#love his love for nick stahl because- same!!!!!!

[illusmina]

The opening of director Vincent Grashaw and writer Robert Alan Dilts’s What Josiah Saw (2021) reminded me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Momentarily beautiful and serene in a way but you know deep down something is about to be wrong. By minute three, I thought I was settling in for a movie about the origin of a very specific type of male evil that is pervasive in American society. What breeds it? Well, poverty for one thing. Alcohol and drug addiction don’t help. Total lack of healthcare and rural infrastructure collapse certainly exacerbate it. But who do these men blame? Women. Politics. Cabals of <insert non-white race here> that sex traffic children in basements of pizza parlors. Basically, anyone who isn’t them or the actual people/corporations responsible for decimating their community. Namely, the oil company that shows up by minute ten and wants all the land. There’s just one problem. One of the properties they have their eye on, local legend has it, is haunted. But the setup is a rope-a-dope. The film ultimately turns in something truly surprising about the secrets we keep and the lies we tell ourselves in order to keep them.

I was sold on reviewing this film by the trailer. When I saw Nick Stahl’s name, I literally squee-d. Nick Stahl is one of those actors I’ve always rooted for. I loved him in Carnivale (HBO) and Sin City (2005), just to name a couple, and years back when he was in the news struggling with serious drug addiction, I was honestly worried we would lose him. But here he is as Eli Graham and I hope to everything it means he is happy, healthy, and back to working consistently—and not so much that the character he plays, a wanton, lost, drug addict was an easy role to take. Stahl’s talent has always shined bright and it is on full display in this performance. Not to be outdone, even Robert Patrick’s hair is drunk during his performance as the perpetually inebriated, broken, titular Josiah Graham. Sure, he chews a little scenery, but goddammit, that’s why I love Robert Patrick. Stahl’s competition goes even deeper than that. The supporting cast is so good, it almost seems like it doesn’t belong. Standouts include Tony Hale (Arrested Development) as Ross Milner, Kelli Garner (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as Mary Milner, and Jake Weber (Dawn of the Dead) as Boone. One I’ll definitely keep my eye on is Ronnie Gene Blevins who is quietly hilarious as Billy.

The film unfolds across three interconnected chapters. It moves and speaks like a well-written novel with the horror elements peppered in—as if Jim Thompson and Daniel Woodrell baked a cake in Stephen King’s oven—the same one that baked Dolores Claiborne (1995). What, to me, were a few cliché compositions and shots were more than made up for in some really unique and creative sequences. A fight scene in Chapter 2 is a personal favorite. Overall, Chapter 3: Mary May I is probably my favorite. It looks, sounds, and feels like a beautiful homage to The Shining (1980) but, like, if Wendy never took anyone’s shit.

Neo-noir is getting to be more and more difficult of a label for me to use. Given the state of the world, the darker, more hopeless and cynical aspects of noir as a genre in film simply feel at this point like Cinema Verité. So, with this film, dare I coin a new film movement, Cinema Amerité: the American answer to the original French movement which is basically filming horror/noir as if it’s documentary because that’s how hollowed out our daily lives have become. All of us pretending we’re not collectively experiencing various levels of PTSD in a seemingly endless cycle of shock, horror, and despair with no room for healing in a barely wage-livable forty plus-hour work week. Smile at dinner parties. Put up a Live, Laugh, Love sign in the living room. Suffer quietly. But what I always hold on to, and I think the film does to, despite its twist and very bleak conclusion, is remembering the connections we have to each other. Family, friends—even if those connections are strained, or broken, you always have the chance to go home—fix them, maybe. Or, at the very least remind yourself why you’re a fighter still fighting and a survivor still surviving. Stick around for the song running under the credits, “Dynamite Mine” by Murder by Death. It’s great.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 6x11: The Holding

Wow! Where to begin with this episode? We had some super-stellar parallels going here. I don’t think it was any secret that I wasn’t thrilled with last week’s episode. It was fine, but also kind of meh. I LOVED this week’s episode. So much good stuff!

***As always, spoilers for 6x11 abound below. Don't read until you've watched!***

So, we learn about these “end is the beginning” people. They’re staying in a place called The Holding, which is really an underground parking garage. (Um…cars, anyone? Let’s recall that Daryl and Carol walked through at least one parking garage in Consumed while looking for Beth. They also passed lots of above-ground ones, including one that had a red car with its door open in front of it. Also, the fact that it’s underground could make it a symbolic tomb/grave.)

These people are composting walkers to grow food underground. (People do use blood and bone feed to fertilize gardens. Like compost and waste, it really does help them grow. Of course in our society it’s ANIMAL blood and bone. Using walkers/humans is definitely more sinister and cringy. And they have proven that eating various parts of humans leads to things like Mad Cow’s Disease, so I do think Alicia’s question about food being grown that way being healthy is viable.)

But moving on.

It’s important to note that the showrunner called this group a cult, so are not they meant to be “good people.” Most of those that live there aren’t sinister, but they’ve been brainwashed into thinking their leader is a good man and that what he’s trying to accomplish is good. They’ve drunk the koolaid (or eaten the walker food?).

So, we have the ivy walker.

There really couldn’t be a more clear parallel to the blond girl Daryl saw on the tree in 5x15. Plus all the green ivy around her.

I believe we saw a promo of this walker early on. Like maybe nearer the beginning of S6. Which, thanks to Covid, was more than a year ago. I’d pretty much forgotten it, but we actually do see it in this episode.

The dogma of this group (“the end is the beginning”) is that from death springs new life. This walker is meant to represent that. Life growing out of death. And on its own, it doesn’t seem like an overly negative mission statement. After all, this world is full of death and people are trying to survive. But it quickly becomes obvious that there’s more sinister stuff at work here.

So what does this have to do with Beth? I think she’s the ultimate symbol of life springing from death. So, not only does this foreshadow her, but they’re also using her as a symbol here. I don’t know how this group may feed into future story lines, or if they’ll just be a FTWD thing, but it will be interesting to watch.

Some of the major things in this episode: a Sirius reunion, a Daryl/Merle parallel, Grady parallels, at least two major Beth/Bethyl proxies, and some tantalizing hints for what’s to come involving both this group and the CRM. (See why I loved this episode?)

Let’s dive in.

First, let me acknowledge all the background symbols. There are tons of them, and I don’t want to go into tons of detail about them. But we see cheese (think Morgan/Eastman), tomatoes, eggs (lots of food). We also see fire extinguishers, lots of green (especially paint), an elevator. You get the idea.

The first big thing that happens is Wes meets his brother, Derek, whom he thought was dead. 

Welcome to the first Beth proxy.

Okay, I didn’t remember much of this backstory or how much of it was told when we first met Wes. I do remember talking about his brother as a possible Beth proxy, but beyond that, I didn’t remember details. But they rehash it all here. Care to take a guess?

Wes went out for supplies and was overwhelmed by, you guessed it, a walker horde. He ran into a shed but it collapsed (becoming something of tomb) and the walkers were beating on the outside, trying to get in (think Beth and Daryl in the trunk). He passed out and woke up in The Holding.

That’s exactly like what happened with Beth, actually. She told Gorman she was fighting a walker and everything went black. She woke up at Grady.

The difference here is that Beth never bought into what Dawn was peddling, but unfortunately, Wes’s brother did. We eventually learn that he’s a true follower of “Teddy,” the cult leader and condones the murder that’s being done.

And of course that’s also what we think happened during the missing 17 days. Overwhelmed by walkers, left behind. Perhaps she woke up back at Grady, or somewhere else.

But the actual reunion between Wes and Derek is very on-the-nose. Because Wes truly thought this brother dead, he even says things like, “You’re alive?” and “What the hell?” Probably things that will be said about Beth when she finally shows up.

There’s also a serious/Sirius mention when they sit down to talk. And Derek keeps mentioning his bike. Like Daryl, he had a bike that Wes took when he thought his brother dead. But the fact that he mentions “bikes” like five times in this conversation is important.

I wanted to mention coffee. We’ve seen coffee as a symbol before, specifically around Carol. We first noticed it when Paula told her little story about the carrot, the egg and the coffee beans going into the water in 6x13. She said the coffee beans changed the water itself. So, coffee = a catalyst for change. But this episode made me realize it’s a catalyst for a change that’s not necessarily good.

Apparently, the supplies Wes’s brother went out for was coffee creamer. The change that came was not only him being left behind and presumed dead, but changing into a person that no longer empathized with other human beings. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we see Carol making and drinking coffee just before they went to the caverns and Connie disappeared?)

There’s also a huge eye/sight/see theme. They take everyone over to see this green-ivy walker and ask them what they “see”. The idea is that they should see life and possibility springing from death, but it’s just a way to indoctrinate them and check to see if they’re willing to go along with what the cult’s beliefs are. Lots of talk of eyes (opening your eyes), what one can and can’t yet see, etc.

Later, we see walkers with their mouths sewn shut. So we have at least the see no evil, speak no evil themes. There might have been hear no evil that I didn’t catch.

The second major parallel is to Daryl and Merle, since these two are brothers. 

But it’s more than just that. Wes took Derek’s bike after he disappeared (same as Daryl and Merle). When Wes found his brother again, he was with a bad group (with Merle, it was the Governor) or rather a group of decent people led by an evil man. Derek has a skewed mindset, and is working for Teddy. Remember that Merle not only worked for the Gov but even tried to kill Michonne at one point. And how they die is…similar. Merle’s, in the end, was more chivalrous, as he died to help save Daryl and TF. That wasn’t the case with Derek, but his death resulted from him pretending to work against Teddy. Unfortunately it wasn’t real, and he betrayed them, but there are still parallels/anti-parallels between the two stories.

How is this place like Grady?

There’s the underground tomb aspect, the fact that they grow their own food. At the beginning, Alicia’s group keeps asking them questions about the community, which Riley (Nick Stahl) pretty much refuses to answer.

One of them is, “Are we allowed to leave?” or “Is anyone allowed to leave?” That, of course, instantly reminded me of Grady. Now, they never answer it directly, and at one point, Riley says they can decide if they want to stay or not. But by the time we get to the end of the episode, I’m pretty sure that’s BS. So, like Grady, no one’s really given the choice to leave. Even if they tell people they can.

They’re taken into a room with medical equipment at one point. It just looks a lot like Grady, though I could tell it wasn’t the same kind of medical equipment. We’re told that it’s embalming equipment.

In fact, Al says something that should catch your ear. She says, “they must have hit the funeral home.” Naturally all our minds will go to Alone, but she’s talking about the funeral home she and Dwight (I think) were at before. I don’t remember which episode, but we talked about it looking a lot like the funeral home in Alone. So, I think Al is saying these people, The Holding, raided that funeral home and took the equipment. Kinda makes me think the funeral home in Alone will come back into the picture at some point.

And it turns out, The Holding is embalming walkers. Al’s group ends up in a room with dozens of walkers strung up by their wrists (kind of like Daryl and Michonne were in Scars). They’ve been embalmed and their mouths have been sewn shut.

So, here’s where the plot becomes super interesting. I mentioned above that Riley told them they could choose to leave at some point, right? Al was saying that everything they’ve set up is impressive—food, power, water, they’re very self-sustaining—but it felt like they were preparing for something big.

He admits that they are. He says they are planning to soon close the doors permanently. He says they never want to go topside again, and the new way to live will be underground.

Later, when talking to Morgan, Al sort of implies that maybe it’s not so much about them choosing to go underground as that something will drive them underground for a long time. Almost like they’re preparing for a nuclear winter or something. But we don’t know exactly what it is.

I think what we’re supposed to infer is that they’re collecting walkers to use as compost in coming years. (They even call the walkers ‘posters.) They’re embalming the walkers to keep them “fresh.” Riley says the walkers last about 2 months in the composter before they break down entirely, so putting away 20 or 30 walkers really will last them for years.

CRM Ties

Wes and Al snoop through Derek’s room. They find maps of different communities and some of those transparent overlays that have the three rings of the CRM on them. That’s how they know that this group is attacking communities (like Tank Town) and that Derek knows all about it.

The other thing Al figures out from looking at Derek’s maps is that the group seemed to be tracking the CRM’s drop sites. She thinks they want to get their hands on a helicopter. (So, when it comes to Nora’s group, who was in the high rise, this group wasn’t after them. The roof was a helicopter drop site and that’s really who they were after. Though, they might have set the plague on Nora’s people because they are trying to kill humanity.) And given that this cult might be planning the end of the world, clearly them getting a hold of a helicopter would be a bad thing. 

Al tells Dwight she’s going to go look for Isobel and warn her. I think she’s just planning to go to the drop sites and wait for a helicopter to show up.

So, we have more potential interaction with the CRM through Al. And I’m really hoping we get some good Bethyl symbolism and clues through this storyline. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

Morgan and Burning it Down

Wes confronts him and talks him into leaving with them. At one point, Wes mentions Morgan. I think he just does it without thinking, because what would Morgan mean to his brother, right? But Derek instantly gets weird when he hears Morgan’s name, and Wes doesn’t really notice.

When they try to leave, they get caught, and it’s obvious Derek set them up. They’re taken to the embalming room, and Riley asks where Morgan is. They won’t say how they know him or why they want him, but they’re VERY interested in finding Morgan. 

I was thinking it might just be because Morgan killed those two guys in one of the early episodes when they attacked him in his truck, but they both died and wouldn’t have known his name from that encounter anyway. So I’m not sure what this is about. There are the tapes they were leaving at gas stations and such. Maybe that’s it, but it wouldn’t explain why they would want Morgan more than the others.

They’re taken to the embalming room and threatened with death. Derek takes Wes back to the ivy walker to see if he can “see” what Wes does. 

A fight ensues, and Wes throws Derek into the walker where he’s bitten. He shoots his brother so he won’t turn. The thing about this part is that it doesn’t show it. It instead shows the (somewhat yellowish) mural Derek was working on before, and Teddy’s voice is talking about how light comes from darkness. Then, we just hear a single gunshot. 

That gave me *major* Beth vibes.

Wes then goes back to the embalming room to rescue the others.

Wes’s reaction at this part reminded me a bit of Daryl/Merle too. Not so much at Merle’s death, but back in 3x10 when Daryl returned to the prison. It just struck me that, while Wes did cry when his brother died and clearly mourned him, he got over it really fast. He went back to where the group was and no longer seemed terribly broken up about it. I was just thinking he seemed to have figured out who his true family was and where he really belonged, and that that was more important than his brother’s warped mindset. Much like Daryl and Merle.

When he goes back, he takes Riley hostage briefly and they all escape into another room and bar the door. This room is full of the hanging walkers full of embalming fluid. They have to walk between them toward an exit on the far side.

Al Parallels Daryl in 5x15

Here’s another super interesting parallel. Al sees one walker hanging that has the black CRM gear on it, including the helmet, so she can’t see its face. She walks over to it and lifts its helmet, clearly looking to see if it’s Isobel, which it’s not. Such an obvious parallel to Daryl looking into the face of the blond walker on the tree. It even lunges at her and she kills it, like Daryl did with that walker.

What I liked here is that Alicia freaked out about it. She said, “what the hell was that?” Aaron didn’t say that to Daryl, so they weren’t drawing as much attention to it there as they did here. But clearly we are supposed to notice that, without knowing more, that behavior is bizarre. And here, we the audience know that Al was worried it was Isobel. But Alicia doesn’t. Where the blond walker on the tree is concerned, the audience is in Alicia’s place, not being terribly clear about what’s behind Daryl’s behavior. (I mean, TD is, but most of the rest of the fandom isn’t.)

So then Alicia says they should take this place down. When Al stabbed the CRM walker in the neck, embalming fluid poured out. Embalming fluid is highly flammable. So, long story short, Alicia stays behind to “burn it down” and the others escape. (I don’t have to explain that parallel, right? ;D)

It all happens really fast. We see Alicia light the match (which Al had; just reminded me of Daryl having matches in Rick’s hallucination in 7x01, and clearly Al = Daryl in this parallel), and then it skips to Al, Wes, and Luciana back with Morgan telling him what happened. They say the fire was huge and burned hot, and Alicia could have gotten out, but they couldn’t FIND her. They also don’t know if any of the Holding people got out.

So Morgan just says they’re going to go back and start at the Holding location to look for Alicia. I’m assuming that will happen next episode.

So, we aren’t exactly clear on this group’s dogma or what they’re trying to do, but it does seem that they want to kill off everyone who lives up top. Which is, you know, everyone. And once again, that makes them a lot like the Wolves. They believe killing people is saving them. I’m not saying these are Wolves or anything (they might be; after all, both groups tied a blond walker to a tree and believed similar things about killing off the remnants of humanity) but rather that the Wolves were a foreshadow of other groups to come.

And the next question is, are they part of the CRM? Because of the CRM walker, and what they implied about them trying to hijack a helicopter, I’m thinking not. But there’s clearly a lot of entanglement going on.

Alicia = Beth

So, in the final scene, we have some interesting developments. This may be the scene that got my mind spinning the most, just in terms of symbolic Beth potential.

We see Alicia, very much alive, and still in the embalming room, though now all the walls look blackened. So obviously the entire place didn’t burn down. (That doesn’t surprise me. It’s an underground parking garage. It takes a lot to burn down cement.)

She’s being held hostage in there. Riley comes in and says some weird, cryptic things. He says new life springs from death, for MOST people, and that they plan to preserve Alicia exactly as she is. It’s obvious they mean to kill and embalm her.

But I had the thought that maybe they meant her to take the place of the Ivy Walker. We don’t know what happened to that walker. It might have burned in the fire, but they didn’t show us either way. I was thinking that it would make a twisted sense for them to embalm Alicia (who tried to take their community down) and put her in its place. Which would make her a Beth proxy.

Riley leaves her alone with the embalming guy, but she stabs him in the eye (Sirius) and then, after a brutal scuffle, sticks him in the neck with the embalming needle, killing him.

It’s then that we finally meet Teddy, the leader of the cult. We hear about him and hear his voice a lot during the episode (they play tapes of him talking throughout the garage as people work) but this is when we first see him. It’s John Glover. I don’t know if everyone’s familiar with him. He was on Smallville back in the day. I totally forgot he was going to be on the show. He’s usually a villain, but more of a funny villain than a scary villain.

Anyway, he basically tells Alicia he has a special role for her and that he’s been looking for someone like her for a long time. He seems convinced that he can convert her to his philosophy, but he’s also fixated on the fact that she sacrificed herself for her family. So, it doesn’t say what he means by “someone like you” but I’m assuming someone who is brave or else self-sacrificial.

But here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking recently that they haven’t really done much with Alicia lately. She’s one of the few surviving originals for this series, and one of the most well known actors going into it, because she’s been on other highly-watched tv shows, but they’ve kind of been ignoring her.

So, I think this is the beginning of a big arc for her, and I think it will be a major parallel for what happened with Beth after she was left behind.

Alicia becomes a proxy here for Beth, not only because she’s in the Grady-like medical room, and stabs a guy in the eye, but Teddy totally razzes her about being left behind.

He says, “they left you behind.” She says, “I made them.” He says, “Yeah, but they obliged.” And then goes off about how they’re her family and family is sacred and they shouldn’t have done that.

And in my head, I’m screaming, “Beth! Beth! Beth!”

So yeah. Super intrigued by this episode. They’re setting up some really intriguing things and it will be very interesting to see what happens moving forward.

What did everyone else think of the episode?

[cinematological]

The inevitability of destiny: Terminator Dark Fate (Spoilers for the Terminator Franchise)

Trapped between a massive generation of dying boomers who become progressively more afraid of change and a massive generation of millennials who have accepted that life will be only the most brutal and rapid change, my generation was perfectly primed to fall in love with Terminator movies. Too young to see the original Terminator (written and directed by James Cameron) in theatres in 1984, it was the perfect VHS fodder for me and my teenage friends. With its dramatic (and misleading) VHS cover announcing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s titular Terminator as the T-800 (actually a T101 model 800, neatly retconned by Cameron in T2), it represented the most neon and gun porn pastiche of the era. Gritty, methodical and relentless, The Terminator as a film is tense, romantic and cathartic. Cameron’s vision as director matches the mission of the killer cyborg (Schwarzenegger), and the film moves forward building to a literal and metaphorical climax.

With humanity having beaten the machines back in the future, Skynet, a self-aware AI and metaphor for the fear of cold war inspired nuclear fire, sends back a T-101 to kill the mother of the man (John Conner) who leads the human resistance. Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) is the beating heart and soul of The Terminator, a young waitress flung into a threat she has never conceived or is prepared for. Sent from the future to save her, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is a human soldier who has essentially time-stalked Sarah, having been prompted to pine for her by his son John Conner, who never tells Reese that he destined to fall in love with and impregnate Sarah Conner during his mission. Reese’s body is scarred and worn, and Biehn’s intensity makes him the shitty but pretty boyfriend who is a great lay but also might get drunk and beat the shit out of you.

The Terminator is a crucible in which Sarah Conner, the leader and mother of the resistance is formed, and ends on a delightfully bleak note, as she drives pregnant into the Mexican mountains, to prepare for the nuclear war to come, Judgement Day.

Imagine leaving your teens as a young cis man, formed by Schwarzenegger action films and Cameron’s next films, Aliens and The Abyss. The late ’80s and early ’90s saw the end of the cold war, the rise of climate consciousness and a false sense of hope. Genre films had yet to slump as they would in the mid-1990s. Schwarzenegger had begun to make comedies as well as action films, Linda Hamilton had spent years romancing Ron Perlman as the Beauty to his Beast, and Michael Biehn was carefully destroying his career by falling into drug addiction. Imagine going to the movies, because it would be at least a year before a film would come to home video, and seeing a teaser for Terminator 2 or T2: Judgement Day, a film you had no idea was being made. I don’t remember what movie it was in front of but I remember I saw it at the Paramount Theatre in the defunct Famous Players chain. I remember gasping when I realized what movie it was, and I remember the audience cheering.

T2 was the first movie that I felt the marketing had betrayed the intent. Seen in a vacuum such as when I showed T1& T2 back to back to my step-son, the return of the T-101 is a tense Mexican stand-off of suspense.

Released in 1991 but set in 1994 or 95, Sarah Conner is now essentially a terminator in human form. Having carved her body and her mind into sharp angles of muscles and determination, and honed by the hopelessness that the end of the world is inevitable, Sarah has raised her son to be a military leader. This myopic world view has also dulled her empathy and emotional connection with her son, while he craves her affection. Incarcerated in a psychiatric institution indefinitely, Sarah uses her wits to try and escape while being tormented by her dreams and the staff. John Conner (Edward Furlong) is a young teen, bouncing between foster parents. He is skilled and clever but extremely unhappy. Two terminators are sent back simultaneously, a new T-101 sent by the resistance to protect and obey John, and a prototype, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick).

Seemingly unfettered by budget, T2 was the most expensive film ever made when released. Unlike the 4 million dollars spent on T1, T2 has an enormous scope and helped usher in the era of digital EFX, paving the way for Jurassic Park. Perhaps paradoxically, T2 is as relentless and methodical as T1, despite the exponential increase in resources. Like Sarah’s physical transformation, it is optimized for maximum impact with the least amount of excess.

Following parallel stories of John and Sarah as they work their way to each other, the T-1000 is an even more terrifying and perhaps undefeatable foe than the T-101. A mimetic polymorph, the T-1000 is an amorphous blob of metal than can form into roughly human-sized shapes, mimic people, and form large stabby weapons on its arm. Patrick’s performance is wryer than Schwarzenegger’s machine, but once again Hamilton is the emotional core of the film. She narrates the film, and it is her dogged determination to change the future despite the endless pursuit of an overwhelming foe that drives the plot.

While T1 accepts that the future is inevitable, T2 writhes and pushes at the chains of fate, becoming more deterministic. Having reconciled with John and taught the T-101 to begin to understand the value of humanity, T2 leaves the future open and uncertain, other than that Judgement Day has been thwarted.

Terminator Dark Fate makes two assumptions of the audience: that it has seen T2 and that the three sequels since T2 no longer exist. I have an enormous soft spot for Terminator 3 directed by Jonathan Mostow. Released in 2003 it was the last of an era of large scale physical action movies that relied less on CG than on practical effects. While CG is deployed and has not aged well, locations, sets and models are the predominant methods of staging action sequences. It is also the bleakest of the franchise, where an adult John Conner(Nick Stahl) mourns the loss of his mother, only to learn from a returning T-101 that Judgement Day was not stopped, merely delayed. Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) is initially kidnapped by the T-101 as they are pursued by a female terminator, known as the TX (Kristanna Loken). Unlike the T1000, she has a metal skeleton covered by liquid metal. T3 ends with the self-sacrifice of the T-101, the destruction of the TX and inevitability of fate, as nuclear war envelops the globe.

Terminator: Salvation promised the movie we had all hoped for, the future war writ large. It completely fails at its goal, following a Terminator that thinks it’s a person (Sam Worthington) and a stalwart yet not a leader John Conner (Christian Bale) as they battle the early Hunter Killer machines and Terminator models. Expensive, grim and empty, Salvation falls into the excesses of director McG but has no sense of character, plot or momentum. A digital T-101 returns in the climax and is deeply unsatisfying.

Terminator Genisys (directed by Alan Taylor) is a 2015 mashup remix, using Back to the Future 2 as a model for revisiting the events of T1 and T2 while building on a new story. Again the T-101 is sent back to save Sarah(Emilia Clarke) and Kyle(Jai Courtney) from a different T-1000, and to build a time travel device, allowing the pair to move forward from the early ’90s to the 2010s. John Conner (Jason Clarke) travels back in time to confront his mother in a parallel story from the future, only to reveal that he has become a Terminator. All three of these sequels end with clear sequel bait, for films that will never come. The inevitability of these films is to kick at the same can, fruitlessly.

Dark Fate announces its allegiance and intentions in the opening seconds of the titles, interspersed with a scene from T2 where Sarah, broken by the weight of the death of the world, futilely struggles against her captor’s disbelief that the end is nigh. A startling prologue set in 1998 heavily aided by CG de-ageing sets the emotional stakes for the film, which unfortunately does not include the ostensible stars of the film.

Two beings then fall from the sky, a startling Mackenzie Davis as Grace, whose physical transformation mirroring that of Linda Hamilton’s in T2. She is sinew and muscle, stretched out over an Amazonian frame. Her expressive eyes plead from a face cut from stone, and she is exposed as an augmented human. Once more a Terminator, this time a Rev-9 played by Gabriel Luna, returns to stock the new saviour of the future, Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). The Rev-9 is a black steel skeleton covered by a separate liquid metal form that can function autonomously and is indestructible.  A grizzled Sarah Conner returns to help Grace save Dani from the Rev 9 and ends up recruiting a T-101 that is stranded in 2019.

SPOILERS FOR DARK FATE

As a pastiche of all the previous films, Dark Fate is the most entertaining and exciting Terminator sequels since T2. It is essentially The Force Awakens in that it is a rehash of T1’s plot, with different pieces moving around the chessboard. It hand-waves at the significance of making it's lead’s Hispanic, and even passes through a detention center in Texas, but has nothing to say about it.  It follows the template of guns, large trucks, car chases and helicopters set by T1 & T2, but ends the film eschewing the physicality of locations and vehicles and devolves into digital nonsense. The first two-thirds of the film is fun, and surprisingly emotional, as Schwarzenegger’s T-101 has spent the last 21 years, having completed its mission, learning to be human. It has helped build a home, raised a step-son, and become a hell of a drapery salesman. Schwarzenegger’s “Carl” brings enormous pathos to the role, as an artificial being seeking purpose surrounding by humans beleaguered by it.

The hands of up to a dozen writers are apparent in the finished film, as plot threads and hints of characterization are touched on and forgotten. Grace seems designed to explore the concept of a human that has become more of a machine in contrast to Carl, who is a machine learning to be human, but the idea is never explored. She exists simply to protect Grace because, despite Sarah’s protestations that the future can be changed, the one aspect that seems immutable is that humanity will face self-created mechanical extinction, and leaders will rise to unite us. Sarah did change the future, eliminating Skynet, only to have it be replaced by Legion, a machine learning AI designed to combat cyber-warfare that quickly sets about eliminating the species. Unlike Skynet’s pre-internet incarnation as a military designed weapons platform and autonomous vehicle operator, Legion has no basis in the physical world, yet creates identical terminators and hunter-killer robots. It seems that the future will doggedly hand on terminators no matter what creates them.

Director Tim Miller aspires to pay homage to James Cameron’s vision and mostly succeeds. In an early car chase, I found myself wishing he had more closely aped Cameron’s direction in using wide angles of vehicular mayhem and letting the stunt work deliver the thrills. Miller relies on longer lenses, shaky medium shots and faster cutting to build tension and while never annoying or incompetent it becomes an albatross in the film’s last third. James Cameron's action films never eschew physics unless it is motivated by something extraordinary, where Miller relies far too much on spongy digital doubles and ridiculous action. In quieter moments, emotional beats seem missed, though a late sequence where Sarah shares with Dani the extent of her pain and loss is a beautiful measure of restraint and performance.

[benofie]

6 Celebs I Find Sexy

Rules: pretty basic really, choose 6 smokin celebs and let us know who makes your hot list! (Tagged by @skyshipper )

So here's my thing, I tend to be a fairly monogamous crusher... I tend to fixate hard on one celebrity at a time rather than several at once. And whoever I am fixated on, I CONSUME anything they have ever done that I can get my grubby hands on.

So, at the moment, my one and only is my #1 pick. So I dug into my past intense celeb crushes to fill out the other five. I have ordered them by level of crush intensity at the time...

#6 Benedict Cumberbatch

I was a devoted Cumberbitch/Cumberbabe for a very intense several months after discovering Sherlock. It was a rare instance of me actually being into the "It" man at the time. The Cumber-fascination creeps up on you slowly and then suddenly you realize this man is practically perfect in every way and all other men pale in comparison. He's quite handsome, charming, and undeniably talented as fuck. My Cumber-crush seemed to fizzle after a few months, though, which is why I rank him last. I'm still a huge fan of his work, of course 😊

#5 Charlie Day

Charlie-fucking-Day! He is adorable, hilarious, and more fucking talented than most people realize. He is a bonafide musician in addition to being one of the brilliant comedic geniuses behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And if you've never seen his Commencement speech at Merrimack College (his alma mater), do yourself a favor and check it out. It will blow your mind.

#4 James McAvoy

I've been in love with this man ever since he charmed and bewitched me in Becoming Jane. Another gorgeous, charming as hell, and talented as fuck man. He astounds me in everything I see him in and catching him in an interview is downright panty dropping... As exemplified in this interview with another favorite man of mine (though not a full-on crush), Craig Ferguson. The vortex of Scottish charm is a real thing...

#3 Nick Stahl

This one takes me back to over a decade ago... I had a quite lengthy, very intense, love for this man after becoming quite obsessed with the HBO show, Carnivale. In fact, he makes up the "ben" half of my "benofie" handle which I still use across most social media today! Ben and Sofie were an intense ship/obsession of mine 10+ years ago. Nick was adorable as Ben on Carnivale, super hot as John Connor in Terminator 3, and really showed off his acting range when he played the terrifying Yellow Bastard in Sin City. That trifecta did me in and I was IN LOVE for quite some time. He's had a rough last few years in his real life but I'm hopeful he will stay strong and come back to serious acting soon.

Ben Hawkins:

#2 Tim Roth

This was a biggie for me. Spanning years, distance traveled, deep life devotion on this one. He's an unconventional heartthrob, I know, but I started crushing hard on this guy back when my brother forced me to watch Reservoir Dogs and Four Rooms back to back. I can't quite explain it, I can't put my finger on why, but this man does it for me. I think there is just a sexiness in his mystique and gravitas on screen. He's an excellent actor even though he's never really become a huge star and has mostly been typecast in villain roles. My obsession with Tim Roth was probably the most intense of my life. I went to great expense to obtain every single film in his filmography, if it was possible. There is still a film he apparently made in Africa I've never seen, but if it's at all obtainable, I've seen it. I made friends online who shared the same obsession with him and we all met in Chicago 10+ years ago and had the time of our lives. I even made a treck to NYC to see Tim Roth in a play and yes, I was lucky enough to meet him afterwards and have an actually AMAZING encounter/conversation with him! It remains the single, best moment of my life to date. 😊

#1 Max Minghella

The #1 man in my life at the moment who has gotten under my skin, consumes most of my waking thoughts, and makes me percolate daily... the one and only Max Minghella. A rare departure for me to crush on a bonafide pretty boy 😍 I am not sure if it was his beauty or talent or charisma or undeniable magnetism and off-the-charts on-screen chemistry with equally-talented Lizzie Moss on The Handmaid's Tale, or a combination of all of the above... but this man has taken a firm hold over me and is currently my life obsession. Along with the Nick and June relationship on aforementioned TV show. As with every crush mentioned above, I have devoured everything I can find that this man has either acted in or appeared on. I have loved him in everything and his range is quite impressive. My only complaint is there isn't more of it. He oozes sex appeal and star power. I want to see him be the next "It" man in Hollywood because I think he deserves to be. Oh, did I mention he also writes and directs? I am completely and hopelessly devoted, mind, heart, and soul... 😍😍😍

I mean, come on...

[NOTE: Not my GIF. Unsure of credit on this. If you recognize it as yours, please comment so I can give you credit 😊]

I am not sure who may have already done this and I don't have many I can tag so I will tag @dcgal814 and @supermessgirl

If you've already blogged on this, maybe you can just reblog and tag me 😊

[bernie-bear]

fe13 modern au

chrom: conglomerate ceo, slave to capitalism :(

avatar: tenured history & politics professor. has been featured on a few ted talks

lissa: youtuber/instagram person who bakes. has like 2 recipe books out

frederick: works in the same corp as chrom in compliance. his employees hate him

sully: sports coach for a women's soccer team

virion: shifty investor who only flies first class

stahl: operations manager at a local bank

vaike: truck driver. i dont know i dont care for vaike

miriel: tenured biochemistry research professor

sumia: bakes alongside lissa occasionally but otherwise runs her own shop

kellam: government intelligence officer working in covert ops. im serious people who work in that kind of stuff need to be inconspicuous and who else is better for the job

donnel: high school counselor

lonqu: head of security at basilios company

ricken: that white guy who has a fulbright teaching kids english in asia

maribelle: corporate lawyer for chrom's conglomerate

panne: wildlife conversation project coordinator

gaius: con artist - think nick wilde but way less edgy. but everyone thinks he manages an ice cream shop

cordelia: non profit fundraising coordinator. previously worked in law

gregor: works under lonqu in security

nowi: movie actress!!! she loves doing fantasy movies

libra: priest. what else

tharja: pharmaceutical researcher. scary concept!

olivia: choreographer for musical artists

cherche: preschool teacher who also does those cooking classes at home

henry: a vet fresh out of vet school

the second gens are all college students

lucina: international relations major slated to take over her dad's company. has been to a frat party once and will never come back

morgan: dual major in history and math. doesnt know what theyre gonna in the future other than be an academic

owain: english major and theater minor who looks like a frat guy but is quickly disappointing to all the thots and abgs!

kjelle: physio major on a sports scholarship who'll probably become a professional athlete

laurent: chemistry major who'll go until his phd to stay in a lab forever watching molecules go pew pew under his microscope to get paid

cynthia: theater major and very much a social butterfly. is one of those annoying acapella people

brady: music major who had to beg his mom to let him be one after he showed that he was no good at any academics. occasionally goes out

yarne: biology major whos probably not gonna use his major after grad. tells everyone hes not gonna go out but has major fomo, then regrets going to the party hes at

severa: econ major because no one likes econ majors. is stuck in the vicious spiral that is hookup culture

noire: computer science major who wonders why shes still in the major because its upped her anxiety. plays the harp for the orchestra

nah: philosophy major who hopes nobody knows of her mother's identity. ever since she joined the mock trial team she knew she was going into law school

inigo: physics major and dance minor although no one believes hes a physics major. is unfortunately the guy who either plays sicko mode or mo bamba

gerome: computer science major who took the major because it makes cash and he doesnt have to interact with others. works at the library and hates it

[aion-rsa]

Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 11 Review: The Holding

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Fear the Walking Dead review contains spoilers. 

Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 11

After months of careful buildup that began back in season 5, Fear the Walking Dead finally brings the mysterious THE END IS THE BEGINNING doomsday cult into focus. Penned by Channing Powell (who has multiple The Walking Dead writing credits to her name), “The Holding” answers a lot of questions about this mysterious group. By the end, Alicia will even meet the cult’s enigmatic leader, Teddy. But before that fateful encounter, Teddy’s underground paradise will go up in flames, as demanded by a myriad of Walking Dead universe tropes and bylaws. 

I have to say, as far as post-apocalyptic doomsday cults go, the Holding actually seems like a pretty nice place to ride out the end of the world. Situated in a converted underground parking garage, the group has everything it needs, from electricity to water to an abundance of fresh game and produce. Seriously, this is the sort of self-sustaining utopia that Morgan aspires to with his own fledgling settlement. Outsiders aren’t allowed to bring weapons inside the Holding, either—something new visitors Alicia, Wes, Al, and Luciana learn from cult liaison Riley (Nick Stahl). Except our band of interlopers aren’t visitors. No, in the cult’s eyes, they’re fresh recruits. Indeed, their jaded skepticism is actually welcomed! Because once cynics buy into Teddy’s message, it means they’re true converts to his “circle of life” teachings. 

What’s interesting about the introduction of yet another zealous faction is not its predictably rotten underbelly. Rather, what’s fascinating is that to the indoctrinated, their group is always in the right. Think about it: whether they’re following Teddy, or following Virginia, or Jeremiah Otto, or Celia Flores—in the end, it’s all the same. After all, everyone is a hero in their own story, as the saying goes. Luciana has been here before, of course. Except Alejandro leveraged a would-be miracle to build his walled-in La Colonia.

Despite their collective cynicism, Riley is still able to reach past their defenses to open up old wounds. Alicia, Luciana, Al, and Wes have each lost someone important to them. (Until this episode, it never occurred to me that they each lost a sibling.) In Wes’s case, it’s this loss that shapes Alicia’s first encounter with him in season 5’s excellent “You’re Still Here.” As I said at the time, Colby Hollman’s Wes was a welcome breath of fresh air and an antidote to that season’s relentless altruism. He didn’t need healing, and he didn’t want to be saved. Rather than be inspired by Team Morgan’s feel-good recruitment videos, he retreated further into his own skepticism. And why wouldn’t he after losing his brother Derek early on in the apocalypse?

In a season full of interesting twists and turns, revealing that Derek has actually been alive the whole time is quite a sucker punch. As embodied by Chinaza Uche (whom you may know from Apple TV+’s Dickinson), Derek is all warmth and brotherly love. But while his survival makes for an unexpected (and tearful) reunion with his brother, it also raises a lot of questions for Wes. And the more he and Al and the rest continue to dig for answers, the more questions are raised in the process. Wes wants to believe the best of his brother, even as his doubts continue to mount—and especially even as it becomes clear Derek is responsible for sabotaging Tank Town.

If you recall, in this season’s “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg,” Wes was at the oil fields that day, and was nearly killed by shrapnel. While not my favorite episode of the season, “Jasper” proves to be an important piece of the bigger puzzle that comprises Teddy’s doomsday cult. While the group may be underground, they have eyes and ears everywhere. So for Wes it stands to reason that Derek must have known his brother was at Tank Town that day. Derek’s reply, “People are people,” is a chilling non-answer—unless you remember that Wes himself said this to Alicia in “You’re Still Here” as a way of explaining away the darker, predictable side of human nature. 

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That Derek would offer his brother such noncommittal platitude troubles Wes greatly. This is someone he idolized in life and lionized in death. As I said, his brother’s very absence informed so much of Wes’s worldview, and not in a good way. Wes has come such a long way since meeting Alicia and becoming part of Morgan’s crew. He understands that people are capable of change—himself included. This lesson isn’t mawkish, isn’t forced, it’s part of Wes’ moral reawakening. If he can change, so can Derek. 

That is, if Wes can get his brother to stop chugging the Kool-Aid. Derek, though, is so firmly entrenched in Teddy’s teachings, so fully invested in the destruction of the outside world, that he would kill his own brother. Unfortunately, as we’ve witnessed in the real world, conspiracy theories can poison minds and tear families apart. 

I’ll admit, as Derek and Wes grappled over the gun, I really thought we’d be saying goodbye to Colby Hollman this week. Which would have been a shame, as I really like Wes a lot—at least when he’s given something to do. 

This is also the point in the story where the Holding’s ugliness is finally brought to light. Not only are skeptics not welcome, they’re secretly embalmed and chained up in a hidden room. And wouldn’t you know it, embalming fluid happens to be flammable. Alicia chooses to stay behind while her friends escape so she can personally (and single-handedly) torch the place.

It’s not until we meet Teddy in the flesh that “The Holding” goes from a good episode to a great one. Hearing Teddy’s recorded pronouncements piped endlessly through speakers is one thing, but John Glover commands the screen the moment he appears, looking every bit like the charismatic leader of a doomsday cult. Glover does wonders with the few minutes he’s onscreen, wielding words like weapons, cutting Alicia deeply with canny insights about her friends—and Madison, too. She may not want to admit it, but Alicia has met her match. Truly, Teddy is the villain that Fear deserves. And it must be said, season 6 is steadily shaping up to be one of the show’s best.

The post Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 11 Review: The Holding appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[fibula-rasa]

As Noirvember Ends...

Before I begin, I’m going to clarify that, unlike the first list, the following films are personal favorites of mine that can be categorized as Noir. So, they may not be the best illustrations of the style/genre nor necessarily the best films that happen to be Noir. Honestly, the first list is better for that, though it has less detail.

In a way, you can view this list as “further viewing.” I will also be pairing this list with where you can find the movies at Movie Madness.

Here are my personal go-to Films Noir as Noirvember careens away down an abandoned highway on some rainy midnight. All films are profiled in detail BELOW THE JUMP. Happy viewing!

Ministry of Fear (1944)

87 min. | Director: Fritz Lang

Screenwriter: Seton I. Miller (Novel by Graham Greene)

Stars: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds

What’s the story?

Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) is making his way to London after his release from a countryside asylum. Neale happens upon a village fair run by the Mothers of Free Nations and wins a cake in a guess-the-weight contest he wasn’t meant to win. After boarding a train to London, Neale is accosted over the cake but manages to escape unscathed. With the backdrop of London in the midst of the Blitz, Neale and a private investigator try to get to know what the Mothers of Free Nations is all about. Carla (Marjorie Reynolds) and Wili (Carl Esmond) are refugee siblings who run the charity and they begin to lead Neale down a serpentine path of espionage.

Why should I watch it?

Like The Third Man (1949), Ministry of Fear is an adaptation of a Graham Greene novel. Greene did not collaborate on the screenplay for this film though, and it shows. But, other aspects of the filmmaking more than make up for it. Much credit is due to some shared talent with Double Indemnity, which came out the same year: Art Directors Hans Dreier and Hal Pereira, Costume Designer Edith Head, and Music by Miklos Rozsa. While Ministry is a bit of a tonal shift from The Third Man, it’s a compelling and suspenseful Noir. The pacing is perfectly matched to the whirlpool Neale’s fallen into in the film. I personally think this is one of Lang’s best, particularly among his American films.

What really puts the film over the top for me is Ray Milland. While Milland never considered himself a very good actor, thankfully many great directors disagreed with him. Milland has the unique talent of injecting a touch of levity through his reactions, movements, and expressions at just the right moments. He can make characters that, on paper, might be unlikeable, unsympathetic, or just plain bland into very real people. In Alias Nick Beale (1949), Nick Beale is a seedy underworld operator. Not too much is explained about him but you feel so much about his past and his character through the small (or large) falters in the Beale facade that Milland portrays. In The Lost Weekend (1945), Milland finds a balance with Don Birnam by evoking in the viewer similar feelings to what you may feel when someone you love is suffering from mental illness. You continue to feel deeply for him despite his stream of self-destructive actions. You understand exactly why his loved ones would stay or go. In Ministry of Fear, Milland channels the feelings of being in the midst of a nightmare while also having pitch-perfect reactions to the film’s absurdities that border on the surreal. I should stop now before I go into my spiel on how he “plays English” versus how he “plays American.”

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under Classic Directors - Fritz Lang

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

87 min. | Director: Orson Welles

Screenwriter: Orson Welles

Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles

What’s the story?

Sailor Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) saves the beautiful and married Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) from some robbers in Central Park. Elsa and her lawyer husband, Arthur (Everett Sloane) are on their way via the Panama Canal to San Francisco and Michael is hired to work on their yacht. Michael starts to fall for Elsa. Arthur’s business partner, Grigsby, sees his opening and convinces Michael to collaborate on a plan to fake his own death. As it turns out, there are scams on top of scams, and Michael ends up framed for murder and he must now rely on Arthur and Else to defend him.

Why should I watch it?

The Lady from Shanghai is a very unique film for the time, in ways that made it unpopular with many contemporary American viewers, but also in ways that make it well suited for modern viewers. Distaste for Rita Hayworth playing against type is not much of an issue for a viewer in 2017. The on-location shooting adds naturalism despite the film’s stylized lighting and cinematography. To a 1948 viewer, this could be too much of a departure from form, but it’s fully normal to a 2017 viewer. One of the most spectacular elements of the film is a shootout climax in a hall of mirrors, which a 2017 viewer has seen replicated a few times since (most recently in John Wick 2). While Lady from Shanghai should hold a lot of familiarity to an audience in 2017, it still feels novel and imaginative. It’s also a film that doesn’t narratively hold your hand. You’re along for the ride and you best keep up.

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under Classic Directors - Orson Welles

Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

110 min. | Director: John M. Stahl

Screenwriter: Jo Swerling (Novel by Ben Ames Williams)

Stars: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price

What’s the story?

After a chance encounter on a train, the well-to-do Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) and novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) fall in love a little too quickly. Ellen falls because of Richard’s notable resemblance to her late father. Richard falls because of Ellen’s mysterious nature and brooding beauty. Ellen jilts her more socially-acceptable fiance Russell Quinton (Vincent Price) for Richard and they move to his remote home in Maine. Ellen’s obsessive and possessive tendencies get deeper and more dangerous after Richard’s disabled baby brother comes to live with them and it all goes to hell from there.

Why should I watch it?

Leave Her to Heaven has no shortage of selling points. Gene Tierney gives one of her best performances in this film. She has such subtlety early on, hinting at the storms to come, and Ellen’s neuroses-driven cruelty is rendered so effectively. Tierney was absolutely ahead of her time.

Leave Her to Heaven is strikingly beautiful. The locations in Maine and New Mexico are exquisite and made more interesting by the contrast to the twisted psychology and cruelty of the characters. This one might need content warnings though. I don’t want to give away too much to a general readership, so if you have any concerns, let me know!

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under General Classics A to Z

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

116 min. | Directors: Lewis Milestone and Byron Haskin

Screenwriter: Robert Rossen (Novel by John Patrick)

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas

What’s the story?

Young Martha Ivers tries to run away from her strict and antagonistic aunt with the help of a poor boy called Sam Masterson. The attempt fails and when returned home, Martha and her very wealthy aunt have a blowout and Martha knocks her aunt down the stairs, killing her. The scene is witnessed by another boy, Walter O’Neil. With the help of Walter’s father, they manage to cover up the crime, blaming the murder on an intruder. Years later, Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) has built up a very successful business with her inheritance and is a staple of the Iverstown community. She is also in a strained marriage with Walter (Kirk Douglas), now the District Attorney. When Sam (Van Helfin), now a detective, chances his way back to town, Walter and Martha’s paranoia over the cover up reaches a boiling point.

Why should I watch it?

As someone who has spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania, I must say that Iverstown is a perfectly captured factory town. That might be a too specific draw for a movie, but that’s okay, there’s lots more to love about this film. The structure of the plot is almost flawless. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a master class in how to build conflict and tension around dramatic irony in a modern setting. That’s all I’ll say on that to avoid giving too much away. Barbara Stanwyck puts in one of her best performances in this film and Kirk Douglas holds his own in Stany’s wake despite it being his first film. It’s no wonder he became one of the biggest movie stars of the last century.

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under Classics - Film Noir

Diabolique / Les Diaboliques (1955)

107 / 114 min. | Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Screenwriters: Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi (Novel By by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac)

Stars: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse

What’s the story?

There’s an awful lot going on at a rundown boarding school just outside Paris. The headmaster, Michel (Paul Meurisse), lives there with his ailing wife Christina (Véra Clouzot) but is carrying on a relationship with English-teacher Nicole (Simone Signoret), who also lives at the school. Michel is abusive to both of them, but the women seem to have a cooperative and caring relationship with one another. Eventually, Nicole can no longer abide the abuse and cooks up a plan with Christina to murder Michel. After they put their plan in action, the aftermath isn’t quite what they anticipated.

Why should I watch it?

Diabolique is one of the greatest suspense films ever made. If you’re a Hitchcock fan, this is a must-see movie. Hitchcock praised the film often and its influence can be seen strongly in his work in the late-1950s into the 1960s. (The novel Diabolique is based on was written By Boileau and Narcejac who wrote the source novel for Vertigo (1958).) In my estimation, it creatively revived Hitchcock as a director.

The locations are hauntingly shabby and mirror Christina’s internal strife, both her physical ailment and psychological stress. In all honesty, I’m struggling a little bit to discuss the high points of the film without giving too much away. That shouldn’t be too surprising though, given that this is one of the first films to carry a spoiler warning.

“Do not be evil! Do not destroy the interest your friends might have in this movie. Do not tell them what you saw. Thanks for them.”

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under French Film - French Directors - Henri-Georges Clouzot

Mildred Pierce (1945)

111 min. | Director: Michael Curtiz

Screenwriters: Ranald MacDougall, Catherine Turney (Novel by James M. Cain)

Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Ann Blyth, Eve Arden

What’s the story?

Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) is murdered, shot dead in his beach house. His wife, Mildred Pierce Beragon (Joan Crawford) flees the house. When Mildred is brought in by the police, she finds out that her first husband, Bert, is going down for the murder. In an effort to protect him, for she knows him to be innocent, Mildred begins telling the detective the story of the past few years of her life that led her to that beach house with her ex-husband’s gun. However, the story may be a little more complicated than she lets on.

Why should I watch it?

Mildred Pierce was adapted from a novel of the same name by James M. Cain, whose work was also adapted for Double Indemnity (1944) (which I mentioned in my last Noirvember post) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). If you like those films, there is a very good chance you’ll also like Mildred Pierce, but this film is a little less hard-boiled than the others. Mildred Pierce is a skillful intertwining of noir with “weepies,” the melodrama sub-genre. How far the love of a wife and mother can reach is not a common Noir story, but how twisted that love can be is actually perfect Noir fodder.

Joan Crawford rightfully won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the title character, but she’s girded by rich performances from the supporting cast. Eve Arden and Butterfly McQueen always stand out to me in this film, both infusing a whole lot of character into their rather small roles.

Mildred Pierce is also shot beautifully. It’s a perfect Noir image of rainy mid-century Los Angeles.

Where can I find it?

At Movie Madness under Classics - Classic Actors - Joan Crawford