Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
This is a positive evolution in Jacques Tati's style. The film, much like the previous Jour du Fete, still feels like a series of skits strung together, but they have a common idea that runs through them in much stronger fashion than before. The idea is a simple modest one, but Tati manages to find… Continue reading Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday
#9 in my ranking of the theatrically released Superman films. Filmed as a glorified television pilot before they were all that common place, Superman and the Mole Men feels like a subpar two-parter of a series. It eventually became a two-parter in the series Adventures of Superman that filmed after this, starring George Reeves as… Continue reading Superman and the Mole Men
#12 in my ranking of Jean-Pierre Melville's filmography. This is a serious step back for Melville. It's not bad, but this is the film that feels like it was a promising young filmmaker's first film not the follow up to Bob le Flambeur. The exteriors were filmed in New York, and the interiors were filmed… Continue reading Two Men in Manhattan
#6 in my ranking of Jean-Pierre Melville's filmography. Quand tu liras cette lettre was a transitional film from Jean-Pierre Melville's earlier, less distinctive films to what he would become known for, introducing motifs and visual elements that he would mine repeatedly for the rest of his career. In his next film, Bob le Flambeur, Melville… Continue reading Bob le Flambeur
#4 in my ranking of Jean-Pierre Melville's filmography. This seems to be one of the forgotten Melville films. As far as I can tell it has never had an American home video release, and it's unavailable on any streaming platform in the United States. I had to purchase a copy from France to get my… Continue reading Quand tu liras cette lettres…
David Vining, Author 