The Barefoot Contessa (1954) *

It's a great screenplay...to read. Joe Mank is too in love with his words to make it into a decent picture however. Waste of a good cast and a great cinematographer.

The Spanish Gardener (1956) **

At least the Brits cast as Spaniards don't even bother affecting an accent in this heavy handed melodrama. The kid steals the picture.

Barbie (2023) ***

Entertaining fluff with exceptional design and cinematography doesn't quite hit the ambitious heights it aspires to.

Jeannie (1941) **

Brit romcom about a sheltered Scots lass traveling to (a curiously Nazi free) Vienna to hear the Blue Danube. Charmingly done.

Pool of London (1951) **

Stalwart supporting actors get their chance to lead in this Brit-noir about a heist gone wrong. Nicely done.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) **

The oft-told tale gets the Hammer treatment with its trademark lush photography and penny pinching but effective production design. Pete Cushing is an admirable Holmes. Nice to see Chris Lee play a romantic lead for a change.

Puppet on a Chain (1970) **

Gritty, groovy '70's Amsterdam and a nifty speedboat chase are the highlights of this mostly tedious narc procedural.

The Pajama Game (1957) **

Most of the songs presage the execrable work of Sparks except for "Hey There" and the legit show stopper "Steam Heat" which is worth the price of admission.

Noam Chomsky on Language, Left Libertarianism, and Progress | Conversations with Tyler

Like all organisms, we have innate capacities. There’s something about our genetic endowment that determines that the embryo grows arms not wings, and there’s something about the genetic endowment that says that a newborn infant can instantly pick out parts of the noise that surrounds it and say to itself, “Those parts are language. I’m going to” — not consciously, of course; it’s all totally reflexive — “These parts are language. I’m going to pursue a course of maturation, a well-determined course of maturation, which means that by about two or three years old, I’ve basically absorbed the fundamentals of language.” Now, you can take the smartest chimpanzee or the dogs under my desk — they can listen to this noise forever. They have no idea there’s anything there but noise. Well, that’s a fundamental property of humans built in. It’s the reason why you and I can be having this discussion now, but a troop of chimpanzees can’t be.

Zardoz (1974) ****

Imagination, talent and conviction are evident in this crazy dystopian fable. Beautifully shot and designed.