[Handyman Joe]

The Voices - Loved the concept - Look Who's Talking meets Henry - thought the first 45 was pretty good but sad to report the plot has nowhere to go after the second murder, things peter out and no amount of final credit razzle dazzle can disguise it. Could've been a contender.

The Dark Corner - Noirsville again but strictly a second stringer - Mark Stevens as the tough guy is sub Alan Ladd (himself sub Bogie), Lucille Ball (yes that one!) fails to sizzle as the love interest, only the ever reliable William Bendix and oily Clifton Webb log in the memory. OK - call it a 6/10.

Billy Wilder Box Set - I took it upon myself to watch every last one of BWs movies - only two duds out of 26! Latest viewings -
Irma La Douche - proto Amelie Parisienne fairyland, can't go wrong with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine circa early 60s, although JLs 'Lord X' muggery is the very point amusing meets bloody irritating.
The Emperor Waltz - Bing Crosby blandfest, cute dog, crap patter - lovely technicolor but little else - completists only.
Five Graves to Cairo - efficient little war movie but, apart from Erich Von Stroheim as Rommel, it doesn't linger in the memory.
The Fortune Cookie - one thin gag (Jack Lemmon faking an injury for insurance payout at Walter Matthaus behest) stretched over nearly 2 hours - My least favourite Wilder.
Kiss Me Stupid - there's an inspired middle section here, with Dean Deano Martin and Kim Novak trading on the knuckle double entendres and sending themselves up at the same time. The marital dilemma bookends not so hot, but overall a goody
One, Two Three - Jimmy Cagney is inspired in a rat a tat gag fest set in the West/East Germany border - exhausting but great.
The Spirit of St Louis - Does what it sets out to do - convey the sheer magnitude of flying non stop from St Louis to Paris. Jimmy Stewart is just the man for all American heroism. Unfortunately there's no room for any angles - it's a really well done portrait of a heroic act but not so much of the hero himself.

Le Quai Des Brumes - simply gorgeous French doom noir from the not so auspicious year of 1938, it's as evocative as the whiff of Gitanes and Pernod with a roaring salty sea in the background and fog all around. The portrayal and ultimate deployment of the two villains is masterful. A true classic. That last shot haunts me.

Paradise -Love - Where other directors cut away Ulrich Siedl zooms in - he specialises in extended excruciating scenes of social horror. This tale of 4 fat Austrian woman on a Kenyan sex safari has more than a few - it's compulsive squirmy stuff. The hotel room 'birthday party' scene will be difficult to remove from my brain. This movie is a little overlong, a little repetitive but I'm really glad I saw it.