Allez Oop (1934) D: Charles Lamont. S: Buster Keaton, Dorothy Sebastian, George J. Lewis, Harry Myers, Sidney Kibrick. Buster’s a klutzy clock repair guy who falls for fetching lady customer Sebastian. He wants to take her to the circus, not realizing she’s got a thing for the acrobats. The physical stunts–once Buster starts practicing his own high wire show–more than make up for the sluggish beginning. It’d also be nice if Sebastian had anything.

The Ghost Breakers (1940) D: George Marshall. S: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Anthony Quinn, Willie Best, Pedro de Cordoba. Finely produced but charismatically inert comedy about Goddard inheriting a haunted mansion in Cuba. Hope’s a radio broadcaster who goes along for very complicated reasons. After the first act, pretty much all of Hope’s jokes are just racism. Often at the expense of Best, but sometimes basic racist observations. And they keep contriving Goddard’s clothes off her. Just ew.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) D: Adam Wingard. S: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House. Surprisingly entertaining crossover sequel has Kong and Godzilla teaming up to take on a bigger threat. Eventually. Until then, it’s reasonably compelling Kaiju science fantasy nonsense about the hollow earth. Good pace, solid soundtrack choices, great effects, fun characters. Stevens is a particular delight as the goofy stud monster vet. The end’s thin but whatever; it’s a monster fight.

The Gold Ghost (1934) D: Charles Lamont. S: Buster Keaton, Warren Hymer, Dorothy Dix, Roger Moore, William Worthington, Lloyd Ingraham, Leo Willis. A wealthy fop (Buster) heads west after being thrown over by his intended (Dix). He ends up at a ghost town in Nevada, soon joined by outlaw Hymer. Keaton’s physically able but there aren’t very many good gags. Nothing particularly ambitious as far as set pieces (and the GHOST bit is strange). The ending’s one note too, unfortunately.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) D: Kenji Misumi. S: Tomisaburō Wakayama, Fumio Watanabe, Tomoko Mayama, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Asao Uchida, Taketoshi Naitō, Akihiro Tomikawa. Often gloriously stylized ultra-violence–and just some glorious stylization–in the tale of an unstoppable, badass ronin who’s also a single dad in feudal Japan. Wakayama’s a sturdy lead in what amounts to a samurai Western. The kid (Tomikawa) is adorable. The first half’s really good. Then there are just numerous sexual assaults before the big finale. Eh.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) D: George C. Wolfe. S: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Jeremy Shamos, Taylour Paige. Exquisite adaptation of August Wilson’s (fictional) play about (real-life) twenties jazz diva Rainey (Davis) and her racist white management bungling a recording session. One of her band members (Boseman) is an ambitious hothead, which causes more problems. Beautifully directed and photographed. It’s all about the performances: Boseman’s exceptional; Davis’s superb; Domingo, Turman, great. It’s relentlessly serious, so the success is even more impressive. Screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

Mad God (2022) D: Phil Tippett. S: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman, Satish Ratakonda, Harper Taylor, Brynn Taylor, Hans Brekke, Brett Foxwell. Decades in the making stop motion epic about a trip through Hell and–maybe–creation. Almost entirely animated, and without any dialogue; lots of revolting visuals (warning: poo), all ingeniously executed. Tippett’s got a fantastic narrative sense when it comes to getting the point across. Unfortunately, the finale’s a philosophical shrug. But it’s a one-of-a-kind experience.

Palooka from Paducah (1935) D: Charles Lamont. S: Buster Keaton, Joe Keaton, Myra Keaton, Louise Keaton, Dewey Robinson, Bull Montana. It’s a Keaton family outing–Pa Joe and Ma Myra head a backwoods moonshining clan who discovers Prohibition is (long) over, and they need to find another racket. Joe decides to turn their other son, Robinson, into a wrestler, with Buster refereeing matches. It ought to be a lot funnier, even if the stunt casting is reasonably charming.

A Serious Man (2009) D: Ethan Coen. S: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus. Big, narratively forgetful swing from the Brothers Coen. It’s the late sixties; professor Stuhlbarg is going to have a very weird, very bad time of it. Wolff plays his son and is kind of the protagonist. Ish. It’s got some great moments, but the Brothers fail at regular human emotion. Still solid; they go for the easy laughs instead.