What Did You Watch in July 2024? (2024)

I don’t know if criminal activity in July was higher than usual where you are, but there was something in the water that influenced me to watch lots of crime (and film noir) movies last month. In the hopes that you’ll tell me what you encountered in July, here’s what I saw:

First-time Watches

Killing Eve, Season One (2018) Library DVD

Recommended by my friend Matt R., Killing Eve follows desk-bound MI5 investigator Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) as she attempts to track down a psychopathic assassin known as Villanelle (Jodie Comer). This first season is fast-paced, thrilling, unpredictable, and darkly comedic, featuring stellar performances by Oh, Comer, and the supporting cast. I found myself bingeing this first season, but the last couple of episodes raced by, perhaps at the expense of solid storytelling. The mixture of genuine threat and dark humor works very well during the first half of the season, yet the bleak laughs border on derailing the story. I’ve heard reports that the third season is disappointing and the fourth downright awful, but I’ll at least move forward with Season Two.

Ronin (1998) John Frankenheimer - Arrow Blu-ray

I thought I’d seen this film when it was released, but five minutes in I realized I hadn’t. I was captivated by every aspect of this crime thriller, certainly one of the great heist films of the 1990s with a team of professionals seeking to nab a briefcase with “undisclosed contents” from those desperately fighting for it: Irish terrorists and the Russian mob. Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård… they’re all great, and so are the chase scenes.

Red Rock West (1993) John Dahl - Plan B Blu-ray

If Ronin is one of the best heist movies of the ‘90s, here’s one of the best neo-noir pictures from the same decade. Red Rock West stars Nicolas Cage as Michael, a Texan and former Marine driving to Wyoming for a promised job that doesn’t pan out. When Michael walks into a remote bar to drink away his troubles, he finds they’re just beginning. The bartender mistakes Michael for the hitman he hired to knock off his wife, but then the real hitman (Dennis Hopper) arrives. The story never lets up until the end credits. Don’t wait 30 years to see this one like I did.

Hail, Caesar! (2016) Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - Busch Annapolis Library film series Hollywood on Hollywood

When my good friend Ann Glenn introduced this movie during her Hollywood on Hollywood film series at the Busch Annapolis Library, I was initially excited, having never seen this Coen Brothers picture. While I generally prefer the Coens when they’re focusing on drama rather than comedy, I enjoyed their poking fun at the Hollywood culture of the 1950s as the studio era was crumbling while still making bloated biblical epics. While I liked it, the picture didn’t have the spark I expected from the Coens, yet after Ann Glenn’s post-movie discussion, Hail, Caesar! may have more spirituality than I’d first thought. I hope to check it out again in a few months.

The Whistler series (1944-1948) Various directors - Indicator Region B Blu-ray box set Columbia Noir #6

Why would any Blu-ray label decide to restore a bunch of one-hour B pictures and release them in a prestige package with such loving care? That’s one of the questions I hope to tackle in an upcoming review of this set, based on a long-running radio series of the same name. Stay tuned.

Vice Squad (1953) Arnold Laven - Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII Blu-ray box set

I’m working on a review of this entire box set, three noirs starring Edward G. Robinson (including Nightmare and Black Tuesday below), but the first film in this set, Vice Squad, is an enjoyable police procedural, a lighter version of a much better, more serious film, Detective Story (1951). Yet Vice Squad has Robinson, and Detective Story doesn’t. Vice Squad also features Paulette Goddard as a local madam and noir regulars Porter Hall, Adam Williams, Barry Kelley, Jay Adler, and Lee Van Cleef. Again, stay tuned for more.

Nightmare (1956) Maxwell Shane - Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII Blu-ray box set

Maxwell Shane remakes his own 1947 film Fear in the Night, this time with Kevin McCarthy taking the original DeForrest Kelley role as a man who dreams he murdered another man in a mirror-filled room. But maybe it wasn’t a dream? Edward G. Robinson plays the investigator trying to sort dreams from reality. Again, more on this film and this set soon.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Luis Buñuel - Criterion Channel

From the photo, you might think The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a stuffy, boring examination of the class structure in France, yet it’s far from stuffy or boring. Director Luis Buñuel excelled at satire, and this is one of his finest. The film is an examination of class but is lively, unpredictable, and often hilarious. Although the picture mentions Vietnam and other issues of the day, its satire is timeless. This and another Buñuel film, The Exterminating Angel (1962), would make a great double feature.

Rewatches

The Conversation (1974) Francis Ford Coppola - Lionsgate Blu-ray (4x)

A rewatch for the Great Movies online discussion of the film. Gene Hackman gives a stellar performance as Harry Caul, a professional wiretapper who gets a little too interested in a conversation he’s paid to record. The Conversation is one of the great films of the 1970s that is too frequently forgotten due to Coppola’s release of The Godfather Part II eight months later.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Vincente Minnelli - presented at the Busch Annapolis Library film series Hollywood on Hollywood (3x)

It was a real pleasure to present this film as part of the Hollywood on Hollywood film series, which my friend Ann Glenn kicked off during the first half of the month with The Player (1992) and Hail, Caesar! (2016). We had a great crowd for The Bad and the Beautiful, most of whom had never seen the film.

Black Tuesday (1954) Hugo Fregonese (2x) Kino Lorber Blu-ray, part of the Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Vol. XVII set

Previously explored here.

Sunset Boulevard (1950) Billy Wilder - presented at the Busch Annapolis Library film series Hollywood on Hollywood (5x)

I wrote about this event a few days ago.

Okay, tell me what you watched in July. The comments are open, so let’s go…