Movies in 2026 12

 

Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1996)

One of the things that's great about teaching - or writing - is that it keeps your brain working because you're always forced (encouraged) to go into new areas of thought. I think this was why I was always so worried about retiring, because my brain would turn to mush very quickly. My growing interest in writing has somewhat lessened that fear, that and the reality of being in pain every day has made me be more honest with myself. Anyway, I guess this is an intro into the movie I finished this morning: Abbas Kiarostami's film Taste of Cherry. It was probably only six or eight months ago that I watched it previously, but I was thinking that it might be a good fit for my Fascism class (I'm being fairly flexible in my use of the word, although we'll be doing out best to reach a cleaner definition, and focusing more generally on authoritarianism). My goal for the second half of the class is to finish with three Czechoslovakian New Wave films and three Iranian films, with Taste of Cherry being the last movie in the regular semester. By then I'm hoping that their understanding of film and authoritarianism will be subtle enough to allow them to delve into this complex film. Apparently Roger Ebert gave Taste of Cherry one out of four stars, and it made his list of most hated movies. It makes you wonder how he ever fabricated a career as a successful film critic because his take on this film is so woefully misguided (and trying to avoid the word moronic: he described it as boring, which is a criticism worthy of my students). It's an extraordinary film - and is highly recommended.

Movies in 2026 11

 

Hidden in the Fog (Lars-Eric Kjellgren, 1953)

Last night we watched Lars-Eric Kjellgren's 1953 film Hidden in the Fog, the final movie that is featured in the Criterion Channel's Nordic Noir collection. It starred Eva Henning, who was so good in Hasse Ekman's Girl with Hyacinths. I liked the film, although I thought it was the weakest of those featured in the collection, mainly because it never could seem to figure out what it wanted to be. Was it a psychological drama? Was it a true film noir? Was it a big country house murder mystery? It wasted time that could have been better devoted to fleshing out the motives of the main characters, and even the last scene, which ends with Henning framed (in classic film noir fashion) by her window, seen from the outside through fog, simply felt like an add-on as compared to a true reveal that maybe she was the murderer after all. I don't think I'd recommend it, although it had some nice moments. 

Movies in 2026 10

 

Death Is a Caress (Edith Carlmar, 1949)

Seriously, it's difficult to imagine a better title for a film noir than Edith  Carlmar's Death Is a Caress (with the possible exception of Takashi Nomura's 1967 Joe Shishido vehicle, A Colt Is My Passport). Not only is Death Is a Caress the first Norwegian film directed by a woman, it's also considered the first Norway's first film noir. The pervasive sexuality reminds me of Marlene Dietrich's famous observation that, "In America sex is an obsession, while in Europe it's a reality." It feels more like a character study of two obsessive, tortured souls than a true crime-driven film noir, although there is a murder at the end, but there is so much about the film that would genuinely qualify it for that vague category of film noir. It stars Bjorg Riiser-Larsen (who is wonderful) as a tortured rich woman and Claus Wiese as her younger mechanic lover, and their passionate and destructive relationship drives the narrative. Riiser-Larsen is considered one of the greatest Norwegian actresses of all time, while Wiese, oddly, ended up moving to the US and working in local TV stations and owning the Norseman Inn in Bethel, Maine. Carlmar directed ten films in a ten year period, and then retired as a director (introducing Liv Ullmann to the world in her last movie). Recommended. It's playing on the Criterion Channel right now as part of the Nordic Noir collection (and why don't you have the Criterion Channel?).

Movies in 2026 9

 

Scarface (Howard Hawkes, 1932)

"There's only one rule: 'Do it first, do it yourself, and keep doing it!'" Such is the advice from Paul Muni's Tony Camonte, aka Scarface, in Howard Hawkes's classic gangster film, Scarface. Camonte is talking about rubbing our your enemies, but I suppose it's not bad advice for most things (this is probably how I built my Global Modules network). Muni is such an interesting character, and an underrated actor. I think he only made twenty-two films, but was nominated for an Academy Award five times (winning for The Story of Louis Pasteur). When I think of greatest American directors I tend to forget Howard Hawkes, but if you line up his films over the decades you could make a very compelling argument for him. I loved the note at the beginning which makes it clear that organized crime is a great threat, and asking the audience what they were going to do about it (we should start every story about Donald Trump with the same message). The message is re-enforced by the travel sign reading The World Is Yours, which Camonte always reads as a message for him in his rise to power, but the it's the last image in the film, reminding the audience the world is theirs and they shouldn't accept the criminals. It was also great to see Boris Karloff not playing a monster.  Highly recommended - one of the great crime films.

My Other Netherlands Picture

 The other day I was discussing my utter mystification at my lack of pictures from the Netherlands. I went back through my phone - and my camera - and Facebook - and nothing. I know that I shared pictures of Amsterdam with people, but I can't imagine digging back through the thousands of texts that I've sent Janet or Mike or Cyndi or Kevin or Marcelle to track them down. Bizarre. Anyway, this is the other one I found. We're sitting in a two hour security line at the Amsterdam airport, caused by some computer glitch and made worse by lingering work shortages caused by COVID. 

This is it? Weird. I know I should have more pictures from the Netherlands, but I simply don't. It's like someone tapped into my camera and phone and deleted them - or hypnotized me and made me delete them. I'm blaming the Belgians.

Movies in 2026 8

 

Two Minutes Late (Torben Anton Svendsen, 1952)

Janet and I are continuing to work our way through the Nordic Noir collection on Criterion. She will often take a pass on my more esoteric film deep dives, but she's always an enthusiastic participant for any and all films noir. The other night we watched Torben Anton Svendsen's Two Minutes Late. This was a worthy edition to the collection (sadly, only four films are featured). There was some relatively surprising brief nudity (although, well, it's Scandinavia, and there was nudity in Bergman's 1953 Summer with Monika - and Girl with Hyacinths had a clear lesbian subtext - so they were, as always, simply years ahead of the idiotic American film industry) and a very dark plot (featuring not one but two murders which might have been prevented if something had happened a couple minutes earlier). Definitely recommended. 

Movies in 2026 7

 

Trust (Hal Hartley, 1990)

The other day I made the point that Hal Hartley's Long Island trilogy makes me as consistently happy as about any trilogy I could image (yes, The Human Condition trilogy is the great trilogy in film history, but it's not an experience that would - or should - leave one giddy). With that in mind, I watched Hartley's Trust a couple days ago. I think this may have been the first Hal Hartley film I ever saw. It stars Adrienne Shelly (who was in The Unbelievable Truth) and Martin Donovan (a long-time Hartley collaborator), and features other Hartley regulars such as Edie Falco and Karen Sillas and John MacKay. It's classic Hartley, featuring quirky misguided malcontents, some level of crime activity, people fainting, several genuinely funny moments, and yet a deeper truth. A lovely, lovely film, and, yes, highly recommended. I'm looking forward to completing the trilogy with Simple Men (my favorite Hal Hartley film).