No Time to Die (2021) *

Turgid exercise in contemporary movie making. Indistinguishable from any other "action film" made recently. Highly dispiriting viewing.

Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) ***

Strong lead performance by Ms. Stanley carries the picture which starts off strong but goes off the rails as the script veers into psycho-babble territory. Well shot in crisp B&W.

Mort Sahl Dead: Stand-Up Comedian Tackled Political Themes - Variety

Throughout his career, Sahl frequently provoked his audience. Everyone was fair game. He went after Joseph McCarthy and the blacklist, Eisenhower and even Kennedy, whom he admired. The politically skeptical comic once declared, “Democrats are the left wing of the Republican party. Do you want vanilla or French vanilla?” Another time he said: “Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen.”

He was unyielding, even in old age. In 2011, the 84-year-old Sahl began his show at a Mill Valley, Calif., club before a pro-Obama crowd with the line, “No, he can’t.” He continued performing near his Mill Valley home

“If you were the last man on earth,” Sahl told an interviewer, “I’d have to oppose you. That’s my job.”

One of a kind original to the end. Here is his first recording. The manic energy is stunning.

Cat People (1982) **

Entertaining but half-baked thriller seems like it should have been much better. Great cast.

Dead of Night (1945) **

Spooky anthology starts to gather some steam then stops for a comedy and a song before returning with its best tale which saves the flick.

Jennifer's Body (2009) ***

Highly enjoyable, with wit to spare and a couple of terrific leads.

Divine Intervention (2002) **

Episodic look at life under occupation and its effects is a mixture of comedy, satire and fantasy, not all successful but heartfelt and sad. Well made.

Fever Dream (2021) *

Another film apparently uninterested in looking like a film and content to be flatly photographed with lots of closeups. Some psycho-thriller aspirations but so dull to look at.

Little Murders (1971) ***

Satire is very difficult to pull off in movies but this one is so well made, well written and audacious it succeeds (mostly). One of the blackest comedies ever put on film, it admirably pushes through on its premise and pulls no punches at the finale. Nicely shot by the great Mr. Willis.

Man on a Swing (1974) **

Risky move to film a police procedural of an unsolved case ends up being unsatisfying but there's much to admire from the emphasis on realism to the offbeat casting to the groovy early '70's vibe.

The Many Saints of Newark (2021) ***

Plays like an extended episode of the series, which is a very good thing. Vera Farmiga is terrific and almost unrecognizable. Well made and enjoyable.

After Life (1998) ****

If you could choose your last memory what would it be? A touching, human film.

Schrader on 'Master Gardener,' With Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver - Variety

Schrader commented that “audiovisual entertainment is just fine.” He added, “We have more than we ever had, more than we could ever absorb.” However, theatrical revenue will continue to decline, he claimed. “I am happy to end my career riding that broken-down horse into the sunset. But I have no illusions about the nature of that horse,” he said, also opening up about his struggles. “The biggest mistake you can make is casting. If you miscast a movie, there is nothing you can do. You are just fucked. The other one is getting involved with people who don’t respect you. That has gotten worse because there is more and more money coming from people who don’t like or even watch movies. Every director, male or female, is an alpha creature, so part of you says: ‘Give me a chair, a whip, I will go into that cage full of lions.’ Well. Sometimes, the lions win.”