Movies in 2026 177

 

D.O.A. (Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, 1988)

I've previously mentioned that last month the Criterion Channel ran the odd collection of 1980s remakes. Now, with the exception of John Carpenter's remake of The Thing from Another World, all of the 80s versions were pretty bad. I had never watched the remake of D.O.A. before because I had a feeling that it was really bad. As it turns out, it was much worse than really bad, which justifies my earlier wisdom (which I've now clearly lost). It's just absolutely pathetic. I don't know if I can say anything good about it, other than if it hadn't been made then Dennis Quaide would have never met Meg Ryan and then they wouldn't have gotten married and then they wouldn't have cheated on each other and then they wouldn't have gotten divorced and then maybe learned something from the experience - so I guess there's that. Avoid at all cost.

But While You're There

 My trips are always highlighted by the odd little places that I find along the way. My last official stop was to see my friend Dave in Cincinnati, which left me a two day trip back. Now, a younger version of me would make that drive in one day, but not this shambling shell of a man. So, I decided to head due east from the Natti to return to the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. I first went there a year and a half ago after my father's passing. I needed some silly fun to drag me out of the blues, and it was well-worth the trip (although my attempt, at the time, to drive around a huge winter storm was unsuccessful). On this trip I wasn't sad and I wasn't avoiding any storms, but I wanted to breakup the end of the trip (one can only drive across Ohio and the New York Thruway so many times [although I ended up being unable to avoid the latter; I survived by reminding myself that I'd never, ever drive on it again]). I told my friends that I was revisiting the Mothman Museum, and a couple of them gave me some serious grief for it - but then quickly put in their orders.

I'm not saying that I wildly overspent at the Mothman Museum gift shop, although I receive not one, but two, complimentary gifts (I only received one on my last visit). 

Movies in 2026 176

 

The Consequences of Love (Paolo Sorrentino, 2004)

Yesterday I re-watched Paolo Sorrentino's 2004 film The Consequences of Love. I immediately became a huge Sorrentino fan, especially his film The Great Beauty (which would make the short list for my favorite film of this century). The Consequences of Love stars Sorrentino's frequent collaborator Toni Servillo, in one of his most internalized chameleon roles as Titta Di Girolamo. Trapped in a luxury hotel in Switzerland for eight years because of a mafia mix-up years earlier, Titta lives an incredibly regimented life, waiting around to perform a highly ritualized criminal chore. This all changes when he meets, and gives into his desire, for Sofia, a waitress at the hotel. He understands that this change in his routine will probably end terribly badly, which it does, although you get the sense that it a worthy tradeoff for a reawakening. Servillo, naturally, is brilliant, and Oliva Magnani (as Sofia) is also quite good. She's the granddaughter of legendary Italian actress Anna Magnani (of Rosselini's Rome, Open City fame), and clicks all the boxes for a classic Scudder crush: beautiful, dark, European actress with a terrible secret. The Consequences of Love is a great film, and I highly recommend it.

Jazz

 This trip was utterly exhausting - and my legs are not at all happy with me - but it was well worth the effort. My last stop was to drop by Cincinnati to see my old friend Dave, which was, as expected, wonderful. Whenever I see people, both on trips like this but also as I pass through my daily life, I become more and more aware that I will never see some of them ever again. This made this trip more than a bit bittersweet. If the Italian government and court system plays nice and we actually make it to Sicily, I just feel that I'm not going to come back much. I've been blessed to have so many extraordinarily smart, interesting and kind folks in my life, and the thought of never seeing them again breaks my heart.

Dave and his new puppy, Jazz. Obviously, the ghost of Dudley still haunted the place, because Jazz did his best to skeletonize my arm (which was, as with his predecessor Dudley, mainly my fault). Jazz is apparently 1% Polynesian Street Dog, so he wasn't taking any shit (although he's sweet as can be).

Movies in 2026 175

 

Weapons (Zach Cregger, 2025)

I'm back from my madcap week and a half trip (Quebec, Ontario, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, etc.). I meant to go to the gym today, but I've mainly spent the day lying around like a slug (it was my only defense). And now I have a lot of catch-up blogging to do - and I'm clearly way behind in my movie-watching. The other night at Dave's house he suggested we watch Zach Cregger's Weapons, which I was quite happy to do. I had heard it was good, but we never seem to actually make it to the theater. I liked it quite a bit, and anyone who would happen to stumble across this blog doubtless knows more about the film than I do. There are still interesting horror films waiting to be made, although not by Spielberg (as we suffer through the latest media blitz for one of his over-rated movies). 

The Original Tim Hortons

 As you know, one of my core beliefs is that while trips may be defined by the big framing events, they are made the smaller, spontaneous events, such as visiting the original Tim Hortons in Hamilton, Ontario. We were in Hamilton for a Tiger-Cats game (more on that shortly), and it seemed completely and unquestionably necessary to visit the original Tim Hortons. Happily, I have a small army of friends and family who put up with my quests.

For those of you who know your Tim Hortons lore, the franchise was started by a retired NHL player. Here's my cousin Nick outside of the first Tim Hortons, still operating, and insanely busy, even today.

And they even have a mini-Tim Hortons museum. As I often propose in my film reviews: Highly Recommended.

On the Road One Last Time

 This summer sort of reminds me of the stretch right before I took off to spend a year in Abu Dhabi in that I seem to be, quite rightly, spending a lot of time with friends (that summer featured my drive with Sanford from Vermont to Oklahoma, and the trip Steve and I made down to New Orleans to pester Andy). This year features four CFL games (in four different Canadian cities), but I'm also planning to drop down into the Midwest after this Hamilton trip to see family and friends before we head out of the country. Here's a picture my cousin Nick snapped of some utterly ancient guy in an epic Bo Levi Mitchell jersey at a little hole in the wall Mexican place in Hamilton.

These trips are really hard on me physically, as I'm simply in pain all the time. However, spiritually, I'm reinvigorated and loving the adventures.