The Guardian had an interesting piece about Patric Gagne, an admitted sociopath who discussed in the article how she managed to adjust to society by learning to imitate the emotions of others, so as to react in socially appropriate ways to various scenarios.  That sounds exhausting to me, and I can’t imagine how much of […]

1976’s Devil’s Express begins with so much promise for so much batshit insanity.  It starts in China of 200 B.C. with a group of very serious men carrying something in a large crate which they lower into a pit.  But, before doing that, it is sealed by a seriously cheap-ass amulet. It isn’t like it […]

Some sources credit The Thing from Another World as the first movie to have an extraterrestrial visit Earth, when it was just beaten to be punch in 1951 by The Man from Planet X.  This scrappy independently-produced feature was conceived, completed, and released between the time the big studio production began and when it could […]

While I am firmly on the side of Bette Davis as concerns the Davis/Crawford dichotomy, I find myself enjoying more and more of Crawford’s work.  Consider 1955’s Queen Bee, a torrid melodrama of the kind which was the domain of Douglas Sirk.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say she is the only reason […]

Diane Keaton wakes up in a chair in the apartment of sister Tuesday Weld and her husband.  The back of the chair blocks most of the shot but, over that, we can see the top of Keaton’s head and one eye.  That eye is darting around some, as she tries to determine where she is […]

Joan Crawford is in a darkened mansion, following the sound of a buzzer.  Barely perceptible under that sound is an electronically distorted voice saying the name of her character: “Lou-eeeze…”  Could it be the invalid woman she once tended to as a nurse has somehow come back from the dead?  Or is somebody gaslighting her? […]

I have been working on my own set of commandments for myself, basically just guidelines for how I want to live my life and make choices for which I will be proud.  At the moment, one of those is to not allow others to impose goals upon me or to adopt for myself objectives I […]

At the time am I writing this, there is a unusual social movement on the ascendance and that is this “tradwives” thing.  It claims be all about women, but it sure looks like something that is only encouraging women to bring themselves down by returning to traditional roles and homemakers and child bearers.  I suspected […]

I don’t understand gambling and am glad the alure of it eludes me.  My favorite quote related to it is from somebody named Canada Bill Jones in the 1800’s.  He was informed the poker game he was in was crooked, and he replied, “Sure, but it’s the only game in town.” James Garner has a […]

I sure am going about seeing Joe Dante’s filmography in an odd manner, as I somehow saw only Gremlins before this century.  But, as I said of 1987’s Innerspace, better late than never.  Such is the case with Explorers, the feature he made between those two films.  I was the right age for this when […]

Remember before climate change, when everybody was so concerned about the ozone layer?  Funny how you don’t hear about that much anymore.  It is apparently the destruction of that which led to the post-apocalyptic world of 2053 as portrayed in 1991’s Neon City. The more remote areas around Salt Lake were shot in winter to […]

One wouldn’t assume a guy being a Civil War buff would make him such a chick magnet, but Robert Cummings in 1946’s The Bride Wore Boots is nearly having to fight them off.  They’re always visiting the house he lives in with wife Barbara Stanwyck and their children.  They tend to leave bizarre gifts, such […]

Sam Jaffe has just finished a stint in prison and he already has a new heist planned.  He goes to minor-player bookie Marc Lawrence with this plan to steal gems worth at least 50 million.  He can start work with just 50 grands in funds, and Lawrence knows a man who can provide those kinds […]

It’s hard to believe Jacques Tourneur only directed two films that are deemed canonical film noir.  I’m not sure who are the gatekeepers for inclusion in that club, but even his horror films like Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie have a look at feel and that scans as noir-adjacent, if even they […]

I’m not going to bury the lede here.  I’m going to go ahead and tell you why you should see 1953’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and that is because of the climatic battle.  So, if you don’t want a spoiler for a movie more than 70 years old, stop now and go see the […]