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The Love Bug: 8/10
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Fave Directors: Nolan, R. Scott, Scorsese, Spielberg, MacTiernan, Zwick, Tarantino.



Skin Game (1931)

Alfred Hitchcock

A feud over land between two families leads to tragedy in this early Hitchcock effort. Worth checking out if you are a Hitchcock fan but doesn’t have the master of suspense touch that we know and love.

This may be one of Hitch's early films that I've missed. Thanks for the heads-up! ~Doc



Uncut Gems (2019)




I knew I was going to love this since I can relate to it. Adam Sandler should've been nominated and Kevin Garnett was very convincing playing Kevin Garnett. It wasn't perfect but I didn't see many missteps. Great pacing and the right ending.





Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

4.5/5

This film literally had me crying, laughing, and clapping with joy. While it does have it's moments of "lull," the picture is an absolute pleasure and will leave your heart warm. Definitely recommend.
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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage



Mutant (1984)
aka Night Shadows

A trash caliber Fulci ripoff from America. I think this was one of the first zombie (sort of) films I saw as a kid, and I had somewhat positive memories (albeit very vague, only remembered a couple of scenes) of it. Well, that nostalgia didn't carry far. Using a lot of fog and copying some shot angles doesn't make you Fulci, and there wasn't even any gore. Ultimate bore, but half a point extra for nostalgia.

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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

3.5/5

I really tried to get into this film. I usually love Ford/Wayne films... but this one left me feeling a little dry. It seemed there's a lot of traveling from one place to the next, but never once did I feel a sense of urgency or care over the character's situation. Then the fight in the bar scene at the end I felt was a little over the top and unnecessary. I don't know, not my cup of tea. Not a bad film by any stretch... it's okay, but not great.




Murder! (1930)

Alfred Hitchcock

An early effort from Hitchcock which cemented him into the genre he was loved for. Some of the subject matters would be frowned upon in todays politically correct climate. This is however one of the better early efforts from Hitchcock.





NOBODY'S FOOL
(1994)

First viewing. Enjoyable light comedy drama starring the late great Paul Newman.
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“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa



It's Only Weird If You Make It Weird
Headhunters 2011

I had no idea what to expect when I started watching this. It turned out to be a genuinely funny action thriller and well worth a watch.
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Rich and Strange

Alfred Hitchcock (1931)

A married couple inherit money and go on a cruise where they both have affairs. Not many laughs in this mundane Hitchcock comedy. Far removed from his usual standards.




Gran Torino (2008)






Nobody plays a grumpy old badass better than Clint Eastwood. This film was filled with great character moments; serious, light hearted, tense, funny and touching. Just a great little film that leaves you with a warm, poignant satisfaction. It film avoids the temptation of falling into sentimentality which is so often the case with these kind of stories.


It was also refreshing to see so much politically incorrect banter between the characters which provided much of the comedy and helped give the film a sense of realism. This film would have no chance of being made in today's hyper sensitive climate of political correctness.


Overall a very satisfying drama.


4/5 Stars



The Square (2017)

Didn't really know if this was having a go at modern culture or trying to make a deeper observation. Either way, it was watchable and (maybe a bit too) ambitious. Has the feeling of a Haneke, as in, trying to make the audience somehow complicit (Cache for example). Good film. Cover is not representative!



Gran Torino (2008)
This film would have no chance of being made in today's hyper sensitive climate of political correctness.
People have been saying this about slightly older films (like, 5-10 years old) since at least 2002.

Realistic portrayals of racist/bigoted language aren't a problem in art. It's only a problem if it's shown to be a positive attribute of the character.

Gran Torino has a good central performance from Eastwood and the direction is fine. I felt that the overall story was a bit superficial. Walt's racism mainly consists of a litany of racial slurs. Someone who is prejudiced spends time with a group he doesn't like and, surprise, comes to like/care for them. By the time Eastwood is filming himself
WARNING: spoilers below
literally in a Christ pose
. . .

Not all movies have to be super nuanced, but I thought it was a shame that the dynamics of the neighborhood were so flat. You can pretty much divide everyone except Walt into "bad guys" or "victims."

I thought that the two most powerful ideas in the film were (1) the idea of finding family and connection in unexpected places and (2) having empathy for someone else (specifically in how Walt doesn't want Thao to go to a place of violence that will haunt him the way that Walt is haunted).

I liked the film (and scored it a 7/10), but I feel like it could have been better with a few tweaks.



I liked it more than you did. Here's my review:

Arkansas (2020)

Director: Clark Duke; Stars: Liam Helmsworth, Clark Duke, Vince Vaughn, John Malkovich, Vivica A. Fox, Michael K. Williams.

This clever film had a mind numbing 30 producers/exec producers, and 6 production companies. Possibly this was to “spread the risk” a little for a movie which had a first feature director and a cinematographer who was also new to feature films.

It’s a Coenesque story with clever dialogue, and quirky drama. There were several twists in this offbeat tale of Dixie drug dealings which held one’s interest, but whose length at 115 minutes could probably have been trimmed a little in the middle to maintain pacing.

Duke, who directed and co-wrote, starred as Helmsworth’s partner, and was an odd bit of casting (as in
Twins), but it was acceptable in a quirky picture. This was not too far off from a bullseye, but Helmsworth’s character might have been better cast, and the middle seemed to drag a little.

Doc’s rating: 7/10
Different strokes GulfPortDoc, I did just think it was a mish-mash (well pointed out in the production values!). The characterisation was really thin and I kind of got my serious head off when he approaches the love interest in the supermarket...just didn't do it for me.



The Square (2017)

Didn't really know if this was having a go at modern culture or trying to make a deeper observation. Either way, it was watchable and (maybe a bit too) ambitious. Has the feeling of a Haneke, as in, trying to make the audience somehow complicit (Cache for example). Good film. Cover is not representative!
I've been meaning to watch this one for ages! Have you seen Force Majeure by the same director? An amazing dark comedy.

He's also got an interesting short film called Incident by a Bank that I liked.





Phantasm (1979) (Third viewing)

You know the kind of film where you can see its flaws but you just can't bring yourself to care about any of them?

That's the kind of film that Phantasm is for me. And maybe one of the best things about it is just how rewarding it is on a rewatch. While the surreal horror plot is full of images and sequences that really capture your attention, it's the fragile relationship between Mike, Jody, and their friend Reggie that holds the heart of the movie.

This last time around I especially appreciated the nightmarish/dreamy quality of using the simple effect of so many scenes being windblown. An eerie whistle of wind and stark close-ups manage to turn simple shots into terrifying ones. Phantasm really exemplifies how horror on a budget can be so, so right, using practical effects and the power of suggestion to craft most of its most frightening sequences.

And undercutting the horror are some really relatable themes of fear, grief, and loss. The entire subplot of Mike's anxiety about his older brother leaving him--resulting in Mike obsessively stalking Jody whenever he leaves the house--gives an undercurrent of extra angst to the film. This is a movie without any traditionally comforting authority figures (unless you count the slightly sinister psychic Mike visits), and the sense that all Mike, Jody, and Reggie have is each other adds an emotional heft to every action sequence.

I often find that on rewatching a film, certain sequences will drag a bit, but every time I watch Phantasm I am all in. The Tall Man (pictured above) is a memorable villain, but the film wisely devotes plenty of runtime to the protagonist and making you incredibly invested in them. It's the kind of off-kilter, character-driven horror that really floats my boat.




Buffet froid (1979)

A French dark comedy / surreal crime weirdo film. It's a dreamlike series of events that starts with a murder in the underground. There's no conventional plot, there's no actual sense in how people respond to things happening to/around them, and it's unclear (and probably unimportant) whether everything is the main character's nightmare or reality. It's not the funniest comedy and it's not suspenseful crime film, but it's surprisingly entertaining in its oddity. It takes a bit too long to really get going so I'm not giving it a good rating, but it's pretty damn close to that.



EDIT: Raised the rating by .5



Animal Crackers (1930)

I tried to watch this before the 30s countdown but couldn't find a copy with good enough audio (or subs) to understand what's said. Now it's on MUBI so I decided to give it another try. There are some good jokes and scenes, but there's not enough material for a 90-minute movie. Some musical numbers (especially the harp scene) feel complete fillers and some jokes are dragged on for too long. Still worth a watch, I think, and at least lots of the humor was rather bawdy.