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You don't get to 39% without making a few enemies.

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You don't get to 39% without making a few enemies.
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Specifically, the 35% who voted for Blue Thunder in this week's request poll, and to a lesser degree the 26% who chose They Live by Night. Both were defeated by The Social Network, which not only has a sequel forthcoming but ranks among the most notable films of this century that I never reviewed (apart from a few tweets). Wasn't assigned to me by anyone and I hadn't yet begun writing reviews on my blog in 2010. There are probably quite a few other films in that category, should anyone want to dig around (though I'm only back to late 2007 sticking stuff on Letterboxd). Gave it 66/100 the first time, 72 on second viewing. Which isn't good enough to land it on my top 10 list, as They Made Movies Then. (There are a couple of 73s that didn't make it that year! Almost unthinkable now.) I own the Blu-ray, but it's digitally rentable if you don't.

And then Manoel de Oliveira's Doomed Love just hit 52 weeks, which automatically lands it on my review queue. As always with super-long films—this one runs just shy of 4½ hours—I may not get to it for a while, just because it requires a night on which not much else is going on (and the nights are currently at their shortest; I can't realistically start watching a movie until after 9pm right now, one of many reasons I always eagerly await fall). Don't believe there's an easy legal way to watch Doomed Love at present, but it's out there if you're feeling adventurous and want to share what is likely (based on my feelings about virtually all of the dozen Oliveira films I've seen, going back to 1993's Valley of Abraham) to be my pain.

Here's a picture I took at my family's vacation house in Carmel last week, when I heard a loud noise outside while watching Rituals, paused the film on a close-up of Hal Holbrook, went to the front door, and was dazzled by the reflection of the TV set and the fireplace behind me. This view is through the front door's glass looking out into the front yard.

ADDED IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ABOUT MY NOT WATCHING MOVIES UNTIL AFTER 9PM:

Here's the relevant window. My TV set is directly across from it (and there's no other place it can realistically go). I took this photo at 8:20pm. Sure, there are curtains on it. Can you identify the window's dimensions, curtains notwithstanding? I sure can. Not a ton of glare, but I wait until it's gone.

Mike D'Angelo PATREON 4 favs
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POSTEDJul 10, 2026
ARCHIVEDJul 10, 2026