Tag: robertmitchum

Thunder Road

~ Mark

Thunder Road. It’s not amazing, but it’s fun, funny and memorable, which is close to the same thing. Good music. Nice engine roars. There’s one car crash that’s just amazing. Lemme spoil it: the car spins out, and skids off the road. Okay, no big deal. Then, wait, now it’s going downhill. And gaining speed. And then it catches fire! And tumbles end over end! And THEN it plunges into a waterfall! Exhilarating. Also, how could Mitchum’s character not go for Roxy?

The Night of the Hunter

~ Mark

The Night of the Hunter. So strange and so cool. This is the most German Expressionist film made by an American I’ve ever seen. I love the shifting between naturalistic location shoots and the strange, surreal sets in dramatically lit interiors and highly staged outdoors scenes later. Strange biblical dialogue and a few main characters you never quite become easy with. Some things aren’t right in this neighborhood. Perfect horror.

Out of the Past

~ Mark

Out of the Past. Said it before, I’ll say it again:

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Part of what sets it apart is an incredible script.

Ann: Every time I look at the sky, I think of all the places I’ve never been.

Jeff: Yes, and every time you look up, they’re all the same.

A: You’ve been a lot of places, haven’t you?

J: One too many.

A: Which did you like best?

J: This one right here.

A: I bet you say that to all the places.

I fear that my feelings about the rest of Jacques Tourneur’s work mirror my feelings about about Larry McMurtry’s:

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To sum up, this is my reflex film. It’s what I turn to when there is no other hope. Though there are many very good reasons to love this film, my enthusiasm is now well beyond the bounds of rationality, and I won’t have it any other way.