THE GREEN GODDESS (1930)
George Arliss nominated for Best Actor, which he lost...to himself (in a different role)
Arliss plays the Raja. Memorable character when onscreen
Racist tropes. A bit stagy
But...I was kinda on the Raja's side when taking revenge on colonialists
MONTEREY POP (1968)
* Watch 2
Viewed again thx to Cameron Crowe's Criterion Closet video
A great snapshot of the 60s. Not just music. As Crowe says...it's "the faces"
Indeed. The look is a work of art
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker, who received an Honorary Oscar in 2012
KINGS OF THE TURF (1941)
Oscar-nominated short on horse racing
Use of slo-mo maybe was "cutting edge"
The narrator is full of energy! He's jacked up
LIVE AND LET DIE (1973)
* Watch...low double digits?
Oscar-nominated title song. Still a banger
The film for me...flawed but highly watchable
Occurred to me this time...Kananga might be a supernatural or a ghost (like Samedi). Explodes yet no blood or guts
What if? 🤔
More Jaws homage/rip off than I was expecting
03.03.2026 14:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH
They keep trying to reboot this
The meta idea of mutant dinos. Different DNA to keep a species going (aka the JP franchise)
Another hit at the box office. There still seems to be an appetite for Jurassic
A few cool monsters. But to what end?
TIT FOR TAT (1935)
This L+H short is a sequel, apparently?
Two rival business owners sabotage each other. Some pranks are unhinged
L+H are united, for a change
Oscar-nominated short
A HANDFUL OF DUST (1988)
I had a hankering for something Merchant-Ivory-ish
Charles Sturridge adapts this Waugh novel
Characters' lives are destroyed with British manners...and with Dickens
Kristin Scott Thomas can destroy me if she chooses 😍
Oscar-nominated for costumes
THE WINDOW (1949)
A boy known for crying wolf witnesses a murder!
A YA Rear Window?
Bobby Driscoll received an Honorary Oscar for a juvenile performer
He is plucky and determined!
Also, the film nominated for Best Editing
A tight 73 mins. Chock full of mood and texture
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
I know they're not, but these movies feel the same to me
In Fire and Ash, there are some new people. A darker side is explored. Good, I guess
VFX still appears to be state of the art
A callback line to Aliens...I was kinda surprised but not really
THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959)
Viewed as a part of my Oscar watch. Kirk Douglas received an Honorary Oscar in 1996
Kirk, Lancaster, and Olivier have fun in Shaw's Revolutionary War melodrama
The play bites more. The movie could cut loose more
Still, some good Shavian barbs hit
WAG THE DOG (1997)
* Watch 2
"Change the story. Change the lede. It's not a new concept"
Feels like president 45 and 47's entire existence
The film also captures something evergreen and insidious: the propaganda machine at the heart of American life
Nominated for 2 Oscars
I love the bookends of this film. The contrasts are poetry
The pre-title sequence mostly takes place at the highly industrialized Beckton Gas Works
The climax takes place within the natural beauty of the Meteora complex in central Greece
Wow
01.03.2026 03:55 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981)
* Watch...double digits??
My first Bond on big screen. Thrilling as a young lad. All the Olympics and underwater stuff. The anxiety-inducing rock climbing
Conti score is cheese but rips
Sheena's Oscar-nominated song
Moore's best JB performance?
It will be the first James Bond movie I saw on the big screen...
01.03.2026 00:08 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BUSTER (1988)
Always thought this was rom com. Wrong!
A real life 60s train robbery
Phil Collins has a look for film. Maybe a Hoskins-lite
Generally breezy. Lacks a bit of bite (for a true crime)
Oscar nom for the Collins classic Two Hearts (living in just...one mind)
Maybe a comfort movie tonight...
28.02.2026 19:35 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 1
ARCO
A futuristic tale from Ugo Bienvenu
Enjoyed the 2D animation rooted in a classic French style with some Japanese influences
Some story diversions didn't connect for me
But the core friendship between children is heartwarmingly done
The 70s/80s sci-fi vibe also cool
BROOKLYN BRIDGE (1981)
* Watch 3...I think?
Fascinating to watch a film about building a bridge and to watch Ken Burns build a documentary
Burns's debut. Not as polished as later works, but fascinating to watch Burns find his "style"
And it's a good story
Oscar nominee
This is my order. It can't mean good things, right?
#StarWars
KING OF THE HILL (1974)
* Watch 2
In honor of Spring Training
From the NFB, one of my favorite baseball docs
Hanging with Canadian pitcher and Hall of Famer, Ferguson Jenkins (then with the Chicago Cubs)
Love the hot mic dialogue and the overall inside baseball feel
THE SAVAGES (2007)
Tamara Jenkins's Oscar-nominated script touches on many truths with siblings dealing with an older parent
The layers keep revealing themselves
Laura Linney's Oscar-nominated performance captures many colors
Her chemistry with PSH is next level
KOKUHO
Epic tale of family and Faustian bargains
A huge hit in Japan
A movie about Kabuki that, in itself, is a kind of Kabuki narrative
The makeup and hair are impeccably done
Exquisite craft all around
THE MARATHON (1919)
A mixed bag Harold Lloyd short. Not as much running as the title suggests, some blackface, some dressing in women's clothes, a great dog gag, and a genius mirror gag
Lloyd won an Honorary Oscar in 1953
SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)
Another Personal Journey pick
As a kid, Scorsese enjoyed the Technicolor DeMille biblical spectacles
Was Delilah the original femme fatale?
Lavish, colorful, and George Sanders is an ass (complimentary)
5 Oscar noms. Winner of 2
TRAIN DREAMS
A logger in the Pacific Northwest. Hardships. Meaning of life
Derivative of Malick? Maybe a bit? Not as camera fluid. Bentley keeps his camera mostly static, like old photographs
Many themes hit hard. Especially with personal losses this year and where I'm at
NEVADA CITY (1941)
I enjoy a Roy Rogers western as much as the next person. 60 mins too
Trains are getting robbed by someone named Black Bart. What more do you need from cinema?
But I watched this movie for the stunts and Yakima Canutt, who received an Honorary Oscar in 1967
SUMMER OF '42 (1971)
I've only known this film as the movie Wendy Torrance watches in Kubrick's The Shining
Now I've seen it
It's like a coming-of-age for broken people. The anti-Porky's
Oscar-winning score. But those quiet moments...with the waves...also memorable
HONDO (1953)
A 3-D western??
I was trying to see where the 3-D moments might be
John Wayne as Hondo, who is half-Apache and respects the Apache way of life 😲
But there's still conflict
Geraldine Page gets an Oscar nom for her nuanced performance as a single mom on the ranch
