RIP Patrick Stewart

Sir  Patrick Stewart, aka Professor X (Charles Xavier) and Jean-Luc Picard is gone to the Final Frontier at 86...

The Brit shakespearian actor achieved fame via SF series fandom and comicbook fodder (Marvel's X Men) but my fondlier memories of him are from way back, as in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) and Gurney Halleck in David Lych's Dune (1984). 

Or the villain from  Deran Sarafian's Gunmen (1993), the evil Dr. Jonas in Richard Donner's Conspiracy Theory (1997), captain Ahab in the Moby Dick mini series (1998) and captain Nemo on Russell Mulahy's Mysterious Island (2005, Hallmark). Or his cameo as King Richard in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

And of course as himself in an episode of Ricky Gervais' Extras (2005), where he was funny as hell.

RIP Elke Sommer

 Elke Sommer, another link with Peter Sellers after Peter Medak...

A Shot in the Dark (1954, the 2nd Pink Panther flick), or how my buddy T. callls it, Maria Gambrelli, the maid who killed the chauffeur ;) 

Lisa and the Devil -Mario Bava's Exorcist rip-off.

And Bava's Baron Blood.

Bond girl in the non Bond Matt Helm's Wrecking Crew (1968, next to Sharon Tate, film that was shown in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood!)

RIP Peter Medak

“If it’s in your blood, directing, you never stop. And it doesn’t matter that you’re alone in your mind, dreaming or imagining things, you’re always making a movie.”

Peter Medak,  realisateur extraordinaire (1937-2026)

He would've been probably not mentioned if he didn't flew Budapest in 1956. Arriving in London he started an extraorinary life and career, then moved to Holllywood.

Just The Changeling (1980) would be enough to make him a mastero of cinema. Highly underrated and influential (Spielberg and Scorsese and DelToro and Stephen King are huge fans and learned from it) !!!

But it was 1st a crazy Peter O'Toole one-off The Rulling Class (1972), that made him controversial (and desired to work with).

Also ecclectic: A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The Krays, Species II, Zorro: The Gay Blade, The Men's Club, etc. 

A whole lotta of Television, videos for Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters...

Last year I saw again one of my faved films of the early '90's, the noir arrogant, cult curio Romeo is Bleeding (1993) with an unbelievable Lena Olin and a suffering Romeo by Gary Oldman. 

Bonus: The infamous Ghost on a Noonday Sun (1974, unfinished!), Peter Sellers' nightmare becoming Medak's maelstorm ! And the doc on it, The Ghost of Peter Sellers, the last film he did, back in 2018, which I saw during the pandemic. 

Medak did it with panache, every film goulash had its own (and his own) flavour. Viszontlátásra...

obit in The Hollywood Reporter 

The Cycle (2026)

 The Cycle is best seen without being spolied. That's what I read about it and That's how I proceeded.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest this September but being a SHUDDER production it went to streaming end of October. Should've gone to more genre fests and would've loved to see it on the big screen. It's shot widescreen (2.39.1) by Kevin Stewart, good job especially on the dark and desaturated look that adds to the atmosphere. I was not so impressed by the score, which works but wanted something more panache. The song Silver Lady by David Soul (1977), which I heard for teh 1st time here, is a good pun and clue !

Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page in the Daredevil series) is Meg, a forensic expert, she's called in on a murder that includes her disppareared father 36 years ago. Jeffrey Donovan (Dodd Gerhardt in season two of Fargo series) is the cop who investigates.

Enough plot. The 1st act fely a bit like Longlegs (via The Silence of the Lambs)), mixed with Fincher's color desaturations from Se7en to Mindhunter, but you can feel there's something more.

Tightly directed and co-written by Jordan Downey, a name to follow up  in the new genre upcoming masteros to be (hopefully!), from already established Ari Aster, Ti West, Osgood Perkins to Damian McCarthy,  Zach Cregger, Tilman Singer,  Charlie Polinger, Coralie Fargeat,  James Ashcroft and the youngest prodigy, Backrooms' Kane Parsons )!

Gruesome prostethic and practical effects, very well done, kudos to Patrick Magee, the special effects supervisor and key make up effects artist (winks to Rick Baker and Rob Bottin !) in a genre that's been overdone to death and you can't see something original coming out of it.

A special mention to actor  David Myers Gregory as Peter Stump. 

For those who want to get spoliers here's a list of those movies ;) -I suggest to read it and add The Cycle here after you've seen it 1st, for me it makes the top Ten (not of that particular list tho I agrree with the number 1;). 

3 1/2 out of 5 / 7 out of 10 ! -even going to a bigger rating, but the pacing is too slow and other weakneess,a s I mentionerd the score...