A GIRL MISSING (Fukada, 2019)

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(watched thu/20220818 via The Criterion Channel – directed by by Koji Fukada and starring Mariko Tsustui, Michako Ichikawa, and Sōsuke Ikematsu; released 26 July 2019)

Still processing / facing my inability to properly disseminate (hence the goal of writing these for most inputs I allow to sublet my brainspace for an hour or a week or two or more) the totality of the layers upon layers weaving in and out of Fukada's film about a kind woman (star Mariko Tsustui is mesmerizing) broken by the cruelty of a media frenzy and a confidence betrayed amidst a patriarchal society of appearances, convention, and standing. Hooked me from the first frame and didn't let go until the final, haunting, Stanwyck-in-DOUBLE-INDEMNITY-infused sequence. Highly recommended – even if I'm flubbing the words to express exactly why.

mon/20220822

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65ºF, fog: I am bereft of material for this morning space this morning which means as soon as I decide to stop writing these morning things I'll want to start writing these morning things though I can't discount potential for more interesting writing with these things stored up but oh look now I've just written one of these morning things... DerbsBall upgrades continue: installed a soccer goal in the backyard; Derbs hasn’t quite figured out what to do with it… while K isn't sold on our need for a life-sized freshwater stingray blanket I am; marriage is, however, all about compromise ... the day awaits.

THE PROTÉGÉ (Campbell, 2021)

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(watched: sat/20220813 via Amazon Prime; directed by Martin Campbell and starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson; released 20 August 2021.)

Entertaining-enough diversion courtesy of Campbell, a workhorse of an action director prone to occasional glimpses of brilliance (GOLDENEYE and CASINO ROYALE) and smashing heads through bathroom fixtures though this isn't one of them (brilliance, that is; someone does get smashed through a bathroom sink). Nonetheless, Maggie Q and Michael Keaton shine – Keaton, especially, chewing it up as a charismatic villain, sorta, amidst a mostly incomprehensible plot. Dig the homage to THE BIG SLEEP's sexy bookstore clerk scene only with a deadly assassin as the sexy bookstore clerk. Random thought: Keaton needs to take a turn as Philip Marlow – he'd be perfect. Recommended if you're looking for entertaining, brainless fare featuring solid performances from great actors who deserve better.

HOUSE OF BAMBOO (Fuller, 1955)

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(watched: tue/20220816 via Criterion Channel; directed by Samuel Fuller and starring Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, and Yoshiko Yamaguchi; released 01 July 1955.)

Excellent offering from the annals of post-war films noir (with intriguing Western elements, the train robbery at the start being but one), in the vein of THE THIRD MAN with a Technicolor post-war Tokyo seen through Sam Fuller’s docudrama / journalistic starkness in the place of a B&W post-war Vienna and, unlike Joseph Cotten's Holly Martins, a protagonist who does “get the girl” (convincing chemistry between stars Robert Stack (if you or anyone you know has any information on the cases seen here tonight, please call…) and Yoshiko Yamaguchi) in the concluding cemetery shots but not before he gets bludgeoned by a young DeForest Kelly. Particular highlight is Robert Ryan's menacing villain, Sandy, whose qualifications for that adjective include – but aren’t limited to – murdering any of the gang that gets wounded during a robbery – "You weren't in control Griff (another Fuller Griff), you weren't in control" – whose own loss of control (shooting wildly into a crowd from atop a rooftop carnival) after being cornered during the botched final robbery / Stack-elimination effort is nothing short of terrifying. Currently streaming as part of Criterion's "Noir in Technicolor" series which I'm making my way through with gusto; also recommended (speaking of Joseph Cotten), Henry Hathaway's 1953 film NIAGARA, part of the same series, starring Marylin Monroe as one of the great femmes fatale.

sun/20220821

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65ºF, clouds/sun: still aglow from EJK's kind words about the first issue of PRESS (A)... tendril branches cleared from power lines in an afternoon of surgery via electric pole saw atop a ladder (only hit by one falling limb, yay)... a Parenthetical Recluse day in these morning hours, compiling notes into reviews to be published throughout the week and adding quotations and bracketed things from current reads to their Obsidian sheet (far easier than trying to do it all at the end): making a weekly Sunday thing... speaking of Sundays, MacroParentheticals returns next Sunday; you can sign up here if so inclined... Sonnenfeld's THE ADDAMS FAMILY remains, 31 years since it came out, an absolute delight... the day awaits.

sat/20220820

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63ºF, sun: storms and rain this weekend, apparently – more basement flooding in my future(?)... my back my back my fucking back in process of being less my back my back my fucking back thanks to one of those awesome massage guns (so worth it)... return to meditation (five minutes, three times a day) a pleasant pause and refocusing... a note to self in my handwritten illegibilities: FIND SMALL DETAILS – EVOKE, DON'T DESCRIBE... addition of a weight vest to the day's run a change – what kind of change, TBD... return of MAKING THE CUT a most welcome, pandemic-era balm of artistic celebration... 50 years to create, a mile and a half long, viewable only on foot: spectacular... the day awaits.