New favorite Tod Browning picture. Chaney’s at his best here.
No clue what happened – but whatever it was was undeniably beautiful.
DON'T LOOK NOW (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
(**** / *****): Had this one on the Criterion list for too long and avoided it mostly because, while I love Donald Sutherland, my mother's penchant for claiming that my asshole stepfather looked like him (he didn't) made me avoid almost all Donald Sutherland films for the last 30 years and I couldn’t bring myself to click on the cover still of Sutherland here. But they're dead - my mother and stepfather, not Sutherland, thankfully - now and here I am, having overcome my avoidance tics and watched: Great film, but in that “wow what an amazing achievement Great” manner, not in the "spoke to me deeply on an emotional level Great.” Excellent performances across the board, amazing editing, beautiful cinematography (DON'T LOOK NOW is to Venice as THE THIRD MAN is to Vienna?) – but destined to be filed in my "respect (and I do, deeply) more than love and have no interest in seeing again" shelf. But hey, exposure therapy FTW.
*****+ / *****
Already wish I could experience it for the first time all over again.
