As mentioned yesterday, I’ve been taking a break and thinking about what I want to do with this blog. Truth be told, since I moved the music to a new site, my stats on The Midnight Cafe have been abysmal. I know I’ll never be famous. I’ll never have a huge following on this site. I’m not sure I’d want to be that big; it seems like more of a hassle than not. But I would like to have some kind of readership.

I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how the algorithms work anymore. But I figure the more content (a word I hate, but I don’t know a better one) I create, the better chances of people finding my site. So I’m gonna make a go of it. I’m going to try and post several times a day. Sometimes I’ll do full reviews, sometimes I’ll write short ones. I’d like ot post interesting videos, and news items about new releases. Etc. Anything I find interesting or anytime I have something to say, I’ll try to make a post.

I’ll give it a month. If I do start to grow the site, then I’ll continue. If I don’t…well, I’ll find something better to do with my time.

I watched 37 movies in May. 28 of them were new to me. 16 of them were made before I was born. It was Mysteries in May, and I watched 24 of them.

Favorite first-time watches were So Evil My Love, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, I See a Dark Stranger, Mikey and Nicky, and Dune Part Two.

The actors category is filling out nicely. I like seeing more actresses on there.

I still have some work to do with my directors, but we’re making progress.

Anyway, here’s the full list.

Flying Leathernecks (1951) **1/2
The Mean Season (1985) ***
Final Destination 5 (2011) ***1/2
The Final Destination (2009) **
Final Destination 3 (2006) ***
Prey (2022) ****
Novocaine (2025) ***1/2
Cop Land (1997) ****
The Spy in Black (1939) ****
Dune: Part Two (2024) ****
Dune (2021) ****
Dark Command (1940) ***1/2
A Simple Favor (2018) ***
A Minecraft Movie (2025) ***1/2
Blood for Dracula (1974) ***1/2
It Was a Dark and Silly Night (2008) **
A Gasoline Wedding (1918) ***
The Unseen (1945) ***1/2
The Long Goodbye (1973) ****1/2
Farewell, My Lovely (1975) ***1/2
The Big Sleep (1978) ***
After the Thin Man (1936) ***1/2
Mikey and Nicky (1976) ****
Freaky (2020) ***1/2
I See a Dark Stranger (1946) ****
The Suicide Squad (2021) **1/2
Platoon (1986) ****1/2
The Fallen Bridge (2022) ***1/2
Madigan (1968) ***1/2
They Might Be Giants (1971) ***1/2
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) ***1/2
Lady in Cement (1968) ***
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) *
The Saint (1997) ***
So Evil My Love (1948) ****
The Uninvited (1944) ****
Crooked House (2008) ***
Tony Rome (1967) **1/2

I watched 34 films in April. Twenty-six of them were new to me. Five of them were made before I was born. The theme for the month was Awesome ’80s in April, and I watched 12 movies from that decade.

It was a bit of an odd month. I had a lot of review stuff to watch, and I continued watching more TV than I have in the past. I should really start writing about that more. I’ve also not been following my rule of watching at least 75% new movies. Out of the 122 movies I’ve watched this year, only 88 (or 72%) have been new to me.

I did a great job of reviewing the movies I watched this month, though I did better in the beginning than the end.

My actors and directors lists are finally starting to look like something.

I’ve got a big five-way tie for top actor with three films each. ’80s in April helped Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid jump in, and the death of Val Kilmer prompted me to watch some of his films.

The wife and I always love Studio Ghibli films, and that is becoming a weekend staple, which puts Miyazaki in a tie for first place alongside John H. Auer, who directed all the films in the latest noir set from Kino Lorber.

For May, we are once again doing Mysteries in May so that should be fun.

D.O.A. (1988) ***
Magnificent Wanderers (1977) ***
Anna Karenina (1935) ***1/2
What a Way to Go! (1964) **1/2
Sinners (2025) ****1/2
Invitation to a Murder (2023) **
Tombstone (1993) ****
Career Opportunities (1991)
Night of the Demons (1988) ***1/2
The Magnificent Trio (1966) ***1/2
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) ****
Thunderheart (1992) ***1/2
Kill Me Again (1989) ****
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) ***
Burn After Reading (2008) ****
The Spanish Apartment (2002) *1/2
The Initiation (1984)
Black Moon Rising (1986) *
Castle in the Sky (1986) ****1/2
City That Never Sleeps (1953) ****
¡Three Amigos! (1986) ***
Dolls (1986) ***
The Flame (1947) **
Hell’s Half Acre (1954) ****
Danger Point: The Road to Hell (1991) ***1/2
The Hitman Blood Smells Like Roses (1991) ****
Carlos (1991) ****
Innerspace (1987) ****
Flashdance (1983) ***
Stranger (1991) ***1/2
Highlander (1986) ***1/2
Scorpion Woman Prisoner: Death Threat (1991) **
Companion (2025) ***1/2
Burning Dog (1991) ***1/2

I watched 29 movies in February. 21 of them were new to me. Seven of them were made before I was born. It was Foreign Film February, and I watched eleven films that were not made by Americans. I’ve intentionally slowed my movie-watching down this year. I decided I wanted to catch up on some television viewing.

As always I intended to watch more movies within my theme and write about them, and as always I got distracted by a lot of other things. I’m especially disappointed that I didn’t make any of my Friday Night Horror Movies fit because there are lots of great foreign horror films. But here we are.

The director and actor categories are still not really worth talking about. There are only four directors that I’ve watched more than a single film of and the actors have not risen above that number either.

I do plan on doing Westerns In March again this year. I’ve already watched Hombre in preparation for it. Anyway, here’s the full list.

Nightbreed (1990) **
Prince of Darkness (1987) ****
My Girl (1991) ***
The Long Night (1947) ***1/2
Danger: Diabolik (1968) ****
Le Corbeau (1943) ****
Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (2023) **
The Woman in Black (2012) **1/2
The Magician (1958) ****
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) ****
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) ****
The Outlaw (1943) ***
For Your Eyes Only (1981) ****
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) ***
The Lost King (2022) ***1/2
Choke (2008) ***
House (1985) ***
Eden Lake (2008) **
Drunken Master (1978) ***1/2
The Substance (2024) ****
Conclave (2024) ****
Porco Rosso (1992) ****
Hokuriku Proxy War (1977) ****
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) ***1/2
Certified Copy (2010) ***1/2
When Harry Met Sally… (1989) ****1/2
Keep an Eye Out (2018) ***1/2
The Third Murder (2017) ***1/2
The Vanished Elephant (2014) ***

I watched 33 movies in January. 25 of them were new to me. 11 of them were made before I was born. I had fully intended to revisit my Great British Movies theme, but that never quite turned out. Instead, it was a very random month full of me watching whatever I came across.

Part of this was because the software I usually use to enable me to watch many things broke and it took me a while to fix it. So I was limited in what I could watch so I watched what I could.

Still a pretty fun month.

As any long-time reader will tell you I do love following the actors and directors I watch the most from in a given year. January is always a little goofy in that regard as the year has just begun and this year is no different. I don’t even know who a couple of these actors are.

So I present these without comment.

And here’s the full list.

Midnight (2021) ****1/2
Severance (2006) *1/2
Full Moon in Blue Water (1988) ***
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) ***1/2
Life After Beth (2014) ***
Marty (1955) ****
The Velvet Touch (1948) ***1/2
Tenebre (1982) ****
Opera (1987) ****
Blink Twice (2024) ***
Gladiator II (2024) **
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) ***
Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest (1997) ***
LUPIN THE 3rd vs. CAT’S EYE (2023) **1/2
Deathtrap (1982) ****
Interpol (1957) ***1/2
Victims of Sin (1951) ****
The Killers (1964) ****
Nocturne (2020) **
Lost Highway (1997) ****
Romance & Cigarettes (2005) ***1/2
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) ****
The Outsiders (1983) ****
All the Colors of the Dark (1972) ***1/2
Weak Spot (1975) ****
Se7en (1995) ****1/2
The Anderson Tapes (1971) ***1/2
The Equalizer (2014) ****
War of the Worlds (2005) ****
This Island Earth (1955) ***
The Last Matinee (2020) **1/2 The Tall Target (1951) *
Anything Goes (1936)**

I watched 36 movies in November. 27 of them were new to me. 26 of them were made before I was born. It was Noirvember and I watched 20 film noirs. As per usual I didn’t review nearly as many as I wanted but that’s okay. This is just for fun anyway.

We turned our Thanksgiving break into a Bond weekend and I caught up on a few that I hadn’t seen since I was a kid.

I seem to have forgotten to write a movie journal for October, but the director/actor race has stayed more or less the same. I didn’t watch any Classic Doctor Who in November, but William Hartnell had a small role in Odd Man Out which puts him at #1 with 11 films watched. And Christopher Lee took a two-film bump now tied for third place with 9 films watched.

John Carpenter smashed into second place with six films watched. But I suspect Terrence Fischer will keep his lead, especially since my plan is to make the month of December all about British films. I’ll have more on that later. And next month I’ll do a full write-up on my year in movies. Until then, here’s the full list.

North by Northwest (1959) *****
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) ****1/2
Target (1985) **
Little Women (1994) ****
Smile (2022) ***1/2
Odd Man Out (1947) ****1/2
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) ***1/2
The Living Daylights (1987) ***1/2
Licence to Kill (1989) ***
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) *****
Escape from New York (1981) ***1/2
Rusty Knife (1958) ***
Live and Let Die (1973) ***1/2
So Long at the Fair (1950) ***1/2
Someone’s Watching Me! (1978) ****
The Ward (2010) **
The Woman on Pier 13 (1949) ***
The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) ***1/2
Strange Fascination (1952) **1/2
The Window (1949) ****
Cry of the Hunted (1953) ****
Nightfall (1956) ****
The Leopard Man (1943) ***1/2
Dear Murderer (1947) ***1/2
The Whistler (1944) ***
Double Indemnity (1944) *****
Targets (1968) ****1/2
Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975) **1/2
Berlin Express (1948) ***1/2
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) ***
Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969) ****
Death Becomes Her (1992) ***1/2
No Way Out (1950) ****
Woman on the Run (1950) ****1/2
The Night of the Hunter (1955) ****1/2
The Face Behind the Mask (1941) ***

I watched 43 movies in the month of June. 35 of them had never been seen by me before. 20 of them were made before I was born. Eight of them were made in the last two years, which is an unusually high number for me.

There was no theme this month which is nice sometimes. I just watched what I wanted to watch. Although it did mean I hardly did any reviewing this month as I really need that theme to push me into it.

As we are six months into the year I’ll talk a little bit about how my year is going. I’ve watched 238 movies this year. That’s an average of 34 per month or 9.1 per week. Unsurprisingly, I watch most of my movies on the weekend.

Drama is my most watched genre with 97 films watched in that category. This is followed by Thriller (97 films), Crime (71 films), Horror (60 films), and Mystery (57 films).

English is my most watched language with 202 films being in that language. This is followed by Italian (11), Japanese (10), French (5), and Silent Films (3).

187 of the films I’ve watched were new to me, leaving 51 of them as rewatches. I try to keep my new watch-to-rewatch ratio at 75% and I’m at 78.6%.

As you can see the actors field has stayed more or less the same. The Doctor Who cast bumped up one (save for Carole Ann Ford who left the series at this point) and Barbara Stanwyck made the list with four films watched.

Terence Fisher joined the directorial ranks with two films (two Hammer Horrors) and Lucio Fulci jumped in as well with two.

Several months ago I posted one of these things to my Facebook account and a friend of mine noted how these fields are full of white dudes, with hardly a female or person of color to be found.

That hit hard as I know it to be true. There are excuses I could make like how Hollywood is run by white dudes. But I have been making an effort to watch films directed by women and people of color and to seek out actors in that same way. But I’m afraid my top draws continue to be white dudes.

Some favorite new watches from the last six months include The Great Train Robbery (1903), Battleship Potemkin (1925), Love Lies Bleeding (2024), Edge of the City (1957), and Sherlock, Jr (1924).

Anyway, here’s the June list.

Cemetery Man (1994) ****
Scotland, PA (2001) ****
Beware, My Lovely (1952) ***1/2
No Man of Her Own (1950) ***
Dark City (1950) ***1/2
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) ***1/2
Dream Demon (1988) ***1/2
Macbeth (1948) ****
Act of Violence (1948) ****
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) ****
Barbary Coast (1935) ***
Klute (1971) ****
Risky Business (1983) ***1/2
Top Gun (1986) ***
The Devil Rides Out (1968) ****
Demonia (1990) **
The First Omen (2024) ***
Doctor Who: The Rescue (1965) ***1/2
Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) ***1/2
Godzilla Minus One (2023) ****
The Deep (1977) **1/2
Drive (2011) ****
A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) ***
The Fall Guy (2024) ****
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) ***
Love Lies Bleeding (2024) ****1/2
Late Night with the Devil (2023) ***1/2
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) ***
Candyman (1992) ***
Edge of the City (1957) ****1/2
Saigon (1947) **1/2
Corridors of Blood (1958) ***1/2
Comrade X (1940) ****
Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) ***1/2
The Burglars (1971) ***1/2
Flatliners (1990) **1/2
Wicked Little Letters (2023) ***1/2
The Good Die Young (1954) ***1/2
Sylvia Scarlett (1935) ***
Night Terrors (1993) **
Immaculate (2024) ***1/2
The Wrath of Becky (2023) **
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) ***

I watched 36 films in May of 2024. 29 of them were new to me. 21 of them were made before I was born. The theme of the month was murder mysteries and I watched 24 of them. I did a pretty good job of reviewing them, but I got behind and then the storm came so some I wanted to talk about got missed. But overall I feel like this theme was a huge success.

I watched 195 films in 2024.

The director’s field is still wide open. I still don’t know why I haven’t been paying much attention to directors this year. I usually do.

The actors look mostly the same from last month. Except a bunch of Doctor Who actors are showing up. We’ve been slowly watching the classic series from the very beginning.

I think I’ve decided to not have a theme for June. I’ll just watch whatever I feel like watching and go down whatever rabbit hole suits me. Here’s the complete list.

The Cat Returns (2002) ****
The 39 Steps (1935) ****
Talk Radio (1988) **1/2
Friendly Persuasion (1956) ***1/2
The Heiress (1949) ****
Ordeal by Innocence (1984) ***1/2
The 4th Floor (1999) ***
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) *****
Algiers (1938) **1/2
Lake Placid (1999) ***
The Girl from Rio (1969) ***
The Late Show (1977) ****
Nazi Agent (1942) ****
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants (1964) ***1/2
Time to Kill (1942) ***
La Jetée (1962) ****
Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018) ***1/2
Arabella: Black Angel (1989) **
Knife of Ice (1972) ***
The Terminal Man (1974) **
Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) ***
Blood Simple (1984) ****1/2
In the Deep Woods (1992) **
Doctor Who: The Sensorites (1964) **
Murder Most Foul (1964) ***1/2
Guilty of Romance (2011) ***1/2
The Alphabet Murders (1965) ***
Devil’s Doorway (1950) ***
P.J. (1968) ****
Cover Up (1949) ***1/2
Star Wars (1977) ****1/2
The Glass Key (1935) ***
Marlowe (1969) ***1/2
The Falcon Takes Over (1942) ***1/2
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) **1/2
Malignant (2021) *

I watched 38 movies in April 2024. 30 of them were new to me. 11 of them were made before I was born. It was the Awesome ’80s in April and I watched 21 movies from that decade.

It was a fairly typical month for me. I’d watch a movie or two during the week and then watch several over the weekend. One day I’ll get a life and I’ll only watch 25 movies in a month!

I do love watching movies from the 1980s, especially ones that I’ve not heard of before, or that I’ve never seen because I was too young to be interested in them before. I got to watch films like Breathless, The Killer, and 8 Million Ways To Die – films I probably would have landed on sooner or later, but this month spurned me to watch them sooner and I’m happy about that.

As much as I do enjoy movies from the 1980s it amuses me to look at this month’s list and notice that I alternate the 1980s with films from the 1930s and 1940s.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that my family and I watch Doctor Who on Friday nights. As my daughter gets older that is happening less and less. She often sleeps over at a friend’s or has her friends over at our house, or we all just get busy and don’t get to The Doctor. To make up for this my wife and I have been watching movies based on Agatha Christie stories. This month we watched several starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and that’s been a lot of fun.

Clark Gable remains my top-watched actor this year with seven movies seen by me. But following close behind are Lee Van Cleef and Humphrey Bogart each with six films watched. All of those Poirot films bumped Peter Ustinov up to third place with four films watched.

And here’s the complete list:

Murder by Decree (1979) – ***1/2
Murder in Three Acts (1986) – ***1/2
Hard Boiled (1992) – ****
Dark Journey (1937) – ***1/2
Dancing Lady (1933) ****
Hospital Massacre (1981) – ***1/2
The Ninth Configuration (1980) – *
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) – ****
Starman (1984) – ***
High Noon (1952) – ****
Now, Voyager (1942) – ****1/2
The Witches of Eastwick (1987) – ***1/2
Three on a Match (1932) – **1/2
Sahara (1943) – ****
The Big Shot (1942) – ***
Death on the Nile (1978) – ***1/2
Child’s Play (1988) – ***
The Bounty (1984) – ***1/2
Working Girls (1986) – ****
The Killer (1989) – ****
A Perfect World (1993) – ****
Doctor Who: The Aztecs (1964) – **
Sherlock, Jr. (1924) – ****1/2
Destry Rides Again (1939) – ****1/2
Conquest (1983)- ***1/2
Dead Man’s Folly (1986) – ***
8 Million Ways to Die (1986) – ****
The Entity (1982) – ***
Another Fine Mess (1930) – ***
The Octagon (1980) – *
The Star Chamber (1983) – ***1/2
Breathless (1983) – ****
Streets of Fire (1984) – ****
Into the Night (1985) – ***1/2
Nighthawks (1981) – ***1/2
From Beyond (1986) – ***1/2
Maximum Overdrive (1986) – *
They Drive by Night (1940) – ****