Gilda (1946) D: Charles Vidor. S: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr. Too long, impressively moody noir does well on an obviously limited budget. Ford’s a gambler down on his luck in Argentina, Macready’s a megalomaniac looking for a pal, Hayworth’s the dame who drives them both literally mad. As in criminally insane. Macready does that creep well; Ford does not. Hayworth’s dynamite, however, and Calleia’s fantastic as a laconic cop.

Napoleon (1927) D: Abel Gance. S: Albert Dieudonné, Vladimir Roudenko, Edmond van Daële, Gina Manès, Nicolas Koline, Annabella, Philippe Hériat. Singular achievement from Gance, recounting Napoleon (Roudenko then Dieudonné) from childhood to the start of the Italian campaign. Lots of time on the Revolution, the Terror, Toulon, and romancing Joséphine (Manès). Sometimes, Gance balances the messianic framing with the horrors of war or the dangers of megalomaniacs. But mostly, it’s just messianic. And transfixing. Peerless filmmaking, fabulous acting. A couple restorations exist: the COPPOLA (Francis Ford) and the BROWNLOW. See the latter if at all possible.

Night Key (1937) D: Lloyd Corrigan. S: Boris Karloff, Warren Hull, Jean Rogers, Alan Baxter, Hobart Cavanaugh, Samuel S. Hinds, David Oliver. Uneven crime thriller about unscrupulous alarm company owner Hinds taking advantage of wizened genius Karloff one too many times. Karloff breaks bad a little, using a gadget (the NIGHT KEY) to sabotage Hinds’s service, drawing the attention of gangster Baxter. Karloff’s great, Rogers is earnest as his daughter, and Baxter’s okay. Otherwise, recast it. Tepid direction doesn’t help.

One More Time (1970) D: Jerry Lewis. S: Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, John Wood, Dudley Sutton, Maggie Wright, Ester Anderson, Percy Herbert. Just okay sequel has London club owners Davis and Lawford heading to the country and getting involved in an intrigue concerning Lawford’s just revealed twin brother, South African thugs, and various mistaken identities. Davis and Lawford spend way too much time apart. The third act’s way too tinkered. Director Lewis’s comedy direction’s (at most) middling, but he’s got moments.

The Raven (1935) D: Lew Landers. S: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lester Matthews, Irene Ware, Samuel S. Hinds, Spencer Charters, Inez Courtney. Moody but unsuccessful “adaptation” about brilliant, misanthropic, Poe fanatic neurosurgeon Lugosi coming out of retirement to save Ware’s life. He then falls in love with her and starts creeping on her. She eggs him on (to the point her father, Hinds, gets involved). Little does anyone expect Lugosi’s plan to involve Karloff, blackmail, and torture. The short runtime helps.

Salt & Pepper (1968) D: Richard Donner. S: Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Michael Bates, Ilona Rodgers, John Le Mesurier, Graham Stark, Ernest Clark. Frequently problematic, cartoonish outing for Davis and Lawford. They’re club owners in swinging London and get involved with espionage. Occasionally delightful, usually diverting. Donner’s got a few strong moments but he doesn’t show any flare for the fight scenes, and–appropriately–even less for the madcap. The cast is game, and the leads do have great timing. And wardrobe.

Snitch (2013) D: Ric Roman Waugh. S: Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Nadine Velazquez, Jon Bernthal. Badly done crime thriller about regular guy Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson going undercover to get his son a deal with the DEA. Johnson and de facto second lead Bernthal spend most of the movie talking to each other about the plot. The script’s talky and tedious and utterly absent character development. Not incompetent just boring and bland.people

Doctor Who (2024) s02e06 “The Interstellar Song Contest” [2025] D: Ben A. Williams. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Anita Dobson, Freddie Fox, Miriam-Teak Lee, Kadiff Kirwan, Charlie Condou. Excellent, Eurovision almost tie-in (Gatwa was going to host for BBC but didn’t) has an unrecognizable Fox taking over the intergalactic version of the concert. Good thing Gatwa and Sethu have just landed. Gatwa may (or may not) be taking some big swings. Lots of great guest star performances, particularly Lee. Disney money effects are on display, too.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e07 “Wish World (1)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Archie Panjabi, Anita Dobson. Part one of the finale tries to give Gibson her own subplot, introduce Panjabi (without giving away details), while setting up this bewildering WISH WORLD. Gatwa and Sethu are somehow brainwashed into thinking they’re suburban marrieds in a world where doubting is outlawed. There’s some great stuff but once the episode’s trying to set up part two, it slips.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e08 “The Reality War (2)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Yasmin Finney, Ruth Madeley. Mostly outstanding finish–as usual, companions Gibson and Sethu don’t quite get enough (particularly Gibson; for a while it seems like Sethu, but she at least gets an acting showcase). Gatwa’s transcendent, supreme. Big Disney money on display for the space-time fireworks, some great callbacks and cameos, and a successful enough bow. And a heck of a cliffhanger.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e06 “The Price” [2025] D: Neil Druckmann. S: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Rutina Wesley, Catherine O’Hara, Robert John Burke, Joe Pantoliano. It’s the cop out of cops out for Pascal’s return. The episode is every year between the season’s on Ramsey’s birthday. Except when it isn’t. It’s a self-indulgent mishmash of trite family moments, punctured by the reveal on a new set of stakes. It might be different if Ramsey or Pascal or the episode brought anything unique.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e07 “Convergence” [2025] D: Nina Lopez-Corrado. S: Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Jeffrey Wright. Until the third act misfire and the tropey cliffhanger (and the less tropey but still tropey set up for the next season), it’s the best episode in ages (if not ever). Real tense stuff as Ramsey, delivering a fantastic action antihero performance, hunts down Dever in storm-flooded post-apocalyptic Seattle. Superb direction from Lopez-Corrado. Dirt cheap writing.

Poker Face (2023) s02e04 “The Taste of Human Blood” [2025] D: Lucky McKee. S: Natasha Lyonne, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Steve Buscemi, Shiloh Fernandez, John Sayles. “It’s just copaganda, actually,” episode hopefully has a story behind it. Grown up kid actor guest star Hoffman gets a strangely bad showcase. She’s fine but the part’s trash. Lyonne’s great, somehow finding the necessary vibe to make it work. Good direction from McKee helps, as well as particular subplots. Lyonne enthusiastically encourages her costars, which doesn’t always work.

Poker Face (2023) s02e05 “Hometown Hero” [2025] D: John Dahl. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Simon Rex, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Brandon Perea, Gil Birmingham. Superbly done baseball episode probably isn’t the best deconstruction of the genre… but it ain’t bad at it. Director Dahl’s got the vibe–the transition between suspect Rex and detective Lyonne has never been smoother. Great cameo from Kane; Rex is phenomenal, Lyonne’s great, Perea’s great, and Buscemi’s going to be a serial killer, huh? Anyway. Stellar.

Poker Face (2023) s02e06 “Sloppy Joseph” [2025] D: Adam Arkin. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Eve Jade Halford, Callum Vinson, David Krumholtz, Margo Martindale, Adrienne C. Moore. It’s a distressingly mid outing with Lyonne trying to outwit a psychopathic second-grader (Halford). Martindale’s somewhat amusing as the principal, but the material’s just not there. It doesn’t help the direction starts (and ends) on a Wes Anderson riff, but is otherwise as aimless as the script. Everyone gets through it relatively unscathed… except for losing time.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e04 “Lucky Day” [2025] D: Peter Hoar. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson. On hiatus companion Gibson returns for a feature, all about her romance with alien enthusiast podcaster Jonah Hauer-King. Gatwa and Sethu get a little (Sethu less), and if it weren’t for the many big twists, it might feel like Gibson’s pilot with Jemma Redgrave’s hi-tech alien police. It’s a great showcase for Gibson, albeit shoehorned in.

Doctor Who (2024) s02e05 “The Story & the Engine” [2025] D: Makalla McPherson. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, Sule Rimi, Ariyon Bakare, Stefan Adegbola, Michelle Asante. Lush, romantic, nerdy, and as African as Disney and the BBC would let them get episode has Gatwa trapped in an interdimensional Nigerian barbershop on the back of a giant spider, weaving its way across the firmament. Excellent guest spots from Asante and Bakare; everyone’s good. Gatwa and Sethu’s colonialism-aware dynamic duo keeps getting better. Great cameo, too.

The Last of Us (2023) s02e04 “Day One” [2025] D: Kate Herron. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Jeffrey Wright. Jeffrey Wright joins the show as a level boss and brings some gravitas with him. Ramsey and Merced meanwhile take a break from the zombies to have some real talks, getting interrupted by zombies, of course. It’s solid, entirely because of Ramsey, then Merced, then Wright. Hopefully the show will get something going besides the acting. But probably not?

The Last of Us (2023) s02e05 “Feel Her Love” [2025] D: Stephen Williams. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Tati Gabrielle, Alanna Ubach, Hettienne Park, Maurice Dean Wint. Until Gabrielle shows up, the episode’s barely okay. Somehow, despite Ramsey and Merced both giving fine performances, their working romance thing drags. But once the action starts–after Ramsey passes the first three checkpoints, anyway–the episode takes off. Gabrielle’s phenomenal, bringing out new stuff in Ramsey. And Alanna Ubach’s in it for a scene and a delight.

Poker Face (2023) s02e01 “The Game Is a Foot” [2025] D: Rian Johnson. S: Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo, Jin Ha, Jasmine Guy. Awesome guest performance from Erivo as an apple picker who used to be a child actor. Mom Guy took all the money and cut Erivo out of the will. Lyonne’s on the run from the mob and befriends Erivo. Truly spectacular acting from Erivo, tepid, derivative direction from Rian Johnson. Erivo makes the episode. Odd for a season premiere.

Poker Face (2023) s02e02 “Last Looks” [2025] D: Natasha Lyonne. S: Natasha Lyonne, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Corrigan. Lyonne cowrites and directs. Esposito’s a creepy mortician with an unhappy wife (Holmes, who’s more enthusiastic than successful). When she goes missing, Lyonne gets suspicious but “no lies detected.” Fantastic performance from Esposito, with Lyonne directing him (and the episode) Hitchcockian but not obnoxiously. Corrigan’s got a bit part and is (too briefly) delightful. Lyonne and Esposito deliver.

Poker Face (2023) s02e03 “Whack-A-Mole” [2025] D: Miguel Arteta. S: Natasha Lyonne, John Mulaney, Richard Kind, Chris Bauer, Simon Helberg, Rhea Perlman. Nothing really matters like Rhea Perlman guesting as the mob boss out to get Lyonne. But then everything else delivers, too, like erstwhile FBI agent love interest Helberg’s return, which brings with it Kind, Bauer, and Mulaney. Bauer’s the dark horse, while Mulaney’s… fine. And it sets up the season (finally). The pacing, Lyonne, and Perlman rule.

Faster (2010) D: George Tillman Jr.. S: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Maggie Grace, Carla Gugino, Tom Berenger, Matt Gerald. Depressingly (because director Tillman just cannot hack it) bad car action picture about the Rock hunting down those who wronged him before he went to prison. Thornton is the cop on his trail, Jackson-Cohen is the hit man who comes between them. There’s no good acting until Annie Corley shows up, but Jackson-Cohen’s particularly godawful.

Hit Man (1972) D: George Armitage. S: Bernie Casey, Pam Grier, Lisa Moore, Bhetty Waldron, Sam Laws, Don Diamond, Bob Harris, Candy All. Mean, sometimes cruel revenge picture about Casey coming down to L.A. from Oakland to bury his brother. He soon finds out things aren’t what he assumed and he needs to take care of a variety of baddies. Solid acting from pretty much everyone but white Mr. Big Diamond. Grier’s a standout, Laws is hilarious, and Casey’s a great lead.

Pride (2014) D: Matthew Warchus. S: George MacKay, Ben Schnetzer, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Faye Marsay, Jessica Gunning. Charming historically-based comedy-drama about a group of eighties queer Londoners deciding to raise money for striking miners, regardless of whether they’re welcome. Excellent performances, fantastic production design, careful direction, and strong dialogue. The only thing wrong with it is the length (it’s too short). West, Gunning, and Scott give the standout performances, but everyone’s outstanding.

Rampage (2018) D: Brad Peyton. S: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jake Lacy, P.J. Byrne, Demetrius Grosse. Entertaining enough video game “adaptation” about Special Forces commando turned primatologist Johnson’s favorite ape getting doused with a DNA-change agent and turning into a giant monster. Harris is the disgraced scientist who can help, Morgan (with a bewildering “cowboy” accent) is the G-man who believes in the good guys. Great special effects, solid acting, blah finish.

Sinners (2025) D: Ryan Coogler. S: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson. After working as gunsels in 1930s Chicago, twin brothers Jordan (and Jordan) return home to Mississippi to open a juke joint. They’re trying to get the band together and reconnect with the loves left behind. But then it turns out vampires are real. And they love music. Great picture, start to finish. Writer-director Coogler handily surpasses his influences.

Skyscraper (2018) D: Rawson Marshall Thurber. S: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, Hannah Quinlivan. Former FBI strike team commando Johnson and Navy doctor commando Campbell are marrieds visiting a hi-tech skyscraper in Hong Kong. Johnson’s doing security consulting, Campbell’s taking the kids to see the pandas. A bunch of terrorists show up. Not good, but could be worse–Johnson’s effortlessly sturdy running through CGI chaos–and it’s always nice to see Campbell.

Unforgiven (1992) D: Clint Eastwood. S: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett, Richard Harris, Saul Rubinek, Anna Thomson. Eastwood’s final Western is a lush, deliberate, brooding examination of violent men and those they inflict violence upon. Eastwood and Freeman are bad men turned farmers looking for an easy payday to turn their lives around. Hackman is the vicious, cruel sheriff standing in their way. Beautiful filmmaking and the richest performances. Very smart script from David Webb Peoples.