Rat-Trap (1982)

Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

A well-off farmer lives in near-isolation with his two sisters. He lies around and lets the laborers do all the work, with his sisters responding to his every need. Visitors occasionally stop by, and a neighbor flirts with him, but he mostly stays to himself. The younger sister disappears one day, but he refuses to search for her, causing the older sister to fall mysteriously ill. She is eventually taken away by concerned neighbors, leaving him alone in the house in a harrowing ending. The slim plot allows plenty of time for reflection in this 2 hour film from India. It's not exactly riveting, but has its moments.

The Stars Look Down (1940)

The Stars Look Down DVD

Grand National Pictures (UK)
Directed by Carol Reed
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Hard-working coal miners in England go on strike to protest working conditions at the urging of the young, scholarly son of one of their own. The result is long months of hunger and pain, causing a mob to storm a local butcher shop. Later, the boy goes to college where he falls in love with a pretty, and ambitious, girl. Although she is in love with his best friend, she agrees to marry him. They live well off for awhile, until he loses his school teaching job, then she has an affair with her old flame who turned out to be rich. Meanwhile, a cave-in occurs at the mine, trapping several mean and leading to a frantic rescue attempt. An uneasy mix of melodramatics and disaster movie, though finely photographed at times by director Reed.

4 Clowns (1970)

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Robert Youngson
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(YouTube)

Compilation of clips from four silent comedy stars: Oliver and Hardy, Buster Keaton and Charley Chase. Narration and sound effects are added, and the clips are not restored. There are funny moments, of course, but I would much prefer to watch the original shorts and movies in their entirety without narration and with period appropriate music.

Baffled! (1973)

Baffled ! DVD

NBC
Directed by Philip Leacock
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Scorpion Releasing)

Leonard Nimoy plays a race car driver plagued with visions. He rushes to England with his psychic friend to visit a castle in his visions. They get caught up in a complicated murder plot involving a woman, her teenage daughter and her ex-husband who may or may not be dead. The mystery is patently obvious and most of the enjoyment comes from unintentional laughs provided by the dated 70s decor. A pilot for a TV series that never materialized, and you can see why.

Rhinoceros (1974)

Rhinoceros DVD

The American Film Theatre
Directed by Tom O'Horgan
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

Mild mannered accountant Gene Wilder begins to doubt his sanity as the people around him turn into rhinoceroses. Zero Mostel is his best friend who has a virtuoso scene turning into one of the beasts and wrecking his apartment. Wilder can barely keep it together. Karen Black is the office girl and love interest, but she too succumbs. Based on the "absurdist" play by Eugene Ionesco, it's an interesting intellectual exercise, since the animals are obviously figurative and not literal, raising the question what, exactly, do they represent? There are many answers, ranging from politics to religion, but perhaps the simplest is best: the "herd mentality" of following the crowd, as exemplified by Wilder's plea in the final scene.

Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King (1972)

Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King DVD

Directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

A German king indulges in his personal desires taking little, if any, interest in affairs of the state. He sleeps during the day, keeps multiple lovers of both sexes and has an uneasy relationship with composers such as Richard Wagner. In the end, he becomes bored and rejects that lifestyle to sacrifice himself for the Fatherland, only to commit suicide. Long, episodic story is little more than a filmed play, with most of it taking place on a stage with elaborately painted backdrops. Fassbinder fans will recognize many actors from his usual company, and this feels very much like a Fassbinder work.

Thursday's Game (1974)

Thursday's Game [VHS]

ABC Circle Films
Directed by Robert Moore
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(VHS, Starmaker/Anchor Bay)

Gene Wilder is a struggling TV producer in NYC. He hangs out with pal Bob Newhart one night a week, ostensibly for a poker game but mostly to get away from their wives. He eventually loses his job and consults employment agency head Nancy Walker to find a new one. His marriage gradually disintegrates and he contemplates an affair. Old pal Newhart gets up the courage to leave his wife, claiming to have become a homosexual. Wilder wonders whether or not it is true, a plot point not fully explored, but certainly open to question after their weekly nights out. Slow-moving, dated comedy-drama, bolstered by an eclectic cast and Wilder's usual commanding, yet gentle, screen persona. 

Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960)

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Philip Leacock
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Teen James Darren lives with his single mom Shelley Winters in a crime ridden Chicago neighborhood. She loses her job as a waitress and starts working in a bar, where she hooks up with dope dealer Ricardo Montalban. He gets her hooked on heroin sending their already dismal life spiraling downward. Family friend Burl Ives, himself an alcoholic and in love with her, tries to get his own life together to save them. Ella Fitzgerald has a supporting role as a drug addicted blues singer. Jean Seberg is Darren's young love interest. Eclectic cast does what it can with such a melodramatic story.

Best in Show (2000)

Best in Show (BD) [Blu-ray]

Warner Bros.
Directed by Christopher Guest
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

Pampered pets tale a second seat to their eccentric owners at a national dog show in Philadelphia. The result is rarely funny but often offensive, including gay stereotypes, a running joke about a woman's sexual past, a pair of bickering Starbucks-loving yuppies, and Guest  himself as a slow-talking southerner with a bloodhound. Worst of all is Fred Willard, who is allowed to run amok as the color commentator during the competition.

Man Without a Star (1955)

Kirk Douglas: The Centennial Collection DVD

Universal-International
Directed by King Vidor
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Drifter Kirk Douglas takes a job as a ranch hand in Wyoming. He clashes with his bosses, makes love with the new owner, teaches his young pal how to shoot and plays the banjo in the local saloon. However, when rival ranchers start putting up barbed wire on the free range pasture he won't have any part of it. Fairly routine western livened up by Kirk (and his hair's) unrestrained enthusiasm, but also filled with sexist dialogue and shot mostly on the Universal back lot.