CASINO (1995) * Watch 7? Based on the Pileggi book My first 4K disc Glitz, glamour, yes. But I noticed a real grittiness this time. Maybe that's the 4K doing what it does. I'm a fan now Colors pop too. Happy to see the Sam Rothstein Dancers in their full glory

JURASSIC PARK III (2001) * Watch 4 * Babysitting duty While not directly based on a book, there are moments from the Crichton novels At 90 mins...has a B-movie feel and gets right into it It may not amount to much, but I appreciate JP3 doesn't try to be anything it's not

THE ARIZONA RAIDERS (1936) Based on a Zane Grey novel Larry "Buster" Crabbe stars in this dusty ole western Lots packed into an hour We get some romance, gunfights, horse chases, evil cattle rustlers, and hokum...cornball hokum, I tell ya

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987) * Watch....7 or 8? I was lukewarm for a long time. Dalton not always my favorite It has risen over time. I find the plot hard to follow, but I surrender to vibe The last gasps of the Iron Curtain. Villains with fingers in many pies. Feels modern

THUNDERBALL (1965) * Watch...must be 8 or 9 Thunderboring? Look, I get it Do we need all that pilot subplot stuff? And those underwater sequences. But ngl, they were mesmerizing in my new home theater set-up Colors pop all around. Say what you will, it IS a colorful film

Hadn't really noticed before, but Nicholson does the Johnny Carson gag almost a decade before The Shining

CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1971) * Watch 5 or 6 Opened Criterion BR On the new 4K TV, it's like a first-time watch Mike Nichols retains the tableau paneling reminiscent of a Feiffer cartoon Originally written as a play A rom-com cosmo made with a jigger of acid A fave of mine

LANCELOT DU LAC (1974) Bresson's take on Arthurian legends is stripped-down and stripped away This is post-Grail and the end of a legendary romance Everything seems to be over Bresson takes us on a sobering journey of declination 2 Sight & Sound votes 1 Critic, 1 Director

"In a profound sense every man has two halves to his being; he is not one person so much as two." - Laurens van der Post It's Will Graham's story then Dollarhyde takes over the narrative halfway The Insider—Jeffrey Wigand then Bergman Heat etc Mann's obsession with duality

MANHUNTER (1986) * Watch 5 or 6 "You want the scent...smell yourself" - Hannibal Lecktor Like Will Graham, we see and feel Mann guides us through the architectures of thought and emotion Color as expressions of internal states of being A neo-noir of empathy and terror

MAN-TRAP (1961) Ellroy is a big fan Two Korean war buddies plan a heist Based on John D. MacDonald's novel The movie, at times, is demented. Stella Stevens is a riot. Completely unhinged Director Edmond O'Brien isn't afraid to highlight the grotesque in American life

THE TWILIGHT ZONE "Steel" (S05E02, 1963) Boxing robots. That's all that needs to be said Can a man box as well as a robot? (Or as Serling pronounces, "ro-but") Set in the future. Boxing is a metaphor for other things Lee Marvin grits and sweats Based on a short story

12: 01 PM (1990) The always excellent Kurtwood Smith stars in this Oscar-nominated short It's Groundhog Day before Groundhog Day Man stuck in the same loop He's more desperate to get out. Even tries to break the science Dark in a good way Based on a story

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) * Watch...close to double digits A great movie to test drive my new sound bar and subwoofer Barry's lush score, the sledgehammer punches, the skiis carving the ice, and more Fantastic sound design Still my number one Bond movie

GOLDFINGER (1964) * Watch...at least 10 🤷‍♂️ Took my new 55" 4K TV for a test drive with this Blu-ray disc from my collection Gorgeous stuff Colors pop. Golds and greens really stood out for me this time Auric wants to be King Midas, but he needs to touch grass

THE PICKWICK PAPERS (1952) That's not John Goodman in the poster Tough job condensing 800 pages, so why bother Just take a couple storylines and have some fun Also, the film is wonderful to look at—a great Victorian London vibe and the Oscar-nominated costumes

COSMOPOLIS (2012) Feels prescient Tech/crypto bros, gun violence, disconnection from reality and our bodies Challenging, riddle-like DeLillo dialogue Not a film that lets you inside easily (unlike Pattinson's prostate exam) The Cronenberg horror is the death of modernity

The only spiritual experience I ever had was watching 2001 on a big screen when I was 12-years old And I even missed a bunch of the Stargate sequence because my bladder was on fire from holding it in and I couldn't take it anymore so I ran to the washroom #TrueStory #Kubrick

I have the DVD set. So again...these are mine, and I can watch whenever I want 😁 #PhysicalMedia #StarTrek

STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES "The Slaver Weapon" (S01E14, 1973) No Kirk! Just Spock, Sulu, and Uhura diverted to an icy world A cautionary tale about WMD Written by Larry Niven, who adapted his own short story I like a bit of complexity in my Saturday morning cartoons

STAR TREK: TOS "Arena" (S01E18, 1967) * Watch 3 or 4 We love the Gorn This episode was based on a 1944 short story

THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942) Nothing "minor" about Ginger Rogers' comedy chops Impersonating a 12-year old 😬 Landmines for subject matter. Miraculous this worked as a farce Billy Wilder's interest in disguise and identity evident in his first Hollywood film as a director

I own the entire Star Trek original series on Blu-Ray There are a lot of discs. There's 2 per "page", and they're in a staggered stack. Unless they're pushed in tight, they fall out. Can be annoying But you know what...? They're mine. And I can watch them whenever I want...

Read tf outta this book in high school

Wilder's mother died in the concentration camps This is a movie about severed motherhood The opening shot, honestly, chilled me in its Holocaustal connotations. The railroad tracks at night. The train moving slowly towards us The film is one of Wilder's darker statements

FEDORA (1978) Fading movie stars struggling for youth and relevance...no matter the cost Wilder's magic is muted. Maybe that's the point. It feels like he's grasping, clawing. It's all slipping away A spiritual sequel to Sunset Boulevard 1 Sight & Sound vote, Critic Joe Rubin USA

#BOTD #HappyBirthday It's Billy Wilder day. I still have a few blind spots

Fleischer was on an absolute heater at this point. Banger after banger

THE DON IS DEAD (1973) Based on the novel, this film cashed in on The Godfather craze But Richard Fleischer dispels with any of Coppola's lyricism and grand tragedy This is more pot-boiler stuff. A good amount of hand-held "The life" isn't destiny. It's in-the-moment survival

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951) A batshit gothic Texas noir Reminiscent of Hitch's Suspicion Is he a killer? Wasn't sure where it was going. But The King knows (Vidor) In the end, I took delight in learning how strange and twisted these people are Based on the novel

The Reflecting Pool showing Dagobah-like conditions

KING LEAR (1970) * Viewing 2 Perfect for #FathersDay    Dad Lear has some interesting daughters Peter Brook's vision of Shakespeare's play is beautiful in its bleakness and brutality The world is a wasteland; so too is the mind A gift to watch the God Scofield in his element

The first Father's Day without dad isn't starting great Immersing myself in cleaning out my car and burger prep for supper. Maybe put on a movie later

THE BORDER LEGION (1940) Based on a Zane Grey novel Roy Rogers plays a singing cowboy doctor He can heal and carry a tune The Border Legion is a collection of bad hombres Can Roy cure men's souls of evil deeds? Enjoyed the town saloon. Hurricane Hattie runs it through sheer force of character

THE IRISHMAN (2019) * Viewing 2 Opened up my Criterion disc The flip side of Goodfellas. The pop and sizzle replaced by a slow simmer into the void Opening shot. The famous Copa steadicam shot from GF now echoed by the not-as-steady camera winding through a seniors home

I've decided: In honor of Moon Day, July's movie viewing theme will be space, science-fiction, and dystopian worlds

The western is one of my favorite genres because it invites me into conversations about topics I'm really interested in: Violence History Environmentalism Morality and personal code Gender politics Capitalism Labor And all that fresh air and open space. Good for ya

MAN WITHOUT A STAR (1955) Kirk Douglas hates barbed wire. It drives his soul. Symbolizes his need for freedom and open spaces The narrative felt like it could go anywhere too The King (Vidor) directs with his typical strength and grace Excellent western. Based on the novel

HOBSON'S CHOICE (1954) David Lean's adaptation of the popular play Victorian patriarchy gets turned on its head by Maggie, Hobson's daughter Lean's crystalline sense of time and place At heart, a funny, wonderful love story A soused Laughton is what cinema was made for

THE ICE HARVEST (2005) Based on the Scott Phillips novel A twisty, gritty script by Richard Russo and Robert Benton Stars John Cusack Christmas Eve in Kansas Feels derivative of other black comedy crime films But I like the pivot by director Harold Ramis He has the juice for neo-noir

FEVER PITCH (1997) Colin Firth stars in this rom-com, of a sort To love a woman? Or a football club? Ay, there's the rub Nick Hornby adapts his own book Some laughs. Some frankness. How the things we obsess over can make us and break us Very relatable

THE GLITTER DOME (1984) I saw the VHS cover a million times, but I never rented This early HBO movie has a good feel for classic Wambaugh L.A. seediness. Cop trauma. Doses of black comedy Garner appears to be in Marlowe-mode The glitter shines, but only to hide the dirt

CONFLICT (1936) Based on a Jack London short novel John Wayne stars. He's part of a traveling boxing grift racket (this was a thing?) A friendship with a young boy helps Wayne find his morals Not a top tier film or anything, but this boxing grift caught my attention 🥊

TERJE VIGEN (1917) "A Man There Was" Victor Sjöström directs and stars in this haunting tale of the sea Isolation and retribution Sjöström excels at suggesting psychological state through environment Quality tinting Adapted from a work by Ibsen 2 Sight & Sound votes, Critics

THE OFFICE WIFE (1930) Found this on the Criterion Channel Based on a hit novel Office romance with secretaries and much older bosses 😬 Modern HR would have a field day Breakout for John Blondell Pre-code. Director Lloyd Bacon lingers on bodies and, specifically, legs

ASHES AND DIAMONDS (1958) Wajda's WW2 drama. Assassinations must still be carried out at war's end Deceptive casualness gives way to a tightening vice Many memorable images Iconic sunglasses Based on the novel 8 Sight & Sound votes 4 Critics 4 Directors (includes Scorsese and Roy Andersson)

RUTHLESS (1948) Known as Ulmer's Citizen Kane Dug the flashback structure. Childhood neglect. The rise and fall of a tycoon Much of the film takes place in ballrooms and boardrooms—the fantasy of the rich A "ruthless" indictment of capitalism Based on the novel

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (2023) * Viewing 3 Opened up my Criterion Blu-ray At 3.5 hours, I succumb to the weight of this film The staggering amount of evil, venality, and pain is almost too much to bear Corrupt men, corrupt systems. Hard not to see current parallels...

THE TRAIL BEYOND (1934) Based on a short story, this John Wayne western takes us to Canada They are on the run from bad guys and mounties! Lots of raw action, horse chases and fistfights packed into 55 mins It feels like a cheapie, but it's an easy watch

ACCOMPLICE (1946) Based on a book, Simon Lash is an L.A. private eye on the trail of an ex-fiancee's missing husband It's a B/C picture. Shot in 4 days. Acting can be as wooden as an oak tree. But that's part of the fun for me. And seeing how they can be creative with no money