An across-the-spectrum triple feature for the weekend.

The big disappointment?

The Last Picture Show.  I had fond memories from my youth, and a couple of local actors, the Bottoms boys, to like.

But these years later... it drags, it's slow, and as dry and dusty as the Texas town it portrays.

I didn't even watch to the finish.  Oh well.

Much, much better was Robin Williams in The Dead Poet's Society.

Just fine.

By far the best?

A Face in the Crowd.

Absolute magic by Elia Kazan.

I believed I riffed on him in an earlier Method Acting thread.

I can remember the first time I saw A Face in the Crowd.

I was monumentally sucked in.  Just another Andy Griffith movie.  Oh well.

In the event... this is one of those films that has aged beyond well.

Patricia Neal--mainly we remember her opposite John Wayne?--kicks ass.

I'm not going out on a limb to say this is a great film.

RBD

trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2yCIwmNuLE

DVD from Netflix-

The Cincinnati Kid

Steve McQueen.

Okay, it dates to 1965--my era--but some films are timeless, and this one still works.

Perhaps the best poker movie ever.

RBD

Captain Corelli's Mandolin-

Nicolas Cage is an ebullient Corelli; Penelope Cruz way beyond sultry.

This movie was panned by the critics, but it brought me joy.

What could be better than a bunch of singing Italian Artillerymen?

RBD

James Mason, posing as an artist, talks a very young Helen Mirren out of her clothes.

Did he learn this on the Mayhem?

Age of Consent, DVD from Netflix.

Not many are better than Pedro Almodovar, and Broken  Embraces shows why.

He's the ultimate technician.

For almost all of the film, this is an emulation of film noir, a perfect genre pic.  And a great example.

Dark in tone--albeit color--and verging on painful.

Who would want to miss Penelope Cruz?

And, of course, the mandatory appearance of Rossy De Palma:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossy_de_Palma

In the end, Almodovar can't help himself, and, presto-change, it's an Almodovar film:  Way too much fun, a surfeit of human foibles on display.

A bunch of stars.

RBD

cant wait to see Hunger games Mockingjay 2.

Netflix DVD-

"Cadillac Records"

Streaming:

"No Country For Old Men"

Noire black as night.

RBD

In case you need a teaser, here's Beyoncé, as Etta James, in Cadillac Records:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8FHwsATN0E

She kicks.

RBD

Denzel Washington as a bodyguard in "Man On Fire."

Mandatory.

RBD

Showtime:

"Homeland"

Best thing on television.