PEAKY BLINDERS, Series Six (2022)

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(watched: mon/20220711->fri/20220826 via Netflix; created by Steven Knight and starring Cillian Murphy, Natasha O'Keefe, Sam Clafin, Sophie Rundle, Anya Taylor Joy, Amber Anderson, Finn Cole, Paul Anderson, and Tom Hardy; original airing, 20220207->0403)

In spite of a few last-minute and left-field additions (a last minute addition who is, fortunately, an absolutely perfect last minute addition (kind of reminds me of Klein in Ellroy's WHITE JAZZ); wish we'd had him longer (though perhaps my required re-watch of the series will yield a forgotten setup earlier on)) to the cast to set up the abso-fucking-lutely required film continuation, I'm hard-pressed to recall a better, more fitting finale in recent memory (no I haven't seen BETTER CALL SAUL: I'm only now playing catchup with all the things I've missed; just now started watching JUSTIFIED, ten years late and we've been between the sixth and seventh seasons of SONS OF ANARCHY for at least eight years): the loss of Helen McCrory is handled deftly and tragically, Pol's presence in Michael's every seething glare and vow of revenge and in every machination of Tommy as they hurtle towards one another in a hopelessly (for Michael) unbalanced blood feud; Anya Taylor Joy, Finn Cole, Sam Clafin, Amber Anderson, and James Frecheville make a formidable antagonistic force – though Cole's Michael is most certainly in over his head, not only being on the unbalanced side of that Tommy/Michael blood feud but acting as something of a fall guy for the rest of them; and Natasha O'Keefe, Sophie Rundle, and Paul Anderson prove themselves to be three of the finest actors working today, just as they have in every series prior - Arthur always breaks my heart. Highly, highly recommended.

P.S: the only thing I missed was hearing Nick Cave's original "Red Right Hand" rendition, so here it is.

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.

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.