Notorious is my favorite. Followed by Vertigo.
You’ve never seen Rope? One of my BFs in high school was a huge film buff / fanatic, and insisted we watch it bc of the one single take. That neat gimmick aside I didn’t think it was his best work.
Some of my favorites areTo Catch A Thief (hard to beat Grace Kelly & CARY F’n GRANT), The Lady Vanishes, Spellbound, Vertigo, and North By Northwest.
And now I want to rewatch High Anxiety 
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Rear Window for sure.
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We (finally) finished the second season of Squid Game. Not sure why we watched it to the end — perhaps we were too plot-committed or expecting some super-awesome twist, but as it turns out it’s just 7 episodes of people being killed. Sooo… probz not gonna check out the 3rd season.
This was followed by Klaus, a stunningly beautiful animated film from 2019 about a selfish jerk of a postman who ends up at a town built on resentment and rage, becomes friends with a reclusive toymaker, and ends up making everyone happier and friendlier. A surprisingly appropriate film for the first day of 2025. Highly recommend.
With the late Norm McDonald, Rashida Jones, JK Simmons, Jason Schwartzman, and others.
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Double feature tonight:
Murder Mystery (Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Luke Evans) — a fun watch (not my first).
Followed by The Burial — not as light, but great cast and good movie.
.
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Yes, Klaus is wonderful. Have seen it 3-4 times already since it came out, and the more times I watch it, the more nuances I find in the story.
My new year’s day’s movie was completely the opposite: Greenland! Disaster movie, basically a comet on its way to end civilisation as we know it. Second time I watched it. A little bit ott sometimes (eg the kidnapping scene) but still a fun watch.
Other movies I’ve seen (not for the first time) over the week included Glory (1989, Edward Zwick) with a very young Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. Good movie, but not as wonderful as the one I saw next: Dances with wolves. Kevin Costner starring and directing. Some wonderful scenes and music.
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Great movie, IMO. But then my interest in military history was first sparked by the American Civil War (or War Between the States, if you prefer). So I’m a bit of a sucker for films of that conflict.
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On the big screen last night: Bone Tomahawk, a western that takes a serious left turn. My PIC had watched it a long time ago without me, and thought I might like. I did. Good cast, too: Richard Jenkins, Kurt Russell, Samantha O’Dwyer, Patrick Wilson.
But… wow. Not for the faint of heart 
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We have “Lawrence of Arabia” planned for this evening - following fish pie for dinner. Is it off-topic to mention food on the Not About Food forum?
The 1962 film is based on Lawrence’s 1926 autobiography “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”. I have a copy, purchased in 1938 by my grandfather. It sat on the shelf unread for many years until about 10 years back. By then I had an interest in the Great War and was able to confirm, from knowledge of events, the many earlier opinions that Lawrence’s account was, ahem, not always historically accurate.
Still a good read though. And a damn fine film.
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don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. years ago there was a restoration of the film and it had a re-release on the big screen. pretty majestic to see a 70 mm print projected against a proper canvas.
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Lawrence is indeed a masterpiece. I’ve been fortunate enough to see the extended, restored version projected with actual 70mm film. Truly a glorious experience.
I’m always excited when I get to see things on large format celluloid. Paul Thomas Anderson, Nolan, and Tarantino are the only folks today that have been willing to actually shoot and release on 70mm.
I am, however, very impressed with Knives Out by Rian Johnson and cinematographer Steven Yedlin. It was shot with modern digital cameras, but careful lens choice, lighting, color grading and post processing made it look absolutely INDISTINGUISHABLE from sequences shot on actual 35mm. Adding things like grain and gateweave wont be actively noticed by 99% of viewers, but they lend a certain ‘feel’ to things that’s hard to otherwise qualify.
I’ll be one of the 99% who don’t notice the techie things but I’ll point my cinematographer nephew towards it.
Ok, we’ll start the year weird:
Exte: Hair Extensions (2007) - dir. Sion Sono
At the shipping dock, a container is opened to find it full of hair. Buried in the hair is the body of a young woman who has been the subject of international organ thieves. But this body is continuously growing hair, not only from hair follicles, but out of the eyes, mouth, open wounds.
A creepy morgue attendant with a hair fetish steals the body, and begins selling the hair as hair extensions to salons, including one where Yuko, a young apprentice works. But the hair extensions are cursed!!
And thus you get what I can only describe as the best possible light horror movie one could possibly make given the premise.
Sion Sono, much like his contemporary Takashi Miike, is an INCREDIBLY prolific filmmaker, with over 65 directorial credits (and 53 writing). His films range from the 4 hour emotional epic Love Exposure to the kaiju Christmas story of Love and Peace to the zany nostalgic crime caper Why Don’t You Play In Hell? all his films are characterized by outsized emotions and absurd situations, treated perfectly seriously by the participants.
It’s strange in the way that feels familiar to me, that it’s coming from a culture I am not a part of, and is referencing tropes and archetypes I don’t recognize. All this gives the whole thing a sense of otherworldliness I often encounter viewing films from places i am unfamiliar with.
If one is a fan of J-Horror like Ringu (The Ring) or Ju-On (The Grudge), this is a slightly less intense example of that, with the director’s trademark big emotions in the mix to lend things some comic liveliness and a little sympathy to the proceedings. Probably not for everyone, but a fascinating diversion.
3/5 quick blow-outs.
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I am likely to go down a serious rabbit hole here, but the OG video that brought me there was this one:
Turned on to by another very recent discovery.
First video pretty much sealed the deal for me 
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I found a new (to me) competition series on Tubi (a free ad supported streaming service).
Handmade: Good with Wood - basically Bake Off for carpenters. And even more so in that the host is Mel Giedroyc!! It’s shot in much the same way as Bake Off, and edited in a similar, supportive, no-villains style. It’s delightful.
An interest in or knowledge of woodworking isn’t necessary. I just like watching creative and skillful folks being creative and skillful.
If you’re jonesing for that Bake Off/Great British Pottery Throwdown feel, give this a whirl.
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Wicked (part the first). It was a lot of fun. Might have been better in the the theater, but eh, other people. I never saw the show, and I only knew one of the songs, so I came in fresh.
H kept grumbling that it was too much like Harry Potter, but then he came around.
Currently watching Protection on BritBox.
This clip whenever I want to laugh my ass off.
We also watched LaRoy, Texas (2023), a very funny Coenesque comedy of mistaken identity. Great cast including Steve Zahn & Dylan Baker (such a great character actor).
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