Watched two movies I& #39;d never seen before in the past two days, and both used this same gospel song:

#In_popular_culture">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_on_the_Everlasting_Arms #In_popular_culture

I">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean... am getting a message from God, to lean on stuff more, stop standing up straight and supporting myself with my spine. Ok Lord.

(movies to follow)

One movie was relatively new, the other a classic I& #39;d shamefully - SHAMEFULLY I say (before you do) - never seen.

1) FIRST REFORMED (2017). Combination of great and kind of dopey imho.

2) NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955). Utterly brilliant, instantly one of my favorite movies ever.

I& #39;ve known about Night of the Hunter and its iconicography for years but never saw it. Yeah, I suck.

Among many other things, it made me sad that Charles Laughton never directed another movie. What a masterpiece.

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I also found it very moving given our circumstances in the USA now. Robert Mitchum& #39;s murderous con man is enabled by so many morally weak / confused people, until he meets his match in Lilian Gish& #39;s character, who detects his bullshit immediately.

Gish& #39;s character is a tough old bird who knows herself and has a firm sense of morality - which includes being flexible and understanding to the poor kids she& #39;s volunteered to care for. It& #39;s not the provisional mostly-for-show morality of the townspeople.

Very different kind of movie obviously, but reminded me of Frances McDormand& #39;s character in FARGO. A voracious kind of evil overtakes a whole bunch of people and it needs a grounded, fundamentally decent person with no weird ambitions to stop it.

And folks that& #39;s our episode of Corbett on the Cinema for today, and probably forever.