Month: February 2021

Special Film Noir Delivery: The Letter

Bette Davis in the Letter.

The Letter

?Directed by William Wyler?
?Written by Howard Koch?

The review:

From the first dramatic scene to the last, this movie is plenty of fun.* Bette Davis is both flip and overwhelmed as a woman who had to kill her neighbor when he tried to assault her.** But once a letter floats to the surface, we see the difficult choices her lawyer must make.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*Death comes in both of those scenes, so we’re not talking barrel of laughs fun, but there’s something about how overwrought everything is that is so incredibly enjoyable.
**So she says.
***All leading to a very dramatic ending.
Note: This was filmed in the 1940s and is set on a rubber plantation. In terms of racist portrayals it’s not great. I’ve seen much, much worse though.

Questions:

  • What was your turning point?
  • What did you think of Victor Sen Yung’s portrayal of Ong Chi Seng?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The first scene that William Wyler shot was the famous opening shot in which we see Leslie shoot Geoffrey Hammond. The opening shot, which lasted two minutes on screen, took an entire day to film, and that was before even a single word of dialogue was spoken. The studio expected him to shoot at a rate of 3-4 script pages a day, but the opening shot reflected a mere paragraph on page one.

Other reviews of The Letter:

Orange background with a white frame. I don't think it's right, but I think it's expedient. Juries can sometimes be very stupid, and it's just as well not to worry them with more evidence than they can conveniently deal with.--The Letter. Read the three sentence movie review: 3SMReviews.com: The Letter

It Really Snowed!

I assumed we would get the usual light dusting, but the snow turned into a proper snowstorm. There was shoveling to be done!

We went on an early morning walk and here’s what we saw:

This friend knows how to protect the windshield wipers against the dreaded ice.

We found whole blocks with no footprints! Very exciting. We also mailed some letters and did a bit of shopping at Fred Meyer. I came home soaked in sweat. Walking through snow is a workout!

I enjoyed these carrot tops in the window of a Kenton restaurant.

First Winter Snow

A certain global pandemic has left me mostly unsurprised by things. So I can’t say that I was aghast when it started to snow in mid-February for the first time all winter. But it was a fun break from the routine.

Plus, since a lot of us are working from home, we already know how to work from home. Easy-peasy.

This little friend stopped by for a snack.

Judas and the Black Messiah: FBI and the Black Panthers

Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield in Judas and the Black Messiah

Judas and the Black Messiah

?Directed by Shaka King?
?Written by Will Berson & Shaka King?

The review:

I first learned about Fred Hampton in Ava DuVerney’s 13th and so I knew how this film was going to end.* But it was interesting to watch Daniel Kaluuya’s evolution of Hampton as he gained skills as well as the dance between LaKeith Stanfield and Jessie Plemons as FBI informant and agent.** I would have liked Dominique Fishback to have a bigger role, but she was great with what she was given in this movie that’s gonna kick you in the stomach right before the credits roll.***

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: I paid Matt $6.00. He’s the one paying the HBOMax fee ($12.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Not well for Fred Hampton.
**It’s interesting how we forgive the FBI for their many sins, but so often the Black Panthers are portrayed as the lawless party.
***If there’s an award for best after-movie text on screen, this film will sweep that category.

Questions:

  • Should they have bothered with the makeup for Martin Sheen?
  • Fred Hampton was 21 and William O’Neal was 17 during this film. Should they have cast younger actors?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

With both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya receiving Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Judas and the Black Messiah becomes the first film to have multiple black performers nominated in this category for the same film.

Other reviews of Judas and the Black Messiah:

Last Day in the Office

I stopped by the XRAY office to meet with the person who is taking over for me. While my tenure has been brief (a little more than two months) the current pandemic circumstances mean this is only my fourth time in the office. And one of those times I wasn’t working this job, I came down to do a different job because I had no internet at my house.

So I never got to use this calendar. But it does have some fun things. Color coding. The list of things we did at the 11:11 check-in, which became the 10:10 check-in. The P.O. Box and physical addresses. It even has a little placard saying the whiteboard’s name, a vestige of a past fundraising drive.

My favorite part is the month, though. It’s been a very long Global Pandemic.