Book review - "A Murder in Hollywood" by John Lange (Michael Crichton) (warning spoilers)

 Written in 1973, published in 2026. I wonder why? Maybe Crichton was worried about lawsuits. Story seems inspired by The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing - a death during a film shoot in the West. Here it's a screenwriter. Crichton has digs at the macho star (Burt Reynolds?), the horny female star (Sara Miles?), an idiotic critic who pitches his story ideas. Technical details about making a film. A Sherlock Holmes like super investigatory.

Not a bad mystery - about a TV episode standard. Decent twists - they figure out who did it but then it turns out to be someone else.  

Movie review - "The French Connection II" (1975) **

 The first film set it up for a sequel - capturing Fernando Rey - and this had the decent idea of turning Popeye (Gene Hackman) into a junkie. So he's blundering around France when he's kidnapped and injected. 

The film thus doesn't have the legenday New York touch of the first movie but it has scuzzy France and a director who'd lived in that country, John Frankenheimer. 

Look, I appreciate they tried to do something different with it being in France. By having Popeye be a fish out of water meant there was no fleshing out of his character not really - he's mostly befuddled. He has a French cop he clashes with (Bernard Fresson) though that feels like squabbling.

There's some action - chases (one on foot at the end - not as exciting as a car), gun fight, a flood. I just didn't much like it. Felt padded with chases, scenes of Hackman being given drugs and going into detox.

Fun to see Cathleen Nesbitt as a druggie old lady. Nice location filming.

Movie review - "One on Top of the Other" (1969) **

 Hitchcockian thriller from Lucio Fulci with lots of nudity - sleazy doctor Jean Sorel is married to Marissa Mell but having an affair with Elsa Martinelli. Mell dies but then a lookallike stripper turns up and cop John Ireland leads an investigation.

The story isn't bad though it feels padded - fifteen minutes could be sliced off (especially the whole "appeal for 24 hours" sequence after we know who dunnit. Sorel is handsome, Mell is gorgeous and seen from many different angles, Martinelli pretty, there are strippers. Faith Domergue pops up as Mell's sister and there's some scenes shot in  San Francisco.

Movie review - "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) ***1/2

 Where does this sit with audiences today? Gorgeously directed. A lot of standing around open jawed in wonder. Very sweet. Teri Garr excellent and Richard Dreyfuss amiable.

Movie review - "Major League" (1989) **1/2

 Amiable crowd pleaser. The subplot where Tom Berenger stalks Rene Russo is of its time and probab ly encouraged a lot of similar behaviour IRL. Berenger is ideally cast as is Corbin Bernsen, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes (wish he'd do more comedy). 

It was dumb in the original script to have the showgirl villain be revealed to be doing it to motivate them. That was silly. Cheapens the stakes. Better to change.

I love that it's about a Cleveland team that's very charming. 

I'm not sure if the dates for this work out but the movie feels influenced by Bull Durham. 

Movie review - "Two Years Later" (2026) **

 Feels like a decent feature rom com dragged out over eight eps - instead of subplots it adds banter. Also feels like a Melbourne show, with its lockdown trauma. Nice photography and a genuine sense of catharsasis at the end. No chemistry between the leads who seem bored.

Movie review - "Some Like It Hot" (1959) ***** (re-watching)

 Just fun. Sexy. Cynical. Broad. Marilyn worth the hassle. Tony Curtis should've worked with Wilder again.