83 minute running time so the perfect length, but this was a convoluted story, and ultimately dumb. I guess it’s “classic noir,” but I wasn’t thrilled. Best part was seeing the old Bradbury building. Give it a miss.
Luminous poisoning
Baby's Born to Run
Love the sound … Pacific Northwest hipster central (casting). Major bonus points for the clarinetist.
Movies Watched -- Player 5150 (2008)
91 minute running time, so the perfect length, but this was a badly made, low-budget movie … dumb story, bad acting, so-so production values. Supposedly about a day trader with a gambling addiction (something I’m familiar with), but the guy was a stockbroker or “investment advisor" as they’re now called, not a day trader. And he was a sports bettor, something I know nothing about. Bad movie, waste of time, only stick with the best.
Trying to get back to even
Movies Watched -- Seconds (1966)
107 minute running time so could have trimmed seven minutes, but this one was a mind-bender, a real thrill ride, I enjoyed it. Boring banker “re-born” as Rock Hudson, groovy Malibu artist, not a bad start. Mid-60s so heavy dose of anti-materialism, anti-conformity, anti-authority … the trouble with squares. Guy who made Mad Men definitely a fan of this movie. I don’t know why I haven’t heard of it before, it must be a well-known classic. Recommended.
We get along.
Movies Watched -- Island of Lost Souls (1933)
71 minute running time, so the perfect length for a 1930s movie. Really interesting one … I enjoyed it and can recommend it. Victorian anti-vivisectionists … Darwin, and good old attempted rape.
Still.
Movies Watched -- In A Lonely Place (1950)
93 minute running time so the perfect length. Yet another weird Nicholas Ray movie, sort of a send-up of Hollywood movie culture, I guess … Gloria Grahame (below) was married to Ray at the time. Like most of Ray’s other movies, this one is hard to characterize … it’s not film noir, and not a conventional drama. Strange guy making strange pictures. Yellow rating.
I like his face.
Movies Watched -- Children of Men (2006)
109 minute running time so about 10 minutes too long … vision of a post-pandemic world … stars Clive Owen and his cleft chin … no new births for 18 years, life on earth slowly dying out. Clive and his chin have to get pregnant girl to safety on some ship at sea … it wasn’t terrible, very violent though leavened by humor … it might even get a vaunted green rating once I review all the movies from 2006. Tentatively a yellow rating.
I’m scared.
Movies Watched -- The Deep End (2001)
99 minute running time so the perfect length, but this was a dumb movie…. Trying to get her gay son out of trouble, but just digging the hole deeper … it turns out the Eastern European gangster has a heart of gold… Tilda Swinton always comes across as a weirdo, her facial expressions are always a little off (which made her so good in Michael Clayton) … sex-tape blackmail, how quaint. This movie is nearly 20 years old! Name-checks Wesleyan and even gets the town right on the kid’s mailer … but he can’t play trumpet. The movie is no good, you can give it a miss.
I want you to stay away from my son.
Movies Watched -- Joe (2014)
117 minute running time so they could have trimmed 17 minutes off, but I liked this one … really good. A lot of people think Nic Coppola is a terrible actor, but it isn’t true, in the right role he can be near perfect. Rural Texas white trash tale, but well done … I don’t know why I didn’t hear about this one before now. Green rating, recommended.
Made by the same guy who did “George Washington,” which I wasn’t thrilled with. The misery and poverty and hopelessness works in “Joe” because it’s ultimately a story about redemption (and a boy’s courage), which wasn’t the case with “George Washington.”
Resigned to his fate…. “Your family's all you got.“
Movies Watched -- Young Adult (2011)
93 minute running time so the perfect length. Charlize Theron not only has great bones, but she’s also really funny — definitely looked great at age 37. This was an unconventional and rarely honest movie … I really enjoyed it. Script written by a woman (no man could have this level of insight). What happens to that pretty, mean girl from high school? Right, she eventually goes nuts (divorced, childless, no career). Gets a rare green rating, recommended!
Rex mostly liked it too … “spinster cycle,” ha!
“You don’t know shit about being an adult.”