Cinema Boston's World Cup of Film: Knockout Round

 Cinema Boston’s World Cup of Film: Knockout Round

Hello and welcome to Cinema Boston. I am your host David, and the real World Cup is well into their knockout round, so Cinema Boston better get going!

Our first episode in this series featured the Group Stage where each of the 12 groups of four was whittled down to either three or two countries, following the World Cup model.

A reminder that we’re not deciding this World Cup of Film with a country’s “body of work,” which we did the first time we tried this four years ago.

Instead, we will base each matchup on the most recent film I’ve seen from that country, so the hopes of an entire nation will be resting on ONE movie!

As expected, THREE countries (South Africa, Canada, and the United States) have had their Group Stage films REPLACED ALREADY!

Some for the better, and some for the worse, but that’s the way things go when you make up your own rules of engagement.

This entire enterprise is, of course, preposterous.

Movies can be so completely different, so it’s definitely an Apple v. Orange debate.

Toy Story vs. Eraserhead, which moves on?! How can you compare those?

How about John Wick vs. Schindler’s List? Where do you start?

Same thing with The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Devil in Miss Jones.

So, this is all admittedly done in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

Sixteen matchups for you today and THREE of our Cinematic pairings mirrored the actual matchups on the pitch, which was fun.

We’ll see if art mirrors soccer.

This is our second of three episodes, as our next one will go through the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final, so stay tuned for that one.

Here we go!

Cinema Boston’s World Cup of Film: Knockout Round!

Czech Republic Spaceman (2024) 👍 Adam Sandler and an alien spider become friends in space

Vs.

New Zealand The Quiet Earth (1985) 👍 Dystopian sci-fi about a scientist alone in the world

Kicking off with a battle of sci-fi movies, and in the 39 years between the making of The Quiet Earth and Spaceman, sci-fi movies got a little better. The Czechs advance.

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Switzerland Sew Torn (2024) 👍 A seamstress makes that age old movie mistake of picking up that briefcase of money at a crime scene

Vs.

Jordan Theeb (2014) 👍 Coming of age story of a young Bedouin boy during WWI

We loved Sew Torn so much that the poor little Bedouin boy didn’t have a chance. Switzerland will move on.

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Brazil The Secret Agent (2025) 👍 4ON! In 1977 Brazil, a technology expert is forced into hiding

Vs.

Tunisia The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) 👍ON! Docudrama about a 6-year-old girl’s calls for help pleading for rescue while under IDF fire

Oscar nominee vs. Oscar nominee, so this was a difficult matchup. It goes to “extra time,” but Brazil and The Secret Agent will advance.

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United States Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016) How many B&C list celebrities can YOU cram into the same movie?! (A lot!)

Vs.

Haiti When the Drum is Beating (2011) 👍 Music doc about a 20-member band who has been making music for 62 years

The film representing the United States changed several times over the course of this project, and when the wheel stopped spinning, it landed on a Sharknado movie!  I’m in the process of watching all of them in two days, and they’re growing on me. The United States advances even though they were playing a man down, cinematically. 

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Ecuador Maria Full of Grace (2004) ON! Story of a pregnant teenage drug mule 

Vs.

Australia Thrash (2026) Shark movie with some very questionable marine science

At work last week Courtney said, “I watched the WORST shark movie last night!” and I immediately responded, “Was it Thrash?” She was stunned, I was not, Ecuador moves on.

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Netherlands Amsterdamned  (1988) 👍 Serial killer working the canals of Amsterdam 

Vs.

Scotland Dog Soldiers (UK: 2002) 👍 Scottish werewolves - that’s all you need to know for now

Unlike the real Dutch team, this Netherlands (and Amsterdamned) advance!

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Egypt The Square (2013) 👍 ON! Satire about a controversial art exhibit

Vs.

Senegal Sembene! (2015) 👍 Documentary about African freedom fighter Ousmane Sembene whose weapons were his stories

I keep mentioning a disturbing sequence in The Square, and since it’s moving on, I may tell you about that next time. 

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Saudi Arabia Alkhallat+ (2022) 👍 Anthology film about social deception and trickery

Vs.

Argentina Argentina, 1985 (2022) 👍 ON!  about lawyers taking on the countries’ military dictatorship

There was something about Alkhallat+ that boosts it past Argentina’s political thriller. Saudi Arabia advances.

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Norway Sentimental Value (2025) 👍 OW! International Feature Film about family, movies, and art

Vs.

Sweden Trouble (2024) 👍 Actioner with a wrongfully accused man being mistaken for a pilot

Swedish action-comedy no match for an Oscar winner. Norway and Sentimental Value move on.

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Algeria Days of Glory (2006) 👍 Four North African men enlist in the French army during WWII

Vs.

Uruguay Blanes Esquina Muller (2020) 👍 A man moves in with his new girlfriend and is then visited by his future self warning him about her

I still don’t know how to pronounce it, but I’m also still wishing this Uruguayan fantasy was real.

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Colombia Bad Lucky Goat (2017) 👍 Two incompatible teen siblings need to fix things when they accidentally kill a bearded goat with their father’s truck

Vs.

Cape Verde Cabralista (2011) 👍 Documentary about political activist Amilcar Cabral

It was once part of a Best of the Month episode, so the Bad Lucky Goat and Colombia will move on.

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England* A Night to Remember (1958) 👍  The Titanic story as experienced by surviving crew & passengers - 39 yrs. before Cameron

Vs.

DR Congo* Benda Bilili! (2010) 👍 Another music doc, this one about paraplegic street musicians

A Night to Remember just made last month’s Best list, and it and England edges DR Congo to advance. (England also won the soccer match!)

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South Africa* They Will Kill You (2026) 👍 The flaming axe movie we JUST talked about in our B&W of June episode! 

Vs.

Canada* Undertone  (2026) 👍 A young woman caring for her comatose mother starts experiencing strange things in the house

This was the best matchup of this round! Both South Africa and Canada saw their movies replaced after the Group Stage by movies I loved! They Will Kill You made last month’s Best of list and Undertone will be making July’s Best list! This one went to penalty kicks before Canada and Undertone pulled it out. (Canada also won the soccer match!)

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Paraguay Landfill Harmonic (2015) 👍 Music doc about the Recycled Orchestra who makes instruments out of recycled trash 

Vs.

Iran Our Uniform (2023) 👍 ON! Animated short about a young girl and her school uniform

This was another difficult decision, but Paraguay’s Landfill Harmonic will be advancing.

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Germany Brick (2025)            Another creepy apt. Building movie - this one is suddenly surrounded by a mysterious brick wall

Vs. 

France All Boys Are Called Patrick (1959) 👍 21 minutes of Godard w/two college girls getting hit on by the same guy on the same day

This was NOT a difficult decision! Brick was absurd, and Godard is not.

Unless he wanted to be.

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Portugal* Ice Merchants (2022)  👍             ON! Animated short about a man and his son parachuting off a cliff every day to sell the ice they produce 

Vs.

Croatia* The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (2024) ON! short where a passenger train is stopped by paramilitary forces during an ethnic cleansing operation

Another battle of Oscar nominees! Both shorts. A tough call, but we’re going with Portugal and Ice Merchants. (Portugal also won the soccer match!)

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        Well, that is a wrap for the Knockout Round of Cinema Boston’s World Cup of Film!

Only 16 films and countries remain, and our final episode in the series will crown our champion!

We hope you return for that, and until then, enjoy the soccer, and take care.

 June’s Best & Worst

Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and June is in the rear view and 2026 is half over and time flies and I’m getting old, and I’m trying not to think about it and let’s talk about movies.

Only seven for you today, only ONE of which was a bomb, so June wasn’t too bad of a cinematic month here at Wellman.

Let’s begin today by thinking about what makes you want to watch a movie. Is it the premise, the genre, the director, the stars?

There’s no wrong answer here because I personally think you should watch every movie you are ever even interested in watching, period.

And I’m only asking that question because I love Jill St. John, and she led me astray for once.

Honeymoon Hotel (1964)

AP/89 m/IMDb: 5.1/directed by Henry Levin

IMDb: “A man’s fiancé leaves him at the altar. His friend persuades him to use his honeymoon reservation at a couples only Boca Raton resort anyway.”

I don’t necessarily think she’s a great actress, but I absolutely love Jill St. John and think she’s worthy of her nickname, “Magic.”

Jill St. John is the ONLY reason I watched this movie and boy did they not know what to do with Jill St. John.

I hated this movie because of how women were treated, not only my friend.

The female characters in this movie were all stereotypically terrible cookie-cutter/paint by numbers characters.

There aren’t many choices on the menu if you are female. 

If you are female in Honeymoon Hotel, you will be one of the following:

*Shrew

*Battle-axe

*Manipulative & Deceitful

*Brainless Idiot

That’s what makes this film so insulting, and I’m not even going to delve into how creepy Bob Goulet’s character is. Yuck.

Jill St. John’s character is completely brainless and spends most of the movie in next to nothing while doing things like walking into glass doors.

It was sad to see Jill put through that. I hope she was well compensated.

The positive thing about Honeymoon Hotel is that it was the only film on the Worst List this month, so good for us.

Now a half dozen films we actually think are worth a look, starting with a bleak Finnish rom com of all things.

Ariel (1988)

NR/72 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Aki Kaurismaki

IMDb: “A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.”

And this is a comedy.

I was unfamiliar with director Aki Kaurismaki, but apparently this is his thing. Ariel is part of his “Proletariat Trilogy,” and the director himself thinks this is his best film.

The main characters are wonderful together, and their “meet-cute” was quite unique.

After spending their first night together, Irmeli asks Taisto, “Will you disappear in the morning?” His response is, “No, we’ll be together forever.”

And he was dead serious.

This pair grew on me over the course of the film, and even though they really have nothing, they actually have everything.

Next up is a film that I was surprised I had not seen given its subject matter.

A Night to Remember (1958)

NR/123 m/IMDb: 7.9/directed by Roy Ward Baker

IMDb: “On her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Spoiler Alert: It sinks.

Reviewers say A Night to Remember is the definitive Titanic film due to its documentary-style realism and historical accuracy.

The filmmakers interviewed several surviving passengers and members of the crew, which is why it’s such an accurate depiction of events.

You may be familiar with another “Titanic movie” made in 1997.

Well, it was this film that inspired that director to make his Titanic movie, and he lifted ideas, plotlines, conversations, and characters from it.

The special effects were also impressive, but I wondered why they didn’t show the ship breaking in half.

I had forgotten that they didn’t realize that had happened until the wreckage was discovered in 1985.

If you’re a fan of that 1997 movie, I think you’ll definitely enjoy A Night to Remember.

Next up, a movie titled Fast Charlie whose main character is named Charlie Swift.

Oh, I get it!

Fast Charlie (2023)

NR/90 m/IMDb: 6.0/directed by Phillip Noyce

IMDb: “For 20 years, Charlie Swift has been a fixer and hitman for a mob boss named Stan. After a rival boss puts a hit on Stan and his crew, Charlie is the sole survivor and decides to avenge his friend.”

Pierce Brosnan may be my 4th favorite James Bond, but he’s back on Cinema Wellman’s Best of the Month list for the 3rd time (Black Bag, The Out-Laws) so he must be doing something right post 007.

Charlie’s boss in this film is played by our friend James Caan in his final role before his death.

Jimmy Caan always made me smile. Even when he was playing bad people.

The first time I saw The Godfather, I wanted to BE James Caan.

Perhaps a less violent version.

Although I did admire him beating the shit out of his brother-in-law for hurting his sister.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you this was groundbreaking, important cinema, but it was an action-comedy that kept me entertained for 90 minutes, so it’s on the list.

Next up is a film directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, The Whale), so you know you’re in for something with him at the helm.

Caught Stealing (2025)

R/107 m/IMDb: 6.8/directed by Darren Aronofsky

IMDb: “When his neighbor asks him to take care of his cat, a former baseball prodigy now working as a bartender finds himself in the middle of gangsters without knowing why.”

Austin Butler is the unlucky bartender in this action-comedy thriller that had such a terrific cast, I feel the need to give them all a curtain call.

Along with Butler, who does a fine job, we have Zoe Kravitz, Griffin Dunne, Regina King, and Bad Bunny.

We are also treated to Lipa and Shmully, Hasidic gangsters played perfectly by Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio.

And their mother is CAROL KANE!!!

Have fun storming the castle!

While this is dark, it’s not nearly as heavy as some of Aronofsky’s other offerings, and the cast and direction elevated this past standard action-comedy fare.

It does include something I dislike that films seem to do a lot, but I’ll save that for our end of the year wish list episode, and I looked past it pretty quickly.

Next up is a movie I assumed was going to be a certain type of movie, and I was wrong.

You know what happens when you assume…

Slanted (2025)

R/104 m/IMDb: 5.7/directed by Amy Wang

IMDb: “An insecure Chinese American teenager undergoes experimental surgery to appear white, hoping to secure the prom queen title and peer acceptance.”

I went into this expecting it to be a body horror film, and it was actually a lot deeper than most movies in that genre, and the premise is very thought provoking.

Shirley Chen plays Joan Huang, the Chinese American yearning to be white, and the scenes with her parents before the surgery are heartbreaking.

Shirley’s parents are proud of their Chinese heritage and don’t understand why their daughter would want to abandon all of that.

Crystal saw this before I did and told me that it was not your usual body horror film, and then she told me nothing else.

She knows how to pitch a movie.

Slanted isn’t your standard body horror film since it’s really not gory at all.

Not even close.

As you can guess, the surgery doesn’t go as planned and Joan is forced to deal with her decision and its impact on her and her family.

One movie to go, and it sets the record for most people killed with a flaming axe!

They Will Kill You (2026)

R/94 m/IMDb: 6.3/directed by Kirill Sokolov

IMDb: “A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery.”

I mentioned the flaming axe because it was really the only problem I had with this action horror comedy thriller from Russian director Kirill Sokolov.

I enjoyed They Will Kill You so much that I’m already looking for other films directed by Sokolov.

He’s a big fan of 80s and 90s horror (yes, please!), and favors practical effects whenever possible.

There was also something about what he did with the camera that made it look different to me, and we love different here at Cinema Wellman.

The lead is played by Zazie Beetz, and she kicks some major ass in several scenes of stylized ultra violence.

Patricia Arquette, Tom “Draco Malfoy” Felton, Heather “Rollergirl” Graham co-star, and James Remar lends his voice to a disembodied pig head!

This has it all!

And there is so much blood in this movie that the stars needed to have manicures every other day to try to clean things up before soaking them with more blood.

If you’re not sure if this one’s for you, just check out the trailer.

It’s hysterical, and unforgiving.

Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman for the Best & Worst of June. Some impressive stuff that’s currently available on Netflix/HBO Max (or whatever it’s called now) and, as always, Hulu.

We hope you’re back with us in a day or two when we’ll continue Cinema Boston’s World Cup of Film tournament with the Knockout Round, and it looks like we will be doing a third episode in that series to decide the champion!

Until then, take care.