Jesse
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The Godson (1967)
Le samouraï
★ 8.3 280 ratings
Jean-Pierre Melville actor: Alain Delon / 弗朗索瓦·佩里埃 …
other title: 独行杀手 / Le samouraï …
After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.
Watched
Oct. 28, 2026
This was my third watch, and I suppose I've seen this now just about once every 10 years (give or take), and it gets better every time; this watch boosted by seeing Melville's growth throughout his career this year.

I'm glad Alain Delon is Jef instead of Jean-Paul Belmondo (though he might've been a good detective?), Delon is perfect here.
Jesse 4K UHD
Oct. 28, 2026 Review A Review - a review of The Godson
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The Devils (1971)
The Devils
★ 8.5 33 ratings
肯·罗素 actor: 瓦妮莎·雷德格雷夫 / 奥列佛·里德 …
other title: 卢丹的恶魔 / 鲁登的恶魔 …
In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by the sexually repressed Sister Jeanne.
Watched
Oct. 19, 2026
Nothing really to add to my original review - the circus of politics and theatrics of religious fervor never go out of style - so I'll just say two things:

1. So glad I got to catch this on the big screen. It looked the best it probably ever has, and the added/extended scenes were a delight.

2. What was I thinking only giving this a 4.5 the first time around? !

Go see it big and loud while you still can!
Movies Just Right Jesse
Oct. 19, 2026 Review Two Reviews - a review of The Devils
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Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
★ 7.0 283 ratings
Pier Paolo Pasolini actor: 保罗·博纳切利 / 乔治·卡塔尔迪 …
other title: 索多玛120天 / Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma …
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.
Watched
Oct. 14, 2026
Nothing about this film is easy. Watching it. Talking about it. Thinking about it. Writing about it. It's uncompromising. It's a struggle and that's the point.

How brave were all involved to bring such an unflinchingly atrociously powerful piece of political work to life? How harrowing it must've been and yet how horrible to know that things much worse have happened, are (terrible to think) happening, will (worse to consider) happen again.

Gut-punch cinema that feels like a necessity, but such a challenging one to endure.
Blu-Ray Jesse
Oct. 14, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom
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Jack the Ripper (1976)
Jack the Ripper WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
赫苏斯·佛朗哥 actor: 克劳斯·金斯基 / 约瑟芬·卓别林 …
other title: 开膛手杰克 / Jack l'éventreur …
1976 film directed by Jesús Franco
Watched
Sept. 29, 2026
Kind of a long feeling 92 minutes, but the atmosphere of the streets, getting to really know and love the local establishments, and the kooky townsfolk banding together to try and discover Jack almost nearly make up for it.
Jesse Owned 4K UHD
Sept. 29, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Jack the Ripper
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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo: First Blood Part II
★ 7.3 126 ratings
乔治·P·科斯马图斯 actor: Sylvester Stallone / 理查德·克里纳 …
other title: 第一滴血2 / 兰博2 …
1985 film by George P. Cosmatos
Watched
Sept. 16, 2026
One gets a bit of whiplash going from the fairly thoughtful depiction of PTSD in the first First Blood to the montage of murder in the second First Blood, but I suppose a small reprieve busting up rocks in a quarry was just good medicine for a guy like John J. Rambo.
Jesse 4K UHD
Sept. 16, 2026 Review A Review - a review of Rambo: First Blood Part II
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Handgun (1983)
Deep in the Heart WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
Tony Garnett actor: Karen Young / Clayton Day …
other title: 深入我心 / Deep in the Heart …
Shortly after moving to Dallas, a young woman is raped at gunpoint. Her intense anger drives her to seek revenge, and she becomes a hunter on a vengeance mission.
Watched
Sept. 10, 2026
Karen Young and Clayton Day are both terrific in their roles. Also, the attack scene is as tastefully handled as it could be and lost none of the tension; I was practically holding my breath the whole time. Well done!
Jesse Blu-Ray
Sept. 10, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Handgun
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The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Long Goodbye
★ 7.3 75 ratings
Robert Altman actor: Elliott Gould / 妮娜·范·帕朗特 …
other title: 漫长的告别 / 长别离 …
1973 film by Robert Altman
Watched
Sept. 4, 2026
Hard to watch this and not think about how much of it influenced The Big Lebowski (1998) in some fashion or another.

Eliot Gould's Marlowe is okay by me, but the real star is Robert Altman's direction of everything else going on around Marlowe at any given moment. That and the 14 variations of the theme song that play throughout, whether in the movie's universe or on top of it.

When it ended, I was feeling pretty 4 about it, and when I woke up the next day I was feeling 4.5, but I could see it getting bumped up after a rewatch or two.
Criterion Channel MovieClub Jesse
Sept. 4, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of The Long Goodbye
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Magnet of Doom (1963)
L'aîné des Ferchaux
★ 6.6 5 ratings
让-皮埃尔·梅尔维尔 actor: 让-保罗·贝尔蒙多 / 夏尔·瓦内尔
other title: 费尔肖家的老大 / L'aîné des Ferchaux …
A down on his luck French ex-paratrooper turned amateur boxer takes a job as a private secretary and bodyguard for a corrupt French banker who is on the run from French authorities.
Watched
Aug. 26, 2026
Melville's first foray into color is also his first major misstep for me since 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown (1946). Not because of the color! But there's quite a bit that could be tightened up or removed entirely and the film would be far better for it.

What seemed like a story that could be a taut little tale about a guy on the lam and his assistant turned into a bit of a rambling travelogue.

Still some good moments, but not Melville's best.
Criterion Channel Jesse
Aug. 26, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Magnet of Doom
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First Blood (1982)
First Blood
★ 8.0 270 ratings
特德·科特切夫 actor: Sylvester Stallone / 理查德·克里纳 …
other title: 第一滴血 / 兰博 …
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Watched
Aug. 19, 2026
I can narrow down the last time I watched First Blood to sometime between 1995 and 2002, so it's been a minute. There were a few moments I remember vividly, more that I'd forgotten about completely, and watching it in 4k was as though I was watching it anew all together.

As my good friend Jesse pointed out, it's a strikingly well shot movie - you can almost feel the damp cold PNW winter. (Merry Christmas to Rambo, by the way!)

But then you also get a great cat-and-mouse manhunt going on that evokes Southern Comfort (1981) (lensed by the same cinematographer, Andrew Laszlo!). It's also hard not to see how the beats of this movie may have inspired the pacing of the The Fugitive (1993), or how Eddington (2025) may have even taken a page out of the ending, here.

Everyone is great, but Dennehy and Stalone are on point! (I couldn't not tear up at Stalone's final moments alone with his Col.)
4K UHD Jesse
Aug. 19, 2026 Review A Review - a review of First Blood
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Wake in Fright (1971)
Wake in Fright
★ 8.1 19 ratings
Ted Kotcheff / 特德·科特切夫 actor: Gary Bond / 唐纳德·普利森斯 …
other title: 内陆惊魂 / 假期惊魂 …
Awe-inspiring, brutal and stunning, Wake in Fright is the story of John Grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of Bundayabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney. But his one night stretches to five and he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. When the alcohol-induced mist lifts, the educated John Grant is no more. Instead there is a self-loathing man in a desolate wasteland, dirty red-eyed, sitting against a tree and looking at a rifle with one bullet left...
Watched
Aug. 12, 2026
A guy trying to get back home from work for a holiday break descends into madness from being stuck in his own personal hell, a small town of some of the friendliest, sweatiest, smelliest roughneck folk that he just cannot escape.

There's a scene in the back half that probably goes just a little too far, but it was the early 70's in the Australian outback, who can really say what's right or wrong? (I mean, it's kinda wrong, but it certainly does bring everything to its tipping point.)

Great acting, beautiful scenery, nearly unintelligible men drinking and drinking and drinking.

I haven't stopped thinking about this one all day; one of those "no reason not to give it 5 stars" movies, for sure.
4K UHD Jesse
Aug. 12, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Wake in Fright
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American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho
★ 7.8 652 ratings
Mary Harron actor: Christian Bale / Justin Theroux …
other title: 美国精神病人 / 美色杀人狂 …
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Watched
Aug. 8, 2026
Among other things this movie does incredibly well, this is probably very much what just completely losing it is like, and Bale plays it wonderfully.

And props to everyone, really, for filling the movie with great performances.

It's been at least 15 years since I've seen this, and I'd say it holds up nicely!
Jesse Blu-Ray Got It From The Library
Aug. 8, 2026 Review A Review - a review of American Psycho
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Doulos: The Finger Man (1962)
Le doulos WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 7.8 55 ratings
让-皮埃尔·梅尔维尔 actor: 让-保罗·贝尔蒙多 / 塞尔日·雷吉亚尼 …
other title: 眼线 / Le doulos …
1962 film by Jean-Pierre Melville
Watched
July 29, 2026
A terrific and twisty (though not convoluted) crime drama. Who can you trust when you're surrounded by double-crossing, finger-pointing hat wearers? In the end, loyalty is secured, trust is regained, and then death comes for us all.

Some really great long takes of dialog spinning around a room, characters you cheer for (and against), and one incredible car...accident... make this one easy to watch. And easy to love.
4K UHD Jesse
July 29, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Doulos: The Finger Man
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Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Terminator: Dark Fate
★ 6.7 468 ratings
Tim Miller actor: Mackenzie Davis / Natalia Reyes …
other title: 终结者：黑暗命运 / 未来战士：黑暗命运(港) …
Decades after Sarah Connor prevented Judgment Day, a lethal new Terminator is sent to eliminate the future leader of the resistance. In a fight to save mankind, battle-hardened Sarah Connor teams up with an unexpected ally and an enhanced super soldier to stop the deadliest Terminator yet.
Watched
July 22, 2026
I'd hate for this rating to be misconstrued as Dark Fate being as good as ("as good as") Terminator Genisys, or even that it's better than Terminator Salvation for that matter.

I debated 1.5 or 2, and what it ultimately came down to is not anything about the movie itself (which isn't great) (clearly), but the jokes that my good friend Jesse and I were able to make about it while the movie was happening at us.

I liked the opening and the idea of Carl (cool name) being from a future that never happens, but that's about it.
Jesse Paramount+
July 22, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Terminator: Dark Fate
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The Forgiven Sinner (1961)
Léon Morin, prêtre
★ 8.1 53 ratings
让-皮埃尔·梅尔维尔 actor: 让-保罗·贝尔蒙多 / 埃玛妞·丽娃 …
other title: 莱昂莫汉神父 / Léon Morin, prêtre …
Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.
Watched
July 2, 2026
If the story of a year in the life of a French communist atheist mother just trying to get by as she also starts to fall for a young communist priest the more that they banter about books and religion during wartime doesn't make you feel something, then I guess you're just not into that sort of thing and I feel bad for you.
Blu-Ray Jesse
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Terminator Genisys (2015)
Terminator Genisys
★ 6.3 422 ratings
艾伦·泰勒 actor: 阿诺德·施瓦辛格 / 杰森·克拉克 …
other title: 终结者：创世纪 / 终结者5 …
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
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Disclosure Day (2026)
Disclosure Day
★ 5.7 138 ratings
史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格 actor: Emily Blunt / Josh O'Connor …
other title: 揭秘日 / 揭密日 …
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?
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Excalibur (1981)
Excalibur
★ 7.3 14 ratings
约翰·保曼 actor: 尼吉尔·特瑞 / 海伦·米伦 …
other title: 黑暗时代 / 神剑 …
A surreal adaptation of Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" chronicling Arthur Pendragon's conception, his rise to the throne, the search by his Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail, and ultimately, his death.