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.

Movies in 2026 174

 

Land of My Dreams (Yann Gonzalez, 2012)

I watched another Yann Gonzalez short, this one entitled Land of My Dreams (2012). This one definitely wasn't as odd as his Islands, but it also wasn't as innovative or memorable. A mother uses her daughter to dance naked inside a dilapidated section of Porto, Portugal. I suppose that in the end all mothers, directly or indirectly, prostitute out their daughters.

Movies in 2026 173

 

The Gates of the Night (Marcel Carne, 1946)

I've made the point before that Marcel Carne might be my favorite French director, but also softened my stance by saying I don't know how passionately I would make that argument. However, I can also say that I've liked every Marcel Carne film that I've ever seen, including this morning's re-watch, his 1946 film The Gates of the Night. Apparently it wasn't a popular film when it came out right after World War II, but history has been much kinder to it, and now it's rightly considered a classic. Everything takes place in one night, focusing on the new and tragic love affair between Jean Diego (Yves Montand in his breakout role) and Malou (Nathalie Nattier). Considering the year, it's not particularly surprising that the war casts its shadow over the entire film, including certain Frenchmen who had collaborated with the Germans. I recognized Julien Carette, who played Monsieur Quinquina, but is better known for his roles in Jean Renoir's The Grand Illusion, The Human Beast, and The Rules of the Game. Jean Vilar as Le chochard, essentially playing fate, was especially good (and I'm stealing one of his speeches for my chapter on dreams and visions in the epics). Highly recommended.

Movies in 2026 172

 

Islands (Yann Gonzalez, 2017)

Over the years I've heard various and sundry versions of this statement from my friends: "It was really weird, I think you would like it," or "That was way too strange for me, but you might like it," or "Ten minutes in I was thinking, 'WTAF,' I bet Scudder has seen this." There is a certain truth in that, although I don't think I go out of my way to watch strange movies, but rather I'm polymorphously addicted to film, and am quite willing to give just about anything a try. The artistic temperament takes many forms, and it's more than a shame to close yourself off from new experiences. This seems especially true to day, when the mathematical internet gods are quite happy to determine your interests and only give you material designed to keep you in that slot (thus making you an easily identifiable consumer). And, once again, this is one of the beautiful things about the Criterion Channel: you will always be introduced to new directors and actors and films that you would never imagine existed in the world. Last night I watched Yann Gonzalez's 2017 short film Islands, which is a classic example of this fact. It starts off a sort of slasher film parody, which then transitions into a threesome with the monster killer (the director is clearly commenting here on our expectations) with homoerotic aspects on a stage - and it just gets more interesting/weird from there, ending with a scene that feels like a David Lynch outtake. I don't know if I liked it, although explicit monster killer sex is a criminally ignored genre, but there were some scenes that will definitely stick with me. I'm certainly going to check out at least one more of Gonzalez's shorts featured in this month's Criterion Channel collection. Would I recommend it? I think it's definitely interesting and challenging, but my description above will probably tell you whether to give it a watch.

Movies in 2026 171

 

Bergman Island (Mia Hansen'Love, 2021)

Last night I re-watched Mia Hansen-Love's 2021 film Bergman Island, which is a film I like although not as much as I want to. It's centered around a couple, Chris (played by the wonderful Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) Sanders, who visit Faro Island, the home base of the legendary Ingmar Bergman. They're a couple at a crisis point in their relationship, typical Bergman fare). Tony is there to screen a copy of his latest movie at a film fest, and Chris is working on a screenplay for a film she hopes to direct.  At a certain point it segues into her screenplay and then her film, starring Mia Wasikowska (as Amy) and Anders Danielsen Lie (as Joseph). And then it goes truly meta, with the actors inside her film. More than anything else, it's a love letter to Ingmar Bergman (including his son in a walkthrough at the end) and it's hard to critique that. The component parts are interesting, and the acting is first rate, but I don't think any of the sections are given the room to breathe, and hence the viewer is left a tad emotionally disconnected. Like I said, I like it, I just don't know if it came together as cleanly or impactfully as it might have. I definitely will watch it again down the road, and you should check it out.

Movies in 2026 170

 

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

I've (obviously) seen a ton of film noir, including its Japanese and French and Scandinavian and Argentinian (it goes on and on) cousins, and I don't know if there is a better example of the genre than Jacques Tourneur's 1947 absolute classic Out of the Past. How many times have I seen this film - I'd hate to guess, but it's one that I never miss. It's been featured this past month on the Criterion Channel and so I had to re-watch it, even though I also own the DVD. Robert Mitchum is amazing as Jeff Bailey/Markham, a former detective, now gas station owner, who can't outrun his past. Once, in the antediluvian past, I was involved with a woman who proposed that I possessed Mitchum's "sleepy intensity," which I think I only partially understand, but which I like. Jane Greer is wonderfully wicked as Kathie Moffat, who gives Barbara Stanwyck a run for greatest film noir femme fatale of all-time. It also  features a very young Kirk Douglas, who is great as the venomous Whit Sterling. The very definition of Required Viewing.

There are so many great lines, almost more than you can count:

Jeff: "That's not the way to win." Kathie: "Is there a way to win?" Jeff: "There's a way to lose more slowly." It's spoken very early in the film, related to a scene when Kathie is gambling, but it essentially is the line that defines the entire movie.

Ann (Jeff's nice girlfriend): "She (Kathie) can't be all bad. No one is." Jeff: "Well, she comes the closest."

Kathie: "Don't you believe me?" Jeff: "Baby, I don't care."

Kathie: "I don't want to die." Jeff: "Neither do I, baby, but if I have to, I'm going to die last."

Kathie: "Don't you see? You've only me to make deals with now." Jeff: "Well, build my gallows high, baby."