Happy Thanksgiving

To all of my American friends, I wish you the very best Thanksgivings. I hope your day is filled with good food and fellowship amongst your friends and family. To all of my non-American friends, I hope your regular Thursday is filled with good tidings, good things, and happiness.

I feel like I haven’t had much to say around these parts lately, but that’s mostly been due to the fact that I’ve been writing my head off for Cinema Sentries. I’ll try to post those things on this site soon, but until then I once again wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Eyes Wide Shut is the Pick of the Week

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After my disastrous semester attempting to get a master’s degree, I got a really great job working on an EPA-funded project in northeastern Oklahoma. Being young and single, I moved myself to Joplin, Missouri, which was the nearest place approximating a city, and thus had things for a young, single man to do after work.

I went to the movies nearly every weekend and often invited my various coworkers. I have very specific memories of inviting a friend to see Eyes Wide Shut and both of us walking out with that look in our eyes. Neither of us had any idea what to make of the film, but we were sure we’d seen something special.

I’ve only come to appreciate it more as the years have gone by. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have hardly been better, and watching Cruise wander through an increasingly paranoid labyrinth of sexual obsession is a deep and enjoyable ride.

The Criterion Collection is releasing it in 4K UHD and I’m happy to make it this week’s pick.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

The Long Walk: Based on a Stephen King book (who was using the nom de plume Richard Bachman), this dystopian film pits a group of young men in a contest to the death, that will be televised. A game show offers a major prize to the man who can continue walking at a steady pace the longest. If anyone slows down, they are shot (by a gruff military man played by Mark Hamill). I’ve heard good things.

The Conjuring 4: Last Rites 4K UHD: I love The Conjuring. I think it is one of the best horror films of the last fifteen years. I love the story, I love the filmmaking, and it has ample amounts of jump scares and an unsettling atmosphere. The sequels have been a series of diminishing returns. I hear this fourth and probably last film (at least the last Conjuring film; I suspect the various spin-offs will continue churning out films for some time to come) is pretty lousy. Still, I love finishing a series so I’ll no doubt get to this soon.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) 20th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD: I’ve never been able to get into Jane Austen. I’ve tried to read several of her books several times and never managed more than a few chapters. I don’t know why, exactly. My wife absolutely adores her. For a long time I hated the cinematic adaptations of her stories. But one day I got offered to review the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. That is my wife’s very favorite thing, so I thought it would be a wonderful present for her. But as it was a review item, I had to watch it. So I did, and then I reviewed it. Turns out I rather loved it. I’ve since come around to several other Austen adaptations (but I still haven’t managed to read anything by her.)

This adaptation of Pride and Prejudice doesn’t get quite the love the BBC miniseries does, but my wife says it is still quite lovely. It stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and Matthew Macfayden as Mr. Darcy. It has a new UHD print and lots of extras.

The Agatha Christie Collection 4K UHD: We are big fans of Christie in our house, and especially of the various cinematic adaptations that have been made of her work over the years. There is something so cozy about watching a murder mystery be solved amongst the beautiful English countryside. This set includes four films (Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), The Mirror Crack’d (1982), and Evil Under the Sun (1982) all of which I might argue are the definitive versions of each story.

Anemone 4K UHD: Daniel Day-Lewis stars in this drama directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis about a hermit living in the woods who is contacted by his estranged brother (played by Sean Bean) in an attempt to put their lives back together after a tragedy.

The Death Wish Collection: The original Death Wish stars Charles Bronson as a man who starts out as a pacifist, but once his daughter is sexually assaulted all bets are off. The first one attempts to have something to say beyond just Charles Bronson blowing people away, but it isn’t very good at it. The sequels get increasingly silly (but strangely better once they drop all pretense of depth). Kino Lorber has packaged them all up in a nice looking little set.

French Film Noir Collection Vol. II: When I first learned about film noir, I thought it was a very small genre. In my mind I thought it was relegated to classics like The Third Man, and The Big Sleep. That was a silly thought, and I don’t know how it got into my head, but it wasn’t until years later that I realized how big the genre really is. The thing is, of course, that film noir is a very malleable genre without any hard rules as to what it really is. And it wasn’t just relegated to the United States; you can find noirs in just about every country that makes film. I’ve not actually heard of these four films, but I love a good film noir and I’m excited to see what the French have done with it. This set includes the following films: Rhine Virgin / The Beast is Loose / Trapped by Fear / The Passion of Slow Fire.

Alec Guinness Masterpiece Collection 4K UHD: My generation knows Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films, but the actor had a very long career making all sorts of films. This set collects four films (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers) from his early years making comedies for Ealing Studios. I’ll have a full review up soon.

Sleepless 4K UHD: Dario Argento’s giallo-esque thriller from 2001 is far from his best work, but it isn’t bad either. It feels a bit like a great artist reimagining his hits rather than a brand new work by a master firing on all cylinders. You can read my Friday Night Horror review of the film here. Vinegar Syndrome has this release.

Manhattan Melodrama (1934) Blu-ray Review

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Considering the talent – Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and WS Van Dyke (who directed most of The Thin Man movies) this film was entirely disappointing. Melodrama is right. This thing lacks all the wit and cleverness one would expect in a film with that cast.

You can read my full review here.

Listen to Bob Dylan Cover Van Morrison’s “Going Down to Bangor”

The Friday Night Horror Movie: Frankenstein (2025)

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I don’t believe I’ve ever read Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, but I have seen several different cinematic adaptations of it. I’ve seen the 1931 film with Boris Karloff, of course, and all the sequels from Universal. I’ve seen several of the Hammer Studio versions and that one from the 1990s with Robert DeNiro. I guess it is safe to say I like the story, or perhaps I just like the monster.

Guillermo del Toro is a director whom I like but don’t really love. He’s an incredibly creative creator, and his films have an amazing visual style, but his stories rarely do it for me.

I don’t know why I tell you these things except that I guess when a beloved director takes on a beloved story, it feels like I should begin by expressing my feelings toward both things before I tackle how I feel about their collaboration.

For del Toro’s part, he’s apparently loved the story for decades and dreamed of making his own adaptation of it. I am reminded of Martin Scorsese’s The Gangs of New York, which was likewise a film the director had wanted to make for decades, yet when he finally got to do it, the film was compromised and became far less than his greatest film and presumably fell far from his aspirations. I don’t know if del Toro’s film was compromised by Netflix or anyone else, but the end result is overlong and overstuffed, and if it were to be given a subtitle like the novel, it might go something like this: Frankenstein; or, Be Careful What You Wish For.

The good news is the film looks absolutely amazing, even via streaming. Del Toro’s visual sensibilities have never been stronger. Frankenstein’s castle is a maze of gothic sensibilities and steampunk technology. The exteriors exist with beautiful mountain-strewn landscapes that made me want to grab my passport and head for the mountains of Eastern Europe. The acting is good across the board, especially Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the monster. And I always love to see Mia Goth in anything.

The problem, then, lies in the story. As I mentioned, I have not read the book, so I have no idea if this version is more faithful than the films I’ve seen, or less. It begins with a prelude. On an ice strewn sea somewhere, a ship full of Russian sailors is desperately trying to break through the ice and make it to the North Pole. They hear a noise and see flames rise somewhere toward the horizon. They run in that direction and find Victor Frankenstein badly wounded, near death.

Then the monster comes. It is fierce and dangerous and apparently impervious to bullets. It kills many men and screams Victor’s name. The sailors manage to get Victor aboard the ship and blow up the ice around the monster, sinking him into the frozen abyss.

Victor then tells the captain his tale, which makes up Part 1 of the film. It is more or less the story we all know. We do get a little more backstory on Victor. We see him as a child being taught by a demanding father (a wonderful Charles Dance) and being doted on by his mother. Then one by one her parents die, and he becomes estranged from his brother.

He becomes a doctor with wild ideas about life and death and is shunned by the community. He meets Henrich Harlande (Christoph Waltz), who is intrigued by his ideas. He gives him all the funding and supplies he needs and sets him up in an isolated castle.

He makes the monster but is disappointed when he doesn’t seem intelligent. The estranged brother comes back, and with him his fiancée, Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth,) whom Victor falls in love with. It is Elizabeth that sparks the humanity inside the monster. Still, Victor tries to destroy him.

Part II picks up from there and tells the monster’s side of the story. He survives Victor’s murder attempt and flees to the forest. There he is taken in by a kindly, blind, old man (David Bradley) and learns to read and about friendship. Eventually he must leave, for he knows he cannot die, and he desires a companion. A companion only Victor Frankenstein can create. Slowly we’ll be brought back around to the prelude, and finally the film’s end.

It isn’t that the story is bad, but perhaps that it has been told too many times before, so it can no longer be made interesting. Del Tor does try. He keeps some things familiar but adds many other things, and even the familiar ones he plays with. But at 2 and a half hours, it is far too long and has far too many parts that just drag.

One wonders if del Toro is too big of a name now that no one was willing to tell him “no.” With pet projects like this, sometimes that’s exactly what you need. It is well worth watching for the acting and the stunning visuals. I just wish the story they are telling was more worthy of the artistry behind it.

Watch Jeff Tweedy Play Two Covers in Tulsa

I meant to write a full review of the Jeff Tweedy concert me and my daughter attended last week, but instead I just wrote about it for Five Cool Things.

It was a great show, even if I didn’t know all the songs (he played most of his new album and a few songs from previous solo albums, but nothing from Wilco).

On this tour for the encore he’s been playing one or two cover songs from artists who came to fame somewhere near the town he’s playing at. For the Tulsa show he covered “Wish I Had Not Said That” by JJ Cale and then (of course) “Do Re Mi” by Woody Guthrie. Both versions were excellent.

Blackout Noir: Guilty Bystander (1950)

guilty bystander poster

My ambition often far exceeds my abilities. Inevitably, whenever Noirvember rolls around, I get excited and watch numerous noirs in the first week or so of the month. I’ll happily write a few reviews, but then life gets in the way. I have other official things to write, or I get stressed out over some work thing, or I’m just tired. I’m tired all the time these days. The days roll by, and I put off writing more noir reviews, and after a while I need something non-noir to watch. Then all of a sudden the month is over, and I’ve not written or watched nearly as many noirs as I wanted.

This month I thought it would be fun to write a whole series of reviews covering the Criterion Channel’s collection of Blackout Noirs. I got really excited about that and watched several of them. I wrote some of the reviews, and then that fatigue kicked in and I got distracted, and here I am trying to write something about Guilty Bystander, a movie I watched a week and a half ago.

So, you’ll have to forgive me if this review is a little light on the details. My memory has faded on some of the specifics of this particular film.

I can say that Guilty Bystander was made in 1950 and was directed by Joseph Lerner. It was made on a shoestring budget. According to noir aficionado Eddie Mueller, the filmmakers couldn’t afford to purchase the requisite filming permit to shoot in New York, so they often shot incognito or bribed police officers to look the other way.

This imbues the film with a real on-the-streets quality. And if you want to know what the seedier sides of New York City looked like in 1950, this film is for you.

Zachary Scott stars as Max Thursday, an alcoholic ex-cop who is living in a flophouse, working as the house detective. One night his ex-wife Georgia (Faye Emerson) comes to him in a panic. Their son Jeff and her brother Fred have gone missing. Georgia’s friend Dr. Elder (Jed Prouty) has advised her not to talk to the police just in case this is a case of kidnapping.

A drunk Max visits Dr. Elder and gets into a fight with him. The good doctor knocks him unconscious, and Max awakes to find himself in police custody because Elder has found himself dead and Max now finds himself suspect #1.

Georgia gives him an alibi, and Max is on the hunt. The plot is standard noir stuff, and the film mostly plods along. I’ve liked Zachary Scott in the films I’ve seen him in, and he’s pretty good here. The script doesn’t do him any favors, but Joseph Lerner’s direction is on point, and the on location stuff is good. There is a scene in a subway tunnel that’s thrilling (and makes one wonder if they actually got permission to shoot down there).

It is a film worth seeing if you are a noir fan, all others should not apply.

A Better Tomorrow Trilogy is the Pick of the Week

a better tomrrow

It is time again for me to talk about all the cool new Blu-ray/UHD releases coming out this week. This week’s pick is a trilogy of films that essentially launched John Woo’s career and created en entire new genre (gun fu). There are lots of other things coming out this week including Howard’s End, a new Ken Burns documentary, a couple of Criterion releases and more.

You can read all about it over at Cinema Sentries.

Indiscretion of An American Wife (1953)

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When I was 13 or 14, maybe, my mother took me and my sister to Orlando, Florida. My brother was graduating from Naval bootcamp, and we decided to make a vacation of it. We visited SeaWorld and Universal Studios and a few other touristy places (though oddly enough we did not go to Disney World). It was the first time I’d ever taken a vacation like that. It was amazing.

The thing about amusement parks is that you wind up waiting in line for most of your time there. I know Disney and probably the other parks have ways around the long lines now, but back then you just waited. The lines wrapped back and forth around each other, so you wound up zigzagging between different groups of people. As the lines took over an hour to get you to your destination, you could get to where you felt you knew the people you kept crossing around.

You’d cross paths with the same people over and over again. You’d smile at them and make small talk. You’d complain about the long line. Sometimes you’d run into those same people at other rides. It was the first time in my life that I’d realized the world was filled with so many people. People with their own lives. Their own hopes and dreams. These were people I’d never see again in my life, but their lives would continue. It was a strange enlightenment.

Indiscretion of an American Wife is a bit like that. Or that’s what it was originally meant to be. Director Vittorio De Sica imagined a movie about the various lives that briefly crossed paths at a train station. American producers mucked that concept up a great deal, instead making it concentrate on one love story, but you can find bits of the original concept in there if you look.

Anyway, that’s a long introduction to my review of the Blu-ray of that film. You can read even more thoughts over at Cinema Sentries.

Blackout Noir: Blackout (1957)

murder by proxy

A broke and down American, Casey Morrow (Dane Clark), is quietly getting drunk by himself. He’s approached by a beautiful heiress named Phyllis Brunner (Belinda Lee). She says she’ll pay him $500 to marry her. A smart man would immediately think something is fishy, but film noirs aren’t filled with smart men. He accepts, and she plies him with more drinks. He awakes the next morning in a strange apartment owned by Maggie Doone (Eleanor Summerfield). She says she found him last night stumbling about, dead drunk, so she took him in and let him crash. She’s an artist and has a painting of Phyllis on an easel.

They are alerted by the newspapers that Phyllis’ father was brutally murdered last night with a fireplace poker. Casey finds blood on his coat. He has no memory of what happened to him after Phyllis made her offer and gave him some more drinks.

Blackout (also known as Murder By Proxy) is a tidy little British b-noir, directed by Hammer stalwart Terrence Fisher.

The police will naturally suspect Casey, as Mr. Brunner was quite rich, and as he’s now married to Brunner’s only child, he’ll take control of the estate. The police will never believe Casey’s story of how Phyllis propositioned him on her own, so naturally, he takes it upon himself to try and find out what really happened.

It is here that what starts out as a rather excellent film turns a little more pedestrian. Casey will track people down and ask a lot of questions and get far too many easy answers. Because this is a film noir, we know that Phyllis has something to do with it. He’ll figure that out too, but also because this is a noir, he’ll keep falling for her act. Guys in noirs always get suckered in by a beautiful dame. It is such a shame too because Maggie is clearly the better woman, and she falls in love with him the moment she takes him in that first night.

The detective work never quite thrills or travels down new paths for this sort of thing, but it is still quite entertaining. I am reminded of Terrence Fisher’s work in numerous Hammer Horror films. Those weren’t typically great, but they were sturdily made and enjoyable enough. So it is here. It is a very good film. It doesn’t quite reach great status, but if you are a fan of film noir, I wouldn’t miss it.