"The Thicket." / "Midnight Cowboy." / “Of Mice and Men."

“The Thicket” (2024, Tubi) Western thriller, adaptation of the 2013 novel by Joe R. Lansdale. The title refers to Big Thicket, a heavily forested area in Southeast Texas. 

Premise: Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas—orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula. Then sis was abducted by a gang led by Cut Throat Bill (a she by the way). 

       This movie, directed by British Elliott Lester, is finely done, a cowboy ride in the heart of snow. Jack is Levon Hawke, son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman; Lula is Esme Creed-Miles, daughter of Samantha Morton.  Both deliver sibling drama with restrained intensity and steely grip. 

       But the presence of Peter Dinklage as bounty hunter Reginald Jones, wry humor, and Juliette Lewis as Bill, wicked cool, supply the right amount of spice to make this movie a satisfying dish. 🎥💻📽

<>REWATCHED movies that I first saw many years ago. 

<>“Midnight Cowboy” (1969, Tubi). Directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. I think I have already seen this movie, start to finish, five times already. Each viewing is like the first time. And Brenda Vacarro stayed a beauty to me, as she was in 1969.

<>“Of Mice and Men” (1992, Tubi) period drama film based on John Steinbeck's 1937 novella of the same name, describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California, searching for jobs during the Great Depression. Stars Gary Sinise as George Milton and John Malkovich as Lennie Small. Mr Sinise also directs.

       The film’s plot centers on George and the intellectually disabled Lennie, two farm workers who travel together and dream of one day owning their own land. Along the way, it explores themes of discrimination, loneliness, and the American Dream, as well as the desire for a place to call home. Grand themes, indeed. 

       The movie narrative focuses on Lennie, portrayed by a remarkable John Malkovich. And if you are familiar with the book, you know how it ended. Sad. 🎥👍📽