The Stop Button

The Adventurous Blonde (1937) D: Frank McDonald. S: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Anne Nagel, Tom Kennedy, George E. Stone, Natalie Moorhead, William Hopper. Hot on the heels of their last outing, reporter Farrell and her copper boyfriend, MacLane, are finally about to tie the knot. Except her jealous, misogynist competitors decide to stage a fake murder to foil the nuptials. Except then the murder’s real. After a slow start, Farrell’s unravelling of the crime’s fantastic. Great chemistry between the leads, too.

After Yang (2022) D: Kogonada. S: Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Haley Lu Richardson, Sarita Choudhury, Clifton Collins Jr.. Sometime in an obscure but thoughtful future, sad dad (but not sad for dad reasons) Farrell tries to get the family’s android “big brother” (Min) repaired. It’s best when it’s a character study (Farrell’s phenomenal), but then it turns out Min’s the story… only Min doesn’t get to be in it. Well done (minus the CG), but just okay.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Unrated version D: Adam McKay. S: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell. Hilarious performances and sometimes incredibly strong seventies homage vibes carry this tale of Ferrell’s insipid (and incredibly popular) anchorman. Ferrell falls for Applegate, who then betrays him by… also wanting to be a news broadcaster and being better at the job than him. Some moldy jokes. Ferrell’s exceptional, Rudd’s good, everyone else at least funny. The script’s just thin.

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) D: Tony Scott. S: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, Brigitte Nielsen, Paul Reiser. Motormouth undercover Detroit cop Murphy heads back to Beverly Hills when now good friend Cox is shot by some eighties Eurotrash villains. Murphy’s great–though director Scott unsurprisingly doesn’t know when to tone it down–and everything is else fine, it just gets old fast. The finale’s particularly lackluster. And the misogyny and objectification don’t help either.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) D: Sidney Lumet. S: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick, William Bogert, Penelope Allen. Sublime recounting of a real life Brooklyn bank robbery, where the robbers stand off with the police becomes a local event. Superb performances from everyone: Cazale, Allen, Durning, and Sarandon are standouts. But Pacino’s the whole show, with Lumet structuring the whole thing around where Pacino takes the performance. Beautifully paced, outstanding technicals, and a devastating conclusion.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) D: George Miller. S: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov, Lachy Hulme, John Howard. Director Miller returns to the MAX well, giving Theron’s character from FURY ROAD a prequel. Except Taylor-Joy plays the part. Though maybe younger Browne a little more. Don’t count Theron out–she noticeably dubs Taylor-Joy. Story’s all about how Hemsworth and Burke are the more interesting men. Hemsworth (in a fake nose) is great. Movie’s terrible.

Klute (1971) D: Alan J. Pakula. S: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider, Dorothy Tristan, Rita Gam, Nathan George. Small-town ex-cop Sutherland heads to dirty old New York trying to find his missing best friend, who’s apparently been harassing call girl Fonda. Starts a mystery, quickly becomes a romantic thriller plus character study of Fonda. Gorgeous direction from Pakula, jawdropping photography from Gordon Willis, and a phenomenal Michael Small score. Fonda’s singular. Just a great picture. The first in Pakula’s unofficial “Paranoia Trilogy,” followed by THE PARALLAX VIEW.

Trap (2024) D: M. Night Shyamalan. S: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka, Alison Pill, Hayley Mills, Jonathan Langdon, Mark Bacolcol. Outstanding Hitchcock riff about regular dad Hartnett being a serial killer who’s trapped at the pop concert where he’s taken daughter Donoghue. Shyamalan’s starts very REVERSE DIE HARD AT A ROCK CONCERT but has some surprising developments along the way. Maybe one too many in the weaker third act. But Hartnett’s great and so’s Shyamalan’s direction. Plus Hayley Mills!