Predator: Badlands (2025)

A young exiled creature (Dimitrius Schuster Koloamatangi) of the Yautja race is exiled to a dangerous and hostile planet. In order to survive, he reluctantly joins forces with a damaged synthetic android (Elle Fanning). Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (PREY). This is the seventh entry in the PREDATOR franchise. This time around, the predator is not the bad guy but the hero. Heavily laden with its CGI effects, the film takes awhile to kick in but when it does, it becomes a thrilling sci-fi action piece. Even though she's playing an android, Elle Fanning infuses the movie with some much needed humanity, something missing in its other characters. While I'm a big fan of the original PREDATOR (1987), its subsequent spawn didn't interest me but I liked this well enough.The film's final image assures us that a sequel is on the way. With Reuben De Jong and Mike Homik.

Down With Love (2003)

Set in 1962 Manhattan, the feminist author (Renee Zellweger) of a best selling book suggesting that women can be as free sexually as men catches the ire of the playboy writer (Ewan McGregor) of a men's magazine who concocts an elaborate plan to bring about her downfall. Directed by Peyton Reed (BRING IT ON). One can make a comedic satire out of the western genre (BLAZING SADDLES), the disaster genre (AIRPLANE!), the spy genre (the Matt Helm movies) but how does one make a comedic satire of a comedy? Judging by this attempt, you can't. This is a satire of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies (PILLOW TALK, LOVER COME BACK) but it lacks wit and charm. Day and Hudson played their roles seriously which allowed the comedy to come through. Zellweger and McGregor give smug "wink-wink" performances cluing the audience that they're in on the joke. They're imitations of the real thing and while Zellweger is pert and McGregor is a good actor, they're both poor substitutes for the genuine article. The same can be said for David Hyde Pierce channeling Tony Randall from the Day/Hudson movies. Actually, the movie comes across as a remake of SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL (not a good movie but still better than this one) which starred Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis, not Day and Hudson. With Sarah Paulson, Jeri Ryan, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell and Florence Stanley.

Les Dames Du Bois Boulogne (1945)

After she is spurned by her lover (Paul Bernard), a society woman (Maria Casares) concocts a plot for revenge. She arranges for him to meet a young girl (Elina Labourdette), a former prostitute and cabaret dancer that is trying to put that life behind her. Based on the novel JACQUES LE FATALISTE by Denis Diderot (with Jean Cocteau adapting it for the screen) and directed by Robert Bresson (DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST). This was only Bresson's second film and it's rather lush and elegant without the austerity of his later and more famous movies and reputedly Bresson disowned the film and refused to talk about it. The narrative is very similar to LES LIAISONS DANGERUSES. I found it absorbing although the ending seems like a cop out, a tearjerker of a "happy" ending. Still, the movie is a favorite of Jacques Demy, Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Bertolucci and Jacques Rivette, so it has its proponents. Oddly enough, I liked Casares' malevolent scorned woman much better than Bernard's obsessive stalker (toward Labourdette) of a lover. With Lucienne Bogaert and Jean Marchat.

Impulse (1990)

A Los Angeles undercover cop (Theresa Russell) teeters on the thin line separating her "normal" life as a cop from the lurid and tantalizing life of neon glitz she pretends to lead. Directed by actress Sondra Locke (THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER). Russell's out of control cop living on the edge is a compelling character and Russell is excellent and while Locke's direction is assured and taut, it turns into a one woman show because Russell has no one to play against. The two male protagonists (Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza) are stereotypes played by uninteresting actors so it often seems that Russell is acting in a vacuum. Instead of focusing on her, the screenplay by Leigh Chapman features an prosaic drug deal plot that's pedestrian. Still, Locke's direction is good enough that one wishes she had continued directing (she directed only three other movies) but with better material. With Alan Rosenberg and Nicholas Mele.

Trooper Hook (1957)

A first sergeant (Joel McCrea) in the cavalry captures an Apache village. When rounding up the women and children, he discovers a white woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with an Apache son.  She had been taken captive nine years before.  He attempts to return her to her husband (John Dehner) but will the husband accept her son? Directed by Charles Marquis Warren (ARROWHEAD). A potentially intriguing subject matter is reduced to a routine western. The movie sets up a confrontation between the husband and wife but doesn't resolve it, instead preferring to eliminate an unsolved situation by a convenient and abrupt event. The film is fortunate to have the the aging McCrea and Stanwyck in the leads, their star presence accounts for something. With Earl Holliman, Susan Kohner, Edward Andrews, Royal Dano, Rodolfo Acosta and Celia Lovsky.

Bachelor Mother (1939)

An unemployed salesgirl (Ginger Rogers) picks up a baby left at an orphanage's doors at Christmas. Everyone assumes the foundling is hers, including her playboy ex-boss (David Niven), who offers her a job if she'll live up to her maternal duties. Directed by Garson Kanin (MY FAVORITE WIFE). A remake of the Hungarian movie LITTLE MOTHER (1935), this is a delightful romantic comedy with its two stars sparkling. It's not a pre code film but there's a moderate sense of naughtiness abound as everyone assumes Rogers is an unwed mother. Yes, it's a one trick pony in that respect but Kanin doesn't run it into the ground. Remade in 1956 as BUNDLE OF JOY. With Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson, Ernest Truex and Leonard Penn.

The Odyssey (2026)

Following the end of the ten year Trojan war, Odysseus (Matt Damon) attempts to make his way home to Ithaca where his wife (Anne Hathaway) and son (Tom Holland) are waiting. But fate is against him and it will take another ten years before he sees home again. Based on the classic epic poem by Homer and written and directed by Christopher Nolan (OPPENHEIMER). A literate and intelligent glorious film epic that can stand next to the great screen epics like SPARTACUS and BEN-HUR in the annals of cinema and no, that is not an exaggeration. Three hours in length (and in desperate need of an intermission), Nolan's love and respect for the Homer source material is in evidence throughout. Nolan doesn't glorify the war and indeed, there are no heroes and the stain of war is upon all involved. That acting is all around fine with Samantha Morton as Circe and John Leguizamo as Eumaeus stand outs. Ambitious in scale, the sweeping spectacle doesn't overpower the complexity of the narrative and yes, in the end it's Nolan's ODYSSEY not Homer's. With Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Elliot Page and Mia Goth.

St. Ives (1976)

An ex-crime reporter (Charles Bronson) is hired by a sinister millionaire (John Houseman) to recover some stolen journals. What seems like a simple job as an intermediary soon turns deadly as the bodies start piling up. Based on the novel THE PROCANE CHRONICLE by Oliver Bleeck and directed by J. Lee Thompson (GUNS OF NAVARONE). A homage to THE MALTESE FALCON with Houseman channeling Sydney Greenstreet, Jacqueline Bisset as the requisite not to be trusted femme fatale, even Elisha Cook Jr. shows up! It's entertaining enough and it's nice to see Bronson in something other than as a revenge crazed killing machine. There's lots of killing here but not by Bronson. Still, it's average at best and derivative at worst. With Maximilian Schell, Harry Guardino, Jeff Goldblum, Harris Yulin, Dana Elcar, Michael Lerner and Robert Englund.

Lightning Bolt (aka Operazione Goldman) (1966)

A secret agent (Anthony Eisley) goes after a madman (Folco Lulli) who plots world domination from his underwater city. The villain deflects moon rockets launched from Cape Kennedy by blasting them out of the sky with laser beams. Directed by Antonio Margharetti (LONG HAIR OF DEATH) under the pseudonym of Anthony Dawson. The success of the James Bond franchise (starting in 1962) spawned parodies, both domestic (Matt Helm, the Flint movies) and international like this entry. This one is a dud! The stock footage and rear projection shots reveal its low budget limitations and the sexless Eisley (best known from the HAWAIIAN EYE television series) makes for a stiff leading man. Other than the American Eisley, the actors are Italian all dubbed into English. It steals bits and pieces from DR. NO and GOLDFINGER and the poster quipped, "It strikes like a ball of thunder", a nod to THUNDERBALL. It never manages to rise above tediousness. With Diana Lorys, Wandisa Guida and Francisco Sanz.

The Far Horizons (1955)

In 1803, Lewis (Fred MacMurray) and Clark (Charlton Heston) are given the go ahead by President Thomas Jefferson (Herbert Heyes) to embark on a government sponsored expedition to discover a water route connecting Missouri with the Pacific Ocean. Based on the novel SACAJAWEA OF THE SHOSHONES by Della Gould Emmons and directed by Rudolph Mate (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE). Not surprisingly, this is a highly fictionalized and historically inaccurate version of the actual Lewis and Clark expedition. Although top billed, Fred MacMurray recedes into the background and the film focuses on Heston's Clark and a fabricated romance with Sacajawea (Donna Reed). In reality, Sacajawea was a married 16 year old (Reed was about 33 years old). The movie's antagonism between Lewis and Clark is also fabricated. No one goes to movies for historical accuracy so all this aside, it might have been less annoying if the movie were any good but it's pedestrian. On the plus side is Daniel L. Fapp's (WEST SIDE STORY) handsome color lensing of the Wyoming landscape in VistaVision. With Barbara Hale, William Demarest, Alan Reed and Larry Pennell.

Portrait Of An Escort (1980)

In order to make ends meet and to support her daughter (Debbie Lytton), a divorcee (Susan Anspach) moonlights at a professional dating service. She finds herself falling in love with a struggling actor (Tony Bill) who has a few secrets of his own. Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern (MORNING GLORY). A rather sleazy telefilm that whips up a faux thriller subplot to hold our waning interest. Since there's only one logical suspect to be her stalker, it's pretty obvious to guess and its revelation is a yawn. To the movie's credit, it doesn't wrap it up neatly and give us a "live happily ever after" ending but leaves us with a sensible ending. The supporting cast is good though. With Cyd Charisse, Kevin McCarthy, Edie Adams, Gretchen Wyler, Biff Elliot, Mary Frann and Todd Susman.

Utvandrarna (aka The Emigrants) (1971)

Set in 1844 Sweden, a farmer (Max Von Sydow) and his wife (Liv Ullmann in an Oscar nominated performance) struggle to make a go of the farm. Poor weather, bad harvests and a rock filled landscape work against them. Thus their decision to emigrate to America. Based on the novel by Vilhelm Moberg and directed by Jan Troell (ZANDY'S BRIDE). A genuine epic (over three hours plus intermission), it received five Oscar nominations. It avoids the sentimentality that English language films often indulge in when telling stories of immigrants. Their life in Sweden is brutal and their sea voyage is brutal although the film's last shot is one of optimism. Overall, it's an evocative and surging movie that slowly but surely pulls you in until you're committed to these characters' story. The second half of the tale (A NEW LAND) came the following year. With Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Ake Fridell and Monica Zetterlund.