Checking out some of the other Oscar contenders… American Fiction.
“A novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to disdain.”
Just watched this:
The Old Oak, a Ken Loach film, on Netflix.
Gritty, compelling, thought provoking, moving and uplifting. A real gem.
On my list to watch.
It’s pleasant enough, with a nice storyline but I found the recent free diving film more interesting.
Keeper of the Flame
The film opens with a car crashing as it tries to cross a failed bridge during a storm.
The driver was a renowned US political leader in 1942.
Spencer Tracey plays a war reporter who has just returned from Europe, and Hepburn the politician’s wife.
Following the funeral Hepburn refuses to see anyone.
There is a romance thread, with another reporter.
There is a murder mystery thread.
There is a political intrigue thread.
None are truly developed. The plot seems to consist of a series of incidents that allow Tracey to lead us to the desired conclusion. But, time spent with these two leads is never wasted.
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It transpires that Hepburn was aware the bridge was out. She had allowed her husband to die after discovering he was intending a Nazi coup, spreading divisive mis-information.
A strangely timely film from another era!
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I first saw this 1973 picture on TV in the early 1980s and I fell completely in love with it (and it remains one of my 10 fave flicks ever). Along with Citizen Kane, it is the most remarkable debut film in all of American cinema – and in many ways it has been director-writer Terrence Malick’s great misfortune to have had this as his first film; because it can only be downhill after this.
Based on a true story of two teenagers on a murder spree in Montana back in 1958, it is perhaps the most poetic film ever made by an American (and certainly one of the most beautiful). The direction, editing, script, cinematography, acting (Martin Sheen, the wonderful Sissy Spacek) and music are all brilliant.
I watched it again this afternoon for the umpteenth time and it still moves me… the writing, Spacek and Sheen, the light, those wide shots of the vast Midwestern landscape, the pacing, the ravishing visual and compositional beauty. It’s just about perfect.
If you have never seen it you must. It makes 2001 look like Plan 9 From Outer Space 
On Powerhouse Film’s excellent Indicator imprint, a sparkling transfer onto Blu-ray of Howard Hawks’ 1934 immortal screwball comedy.
The thing I really like about Hawks (and most other fans will tell you the same) is his versatility. Whether he was making a western, a noir thriller, a comedy, a gangster flick or an historical epic, he always did his job with skill and aplomb; he was also, unlike the majority of Golden Age directors, entirely unsentimental and 100% professional - thus his pictures are free of preachiness, sickly sentiment, flag-waving or moralising.
Twentieth Century is a typical Hawks in that sense, and was his third box-office smash after Dawn Patrol (1930) and Scarface (1932). It also made the great Carole Lombard into a superstar and for the rest of her tragically short life she ruled as the screen’s greatest comedienne.
It concerns a lingerie model named Mildred Plotka (Lombard) who almost accidentally falls into the ambit of impresario Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore, chewing the scenery for all it’s worth and having the time of his life). Mildred, now named Lily Garland, becomes a huge star, but when the pair split up, Lily’s star continues to rise while OJ produces a series of flops.
He determines to “get her back.” and thus put his career back on the rails. To do this he schemes an “accidental” meeting on the Twentieth Century (a legendary luxury express train that ran between New York and Chicago between 1902 and 1967). From there on mayhem ensues…
Hawks usually wrote his own pictures but the script here is by Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur (who wrote His Girl Friday – another Hawks hit in 1940) and it’s brilliant. The dialogue, particularly between the two leads, is dazzling. Roscoe Karns, Walter Connolly, Etienne Giradot, Ralph Forbes and Charles Lane all supply top-notch support, Hawks handles the improbable plot and madcap scenarios with his customary skill, never letting things get out of control; but the film is really about Barrymore and Lombard – the former in his last great picture and the latter in her first.
Another one I can’t recommend highly enough.
Couldn’t agree more! Top 5 on my list. The Criterion bluray includes a “making of” documentary. Took me about 15 years to track down some of the soundtrack pieces to Orff “Schulwerk: Musica Poetica”.
I am sure the Bluray player murmured a sigh of relief,in tandem with my own,when it was eventually over.
Superb cinematography and lighting.
Like you I saw it at the cinema when it first came out, an amazing film and stunning soundtrack
Very much agree. Excellent film on an unsettling topic, great set of actors & well put together!
A wonderful battle royal to become Queen Anne’s best mate.
Olivia Coleman,Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone on top form.
Interesting sound track mixing contemporary and current music.
Filmed in an atmospheric style at Hatfield House.
Near the end of her(I’m not giving up )life the wife had a serious epileptic fit in Hatfield House. The setting brought back the kindness of the staff whilst we found her a quiet private corner.
I blurayed but I think it to be on Netflix.
Dune part 1 4K Blu-ray sat on a shelf for 2 years. One of my most anticipated movies but I wanted to wait and watch it for the first time on my end game AV setup. On the weekend, after months of back order, my second sub and replacement AV amp were installed and tonight I watched it for the first time in ATMOS 7.2.4 streamed from my NAS to my nVidia Shield Pro.
Incredible experience.
Just wait till you see Dune 2!
I noticed that Amazon have produced an ‘updated’ version of Roadhouse.
Jake Gyllenhall being the main attraction.
The original is still on Prime free in a pretty fair print.
That was a wonderfully cheesy movie but well worth a watch to remember Ben Gazzara as the villain and Sam Elliot pre big moustache.
Everything was straight forward. We knew what was right and worth fighting for and the women looked how I remember them.
1989 …Only over 18 viewing. So expect raunchy content.
