Movies in 2026 104

 

High Noon, (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)

I had not watched High Noon in several years, so the other day I was happy to see that it had popped up as a Criterion Channel option for April. I ended up streaming the first half of it on my phone Thursday night, and finished it on Friday morning. Obviously, I'd rather watch a movie on the big screen, but I sometimes end up watching movies that way on Thursday/Friday. I usually crash at Kevin's place after my night class, to avoid the long drive back, and also to set up Friday morning's BOE. After a long day, featuring the drive-in and three classes, I tend to crash pretty early (my legs are very demanding), and often start a film that night and finish it in the morning. Every time I watch High Noon I'm struck by what a cynical/realistic film it is. Apparently John Wayne thought that High Noon was one of the most un-American films he had ever seen, which probably actually makes me like it more. Actually, mainly I think that Wayne (and apparently Howard Hawkes) read the film the wrong way. It's our insistence on films that promote surface-level, almost innate patriotism, is one of the reasons why we're in the mess we're in now. It's like the talk I gave last year on the essential lie of American Exceptionalism. Similarly, I don't think that Michael Cimino's absolutely brilliant The Deer Hunter is an anti-American film. Rather, I think it's a film that deals with some bad things about America, but which in the process also say something good about America. In the end, everybody in the town, with the exception of his wife (Grace Kelley), abandoned Gary Cooper, but he did what he felt was the right thing, even though in the process he risked almost certain death. High Noon is definitely recommended.

6

 Another week has passed, and Thursday turned out to be a good day, mainly because all three of my classes were good that day. Teachers are simple people: if our classes are good, we're mainly happy. Even my 8:30 class was energetic and engaged, which hopefully had nothing to do with my having thrown them out halfway through Monday's class because they were neither energetic or engaged. The only problem with the week is that I learned that my goal of avoiding a retirement plan is failing - twice. There's a brief gettogether in Wick on my last class day - and apparently some off-campus soiree a couple weeks later (which my wife has been secretly involved in, which I guess shows that you can't trust anyone). I have separately thanked Janet - and Kevin - and Erik - (among the chief conspirators) for helping me to understand that it won't be the worst thing in the world that we have these parties. I will miss all my friends, which I understand, but apparently they're also going to miss me, which I guess I can't understand.

Thanks to Tyson Philpot for loaning me his #6 for the Countdown. Tyson is a National (meaning, Canadian) player for our hometown Montreal Alouettes (our closest CFL team, and thus we've seen more games there - it must be around twenty - and I've taken the most friends there, the official Alouettes friend total is nineteen). Tyson was born in Delta, British Columbia, before playing at the university of Calgary. His played for the Alouettes for four seasons, along the way winning a Grey Cup in 2023, and being named the Most Valuable Canadian in the game. I often chose him for my Canadian fantasy football team last year. Tyson has a twin brother, Jalen, who is seven minutes older, and who currently plays for the Calgary Stampeders.

Movies in 2026 103

 

Aliens, (James Cameron, 1986)

Following up on watching the original Alien, the next night we watched James Cameron's 1986 sequel Aliens. I've always considered the time I saw Aliens in the theater to be one of my favorite in-theater film memories, mainly because I think we arrived late, thus the theater was dark, and that then slid right into the beginning of the film where Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character is found in space. It gave the film an even more visceral feel. I've never been a huge Cameron fan, and I'll never get the three hours back that I wasted watching Titanic. Still, Aliens is certainly a fun ride, although I think it's clearly inferior to its predecessor (although you could also make the same comment in regards to the long-delayed sequels/prequels that Ridley Scott himself made). Mainly, as I re-watched it the other night I thought of the answers to one of my favorite trivia questions: What actors were killed by an Alien, Predator, and Terminator?

Answer: Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton (that said, I don't know if I agree with the premise, since Henricksen's Bishop was torn in half, but, as an android, he "lived" on to say the little girl from being sucked out into space)

Movies in 2026 102

 

Footprints, (Jaromil Jires, 1960)

Well, my break from Czech New Wave didn't take long. This afternoon I took a break after lunch and watched Jaromil Jires's 1960 short film, Footprints. This film definitely had a different feel than The Hall of Lost Footsteps, the other Jires's short from 1960 that I watched the other day. The Hall of Lost Footprints was more of a warning for the future, in the shadow of nuclear proliferation and the recent memory of the Holocaust, whereas Footprints possessed a more tangible central narrative that followed an event in a Czech village during World War II (although, to be fair, every lesson from the past is really a lesson about the future. I really need to take greater advantage of all the shorts that the Criterion Channel provides.

Movies in 2026 101

 

Alien, (Ridley Scott, 1979)

I took a break from Czech New Wave last night and we watched Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien, the one that began a never-ending franchise (one in which even Scott revisited decades later). The inspiration was an odd one. After a gym trip yesterday I popped into Shaw's and saw the ABC book A is for Alien in the grocery store's tiny magazine/book section. Of course, I had to purchase it (I think this has belated birthday gift for my son written all over it). Anyway, Janet and I read it and it inspired her to go back and watch the original, which led to me digging out my massive Alien boxed set (I think I also have a copy of Alien vs Predator somewhere). I suspect we'll be watching all of them. I think the original Alien holds up really well, certainly better than Star Wars. A couple of the special effects now look a little clumsy, but I also had to remind myself that the film is almost fifty years old (which made me feel even older than I already feel).

This is really the sort of writing that I should devote myself to during my retirement. The fact that this exists is both pretty funny but also subversive and more than a little perverse, but at least it's not that woman reading "children's books" that are thinly veiled and cringe-worthy wink-wink porn that YouTube thinks I should watch.

7

 I've now officially entered the last four weeks of my four-plus decade teaching career. I keep waiting for the nostalgia and bittersweet feelings to emerge. Mainly, I just want it over. Part of it is my own personality. As anyone who knows me will testify, I brood over things, but once I make a decision then the decision is made. I brooded over retiring for a couple years, and then, for several reasons, decided to retire, and after that there was no true regret, just a desire to get on to retirement and a different lifestyle. I'm still grinding away, including throwing my early morning Monday class out for not doing any work - and considering doing the same thing that night in my Fascism class. Maybe I'm just grouchy, but I guess I'm also just refusing to quit trying to teach these lunkheads something.

Thanks for Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback and Grey Cup champion Trevor Harris for loaning me his number 7 this week. It was hard to not feel happy for him winning the Grey Cup last year as a starting quarterback (he had been on two Grey Cup winning teams in the past as a backup QB) because his career is a classic CFL story. Harris was born in Waldo, Ohio, and played his college ball at Division II Edinboro. And then his odyssey began, which began with not being drafted by an NFL team. He signed with the NFL Jackson Jaguars, but was then cut after the preseason. He then signed with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and then the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League the next year. In 2011 he signed with the NFL Buffalo Bills, but for labor reasons (not the only time in his career) his contract was rescinded after, literally, a day and a half. After that he signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions, although the league folded before he could get into a game. Later in 2011 he signed with the AFL's Orlando Predators, but the entire roster was let go (another labor problem) and replaced with, well, replacement players. Finally, in 2012, he turned his attention northward to the far superior (as all right-thinking individuals know) Canadian Football League (and this was usually interrupted with Harris getting into the dynamics of the team having an older and established veteran QB who was on his last legs), and played for the Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Redblacks, Edmonton Eskimos/Elks (and, of course, this would be the time when Edmonton would change team names), Montreal Alouettes, and finally the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hopefully, we'll see him play this summer as part of July's Trip of Excellence. 

Movies in 2026 100

 

The Fireman's Ball, (Milos Forman, 1967)

And yet another jewel from the Czech New Wave, Milos Forman's 1967 classic, The Fireman's Ball. Told through the lens of the most poorly-organized party of all time, Forman is clearly commenting on how things were actually running under communist control in Czechoslovakia. It's funny and disturbing at the same time. Recommended.