Trawling Through The Thrift Stores with Joseph Finn

 Happy Thursday, everyone!  More class than trash this week in new finds, so let's get right to it!

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Somehow, I feel like Notorious is an under appreciated Hitchcock these days.  But it's a great use of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, and it is also a reunion of Bergman and Claude Rains after their great work together in Casablanca, here in a much more twisted take on World War II that has one of the great endings of any spy film.  It's kind of a weird spy noir that's a must see for anyone interested in film (and hey, it's almost the 75th anniversary in September!)

Also, the rare case where I love both Criterion covers when they've updated the art.

Notorious is currently streaming with ads on Tubi, for free on IndieFlix and on subscription on Fix Fling.

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Look, I'm a sap about  Star Trek and its hopeful vision for humanity.  Even when it gets dark as a war allegory or just straight a war story, I feel like it understands that humans can be...better.  And Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, is an excellent movie about how humans and aliens can understand and love each other and do the best they can for each other.  Besides, as a lover of heist movies, how can I not love a movie where the heist is of an entire freakin' starship?  (Also, check out that clock Sulu is wearing in this.  Takei is stylin' in that.)

Star Trek III is available for rental/purchase at the usual places, and is also part of your Hulu and Paramount+ subscriptions.

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Ah, this week's "Joe knows this only by reputation."  I think it has something to do with a mule that is passed on from family to family, a sort of Black Beauty story, but I could be somewhat wrong on this.  I know it's deeply loved by people and I vaguely remember Ebert was a big fan, but that's about it.  I'm not even looking up the trailer on this one because I want it to be a surprise.

Au Hasard Balthazar is available for rent/purchase in Apple+ and Prime and is currently streaming as part of your Criterion Channel subscription.

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So as of now, I onlt have to find the final season of Battlestar Galactica to complete my set.  It's one of the best science fiction series of the last 30 years; hell, it's one of the best dramas of the last 30 years. It's sprawling and funny and weird has fantastic writing and directing by a variety of people and introduced me to a lot of interesting actors stretching their legs with challenging material as the show really probed what it meant to be human or Cylon and how far apart they were.  Plus, simply great TV effects by people who came out of the Star Trek camp and knew what the heck they were doing.

BSG is available as part of the Peacock subscription and, oddly enough, all the seasons are also on Tubi for the moment.

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Finally this week, absolute trash. A 1956 pamphlet about the myth of Marie Laveau, the supposed voodoo queen of New Orleans, which even flipping through it is a bunch of nonsense about her supposed corruption of the locals (AKA, she told slaves they didn't have to be slaves) and making up stuff about how she murdered people (99% sure that means she was framed).  There's all sort of nasty speculation in this thing about what the slaves believed and frankly, it makes me feel a bit dirty.  I might read this once and just give it away but hell, it's always worth reading the texts of the enemy just once,