Sleepers West (1941)

 In Lloyd Nolan's second Micheal Shayne movie the detective is escorting a secret witness (Mary Beth Hughes) by train from Denver to San Fransico, this all relates to some unfinished business from his time on the police department. On the train Shayne encounters an old flame (Lynn Bari) and some people who would like to kill the witness. There is nothing special about what might be called the "mystery element" of the film, but there is some poignancy to a sub plot about would be lovers who meet on the train and the film is never more entertaining then when Shayne is messing with people. Getting the now endangered witness off the train by Ogden also becomes a plot point. So far this series remains solid. ***

Micheal Shayne, Private Detective (1940)

I recently rewatched 'Peyton Place', a movie I love in which Lloyd Nolan plays wise old Dr. Swain, it's a very endearing performance. Nolan was a character actor whose career spaned from the 30's to the 80's but not someone you'd build a film around, or so I thought.

Turns out that Nolan stared in 7 'Micheal Shayne Private Detective' movies for 20th Century Fox between 1940 and 1942; these were B pictures running around 75 minutes or so. P. I. films of this type tend to be pretty non descript, working class smart alicks with good hearts underneath, Nolan plays the part on the less cynical side and is likable.

In this first film in the series, simply titled 'Micheal Shayne, Private Detective', the plot  concerns murder, a love triangle, the fixing of horse races and all appears to be set in California. Lots of genra type characters in this, most memorable is Crossville, Tennessee native Marjorie Weaver as the female lead and Elizabeth Patterson as her aunt, a character whose vorocious appitie for mystery stories causes her to over involve herself in the proceedings.

I don't recall hearing of the Micheal Shayne character before, despite seeming rather generic he was a pretty hot property for some time. Micheal Shayne appered in 77 paperback novels (the later 27 written by ghost writers after creator Brett Halliday's death), over 300 short stories, the 7 20th Century Fox films and an additional 5 over at PRC (Producers Releasing Company) where the part was played by Hugh Beaumont, later the dad on 'Leave it to Beaver'. Three different actors would play Shayne on the radio between 1944 and 1953, there was a single season TV series on NBC 1960-61 and there were also comic books. Impressive.

'Micheal Shayne, Private Detective' is a reasonably solid first offering, kind of playful and ultimately better then I expected, so I'm going to give it ***

Cocaine Bear (2023)

 In 1985 a 175 lb Ameican black bear died from an overdose of cocaine in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in northern Georgia. The cocaine came from a duffel bag dropped by plane into the park as part of a bouched drug running operation, a participant in that operaton Andrew Carter Thornton II died when his parachute failed to open and he landed in a Knoxville, Tennessee suburb. The new film 'Cocaine Bear' takes that basic premise and imagines what violent shanagines a bear high on cocaine might get into.

'Cocaine Bear' is a funny concept and the trailer got a lot of positive buzz when it was released a few months ago, but can a movie with such a bizarre premise really work? In my view it did, exceeding expectations 'Cocaine Bear' was a fun time at the movies. The film blends the obvious explotation style gore the idea suggets, an approprate sense of humor about its self, as well as an 80's family adventure film angle, and it works remarkably well; kudos to director Elizabeth Banks for really pulling what could have been a disaster together.

Folks who encounter the bear in the woods include Margot Martindale as a Forrest Ranger, Kerri Russell as a mother looking for her truant daughter (Russell's real life husband Matthew Rhys puts in a cameo appearance as the ill fated Thorton), Isiah Whitlock Jr. as a cop after the drugs, O'shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich and Ray Liotta (in one of his last film roles) as drug dealers after the same. It took a little bit to get going but I had a fun time watching this and continue to marvel at just how well the movie turned out, the pacing is right, the character arcs work, it doesn't overplay the 80's nostalgia. It's a fine film, a legitmatly good movie which I will give ***.

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

 Spoilers

If 'Triangle of Sadness' hadn't been nominated for a best picture Oscar I likely never would have seen it, that would have been no great loss. A satire of the rich and the pursuit of money, 'Sadness' has an international cast and spends most of its running time harassing and torturing them; though the wealthy here are not so much monsters as they are clueless.

 A group of the 1% go on a Caribbean cruise is a fancy yatch, the voyage is awfull, they encounter rough seas and pirates, the ship sinks. A group of survivors wash up on a beach, their general lack of survival skills allows a toilet attendant to assume control of the group as only she knows how to fish and start a fire, it goes to her head.

While the film is well made, it looks good, the acting is fine and it's occasionally clever, it's also all over the place. The structure feels odd, divided into the three uneven acts with characters coming and going without resolution, it plays longer then it's 147 minutes. It's was not a fun watch, the back and forth between a Russian billionaire and the ships admittedly Marxist captian played by Woody Harrlson was probably the high point, though even that was barley above sea level. South African born model/actress Charlbi Dean Kriek is probably the most memorable member of the cast and this movie would likley have opened a lot of doors for her, however she died of a bacterial infection this summer at the age of 32, an unpleasant coda to an unpleasant film. *1/2

Jesus Revolution (2023)

 'Jesus Revolution' is about the "Jesus Revolution" also known as the "Jesus Movement" or "Jesus Freaks", a Christian revival amongst hippies and disillusioned young people that started in California in the late 60's, spread nationally and then petered out in the early 70's. It's cheif legacy, besides lives changed, are a number of Church's and ministries that grew out of it and the birth of "Praise and Worship" aka "Christian Rock" services which have changed the face of much of American Christianity, to no doubt mixed results. 

The film focuses on the stories of three prominate figures in the movment; Chuck Smith (played thoughtfully by Kelsey Grammer) who founded Calvary Chapel, which became a kind of "franchise church" with over 1,000 locations at peak; Lonnie Frisbee a bearded "prophet figure" (played by Jonathan Roumie, who is Jesus on the popular series 'The Chosen') who became a founder of "The Vinyard Movment" and Greg Laurie a troubled young man (played by Joel Courtney, who looks like a young Emile Hirsch) who founded Harvest Christian Fellowship and Harvest Crusides. There is much Christian brand simotry to this movie.

The film follows some pretty obvious beats for its first half or so but impressed me when it didn't wrap up everything with a quick nice bow, after initial success cracks and jealously amongst our lead figures lead to some real consequences, though everything is made good again in the closing 'what happened after' screen texts.

This film is okay, not horrible but not great. It has good moments but at least to me was not as moving as it no doubt intended to be. Still the film is quite competently done, has better the average production values for a "Christian film" and is largely good spirited, sadly not a given in the field of movies aimed at an evangelical audiance. **1/2

The Front (1976)

 Set in early 1950's New York, Woody Allen plays a small time hustler who starts fronting for blacklisted televison writers. Film written, directed, produced and co staring actual blacklistees. Excellent sense of time and place but central conceit runs thin and overdry. Nice ending. **

Stories We Tell (2013)

 Documentary chronicles actress and director Sarah Polley's discovery that she was the product of an extramarital affair. Everyone in this is Canadian and their reactions are delightfully Canadian, big hearted, loving, generous, their is little anger and pettiness here, much forgiveness. Sarah turns out to have two great dads, each of which still agrees she had a great mother too. ***1/2

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)

 American actress Louise Brooks reached the height of her fame and gained iconic status with the release of 'Pandora's Box' in January of 1929; 'Diary of a Lost Girl' her followup film with Austrian director G. W. Pabst was released that autumn and did far less well, in part this was due to distribution issues and a waining public interest in silent films (this would be Pabst last), but also due to the stock market crash about 2 weeks after its Berlin premier.

Based on the 1905 Margret Bohme novel of the same name, 'Dairy of a Lost Girl' is an exploration into the hypocrisies of the German middle class.

Spoilers

Louise Brooks plays Thymain, the daughter of a pharmacist who is impregnated by her fathers assistant (this is implied to be rape but is presented vaugly for censorship reasons). After giving birth and still refusing to marry her child's father Thymain is sent to an abusive reformitory, she eventually escapes and returns home hoping to retreave her child who unfortunately has died. In time Thymain resorts to being a prostitute, meets and marries a down on his luck Count and inherates half the pharmacy after her fathers death. She sells her half to the creepy assistant but upon learning that her father left two now destitute half sibblings by a mistress, she uses the money from the sale to make sure they are taken care of, this prompts her husbands suicide.

'Diary of a Lost Girl' is a bummer, but Thymain rises above the society around her by consistently doing the right thing despite the personal cost; this contrasts nicely with her character Lulu in 'Pandora's Box' who is a selfish chaos agent. Brooks is widely regarded as one of the most naturalistic actresses of the silent era, she underplays things in a medium known for exaggerated characterizations; that her career floundered in talkies, (she'd make her last film, a low budget western with a pre star John Wayne about a decade later) is one of cinemas tragedies, unable to transcend her image as a 'silent star' she would leave the industry at age 31 but would live on to write a well regarded memorie, passing away in 1985 at age 78. ***1/2

Zack Snyder's: Justce League (2021)

Zack Snyder left the 'Justice League' movie mid production due to the death of his daughter; Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the project and made a perplexing mess of it, all the more surprising as he had previously made two solid 'Avengers' movies. Fan pressure, the pandemic production doldrums and the need for more HBO MAX content prompted Warner Brothers to bring Snyder back 4 years later to finish his version. He restored scenes, added new special effects, even filmed a few new scenes, the result is a 4 hour long movie that fixes alot but is so oppressively long it's almost a wash. 

Had something closer to this cut been releassed in 2017 I'd have probably been pleased, watching this now though felt like a bit of a chore, it was a slog. This is better then the miserable theaterical cut, it has some good stuff in it, but nothing spectacular, innovative or new. There's too much going on, that the movie is introducing three additional heros and their backstorys in addition to its own silly and bloated plot, it's exhausting. I was looking forward to this but I'm really about burnt out on this kind of story telling. I'm retroactively demoting the theatrical cut to *1/2 and giving the Snyder version **.

Tár (2022)

Spoilers

 In 'Tár' Cate Blanchet plays Lydia Tár, an EGOT winning composer and orchestra conducter, now based in Berlin whose life, marriage and career are upended by sexual assult allegations. The film chooses to never depict anything overtly sexual but Tár did the things she is acussed of, she is a manipulative and self absorbed woman, yet there are still some admiralable things about her, she's a bad person but I don't know if she's a monster. Powerhouse and often effectively subtle performance by Ms. Blanchette, while I may still root for Michelle Williams at the Oscars this is the most impressive performance of the year. 

There is something of an 'anti-woke' rant delivered by Lydia Tár in the film, it's quite effective and conservatives would love it, that it's put in the mouth of an abusive lesbian whose the villian of the piece they may not love so much. This is a long (158 minutes), talkie but still mostly involving movie, an examination of the MeToo moment this psychological drama probs into the mind of 'the difficult artsit' and you get to see that mind unravel. There is a moment in the film where Lydia Tár does something that as soon she does it you know it will irretrievably destroy her career and the resulting exile will be worse then anything else that could have been done to her. This is a movie whose somewhat confusing closing shot was the perfect way to end it. ****

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

 Meh. The villians good but everything else treads a well worn path. Bill Murray's cameo (in the trailer, not a spoiler) feels very shoehorned in. Much visual barrowing from Star Wars, Dune and Guardians. I have issues with what was done to the Cassie character. **

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Minor Spoilers

"How's the despair?", the priest will ask Brendan Gleeson's Colm Doherty when he comes to confession; sometimes he will report it as a little better and sometimes as a little worse. But despair is always there and not just with Colm specifically but throughout Inisherin generally.

Inisherin is a fictional little island just off the Irish cost and the setting for 'The Banshees of Inisherin' the latest film from writer/director Martin McDonagh, best known for 'In Bruges' (which like this film stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrall) and the Oscar winning 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'.

It is 1923 and the post independence Irish Civil War rages on the mainland. The people of Inisherin pay it little mind, shunning news of it as unimportant but often commenting when the sounds of arms fire can occasionally be heard from across their little moat. A "civil war" of another sort has caught the imagination of the islanders, Colm Doherty the fiddle player dosen't want to be friends with Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Ferrell) the dairy man anymore. The two had been best friends for years, you could about set your clock from the 2pm pint they would enjoy at the tavern together, then one day Colm just didn't like Padraic anymore.

When pressed on the matter Colm says that he can feel the time slipping away on him, the friendship with Padraic represents wasted hours he could spend compossing, besides which Mr. Suilleabhan is a dull man who once spent two hours "I timed it" discoursing on things he found in the waste of his beloved miniture donky "Jenny".

Like Colm Padraic is a sad man, a life long bachelor he has little in his life of value, chiefly "Jenny", his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and the friendship with Colm. The loss of that friendship is incomprehensable to Padraic, try as he might he can't wrap his mind around it, it must have been something he has done, there must be something he can do. He pressures Colm who finally gives him an ultimatum, leave him alone, don't talk to him, or every time he does he will shear off a finger and deliver it to him. 

The priest asks Colm if he left anything out of his confession, he says no. The Priest asks what happened between him and Padraic? Colm asks if it's a sin to not be friends with a man? The priest says no but that it isn't nice.

Padraic is considerd a nice man by his neighbours, certainly Dominic Kearny (Barry Keoghan) thinks so. That Padraic and Colm have had a falling out presents him an opportunity to make Padraic his new best friend. Dominic is considerd to be the dimist man on the island and is lacking in friends. Dominic's father is the local constable, a mean drunk who beats him. Being friends with Padraic would get him out of the house and allow opportunity to be near Siobhan, whom he fancies. 

A new friend however is insufficient distraction, Padraic is still obsessing, looking for ways to repair things with Colm, or failing that get some kind of revenge. Siobhan starts seriously considering a job offer at a library on the mainland, Dominic starts thinking Padraic not so nice, Mrs. McCormick (Shelia Flitton) the local soothsayer states that death is coming to the island soon, "One, maybe two". A reckoning awaits.

'The Banshees of Inisharian' is elegantly consturcted, full of parallels and counterpoints, a prolonged parable that cries out for exigious. A sad rumination on depression, existential angist, frustration and dispair. I found it unexpectedly profound, perhaps the most thought provoking film of the year, a status I had thought 'Women Talking' had all sown up. In addition for roughly it's first half or so this is one of the funniest movies of the year, the situation is absurd, even as it becomes tragic. **** 

Secret Valley (1937)

 Virginia Grey finds out her new husband is a notorious racketer, flees to Nevada for a "quckie" divorce, stays at Richard Arlene's failing ranch, at first he finds her annoying but ultimelty falls for her. Grey's husband and his henchmen come looking for her, there is a confrontation and somewhere in there the ranch gets saved. Film also sports an Asian cook with a fondness for hooky western songs like "Oh My Darling Clementine". Not horrible but consistently blah without an original bone in it's body. Too long at only about an hour in length. *1/2

All Over Town (1937)

 The largely forgotten comedy team of Chic Johnson and Ole Olsen try to put over a show in a famously haunted New York theater and get a gun out of the belly of a trained seal. Suitably off kilter but it's no 'Hellzapoppin'. **

Fort Bliss (2015)

 Michelle Monaghan is an Army medic, loses someone close to her in Afghanistan... Comes home to Fort Bliss, outside El Paso... Her 5 year old son, she's a stranger to him, thinks of his father's fiance as Mom... Relationships are tough for her, son, her ex, nice guy mechanic she meets... Is called back to Afghanistan quicker then expected, there's fall out... Sex assult and suicide bomber flashbacks... Pretty earnest, fairly good, took a bit to grow on me... Ron Livingston, Emmauelle Chriqi and a guy I thought looked like Freddy Rodriguez but turned out to be the real Freddy Rodriguez. **1/2

The Trial (1962)

 While Orsen Wells will always be best known for 'Citizen Kane' he is on record stating he thinks 'The Trial' is his best movie; I think he's wrong, I think it is 'Kane' but 'Trial' is one of his best. 

An adaption of the Franz Kafka novel of the same name, this is the story of a man awaiting trial for a crime, but no one will tell him what he's supposed to have done and what he's being charged with. This is Kafka's wheelhouse, absudity, futility, an impenetrable buracracy crushing ones very soul, Franz Kafka had been a civil servant.

 Anthony Perkins two years post 'Psycho' is the everyman victim Joseph K., he does fine work and is on record saying this (not Norman Bates) is the role he's most proud of. The rest of the cast consists largely of 'faceless-type' men, though director Wells also appears as an 'Advocate' and then there are various beautiful women who seemingly throw themselves at Jospeh K., with Romy Schneider being the most memorable. (Joseph K.'s general disinterest in these women, as well as Perkins casting, has lead this film to be often viewed as queer coded.)

A surreal horror story, an anxious movie. Excellent editing, camera work and wonderful set design and locations, from crumbling courthouses to bleak modernist apartment blocks. The film was shot throughout Europe, from Paris to Prauge to Rome. Film has some excellent dialouge scenes, it's that rare movie where I could both just listen to it and watch it without sound.

I was always interested while viewing but at a certain point the absurdity reached "big grin" levels and held them for some time. I was lucky to see this theatrically. 'The Trial' is a hard to run down film, I hope to see it again. ****

Switchblade Sisters (1975)

 'The Silver Daggers' and their female auxiliary 'The Dagger Debs' go to war against 'Crabs' and his gang. Lace's man Dominic is killed in the "roller rink massacer" but it was an inside job, the 'Debs' go independent as 'The Jezabels', team up with some inner city communists and have an internal leadership struggle which results in Maggie assuming power.

Teen gang film is well thought of amongst explotation afficenandos. Jack Hill's always capable direction is manifest throughout and despite a few good set pieces film suffers from lack of a charismatic central character ala Pam Grier. I suspect however that this is the kind of film that gets better on repeat viewing. **1/2