I’m afraid I don’t have anything too exciting to report on the film front, at least regarding new releases. But I did enjoy seeing six Argentine noirs from the 1950s that were playing on Criterion Channel (CC), which is a great bargain for movie buffs.
I watched the first season of Mad Men, and don’t have much to say about it other than it does have one good character. I much prefer films to TV shows. I have started a 16 hour series on the history of film, and will report on it in the next film dump.
I feel like there may be a bit of “grade inflation” in my ratings—perhaps I get softer as I get older. And I was gratified to discover a rich new cache of noirs, one of my favorite genres.
I read novels by Virginia Woolf, Michel Houellebecq, Haruki Murakami, and Junichiro Tanizaki. I’m about halfway through the Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante. It’s not even the sort of novel that I generally like, but it’s extremely entertaining—I see why it’s so highly rated. (Another example is Lord of the Rings—I like the novel, but not the genre.)
2025:Q1 films
Newer films
The Shadowless Tower (China) 3.6 It’s often only in retrospect that we notice a new artistic school. It seems to me that with the directors following in the footsteps of Jia Zhangke, Chinese cinema is finally beginning to reach its potential. There’s nothing particularly notable about this film, but everything is very well done. Great visuals, sly humor, and a very perceptive look at the challenges of being middle aged. As is often true of Asian films, you need a good TV to do justice to the excellent cinematography.
The Missing Pieces (US) 3.6 This is nothing more than 90 minutes of random scenes that were never used in the film version of Twin Peaks. But just as a collection of Dylan outtakes is often better than the very best work of famous rock stars, this collection of outtakes is superior to the vast majority of Hollywood films. With no plot to focus on, you really notice Lynch’s ability to create a surreal mood. They don’t all work, but when they do it’s about as good as cinema gets. Also saw another similar documentary called More Things That Happened, which consists of outtakes from Inland Empire. It wasn’t quite as good.
The Brutalist (US) 3.5 This hugely ambitious epic has a number of appealing qualities, most notably the excellent acting. The film doesn’t insult your intelligence and there are some intriguing ideas, but also a bit too many Hollywood clichés. The biggest disappointment was the visual style, which was relatively pedestrian for a film about a visual artist. (Just as I was disappointed by the music in the Dylan biopic.) The building he designed seemed a bit of a pastiche of architectural styles, ranging from Wright’s Johnson Wax building to Tadeo Ando’s Church of Light, but far inferior to either. I had trouble making sense of what I was seeing. There was a huge light-filled dome, but the exterior was entirely boxy in shape. Perhaps I’m being too literal minded; maybe the ambiguity was the point. Nonetheless, I have a warm spot in my heart for any Hollywood film that defends the relatively unpopular architectural style of brutalism.
Black Bag (US) 3.3 Steven Soderberg’s film is intelligent and well crafted, but ultimately it’s quite forgettable. The problem is a lack of ambition. You cannot take it seriously as a le Carré sort of spy story—it’s got too many Hollywood clichés that are not believable. And while it’s witty at times, it doesn’t have any truly memorable characters or dialogue. In the end, it’s just light entertainment. But that’s better than 90% of films these days.
Becoming Led Zeppelin (UK) 3.0 This one got good reviews, although it’s actually kind of bland. It covers up through their second album, but I find their later albums to be a bit more interesting. The one thing that makes it worth watching is that it picks up the dizzying rate of cultural change around 1968. In one of their first concerts, in a brightly-lit auditorium, they play songs like Dazed and Confused to an audience of well dressed middle-aged British couples with their small children covering their ears. But by the time they got to San Francisco a few months later . . .
Drive-Away Dolls (US) 2.9 This Tarantino-style film was directed by Ethan Coen, without the aid of Joel. (I guess we now know that Joel is the brains of the operation.) Billed as the first of a lesbian comedy/detective story B-movie trilogy. Two more on the way?
Room 666/Room 999 (France) 2.8 A couple documentaries where directors are asked whether cinema is dying. My own view is that it makes more sense to think of specific types of cinema as having a finite life. Thus you might say the cinema of Breathless and 8 ½ and L’Avventura and Persona died at the end of the 1960s. The great silent comedies died out in the early 1930s. The great American westerns died at the end of the 1950s. We shouldn’t look for directors to recreate what we know and love, and most of us shouldn’t expect to recognize a great new style of cinema until it’s almost over. I’ll probably fail to understand the great films of the 2030s, which younger cinéastes will appreciate.
Babygirl (US) 2.8 I find the style of many modern Hollywood films to be a bit annoying, as they assault the viewer with lots of loud music and glitzy images. Because the characters are so obviously fake, it’s hard to maintain interest in what you are seeing. Challengers and Anora had a similar style, but overall were better films.
Older films:
The Wailing (Korea, 2016, CC) 3.8 Great horror film, although I didn’t like it quite as much the second time around. (Also loses something on TV.) When I think of South Korea, what comes to mind is:
1. Fastest growing economy over the past 60 years.
2. Leads the world in plastic surgery.
3. Longest working hours.
4. Most intense competition in education.
5. Produces films that lead the world in . . . what’s the adjective here? In being extreme? Intense? Excessive?
Are those traits somehow related? Never been to Korea, but it doesn’t seem to be a country full of happy-go-lucky people sitting under palm trees sipping piña coladas while listening to calypso music.
Desire (US, 1936, CC) 3.8 Combines the best qualities of director Frank Borzage (romance) and producer Ernst Lubitsch (humor), thus refuting the auteur theory, at least for this one film. As always, Marlene Dietrich is wonderful. Gary Cooper is also excellent, which is not always the case. (Picture below is from a different film)
The Wild Pear Tree (Turkey, 2019) 3.8 As I get older, my appreciation for Ceylan’s films steadily increases. Many will find this too slow, but I loved it.
The End of Violence (US, 1997, CC) 3.7 For a brief period in the 1990s, Bill Pullman seemed like the coolest actor in Hollywood. This amazing run included The Last Seduction in 1994, Lost Highway in 1997, and The End of Violence, also in 1997. (The last two would make a great double feature.) Even if in the end this film doesn’t add up to much (and was panned by critics), Wim Wenders knows how to push all the pleasure buttons in a movie lover’s brain. Seeing it again 28 years later, I noticed that most of all this film is about the role of Hispanic immigrants in America. Always overlooked by the mainstream culture, but the only people in the film that seemed to maintain their sanity. Without them, everything would fall apart.
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (Japan, 1941, CC) 3.7 A warm-up for Tokyo Story, this is one of the earliest Ozu films to show his mature style. It shows Ozu’s democratic sympathies in a society that was (is?) still pretty strongly divided by class.
If I Should Die Before I Wake (Argentina, 1952, CC) 3.7 Must see for fans of Night of the Hunter. And if you are not a fan of Night of the Hunter, then what’s wrong with you?
Ladies of Leisure (US, 1930, CC) 3.7 This early Capra/Stanwyck collaboration is greatly underrated by the critics. Excellent cinematography and Barbara Stanwyck gives a spectacular performance.
Thirty Day Princess (US, 1934, CC) 3.6 Only a 1934 film could have the line, “How much is that in 59-cent dollars?” (And not many viewers in 2025 would notice the line.) The 1930s produced an almost endless stream of charming romantic comedies, and this is an above average example. Features Cary Grant, but Sylvia Sydney is the real star.
The Black Vampire (Argentina, 1952, CC) 3.6 Remake of the classic Fritz Lang film entitled “M”, which was Peter Lorre’s breakout role. This one is also very good, featuring many of the themes that appeared in other Argentine noirs (lots of dark shadows, a child in danger, a blind witness, an obsession with Freudian psychology, etc.)
The Bitter Stems (Argentina, 1956, CC) 3.6 The first half is just OK, but the second half of this noir is excellent. This is the first of a series of 6 Argentine noirs that I saw on Criterion Channel, and it made me want to see the other five. Every so often I’m reminded of how many excellent films are out there that no one has ever heard of. These films were almost lost forever; in some cases all but one print was destroyed. Great cinematography and there’s a scene in Buenos Aires that makes it look like the most modern city in the world.
Brighton Rock (UK , 1948, CC) 3.6 Classic British noir based on a Graham Green novel. Richard Attenborough is the reason to watch this film; he’s nothing like the much older actor I’m familiar with from his later films.
Human Desire (US, 1954, CC) 3.6 Railroad fans will not want to miss this noir, which was directed by Fritz Lang and features some excellent acting (especially Gloria Graham.) So many classic scenes in movie history took place on trains, at least relative to other forms of transportation. I feel like the decline of passenger rail has adversely affected the art of film.
Don’t Bother to Knock (US, 1952, CC) 3.5 In most respects, this is just an average film. But Marilyn Monroe is one of America’s greatest actresses, and her performance here towers over everyone else in the picture (which includes other quite competent actors like Richard Widmark and Ann Bancroft.)
Never Open That Door (Argentina, 1952, CC) 3.5 Same director and same year as If I Should Die Before I Wake. This is actually two short films. I’d rate the first one 3.4 and the second one 3.6.
Drunk (Denmark, 2020) 3.5 I started out on burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff. This love letter to drunkenness (directed by Vinterberg) is a lot of fun if you don’t take it too seriously. The films “message” is unclear, which I generally regard as a good thing. Some Anglo-Saxon wimp translated the title as “Another Round.”
Il Grido (Italy, 1957) 3.4 Antonioni went out of his way to make the Po valley look bleak and desolate. Billed as a restored version, but it was hard to tell, as the scenery still looked pretty muddy. It was almost universally panned by critics, so I’d like to say that it’s a hidden masterpiece. Many scenes are very nicely done, but unfortunately the story is just not that interesting. Strictly for Antonioni completists.
Masculine-Feminine (France, 1966, CC) 3.4 Seems a bit more superficial than his previous films. But maybe that’s the point—the film seems to encapsulate the classic Godard style more than any of his other films. I guess I prefer films that combine his trademark style with something else of interest. And the humor hasn’t always aged well, although certain scenes are quite amusing.
The Bride Wore Black (France, 1969, CC) 3.4 Truffaut imitates Hitchcock, even using Bernard Herrmann for the score. As an exercise in style, it’s quite well done. But imitations always pale when compared to the original. There’s a difference between a great director making the best film he can, and a great director trying to imitate the style of another. Hitchcock wasn’t trying to make Hitchcock films; he was trying to make great films.
Forbidden (US, 1932, CC) 3.3 The Capra/Stanwyck collaboration got better reviews than the previous Ladies of Leisure, but is nowhere near as good. It starts well, but then gets bogged down in ponderous melodrama that would have been edgy at the time but hasn’t aged well.
Shockproof (US, 1949, CC) 3.3 Sam Fuller wrote part of the screenplay for the Douglas Sirk melodrama, but I found much of the acting and dialogue to be a bit wooden. Things pick up when the couple goes on the run, and I was especially amused to see what the US-Mexico border looked like in 1949. Ah, the world we’ve lost.
The Beast Must Die (Argentina, 1952, CC) 3.2 This was directed by the same guy that did The Black Vampire, but it’s not as visually interesting. It’s a plot driven film, for people that like that sort of thing (which is most people.)
Bluebeard’s 8th Wife (US, 1938, CC) 3.2 I expected more from a film directed by Lubitsch with a screenplay by Billy Wilder. One problem is Gary Cooper, who doesn’t at all come across as the sort of man who would have had seven previous wives.
Sapphire (UK, 1959, CC) 3.2 An early color film that exposes British anxieties about race. More interesting if viewed as a historical document than as a police procedural.
Frenchman's Creek (US, 1944, CC) 3.2 I don't have any problem with this light-hearted Technicolor romance, but I wonder how it got past the Hays Code. I guess there's no concern about characters getting away with murder as long as they are lovable French pirates. This almost 2-hour film is light as a feather, with little or no real drama. I suppose audiences in 1944 were not looking for stressful stories. Funny how Cornwall looks like the coast of California.
Shopworn (US, 1932, CC) 3.1 Another pre-code Barbara Stanwyck picture, with a plot that seemed to be very popular around 1932---poor girl marries rich man.
Pick-Up Alley (US, 1957, CC) 3.0 You can see intimations that the 1960s are just around the corner, as this Broccoli production was full of exotic locations and sexy women. Unfortunately, by this time the classic noir was running out of gas. Trevor Howard is fine, Victor Mature is a bore, and Anita Ekberg is a typical example of what back in the 50s was called a “bombshell”. The film’s poster said, “This is a film about dope!” Has some appeal as an exercise in campy humor.
Say Anything (US, 1989, CC) 3.0 I wasn’t interested in seeing this when it came out, but hoped that the patina of age would make it at least slightly tolerable. It was just barely watchable, thanks to John Cusack’s acting and Peter Gabriel’s music.
Sheep Without a Shepard (Malaysia/China, 2019) 3.0 At one time I would have found the plot twists to be intriguing, but at this point I find it hard to become interested in films with so much obviously fake emotion.
I Am Mother (Australia, 2019) 3.0 Well crafted sci-fi that doesn’t really break any new ground.
Virtue (US, 1930, CC) 3.0 Pre-code drama starring Carole Lombard. Lots of films at this time were obsessed with female chastity. It makes me wonder what sort of things we are obsessing over today that no one will care about in 100 years.
Native Son (Argentina/US, 1951, CC) 3.0 This is the weakest of the 6 Argentine noirs that I saw last month. Both the acting and the screenplay are highly uneven, but it is an interesting examination of American race relations circa 1951. Too controversial for an American studio, it was an Argentine production (with a French director). It also provides an interesting look at living conditions on Chicago’s south side, which might cause those with nostalgia for the “prosperity” of the 1950s to re-evaluate their views. Based on the Richard Wright novel.
Leave Me Alone (Taiwan, 2021) 2.9 A pale imitation of the great Taiwanese films of the 1990s.
Dead Calm (Australia, 1989, CC) 2.7 I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing Nicole Kidman’s first major film. Alas, good acting cannot overcome a mediocre director and an obviously contrived story. But then how many actresses from the 1980s are still playing sexy roles in 2025?
PS. I found this Barbara Stanwyck picture from 1924, age 17:
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