pauleskridge Reviews

The Beguiled (1971)

Not typical for either Eastwood or Siegel.

[7/10 · 26 March 2024]

Seven stars. Why as many as seven stars? The brilliant gothic atmosphere that Siegel managed to evoke -- very much out of character for the guy who directed Dirty Harry and Hell is for Heroes. Rock solid acting from Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, Jo Ann Harris, Mae Mercer, and Pamelyn Ferdin. Eastwood turned in a top-notch performance as well, in a role that pushed out of his comfort zone. He's a pretty limited actor, but the only director that can get performances out of him as good as Siegel is Eastwood himself. As McBurney got caught deeper and deeper in the spiderweb, I kept thinking that I was watching a bodice-ripper version of Sunset Boulevard. And that's the problem. It was all too cheesy and obvious. The score kept banging in with "this is BAAAAD!" chords. The women were just too collectively smitten with McBurney (even the ones who wanted to kill him outright). McBurney, himself, was too obviously playing his own con-game. It was a cool idea, and parts of it were really well carried out. But the flaws were too big for me to ignore. Still, if you are an Eastwood fan, this is a film you should see. If only to see him play something VERY different from Blondie or Callahan. 28 February 2022.

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Masina plays a part for the ages!

[9/10 · 26 March 2024]

Nine stars. Fellini's character study of a prostitute, desperate for a life of normal affection, is his second monumental film. La Strada was the first, and both star Giulietta Masina. I'm not sure any director has ever had a better muse. Here, Masina carries the picture by herself. There's no one like Anthony Quinn to help out. And she nails it! She is wiley, naive, playful, mean, devoted, uncaring, resourceful, and helpless all rolled together. The scenes with the other prostitutes, waiting around for johns are jubilant and heartbreaking at the same time. The weird interludes all bring out the sense of desperation that Cabiria has begun to feel as a woman, now in her 30s, who makes her living by sex appeal. This includes the restored "man with the bag" sequence just as vitally as the bit with the movie star, and the church sequence. I listened to the extra where De Laurentiis talks about taking out the "man with the bag" because, he said, it stopped the story. He was wrong. It drove a nail into the central woe of Cabiria, who saw there the fate that awaited her. And, in the face of her nightmare coming true, do we see any resolution? The mystic closing sequence raises the film from being just a character study to one that deals with the eternal hope of the human spirit.

The film lost a little from me because of how screechy so much of the dialog was. But that's a pretty small complaint for a really brilliant film. 26 March 2024.

Marnie (1964)

Not great Hitch, but still well worth watching.

[7/10 · 18 March 2024]

Seven stars. I've heard it said that Hitch never made another great film after The Birds. This is the only one I've seen, and, so far, I agree. Marnie is brilliantly shot, with splendid acting from both Sean Connery (as always!) and Tippi Hedren. Connery was a consumate actor, who could play pretty much anything, as long as a Scottish accent was okay. Hedren wasn't in the same league, but Hitch got a second excellent performance out of her. The rest of the cast are all at least adequate (HEY! It's Bruce Dern! Earliest role of his I've ever seen). The look of the film drew me in from that very first shot (pure, classic Hitch!). A lot of Hitch's visual/camera trickery might seem cliche'd now, but that's because so many people have copied him. What keeps me from calling it a great film is what a mess Mark Rutland is. He is supposed to be our protagonist, but he's really almost as bent as Marnie is. And a lot of his behaviour is downright atrocious. This isn't a complaint about Connery's performance. In his usual fashion, he nails the part. It's that the character is so compromised that his love-will-win-out angle is more creepy than romantic. I kept wondering how things would turn out. This is Hitchcock, after all. So the ending is in doubt until it happens. And I'm impressed at how Hitch got away with violating The Code so blatantly. This isn't a brilliant Hitchcock film, but it's well worth watching for any fan of his or of Connery's. 11 April 2022.

American Gods: Tears of the Wrath-Bearing Tree (2021) Season 3, Episode 10

Not an ending. Just a stop.

[5/10 · 18 March 2024]

Five stars. Because of what it isn't. Not an ending, just a stop. And that's why there was so much story left for season three. I hear that Gaiman and Whittle are still trying to get someone to step up to do season four. I hope they manage it. Maybe another five or six episodes, without cutting any major story corners. This was fine, as far as it went. We get the journey to the center. Laura gets to cop Steve McQueen. World comes so close to telling Technical Boy who he really is that everyone should be able to figure it out. And we get Shadow's sacrifice, and the reason behind it. We seem to be missing the furor amongst the Old Gods that arises from the assassination, but maybe that comes later. Who knows? Maybe we'll never find out how the show concludes. Maybe the writers should have paid more attention to story-telling from the start. 18 March 2024.

Arrival (II) (2016)

An excellent story of the psychology of first contact

[8/10 · 15 March 2024]

Eight stars. The biggest ding from a cinematic standpoint is the characteristic flaw in Villeneuve's films. It's too dark. Maybe he thinks that makes it moody. But it really just makes it too dark. There's also some fundamental violations of basic science that, technically, moves this from "science fiction" to fantasy. But I still include this in my list of "first contact" films for my Life in the Universe course. Because most of it is spot-on. Of course the official reactions would be militaristic. Of course they would be dominated by paranoia. And, of course, the essential problem is one of communication. So hinging the film on the attempt of a linguist to get her own people to understand the situation is the key to the whole story. And Amy Adams does a magnificent job of playing that character. It's the most honest portrayal of an academic I've ever seen in cinema. Renner does a fine job as well, at least after the staggeringly bad cliche' of his first scene. Adams has to confront the problem of the Heptapod language, but her essential challenge is the behavior of her own government. That's why it is so important that the military chief and the CIA operative were also played by brilliant actors at the top of their games. Forest Whitaker has been doing excellent work for 40 years now, and Michael Stuhlbarg for at least 20. Even though it's shot WAY too dark, and even though the science veers into outright nonsense, it's an insightful study of the response to first contact, with superlative acting at the top of the bill. This is very much a film worth watching. 6 May 2022.

American Gods: The Lake Effect (2021) Season 3, Episode 9

A rush to the finish?

[9/10 · 15 March 2024]

Nine stars. There's a TON of book in this episode. That's what makes it so good. There's also a sense of desperation showing in a rush to the finish.

Shadow does his research, and figures out what no one wants to know. It takes him to the core of the Lakeside mystery. Although justifying Ganesh by turning it into a bad pun was a lousy bit of writing. I was hoping to actually see the Kobold, but I guess they didn't want to spend the money on the CG for it. We finally get the peace conference between Odin and World, and it turns out as it must. It was a good choice not to have if off-stage, as it was in the book. The inevitable resolution of Laura's revenge fixation wraps this one up. That leaves one episode to go, and a ton of story to tie up. This looks bad. One episode clearly isn't enough, but that's all we've got. 15 March 2024.

Crisis (1946)

A master's first film, but by no means a masterpiece

[6/10 · 14 March 2024]

Six stars. Some directors explode out of the gates (Welles, for instance). Bergman did not. Crisis has some great nuggets, that presage the brilliance to come. But it's a mediocre film. I think the audience is supposed to view Ingeborg and Ulf as protagonists. But they are both selfish and witless. For that matter, so are Nelly, Jack, and Jenny. And the message is? The city is dangerous? Don't dream big? Just stay in your hick town and marry who ever is most available? I basically hated the story.

That said, there was a LOT of good acting, and a lot of good camera work. But, like all the Bergman I've seen that's earlier than Summer Interlude, it seems like a parody of a mature Bergman film. I'm going to end on an upbeat though, extolling those breathtaking noir shots at the climax. This was the starting point of a brilliant career. It's not a brilliant movie, but it's not a bad starting point either. 6 June 2022.

American Gods: The Rapture of Burning (2021) Season 3, Episode 8

Sweeney Junior

[7/10 · 14 March 2024]

Seven stars. Maybe only six. Sure, why not the Rabbit God? The more the merrier, right? And it gives us a milieu to deal with Salim in a way that makes some sense. It also leads to Laura's connection with Sweeney Junior. Liam's okay, I guess. And Iwan Rheon is a good actor. But he's such a bland come-down after Sweeney. Tyr's play is revealed, to no surprize if anyone was paying attention. And the confrontation between Tyr and Odin plays out exactly as one would guess, given the participants. The Technical Boy/Bilquis hallucination was awesome! The story is aiming at a sort of synthesis of Old and New that Gaiman never considered in the text. And I think that's a cool development. The big problem is that it's new development that's cropping up when we've only got two more episodes to go. Too little, too late? 14 March 2024.

Bed & Board (1970)

Growing up is hard!

[7/10 · 13 March 2024]

Seven stars. This is Truffaut and Leaud's fourth Doinel film. I've seen the first two, but haven't come across the third (Stolen Kisses). The 400 Blows is one of the essential films of cinema history. This is a pleasing follow-on. It's a pretty astonishing feat to craft a series of stories about one character, using one actor, as he grows from truant tweener to the edge of adulthood (yes, I know there was eventually a fifth film). The deftness of the direction and performance are impressive. And the density of both the humor and the drama are as well. Neither Antoine nor Christine handle the events of the story in a very mature way. But, of course, that's the point. And that they end up coming to something of a mature resolution to the problem is the coda to the story of all four films. I should stress that you can watch any of the three Doinel films I've seen as a standalone. The references to the earlier films are there, but it's not like dropping into a random episode of Game of Thrones.

Truffaut was one of the great film-makers of family stories. He didn't go much for flash, but he was very honest, and had a great eye. That's why his films are still very much worth watching. 6 July 2022.

American Gods: Fire and Ice (2021) Season 3, Episode 7

Ganesh? Where'd he come in?

[7/10 · 13 March 2024]

Seven stars. Lots of moving bits here. Threads are being drawn together. It's as if the writers are finally finding a sense of urgency to get on with things. We continue to hit the actual story-beats in Lakeside. Although Ganesh showing up is pretty damn arbitrary. Danny Trejo continues to be awesome.

Cordelia (I keep wondering if that name-choice is foreshadowing) is a great add-on character. Having more humans in the story grounds it for we, the mortal audience. That's why Salim is such a good addition as well. He continues to be the best part of the Salim/Laura story. His negociation scene is just glorious. Sad to say, the Bilquis story is turning into progressive agitprop. Politics always weakens a good story. That's just as true here as it is in Clint Eastwood movies. And, we finally see, Tyr isn't an affable, retired war god. And he isn't about to forgive Odin. 13 March 2024.

My Darling Clementine (1946)

Print the legend

[8/10 · 12 March 2024]

Eight stars. John Ford reworks history into American mythology. And he does so with such elegance! Ford really is the quintessential American director. No one else comes close. And Henry Fonda has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. He could take those "aw, shucks, ma'am" characters, and not have them seem like buffoons. He could also do "righteous" like nobody's business.

Here, his Wyatt Earp gets to do plenty of both. But he doesn't have to carry the whole show. I'm not really familiar with Victor Mature, but this is one of the best jobs I've ever seen from him. His Doc Holliday is easily the most complex character we get here, Mature pulls it off with real nuance and subtlety (the Hamlet bit!). In contrast, I've seen Walter Brennan in TONS of films. But I've never seen him get to sink his teeth into a really great villain role before. He was just splendid. Holt and Bond were dependable, but didn't get to do much here. And the actresses were lousy. That's really the two-star hit. Still, that's not a big complaint. The slow build to the final confrontation is Ford at his best. He knew how awful real violence was by 1946. And he knew that cinematic violence has way more impact with a big lead up. This is a stone classic. I'm happy I finally got around to it. 27 July 2022.

American Gods: Conscience of the King (2021) Season 3, Episode 6

Loss and regret

[8/10 · 12 March 2024]

Eight stars. Creating the Odin-Demeter-Tyr love triangle is weird, from a mythological standpoint. But what the h3ll, why not? The present-day Wednesday/Demeter story absolutely sings, due to the splendid performances of McShane and Danner. And McShane delivers in a way that gives us the idea that Wednesday isn't just a con-man. His loss and regret are as real as his manipulations. The end scene reaches real heartbreak. The Laura revenge angle continues to be the worst thing going. I've read the book, so I get where this is going, but revenge is a terrible waste of a resurrection. At least in any Universe I'm part of. She is travelling with Salim, though. And that gives us more of the one really great human character that the show amped up. Oooo! Danny Trejo! A Mr. World who's always bad news, and who always dies badly! What a great bit of casting. Sam's finally back. In the book, that was a major plot-turn. But here it seems like throw-away sop, rather than a meaningful development. 12 March 2024.

Thirteen Lives (2022)

Even if you know the outcome. . . .

[9/10 · 11 March 2024]

Nine stars. Not ten because it isn't tight enough. Mortensen and Farrell both knock it out of the park here. They have to balance a sense of physical competence that borders on arrogance with an underlying dread of their helplessness to prevent a tragedy. Farrell has to play it more heart on his sleeve, but Mortensen's rare eruptions tell us what we need to know about Rick's emotional state. The other brilliant performances are by Teeradon Supapunpinyo, as Coach, and the woman who plays the mom who confronts the Governor. Coach is another balancing act character who knows the lives of his charges are dependent on him not failing them, but who also believes his failure is what led to the crisis. Ron Howard knows how to stretch the audience's emotions. He's been working on that for his whole career. The shots of the cave diving are disturbingly claustrophobic. I was squirming for a lot of the first hour, and really happy that we got montage after the first long dive sequence. If Howard had forced himself to tighten things up just a bit, the film could have really soared. Even so, it is a fine piece of work.

15 August 2022.

American Gods: Sister Rising (2021) Season 3, Episode 5

Artifact One

[8/10 · 11 March 2024]

Eight stars. I liked the Technical Boy backstory. Gaiman doesn't explore the concept, but technical innovation has been an essential part of humanity for as long as we've existed. So this particular tangent makes perfect sense. And I loved the Bilquis "rescue". Her line to Shadow is just priceless! The Laura/Salim duet is okay. Laura needs a counterpoint. By herself, she's just a mess. Salim isn't anywhere close to as glorious a counterpoint as Sweeney was, but he's another character that needs someone else to be his mirror. The pity of it is that Laura is scripted to still be hung up on vengence. I can't think of a more depressing turn than her response to actual resurrection. The con is a great bit of fun. I loved how it pays homage to classic caper-film set ups. Because I LOVE me a good caper film. But the core of the episode is Wednesday and Demeter. McShane and Danner are monumental here. The previous interaction between them was just a set-up. Here is where we start to get the pay-off. Things are moving. But SO slowly! 11 March 2024.

Sideways (2004)

Merlot and Cabernet Franc

[9/10 · 7 March 2024]

Nine stars. I'm not really sure why it isn't ten. Maybe because Myles and Jack really are such louses. Maybe because Maya is just a bit too angelic. Because I really do like it a lot! Giamatti and Haden Church are both just brilliant, and Madsen and Oh both do fine work as well. The technical structure of the film is top notch, and the understory of Myles's redemption is executed gloriously. This is classified as a comedy, and there certainly are a lot of funny moments (Hearing Jack, in the background, doing his voice-over stuff as part of his seduction routine. The bit at the tasting bar at Frasse Canyon. The whole notion of *naming* a winery Frasse! And so on). But the emotional drama cuts deep. Even Jack gets his moments of existential despair. I'm a wine guy, and have loved good Pinot since I was in college in the 1970s, so that helps too. This is the film that showed me what a tremendous actor Paul Giamatti is. It's worth it just for his portrayal of the desperate, flailing Myles. And all the rest just adds more bubbles to the champagne (er, California methodee champagnoise). 29 August 2022.

American Gods: The Unseen (2021) Season 3, Episode 4

Crazy like a fox

[7/10 · 7 March 2024]

Seven stars. Polemics are lousy story telling. So let's start with a long one. Now let's try to get the story going again. That the writers managed to recover from such a lousy intro is a pretty good feat. The Bilquis stuff is the center of his one, and turns on the non-canonical team-up between Shadow and Technical Boy. As a big fan of the novel, I'll say this is one change I really like. Those Mutt-n-Jeff combos are a great source for both comedy and high concept. As for Wednesday, having Marilyn Manson as an Odin worshipper is hysterically on the nose. So is Wednesday's ruse to get back to Demeter. I just loved it when he stumbled out of the burning wreakage, reciting "Pressed Rat and Warthog". Had to explain that one to my son. And Laura, now back with us, has to decide why. I got the impression that the people in charge finally realize that they have to get on with the story. Was it too little, too late?

7 March 2024.

Lookin' to Get Out (1982)

Burt Young steals the show.

[7/10 · 6 March 2024]

Seven stars. A weak seven, but good enough to round up. Hal Ashby had, possibly, the best six-consecutive film run in history from Harold and Maude through Being There. This film clearly does not match that amazing run, but it's still a lot of fun. Jon Voigt, an actor I've been a fan of for 50 years now, turns in an excellent performance as a more-wily-than-smart gambler trying to square a big debt. Ann-Margret does fine as his ex, who figures out he's running a con at the Vegas spot where she now works. But for my money, the show is stolen by Burt Young. He did tons of movie and TV work, and was a tremendous actor. But he was too dumpy looking to be a star. In a career of character parts, this was one of his biggest shots, and he just nailed the loyal, not as dumb as everyone thinks sidekick.

Ashby's career as a director was pretty short, and he really faded from prominence in the last few years of his life. But he was still making quirky, intelligent, entertaining films. The film from his big six that is closest to this is probably The Last Detail. If you liked that one, take a look a this. 20 September 2022.

American Gods: Ashes and Demons (2021) Season 3, Episode 3

Some changes that actually work!

[8/10 · 6 March 2024]

Eight stars. Because Demeter and Blythe Danner are such a GREAT addition. The interaction between McShane and Danner is the key emotional nugget of the whole season. And the acting of the two of them shows the sort of brilliance that only a lifetime (okay, two lifetimes) of work can attain. The Lakeside stuff is spot on, mainly because it follows the book. And the scene between Ann-Marie and Chad at the search site is an absolute high point of the season so far. It, and Shadows accidental research, are teasing us with the great town secret. Very well played. Laura, of course, is still with us. And still a condescending jerk. Her interaction with Mad Sweeney was the appeal of her character. Without him, all we see is her anger, entitlement, and false superiority. Until her last scene. Again, very well played. That it offers no answers is fine. The cliff-hanger sets up one of the most peculiar alliances of the show, and one of the few big departures from the book that actually works well. 6 March 2024.

On the Waterfront (1954)

Definitely a contender

[9/10 · 5 March 2024]

Nine stars. Every once in a while I still realize that there are some stone classiques that I've never seen. Like this one. Yeah, I saw snippets in a high school class about film and story-telling that I took in the 1970s. But never end-to-end until this past friday. I knew about Brando going in, but when I saw the credits, I just started laughing. Sure Brando. But Cobb, Steiger, and Malden too? All in big parts. Wow! And, hey, isn't that Martin Balsam? Yep. The only week note for me was Eva Marie Saint, who's just never impressed me much. The film looks ugly. The location shots are all honestly messy. Everyone looks seedy and cheap. In fact, I was struck by how much the look of this film reminded me of Truffaut's work in the 1960s. I had never pegged Kazan as a forerunner to the New Wave before. This is a tale of corruption and the possibility of, if not redemption, then at least a sense of honor in a corrupt world. Honor is such a strange thing. The dockworkers felt a sense of honor not to use the courts to take on the people who were terrorizing and abusing them. And Terry (Brando) had to deal with a culture that reflexively considered him a villain for telling the truth. Brando's scene with Steiger is the heart of the film. But my (13-year old) son thought it wasn't earned. And I have to agree with him. The script really didn't devote enough time to setting up the relationship between Terry and Charlie.

So I don't think it's perfect. But it is glorious. I'm glad I finally got around to it. 10 October 2022.

American Gods: Serious Moonlight (2021) Season 3, Episode 2

A nice place to raise up your kids!

[7/10 · 5 March 2024]

Seven stars. I actively disagree with the reframing of the Hinzelmann origin. It follows from the decision to make the show into a polemic against the European colonization of the Americas, and leaves us with a far less interesting story, in my opinion. That said, the Lakeside stuff is very well executed, although Shadow's coat is clearly WAY to light for serious winter. Then it's off on more tangents. But Tyr is a good tangent. So is the Salim/Ibis stuff, and the whole Chicago wake sequence. The return to Lakeside brings us to the mystery of the town. That's a great hang-point for the end of the episode, but it brings up another unrelenting problem the show has. It skimps too much on the story from the book in order to introduce tangents. If the writers had paid more attention to their source, they would have had a better story. As it is, there are too many times when the creativity doesn't pay off in the storytelling. 5 March 2024.

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Running down the Highway

[6/10 · 4 March 2024]

Six stars. Rounded up. It got the round-up because Clint is cool enough to pull off the hard-a$$ marine six-striper in his mid-50s. And because Marsha Mason is such a great actress. It needed the round-up because it used Grenada as its climax point. The US adventurism in Grenada was outright embarrasing. I recall thinking, then, that it was the most pathetic red-meat to the electorate sideshow in decades. A real low-point in American foreign relations. And it shines light on Clint's biggest flaw as a director -- his films ALWAYS suffer when he brings his politics into them. It's a shame, because he really does know how to direct a good action thriller. And, while I'm beating up on the film, I'll also point out that the "villain" was just a bit too cartoonish and pathetic. It would have helped if he hadn't been such a useless caricature. I've already praised Clint's general coolness. And I'll add that, despite all his limitations as an actor, he really has a flair for this sort of part. He was perfect as a tough-as-nails guy at the end of his career, trying to go out on a good note, and trying to figure out what the rest of his life was going to be. And Mason was brilliant (as always) as his ex-wife. She gave an honest portrayal of someone who knew what a disappointment Tom could be, but still carried a torch for him. I also thought the whole pulling together of the squad was done well. It's tricky to get that right, and not have it come off too easy. Most of their acting was okay, but nothing special And the looey part was idiotic. It was resolved well, but he, once again, was too cartoonish. If you can overlook the absurdity of making a rah-rah event out of something as pathetic as Grenada, and if you don't expect more than a well-directed action thriller, you'll like it. 31 October 2022.

American Gods: A Winter's Tale (2021) Season 3, Episode 1

Lakeside at last!

[8/10 · 4 March 2024]

Eight stars. I try to avoid spoilers when I'm watching anything popular, so I came into season 3 not knowing the essential nugget. One of the strengths of the show is that it can cover ground that the book didn't. But it's biggest weakness is how dithery it is about advancing the actual story. I rate this episode as highly as I do because it actually advances the story. Shadow has his meeting with Whisky Jack, and finally makes it to Lakeside. The New Gods stuff with Mr/Ms World and Technical Boy is great. So is the character of Cordelia. Bilquis, long dead by now in the book, emerges as the real moral center of the tale here. And Julia Sweeney just NAILS the creepily helpful character of Hinzelmann (a gender swap from the book that actually doesn't hurt the story, or character at all). This got the season off to a fine start, and didn't have much irrelevant baggage. 4 March 2024.

The Great Train Robbery (1978)

A classic caper film!

[7/10 · 8 February 2024]

Seven stars. Because I love me a good caper film. And because Sean Connery can shine in pretty much anything. I'm also a big fan of Donald Sutherland, although I have to say his "English" accent was a mess. I'm surprized I somehow missed seeing this when it was first released, but I keep turning up nuggets like that. The late 60s through the late 70s was the pinnacle era for caper films. Nothing before or since really hit that peak. And it's because they play with such a great combination of action, comedy and the twisty plan to hit the big score. All the later-day versions tend toward too much self-aware winking at the camera. But here the comedy is earned and internal. And it serves as a part of the whole. After all, it's hard to see the comic aspect of a snitch being garrotted. The story revolves around an attempt at the "first robbery from a moving train" in England in the 1850s. Connery plays the mastermind who doesn't object to getting his hands dirty. As always, he soars. He was the last of the old-school movie stars, and at the top of his game in the late 70s. Sutherland plays the locks guy, and (other than the accent) delivers one of his signature odd-ball performances. The film is shot with a glorious color pallet, and great attention to period. It's a fun romp that never takes itself too seriously. If you're a fan of Connery or Sutherland, or of great caper films, you should take a look. 21 November 2022.

The House of Darkness (1913)

Music therapy 110 years ago.

[7/10 · 8 February 2024]

Seven stars. A silent film about music therapy! That's a big quirky plus, right there. This works because Charles Mailes sells his character so well. Silent film was all about expression, and Mailes nailed it at a level that made title cards irrelevent. And it was good fun to watch this middle-aged guy beating the crap out of the young orderlies that he caught off-guard. I'm going through the Years of Discovery discs, and that's led me to notice what a great actress Claire McDowell was as well. She's prominent in a lot of these films, including this one. And she does a splendid job of playing out a really tense and troubling scene with Mailes. That's what makes the picture worth watching. Barrymore and Gish, for all that I love them, and for all their general greatness, really don't do much here. Something else worth note is that Griffith was really maturing as an editor by this point. The snap cuts are sharp, and keep the tension building all the way to the resolution. This is worth watching for any fan of the movies. 8 February 2024.

Goodfellas (1990)

Marty didn't edit this well enough

[7/10 · 7 February 2024]

Seven stars. I think that's because it came in with such a huge reputation, and because I'm such a fan of Scorsese's. I can't give it more than seven stars (and that's generous) because it just isn't tight enough. It's a rambling, episodic mess of a film that would have benefited from having 20 to 30 minutes trimmed out of it. The performances are all top-notch. Joe Pesci is the obvious nod -- he got the most flamboyant character. But Liotta, De Niro, Bracco, and Sorvino all soar here as well. The shot-structure and scene-to-scene direction are also both excellent. I expect that from Scorsese. He's one of the best directors of the last half-century. But I think he got trapped by his own fascination with his source material. Because the film plays like a series of vignettes that Henry Hill is telling us as we all sit on bar-stools in some shabby tavern. Not bad by any means. And each nugget is interesting in its own right. But more judicious editing would have made for an even better film. 5 December 2022.