JFK HBO Max
Kevin Costner. Directed by Oliver Stone. 1991
New Orleans District Attorney discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

I hadn't watched the film in a very long time and decided to re-visit it, -particularly since this allowed me to see it in it's original theatrical version. It's hard to find on blu-ray and only available in a longer "Director's Cut".

That being said, it still remains a powerful film and I think it's a masterpiece of editing. It struck me that it's essentially a three-hour monologue (whether you buy what Oliver Stone's selling or you don't), with the stage actions there just to break up the dialogue into digestible chunks. It also struck me as I look back about 30 years that Oliver Stone definitely had a real streak of powerful attention-getting films and then he seemed to fade into the background.

Evil Dead (org)

Never had a chance to see this and wanted to compare to the Texas Chainsaw(s), Night of Living Dead etc. and it didn't. Sam Raimi is a no for me - unless I am missing the fuss about this one?

I purchased Bill & Ted Face The Music via a Fandango Now GC on Prime day (Fandango was matching an Amazon Digital film sale).and finally watched the film this past Saturday. It was nice to watch a comedy that did not have an excessive 2+ hours run time, this film was I believe around 96 minutes long which was the perfect length for what it was. It was a fun, breezy, and quick watch. The cast was great and you could tell that they enjoyed putting the film together. I saw the first in theaters, never saw the 2nd, and am happy I saw this film. Pre-covid I might have been happy to go to the theater to watch.

I always considered this a real masterpiece, but also the beginning of the end of Stone as an effective filmmaker b/c he used all of this film's editing tricks on nearly every film he made for the next ten years. It guess it was ok to do it in Nixon, which is the spiritual sequel, but it made Natural Born Killers irritating and Any Given Sunday unwatchable for me.

Train to Busan 2: Penninsula

Fellini's Casanova (1976) — Wasn't a big fan of 8½ when I saw that one over a decade ago, never watched another Fellini movie, until this one. While I do appreciate some of the visual aspects and some really bizarre scenes, not to mention a fine performance from Sutherland, found this to be tough to sit through. Far too long clocking in at 2.5 hours, it's a bit tedious and I chuckled at scenes that I don't think were meant to. This just was not my thing. **¼/*****

Crisis (1946) - Watched another Bergman film.

Constantine - I saw this once way back when, but I only remembered that I thought it was OK, but then the ending was really stupid. Yep. I did have a "Was that Michelle Monaghan?" moment near the end of the movie. Apparently she had a supporting part cut down into one brief moment in post production.

Support the Girls - A day in the life of waitresses in a Hooters type restaurant and their manager. It was OK.

This was better than what I expected though it is probably covered in more depth with the Good Lord Bird on Showtime

The Getaway (1972) - I saw this years ago when I was on a Peckinpah kick, and I've seen the remake several times. I think it's still entertaining. And who hasn't wanted to punch Sally Struthers in the face. (Blu-ray)

The Current War - This was one of those movies screwed by TWC getting blown up three years ago. Apparently it played loose with some of the facts, but I thought it pretty enjoyable. (Showtime)

We watched a couple of bad movies.

Attack of the Mushroom People (D: Ishiro Honda). Non-monster horror. Selfish rich people on a yacht are shipwrecked on a mysterious island. They run out of food, turn on each other. They try not to eat the mushrooms that grow in abundance, because they know that eating the mushrooms will turn them into deformed mushroom people. We watched it through to the end because Mrs Danger wanted to see how it related to the short story on which it was based. Relentlessly grim.

(Tubi)

The Black Dragon (S: Bela Lugosi). Confusing movie about fifth column saboteurs immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Six American industrialists at a house party tell each other how they're encouraging strikes, slowing production, and wasting appropriations. Creepy Bela Lugosi starts killing them off. Clayton Moore, in a minor part, is the government agent who tries to figure out who's killing the industrialists ... but accomplishes nothing.

(DDD)

Blade (1998) — Some good fight scenes and like Snipes in the role (reminded me of a time when he was trying) and Stephen Dorff was an okay villain, plus it was a serviceable plot. However, and I know this was 1997/98 when it was made, but the CGI at the end took me out of it (hell, good CGI done today takes me out of these sorts of films). But all in all, found it entertaining enough. ***¾/*****

A great cast but a boring and forgettable movie

Maybe Ed Harris should stick to acting and not directing and writing.

Too Funny to Fail: The Life and Death of the Dana Carvey Show - Funny documentary about the short-lived 90s variety show. Outside of Louis C.K. most of the important people participated. For the record, I do remember watching the first episode of this show with the lactating Bill Clinton, but I don't remember watching any subsequent episodes. (hulu)

Blind Fury - Silly Rutger Hauer actioner about a blind man getting involved in his friend's drama. I saw this years ago, but it's still mindlessly entertaining in spots. (Prime)

I finally watched Saving Private Ryan. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a compilation of tropes from old serials. SPR is a compilation of tropes from old war movies. I knew the sniper would be shot through the scope before it happened. Mrs Danger knew that the bullet-headed Nazi would be a sadist before he showed it. We got the multi-ethnic platoon, the greenhorn, the beautiful French countryside, Edith Piaf, the guy who dies after talking about his girl (wife) back home, and the guy who dies because someone didn't deliver the ammunition. But to make the movie feel modern, the bloodshed was dialed up to slasher movie levels.

I don't understand why people talk about this movie as if it were one of the best films in the last quarter century. Aside from the great performance by Tom Hanks, the movie didn't do anything for me.

It aired during the Epix free trial on Directv.

I slept through the first 20 minutes. Wonder what attracted Bruce Dern to this movie?

Nothing remarkable though I remember Margarita from the Deuce.

Mandy Moore nothing like her This is Us character

28 years ago that was a long time ago.

Remember buying this on VHS at Costco.

In my top 5 or 10 favorite movies of all time.

I think the Pacino character is a preview of my life in 20 years.

Too bad all of the Pacino impressions people do are based of Lt Colonel Frank Slade.

RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman and James Rebhorn.

Bradley Whitford was such a prick in that dinner scene.

O' Donnell was ok and this will probably be the peak of his hollywood achievements though Pacino carried the film

Predestination - This movie has lots of twists and turns, but it was never really interesting enough that I cared about what was happening. (VUDU)

Race - I think there might have been a good movie to be told about Jesse Owens, but this wasn't it. While Stephan James was good in the lead part, Owens never felt like a three dimensional character. Also, Jason Sudiekis was miscast as the coach. (VUDU)

The Night Clerk - A young man suffering from aspergers witnesses a murder. This was almost a good movie. Ana de Armas is very good, and Tye Sheridan certainly commits, but the whole thing feels contrived and ultimately misses. (VUDU)

The Night Clerk was not great but I was entertained and it was on Netflix streaming so kind of cool to have it on their service.

I'm pretty sure it was one of my special deals right after it was released on VUDU. I've kind of gotten to the point where I'll watch nearly anything with Ana de Armas.

The Lost Weekend (1945) — This Best Picture winner (also won for director, actor and screenplay) was decently acted, albeit a bit too theatrical (stage type) for my taste but still well made movie with what I assume is a realistic take on alcoholism (never drank myself) from director Billy Wilder. It is a bit optimistic in the end but still an engaging enough drama. ***¾/*****

John Hawkes one of the more underrated actors who does not get a lot of recognition though barely recognizable with a clean shaven face.


A good drama and maybe get the kleenex box.

Ant-Man - The next Marvel. Since I've completed phase 2, I may take a mini-break so I can re-watch some DC films prior to WW1984. (MA)

Around the World in 80 Days - This week's Arnold is just an extended cameo. Still, I hadn't seen this movie since this theaters. It's entertaining in spurts. Unlike the first time I watched it, I now know who Steve Coogan is, and I'm a mild fan. (Disney+)

I believe you and Mrs. Danger overlooked the Private Ryan character played by Matt Damon. The opening coda and ending at the gravesite mark and make the film. You have missed the whole point of the movie.

Arctic - I've been rewatching season one of Hannibal, but this was a different kind of Mikkelsen. It sort of worked for a while, but ultimately it wasn't anything we haven't seen done better before. (Prime)

The Babysitter: Killer Queen - I watched the first one earlier this year. I didn't think this was a story that needed to be continued. (Netflix)