Movies in 2026 203

 

Widow's Bay (Hiro Murai, 2025)

Every year there's one or two more "must see" cable series, and this year one of them seems to be Widow's Bay. Beyond WIFI, which allows me to stream the invaluable Criterion Channel, we don't really have any channels, other than Prime, which is both impossible to avoid and also completely pathetic (in that it's now merely a clearing house for other streaming channels). However, Janet was trapped into getting Apple TV so that she could watch F1. Because we already had it we decided to give Widow's Bay a try. It's pretty mindless, although in an inoffensive way, with the most interesting thing being trying to determine who they are ripping off most dramatically: Kolchak: the Night Stalker or The Fog or Storm of the Century or maybe even Green Acres. 

The Crew

 On Monday Janet and I were able to meet Gary and Ali downtown for dinner and a treat, which is always a blessing. Once the kids moved to Montpelier it became possible to see them quite a bit, and, which every parent of adult kids tells you, it's such a gift. It was a lovely moment. Sadly, Montpelier has not truly recovered from the flood, so what was once a very vibrant downtown buzz is pretty quiet, especially since one of our foundation haunts, the Langdon Street Tavern, shut down.

After grabbing dinner at Three Penny we were thinking of dessert, and Gary told us about a gelato place around the corner. It allowed us to have a little proto-European moment, pre-move. They were supposed to be whimsically thinking about the future, but Janet broke characters.

Movies in 2026 202

 

Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)

Somehow I had never seen Alex Cox's Repo Man, although I'm not quite certain why I never had. Granted, 1984 was a busy year, in that I got married for the first time and finished my MA, so maybe it was simply a case of being really busy. Plus, we were pretty poor, so we didn't have a lot of extra money floating around to go to the movies. I was in graduate school, as compared to some corporate path, so it's not as if the more punk sensibilities of the film would have stood at variance with my burgeoning conservative agenda. It was in the middle of the hell of the Reagan years, and America's great break with reality, so it seems like it would have been a good fit. Anyway, it was definitely my loss. Harry Dean Stanton (as Bud) and Emilio Estevez (as Otto) star as repo men, out on the hunt for cars to repossess. Somewhere along the way they get on the trail of a Chevy Malibu, which is of extraterrestrial origins (don't look in the trunk!). Tracey Walter (as Miller) steals the show, and the car, when he drives/flies the Malibu away at the end. It's funny and fast-paced, and also a critique of consumerism and religion and the hypocrisy of the Reagan years. I think the film and the punk sentiment are summed up by the exchange at the end of the movie between Leila (played by Olivia Barash) and Otto: "But what about our relationship?", which inspires his response, "Fuck that." Here at the far end of the Reagan nightmare, I think that's my response to my relationship to America. Highly recommended.

Billby

 On my mad trip through Canada and the Midwest a few weeks ago I was able to see my friend Bill, not once, but twice, which was a tremendous gift. When I dropped down into the States from Ontario, my first stop was in Rolling Prairie, which is where Bill was living when we met oh those many years ago. I can remember visiting him there over forty years ago. Since then, Bill was able to buy back most of the land that his family used to own, and now has his own forty acres (although no mule). He was my best friend in college, and I'm happy to say that we're still dear friends all of these decades later.

ON the morning I left we went for a long drive around his property, and he walked me through all of his projects - which exhausted me just hearing about them.

It's such a lovely spot, and I can definitely see why he's drawn to it. He's one of those folks who I will sincerely miss when we move overseas. I think over the years he and his wife KV have come to visit me more than any of my other friends, and if you're going to track down someone in Vermont they must truly be your friend.

Movies in 2026 201

 

Queen of the Desert (Werner Herzog, 2015)

This is a film, Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, that I really wanted to like, but absolutely didn't. Herzog is a director I like a lot - and Gertrude Bell is a character who I find fascinating - and it's certainly a period and a part of the world that I love - but this was just a joyless slog to get through. I think you can definitely be too referential  in your handling of a subject (in a much less important way, I think for a long time I fell into the same process with my epics book, with the result that I sucked all the life out of it). Please read books about Gertrude Bell - and by Gertrude Bell - but feel free to duck this movie. 

Movies in 2026 200

 

Le Deuxieme Souffle (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1966)

I'm a late discoverer of the film of Jean-Pierre Melville (to my shame, and, again, I blame growing up in the cultural wasteland of Indiana), but I hope to make up for the delay. Last night I watched his 1966 film Le Deuxieme Souffle. I'd always thought of his film Le Samurai as a film noir, which it is, of a fashion, but it's also more than a bit of a procedural - and I'd make the same argument Le Deuxieme Souffle. If you think of a film noir as the regular joe who is drawn into a moral quagmire through one bad decision, hoping to escape poverty or a humdrum life, which leads to a string of bad decisions, then these films really aren't a film noir. However, if you think of a film noir as the study of a conflicted, morally ambivalent character - even if they're already a criminal - then they would fall into the film noir category (and this is why some film critics have argued that film noir isn't even a true genre, or at least one that is easy to define). They're both procedurals in that they give equal weight to the policeman's efforts to capture the crook, even when the police themselves often break the law. Lino Ventura plays Gustave "Gu" Minda, an older gangster who has tried for the big score but failed, but also can't accept that failure. This leads him to one last long-shot chance, even though he has the option to go away with his girlfriend Manouche (Christine Fabrega). He can't simply disappear with her because of his own code, stupid, on one front, because he can't accept living off a woman, but oddly noble on the other because he needs to go out on a high note (and also because he needs money, especially since he can't accept Manouche's). His code is also shown by the fact that when the heist blows up it appears that he had named names, and he goes to extraordinary efforts to prove that he didn't, even though the effort to do so insures that he's killed. Paul Meurisse is very good as Inspector Blot of Paris, who also has his own code of conduct, and a grudging respect for Gu's. Definitely recommended.

Movies in 2026 199

 

Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940

As we've discussed, there are some movies that you can't help but watch (no matter how many times you've seen them) when you get the chance. One of them for me is definitely Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film Foreign Correspondent. It's certainly not the best Hitchcock film, but it just might be my favorite Hitchcock film. I'm not a huge Joel McCrea fan, but he's pretty good as a classically American Johnny Jones (this definitely falls into the propaganda film category - but then, it 2as 1940) who is hired to go to Europe (about which he knows nothing, even suggesting to his boss that "maybe we should talk to this Hitler guy, he probably knows some stuff") to act as a foreign correspondent. Laraine Day (who, I guess, was 19 at the time) plays his love interest, and she sparkles, which is a nice change of pace from the icy blondes that Hitchcock loved. Herbert Marshall is wooden as only Herbert Marshall can be. George Sanders, as was his wont, stole every scene. Edmund Gwen, who I tend to associate with love able characters in Miracle on 34th Street and Them! plays a menacing role. The ending must have really spoke to an American audience not yet in the war. Definitely recommended.

Movies in 2026 198

 

The Passionate Friends (David Lean, 1949)

David Lean is another one of those directors that I don't know nearly enough about. I tend to focus on his epics, and forget that he made many smaller, more intimate films. Last night I watched his 1949 film The Passionate Friends, which starred Ann Todd, Trevor Howard, and Claude Rains. Ann Todd played a very Ann Todd-like role: a beautiful, intelligent woman who spreads unhappiness wherever she goes (I think I was engaged to her for six years, but that's another story). She was married to Lean at the time - or soon would be - and that must have been an interesting dynamic. She's married to the much older Claude Rains (who is very good) but having an affair with Trevor Howard. The ending is a little different than I would have thought, and it almost copied Anna Karenina (and it probably would have been better if had). Still, it was pretty solid.

Screened In

 This is what welcomed me when I made it back from my usual Saturday morning run to the dump. Either they could tell that their mom would be coming soon, or they sensed that I was spoiling Willow and Misty, my dog friends at the dump.

Just as I started to snap the picture Mollie turned her head. I called "Mollie" so that I could get them both in the picture, and as soon as she heard her sister's name Cici began bitching at me in her classic way.

Movies in 2026 197

 

Trade Winds (Tay Garnett, 1938)

While I watch many movies several times over - and consider it a blessing that I get to do so - I certainly don't rewatch the vast majority of films that I've seen over the years.  Some I watched, and was quite happy to watch them, but I also know that I'll never see them again. So, for every Grand Illusion there's a Trade Winds (Tay Garnett, 1938). It's sort of a slapstick, although in other ways it's a whodunit (although that's introduced awfully late) and almost a travelogue. Frederic March (who is one of the most unfairly forgotten actors, especially for the common watcher of movies) and Joan Bennett are typically good, and it has some witty banter (Dorothy Parker worked on the script). So, I don't think I'd recommend it per se, but if you stumble across it don't turn off the TV, you'll have an enjoyable hour and a half.

Movies of 2026 196

 

Lumiere, Le Cinema! (Thierry Fremaux, 2025)

As I've proposed many times, the Criterion Channel introduces me to so many films and directors and actors that I'd never see elsewhere. This also relates to documentaries, and last night I watched a wonderful one: Thierry Fremaux's 2025 Lumiere, Le Cinema! It tells the story of the Lumieres, especially Louis, and the origins of cinema. It must show all of some of a hundred of the Lumiere 50 second films (usually of events in real life, although some more staged). The narrator was classically French, so there's a lovely running commentary on aesthetics and references so many artists and thinkers (Proust, naturally, the Renoirs, both Auguste and Jean; Fellini; Rossellini, etc.). It's amazing how beautifully preserved the films were, especially since some of them are 130 years old. Essential for film nuts.

A Sort of Psychology in Space

 "And no doubt all these different planes, in relation to which Time, as I had grasped in the course of this party, arranged my life, by giving me the idea that in a book whose intention was to tell the story of a life it would be necessary to use, in contrast to the flat psychology people normally use, a sort of psychology in space, added a new beauty to the resurrections that had taken place in my memory while I was lost in my thoughts alone in the library, since memory, by bringing the past into the present without making changes to it. just as it was at the moment when it was the present, suppresses precisely this great dimension of Time though which a life is given reality."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (Finding Time Again)

OK, as my friend MK often opines, shit is getting real. Although I've read Proust several times, although the first time in this particular translation, I have to be honest in admitting that there are still times when he mystifies me - or at least it's better to say that I'm slowing, with each rereading and reflection, that I'm slowing honing in on his meaning. I guess when I think about it I come back to the notion that for Proust time and space are not separate, discrete entities, but rather influence each other, it not actually merge. 
Granted, everything is relative, but with Proust things are really relative. It's not completely Buddhist (with it being pointless to talk about the self since everything changes second to second), but rather that there is no fixed self, and that it evolves throughout time, and hence our understanding of reality and our place in it and thus meaning transforms over time. It's impossible to understand the self, and thus write a novel about the self, without taking into account this evolving/devolving psychological reality. OK, that's what I'm thinking today, ask me again tomorrow and I'll have a different answer.

This morning I finished my latest rereading of Proust, and I'm definitely looking forward to my next one. This may best be shown that as soon as I finished (my actual, beautiful, physical Penguin volumes) that I purchased Kindle copies of each of them, so that I'm not left without them. I mean, what would happen if the box of books I mail to Italy falls of the boat?

Movies in 2026 195

 

Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini, 1950)

Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli had been sitting in my Criterion Channel queue for way too long, and last night I finally got around to watching it. For some reason I often have an initial negative reaction to Rossellini films, although I don't know why. I remember starting his Rome, Open City (1945) and stopping, before starting up again weeks later, and absolutely loving it. It's like I didn't think it would be interesting after fifteen minutes or so, and then paused it - not deciding not to watch it - but rather thinking of something else I had to do that seemed more pressing/interesting at that moment. Inexplicably, I think I did exactly the same thing with Stromboli. This is by way of pointing out that I truly am a moron. I also liked Stromboli quite a bit. It tells the story of Karin (Ingrid Bergman), who is a Lithuanian who somehow ends up in an internment camp in the chaos of the end of the war, and who ends up marrying Antonio (Mario Vitale) to start to new life on the island of Stromboli. Antonio is not a bad guy, necessarily, but this is clearly not the life that she wanted. It's weird to think that in Trapani we'll be able to catch a ferry to Stromboli, which is doubtless how I'll end up dying in a volcanic eruption (my friends will only smile, sadly, and say, "You know, it's OK, I think he would have wanted it that way."). The initial response in the American press to the film was horrifically terrible, which was a stupid, puritanical American response to Bergman's affair with Rosselini. Now there are folks who consider it one of the great films ever made. I'm going to come down in the middle on that one. I liked it quite a bit, and would definitely recommend it, but I just don't think I would agree that it's one of the greatest couple hundred films ever made. Still, it's very good, and check it out.

The Beauty of Ideas

 "The beauty of images lies behind things, the beauty of ideas in front of them. So that the former cease to impress us when we reach them, whereas we have to go beyond the latter in order to understand them."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (Finding Time Again)

Proust has popped up several times recently, which makes sense since I'm just about finished with my initial reading of the In Search of Lost Time translation (as we know, I've read the older translation several times). Truthfully, I've tried to avoid bringing in much Proust this time because a few years ago I devoted over two years straight to commenting on a daily reading of the entire work. However, now that I'm drawing to a close, it's difficult to avoid it. One of the reasons why I decided to embark on a rereading right now, beyond my desire to reread it all every three years or so, is sort of like my running discussion about watching my DVD movies now as compared to streaming another film on the Criterion Channel: I only have so much space in my suitcase, and I need to be mindful of what I'm bringing early on. Essentially, I can't justify taking up half of my suitcase with all seven volumes of the most recent translation, so I decided to time my read now. I had this feeling that I'd settle in Italy and then feel an overpowering urge for a Proustian dive (although I do have the entire original translation on my Kindle, and also on Audible for that matter). 

And speaking of retirement and moves, I suppose I should say something about the passage above. As we've discussed, after a lot (literally, years) of trepidation, I think I've come to peace with the idea of retirement. In some ways, I think it relates to Proust's observation above. I'm entering into a period of learning new things, grappling with new concepts and ideas and languages, and not simply watching my physical world whither away. 

Movies in 2026 194

 

Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 2014)

And this morning I finished the Henry Fool trilogy, with a re-viewing of his 2014 Ned Rifle. This is actually my favorite of the Henry Fool trilogy, mainly because it feels most like a Hal Hartley film. Ned (Grim) Rifle (which is actually one of Hartley's pseudonyms that you will spot in the credits to his movies) and Susan (a scene-stealing Aubrey Plaza) link up to track down Henry Fool and kill him, although her motives are much darker. James Urbaniak (Simon Grim), Parker Posey (Fay Grim), Thomas Jay Ryan (Henry Fool), and Liam Aiken (Ned Rifle) all return - and there are delightful cameos from Hartley regulars Martin Donovan, Karen Sillas, Robert John Burke, and Bill Sage. Definitely recommended, although then you'd also have to watch Henry Fool and Fay Grim, but, seriously, it's Hal Hartley, and you should watch all of his films, FFS, don't be a jerk. Oh, and look out for the next Hal Hartley Kickstarter campaign, and you can join me in supporting a truly original filmmaker.

Movies in 2026 193

 

Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

Last night I watched the middle film in Hal Hartley's Henry Fool trilogy, Fay Grim. As one would expect from the title, this film focuses on Fay Grim, the sister to the famous/infamous poet Simon Grim and the wife of debauched Henry Fool. As it turns out, Henry's Confession, which was considered an absolute disaster in the first film, is not mere madness, but the actual story of his time as a globetrotting operative. Parker Poser as Fay is quite good, and Jeff Goldblum plays Agent Fulbright. Thomas Jay Ryan (Henry Fool), James Urbaniak (Simon Grim - I also discovered that he voiced Dr. Venture in the Venture Brothers, it is a small world), and Liam Aiken (Ned Grim/Rifle) return once more. Hartley regular Elina Lowensohn appears as Bebe. Again, I'm not a huge fan of the Henry Fool trilogy, and this one has too much jet-setting, but there are also some very inspired moments. I think it's one of his weakest efforts, but it's still Hal Hartley, and the world is a better place when Hartley is out making films (and I will doubtless financially support his next film as I have the last few). So, as with Henry Fool, take a look at Fay Grim, but start with one of his other films first, and then check out the trilogy.

Movies in 2026 192

 

Le Silence de la Mer (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1946)

As I said in a previous post, it looks like my Jean-Pierre Melville film series is beginning. Last night I watched his first film, 1946's Le Silence de la Mer. It's one of those films that would, sadly, never be made in the US. It tells the story of a German officer, who claims to be a true Francophile, moves in with an elderly Frenchman and his niece in the early days of the war. They respond by never talking to him, or even making eye contact. Howard Vernon, as Werner von Ebrennac, has to do the heavy lifting, and almost the entire film is him carrying on an almost stream of conscious dialogue every evening to two people who won't respond. The uncle (Jean-Marie Robain) provides some voiceover, and the younger niece (Nicole Stephane), who is clearly being drawn to the German officer, says one word to the officer at the end which is devastating. Highly recommended, and expected to see more Melville films popping up here soon.

As Vivid a Memory

 "I say each thing that we see again, because books in this respect behave as things; the way a book opened along the spine, the texture of the paper, may have retained within it as vivid a memory of the way I imagined Venice then, as of my wish to go there, as the book's actual sentences."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (Finding Time Again)

And this is why we're having so much trouble culling out the books, it's not simply the books, but also the actual feel of the books themselves. Yes, with my new Kindle I can download many of the books I'm interested in reading/rereading, but it never is the same thing. Plus, as Proust is pointing out here, it's not simply the sentences, but the tangibility and feel of the book. Every time I reread The Chess Garden I find myself holding it to my chest and fighting back (or happily giving way to) tears. In that same vein, it's not simply the memory itself, but everything that provides a tangible connection to the memory. Every time I see The Chess Garden, complete - well, incomplete, actually - with the separated title page, I'm brought back to the joy that the book gives me without even turning the pages.

Movies in 2026 191

 

The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

Here's a film that I own on DVD, and which never seems to show up on the Criterion Channel, and which I don't watch nearly enough: William Wyler's 1946 Oscar winner and undeniable classic, The Best Years of Our Lives. As with It's a Wonderful Life, although a very different film, every time I re-watch The Best Years of Our Lives I find new places to cry. I don't know if I made it ten minutes in this time before I was weepy, and that was before I balled later on. Shameful. It stars Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell as soldiers returning to their small town after the war, and the struggles that they face returning to civilian life. Russell was a true double-amputee, and he ended up winning two Academy Awards for his performance, a Special Award because they didn't think he would actually win in the category of Best Supporting Actor, and also Best Supporting Actor (when he did win). It's the only time in Oscar history when an actor won twice for the same performance. Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, and Cathy O'Donnell are the women in their lives, adjusting to their pretty fucked up husband/boyfriends, but that statement doesn't do justice to the depth they all bring in their performances. Virginia Mayo gives a wonderful trampy performance as Andrews's wife. The film unflinchingly explored the lives of the returning soldiers, and, I would argue, helped keep America from forgetting them in the afterglow of victory. There are also a couple great scenes showing the growth of early isolationists and naysayers, which might serve as a primer on how movements like MAGA start. I taught a classic on World War II and Film a couple times, and I remember show it to my students. Required viewing.

Movies in 2026 190

 

Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

And speaking of films that I own on DVD, but which are almost universally on the Criterion Channel, there's Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai. It stars Alain Delon at his best and most beautiful as a hitman (Jef Costello) whose hit both succeeds and fails, kicking in his own warrior ethic (hence the title). It's beautifully and starkly filmed, and is far more than simply another film noir. It also stars Francois Perier (as the policeman trying to catch him - the film almost qualified as a procedural),  Nathalie Delon (as Jef's sort-of girlfriend Jane - in real life the two were married for a while), and Cathy Rosier (as the pianist who witnessed the original hit). The ending is classic, and brings an appropriately French existentialist feel to it all (which tended to mark French films noir). I bought the DVD because I was planning on showing it in my Japanese Film Noir class as a counterpoint, but I ended up showing Elevator to the Gallows instead. Highly recommended, and it's setting me off on a Jean-Pierre Melville quest.

Movies in 2026 189

 

Henry Fool (Hal Hartley, 1997)

Lately I've been focusing on my DVD collection, considering that the Criterion Channel will take up less space in my suitcase than thirty DVDs. The question of how many books we're going to bring overseas is a constant discussion point between Janet and myself, and, while she's more horrified by culling books than I am, she's also done a much better job getting started on the process. Recently I upgraded to a new Kindle and purchased some more books, with the notion of, at least initially, I'm going to try and survive on my Kindle with only a couple books making the trip (with other being slow-shipped). But what about DVDs? I watch so many movies on the Criterion Channel which also exist happily in DVD format in my movie cabinet, many of which I bought from the Criterion Collection, which begs the question of whether I need to bring them overseas in a timely fashion. This is especially true when you factor in the region differences with DVD players. However, some of my favorite movies do not live on the Criterion Channel, and thus they will have to make the trip. For instance, it is inconceivable that I won't watch Local Hero at least once or twice a year for the rest of my life, and thus it will have to hide away in my suitcase. Another example would be Hal Hartley's first trilogy, the so-called Long Island trilogy (The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, and Simple Men), which shows up occasionally on the Criterion Channel, but usually is not there, so my boxed set has to come along. Now, a more complicated question would be Hartley's second trilogy, the Henry Fool trilogy. I've never warmed to it in the same way I did the original, although that may also be a testament to my mad love of those three early Hartley classics. This brings us to the first film in that trilogy, Henry Fool. The cast is classic Hartley: Thomas Jay Ryan (as Henry Fool), James Urbaniak (Simon Grim), Parker Posey (Fay Grim), Liam Aiken (Ned), etc. It focuses on the chaos that ensues when reprobate Henry Fool arrives in town and immerses himself in the Grim household, convincing Simon to become a great/terrible/popular/influential poet and bedding down Fay. Like all Hartley films, it has its own brilliant and inexplicable logic and timing and ending which make no sense and perfect sense. I universally recommend all Hartley films, but if you're not familiar with him I wouldn't start with this film or trilogy, because it simply doesn't have the magic of some of his other films, and then you might not get around to watching those films, which would be much more than merely a pity. So, I will recommend it, but with that disclaimer.

A Dream Which We Cannot Always Perceive

 "In the people we love there is, immanent within them, a dream which we cannot always perceive but which haunts us."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (Finding Time Again)

As I mentioned the other day, I'm now well into Finding Time Again, the seventh and final volume of the latest Proust translation, In Search of Lost Time. My first four readings of Proust were of the older Remembrance of Things Past translation, so it's been a treat to be introduced to the new translation. As I was saying to a friend of mine, one of those rare Proustians (we tend to find each other magnetically), I don't speak French so I'm not qualified to say whether or not this translation is better, although it is definitely acclaimed. Some of my favorite passages "disappeared," that is, the specific translation I had memorized, was rendered in a different form. Similarly, there are now passages in the new translation, which I guess were there in spirit previously, but which now jumped out at me even more dramatically. This brings me to the passage above. If I had more time right now I'd delve back into the older translation and spirit out the other version, but I'm way too buried at the moment. It would be interesting to see if I tagged it as dramatically as I did this one. As usual, Proust is spot-on. The person that we love is never simply that person, but the dream that surrounds them, of which we, at that moment, aren't really aware. Sometimes I think the nature of reading Proust is patiently working your way through another social gathering until you reach another life-altering observation.

Movies in 2026 188

 

Dune: Part 2 (Denis Villeneuve, 2024) 

Last night was movie night down at Gary and Ali's, which, of course, made me incredibly happy. A couple weeks ago we watched the first installment of Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy, and yesterday we moved on to Dune: Part 2. I liked the first one (generally, I like his films quite a bit) and I liked this one as well. They're so beautifully filmed. My main problem with it is that I think both films, but especially this one, overplayed an Arab fanaticism aspect and downplayed the Islamic mysticism/faith aspect. A similar accusation could be made against Herbert's original work, although I would argue that he doesn't play up the former and more richly explored the latter. I suspect this is much more a condemnation of Hollywood (and Western culture) than it is of Villeneuve himself. The Chani character is pretty far afield from the novel, but that may be more a case of plot positioning. You should give both of them a view. 

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Finding Time

 I'm finishing my latest re-read of Proust, which of course makes the cats happy because it required long stretches of not moving and close reading - and thus fulfilling my true destiny as glorified cat furniture. It helps that Janet is still out of time, and thus their options are more limited.

This should either be labelled, "Retirement" or "Why God Invented Metaphor."

Movies in 2026 187

 

Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1965)

I went ahead and finished off the three films that comprised the Criterion Channel's early James Bond movies collection. Guy Hamilton's 1965 Goldfinger is a lot like Dr. No, that is, two bracketing movies that are much, much weaker than From Russia With Love. You would think that after From Russia With Love you'd have the series figured out, but some studio executive decided that they needed more lasers and time spent in Kentucky, so here we are. There's nothing that I could say or not say that would make you watch or not watch a James Bond movie, but it's pretty forgettable - although doubtless I will watch it again sometime before I shuffle off this mortal coil. 

Movies in 2026 186

 

Where the Truth Lies (Atom Egoyan, 2005)

It seems that I've seen a few mediocre if not wretchedly bad movies lately, which is certainly not part of the plan. However, just as last year's recording of everything I read, I'm trying to be honest and not gloss over my reading/viewing habits for the year.  The other night I decided to give another chance to a movie that I had watched a few years ago and truly disliked: Atom Egoyan's 2005 dud Where the Truth Lies. It popped up on the Criterion Channel as disappearing at the end of June (it was part of an Atom Egoyan collection) so I thought I'd give it a re-watch before it disappeared into the ether. I think I may have disliked it more the second time. I think it's supposed to be a sexually charged murder mystery, but it's really just a mess. Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth play a Lewis & Martin team who are popular in the 1950s, and there's a dead woman shows up in their hotel room, and the mystery is not solved, sort of, until the 1970s. Allison Lohman, who played the reporter, received a fair amount of critical scorn for her performance, but she's far from the biggest problem with this utter misfire. I guess the thing that bothered me the most is that this is Atom Egoyan, FFS (this makes his film Chloe seem like a towering cinematic success). It's just so difficult to reconcile this effort with the Atom Egoyan who directed The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica and Calendar and Family Viewing, etc. I saw that it was based on an novel by Rupert Holmes, and I suddenly thought, "Wait, not that Rupert Holmes the guy who wrote the Pina Colada Song and Timothy (the cave-in cannibalism song, which I still passionately argue is the worst song ever written)?" Yes, that Rupert Holmes. I'm happy he's making a living, but, wow, that's a heavy weight of cultural degradation that he's forced to carry around. Anyway, do not, under any circumstances, watch Where the Truth Lies. 

My Italian Tutor

 Thank god I have some help with my Italian or I'd never learn the language.

Note to self: Don't try to learn Italian around mealtime. 

Movies in 2026 185

 

From Russia with Love (Terence Young, 1964)

I'm going to plow through the three films in the Criterion Channel's James Bond collection, and so I watched From Russia with Love. As I said previously, I'm not really that big of a James Bond film, but this is definitely the film where they figured it out (and many folks, including actors who played Bond, consider it the best in the series). It's more serious and gritty than Dr. No, and definitely less silly, Bond spends his time in Istanbul and Vienna, beginning a recurring character in the films: exotic locations. It's odd to watch films like this and remember that I've been lucky enough to go to many of these locations, including Istanbul and Vienna. And, yes, if you're an Archer fan you completely see where so much of the material comes from, including his Russian girlfriend, Katya.

Movies in 2026 184

 

The Whole Town's Talking (John Ford, 1935)

Another film from a pretty vanilla Criterion Channel collection: office romances. Last night I watched John Ford's 1935 film The Whole Town's Talking. I'm a big John Ford fan, but I didn't know how long he had been making movies. Like a lot of folks I always link him to 1939's Stagecoach, and the beginning of his pairing with John Wayne, but by 1939 he had already been making films since 1917. This includes a ton of silent films, which, sadly, like most silent films, have been lost. The Whole Town's Talking stars Edward G. Robinson playing two roles, the timid company employee Arthur Ferguson Jones and the ruthless gangster "Killer" Mannion. I was impressed by Ford's ability to get both characters in the same scene considering the limitations of special effects in the mid-30s. I liked the film, although they didn't do nearly enough with Plattsburgh's own Jean Arthur (playing Wilhelmina Clark), who was such a firecracker and who routinely stole every scene in every movie she was ever in.

Movies in 2026 183

 

Dr. No (Terence Young, 1963)

For some reason the Criterion Channel is featuring a collection of the first three James Bond films. These are the collections that worry me a bit. Mainly I just don't want the Criterion Channel to lose its edge in the pursuit of more casual movie fans, as compared to true film nuts (it is a slippery slope). Nevertheless, last night I watched the movie that started it all, 1963's Dr. No. I'm not one of those guys who goes out of his way to watch James Bond movies (I think of Lester in American Beauty), but it's not as if I don't like them. Dr. No opened to very mixed reviews, which is completely appropriate because it's actually pretty silly. They obviously hadn't figured out what they wanted to do with the character. Now it's considered a bit of a classic, which is a completely goofy and undeserved designation. Nevertheless, we all have to start somewhere, even James Bond. Cycling back to my occasional concern for CC program, it may simply be a case that they dumb it down a bit in the summer because it's too hot for us to tackle Bergman or Kieslowski.

Movies in 2026 182

 

Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)

One of the Criterion Channel collections which is not making nervous is their current one entitled Odysseys, which is exactly what you would think: films about epic trips. It gave me a chance to watch Nicolas Roeg's classic 1971 film Walkabout (which I had inexplicably never seen). I have mixed emotions about Roeg, although even his films that I don't like I like. It tells the story of two Australian children, Jenny Agutter as Girl and Luc Roeg (the director's son, although he's listed as Lucian John) as White Boy, who are abandoned in the outback when their father loses his mind and commits suicide. They are rescued by Black Boy (the long-time Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil) who is on his walkabout. It's about their growing friendship, and the love affair between Girl and Black Boy which never really happens, and which in the end kills him. It's also about much more: the clash of cultures, the wild beating heart of Australia, and the inevitable death of that native culture in the fact of Western culture. It's hard to believe that Jenny Agutter was only eighteen at the time. It's wonderful and absolutely heartbreaking. And required viewing.

Movies in 2026 181

 

Red (Krzisztof Kieslowski, 1994)

OK, so I finished (yet again) Krzisztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy when I watched Red the other night. Many people consider it the greatest of the three films, although I don't know if I would sign off on it being better than Blue. That said, I think I like it more with every viewing. It was Kieslowski's final film, which gives it a tremendous weight. He announced while finishing it that he was done, and he died only a couple years later. It's sort of like hitting a grand slam in your final at bat to win the World Series, except that he directed so many extraordinary films. I'm already queueing up The Double Life of Veronique as well as all ten installments of Decalogue. Since we've moved on to the red portion of the French flag it's not surprising that the theme is fraternity, or in this case the odd friendship between Valentine Dussaut (wonderfully played by the ethereal Irene Jacob) and Joseph Kern (another great performance from  Jean-Louis Trintignant). It's strange to think that recently I watched Il 
Saporro, which was one of his first films. Here is a much older man, a retired judge who has given up on life while eavesdropping on his neighbors. His unexpected friendship with Valentine brings him back to the world. The ending ties up not only Red, but the other two films in the trilogy as well. Simply filmmaking at its best. Obviously, required viewing. I was reminded of the story of Van den Budenmayer, the mythical Dutch composer who is referenced in Red, Blue, and an episode of Decalogue - and who was made up by Kieslowski and his long-time composer Zbigniew Preisner simply because they both loved Holland. The fact that I know that clearly means that I watch too many movies.

Movies in 2026 180

 

Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, 1984)

I've been exploring one of those wonderfully odd Criterion Channel collection: 1980s remakes. It's half of a great idea, because the original films are all really good if not great, but the 1980s remakes (with the exception of Carpenter's The Thing) are abominations. I appreciate the quirkiness, although it also makes me a tad nervous. I hope that they're not doing this because it's a cheap option and that it foreshadows some doom down the road (this mainly me fretting about a thing, the Criterion Channel, that I love and which gives me so much happiness). The other night I watched, or maybe re-watched, Taylor Hackford's 1984 misfire, Against All Odds. If I ever saw it before, I didn't know that it was a remake of Out of the Past. Now, take this with a grain of salt, because Out of the Past is one of my favorite movies, but, wow, Against All Odds is a dog. It would take more time than I have at the moment to express, fully, how bad this film is, so I'll restrict myself to the most obvious problems. First off, they broke a cardinal rule: never remake a classic film. Maybe it's ok to remake a film that was close to being a classic, and there's some little thing the original missed or got wrong, and you're almost completing the vision, building upon the unachieved potential. But please, for the love of God, stop remaking great films. It's insulting. Secondly, Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward, and James Woods are simply not Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas - not even close, even though I sort of like all of them, especially Bridges. Thirdly, the script is a trainwreck, there are way too many unimportant minor plots competing for screentime, and whereas the original had more great lines that you could count, no one in this film ever says anything even remotely intelligent or funny or engaging. Fourthly, your broke one of the cardinal rules of film noir: a hopeful ending where the central characters somehow walk away unscathed. Did Hackford simply not have the courage to kill off Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward? Fifthly and finally (although I could go on and on), they gutted a classic femme fatale, one of the greatest in film history. Jane Greer's Kathie Moffat was so brilliantly drawn, and so utterly evil, whereas Rachel Ward's character is mainly annoying (I don't think it's her fault, it's just a crappy script). There's probably some thinly veiled misogyny at play here as well, which is strange since Out of the Past is decades older, and yet the Kathie Moffat character simply has more agency; Rachel Ward's Jessie Wyler seems to exist mainly to be sweaty and minimally clothed, an object as compared to a subject. The only good thing I can say about it is that Jane Greer has a cameo, and although she's not given much to do, she still steals the show. If you want to understand how not to remake a classic - of for that instance how to not make a good movie - then by all means watch Against All Odds. Otherwise, please keep your distance.

Non parlo italiano

 I'm about a month into my Italian study. I've tinkered with several languages over the years, but never mastered any of them. In high school I took two years of Latin, a year of Spanish, and a year of French, which I think gives you a sense of how little interest my parents had in parenting. Any locked-in parent would have pointed out that it would have made more sense to take four years of the same language, but I guess it never popped up on their radar. At Franklin, during my undergraduate days, we weren't required to take a foreign language, for some godforsaken reason - and I apparently didn't have the foresight or energy or sense to sign up for some. In graduate school my two languages, inexplicably, were French and Russian, and now, forty years later, I can't speak a word of either. In the decades since then I've tinkered with Arabic for a bit, and over the last couple years Portuguese. However, as much as I love Portugal, it didn't make much sense to keep working on it while Janet was pursuing this (allegedly) shorter route to citizenship. When/if she gets citizenship, I'll have a spousal visa (the ultimate plus one), but will eventually have to pass an Italian exam to get my own citizenship. Even if Janet gets citizenship this summer, I'd still have to live in the country for a couple of years before I would qualify for my own citizenship. However, I'm diving in seriously, knowing that I'll never actually be fluent, but maybe I'll be at least functionally non-embarrassing. I finally got serious and signed up for a class - and will do something more face to face when we're actually in-country. I try to remind myself to be patient, and also that learning a foreign language is one of the best thins that you can do to keep an aged brain lubricated.

I knock off the daily lessons, which I'm really enjoying and I feel that I'm learning a lot more than I ever did on my own, although after being on the road for a week and a half I'm a little behind. Then, after a few days, I go back and work my way through the lessons a second time, and that's when I take notes. I'm trying not to break up the flow the first time through, and just let it flow more naturally, but then come back later and try to get it down. I don't know if it will help, but it seems to make sense at the moment. The biggest problem is that I just suck so hard at languages, but knowing that you're going to live overseas does give you more of a boost in studying. We don't want to be those expats who separate themselves into little clusters of other expats. Instead, we truly want to immerse ourselves.

Movies in 2026 179

 

White (Krzisztof Kieslowski, 1994)

It seems like every couple years I re-watch Krzisztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, and never get tired of it. In fact, like with all classic films, I keep peeling back new levels with every viewing. With that in mind, I watched his 1994 White last night. I don't think I give that film enough credit, and instead unfairly consider it the weak sister of the Three Colours films. On the one hand, well, it is weaker than Blue and Red. On the other hand, Blue and Red and truly great films, so you could be the cinematic wingman of that crew and still be a very good film in your own right. I think many people consider it a Julie Delpy film (and she is very good in it as Dominique), although she doesn't carry the main weight of the film the way that Juliette Binoche does in Blue or Irene Jacob does in Red. Zbigniew Zamachowski plays her husband, Karol Karol, who tries to rebuild his life (and get revenge, sort of) after she kicks him out for being unable to consummate their marriage. Since it's the white part of the French flag you'd expect it to deal with equality - or in this inequality - and it does, both the economic inequality between Western and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall, but also the emotional inequality in their relationship. I don't think it delves the depths of the bracketing films of the trilogy, especially Blue, but it's really not meant to. Janusz Gajos is very good as Karol's friend Mikolaj. It's interesting to see all the folks who populated Kieslowski's brilliant Decalogue and who pop up in this film. For example, Juliette Binoche walks into the wrong courtroom, and in this film we see what's actually going on in the trial. Highly recommended.

Yet More CFL Excellence

 Unlike spending fifty-five painful years rooting for the Minnesota Vikings, watching the CFL and attending CFL games only brings happiness. I guess the closest that the Vikings-induced pain would be being a Hamilton Tiger-Cats fan, as they currently are nursing the longest streak since their last Grey Cup win (it was last century/millennium). Maybe this is why all of my friends who I introduce to the CFL automatically become Tiger-Cats fans - I mean, how can you not love them? They have a cool (and non-sensical) team song and a band and a sing along in the fourth quarter and cool uniforms, FFS! This was the third time that I've attended a game at Hamilton, and if it weren't a ten hour drive I probably would have just gotten season tickets by now. Although, using that logic, why I haven't purchased Alouettes season tickets is even more of a mystery since I dragged nineteen people to Montreal games to the twenty-plus games I've attended there. One time I pitched the idea to my friends, with the notion that we'd buy two season tickets, I'd go to everyone and they'd cycle in and out. Shamefully, they didn't understand the brilliance of the scheme.

While I usually cringe a selfies, here's a nice one that my cousin Nick took at the game. I was so happy to meet him for the game (he's now the 20th person I've dragged to a CFL game). Unfortunately, the Tiger-Cats suffered a last second heart-wrenching loss to the Montreal Alouettes (which seems to be a Hamilton thing, sadly). 

Movies in 2026 178

 

Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993)

Last night I watched one of my all-time movies: Krzysztof Kieslowski's classic 1993 film Blue, which is the first installment in his Three Colors trilogy. Inexplicably, neither the film itself nor Juliette Binoche were nominated for Academy Awards that year, which is more proof, as if we needed more proof, of the fact that America is a land of idiots. Binoche plays Julie, a woman suffering unimaginable pain after the death of her husband and daughter, and yet finding the emotional liberty (the three colors of the trilogy title are the three colors of the French flag) to live again. It is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen, and Binoche's performance (despite the idiocy of the Academy) is legendary. I saw a documentary once where the story is told of Kieslowski having an assistant calculate how much time it takes for a cube of sugar to soak up coffee - if you've seen the movie you can see the scene in your mind. Required viewing. She's at the heart of my Beautiful, Dark, European Actresses With a Terrible Secret Hall of Fame.

Debs

 A dozen years ago, Sanford and I made our famous drive from Vermont to Oklahoma. The general structure of the class was his design (in  that he wanted to visit a town in Oklahoma, which I eventually figured out had originally been named Sanford - although to this day he still denies that he knew anything about that), but I did much of the day to day planning. Hence, we included stops at the Creation Museum, and the Dental School Museum, and Holcomb, Kansas (at the time he had never read In Cold Blood, but I had and it was very moving). In that vein, we also stopped in Terre Haute, Indiana to visit the Eugene V. Debs Museum. Sadly, we arrived just when they were closing for the day, and thus I had to wait almost a fifty of my long life to make it back. This time I arranged my entire trip so that I had plenty of time. As every right-thinking individual knows, the greatest Hoosier of all-time is Eugene Victor Debs (two through four are: Booth Tarkenton, Theodore Dreiser, and Kurt Vonnegut). When I walked into the museum, which is free, by the way and easy to find since it is essentially surrounded by Indiana State University, I was greeted by Allison, a very nice and incredibly knowledgeable young woman. She had also led the tour of the museum when Bernie Sanders stopped by, and she shared pictures of him from her own phone (Debs is a great hero of Bernie as well). Allison asked why I was visiting, and I told her the truth: Debs is a great hero of mine. This made her very happy, and freed her up to skip some of the basic information and devote more time to a deep dive.  I ended up more than two hours touring the museum, and it was an extraordinary experience.

I have this picture from the failed trip from the summer before I left for Abu Dhabi, but now I finally made my way inside.

This is the actual house where Debs lived.

Allison at the top of the stairs. Eventually a recent college graduate joined us - who had recently become interested in leftist literature and decided to stop by on a trip to Chicago. He was a really friendly young man, and one of those college students who actually give you hope for the future. When we finished up the tour, Allison asked if we'd like to just sit in the living room and talk about socialism. The answer, of course, was yes. 

Debs was rightly known for being a great speaker, and this was the final words of one of his most famous addresses. So many of his ideas beat the New Deal by about fifty years, and it would be a much better America today if we followed his advice.

His library.

A campaign placard from one of the five times he ran for president. In 1912, running for the Socialist Party, he received over six percent of the vote, which is an extraordinary amount for a third party candidate.

And, yes, the4 last time he ran for president he was in jail, a gross governmental overreaction to him having the courage to give speeches asking why poor men were being sent to fight an imperial war. He spent three years in prison (and had to be pardoned to get to that figure, otherwise he would he finished his life incarcerated) and it ruined his health. His book of prisons is a classic.

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).