Stay Away, Joe (1968)

 Elvis Pressly plays a Navajo Lothario, in this low plot comedy in which multiple actors, including Elvis and Burgess Meredith, sport red-face. Story threads include Elvis's sister trying to make a mixed race engagement work, and Elvis trying to get a lethargic bull to mate with his father's government subsidized cattle heard. The film ends with the collapse of a tenement house played for laughs. This might be Elvis's worst movie, extremely bad. *

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

 Clint Eastwood directed crime-drama, adapted from John Berendt's 1994 "non fiction novel", inspired by a 1980's Savannah, Georgia murder trial. Scanning through reviews I read someone comment that Eastwood directed this movie 'as a tourist would'. I think that is true, but I also think it is to the movies benefit. That this decent murder plot is filtered through a reading of Savannah as Mecca for eccentrics, is what makes it memorable and fun to watch. A remarkably queer friendly for the 90's, let alone Clint Eastwood. ***1/2

Zulu (1964)

A 30 year old Micheal Cain gets an "Introducing" credit, in this middle tier epoch about the 1879 'Battle of Rorke's Drift', in which a small detachment of Welsh solders, some army corp of engineers, and hospital patients successfully held a Swedish mission station from thousands of attacking Zulu's. A little slow, but for the most part pretty involving. A very early 60's take on 19th century British imperialism, they don't make them like this anymore. ***

Bad Education (2019)

 HBO film is based on a true story of rampant embezzlement in a high end Long Island school district at the turn of the Milleniaum. Impressive large cast and unusually well crafted screenplay. Very impressive multi layerd performance by Hugh Jackman as the district superintendent, who is both a lying and corrupt asshole and an extremely talented educator and administrator. ***1/2

The Tin Star (1957)

 Bounty hunter and former sheriff Henry Fonda, mentors a young sheriff (Anthony Perkins) in how to handle outlaws and mobs; while taking a fancy to widow Betsy Palmer and her young mixed race son (Michel de Carvalho). Not the most original of material, but director Anthony Mann elevates it, as he was often known to do. ***

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

 The last three Tom Holland Spider-Man films got progressively flasher and more ridiculous; where as 'Brand New Day' successfuly turns the page to something closer to emotional gravity (relatively speaking) of the Sam Rami Spiderman films of the 00's (Spiderman III somewhat excepted). The films tie-ins to expanded MCU characters are well handled and feel less forced then they often do, and this is one of the better put together and executed of the post Endgame MCU output. This one is worth going to the theater for. ***

The Bridge at Remagen (1969)

 By the book, but well handled action/war movie, set as the Allies ready to drive the remaining Germans from France and bring the war home to the fatherland. When I saw that both Ben Gazara and Robert Vaughn were in this movie, I knew one of them was going to be playing an asshole. Turns out the role of the movies principle asshole switches from Gazara to Vaughn about half way through. **1/2

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

 Surpassed my expectations, once you sink with its odd tones, there may have been no better band vehicle in the history of film, then 'A Hard Days Night' was for The Beatles. ****

Eagle Eye (2008)

 This movie is ridiculous, so many improbabilitys, all orchestrated by a practically literal God-Machine. This movie is also a lot of fun, it took 20 minutes or so, but once I realized the movie takes its self just seriously enough, that I'm not expected to take it seriously, I enjoyed it. ***

Bulliet (1968)

 This movie has a great reputation and actually lived up to the hype. Two very memorable chase sequences, one of which I didn't really know about. That director Peter Yates choses to give us so many little moments, like focusing on the doctors trying to save a shooting victiam, or lingering longer then normal on a crowed of witnesses, that combined with the solid or better performances of the whole cast. It's an iconic movie for a reason. ****

Duplicity (2025)

 This another, made for streaming, Tyler Perry produced relationship thriller movie, which is actually crazier then 'Divorce in the Black', if not as fun. **

Divorce in the Black (2024)

 I have watched the unhinged opening funeral scene multiple times over the last year or so, but I had to be in a specific (legally enhanced) mood to sit through this thing. Yes, it's a bad movie, is the perfectly understandable assessment with which most of its viewers have apparently arrived. But viewed another way, this overwrought, cliche ridden, boarderline simple minded relationship thriller, was really fun to watch. The movies bad husband character played by Cory Hardict dosen't seem that bad at first, by around half way through he's just shy of a Batman villian. Megan Good is sympathetic-ish and gorgeous to look at; I'm kind of upset to learn that she married a post assault conviction Johnathan Majors last year. The exaggerated stylizations of Tyler Perry continue to unexpectedly work from me. **1/2