everything'll be okay after tomorrow

Average rating: 6.2, ouch

 

SPOILER ALERT: don't read the third entry (Infernal Affairs III) if you haven't seen it—or the second film in the series—and want to keep it a mystery.

 

Blacklight (2022) - "Blacklight follows Travis Block, a veteran government operative who handles dangerous, behind-the-scenes assignments for the FBI, including rescuing undercover agents. When an ambitious insider tries to expose a covert program that appears to be targeting ordinary citizens, Block begins to suspect something is deeply wrong within the bureau itself. As he probes further with the help of a journalist, he finds himself at odds with his own boss and pulled into a conspiracy that endangers his daughter and granddaughter. What follows are a series of confrontations, chases, and attempts to uncover the truth while protecting his family." 

length: 1h, 44m  |  source: PlutoTV  |  directed by Mark Williams  |  why I watched: it was on my PlutoTV recommendations list

IMDb: 4.9/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 12% / 82% Audience  |  my IMDb: 3/10  |  MPAA: PG-13

tone & texture: gritty, monochrome/muted

notable quote: "As unpopular as it may sound, history tell us that spilling a little blood is absolutely necessary to maintain law and order."

my notes: good lord. 

    A. Does FBI really have only 5 employees, who could be nicknamed Corrupt, Incorruptible, Crazy, and Thug #1 and Thug #2? Huh. 

    B. An African American female journalist will never be murdered in an American movie. Hence, that tension is gone. 

    C. Mental health conditions are not jokes or taglines, and they most certainly don't "sometimes make me better at my job." 

    D. Child actors required to perform realistic dialog need to be old enough, or skilled enough, to do so without clearly watching their prompter. 

    E. Chemistry is vital in a film cast. These characters interact as if they're newly arrived on this planet and have never been around others before. 

themes: moral ambiguity, power

overall: not  recommended

 

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - "Due to a telephone glitch, Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), a controlling heiress with a physical disability, overhears a conversation about a plan to kill a woman. Unable to leave her home or reach her husband (Burt Lancaster), and written off by the police, Leona struggles to uncover the truth through a series of phone calls that only lead her deeper into a mystery, which may involve her college rival, Sally (Ann Richards), and a scheme to sell pharmaceuticals on the black market." 

length: 1h, 29m  |  source: Amazon Prime Video  |  directed by Anatole Litvak  |  why I watched: I was in the mood for a classic (previously reviewed here)

IMDb: 7.3/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 86% / 78% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: Approved

tone & texture: noir, unsettling

notable quote: "What does a dame like you want with a guy like me?"

my notes: this film breaks one of my cinematic rules—show me, don't tell me—but that's the point of the movie, so, there you go. Barbara Stanwyck's performance was outstanding, showing Leona's aggressive, entitled control and also her brittle fear and ineffectual manner of living. 

    Lancaster is wasted in the role of Henry, which is more about revealing abjectness and frustration than about presence or competence, like his best roles have shown. (See, e.g., From Here to Eternity {1953, reviewed here}, Separate Tables {1958, reviewed here}, Judgment at Nuremberg {1961, reviewed here}, and The Train {1964; reviewed here}.)  

    This time around I was struck by Ed Begley as Leona's father, James Cotterell. His character is a drugstore magnate, but at the same time is servile and ineffectual. He's the key character, really, despite being onscreen for only five minutes.

themes: power

Academy Award nominee: Best Actress—Stanwyck 

overall:  recommended

Infernal Affairs III {Mou gaan dou III: Jung gik mou gaan} (2003) - "Two periods are interwoven: the final days leading up to Inspector Chan Wing-yan’s death and the years afterward, as Lau Kin-ming attempts to live openly as a respected police officer while privately unraveling. As an internal affairs investigation threatens to expose past crimes, Lau becomes increasingly haunted by guilt, paranoia, and imagined conversations with the dead. The film revisits earlier events from altered perspectives, reframing what loyalty, betrayal, and survival actually cost. Rather than resolving the trilogy through action, it closes by examining the long-term psychological consequences of living a lie—and whether punishment is ultimately external or self-inflicted." 

length: 1h, 58m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Wai Keung [Andrew] Lau, Alan Mak  |  why I watched: I've seen the first two (I is reviewed here and here; II is reviewed here)

IMDb: 6.8/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: N/A% / 70% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: Not Rated

tone & texture: bleak, high-color/stylized

notable quote: "Dr. Lee has a..., ah..., nice personality."

my notes: this film is less interested in plot than in psychological aftermath—especially the internal collapse of Lau Kin-ming, played by Andy Lau. If I and II are about identity under pressure, III is about what survives once the pressure is gone. The shifting timelines, hallucinations, and repetitions aren’t accidents; they’re meant to place the viewer inside Lau’s eroding sense of self and reality.

    By contrast, Chan Wing-yan is distressingly, blatantly alive here, despite being dead (oops, spoiler for both III and II). Lau can't let him go, so his presence keeps asserting itself.

    This is a super deep movie disguised as a power-play. (There's also some very cool stuff going on with the Cantonese title that makes me wish I could understand the language. Maybe someday!)

themes: identity, memory, power

overall:  recommended

Our Hospitality (1923) - "Sole heir Willie McKay (Buster Keaton) journeys by train from New York City to Kentucky to claim his fortune amid a decades-old feud with the Canfield family. En route, he meets and is smitten with young beauty Virginia (Natalie Talmadge), who invites him to dinner, but he realizes too late that she is the only daughter of patriarch Joseph Canfield (Joe Roberts). The rules of hospitality protect McKay from harm in their house, but he must outwit her brothers to resolve the feud." 

length: 1h, 5m  |  source: Fawesome  |  directed by Buster Keaton, John G Blystone  |  why I watched: I was looking for a short, funny movie on a Sunday evening

IMDb: 7.7/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 97% / 89% Audience  |  my IMDb: 7/10  |  MPAA: Passed

tone & texture: playful, textured/earthy

notable quote: "'I've been trying to forget this feud. Why can't you do the same?'

    'No! I came a long way to kill him, and I'm going to do it tonight!"

my notes: though not as engaging as The General (1926; reviewed here and here), it's still got Keaton's irrepressible charm and athleticism, hiding behind his guileless and silly demeanor. 

    There is a running gag with guns, of all things, that had me laughing out loud.  

themes: tradition v. change

overall:  recommended

 

Ocean's Twelve (2004) - "After successfully robbing five casinos in one night, Danny Ocean and his crew of thieves have big problems. Despite pulling off one of the biggest heists in Las Vegas history, the members of the gang have already spent much of the money they stole. Casino owner Terry Benedict demands that Ocean return the money, plus millions more in interest. Unable to come up the cash, the crew is forced to come together to pull off another series of heists, this time in Europe." 

length: 2h, 5m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Steven Soderbergh  |  why I watched: I've been watching the series so that I can list to eBay and wave goodbye

IMDb: 6.5/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 55% / 60% Audience  |  my IMDb: 6/10  |  MPAA: PG-13

tone & texture: energetic, crisp & modern

notable quote: "'A doctor who specializes in skin diseases will dream he has fallen asleep in front of the television. Later, he will wake up in front of the television, but not remember his dream.'     

    'If all the animals along the equator were capable of flattery, then Thanksgiving and Halloween would fall on the same date.'

    'Yeah, Hey. ... When I was four years old, I watched my mother kill a spider with a tea cozy. Years later, I realized that it was not a spider: it was my uncle Harold.'"

my notes: my least favorite of the four Ocean's, by far. It feels cold and choppy, and the obsession with Catherine Zeta Jones' character—an unappealing flipflop of a woman—distracts from much more interesting dynamics and performances, e.g. Vincent Cassel and Andy Garcia. Watch it only if you need to see the whole series.

themes: chaos v. order, found family

overall: weakly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Infernal Affairs III]