Klute

This is the second film I have watched with Jane Fonda in one week...this time around with a really bad hairdo but in a much better film.

The Klute in the title is John Klute, acting as private detective when a friend disappears, leaving behind one very strange letter of abuse addressed to a prostitute in New York City, and the police are ready to give up on the case. That would be six months after the disappearance.

John goes off to New York to investigate and talk with the prostitute in question, one Bree Daniel. Now, Bree has regular meetings with a psychiatrist, musing about how she wants to quit 'tricks' and concentrate on her work as a model and actress (wait, is this officially called 'actor' now, too?). Or maybe she doesn't want to quit. She seems unsure and her efforts to turn her life around are half-hearted at best.

Initially reluctant to help John in any way, she does eventually get involved, tagging along as he interviews people working within her trade, trying to find other prostitutes said to have met with a weird guy that used to beat them up. It is generally believed that this is the missing friend, named Tom. Then they come upon one girl that does not identify Tom from a photo John Klute shows her and says that it was an older looking man, instead.

It is at this point that I knew who the real culprit was and the conclusion that Tom is probably dead is pretty obvious, as well. The real criminal is the person actually financing John Klute to investigate Tom's disappearance. Now that John is getting close, though, he starts to try and clean up all lose ends.

In the end, John saves Bree and they leave her apartment together, although to a voice over of her again sounding unsure about what is going to happen.

7/10

Pretty Maids All in a Row

This film about a high school football coach sleeping with and killing female students starts off with a

DEAD CHEERLEADER ALERT!

Murder victim number one is apparently best remembered for being such a 'terrific little cheerleader'. She is found in a boy's toilet with a note stuck to her butt by fellow student Ponce de Leon Harper (yes!).

But that is the least of Ponce's problems. What really troubles this young man are his constant erections. When he confides in the coach (who is also vice principal, English teacher and some sort of counselor) he misunderstands and thinks he actually suffers from erectile dysfunction. Coach then asks sexy substitute teacher Miss Smith to take it upon herself to help the boy. This then leads to Ponce and Miss Smith having an affair (of course). It is also Ponce that discovers a vital piece of evidence in Coach's room - a recording of a 'session' he has with one of the female students.

For all the murder going on, the film is actually funny at times. If you get around to ever seeing it watch out for the principal's secretary. She is hilarious!

I love 1970's films! The clothes! The pornstaches! Telly Savalas! Rock Hudson!

7/10

10 Rillington Place

This is the true story of serial killer John Christie (portrayed by Richard Attenborough) and a case of miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans (played by John Hurt).

Between 1943 and 1953, Mr. Christie strangled 8 (known) victims, including baby Geraldine Evans. The film details the time of Geraldine's parents short stay in a rental apartment at the title giving address.

After Christie murdered Beryl Evans he tells her husband Timothy, who by modern standards would be considered mentally challenged, that she accidentally died while he helped her terminate an unwanted pregnancy. He urged Evans to leave town until the investigation about his wife's death had died down. The unfortunate Geraldine gets left in the 'care' of Christie.

Evans was apprehended and as a result of a false confession was then tried for the murder of his daughter and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed in 1950. This enabled Christie to murder a few more women, including his wife Ethel. He was later detected and finally hanged in 1953.

The argument that Evans was in fact innocent of the crime he was accused of was brought forward in a book by Ludovic Kennedy, which lead to a revision of the case. Evans was officially pardoned in 1966.

Very well acted by both leads.

6/10

Diamonds Are Forever

Ah, yes, Sean Connery is back. Phew! Glad that Mr. Lazenby was replaced again (I am not a fan).

We start off with the wonderful Shirley Bassey singing the title track. And then...Blofeld dies! Or does he? Of course he doesn't. He is, once again, the über-villain. This time around we are following a diamond trail. Everyone that comes into contact with the stones tends to die of unnatural causes.

The bad people come in twos. First, the dorkiest ever villains in a James Bond film, surely. A gay couple. Not sure what message it sends that you make the first gay people in the franchise overly comical. And while we're at lack of political correctness - very much a sign of the times, of course - again a black woman is likened to a primate. Whereas the black Angel of Death in the previous film ate nothing but bananas, here we go even further. A black woman that turns into a gorilla. Nicely played. (*sarcasm*)

Anyway, back to the villainous duos. Then two beauties beat up James Bond for a bit, before he gets the upper hand on them (literally). They are called Thumper and Bambi, along with Plenty O'Toole yet more specimen of strange names for women in Bond films. The two try to keep Bond away from the missing and illustrious gazillionaire (one assumes), Mr. Whyte, whose properties and general wealth have been used by Mr. Blofeld to start off a nuclear war (yet again).

And speaking of twos: There is more than one Blofeld, thanks to the wonders of plastic surgery. Having a double has, however, not made him any smarter. He lets Bond slip through his fingers yet again when he has the chance to shoot him. He should by now know better than to keep him alive as a possible bargaining chip (or whatever).

In the end, 007 saves the day and the diamonds - now part of a satellite - revolve in space.

6/10

Punishment Park

Punishment Park is a so-called pseudo-documentary that has been called one of the most controversial films ever made (this according to the official film poster) and it may well be. The plot is detailed on wikipedia (and many other resources, obviously).

There is no doubt about which side directer Peter Watkins is on and the film is as black and white as they come, with the obvious bad guys being the conservatives, here represented by a tribunal and law enforcement.

To balance it out a bit there is one person in either group that speaks out against his peers, but their voices are considerably more quiet than the yelling, judgmental tribunal members and the gung ho police and military guys. The court has a defense lawyer that speaks for the people on trial and is duly ignored. One young soldier gives a teary-eyed statement saying that he did not want to kill anyone but his gun went off.

The cinéma vérité style and the fact that Watkins let his actors improvise gives the film a very real feeling. If you didn't know better you could actually believe this to be a documentary, which makes it quite powerful.

5/10