{"id":14486,"date":"2025-11-30T10:15:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14486"},"modified":"2025-11-30T10:15:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:15:42","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-143","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14486","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 24 movies. That&#8217;s maybe a lot\u2014some might argue too many.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0119196\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Gingerbread Man\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-4.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068619\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4-204x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ganja &amp; Hess\" width=\"204\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4-204x300.jpg 204w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4-697x1024.jpg 697w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4-768x1129.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4-1045x1536.jpg 1045w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-4.jpg 1161w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt29768334\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Train Dreams\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-4.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049949\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-4-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"While the City Sleeps\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-4-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-4-665x1024.jpg 665w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-4-768x1183.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-4.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>Your mileage may vary depending on your fondness for &#8217;90s trash, but that&#8217;s really all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0119196\/\">The Gingerbread Man<\/a> is. A little late to the game for John Grisham adaptations, this one isn&#8217;t even based on a book, but a discarded manuscript, and it kind of shows. The movie presses over-qualified actors into a lazy plot and not altogether convincing Southern accents, and while Altman&#8217;s considerable skill as a director is evident\u2014if  only because it&#8217;s easy to imagine this going completely off the rails with a less competent lead\u2014his trademark overlapping dialogue seems ill-suited to a suspense thriller like this.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068619\/\">Ganja &#038; Hess<\/a> isn&#8217;t necessarily a coherent narrative, or even an expertly made film, but there is something compelling about it\u2014not least for its representation in horror of black filmmakers and characters.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt29768334\/\">Train Dreams<\/a> may not appeal to anyone looking for a tidier or more straightforward narrative, or wanting something to connect all its loose threads, beyond the fact that a life largely <em>is<\/em> loose threads. But I found it genuinely beautiful, sad and elegiac, anchored in a wonderful performance from Joel Edgerton.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mWBULKGiQ20?si=AkaQWi9vikQ29KSr&#038;t=709\">heard Patton Oswalt<\/a> describe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049949\/\">While the City Sleeps<\/a> as a &#8220;rough draft of what Hitchcock did with <em>Psycho<\/em>,&#8221; in that it explores some of the luridly psychological themes, but maybe not quite as well. It&#8217;s an interesting movie, with a strong cast, maybe leaning closer to film noir than the proto-slasher Hitchcock delivered, but it doesn&#8217;t necessarily hang together well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt6823148\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Benedetta\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-4-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0109305\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6-4-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Chips\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6-4-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6-4.jpg 674w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038360\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Black Angel\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7-3.jpg 453w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038360\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8-2-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Descendent\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Is Verhoeven&#8217;s explicit sexualization of religion [in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt6823148\/\">Benedetta<\/a>] a shallow provocation,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/benedetta-movie-review-2021\">asked critic Brian Tallerico<\/a>, &#8220;or a deep analysis of how implicit gender bias within institutions of faith only leads to violence and abuse? I&#8217;m honestly not entirely sure.&#8221; Honestly, me neither. It&#8217;s a compelling movie, and probably one that only Paul Verhoeven could have made, but what it&#8217;s trying to say isn&#8217;t always very clear.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0109305\/\">Blue Chips<\/a>, wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/blue-chips-1994\">Roger Ebert<\/a>, &#8220;projects a certain cynicism even in the midst of its bedrock morality. The message seems to be that although one man can take a stand, the system has been too corrupt for too long to change.&#8221; That maybe makes the movie sound less fun than it can sometimes be, or undersells the strength of Nolte&#8217;s performance as that one man.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038360\/\">Black Angel<\/a> isn&#8217;t a terrific film noir, but it does have a devilishly fun turn by Peter Lorre and a legitimately interesting twist.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038360\/\">Descendent<\/a> is a little disappointing in the end, not quite landing the thematic connections it&#8217;s aiming for, but it&#8217;s very creepy and unsettling all along the way, with a really strong performance from Ross Marquand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt31036941\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jurassic World: Rebirth\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-647x1024.jpg 647w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-768x1216.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-970x1536.jpg 970w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-1294x2048.jpg 1294w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9-2-scaled.jpg 1617w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0083281\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Vernon, Florida\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-1.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0062833\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"Curse of the Crimson Altar\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-669x1024.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-768x1175.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-1004x1536.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-1339x2048.jpg 1339w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-1-scaled.jpg 1673w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0107983\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Romeo Is Bleeding\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1-768x1153.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-1.jpg 1066w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t know why I expected\u2014or maybe just hoped for\u2014more from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt31036941\/\">Jurassic World: Rebirth<\/a>, given how little I enjoy most of the series, especially these late legacy sequels. (Even Spielberg&#8217;s original isn&#8217;t much of a touchstone for me.) But I was kind of amazed at how much of a nothingraptor the whole experience is\u2014competently directed, full of over-qualified actors, but with such a paper-thin script and barely there characters. And if you&#8217;re just going to lazily remake one of the earlier sequels, why would you choose <em>The Lost World<\/em>, one of the worst ones?<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0083281\/\">Vernon, Florida<\/a> is interesting, full of philosophizing eccentrics, but I&#8217;m not sure what it has to say beyond a nonjudgmental &#8220;here are some interesting oddballs.&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0062833\/\">Curse of the Crimson Altar<\/a> (alternately known as <em>The Crimson Cult<\/em>) isn&#8217;t a very good movie, but occasionally Boris Karloff and\/or Christopher Lee are in, which elevates it momentarily.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s probably more style than substance in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0107983\/\">Romeo Is Bleeding<\/a>, but there&#8217;s a <em>lot<\/em> of style, as we watch a rapidly unraveling Gary Oldman collide with the feral force of nature that is Lena Olin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0067610\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13-1-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"Pretty Maids All in a Row\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13-1-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/13-1.jpg 564w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1633359\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Toxic Avenger\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-725x1024.jpg 725w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-768x1085.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-1087x1536.jpg 1087w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-1450x2048.jpg 1450w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/14-scaled.jpg 1812w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024471\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/15-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Private Detective 62\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/15-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/15.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056700\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/16-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/16-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/16.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>Quentin Tarantino once selected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0067610\/\">Pretty Maids All in a Row<\/a> as one of his choices for <em>Sight &#038; Sound<\/em> magazine&#8217;s top 10 greatest films of all time. He <em>had<\/em> to be trolling them, because the movie is just <em>awful<\/em>. It&#8217;s also deeply odd\u2014a high school sexploitation\/slasher movie comedy from the director of <em>Barbarella<\/em>, written by Gene Roddenberry, starring Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, and Roddy McDowall\u2014and if your brain didn&#8217;t explode halfway into that description, you&#8217;re made of stronger stuff than me. The movie is exceptionally icky, confused in its tone, and interesting only as a glimpse into 1970s cringe and the embarrassing depths to which Rock Hudson&#8217;s later career sunk.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1633359\/\">The Toxic Avenger<\/a> is a lot of silly fun, but maybe has a little <em>too much<\/em> affection for the original, or is made with more craft and skill than this kind of movie deserves.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>William Powell is, unsurprisingly, very charming in the otherwise kind of slight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024471\/\">Private Detective 62<\/a>.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056700\/\">The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm<\/a> is colorful and quaintly charming\u2014and in 1962 the widescreen Cinerama might have seemed genuinely thrilling\u2014but it also drags in almost all of its segments, and that widescreen format feels more like a gimmick whose time has come and gone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0454065\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"La Antena\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17-733x1024.jpg 733w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17-768x1073.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/17.jpg 859w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt13286652\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Good Night, and Good Luck\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18-1036x1536.jpg 1036w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/18.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0064747\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/19-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Oblong Box\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/19-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/19.jpg 662w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt7574556\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Dead of Winter\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0454065\/\">La Antena<\/a> is interesting, often striking and playful in its imagery, even if I&#8217;m not entirely sure what that imagery is in service of, beyond a winking replication of silent movie aesthetics.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>This is an interesting time to remake <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt13286652\/\">Good Night, and Good Luck<\/a>, and it&#8217;s interesting to cast Clooney in a different role than the one he played in the movie. But I&#8217;m not entirely convinced the stage production adds anything to the original version, and more likely detracts, despite good staging and a very talented cast.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>The <em>New York Times<\/em> wrote at the time that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0064747\/\">The Oblong Box<\/a> &#8220;illustrate[s] once again that horror can be made to be quaint, laughable and unconvincing at modest prices.&#8221; It&#8217;s an altogether disappointing and muddled concoction, maybe because it draws little from Edgar Allan Poe besides a title, which even Vincent Price and Christopher Lee\u2014never together\u2014can&#8217;t save.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Everyone else around her is also good, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt7574556\/\">Dead of Winter<\/a> really rests on Emma Thompson&#8217;s shoulders, and she really carries it as the aw-shucks Barb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033608\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-191x300.jpg\" alt=\"Flight from Destiny\" width=\"191\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-653x1024.jpg 653w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-768x1205.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-979x1536.jpg 979w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-1305x2048.jpg 1305w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21-scaled.jpg 1632w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1493274\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"Caught Stealing\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/22.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt32246771\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bring Her Back\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/23-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059661\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/24-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Rounders\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/24-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/24-674x1024.jpg 674w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/24-768x1167.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/24.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>You don&#8217;t see a lot of movies as smart and as dumb as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0033608\/\">Flight from Destiny<\/a>, which has poses some interesting philosophical questions but then tackles them in some of the silliest ways. It helps that Thomas Mitchell&#8217;s performance is so engaging.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1493274\/\">Caught Stealing<\/a> has a nastier streak than I was expecting, and even when the violence is cartoonish it&#8217;s very bloody, at times even brutal. Still, I had more fun than not with it.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt32246771\/\">Bring Her Back<\/a> can be a tough watch\u2014and I imagine would be more so if I had children of my own. But it&#8217;s also genuinely creepy and scary, and there&#8217;s a lot to really like about it.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>At the time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059661\/\">The Rounders<\/a> came out, the <em>Los Angeles Times<\/em> wrote: &#8220;The plot is thin, the comedy rather forced and the casting is unbelievable but at least it&#8217;s a pleasant change from all those psychological westerns and attempted satires on same.&#8221; And yeah&#8230;the central, maybe only, joke in the movie seems to be &#8220;Glenn Ford and Peter Fonda get thrown off of horses,&#8221; and yet it&#8217;s not an altogether unpleasant diversion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also rewatched three movies:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1285016\/\">The Social Network<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0025316\/\">It Happened One Night<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0120184\/\">Sphere<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think <em>The Social Network<\/em> continues to work because it doesn&#8217;t pretend Mark Zuckerberg isn&#8217;t a destructive asshole. It&#8217;s kind of a strange rewatch given what we now know about some of the people involved\u2014Armie Hammer on screen, Kevin Spacey behind it, for instance\u2014and I jokingly wondered while watching it if we don&#8217;t need a legacy sequel about how much more terrible Facebook has gotten in the 15 years since. But it&#8217;s snappily written, well acted, and very well directed.<\/p>\n<p><em>It Happened One Night<\/em> is just a charming delight, with such fantastic on-screen chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.<\/p>\n<p>When I saw <em>Sphere<\/em> in theaters in my 20s, I was mostly just disappointed in the ending. I think maybe it&#8217;s a sign of personal growth that I&#8217;m now disappointed in the whole thing. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a <em>terrible<\/em> movie, though it is largely derivative of other, better ones, and this was not a particularly rewarding rewatch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 24 movies. That&#8217;s maybe a lot\u2014some might argue too many. Your mileage may vary depending on your fondness for &#8217;90s trash, but that&#8217;s really all The Gingerbread Man is. A little late to the game for John Grisham adaptations, this one isn&#8217;t even based on a book, but a discarded manuscript, &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14486\">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-14486","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\/14486"}],"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=14486"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14491,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14486\/revisions\/14491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}