, plus I've completed VTMB two times at the time of writing this review. Therefore my review will be from the perspective of an outside observer, without any degree of fandom or romanticized overtones.

Overall a rather mediocre series that would have long been lost in the mass of the same kind of criminal-mystical creations on secondary television channels, if not for one single BUT, because of which to this day people remember it and watch it - a board game, formed the basis.

The other day wandering around in the depths of the "VKontakte" fan group dedicated to the game "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines", I came across an old post mentioning this series. I decided to take a look.

What do we have as a starting point?

At the time of its release, 1996, there was already a board game (1991 - present), there was already "Dracula" (1992), but the vampire theme had not yet been particularly mainstream in the mass consciousness ("Blade" (1998), "Another World" (2003) and further). Also there were no famous rpg / action games on the relevant topic ("Castlevania" doesn't count), and I think only a few people knew about the board game itself (as they still do today). In this regard an experiment in a fairly accurate transfer of game aspects looks not only interesting, but also a rare phenomenon in general, especially considering that it did not rely on any potential wide audience in advance, as was the case, for example, with "Mortal Kombat: Conquest" ( 1998 - 1999).

True to spirit.

In general, as the plot progresses, the main canons are mentioned, although, often, there are sometimes free handling and discrepancies with them. Specifics of clans. A vampire prince, the head of a certain city, monitoring the observance of the masquerade and regulating any clashes that arise. Historical conflicts between different clans. Specifics of turning into vampires. Humanity and spiritual impulses. Occasionally a demonstration of certain abilities of individual representatives, such as the swiftness of toareadors, which causes bewilderment among some mere mortals as to how they appear and disappear so quickly.

Clans.

Vampire clans are represented by 6 out of 13 possible:

1. Bruja / Bruja, they are local anarchists who do not shy away from regular criminal showdowns, most of which the series is dedicated to.

2. Ventrue, cold-blooded individuals with a desire for top management and regular management, are represented in the amount of 2 pieces.

3. Gangrel, which according to the canon are tramps and unsociable, which is not so much in the series, just one. They can turn into an animal form, but here almost everyone does it, regardless of clan affiliation (which, without some radical amendments, is in complete dissonance with the original source, as far as I know).

4. Nosferatu, a distinctive feature in the series, are designated only as creepy-looking vampires without any special characteristics or explanation as to why they are such.

5. Toreador, initially hedonists and artists in the broad sense of the word, with a greater bias towards the understanding of mere mortals. In the series there are mainly purely female attractive individuals, aka beauty, which is designated as the main characteristic.

The clans of "Malkavians" and "Tremere", despite the fact that they could be of perhaps the greatest interest in adaptation, are absent as a phenomenon in the series. I believe there is no way to explain this other than the budget, and perhaps also the fact that the series ended after eight episodes of season one.

6. But there was room for one "Assamite". In one episode. In short they are hired killers who achieve their goals by any means necessary.

Ending.

The series has no logical conclusion, the plot ends at episode eight. Apparently season one should have ended there, but the second never happened.

As a result:

2 points for trying to bring an interesting concept to the television screen; 1 point for the fact that such an attempt was made back in 1996; 1 point for general compliance with canon.

And - 0.5 for various flaws. Every second person here can turn into a wolf. The "Ventrue" prince is forced to resolve conflicts that arise more or less alone. "Gangrel", who was hired specifically as a bodyguard, presumably based on the logic of clan affiliation, turns out to be good for nothing according to the plot outline. It seems that if you drink a lot of blood, you can completely walk around in the light of day. In the next shot we have one character melting in the sun. If you want, I think you can still find quite a few strange jambs.

1 point for cute female characters. As for the male ones, the local "Ventrue" prince is somewhat reminiscent of the local version of "Highlander" (1992-1998). And the actor who played the head of the "Brujah" clan looks like the antagonist from "Highlander" circa 1986.

0.5 as a conditional fan bonus.

You can watch it in passing, but it's better to get yourself a copy of the game "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines", patch+, a number of mods and plunge into the "world of darkness" for 40+ hours. Some fans of the genre might give it a 6 or even a 7, but I, as I already mentioned initially, am not one of them.

Also. By now there are few more games in"world of darkness" available to play, among them there is a direct sequel to VTMB is still in work.

Batman: Hush (2019 Video)

It used to be better?

[5/10 · 26 March 2024]

I'll start the review by saying that I recommend finding and watching "Batman TAS lost episode", ~ 17 minutes long, in the vastness of the network. Once upon a time it was included with something on the not very successful Sega CD. The general concept of what is being discussed here was implemented before it became mainstream.

Continuing. I decided to watch it out of curiosity immediately after reading the original. I will also note that I rarely get to comics, but lately I've been choosing some things individually.

Even if we don't take the original source into account as a whole, abstracting ourselves in the direction of a random viewer who was passing by, then in the end we will still get the impression of a rather chaotic film adaptation, a kind of hasty craft, it's not very clear for whom it was made, in which there are a lot of plot and other holes. Fans of the genre are guaranteed not to appreciate it. Casual viewers... will get pretty bored. Some are quoted verbatim, some are abbreviated, many details are omitted, certain aspects are completely turned on their head / thrown out. Some antagonists have been replaced... some, let's say, that are essentially important from the standpoint of the plot outline have been completely removed. The result is a kind of faded, passable "category C" action with flashing, quickly changing pictures with an incomprehensible semantic load in places, which cannot be said about the original...

... If we take for comparison the last couple of DC creations, represented by the generally even more or less good film adaptation of "The Killing Joke" (2016), and the essentially passable "Batman and Harley Quinn" (2017), then this is still a significant step towards further degradation genre, and, as a result, an already alarming trend. For a simple comparison, any much shorter "regular" episode of an animated series from the nineties looks more meaningful in comparison. But some of them also quote certain, initially rather short, comic book issues, like that one aka "Mad Love".

Conclusion?

See and forget. It's better not to look at all and join the colorful original or pay attention to something else. For example:

"Batman: Under the Hood" (2010) (if you like modern style; also similar context).

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993) / "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" (2000) (if more classic art).

G.I. Jane (1997)

Elite soldier

[7/10 · 26 March 2024]

Overall simple in its essence and content, but at the same time one of the iconic films with Demi Moore, which has become a classic today. Among other things it raises questions of will and goal-setting and to what extent it is possible to overcome the initially completely inaccessible by the forces of these alone, or to obtain what was initially unattainable, or, otherwise, to find one's own edge, where these aspects tend to end.

Some details are missing. For example, at first, a formal feature of the contract American army or a kind of unspoken rule that is emphasized, which is dissonant with the often relevant principle of "not washing dirty linen in public" - officers can yell as much as they want, cast menacing glances or swear, trying to knock out subordinates the result they need. As soon as they resort to assault, nominally all is lost. To what extent and in what proportion this is true in reality is an open question.

Another point about the role of women in the army as such. Somewhere early in the film, upon arriving at the camp, one of Jane's fellow soldiers says that the average woman has ~ 25% more fat than a man, but if the extra load doesn't bother her, then he doesn't mind her being in the squad. Another celebrates women's service in Israel.

This reminded me of a story. One day I accidentally wandered into the "livejournal" of an Israeli military analyst, which, in particular, devoted a lot of time to the issue of women's service in the local army. In Israel, due, apparently, to the small population, they are called up without fail. Some of the topics were devoted to the periodic issue of the struggle of the most ardent feminists for the fact that a woman can serve on an equal basis with a man in any branch of the military and they do not understand why one can get into conditional anti-aircraft gunners, gunners in a tank brigade or radio operators without problems, but in, say, border troops near hot spots - no. The essence of the debate came down to the fact that no matter how much one wanted it, from a strategic position the question rested on the dry statistics of research regarding gender differences - the volume of muscle mass, psychotypes and other abstract matters that in certain branches of the military implicitly come into play.

The final part of the film is somewhat out of the general outline for the sake of the increased classical stake on American patriotism that is typical in such cases and, perhaps, could have been completely different.

Among films similar in spirit, one can note "Men of Honor" (2000).