Follow Me Quietly (1949) Dir. Richard Fleischer Lt. Larry Grant is obsessed with solving his current case. He is chasing a serial killer known only as the Judge, a name owed to the cryptic messages the killer leaves near his victims, all suggesting he sees himself as rendering judgement on his targets, though what exactly each person had done wrong in the eyes of the Judge eludes Grant. Grant and his partner Sgt. Art Collins are threatened to be taken off the case by their superior, as the Judge's number of victims stands at six and Grant and Collins are nowhere nearer finding out the identity of the killer, not through any lack of evidence. In fact, the killer has left enough physical evidence at his crime scenes that Grant believes they would have solved most other cases with a fraction of the clues at their disposal. Through Collins, Grant is introduced to Ann Gorman, an attractive young reporter who wants access to Grant to write an exclusive story about the murders. A distraction Grant is not looking for, in spite of his immediate attraction to the attractive journalist, not least of which because the publication Gorman writes for is a sensation-seeking rag focused on recycling true crime as entertainment. A police procedural noir that kind of feels slightly ahead of its time. Certainly there are aspects of the film I haven't seen in many of its contemporaries, like the on-screen use of crime scene photographs. There are a few scenes in there that elevate the film above its B-movie noir nature, including the bizarre - in the moment - scene with the dummy that comes to life. Dorothy Patrick and William Lundigan seem to be acting in a different type of film, with Patrick's performance far more tongue in cheek compared to Lundigan's very serious lead turn. Somehow the contrast works well for their respective characters and their dynamic. One other noteworthy thing, this was co-written by one Anthony Mann. Another interesting entry in Richard Fleischer's super-eclectic career, which for those not familiar with his work included movies as varied as Compulsion (The Leopold and Loeb bootleg drama that won its principal three actors the best actor award at Cannes), The Fantastic Voyage, Soylent Green and Red Sonja, among others.
1. Christy [2025] Surprised how much I enjoyed this, Sweeney was excellent in this. 2. Kramer vs Kramer [1979] Yes yes, first time I've seen this movie. Loved it. I actually googled why they couldn't ask for 50/50 custody and found out than in the 70s about the The "Tender Years Doctrine". Didn't know this at all.
Seven Year: 1995 Platform: Tubi Summary: Two cops deal with a murderer who uses religious themes for his murders. Rating: 8/10 First time seeing this. Honestly, good movie. Enjoyable, kept me on edge, fantastic cast*. For crime thrillers, this was excellent. *: I feel terrible being flippant about it but part of me wonders how much of that was Spacey being himself given the stuff that came out about him the last few years.
One of my very worst movie/theater experiences was watching this movie as I went with my very pregnant wife. Its a revolting movie on the best of days. With pregnancy hormones flushing through you? I think we only made it through three of the sins. And very happy we weren't there for the final scene.
Oh man. One other movie that I love but wouldn't recommend for date night (Unless your partner is into horror) is Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It's not outright gory but it's so bleak and dreadful. Great movie though.
Double Rainbow: Blue Blue Velvet ~ D. Lynch Jeffrey returns from college after his father's stroke and discovers a severed ear in a field. Turning it in to a cop in his neighborhood leads to a connection with the cop's daughter, Sandy. Jeffrey and Sandy investigate a link to a lounge singer, Dorothy, as amateur sleuths. The opening scene puts Lynch's not so subtle message of darkness lurking beneath the suburban veneer of America on full display. I found Jeffrey's curious naivety anxiety-inducing. I do love the contrast of the hammy performances of characters like the police detective versus the intense weirdness of the rest, like an attempt to maintain the idyllic suburban dream and ignore the reality that is presented.
Kickboxer (1989) Life is pretty good for the Sloane brothers, mullet-American Eric and unlikely brother Jean-Claude Van Damme. Eric was an easy victor in the heavyweight championship of the wildly popular sport of American kickboxing, with his educated brother working as manager and training partner. Eric decides the only real challenge is in the Muay Thai fights of Thailand and in his first fight challenges champion Tong Po. He loses. Badly. Van Damme wants bloody revenge, but as Po is controlled by local mafia he is untouchable outside the ring. He needs training, and lots of it. Fortunately he is introduced to master Xian Chow and a vast collection of Stan Bush power ballads. No stopping him now. Was reminded of the movie in another thread and wanted to watch it again. I can see why this was hated by critics and yet was a box-office hit and is still regarded decades later. It is wholly derivative and unoriginal, and some of the acting was questionable, but it was breezy and feel-good and entertaining despite the middle hour of the movie being essentially one training montage. There is a theme of overcoming loss and continuing living that is a bit washed away at the end because of the all-encompassing contest, but it's there and fitting for the vehicle. I'd say the biggest disappointment is the final fighting scene which was choreographed to show off Jean-Claude's physique above all else, and was very posed and affected. Whoever did that was totally obsessed with Van Damme's muscles. And I now see it was Van Damme himself. Good show.
I do rewatch them on occasion, and re-review them when I feel the need. JCVD has been in a handful of films since I stopped the marathon, but they are all Netflix films which I don't have, and Netflix films aren't released on DVD. All except one. Looks like The Gardener is on a free streaming site. Expect a watch soon.
Double Rainbow: Violet Violet Evergarden: The Movie ~ Ishidate T. Violet is a "doll" who writes letters for people with some poetic license. She's traumatized from participation in a war as a child and losing both her hands. She has advanced prosthetics to allow her to type. She's hoping that her military superior may still be alive, though the war has ended. I thought I had checked earlier, but I should have watched the anime season first. I thought this was a recap movie, but it is actually a continuation of a story I didn't fully understand. The film can stand on it's own for the most part, though. It's a bit clunky at the start without the context from the show, but the second half is still very good. The animation is stellar.
Van Dammethon 50 Le Jardinier [aka The Gardener] (2025) He's on the list. Serge's doctor fiend told him. A government courier had an accident and the doctor took a peek into the bloody manila envelope and saw five names - one of them Serge's. This can only mean he is short listed for a ministerial position in the French government. Even better, the first name on the list had just died from a fall. This weekend at his shoreline estate is starting on a great note. But then some motorboats arrive at his beach, with a squad of heavily armed special forces. Serge suddenly realizes he was actually on the bad list. The list of five people the Prime Minister is allowed to kill each year. Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, he tries to flee, but is hit with tranquilizer darts as the soldiers prepare an "accident". The last thing he sees is his gardener. In hand-to-hand combat with the soldiers. Must be the drugs. A French film I saw dubbed in English, and not very well. But it wasn't the words that didn't translate well, it was the Serge character. If he was being killed for being aggravating, I'm in full-blooded agreement with the Prime Minister. There's plenty of American films where a stoic, skilled warrior has to protect an annoying extroverted target, but none so full of themselves, so talkative, so exasperatingly uncontrollable. It has to be some French thing, I think. The number of French movies I've seen can be counted on one hand with fingers left over, but I'm still convinced. Fortunately, the movie is mostly Van Damme, and he is brilliant of course. More than his still considerable physical presence, he is perfect for these kind of comic action movies because he is a natural straight man and isn't afraid to trade in his reputation for a smile. Or trade in Schwarzenegger's, as the funniest scene was a take on the iconic Commando getting ready montage. But Van Damme's charm isn't enough to carry the rest by itself.
This 50th Jean-Claude Van Damme movie review is much more than a landmark of how many of his movies I've seen - it is recognition of his being in that many movies. There was an extra on the DVD for We Die Young where Van Damme was giving pointers to the young director on how to shoot something, and I realized then the secret of his longevity despite not really needing the work and despite having his blockbuster era long behind him. He just loves being in movies. It comes through in everything he does.
Double Rainbow: Orange Tintin and the Blue Oranges ~ P. Condroyer Professor Calculus receives a blue irradiated orange from a fellow scientist, but it is immediately stolen. Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and the Professor go to Valencia to meet with the creator, but he's been kidnapped and then the Professor is kidnapped. Tintin must solve the mystery. I know Tintin is a cultural landmark, but having no history with it or knowledge of the various side characters made it a little hard to enjoy on it's own. The story in the movie is kind of just a pretense for slapstick hijinks. If that slapstick was noteworthy, it would be just fine, but it's not terribly memorable or funny. I think at the beginning there was a note about the restoration to 2K, and I thought that was well done. It looked crisp and the Spanish landscape and town were well captured.
Double Rainbow: Yellow The Cave of the Yellow Dog ~ B. Davaa Ostensibly, the story of a young girl in rural Mongolia finding a dog and wanting to keep it against her father's wishes, but actually more a document of a nomadic way of life for a sheep-herding family. I found it pretty successful on both fronts. Cute children and a cute dog (and maybe the most patient mother in the world) make for a light and relatively easy-going narrative. The Mongolian landscape provides a beautiful and vast background for long, lingering shots. The family portrayed are real nomadic sheep herders, so there is a documentary feeling for parts of the film.
If you liked this you might try Tulpan, which is a similarly light-on-story movie about semi-nomads on the Russian steppe.
Double Rainbow: Green The Scent of Green Papaya ~ Tran A. A 10 year old, Mui, starts work as a servant in a wealthy family's house in 1951 Saigon. The family has issues. 10 years later, she starts work at a musician's house. There are probably some oblique socio-economic commentary in the film, but I'm not entirely sure what the point was meant to be. Mui's life and story are interesting, but most of the drama happens around her as she remains largely passive throughout the narrative. The score is a bit odd, seemingly trying to pump tense drama via discordant notes into scenes where nothing dramatic happens.
I honestly still think the best Tintin adaptation is the Ellipse Programme animation series, not the earlier Belvision studios one. It's the adaptation that best captures what is good about the original comics. Also provided us with a banger theme song (by Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak), which was my ringtone for a while, ages ago. I would say the Spielberg film is also decent.
Double Rainbow: Indigo Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All ~ A. Bombach A documentary of the 40 year musical and activist partnership of Amy Ray and Emily Sailers as the Indigo Girls. I didn't know much about the Indigo Girls, but this was an excellent music documentary. They had a lot of behind the scenes archival footage taken by the band which helped. It's deeply emotional in showing their struggles being openly queer musicians in the 80s and 90s, but also in the brief snippets of fans who talk about how much that representation meant to them. The music is political but also about community. It doesn't feel like a hagiography, mostly because they're both seemingly so sincere in their interviews.
Double Rainbow: Violet Violeta Went to Heaven ~ A. Wood A musical biopic of Chilean folk artist Violeta Parra. Based on a biography written by her son, this film is a complex portrayal of the artist. Her artistic talent and commitment to preserving Chilean folk music and arts versus her personal pain and failings. The non-linear narrative helps keep the story-telling dynamic and interesting. It's well shot and directed, and Francisca Gavilán is excellent in the lead role.
Superman -- 2025 Did I miss a Superman movie that was dark and edgy and/or venturing into Batman-level of cynacism? Because this movie seems more like an answer to an earlier movie than anything standing on it's own. It's practically camp, what with Krypto getting as much screen time as Lex Luthor and having more impact on the story than Lois Lane. Luthor is not really threatening except that he has taken control of some villain called Ultra Man and also has some hold over a Mystique-like character. They're the ones who do the heavy lifting in this movie. Too many threads going on here, which is par for a DC Universe movie including some group of crime fighters called the Justice Gang: Hawkgirl, Mr Terrific and Nathan Fillion as a foppish Green Lantern. A total mess.
I was reading a piece on the new Odyssey movie, which is carrying an R-Rating, and came upon this line: What Nolan seems to understand better than almost anyone is that audiences will follow a filmmaker they trust. They don't necessarily buy tickets because of the genre. They buy tickets because they believe the experience will be worth it. Translation: people who see the Odyssey will see it because they know that they're seeing a Christopher Nolan movie. Is that really true? I know you guys all know your directors, but am I that out of touch with the mainstream having no real care about directors? I mean, I know of only two directors who I think of in terms of their movies: Stephen Spielburg and Alfred Hitchcock. (And my son just reminded me that I know Quentin Tarantino's work.) I mean, I guess I have seen a Martin Scorsese movie or two, but I'm not really aware of them as Scorsese films. Just seems weird to me.
Like many things, I think it depends. But based on my experience I know people who will watch movies because a director is working on it. I have a friend, he's not exactly the arty type but he loves John Woo movies. Loves the action and chaos that come with them (Watch Hard Boiled, it's fun). People I know love David Lynch because he's just out there. I have a friend who has dragged me to midnight releases of Tarantino movies. James Cameron is well known for Terminator, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar, the Raimi brothers are known for Evil Dead, people love the Coen Bros (Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men) Kubrick for his movies like The Shining, 2001, Ridley Scott for Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner. The list is long. I think if one has an interest in movies they'll be aware of directors. I'm not the biggest Nolan fan, but I did see Oppenheimer because he directed it. It also helped that Cillian Murphy was the main character. EDIT: I should add that directors can have their own unique style as well. Scorsese definitely does for instance.
I do not think it is weird at all. Christopher Nolan has a specific style and his movies are always very well made, even if they can be a bit dense and heavy. I have seen just about all the movies he has directed, although I have not seen Tenet for some reason. I will get around to it at some point. As for the Odyssey, I am sure it will be a very good movie, but I just do not know if I can plunk down my hard earned money to see Matt Damon star in an epic. Can't stand the guy. Odd that you do not see Scorsese movies as such. I have watched most of his movies (except the last couple), but I am not really much of a fan of his. I will leave further comment to others.
It feels very similar to Tarantino in that Nolan has built a brand somewhat outside of genre, though "blockbuster" may be his genre. His hit to miss ratio is incredibly high and have earned the cache with studios to have huge budgets, so you can expect great actors, effects, set design, (and for Nolan, terrible sound, though the rumor is this film will be better). I'm sure he could pick something completely esoteric and boring to drive people away (I didn't see Oppenheimer), but I wouldn't describe the Odyssey as that.
Double Rainbow: Blue The Thin Blue Line ~ E. Morris A documentary examining the conviction of Randall Dale Adams for killing a Dallas police officer in 1976 and the many holes and seeming fabrications that led to that conviction. Incredible that Morris was able to get all these people on camera convincing themselves they enacted justice in this case. That the justice system can be completely broken isn't a huge surprise anymore, but still amazing a case could be so flimsily constructed. That wraps up my June challenge: OMG, Double Rainbow! It was a pretty fun challenge. Maybe not as many great films as I'd hoped, but a fun theme to work with.