Five Cool Things and Verity

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How have I gone almost this entire week and posted nothing here? That happens more often than I’d like. I get busy and distracted. I’ve been working hard on sorting a large collection of Van Morrison shows that need sorting, and trying to sort some other stuff for some friends. We went to a concert last night, and today was my kid’s first day of school. I’ve also had lots of writing to do for Cinema Sentries…etc., and so forth. I do all these other things and forget that I haven’t posted here.

But here we are, and I’ve got another Five Cool Things for you. This week I’m talking about Manhunter, a cool manga called Homunculus, a French noir, a German TV series, and Richard Linklater’s love letter to the French New Wave.

You can read all about it here.

Birds of Prey (1968)

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Lino Ventura has become one of those actors I keep finding myself watching, almost by accident. He just keeps showing up in the films that I’m watching. I don’t know why. But he’s so good I never mind.

In Birds of Prey, he plays a killer hired to assassinate the president of some backwater South American country. Before he can do that, he is forced to wait in a tiny little village for several days, accompanied by a true revolutionary. A kid who will probably replace the president. The kid is idealistic while the killer is old and cynical. Their interactions make up most of the movie, and they are wonderfully played. The whole movie is great. You can read my full review at Cinema Sentries.

Malfeasance: Four Films By Yves Boisset

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I love discovering new movies, new actors, and new directors. There is something wonderful about watching a film and finding a new artist to follow. Back in April I got a set of films from French director Yves Boisset. I’d never heard of him, but I dove into the films and really liked him. Now I’ll be seeking him out. That’s kind of awesome. You can read my review of the set at Cinema Sentries.

Last Known Address (1970) Blu-ray Review

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I love a good shoe leather movie. That’s a film that gets into the nuts and bolts of a job. Whether it is police work, newspaper reporting or any other thing, it is fascinating to watch people really do their jobs. Last Known Address has a lot of shoe leather. We watch our two cops knock on doors, meticulously dig through paperwork and do the type of policing most movies skip over.

There is a balance to that, you have to make the shoe leather interesting or audience will get bored and skip to something else. This movie keeps it interesting. I loved it.

You can read my full review here.