Film Brief: Man from Reno

A good mystery does not happen because of a lot of convoluted contrived gobbledygook. Or something like that. I’ve already mostly forgotten this one from a couple weeks back. An easy pass; in Japanese and English. 4/10

Comparison Notes: D.O.A. (Quaid/Ryan), Basic Instinct, Side Effects, Vertigo, No Country for Old Men, Body Double, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, House of Games, Red Corner, Inherent Vice

PS The rat bastards at WordPress (and/or the theme owner) are messing with my theme AGAIN, so please excuse the highly annoying gray/purple background. When I have the time I’ll try about a new theme.

Cinematic Greats: Born on the Fourth of July

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?

– one of the greatest songs of all time, sung memorably here by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

I saw a post on the pariah channel Facebook where someone had commented that Tom Cruise’s work in Eyes Wide Shut was his best role. I loved Eyes Wide Shut and thought it a fitting end to Stanley Kubrick’s astounding career. Tom Cruise, speaking of pariahs, is one of the best, most consummate actors of all time (I wrote of this 5 years ago in my MI: 5 post). So I disagree about Eyes Wide Shut being his best role, as good as it was. I’m not sure what you’d say is at the top, but a leading contender would have to be Born on the Fourth of July, squarely in the central canon of great, i.e. early, Oliver Stone pictures.

This is an exceptionally well-documented film, I am sure, so I need not expound any further on the subject. I could not add much to the brilliant Roger Ebert’s 4-star review, except to say:

Highly recommended, and with the anti-violence protest theme and general mayhem of 2020, particularly appropriate this Fourth of July.