I had only seen this once, decades ago, but remembered it being pretty good. It’s a beautifully lit, nasty film noir full of repellent characters making it uncomfortable viewing at times. The male lead (Dana Andrews) is a scumbag grifter. Alice Faye, a seeming paragon of masochism, loves him unconditionally even after learning Dana only married her for her $$$. Gorgeous Linda Darnell steals the show as a slutty diner waitress, object of every male’s desire and subject to relentless verbal, sexual and physical harassment. With Charles Bickford as a psycho cop, John Carradine underutilized as a phony medium, some post-production studio tampering (to beef up Darnell’s role at the expense of Faye’s) and a hasty wrap-up that proved a bit less than satisfying. Still, overall, pretty good.
Well our youngest decided we are going to watch 1988 Killer Klowns from outer Space ( he is 17 and autistic it’s complicated as to why we are watching)
The 80s is all in this movie, from a plot, effects, characters, it is just quintessential 80s. I don’t know what to think , other than I probably need wine , a lot more wine .
Youngest mollusc is enjoying it, there is probably quite a lot to enjoy at other levels if you need some retro 80s movies, this is a good choice, needs more wine for me though.
A lot more wine .
So now onto Marc Maron comedy special ( without the youngest obviously) “ From Bleak to Dark” and Mrs has agreed we are getting tickets for his live show when he tours through Houston in October.
Guessing the upcoming November events may spice things up a bit
Just saw Abigail (theater). Not a movie I would choose but it was sil’s turn to pick. A cheesy vampire movie where the undead is a young girl who gets kidnapped by six nincompoops who intend to hold her for ransom (they don’t know she’s a vampire). I think this might be considered good by those who are into the genre. The young actor who plays the lead does a nice job. I’ve not seen / heard of any of the cast members except Giancarlo Esposito, who has a small part. I expect this will have a sequel(s).
Quoting myself just to add another comment. After thinking about it for a while, I think I want to upgrade my rating. This is a bit more than “a fine little flick”. The final minutes of the film are quite meaningful. I quite recommend it, but, again, only if you’re into that kind of horror genre, which I admit that I am.
You should watch Matilda The Musical. She’s so very good in it.
Late Night With The Devil
Highly recommended.
This was terrific and it now streams with Shudder, a service that is only $6/month and comes with many movies in addition to this game. I think Late Night With The Devil has pushed its way near the top of the best 2024 releases I’ve seen so far.
A late night TV show from the 70’s has an episode where they try a few supernatural experiments, but things quickly go a different direction than intended. The premise is hardly all that original, but the execution, performances, and script are great and this movie certainly had the best final 20 minutes of a movie I’ve seen so far this year.
Seriously, just pay the $6 for a month of Shudder and watch it. By the way, if you cancel after one month, I bet Shudder will offer you a free month after that, which brings it to $3 a month. Worth it.
And tonight it is Gremlins , still a good movie .
The Beekeeper 2024, Jason Statham
I’m embarrassed to say it’s very entertaining. The plot and violence is cartoon level. Silly stuff like the Beekeeper defeating a SWAT team in 60 seconds. (They conveniently were bunched up in a circle surrounding the Beekeeper)
If you’re willing to accept the buffoonery; it’s quite a fun ride. Get a bucket of popcorn and enjoy.
We just saw it in our local art cinema. Great fun, but yes, it would have been better at least 15 or 20 minutes shorter.
Wrath of Man 2021 Jason Statham
I liked this one much better. It actually has a intriguing story that kept me guessing. Still a lot of violence but it’s more grounded and believable.
It was surprising to see Jeffery Donovan in a fairly small role. He starred in Burn Notice for 7 seasons. He’s basically playing a criminal version of the same guy in this movie. He talks and acts exactly like the guy in Burn Notice.
I strongly recommend Wrath of Man
I’ve seen comparisons between Statham and Eastwood. Statham plays similar strong and mostly silent characters. Very edgy like Eastwood’s The Man with No Name. But Statham has to make better movies before becoming the next Clint Eastwood.
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995). Narrated by Captain Kirk, aka William “the Shat” Shatner. Initially annoying, but eventually actually got me pretty angry. This really should have been titled “The Folly of Man”. The movie itself consists of nothing more than a few bits of narrative connecting an incessant series of videos showing nuclear explosions in the atmosphere or underwater, and documenting the mad rush by both the Soviet Union and the US to bring on the age of Mutually Assured Destruction.
It was incredible to me to see the number of such tests that were conducted. A single code-named “operation” was usually not a single nuclear explosion, but as many as 35 to 37 separate ones, wreaking devastation over beautiful South Pacific islands, contaminating land, air, and water with deadly radioactivity and sending radioactive fallout around the globe. And there were many dozens of these “operations”, in the south Pacific, in Nevada, and elsewhere, even one in outer space that created an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that disrupted radio communication in parts of the southern hemisphere for up to 8 hours and destroyed electronic equipment. Innocent goats and pigs and other animals were intentionally left in the blast area to judge the effects of the explosion and subsequent radiation. When the Soviet Union violated the voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing, the US retaliated with no less than 100 more tests in the aftermath of that alone.
It didn’t help that each video of yet another massive explosion was celebrated by an orchestral soundtrack and, believe it or not, a choir. Then returning to the Shat’s droning narration. One wonders why the hell he ever agreed to do this until one realized that Shatner has a reputation for being willing to do just about anything for a buck. I actually don’t really mind the guy but this movie sucks. A sober account of our mad rush to destroy ourselves would have been depressing but acceptable, but this film took altogether too much delight in what big explosions we could make. Definitely NOT recommended.
Primal Fear (1996). Excellent, absorbing crime + courtroom drama with stellar performances by Richard Gere, Edward Norton, and Laura Linney. Full of twists and turns, wheels within wheels. Highly recommended. If you’ve never seen this, prepare for a fine ride.
Well, I followed through here and watched it this weekend and still love it. The performances are just stellar across the board, with an extremely well-deserved oscar win for F. Murray Abraham. The production and costume design are magnificent, directing and cinematography top notch, and of course the music is amazing. Still one of my favorite movies ever. A must watch for everybody.
That said, I think I actually preferred the theatrical release to the director’s cut, which to my mind had too much extra opera in it. It felt a touch bloated at three hours and lost a bit of its momentum. So kudos as well to the original editor, who put together a more propulsive version.
Judgement at Nuremberg (I made a thread about it). Great movie!
Watching “The Taking of Pelham 123” right now.
I haven’t seen the remake, let us know how it is.
I’m watching the 1974 version. I didn’t even know there was a new one. 
I’ve been on a kick for older movies I’ve never seen before lately.
Ah, so “One Two Three” then. That is a terrific movie.
Baby Driver (2017)
I remember a lot of hype about this film when it came out, and I finally got around to watching it.
The stunt work is fun to watch, and is as impressive as it is ridiculously over the top.
I liked how the movie poked fun and some well-worn heist movie tropes. And I really enjoyed the surreal aspects of it. I loved the scene when Baby is making the coffee run and everything happening around him corresponds to the music he’s listening to. In the laundromat, a single sheet of brightly-colored fabric is spinning in each dryer. There are never any other customers in the diner. All of this creates a sort of dreamlike atmosphere, which makes the ultra-violent third act all the more jarring.
It was quite interesting visually, with some potentially thought-provoking themes, but it’s very thin on plot, and full of one-dimensional characters. I didn’t detect a whole lot of depth behind Ansel Elgort’s blank stare.
I’m still thinking about it hours later. I’m just not sure exactly what I think of it.
The Greatest Hits. A fatasy-ish “what if film” Kind of hard to explain.
I woman is able to go back to her past self with the aid of music. Certain songs take her to different places in her life (with the full memories of her current self intact). So check your rationality at the door. Her goal is prevent The Bad Thing from happening but while she can change her behavior, changing the behavior of others is a problem.
Then she meets a guy who creates complications.
Lucy Boynton plays the woman. Justin H. Min is the guy. Both do a good job, especially staying in character. (Which is harder than it seems for a movie like this.) BTW, if someone wants to cast a “young Rosanna Arquette” Boynton’s the one.
Lots of little bits are carefully added to the story. E.g., she has to be really, really careful what music she hears or else she might have a public “episode”. (The one that causes the worst episode is a hoot.) So she goes around with headphones on a lot.
The sets and cinematography are superb. Lots of nice shots of LA, warts and all.
Of course this is a music heavy movie. Most songs (many covers) are okay or better. But not all. E.g., there’s a terrible cover of The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love. The gold standard for that is of course Puddle’s version.
Yeah, give it 5 LPs (on vinyl) by me. But it’s for not everyone. It’s weird and complex.