A Slightly Different Version of the Beloved Feature: Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly

The Invite

In this edition of Films I’ve Watched Lately….I include more films with slightly less commentary. This may or may not be the start of a trend. But I hope you enjoy more that is shorter.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) Richards. Robert Mitchum is a good Marlowe and the fact that he’s an older one is fine. The movie itself is perfectly okay but I’m happier with the 1944 version which starred Dick Powell and was called Murder My Sweet. I do get irritated with how many times PIs get conked in the head in books and movies.They should all be on concussion protocol.

My Own Private Idaho (1991) Van Sant. One of the many films in which the main character suffers from narcolepsy. Yet another film which has scenes in both Rome, Italy and Idaho. Yet another gay male prostitute film based on a Shakespeare play. All that aside it’s one of my favorites, securely in my top 100 and features the great River Phoenix whose death at twenty-three remains one of filmdom’s great tragedies.

Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man (2026) Harper. . A classic example of a film that is entertaining for its entire running time then instantly forgotten. Need I say more? I think not. (I did watch the TV series and enjoyed it.)

Blue Heron (2025) Romvari. A new Canadian/Hungarian production (isn’t everything?). You think it’s a perfectly fine film about a family and its one member who’s very much off the rails but then something subtle happens just past the midpoint and you barely notice it until it’s as obvious as can be. The upshot is that a good enough film turns into an extremely interesting one that I need to see again. Give it a shot.

Carnal Knowledge (1971) Nichols. Today I don’t know why anyone would want to watch this film. Jack Nicholson plays a misogynistic jerk with no redeeming qualities and there’s no one in the picture to offset him and there’s no reason why we’d care about any of the characters. It might have played in 1971 but today it’s mostly just offensive. It’s another reason for me to wonder why people speak so highly of Mike Nichols, the film’s director.

The Invite (2026) Wilde. New in theaters and devastatingly good. Seth Rogen is no longer just a stoner character with the classic stoner laugh. He’s a big player in Hollywood, the creator of The Studio, for crissakes. Here he holds his own in a four-person cast that includes Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde who also directed. Ms. Wilde had the meatiest role and was terrific. Rogen…man, he’s surprised a lot of people as witnessed here where he’s a “serious actor.” The Invite takes you on a ride and none of the twists and turns are expected, but they all work.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018) Gan. This is my fourth viewing, the first two were in the theater. I have no clue what’s going on, I’ve given up trying but I’ll watch it again. Brilliant. There’s an extended dream sequence that actually feels like a dream and not a cinematic version of one. Not based on the O’Neill play. Not even close.

M (1931) Lang. This is where German Expressionism functioned strictly to tell a story and not draw attention to itself. Fritz Lang had a long career in which he made a lot of really good films but for reasons I do not know he never approached the likes of this again save perhaps with The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. Prior to M he made Metropolis which is equally brilliant. Peter Lorre, who like Lang made for Hollywood when the fascists took over Germany, is if anything, underrated for his performance.

La Piscine (1969) Deray. I wrote about it in a previous edition of this feature, that was after I watched it on the Criterion Channel. I bought my own copy and watched it with the missus. It’s a film — like many greats — that improves with each viewing. Jane Birkin who I would have had a crush on back in the day, is desirous but her coltish looks are only one of the fine features of this mesmerizing film.

The Love That Remains (2025) Pálmason. I also made brief mention of this film on a recent post. It’s intelligent, inventive, visually stunning and deserving of a wide audience that it’ll never get. Such is the lot of those films lumped into the “art house” category. 

It's Time Again For Your Favorite Feature: Films I've Watched Lately, Some of Which I've Loved Greatly

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth (1937) McCarey. A classic of the screwball comedy genre that is highlighted by one scene. Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are going through a divorce that’s about to become final. Masquerading as Grant’s sister, Dunne shows up at Grant’s fiancé’s mansion, where there is a formal yet intimate gathering. What ensues is comedy gold. The brilliance is that Dunne never overplays it. She acts just unhinged enough to create maximum discomfort while remaining completely committed to the performance. Grant's reactions are priceless—he's trying desperately to maintain his dignity while watching his carefully constructed world collapse around him. The timing between them is immaculate. While Dunne steals the scene, it doesn’t work without Grant as something of a straight man.

Wonder Boys (2000) Hanson. One thing I love about Wonder Boys is that it feels so much like a February weekend—especially the Sunday scenes. How does a movie do that so well? Create the feeling of a specific day? Wonder Boys blends meloncholy, humor, and a deep affection for its characters. Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr. and Tobey Maguire are brilliant, interesting and a bit lost. Katie Holmes and Frances McDormand do nothing but add to the film’s charms. Wonder Boys is less interested in plot than in spending time with people who, even if we can't relate to them, we at least enjoy spending time with. As someone who flatters himself to be a novelist, I particularly relate every time I see it. 

No Country For Old Men (2007) Hanson. A perfectly made film, masterfully directed by the Coens. So many memorable scenes that stay with you. Like the coin toss. It's interesting that in that scene the Coens didn't do the usual thing of making Anton a nice sort when he wasn't killing people. He was a jerk at all times. I also liked when the manager of the trailer park stood up to him and refused to tell him Llewelyn's workplace. There was nothing he could do. Every scene with Tommy Lee Jones is excellent. He's something like the moral centerpiece of the film. The sanity within. After this viewing I moved NCFOM into my top twenty on my all-time favorites list.

La piscine (196) Deray. My second viewing and I now regard it as a masterpiece. A love triangle starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Maurice Ronet. Added to the mix is the young daughter of Ronet’s character played by Jane Birkin. It would be easy to overlook her given her three co-stars all of whom were excellent (not surprisingly). But Birkin as an actress had quiet confidence in this film and so did her character. The first time she opens up and speaks is when the movie became really interesting to me, I can't exactly tell you why, but perhaps it announced that she wasn't merely decorative and thus the whole movie was going to be deeper than I'd imagined. What La piscine does so well is build. It’s not a film that announces itself in the first minute — that’s too easy. It asks our patience and then pays off. I can’t wait to watch it again.

Lancelot du lac (1974) Bresson. I hated this movie. I’m baffled as to why it’s so highly regarded. Usually when I don’t like an acclaimed film I can at least see why others do. Not with this one. Part of it is that I’m not a big fan of Robert Bresson. I thought A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest and Pickpocket were good films but I hardly consider them classics. But this iteration of the Arthurian legend — I was bored to death.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Ford. Jimmy Stewart is far too old to be playing the lead character, just as in Vertigo and Bell, Book and Candle. For one thing he’s twenty-two years older than Vera Miles who plays his wife. Why did they continually cast Stewart in roles for younger actors? The film itself is fine though if I were making a list of my favorite John Ford films, there would be at least a dozen Ford films ahead of it. TMWSLV is not as visually interesting as other Ford films, it was shot mostly on studio lots. Liberty Valance is almost cartoonishly evil. I like the political/historical themes but they weren't at all subtle.

Wagon Master

Wagon Master (1950) Ford. Somehow I’d never seen this John Ford film, given that I knew little about it, I wasn’t expecting much. I got a lot. What a wonderful film. I liked Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. as the wagon masters and always enjoy Ward Bond when he has a juicy part. Also fun to see Alan Mowbray. Beautiful film to look at and interesting that the film starts before the opening credits, which I was initially confused by. I suppose by Ford standards it’s a modest film but by any standards it’s a terrific one and typically beautiful to look at with equal respect to the characters and the scenery. 

Shampoo (1975) Ashby. One thing that particularly struck me from this viewing is what an empty person Warren Beatty's character, George is. He has no interior life and nothing profound to say. Other than wanting his own shop he's directionless. Today he'd probably be classified as a sex and love addict. Overall the film is excellent. Hal Ashby directed a string of really good movies that I love in the seventies like The Landlord, Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo and Being There. Shampoo is set on election eve 1968 but was filmed at the heart of Watergate. An interesting combination. A great cast that includes Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie, Carrie Fisher (first film role), Lee Grant (gorgeous at fifty) and Jack Warden. Warden graced many a great film including From Here to Eternity, Twelve Angry Men, All the President’s Men, Being There, Heaven Can Wait and The Verdict. He made all those films and Shampoo better for his presence.

Dersu Uzala (1975) Kurosawa. I greatly appreciate films that combine technical mastery with deep compassion for their characters. This is a perfect example. Dersu Uzala is an odd one in a sense because here we have the great Japanese director directing a film set in Russia with Russian actors speaking Russian. It’s one of his later pictures but retains so many Kurosawa touches while being distinct from most of his other work. I really liked the title character who is a native hunter helping Russian soldiers on early 20th century surveying missions. It’s a day later and many of the film’s scenes still live vividly in my memory. Few directors have filmed nature better than Kurosawa and this is a classic man versus nature film with a heart-warming friendship and two richly drawn characters at the heart of it.

It's Time Again For Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly, Plus a Bonus Bit About Sean Baker

The Florida Project

The Florida Project (2017) Baker. I think of The Florida Project as the 21st century version of Grapes of Wrath. Forgotten, displaced people trying to scrape by either by seeking greener pastures or hustling for every buck. The Florida Project and The Grapes of Wrath are obviously very different stylistically, but spiritually they share a great deal. Both are deeply American works about people living on the edge of the economic system that is designed to soak them for all their worth while enriching the coffers of the richest. In The Grapes of Wrath, families are displaced by the Depression, their homes, that might go back generations, are gone. In The Florida Project the poor have no homes and no means to buy one or to even lease or rent one. They’re forced to get by as best they can on a month-to-month even week-to-week basis. The Florida Project is another absolute gem from Sean Baker that primarily centers around small children but also looks at the single parents trying to raise them. Scams and hustles and deals are part of living. Both films could have been depressing but both show people with dignity and their refusal to yield to powerful forces that could break them. Like Tom Joad in Grapes, the young girl Moonee in The Florida Project has an indefatigable spirit and a stubborn refusal to accept defeat. Maybe theirs is the true spirit of America. Willem Dafoe shines as the motel manager who struggles with being empathetic while enforcing the rules.

Red Rocket (2021) Baker. Another from Sean Baker and this one pulls of the difficult feat of featuring a perfectly unlikable person as its protagonist.The ex-porn star, Mikey returns to his Texas Gulf Coast roots and is an absolute train wreck. To varying degrees he disrupts the lives of his wife, neighbors and would-be underage girl friend. We sort of root for him because he has a certain charm and his success could elevate the lives of those around him. But there’s also a fatalism to Mikey. It’s impossible to see such a tire fire of a human being doing anything but falling flat. Baker’s genius is in making Mikey someone we can’t dismiss. His story demands a look, maybe because its so outrageous, maybe because there’s a sense that maybe this time… Simon Rex is incredible as Mikey which shouldn’t be a surprise because like a lot of great directors Baker is a master at eliciting brilliant performances from his actors. Red Rocket creates atmosphere through place and texture an environment is captured without romanticizing it, in this case a Texas refinery town. The setting becomes moral atmosphere.

Nothing Sacred (1937) Wellman. A Thirties screwball comedy in color? Strange but true. The queen of the screwball comedy, Carole Lombard stars, so you know it’s good. Her leading man is the reliable Frederic March. I’ve never found him to be a terribly interesting actor yet I’ve always enjoyed his performances. March and Lombard are aided by two of the better supporting players of their time, Walter Connelly and Charles Winninger. Nothing Sacred is about Hazel Flagg (Lombard), a small-town woman mistakenly diagnosed with a fatal illness, and Wally Cook (March), a New York newspaper reporter who brings her to the big city as a human-interest sensation. Hazel becomes a celebrity and loves the attendant attention. Romance develops between her and Wally, but the truth about her perfectly good health threatens to expose them. Connelly plays Wally’s editor and Winniger is the small town doctor who knows the truth about Hazel. Why he goes along with the charade is never explained but who cares, it’s screwball, Jake, and one of the better ones at that. Directed by Wild Bill Wellman who one doesn't usually associate with comedies, screwball or otherwise. 

 

Cold Water (1994) Assays. Like most great films Cold Water deepens on rewatch rather than diminishes. It resonated with me because atmosphere and emotional drift matter as much as plot. It’s a film about youthful rebellion that doesn’t romanticize. We are drawn to watching the two co-stars but can’t let ourselves exactly root for them. They are too morally comprised.The atmosphere is extraordinary. The music and the cinema photography create an unmistakable early seventies vibe. The long party sequence is brilliant. It is less narrative and more experiential. You feel the exhaustion, intoxication, longing, and temporary sense that these kids have escaped the world. Cyprien Fouquet and the stunning Virginie Ledoyen co-star. They’re not generally likable teens but they’re compelling. Ms. Ledoyen, seventeen when the film was made, had one of the most gorgeous young faces ever to grace the scene and this played a part in how enthralling I’ve found Cold Water. This is another film in which plot is secondary to mood and atmosphere, the feeling of being transported in time.

I Knew Her Well (1965) Pietrangeli. I’ve always loved this movie but initially struggled with the ending (SPOILER ALERT) because the main character, Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) commits suicide. In the first viewing and even the second it’s not something that is telegraphed and seems barely hinted at. But with repeat viewings it has the feeling of inevitably. She is a beautiful young woman on the outskirts of fame holding down numerous jobs flirting (literally and figuratively) with those who can make or break her. She endures heartbreaks, disappointments and even humiliation. Adrianna is, unsurprisingly given the times, objectified more than respected — if indeed she’s respected at all. There are high times but always with the sense that they are stops along the way and not something that will become a permanent feature of her life. Beyond her beauty she has little to offer the entertainment world. She can’t imagine settling for less so rather than remaining on the treadmill until she ages out, she takes the inevitable ultimate step. Somehow it’s not a sad story, perhaps because it is presented so lightly (while given deeper meaning). It in some ways recalls the great Fellini film, Nights of Cabiria in that it avoids cynicism without denying cruelty. Both feature a female protagonist who suffers the slings and arrows. One ends by offering us a sad smile, the other opts out of life. Both are poignant and important films.

 

Martin Short

Marty, Life is Short (2026) Kasdan. Among other things Martin Short is the greatest talk show guest of all time. He also ranks among the funniest people of all time in any setting as has been made evident by his role in Only Murders in the Building. His career extends back nearly fifty years and has seen him star in SCTV and, for a brief time, on SNL. He’s also been in a series of films, frankly most bad but never because of him. He’s created innumerable fun characters such as the interviewer, Jimminy Glick. Comic genius is the simplest and best way to describe him. However his life has been struck by its fair share of tragedy and then some. The death of a beloved older brother when he was young and both parents before he’d turned twenty and the passing of the love of his life, his wife Nancy Dolman from cancer at 58. Add to that the recent suicide of his daughter and it’s a wonder that he can smile let alone make us laugh. But Marty Short is made of tough stuff and is living proof that laughter is the best medicine. This documentary by Lawrence Kasdan gives us some insight into the man and not surprisingly it is one rich with friends, love and laughter. It really is a wonderful life.

Point of Order! (1964) de Antonio.No narration, no later-day analysts, just raw footage from the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. One hundred and eighty-eight hours of footage was reduced to ninety-seven captivating minutes. You don’t feel the lack of those other eight days worth of film, there’s plenty here. One thing you’ve got is the slow descent of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the red-baiting Commie hunter who wreaked so much havoc on the the public and its psyche in the early fifties. By the end of the film when he is continuing a tirade as the hearing room empties and everyone is going home, you can clearly see that this once mighty figure has been exposed. Joseph Welch, the aw shucks but brilliant attorney for the army played a very large part in bringing the monster down. It’s all compelling stuff.

Il Grido (1957) Antonioni. I loved this film. The pacing was interesting, not as languid as Antonioni's later films, but leisurely yet purposeful. It was more about mood than plot with the weather and settings playing a key role in establishing the feeling. It was melancholy but never depressing, never melodramatic. As if it were purposeful. You can see how it portends some of his later work but also how it stands alone as unique to his oeuvre. But unlike the later Antonioni films, Il Grido still has traces of postwar Italian realism in it. The workers, gas stations, river towns, economic hardship, transient labor — it’s grounded in a recognizable social world. Later Antonioni becomes more abstract, more modernist, more existentially rarefied.Il Grido is a romantic, heart-breaking road film. That preceding sentence will make sense if you see the film which I recommend you do.

Platoon (1986) Stone. Platoon is one of the greatest war films ever made. As a Vietnam veteran once said of it: it has everything but the smell of war. Indeed it can at times feel like you're watching a documentary made by filmmakers embedded in the unit. There is an immediacy to the story but at the same time it has a mythic quality. It has the sweat, confusion, fear, exhaustion, and moral randomness of war — particularly the one in Vietnam — but is at its core a moral tragedy. Private Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a soldier and our guide being transformed by war. Like the war itself, Platoon leaves residue rather than clean resolution. The cast is wonderful as is everything about the production. It was a personal film for director Oliver Stone, based in large part on his own experiences. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture which shows you that the Oscars do sometimes award excellence.

Finally a word on the director Sean Baker. I’ve now seen all of his films at least twice. The missus and I just enjoyed a retrospective of his work. For me Baker's films are about people, their relationships and their dignity regardless of their status. They're about people struggling and succeeding in small ways. A Baker film is not a grand gesture, it's a nod, a quiet affirmation. Like Aki Kaurismäki, Baker respects his audience and trusts them to appreciate small moments. Baker's world is not for Pollyanna's, there is struggle, there is shouting, there is anger and there is not always resolution, as in life. I find his films life-affirming. I don't recall ever yawning during a Baker film. His films are not heavy-handed or preachy. The stories and the people speak for themselves without him underlining or emphasizing to make a point. He trusts the audience to understand or better still to find their own answers and meaning

Hallelujah! It's Time for Another Edition of Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Liked Greatly

The Commitments

The Commitments (1991) Parker. I love this movie. Doesn’t everybody? It’s nigh on impossible to watch without a broad grin on your face interrupted only by singing along with the film’s original and wonderful music. The Commitments is the story of an ambitious young man named Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) in Northern Dublin who decides to form a soul band. To him the Irish are the blacks of Europe and Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland and Northerners the blacks of Dublin. He pulls together a seemingly motley crew including a lead singer with a temper and attitude, three female back up singers, a trumpeter with years of experience, a sax player, two guitarists, a pianist and a drummer who can’t get on with the lead singer so leaves and is replaced by their security guard who is also a hooligan with an even fouler temper than the singer. They make marvelous music together. The movie is about their rapid rise and even faster fall. The coming apart is inevitable rather than sad. They had a great ride and for many the group was a springboard. Just wonderful fun to watch rich with humor and great music.

It Was Just an Accident (2025) Panahi. So many movies that are released these days are they kind you forget about seconds after you leave the theater. However they’re still making pictures like It Was Just an Accident that stay with you for days after.  It’s a difficult one to write about without tossing up spoilers. It’s a story of revenge. Can you extract it when given the chance? Can you do to him what he did to you ? Is it justice or lowering yourself to his level? How far will you go to right a wrong? And it’s not just one person wrestling with these questions, there are others involved too. Achieving a group consensus on such thorny questions is difficult. The highly acclaimed Jafar Panahi directed. He knows of what he speaks having been a prisoner of the repressive Iraqi regime. Iraq forms the setting for a movie that the word compelling was coined for.

Rachael Getting Married (2008) Demme. Seventeen years and one day after seeing this movie in a theater I watched it again. Anne Hathaway stars but does not play Rachel. She is the bride’s sister, Kym, on leave from rehab. Goodness me but Ms. Hathaway played an addict to perfection. It takes one to know one so I’m quite confident in this assertion. Kym is only newly sober and being with her tempestuous family on such a big occasion is not ideal. But here we are, it’s a wedding and despite the fractiousness that plagues some of the family (much of it caused by Kym) she’s obliged to be there. Kym’s an addict. It’s all about her. She’s a coked up bovine in a china shop triggering everyone around her. But she was the character I most related to. The others were weirdly normal with all of their mundane idiosyncrasies, issues and agendas. When speeches are made and Kym’s goes on too long and becomes all about Kym -- I backed her all the way. Jonathan Demme directed this fine film which is — as much as anything else — an exploration of the personality of the addict. He got it right. Here’s what I wrote about when it was first in theaters and I last saw it in 2008.

The Battle of Algiers (1966) Pontecorvo. I’ve watched it twice recently and after this latest viewing promptly put it on my top 100 films of all time list. No, I don’t know why it wasn’t there before. As indicated in a recent post it’s a great film for us revolutionaries. You’d be excused for watching it and thinking that was part documentary or that actual footage from the revolution in Algeria in the late 1950s was used.  As I said in my recent post on “Films to Inspire you in the Coming Revolution”: "By giving voice to the French army it broadens the scope of the story and puts it into greater historical context. Insurgency, occupation and resistance have never been more compelling on the big screen." 

In a Lonely Place (1950) N. Ray. I got a strong recommendation to read the book of the same name upon which this film is based. Dorothy B. Hughes’ novel from 1947 is one of the better noir novels of its time and its time included the works of Raymond Chandler. The book is highly original, a captivating read and superbly told. The movie version is watered down, a pale comparison, badly altered, stripped of the book’s brilliance and a shallow husk of a movie. I don’t know that the great Humphrey Bogart was the right choice as the lead. I know that Gloria Grahame, as fine an actress as she was, was miscast. I also know I had a delightful time reading the book and was bored senseless by the movie. A lot of people like the film. No idea why.

The Mastermind (2025) Reichardt. The title character is not mastermind but he is smart. He’s also self-centered and thoughtless. He’s something of a misfit, a failure and you could get away with calling him a loser. He steals a few paintings easily enough but this is not a well-planned heist and he did not surrounded himself with the best and the brightest. It’s no spoiler to say the law is soon on to him. This is a helluva good film. I could tell when I looked at Rotten Tomatoes and saw that it had a 91% from critics and a 38% from the hot polloi. Your average Joe and Josephine no doubt were expecting to see a slick heist carried out by a daring hero with a gorgeous lover and eccentric and savvy accomplices. Instead they got a movie about a failure. It may not be for the mainstream but I think it another terrific film from director Kelly Reichardt whose got a slew of excellent films to her name (such as First Cow, Certain Women, Showing Up and Meek’s Cutoff).

Back Despite Popular Demand: Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly (this time with a TV show in the mix)

Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly (1961) Bergman). Another great film about a woman struggling with serious mental issues. Indeed it’s among the best of them — Sunset Blvd., A Streetcar Named Desire, A Woman Under the Influence, Requiem For a Dream, Blue Jasmine, Silver Linings Playbook — being others in this category. Harriet Anderson is the young woman who’s recently out of the nuthouse and making a game effort at a normal life at a summer island cottage with her husband, father and younger brother. She seems fine. Until she doesn’t. Her struggles are more internal and we do not have the broad performances seen in many of the other films by the likes of Gena Rowlands, Cate Blanchett, Vivian Leigh and Gloria Swanson. Yet she is no less fascinating and her story is as sad as the others. The picture has a lot else going on with it as Bergman films tend to do. The venality of the father, the son’s desire to talk to his father and the husband/doctor caught in the middle. Of the films listed above I’d only rate Sunset Blvd. higher which is saying one helluva lot. Anderson’s understated yet affecting performance is one reason why.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) W. Anderson. A month or so ago I panned Wes Anderson’s latest film while extolling this picture as an example of what he is capable of. I loved this, my latest viewing of MK more than any of the previous ones. It’s damn brilliant. This is Anderson at his best telling a cohesive, structured story with a wide array of well-drawn and interesting characters amid brilliant set designs. It’s such a contrast to his later films which seem as much an excuse to give the rich and famous cameos as to tell a story. It’s also a straight forward story: two misfit tweens fall in love and overcome innumerable obstacles to be together. The setting, mostly in an around scout sites on a New England island, is an essential character. The pacing couldn’t be better. Everything, all the craziness, works toward the one goal of telling the story. I hope Anderson can get back to making this kind of picture.

Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation (2025) Burnough. This documentary is, as they say, in theaters now. Here’s a question. Did you like it? Here’s my answer: Yes and no. The parts that were about the book and the author were great. The intermixed stories about three sets of Americans on the road today were fine but should have been in their own documentary. Their relationship to Kerouac and his great novel were hard to discern. More like impossible. There wasn’t even an effort to connect the two. I wanted a documentary about my favorite novel and I got half of one and half of something else. When focusing on the book and its author the film broadened my fascination with On the Road which has had such an impact on me as a writer, a thinker, a reader and as a person. By itself it's a masterpiece but I often think of it as part of a trio with Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels also books of great meaning to me. Kerouac was not only the king of the beats but he helped set the table for the cultural changes of the Sixties. The greater freedoms, the desire to express oneself and the willingness to experiment. I'd have loved to seen a movie that used its ninety minute running time just on that.

Mike Myers in So I Married....

So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Schalmme. What a delightful surprise. I pressed play with low expectations. It looked for all the world like a light and silly comedy. I’d seen Axe Murderer when it first came out 32 years ago but held no memories of it. That can be a good or bad sign. Turns out this comedy is right in my wheelhouse. I’ve always liked Mike Myers starting with his work on Saturday Night Live. The film is set in San Francisco, another plus. It begins showing the sign for Jack Kerouac Alley next door to City Lights Bookstore, a huge plus. Myers plays a beat poet — I’m in! Nancy Travis is his love interest, Amanda Plumber her wacky sister and there are cameos aplenty including an especially good one from the late Phil Hartman. It’s a funny movie with a silly but not ridiculous premise. Myers is no classic leading man but he pulled this one off thanks to a script that was made for him. Well done.

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) Huston. It’s been a week and I barely remember watching it — I think that sums it up rather well. I had high hopes for the film it being from the great decade of American movies, the seventies, starring Paul Newman and directed by John Huston. But good lord what a mess. The script, such as it was, must have been written by a committee, the directing lacked cohesion as if there was no vision for the film (Huston was a big drinker so maybe....). Newman stumbled through it all as if in a hurry to get on to something else. Victoria Principal in her film debut was gorgeous which is as much as I can say on the plus column. Pity. 

Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke (2025). Okay, okay this is not a movie but a three-part television documentary but I wanted to write about so deal it with folks (I flatter myself that there are plural readers for that matter, any at all). This is not exactly the sort of thing I generally watch. But I read something positive about it in the New York Times and thought I’d give it a whirl. Glad I did. Utterly compelling. It’s the story of a woman named Ruby Franke, a young Mormon mother of six who became the most popular family vlogger on YouTube. She had the ideal marriage and the ideal family and lived the ideal life in an ideal community in Utah. She was a handsome woman with a lovely family which reveled in one another’s company. But the dream turned into a nightmare as Ruby became obsessed with her image. She was controlling, manipulative and hell bent on perfection which to her was everything being done her way. Then she came under the spell of a woman who was essentially a cult leader. Ruby and the cult leader are now doing time (up to 30 years) in prison for child abuse. Her children, two in particular, went through hell. The filmmakers had access to all her tapes including hours and hours of outtakes. It’s all there for the world to see. A meteoric rise and a stunning fall. I couldn’t stop talking about to the missus after watching it. Incredible stuff.

It's Time for Another Installment of Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly

From Starlet directed by Sean Baker

Midnight in Paris (20110 Allen. It’s not easy to make a movie that feels truly “magical.” This is evidenced by how bad most films are that try to delve in the supernatural in any way shape or form. Woody Allen as writer and director pulled it off with Midnight in Paris. There has be to be a dash of believability to the story’s conceit. Normal conventions need to be followed within the fantasy world. The story has to be compelling enough to make its total implausibility forgotten. The actors have to buy into the story and play it straight, not with a wink and a nod to the audience whether literal or figurative. Lastly it needs to move the audience either through its action, love story or message. With Midnight in Paris Allen made one of the best movies ever of any kind. The missus and I watched it Saturday night for the perhaps the fifth, sixth or seventh time. Hard to keep track. I could watch it again tonight. The story of a man who is able to travel from the 21st century to 1920s Paris every night is perfect for someone like me who is fascinated by certain eras of the past — including Paris in the twenties. I’m also fascinated by the notion of time travel which is why all of the books I’ve written have been set in the past. Imagine a film with characters that include F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Luis Buñuel, Josephine Baker, Cole Porter, Zelda Fitzgerald, Salvador Dali and TS Eliot, to name a few. You get that in Midnight in Paris. You get a lot and it’s all wonderful….and magical.

Prince of Broadway (2008) Baker. Watching this film and Starlet means I’ve know seen all of Sean Baker’s film. There’s not a lemon in the bunch. It’s a film that feels at times like a documentary. Baker’s films often feel like they’re shot from the real lives of people. In this case we have a West African immigrant in New York making a decent living as a hustler selling knock off clothes and shoes. He’s got a business owner as frontman supporting him. It’s all good until his ex brings by what she says is his son for him to raise for awhile. He is not prepared for this. It’s supposed to be for two weeks but we just now it’s not going to be anywhere near that neat and tidy. It’s a story that draws upon so much of what is challenging about being a father, about making it in the world, about small children, about dancing around the law, about survival in the city and how close we often are to slipping off an edge. Excellent stuff.

Starlet (2012) Baker. I knew nothing about the movie when I pressed play other than it appeared to feature a young, white female in the lead role. An hour and forty minutes I was left to wonder why I hadn’t been directed towards this film before. Brilliant. Bree Hemingway stars as Jane, a young porn actress who discovers wads of cash in a thermos she bought at a yard sale. She befriends the elderly woman who sold it to her, much to the dismay of the elderly woman who’d prefer to be left alone. As in all Baker films there are arguments, fights, emotional outbursts, resolutions and issues left hanging. Much of the trouble has to do with Jane’s housemate who’s also in the porn business, she’s something of a train wreck and her all-over-the-map boyfriend is Ward Cleaver in comparison. There’s a lot to unpack in this story of a bizarre but meaningful friendship and the side issues that complicate matters. The unpacking is well worth it as much as revealed and much is left for us to contemplate. Sean Baker is now one of my favorite directors.

The Flim Flam Man (1967) Kershner. Sometimes the story around the movie or the circumstances of seeing it or what you’ve heard or seen about it can alter the way you watch a film. This is often a problem as it skews the way you perceive it, but other times it adds an element to the viewing experience. With Flim Flam Man I couldn’t help thinking that I hadn’t seen it since it first came to theaters fifty-eight years ago. All I remembered about it was that began with the two main characters by a train track. I also had a strong mental image of a very cute young woman in a nighty which revealed luscious legs. Oh yes, I remembered that it co-starred George C Scott and Michael Sarazin. I really liked Sarazin as a kid, he seemed like a cool guy, the type I’d like to grow up to be. Sure Steve McQueen was my hero, but he existed in another stratosphere. Being a Sarazin seemed possible. So I watched the movie lo these many years later continually wondering what the young teenaged me thought of this, that or the other. I had no memory of whether I liked it at the time but having finally seen it again I’m sure that I did. It’s one of those fun, charming movies with ridiculous chase scenes, two mismatched buddies and a love interest. A story in which are rebellious outside-the-law hucksters continually outwit the cops. It was a pleasure to watch and fun to think about the lens I saw it through during my first viewing. It was also nice to see the young beauty who I'd remembered, she was played by Sue Lyons.

Intruder in the Dust (1949) C. Brown. One of those films that is all the more remarkable given the context of when it was made. A story about racism, Jim Crow and a near lynching set in Oxford, Mississippi is not something you’d expect to have been made way back in 1949 when Jim Crow still reigned in the American South and near lynchings were less frequent than actual ones. A black man is accused of murder and the evidence all points to his guilt. Even the well-meaning white lawyer is sure of the man’s guilt. But mostly through the help of a teenaged boy who was once saved from drowning by the accused, the truth seems that it will out. It’s a good story from any time but coming out when it did is amazing.

Hearts and Minds (1974) P. Davis. My favorite documentary of all time. It’s a searing indictment of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War. It has been criticized for its bias. That’s like criticizing a Holocaust documentary for only showing the Jewish side of the story. Any portrayal of U.S. incursion into Vietnam needs to focus on American arrogance, ignorance, cruelty, barbarity and incompetence. It needs to expose the lies, the hypocrisy and the racism at the core of U.S. policies and actions. As Daniel Ellsberg says during the film: "The question used to be: might it be possible that we were on the wrong side in the Vietnamese War? But, we weren't on the wrong side. We are the wrong side.” If you’d like to understand the American position in the war here’s a quote from the film by General Westmoreland: “The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does the Westerner. Life is plentiful, life is cheap in the Orient. And that's the philosophy of the Orient. Expresses it - life is not important.” Or how about this from Lt. George Coker a former POW who said this: “What did Vietnam look like? Well, if it wasn't for the people, it was very pretty. The people over there are very backward and very primitive and they just make a mess out of everything.” There’s another side to this story? 

Back by Popular Demand It's Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly

Walkabout

Moonstruck (1987) Jewison. Cher was brilliant and Olympia Dukakis top notch. But the rest of the cast — oh my —- talk about overacting. Director Norman Jewison tended to get broad performances in his films in this is a classic example. It’s amazing that Cher was so wonderfully restrained and I suppose if you care about Oscars, here's was well-earned. But Moonstruck is more notable for slapstick sitcom level acting from the likes of Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia and Julie Bavasso. A different director could have taken the same script and made a more realistic, more believable and more compelling film. Jewison’s version felt like a case of a lot of people trying too hard. As love stories go it's terribly unconvincing. This was my first viewing since the film came out. It’ll be my last.

His Girl Friday (1940) Hawks. My favorite film. Period. It’s perfect. It’s hilarious. It’s smart. It’s innovative. It’s got some points to make (about politics and the press). It’s as perfectly-paced a movie as has ever been made. It’s got Cary Grant in one of his greatest performances (along with Mr. Lucky, Notorious and Talk of the Town). Rosalind Russell was far from the first choice to play Hildy, indeed they’d gone through most of the women in actor’s equity before “settling for” Mr. Russell. They couldn’t have done better. (That’s the kind of luck you need to make something this good.) As always in pictures from Hollywood’s Golden Age the supporting cast is crucial and here they came through with flying colors. I especially take notice of the cynical, world-weary newsmen played by Regis Toomey, Porter Hall, Frank Jenks and Roscoe Karns. And Billy Gilbert deserves plaudits for stealing his two scenes as the governor’s messenger, Joe Pettibone. His Girl Friday is like the Beatles, everything came together at the right time and right place and you can’t imagine it being any better.

The Magnificent Seven (1960) J. Sturges. Not really so magnificent. Of course I loved it when I was kid, the presence of Steve McQueen was enough to make to great picture in my mind. It was based on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai which is to say it was re-imaging a classic. But it was ultimately a poor imitation. It would have been infinitely better if the Mexican villagers were allowed to speak Spanish, I mean beyond an occasional señor and gracias. All but one of those characters were cardboard cutouts. And speaking of one-dimensional characters, there were Eli Wallach and the the rest of the bandits. They were about as menacing as Yosemite Sam. And why is that the bad guys in movies back then happily ran towards gun fire? Even McQueen couldn’t save this picture. For one thing this was not the Mr. Cool we later got to know in movies such as The Great Escape and Bullit. Yul Bryner, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Charles Bronson were all wasted by a script that allowed for no real character development.  

Stardust Memories (1980) Allen. One of Woody’s best which is saying a lot in itself. I have no idea how many times I’ve watched the film since I saw it in Boston upon its original release. But I do know that I’ve enjoyed every viewing. I recall that some critics were miffed by how it seemingly poking fun at them. Evidence of their own thin skins and an ability to dish it out but not take it. Woody was clearly having fun spoofing everyone including himself. No one would make such a film who didn’t deep down appreciate his fans. No one would make such a film who was not introspective and thoughtful. No one would make such a film who wasn’t a comic genius. 

Walkabout (1971) Roeg. I’ve been watching Australian films on the Criterion Collection lately and though there’ve been a few misses, I’ve discovered several classic such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, My Brilliant Career and this film. Director Nicolas Roeg didn’t make much and even less that I’ve enjoyed but my goodness he hit it out of the ballpark with this look at a young brother and sister stranded in the Australian outback, ultimately finding a teenaged aborigine to guide them. It’s as beautifully shot a film as you’ll ever see and a masterclass in direction (how is it that Roeg didn’t do this more often?). It's meditative, original and a wonderful commentary on how modern culture isn't necessarily the best culture.

Action in the North Atlantic (1943) Lawson. Of course I like this picture. It honors the merchant marines serving in World War II. Though he later joined the army, my father was a merchant marine serving in World War II. He was at the helm of a ship that was torpedoed in the Arabian Sea by a Japanese submarine. So North Atlantic honors men like my dad who risked their lives to transport goods and weapons to the allies during the war. North Atlantic is — especially for a film of its era — a realistic account of what it was like to navigate seas swarming with enemy submarines. The cast is led by Humphrey Bogart and that’s a great start right there. Raymond Massey and regular supporting players like Alan Hale, Dane Clark and Sam Levene also feature. This film is one of many made during the war that was designed as war time propaganda. Like some it managed to both rally the Homefront and tell a rollicking good story.