After the Credits

There are classic films you watch, and there are classic films you sit through while quietly wondering whether the man by the window is somebody’s husband. Obligato is proudly the second kind.

Set in a quiet European town that you wonder if they blew the entire fog budget on it, Obligato is one of my favorite movies from the 1920s or whenever.

This black-and-white drama follows a troubled concert pianist who receives a mysterious letter and responds by making everyone else’s evening considerably worse.

The cinematography is magnificent. Every frame could hang in a gallery, particularly the forty-three frames in which a woman stands beside a curtain, knowing something.

The supporting cast is excellent, especially the elderly housekeeper who clearly drunk or not being paid too well.

At its emotional climax, Henri finally opens the letter. We never see what it says. He laughs, then cries, then walks into the sea. My money is on a heating bill.

Ever wonder what would happen if Harry Potter flunked out of school and had to live like that kid from that movie about Oliver having a twist? Anyways, that's what Magic School is like

Me personally, I wasn't that interested in the first five minutes because they were yabbin and talking and there was no magic. Then that evil guy shows up with his magic wand and does something cool, almost everyone vomits, it was really cool!

The biggest thing this show has going for it is the special effects. When the evil Lord Ted casts his dark spell at our hero Larry, wow was that ever good!