Sunday, September 26, 2021

Farewell my concubine


LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT

2017 PRC/2019 USA
Directed by Chen Kaige
Written by Hui-Ling Wang and Chen Kaige (based on the novel Sramana Kukai by Baku Yumenakura)

Spoiler alert: mild

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

The legendary weapons of China


SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

2021
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Written by Dave Callaham, Andrew Lanham, and Destin Daniel Cretton

Spoiler alert: moderate

Monday, September 20, 2021

Cardboard Science: Jet age


CHAIN LIGHTNING

1950
Directed by Stuart Heisler
Written by Liam O'Brien, Vincent B. Evans, and Lester Cole

Spoiler alert: moderate

Thursday, September 16, 2021

She's a real basket case


MALIGNANT

2021
Directed by James Wan
Written by Ingrid Bisu, Akela Cooper, and James Wan

Spoiler alert: the determination of a spoiler warning is a subjective exercise, of course, but I will assert "moderate"

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Have you considered a centrifuge?


MADAME CURIE

1943
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Paul Osborn, Paul Rameau, Walter Reisch, and Aldous Huxley (based on the book by Éve Curie)

Spoiler alert: inapplicable

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

If she doesn't scare you, that sounds about right


CRUELLA

2021
Directed by Craig Gillepsie
Written by Dana Fox, Tony McNamara, Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis

Spoiler alert: the puppies were all products of incest, apparently (moderate) 

"All women are rivals, fundamentally" (so which one's Joan Fontaine?)


THE DARK MIRROR

1946
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Nunnally Johnson and Vladimir Pozner

Spoiler alert: moderate

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Try hitting him with the car again, that usually works in cases like these


RANDOM HARVEST

1942
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, and Claudine West (based on the novel by James Hilton)

Spoiler alert: moderate

Saturday, September 4, 2021

You killed Charlotte! You bastards!


BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST

1941
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Anita Loos and Ralph Wainwright

Spoiler alert: inapplicable? though Edna Gladney is not, I daresay, actually well-known, plus they make up a whole lot of stuff, so "moderate"

I loved you, I've never loved anyone else, I never shall


WATERLOO BRIDGE

1940
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by S.N. Behrman, Hans Rameau, and George Froeschel (based on the play by Robert E. Sherwood)

Spoiler alert: moderate (and severe, I suppose, for the 1931 film of the same name, which I recommend you never watch for fun)

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

And some, you'd assume, were good people


HOLD BACK THE DAWN

1941
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Richard Maibaum, and Manuel Reachi (based on the novel by Ketti Frings)

Spoiler alert: moderate