Watched and Read - May 31, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week…

 

MOVIES

Hard Boiled (1992), directed by John Woo, might be one of the greatest action films ever made. I always show the shoot out in the tea house that opens the film to my students, and I always tell them that this is nothing compared to the hospital sequence. The long take of Tony Leung and Chow Yun-fat moving through the hospital corridors is one of the many highlights of the film.

Clockwatchers (1997), directed by Jill Sprecher, is a smartly written movie, with great performances. I particularly enjoyed how space is depicted in the film. There are a lot of shots that compress the work environment, which I think nicely parallels the existential theme of work. This is a great companion film to Office Space. It is streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Marty, Life is Short (2026), directed by Lawrence Kasdan, is good documentary on the comedian and actor Martin Short. It is hard to believe all the tragedy he faced throughout his life. Definitely worth watching.

We Bury The Dead (2026), directed by Zak Hilditch. I was mixed on this movie. I enjoyed the visuals and post-apocalyptic atmosphere, but I didn’t find it to be scary. The sound effects of teeth chattering from the zombies were a little too much for me. I had to turn the down the volume on my TV, it was so intense! But I am glad to see Daisy Ridley on screen.

Abraham’s Boys (2025), directed by Natasha Kermani, is a good movie. I read on IMDb that the film has terrible reviews, but I actually enjoyed it. It is slow paced, with a moody atmosphere. The cinematography is excellent. I particularly enjoyed the deep-focus landscapes which allows us to see the isolation of the Van Helsing family. I also enjoyed the mixture of the Western and Gothic. The film is based on a Joe Hill short story, which I’ve read. Hill is an excellent writer, and I am glad to see some of his stories making it to the screen. Abraham’s Boys might not be for everyone, especially if you are looking for lots of jump scares and fast-paced horror. But I really enjoyed Kermani’s slow cinema style adaptation of Hill’s story.

Marty Supreme (2025), directed by Josh Safdie. I really enjoyed the film’s fast-paced energy. It comes at you like a bullet train. Once you’re on board, it’s hard to get off. This is not your typical sports film. Timothée Chalamet said he watched The Hustler and The Color of Money to prepare for the role. I can see some of Tom Cruise’s Vincent from The Color of Money in Marty. It also might be one of Chalamet’s best performances. The cast of characters is great. 

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TV

Welcome to Wrexham, episode three, is another good episode of the latest season. We are introduced to more new players that might be shifting the tide. And I always enjoy the stories of the Wrexham community.

Spider-Noir. I enjoyed the first episode. I watched the color version. Next episode, I will check out the black and white version. Great cast of characters.

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BOOKS

The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart by Noël Carroll is a very good book on the horror genre. The premise is this: why does horror frighten us when we know the monster does not exist. It is what Carroll calls the paradox of horror. One of his central claims is that it’s the thought of horror that frightens us. Carroll offers lots of examples to back this up. However, his critique of psychoanalysis is weak and outdated. I recommend reading Todd McGowan’s article or his book on The Real Gaze and Slavoj Žižek’s response to Carroll and David Bordwell’s critique of psychoanalysis and Marxism in The Fright of Real Tears. Putting psychoanalysis aside, if you are interested in horror studies, this is a must-read even if you don’t agree with some of Carroll’s claims or his definition of horror.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is an amazing book. I teach Hugo in my introduction to film course but had never read the book. I definitely plan to assign the book for my Film and Literature course. If you love movies, this is a must-read.

 

 

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.

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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.

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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.

Subway - Homicide: Life on the Street

A few weeks ago, I taught the episode "Subway" from the 1990s police procedural show Homicide: Life on the Street for my TV theory course. "Subway" is an amazing and dark episode, and extremely well-acted by Andre Braugher and Vincent D'Onofrio. It was written by James Yoshimura.

"Subway" is about John Lange (D'Onofiro) who gets pinned between a subway car and the train's boarding platform. The episode's mystery (in a Rashomon manner) is whether or not Lange was pushed by a man named Biedron.

 

Det. Pembleton (in a priest-like role) must console Lange as the city workers prepare to free him from the subway car. It is obvious that Lange's chances of survival are slim. But it is not only Lange who is confronted with the presence of death; Pembleton, too, is reminded of his own mortality, for he recently survived a stroke.

"Subway" is a great example of what I call confinement cinema, a topic that I fully explore in my forthcoming book Cinema of Confinement. One of my claims of confinement cinema is the impact of excess both physically (within the confined space) and psychically (both characters and our engagement with the confinement setting). I argue that excess is what sustains our engagement in the narrative over a long period of time within a confined setting. Some notable films are Misery (1990), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and Phone Booth (2002)

In my book, I not only unpack how movies are able to keep us involved in the narrative over a long period of time within a confined setting, but also the theoretical, social, and political insights confinement cinema offers. 

One topic I explored specifically with my class is "Subway's" existential qualities and large questions about religion, pain, and happiness. Pembleton says to Frank that pain is what universally binds us together, which certainly falls in line with Sartre's notion of anguish; namely, that we are constantly faced with freedom and choices (consciousness of consciousness). For Sartre, existence lies in our everyday actions and choices. The subway setting also has a sense of hell as existing below as both men wrestle with their mortality. Perhaps one of the best lines of the episode is when Lange says to Pembleton: "God invents pain; man invents booze."

Once Lange is finally freed from the subway, he immediately dies. Pembleton seems to be severely affected by Lange's death. Right before he ascends upwards on the escalator, he looks up (symbolically) for a moment. He then meets with his partner Det. Bayliss (Kyle Secor) as they walk to their vehicle. Ending the episode on ambiguous note, Pembleton says to Bayliss: "The guy said, I'm okay." I asked my students is: who is okay? Is it Frank or Lange that is okay? 

After Pembleton and Bayliss drive off, Sarah (Lange's girlfriend) jogs past the subway terminal, not knowing that her boyfriend was just killed as the episode fades to black. Indeed, life keeps moving forward.... 

I hope more people discover Homicide: Life on the Street.

Random Review - January 19, 2013 - Peyton Place

Peyton Place (1957)

Dir. Mark Robertson

For fans of the television show Twin Peaks (1990-1991), Peyton Place is important to film to view.  David Lynch has acknowledged its influence on the show.  There are many similarities between both the television show and the film: the main source of employment is a mill; many of the characters are high school teenagers; the postcard images of a small town and the values of its community.  But most importantly is the dramatic tension in concealing secrets.  Of course, Twin Peaks was marketed as a murder mystery: who killed Laura Palmer?  In Peyton Place, there is a desire to know each others' secrets, which generates most of the narrative tension. The patrons of Peyton Place constantly watch each other, causing one another to be conscious of their own looking.

Peyton Place is also know for its powerful use of Cinemascope photography.  There are many breathtaking shots of New England that I am sure play better on the big screen. Cinemascope and Cinerama were new technologies created in response to the popularity of television and the changing leisure habits in the USA.  

But it would be wrong to suggest that the widescreen images of Peyton Place are there just for purely spectacle means. These gorgeous shot must be considered in relation to the space the characters inhibit. The small town of Peyton Place is where sexuality and intimacy are taboo.  These secret places, by way of contrast, are where the young characters can escape to in order to be intimate and to express their feeling...one of many things to enjoy about Peyton Place.

Random Reviews - September 18, 2012 - Lost, Fringe and Person of Interest

Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest

I recently finished watching all six seasons of the television show Lost (2004-2010) - thanks to the wonderful technology of video streaming. For the sake of those who have not seen show, I have tried to avoid listing specificities that would ruin the plot. In a nut shell, Lost tells the story of a group of survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 marooned on an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Lost is clearly one of the top television shows of recent years. The show covers many themes, such as science, religion, and family. But probably the topic given the most attention is the question of fate.  Here, the writers do a great job keeping us wondering if there is a greater purpose for the survivors of flight 815. Lost's puzzle narrative structure helps to underscore this notion. Some random notes (after all, this is a random review): Michael Giacchino's beautiful score; the diversity of characters; and cinematography, editing, and acting-all work very well. Lost deservedly won a bunch of Emmys. But I was surprised that none of the women were nominated for their work. Lastly, there are some fantastic stand-alone episodes. I particularly loved "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead," which some critics, apparently, did not like.

I find myself drawn more and more to J.J. Abrams' fictional Universe. I recently started watching Fringe - another great show of Abrams'. Fringe is like the scientific version of the Twilight Zone.  If Rod Serling gave us existential reasoning for the show's strange happenings, Fringe attempts to scientifically solve them! Topics covered are telekinesis, shape-shifting, spontaneous combustion, and suspended animation, to name but a few.  Walter (John Noble), the eccentric scientist, does a convincing job to prove the scientific validity of these strange happenings. Noble's humorous antics also help to balance out Fringe's graphic imagery.

All of these shows strikingly share a commonality: a depiction of a post 9/11 society of paranoia. These shows, in many ways, are a microscope into our culture of rapid technological innovation, speed, and surveillance. Abrams and Matt Reeves really tune into these features in their frantic, science-fiction, disaster, monster, digital cinema film Cloverfield (2008).  I guess in certain ways these shows can be compared to the paranoia films of 1970s, such as Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Towering Inferno (1974), and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). This is not meant to be a generalization.  But I like that the writers of the show address these issues. Finally, I recently read that Star Trek 2 is heading into production which begs the question: does J.J. Abrams sleep?