Mr. Soft Touch (1949) **

Tonally uneven Christmas-noir is watchable thanks to a surprisingly good Glenn Ford.

The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) *

One dimensional characters in a by-the-numbers Hollywood-style WWII actioner on a suicide mission that never really makes sense.

Moss Rose (1947) **

Hollywood's idea of a Brit noir is watchable thanks to the odd casting and the nice b/w photography. Just don't expect any believable accents even from the real Brits!

The Razor's Edge (1984) **

Superbly produced with exceptional location shooting but Bill Murray in 1983 was just not up to the task. To be fair, Ty Power wasn't either. Theresa Russell is terrific.

Track 29 (1988) *

You have to work way too hard to stay involved and that's no good even with the lovely Ms. Russell and Nic Roeg's way with a camera.

Every Man for Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog: Books

I’d rather die than go to an analyst, because it’s my view that something fundamentally wrong happens there. If you harshly light every last corner of a house, the house will be uninhabitable. It’s like that with your soul; if you light it up, shadows and darkness and all, people will become “uninhabitable.” I am convinced that it’s psychoanalysis—along with quite a few other mistakes—that has made the twentieth century so terrible. As far as I’m concerned, the twentieth century, in its entirety, was a mistake.

A Study in Scarlet (1933) **

I liked Reg Owen as Holmes and Ms. Wong is always a welcome treat. Decent mystery.

Lady from Chungking (1942) **

Nifty script and the great Ms. Wong elevate this WWII propaganda flick which might have been something special with a little more care and effort.

Daughter of the Dragon (1931) *

Third rate production wastes two legendary Asian actors.

Baby Face (1933) **

Babs Stanwyck takes Nietsche to heart and nearly wins it all, but in the end sees the light and opts for love. Just like in real life.

The Divorcee (1930) **

Hollywood morality play (barely connected to reality in other words) is watchable with an above average performance by Ms. Shearer.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) **

Despite superbly cast supporting players and the usual top notch production there is a huge glaring problem named Leo. He just cannot pull it off for a minute.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) **

Fred March is quite good here, as well as Ms. Hopkins, but the "experimental" direction is extremely annoying save for the transformation scenes which are well done.

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) ****

Superb production design, a terrific trio of leads and striking visuals make for an interesting riff on the vampire genre. Perhaps Herzog's best film.

The Lodger (1944) **

Jack The Ripper tale elevated by the marvelous Mr. Cregar.

Corridor of Mirrors (1948) ***

Handsomely produced Brit melo with an above average and offbeat screenplay, excellently played by the lovely Ms. Romney.

Jigsaw (1962) **

Brit police procedural is a slow burn but worth the wait. A little disappointed with the photography.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) *

Only Ms. Balk survives with her professional reputation intact from this misguided remake of a much better film.

Patricia Highsmith: Notebooks: 10/29/1949

On the insane: they are only trying to find a reality. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find a reality in existence. The greatest philosophers have never found a satisfactory reality, or its explanation. Going under gas, for instance, the world is quite different, more overwhelmingly convincing than the so-called normal world, as to its reality. There is really no reality, perhaps, only writing a system of expedient behavior, action and reaction, by which people have come to live. That is, most people, who live like this for the same reason most peas fall into the center compartment when dropped from a central point above.

No One Ever Said It: On the Long History of “Ye Olde” in English

But that’s not to say it has no roots in the past. Once there was a letter called thorn that made a “th” sound. It looked like this: þ. Over the centuries, þ was written increasingly like the letter y with some scribes using them interchangeably. Early printers even substituted y for þ, so the word “þe” (the) ended up looking like “ye.” Eventually þ fell out of use, but people continued using “ye” to abbreviate the word “the” in print during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and in handwriting until the nineteenth century. English speakers’ memory of the origin of “ye” faded over time, until people began reading the word anew, pronouncing it wrong, and eventually creating the habit in English of saying “ye” to sound old.