Just a few films to begin December.

The Batwoman (1968) directed by Rene Cardona. This Mexican production is one of the worst films I have seen. Its ingredients are promising with underwater filming, a monster that resembles the Creature from the Black Lagoon, a crazed scientist hell bent on crossing a human with an amphibian, the scientist’s minion named Igor, a laboratory ship called Reptilicus (the title of a 1961 film about a monster that terrorizes Copenhagen), and of course a scantily-clad Batwoman. Sadly what we have is a badly acted, poorly choreographed, wandering narrative about the draining of wrestlers’ pineal glands. This film is a cross between a luchador film (a film that features masked wrestlers – e.g. Santos contra los zombies, 1962) and the Adam West television series from about the same time. Clearly the Batman television series is an influence here with the Batwoman’s costume and her sleek black automobile. This film, however, sorely lacks the camp element we have in the tv series. Special effects are rudimentary. Yes, the mad scientist has a crazed laugh and a split face (think Batman’s Twoface), and the monster looks good enough for the Black Lagoon, yet none of this has any zip or polish. 

 

Ballerina (2023), directed by Chung-Hyun Lee. This Korean revenge flick is in the John Wick vein, although here the kick-ass hero is female, the former body guard Okju (Jeon-Jong Seo). Okju’s friend, the ballerina Min-hee (Park Yu-rim), is killed by thugs who run a drug ring and prostitution place, and Okju sets out to mete out justice to the perpetrators. If you can stand the dark reddish lighting in many scenes, and the gaudily decorated apartments, and you enjoy watching a woman toss about and generally thrash scores of men, then this film may be for you. As these things go, Ballerina serves up the requisite body count with a couple of touches that you may not see elsewhere. For example, Okju’s arsenal is quaint and includes a vintage six-shooter, an old derringer, and a flame thrower. This last serves Okju well in the film’s finale. Her main adversary is a fellow named Choi Pro (Kim Ji-hoon) who does a mean workout, accomplishing feats of calisthenics a wonder to behold. Choi also has an independent streak that does not serve him well. In his first round with Okju, he finds himself defaced – really. This film and films like it seem connected to the zeitgeist; the violence here should be unsettling rather than entertaining. By the way, I notice a John Wick spin-off titled “Ballerina” is coming in 2024. Ballet and mayhem are the order of the day.

 

The Killer (2023), directed by David Fincher. Here is a film to add to the neo-noir catalogue. It is dark and clear-eyed in its direction, moving along with a linearity rare in films these days. It begins with a botched hit in Paris, then moves to a failed attempt by the hitman’s client to remove him, and then on to the hitman’s journeys to wipe out his adversaries. These journeys take him from Paris to the Dominican Republic, to New Orleans, to Florida, to New York, and to Chicago, before he returns to his lavish lair in the Dominican Republic. The end. Oh, and on these journeys, he manages to remove four people. The film has little dialogue, but much monologue in a voice over that takes the noir convention to the extreme. Like some noirs, this film is a procedural, meticulously, if absurdly, following the nameless (well he has many names to go with his many passports) hit man (Michael Fassbender) as he sets out to remove those who would do him harm. There is a brutal fight with a fellow called The Brute in a Florida condo, and there is a delicious dinner engagement with the hitman sitting opposite a cue tip-shaped woman, The Expert (Tilda Swinton), listening as she does most of the talking. This is a watchable take on the genre, a take that veers towards parody. What interests me is the way the meticulousness of the director vies with the meticulousness of his protagonist.

Barbie (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig. Everyone has seen this half of Barbenheimer, but what the heck. What’s left to say? It’s a hoot. The first ten minutes or so are worth the senior’s price of admission. Here we have a brilliant parody of Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and this sets up the rest of the movie’s take on capitalism and consumerism as the Almighty. The rest of the film is clever and even ingenious, and we leave the theatre with confidence that Barbieland is safe from patriarchy, and the so-called “real World” continues on in its same old way, although patriarchy has to be more sneaky in its use of power. The film is chock full of cotton candy and bubblegum pink and soft shades of blue and yellow and pale green, and dance numbers reminiscent of Vincente Minnelli and the heyday of Hollywood musicals. The dollhouse sets and toy décor of Barbieland are impressive. The script is surprisingly effective. The film tries to be critical of corporate America, but with Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel, it is difficult to be overly cross with him and his minions, who are fuddy-duddies. After all, Mattel, along with Warner Brothers, did foot the bill here. The film also tries to bring diversity to Barbie’s world, but in the end the blond white woman is front and centre. More attractive to me is the unseen narrator who provides a clever meta touch. So what to say? That’s entertainment.

 

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), directed by Martin McDonagh. A film many of you will have seen, The Banshees of Inisherin is a gloriously evocative film that sets the Irish Civil War (the year is 1923) against another smaller conflict taking place on this fictional island off the west coast of Ireland. The location shooting of this rugged yet pastoral land is magnificent. One of the delights of the film is the look of land and sea. Amid the strained relationships on this island, an array of animals – small donkey, cows, horse, dog – go about their daily existence stoically and silently. Also silent, for the most part, is Colm (Brendan Gleeson) who no longer wishes to be friends with Padraic (Colin Farrell). The ending of this friendship constitutes the plot here, a plot with just a bit of flamboyance, the cutting off of Colm’s fingers so he can drive home the seriousness of his intention of ending the friendship. The film is contemplative, raw, and even funny despite the dreariness it depicts. The island setting allows a combination of open landscapes with claustrophobia. As tension between the two former friends escalates, the surrounding cast becomes something of a creepy chorus, not helping the situation by their gossip and nosiness. Perhaps the one sliver of hope lies in Siobhan (Kerry Condon), Padraic’s sister, accepting a job on the mainland and departing this small and festering island.