The best news in the past seven days: Red Dust on BLU-RAY. (Which tells how drab my life is).

It's Dorothy Lamour's birthday. I always had a weakness for the lady, she was beautiful, she sang divinely (try I've Got the Right to Sing the Blues), she was great fun in her movies. Alas, with few exceptions, those movies were uniformly bad. Damn Paramount and that sarong.

One movie a day for 365 days. 344/365. The Reckless Moment is a very atmospheric film noir in which danger lurks in an average American family when a blackmailer falls in love with his victim. Superior actors, superior director.

Now showing and watching The Postman Always Rings Twice on the big screen. Celebrating the New Hollywood (with a favorite among favorites).

Good morning.

Unsolicited tweet, but here it is: I was 16 when I first saw The Postman, and I loved it ever since - I can quote the dialogue from having watched it so many times. It's by far the best version, all that sex is necessary to the story, and J.L. delivers a performance for the ages.

One movie a day for 365 days. 345/365. Niagara. The story is not very interesting or new, but Marilyn, wandering about town, in glorious Technicolor, dressed in red, and singing Kiss is enough for me.

Bidding goodnight with Howard Hawks and Frances Farmer on the set of Come and Get It, a film I love.

Good morning.

Carole for Nothing Sacred. Daily splendor.

Rewatching the excellent and forgotten Blood and Wine. Michael Caine, with blackened hair and moustache, and Jack Nicholson, in gaudy clothing, are two of the meanest sons of bitches in a long time. Poor Judy Davis pays for their meanness.

One movie a day for 365 days. 346/365. Guys and Dolls. This is my favorite Marlon Brando movie: I like everything about him here, especially his singing. And then there's Sinatra, who's simply perfect. Not to mention Frank Loesser's infectious score.

Rewatching The Dark Mirror, great fun about a pair of twins, one good, one bad, a murdered guy and a psychiatrist solving the case. Olivia is great at playing sweet and adorable (something she was used to), but evil Olivia is the one who gets away with the film.

good morning.

Rewatching the charming Darling, How Could You, a clever, fun Mitchell Leisen comedy that has gone into obscurity, thanks to Paramount's criminal policy. Based on a J. M. Barrie play, it proves Joan Fontaine could do comedy, especially under the skilled direction of Mr. Leisen.

One movie a day for 365 days. 347/365. Perversity invades MGM, with Stroheim and his The Merry Widow: a weird choice to adapt Lehár's operetta as a silent movie. The real star is the director's fetish with footwear, shiny boots and high heels. Gilbert fits the film like a glove.

Rewatching Mitchell Leisen's Frenchman's Creek and wishing I had the words to describe the beauty of this film, its elaborate sets and costumes, its fancy wigs, its sense of space, its comedy/adventure/romance rhythm, its sexual undercurrent. Why doesn't Leisen get his due?

Good morning. Isn't she perfect?

Just finished reading Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure for the second time. A novel with a persuasive power in spite of its inherent bleakness and pessimism, it hooked me exactly like the first time. If only avant-garde Hardy knew what the world has come to.

No one but Ginger.