Witchy Woman

After my time at the Japan Festival, which was decent this year, I went over to Classic Cinemas in Elk Grove for a late matinee of Jonah Hex (2010). Heard nothing but bad leading up to its release but I'm sucker for these kinds of films (i.e. action adventure comic book adaptations). Generally didn't have any feeling for this as each scene unfolded. The Megan Fox digital smoothing was distracting but really mattered not as this really isn't a good film. It might be too much to ask for a better cut down the road but who knows. Don't really care one way or another.


Finished a much, much better film in Josef von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress (1934). Sternberg's rather lavish & opulent film about the rise of Catherine the Great in mid-18th Century war torn Russia is quite the spectacle. The crown jewel of course is Marlene Dietrich, who seems to float through her scenes as if she's auditioning for Glinda the Good Witch. Besides Dietrich, this is one to watch for Josef Sternberg's stylized eye in creating sets and scenes that lend more towards a fantasy pic rather than bio-pic. In B&W, the shadows often work in his favor but I think this would've also been an amazing color production.

• June New: 54
• June Re-watch: 6
• June Total: 60
• 2010 TOTAL: 383