by Sam Juliano
The day of jack-o-lanterns, ghost costumes and teeth rotting candy is upon us, but no matter how you size it up it is tons of fun for most. Kids will benefit mightily from the rarity of a Saturday Halloween, though parents obviously much less so. Horror film lovers are in their own annual cinematic delirium, and various haunted house attractions are all the rage. This is a time for at-home denizens to break out their Universal Horror, Val Lewton and Italian Giallo box sets, though there is plenty more for rustling up scares.
Mets fans are on Cloud Nine, though their World Series matchup with the American League champion Kansas City Royals is sizing to be a real barn burner. Area football fans are celebrating their football win over the hated Cowboys. The next several weeks will no doubt be the ones film fans remember the most when compiling their year-end lists. But everything is hopping on all the artistic fronts including opera.
To be or not to be….A equally dramatic interpretation of that iconic phrase has been playing itself out at the site over the last several days, and it has culminated with some highly unexpected changes in the 2016 Science Fiction Films Countdown. The project is still quite a time away, but we still haven’t firmed up the manner of how it will proceed. Stay tuned.
Lucille and I saw two new films in theaters this past week:
Crimson Peak **** (Sunday afternoon) Ridgefield Park Starplex
The Assassin **** 1/2 (Saturday night) IFC Film Center
Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain are impressive in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic romance horror CRIMSON PEAK, a stylistic exercise set in an English mansion where dark mystery, ghosts, and shocking violence lurk at every turn. Lush decor and a ravishing score are also noteworthy. The script inst also tight but it all works and in my opinion is better than “Pan’s Labyrinth.” As to Hou Hsiao Hsien’s THE ASSASSIN we have a films of spectacular beauty with indelible images and a basic story that is as alluring as it is seductive. Courtesy of one of Asia’s most rightly celebrated directors.
At Noirish, the renowned writer (and voracious reader) John Grant has penned an excellent review of 1934’s “Woman Unafraid”: https://noirencyclopedia.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/woman-unafraid-1934/
At FilmsNoir.net Tony d’Ambra has posted a full list of films noir in US Library of Congress National Film Registry: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/list-of-films-noir-in-us-library-of-congress-national-film-registry.html/
Stephen Mullen offers up a terrific round-up “Friday Music and Stuff” at The Listening Ear: http://listeningear.blogspot.com/2015/10/friday-music-and-stuff.html
Joel Bocko has published an excellent review on Steven Spielberg’s venerated “Schindler’s List” at I Lost it at the Movies: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-favorites-schindlers-list-85.html
At Mondo 70 Samuel Wilson has written a commanding review of Crimson Peak: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2015/10/on-big-screen-crimson-peak-2015.html
At Tuesdays with Laurie, our great friend Laurie Buchanan offers up a terrific post titled “Abracadabra”: http://tuesdayswithlaurie.com/2015/10/13/abracadabra/
Over at Attractive Variance Jamie Uhler offers up his fabulous latest installment of “Recent Cultural Happenings…..”: https://attractivevariance.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/recent-cultural-happenings-noise-doesnt-annoys-end-of-september-2015/
At Movie Classics, Judy Geater has posted a fantastic piece on Clarence Brown’s 1928 “A Woman of Affairs.”: https://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/a-woman-of-affairs-clarence-brown-1928/
David Schleicher has penned a superlative review of Ramin Bahrani’s “99 Homes” at The Schleicher Spin: http://theschleicherspin.com/2015/10/12/the-death-of-the-american-dream-in-99-homes/
Our longtime friend the film maker and movie lover extraordinaire Jeffrey Goodman has resumed his Ozu series n-99-hwith a terrific review of the director’s 1930 “The Night’s Wife”: http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2015/10/that-nights-wife-1930.html
Jeff Stroud brings a higher level of thought to his wonderful new post at The Reluctant Blogger titled “Blank Page”: https://jeffstroud.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/blank-page/
Over at Patricia’s Wisdom, the terrific book reviewer and friend Patricia Hamilton has penned an excellent review on Stephanie Kallos’ “Language Arts: A Novel”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2015/10/language-arts-a-novel-stephanie-kallos/
At It Rains….You Get Wet Robert Tower has penned a magisterial feature on the author Thomas “Silence of the Lambs” Harris: http://le0pard13.com/2015/10/16/audiobook-behaviorial-science-thomas-trilogy-lees-one/
Over at Ferdy-on-Films, Roderick Heath leads up with his splendid essay of “The Martian”: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2015/the-martian-2015/26165/
J. D. Lafrance’s offers up a splendid review of “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter” at Radiator Heaven: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2015/10/captain-kronos-vampire-hunter.html
Shubhajit Lahiri has penned an excellent review of Wim Wenders’ 1975 “Wrong Move” at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-wrong-move-1975.htm
Terrill Welch’s incomparably beautiful Creative Potager blogsite offers up all kinds of nature-inspired s ublimity, and the latest post “A Narrow Artistic Perspective on a Mayne Island Morning” is a stream-of-consciousness beauty: http://creativepotager.com/2015/08/25/a-narrow-artistic-perspective-on-a-mayne-island-morning/
At Filmicability Dean Treadway’s latest post is a superlative examination of the film year 1956: http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2015/10/1956-year-in-review.html
Sachin Gandhi has penned a terrific review on the Brazilian “She Comes Back on Thursday” at Scribbles and Ramblings: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2015/10/she-comes-back-on-thursday.html
At The Seventh Art the exceedingly gifted writer Srikanth offers up reviews on two Hindi films under the banner grouping titled “Love in the Time of Gonorrhea”: http://theseventhart.info/2015/08/02/love-in-the-time-of-gonorrhea/
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