January's Best & Worst

 January’s Best & Worst

Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and January ends today, so we’re already about 8% through 2026, which is frightening, but it’s right because…math.

Today we’re going to be looking at the Best and Worst of this first month of the new year, and as I mentioned at the end of the last episode, this one should be pretty short.

Not that we didn’t try. We always try here at Cinema Wellman. We ended up screening 61 films during the month (so much for slowing down), but a vast majority of them failed to move the needle drastically in either direction.

Not a total waste of time, of course, watching movies rarely is, but just not a lot that I felt needed to be shared with you here today.

Then you need to factor into that the fact that the Oscar nominations just came out last week which means I’m now on full AA watch for the foreseeable future attempting to screen as many nominated films as possible before the envelopes are opened on March 15th. 

That means any nominated films I screened (good or bad) are not eligible for this episode since they’ll be discussed down the line during one of our two annual Oscar episodes. 

So, when the dust finally settled, we ended up with two movies we’re going to complain about and a handful that are worth a look.

Let’s start where we always do, and that’s at the bottom. 

Today’s bottom is a WWII propaganda short directed by a favorite director of ours, proving that you can’t win them all. 

You, John Jones! (1943)

AP/11 m/IMDb: 6.5/directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Propaganda is defined as information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a particular cause, doctrine, or point of view. 

It’s been around since c. 515 BCE, and I’m positive it’s here to stay, and there’s a reason for that. 

It appears to work on some people. Always has, always will. Unfortunately.

And in case you were thinking this game was only played by the Nazis and the Russians, you’d be incorrect since America is also very good at this dirty game.

Most of America’s propaganda I’m referring to surrounds WWII, as does this short bit of U-S-A-U-S-A-rah rah that blends propaganda with an old-fashioned guilt trip.

James Cagney stars as John Jones, a father and factory worker who is also part of his town’s Civil Defense patrol.

While at his post, Jones begins to feel a little silly since no air raids had hit America.

Then we get a dream sequence involving God and a bunch of vignettes involving non-American children and, “WHAT IF THIS WAS YOUR BABY, JOHN JONES, YOUR BABY?!?”

Enough! And let’s leave God out of this, and please don’t make him narrate it!

I read that this was M.G.M. Studio’s contribution to “United Nations Week,” which adds to the feeling that this was a required project everyone just mailed in. 

For the war effort, you know.

Next up is a movie I watched because I like Christina Ricci and John Cusack, and I should have known better since it’s eight years old and I had never heard of it. 

Distorted (2018)

R/86 m/IMDb: 4.4/directed by Rob W. King

IMDb: “A couple moves to an isolated, modern, safe apartment building with CCTV after the wife has problems with nightmares. However, something’s not quite right with the building.”

It seems like I’ve seen a bunch of these movies recently in which there’s a new dwelling that the inhabitants assume is safe, yet it is sinister.

I usually end up rooting for the dwelling in these films, but I also usually understand the movies as well. 

This was originally titled Distortion, and that would NOT have made a difference.

Ricci’s character and her nasty, unsympathetic husband move in and she begins seeing and hearing things that are upsetting.

Then there are all sorts of subliminal messages coming her way, which I became interested in.

Maybe the director was sneaking in single frames reading “KEEP WATCHING” or “YOU LIKE THIS MOVIE!”

This was mostly nonsense to me because I was never satisfied with who the bad people were, why they were doing these things, and what happened when they were exposed.

John Cusack’s character is absurd. Cusack is given top billing and doesn’t even bother to show up until 42 minutes into the movie. And his final scene was so silly, I actually had to go back to make sure I didn’t miss something.

Okay, so that’s not too bad for the “worst” of the month, let’s look at the five “eligible films” we’d like to talk about in a positive way.

Keep watering those positive cinematic seeds!

 

Brothers in the Saddle (1949)

AP/60 m/IMDb: 6.3/directed by Lesley Selander

        I’ve become a big fan of the “B-movie,” films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature at the old-time cinemas.

Think of it like the “B-side” of a record. Kind of like "Hey Hey What Can I Do" being the B-side of "Immigrant Song."

B-movies didn’t have the big budgets or the big stars, but they certainly were to the point (usually around 1 hour), and a lot of them were certainly entertaining. 

I chose Brothers in the Saddle to talk about, but I’m really speaking about the now eight or nine Tim Holt movies I’ve seen recently.

All “B-movies,” all Westerns, all around an hour, and all a lot of fun.

Tim Holt was a top western star during the 40s and early 50s making 46 “B” westerns for RKO Pictures between 1940 and 1952.

Holt made 29 of those westerns with sidekick Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamonte Rafferty, an Irish-Mexican cowboy played by Richard Martin.

Holt and Martin together are a lot of fun. Chito is most certainly the sidekick in these movies, but he and Holt are seen as equals, and Holt is never condescending or dismissive which can sometimes happen when sidekicks are involved.

I also like that the Holt Westerns never cast Native Americans as the villains and stick to land barons, cattle rustlers, and other outlaws to portray the people with the black hats. 

This film, for example, was about Tim’s brother going bad and it did NOT end the way I thought a little B-Western from 1949 would end, which was nice.

The next two films were both from my research for our last episode, “Film Composers of Note,” and before I mention either of the titles, they are “must sees” if you are at all interested in movie music.

These two films were also the source of much of the information I shared with you last episode. 

Score (2016)

NR/93 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Matt Schrader

IMDb: “A look at the cinematic art of the film musical score, and the artists who create them.”

I won’t go into too much depth on Score or the next film documentary since they are about film composers and we just spent an entire episode celebrating eight of the best ever.

Suffice to say that Score gives viewers a fabulous behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important parts of the movies we love.

It also highlights some of the younger, up and coming film composers that I didn’t cover during our last episode.

Our second film composer documentary we highly recommend is about the G.O.A.T. himself…

Music by John Williams (2024)

PG/105 m/IMDb: 8.2/directed by Laurent Bouzereau

This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen about film and filmmaking.

Director Laurent Bouzereau has certainly caught my attention recently.

Three of his film documentaries are among my recent favorites, and ALL have been discussed here; Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail, JAWS @50: The Definitive Inside Story, and now Music by John Williams.

Bouzereau is phenomenal. I can’t wait to see who he has on tap next. It doesn't hurt that he seems to land directly in my wheelhouse with his subject matter, but he’s still an amazing documentarian.

It doesn’t matter how much you know about John Williams or the films he’s scored; this is an amazing look at one of the most talented people ever to be associated with the film industry.

And Williams’ music isn’t only recognizable in movie theaters; he also composed four different Olympic themes and the theme for NBC News. 

A favorite story of mine about his successful collaborations with Spielberg is when he asked Williams to compose the score for Schindler’s List. 

When Williams told Spielberg he needed a better composer than him for such a powerful film, Spielberg replied, “I know, but they’re all dead.”

I mentioned a beautiful quote by Steven Spielberg about John Williams in our last episode, and here’s another; “Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes. There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.”

Amen!

Next up is a film I screened because of a work conversation about Kevin Bacon, as in Jenn saying, “Wait, you like Kevin Bacon, but you’ve never seen….”

Stir of Echoes (1999)

R/99 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by David Koepp

IMDb: “A man has visions of a missing neighborhood girl.”

Yes, I do like Kevin Bacon, and yet this film evaded me for a quarter of a century!

I found Stir of Echoes to be an entertaining suspense thriller/psychological horror film.

I kind of figured part of it out early, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the movie.

Bacon plays a normal guy with a normal family and normal job until he is hypnotized by his sister-in-law at a party.

That’s when things start to go sideways.

The sister-in-law is played by the always fabulous Illeana Douglas who I love in everything! 

Have you seen To Die For?!? If not, put that on a short list. Good stuff.

I was reading that this film didn’t get the attention it may have deserved because it was released around the same time as The Sixth Sense.

There’s a film I figured out really early, and it did kind of ruin the whole experience. But that’s on me.

I enjoy movies that deal with displaced spirits looking for closure and a final, peaceful, resting place.

I feel really bad for them, and hope that never happens to my spirit, but I do enjoy movies about them.

And our final film today was recommended by my two-year-old great nephew, Lincoln, who had me screen it because he enjoys the animals.

Lincoln’s first movie recommendation to me, and it makes a “Best of the Month” list?!?

Excellent start, my friend.

The Incredible Journey (1963)

G/80 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Fletcher Markle

IMDb: “Two dogs and a cat set off on a treacherous 200-mile journey towards home.”

When I dog sat Nora, I screened two Homeward Bound movies and was all set to re-watch one of them to celebrate Lincoln on his birthday (part of the 2026 Birthday Project Wild Card!) when I found out that one of those movies was a remake of this film, The Incredible Journey from 1963.

Which is why the title of the Sally Field, Michael J. Fox, and Don Ameche voiced movie is titled Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.

And while I enjoyed that film and its sequel Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, this 1963 original is my favorite.

And before I’m accused of being that anti-remake broken record, I have a reason!

Nothing against Field, Fox, and Ameche, but this original version (remember these are all live action, not animation) does NOT have the animals talking to one another.

Instead, there’s a Disney narrator telling us that, “This curious little guy has run into some trouble with that den of vicious wolverines.”

I much prefer that option. 

The nature, animals, and scenery are excellent in both, but I don’t need Mama Gump talking to Marty McFly and Mortimer Duke to enjoy the scenery.

I will say that these three animals, a Siamese cat, a bull terrier, and a golden retriever are put through the ringer in parts of this!

At one point, the cat finds itself in a raging river! The poor kitty is struggling to keep his head above the rapids, and it was actually kind of terrifying.

Didn’t the budget include stunt cats?!?

Bring in the stunt cats!

Well, that is a wrap for our recap of the Best & Worst of January; always a mixed bag.

Just like the New England weather.

We hope you join us on Super Bowl Sunday for a special Wellman Bowl Football Movie Special!

All the great football movies packed into one episode kicking off on Sunday, February 8th!

You can watch while you pregame!

Until then, take care.