I saw Repo Man when it was released in 1984 and really liked it. It’s available on discs from the Criterion Collection.
Category: Film
Tweet with link to a discussion with four film directors
I watched Barbara Stanwyck in Pre-Code films
I have been watching a lot of Pre-Code Hollywood films. Here are clips from four starring Barbary Stanwyck. I wouldn’t call any of them great but her performances make them all enjoyable. She can be tough and caring in the same film.
Yojimbo is a great film
Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) is a great samurai film and also extremely funny. Toshiro Mifune is great – strong and decisive surrounded by cowering weaklings. It’s available from the Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-ray. Its sequel, Sanjuro (1962), is also excellent.
Tweet on Hail,Caesar!
Hail, Caesar! by the Coen Brothers is underrated.
Luis Bunuel was a great film director
Bunuel was a surrealist in the 20’s, made films in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, made one film in his native Spain in the 1960s which was banned there and finally made films in Europe (mostly in French) with prominent actors.
I would start with Nazarin (1959), Viridiana (1961) The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Tristana (1970), three of his more accessible films.
Then I would move on to The Milky Way (1969), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), and The Phantom of Liberty (1974).
What a great career. Bunuel had a wicked sense of humor. I remember the cross that folded out into a knife in The Exterminating Angel
I have watched some of his lesser-known Mexican films and recommend El (1953) and The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955).
BFI on where to begin with Bunuel
El has never been issued on any US DVD or Blu-ray.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
I just watched the Blu-ray of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) this week. Fredric March deservedly won an Academy Award. Miriam Hopkins was excellent, too.
Satanic Hispanics
I recently watched Satanic Hispanics, a horror anthology, on Blu-ray. It’s worth checking out. I liked the vampire segment best. The zoom interview with the directors is a much better than usual extra on the disc.
Tweet on Andrew Sarris’s list of 25 cult films
Many of these are not cult films anymore. Vertigo was not available from 1968-1983 but is now second on the Sight & Sound 2022 poll of the best films. I have seen 15 of them. Most are now available on Blu-ray and/or DVD discs.
I strongly recommend The Big Heat, Gun Crazy, and Touch of Evil.
My view on three films about the stock market and finance
These three films were all based on actual events.
I recently watched Dumb Money about the GameStip short squeeze. I enjoyed it but think The Big Short which is about the financial crisis of 2007-2008 is much better. The Big Short does a great job of explaining financial concepts directly to the audience.
The Wolf of Wall Street informed young people about what quaaludes were. The drug was last sold in 1985. (That’s around the only time I tried it.)
Sad! 