Had to get up early to keep monitoring something for work, and I am dying. I was meant for the night.
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Geoff George
@geoffdgeorge
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#Chicago resident since 2010, #dev, #writer and former micro/macro #editor of little consequence, #tea hound, occasional #birder, compulsive #film / #TV watcher, ever-recovering night owl, and #bookworm. Opinions are mine. He/him.
It is literally dark-and-stormy-night-in-a-murder-mystery weather outside right now.
And rewatched "Rebecca" for the first time since high school. George Barnes knows how to frame and light a shot! https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/rebecca/
Oh, I watched two other movies over the weekend. "Nixon" was a trip. Hopkins is excellent. https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/nixon/
A review of Nixon (1995)
Was mentally prepared for this to go full screed, but instead Oliver Stone finds some more interesting notes to play, portraying Nixon as a tragic figure—brought down by his grievances and paranoia, yes, but also chewed up and muscled around by the same deep-state system Stone argued brought down Kennedy in JFK. The two movies even share some of the same filmmaking techniques, especially in the editing, interlacing fictive and found footage, shot on multiple film stocks and in multiple aspect ratios and synced to an elaborate sound mix. You could spend multiple watches dissecting the cutting choices alone. And
Sometimes I think about US equilibrium in terms of the red and blue cards representing positive and negative reactivity in "Chernobyl," and I wonder how many blue cards we've got left.
Oh, hey, I finished "Rebecca." https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4950965177?book_show_action=false
Geoff's review of Rebecca
My pick for book club 'cuz I had a $1.50 used paperback edition from 1969 that'd been gathering dust on my shelf for approximately a decade. Talk about mood. This thing's got mood for days. A ghost story so powerful it never even has to invoke the supernatural. The blaring absence of Rebecca, the skeletal face and menacing reserve of Mrs. Danvers, the dark halls of Manderley, and the dense tangle of the forest that surrounds it are all evocative enough. Enjoyed the atmospherics so much that I got a little annoyed when the cogs of the plot started to crank up in the final quarter. But I gu...
Tried "Miller's Crossing" for the first time in a while. https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/millers-crossing/
A review of Miller's Crossing (1990)
Haven’t watched this one since maybe high school, when I went through my big Coen Brothers phase. Lebowski, Fargo, Fink, and Hudsucker all got more plays in the family VCR (and eventually DVD player). I think something about Miller’s Crossing left me colder at the time. Viewing it now, I don’t know that I feel much differently. I recognize it’s pretty damn great on a filmmaking level, especially for a third feature, and Polito (”Is this the high hat!?”) and Turturro in particular are acting the hell out of the material. But the material itself feels more cerebral and distant
I'd been avoiding all previews and any talk of "Weapons" since seeing the teaser trailer once months ago, and I finally got to see it last night. Was not what I expected, but still satisfying! https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/weapons-2025/
A review of Weapons (2025)
"You're either negligent or complicit!" This movie feels like it's in conversation with Eddington in ways I didn't expect. Mass paranoia and despair building to a fever pitch within a contained community and all that. A little more allegorical in its relationship to the current moment, but I think the relationship's still there. You can sense from certain writing and filming choices (some of the gore, some of the humor, some of the pacing) that this comes from the same mind that made Barbarian. But it also feels like a step up. Liked how kinetic and propulsive the camera movements
Another one I finished late last night. Didn't have time to write any thoughts down before bed. https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/the-mule-2018/
A review of The Mule (2018)
Clint finds another late-period role through which to comment on himself, playing a doddering (but still sneering) war vet with a touch of heart and a lack of filter. ("You're welcome, dykes," he says to a gang of lesbian bikers at one point, among other out-of-pocket things.) It's funny how pleasant this movie is, for what's ostensibly a thriller about drug-running, and that its biggest takeaway is a lesson about the value of slowing down to appreciate the smaller things. Some segments convey that sentiment more powerfully than others, though. Most of the stuff about Eastwood attempting to reconnect with
I had a lot of fun with "The Naked Gun," and laughter alone should be a good enough reason to go to the movies. https://letterboxd.com/geoffdgeorge/film/the-naked-gun/
A review of The Naked Gun (2025)
It sucks that catching a screwball comedy in theaters is about as common as a trip to the dentist these days, but even suggesting there's one every six months or so feels generous. Shots of straight mirth are harder and harder to come by, despite a desperate need for some communal laughter not born of bitterness and insanity. It was with those thoughts that I took myself to The Naked Gun this evening, hoping it would deliver the goods, and I'm happy to say it mostly does. Is it a classic for the ages? Probably not, but I laughed! I
