Invasion U.S.A. (1952)

While a diverse group of people in a Manhattan bar discuss communism with a mysterious psychic (Dan O'Herlihy), suddenly the television announces that America has been invaded by the Soviets and atom bombs start dropping. Produced by Albert Zugsmith (TOUCH OF EVIL) and directed by Alfred E. Green (THE JOLSON STORY). A perfect example of those awful "Red Scare" propaganda movies that proliferated in the 1950s. The film is so inept that one can't take it seriously on any level. It's not even camp! The majority of the movie consists of stock footage from WWII masquerading as the commie invasion of the U.S.A. The special effects aren't even on the level of those "Japanese rubber monster attacks Tokyo" flicks of that era. The film's budget was $127,000 so it easily turned a profit. With Peggie Castle, Gerald Mohr, William Schallert, Noel Neill and Phyllis Coates.

It All Came True (1940)

After killing a man, a gangster (Humphrey Bogart) hides out at a boarding house run by two old ladies (Una O'Connor, Jessie Busley) who cluck over him like devoted mother hens. When he finds out that they owe past taxes, he hits on a scheme to help them out. Turn the boarding house into a nightclub! Based on the novel BETTER THAN LIFE by Louis Bromfield (THE RAINS CAME) and directed by Lewis Seiler (WOMEN'S PRISON). A gangster musical comedy? Ann Sheridan and Jeffrey Lynn as the movie's two lovebirds are top billed but it's the third billed Bogart (mega stardom would hit the following year) who dominates the film and gives it whatever spark it has. It takes a big leap of faith to accept the movie's preposterous plot but even then, it can never overcome its sentimental contrivances. The songs are a feeble lot and forgettable unless you like barbershop quartets. With Zasu Pitts (the film's one bright spot), Felix Bressart and John Litel.

The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

After being hanged and left for dead, an outlaw (Paul Newman) takes his revenge by slaughtering the entire town (which consists of a handful of bandits, killers and prostitutes) but spares the miniscule Mexican population. He then declares himself the town's judge. Directed by John Huston (THE AFRICAN QUEEN) from an "original" screenplay by John Milius (THE WIND AND THE LION). This whopper of a tall tale has a sense of deja vu about it. There's a familiarity to it and that's probably because the movie seems cobbled together from bits and pieces of other movies. It's also schizophrenic in its execution. It seems to be winking its eye at us that it's good natured in its exaggerations and we're not take it seriously but it's also seems to take relish in the brutality of its violence. John Huston has proven in the past that he's capable of doing an amusing movie satire (his BEAT THE DEVIL) but here, he's on shaky ground though I'll confess the movie is moderately entertaining for the most part. Still, the sentimental montage accompanied by the movie's theme song (sung by Andy Williams) is tacky. With Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Ned Beatty, Victoria Principal and Anthony Zerbe.

Eden (2025)

In 1929, a doctor (Jude Law) and his lover (Vanessa Kirby) leave Germany to settle on an unpopulated island in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador while repudiating society's bourgeois values. Their solitude is soon interrupted by a couple (Daniel Bruhl, Sydney Sweeney) who want to settle on the island. When a self proclaimed Baroness (Ana De Armas) arrives with her two lovers (Toby Wallace, Felix Kammerer) on the island with the intention of building a hotel, tensions escalate and it won't end well. Based on a true story and mystery resulting in four deaths (which still hasn't been solved to this day) and directed by Ron Howard (SPLASH). A fascinating true story that Noah Pink's screenplay feasibly theorizes what might have/did happen. It's Howard's best picture in years and impossible to turn your eyes away. While Law and Bruhl are very good, it's the three actresses who hold the movie together: Sweeney's timid wife who rises to unexpected strengths, De Armas' decadent and imperious "Baroness" and Kirby's fiercely dedicated Nietzschean. With Richard Roxburgh and Jonathan Tittel.

L'Événement Le Plus Important Depuis Que L'homme A Marché Sur La Lune (aka A Slightly Pregnant Man) (1973)

After feeling a bit run down, a driving instructor (Marcello Mastroianni) visits a doctor (Micheline Presle) who makes the absurd discovery that he is not ill but actually four months pregnant! He sparks an international media frenzy which is embraced by his girlfriend (Catherine Deneuve) as he has become an instant if notorious celebrity that pays off financially for them. Written and directed by Jacques Demy (YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT). A major misfire by cinema's master of visual style. This is one ugly looking movie. Its look wouldn't have been so problematic if the film were any good but its one joke premise expires very quickly. And it wastes two of cinema's most charismatic stars, Mastroianni and Deneuve. It's almost as if Demy deliberately attempted to sabotage their appeal. An all around low point in the careers of those involved. In 1994, Ivan Reitman would take the same premise, this time with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the pregnant man in JUNIOR. While more entertaining than this vehicle, it pretty much put the nail in the coffin of pregnant man movies. With Marisa Pavan, Mireille Mathieu and Claude Melki.

Sweet And Low Down (1944)

When a young trombonist (James Cardwell) is given the opportunity to play with the Benny Goodman orchestra, it isn't long before his growing ego threatens to sabotage his career. Directed by Archie Mayo (THE PETRIFIED FOREST). In the 1930s and 40s, band leaders were the rock stars of their day. To cash in on their popularity, it was inevitable that Hollywood would put them into the movies so names like Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Harry James and Paul Whiteman to name a few were put in movies even though they weren't actors. The movies were either built around them or they had featured cameos. This was Benny Goodman's (he gets top billing) turn. The plot here is hackneyed and a 10 year old could have put the script together. It's the musical sequences that stand out and on those terms, the film could be called successful. The trite narrative is just filler until the next musical number. Still, it was sad to see the lovely Linda Darnell totally wasted as the "girl". Did she piss off someone at Fox and this was her punishment? The song I'm Making Believe was nominated for the best song Oscar. With Lynn Bari, Jack Oakie and Allyn Joslyn.

Snowed Under (1936)

Struggling to finish the third act of his play, a playwright (George Brent) hightails it for the peace and quiet of his farmhouse in wintery Connecticut. Alas, his solitude is soon invaded by his first wife (Genevieve Tobin), his second wife (Glenda Farrell), his current girlfriend (Patricia Ellis) and the sheriff (Frank McHugh) who wants to arrest him. Directed by Ray Enright (THE SPOILERS). A screwball comedy with a promising premise that soon loses its way. The set up is great but the screenplay isn't witty enough to sustain the recycled shenanigans which is a pity because the cast is game and up for it. Although its an original screenplay, it has the feeling of a stage play since 90% of the action takes place at the womanizing writer's farmhouse. Amiable enough to enjoy but not good enough to be memorable. With John Eldredge, Porter Hall and Mary Treen.

Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)

A cop (Dana Andrews) loathes hoodlums so much that he's demoted for beating up suspects. When he accidentally kills a murder suspect (Craig Stevens), he panics and covers up the crime. But when he becomes involved with the daughter (Gene Tierney) of an innocent man (Tom Tully) arrested for his crime, he must find a way of clearing the man without implicating himself in the killing. Based on the novel NIGHT CRY by William L. Stuart and directed by Otto Preminger (LAURA). Here, director Preminger reunites with his LAURA stars (Andrews, Tierney) and cinematographer (Joseph LaShelle) using a nice screenplay by Ben Hecht (NOTORIOUS). It's the flip side of the elegant LAURA, eschewing the penthouse crowd for a grittier street fare slice of film noir. With Gary Merrill, Karl Malden, Bert Freed, Neville Brand, Robert F. Simon and stealing the movie in her limited screen time, Ruth Donnelly.

Girl From The North Country (2024)

Set in 1934 Minnesota during the Great Depression. An innkeeper (Jay O. Sanders) tries to keep his guesthouse afloat amidst financial ruin while dealing with his wife's (Mare Winningham in the show's best performance) ongoing dementia. A filmed production of the Tony nominated (7 nominations, 1 win) "jukebox" Broadway musical featuring the songs of Bob Dylan and directed by Conor McPherson. The use of Bob Dylan's songs are the highlight of this critically acclaimed musical although their connection to the slight narrative is often tenuous at best. The songs are beautifully orchestrated by Simon Hale (who won a Tony for his efforts) and sung by a talented cast but its multi character plotline seems there merely as something to hang the Dylan songs on. Dylan himself was pleased with the production. Worth checking out. With Robert Joy, Craig Bierko, Kimber Sprawl (the girl of the title), Austin Scott, Colton Ryan and Jeanette Bayardelle.

Fame Is The Name Of The Game (1966)

A top feature writer and political analyst (Anthony Franciosa) for a top magazine discovers the corpse of a young woman with an address book in her hand and decides to investigate her murder. But he must dodge both the police and the her killer in order to unravel her murder. Loosely based on the novel ONE WOMAN by Tiffany Thayer and directed by Stuart Rosenberg (COOL HAND LUKE). Thayer's novel was previously filmed in 1949 under the title CHICAGO DEADLINE with Alan Ladd. This telefilm was popular enough that NBC made it into a TV series two years later that had a three year run, again with Franciosa starring. It's an efficient effort with that usual Universal made for TV look. A pleasant enough watch but unmemorable. With Robert Duvall, Jill St. John, Jack Klugman, Susan Saint James, Jack Weston, Nanette Fabray, George Macready, Melodie Johnson, Lee Bowman and Jay C. Flippen.

The Rule Of Jenny Pen (2025)

Set in New Zealand. After he suffers a stroke in his courtroom, a judge (Geoffrey Rush) is put in a nursing facility to recuperate. However, the facility's residents are being terrorized by a psychotic bully (John Lithgow) with a plastic doll called Jenny Pen. Based on a short story by Owen Marshall and directed by James Ashcroft (COMING HOME IN THE DARK). Ugh! I'd heard some really positive things about this horror flick so I was hugely disappointed at how stupid it was! Lithgow's psycho ex-janitor isn't frightening at all, just tiresome and annoying. What kind of nursing home has no night staff and allows its residents to walk around freely all hours of the night and enter other patients' rooms? The film's poorly conceived screenplay allows Lithgow free reign at the nursing home and its staff only appear when the script needs them. For example, Lithgow terrorizes everyone in their TV room but only when Rush bops him with his cane then suddenly the staff come out of the woodwork. Lithgow is too over the top and campy to be taken seriously but not over the top or campy enough to be fun! With George Henare and Ian Mune.

The Damned (1969)

Set in 1930s Germany at the onset of the Third Reich, a wealthy industrialist family (loosely based on Krupp family) doing business with the Nazis has an unstable and amoral heir (Helmut Berger) at its core. Directed by Luchino Visconti (THE LEOPARD). Visconti's portrait of a morally corrupt dynasty obsessed with power and their downfall is powerful stuff but it is far from perfect and its flaws are glaring. At over 2 1/2 hours, Visconti doesn't believe that less is more and some scenes are dragged out to the point of monotony. For example, there's a sequence based on the "night of long knives" that's interminable and could have been cut in half. The Nazi boys in drag and various stages of undress and having sex with each other might have been shocking in 1969 but today just looks tedious. Still, there's enough incest, pedophilia, rape and killing (the film received an X rating) to shock the still shockable. With Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Charlotte Rampling, Florinda Bolkan, Helmut Griem, Reinhard Kolldehoff and Umberto Orsini.