"Gaslight" 1940

Not the more famous version with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, this one has Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. And it's just as good, maybe better. Wynyard's performance is more subdued than Bergman's, and the sense of menace is stronger. Though I'd strongly recommend either version of this to anyone who hasn't seen it, it's great.

Anybody looking for something to watch on television should check out "Juliet of the Spirits" on TCM now.

It's Italian and was made in 1965.

Basically it's about a housewife that starts to see spirits that try to lead her into temptation.

And I hope you like subtitles or know some Italian.

No television, but maybe it's streaming somewhere I have access to.

I think you would either like it or at least find it interesting to watch. It's not boring that's for sure. Hope you can catch it somewhere.

While I'm doing movie recommendations...they showed a movie on TCM one night that was visually stunning. It's another foreign film. Called "Daisies".

Made in 1966 in Czechoslovakia. It's part of the "New Wave" movement. I was blown away by it. But I like strange things. They named that TV show after me..."Stranger Things".



Here is the Wiki page for "Daisies".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisies_(film)

"Men in Black II" 2002

Lots of fun, not quite as funny as the first one and a less coherent plot, but still had a good time. Rosario Dawson may be one of the most beautiful women on earth.

"The Breakfast Club" 1984

This is one of those movies that emotionally hangs together, and feels right, while most of the action makes no sense. Just as an example, if this were actual detention, the supervising staff member would be in the same room the kids were in, and take the opportunity to clear up his backlog of paperwork.

So, yeah, all the action is nonsense, but it still feels emotionally honest for the most part. The sexual bullying that the Claire character has to put up with would be dealt with very differently in a modern movie, though.

"Inner Sanctum" 1948

Not at all bad little B movie. Reminiscent of "Shadow of a Doubt" - similar setting and lots of charming and amusing secondary characters. Nice twist in the framing device. Worth the hour or so it takes.

"Half a Sinner" 1940

Silly but charming and delightful little crime/comedy/romance. Constance Collier, as always, steals the show.

"The Farewell" 2019

Beautiful film about family. And a real sign of what's wrong with the Academy Awards - not even a nomination.

"The Letter" 1940

Bette Davis plays a real nasty piece of work (nothing new there) in this adaptation of Maugham story. A nice unstated thread running through is the falsity of the lives led by the British colonials, while all along the "natives" have lives and agendas of their own. Pretty good, and it's always nice to see Herbert Marshall, playing his standard decent fellow.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" 1960

Watched this on May 31 2020 and feeling sick at heart. Not much has changed.

"That Uncertain Feeling" 1941

Relatively sophisticated (for the time) little sex comedy. Burgess Meredith (the Penguin!) plays the wildly eccentric other man, and Eve Arden shows up as yet another secretary.

Glory from 1989 with Denzel Washington about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is another good one to revisit. We used to watch it in our high school history class when the teacher was hung over and wanted the lights off.

"Mystic River" 2003

Dang, this is a good movie. First rate source material, first rate performances all around, and whatever else you might want to say about Clint Eastwood, he knows how to direct a movie.

"Prisoners" 2013

Very intense, very suspenseful. And like last night's movie, full of moral ambiguity - what will a father do for his child?

"The Birds" 1963

I can't believe I'd never seen this - yikes! Even all these years later, with the special effects seeming pretty hokey, it can still scare the pants off you.

"Rope" 1948

I haven't seen this for many years, I didn't think much of it the first time and have to say, I still don't. It seems more of an intellectual exercise than anything else, but oddly doesn't really go into the ideas it seems to be about, in any depth.

Some good performances, though - Constance Collier is, as always wonderful, and I really liked Cedric Hardwicke as the murdered boy's father - you realize that the death, that the murderers think so little of, will bring immense pain to this nice man. Edith Evanson gives the liveliest performance of the whole movie as the housekeeper.

"A Good Marriage" 2014

Pretty good. I think this is one that would work better for people who have had a long marriage, understand the depth of feeling when there are decades of shared experience that you can't just pretend didn't happen. Younger audiences might just find it boring.

The Bishop's Wife 1947

Haven't seen this one for years, and it's an odd time of year for it, but what a nice old fashioned sweetheart of a movie.

"The 39 Steps" 1935

An early Hitchcock with a plot that makes no sense at all, but it's still charming. The incidental characters are the making of this one - Peggy Ashcroft as the crofter's wife is the most notable, but really every one of the small parts in this movie are wonderful.

"The Magnificent Ambersons" 1942

Wow. A magnificent mess, you'd have to call this. It looks astonishing. And some moments are so moving, so real - and then you're scratching your head, going "What's happening? Why? What?"

One of the most famous botched edits of a film, ever. Can't help but wonder what it could have been.

"Pride" 2014

Yeah, it probably oversimplifies the politics, and it hits every beat that an uplifting movie is meant to hit, right on target. But it's still so full of heart, and of engaging characters, that I loved it anyway.

"Vicky Christina Barcelona" 2008

Meh, mostly. Javier Dardem and Penelope Cruz are pretty great here, but Woody Allen's voice and mannerisms projected onto two young women makes them considerably less appealing. And "tell, don't show" is taken to ridiculous extents. It's like Maria Elena is in a totally different movie than Vicky - on the one hand we have acting, on the other we have someone reading lines.

"Moonstruck" 1987

Ah, Cher is a goddess.

"Kill Bill" 2003

I never got around to seeing this because it didn't sound like something I'd be interested in, and guess what? I was right. So boring.

Pure action without any reason to be interested in or care about any of the characters - you purposely know nothing about what is going on, for the entire movie. And the action itself is cartoonish, so any interest in that part disappears pretty soon. I was doing more of less OK until it got to the Japanese nightclub part, and then I was just "Oh, kill me now, so I don't have to sit through any more of this...."

If part two is more of the same, I'm not gonna bother. Life's too short.