Watched and Read - September 7, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week:

MOVIES

Caught Stealing (2025). I didn’t think the contrast of humor and extreme violence always worked. But there were some good moments, especially the third act.

The Crow (1994). The visuals were excellent. Great gothic / noir atmosphere. But I didn’t connect with the story.

Tomorrowland (2015). Not a bad Disney film. Some cool old school sci-fi stuff, which I always enjoy. The effects were great. But the story was clunky at times.

Network (1976). A masterpiece by Lument. Written by one of our greatest writers, Paddy Chayefsky. Timeless film.

Winter Kills (1979). Watched it on the Criterion Channel. Had no idea this was a dark comedy. I thought it was going to be an intense thriller like The Parallax View. Overall, I was mixed on the film, but I really enjoyed Jeff Bridges.

Love letters (1984). Also watched it on the Criterion Channel. Good movie. Excellent performance by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Can’t Stand Losing You (2012). Great documentary about Andy Summers and The Police. We watched it this past weekend at The Aero with Q&A with Summers.

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TV

Still watching the seventh season of Little House. Still enjoying it.

I’ve caught up with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I really liked episode 7—which was a documentary on the crew. Very cool idea. Episode eight, though, was not that good.

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BOOKS

I didn’t finish any books this week, so I thought I share some of the academic articles and chapters I’ve read. I am writing a book on Hitchcock and am working on the chapter on Psycho.

Elsa Court, The American Roadside in Emigre Literature, Film, and Philosophy. I read the chapter on Psycho and its connection to motels and the constructions of highways in post WWII America. Excellent reading of the film.

Bernice M. Murphy, The Highway Horror Film. Read the chapter on Psycho. Murphy lays out tropes associated with horror and motels - Psycho being the first to do so. Very good chapter.

Laura Mulvey, Death 24x a Second. I’ve read this book numerous times. Very good reading of stillness and movement and the uncanny in Psycho. But I disagree with her reading of the death drive at the end of the film.

Robin Wood, Hitchcock Revisited. Wood was one of the early writers on Hitchcock. His chapter on Psycho is excellent, offering interesting insights into the act of watching and highlighting our complicity with Norman Bates after Marion’s death. I usually assign this chapter when I teach the film, and it was enjoyable to read it again.

Peter Wollen, “Hybrid Plots in Psycho.” Interesting short piece about plotting in Psycho, Marnie and North By Northwest. Wollen claims Psycho has a fairy-tale structure.