Here's what I watched last week...
MOVIES
The Naked City (1948), directed by Jules Dassin, is a classic noir film. The on-location shooting in New York City gives the film a strong sense of realism. I read that this is one of the early American films informed by Italian Neorealism. It is available to stream on Criterion.
The Devil’s Backbone (2001), directed by Guillermo del Toro, is one of his best. It’s a great companion film to Pan’s Labyrinth. I am teaching the film for horror studies in my introduction to film course. We are examining the various horror and Gothic themes, particularly how del Toro reconfigures the monstrous.
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story (2026), directed by Judd Apatow and Neil Berkeley, is an excellent documentary on comedian Maria Bamford. The documentary traces her beginnings as a comedian, explores her mental health, and examines her relationship with her family. I think what I enjoyed the most is hearing the stories about her family, especially Maria’s relationship with her parents.
TV
SPOILER ALERT
I finished the series Carrie on Amazon and thought it was excellent. At first, I was hesitant to watch it because I love De Palma’s version so much. But this is an amazing reimagining of King’s novel that directly speaks to our current troubles with social media.
The main reason I watched the series was the connections to The Dark Tower. I recently heard Flanagan on the Kingcast explaining the difficulty of getting rights to all The Dark Tower characters. He did mention that he could use certain characters that were not exclusively part of Roland’s crew for the series. I’m not sure if that will be the case for Carrie White. I think Adelaide (Katie Siegel) might be after Carrie because of her power. My speculation is that they want to bring Carrie to Mid-World to be used as a Breaker. This was the case for Ted Brautigan, who was on the run from the “Low Men in Yellow Coats” in Hearts in Atlantis. It is possible the two women working for Adelaide are “Low Men.” Besides the connections to The Dark Tower, Carrie is worth the watch. It should garner some Emmy nods next year.
