What I Watched in November 2023

The List 

THE CREATOR (2023) – 8 (not completely original but very well-done science fiction)

SAMOA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE (1968) – 6 (rewatch)

WALK A CROOKED MILE (1948) – 8 (excellent crime film set in San Francisco)

WALK EAST ON BEACON! (1952) – 6 (good but uninvolving FBI search for commies)

POSSESSOR (2020) – 8 (rewatch)

PUSHOVER (1954) – 8 (excellent crime noir)

A BULLET IS WAITING (1954) – 6 (color noir with a rural setting)

CHICAGO SYNDICATE (1955) – 7 (mob infiltration noir – great characters)

THE LOCKET (1946) – 7 (portrait of a kleptomaniac)

THE BROTHERS RICO (1957) – 8 (the inevitability of things in the world of crime)

OFF BALANCE (a.k.a. Phantom of Death) – 6 (Deodato thriller should have been shorter)

THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950) – 6 (combination of noir crime and pandemic tale)

BABYLON 5: THE ROAD HOME (2023) – 8 (animated continuation of the story)

RENFIELD (2023) – 7 (comedic take on Dracula in modern New Orleans – OOT fun)

TWO OF A KIND (1951) – 7 (solid noirish crime tale)

THE KILLER (2023) – 8 (sharp, stylish assassin drama)

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986) – 4 (rewatch on Blu) (even worse than I remembered – just incompetent)

BAD FOR EACH OTHER (1953) – 8 (dark doctor drama with Charlton Heston)

THE MARVELS (2023) – 7 (we needed more time with the villain and the family – but fun)

QUEEN BEE (1955) – 7 (Louisiana set noir with Joan Crawford)

THE GLASS WALL (1953) – 5 (drama about a European immigrant desperate to live in the US)

APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW (1957) – 7 (well done ‘alcoholic newspaperman solves crime’ tale)

THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948) – 8 (noir with Widmark as a crime boss)

THE DEVIL PLAYS (1931) – 5 (OK whodunit)

WHEN EVIL LURKS (2023) – 9 (rewatch)

BROOKLYN 45 (2023) – 8 (rewatch)

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965) – 7

711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950) – 7 (noir rags to riches to Boulder Dam story)

THANKSGIVING (2023) – 6 (Roth inches one across the line)

THE MOB (1951) – 7 (cop Broderick Crawford goes undercover)

AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952) – 7 (Rita Hayworth as a widow turned spy)

TIGHT SPOT (1955) – 7 (Ginger Rogers as a prisoner asked to turn state’s evidence)

THE GLASS KEY (1942) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

THE WESTLAND CASE (1937) – 6 (the first Bill Crane detective film)

DEAD RECKONING (1947) – 7 (Bogart noir mystery)

13 GHOSTS (1960) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

TARZANA, THE WILD WOMAN (1969) – 6

SALTBURN (2023) - 8 (blistering class war tale viewed as a personal journey)

KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (1949) – 6 (Bogart as a defense lawyer trying to save a suspected killer)

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER (1959) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

FIGHTING FRONTIER (1943) – 6 (fun B-western with Tim Holt in good form)

MILDRED PIERCE (1945) – 9 (excellent noir melodrama with Crawford and Blyth acting their faces off!)

REPTILE (2023) – 8 (murder mystery that leads to larger crimes)

TOKYO JOE (1949) – 6 (Bogart in a crime noir that mostly fumbles a good idea)