The Talk of the Town (1942) - A escapee from the local jail needs the help of his boyhood crush, and a legal scholar to avoid being convicted for a crime he didn't do.Directed by George Stevens Starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald ColmanWhy I Liked It - Three wonderful actors are almost letter perfect... Continue Reading →
Preconceptions and Pop Culture
Ready Player One – (2018) In a dystopian future, “real life” is inside a virtual reality world. Solve the problems of that world and the greatest prize of all, control of that reality, is yours. A young man and some friends team up to take a shot at that prize.Directed by Steven Spielberg ... Continue Reading →
Post Pandemic Problem
The last year and a bit have made a lot of changes in our lives and society. The most common hope I hear is that we will get back to "normal" or something like that. And the sooner the better.Normal. Meaning "the ways things were before". I'm not sure how close we can really get.... Continue Reading →
Sex, Betrayal, Murder, Noir!
Fallen Angel (1945) - A down on his luck con man arrives in a small town on the California coast. Splitting his time between a huckster who claims he can speak with the dead and two local beauties pushes him into tighter corners than he expected. One of them ends up dead, and he looks... Continue Reading →
The Rise of the Working Class and a Robot Woman Too!
Metropolis (1927) - The silent movie classic about a dystopian future society. The workers and the wealthy live in two different worlds. Above, life is a bacchanal, while below the workers toil at mindless jobs and live in featureless hives.Directed by Fritz Lang ... Continue Reading →
"What Are These Idiots Doing!?!?!?"
Annihilation (2018) – The laws of nature are being distorted in a strange, growing zone on Earth created by an alien presence. After repeated failures to explore it, they sent in a new team to understand “The Shimmer” and determine what happened to the previous teams. Directed by Alex Garland ... Continue Reading →
Betrayal, Murder and…Justice?
Scarlet Street (1945) - Christopher Cross is a middle aged bank clerk, trapped in an unhappy marriage. One night he rescues, and falls for a beautiful young woman. It turns out, she didn't need or want to be rescued, but convinced that he has money she plots with her grifter boyfriend to clean him out. ... Continue Reading →
Betrayed Into Invisibility
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952) – A young black man struggles to understand who he is and why he is “invisible” to the society that surrounds him. On the journey, people he trusts, people he reveres, and even those who claim they want to help him, will all betray him. Offering an opinion on... Continue Reading →
Another Bit of American Mythology (Warts and All)
The Last Train From Gun Hill (1959) – U.S. Marshall Matt Morgan faces the difficult task of bringing the son of an old friend in for rape and murder. The victim was Morgan’s Native American wife, and his friend is now a powerful and ruthless cattle baron. Directed by John Sturges Starring Kirk Douglas,... Continue Reading →
Sweaters and Social Change in the Neighborhood
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018) – A documentary look at the legacy of Pittsburgh legend and children’s TV icon, Fred Rogers.Why I Like It: Seriously? Fred Rogers.Yes, I have a built in bias in favor of Mr. Rogers. He’s from Pittsburgh. He is beloved there. There’s a statue of him that watches over downtown... Continue Reading →