Movie Reviews
Born to Kill
Born to Kill (1947) Yet another noir film, and a good one, for a while. Directed by Robert Wise when he was still laboring in the B-movie factory, before he became a big name, from a novel by James Gunn (not the SF writer). It stars Claire Trevor and Audrey Long as half-sisters, one rich, one not rich. Walter Slezak is a sleazy private eye. Good old Elisha Cook, Jr., a reliable character ... Read more »
Now You See Me
I am a big fan of magic, that is to say, illusions. I don’t believe in the hocus-pocus kind, and neither should you. This is one of the better movies about stage magic, and I didn’t believe much of it … which is okay because, beyond the implausibility of pulling off such a wild succession of stunts, the principles behind each one of them are good, and taken as bits and pieces, most of them ... Read more »
Three Strangers
Three Strangers (1946) They are Sidney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre. Geraldine lures the two men to her apartment, and then makes a strange bargain with them. The Chinese goddess of luck will grant their wishes if they make an agreement regarding a sweepstakes ticket at the stroke of midnight on Chinese New Year. They are dubious, but what will it cost them? Three ... Read more »
Crossfire
A dark and shadowy room, from a low angle. Sounds of fighting are heard; shadows of struggling figures are seen. A lamp is knocked over, casting even crazier shadows. A man falls, not moving. A door opens and two indistinct figures rush into the light outside. They might be wearing uniforms.
This is noir at its best. Directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by John Paxton, from a novel, ... Read more »
Django Unchained
Archie Bunker said “Revenge is the best way of getting even.” Quentin Tarantino is into revenge. His last movie, Inglourious Basterds (and that spelling still grates on my nerves) went so far as to immolate Hitler and most of his top fucking Nazis in a theater fire, which I’m reasonably sure didn’t happen. But wouldn’t it have been nice if it had?
So that ... Read more »
Fast Company
Here’s something a little odd. Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice play a married couple who deal in rare books, and solve mysteries on the side. This movie was followed by two sequels, but in each of them the couple was played by different actors. There was Fast and Loose in 1939 with Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell, and Fast and ... Read more »
Walking With Monster/Walking With Dinosaurs/Walking With Beasts
On one of Larry Niven’s Known Space worlds there is a creature called the runforit. I’ve always loved this critter. You don’t need to describe it, and as far as I can remember Larry doesn’t. The name says it all. It was named after what the person who first saw it immediately said: “Run for it!” I’ve always wondered if there were similarly named creatures somewhere in Known Space. Beasts ... Read more »
Trance
Trance (2013) Sometimes a movie gets too complicated for its own good. The director, Danny Boyle, has some really fine movies in his portfolio, and this is certainly an ambitious one. But it goes a few steps too far.
The premise is promising. (The promise is premising?) James McAvoy is involved as the insider in a huge heist of a Goya from an auction house, where someone has just ... Read more »
Sharknado
Even if one is not a fan of Bad Cinema, every once in a while a movie comes along that sounds so epically, cataclysmically, awesomely bad that you just can’t look away. This movie has gained a cult following, having been shown three times at the SYFY Channel (and I am very glad they changed the name so that it no longer sounds like SF) and getting a larger audience each time. A friend of ... Read more »
Olympus Has Fallen
There’s so much wrong with this movie that I won’t even attempt to list everything. There’s the usual stuff, like suicidal Secret Service agents coming out of the White House and standing there shooting their handguns for a few seconds before they’re mowed down by Korean terrorists with AK-47s, or whatever. Did they not think of standing behind the walls and popping off shots through the ... Read more »