Escape From Alcatraz: Clint Eastwood stars in a real-life escape story set in 1960. Directed by Don Siegel.
Everything you’d expect from a Siegel movie of the 1970s. Hard-boiled, intelligently spare, ultra-masculine, pacing that grips you like a vise. Clint Eastwood & Don Siegel were such a great collaboration. 8/10
Lady Sings the Blues: Biopic of Billie Holiday, replete with gritty drug addiction, starring Diana Ross.
I’d heard, long ago, that this was a bad movie. Recently, some folks in some film discussions praised it highly, so I decided to see for myself. Dear Gods, this is bad. 4/10
Quigley Down Under:
Tom Selleck is the sharpshooter, Alan Rickman is the bad guy, in the Wild Wild Australian West.
You know I love Westerns. You know that. But this one is just so-so. San Giacomo’s crazy lady thing is way too over the top, and everything else is serviceable and by-the-numbers, except in Australia instead of the American West. Alan Rickman is always a great bad guy, and Selleck is pleasingly macho without being a jerk; he actually has a lot of soul. 7/10.
Revolutionary Road: Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio really goddamn hate suburban life.
I got about 20-25 minutes into this horror before I gave up. Histrionic, obvious, and obnoxious, full of tell-instead-of-show, and just relentlessly loud. Unbearable. 3/10
