Ted Strong

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The Thing from Another World 1951

★★★★½ Rewatched 14 Dec 2024

The Thing from Another World, 1951, produced by Howard Hawks, and ostensibly directed by Christian Nyby, but as David Thomson wrote, "seeing is believing."

Absolutely fun and well-made B-movie sci-fi monster movie from the 50s. One of the best of that bunch. Great, snowy fun, with a handful of characters stranded together. Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James Arness, Paul Frees, Dewey Martin.
A favorite of John Carpenter he would remake this into an absolute masterpiece in the 1982.
"Keep watching the skies!"
Via TCM.
Nowhere to Go 1958

★★★½ Watched 14 Dec 2024

Nowhere to Go, 1958, directed by Seth Holt, written by Kenneth Tynan and Holt.
Effective crime thriller from Holt in in his directorial debut.
Thief George Nader escapes prison, and is on the run. Very good support from Maggie Smith (in her first billed film appearance), Bond boys Bernard Lee and Geoffrey Keen, Lionel Jeffries, and Bessie Love.
Via TCM, on a Maggie Smith (1934-2024) memorial day of programming.

Popular reviews

The Big Sleep 1946

★★★★★ Rewatched 07 Dec 2024

The Big Sleep, 1946, directed by Howard Hawks. Screenplay by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman, from Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel.
"She tried to sit on my lap while I was standing up."
So many great scenes. Bogart and Martha Vickers, Bogart and Bacall, Bogart and Malone, Bogart and Elisha Cook, Bogart and the woman at Geiger’s, Bogart and the cabbie... Louis Jean Heydt getting shot at the door, the second bullet splintering the wood.
Some people dock points…
The Long Kiss Goodnight 1996

★★★ Watched 07 Dec 2024

The Long Kiss Goodnight, 1996, directed by Renny Harlin, screenplay by Shane Black.
A bit of a mess of an action comedy, not bad, but tonally hard to figure out. I think Geena Davis was good in it, but it took a while for me to come to that conclusion. Fun final action scene/explosion set piece.
Via a DVD from my local library.

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