Holy Motors (2012)
3.25 out of 4stars
"A man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: 9 mysterious "appointments., where he plays a number of strange, semiscripted roles."
A great 'arthouse' fantasy drama of a rollercoaster ride that tells the story of a day in the life of a man, and more to whatever way you interpret it. I personally interpreted it as the life of a middle aged actor and a metaphor for movies themselves. Lavant himself is magnificent in all the characters he displays, worthy of an Oscar nomination he never received. On the actor side, we get to see the life this 50 something actor has lived, one full of roles across all major genres. He has donned many faces, many apparels, many personalities, many body languages, and even different languages/speech patterns. His job is to be a constantly transforming human chameleon. Now the actor is rich and famous, yet seems discontent or at best a sort of comfortably numb. I'd argue this feeling on the actor's life is from the combination of a professional life that doesn't challenge him anymore and a personal life that has ghosts in it's past, with maybe even a touch of ordinary life seeming mundane comparatively to the characters that he's lived out on screen. Lavant is a man that keeps acting for "the beauty of the act", which can be interpreted as what movies mean to people, what acting itself means to him/actors, possibly abstractly, or otherwise. The movie metaphor angle I feel is much more direct. Movies are able to create experiences to endless possibilities for viewers, able to intellectually and emotionally engage and influence us in an escapist style across an infinite spectrum of subjects. The movie itself is quite fun genre hopping that effectively executes it's erratic style. Any way you slice it, Holy Motors is an imaginative adventure unlike anything else.
The Big Heat (1953)
3.10 out of 4stars
"A police officer seems to have committed suicide, but Detective Bannion thinks there's more to the story. After talking to the man's mob-connected mistress, Bannion discovers far-reaching corruption that leads all the way from the police station to a mob kingpin."
A great violent noir with a few shocks about mob control and a restless detective, that is portrayed strongly by Glenn Ford. Surprisingly brutal, this is one of the more murder and violence ladened noirs I've seen. Mob corruption is also taken a step deeper here, showing how far a mob's reach can go, into politics, into upper policeforce, and into bachelorette women and other citizens they comingle with. It becomes very hard to arrest or stop mob folk who have witnesses that don't talk and friendships that create get out of jail free cards. Whether on the mob payroll or through fear, the power of connections run deep. And of course, beware those who fight this mob power, consequences about and if your ''in for a penny you are in for a pound'' against them. I was also quite surprised how widespread of a meaningful cast this film had.
This Gun for Hire (1942)
3.00 out of 4stars
"When assassin Philip Raven takes what feels like a normal job, he shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead. Little does he know that he is paid off in marked bills by his employer and things are not at all what they seem to be."
A great noir film with a refreshing storyline, lots of suspense, and a lead assassin turn that made Alan Ladd famous. A complex enough intertwining story plays out with relationships and acquaintances meeting by chance and changing one another's lives' drastically. One of my favorite elements of this movie is how there is a bit of blurred line between acts being purely cynical and sympathetic amongst a couple of the main characters. All concluding to a climactic finish, arguably climactic 3rd act/final 3rd of the film, with a touch of era relevancy. Only caveat being, you need to get by the fact that someone tried framing a hit man with stolen bills, a man "who is his own police" with cold blooded murderous talents, and then there is a great movie there to be had.
Dr Strange In the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
2.60 out of 4stars
"Dr. Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself, whose threat to humanity is too great for the combined forces of Strange, Wong, and Wanda Maximoff."
A middling level marvel movie, but a pleasant attempt at something different in the darker/horror-esque realm. It's definitely a Sam Raimi film with some strong violence and dark humor and just plain horror and dark elements altogether, and you can also feel the movie was edited down from an R rating in some parts rather clearly. That said, it's not full blown Sam Raimi, especially early in the movie, which I sort of wonder if that's production limiting or the writing or what have you (even when taking into consideration PG-13 limitations). It's good, visually fun, and has moments of humor, but it feels kind of uneven and convoluted and too often charmless. And yes, lots of cameos again are to be had.
