by Sam Juliano
The schedule for the upcoming Sixth Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival is as follows:
Saturday, May 28 Jamie Uhler (US)
Sunday, May 29 Joel Bocko (US)
Monday, May 30 Bobby Josson (UK)
Tuesday, May 31 Robert Hornak (US)
Wednesday, June 1 J. D. Lafrance (Canada)
Thursday, June 2 Marco Tremble (UK)
Friday, June 3 Roderick Heath (Australia)
Saturday, June 4 Sachin Gandhi (Canada)
Sunday, June 5 Tony D’Ambra (Australia)
Monday, June 6 Sam Juliano (US)
Thanks so much to all the writers and those who will be following the festival.
Lucille, Bill Kamberger and I experienced a fabulous Broadway musical on Saturday night. Girl from North Country is a stirring and soulful work featuring riveting staging of Bob Dylan songs. I am not at all surprised it has garnered seven Tony Award nominations.
Wishing everyone a great week!
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
Manic Monday.
“Top Gun: Maverick” won’t be released until May 27 and the critics, or shills, are already wetting their collective diddies. But I wonder. Why does this sequel exist except to reap box- office billions? Why this celebration of American militarism 36 years after the saber-rattling of the original? The Soviet Union—Reagan’s “evil empire”—is dead (the long-delayed “Maverick” was shot well before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine), so who is the Hollywood Right demonizing this time? Reviews are spoiler-free, so I’ll never know because I refuse to be suckered into seeing this audio-visual assault, this protracted MTV-style music video.
And I like Tom Cruise, the handsome, happy extrovert. Who doesn’t?
“The Killer Is Loose” (so was Nancy Archer). Nasty, brutish, and short (73 minutes). Just the way I like ’em. But seriously, Boetticher’s noir (that’s not a typo) touches on important themes: an America awash in guns; her history of treating war veterans with benign neglect. The film slashes forward with a swiftness that is almost breathtaking and it’s hard as an anvil dropped in your lap.
Starring Joseph Cotten, Wendell Corey, Rhonda Fleming (in monochrome, boooo), Alan Hale, and Virginia Christine (who played the unctuous bigot in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”). A-
A quibble. It takes a prompting from the police captain before Cotten realizes that his wife is the killer’s real target. Cotten’s detective is a mite obtuse, isn’t he?
Mark, thank you for that trenchant commentary! I am no fan of TOP GUN and like you my mind-set is markedly interrogative. of course as you note or imply, this is strictly a money proposition. I do like Cruise is some other films, and concur with your “handsome, happy extrovert” framing. But I will not be going out of my way to access it. You are also spot-on with THE KILLER IS LOOSE, and your rating would be mine for it as well. You assess it superbly methinks! Have a great weekend my good friend!!
Exactly. Those who don’t think Cruise is much of an actor haven’t been paying attention all these years. He’s especially fine in Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, and Magnolia.
But the new Top Gun looks like sound and fury signifying…not much.
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Remembering Ruth Donnelly on her birthday. One of the smartest smartasses of Hollywood’s golden age.
Oh I remember her well mark, and count myself as a big fan! Happy Heavenly Birthday Ruth!