Robert Goulet passed away.

The Blob (1958)

Setting: Small town America; contemporary

Giant unstoppable mound of red gel consumes all human life it touches. A metaphor for creeping Soviet expansionism perhaps? Interestingly the solution is containment via a cold war (CO2 fire extinguishers can subdue the best). Of course it was up against all American Steve McQueen, so it never had much of chance. This is what a Jerry Wald produced monster movie might have looked like.

Breach (2007)

(D.C. area; early 2001)

The most satisfying battle of wit's movie I've seen in a while. Ryan Phillppe and Chris Cooper go at it as pro's with the latter giving powerfully complex portal of a devout Catholic FBI agent, who spent twenty years as a Russian spy. Good supporting cast rounds this out.

Into the Wild (2007)

(Locations throughout the U.S and Mexico; 1990-1992)

This is probably the most impressive new release film I've seen this year and is sure to be Oscar bate. It's a melancholy and contemplative story that I'd describe as part 'The Straight Story' and part 'Grizzly Man'. Again I can't get to into the film without this turning into an essay I don't particlulary want to write right now, so please 'google' this movie and do some more research if want to know more.

Warm Springs (2005)

(D.C., New York, Florida, Georgia, Texas; 1920-1928)

He was an arrogant politician, an adulterer, and an insulated son of wealth. She lead a life confined by expectations and was afraid to speak her mind. Then the polio came, and changed them both. ‘Warm Springs’ is the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the fight with polio that transformed both of them into people capable of seeing our country through some of the most trying times in its history. It is an inspiring story of redemption, of rehabilitation, not just in a physical sense, but in a spiritual one.

Prior to traveling to Warm Springs, Georgia on the invitation of its struggling owner, Franklin Delinor Roosevelt had taken to confining himself in a boat off the coast of Florida, drinking whisky and bourbon and lamenting his lost career. When he got there he was at first skeptical of the supposed healing powers of the mineral rich springs for which the resort was named. But in time he found that it helped, and news of his enchantment with the place spread, attracting other polio sufferers in search of a cure. A cure it wasn’t, not in the physical sense many had hopped for, but it did improve their lives. They gained mussel tone, and came to be able to do more then they had been able to prior to the treatments. For Franklin it brought purpose and hope, rejuvenation and a connection with the common man he had lacked in the past, one that proved vital to his ability to do what he would be called by history to do, during his thirteen years in the presidency.

Eleanor Roosevelt grew as well, she gained confidence and grace as she traveled on behalf of her husband in an effort to keep him politically relevant. She changed from the shy deferential girl into one who could make her views felt with force, growing into the women her husband needed, and to whom it can be said he feel again in love.

It might seem that those years in Warm Springs were some of the least interesting, least important in the career of FDR, but in his life I think there may have been none of more importance. Granted some romantisation and a little image buffering, but this film feels true and offers a logical explanation for "That Man’s" incredible ability to make Americans think that anything could be conquered.

Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (1991)

(L.A.; 2019)

I hadn’t seen ‘Blade Runner’, but it mostly lives up to the hype. The art direction is very distinctive and fully realized, and deserving of its much praise, especially considering it was done in 1982. However I found the parts of the film with Harrison Ford in it to be less interesting then those without him. I mean the replicants were kind of interesting, they were in a very trapped sort of situation and dealing with real existential issues, while Ford was basically playing the standard film noir detective we’ve seen done better before.

The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

(Mississippi; contemporary)

A Jerry Wald melodrama, a Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward romance, a work adapted from Faulkner, and Orson Wells chewing the scenery. Strangely enough the whole thing works.