Literally every movie I watched in August was watched with friends, which I think is a first..

Yojimbo, 1961. A rogue samurai wanders into a town and discovers that it’s divided between two gangs:  realizing that a lot of them are guys who need killin’, he plays one side off the other for two hours. Enjoyed this more than Seven Samurai in part because it’s not four hours long and there’s a much smaller cast of characters to keep track of.

Nights on Earth, 1991. Not a film per se, but a collection of five shorts, featuring stories of taxi drivers working in LA, NY, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. All are very different stories: the only one I didn’t like was Rome, because the driver was absolutely obnoxious and he dumps the body of a priest who he talks to death in his cab. Winona Ryder appears as a young cabbie who is offered an acting gig, but refuses because she finds happiness in driving cabs and working on cars, and has no interest in the limelight. Another Jarmusch for me.

Kansas City, 1996. A small-time hood robs some associate of a  gang leader and is subsequently captured and lectured to by Harry Belafonte doing a Marlon Brando impersonation for two hours.  Meanwhile, the hood’s girlfriend kidnaps the wife of a crooked politician in hopes that said politician will use his influence to get the gang to let the hood go. It doesn’t end well, but the viewer gets LOTS of nice jazz and pretty  ‘30s cars. Really liked Jennifer Leigh’s tough-gal act.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982.   Just a teen drama movie, a bit like Grease but without musical bits.  Centered on a high school and a mall. Saw a lot of actors like Sean Penn and Nicholas Cage who would be much bigger later. Jennifer Leigh is a principal character and   Boothy from ST TNG is a grumpy teacher who was one of my favorites. 

Niagra, 1953. A  young couple trying to combine a honeymoon with a business trip run into Marilyn Monroe and her estranged beau, a man who is described as neurotic but who the viewer realizes has a healthy appreciation for MM’s tendency to cheat on him. Beautiful in color: Marilyn Monroe was not an icon for nothin’. I’m more of an Audrey fella, though.

A Clockwork Orange, 1971. Disturbing film about a teenage psychopath who is treated and made to feel revulsed at the thought of violence or lust, but who after his release is continually assaulted by those he offended which (as the movie ends) appears to lead to the mental conditioning failing. If I had known how much sexual violence there was in this, I might not have bothered. It proved quite interesting, but the beginning was….insane.

Before Sunset, 2004.  Sequel to Before Sunrise, which had two young people meeting on a train and then deciding to spend an afternoon & evening exploring Prague together. Now they meet again, nine years later. I had my doubts if it was possible to capture that magic again, but the sequel works. It’s not the same magic, but it’s different magic — the experience of two slightly older people meeting again and struggling with their choices and of how they’ve changed over the years, navigating between cynicism and romance and responsibility.

Match Point, 2005. Directed by Woody Allen. A tennis coach (discount Jude Law) falls in with Matthew Goode, his hot fiance Scarlett Johannson, and Goode’s sister what’s-her-face. Discount Jude Law become an item with whats-her-face because DJL rather likes Matthew Goode’s set, but after Goode dumps Scarlett Johannson DJL begins an affair with SJ. Unfortunately for DJL, Scarlett gets knocked up and insists on his doing the right thing, but he’s gotten rather comfortable flying in Matthew Goode’s social circles, so he opts to kill her with a shotgun so she won’t be such a bother. Discount Jude Law, as IMDB revealed to me afterwards, was Johnathan Rhys Myers, who I knew as Bishop Heathmund in VIKINGS. Interesting film…watched it for Scarlett and Goode, mostly. Matthew Crawley’s mother from Downton was also a character. Oh! And Armstrong from Armstrong and Miller was also in it as a bit player. Standard!

First Man, 2018. Interesting biopic about Neil Armstrong and Gemini-Apollo.  Visuals and music are stunning: I liked that they restricted the POV to what Armstrong was seeing, and there’s a great shot of him standing alone on the moon, just…..experiencing the moment.  A man alone on a lifeless planet,  surrounded by the cold blackness of space.  Liked the guy who played  Deke Slayton (you may remember him as the cretinous FBI agent in Wolf of Wall Street’s boat scene)  and the comms were either original recordings or impressive recreations. Character-wise it was stranger: I found it hard to relate to Armstrong and his wife. After the death of their daughter. They were….cold. Even when he comes back from the Moon, they just stare at each othr through the glass. Also found it amusing that different characters would pronounce Gemini differently, so sometimes it was “Jiminiy” and sometimes “Gem-in-I”.   The latter is correct, but IRL some astronauts would say Jiminiy, so I liked the nod to historic, if not linguistic, accuracy.  Pretty sure I liked the Apollo landing in From the Earth to the Moon better, but that series is one I will NOT SHUT UP ABOUT.

Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, 1965. Watched this because it has some fun footage of 1965 Cape Canaveral. NASA is prepping for its first mission to Mars and is sending a robot-astronaut who passes for a human. Alas, “Frank’s” rocket is shot by aliens who have arrived on Earth to kidnap its blonde beach babes.  Frank is injured in the crash and runs amok a bit while the aliens (some of whom look like space goblins, some of whom appear human)  are also going around kidnapping said beach babes.  Eventually Frank is fixed and set on the aliens, overcoming their caged-up space monster.   Fun vintage footage and music.  Definitely worthy of the MST3k treatment.

Fargo, 1996. A shady car salesman who is getting into a bit of trouble concots a nice scheme to solve his problems:  hire two criminals to kidnap his wife and demand a ‘ransom’ which he can get from his rich father-in-law. Unfortunately, said criminals are impulsive and violent, leading to a series of murders which are doggedly-investigated by a very chipper and very pregnant Brainerd city sheriff. I was greatly amused to realize that her “Oh, you betcha, yea” is used as the sign-off clip on one of my favorite Youtube Channels (You Betcha!).   It was also fun seeing Brainerd, because of my long familiarity with Chuck Marohn, who began as an urban planner in Brainerd before formulating the concept of the Suburban Ponzi Scheme and shifting to a critic of auto-oriented urbanism.

The Triplets of Belleville, 2003. A French animated film about a cyclist who is kidnapped along with two other leading cyclists at the Tour de France, so some French mobster can enslave them in some underworld betting thing. The cyclist’s mother-figure goes in search, encounters three aging singers who used to be a big thing, and….well, things happen. Weird, but interesting. Entirely possible to understand without subtitles. Especially interesting because it begins with Steamboat Willie-type animation before shifting into something far more modern.

Cloverfield. Watched without knowing anything about it, which is probably the best way. A “found footage” film that begins as the innocent documenting of a good-bye party and ends with witnessing a monstrous attack on Manhattan. Gotta wonder how Manhattan audiences reacted to it, only a few years after 9/11. Effective horror-action film save for some implausibilities like the camera’s battery and film lasting for 10+ hours. My second found-footage film (the first being Blair Witch Project).

Short films:

Spring Fever, a 1919 film about love with a lot of physical comedy. Great music.

11, 9, 2001. About a Pakistani family in the wake of 9/11, whose missing son is regarded a terrorist before it’s revealed he died trying to help those in the Towers.