Watched and Read - April 26, 2026

Here's what I watched and read...

 

 

MOVIES

Black River (1957), directed by Masaki Kobayashi, is a dark and gritty Japanese noir film. I had a hard time connecting with this one.

I Am Waiting (1957), directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, is a good film, with some cool cinematography.

Tron: Ares (2025), directed by Joachim Rønning, has amazing visuals and a great soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. But the film’s story is not very good. The performances are not good either. A big disappointment.

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TV

I enjoyed the new PBS Nova episode, Artemis II: Return to the Moon. It is amazing how much work goes into rocket launches and all the precautions taken, especially the crew’s reentry to Earth. I wish they showed more pictures of the Moon and Earth from Artemis. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable episode.

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BOOKS

I finished The Chrysalids by John Wyndham last week. An excellent and powerful book by one of the great sci-fi writers of great writers of the twentieth century. See my post on Chocky.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This is a disturbing story I am teaching for horror studies. If you have not read it, I will not go into detail. What I will say is that the story invites conversation. My take is that the horror of the story is in the re-reading of it. The horror is assigned to the everyday and the procedures associated with conducting the lottery. It is a great example of ideology, evident in the exchange between Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner. We learn that another village is thinking of giving up the lottery, which upsets Old Man Warner. Ideology operates by not calling attention to itself as ideology, and I think that’s one of the things that makes “The Lottery” so disturbing. They have a choice not to do this. Great read by another great writer of the twentieth century.

 

 

Watched and Read - April 19, 2026

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

 

 

MOVIES

Sentimental Value, (2025), directed by Joachim Trier, is a very good movie with excellent performances from Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. I particularly enjoyed the film’s melodramatic mood.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018), directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, is one of my favorite animated films. It’s a great story about about finding yourself - for both young and old. Anyone can wear the mask.

The International (2009), directed by Tom Tykwer, is a good movie, with some good action, particularly the Guggenheim Museum sequence. But there are some questionable moments, such as Louis (Clive Owen) walking through traffic with a gun. The cars drive by him as if this were an everyday occurrence.

High and Low (1963), directed by Akira Kurosawa, is an excellent film by one of cinema’s greatest directors. Kurosawa did not direct many contemporary Japanese films, which makes this one fascinating, especially given that it is adapted from a Ed McBain novel. A must-see if you are exploring international cinema.

Take Aim at the Police Van (1960), directed by Seijun Suzuki, is a good Japanese film noir. The style is fast-paced and gritty. Criterion has curated a number of these films, which I plan to watch. Suzuki is known as one of the central figures of the Japanese New Wave.

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TV

Pistols (2022), directed by Danny Boyle. I’ve watched two episodes so far. What a great miniseries on the Sex Pistols. Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography is amazing. Pistols reminds me a lot of 24 Hour Party People (2002). A great miniseries so far.

I am also catching up on the new season of Bob’s Burgers. I loved the 300th anniversary episode where they tell the story of how Linda and Bob started the restaurant.

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BOOKS

I read a very good chapter on Hitchcock’s Frenzy by Luke Robinson. The chapter is from One Shot Hitchcock, where each writer analyzes one shot from one of Hitchcock’s films. Robinson focused on a shot of Barbara (Brenda Blaney) before she is murdered by Rusk (Barry Foster). Robinson provides some very interesting observations, particularly Hitchcock’s use of silence and its connection to death.

 

Watched and Read - April 12, 2026

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

 

MOVIES

Nuremberg (2025), directed by James Vanderbilt, is a good movie with great performances by Michael Shannon and John Slattery. But Russell Crowe’s performance as Hermann Göring is the highlight of the movie, and it’s frightening! I think Rami Malek was miscast as Douglas Kelley.

Out of the Past (1947), directed by Jacques Tourneur, is a classic noir. I love the cinematography and the labyrinthine plot. Great performances by Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. A must-see classical Hollywood film.

Yeast (2008), directed by Mary Bronstein. I caught this on the Criterion Channel. Yeast is considered a mumblecore movie. Criterion, however, does not list it as mumblecore in the description. Are they embarrassed by the term? Anyway! Mumblecore got attached to a bunch of indie filmmakers at the turn of the millennium. The Duplass brothers, Joe Swanberg, Andrew Bujalski, and Greta Gerwig all came out of this cool, little film movement. Yeast’s minimalist plot, emphasis on character, and realism definitely give the film a mumblecore vibe. Although, at times, the film feels amateur, I strangely enjoyed watching it.

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TV

Sebastian Maniscalco’s comedy special, It Ain’t Right, is really funny, especially his bits on Amazon deliveries and turning 50. It is streaming on Hulu.

Billy Idol Should Be Dead (2025). I was a little mixed on this documentary. I was hoping they would have gone more into the music and his band members rather than Idol’s drug issues. But then I should have known by the title of the documentary.

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BOOKS

I finished reading The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer and thought it was an excellent read. I’ve read a lot of books and articles about New Hollywood cinema, and this was definitely one of the best. I think Fischer’s book and Peter Biskind’s, From Easy Rider to Raging Bull, are great companion pieces on that era in cinema.

I read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Lost City on Mars.” It is definitely one of the top stories in the collection, I Sing the Body Electric!, which I am almost done reading.

I also finished Dean Koontz’s, The Friend of the Family. It’s an excellent read and beautifully written. The story has a little bit of a Charles Dickens vibe. I highly recommend it.

 

 

Watched and Read - April 5, 2026

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

 

MOVIES

Project Hail Mary (2026), directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far. I love the novel, and I thought they did a great job adapting it for the screen. Ryan Gosling is amazing. Definitely check out the film on the big screen - the special effects are excellent.

The Fantastic Four: Four Steps (2025), directed by Matt Shakman, is a very entertaining film from Marvel's Cinematic Universe. I have not seen all of the MCU films since the third phase, but I really enjoyed Fantastic Four. I particularly like the film’s 1960s look and style. The film even piqued my interest in the next Avenger films.

American Graffiti (1973), directed by George Lucas, is one of my all time favorite movies. The story takes place over one night and is confined mostly to the cars cruising the strip. The film does not follow a traditional narrative structure. Rather than focusing on one main character, the film crosscuts between four characters, Curt, Steve, John, and Kerry. If there is any star of the film it is the music. As much as I love Star Wars, I wish Lucas made more of these types of films.

Michael Clayton (2007), directed by Tony Gilroy, is an excellent thriller about a fixer, played by George Clooney, who works for a big law firm in New York City. The performances from Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson are outstanding. Some of the movie was filmed where I grew up in the Hudson Valley. One of my favorite scenes takes place at the Moodna Viaduct. I highly recommend it.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is a great one from the legendary Japanese animator. I teach this for my film course and always enjoy watching it. I particularly love the film’s European architecture.

Is This Thing On? (2025). I was mixed on Bradley Cooper’s new movie. The story was a little too jumpy for me. And some of the dramatic moments were not believable. But I did like the way they shot the movie. 

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TV

I Am Chris Farley (2015) is a very good documentary that chronicles Farely’s beginning as a comedian at Second City to SNL and his final years in Hollywood. Farley was an amazing talent. I can watch his SNL skits over and over.

I am catching up on the new seasons of Family Guy and Futurama. Both are starting out very good. I even went back to American Dad!, which is on Fox again. The first episode of the new season is fun. I got burned out on American Dad! when I watched it on TBS. But I really enjoyed what I watched from the new season.

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BOOKS

I read a very good article on teen and youth films by Timothy Shary. Shary provides a great overview of the history of young people in cinema. He offers different sub-genre of teen movies that begin with what he terms “The Multiplex Generation,” which is really about Generation X and older Millennials. The article ends in the early 2000s. But his book, Teen Movies: A Century of American Youth, explores more recent Generation Z movies.