Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

It's time for my Halloween tradition. This is the film I watch every year on October 31st. Or should I say 31st October? In England it's usual to put the day first, but over the years I've grown used to the American order. I usually avoid Americanisms, but I've never claimed to be consistent.

Incidentally, I actually watched this film after midnight on November 1st. There was too much going on for me to watch it on Halloween itself. I've backdated my review to 11:59 pm on October 31st.

Yesterday was the first time my grandson Oliver ever went trick-or-treating. He went out with his father, my son-in-law. He said he would only go walking, not knock on any doors. It's not something that's done a lot in Germany. But then he saw some teenagers collecting sweets, so he plucked up courage. Oliver got some sweets on the way, but not very many. Not many families were prepared. Maybe next year.

This is me in my first and only Halloween costume, way back in 2014. No, I didn't go trick-or-treating, I just threatened beautiful young women. Unfortunately, I wasn't very good at it. Look how the woman is grinning. She knew me too well. I'm the most harmless man alive.

I didn't encourage Oliver to wear the costume. He picked it himself. A good choice. Serial killing must be in the Hood genes. Oh wait! Didn't I just say I was harmless?

Before anyone says anything, I'm ashamed that my room (where Oliver was standing) looks so dirty. I never pay attention when I walk in and out. I'll sweep the floor tomorrow. I promise.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Checker Tobi und die Reise zu den fliegenden Flüssen (4 Stars)

Oliver is on holiday this week, so he has a lot of time on his hands to watch films. I'm proud of him. Today he decided to watch the second Checker Tobi film. The second and last, I hasten to add, because Tobias Krell died of cancer in 2023, less than six months after completing the film.

The film's title means "Checker Tobi and the journey to the flying rivers". That certainly sounds enigmatic. It follows the pattern of the previous film. It's just as far fetched, but who cares?

Tobi receives a parcel from a woman who was his neighbour as a child. It's a locked wooden box. Should he break it open? That would be cheating. There's also a photo of Tobi with a girl when they were both six, shortly before her family moved away. Her name was Marina, and she was wearing a necklace with a key on it. Could it be possible that she still has the key 30 years later?

Marina is currently living in Vietnam. Yes, after all these years she's still wearing the key round her neck, and it opens the box. There's a piece of paper with a task for Tobi. After visiting a cave in Vietnam which is the biggest cave in the world, they travel to Mongolia, first to the capital and then the desert. From there they travel to Brazil and the Amazon rain forests. Tobi witnesses how large areas in the forest are being cut down.

The climate preservation messages are laid on thick, but it's still a good film.

Checker Tobi und das Geheimnis unseres Planeten (4 Stars)

This is a curious film. It's a spinoff of a children's nature discovery children on television, "Checker Tobi", which ran for 167 episodes until the main character, Tobias Krell, died of cancer. I've never watched the television shows, but as I understand it, in each episode Checker Tobi, as he calls himself, examines something, pretending to know nothing about it, then discovering it in front of the viewers.

The film is called "Checker Tobi and the Secret of our Planet". A full length feature film needs more to make it interesting, but it has to adhere to the premise of the series.

Tobi is given a scroll with the enigmatic words:

Look into the heart of the Earth,

Awaken the eight-legged bear,

Read the memory of the world,

Collect the most precious treasure of India,

And you will unravel the secret of our planet.

Tobi travels around the world, meeting real life people who are playing themselves. Tobi asks them questions that can help him on his way.

He travels to Vanuatu to look into volcanoes. He examines ice in Greenland that's been frozen for thousands of years. In Tasmania he examines tardigrades, also known as water bears, the world's most resilient creatures. They were released into space from the International Space Station, and after nine days they were found to still be alive. They're the only creatures known to be able to survive the vacuum of space. In Mumbai, India, he comes to the conclusion that nothing is as valuable as water.

It's difficult to judge the film. If you sit and analyse it, how does he know where to go next? There's little logic to the steps taken. But it's a beautiful film, with spectacular scenery from different parts of the world. I enjoyed it. Oliver enjoyed it even more.

Woodwalkers (4 Stars)

This film is based on a series of books written by the German author Katja Brandis. So far she's written 24 Woodwalkers books, out of a total of 70 books since 1996. Checking a few books at random, it seems they have an average of 300 pages each. That's relatively short, by today's standards, but it's still a lot of books.

Jay is a troubled teenager. He was adopted after being found walking wild in the mountains of Wyoming. He loves his new parents, but he can't make friends and doesn't fit in at school. He has a secret that he daren't tell anyone, not even his parents: he can transform himself into a puma. After being expelled from every school he visits, he's offered a scholarship to a private school. It seems he hasn't been keeping his secret. The school's owner knows that Jay is a puma. He explains that it's actually the other way round: Jay is a puma who can change himself into a human.

Every child in the school is some sort of animal. It's the perfect place for Jay, who discovers that his real name before being adopted was Carag. He shares a room with a bison called Brandon, and he develops a crush on a girl called Holly, who can transform into a squirrel.

Things aren't perfect in Jay's new life. The school is organising protests against the local forest being cut down. That's good, isn't it? It would be good, except the school owner is prepared to kill the workers to protect the forest.

I greatly enjoyed the film, but I'm disappointed to say that Oliver wasn't so enthusiastic. He sat for most of the film looking bored. Other children reacted differently. There were girls sitting next to us, probably about eleven, and they kept laughing at the slightest touches of humour. It isn't really a funny film, but they burst into laughter at any hints of humour.

I've been told that it's the first film in a trilogy. Only three films for 24 books? Let's see how successful the films are. There might be more on the way.

Prince of Persia (3 Stars)

This is one of Gemma Arterton's American films that she made early in her career. She's now said that she'll never make films in America again, after feeling ashamed of the quality of "Hansel and Gretel Witchhunters". She felt it was a poor film, even though it was successful at the box office. I shan't argue with her, even though I disagree with her decision. She's more interested in producing artistic films than in making a lot of money. I respect her for that.

Interestingly enough, I recently received a comment from an anonymous reader telling me I should watch more good films. He gave me a few examples of directors I should watch, while telling me to stay away from Adam Sandler and Marvel movies. I totally disagreed with what he wrote and the way he wrote it. I'll watch any film in any genre, whether it's a Hollywood blockbuster or an obscure independent film, as long as I enjoy it.

There's a certain snobbishness among film fans who claim to know which films are better than others. Maybe they're people who've been to film schools, or maybe they're just people who read certain highbrow magazines. The wisest words I've heard on the subject are from the German director/producer Wolf C. Hartwig. Whether or not you like his films, you have to agree that he knew what he was talking about. He claimed that the measure of a good film is that it's a film people want to see. Not everyone, of course. There are different tastes. But if a film makes money, it's a good film. In an interview he singled out Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who was also named by the anonymous reader in his comment. To paraphrase his words, Wolf C. Hartwig said that people say Fassbinder made good films, but nobody wanted to watch them, which makes them bad films.

I've watched a lot of Fassbinder's films. I was in the middle of working my way through two box sets when I started writing my blog in 2010. You can find reviews of the last few films I watched. I bought the (relatively expensive) box sets because people had told me his films were good. I watched them with an open mind, and I didn't like them. I'll never watch them again.

Don't let anyone tell you you shouldn't watch a film because it's bad. Watch it for yourself. Make up your own mind. If a lot of people like the film, you can say it's a good film. If you like a film that few others like, you might have to grudgingly accept that it's not such a good film, but if you personally like it, don't let everyone else put you off. If you're a Fassbinder fan, go ahead and enjoy his films, but don't try to tell people the films are good.

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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Wine: WZG Original Lemberger

After my disappointment with the WZG Original Trollinger last week I bought a bottle of Eberbach-Schäfer Trollinger. I've drunk it quite often since I first reviewed it five years ago, and it's still my favourite Trollinger.

But now to the WZG Original Lemberger in the picture. This is a dry but fruity wine. It's everything a Lemberger should be. It might even be the equal of the Eberbach-Schäfer Lemberger which I've drunk a few times, though I don't enjoy it as much as the Lemberger that Eberbach-Schäfer markets as "Romeo". I'm constantly on the hunt for the perfect wine, but I keep returning to the wines I already know.

What I'm trying to say is that the WZG Original Lemberger is a good wine, but I doubt I'll buy it again. I was tempted by the special offer in the supermarket this week, but the regular price is more expensive than other wines which I enjoy more.

Venom: The Last Dance (3½ Stars)

A new Marvel film, so I had to go to the cinema. I'm a Marvel addict. I was disappointed with the second Venom film, and I was scared that "The Last Dance" would be even worse, but I went anyway.

Maybe it's better, but only slightly better. The story in general is more serious, but there's still too much comedy in the interaction between Eddie Brock and the symbiote. Whose idea was it to make them a comedy duo? And why does the symbiote keep coming half out like a sock puppet? It looks ridiculous. In this film an excuse is given, but it's a weak excuse. A powerful being called Knull is searching for a codex (whatever that is) which is carried by the symbiote. It's only visible when Eddie and the symbiote are fully connected. I know, it really is a poor excuse.

No more spoilers. All I'll say is that there's an after-credits scene, but you have to wait a long time for it. In the cinema today some of the people waited, but the credits were so long that they grew impatient and walked out. When the after-credits scene finally came, only three people, including me, were sitting watching it. 

Wine: WZG Original Trollinger

My intention today was to review the WZG Original Trollinger by comparing it with the standard WZG Trollinger. Technically the standard bottle on the right is the original wine, which confuses matters. It wasn't until I sat down to start writing that I realised I've never written about the standard Trollinger. I haven't drunk it for years. I usually have a bottle in the kitchen for use as cooking wine, but I don't consider drinking it.

Yesterday I drank a glass of the WZG Original Trollinger and found it pleasant, though slightly acidic. Today, realising I had a bottle in the kitchen, I grabbed the standard WZG Trollinger for comparison. I must have looked like a fool. I had a glass of wine in each hand, sipping alternately.

The difference was much less than I expected. The Original wine is very slightly milder, as I recognise when I drink the two wines side by side, but if someone poured me a glass tomorrow I wouldn't be able to tell which one I'm drinking. According to tables I've found online, the Original Trollinger has residual sugar (Restsüße) of 12.8 grams per liter, whereas the standard Trollinger has residual sugar of 15 grams per liter. Does this difference come from different fermentation procedures? I don't know. All I know is that the standard wine should taste slightly sweeter, but I can't tell the difference.

I don't think I'll return to either wine, apart from continuing to use the standard Trollinger for cooking. I prefer the Eberbach-Schäfer Trollinger.

Smile 2 (4½ Stars)

I wasn't very impressed by the first Smile film, but after seeing a trailer for "Smile 2" repeatedly at the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival I couldn't resist going to see it in the cinema. I'm glad I did. I find it much better. There's an outstanding performance by Naomi Scott as the pop singer Skye Riley, who's a pastiche of several contemporary pop singers. She has similarities with Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, without being a direct copy of either of them. Maybe she's closer to Taylor Swift. Skye is generic enough for every viewer to see his own favourite singer in her.

A year before the events in the film Skye was involved in a car accident. She's come out of it with horrific scars on her chest and back. That would end the career of most pop stars, but Skye is determined to make a comeback, wearing costumes that cover the scars.

At least Skye's legs are unmarked. They couldn't have been covered.

While attempting to buy painkillers from an illegal source, the dealer kills himself in front of her while smiling. This is the pattern from the first film. A demon attaches itself to someone and makes him kill himself in front of a witness. Then the demon is attached to the witness, who is made to kill himself a week later. As if this weren't enough, the witness is tormented for the whole week, made to see things that aren't there. This is Skye's fate. She's told that the only way for the curse to end is if she's killed by a third person, but she hopes she can find another way out.

The film is terrifying. The suspense drew me in from beginning to end. Now I'm already hoping for a third film.