Welcome to the 954th edition of my series. I hope everyone is hanging in there in these crazy times. I don't really have anything going on at the moment so I will just shut up and get on with my selections.
The Snowman (2017): This is part three of my four-part Val Kilmer series. Tomas Alfredson directed this movie based on the novel by Jo Nesbo. Michael Fassbender stars as detective Harry Hole who teams with new recruit Katrine Bratt, played by Rebecca Ferguson, as they investigate the disappearance of a victim on the first snowfall of the winter. Harry fears a serial killer might be at it again. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jonas Karlsson, Ronan Vibert, J.K. Simmons, Val Kilmer, David Dencik, Toby Jones, Genevieve O'Reilly, James D'Arcy, Jete Laurence, Adrian Dunbar, Chloe Sevigny, and many others co-star in this thriller. This is a very dark story and good to watch on a rainy day. There are also some interesting uses of snowmen throughout the movie. This is available to watch on Netflix.
American Assassin (2017): I continue with some violence in this film which is directed by Michael Cuesta and is based on the novel by Vince Flynn. Dylan O'Brien stars as Mitch Rapp whose girlfriend is murdered by terrorists just as they got engaged and is drawn into the world of counterterrorism. He is mentored by the tough as nails Stan Hurley, played by Keaton, as they investigate a series of seemingly random attacks on military and civilian targets. Sanaa Lathan, Taylor Kitsch, Charlotte Vega, Yousef Sweid, Trevor White, JF Davis, David Suchet, and many others co-star in this film. This has some really developed characters and some great action. Keaton and O'Brien are great together in this film. This could be a good watch for a guy's night.
The Way Back (2020): Gavin O'Connor directed this film which was written by Brad Inglesby. Ben Affleck stars as Jack Cunningham who once had a promising basketball career but walked away from the game and I suppose into a life of alcoholism. Years later, Jack is asked to coach the basketball team of his struggling alma mater and looks for a shot at redemption. Al Madrigal, Janina Gavankat, Michaela Watkins, Brandon Wilson, Will Ropp, Fernando Luis Vega, Melvin Gregg, Ben Irving, Jeremy Radkin, John Aylward, Da'Vinchi, Matthew Glave, Todd Stashwick, Chris Bruno, Emelia Golfieri, and many others co-star in this basketball drama. This movie holds nothing back and Affleck puts on a really good performance. Affleck was struggling with alcoholism prior to being in this movie so was parallel to his own life. This could be a good double feature to go along with the movie HOOSIERS.
The Bookworm (1939): This is my animated short for the week which was directed by Friz Frelong and Hugh Harman. This features the Merry Melodies character of the Bookworm who is a worm who loved books. A witch needs a worm to complete a potion and sends out her raven who ends up catching the Bookworm. The Bookworm has a lot of literary characters by his side. This is an entertaining look at an earlier character for Merry Melodies and all the action for an eight-minute short. This was also co-written by Joseph Barbara before he would team with William Hanna to form Hanna-Barbara.
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964): Robert Aldrich directed this psychological thriller. Bette Davis stars as aging and wealthy recluse Charlotte Hollis who has lived on a Louisiana plantation for 36 years and is plagued by a horrifying family secret that is sending her into a descent into madness. The only people she really sees are her loyal housekeeper Velma, played by Agnes Moorehead, and her longtime physician and friend Dr. Drew Bayless. Olivia de Havilland co-stars as Charlotte's cousin Miriam who tries to help her through the madness. Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, Wesley Addy, William Campbell, Bruce Dern, Frank Ferguson, George Kennedy, Dave Willock, and many others co-star in this film. This was a really good chiller with Davis in her usual sort of behavior, especially at this point in her career. This has lots of good twists and turns with a good dark atmosphere.
The Defiant Ones (1958): Stanley Kramer directed this this crime film on escaped convicts. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier star as escaped convicts Joker and Noah who are handcuffed to one another. They hate one another, partly due to race reasons, but they must work together toward their goal of going north to jump on a train and reach freedom. Cara Williams, Theodore Bikel, Charles McGraw, Lon Chaney Jr., King Donovan, Claude Akins, Lawrence Dobkin, Whit Bissell, Carl Switzer, Kevin Coughlin, and many others co-star in this film. Switzer is most known as Alfalfa in OUR GANG and was his last movie before he was gunned down. This is a good look at race relations and of them learning to work together. This is available to watch on MGM +, TUBI, and Pluto TV.
Thunderbolts* (2025): Jake Scheier directed this from the latest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sebastian Stan reprises his role of Bucky Barnes who is now in the political world. He teams up with Yelena, reprised by Florence Pugh, the short-lived Captain America John Walker, reprised by Wyatt Russell, Ava Starr, reprised by Hannah John-Kamen, and Alexei, reprised by David Harbour, when they realize that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, reprised by Julia-Louis Dreyfus, is setting them up. Lewis Pullman co-stars as Robert Reynolds who is thought to be very powerful and is a project of Valentina. Olga Kurylenko, Geraldine Viswanathan, Wendell Pierce, Chris Bauer, Violet McGraw, Alexa Swinton, Eric Lange, Chiara Stella, Stefano Carannante, Gianfranco Terrin, and many others co-star in this superhero film. These are essentially anti-heroes that have had a very dark side but trying to make amends for their past and must also learn to get along for survival. I also read this is the last film of the Phase 5 portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has been one of the better movies to date. Before watching this, maybe look into the five people on the team if you haven't seen the others to understand them more.
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976): This is my martial arts film for the week which was shown at the Public Domain Theater in Muncie's Cornerstone Center of the Arts. Jimmy Wang Yu directed, wrote and even stars in this martial arts movie. He plays the Liu Ti Lung who is known as the One-Armed Boxer. He is being sought for revenge by a blind martial artist who has a very unorthodox weapon in the flying guillotine just as the title implies. This is more for the fight scenes and not so much the plot. This would be good for a group of friends to join up and check out. This is available to watch on TUBI, Plex, and the Roku Channel.
Native Land (1942): Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand directed this historic drama. Paul Robeson narrates this film which looks at the Bill of Rights and how it is under attack in this era by corporations, so I guess nothing has changed in that regard. This shows different stories of everyday people and how they are affected by what is going on. Houseley Stevenson, Howard Da Silva, Robert Strauss, John Marley, Harry Wilson, Clancy Cooper, Tom Pedi, and many others co-star in this film. I feel this is essentially an experimental film. It's almost like a documentary with a lot of dramatizations. It is pretty effective and deserves a look.
Strange Days (1995): Kathryn Bigelow directed this Dystopian film which was written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks. Ralph Fiennes stars as former cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero who deals in illegal recordings for memories of lives. He stumbles upon a conspiracy in Dystopian 1999 Los Angeles. With the help of his friend Max, played by Tom Sizemore, and Mace, played by Angela Bassett, he tries to solve the conspiracy. Juliette Lewis, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richard Edson, William Fichtner, Josef Sommer, Nicky Katt, Michael Jace, Louise LeCavalier, David Carrera, Jim Ishida, Todd Graff, Kelly Hu, and many others co-star in this film. This is a really good futuristic film that looks really good visually. It also has a really good story of twists and turns to keep the interest and is hard to really describe beyond what I have already said. This is available to watch on the Criterion Channel and Hulu.
Well, that is it for this week but I did bring back "Fun and Useless Facts" for the week so read on for that one. Tell me what you like and dislike and I will be back in a couple weeks which so far includes Val Kilmer, Alfred Hitchcock, Myrna Loy, Kirsten Dunst, Toni Collette, Christopher Walken, and many others.
FUN AND USELESS FACTS
Val Kilmer (The Snowman) plays Batman in the 1995 movie BATMAN FOREVER. Michael Keaton (American Assassin) plays Batman in the 1989 film BATMAN and the 1992 sequel BATMAN RETURNS. He also reprised the role in the 2023 movie THE FLASH. Ben Affleck (The Way Back) plays Batman in the DC Universe including the 2021 film ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE.
Val Kilmer (The Snowman) and Tom Sizemore (Strange Days) were on a heist team in the 1995 film HEAT. They were also in the 2000 movie RED PLANET.
Val Kilmer (The Snowman) and Ralph Fiennes (Strange Days) play Moses and Rameses in the 1998 animated movie THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.
Val Kilmer (The Snowman), Bruce Dern (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte), and Angela Bassett (Strange Days) are in the 2003 film MASKED AND ANONYMOUS.
Val Kilmer (The Snowman) and Michael Wincott (Strange Days) were in the 1991 biopic THE DOORS.
Val Kilmer (The Snowman) and Lewis Pullman (Thunderbolts) were in the 2022 film TOP GUN: MAVERICK
J.K. Simmons (The Snowman) and Ben Affleck (The Way Back) are in the 2016 film THE ACCOUNTANT and the 2025 sequel THE ACCOUNTANT 2. They are also Commissioner Gordon and Batman in the DC Universe in ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE.
J.K. Simmons (The Snowman) plays Santa Claus in the 2024 action film RED ONE. David Harbour (Thunderbolts) plays Santa in the 2022 action film VIOLENT NIGHT.
J.K. Simmons (The Snowman) and Sebastian Stan (Thunderbolts*) play the older/younger versions of their character in the 2017 movie I'M NOT HERE.
J.K. Simmons (The Snowman) and Dylan O'Brien (American Asassin) were in the 2024 film SATURDAY NIGHT.
J.K. Simmons (The Snowman) and Taylor Kitsch (American Assassin) were in the 2019 film 21 BRIDGES.
Chloe Sevigny (The Snowman) and Bruce Dern (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte) are daughter-in-law and father-in-law in the polygamist HBO series BIG LOVE.
Michael Fassbender (The Snowman) had his first movie audition for the role of Rafe Cawley in the 2001 movie PEARL HARBOR which would ultimately go to Ben Affleck (The Way Back). Affleck, William Fichtner (Strange Days), and Tom Sizemore (Strange Days) were in PEARL HARBOR.
Michael Fassbender (The Snowman) plays Macbeth in the 2015 movie MACBETH. Ralph Fiennes (Strange Days) plays Macbeth in the 2024 film of the same name.
David Dencik (The Snowman) and Ralph Fiennes (Strange Days) were in the 2021 Bond film NO TIME TO DIE.
Toby Jones (The Snowman) plays Dobby in the Harry Potter Franchise. Ralph Fiennes (Strange Days) plays Harry Potter's main rival Lord Valdemort in the franchise.
Toby Jones (The Snowman) and Sebastian Stan (Thunderbolts*) were in the 2011 superhero film CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER.
Rebecca Ferguson (The Snowman) and Angela Bassett (Strange Days) were in the 2018 action film MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- FALLOUT.
Rebecca Ferguson (The Snowman) and Florence Pugh (Thunderbolts*) were in the 2024 sci-fi film DUNE: PART TWO.
James D'Arcy (The Snowman) and Michael Wincott (Strange Days) were in the 2012 biopic HITCHCOCK.
James D'Arcy (The Snowman) and Florence Pugh (Thunderbolts*) were in the 2023 biopic OPPENHEIMER.
Taylor Kitsch (American Assassin) and Eric Lange (Thunderbolts*) were in the 2018 mini-series WACO.
Taylor Kitsch (American Assassin) and Sebastian Stan (Thunderbolts*) were in the 2006 horror movie THE COVENANT.
Ben Affleck (The Way Back) and Nicky Katt (Strange Days) were in the 1993 film DAZED AND CONFUSED.
Wendell Pierce (Thunderbolts*) and Angela Bassett (Strange Days) were in 1992 biopic MALCOLM X and the 1995 film WAITING TO EXHALE.
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