Eric J - Review
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Doulos: The Finger Man (1962)
Le doulos WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 7.8 55 ratings
让-皮埃尔·梅尔维尔 actor: 让-保罗·贝尔蒙多 / 塞尔日·雷吉亚尼 …
other title: 眼线 / Le doulos …
1962 film by Jean-Pierre Melville
Watched
July 29, 2026
A terrific and twisty (though not convoluted) crime drama. Who can you trust when you're surrounded by double-crossing, finger-pointing hat wearers? In the end, loyalty is secured, trust is regained, and then death comes for us all.

Some really great long takes of dialog spinning around a room, characters you cheer for (and against), and one incredible car...accident... make this one easy to watch. And easy to love.
4K UHD Jesse
July 29, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Doulos: The Finger Man
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Videodrome (1983)
Videodrome
★ 7.7 172 ratings
大卫·柯南伯格 actor: 詹姆斯·伍兹 / 索尼娅·史密茨 …
other title: Experiência Alucinante / Vidéodrome …
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Watched
July 28, 2026
A movie just bursting at the seams (metaphorically, but also kinda physically) with so many ideas about so many things - most of which aren't answered and only bring about more questions - and done so spectacularly well. Despite the leap in technology between what we have today and what's on display here, things grappled with 43 years ago (crazy!) feel just as fresh and relevant in the here and now.

And a beautiful 4K transfer from Criterion makes it just so easy to see how the screen truly is the retina of the mind's eye.
Owned 4K UHD Alone
July 28, 2026 Review "Initial" Review - a review of Videodrome
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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025)
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
★ 8.4 18 ratings
Matt Johnson actor: Matt Johnson / Jay McCarrol …
other title: 너바나 더 밴드 더 쇼 더 무비 / 尼瓦那乐队秀：电影版
When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.
Watched
July 25, 2026
A little tiny miracle of a movie.

If you've got a best friend, you won't even notice getting older.
Hulu American Multi-Cinema List Alone
July 25, 2026 Review Two Reviews - a review of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
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The Odyssey (2026)
The Odyssey
★ 7.7 511 ratings
Christopher Nolan actor: Matt Damon / Tom Holland …
other title: 오디세이 / オデュッセイア …
Odysseus, the legendary King of Ithaca, embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War. Throughout his voyage, he is forced to confront the whims of gods, mythological monsters, and trials that stretch both his cunning and his humanity to the breaking point.
Watched
July 23, 2026
A beautiful looking movie that is merely fine. (I added and deleted "soulless" a half dozen times. I swapped it with "joyless" a few times, but that didn't feel right either.)

The best kind of Benny Safdie role (you barely see him, he barely talks).

Robert Pattinson is a little scene stealing sonofabitch.

My face lit up and I said to myself "I forgot she was in this!" when Mia Goth appeared. When the movie ended, I thought "That's it? That's all Mia got?"

I don't know who I would've replaced Matt Damon with, but I would've.

My favorite parts were the times when Odysseus plucked the string on his bow and the sound was incorporated into Ludwig Göransson's score.

That and Circe having her way with the boys. What can I say? I love a witch.

When they traveled past the Sirens and all but the score cuts out, the song reminded me of Björk's "The Anchor Song" That's now been in my head for three days (Björk, not the score).
Dolby Alone American Multi-Cinema List
July 25, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of The Odyssey
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The Pillar of Fire (1899)
La Colonne de feu
★ 6.7 12 ratings
乔治·梅里爱 actor: 珍妮·D·阿希
other title: 她 / La Colonne de feu …
A devil wearing bat-like wings and brandishing a trident dances around a giant pot, conjuring forth flame from his trident to lit a fire beneath the pot. After the devil works the fire with bellows, an angelic woman emerges from the pot. The devil and the pot vanish as the woman performs a dance, waving about her diaphanous sleeves until she conjures forth another fire, then she rises amongst the smoke into the air.
Watched
July 24, 2026
Crazy.
July 24, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of The Pillar of Fire
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Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Terminator: Dark Fate
★ 6.7 468 ratings
Tim Miller actor: Mackenzie Davis / Natalia Reyes …
other title: 终结者：黑暗命运 / 未来战士：黑暗命运(港) …
Decades after Sarah Connor prevented Judgment Day, a lethal new Terminator is sent to eliminate the future leader of the resistance. In a fight to save mankind, battle-hardened Sarah Connor teams up with an unexpected ally and an enhanced super soldier to stop the deadliest Terminator yet.
Watched
July 22, 2026
I'd hate for this rating to be misconstrued as Dark Fate being as good as ("as good as") Terminator Genisys, or even that it's better than Terminator Salvation for that matter.

I debated 1.5 or 2, and what it ultimately came down to is not anything about the movie itself (which isn't great) (clearly), but the jokes that my good friend Jesse and I were able to make about it while the movie was happening at us.

I liked the opening and the idea of Carl (cool name) being from a future that never happens, but that's about it.
Jesse Paramount+
July 22, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Terminator: Dark Fate
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The Seventh Seal (1957)
Det sjunde inseglet
★ 8.7 430 ratings
Ingmar Bergman actor: Max von Sydow / Bengt Ekerot …
other title: 제7의 봉인 / 第七の封印 …
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
Watched
July 21, 2026
It has to be about 25 years since my first -and only - time seeing this, and it's a lot funnier in the middle than I remembered.

Beautiful shots, a group of real characters, fun and thoughtful dialog, and a heck of an ending.

Good one, Ingmar.
Criterion Channel MovieClub Alone
July 21, 2026 Review "Initial" Review - a review of The Seventh Seal
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Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024)
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic IMDb TMDB
David Gregory actor: Suzzanna / Joko Anwar …
other title: 苏珊娜：降头女王
A documentary about Suzzanna, "the Queen of Indonesian horror" - an actress who starred in many of the country's most iconic and beloved horror pictures.
Watched
July 20, 2026
A well done doc that's 70% about Suzzanna, famed actress of many an Indonesian film (including Sundel Bolong), 15% about Indonesia proper and 15% about its film industry.

I think the 30% not about Suzzanna was actually quite informative and I really appreciate its inclusion.

And it turns out that Suzzanna had quite a life, so that was great to learn about as well.
Owned Alone All The Haunts Be Ours 2 Blu-Ray
July 20, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.
★ 9.2 598 ratings
Sergio Leone actor: Clint Eastwood / Eli Wallach …
other title: 黄金三镖客 / Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. …
While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.
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La Chimera (2023)
La Chimera
★ 7.7 185 ratings
阿莉切·罗尔瓦赫尔 actor: Josh O'Connor / Alba Rohrwacher …
other title: 키메라 / 墓泥棒と失われた女神 …
Just out of jail, crumpled English archaeologist Arthur reconnects with his wayward crew of tombaroli accomplices – a happy-go-lucky collective of itinerant grave-robbers who survive by looting Etruscan tombs and fencing the ancient treasures they dig up.
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The Cursed Pond (1968)
怪猫 呪いの沼 IMDb TMDB Douban
石川义宽 actor: 内田良平 / 里见浩太朗 …
other title: 怪猫 呪いの沼 / Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit …
Nabeshima Naoshige murders his lord, Ryuzoji Takafusa, seeking to gain power and steal his Lord’s wife. To avoid her fate, Lady Takafusa drowns herself along with her cat in a nearby marsh. A decade later, Naoshige’s efforts to steal another woman trigger a curse on him when she also commits suicide at the same marsh — forcing him to suffer the consequences of his past actions.
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Terminator Genisys (2015)
Terminator Genisys
★ 6.3 422 ratings
艾伦·泰勒 actor: 阿诺德·施瓦辛格 / 杰森·克拉克 …
other title: 终结者：创世纪 / 终结者5 …
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
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The Death of Robin Hood (2026)
The Death of Robin Hood
★ 6.8 8 ratings
Michael Sarnoski actor: Hugh Jackman / Jodie Comer …
other title: 罗宾汉之死
A darker reimagining of the classic Robin Hood tale, which will see the character as a battleworn loner grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, and who finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman who offers him a chance at salvation.