Judas and the Black Messiah: Fred Hampton, young lead figure in the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers, is assassinated by the US government. A young black man, Bill O'Neal, plays a role in the set-up of the assassination. Powerful movie. It's hopeless.
At Close Range (1986)- A thinly veiled movie about the notorious Johnston Gang. Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, and Mary Stuart Masterson star. When Norman Johnston escaped from prison in 1999, my brother's boy scout leader was worried because he'd served on his jury. Good flick.
La La Land (2016)- Notorious for the Oscar fiasco, this is a classic musical. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone (in her Academy Award winning role) star. I'll think of the opening scene the next time I'm stuck in traffic. Directed by Damien Chazelle.
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)-Disjointed spaghetti Western. Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale star. Criminally overlong.
Psych: The Complete Series (2006-2014), currently in season 3. A bit silly at times but some pretty damn funny stuff every night so far, so no completes. I didn't know much about James Roday, and Dule Hill I know only from the West Wing: both are damn fine comic actors, with pretty decent support from the rest of the cast.
The Lineup (1958) Dir. Don Siegel After a cop dies in a strange incident in which a cabbie runs him over before being shot, the detectives in charge of the case soon find out that the cab driver was actually an ex-con involved in a drug smuggling operation: unsuspecting tourists have heroin concealed in items they purchased in Hong Kong. Their luggage is then stolen upon their arrival in San Francisco, giving the drug dealers access to their contraband dope. A two man team arrives from Miami to handle the rest of the pick-ups and then drop off the collected drug stash at a pre-arranged location. They are Dancer, a career criminal with a psychopathic streak and Julian, his older mentor. The cops meanwhile try to track down the other concealed drugs and its unsuspecting owners before more victims can be claimed. Very good Don Siegel crime noir that I hadn't seen before. Especially strong lead performance by Eli Wallach as the psychopath Dancer. I was somewhat reminded of "Woman on the Run", though likely primarily because both films were shot in and around San Francisco.
I am sure this take will be controversial with @Belgian guy I always liked this film, though I do share your view to some extent It's a number of great scenes stitched together with some wandering plot
Talking about a collaboration between Leone, Argento and Morricone like this, blasphemy! An operatic masterpiece and just the right runtime. Certainly its length is more defensible for an epic western than for the many superhero movies which are now just as long or longer still.
I have no problem with the runtime, i just found the plot to be a bit convoluted when Jill McBain arrives - but largely you can just ignore all that
Advantageous (2015) - In a future where opulence overshadows economic hardship, a single mother and her daughter try to hold on to their joy. Gwen has the smarts to sell a unique product - youth - but she has one problem: She's considered too old to sell it, so she's released from her contract. She has a wonderful relationship with her daughter Jules, a bright, vibrant tween. Gwen wants the best for Jules, including a spot in a very prestigious school that Jules' rich friends are going to attend. Gwen wants to make it all happen, but now that she no longer is working, and she can't seem to find a job even with her outstanding credentials, she can't afford it. Gwen decides to go back to her old company and tell them that she's willing to be the poster girl for an experimental procedure where old people are made young again. It's like reconstructive cosmetic surgery, but without pain. They take your memories and mind, and place it in a beautiful young body. She does this to give her daughter a chance at the best future possible, but after the procedure, will she have made the right choice for her and her daughter? This movie was pretty good for the first two acts, and then completely collapses in the final third. The movie was trying to make several points when it probably should've focused on one or two. There were items in the movie that weren't even explored beyond just showing them for the sake of showing them. Police drones hovering over the city! Why? Not really explained. Bombings all over the city! What did it have to do with the central plot? Your guess is as good as mine. Discussion of child prostitution! A scene where a child prostitute changes in the park to being just a child, but no real extrapolation beyond a couple of cursory mentions. Why is it in here? This could've been really good, even as just a drama, and less of sci-fi. The mother and daughter were played so well, and they were great characters, but once she moved into her new body, the whole movie fell apart. Which is a shame because it's watch another movie with the mother and daughter again.
Minari (2020) Dir. Lee Isaac Chung The Yi family, a small clan of Korean immigrants consisting of dad Jacob, mom Monica, daughter Anne and son David, move from California to Arkansas to realize their own dreams of a better life in Reagan's America. Both Jacob and Monica earn their money as chicken sexers in a hatchery. The move to Arkansas is partially inspired by Monica not being up to the tempo required from a chicken sexer in California, but primarily because Jacob has dreams of starting his own farm. Isolated somewhat within their small Arkansan community and with Jacob finding the early beginnings of his farming tough going, tensions rise between Jacob and Monica, which they hope to resolve by inviting Monica's mother to live with them. Very good little drama centered around the immigrant experience, from the perspective of four Korean immigrants but the themes here (displacement/alienation/dreams meeting harsh reality) are more universal. Steven Yeun confirms his talent (it's now hard to imagine I once primarily knew him from just The Walking Dead). The contrast between his excellent work here and a similarly brilliant turn in "Burning" also proves he has range as well as skill. But this movie's MVP from an acting standpoint is Yuh-jung Youn, who plays the quirky grandmother of the family with great charm and obvious relish. The Golden Globes shunning this film from the best movie category to relegate it to the foreign language film category is total nonsense, made more so when you have actually seen the movie. If America is a nation of immigrants, it's hard to think of a more American film than Minari, even if the majority of the dialogue is in Korean.
It's weird to see Minari getting awards recognition in the wrong category. 1366219623058862083 is not a valid tweet id
The Haunted Strangler (1958) Dir. Robert Day In 1860, we see a man being dragged to a gallows, proclaiming his innocence right up to the moment he is hanged. He is Edward Styles, a man who is accused of the brutal murder of five young women through strangulation and stabbing. Twenty years later, author James Rankin has become somewhat obsessed with the case. He is convinced that Styles was actually innocent of the crime and he suspects the doctor who performed the autopsy on Styles after the execution and who disappeared completely shortly thereafter knows more about the case. But as he is trying to track down the lost doctor, new murders occur which have all the hallmarks of Styles' M.O. Has Rankin's investigation somehow forced the real killer out of his slumber? British horror thriller with a good Boris Karloff in the lead role. Also features Vera Day (of Quatermass 2 fame) among some other mainstays of 1950s British genre cinema. A quality Criterion restoration.
Paris, je t'aime (2006)- Anthology film that celebrates Paris (title means Paris, I love you). Many well known actors and directors in this film. Pretty good flick.
Neon Genesis Evangelion ~ H. Anno I have almost no experience with anime, but knew this was considered a classic, so gave it a go on Netflix. Even if sometimes inscrutable, especially at the end, I found it to be brilliant and an intense show to watch. Not sure what to try next.
The Phenix City Story (1955) Dir. Phil Karlson Phenix City Alabama is run by the mob. The proprietors of the gambling dens and taverns in 14th Street use their wealth to bribe local politicians and law enforcement as well as wield some influence in the State Capitol. As such, no one has been able to reel in the crimes and violence and many of the citizens who have tried have been threatened and in some cases killed. Albert Patterson is a lawyer who likes to keep out of the drama and has refused to take a side in the conflict within his community. He is instead looking forward to the return of his Officer son, who is coming back home from Germany to work in Albert's law firm as a partner. His son John is soon so troubled by the sorry state of his home town that he does get involved with the committee hoping to clean up Phenix City, which makes him and his father targets for the local mob. Interesting noirish drama, unusual in its style and structure. It is based on real events, which culminated in the murder of state AG-elect Albert Patterson in June of 1954. The movie opens with a news report in which a reporter interviews some of the real-life protagonists of the story, on location in Phenix City. This is followed by the actual movie, a fictionalized account of the events, shot in a vaguely vérité style (though not to the extent I would call it actual documentary style).
I don't know if it counts as a movie, but I watched the final episode of MASH on YouTube. It was 2 hours long without commercials, and it felt like a movie. It was pretty good. Given I was not of age when it debuted, I just started watching it a couple of months ago after it came on after The Flintstones and Happy Days. I was surprised how interesting I found it, and I definitely wanted to keep watching it. My wife doesn't seem to care for it, so I really only watch it in bits and pieces. Anyway, it's the final chapter of the Korean War, and the 4077th is holding out hope for a truce as word has been spreading that an armistice may be coming. Hawkeye is in a psych ward after an incident on a bus has caused him great trauma, and the only way he can move past it is if he can open up about it. Meanwhile his friends and fellow surgeons are also going through great changes as the war turns more violent and comes closer to them. For a finale, it was very well done. It was heart wrenching in moments, and simply sad in others. There were a few good laughs to be had, but this played more like a drama, and it was very well done.
Edge of Doom (1950) Dir. Mark Robson Father Thomas Ruth is confronted by a fellow priest who wants to quit their parish. The man in question cannot handle the daily troubles brought to them by their parishioners in their rather impoverished slice of the city. To change his fellow priest's mind, Ruth recounts the story of a young man whom he once helped and who strengthened his faith in the process. Martin Lynn is a hard-working young man who spends every cent he earns in a local flowershop on his sick mother. He dreams of earning enough to being able to afford to move her to a warmer climate. He feels a deep resentment towards the church because his father was denied a Christian burial after taking his own life following a crime he committed. When tragedy strikes and his mother does indeed die from her illness, he turns to the rectory to demand the parish help pay for his mother's funeral. When the priest refuses - the same man who also refused to bury his father years prior - Martin kills the man in anger. In the immediate aftermath, it is revealed that Martin has seemingly gotten away with the crime. There were no witnesses and he left no material evidence at the crime scene which can lead back to him. But can he live with a guilty conscience? A crime drama strengthened by the two good lead performances. A very lived in and emotionally truthful turn by Farley Granger as the tragic Martin Lynn and an equally strong performance by Dana Andrews as the sympathetic and compassionate priest. Also features Joan Evans (whom I love in the sneakily good western "No Name on the Bullet") in one of her earliest roles as Martin's love interest.
Went through Netflix and the cable TV fare last night, and nothing really struck me. Completely bored, I went to my basement and found my old DVD collection. I used to be a real collector before I had kids, but when we moved into our house, I didn't have a space for my DVD rack, so they went into some boxes and were shipped down the basement. Anyway, while going through them, I picked Casablanca. You can never go wrong with one of the greatest movies ever made. It's a wonderful and enjoyable picture, and an absolute classic, but while I watched it, I spent a few minutes thinking about if this would be a movie that my kids would watch when they were older. My kids will be in their 20s when this film turns 100. It still holds up so well, and the story is wonderful, and still seems to stand the test of time, but I'm definitely curious how much it'll be remembered on its 100th birthday.