I watched a half dozen movies last week.
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- In some ways, Fort Apache is the quintessential Western, but it also isn’t afraid to interrogate the genre’s narrative, and it features great performances by Fonda and Wayne.
- Gene Siskel called McQ “excruciatingly slow,” but added that “the film holds together around [John] Wayne.” I would agree with only the first part of that. The movie is plodding and dull, and I don’t think Wayne’s performance does anything to help that.
- Vengeance starts out like it’s going to be a one-trick pony, a toothless satire of both small-town America and hipster big-city podcasters. But it turns out to have something more to say, and some really nice performances, especially, maybe surprisingly, by Ashton Kutcher.
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- I’ve seen worse movies, and worse vampire movies, than Dracula 2000. But ooh boy is it not good.
- Say what you will about the strange, semi-satirical, universes-next-door that director Peter Strickland populates his movies with: they’re not uninteresting. Flux Gourmet didn’t get on my wavelength–or me on its–but it isn’t uninteresting.
- Lured is somewhat scattershot, but it’s helped enormously by a good cast, especially, maybe surprisingly, Lucille Ball. It fumbles somewhat near the end–and Ball disappears for too much of that–but it’s a fun noir.
I also re-watched Re-Animator, which I haven’t seen in many years, and enjoyed it.