Watched and Read - October 19, 2025

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

MOVIES

The Killer (1989) is one of my favorite John Woo films, featuring some of his best action sequences. If you enjoy over-the-top action done with artistry, this movie is definitely worth checking out. Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets was a major influence, and you can also see the impact of Sam Peckinpah in Woo’s use of slow-motion violence.

The Conjuring 2 (2016) I really enjoyed this film and found it almost as scary as the first one. It had plenty of great scares throughout. The highlight for me was Lorraine’s encounter with the nun and the painting at her home — a chilling scene.

¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! (2024). A very good documentary about South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker buying and renovating Casa Bonita, a beloved restaurant in Colorado.

Frankenweenie (2012). I was deeply moved by Tim Burton’s film. My dog passed away earlier this year, so the story really hit home. I also loved all the references to classic films, especially Universal Horror and Godzilla. This is truly a hidden gem in Burton’s filmography.

Mars Attacks! (1996). This feels like one of those movies you either love or don’t — and I absolutely love it. I think it’s hilarious and a great follow-up to Burton’s masterpiece Ed Wood. Like Frankenweenie, it’s full of fun callbacks to 1950s sci-fi and the paranoia films of that era. Apparently, Jack Nicholson even wanted to play more than the two roles he already had! Also great to spot a young Jack Black. It was a lot of fun revisiting this one.

Dark Shadows (2012). This film is visually stunning, but I felt the story could have been stronger. The comedy didn’t always land, especially following the dark and dramatic prologue. That said, I loved the Gothic imagery, and I thought Johnny Depp gave a strong performance.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016). As expected, Burton’s visuals are impressive—especially his Gothic interpretation of the Peregrine home. However, the climax veered a bit into CGI overload. I felt the story could have been stronger overall; the narrative stakes for Asa Butterfield’s character never fully landed for me. That said, I did enjoy the time-loop elements—they added an intriguing layer to the film.

Sleepy Hallow (1999). I had mixed feelings when I first saw this back in 1999. Having grown up in the Hudson Valley, I wanted the setting to feel more authentic to the region I knew. But on rewatch, I really appreciated how Burton reimagined Sleepy Hollow. The set design is incredible, and Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography is stunning.

I also liked that the story is set not long after the founding of the United States, around the turn of the 19th century. I interpreted it as a moment of transition—moving toward modernity—which Johnny Depp’s character embodies through his tools, gadgets, and early forensic methods. I’m glad I revisited it. Heads will roll…

 

---

TV

Task. The show keeps getting better every week. This week brought another surprise, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they wrap it up. It’s definitely one of the best television shows I’ve watched this year.

Dept. Q. Episode one and two. I really like this so far. I’ve been a fan of Scott Frank’s work going all the way back to Out of Sight and Minority Report. The setting is well done, and I’m curious to see how they solve the case.

---

BOOKS

Criss-Cross: The Making of Alfred Hithcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train by Stephen Rebello. A good read overall. Having read quite a bit about Hitchcock, I felt much of what Rebello covers has been explored by other writers before. I thought the sections on Raymond Chandler and the film’s music could have been shorter. The most interesting part of the book for me was the production of the film. Still, it’s definitely worth checking out if you love Strangers on a Train. I also highly recommend Rebello’s Making of Psycho.

Tim Burton: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work by Ian Nathan. I’ve read quite a few of Ian Nathan’s books on directors, and they’re always fun to read. This is a new edition focused on Tim Burton. As you can probably tell from what I’ve been watching this week, I’ve been revisiting a lot of his movies—especially ones I hadn’t seen before or hadn’t watched in a while.

 

Watched and Read - October 12, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week…

MOVIES

Are We Good? (2025) is a great and entertaining documentary about comedian and podcaster Marc Maron. Most of the film focuses on the years just before and after the lockdown. I especially loved seeing the studio where he records his podcast—and we even got to see his cats! After the screening, Larry Charles interviewed Maron, which basically turned into a stand-up set. I’m really sad that there won’t be any more WTF episodes.

Bullet in the Head (1990) – The Criterion Channel is currently featuring John Woo’s action films. While Bullet in the Head isn’t quite as great as The Killer or Hard Boiled, I still enjoyed Woo’s take on the story of three childhood friends trying to escape war-torn Vietnam. Having seen many Vietnam War films, it was fascinating to watch Woo’s perspective. The movie carries a Deer Hunter flavor, especially in the tragic fate that befalls one of the friends later in the film.

Slither (2006) – James Gunn’s directorial debut is a lot of fun to watch. It reminded me of the 1988 version of The Blob. You can already see some of Gunn’s signature touches, like his creative use of popular music and sharp sense of humor. The bathtub sequence was definitely the highlight of the film.

A Good Marriage (2014) – I believe this was a straight-to-video release. Stephen King adapted his own novella for the screen. It’s not a bad movie—slow at times, but still engaging. I especially enjoyed Joan Allen’s performance. The story comes from Full Dark, No Stars, a collection of four novellas by King that I highly recommend.

What Lies Beneath (2000) – I had mixed feelings about this one. I was living in Vermont at the time it was filmed, so it was fun to recognize some of the locations. The film is visually stunning, but the story feels a bit muddled. It starts in Rear Window mode, then shifts into Gothic horror with a “restless ghost” narrative. Zemeckis clearly shows his love for Hitchcock, but the film struggles to decide what it wants to be. That said, there are some great moments—especially the bathtub scene. Funny enough, that’s two horror films I watched this week featuring bathtubs.

Annabelle (2014) – Not as scary as The Conjuring, but I still enjoyed it. I liked that the story is set in an apartment, which gives the film a Rosemary’s Baby vibe. There are some solid scares, too.

Ozzy: No Escape From Now (2025) – This is a very good documentary about the final years of Ozzy Osbourne’s life. We watched the entire Back to the Beginning concert in July, and it was incredible—one of the greatest metal shows. The documentary doesn’t delve much into Black Sabbath or their brief reunion for one last performance, but it powerfully captures how much Ozzy struggled after his unfortunate back surgery. Very sad. RIP Ozzy.

John Candy: I Like Me (2025). Nice documentary that celebrates the life and work of John Candy. Uncle Buck is one of my favorites of his.

---

TV

The latest episode of Task was one of the best so far. Mark Ruffalo delivered an incredible performance, and that twist was huge. This series is really turning into something great.

---

BOOKS

Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity by Todd McGowan is an excellent companion to his earlier work, Desire and Capitalism. In Pure Excess, McGowan’s central argument is that the commodity form conceals our fundamental lack by offering objects of pure excess. Since the subject is always psychically divided—meaning we carry an unshakable lack—the commodity form masks this truth by presenting the illusion of pure excess without requiring us to confront that lack. In this framework, limits are the enemy of capitalism. McGowan provides many scenarios and examples to illustrate how this dynamic plays out. Highlight chapters include his analyses of paranoia and modernism.

 

Watched and Read - September 28, 2025

Here’s what I watched and read last week:

MOVIES

Chinatown (1974) is one of the great films of the New Hollywood wave. It helped usher in the neo-noir era—a term used because filmmakers in the 1940s and 1950s didn’t realize they were creating what would later be called “film noir.” The label “noir” came from French critics, most notably Nino Frank. I still consider Robert Towne’s Chinatown one of the best screenplays ever written.

Needful Things (1993). Three hours and 8 min version. It was hard to tell exactly what was new, but I did enjoy it more than the theatrical cut. I’ve read King’s novel, which I like a lot—though the ending is a bit messy. Perhaps that has to do with the madness that takes over Castle Rock in the final part. King’s multi-character perspective novels are some of my favorites—The Stand and Under the Dome, for example. Needful Things definitely fits into that storytelling style. I thought the extended cut did a better job of capturing the ensemble cast than the theatrical version. It would’ve been interesting if the story had taken place over the course of just one day. That might have made it even more powerful. I also appreciated that they didn’t explain why the devil shows up in Castle Rock—it’s more unsettling that way. They left out Ace Merrill (the villain from The Body) from the novel. I thought he might show up in the extended version, but I’m guessing that would’ve made the film way too long. The standout performance was J.T. Walsh—he pretty much stole the show. Overall, a fun film to kick off the Halloween season!

Devo (2024) is a good documentary. However, I wished it had gone more in-depth about how the band got into songwriting and how they learned to play their instruments. I also would have loved to learn more about what the other musicians—besides Mark Mothersbaugh—did after Devo during their hiatus. Still, it’s definitely worth checking out. Director Chris Smith has made some great documentaries, especially American Movie (1999), which is one of my favorites.

Triumph: Rock and Roll Machine (2021) is a very good documentary about the rock band from Toronto. It was directed by Sam Dunn of Banger Films, who has made many great documentaries—especially in the metal genre. What I particularly liked about this one was the fan-focused aspect.

Five Corners (1987) – I watched this on Criterion and thought it was a very good film. It was written by John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote Moonstruck (1987) and Doubt (2008). The movie features a great ensemble cast, and John Turturro delivers a chilling performance as a particularly scary character. There were some genuinely shocking moments that caught me off guard.

 

---

TV

Episode 3 of Task is beginning to take on a labyrinth-like structure, effectively blending suspense, noir, and whodunit mystery.

Black Rabbit is messy (maybe its supposed to be), but I’m still enjoying it.

---

BOOKS

Departure 37 (2025) by Scott Carson is an excellent sci-fi novel. The story blends elements of The Twilight Zone with Cold War-era paranoia, offering thoughtful reflections on technology that resonate with both the past and the present. I also recommend Carson’s other two books, The Chill and Lost Man’s Cave.

 

Watched and Read - September 21, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read this past week:

MOVIES

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): One of my all-time favorite films. I rewatched it after hearing the terrible news of Robert Redford’s passing. I also watched All The President’s Men (1976) on Criterion - amazing film. Redford starred in so many great films, like The Natural and Three Days of the Condor. I also really enjoyed the movies he directed, such as A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show.
RIP Robert Redford.

Quintet (1979): I’ve always wanted to see this. What a strange movie! I thought the cinematography and set design were excellent—probably among the best-looking dystopian films of the 1970s. It’s definitely more about mood and atmosphere than plot, which is muddled and hard to follow. It could have been a great film. Still, it stands out as an early example of cinema blending with game-like narratives, a precursor to things like The Hunger Games and The Running Man.

Popeye (1980): I love this film and used to watch it repeatedly on cable back in the early ’80s. I was very young when it came out, so it was probably marketed toward my age group. While it doesn’t have great ratings on IMDb, I still loved watching Popeye again—maybe it’s nostalgia. As with many of Altman’s films, the set design is incredible. I read that Sweethaven Village is now a tourist attraction. I also loved Harry Nilsson’s songs.

---

TV

I finished the third season of Strange New Worlds. Overall, I had mixed feelings about it. I’ll definitely tune in for the next season, though—I just hope it’s a lot better.

Task, Episode 2: This was a really strong episode and a great example of how we can suddenly find ourselves complicit with criminals or characters who make the wrong choices. It’s a theme that can be traced back to the cinema of Hitchcock.

I also finished the latest season of Bob’s Burgers and really enjoyed it. I particularly loved all the episodes that focused on Bob and Teddy. “Saving Favorite Drive-In” was one of my favorites. I also liked the episode where Bob flies a kite with his dad—or at least tries to!

Finally, I enjoyed the first two episodes of Black Rabbit. It has a film noir vibe, with strong performances from Jude Law and Jason Bateman, who play brothers.

---

BOOKS

Bag of Bones by Stephen King: This was my second time reading it, and I really enjoyed it. That said, I do think some parts could have moved a bit faster—maybe a tighter edit here and there—but overall, I appreciated King’s gothic, paranormal tale. It’s moody, atmospheric, with a touch of classic King.

Watched and Read - September 14, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read…

MOVIES

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). I saw this a long time ago on cable in the late 1990s, so I was excited to see it available to stream on the Criterion Channel—along with a bunch of other Robert Altman films. It’s a very good film with great performances. I especially loved the set design. Anyone interested in fandom studies should definitely check this out.

Fool For Love (1985). I read that Altman was adapting a lot of plays in the 1980s. This one I’d never seen, and am not sure if I understood it. But I enjoyed the motel set and the performances.

That Cold Day in the Park (1969). Excellent film. I had no idea what was going to happen when I was watching it. Sandy Dennis’ performance is amazing. This was Altman’s third film and you can see he’s developing his style.

Friendship (2024). Couldn’t connect with the film’s dark humor.

---

TV

Task. First episode was very good. Gritty and dark. I love Mark Ruffalo - one of my favorite actors. And it was very cool to see Martha Plimpton!

I finished the seventh season of Little House on the Prairie and enjoyed it. I watched the show when I was very young and don’t remember much from it. I’ve heard the last few seasons aren’t that great, so I watched episode one of the eighth season. They introduced Nancy to replace Nellie. Not sure if I’m going to continue.

I really enjoyed the Strange New Worlds episode “Terrarium.” It might be one of the best they’ve done. It reminded me of “Darmok” from The Next Generation, where Picard is stuck on a planet with a Tamarian. They have to use metaphors to communicate with each other.

“Wink of an Eye,” Star Trek, season three of the original series. I always loved this one. Kirk accelerates and everyone around him slows down. I watched it for research for a new novel I’m writing, which I’m almost done with!

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, “Hangover.” Tony Randall plays an alcoholic who blacks out frequently. Good twist at the end.

---

BOOKS

Still conducting research on Psycho.

This week I read a chapter from Slavoj Zizek’s The Fright of Real Tears and “In His Bold Gaze” in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan. . . . But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock.” Zizek offer some fascination insights into Hitchcock’s films, using Hegelian and Lacanian concepts. I am particularly interested in Lacan’s concept of drive and how it operates in Psycho.

I’m also reading Tales from The Crypt. They are so much fun! I highly recommend it, especially as we get closer to October!

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.

---

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.

---

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.

Watched and Read - August 31, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week:

Movies

Orpheus (1950). Beautiful film by Jean Cocteau. Love the story and special effects. The underworld sequences are superb and great examples of the fantastic.

Marnie (1964). I’m starting to see why a lot fans of Hitchcock like this one - at least from what I’ve been reading. This was my third time seeing it since the early 2000s and I really enjoyed it. Marnie breaking into Rutland’s safe is classic Hitchcock and great example of his commitment to pure cinema.

Topaz (1969). The first half was very good and suspenseful, especially the opening sequence. But the second half of the film was a let down. Minor film by Hitchcock.

Broken Flowers (2005). One of my favorites of Jarmusch’s. Great and subtle performance by Bill Murray. Jeffrey Wright is so funny as Winston who does the investigating for Murray. I also love the soundtrack, which I still own on CD. Slow cinema greatness!

The Majestic (2001): Nice film. Has a kind of Frank Capra vibe. I love the way Frank Darabont captures the small town of Lawson. I also enjoyed the 1950s invasion narrative that Darabont was engaging with. Nice performance from Jim Carrey.

---

TV

We started the seventh season of Little House on the Prairie. Some good episodes so far. Curious to see how the characters develop. I really like the episode that featured Madeleine Stowe.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The first episode was a washout for me. Too much time had passed since the second season for me to remember what happened in the last episode — even with the recap. The same thing happened when I tried watching the second season of Severance — I had no idea what was going on. Overall, based on the first six episodes I’ve watched, the third season of SNW includes some questionable choices by the writers, but I’m sticking with it.

---

Books

Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan. Outstanding read. What a journey to read about Hitchcock’s life in film. I read Donald Spoto’s book on Hitchcock back in 2015. Now having read both books, I feel I have much better understanding of Hitch’s work. One of our greatest filmmakers.

Enjoying Right & Left by Todd McGowan. Excellent read. McGowan, as always, does a great job of explaining the concepts - focusing on the differences between belonging and nonbelonging and their relationship to enjoyment. McGowan offers lots of great examples to explain how the right and left organize enjoyment and the important role of contradiction. I love the chapter on Christmas movies and the last chapter on Heathers.

Watched and Read - August 23, 2025

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week:

Movies

I’m continuing my Jim Jarmusch marathon.

Night on Earth. Very enjoyable. The first story with Winona Ryder was my favorite.

Dead Man. I haven’t seen this since it was first released on video in 1996. The movie is starting to grow on me, but still my least favorites of Jarmusch’s.

Coffee and Cigarettes. The name says it all. A collection of stories or conversations. My favorite ones are Jack and Meg White and Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina.

Sinners. Very good horror film. Really liked that Coogler allowed us to know the characters and their world before getting into the horror.

In Time. Great premise. Loved the first part of the film. But I felt some of the acting was not good, and kind of surprising given Niccol had written and directed Gattica, which I love.

---

TV

We finished the sixth season of Little House on the Prairie. The last three episodes were classic. The sixth and second seasons, so far, are my favorite. Michael Landon has a great eye for composition. The high definition images look great on Peacock.

---

Books

Foul Play Suspected by John Wyndham. A crime novel written under the name John Beynon. I wasn’t expecting something like The Day of the Triffids or The Midwich Cuckoos, but there are some interesting topics discussed—stuff that he would later explore in his sci-fi books. I’d consider it a minor work of his, but worth checking out. The book reminded me a little of the film noir Kiss Me Deadly.

Random Reviews - November 3, 2012 - Young Hearts Crying and Watchmen

Young Hearts Crying, Richard Yates, 1984

This was a book recommended to me by my wife who has read all of Yates' work.  Yates is known widely for his book Revolution Road, made recently into a film directed by Sam Mendes.  This is a powerful and gritty book about the marriage and divorce of Michael and Lucy Davenport.  It spans almost forty years, beginning with Lucy and Michael's meeting at Harvard and their marriage in the 1940s, ending somewhere in the late 1970s.  The novel's twist is that Lucy comes from money and has inherited 3 million dollars.  But Michael refuses to live the life of a wealthy couple, and decides they should live by everyday means.  This is because Michael is an aspiring poet and believes that wealth will distract his passion and imagination as a writer.  This is a brilliant move on the part of Yates, because it directly taps into the novel's emotional realism about creativity and the struggle of the everyday, something one would likely find in the works of Charles Bukowski.

Young Hearts Crying has similarities to the emotional experience of watching a John Cassavetes film.  Yates' minimalist and Hemingway-ish dialogue is pungent and hits you right in the gut, so to speak. The dialogue also indicates the novel's passage of time.  For example, you can hear Michael's dialogue changing as he becomes older.  I also could not help noticing how many moments in the novel are reminiscent of the character Pete Campbell from the show Mad Men.  One wonders how much inspiration Matthew Weiner may have gotten from Yates's work?   

Michael and Lucy have their own separate stories after their divorce, as they each try to pick up the pieces and carry on with their lives.  Part of their struggles stem from the desire to create, whether its Michael hyper-focusing over one line of dialogue in his poem, or Lucy seeking approval for her paintings from her neighbor and artist Nelson.  Like the book itself, its about tapping into those deep emotions and trying to find the right word or image to convey expressions of loneliness, melancholy or frustration.

  Watchmen, 2009, Zack Snyder

Watchmen has had a long history in Hollywood. It was acquired by Hollywood in the late 1980s, and a number of directors have been attached to the project, including Terry Gilliam.  I even purchased a copy of the screenplay in the late 1990s from a nascent eBay. When I finally heard the film was actually in production, and then saw a trailer in 2008, I was quite eager to see how director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch) would adapt what many have called the "Citizen Kane" of comic books to the screen.

Snyder compacts twelve chapters of Watchmen into roughly a three hour film.  The set design and art direction of the film are magnificent. The film's use of colors and light, in many ways, reminded me of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. I would even go as far as to add that the film has a sort of surrealistic quality.  I also love how Snyder incorporates popular music as part of the score.  Rorschach, played by Jackie Earle Haley, is fantastic and has a Taxi Driver/Travis Bickle-like quality.  As a side note, I highly recommend reading Rorschach's back story in Before The Watchmen, written by Brian Azzarello, writer of 100 Bullets.

Many reviews for Watchmen have not been enthusiastic. Yet, I believe that as time passes,  Watchmen will be considered a significant film in the cannon of the comic book film genre.  Putting that aside, Watchmen, as a graphic novel, is arguably an important work of literature of the twentieth century.  Overall, I think the film is quite entertaining and something of a tour de force for its tone, art, and set design.