Saw a Takashi Miike picture called The Great Yokai War. "Yokai" is a Japanese term for monsters from folklore, as opposed to the more familiar kaiju. It's a kids' picture, about a young boy from Tokyo sent out to live in the countryside with his older sister and his intermittently senile grandfather. When a vengeful spirit appears, the boy gets caught up in a war between warring groups of yokai and must find his courage to become the "Kirin Rider", the hero who will set everything to rights. It's not a bad picture - nothing deep, but an amusing story. Some of the yokai are really trippy, Japanese folklore can get pretty "out there", apparently.
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I’m pretty sure that I saw Jaws 2 (1978), but it didn’t really measure up. In the intervening fifty years, I think this is only the third time I’ve seen the original. What jumped out at me this time was “Chekhov’s Spare Oxygen Tank,” the focus of the camera without dialog at least twice after Richard Dreyfus explained its danger in its first appearance.
JD DeLuzio > Richard WillisJuly 15, 2025 at 7:21pm
I recall seeing Jaws 2 in the theatre at the time. It really didn't measure up. I've seen a bit of it on TV since, but I've never revisted the entire film. But I re-watched Jaws recently and was again impressed with how well it holds up, overall.
We're going to see Superman next week, at the drive-in.
We saw Superman this weekend, and enjoyed it. It was a huge antidote to Zack Snyder's nasty, nihilistic worldview (which I loathed). I don't want to spoil anything, but unlike Snyder, James Gunn didn't kill ANY characters who've been around since the '30s! (Snyder averaged one major death per movie, starting with Jimmy Olsen in Man of Steel. He planned to kill off Lois Lane and Batman in Justice League 2 and 3, respectively. Justice League 4 would have starred, I guess, Booster Gold and the Daily Planet janitor. And then he'd have killed them, too.)
We got a Krypto plush toy, and a Krypto water dish at the theater. It's only a matter of time until there are actual storefronts in movie theaters, and I say bring 'em on.
This is the second time I’ve seen this on TCM. I haven’t read Dostoevsky’s original story. I did see the USSR movie several years ago and don’t remember a lot of details, so I’m not sure how many parallels there are.
Frank Silvera plays police Lieutenant Porter. I had just seen him in a different movie (Killer'sKiss -1955, Stanley Kubrick’s first movie) in which he played a murderous night club owner. His performance as the police lieutenant in this movie has been pointed out as the likely inspiration for the character of Lieutenant Columbo.
This 1959 movie was George Hamilton’s first. He plays the killer in the piece, who thinks he is a superior being entitled to do anything he wants. His and the other actors’ performances are very good. Highly recommended.
Star Trek The Motion Picture. Revisiting this film without the great expectations I had for it in 1979 and taking it on its own merits as a standalone story I found it, at least on this viewing, to be a good science fiction film. Yes, there is too much screen time given over to staring at various special effects but still I enjoyed it more than I ever had in past viewings.
Replies
Jaws (1975)
I’m pretty sure that I saw Jaws 2 (1978), but it didn’t really measure up. In the intervening fifty years, I think this is only the third time I’ve seen the original. What jumped out at me this time was “Chekhov’s Spare Oxygen Tank,” the focus of the camera without dialog at least twice after Richard Dreyfus explained its danger in its first appearance.
I recall seeing Jaws 2 in the theatre at the time. It really didn't measure up. I've seen a bit of it on TV since, but I've never revisted the entire film. But I re-watched Jaws recently and was again impressed with how well it holds up, overall.
We're going to see Superman next week, at the drive-in.
We saw Superman this weekend, and enjoyed it. It was a huge antidote to Zack Snyder's nasty, nihilistic worldview (which I loathed). I don't want to spoil anything, but unlike Snyder, James Gunn didn't kill ANY characters who've been around since the '30s! (Snyder averaged one major death per movie, starting with Jimmy Olsen in Man of Steel. He planned to kill off Lois Lane and Batman in Justice League 2 and 3, respectively. Justice League 4 would have starred, I guess, Booster Gold and the Daily Planet janitor. And then he'd have killed them, too.)
We got a Krypto plush toy, and a Krypto water dish at the theater. It's only a matter of time until there are actual storefronts in movie theaters, and I say bring 'em on.
Crime & Punishment, USA (1959)
This is the second time I’ve seen this on TCM. I haven’t read Dostoevsky’s original story. I did see the USSR movie several years ago and don’t remember a lot of details, so I’m not sure how many parallels there are.
Frank Silvera plays police Lieutenant Porter. I had just seen him in a different movie (Killer's Kiss -1955, Stanley Kubrick’s first movie) in which he played a murderous night club owner. His performance as the police lieutenant in this movie has been pointed out as the likely inspiration for the character of Lieutenant Columbo.
This 1959 movie was George Hamilton’s first. He plays the killer in the piece, who thinks he is a superior being entitled to do anything he wants. His and the other actors’ performances are very good. Highly recommended.
Upon first meeting the killer, Porter and Columbo get an identical eagle-eyed look that means "this is the guy."
Star Trek The Motion Picture. Revisiting this film without the great expectations I had for it in 1979 and taking it on its own merits as a standalone story I found it, at least on this viewing, to be a good science fiction film. Yes, there is too much screen time given over to staring at various special effects but still I enjoyed it more than I ever had in past viewings.
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