Category: Watching

This is an odd duck.  This 1995 anime is a triptych of seemingly unrelated stores from Katsuhiro Ôtomo, the author of Akira (and who was also supervising director on the film version). The first story is extremely similar to Solaris (either version) and that’s not a bad thing.  In the far future, what is essentially […]

For those made curious by the title, the particular Street of Chance in this 1942 noir is Tillary Street.  That’s where Burgess Meredith comes close to getting pulverized by concrete falling from a building demolition.  When he comes to, he tells a policeman he is Frank Thompson.  And yet, he has a cigarette case in […]

1961’s Man-Trap is later than what is what is usually regarded as the prime era of film noir.  Something else which distinguishes it from most is it was made by one of the most major of the major studios.  When you have a noir made by Paramount, you know you’re going to have a bigger […]

Mickey Rooney has been so thoroughly pigeonholed into handful of roles that is hard to believe he actually has some range.  1959’s The Big Operator is one of the few films I have seen that allows Rooney to play the bad guy, and he does so with relish. He plays a corrupt union boss who […]

I am now three movies into Arrow Video’s blu-ray box set Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror and I have to say there’s only one I really liked so far.  And that title isn’t 1966’s The Third Eye. This is yet another thriller in the long shadow of Psycho.  For this film, the overbearing […]

Who knows how such folklore gets passed around, but something every guy just seems to “know” is the crazier the woman, the better the sex. John Forsyth never consummates a relationship with Ann-Margret in 1964’s Kitten with a Whip, but I felt that was the unspoken message underlying the picture. When we first see her, […]

It’s strange how similar horror and porn can be.  I kept thinking about this while watching the 1973 grindhouse horror film Miss Leslie’s Dolls. This movie has three college students, one guy and two women, and a young female professor of theirs holing up in a creepy house in the middle of nowhere as a […]

How can one fairly critique 1935’s Mark of the Vampire without spoiling anything?  My issue with it is there is a bizarre twist in the final third that so threw me that I thought I had literally lost the plot.  And yet, it wouldn’t be fair to new viewers to say anything that even hints […]

Why are there so many shooting stars in 80’s movies?  You would think meteorites didn’t exist before 1980.  In the opening of 1986’s The Wraith, one of those objects flaming across the sky turns out to be a UFO.  It flies through a saguaro cactus, a street sign and a campaign billboard, punching a hole […]

The 1981 concert film Dance Craze anthologizes performances by many of the UK acts of the 80’s ska revival, many of whom were associated with the legendary record label 2 Tone. The name of that label emphasizes one of the most remarkable aspects of that ska resurgence in the UK: groups with black and white […]

In my previous work life, one of my favorite days on the job was spending the day at a small regional airport getting b-roll of planes taking off.  I was in the grass between the runway and taxiway, just getting one plane after another. I mention this because I know first-hand how difficult it can […]

I was reminded of Infinite Jest1 the entire time I watched 2012’s The Master2.  Both works are way too long and pretentious.  This Paul Thomas Anderson3 film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman4 and Joaquin Phoenix5. Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams Watched on blu-ray 1 You know, the 1996 David […]

1948’s Ruthless is often categorized as film noir, but I found it to be a more of a straight drama, albeit with a sharper edge to it that most of the similar fare at the time. It apes the structure of Citizen Kane, though this time the object of everybody’s obsession is still alive.  Those […]

The 1991 comedy King Ralph opens with earliest incarnation of the Universal Studios logo before transitioning to each of three later iterations.  This is apparently intended to convey the rich legacy of this studio as it celebrates its 75th anniversary.  Myself, I thought this was the first joke in the movie, as the following picture […]

Needless to say, there has been a bit of obsession over The Beatles for decades now.  So many books and movies.  One would think there were no new avenues to explore in 1994, and yet Backbeat is, I believe, the first movie to concern their pre-fame years in Hamburg and the only true “fifth Beatle”, […]