Blue Jasmine [2013]
1. “We can use the back seat. There’s nobody around, not many people anyway. I have tinted windows, it’s perfect.”
2. She hangs up. Her split-second expression of mischievous triumph curdles into despair.
3. Wet, stringy hair; her blouse not fully buttoned; sumptuous Chanel jacket.
Magnificent. Allen’s best drama since Another Woman?
The Intruder [1962]
1. “You negroes are going to get some of us niggers killed.”
2. Nighttime. The residents of the neighborhood watch silently as a long caravan of cars passes through. At the very end, a pickup truck hauling a cloth-covered cross.
3. He lets the bullets fall through his fingers to the ground.
Gangs of New York [2002]
1. A jar of severed ears on top of the bar, next to a giant barrel labelled All Sorts.
2. Malevolent twinkle in the eye, a silent laughing grin.
3. “It’ll all be over tomorrow,” he naively announces.
Bernie [2011]
1. Superglue under the eyelids, between the lips.
2. The five regions of Texas.
3. She writes a letter to the warden, requesting he receive a work release to sing at her funeral.
Definitely one of the best movies about Texas that I’ve seen since True Stories.
The Bank Dick [1940]
1. Hearty handclasp.
2. “Is that gun loaded?”
“No, but I think you are.”
3. He hands him the windshield.
“The tiki establishment that Chicago has been waiting for, as well as the one that will convince tiki skeptics to take the style seriously.”
Wherein I take an in-depth look at Chicago’s newest tiki bar, 3 Dots and a Dash.
The Muppet Movie [1979]
1. “They don’t look like Presbyterians to me.”
2. Dr. Honeydew is recording sound using a Nagra.
3. Steve Martin in short shorts.
It’s a Gift [1934]
1. “I want ten pounds of cumquats!” (Spelled c-u-m-q-u-a-t-s.)
2. Coconut Slinky.
3. He looks forlornly away as his family deserts him. Sits on the fender of the car, which disintegrates. Then on the steps of the shack. Takes a pull from his flask. The dog comes over and licks his ear. He pets it gently.
Home from the Hill [1960]
1. “Okay, now before I bleed to death I’d like a swallow of whisky and some medical attention.”
2. Her father throws him out. He slowly walks away from the house. Two blasts of a horn from a faraway train. Then he tosses the corsage into a bush.
3. Reprobate’s Field.
Engrossing. And it makes really interesting companion piece to Some Came Running.
