"Last Duel" 2021

Intense. And very feminist for a movie full of men slicing at each other with swords. Matt Damon plays an oaf who can never read the room and Ben Affleck plays a swaggering jerk. They are both very very good at those characters.

Oh, and this was the first movie I've gone to in a theatre since March of 202. It felt wonderful.

"This is my Life" 1992

Sweet little movie, Norah Ephron's directorial debut. Julie Kavner is as always wonderful - we sometimes forget that she can do other things than be Marge Simpson. Structured like a rom com, but the love here is between a single mom and her kids - the man is really pretty incidental. Samantha Mathis is a perfect teenager - so often in movies they forget that along with how terrible teens can be, they are also fun and sweet. And her "first sex" scene is wonderful.

"King of Staten Island" 2020

Yeah, no.

And it's too bad, because there are good performances, and some great bits, but in the end it was just "Screwup does some bro bonding with the firsman and learns how to be a man." Any possible insight and depth was just poured into a big ol' dish of cliche. And I'm usually a bit of a sap for a movie that tries to hit you in the feels but this one just did not ring true in any way. And, again, too bad because some parts rang true blue.

"Bound" 1996

Early effort from the Wachowskis. Very stylish, very tense thriller with strong noir vibes. Excellent performances from the whole cast, Joe Pantoliano especially outstanding.

"In a Lonely Place" 1950

Well that's one that hasn't aged well.

Humphrey Bogart is a quick tempered brawling writer who is suspected of murder. He and Gloria Grahame fall in love, but she is unable to quiet her suspicion that he may indeed be guilty.

We're supposed to feel for him - he always feels terrible later after he loses his temper and strikes out at someone and he is clearly meant to be a tragic figure. But from a modern viewpoint, with what we know about domestic abuse, whether or not he did the crime is secondary to the 100% certainly that if they stay together, he'll end up beating her, possibly killing her (apparently one ending was filmed in which he does kill her - sorry about spoilers in a 70 year old movie).

This is one of those old movies that just can't mean what it used to mean, anymore. Our ideas of the difference between passion and pathology have changed too much.

Red Notice(2021)/Netflix

High dose of action, with a few twists, charismatic actors and a good excuse to see an entertaining movie, movie about thieves, policemen, entrapments. It's OK.

"No Time to Die" - Really good, although I didn't think it would be as long as it was. I liked the nod to Judi Dench in MI-5 HQ as well (she's my favorite).

"Criss Cross" 1949

Excellent noir, with Burt Lancaster, Yvonne deCarlo, and Dan Duryea, all doing about what you'd expect them to be doing, and very well, too. In a small departure from normal noir characterization, Lancaster's character is an actual person, with family, friends, a job ...

I've got a good eye, too - early on deCarlo is dancing with some guy and yep, it's Tony Curtis in his film debut, with about 30 seconds on screen. I love those moments, watching a movie and all of a sudden, "Wait a minute - I now him!"

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" 2007

A couple of screw-ups plan a heist and things go wrong and then wronger. Devastating.

And Philip Seymour Hoffman may have been the greatest actor of his generation. What a waste.

"The Blue Dahlia" 1946

Not the most coherent plot, and Alan Ladd is just a little too tidy and well behaved for the part, but almost all the supporting cast are just great. The incidental little bits of side business are way better than the main story.

"Beginners" 2010

I always like a plotless movie - so often the plot is the worst thing about a movie anyway. This one is just a joy. Wonderful performances from everyone - Christopher Plummer got an Oscar for his part as a man who comes out of the closet in his 80s after his wife's death, and not long before he finds out about his own terminal cancer.

"Deep Cover" 1992

And here's one with a whole lotta plot. And, yeah, it's kind of ridiculous but it holds together well enough while you're watching. The performances are good - Laurence Fishbourne is always good, Jeff Goldblum is having a lot of fun, it's always nice to see Charles Martin Smith ...

But there was something here that didn't work, for me. The tone just kept sliding into melodrama - the narration, the rap poetry declaimed by characters with solemnity... if this movie hadn't tried so hard to be deep and meaningful, it would have been deeper and more meaningful, I think. Still, worth your time, I'd say.

"The Big Heat" 1953

I was about ready to give up on this one, too cliched and sappy - until the explosion, when it got a lot grittier. That's about when Gloria Grahame really enters the picture; she and Lee Marvin are the best things in it. The second half shows why this movie is so well regarded. It's not really a noir, more of a melodrama with noir elements, but yeah, the second half really had me riveted.

"The Woman in the Window" 1944

Well this is a little gem. You forget how good an actor Edward G Robinson was. And Dan Duryea played a slimeball better than anyone else. There's even a twist.

And, really, beautifully filmed, in black and white. I have no desire to live in the 1940s, but something about the texture of fabrics, then, all those wool suits, wooden furniture - it sure looks good.