That’s my favorite of the Star Trek movies.
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Yesterday I received and watched Tank Girl (USA-1995) from director Rachel Talalay.
Based on some cult comic I never read.
It is a very strange movie, but somehow I am fascinated by it, I don’t know why, but years ago I bougth the VHS, later the dvd and a couple of years ago the blu ray and when I heard there was a 4K box released some while ago I had to have it. Ordered it a week ago and don’t worry if some one here is also interested they still had some 2000 copies still in store.
It’s about a strange apocalyptic world where there is a short of water, it hasn’t rained one drop for years and the big bad guy, played by Malcolm McDowell, literally extracts the water from people he has captured, or those who disappoint him, and collects it in a glass, which he then drinks with relish (read: in a highly unappetizing manner) and a smile.
I never said it was a good movie, though, did I?
But than there is “Tank Girl” played by Lori Petti and she will fight him and gets the help of a shy but intelligent girl named Jet Girl, played by a then unknown and very young Naomi Watts and also the help of The Rippers, a…eh… a group of mutants, half-kangaroo and half-human, including Ice-T, who kept insisting in interviews back then that they were really cool, tough kangaroos. Yeah, right, if you just keep repeating that to yourself endlessly, my dear Ice, you might actually start believing it.
The film isn’t particularly good, and it’s obvious they tried to turn it into some sort of cult classic, scenes are frequently cut short and strung together with comic-book inserts, and the soundtrack is packed with grunge and alternative rock, which was popular in the 90’s. However, as everyone, except the Hollywood bosses, realizes, you can’t simply manufacture a cult film, because that happens spontaneously and, more often than not, by accident.
So, what makes the film worth watching for me? It comes down to just one thing: lead actress Lori Petty. She completely commands the screen, and with her cool, quirky, spontaneous, almost non-acting style, she adds incredible value to the film, she even does suddenly in the middle of the movie the Cole Porter song,“Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love”.
This was likely meant to be her big break following enjoyable supporting roles in films like “Point Break”, but it was a massive flop, and we’ve barely heard from her since.
Even so, I will always cherish this movie and truly enjoy it, despite the fact that it is maybe not the “masterpiece” they thought it would be.
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Last weekend, I watched “Supergirl” (USA-2026) in 4K. I’d heard a lot of lukewarm reactions to it, but I wanted to check it out for myself anyway, plus, I really liked the HMV steelbook and it’s the holidays, so why not?
The film and the story aren’t bad, though they never quite reach greatness; there is a lack of urgency and that is surprising, given that she has only a few days to save her beloved dog, as the narrative mostly just ambles along.
Still, I found it entertaining, largely because lead actress Milly Alcock delivers a rather distinctive performance, full of defiance, moodiness, and a devil-may-care attitude. Oh, kids these days!
But I like her a lot even if she not realy looks like the Supergirl you half expect, but yeah, I think she is great and in hinside perfect! She makes the movie and gives it something special.
Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts has the thankless task of portraying the villain in a poorly written role, and thus cannot do much more than follow the script.
On the plus side, the film doesn’t drag on for the absurd length that has become the norm for this genre these days, the special effects are more than solid and Krypto the dog is adorable.
Superman himself also makes a few brief appearances, though Alcock, with her far cooler and more self-assured presence, makes him seem even duller than he already was in his own movie. Long live Milly!
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It’s my holiday and until now I saw:
- Supergirl
- Ad Ogni Costo
- Le Corniaud
- The Man With The Golden Gun
- Topkapi
- Terminator: Dark Fate
- Tank Girl
- The Flash
- The Rock
- Face/Off
- A Hauting in Venice (aired on television)
- Death on the Nile (old version with our own Lois Chiles!)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
Still to go (at least:) Evil Under the Sun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, FYEO, DAF.
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I just watched The Substance (USA-2024) from Coralie Fargeat, with Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid.
Bought the Italian steelbook, because ..well… it looked beautiful and the movie was entertaining and interesting untill the last 15 minutes, that was realy too much for me, it was so over the top that I got very bored and even I regretted buying it, because this isn’t one I’ll be watching often now that I know the lame ending.
But the first half particular was very interesting and I liked both actresses as -in this case- a literal split personality, and the young version grew increasingly beautiful at the expense of the older version, which kept aging and falling into decay.
It was an interesting metaphor for the society we live in—and the television world in particular—where there is constant pressure to rejuvenate and innovate by dismissing older female presenters (always women, as this seems to apply far less to men) in the belief that this will keep attracting viewers. The over-the-top ending really detracted from it, though, because I felt it was more like something out of a B-horror movie and it just kept dragging on, so I started to get a little bored.
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The new Arrow 4k offers are magnificent…
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I am looking and waiting for Bullit on 4K for years, this is excellent news, only the text is from a complete different (Chinese) movie, so I don’t dare to order it.
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It’s an error probably due to very recent posting (shortly before I found it). You can trust Arrow. They have excellent service for their excellent product.
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It’s still like this on the site, I will wait untill it is resolved. I know Arrow releases great versions, almost always better than from other companies.
I bought for example the 4K Dollar trilogy again on Arrow although I already had it on Kino Lorber.
Bullit is one of the movies I am waiting for it’s release on 4K.
There are a couple more I realy would like to have, like The Getaway (original version with McQueen) The Wild Bunch, The Thomas Crown Affair (McQueen again), My Name Is Nobody and ofcourse the Roger Moore Bond movies and OHMSS.
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Last couple of days I watched -besides my favorite Bondmovies- the following movies:
Red Sun aka Soleil Rouge from Terence Young with Bronson, Mifune, Delon, Andress.
La Grande Vadrouille from Richard Oury with Bourvil and Louis de Funes
The Substance see above
I am gonna watch “Le clan des Siciliens” (Fr-1969) in a couple of minutes, also a favorite of mine, which I can watch countless times over and over again. A great French/Italian crime thriller from Henri Verneuil, starring Gabin, Delon, Ventura and the beautiful Irina Demick. And the great score of Morricone. Must see!
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Just saw “We live in Time” (GB-2024) from John Crowley with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.
This was a movie I was interested in since it’s release and I had the film here waiting, but I didn’t dare start it, I was dreading actually watching it, because the subject matter might well hit very close to home regarding my own experiences.
But after all the fist-fighting and shooting I’d watched during my vacation over the past two weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to take a slightly more emotional ride on my last day and finally give this film a try.
It turned out to be a wonderful film featuring two strong lead actors, with Florence Pugh, in particular, making a real impression. It took a little getting used to at first, as the story isn’t told linearly, but within a few minutes I was completely drawn in and deeply invested in these two incredibly likable, lovely people.
And yes, I did shed a tear while watching. But no worries: first I get to see Van der Poel become world champion cycling (I hope), and later this evening I’ll wrap up my holiday with DAF (could it get any better?)
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It is a great film, and kudos for confronting it. I always dread watching films which depict real life tragedies but when they do it as sensitively as this one does, it can be a bit carthartic.
Enjoy DAF!
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Thank you!
Van der Poel didn’t win, but DAF was -like always- fantastic!
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No it couldn’t. Congratulations on a terrific holiday.
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NY Film Festival Capsules (9/25-9/27)
PAPER TIGER–The first James Gray movie I have unequivocally liked, the film is an oblique rendering of New York City in the 1980’s. A tale of the outer boroughs, it is a double tale of brotherhood draped in cop/noir/gangster shadings. Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson are superb.
IRON BOY (LE CORSET)–2D animation! Hand-drawn! Animation at its best. The expression of emotion through line is amazing, and a potent reminder of what computers cannot do.
ROSE–I am now convinced that Sandra Huller play any part with absolute conviction and clarity. She is expressive even when photographed from behind. Markus Schleinzer’s third film is set in the 17th century at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War, and tells the story of a woman who poses as a man, and comes tp a Protestant village in the guise of one of her fallen comrades to claim that man’s inheritance. Complications ensue, and the film is a meditation on freedom, what it means to be a woman, and how communities enforce their rules and regulations.
Exquisitely filmed, the mise en scene a triumph of stillness, precision, and nuance.
NAZA–A documentary about the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and how it is accomplished. The film is based on previous reporting, so there is nothing new to be learned, but moving from the written word to the visual image imparts an increased sense of the human manipulations and abstractions that allow the violence and harm to occur, while the rest of society remains in ignorance. After its release, it will be available on The Guardian’s (who produced it) website for viewing.
MISTY GREEN–Loathsome. Chris Rock cannot write for women, and has little concept of script structure or plot development.
POSSIBLE LOVE–A Lee Chang-dong masterpiece from start to finish. The mise en scene, the sound design, the script, and the four lead actors display a depth, texture, and eloquence that is rare in movies of any time, but conspicuously absent in today’s cinema. A story of economic displacement, class difference, and the possibility of love (yes, it is all there in the title), the film is rich in ways movies have forgotten to be.
A LONG WINTER–Andrew Haigh’s film is a study of manhood, queerness, grief, and desire in the bleak/beautiful/isolated world of the Colorado Rockies at the time of the Korean War. Executed with his usual flair for poetic cinema, the film, like other movies that I have seen so far, is a story of possible love, societal restrictions, and the quest for freedom.
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Love your reviews, even in this abbreviated version.
I wonder, by the way, if we are witnessing a new era of professional reviews, after reading the ridicule and often complete misunderstandings of „Digger“ and now the confusion about „Behemoth“ (Owen Gleiberman even pokes fun at the title which supposedly nobody can pronounce).
Are movies outside the mainstream, taking chances now a punching ball for critics? It used to be the formulaic mainstream stuff that got called out.
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I just saw “West Side Story” (USA-1961) from Robert Wise with Nathalie Wood, Rita Moreno.
I ordered this one for my vacation, but unfortunately I received it at the beginning of last week, so I waited till this weekend to watch it.
Wow! The 4K is wonderful, especially the sound is excellent. I love this movie since I saw it for the first time together with my mom on Dutch television when I was in the last class of primary school and it made a incredible impression on me and it still does. I am not realy a musical fan, I think there are only three, or four musical movies I realy like (Grease, The Court Jester for example) and this is definitely one of them!
Almost all songs are wellknown classics and the movie, though very long, never has a dull moment; it manages to excite and move the viewer, and certainly struck a chord with me, with the final scene in particular, packing a real emotional punch.
Nathalie Wood is so beautiful and both fragile and strong, especially in her final scene.
Incidentally, my favorite scene—and probably the most beautiful one too—is the moment she meets Tony for the first time, at the dance. They lock eyes, and the entire setting fades away for both of them; they have eyes only for each other. It is very simple, yet executed with great cleverness and beauty. Love it!
The release is great to have in a “media book” as they call it with also some art cards with original sketches.
I love this movie!
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Arrow changed the text by Bullitt I ordered it right now and cancelled it at Amazon.com there it was much more, it would have cost me 50 dollar, now at Arrow it’s 30 euro. 
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Digger (in VistaVision!)
Not sure where the hate is coming from on this one. It doesn’t quite reach the heights it’s aiming for but I found it consistently riveting, even if I think some of it felt a little more watered down than I would have liked it to in the end. Several stand out performances from the supporting cast, killer production design and great photography keep this thing moving. Not a knockout, but a very fine piece of work and completely undeserving of the negativity it’s getting.
VistaVision was cool but I honestly couldn’t tell what makes it much different from a 70mm print.
Surprisingly loud movie, too.
Doubt this one will nab Cruise that Oscar.
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More New York Film Festival Capsules (9/28-10/6)
TENDER LOVING CARE–if this is Mike Leigh’s final film, he goes out the filmmaker he has always been–smart, compassionate, clear-eyed, generous, and unflinching. Enough for any lover of film.
THE UNKNOWN-as I watched Arthur Harari’s high-wire act film, I kept wondering if he would stick the landing. Thankfully, he does–he draws his movie about soul-swapping through sex to an ingenious, ambiguous close that leaves a viewer both satisfied and puzzling. Lea Seydoux and Niels Schneider are superb in roles that require them to embody characters who are in the wrong bodies.
PRIMETIME (seen outside of NYFF)–Robert Pattinson’s best and most complete performance to date, and a film that for me embodies a new filmic language–cinematic neo-expressionism. Almost all of the effects were done practically, and I felt that I was witnessing a new iteration of how a film could look and speak.
MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE–Sofia Coppola’s edit of her mother Eleanor’s footage shot during the MARIE ANTOINETTE shoot. More than a Blu-ray extra, it is a loving tribute to the eye and artistry of a woman who repressed her own artistic desires for reasons of family.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM–In this case, a son, David Greaves, finishing the work of his father, William Greaves. A profound document that brings together the remaining luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance in Duke Ellington’s townhouse in 1972, the film uses Greaves’ style to finish a work that he was unable to complete in his own life.
YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING–my third documentary in a row, I went in knowing very little about co-directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim (I had seen PRIMETIME just the previous afternoon) , and came out shaking my head over the most meta- movie in my experience. There is no way to describe the movie–it demands being experienced, preferably with an audience. In the Q&A, they asked for no spoilers, and for once I think the request is correct. The three-hour running time is not a burden.
ALL OF A SUDDEN–Ryusuke Hamaguchi latest marvel, the movie clocks in at three hours and nineteen minutes, but is of such strong construction and delicate execution that it seems much shorter. The movie has a flowing three-act structure that subtly reveals itself, and when the climax occurs, you brace for the inevitable disaster (the groundwork has been meticulously laid), but Hamaguchi makes the deftest cinematic pivot I can remember, revealing new possibilities for an age-old story. The lead actresses (Cannes co-winners for Best Actress) are remarkable.
BEHEMOTH!–Tony Gilroy returns to feature filmmaking with a story of male mesopause and redemption. Underwritten (especially with regard to the female characters), Pedro Pascal does as best he can with a character concept rather than a role. The score by an assemblage of major composers–billed as The Behemoth Collective–is varied and well-done, but does not make up for the undercooked narrative.
A STATEMENT–Tom McCarthy’s earnest reproduction of a 36-hour conference during the waning days of the Carter Administration that was convened with the goal of writing a statement about climate change and what Congress should do about it. Chock-full of fine performances from the likes of Paul Giamatti, John Turturro, Paul Rudd, Amy Ryan, and others, the movie is based on the actual transcript of the conference. Unfortunately, McCarthy never discovers a way to make the film visually interesting, so the eye is bored despite the accomplished performances and script.
CLUB KID–Jordan Firstman’s feature debut is a love letter to queer club life, and growing up and out of it. He gets the details right, and the sentiment is real and not overplayed. Having lived my own version of growing out of being a club/bar kid (during an earlier time), the film resonated for me.
FATHERLAND–Paweł Pawlikowski’s return to filmmaking after eight years, the film tracks Thomas Mann’s return to Germany in 1949. The mise en scene is amazing, as is Hanns Zischler as Mann, and Sandra Huller as his daughter (I am beginning to wonder if she can be bad in a role). With the AfD taking the Speakership in Saxony-Anhalt, the film is necessary viewing.
CLARISSA–Filming the unfilmable? Arie and Chuko have done it for Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Updating the setting to contemporary Nigeria, the movie both re-invents the novel and remains faithful to it. Sophie Okonedo and David Oyelowo are fine as Clarissa and Peter, and the rest of the cast plays in able support. Especially notable are the actors playing the younger versions of the four main characters. The transitioning between younger and adult selves is smooth and believable. I never thought “It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was.” could be visualized. I was wrong.
FJORD–Palme d’Or winner (deserved) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu moves to Norway for this film, remembering to pack his remarkable talent. Asking what it means to be a liberal society, the film pokes at pieties and looks behind the facade of inclusion. As with the other great films of this year’s Festival, ambiguity is a major key. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve are great (any surprises there?), as is the rest of the cast. My screening companion was amazed at how the film caused her to be on the side of the characters whose worldview she most disagreed with/detested. Film artistry at its best.
MINOTAUR–Andrey Zvyagintsev’s return to filmmaking after severe illness, MINOTAUR is his version of Claude Chabrol’s LA FEMME INFIDELE (also the inspiration for Adrian Lynne’s UNFAITHFUL). Chabrol’s tale of murder among the bourgeoisie gets entwined with a tale of bourgeoisie survival in today’s Russia (along with an 50 additional minutes of running time). Chillier than Chabrol (which I did not realize was possible), MINOTAUR reflects the hollowing out that today’s world demands of people.
ARTIFICIAL–The movie Amazon paid for, and then would not release, Luca Guadagnino’s film is a comedy of terrors about the world of A.I. and tech bro culture. Andrew Garfield is daring and great as Sam Altman, and Yura Borisov is dutiful and great as Ilya Sutskever. Add in Mark Rylance and others, a fine script, and Guadagnino’s restrained (by his standards) direction, and you have a powerful, disturbing movie.
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE–Valeska Grisebach’s first film since 2017’s WESTERN, she returns to Bulgaria to tell the story of an archeologist who ends up exploring more than an old ruin. Excavations of many time periods–long past, recent past, and present–intertwine to reveal Bulgaria now and then. Yana Radeva is remarkable in the lead role. I was stunned when I learned during the Q&A that she was a non-professional actress.
BITTER CHRISTMAS–A Pedro Almodovar misfire. A film about a filmmaker who has run out of ideas results in a movie without any ideas. Unfortunately, the meta- aspect is unintended. Almodovar gives us his greatest hits, but there is no life to any of the proceedings, and just when the film’s director character says he has discovered what his movie will be about, Pedro wraps things up. A companion said this was Pedro’s first old man’s movie. I agree, and will add that the genre does not suit him in the least.
A MAN OF HIS TIME (NOTRE SALUT)–Emmanuel Marre’s film about his great-grandparents and his great-grandfather’s collaboration with the Vichy Regime, AMOHT is remarkable for its handheld camera, documentary approach to a well-traversed historical moment, which Marre then mixes with synth-pop on the soundtrack. This is more than the banality of evil–it is the middle-management indifference of evil. Swann Arlaud is superb as Henri Marre, the dedicated collaborationist. At the Q&A, the director said that the best/scariest compliment he has received was from an Iraqi correspondent who said he has met many Henri Marres.
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