Rambling Film

  Official Synopsis: After professional hitman Jef Costello (Alain Delon) is seen by witnesses, his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner. Oh boy did I fall off the edge of a cliff with my Blind Spots this year. I travel for work fairly frequently, but 2024 I think I was on a plane at least once every month. Because of that, I ended up watching more TV series this year and my Blind Spots took a hit because of it.  So next year, I'm going to try to get back into the monthly swing of things, but I'm not going to set a formal goal, because then I'll stress out about it. Just know that I'm still over here trying to watch old movies. Le Samouraï was a film I'm fairly sure I had as an official alternate years ago. It's one of those films that I hear a lot of current directors I love reference, so when I was on my last flight and I saw this on Delta Studios, I decided it was time for a watch. I didn't fall in love with it as many had, ...

Official synopsis:  The daughter of a convicted German spy (Ingrid Bergman) is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them? This might be the least Hitchcocky Hitchcock film I've come across yet. I think going into it I expected it to be higher on the suspense and less on the romance and it's quite the opposite.  Watching this made me want to reshuffle my Blind Spot list to add more of Ingrid Bergman's filmography. She's amazing in this. I felt bad for how self destructive her character was and wanted nothing but good things for her. Though I feel like I'm going to be in the minority with the next bit... I did not like Cary Grant in this. At all. I didn't believe for one second that Devlin was actually in love with Alicia because Grant always looked like he was staring off into space. They didn't have the chemistry required to sell me on this and i...

Official synopsis:  Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve endured. For some reason, I grew up thinking Eve's Bayou was a horror movie. Probably because they chose a very menacing photo of Samuel L. Jackson for the poster and I vaguely knew they talked about voodoo. When I went to log this film on letterboxd, I was comforted in knowing I wasn't the only one that had that very far off assumption. Eve's Bayou is not in fact a horror film, though a horrible thing does happen in it. It is instead a story of coming of age and loss of innocence. All told through the eyes of young Eve (Jurnee Smollett) It's s visually striking piece. The lighting is perfect, the costumes beautiful, and you can feel the atmosphere. I never would've guessed that this is director Kasi Lemmon's first film. This might be the best first feature I've ever seen. It's made wi...

Official synopsis:  A recently widowed woman (Ellen Burstyn) is on the road with her precocious young son (Alfred Lutter III), determined to make a new life for herself as a singer. In my quest to watch Scorsese's older works, I've finally landed on this film, and honestly I should've started with it because I've enjoyed it far more than I did  Raging Bull or Mean Streets . Ellen Burstyn is a gem, and Alice is going through it as a character. One minute she's happy and hopefully, then reality comes crashing down on her. Not to mention she has terrible taste in men and a son who definitely talks too much. She's dealing with a lot, and I'm not surprised at all that Burstyn took home an Oscar for this. I liked the little things it said about female friendships. Alice's goodbye scene with her friend Bea at the beginning is the film's most emotional moment. Alice eventually becoming friends with her fellow waitresses is another highlight. Even the scene ...

What I knew going in: That it is known as one of Michael Mann's best films. Happy 2024! This is my first Blind Spot pick of the new year. Coming in a bit late post wise, but better late than never. Heat is one of those movies that my husband and I kept talking about wanting to see, but never getting around to it. With the end of the month creeping up on me, I decided to pull the trigger. Michael Mann is a director I needed to give a second chance. Not because I disliked his films, no. He's made several good ones, but because I never put much thought into what he was doing behind the camera. With Ferrari coming out recently, It made me want to see more of his work. What surprised me the most about Heat was that it kept me intrigued for all 3 hours of its run time. I won't lie, I looked at that before hitting "play" and immediately assumed I'd be bored for part of it. But I was wrong. I should've known Al Pacino and Robert De Niro would keep me entertaine...

That's a wrap on 2023!  Amadeus , The Big Cit y, and Happy Together were my three favorite films from my 2023 list. Below is what I plan on watching for 2024. I say "plan" because unlike previous years, 2023 threw a wrench in my list. Movies got removed from streaming or were no longer available at my local library. You may notice a few titles that are back again this year because I couldn't find them last year. I'm just going to hope for the best, but I may end up with a last minute sub in there. 1) The Last Picture Show 2) La Dolce Vita 3) Valley of the Dolls 4) Notorious 5) The Silence 6) Heat 7) Eyes Without A Face 8) Daughters of the Dust 9) Rebecca (1940) 10)The Manchurian Candidate (1962) 11) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 12) Forever A Woman What do you think of my list? Have you seen any of these films? Do you have any substitute suggestions for when Streaming inevitably screws me again?