The Insomniac's Guide to Inappropriate Enjoyment of Cinema

08/27/2025

Been sooooo goddamn long since I hammered on about binge watching good s**t.

Life changes and such.

Kinda digging Alien Earth right now.
Thunderbolts comes out on D+ in about 36 hours.
Working my way through Season 2 of the Last of US.

The fact that Noah Hawley, who wrote Legion, one of the few amazing Marvel TV shows that hit network play, kinda helps my interest in Alien Earth.

More to come.

J

03/28/2024

Miller's Crossing...

Good Lord.
It's shot beautifully.
It's hard to find a bad performance.
The storyline and how Gabriel Byrne is weaving himself in and out of all of it is extraordinary.

One thing that has always disturbed me...
Why does the soundtrack seem like an interpretation of the peeka boo song?

As a soundtrack, it's a beautiful piece but very incongruent to scene.

We're about to see a bar blow up.
Why are we hearing what sounds like leprechauns descending from heaven?

It's a thought...

05/03/2023

Several "rabbit holes" later, and I am 8+ seasons in on SUITS.

What is WRONG with me?

11/24/2022

This TOTALLY belongs here.

Happy Thanksgiving

10/26/2022

Viggo Moretensen on A History of Violence (2005): "If not the best, it's one of the best movies I've ever been in. There's no such thing as a perfect movie, but in the way that that script was handled, the way it was shot ... it's a perfect film noir movie, or it's close to perfect I should say."

Mortensen said he read Josh Olson's original version of the script and "was quite disappointed. It was 120-odd pages of just mayhem; kind of senseless, really." He only agreed to do the movie after meeting with director David Cronenberg, who (according to Mortensen) reworked the script.

During an interview, Mortensen stated that during the shooting of the first bar scene with Ed Harris he could not stop laughing, and as a result, the scene had to be reshot several times. Due to Mortensen's behavior, Harris completed the scene without pants; he only wore his underwear, yet this cannot be seen as the bar table impedes our view. Thus, Mortensen had to act seriously while Harris was not wearing any pants, and this is the scene that is used in the movie.

Mortensen bought many props for the diner and the Stall home from his trip in the American Midwest. This helped him get deeper into his character e.g. fishing themed, like the poster of fish types shown on the back wall opposite the counter. (IMDb)

Happy Birthday, Viggo Mortensen!

10/19/2022

Having a late night rerun of PoolHall Junkies.
'02 indie release from Mars Callahan, who is probably the least interesting thing here.

Funny footnote.
That IS Anson Mount.
That IS Christopher Walken, and he brings his all.

However, while many know Walken's "Lion documentary" speech, I relate more to Rod Steiger's monologue to Callahan's "Johnny, and how he sums up what he fears the most for his young friend.

Found the script and saved it here.

Night, y'all;)

10/16/2022

Rewatching AMERICAN BEAUTY...

I know Lester Burnham is a flawed man, and Kevin Spacey is a real life sack of s**t, but the two of them are absolutely RiVeTiNg in this movie. The way this dude eyeballs people in this movie is one of the most threatening things I have seen.

10/16/2022

Still barely breaking into the a.m., but of the OCEANS movie franchise, (8, 11,12 & 13), leaving out the original, which I know somewhat well, but it is unfamiliar to others...

What is your favorite scene from them?

There are several I dig, but I gotta say, if I were ever to shed this overweighted frame of mine, I f**king wish I could just once look as good as Pitt does in some of the suits in Oceans 12.

10/13/2022

https://youtu.be/Udj-o2m39NA

09/20/2022

https://youtu.be/hNS0tqRSGRA

Alright... Let's talk about it.
Who here has not been roped into watching FIGHT CLUB in the early a.m.?

First time I actually saw this, several friends and I were invited into a theater for an after hours showing IN the early a.m. Though I brought a pillow and spread out on the floor of the aisle (not an entirely hygienic idea, now that I recall), this movie repeatedly made and still makes me sit up and say WOW.

This is still one of the most quotable movies of my youth. Seeing this when it was released, between the ages of 18 & 20 for me, Palahnuik's words fell right in line with so many other whisperers, and dared you to quickly acknowledge reality and adapt or forever delude yourself.

Who doesn't wanna die without scars?

Some of my favorite moments are absolute irony, as previously discussed though, and for this one, there is a scene that seems weirdly prophetic.

Let's go to this quote...

"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pi**ed off."

There is a young, blonde haired fella in this shot, nodding along with every word. Believe it or not, that is a very young Jared Leto, who actually grew up to become a millionaire, movie star and a rock god;)

Do we all remember the beat down where Norton trashed that blonde haired younger fella, and then tells Pitt "I wanted to destroy something beautiful?

Jared Leto again.

And each time, I can not help but giggle and tell myself that's Jared Leto, getting his ass handed to him for being prettier than Pitt in the few shots he is here.

Do not upstage Tyler Durden.

And then there is the obvious.

What hetero male did not have a crush on Helena Bonham Carter after this?

She ad libbed the line that launched so many inappropriate feelings and questions for so many people and I'm still not sure whether to be unsettled or intrigued...

"I haven't been fu**ed like that since grade school."

Til next time, J

*NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.*may contain spoilers*sorry for the bad cuts. I'm new at this editing thing.

09/18/2022

So... I watch a lot of movies.

I have issues sleeping, and between that and an extraordinary appetite for literary, conversational and visual input, I just absorb stories. Match that with a mindset that says "there is something worthwhile to take away from everything,"

Which means I watch A LOT.
So... For a while, because I think it sounds fun, I will be dropping strange scenes from some "off the beaten path" movies. Stuff that makes me laugh, cry and often involuntarily wake my amazing wife as she is gracefully attempting to slumber.

Feel free to comment with your favorites. I love talking this stuff.

Our 2a.m. classic this morning is
BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK99 with Vince Vaughn.

I'll be brief with my setup.

Vince Vaughn loses his job.
He then goes and makes all the wrong decisions, ending himself up in jail. This forces him to make other worse decisions, injuring many people along the way or worse. He leaves us a trail of carnage in his wake. He has a pregnant girlfriend on the outside, who is kidnapped by the cartel people he was apprehended with. They actually threaten to REMOVE THE FETUS' ARMS AND LEGS SURGICALLY WHILE IN UTERO, and have an Asian abortionist on standby.

Not exactly a setting for comedy.

However, there is a scene, at @1:56, where Vaughn has turned the tables on his would be captors, and forces the drug runner to call in and cancel the abortion.

The next shot is of Jennifer Carpenter, standing, strapped to a gurney, and a lawyer telling the abortionist "plans have changed..."

And he says not a word, but you can hear him sigh, and his body language is SO SAD, that I damn near p**s myself laughing every time.

A fine movie for anybody looking for wanton violence in the middle of the night. People are so used to Vaughn being funny, they forget he is a 6'5" monster who was in the remake of PSYCHO.

Available currently for free on TUBI.
https://youtu.be/5hfAExhHTMM

Good morning, y'all;)