Busby Berkeley must have had access to the really good drugs.

Hitchcock's North by Northwest remains awesome, in spite of the fact that one of the villain's minions is an *actual* commie-pinko-fag.

But, Martin Landau. I think he made up for it in Mission Impossible.

Saw John Wick yesterday. Keanu obsession aside, that was a great action flick. Very confident direction for a first feature. Lots of interesting shots and angles. Good pacing.

But, Martin Landau.

That was 100% in the writing nothing to do with the acting. (Male) minion to main villain: "It just seemed too pat. Call it women's intution."

Main villain to minion: "I would swear you were jealous. I'm flattered".

They decided making the villains communists wasn't quite villainous enough, so they indulged in a bit of gratuitous queer bashing too. A jarring note in an otherwise superb film. (Even though I'm a lefty, the anti-communism was not jarring - integral to the plot. Not even absolutely sure it was a McGuffin. I think the film would not have had the same style and atmosphere if it had been stolen jewelery rather than stolen secrets. .)

Oh one other bit of unintentional bit of humor.

Non-gay minion: "Don't worry about me. I'll be safely over the border into Canada by morning." Cause I guess in the 50s, Canada had no extradition treaty. Actually not so amusing - the McCarthy era ethos seeped so deeply and casually into film. Canada as refuge for spies because a lot of blacklist victims were able to move there and earn a living. Similarly, describing the art object used to smuggle the microfilm as a "pumpkin" was a reference to the Alger Hiss case. But in spite of my parents being victims of the McCarthy era, my family kind of shrugs stuff like that off in fiction. If we skipped fiction whose politics appalls use, that eliminate a huge portion of whats out there, including stuff that has given us a great deal of enjoyment.

Saw John Wick yesterday. Keanu obsession aside, that was a great action flick. Very confident direction for a first feature. Lots of interesting shots and angles. Good pacing.

I've heard good things about it. Also, Adrienne Palicki (sp?), but not sure in how big a role.

That was 100% in the writing nothing to do with the acting. (Male) minion to main villain: "It just seemed too pat. Call it women's intution."

Oh, totally gratuitous. On the other hand, I completely understand the crushing on James Mason. The voice alone...

Also, Adrienne Palicki (sp?), but not sure in how big a role.

Not a huge role, but a memorable one. There are a lot of great actors with small but important parts.

I think it jarred because much of the rest of the writing was so pitch-perfect. For example, the relationships between Villain and Minions was filled with mutual respect. The chief villian, thanked all three minions for their hard work and a job well done, especially the minion we are discussing who has been his "good right hand." The relationship is obviously such that the minions can tell the Villain hard truths he does not want to hear. And he is genuinely concerned that, having helped him achieve their mutual goals, they will be OK when he is in the then Soviet Union. And none of the silly secret keeping. All the minions are in on the plan. Which means the housekeeper is loyal enough to James Mason to try a dangerous bluff to save him and his plans. The villains don't think of themselves as villains. Making that clear makes them all the more dangerous. They are willing to risk death and probably to die for their goals. And really that is a good way to portray villains - 100% convinced that they are right and that the protagonists are the bad guys.

I saw Interstellar last night and it was AWESOME. It's not remotely the movie they're advertising in the trailers, meaning everyone will be seeing it spoiler-free.

If you saw Inception and thought "This movie is okay, but I wish it had been more like 2001," then this is the movie for you.

My only real complaint, as always with Nolan, is that his characters never shut the fuck up. There are many MANY scenes in this movie (but three in particular) where it's clear that Nolan is really worried we won't get his amazing metaphor, and so he has someone onscreen explain it to us. At length.

But it doesn't detract from the overall spectacle, which is pretty damn spectacular. Highly recommend. Would see again.

MUAHAHAHA I AM THE THREAD KILLER BEHOLD I HAVE KILLED THE THREAD WITH A SINGLE POST ABOUT CHRISTOPHER NOLAN.

::sticks a fork in it::

Nah, still pink in the middle.

So, I have been craving Plunkett and McLeane for years now. After reccing it to a friend after discussing JLM's turn in Frankenstein, I looked it up again. No go on Hulu, Netflix, or iTunes. I'm at the point of buying the damned DVD, but first, is there another source or two that I've overlooked for a rental? And dear dog, why is it not readily available? Robert Carlyle! Johnny Lee Miller! Liv Tyler! Great music! Costumes!

Also, I rewatched Mansfield Park because I got confused about Gosford. Still, I really did feel for Crawford. He was a sad self-fulfilling prophesy. Got doubted because of his wicked ways, and when spurned when sincere, he reverted to his wicked ways, which just seemed to validate his distrustfulness, and yet I believe that if the leap of faith had been given, he would have been true. Like, I totally would have been happy if Fanny had married him. It didn't feel like one of those romcom courtships where the viewer is all "oh, he's totally wrong for her" and you can never quite get behind the love triangle or the second choice.