Review - Hollywoodland

Watched Hollywoodland last night, continuing my interest in neo-Noir. The look of the film is fantastic, they capture Hollywood and LA in the fifties perfectly. It is about a private investigator (naturally) who has been hired to look into the apparent suicide of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman in the serials. It is interspaced with flashbacks to Reeves' life and possible scenarios where he is murdered. Ben Affleck plays Reeves and does a really good job, this is the best acting I have seen from Affleck (and I do not mind him as an actor, he is not the best nor my favourite, but he is not bad in most things) especially when he is playing Reeves playing Superman, he really catches the mode perfectly then. Dark, unhappy, filled with betrayal and failure, it has a solid noir vibe but it never really makes it to the next level. My Grade: C/C+

93 Years Ago in Sarajevo . . .

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Crown, and his wife Sophie, were assassinated by a member of the Serbian Black Hand terrorist group. Setting in motion the event that would trigger the Great War (or World War I if you prefer).

In a fit of historical irony, the Treaty of Versailles finally ending the Great War was signed on this date in 1919.