Saturday, May 10, 2025
Gun Crazy (1950) ***
Outstanding direction lifts this low-rent lovers-on-a-crime-spree flick to cinematic heights it might not deserve. A number of long POV takes are stunning.
Wednesday, May 07, 2025
Hugh Grant - The Talks
What did you like about playing the baddies?
It’s more fun. Actors prefer being baddies! Audiences prefer the baddies, and it's a very interesting question of why that is so. My personal belief is that it's the antagonist, the bad guy, who represents our true selves. And that is thrilling. I think it's thrilling to experience our true selves through that character. I think we are vicious, violent, selfish, unpleasant. And that's why good characters are quite difficult, because the good characters are the superficial, civilized veneer that we put on our true brutish self. It's less interesting.
...
Is that how you’d like to be remembered as an actor? Through the myriad of different kinds of roles you’ve played?
Oh, man. Well, I hope when we die, it's the same as before we were born. No one's really frightened of that enormous, infinite blackness before we were born. No one sits there thinking, “Oh, God, how awful. I was nothing.” So I don't really see why we should be frightened of that after we die, as long as it is black. I really don’t want to be up there on a cloud playing a harp, meeting some of the people I’ve hated in my life. I can’t imagine a greater nightmare. That would be hell, in fact.
It’s more fun. Actors prefer being baddies! Audiences prefer the baddies, and it's a very interesting question of why that is so. My personal belief is that it's the antagonist, the bad guy, who represents our true selves. And that is thrilling. I think it's thrilling to experience our true selves through that character. I think we are vicious, violent, selfish, unpleasant. And that's why good characters are quite difficult, because the good characters are the superficial, civilized veneer that we put on our true brutish self. It's less interesting.
...
Is that how you’d like to be remembered as an actor? Through the myriad of different kinds of roles you’ve played?
Oh, man. Well, I hope when we die, it's the same as before we were born. No one's really frightened of that enormous, infinite blackness before we were born. No one sits there thinking, “Oh, God, how awful. I was nothing.” So I don't really see why we should be frightened of that after we die, as long as it is black. I really don’t want to be up there on a cloud playing a harp, meeting some of the people I’ve hated in my life. I can’t imagine a greater nightmare. That would be hell, in fact.
Tuesday, May 06, 2025
Only the River Flows (2023) **
Atmospheric modern Chinese police procedural/whodunnit maintains interest but a little too ambiguous for the genre.
Sunday, May 04, 2025
Dutchman (1966) **
Friday, May 02, 2025
Johnny Got His Gun (1971) **
Well intentioned and nicely put together but full of Symbols and not emotionally engaging. We get the point.
Monday, April 28, 2025
Middle of the Night (1959) ****
Superb kitchen sink drama is tops all around but especially Fred March, a stunning Kim Novak and a marvelous Chayefsky screenplay.
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
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