Steel: My sunshine? (Patreon)

A decisive victory in this week's three-way request poll, with Samuel Fuller's The Steel Helmet receiving 51% of the vote vs. Witness (33%) and The Exorcist III (a dismal 16%, though I probably influenced that by noting that Exorcist II: The Heretic, a prior request, would first also need to win). I last saw it at NYU in 1994, remember it as one of the all-time great war films—far superior, I thought then, to The Big Red One (which I likewise need to revisit, been more than 30 years. It appeared in the poll, but briefly). Streaming on the Criterion Channel. 

And then two fairly recent (but defunct) requests got randomly selected for August. True Lies had an 18-week run, twice as long as Scarecrow's nine weeks; I've previously seen both, albeit not since '94 and '96, respectively. Pretty sure I liked the latter considerably more than the former, though I didn't have the violently negative reaction to True Lies that one of my friends did at the time—I still have a print-out of his livid email "review," which runs to like three 12-pt. Courier pages of pure vitriol (primarily re: its sexism). Actually, Scarecrow's currently #4 on my 1973 top 10 list, now that I look, and I'd have it placed it there only three years after I saw it. Anyway, both films are digitally rentable, and True Lies can also be found on the + apps for AMC and Paramount. 

I thank you all once again, deeply and sincerely, for your literal patronage. It's a privilege to annoy you with my wrongheaded opinions. (Coming soon/finally: Oppenheimer.)