{"id":13960,"date":"2024-12-22T10:16:34","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T15:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13960"},"modified":"2024-12-22T10:28:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T15:28:54","slug":"13960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13960","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I watched a dozen movies:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032484\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Foreign Correspondent\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-3-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-3-768x1155.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-3.jpg 798w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024865\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Barretts of Wimpole Street\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-692x1024.jpg 692w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2-3-scaled.jpg 1729w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038097\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/3-3-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"Son of Lassie\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/3-3-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/3-3.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040416\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Hamlet\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-768x1153.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3-1364x2048.jpg 1364w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-3.jpg 1505w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032484\/\">Foreign Correspondent<\/a> isn&#8217;t Hitchcock&#8217;s best, but it&#8217;s decently suspenseful.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There are several good peformances in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024865\/\">The Barretts of Wimpole Street<\/a>, but the best may be from Charles Laughton, who&#8217;s perfectly hateful in his role and plays all the weird subtext with a gleam in his eye.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038097\/\">Son of Lassie<\/a> is surprisingly dark, a proper trapped-behind-enemy-lines war film.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s a reason why every film production of it since has been compared to Olivier&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040416\/\">Hamlet<\/a>. It&#8217;s not the only way to take the play, and it&#8217;s arguably too theatrical and stage-bound, but it&#8217;s evocative and haunting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0042869\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/5-3-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Quicksand\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/5-3-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/5-3.jpg 593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034162\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/6-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Sea Wolf\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13953\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/6-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/6-3.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031133\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/7-3-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Calling Dr. Kildare\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13954\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/7-3-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/7-3.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032617\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/8-2-183x300.jpg\" alt=\"I Love You Again\" width=\"183\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/8-2-183x300.jpg 183w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/8-2-623x1024.jpg 623w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/8-2-768x1262.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/8-2.jpg 777w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 183px) 100vw, 183px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0042869\/\">Quicksand<\/a> starts out a little silly, and Rooney&#8217;s voiceover is sometimes a distraction, but when the movie starts racking up twists and starts tossing Peter Lorre into the mix, it gets a lot more fun.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034162\/\">The Sea Wolf<\/a> is a tense sea voyage, with some great cinematography and a terrifically menacing performance by Edward G. Robinson.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Anyone who thinks an over-reliance on movie sequels is a recent phenomenon should be introduced to early Hollywood series like the <em>Dr. Kildare<\/em> movies. They made nine of these things in the span of just five years, then another half dozen spin-offs in the six years after Lew Ayres left the series and the title role. (And that&#8217;s to say nothing of the television series a decade later.) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031133\/\">Calling Dr. Kildare<\/a>, the second film in the series, is no less dated and hokey as the first, but it&#8217;s still genuinely entertaining.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>William Powell and Myrna Loy are, no shock, terrifically charming together in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032617\/\">I Love You Again<\/a>. The movie has a very silly, but nevertheless clever, premise, but it&#8217;s mostly worth it just to see these two on the screen again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033530\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9-2-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Devil Commands\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9-2-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9-2-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/9-2.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037980\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"Vacation from Marriage\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-669x1024.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-768x1176.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-1003x1536.jpg 1003w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-1337x2048.jpg 1337w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/10-scaled.jpg 1671w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034786\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Ghost of Frankenstein\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13958\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/11-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037059\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"Meet Me in St. Louis\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13959\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-658x1024.jpg 658w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-768x1196.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-987x1536.jpg 987w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-1316x2048.jpg 1316w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/12-scaled.jpg 1645w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033530\/\">The Devil Commands<\/a> has some fun mad-scientist shenanigans, along with a sad and haunted Boris Karloff.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037980\/\">Vacation from Marriage<\/a> is (probably intentionally) a little slow to start, but the cast is just so good.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t want to say Lon Chaney Jr. is no Boris Karloff, because the makeup and his performance in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034786\/\">The Ghost of Frankenstein<\/a> are at least well done. It&#8217;s just a case of diminishing returns, with both this and <em>Son of&#8230;<\/em>, the two sequels post-<em>Bride of Frankenstein<\/em>. That&#8217;s probably to be expected, following two of the very best monster movies ever made, but still.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Okay, so <em>Die Hard<\/em> is absolutely a Christmas movie if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037059\/\">Meet Me in St. Louis<\/a> is one. The movie is good fun, with some decent songs\u2014including, of course, &#8220;Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas&#8221;\u2014but it just as easily be called a Halloween movie, since there&#8217;s a much more extended sequence set at that holiday, and that&#8217;s also where the movie&#8217;s vibrant Technicolor truly comes alive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I watched a dozen movies: Foreign Correspondent isn&#8217;t Hitchcock&#8217;s best, but it&#8217;s decently suspenseful. There are several good peformances in The Barretts of Wimpole Street, but the best may be from Charles Laughton, who&#8217;s perfectly hateful in his role and plays all the weird subtext with a gleam in his eye. Son of &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13960\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13962,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13960\/revisions\/13962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}