Watched and Read - March 22, 2026

 Here, what I watched and read last week....

 

 

MOVIES

Rebecca (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of the first Female Gothic films. It is also Hitchcock’s first film after moving to America. The Gothic atmosphere is spectacular, especially in the sequence where the second Mrs. de Winter explores the west wing of Manderley. It is well known that Hitchcock disavowed the picture because Selznick interfered with it, but it’s definitely worth checking out regardless.

Notorious (1946), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of his top films of the 1940s. I read that the Hollywood Production Code—the group that policed film content at the time—would not allow prolonged, lustful kissing between Devlin and Alicia, so Hitchcock had to film around that. The Code even raised an eyebrow at Alicia’s heavy drinking!

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, is the quintessential noir film. It has all the classic themes: an unstable world, deception, sexuality, entrapment, and moral ambiguity. Phyllis is one of the best femme fatales, and it’s no surprise she is ranked #8 on AFI’s list of greatest villains. It’s one of Wilder’s finest films.

The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop (2025), directed by Simon Ennis, is a fascinating documentary about players, collectors, and designers of board games. I knew nothing about this subculture and found it very interesting, especially the section on game designers.

On the Waterfront (1954), directed by Elia Kazan, is one of my all-time favorite films. It is a gritty, realist crime drama. The performances are outstanding, especially those by Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. The score by Leonard Bernstein is also very memorable. It’s an important film that demonstrates how one person’s courage can make a difference for many.

Sinatra in Palm Springs (2018) is an enjoyable documentary that chronicles Frank Sinatra building his home in Palm Springs. You really get a sense of how much he loved living in the desert—his love of food and drink, and his time spent with friends. What surprised me most was the amount of charitable work he did.

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TV

DTF: St Louis. I was mixed on the first episode. But watching the second episode confirmed that this series is not for me. And the product placement is really bad.

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BOOKS

The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad nicely updates his original book from 1993. I very much enjoyed reading Azerrad’s notes alongside the original text. Having lived through Nirvana’s popularity during the 1990s, it’s hard not to think about what direction that the band would have gone in after In Utero. Would Dave Grohl have stayed in the band? Overall, it’s a great read.

 

Watched and Read - March 15, 2026

Here's what I watched and read last week...

 

MOVIES

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), directed by Nicholas Meyer, is a major improvement over the previous Star Trek film. I especially enjoyed the parallels between the end of the Cold War and the attempt to establish peace between the Federation and the Klingons. Meyer also balances humor and drama effectively. And of course, it wouldn’t be Star Trek without plenty of Shakespeare references.

In the Name of the Father (1993), directed by Jim Sheridan, is a powerful film about the Guildford Four, featuring incredible performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, and Emma Thompson. It’s an important film and a moving father-and-son story. A must-see movie.

Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025), directed by Matthew Miele, is a great documentary about one of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters. The film does an excellent job highlighting key monologues and passages of dialogue from Chayefsky’s work, including Marty and Network. I also enjoyed the interviews, particularly with Aaron Sorkin, who is now one of Hollywood’s leading screenwriters. The documentary is currently streaming on HBO and is a must-see for writers.

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TV

Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, this has been a Star Trek week! I watched “The Game,” the episode in which Wesley Crusher returns in season five. It’s not a bad episode, though the ending feels a little too easy. It was also nice to see Ashley Judd in one of her early roles. However, “Unification,” Parts I and II, featuring Spock, are really strong episodes. The episodes aired around the time Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released in theaters, and they are dedicated to Gene Roddenberry, who had just passed away.

Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind (2005) is a great episode about Nirvana’s landmark album, filled with insightful interviews about the band at the time. One of the highlights is producer Butch Vig at the mixing board, explaining how many of the songs were recorded. One thing that is often overlooked about Nevermind is how much Dave Grohl contributed vocally to the album.

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BOOKS

Absolute Recoil by Slavoj Žižek. Because I have read so many of his books, it is sometimes difficult to identify the central premise, as many of them share similar structures. Žižek often returns to examples from his earlier work, but this has never bothered me. In fact, I find the repetition helpful in clarifying complex concepts such as Hegel’s “negation of negation” and the “night of the world.” As always, Žižek draws on Lacan to explain Hegel’s ideas, particularly concepts like the death drive and objet petit a.

 

 

Watched and Read - March 8, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read…

 

MOVIES

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), directed by Jacques Demy, is a very good musical in which every line is sung. Since I don’t speak French, it was sometimes difficult to fully connect the music with the characters’ emotions while reading the subtitles. Still, I thought the final section, when Guy returns home, was outstanding.

Man on the Run (2025), directed by Morgan Neville, is an excellent documentary about Paul McCartney and the formation of Wings. I’ve always loved this period of McCartney’s career and the music he wrote during those years.

Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, is one of Wilder’s best films. I teach it when discussing film stardom and film noir. This semester, I’m also using it to explore the themes of reality, dreams, and illusion.

A Perfect Murder (1998), directed by Andrew Davis, was my second viewing. The first time I saw it was when it was released in theaters, and it didn’t connect with me then. When I noticed the Criterion Channel was showing it, I decided to give it another try, especially since it’s based on Dial M for Murder. Because I’m currently finishing a book on Hitchcock, I was curious to see Davis’s interpretation of the material. My recommendation, however, is to skip A Perfect Murder and watch Dial M for Murder instead.

Videoheaven (2025), directed by Alex Ross Perry, left me feeling very mixed. It’s a very long documentary, and by the end I felt that all I learned was that many movies (a lot that look bad) contain scenes set in video stores. It didn’t evoke much nostalgia for the video-store era, and I was surprised that it didn’t explore the broader relationship between technology and culture. For example, there’s no discussion of changing family dynamics in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, which was one of the factors that made the VCR appealing. A great book on this topic is Frederick Wasser’s Veni, Vidi, Video.

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TV

DTF: St. Louis. I watched the first episode and I’m not entirely sure about some of the story decisions yet. Still, I like the characters and plan to watch the next episode. It’s great to see Linda Cardellini in the series. Also, Steve Conrad wrote the excellent film Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, which starred Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, and Sandra Bullock.

The Mystery of Méliès (2021) is a great television documentary currently streaming on HBO. It works both as a biography of Georges Méliès and as an account of how many of his lost films were discovered and restored. Highly recommended.

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BOOKS

I finished Chocky by John Wyndham and think it ranks among his best books, along with The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos. The novel centers on a boy named Matthew who may—or may not—be inhabited by an external entity, possibly an unknown life form. It’s a very engaging story that keeps you guessing from page to page. The ending is especially strong, and the book also includes a great introduction by Margaret Atwood. I highly recommend it.

 

Watched and Read - March 1, 2026

My 100th blog posting!

Here’s what I watched and read…

MOVIES

Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) is an enjoyable documentary about Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder tour in the mid-1970s. I wish it did a better job of contextualizing the tour at the outset, but I really enjoyed the performances. I was also surprised to learn that the great guitarist Mick Ronson toured with Bob Dylan. I mostly associate him with David Bowie. Definitely worth checking out.

The End of the Affair (1999), directed by Neil Jordan, was a second viewing for me. The first time I saw it when it was released on video, and I didn’t care for it. I decided to give it another try because I like some of Jordan’s films, such as Mona Lisa and The Crying Game. I appreciated The End of the Affair more this time. There are strong performances, especially by Julianne Moore, but the film still didn’t fully connect with me.

Raging Bull (1980) is one of Martin Scorsese’s best films and certainly one of the best of the 1980s. It offers an intense portrait of boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) that is hard to look away from. One of the most powerful moments occurs when Jake tries to fix the television while questioning his younger brother Joey (Joe Pesci) about what happened at the club with his wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty). The scene erupts into one of the film’s most violent sequences, and the television remains unfixed—a striking parallel to Jake’s distorted inner reality. I still can’t believe Scorsese didn’t win the Oscar for Best Director.

Clerk. (2021), directed by Malcolm Ingram, is a very good documentary about indie filmmaker Kevin Smith. I was in film school when Clerks was released and remember classmates talking great things about it. The early ’90s were an exciting time for independent cinema, and I enjoyed learning more about Smith’s artistic journey. Some of his films haven’t connected with me, but I think the three Clerks films are excellent, and I’ve always loved Mallrats.

EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025), directed by Baz Luhrmann, is a terrific concert film capturing Presley when he returned to live performance after focusing on film acting. It’s the kind of experience that demands the big screen to fully appreciate what a dynamic performer and musician Elvis was. Highly recommended.

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TV

Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Redemption,” Parts I and II, is a great conclusion to a narrative that began in the third-season episode “Sins of the Father,” when Worf accepts discommendation for his father’s alleged involvement in the Khitomer massacre. “Redemption” brings that storyline to a satisfying close. Really strong writing throughout.

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BOOKS

I’m currently reading Chocky by John Wyndham, and so far it’s very good. I’m also reading The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad, which I’m really enjoying as well. It’s such a great deep dive into the band’s history and creative process.