What classics did you see last week, Dec 4 to Dec 10?

My movie-watching week featured a biopic and a Lifetime Christmas movie as the filling of a zombie movie sandwich.

Resident Evil (2002).



Judy (2019).



A Merry Holiday (2019).



Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004).

Repeat Viewings:

The Brothers Grimm (2005) 7/10

Solomon and Sheba (1959) 5.5/10

Beverly Hills Cop (1987) 5/10

First Viewings:

Ride Vaquero! (1953) 4/10

Empire Records (1995) 6/10

Swing Shift (1984) 7/10

Force of Nature (2020) 5/10

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 6/10

Bullet Train (2022) 7/10

Havana (1990) 5/10

Decoy (1946) 4/10

Troll (2022) 5/10

The Bad Guys (2022) 7/10

Before my presentation, looking at pic, I guess we are in Jane Russell territory...

Cage Of Evil / Edward L. Cahn (1960). L.A. detective Scott Harper (Ron Foster) goes undercover to romance the girlfriend, Holly Taylor (Patricia Blair), of a gangster suspected of leading a diamond robbery. He falls in love with Taylor and, after being passed up for promotion, decides to keep her, kill her boyfriend gangster, and steal the diamonds for himself. Cheaply and hastily made with echoes of several much better films noir, “Cage of Evil” headed straight for the bottom of the bill at movie houses.
    Director Edward Cahn was good at this. He directed 9 films released in 1959, 8 in 1960, and 10 in 1961, all of the general quality of “Cage of Evil.” Patricia Blair moved to television soon after and thrived there becoming an occasional regular on “The Rifleman” and landing a leading role as Rebecca Boone, wife of Dan’l, for six seasons on “Daniel Boone.” I watched this film because it was presented on TCM’s Noir Alley and because host Eddie Muller always has such great behind-the-scenes stories to tell. Muller makes even the most minor releases interesting to watch.





The Whole Truth / Nicholas Kazan (2016). A movie for those (like me) who enjoy films about trials. Except for flashbacks, most of the “present time” scenes take place in the courtroom where Michael Lassiter (Gabriel Basso) is accused of murdering his abusive father and the case looks open and shut. Worse, Mike won’t speak. Not a word. Not even to his lawyer Richard Ramsey (Keanu Reeves). Sitting right behind the defense table is Mike’s distraught mother Loretta (Renee Zellweger). Assisting Ramsey is relatively new lawyer Janelle Brady (rising star Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who has a reputation for being able to detect lies. This is mostly seen-it-all-before stuff, but a good back-and-forth cross examination can still be exciting. For added value, the ending, the Whole Truth as it were, is worthy of Agatha Christie herself. Daniel Craig had been attached for two years to play Ramsey then dropped out just before shooting was scheduled to start so Keanu Reeves stepped in and is very good indeed. Director Nicholas Kazan is son of Elia and father of Zoe.





Widows / Steve McQueen (2018). Re-reviewing. Caper films are usually something of a light-hearted romp in which charming thieves sometimes get their own back from an even badder Bad Guy. This year’s other female lead caper, “Ocean’s 8,” fits this bill and is very entertaining for it. Steve McQueen, however, working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) takes a much darker tone with a much more complex tale of human greed and betrayal. The strikingly edited opening switches back and forth between four men saying goodbye to their wives and the robbery they are involved in going wrong in every way it can – resulting in all the husbands being killed. Soon, Veronica (Viola Davis) is visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) who tells her that her dead husband Harry (Liam Neeson), the crime’s leader, had robbed two million dollars from him and the money was destroyed when the escape vehicle exploded and burned. Manning, a gang leader in a predominately African American neighborhood, is trying to go straight by running for alderman of Chicago’s 8th district. He needs his money to mount his campaign. He gives Veronica a month to raise two million to pay him back, even though she knew nothing of her husband’s plans. Following a lead, Veronica finds a notebook that Harry kept which gave detailed instructions for future crimes. Veronica finds the other widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Carrie Coons) to join her in a robbery to raise the money with plenty left over for them. Coons backs out but soon they find Belle (Cynthia Erivo) to be their driver. The stakes are high. The danger great. Each woman has to find something inside herself to get her through this experience. McQueen tightens the tension and doesn’t let loose until the end.





Partners In Crime
“The Secret Adversary” Season 1, Episodes 1,2,3 (July 26, August 2 & 9, 2015)

Mission: Impossible
“The Deal” Season 7, Episode 3 (September 30, 1972)
“Leona” Season 7, Episode 4 (October 7, 1972)

Endeavour
“Trove” Season 2, Episode 1 (June 29, 2014)

Midsomer Murders
“Beyond The Grave” Season 3, Episode 4 (February 5, 2000)

“I Heard the Bells” Distributed by Sight & Sound Films and Fathom Events, 110 Minutes, Not Rated, Released December 01, 2022:

The origins of one of our country's most popular Christmas carols might at first seem to be a fairly dry subject for a feature-length motion picture.

But the new biographical picture “I Heard the Bells” defies expectations to become a surprisingly compelling narrative. And the picture comes from a pretty interesting source.

Set in 1861, in “I Heard the Bells” poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at age 54 is living an idyllic life in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Called “America’s Poet” by his legions of fans and followers, Longfellow’s married to a woman he adores and revels in the antics of his six children, a man at peace with himself, his family, and his faith.

But storm clouds loom on the horizon. With a war between America’s northern and southern states expected to break out any day, the renowned poet abhors the thought of bloodshed and slaughter and the misery and suffering of his countrymen, even as he celebrates the abolition of the slavery he reviles.

When Longfellow’s beloved wife Frances loses her life in a tragic household mishap and his oldest son Charley lies about his age to join the Army of the Potomac, Henry loses his enthusiasm for life, his creative spirit, and his faith. America’s poet resolves to never again write a verse for publication.

But when news arrives that Charley’s been grievously wounded in battle and the dispirited poet begins to learn how deeply his late wife relied on her faith during times of turmoil, Henry Longfellow begins to ponder his ability to use his poetry to inspire peace among his countrymen, his resolve to stop writing…and his rejection of faith.

The very first feature-length motion picture production of Lancaster’s popular Sight & Sound Theater, the world-renowned omnibus in eastern Pennsylvania with a football field-sized stage and a company of actors famed for their faith-based multimedia spectaculars, ”I Heard the Bells” is classic family entertainment in just about every way you can think of. A triumph of set decoration, production design, and art direction right down to the buttons on the historically-accurate clothing, after a while it actually becomes easy to forget that the movie is a movie at all.

Directed by Sight & Sound's Joshua Enck from an exhaustively-researched screenplay he wrote with Jeff Bender, “I Heard the Bells” draws extensively from the theater’s own extensive production staff, and from a host of local resources: Filming locations were used throughout Lancaster County, as well as in downtown Strasburg (including the historic Strasburg Rail Road), the Landis Valley Village, the Trinity Evangelical Church in Manheim, the Moonstone Manor in Elizabethtown, and the Gettysburg National Battlefield.

The picture’s cast is populated with the fifty or so performers in Sight & Sound’s permanent roster of actors, augmented by Civil War reenactment experts from throughout Pennsylvania. Standouts in the cast include Stephen Atherholt as Longfellow, Rachel Day Hughes as his wife Fanny, and Jonathan Blair as their eldest son Charley. And if the performers occasionally seem to be disclaiming their lines with enough relish to be clearly heard by audience members enjoying the show from the third balcony…well, chalk it up to first-movie enthusiasm.

One drawback: “I Heard the Bells” is a presentation of Fathom Events, the Colorado-based entertainment provider that specializes in broadcasting live events in theaters across the United States. Fathom Events' regular presentations include major sporting events, live music concerts, and New York’s Metropolitan Opera performances. The bottom line--tickets to “I Heard the Bells” might well be twice the price of a regular movie theater attraction.

But audiences don’t seem to mind the inconvenience of increased pricing for the movie: Originally scheduled to be presented in limited release with performances only on December 1, 2, and 3, unusually high demand for tickets has compelled Fathom Events to increase the picture’s circulation to include extended scheduling throughout December in many cities. Previous collaborations between Fathom Events and Sight & Sound have included live performances of the theater’s presentations of “Jonah” in 2017, “Moses” in 2018, and “Noah” in 2019.

Often enough you’ve heard movie fans complain after seeing a classic picture, “They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore.” Well, Lancaster Pennsylvania’s Sight & Sound Theater has come up with a picture that defies that rule. The highest praise: ”I Heard the Bells” is ideal Christmas entertainment for the whole family--the kind of movie they just don’t make anymore…but somehow went and did.

“I Heard the Bells” was not submitted to the MPAA for a rating, but is PG in nature for adult themes and some battlefield scenes.


“Happiest Season” Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, 102 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released November 25, 2020:

The idea of actress Kristen Stewart inhabiting a Christmas-themed romantic comedy is not quite as unnatural as it might first seem.

Although she’s known primarily for lurid drama in both her on- and off-screen incarnations, the actress displayed a nice light comedic touch in 2019’s “Charlie’s Angels” reboot. It’s a shame the picture was such a resounding failure at the box office that most people didn’t actually see it.

But Stewart had a second chance at the comedy genre with “Happiest Season,” a sweet little comedy released to the Hulu online streaming service just in time for the 2020 holiday season. And guess what? She turned out to be about the best thing in the movie.

In “Happiest Season” Stewart plays Abby Holland, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University living in an urban Pittsburgh home with her girlfriend Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis). While Abby has had little use for the holidays since the death of her parents, Harper revels in the yuletide celebration, traveling every year to her small rural hometown to celebrate Christmas with her parents and sisters.

When Harper impulsively invites Abby to accompany her to her family home for the holidays, Abby sees the occasion as a perfect opportunity to propose marriage to her sweetheart. But the visit to her girlfriend’s hometown turns out to be the beginning of an array of problems for the hapless Abby. First, Harper reveals that her family is still unaware she’s gay. And shortly after arriving at her family’s home, Harper begins to display a duplicitous side Abby never knew she had.

“Happiest Season” promises at first to be a romantic comedy of errors, sort of a Gen X-style updating of the old Doris Day comedies of the 1960s with Stewart in the Doris Day role, Mackenzie Davis inhabiting Rock Hudson’s part, and “Schitt’s Creek” actor Dan Levy in the spot usually occupied by actor Tony Randall. But at somewhere around the 40-minute point, the movie begins to morph into a drama worthy of Eugene O’Neill--or Ingmar Bergman.

If “Happiest Season” has a fault, it’s a sense of awkwardness. Kristen Stewart’s performance seems like what might occur if a royal monarch were invited to a subject’s home for a family celebration: She seems to be spending so much time trying to persuade others in the cast to relax that she really doesn’t have a chance to cut loose and have fun herself. But that might actually be part of the picture’s charm, and as the comedy transitions into drama Stewart seems more comfortable.

There’s a lot going on behind Kristen Stewart’s slacker facade. Once considered a kind of New Millennium ambassador to the world of mainstream movie acting, Stewart is now well beyond her “Twilight” years and resolutely transitioning into one of our most consistently original performers. She might be the only actress in the world who can deliver the line “Yeah--yeah--yeah--yeah” and give each “yeah” a distinctly different meaning. Stewart’s performance in “Happiest Season” redeems many of the picture’s shortcomings.

The picture’s other strength: Davis’ family is as engagingly, and infuriatingly, eccentric as anyone else’s--which is to say that its members are blissfully oblivious when they’re saying or doing anything outrageously offensive. As awkward as any worlds-colliding situation, Harper’s family in “Happiest Season” might be relatable for nearly everyone in the audience--particularly Mary Steenburgen as the smilingly controlling mother who seeks to turn virtually every moment into a picture-perfect family image…even when it really, really isn’t.

The movie is brightened and given depth by a talented supporting cast. The movie’s warmest and funniest scenes are the phone conversations between Stewart and comic actor Dan Levy as Abby’s friend John, who’s minding the home back in Pittsburgh. And Aubrey Plaza is also maturing nicely into a seasoned character actress. As Riley, a high school casualty of Harper’s ardor, Plaza provides a sanctuary of sanity for Stewart’s Abby, an island of security, understanding, and support.

Directed by Clea DuVall from a script by DuVall and Mary Holland, “Happiest Season” turns out to be an ironic title, since most of the characters are miserable. In the end, it’s not Kristen Stewart’s flawed and deeply-human Abby who’s out of place in her girlfriend’s picture-perfect world--it’s the other way around.

And while the movie tries to regain comic momentum during the third act, the denouement seems contrived to deliver a Christmas-worthy ending. In real life, Stewart’s character might spend the rest of her life waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I’ve had Christmases like that. So have you. And so has everybody else.

Filmed in Pittsburgh, “Happiest Season” is rated PG-13 for adult language and references to sex.


“Devotion” Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing and Columbia Pictures, 138 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released November 23, 2022:

“America’s forgotten war” and the men who served in it are given a nice memorial in “Devotion,” the new biographical picture from filmmaker J.D. Dillard and Columbia Pictures released November 23 to 3400 theaters across North America.

Inspired by the real-life story of US Navy pilot Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American aviator to complete the naval service’s rigorous and exacting flight training program, the movie boasts great performances and excellent photography. But it’s not without flaws.

In “Devotion,” when Ensign Tom Hudner is transferred from Pearl Harbor to the US Navy’s flight training base in Rhode Island, the first of his new squadron mates he meets is Ensign Jesse Brown, a black officer--a rare sight in the newly-integrated military service of early 1950. As they settle in to life in the new barracks, the two men are wary and guarded with each other at first.

When Brown and Hudner are assigned together as flying partners and endure with each other the rigors, tests, and extreme airborne maneuvers of naval flight training, the two eventually become close friends. But when war is declared on the Korean Peninsula and the two are sent to fly hazardous missions along the heavily militarized 38th Parallel, their friendship is tested by the mortal pressures of wartime service and airborne combat.

Based on Adam Makos’ biography “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice,” “Devotion” curiously backpedals Ensign Brown’s struggles with racism in the newly-integrated US Navy of 1950, a primary component of Makos’ 2015 book. The obstacles Brown overcame as a black officer in a white service make his story that much more impressive. In the movie, no more importance is attached to Brown’s race than if he’d been serving in a different squadron of the division. Which is a cool way to look at it, but not really appropriate to the story.

“Devotion,” like a lot of war movies, also telegraphs quite a few of its punches. The minute a flyer is kidded by his crewmates for packing a wool cap into his flight bag, you know in your heart that the cap is eventually going to save someone’s life. And when an aviator writes a particularly poignant and heartfelt letter home to his wife and children (which is read on the soundtrack, as the wife opens the mail and reads it), he’s probably not likely to survive the next mission.

But in a curious way, the movie’s flaws, shortcomings, and cliched situations actually work to strengthen the picture overall. “Devotion” is an unusually comfortable movie--a movie that invites the audience in and makes them feel right at home, a movie you might’ve once seen on TV late at night. Add to the mixture some of the most thrilling airborne sequences since “Top Gun: Maverick” and the most harrowing battle scenes since “Saving Private Ryan” and you have all the ingredients for a genuinely satisfying movie experience.

Directed by J.D. Dillard from a script by Jake Crane and Jonathan A. Stewart, the movie does a great job of depicting the camaraderie between the aviators assigned to the squadron, and in particular Ensign Brown’s friendship with his wingmate Ensign Tom Hudner. Reminiscent of World War II-era epics like 1941’s “Dive Bomber” and 1944’s “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” “Devotion” even more than any other picture in memory captures the bonds between those who serve their country in the air…and the plain, undiluted joy of flying.

As Jesse Brown, Jonathan Majors contributes a strong but silent characterization that works wonderfully within the context of the movie. Tough, courageous, and by the book with his squadron colleagues, a prodigy in the sky, Majors can also summon an idyllic tenderness with his wife and baby daughter. And the sense of familiarity and ease of the interplay between Majors and Glen Powell as his wingman Hudner feels like genuine charisma, as if the two actors have been friends for years.

You’ll never find a more likable performer than Glen Powell, who comes close to stealing every movie he’s in. In “Devotion” Powell plays the real-life Tom Hudner as another variation of the same character he played in “Top Gun: Maverick” and 2017’s “Hidden Figures”--the hot-shot flyboy with the sunniest smile in ten counties, the high-flying wiseguy whose whole demeanor all but shouts “Just because I’m the world’s best pilot doesn’t mean I can’t also be the nicest guy you ever met.” But that’s okay--it’s a terrifically appealing characterization, and Powell plays it to perfection.

“Devotion” also features performances by Christina Jackson as Ensign Brown’s stalwart wife back home, and Thomas Sadoski as a squadron commander so easygoing and laid-back that you’re never quite sure whether his briefings are preparing his men for airborne combat or bedtime. Movie fans will be amused by a brief appearance by Serinda Swan as actress Elizabeth Taylor. And that’s pop star Joe Jonas blending right in with the guys as Brown’s squadron mate Marty Goode.

Longish at 138 minutes but not overlong, “Devotion” is worthwhile viewing as a reminder of those who serve our country, even in peacetime and during unpopular wars. While the movie could’ve used more the biographical elements that made the life and career of Jesse Brown truly exceptional--as well as that of his friend and wingmate Thomas Hudner--the picture is a fine tribute to Brown, Hudner, and military personnel everywhere. If the movie’s not quite as inspiring as it might have been--well, you can’t have everything.

The highest praise: Someday on some late, late show of the future, “Devotion” will feel right at home. Among the classics.

Co-produced by actor Glen Powell and filmed in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina, “Devotion” is rated PG-13 for strong language, violence and war action, and scenes depicting tobacco use.


“Violent Night” Distributed by Universal Pictures, 112 Minutes, Rated R, Released December 02, 2022:

Santa Claus is comin’ to town in “Violent Night,” the new action comedy from filmmaker Tommy Wirkola and Universal Pictures released on December 2 to 3200 movie theaters across North America. But in this picture, he’s no Jolly Old Saint Nicholas--he's a bad Santa indeed, in almost every possible sense of the word.

Tired, dispirited, separated from his wife of a century or two, and frequently pie-eyed drunk, Santa Claus (David Harbour) has grown to despise Christmas. After some 1000 years of delivering toys and goodies every December to all the children whose names appear on the “nice” list, Santa’s lost his commitment to the holiday. Disgusted by all the cruelty, evil, and greed in the world, the North Pole’s most famous resident has grown to abhor the phoniness and hypocrisy of the yuletide tradition.

But Santa has a change of heart when he happens to hear the plaintive entreaty of little Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady). It seems that while visiting the palatial estate of her gazillionaire Grandma Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) with her estranged parents (Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder), the compound is invaded by terrorists led by the vicious criminal mastermind Mr. Scrooge (John Leguizamo). The terrorists’ objective--$300 million in dirty cash Grandma Gertrude keeps in her subterranean vault.

Touched by the sincerity of little Trudy’s desperate plea, the cynical Santa decides to deliver the gift of mayhem and destruction to Mr. Scrooge and his gang, rescue little Trudy and her family…and just maybe rekindle his lost holiday spirit.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola (“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters”) from a script by the team of Pat Casey and Josh Miller (“Sonic the Hedgehog”), “Violent Night” turns out to be mostly a one-joke film. While fans of action thrillers will recognize almost instantly that the plot’s little more than a rehash of “Die Hard” with Santa Claus and Mr. Scrooge in the roles played in the 1988 film by Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, purists will point out that “Die Hard” was a classic of the genre, and contained a Christmas-friendly setting besides.

The best part of “Violent Night” is the full-bodied performance by prolific character David Harbour as Santa. Channeling his karma from 2019’s “Hellboy,” Harbour’s Santa comes with a tailor-made backstory: Prior to his gig as a right jolly old elf, Santa was a medieval Viking warrior who vanquished his enemies with a Mjolnir-like weapon he called “Skullcrusher.” And in a scenery-chewing performance that also manages to contain some poignant overtones, Harbour is plainly having a high old time for himself. Happily, the feeling’s infectious.

Among the supporting cast, John Leguizamo as Mr. Scrooge enjoys a rare opportunity to overact shamelessly but isn’t quite as successful as Harbour in his characterization, possibly because his role’s so sadistic and humorless. Leah Brady is properly adorable as a little damsel-in-distress who also manages to think up some truly inventive, and lethal, ”Home Alone”-like booby traps to help foil the bad guys. And that’s an almost-unrecognizable Beverly D’Angelo, late of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” appearing as the miserly Grandma Gertrude.

You likely won't want to sit through it twice and it's definitely not one for the kiddies. But for those Grinches of the world who recoil at the thought of decking the halls with boughs of holly, “Violent Night” pretty much delivers the goods. The only real complaint: No Rudolph.

Filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, “Violent Night” is rated R for strong, bloody violence, adult language throughout, and some sexual references.