Jesse
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Magnet of Doom (1963) Douban Eggplant.place TMDB IMDb WikiData
L'aîné des Ferchaux
6.6 (5 ratings) director: 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.
Aug. 26, 2026 watched
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.
Aug. 26, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Magnet of Doom
Criterion Channel Jesse
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First Blood (1982) TMDB IMDb Min reol Skybridge Eggplant.place Douban WikiData
First Blood
8.0 (263 ratings) director: 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.
Aug. 19, 2026 watched
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.)
Aug. 19, 2026 Review A Review - a review of First Blood
4K UHD Jesse
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Wake in Fright (1971) IMDb Douban TMDB WikiData
Wake in Fright
8.3 (17 ratings) director: 特德·科特切夫 actor: 唐纳德·普利森斯 / 加里·邦德 …
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...
Aug. 12, 2026 watched
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.
Aug. 12, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Wake in Fright
4K UHD Jesse
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American Psycho (2000) Douban Min reol Eggplant.place IMDb WikiData Bangumi Skybridge TMDB
American Psycho
7.8 (635 ratings) director: 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.
Aug. 8, 2026 watched
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!
Aug. 8, 2026 Review A Review - a review of American Psycho
Jesse Blu-Ray Got It From The Library
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Doulos: The Finger Man (1962) IMDb Douban TMDB WikiData
Le doulos
7.8 (54 ratings) director: 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
July 29, 2026 watched
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.
July 29, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Doulos: The Finger Man
4K UHD Jesse
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Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) IMDb Douban TMDB KevGa-NeoDB WikiData Skybridge
Terminator: Dark Fate
6.7 (465 ratings) director: 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.
July 22, 2026 watched
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.
July 22, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Terminator: Dark Fate
Jesse Paramount+
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The Forgiven Sinner (1961) IMDb Douban TMDB WikiData
Léon Morin, prêtre
8.1 (53 ratings) director: 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 …
1961 film by Jean-Pierre Melville
July 2, 2026 watched
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) IMDb Eggplant.place Douban TMDB WikiData Skybridge
Terminator Genisys
6.3 (418 ratings) director: 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) TMDB Douban IMDb Eggplant.place WikiData Skybridge
Disclosure Day
5.5 (116 ratings) director: 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) Douban TMDB Eggplant.place IMDb WikiData
Excalibur
7.3 (12 ratings) director: 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.
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The Night of the Hunter (1955) IMDb Douban TMDB Min reol WikiData
The Night of the Hunter
7.8 (145 ratings) director: 查尔斯·劳顿 actor: 罗伯特·米彻姆 / 谢利·温特斯 …
other title: 猎人之夜 / 猎人的夜晚 …
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
June 9, 2026 watched
Striking cinematography and a haunting lullaby-like score/soundtrack set the tone, but it's Robert Mitchum being great at playing a real sonofabitch that really seals the deal here. Honestly, pretty much everyone's great in this, even the kids!
It's curious to me how/why this wasn't well received when it first came out, but I'm glad it's appreciated now.
Blu-Ray MovieClub Jesse
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Virus (1980) Douban IMDb TMDB WikiData
Virus
director: 布鲁诺·马泰 actor: Margit Evelyn Newton / 佛朗哥·加罗法洛 …
other title: 地狱活死人 / 可怕的地方 …
A rat causes a chemical leak at a Papua New Guinea research facility, leading a group of eco-terrorists to demand the closure of all facilities. When a team of Interpol commandos are enlisted to eliminate the terrorists, they find themselves embroiled in a zombie outbreak.
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Bob the Gambler (1956) Douban IMDb TMDB WikiData
Bob le flambeur
6.9 (42 ratings) director: 让-皮埃尔·梅尔维尔 actor: 罗杰·杜切斯尼 / 伊莎贝拉·科瑞 …
other title: 赌徒鲍伯 / Bob le flambeur …
In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.