comforting

'Still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood’s official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett’s definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to keep his hard-boiled cool as the double-crosses pile up around his ankles. The plot, which dances all around the stolen Middle Eastern statuette of the title, is too baroque to try to follow, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference.'-George Theofanopoulos (media online)

thanks george! i always figured there was a screw loose in my head. i've seen this terrific film so many times and still i give up trying to put the puzzle together without cutting the corners off one or two pieces. while i was out walking this bright snow dripping off the trees morning, i decided 'the maltese falcon' is the best picture ever made. either it was the early snow or john huston's brilliance at assembling all the right pieces together to make the classic movie.

no one compares to bogart. or astor. or lorre! one person compares to greenstreet and that is rupert everett. if rupert were four times his size, i swear to you sydney greenstreet would come to mind.

a perfect film. i wouldn't be surprised if huston signed them all up and then just sat back and let them at it. a deeply satisfying, if bewildering experience.