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For a century-old film, this looks shockingly good on Kino's Blu-ray. The color sequence is much grainier than the rest, but it's also quite lovely. Heads-up there are blackface characters because 1925 is gonna 1925.

(FYI, "Sherlock Jr." -- my favorite Keaton film -- is also on the disc.)

BREAKING: Dr. Albert Beck to be named Surgeon General.

I kept going back and forth between "This seems to be made by folks who have never seen a movie before but heard about one once" and "No, they are actively trolling me." I'm still not sure, tbh. The nice lady who slowly lists random countries for a full THREE MINUTES makes me suspect the latter, though.

Even it turns out to be the former, I'd love an oral history "making of" article on this.

I can't imagine the reaction of the average viewer who picked this up from the local mom & pop VHS rental place.

Watched on Friday April 25, 2025.

Had a shitty week, and this cheered me up. I stand by my 2022 review, so I'm just going to rerun that:

This really shouldn't work, but it does. Gleefully dumb and yet the laughs -- and there are many! -- are most definitely with the movie and not at it. This is not a musical "The Room," is what I mean -- you might not like this (though what's wrong with you? do you not like joy?), but this film knows what it's doing.

Plus, the songs kick ass, and Pia Zadora -- god help me -- is good.* Just don't go into this expecting narrative coherence.

I hereby revise my list of favorite movie musicals to:

1. "Singin' in the Rain"
2. (tie) "The Apple"
"Voyage of the Rock Aliens"

*I will qualify "good" to mean "perfectly cast." She's definitely in on the joke. I know she's considered a bad actress, but I have not seen any of her other starring roles. I'm not going to judge her by "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians."

Had a very weird dream the other night.

I was with my mom, and I was going to a high school reunion. I somehow got it in my head that my former classmates and I were supposed to attend sans pants. Mom dropped me off at the venue, and I'm like "why is everyone wearing pants but me?" Also, she sent me in with large, uncooked ham.

At the reunion, there was a showing of Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God."

Which I had never seen, so I decided to watch it tonight.

What a beautifully shot film! I am aware of how troubled the production was, so I'm amazed how something this gorgeous resulted.

Greed. Hubris. Paranoia. Delusional thinking. Racism. Casual violence. Poor leadership. A tale as old as time...

On the deficit side: I found the ADR work distracting. (Oh, I watched the German dub. I guess I should watch the English version too -- I believe most of the actors were speaking English, though even that version is relooped.)

LOVED Popol Vuh's music.

How silly can you get?

Val Kilmer is so charismatic in this ... well, I swooned a little.

Aka "Robo Vampire 3" and "Counter Destroy." (Also apparently aka "Robo Vampire 2," which is weird.) (Actually, I'm not sure if "Robo Vampire 3" was also called "Counter Destroy" or if "Counter Destroy" was the source of most of the footage or what. Hey, it's a Godfrey Ho flick--some questions will simply never be answered.)

Best "enjoyed" in an altered state, I think. Some of the best-worst dubbing you've ever heard--it's like some of the voice actors were unfamiliar with the concept of language itself.

My favorite exchange of dialogue: "The spirit is like a parasite, and when it enters your body, it will torture you until you are dead." "That REALLY arouses my in-ter-est." I'd like to see how Meryl Streep would approach that line.

Also worth noting: "What made you fall into the WA-ter?" "The air in the float got out, making me go into the WA-ter!"

I have not seen "Robo Vampire 1" or "2," but I doubt that really matters.

Oh, a fun thing to do: When watching this, pretend that the film some of the characters are making is Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor."

Quite moving, which seems ironic.

"The power originates in what we term our vital or energy body. And that is why ... some of our ceremonies we perform in the nude -- because the emanations pour forth from our bodies and form the cult [?] of power. And also we do our ceremonies nude because that is how we like to do them."

Often dull "documentary" (from an evangelist Christian perspective), occasionally enlivened by quotes like the one above, which is said by an older gentleman who is still getting plenty from his wife (who sometimes is shown fondling the back of his neck) and, probably, a few others from his coven. (Note: This guy and his wife are the least sexy duo you can possibly imagine.)

Directed by Tom Doades, the same director of a Christian scare film that I actually kind of liked, "Six Hundred & Sixty-Six," which is more competently made than many others of its ilk (mostly due to a couple of familiar faces in the small cast). (I was wrong about that film being Doades' only credit in my review -- he had no others when I wrote that, but now is credited with four. This line was 100% true at the time: "There is, however, another Tom Doades on the Hot or Not website, who has an attractiveness rating of 6.66.")

I find this kind of thing interesting, but YMMV, as they say.

Yes.

Watched on Saturday March 8, 2025.

"Andromeda, Strained"

Watched on Sunday February 23, 2025.

Watched on Sunday February 16, 2025.

Watched on Sunday February 16, 2025.

Astonishingly beautiful -- talk about a dramatic landscape! Some of the acting is a bit melodramatic, but that's a minor fault.

Interesting how nonjudgmental the film and characters are regarding an out-of-wedlock child.

Kino's Blu-ray edition is worlds' better than the old Image DVD, and there are some nifty extras.

Going to spread the fake trivia that Bill grew up to be Eraserhead.

Actual title on this is "Whenever You Eat..." and I find that ellipsis to be weirdly ominous.

And : Pile on the butter!

Enjoyable--I liked it, and it's certainly well made--but I'd file "Conclave" under "middle-brow Oscar bait."

Folks, I think we should have paid more attention to this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaWSqboZr1w

Small spoiler, I guess.

Not sure why this has become such a breakthrough (sorry) hit for Netflix. It's serviceable and nothing more. The characters are par for the course for this kind of "true crime" drama. (Would you believe the lead investigator becomes so consumed by the case that he alienates his family? How shocking!)

I don't think it even clearly explains the DNA and genealogy research process used to crack the case. The genealogist appeals for "more swabs" and gets a handful. And then --spoiler, I guess, but not really (this is called "The Breakthrough," after all) -- he gets a close hit from one of them, the titular breakthrough. So, does he figure out the killer just by coincidence? It's not made clear. He had 6,000 swabs already; would half a dozen more really have made the connection he needed if not for the totally coincidental direct link? Seems unlikely, but it would be nice if the show made that clear. And perhaps this should have been called "The Lucky Break."

Also, if this kind of thing bugs you, be aware that while this is based on a real case that appears to be very famous in Sweden, the story has been highly fictionalized despite an opening crawl that implies the opposite.

I don't know the rules of mime, but isn't using sound effects cheating?

I find it fascinating -- and a bit baffling -- that there was a period of time when Marcel Marceau was once a part of American pop culture.

Saw a different "The Enchanted Pot," not listed on Letterboxd. It's a "short fable about new ways to cook creatively with Karo syrup and imagination" and features a new wife depressed about not being able to cook who is lectured by a pot that tunelessly sings about sugar syrup. I dunno, maybe she's high on LSD, too?

Not entirely sure where this would have been shown. It doesn't seem to be aimed at salespeople. Were depressed housewives rounded up in camps and forced to watch stuff like this?

Jimmy currently runs an incel group on Discord.

JFC.

Tells you all you need to know about the moon, just like "The Day After Tomorrow" (hereafter, TDAT) tells you all you need to know about climate change.

I will it to kind of loving TDAT. It's super dumb, but it also is rarely boring. It's fun, OK? Don't judge me! Back when I had cable, TDAT seemed like it was always on FX, and if I went by it, I'd have to watch, despite owning it on DVD. (Again: Don't judge me!)

This is dumber. Something inexplicably stupid happens every few minutes. Unfortunately, though there are definitely laughs sprinkled throughout, it's not as much fun as TDAT. The pacing is off--no way a movie this dumb should be this long.

Also, did Elon Musk pay for all the "Elon is great!" mentions? Going to assume the answer is yes.

My favorite Christmas TV special, and the best Peanuts special.

"Graphic blandishment" in the closing credits always fascinates me, but I've decided to never look up what that means. Better it remains a mystery.

Whenever anyone asks what I think of a current piece of animation, I will say, "Oh, it's fine, I guess, but I prefer when the graphics are blandished" and walk away.

Watched on Friday December 20, 2024.

Still my favorite version.

Sim is practically feral in this. It's far from a naturalistic performance, but it works, and, for me, he's the definitive Scrooge.

I'm BEGGING for someone to do a restoration job on this. Circulating prints are either too dark or washed out, and the sound is terrible -- thin and often echoey.

My ranked list of "A Christmas Carol" adaptations: letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/otherjimdonahue/list/versions-of-a-christmas-carol-ranked/detail/

Hard for me to rate/rank, as this is decidedly not for me, but I can see others liking it a lot. The story is told through modern dance with voiceover providing the dialogue -- the dancers don't move their mouths. I'm not really into modern dance, and the disconnect between the words and performers not moving their mouths I found disconcerting.

Interestingly shot, though.

Here's my ranked list of ACC adaptations: letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/otherjimdonahue/list/versions-of-a-christmas-carol-ranked/detail/

I had low expectations when I spotted this on Tubi (the source of the worst "A Christmas Carol" adaptation ever made, "Carol's Christmas"), but you know what? It's pretty good!

Scrooge is a modern-day, low-level crook/loan shark in this one. Doesn't sound all that promising, right? But somehow, it works.

Not saying it's a hidden gem or anything, but it's worth a watch if you want a different take on the source material.

Here's my ranked list of "A Christmas Carol" adaptations.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

"Every doll must have a head and also have a body."

Absolute torture, and a holiday tradition. FWIW, the Prelinger Archives version looks notably better than other copies out there, though the children are just as impossible to understand. And it's a few seconds longer (more torture!). I await a 4K remaster.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

It's been so long since I've watched this that I forgot what a nonending this has -- it feels like a "Part 1" without a "Part 2." Still, this is a longtime favorite, and the skeleton fight still kicks ass.

This review may contain spoilers.

Not that I expect a movie about a snowman who comes to life and wins over a small town to make a ton of sense, but I found it odd when everyone thought Jack was dead and began walking away en masse, leaving his (supposedly) dead body on top of a snowbank in the middle of town. Not cool!

Watched on Wednesday December 4, 2024.

Watched on Sunday December 1, 2024.

I had somehow forgotten that people used to smoke in restaurants.

Watched on Saturday November 23, 2024.

Enjoyed this more on second viewing.

"Get some cops to protect our policemen!"

Watched on Sunday November 17, 2024.

Watched on Saturday November 9, 2024.

A first-rate documentary--well-chosen clips, and Martin Scorsese's narration is unsurprisingly incisive. (If you've seen his "A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies," you already know he's the best kind of film educator.) OK, I'm a huge Powell & Pressburger fan, but I absolutely LOVED this. Rentable already, disk coming out this week, and on TCM later in November.

If you are even slightly Michael Powell-curious, I'll also recommend this "South Bank Show" profile from 1986, tied in to his then-new first volume of memoirs. I had only seen a couple of P&P's films when this aired, but it made me want to see as many of their films as possible. The "Made in England" doc uses a lot of clips from this.
youtu.be/xUQkq2NCk?si=7YUW93cCfahH6FTz

It aired on the PBS outlet in New York City, WNET--we love our public TV, don't we folks?

Hallo. Vould you like to have a roll in ze hay?

Watched on Thursday October 31, 2024.

Enjoyably loopy, misguided vanity productions--films made by and starring folks who do not quite know what they are doing. I'm thinking that to be included, the pivotal figure has to be two of three (and three is better than just two): actor, writer, director.

When the same person has done multiple films, I'm going to try to limit them to two entries here. (That might change.)

At this point, these are in no particular order.

A work in progress.

• Meltdown
• The Room
• The Match-Stick Flame
• The Match-Stick Flame 2: Lunada Bay
• GetEven
• Fateful Findings
• I Am Here....Now
• Deadly Lessons
• Ben & Arthur
• Monday at 11:01 A.M.

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

There are others that I've seen but far enough in the past that I can't really rank them. I plan on watching as many as I can this month and adding them as I go.

Entries 10-14 are VERY close. Consider them an extended tie.

1. Scrooge

   Alistair Sim is the definitive Scrooge, in a version of the story that gets the sentimentality/horror/social realism balance exactly right.

   A masterpiece. No notes.

   Shame there doesn't seem to be a decent-looking/sounding version of this presumably public domain staple around. The version TCM shows has terrible, echo-laden sound, though it looks able if not actually good. Can Criterion do a restoration, please?

2. A Christmas Carol

   Great cast and a handsomely produced adaptation.

3. A Christmas Carol

   Excellent version that suffers a bit for its over-condensation of the story. If only this had been tailored for an hour-long slot instead of a half-hour!

   Alistair Sim returns in his signature role, and the scary stuff is truly scary.

4. Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol

   Shockingly good, faithful version. And Jim Backus is ridiculously great as Scrooge. Demerits for the rather cheap-looking animation and the mostly unmemorable songs. Frankly, the frame story (Magoo is for some reason a huge Broadway star, and this is his stage version of the story--what? why?) is completely unneeded, but the actual "Christmas Carol" part of this is delightful.

   Saw this theatrically as a kid, which has made me wonder if there was a slightly longer version prepared for theaters. But I guess it was probably shown with some shorts that I just don't recall.

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

   I might rank this higher if I grew up with it, but I didn't. Still, it's very good.

6. Scrooge

   Scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.

   Finney's a solid Scrooge, but I wish the songs were better.

7. Scrooged

   It's a very 1988, cynical version of the basic story, but it works, and a lot of the gags deliver.

8. Blackadder's Christmas Carol

   Funny, but that laugh track is obnoxious.

   By the way, S4 of "Blackadder" (aka "Blackadder Goes Forth"), set during World War I, is amazing. JFC, that last episode is chilling.

9. A Diva's Christmas Carol

   Pretty fun, and Vanessa Williams is a solid Scrooge as an embittered pop diva. This surely got her the "Ugly Betty" gig, because she's basically playing the same character there.

   Weirdly, a minor character makes a "God bless us, everyone" joke that other characters get and laugh at, so this seems to exist in a world in which the original Dickens tale exists, too. Meta!

10. A Christmas Carol

    Maybe I was in an unusually forgiving mood, but I thought this was pretty good!

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I tried to weed out film titles in which the number didn't refer to a year, but it can be hard to tell in some cases. (If you see a film that shouldn't be here because the number isn't a year, please let me know.)

• 100 Million BC
• One Million Years B.C.
• One Million AC/DC
• 10,000 BC
• Year One
• A Story About Breaking in the Year 1255 A.D.
• 1410
• Conquest 1453
• Stephen the Great: Vaslui 1475
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise

...plus 101 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

After a while, the word "don't" looks really weird.

Random order. And while this is not exhaustive, I don't think I'll be adding more.

• Don't
• Don't
• Don't
• Don't.
• Don't Look Up
• Don't Worry Darling
• Don't Breathe
• Don't Look Now
• Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
• Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

...plus 49 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Let's just say that some arbitrary decisions had to be made. (Punctuation OK, but no words; no combinations of letters. I am not sure about some of the I entries--are they actually representing Roman numerals? If so, I don't think they should be here.)

Better appreciated in the list view.

For the record, I really regret doing this.

• A
• A
• A
• A
• A+
• A
• AA
• AA
• b
• B

...plus 190 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Fabulous World of Jules Verne

  My column is here: dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/world-cinema-spotlight-fabulous-world-karel-zeman/

• They're a Weird Mob

  My column: www.cashiersducinemart.com/details/issue-18/article-507/it%26%238217%3Bs-a-big%2C-big-country-michael-powell-in-australia

  2021 update: That site is down. Will see if I can find on Internet Archive when I have the time to search.

  Update update: Takes FOREVER to load, but you might be able to read it on the Wayback Machine. shorturl.at/oALT2

• After Last Season

  My column: www.cashiersducinemart.com/details/issue-18/article-507/it%26%238217%3Bs-a-big%2C-big-country-michael-powell-in-australia

  2021 update: That site is down. Will see if I can find on Internet Archive when I have the time to search.

  Update update: Takes FOREVER to load, but you should be able to read it via the Wayback Machine. shorturl.at/bnoG9

• 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

  My column is here: dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/the-two-faces-of-dr-lao/

• Suture

  My review is here: dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/suture-1993-sibling-rivalry-black-white/

• Harlequin

  My review is here: dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/harlequin-1980/

• The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood

  On the Daily Grindhouse site. dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/a-ghost-of-christmas-past-the-dangerous-christmas-of-red-riding-hood-1965/

• Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea

  Didn't write about this, but I take part in a commentary for an episode of The Projection Booth.

  There was a chance this was going to get picked up for the Blu-ray out from Second Run, but they decided to go with one from Kat Ellinger because she is apparently not on enough commentary tracks.

  youtu.be/-D3503B9I6Q

• The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean

  www.projectionboothpodcast.com/2023/01/episode-609-plastic-dome-of-norma-jean.html

  Also available wherever you stream podcasts.

A ridiculous thing to do, but here we are.

Weird: I stopped giving films star ratings years ago, and I wasn't paying attention to stars when I was ranking at all. But ... I guess my opinions haven't really changed much over time because the films with stars do fall in order.

1. A Matter of Life and Death
2. I Know Where I'm Going!
3. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
4. Peeping Tom
5. The Red Shoes
6. Black Narcissus
7. The Spy in Black
8. The Edge of the World
9. The Thief of Bagdad
10. A Canterbury Tale

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A work in progress.

1. The Trial

   Sentimental favorite: "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

2. Charade
3. A Hard Day's Night

   Or "Dr. Strangelove" or "A Shot in the Dark."

4. Mirage
5. Seconds
6. The Graduate
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey
8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
9. Rider on the Rain
10. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Great Gabbo
• The Great Train Robbery
• The Great Dictator
• The Great McGinty
• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• Great Expectations
• The First Great Train Robbery
• The Great Santini
• Great Balls of Fire!
• The Great Muppet Caper

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.