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Memory / Log / MoviesAndTV2025

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April

  1. Constantine (2005, dir. Francis Lawrence). Rewatch; I'd seen this shortly after it was released. It looks much better than I remembered, some dodgy CGI aside. It felt a little overlong too me, like there was too much plot. And some of the dialog felt clumsy, particularly Shia LaBeouf's character. Having said that I thought the movie often looked amazing. And as a lapsed catholic it was both amusing and scary. So: it was alright. Would watch again (in another 10, 20 years).
  2. The Limey (1999, dir. Steven Soderbergh). Rewatch; I'd seen this once before, shortly after it was first released. This was great! Better than I remembered. A simple but wandering pulp-crime story: an aging career criminal travels from England to Los Angeles to investigate the suspicious death of his daughter. A spare, gritty, and funny revenge tale. Love the cast & performances, particularly Terence Stamp in the lead and Peter Fonda as the faded oblivious antagonist. Really amazing editing (though it seems to become less experimental towards the end of the movie). Super glad I looked this up and watched it again (found it on some site called pluto.tv; seems legit, adblock did its work). I need to watch more Soderbergh.

March

  1. The Kirlian Witness (1978, dir. Jonathan Sarno, AKA "The Plants Are Watching"). Kirlian photography! Psychic communication! Intensely '70s. Rilla's sister Laurie is murdered on a roof; a nearby houseplant witnesses the crime. Rilla's husband Robert and the local handyman Dusty are both suspects. The police are uninterested. Can Rilla learn to communicate with the plant and solve the crime? I watched a copy of this that had been uploaded to youtube, I'd like to see a better version, see if the one from YT was a TV edit or something. (There was some strange editing). I loved the last few lines from this: "Now that I've finished here I'm ready to leave the city. I heard about a group in northern Vermont that's involved in much the same thing Laurie was. I want to know more."
  2. Johnny Guitar (1954, dir. Nicholas Ray). Rewatch. Was inspired to watch after talking about it on stream (and hearing the title song multiple times in Fallout New Vegas). Movie is fantastic. Very... I don't know, heightened or theatrical. Seems very progressive for its time (and probably still is today). An anti mob-mentality anti witch-hunt movie (and that's just one theme on offer). It looks amazing too. See it if you haven't.
  3. Personal Shopper (2016, dir. Olivier Assayas). Rewatch. Needed to see it again after mentioning it on a video game stream. (It's still really good).

February

  1. Who Is Bozo Texino? (2006, dir. Bill Daniel). Rewatch. One-hour documentary about trainhopping and train graffiti art. Really incredible. If you haven't seen it you should. Title link will take you to the film uploaded on youtube (for as long as that upload survives). If you're in the United States and want to order a copy of the movie I believe it can be found here: http://billdaniel.squarespace.com/who-is-bozo-texino (your mileage may vary).
  2. Ghost in the Shell (1995, dir. Mamoru Oshii). I've seen this many times (of course). Rewatched to relax, idly think, brainstorm. "Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."

January

  1. The Third Man (1949, dir. Carol Reed). Rewatch. This time I noticed how cleverly written this is (shouldn't be surprised, it's Graham Greene). Movie looks fantastic of course, terrific performances (Cotton, Valli, Welles, everybody really), soundtrack is... unhinged in a way that adds a lot of humor to the film. Somehow feels like both tragedy and farce. Really good movie.
  2. Hard Boiled (1992, dir. John Woo). Rewatch w/a film club. Still great a dozen times later. I completely forgot the cool and very recognizable descending melody/sequence in the soundtrack (played on some kind of bell-like instrument? not sure). Also forgot (and somehow always forget) that nearly the last half of the film is set in that hospital.