Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving 2023, or as I now call it, Second Kidney Stone of 2023 Day.

Great staff and doctors over at Methodist Richardson. They hustled me in, got me scanned, made the determination and I was on my way in under three hours. Past similar experiences have averaged six.

Of course, the pain meds were held up at the pharmacy due to a (expletive) insurance issue. That’s okay. I accept the pain. The pain is now my friend. I’m gonna have well-hydrated, low-sodium good times with the pain, until the pain dissipates.

Having said all that: stay healthy, kiddos. And love each other. Except for your Relative Karens and creepy uncles; you must educate them with kindness and patience.

S

Wednesday PM

Never gonna have to pretend.

Wednesday

Kyu-hwan Jeon’s DANCE TOWN (2011).

John Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW (1986).

Park Chan-wook’s LADY VENEGEANCE (2005)

Juzo Itami’s TAMPOPO (1985).

Tuesday PM

General appreciation for Tilda Swinton.

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013).

CONSTANTINE (2005).

JULIA (2008).

I AM LOVE (2010).

Tuesday

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and great faces.

Cardinale.

Strode.

Stander.

Robards.

Elam.

Fonda.

Bronson.

Monday PM

My much-overused image for sheer disdain: De Niro in RONIN. Great film, also.

Whoever created this: genius.

“Who starts a song like that?!” “It’s magic.” Christian Bale letting it all hang out while making a connection with Amy Adams thanks to “Jeep’s Blues”: AMERICAN HUSTLE.

Monday

The rare videogame adaptation that not only gets the atmosphere and thrill of its source material dead-on but is a more satisfying experience than many of the sequels that followed that first film: ALIEN ISOLATION.

I have played more videogames this year than in the past few combined; some great new ones, but my favorite experience was the DEAD SPACE remaster from the start of the year. Beautiful, horrifying, challenging, and hugely satisfying.

Jonathan Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN (2013).

Two favorite science-fiction films of the past decade+: THE WANDERING EARTH (2019) and its 2023 sequel.

Sunday PM

More bests from 2015.

Ciro Guerra’s EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015).

Robert Eggers’ THE WITCH (2015).

Jia Zhangke’s MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (2015).

John Magary’s THE MEND (2015).

Sunday

Glenn & Henry: on the job.

General appreciation for Andrea Riseborough, one of the finest actors around.

Classic poster art: THE GREEN SLIME (1968).

Favorite film GIFs: the up-pan of the PLANET OF THE APES.

Saturday PM

Miguel Gomes’ ARABIAN NIGHTS (2015), my favorite trilogy of the last 20 years.

Michael Almereyda’s EXPERIMENTER (2015), a strange and compelling film; I am proud to be one of the 17 people who have seen it.

There are days when JUNUN (2015) is my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson film. I mean, after THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

When a few seconds in a trailer elicits the same emotional response as the film itself, that’s some good stuff. George Miller’s MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015), and Charlize Theron’s apex.

Saturday

Mark Jenkin’s BAIT (2019) is easily one of this year’s best films, alongside his ENYS MEN. It took four years for it to reach American audiences but was worth the wait.

Cara Gee’s performance as Camina Drummer on THE EXPANSE was on point, from start to finish.

General appreciation for the great L.Q. Jones.

Oh Crap, A Bunch More Bad Stuff Just Happened… Two car repairs in one week, more health issues, and continuing work strain. Oy.

Friday PM

And a few more.

Friday

Some favorite pieces that I’ve come across over the years. Attributions uncertain.

Thursday PM

Lynda Barry on crud.

Top five 70s comedy: WHAT’S UP DOC?

Flashback to childhood: the badass Ballantine covers of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels.

Thursday

8 1/2.

“Chrissy, over by the wall, bring me the big knife.” My favorite Nicolas Cage performance: MOONSTRUCK.

My favorite book about horror: Stephen King’s Danse Macabre.

Benedikt Erlingsson’s WOMAN AT WAR (2018).

Wednesday PM

Scene preceding my second favorite rant in ALTERED STATES. A film where I think I love the dialogue more than the fantastical stuff. But that’s Paddy Chayefsky. I’ll take a Chayefsky monologue any day of the week.

George Harris, seconds before something really bad happens in LAYER CAKE.

My gosh, I love this film: POINT BLANK.

SIMON OF THE DESERT.

Wednesday

Shinya Tsukamoto’s A SNAKE OF JUNE (2002).

Yoon Jong-bin’s NAMELESS GANGSTER (2012).

Owen Cho and Sang-hwa Kim’s ENEMY AT THE DEAD END (2010).

Juno Mak’s RIGOR MORTIS (2013).

Tuesday PM

Willem Dafoe, TOMMASO.

Gould & Segal, CALIFORNIA SPLIT.

Emma Stone, THE FAVOURITE.

Bugs Bunny, depression, and alcoholism. That’s all, folks!

Tuesday

It took a while, but the GRINDHOUSE experience is now back as a single, whole, streamable film, which is as it should be. (Vudu)

Monday PM

For the love of Albert Pyun’s NEMESIS…