Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (2006)

TEN YEARS AFTER MY GLUTTONY OF MOVIE 'GOING'........

I've not been in a movie theater more than a dozen times in a few years.  Like neurotic Bobby Fisher, who disdained the interjection of a squeaky chair or a cough from the balcony, I've abandoned attendance at any 'event' that is filled with slurping, chewing, texting, chortling and snorting  people........This morning, on a dare, which I accepted.....ummmmm.....I was given the 'opportunity' to attend 'the movie of my choice'..... ANORA, THE BRUTALIST, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, CONCLAVE, DUNE: PART TWO,  EMILIA PÉREZ,  NICKEL BOYS,  A REAL PAIN,  SING SING, or WICKED ?  ..Looking over these 'offerings' at local cinema houses, I spotted, from the sidewalk: "Directed by Luca Guadagnino", who had created one of my favorite films, I AM LOVE.......Do I need to relive my teen-age frustrations? Why not? What reasons do millions of us need to attend Marvel Comics adaptations of youthful superhero fantasy fixations, romantic comedies or slaphappy excesses of complicity in terrors and delights? Then, I noticed Hugh Jackman's new 'vehicle'......immediately, recalling LIKE WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.......Yes, this one! Wait.....the replacement for the Christopher Plummer 'replacement for humiliated Kevin Spacey' film!.....maybe..... In my youth, I averaged seeing about 5 movies a week on Big Screens! Now, it's a struggle to drive out of my driveway into the bustling World out 'there'....Well, maybe for an "Epic" in 3-D, smellorama, super-Vistavision Cinerama with masturbatory vibrating seating....but there is none of that...(dismissing super-hero-power fantasy films)......December is a good month for "movies"....that I usually wait a couple of years to watch....at home.......Wait...Wait! there are a few hundred great films in my home library that I've not seen, or have almost forgotten (and need to re-watch)......o.k. Showtime....step it up! I gave, with sweat on my brow, the 'free pass' away.........Whew!

LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD - Official Trailer - 55th Anniversary Edition

EARL HOLLIMAN, DEAD THIS WEEK...AT 96....

 photo from his 1995  Noir Film, "THE BIG COMBO", a film with subtle gay subtexts   ...... Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman as hitmen,  Fante and Mingo......

Round and Round, then Down... in the 'Ratings Game'.......

 

3.2 lbs of disks......that's a lot of 're-watching'.....a TV Series that, I thought, ended....prematurely......damn those 'ratings'.....Yet, Law & Order goes on and on and on......Do No Harm, Weeds, Dexter, 24 and United States of Tara....even Shameless.....had inevitable closures......with little fanfare....With the exception of Shows like Mr. Robot, for example, that had...originally....a Plan....to End.....My issue with 'Series'......their survival depends upon 'the numbers'......Even I LOVE LUCY! At least, I was spared the possible idiotically desperate screenwriting of another Gotham season, wherein Bruce opens a batburger joint with Enigma working the register; James and Harvey checking for Covid masks; Oswald and Barbara running the back office; Butch and Leslie in charge of TV advertising.....perhaps, 4...and a bit more....was enough.....and only the dog would drink from the toilet of another season......