Derailed

It really looked like it might be very bad -- the reviews and word of
mouth and plot summary looked mediocre -- but the truth is this is a
rather good latter day neo noir. Great? No. But for those that
like the genre, it's a worthwhile way to spend 2 hours. Some of the
plot twists will be familiar, but they are expertly executed -- with
the right level of paranoia and disturbing implications. Better than expected.

Day of the Locust

I am not at all sure how I managed to not see this movie for so long,
being:

1) A significant movie made during the 1970s American film
renaissance, and
2) A movie about Hollywood in the 1930s, and
3) A title I've been encountering for years,

all should have put this one in front of me years ago.

But it took until now.

So I will call this a kind of a sleeper, because that is what it
appears to be, now. No one seems to be watching it, not even the
most film-historically-literate.

It's shot in that 70s take on 30s Hollywood (a la Chinatown), and it
has surprisingly little about Hollywood, and a whole lot about people
who haven't come to embrace how their lives' reality doesn't match
what they thought it should be -- which gets in the way of them
actually achieving their dreams.

And then the apocalyptic meltdown. This is what "Perfume" wanted to
achieve but produced silliness, instead. It almost happens here, but
ends up being just what it should: A creepy turning point, instead
of a narrative failure.

Bad Timing

Few of Roeg's films have been missing in action since their release.
This was one. In addition to reworking his materials about obsessive
love and miscommunication, this film re-works consciousness and how
one recalls events more effectively than any of his other works.
Does that mean it's one of his best films? Probably not, just
because of the immaturity of the protagonists. But from a narrative
perspective, it might be his most perfect film.

Bad Timing

Few of Roeg's films have been missing in action since their release.
This was one. In addition to reworking his materials about obsessive
love and miscommunication, this film re-works consiousness and how
one recalls events more effectively than any of his other works.
Does that mean it's one of his best films? Probably not, just
because of the immaturity of the protagonists. But from a narrative
perspective, it might be his most perfect film.

The Good German

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film, but what I got was an
awesome latter day version of a 1940s noir, right down to the b/w
photography, the Hollywood backlot, the intricate plot, and the
moving score. If you are a fan of classic noirs, and in particular
of the Third Man, with which this film shares more than a passing
resemblence, you'll enjoy the Good German. If you hate Turner
Classic Movies, you'll really hate the Good German.

A Scanner Darkly

Revisited this film recently. The impression? This is the real
deal. Although I will always have a heartfelt nostalgia for
Slackers, and the Sunrise/Sunset franchise speaks even more clearly
to where our generation has gone during the past two decades, Scanner
is really Linklater's most socially relevant film.