May 2010
8 posts
Act of Violence (1948)
Starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh.
Screenplay by Robert L. Richards. Story by Collier Young.
Directed by Fred Zinnemann. MGM 1948.
Act of Violence is part of Warner Home Video’s Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 4. One of the significant aspects of the film is that it looks at the lives of two soldiers after WWII. The first one we see is the limping, obsessive Robert Ryan,...
the week behind
Interesting week. Made a Machiavellian move or two at work—expect some payoff next week.
Tuesday I had a couple beers with an old friend at the 2nd oldest bar in San Diego. He neglected to tell me it was cash only, but luckily I had $20 on me, can’t remember why. Lottery tix? He left soon and I took a shine to the female bartender, who left the premises to smoke about five times and...
2 tags
Decoy (1946)
Decoy is a film noir that gained cult status due to being largely unavailable for many years. A few television stations had copies to run but it was one of those movies that got its reputation partly from books on noir that included it. It came from Monogram, a studio, like RKO, known mainly for “B” pictures—program features made on the cheap, lacking big stars. Like the...
Hey ESPN
Dallas Braden’s perfect game on Mother’s Day is a nice story because there have only been 18 other perfect games, and yes, his mother died when he was in high school. That doesn’t make it a story worth examining for an hour. And I really don’t care for the commentary of vain Bobby Valentine or untough Nomar Garciaparra on anything. I kind of like John Kruk because of his...
Crime Wave (1954)
I have the first four dvd box sets of Warner Home Video’ Film Noir Classics Collection and have seen most of the films over the years, but there are still a few to go. Plus, some I saw in other formats and without the benefit of the great commentary tracks presented here. The sets are actually pretty cheap, around $40-$50 for the later sets, which feature 10 films on 5 discs (two-fers). The...
Waxing and Waning @ Chipotle
Thanks, two male Chipotle customers, joking about butt-and-sac-waxes while my son and I were eating. It could have been worse, I know. I also liked the doughy guy with the XXL blue t-shirt featuring Superman wearing Wonder Woman’s bustier. Not sure what message he was sending, but it’s a sure bet he will be rocking this shirt against at SDCC.
Played Mad Libs with both kids today,...
When was the last time
…you had an eggroll that was worth a shit?
the corner
Checked out a new gourmet burger spot in neighborhood called The Corner. Didn’t get too fancy this time: grilled onions, Gruyere, roasted garlic aioli, 50/50 order of fries/sweet potato fries. Good bun. Burger was griddled, not grilled, so it missed that nice contrast of somewhat crispy outside, plus grill marks. It was good, though. Both kinds of fries are nice, the French fries very...
