Movie review - "Last Days of Disco" (1998) **** (rewatching)

 Love the style. The clothes. The music, The dialogue. The gay gags maybe have been overdone now. I have fondness for its weird continuity. Love the scene in the cab. The ending. How Matt Keesler takes over as leading man in the last third.

Movie review - "His Girl Friday" (1940) *****

 I've read the two most influential Broadway comedies where What Price Glory? and The Front Page - certainly it's easy to see the influence of the latter on journalism movies. This remake would be highly influential on rom coms.

Every change improves it - making it a romance, giving the journos more humanity, bringing in Walter and Hildy to start.

Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have the time of their lives, Ralph Bellamy is perfect. Wonderful cast and film. The Nazi-Soviet pact at the time meant the anti-commie jokes could be kept.

Movie review - "The Adventures of Gerard" (1970) *

 Terrible movie. Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories are apparently quite fun and George MacDonald Fraser was a huge fan - it sounds as though they influenced Flashman. But this movie is stupid. I never got a sense of Gerard, Peter McEnerey was just... whatever in a moustache. Claudia Cardinale is beautiful and can have chemistry with anyone but she's not in it much.

Jack Hawkins is in it, ditto John Neville and Eli Wallach as Napoleon. I couldn't follow what was going on, I didn't care. This just annoyed me. 

Movie review - "Blindfold" (1966) **

 Bland Universal programmer. Dull. Rock Hudson tries. Best thing about it is Claudia Cardinale and her outfits. Ended Phil Dunne's directing career. 

Movie review - "A Girl in Australia" (1971) ***

 Sweet riff on They Knew What They Wanted. Benefits from Alberto Sordi and Claudia Cardinale bringing full star power and Australian locations.

Movie review - "Mountainhead" (2025) ***1/2

 Strong writing and playing. Feels very much like an episode of Succession (terrible men, small roles to servants). Maybe would've worked better as a play. The cutaways to the real world feel forced. Not saying they wouldn't have happened. Just feel a little clunk.

Movie review - "The Shining" (1980) ****

 Jack Nicholson starts at nine and keeps going higher. Shelley Duvall magnificient. Ditto Danny Lloyd. I get why Steven king is upset, the film skips the essential human tragedy of Jack Torrence, but offers other pleasures. Wonderful atmosphere.