Mel Killingsworth
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mehlsbells.bsky.social
Mel Killingsworth
@mehlsbells.bsky.social
lover of cinema, sport, siphon coffee, sundries
🌈 make and write about TV and movies 🌈
half of [at] ShotZero
linktr.ee/mehlsbells
Pinned
Hello it is me, a person who reads physical books on public transport!

Well, not busses (because I get carsick), but trams and trains!

Well, trams if I am facing forwards (see above)!

THE POINT IS ya'll listen to this wise man and get at me . . .
Hill I will die on - anyone reading a physical book on public transport is worth dating #books #booksky
new-to-me faves this #Noirvember:

- La Otra (1946)
- Obsession / The Hidden Room (1949)
- Mulholland Falls (1996)
- A Bittersweet Life (2005)
November 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
Today for #Noirvember, we look at the absolutely astonishing opening 'oner' (including a few stitches and models) to 1948's The Big Clock
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
Another #Noirvember day, another lit cigarette!

99 River Street (1953) is absolutely smouldering.

Note the power dynamic shifts with the blocking (more on our substack shotzero.substack.com/i/138989527/...)

beat it, indeed.
November 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
been a long time since I studied the romantics, but I still swore out loud in the theater when the quote popped up at the end

great discussion of how all adaptation is in dialogue with its source, and what that means in context of Shelley's life and work

neaveglennon.substack.com/p/guillermo-...
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and the Death of Ambiguity
Why 2025's Frankenstein would have Mary Shelley rolling in her grave.
neaveglennon.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
#Intimidation 2/3
not only the thief’s movements but his experience, before a 12-second (!!!) ECU of the thief's ear.

It’s a wonderful depiction of panic in 60 seconds which puts us 'in his shoes,' makes us feel his panic, then forces us to sit and consider how LOUD the alarm and sirens sound.
November 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Glad I didn't let the generic-at-best-chintzy-at-worst poster put me off; I will definitely return to this film in a future #Noirvember

Understands noir on a fundamental level; one of those films which manages to depict and deconstruct the whole genre at once.

letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...
A review of Mulholland Falls (1996)
Warren Lee Tamahori has passed. This being now and me being me, this felt the film to watch and reflect on his work. Four fedora'd cops pulling up to a steep cliff's edge and tossing a mobster over wh...
letterboxd.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
Gothic noir "Ladies in Retirement" ends with Ellen (#IdaLupino) walking into endless fog . . . actually into a stage + painted backdrop, which they sell by building a circuitous path between prop trees for Ellen to walk, and holding out til the last second for THE END
November 8, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Lags a bit in the fourth act, but this utterly gorgeous film is in the running for favourite new-to-me flick this #noirvember!

letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...
A review of The Other (1946)
Wonderful, wicked little modern fairy tale, with its The Prince and The Pauper conceit well-executed with wholly practical tricks . . . and one shot I almost thought was split-screen except no, they j...
letterboxd.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:56 AM
#Noirvember acolytes, lend me your recs!

letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/l...
Noir at a Carnival
Should also include Veronica Mars 2.13 "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough"
letterboxd.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:38 AM
me when anyone uses the word 'ministrations' in real life:

"I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE!!!!"
a picture of a anime character with the words fanfic reading night
Alt: a picture of a anime characters gazing into the middle distance with the words "fanfic reading night"
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Caught up to a classic . . . and how it likes its coffee, for #Noirvember

melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...
Coffee and Noir: WHITE HEAT
every instance of coffee in noir: 058
melkillingsworth.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
If you want more animation in your #Noirvember, boy do I have the "sci-fi detective noir with incredibly cool visuals" movie for you!

#MarsExpress: shotzero.substack.com/p/mars-expre...
November 6, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
These four shots from The Last Stop in Yuma County serve three distinct purposes: plot, pretty, and character.

PLOT showing us whether Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) will successfully dose the coffee

1/3
November 5, 2025 at 11:01 PM
#Noirvember continues, with coffee and Cuba Libre

melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...
Coffee and Noir: CUBA LIBRE
every instance of coffee in noir: 057
melkillingsworth.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:09 AM
(too gay to function? oh no, not me. I'm juuuuuuuust gay enough to function, it's the whole cult upbringing which makes the functionality go WEEEEEEE OO WEEEEEE OO MEEP! MEEP! MEEP! MEEP! EGHH! EGHH! SQUAN-KEE! SQUAN-KEE!)
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works and don't forget to click that button to subscribe
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works and be kind, rewind.
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works and let me know if you have any questions! 🤗
November 3, 2025 at 9:36 PM
November 3, 2025 at 9:32 PM
The red set from Kiss of the Spider Woman [if you've seen it, you know] is going to haunt my dreams.

Cardboard and paint turned pure cinematic joy.
November 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
To kick off #Noirvember we're looking at a practical movement in one of the most influential thrillers of all time: Fritz Lang's M
November 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
Sending additional police to supermarkets to guard food that is so abundant it will be thrown out in massive volumes is “political violence”
November 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Mel Killingsworth
Making the active choice to withhold emergency funding and starve large swaths of the country is “political violence” and it should be reported and viewed as such
Seeing conservative commentators joyfully mock poor people and their children horrified at the prospect of going hungry really puts a laser focus into how completely full of shit they were while clutching their pearls over “political violence”.
November 2, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Doing some deep dives on the 'how and why' of classic and neo-noir shots for #Noirvember over on @shotzero.bsky.social, kicking off with this window trick from Fritz Lang's M

shotzero.substack.com/p/practical-...
Practical Tricks: M
how Fritz Lang made what is now a special effects shot, practically.
shotzero.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Espresso and caviar and family heists, oh my!

melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...
Coffee and Noir: L'INNOCENT
every instance of coffee in noir: 056
melkillingsworth.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:09 PM