Windbreaker!

Under discussion:

Stephen King's The Mist  (2007)

I'm very, very irritated with Frank Darabont right now.  The first half of The Mist had so much promise, but the second half turned ridiculous.  And I'm not talking ridiculous in the sense of creatures lurking in an ominous mist outside the store where you're trapped -- I'm talking ridiculous in the sense of what normal people might do when faced with real terror.  History tells us that mass suicide is not a likely scenario.

What *really* turned me off was the phony Bible-thumping character.  So much so that once her role escalated, I never recovered.  I could not bring myself back to the feeling I had in the first 60 minutes -- extremely nervous due to the claustorphobic nature of the set.  She was phony because Darabont didn't bother trying to make this woman 1% believable.  Does ANYONE in Hollywood know a born-again Christian?  Anyone?!  Half of her poppycock dialogue alleged to be biblical prophesy was just wild ad-lib on Darabont's part.  Bah!

And the "shock" finale was just that -- shock value.  No merit.  (I'll be kind and warn you to turn away if you don't want to be spoilerized)

Look, you want me to believe that the dad, chick, old lady, and nice geezer sit in the car for 30 seconds after driving who-knows-how-far before deciding they better off themselves?  What's to say the mist doesn't stop 50 feet ahead of them?  I saw this freakin ending coming a mile away and hated it.  Not for the sheer fact that dad turned the gun on everyone, but because it wasn't the time for it.  Maybe if they had been in the car 3 days without food and water, surrounded by creatures... but not the immediate sacrifice.  "Let's drive as far as we can because we want to survive, dammit!"  "Oh, out of gas now?  Ok, I had a nice life.  Buh-bye."

Under discussion:

On Dangerous Ground  (1951)

Be like me and buy every one of the WB Film Noir Box Sets.  On Dangerous Ground is the first one I watched out of Vol. 3 and it alone makes the box worth grabbing.

Noir staple Robert Ryan plays Robert Ryan (a tough cop who regularly beats up bad guys).  "Why do you make me do it? You know you're gonna talk!"  The first act takes place in a dark, rainy city.  The cinematography sets up the first-person, lonely, hopeless sort of feeling quite well.  Then the film completely shifts character -- Ryan is transferred out to the wintry countryside to catch a killer on the loose.  Watching Ryan act is always a treat.  There are some scenes where he doesn't even speak, but manages to speak volumes through expressions and body language. 

Don't rent it, buy the set!

Under discussion:

L'Avventura  (1960)

I want to say I love L'avventura... it's unique and considering it arrived in 1960, way ahead of its time in terms of the method of plot delivery.  This film basically has a surprise beginning, as opposed to a surprise ending.  My beef is that it was a smidge too long (2:20).

At the beginning, Anna is the centerpiece.  She and some friends are on a remote island when she disappears without a trace.  Boyfriend Sandro and pal Claudia pursue the few leads that surface without success.  Then at some point (I'm not exactly sure when), they don't really care about finding Anna anymore.  And neither does the viewer.  It becomes clear that the film's focus is Claudia, not Anna -- and not Claudia's physical adventure tracking Anna, but her emotional adventure with and without Sandro.  Sandro is a tool.  Claudia should realize it, but doesn't until the end. 

The disc looks great.  It's Criterion, and you know those guys can restore an old film like nobody's business.  Rent it.