Best New-to-Me: February 2025

 Late again, very little watched again - I'd say 2025 is shaping up to be a rough year (and it is) but that doesn't necessarily convey where I've been at creatively. I've been reading a ton and writing a bit - I just haven't quite gotten back into the gear of watching new-to-me movies. I did still manage to make it out to the theater several times and I'll write more about that down below. My wife and I wrapped up a watch of the first two seasons of Twin Peaks and that was great. I don't know that I've ever watched them all with the Lynch/Coulson Log Lady intros before each episode. Knowing that it was more or less just the two of them and that they were done some time after the show's finale adds a measure of fascinating context. We'll watch the remainder of the show material throughout the year but I'm on a brief pause for now. 

I know this is highly uncharacteristic for me and this space, but I had the opportunity to preview Daredevil: Born Again so I went for it. I know I almost never talk about television (I don't watch much, either) in the blog and if I was, you'd figure that I would turn my attention to some random genre obscurity from the 70s and not the new streaming series from Marvel. The thing of it is - I was a huge comic book fan as a kid and very specifically a Daredevil fan and even more granularly a massive fan of the Born Again storyline from Frank Miller and Dave Mazzucchelli. I remember so clearly receiving a copy of issue #228 as a birthday gift and found the full cover image of Matt Murdock's shattered visage totally enthralling. I loved masked heroes, but that's not what that slim volume had to offer. Instead it was a lightning strike of a crime story. It was brutal introduction to the kinds of stories I would grow to recognize as noir or hardboiled and I found it intoxicating. It took me a while to collect the complete storyline but I devoured it again and again once I had. In fact, I had to pull it off the shelf again last week and I'm happy to report that it mostly holds up.

So it was with some disappointment that I discovered that Daredevil: Born Again the series actually has very little to do with the beloved story arc from my youth. One thing that the series does borrow from its namesake is that it keeps the masked vigilante business more towards the back burner. At times, it's nearly a straightlaced (if a bit pulpy) NYC crime saga about a underworld heavy (The Kingpin) attempting to hold the reins of conventional urban power. I found it fairly entertaining though I think I may have preferred an entirely super-free version of its promising premise. Vincent D'Onofrio absolutely chews it up onscreen, but he clearly relishes playing the part. I've seen a bit of Michael Gandolfini before and I find him a refreshing screen presence and a solid performer. I hope to see him more in the future. So nothing revolutionary, but maybe it will start the breadcrumb trail for newer Daredevil fans to crack those Miller/Mazzucchelli books.

Enough of the small screen, let's talk movies.

Theatrical Screenings!

Blue Collar (1978) - Paul Schrader's directorial debut remains every bit as potent and desperately relevant as it must have been in the 70s. The montage of auto work while Captain Beefheart growls Hardworkin' Man thrusts you directly into the deeply pessimistic milieu of three friends and co-workers who feel pinned beneath the collapse of the bargain they believed they had entered. Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto are excellent but it's Richard Pryor's performance that shines - distilling so much rage and frustration around race, class, and even family. The last 20 minutes of the film are incredibly bleak and I forget how funny and humane Blue Collar is for a large portion of its runtime. I've loved it for years and seeing it theatrically (in 35mm) was the cinema highlight of the month for me.

Paddington in Peru (2024) - I'm somewhat picky when it comes to preview screenings I attend but if I can bring someone I get much less discerning. So that's how my wife and I joined a crowd of ecstatic children to see the latest adventures of everyone's favorite marmalade enthusiast. It was cute, the kids seemed to dig it (it when on a bit long and the kids were getting restless towards the end), and it contained more Herzog film references than I expected. 

Captain America: Brave New World (2025) - All the above caveats though this was a press and guests only screening. They tend to be a more relaxed atmosphere and critics are (generally) better behaved than toddlers. I'm not a big MCU person but I thought this was an exceptionally lifeless entry into the series. I like the idea of smaller scale Marvel films that explore different themes and genres, but they need to be at least a mid-tier exercise in those genres. You wouldn't have to look too hard to find a better military/political thriller starring Harrison Ford. I'll always kind of love Captain America: The First Avenger and this sorely needed more of that fun and adventure.

The Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Program - My wife and I have attended this theatrically (to the best of our ability) for many, many years now. I briefly studied animation a long time ago and have an earnest affection for the kind of odd, artistically rigorous animated shorts that used to populate the corners of public television or Nickelodeon (not to mention the wilder channels of Liquid Television or Spike and Mike's). The Academy tends to nominate fairly tame stuff but the shorts program usually contains a "highly commended" segment which is where I find the real gems. This year contained only the five nominees and I have to say it was one of the best programs I've seen in a while (especially compared to last year's mostly awful one). The shorts program has always been a showcase for international studios but this year distinguished itself by only featuring non-US shorts and offered nothing from either Disney or Pixar. I was especially taken with Wander to Wonder which is far stranger than what normally winds up as a nominee. I've seen plenty of shorts that go dark, but they tend to be tied to a specific political message. Wonder is dark and humorous and bizarre without slamming specific messaging in your face. I'd say it's worth seeking out even if animation isn't your go-to.

The Time that it Takes (2024) - This was the opening film for the Italian Film Festival at The Main Theater - I didn't know much about the film but they also host a party with good wine and food on the opening night so we were in attendance. Time is an autobiographical film about director Francesca Comencini's life with her famous director father - Luigi Comencini. It starts strong - taking us behind the scenes of some of the elder Comencini's films and painting a portrait of a largely sympathetic paternal figure. It's hard for me not to be charmed by films about the magic of filmmaking and the Italians especially seem to have a facility for this. Unfortunately, things devolve quickly once we hit troubled years for both Francesca and Italy. There's very little interesting this film has to say about counterculture, family troubles, or the Years of Lead. It comes off frequently as cliche and sometimes even as reactionary. There are still some nice moments and lovely location footage and I do appreciate how much affection this film has for other films. The montage of silent film sequences behind the end credits and footnotes about the film archives in Milan was a nice touch.

Luckily, we also attended one of the IFF repertory screenings and I absolutely loved it. I'll write more about that for the March roundup.

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Best New-to-Me: January 2025

 Welcome at last to a profoundly late monthly entry covering stuff I watched in January. Why so late? It could be the work trip I went on - it's a bad excuse and I should use the next one as an opportunity to get more writing done. I think it has more to do with being distracted by other interests. Now that I have a zine in print, I'm even more invested in all the other great zines out there. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on and posting about my favorites on social media. I've also been reinvested in comics in a way that I haven't been in years. Finally, after the passing of David Lynch, I've been spending my viewing hours revisiting his work or work that he deemed influential. All of this is great, but little of it contributes to my usual monthly ramblings. Still, I saw a fair amount of movies and it's time to give them their due.

New to Me!

Cain & Abel (1982) - This Philippine family drama/action thriller was a recent pickup during the Black Friday maelstrom. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of context on this one, so much of what I'm saying is informed by the (excellent) supplements on Kani's disc. I had some understanding that this was a crime/crime adjacent movie, and it is, but it's a long simmer before the film gets there. The first 90ish minutes are mostly composed of a drama centered around a landed family whose matriarch clearly favors one son over the other. Neither son is especially admirable but they are pitted against each other largely through the machinations of their mother. There are class concerns, illegitimate pregnancies, dreams deferred, and interfamily feuding galore. The pressure cooker finally does explode into surprising levels of violence in the last 30 minutes or so as different factions of armed thugs rally around the two brothers - resulting in paramilitary levels of armed conflict. Cain & Abel is very different from anything I've seen in a while and I really loved it. Definitely worth your time.

Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969) - Utilitarian title translation aside, this is an incredibly entertaining yakuza yarn from the great Fukasaku. This is familiar territory for the director, but Crime Boss was released before he fully developed the unhinged, nihilistic style familiar to most. There's still plenty of mayhem in Japan Organized Crime Boss, but the frenetic pitch and roll of Fukasaku's camera is largely more subdued here. There is a pervasive sense of doom, even futility, but this is still operating more or less within the conventions of the 60s chivalry film tradition. I love Fukasaku's classic 70s period but was really taken by this (and it has some fascinating political threads as well). Might be a good one to check out if you find the more ferocious Fukasaku a tad overbearing.

Slap the Monster on Page One (1972) - A deeply cynical political thriller critiquing both right-wing partisan journalism and how the levers of power are manipulated to maintain societal control. My interests in Years of Lead Italy naturally gravitate towards vigilante cops and rogue mafioso, but this is an absolute scorcher fueled by another tremendous Gian Maria Volonté performance. I'm woefully unfamiliar with director Marco Bellochio, but I'd like to remedy that.

My Heart is That Eternal Rose (1989) - I've been meaning to catch up to Patrick Tam's doomed romance by way of Triad showdown for years now and I'm so happy to have finally made the time for it. I don't know if "hesitant" is the right word for how I approached Eternal Rose but I think I was cautious after not really engaging with his much lauded Love Massacre. This was much more my bag and maybe because it's more of a conventional crime story recognizable to any fan of Hong Kong's heroic bloodshed years. My tastes aside, Rose is an easy film to love and of course it was shot, in part, by the great Christopher Doyle and beautifully captures that dreamy yet gritty look. It features both Joey Wong and Tony Leung and balances truly emotional dramatic sequences with hard hitting crime violence including plenty of twisty neo-noir plot points along the way. The main theme will stay with you for weeks, Beware!

Dust of Angels (1992) - More East Asian crime but focusing on a Taiwanese society in crisis. Rather than established gangsters, Hsu Hsiao-Ming centers his story around disaffected kids on the fringes of the underworld. There's a distinct slice-of-life, hangout appeal to Dust but the ideas that take shape in myriad conversations between all strata of criminal life confront a culture in flux, riddled with uncertainty. This is a gorgeous film and features some killer music too. I'd love to have a fully fleshed out physical release that provides some additional context to what plays out on screen.

Kamikaze Taxi (1994) - This isn't my first Harada film but it's the first one to really knock me out. An absolute epic of a film that refuses to conform to anything about the yakuza genre. It's a revenge tale and a road film that tackles both honor code systems and (improbably) the immigrant experience in Japan. There's a certain class consciousness to the proceedings and a brilliant, understated performance from Koji Yakusho. It's one that I definitely need to re-watch which is only challenging due to its nearly 3 hour runtime. Absolutely worthy of more eyeballs in this part of the world.

Pixote (1980) - Another longtime watchlist denizen that I can finally claim to have seen. Pixote is a devastating portrait of youth and poverty in Brazil featuring a heartbreaking lead performance from Fernando Ramos da Silva. Pixote reminds me in many ways of the Quinqui films coming out of Spain from around the same time, but those films featured freewheeling teenagers where Pixote blends that with children just trying to survive and find a place in an unforgiving world. This is bleak stuff and from what I understand, that tragedy extended to da Silva's brief life off camera as well. Aside from the gut wrenching drama that unfolds, Pixote also acts as an incredible snapshot of street life in Rio and São Paulo and features some window into queer life during that time as well.

Experiment in Terror (1962) - My wife and I are planning to re-watch the entirety of Twin Peaks over the next year or so and because I'm me, I put together a list of both TP titles and films that were either directly referenced in the series or that Lynch claimed were influential on his work. One I watched in January that really struck me was this noir-thriller from Blake Edwards. Besides featuring a street sign that reads "Twin Peaks" within the first five minutes of the film, there's plenty of connective tissue. Terror isn't exactly what I would call sleazy, but it dives almost immediately into a strange underworld (largely driven by an asthmatic would-be rapist and bank robber) that strikes a violently discordant tone with the world of order and goodness that reigns during the daylight hours. Terror sags a little at just over two hours but I was totally taken by it. It's kind of goofy, kind of menacing, and altogether weird movie. I'll almost certainly revisit it at some point.

Theatrical Screenings!

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025) - My first cinema trip of the year and my first 2025 movie was the follow up to Christian Gudegast's 2018 heist thriller. The first Den of Thieves felt very much like a pastiche of great films that are markedly better BUT I thought Gudegast managed it faithfully enough that it won me over. If the first chapter was a take on Heat with some Training Day tossed in the mix, DOT2 is more along the lines of Ronin - exchanging L.A. grit for a jauntier, jet-setting affair. The set up is extensive (144 minutes is nearly criminal for a runtime) though some of the hangout vibes are infectious. However, once this thing kicks into heist mode, I was totally on board. I can totally see why some people may miss the gravitas (however hackneyed) of the first film, but I still came away with a smile on my face. I appreciate that these films don't approach their subject like an overlong music video and that Gudegast has enough restraint to not indulge in CGI, comic book buffoonery when it comes to his heists and chases. Honestly, give me one of these every year or two and I'll keep coming.

No Other Land (2024) - This is likely the hardest film to write about in this post. No Other Land is a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli journalists and activists capturing what amounts to a decades long siege of Masafer Yatta on the West Bank by the Israeli authorities. It's a devastating portrait of senseless authoritarianism and state sponsored violence. At the same time, there's a touching relationship between two young men that propels much of the film. I am generally skeptical of "issue" documentaries because they are always propaganda at the core - either through what they show and tell or what they choose to omit. I imagine No Other Land suffers from this in some ways. These filmmakers are professional activists and I do have some questions about how things were presented. However, that doesn't rob the impact and the outrage anyone would feel after seeing the breadth and depth of abuses heaped on the denizens of Masafer Yatta by the IDF. This was shown as part of the Film Independent Spirit Awards screenings at the Walker and I absolutely commend them for doing so. When this was screened, No Other Land still had a severely limited theatrical run in the US and is only now seeing a wider release schedule. It's a hard watch and I strongly encourage you to seek it out however you can.

Problemista (2023) - Another Film Independent screening and one I had not found the time to catch up to during it's initial run. Julio Torres' coming of age, coming into your own, immigrant, NYC story has a mostly delightful, whimsical feel and features an absolutely fantastic cast. Torres stars and embodies his determined dreamer with just enough edge to keep him from being absurd and Swinton is clearly having the time of her life as the deeply problematic society woman who offers a key to his success. Support from the RZA as Swinton's egg obsessed artist husband was terrific as well. Problemista gets a little too cute for me at times and is very theatrical. There's part of me that kept wondering how it might be adapted to a stage production. Still, very glad to have caught it.

Nickel Boys (2024) - A rewatch for me and I felt it holds up quite well even though I knew the "reveal" before going in. My mind is unchanged after a second viewing - I think RaMell Ross has accomplished something astounding here both in terms of form and in literary adaptation. I can appreciate that the first person perspective is challenging for some viewers but I find it effortlessly immersive and I'm fortunate to have caught it on a screen for a second time. I would like to see what he chooses to do next though I do hope he doesn't become the "POV guy" moving forward.

Presence (2025) - Speaking of POV. I caught Soderbergh's supernatural mystery/family drama at the multiplex while wrapping up my work travel. Though I understand his talent and that he is much beloved, I find Soderbergh's films very hit or miss for me. Presence is not a miss, but I can't say that I was truly taken with it either. The form is interesting but (unlike Nickel Boys) feels a little like an academic exercise. The story is a combination of some genuinely touching moments and more than a few that felt undercooked to me. Overall, a bit slight and not something I'll be thinking about by the end of the year.

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Best New-to-Me: November 2024 (The Oops! All Screenings Edition)

 Another whirlwind of a month as we all hurtle towards the end of 2024. Despite my typically sluggish rate of output on the blog, I've been watching movies and writing reviews like a man possessed. Hopefully you've had a chance to check out my Top 10 2024 Hardboiled Crime Movie List and then I am putting the absolute finishing touches on a project that I'm desperately hoping I can announce before the end of the year. With all that reviewing energy already spoken for, I thought I would focus on theatrical screenings this month as there have been quite a few of those as well. I managed to fit in a bit of everything in November - Cinema of the Macabre, press previews, MSP Film Club, Cult Film Collective, and even a road trip (rail trip, actually) to Chicago that included a movie. It's easy to feel powerless in the face of everything that's going on in the world so it's a real sanctuary to have films and creative projects to focus on. Let's get into it.

Tenebre (1982) - Dario Argento's climax of stylized violence and last great statement on the giallo film he was so integral in pioneering. Argento would still make some good films post-Tenebre but nothing quite as affecting ever again. Much like Suspiria, one of the great joys of seeing Tenebre theatrically is that the (essentially) Goblin music is so loud in the mix that it's nearly deafening in a cinema sound system. Argento also provides some deliriously blood drenched imagery to pair with the pulsing soundscape. The result may be more nightmare logic than murder mystery but I never tire of it.

The Last Thing She Saw (2024) - This wild and gruesome short played before Tenebre and the co-directors were in attendance. This was a fun surprise and absolutely the right crowd for it. 

Gladiator II (2024) - The latest epic from Ridley Scott and sequel to the film that turned me off the Academy Awards for the rest of my life. Scott claims this is his finest work and I actually thought its strength was the realization that it was a big, dumb spectacle without taking itself too seriously. Paul Mescal (who I loved in Aftersun and All of Us Strangers) is grossly miscast as the grim faced lead, but otherwise Gladiator II seems to be having a lot of fun. Killer baboons, a rhino riding champion, friggin' sharks in the Colosseum? Denzel Washington is clearly having a blast as the ambitious Macrinus and the ancient Rome depicted in the film looks good for the most part (those baboons are rough). I think this should win best picture and then none of us need to care about the Oscars anymore. 

The Brutalist (2024) - Yes, the runtime is completely daunting but there's an immensity to The Brutalist that I think justifies the length. From a craft and scope perspective, it's an astonishing film. Colossal, chaotic, transcendent, discordant, and brilliantly composed. The sound design is impeccable and the VistaVision photography is an absolute stunner. I do think, ultimately, that it is ideologically muddled. Not in the way in which the world is filled with complicated people and ambiguities, but in the way that it touches on things without offering a perspective. I also think the ending sucks. It's brilliantly executed (to look like real archival materials) but commits the opposite sin of over-explaining the meaning of the architectural works featured in the film at you. It's still an amazing film and I'm so glad I saw it in the theater.

Anora (2024) - I'm not sure how to approach this one. Everyone loves it, but I do not. I found the first act largely uninteresting, thought the second picked up admirably, but not enough to really care about the finale. There are some good performances and nice photography, but I do not find Anora revelatory the same way other people seem to. I did see this at 11am and there were some issues with the presentation, so that could possibly have soured me on it. I'm going to have to give it another watch, but I found this my least favorite Sean Baker joint so far. 

Little Murders (1971) - My wife and I decided to take the train down from the Twin Cities to Chicago, in part because Samm Deighan was going to be at the Music Box to introduce and discuss Little Murders. Murders is one of the many films in the book Samm co-edited and contributed to, Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990. First of all, the book is great and you should definitely snag a copy - I read most of it on the train and my watchlist has grown tremendously as a direct result. I have long wanted an excuse to visit the Music Box and it didn't disappoint. It's a gorgeous theater and I especially love the little side lounge providing that much needed space to congregate before or after a movie. I have seen Little Murders before but never with an audience and I couldn't help but be reminded of my experience watching De Palma's Hi, Mom! Both films are made in the same era of NYC and have some politically connective tissue - I like them both but think Murders is the smarter film. Most importantly, both are at times wildly hilarious while being deeply sobering at others. The audience was erupting in raucous, cathartic laughter throughout Murders but you could practically hear a pin drop by the finale. 

Afterwards, I had a chance to meet Samm and Brian (Weekend Nachos drummer, bootleg shirt wizard, and fellow Eros + Massacre listener), chat a little and take some photos. Unfortunately, we couldn't hang out too late as we had a train to catch in the morning. Still, it's always great to connect with people after getting to know them online. 

…All the Marbles (1981) -  I have been DYING to see Marbles for ages and I can't imagine a better way to do it than on 16mm in the back room of the Eagles Lodge while eating pierogies and drinking beers. Robert Aldrich's final film before his untimely demise and both a thrilling and pessimistic look into women's professional wrestling and what it takes to hustle in this country. Aldrich shot the shit out of this film and the wrestling sequences look amazing. Apparently the training and fight choreography was managed by wrestling legend Mildred Burke and it's all very convincing. The cast is absolutely stacked with character actors from my favorite period of American filmmaking and though there's plenty of studio shot sequences - there's some fantastic location footage from Chicago, Reno, and some towns in Ohio. Marbles is essentially an underdog sports film but there is a prevalent dark undercurrent to it. The Hollywood Dolls have to navigate murky waters to achieve their dreams and the rust belt backdrop gives everything an air of industrial collapse. Marbles is a much more interesting film than it needs to be and I'm so glad to have finally caught it.

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Best of Harboiled Crime - 2024

For Noirvember this year I decided to do something a little different. Rather than burrow into classic and obscure noir films from the past, I wanted to watch, re-watch, and review some of 2024s crime film output. Film noir and neo-noir are slippery enough genres to get one's hands around and "hardboiled" crime might be trickier yet, but I think the following films contain sufficient explicit crime content to distinguish them from broader categories.

10. American Star - American Star is a character driven, atmospheric approach to the contemplative aging assassin canon. Gonzalo López-Gallego's reserved filmmaking places significant weight on Ian McShane's force of personality as well as beautifully desolate footage of Fuerteventrua, but I found myself willing to take the ride. McShane's Wilson is forced to wait for an anticipated target and spends his time exploring the island and interacting with both fellow travelers and the locals. Events take a turn when a fellow assassin from his past lands on the island to ensure the job is done correctly. The titular American Star refers to an actual ocean liner that wrecked off of Fuerteventura's coast and presents an object of fascination for Wilson. American Star is not a genre thrill ride but is enjoyable on its own terms if you understand what you're getting into. I found it thoughtful and lyrical and there are some wonderfully delicate scenes. The film ultimately cannot escape violence anymore than Wilson can so blood is definitely shed before the credits roll.

9. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In - Arguably more martial arts throwdown than capital "C" crime film, Soi Cheang's Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is still enough of a triad brotherhood drama to land it a spot on this list. Raymond Lam plays a mainland refugee with formidable fighting prowess who manages to find sanctuary and a surrogate family in the Kowloon Walled City. Living legend, Sammo Hung, plays an avaricious crime boss who wants to carve out his own territory in the City so he can profit on its eventual redevelopment. I sometimes struggle with 21st Century HK cinema - it's too glossy for my preferences and often leans into CGI in unfortunately ways. The Kowloon Walled City setting adds some much needed lived in texture in Twilight to contrast the larger than life action sequences. The city (naturally) needed to be recreated for the film and its labyrinthine, multistory immensity provides a interesting backdrop for the innovative, hard hitting fight sequences. Twilight does escape the gravity of reality for more of a comic/manga sensibility at times, but it's having so much fun doing so it's impossible not to get swept up in it.

8. Borderless Fog - Modern Indonesian action and horror seem to be having a moment, but Edwin's Borderless Fog largely dispenses with genre excesses to deliver a straightlaced, steely police procedural. Putri Marino plays a Jakarta detective who is travels to investigate a series of macabre killings along the Indonesian-Malaysian border. There is a unique socio-political context operating in Borderless Fog and I don't pretend to understand all of the nuances. Significant tension surrounds the Dayak people in the film and their autonomy in the face of Indonesian authority as well as the oversight of jurisdiction between Indonesia and Malaysia. Even if I don't have the context to interpret all of this - I do love a border noir and I found these details added some interesting wrinkles to the proceedings. While there is nothing overtly supernatural in Borderless Fog - it is still very dark, mysterious, and even strange at times. I found myself hooked into it immediately and it also features multiple severed heads for anyone questioning its hardboiled bona fides.

7. LaRoy, Texas - Shane Atkinson makes his feature debut with a Texas noir trip down to Coen Bros. territory. LaRoy is a ranging detective story starring John Magaro as a depressed hardware store manager (Ray) who is mistaken for a traveling hitman (Dylan Baker) and slips into a knotty conspiracy of infidelity, blackmail, murder, and betrayal. Steve Zahn plays a wannabe detective sporting a bolo tie and an oversized cowboy hat who bullies Ray into investigating the mystery only to sink further into trouble. None of this is strikingly original territory but it's rendered exceedingly well. Buoyed by a terrific ensemble - Zahn is as good here as I've ever seen him - and amidst the absurdity there's a lonesome darkness at the heart of this tale. LaRoy offers a distinctly evocative noir look - bleak earth tone days give way to expressive red and blue nights - and I believe this is cinematogrpaher Ming Jue Hu's feature debut as well.

6. The Shadow Strays - The all-violence MVP of this list. Timo Tjahjanto's epic assassin vengeance tale blends some Besson-ian plot threads into a exhaustingly brutal series of fight scenes and action set-pieces. Aurora Ribero stars as 13, a young member of an elite squad of trained killers (they're basically ninjas) known as the Shadows. After fumbling during a mission to Japan, 13 is sent back home to lay low where she becomes nearly instantaneously embroiled in a criminal conspiracy involving the kid living next door. The Shadow Strays employs only the barest skeleton of a plot or character motivations but makes up for that with a non-stop supply of gory, pulpy gangster insanity. Ribero's 13 is convincingly capable and resolute but the real fun is in the rogues' gallery of antagonists: A giggling psychopathic cop, a shotgun wielding madam, an inhuman hulk of an assassin, and spoiled rich kid sporting a gimp mask and a white Tony Montana suit. There are plenty of vfx "enhanced" sequences in Strays but the bedrock of the film is made of bone crunching fighting and stunt work. Some people definitely got set on fire to make this movie happen. At nearly two and a half hours, burnout is an understandable reaction to the marathon of onscreen mayhem and there's a postscript that I'm not sure how I feel about. Still, the action goes to such extremes that I was shaking my head in disbelief until the very end.

5. The Last Stop in Yuma County - Francis Galluppi's remarkably assured feature debut certainly shows influence from filmmakers in a similar milieu but also features a wonderfully charismatic ensemble, dark humor that actually lands, and a genuine facility for building suspense until it boils over in a thrillingly brutal climax. The early phase of the film consists of travelers stranded in a nowheresville service station/diner with a pair of fugitive bank robbers due to the lack of gas. Not everyone is aware of the criminals' true identity and this uncertainty propels much of the drama until things inevitably detonate in a satisfyingly gnarly standoff. From there ill-considered plans turn apocalyptically awful resulting in a soberingly grim conclusion. Yuma County's cast is solid all the way through featuring Jim Cummings as a anxiety ridden salesman wondering how he found himself in such a mess and Richard Brake positively exuding menace as one of the bank robbers. Yuma County is the kind of smaller, smart, stylish genre exercise I find easy to root for and I hope Galluppi turns his talents towards more crime features down the line.

4. The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon - Wong Ching-Po's The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon starts as a plausible, if high octane, action/crime thriller - gangsters, cops, foot chases through narrow corridors, bone shattering close range fisticuffs - and then takes a breath before becoming a much weirder movie. The plot is very loosely based on Zhou Chu and the Three Scourges: Ethan Juan is a notorious gangster (Chen Kui-lin) with a terminal diagnosis hanging over his head who decides to take on the other two most wanted men in Taiwan before he turns himself in or dies in the effort. The first leg of his journey is a nighttime vigilante mission where he meets a young woman essentially enslaved by his first target. The second part eschews neon lights and city streets for blinding daylight and pastoral scenes involving a spiritual organization/cult. Further mysteries are revealed before Pigeon erupts in one of the bloodiest, most nihilistic climaxes I've seen all year. It's a moment that truly harkens back to the East Asian cinematic insanity of the late 20th Century. Great, magnetic performances - not only from Juan but from the gangsters as well. Pigeon is unrelentingly violent, some of it coursing with adrenaline and other moments are startlingly abrupt. The plot certainly isn't predictable and even if the denouement goes on a little long - it hits like a ton of bricks by the end.

3. Love Lies Bleeding - Rose Glass' neon and synth drenched neo-noir revenge saga set around a New Mexico bodybuilding gym looks and sounds tremendous. It's swimming in blood, drugs, food, sweat, muscles, and guns. Irrepressibly carnal at times but also pervasively gross - including touches of body horror. Katy O'Brien's athletic stature clearly fits the needs of the story and she delivers an excellent performance as well - especially during some of the quieter moments before things get increasingly heightened. Kristen Stewart continues to be a supremely compelling screen presence and her instincts and line deliveries are impeccable here. I'd also say Ed Harris is brilliantly weird and sinister every time he's on screen. I'm 98-99% totally infatuated with Love Lies Bleeding. I think the first hour of scenario and character building is unimpeachable and I'm still on board as Bleeding follows Jackie (O'Brien) down a steroid and violence fueled trajectory of instability becoming increasingly surreal. However, I struggle with the level of magical realism employed in the finale. The stakes are ratcheted up ferociously and I crave something less fanciful in the resolution. Still, everything leading up to that is masterful and I rate Love Lies Bleeding highly for the year.

2. Outlaw - Electric, visually chaotic, and bursting with streetwise authenticity, João Wainer's Outlaw may, in fact, be the most hardboiled film I've seen this year. Based on Raquel de Oliveira's 2015 memoir, Outlaw features Maria Bomani as Rebeca, a street kid in the Rocinha favela who grows up to be one of the most feared drug lords in Rio de Janeiro. The subject matter unyieldingly brutal - Rebeca is sold to a drug dealer and pedophile by her gambling addict grandmother after being abandoned by her mother. She narrowly avoids the sex trade but is no less indoctrinated into the world of gangs, drug trafficking, and violence. Wainer renders the ensuing tale of crime, money, love, power, and betrayal with an anarchic, maximalist approach to filmmaking. Outlaw careens through aspect ratios, color, black & white, high def, low res video, archival footage, and even back and forth through time like a hail of bullets through the favela. It's an explosive, disorienting approach but it suits the onscreen bedlam perfectly. Maria Bomani is an absolute revelation in the role of Rebeca - tough as nails, smart, sexy, and capable in the midst of a firefight as well as the thoughtful narrator of the film. Outlaw is reminiscent of 90s L.A. street gang stories as far as its driving narrative arc, but it's a much grimier style and the focus on a female protagonist still feels singular today.

1. The Order - Based on the real events involving the titular group of radical white supremacists, Justin Kruzel's The Order is a magnificently taut heist thriller/police procedural in the vein of Michael Mann or Peter Yates. Jude Law plays FBI agent Terry Husk who instead of finding a quiet post away from high profile cases starts pulling threads connected to an increasingly dangerous group of domestic terrorists. Nicholas Hoult plays the young leader of the burgeoning militia and manages to be chillingly threatening without becoming a caricature. The crime content of the film is outrageously good. Bombings, heists, and shootouts are executed with white knuckle tension set to the metronomic score from Jed Kurzel. This is a period piece and it does feel like a bit of a nod to crime films of the 70s and early 80s - The Order is played perfectly straight and shows a professional fascination with how both criminals and law enforcement operate. My initial reaction was that the white separatists were shown as too competent - but reading into the backstory, they were actually frighteningly organized and effective. Jude Law is admirably grizzled as Husk and the supporting cast (especially Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett) lend sturdy performances as well. Overall just the kind of intelligent, impactful genre filmmaking I love to see.

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Horror Gives Back 2024 and Best New-to-Me: October 2024

 October and "spooky season" more generally is my absolute favorite time of the year and went about as hard this year as we have in recent memory. Halloween candy, pumpkin everything, horror-themed bars, fright markets, jack-o-lantern fests, and many, many horror movies. We had something going on more nights than not and as much as I loved it, it did feel like a bit of gauntlet towards the end. Perhaps fortunately, my body finally gave up and I had a full-blown cold for the actual day of Halloween. It forced me to rest a bit and gave me an opportunity to marathon my way into a full 31 horror/Halloween movies for the month. I've been doing that challenge many years and I've also been donating to Unsung Horrors' Horror Gives Back fundraiser for a few years now. It's a terrific community and a great cause (they raised over $4000 for Best Friends Animal Society this year!) so if you're looking for an excuse to binge horror movies next year, I fully endorse signing up. They offer terrific prompts and categories to keep everyone engaged but I can barely stick to my own watchlist so I just follow my whims and donate some money at the end. Nobody minds.

We also took a short venture out to Seattle early in the month. I had a great time and fell in love with exploring different neighborhoods as well as the unparalleled access to nature from the city - even without an automobile. Seattle is also home to an incredibly vibrant film culture (more about that below) and I was beyond stoked to visit Scarecrow Video while I was there. Scarecrow has an unreal collection and they do rent via mail for anyone outside of the area. They are currently fundraising to maintain their current space and secure living wages for their employees so I would highly encouraging throwing them a few bucks to preserve such an incredible resource.

I've got a metric ton of movies to talk about in addition to theatrical showings (not all spooky) so without further delay:

The Face Behind the Mask (1941) and The Beast with Five Fingers (1944) - I didn't actually watch these on the same day but this was inspired by a Peter Lorre double feature that the New Beverly Cinema screened in October. The horror bona fides of Face might be tenuous but I loved the story of Lorre turning from humble and earnest immigrant to reluctant if sometimes ruthless crime boss. Lorre's performance carries a lot of the film as some of the best action happens off screen, but he's up to the task. His character becomes disfigured (certainly Tim Burton has seen this film) and the makeup he uses to disguise it is genuinely unsettling. Beast is solidly within 40s chiller territory - again propelled by fantastic work from Lorre but also some surprisingly eerie disembodied hand effects. It takes its time to get rolling and I found the denouement eyeroll inducing - but this thing really cooks when it focuses on Lorre and a murderous hand. 

I, The Executioner (1968) - Stunningly shot and notably brutal for '68. Sometimes my choices lead me towards something that is more horror-adjacent than legitimately frightening. However, Executioner is about as black as a noir can get. I'm not terribly familiar with Tai Katō's films but found this rather fascinating on a formal/structural level. Executioner is pointing both at New Wave revolution in its form and classically expressionist modes in its visual language. There's something magical about that 60s B&W look with crisp photography and deep contrasts. I've read some grousing about the writing and while the politics of Executioner are admittedly pretty bonkers, I didn't take issue with how the story was presented. Surely, the humanization of the protagonist who is fully a serial killer and the depiction of the "inciting incident" are difficult to swallow. Still, I felt this is well within the lines of some of the more provocative Japanese literary and (by extension) cinematic traditions. In fairness, I struggle with those sometimes as well, 

The First Omen (2024) - Sure, you might think you can win me over with Possession references and Raffaella Carra needle drops...and well...you sort of can. Very little interests me less than modern reimaginings, prequels, or sequels to classic horror films so I skipped this one without much thought upon release. However, enough people told me that this was worth checking out that I finally relented. First Omen manages a great atmosphere, both aesthetically and sonically. It's not just by virtue of being a period piece of sorts, I get the sense that Stevenson had a real vision for the feel of the picture. My only complaint is that conspiracy thriller/horror can be a hard sell when nearly every plot beat is totally predictable from the beginning. No fault of the performances and you do have to work within the context of the "franchise" but I was starting to check out a bit at various times. In a normal context, I don't know if this would be considered a "best" but I watched several newer horrors this year that I absolutely hated so I thought this was worth mentioning.

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974) - Just one of those astonishingly obvious blind spots I had in my personal filmography that I'm finally correcting. I can't recall if this was an availability thing or I just hadn't found the time yet. Either way, Daughters is not that much of a horror film but it's a grade A banger of sleazeball Eurocrime.  Massimo Dallamano leans into some similar territory as he does in the previous What Have You Done to Solange? and I only suppose it's fair to draw some parallels between the two. It's been a few years since my last viewing of Solange and I think I enjoyed Daughters about equally. The motorcycle helmeted killer featured on the cover does actually appear in several sequences which does lend a sense of proto-slasher aesthetics but Daughters is largely a mystery/crime procedural supported by a tremendous cast (Giovanna Ralli, Mario Adorf, etc.) and blisteringly cool Stelvio Cipriani music. The main theme was lifted for a great sequence in L'Innocent which was one of my favorite new movies last year.

The Strangler (1970) - This has been high on my priority list and I probably should have just gone and picked up the blu-ray from Altered Innocence sight unseen. Sometimes budgets and other priorities get in the way so I'm honestly just happy to have finally caught up to it. It's an absolute stunner of a film but it is singularly bizarre in tone. The nighttime palette of turquoise and amber blends with the utterly cryptic behaviors of the characters to create an atmosphere of total mystery and nearly oppressive loneliness. It is a looking glass nocturnal Paris populated entirely by the most wayward of lost souls and makes no attempt to justify any of this to the viewer. I can understand why some people would find it all too strange and possibly even offensive - but I think others will find something relatable here even if that's a terribly uncomfortable fact. Another totally amazing soundtrack with Strangler and I probably will have to pick it up on disc at some point as well as catch some more Paul Vecchiali features.

The Vault of Horror (1973) - Nothing has October vibes in quite the way Amicus anthologies do! I can't marathon these collections but I'm so happy to watch one or two every year and Vault is so supremely worthwhile. I was re-visiting the EC Crime SuspenStories earlier this year and even though those are not primarily horror books, I think it still put me in the right headspace for Vault. Per usual, some of the sections are stronger than others, but there's no real weak links in this one. Roy Ward Baker directed some of the oddball Hammer films (which I tend to favor) and handles this all rather well in the spirit of the original comics. The cast is a delight and you get some terrific stuff from Curd Jürgens, Tom Baker, and many more. Glynis Johns passed away at 100 years of age this year and she is wonderfully fun in her role.

The Mummy (1959) - I confess that I'm not the worlds' biggest Hammer fan but I'm always trying around this time of year to find the ones I like best. The Mummy's narrative is about as boilerplate pulp dramatics as you'll find anywhere but it is an aesthetic feast of a film and comparatively action packed. Green-lit ancient tombs, flashbacks to elaborate Egyptian rites and magic, and (most critically) Lee's moldering mummy tearing around killing people. He descends and rises from bogs, crashes through windows, and is an exemplary mummy of few words and lots of action. Cushing holds his own as a aristocratic archaeologist and Yvonne Furneaux plays double duty as Cushing's fiancée and Egyptian priestess/princess Ananka. I expect most Hammer fiends have seen this time and time again but if you find yourself resistant to their more gothic fare, you might check this one out. 

Horror Castle (1963) - My man, Antonio Margheriti, delivering some ghastly yet groovy Italo-gothic action. First thing's first - DO NOT READ THE LETTERBOXD SYNOPSIS. Not only does it give away the mystery, it's not even accurate. However, once you've managed that you should dive right in for some ace October vibes. Others have written it but it does feel like a bit of a blend of Italian Gothic and German Krimi. Part Bava, part Scooby Doo Mysteries, with a wild, horrific final twist. Christopher Lee is woefully underutilized overall, but does get a shining moment towards the last act. No shortage of castles, cobwebs, secret passageways, tombs, rats, skeletons, secrets, and medieval torture devices. I could see Riz Ortolani's lush jazz feeling incongruous for some people but I absolutely loved it. I caught this on a weirdly up-rez'd copy on YT but I think Severin might be releasing this one? Definitely something I'd be into.

Hallucinations (1986) - Shot on video horror is another genre that I can't marathon but does hold a special, October-y place in my heart. A very young Mark and John Polonia deliver a slab of barely coherent Pennsylvania fever dreaming that I found totally intoxicating. There's only the faintest of pretexts as to why anything in Hallucinations is happening but the Polonia's are clearly driven by the purest of genre filmmaking intentions - put wild ass shit on the screen. Mutilation, monsters, elf urination, psychic dismemberment, and a rather courageous physical performance from John. I also like how much of the limited runtime seems dedicated to Mark's relationship with his cat. Absolute weirdo classic. You probably already know if you have the taste for this kind of deal.

Taste of Fear (1961) - Another Hammer film but one well outside of their classic horror line. Taste of Fear runs closer to a Diabolique inspired thriller but does manage to straddle genres in a similar way. I thought this was totally gorgeous, sonically varied and interesting, and genuinely suspenseful. There is a twist, naturally, but I thought it delivered a decent surprise. I thought Susan Strasberg's performance was excellent and (again) we get Lee more as a side character but an interesting one. I'll admit that I'm easily won over by 60s jet-setting thrillers where wealthy people do terrible things to each other, but this one is excellent. 

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972) - I put this on before remembering that it's a Christmas movie and by then I was already invested in the film. Auntie Roo? is a very loose adaptation of Hansel & Gretel and honestly, isn't much of a fright-fest. However, it is a showcase for a positively unhinged Shelley Winters performance and isn't that a compelling enough reason to watch it? The kids are not alright in this one and Winters manages to be fairly unnerving whether she's singing lullabies or eating apples. The finale is pretty brutal, all things considered. This should absolutely be in your holiday lineup if you go for cult Christmas films.

Blood Bath (1966) - The product of a strange, disjointed production and featuring two different directors (Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman) - apparently Svengoolie claimed that Blood Bath was the worst film he ever featured on his program. For the first 20-30 minutes or so I could see where Sven was coming from but there's something about this one that eventually pulled me into its acidic waters. It's very 60s and the antagonist, William Campbell as Atonio Sordii, is an avant-garde painter who depicts scenes of butchered women, referred to as his "dead, red, nudes." There are several scenes featuring Karl Schanzer and Sid Haig (among others) as laughable beatniks who sit around cafes and attempt to imbue meaning into various methods of splattering pigment on canvas. It turns out that Sordii needs to actually kill women to create his masterpieces and he might actually be a vampire or reincarnation of a murderous ancestor or possibly just insane. The plot beats are reminiscent of Corman's A Bucket of Blood or H.G. Lewis' Color Me Blood Red but (intentionally or not) Blood Bath results in a much weirder, dreamier film. There are several flashback or dream sequences - shot by Rothman- that contribute to that and I just found myself very immersed in the atmosphere. I couldn't exactly tell where this was supposed to be taking place - it seems like Italy but nearly everyone in the film is American. There are some vampiric effects, there is an acid bath with a trapdoor, and there are no shortage of lovely ladies facing immediate physical peril. I admit to a weakness for kooky, 60s horror and I was a fan of this one by the final frame. 

The Seventh Victim (1943) - Another huge blind spot for me and one I'm glad to fill in courtesy of Criterion's excellent Val Lewton set that also includes I Walked With a Zombie (which I had seen before or it surely would have been listed here). Mark Robson delivers a visual knockout - the cinematographer on Victim was frequent Lewton collaborator Nicholas Musuraca - and though the storyline is ultimately rather grounded in pulp/noir traditions, it still manages to be quite strange. Occult orders and conspiracies aren't entirely out of line in pulp fiction though they are often found to be sham operations by rip-off artists. That isn't the case, here. The occult ties aren't necessarily as pronounced as I might have thought they would be, but Victim presents the "Palladists" as completely committed devil worshippers and even ones that are sympathetic in some ways (they are somewhat dedicated to non-violence, for instance). I also appreciated that this is an NYC film and that these are Greenwich Village cultists - who doesn't love bohemians gone evil? In the end, The Seventh Victim goes for the bleakest possible resolutions and it's profoundly affecting. If, like me, you haven't managed to catch this - it would make an excellent addition to your Noirvember lineup.

Kenny & Company (1976) - The first film in what was my Halloween triple-header. Kenny & Co. is not actually a horror film but it is set on and around Halloween and it was directed by multi-faceted genre weirdo, Don Coscarelli, so I'm saying it counts. It's a coming of age film somehow impossibly nostalgic for the time in which it was actually made. Maybe sentimental to a fault but also surprisingly existential and occasionally bizarre. Amidst the pre-teen hijinks and skateboarding sequences there are several sober (if youthful) ruminations on death and dying. This is set in Southern California so the vibes are more Halloween-y than they are Autumnal to my midwestern brain, but you can just luxuriate in them all the same. If you're at all a fan of the Freaks and Geeks Halloween episode, Tricks and Treats, you will probably dig this one. Of course, I am perhaps overly wistful about an age before computers where the threat of physical peril was ever present and your hobbies consisted largely of low level criminal activity. 

FleshEater (1988) -  Number two in my Halloween-a-thon. Bill Hinzman, the original flesh-eating ghoul from Night of the Living Dead, directs and stars in a Halloween set hybrid of Romero-worshipping gut munching and 80s slasher tropes. If Hinzman was looking to do some incisive social commentary per his mentor, it must have been lost on the cutting room floor. Young people drink beer, smoke grass, get naked, and then are summarily ripped to shreds by Hinzman - only to rise up and enact the same ritual on the next set of unsuspecting slobs. The physical effects are cheap but fun and in the vein of classic Romero-esque nihilism, nobody is safe from the undead. I actually found the end result to be a good time and charming in a way so many of the revered regional slashers fail to be. Yes, you are subjected to fumbling make-out sessions, bad dancing, and braindead conversations, but at least Hinzman delivers on the gory goods. I followed this up with my annual watch of Halloween III and called it a night.

Theatrical Screenings!

I made it out for a lot of seasonal screenings this year, but also have some non-spooky additions to highlight. It's always tough as I feel like awards season starts to pick up in October and there are lots of films I'd like to see but can't always find the time. One day I'll attend something at the Twin Cities Film Festival, I promise!

We Live in Time (2024) - This was, somewhat oddly, the first movie I watched in October. Not at all seasonal but I was a fan of John Crowley's Brooklyn and have been known to indulge in a solid relationship drama on occasion. We Live in Time's formal conceit of disjointed time-hopping through the lives and relationship of Almut and Tobias (Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield) is nothing shockingly innovative but it's handled rather well and keeps the narrative flowing along at an engaging pace. I think the main thing to be said here is that Pugh and Garfield have absurdly good chemistry onscreen and I think people will fall in love with them as a couple. As romantic tragicomedies go, Time exudes an avalanche of charm and the nonlinear reveal gives the audience ample opportunity to become truly invested in Almut and Tobias before things take a turn in the final act that is both melancholy and a little strange. I also have some questions around the Tobias character and what his motivations add up to be outside of being in love with Almut. My feelings around the finale and characterization aside, there is a scene in a convenience store bathroom that may wind up being one of the most memorable sequences committed to film this year. It's insane and hilarious and I was totally in the moment as it unfolded. Not a firm recommend for genre film diehards but if you like to get a bit weepy with charismatic performers, this should be on your list.

Suffer, Little Children (1983) - We were able to catch this at SIFF Egyptian while visiting Seattle. Little Children was programmed as part of SIFFs collaboration with Scarecrow Video in their "Scarecrowber" series. Gorgeous theater, great staff, and the Egyptian is undoubtedly a terrific venue to catch capital “C” cinema. Suffer Little Children is 1000% not that. It is a shot on video satanic panic horror from the UK that apparently was largely conceived and made as a school project by the credited director's students. Due to the satanic themes and the violence inflicted on children, Suffer managed to find itself on the infamous "video nasties" list and I believe only recently it's been possible to see the uncut version. The plot essentially boils down to an evil possessed kid who relocates to an orphanage and then the supernatural mayhem kicks in. It's filled with wild music and you frequently can't make out what anyone is saying but luckily dialogue isn't necessary to catch the broad strokes of the action. It’s rare (for me) to see this level of barely coherent murderdrone SOV insanity with an audience and I absolutely relished the chance to do so. The final 15-20 minutes was an absolute riot even with a somewhat sparse crowd. Come, Satan, Come!

Nickel Boys (2024) - I can't say too much about this at the moment other than I'm looking forward to it getting wider release and talking about it more later this year!

The Super Spook Show Spectacular - I wrote a whole damn post about my favorite new(ish) October tradition. Please put your eyeballs on it if you haven't already: https://kino-ventura.blogspot.com/2024/10/demonic-invocations-live-witch-trials.html

Rumours (2024) - I knew that this was going to be weird, but I don't think I understood how weird. Even stranger is that this might be on the lower end of the weirdness scale from Guy Maddin. I did find this hilarious, deeply cynical, and ultimately a good, strange time at the cinema. It won't be the greatest film of the year but I respect the commitment to inflicting chaos on the viewer (it also looks tremendous which never hurts). Undoubtedly will have its fans and something I imagine could end up on Waters' best of 2024 list?

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Best New-to-Me: July 2024

July was a crazy month. I was very busy with the day job and it included travel as well as some major transitions. The dust is only now beginning to settle and I'm able to catch my breath. On the film side of things, I still watched plenty of movies but I allowed time for re-watches - either because I had shiny new copies of beloved favorites or I was exhausted enough that only the familiar appealed. The worst casualty of this month was my theatrical attendance which has a solitary entry down below. Fortunately, I still saw many great movies, was still excited by some new-to-me movies, and I'm very energized about some local programming over the next couple of months. 

This has always been a fairly eclectic space as far as film choices go. I think early on I had a lot more horror/cult entries, but there's always been some arthouse stuff as well as a smattering of new releases. Looking over what I watched in July, it's essentially all crime films. It has become the most essential part of my viewing week after week. It's a malleable genre with a lot of different facets and I can't imagine tiring of it anytime soon but I apologize to anyone who looks into this blog on occasion hoping for some real weirdo underground stuff. October will come sooner than later and I have a lot of things I'd like to watch and write about then. For now, here's to crime!

Hunter Will Get You (1976) - Far from Belmondo's best but a tribute to his impeccable onscreen charisma as well as an absolutely smoking Michel Colombier soundtrack. It blends the heist genre with a bit of international law enforcement intrigue that moves Hunter beyond a standard police procedural. Bruno Cremer manages a convincingly ruthless portrayal of the sociopathic killer that Belmondo is pursuing even if his character has some unfortunate queer villain characterization. Writer/director Philippe Labro also helmed Without Apparent Motive (1971) which is similarly decent. Both films have compelling casts, great location footage, and killer tunes. Certainly worth a look if you're a fan of French crime films of the era.

The Big Heat (1953) - I'm not the world's biggest themed marathon enthusiast but every so often I stumble into one of my own making. This year I found myself with lots of movies and plenty of free time on Independence Day. The result was my first (and possibly last) 4th of Ju-Lee Marvinthon wherein I watched a bunch of Lee Marvin movies in a row. It was a mix of revisits and new-to-me films and they were all great. I don't know if I need to say a lot about The Big Heat as it's hardly unknown but I will say that it knocked me flat with how intense it is. So many classic period noirs ('53 is a little later, I suppose) suffer from a brand of moral shrillness but Fritz Lang's hardboiled rager positively immolates anything of the sort. The criminals are predictably irredeemable but Heat differentiates itself with a scathing depiction of law enforcement and municipal corruption. Women are subject to the absolute worst Heat can dish out including some gasp inducing violence - but they also get to inhabit real characters on the screen. Gloria Grahame as Marvin's long suffering moll is nothing short of spectacular in this. Possibly one of the best performances I've seen all year. I appreciate Glenn Ford's take-no-shit toughness, but Grahame has all the best lines and adds some genuine pathos to the finale. Marvin's sadistic gangster is pretty smarmy even for a guy known for his villains. My understanding is the source novel is based on the author's experiences in Philadelphia but the film goes with a fictional city. Lang's vision is a dark one so it's no mystery why the kept the locale vague.

Violent Saturday (1955) - Shot largely on location in an Arizona mountain town - Richard Fleischer's daylight heist thriller really surprised me. The opening consists of an extended introduction to the town's inhabitants and reveals a complex web of interpersonal connections and melodramas. It results in a bit of a slow burn even if (per the title) the action ratchets up once the robbery goes down. It's a terrific looking scope, color film and has a splendid cast of actors - Victor Mature, Marvin (of course), Virginia Leath, J. Carrol Naish, and improbably Ernest Borgnine as an Amish farmer. The finale goes on too long and ends up kind of flat but everything building up to actual heist is excellent. When the bank job finally goes off it's white knuckle tension through to the denouement. Marvin again is a particularly cruel criminal which largely defined his career until The Dirty Dozen.

The Killers (1964) - This Don Siegel 60s noir was originally intended for television but wound up being far too hot for the small screen. Taking the kernel of Hemmingway's short story and expanding it through time and geography while being supported by an absolutely knockout cast. Marvin plays a hard, but professional hitman who's partner is the deliriously entertaining Clu Gulager. Gulager's fidgety health obsessed killer is chilling in a remarkably playful way. He's like a kid who pulls the legs off of spiders for fun. John Cassavetes is roughly the protagonist - a doomed race car driver who falls for the wiles of Angie Dickinson who acts as femme fatale. Killers was the last screen role for Ronald Reagan and the only villainous role of his career. It's a little surreal to watch him in this kind of part, but I think it really works. If you're a fan of the era there are all manner of interesting connections between this and other films. Marvin and Dickinson would be reunited in Point Blank and honestly Killers has such a similar 60s vibe that you could believe it's rooted in Richard Stark's fiction just as easily as born from Hemmingway. The budget limitations show around the edges but Siegel was made for this kind of material and the cast is so much fun that I hardly noticed. Did I mention you get to see Cassavetes punch Ronnie in the face? That has to be worth the price of admission alone.

Nice Guy (2012) - Every so often I'm compelled to try and dig up some 21st Century genre film because I know there are some gems out there that flew under my radar. Either they only ever did the festival circuit or they got dumped on some streamer without much recognition. Pascal Bergamin's and Cavan Clerkin's Nice Guy isn't exactly an unheralded masterpiece, but it's a solid, super low budget crime thriller that's worth your 89 minutes. Largely bound to interior settings - drab apartments and not entirely convincing strip clubs -  and I wish they could have leaned into more location footage to liven up the look of the film a bit. Still, the plot definitely held my interest and each sequence of nighttime exterior shots does add a little grit to the proceedings. Probably not outrageous enough to become a cult favorite but the climax is definitely memorable and surprisingly grim.

Trouble Man (1972) - Absurdly entertaining but plenty hard when it needs to be. Trouble Man has been on my watchlist for a while but I was struggling to find a version that a) didn't look like crap and b) didn't have the music replaced/updated for copyright reasons. Terrific cast with crackling dialogue - Robert Hooks' Mr. T fights, shoots, and jives as well as any 70s protagonist but also has some great sequences of shoe leather detective work, espionage, and essentially a penthouse siege that had me thinking about Richard Stark/Parker. Some tremendous action and that Marvin Gaye score is superb. I believe Ivan Dixon's The Spook Who Sat by the Door is getting a restoration this year and I'm just hoping a lot more attention can be heaped on this uniquely talented actor/director.

The Nickel Ride (1974) - Character driven slow burn noir that focuses on the mundanity of a life of crime early on and then descends into bleak 70s paranoia. It has a tremendous mood and comparisons to Eddie Coyle are apt as far as atmosphere goes. Coyle is punctuated by action driven heist sequences though and Nickel Ride is much more content to remain a character piece.  There are a handful of scenes that dig into Cooper's grit and Jason Miller cornered the market on world weariness. Still, a little more viciousness would have turned the tension up a notch and would make Ride a stone cold crime classic in my book. I'm so enamored of the era and the genre that I'd pick up a nice restoration if available (I think this only made it to dvd) but it's definitely worth a watch.

The Drowning Pool (1975) - Paul Newman's second Harper film feels like a bit of a throwback to '66. I have to believe that's intentional as both Newman and director Stuart Rosenberg were certainly capable of making a modern feeling film. However, if you're willing to be charmed by a detective yarn that combines wit and cynicism without getting nearly as bleak as its contemporaries - Drowning Pool delivers on that front. The cast is rock solid - notably featuring Linda Haynes who is the female lead in Nickel Ride - and I love moving Harper down to Louisiana for a different flavor. What makes Pool really special is the Gordon Willis cinematography. It's an absolutely gorgeous looking film and while the mood is relatively light Willis has no issues serving up some beautifully dark shots you could can get lost in. I can't put this in the same tier as say The Long Goodbye  or Night Moves but the look of it is so terrific that it's hard for me not to love.

The Crime is Mine (2023) - I was really hoping this one might land at the local French film festival this year as seeing it on a big screen with an audience seemed like the right way to do it. Instead, I watched it on a bumpy plane ride. Not ideal! Still, this is a handsome and breezy caper romp with some fun nods even if it never becomes anything of substance. It is very silly at times and maybe too slight for some people - but there are worse ways to spend your time than admiring the costumes and enjoying a libation of your choice. Undoubtedly, Isabelle Huppert runs off with the whole damn show when she appears and I do like this films appreciation for early French silents. The lightest of light entertainments but maybe you need something to watch with your mom.

Heat (1986) - Weirdly, I also re-watched Michael Mann's Heat in July but I'm glad to have finally gotten around Dick Richards' and Burt Reynolds' Las Vegas set neo-noir. I've always heard mixed things about this one and I think it's fair to say that it is uneven. It has a strikingly melancholy vibe but then mixes in some goofy humor that didn't always land with me. Still, I was invested in following these Vegas oddballs around and when the action does kick in - it has a seriously visceral, almost exploitation movie feel to it. Reynolds' ex-soldier, Nick, disdains the use of firearms so he becomes a lethal MacGyver of violence when the need arises. It was also nice to see another role from Karen Young who absolutely floored me when I watched Handgun/Deep in the Heart earlier this year. It seems like Reynolds really struggled to get out from underneath his more comedic persona but I have to admit digging what I've been seeing from him. 

P.J. (1968) - Another 60s crime scorcher featuring George Peppard. P.J. is a product of its time and hardly anything I'd call enlightened. However, it's still a ripper of a P.I. story with great music and surprisingly hard hitting violence towards the end. Peppard rides the line between smartass and hard luck case deftly and Raymond Burr is about as fine a heavy as you're going to get. The story begins in a typically noir NYC setting but then detours for a spell to a Caribbean island under British rule. The politics on display aren't amazing, but the exploitative nature of white people and their money is certainly noted. This interlude lends P.J. more of a jet-setting feel which works well with the international cast and differentiates it a bit from the dozens of city-bound mysteries from the same time. John Guillerman was largely a journeyman but he managed some smart British neo-noirs before he started tackling 70s disaster movies and P.J. is akin to the former. There's an early brawling sequence that works well in establishing Peppard's character and also features one of my favorites: "Judo" Gene LeBell. Maybe close to a comfort food watch for me, but I really enjoyed this one.

Theatrical Screenings!

Razorback (1984) - Sadly the lone entry for theatrical screenings in July. I'm still really happy we made it out for everyone's favorite killer boar movie. I forget just how weird Razorback really is but it's an absolute joy to see it play on the big screen in all its 1980s music video styled glory. The narrative rambles in some odd directions which tends to make it polarizing even though I think everyone is largely in favor of the look and practical effects. Wildly it sounds like the source novel is even more of a mess and the filmmakers actually trimmed down the story to make it more comprehensible. Either way, I still dig this pig.