November also brought about a discovery of the film criticism of Graham Greene, his collected writings from 1935-1940 were published as The Pleasure Dome and should be considered as essential reading for any wannabe critic such is the quality of the man's words and insights.
The tally reached a quite improbable 118 over the thirty days in the month of my thirty first birthday, beating my previous best of 116 in May and bringing me up to 829 year to date. I limited myself to 8 rewatches (88 YTD) but unless I can watch over a hundred films without rewatching too many in December I'm not going to make my 10% target. I plan on having a Whit Stillman day in the middle of Summer which certainly won't help matters and I've got an urge to have a weekend of only watching my favourite films too. A sacrifice worth making and not even much of one really.
I saw 17 new releases (132 YTD) with two in the highly recommended category below which features 12 films you really should see. Other recommendations include avoiding 9 films I wish I hadn't bothered watching, one of which will surely upset some people and for the first time since June I offer up 5 masterpieces which have blown me away in the past month.
Why Why Why Why Why Bother?
Qwerty (2012) Dir. Bill Sebastian
Nice idea but as with all nice but absurd ideas it really needed to be played straight otherwise, as in the case of Qwerty, you come off like a bunch of amateur arseholes TRYING to be funny.Superman (1978) Dir. Richard Donner
They wanted Sam Peckinpah to direct this movie but Peckinpah took a gun to the meeting and waved it about. I'd much rather watch that in slow motion for nearly three hours than this merchandise shilling garbage about a concept that doesn't exist anymore. The American way of truth and justice is a sugar coated myth they sell the idiots, they actually knew that in the 70s and yet this still got made.The Kings of Summer (2013) Dir. Jordan Vogt-Roberts
A truly irritating little teenage shit of a movie that takes the very worst characters from American teen comedies and puts them in a hut in the woods where they can indulge in being "real men," adds a half assed attempt at surreal farce and romantic imagery and plays itself off as a coming of age drama.How I Live Now (2013) Dir. Kevin Macdonald
You can't annoy the shit out of your audience with an awful American teenage girl and a noisy as fuck soundtrack from the very beginning and expect them to give a shit when World War 3 breaks out. Granted I didn't realise Meg Rosoff wrote exclusively for little girls before watching.End of Days (1999) Dir. Peter Hyams
The general premise is laughable and borderline offensive and I do wonder why this film couldn't have been made without the Arnie storyline. Also the resolution is one of the worst I've witnessed.Timecop (1994) Dir. Peter Hyams
An all round bad movie, with no redeeming features except for the initial idea. Has anybody read the comics this was based on? Are they as badly written?The Delta Force (1986) Dir. Menahem Golan
Considering the premise of Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin joining forces to fight terrorism 80s style this is a giant sack of shit that can't get past the fact that it's a Menahem Golan movie. Robert Forster as an Arab terrorist and Hanna Schygulla as a German air hostess who seems sexually aroused whenever she looks at him are other notable casting choices.The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) Dir. Renny Harlin
What the hell has everyone been smoking? The Long Kiss Goodnight is a dumb movie of interminable length, directed with all of the skill of a blind sloth. There are a few jokes to raise a half smile and Jackson does what Jackson does but beyond that the best part by far was the brief clip of Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye.The Island (1980) Dir. Michael Ritchie
Absolute garbage. Michael Caine had no quality control on what he said yes to and puts in one of his worst performances. Michael Ritchie was a mediocre director at best but the complete lack of tension, thrills, drama, cohesive structure and well delivered dialogue combined with bizarre editing and horrific exposition must rank this as one of his very worst pictures.
Not Quite Some of the Best Movies Ever Made
Blue Caprice (2013) Dir. Alexandre Moors
Director Alexandre Moors takes a slow, thoughtful approach to his material, somewhat akin to Van Sant's Elephant but with much more substance, to what could easily be a sensationalist piece of cinema in the wrong hands. A fascinating and terrifying character study of two killers, Isaiah Washington in the perfect role for his intense brand of performance and youngster Tequan Richmond brooding his way through his first real movie gig, of the grooming of one by the other and the driving on of each other as their incomprehensibly evil plan comes to fruition.The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1973) Dir. Joseph Sargent
It never really feels like a safe decision was made throughout. The characters, hostages aside, are wonderfully interesting people with their own personalities and the interactions between them dance from comic to tense and back again and it is this that is sorely lacking in modern cinema. Nobody is there to score focus group points and as such none of them are really a cliche or stereotype. If you haven't seen this version yet you really should, it's one of the best crime films of the 70s, which was by far the best decade for American crime cinema.The East (2013) Dir. Zal Batmanglij
This is an incredibly solid little film (albeit with the assistance of Ridley and Tony Scott so not that little really) that deserves to be seen and should be highly praised, not necessarily for the things that it isn't either. I've seen how Hollywood would make this movie and time and time again I've not been impressed but Batmanglij sets a really unobtrusive tone with a slow pace from the beginning and has the luxury of Brit Marling's intense lead performance to lean on when required. Yet he is able to incorporate some really tense moments as the anti-corporation group carries out their "terrorist" plans.F For Fake (1973) Dir. Orson Welles
In film school we took an entire year to look at the documentary, the way the borders of fiction and non-fiction can be and are blurred. We discussed many different films, including Nanook, Blair Witch and Night & Fog but at no point in any lecture or any article or any textbook was this almost definitive statement on the veracity of the documentary by Orson Welles. How can I trust any of the three years of by university education when such a travesty of an oversight occurred? Did they not know anything? And does that make my degree even more worthless? It's quite the brilliant piece of cinema, yet another one from the mind of one of the greatest men to ever work in the medium.Nashvile (1975) Dir. Robert Altman
The pinnacle of Robert Altman's unique brand of cinema. If I'd seen this as a younger man I wouldn't have hesitated to get lost in rewatching this countless times as I did his earlier Elliot Gould-fests (Gould makes a wonderful cameo as himself here) but as it stands I don't feel like giving up days of my life to a movie about Nashville. Once is enough, to understand the grand scale of the great directors vision, to grasp the intricacies of the intertwined lives of the participants, to marvel at the audacity of it all.Monte Walsh (1970) Dir. William A. Fraker
The late 60s really marked the death of an era for the western movie and William Fraker's adaptation of Jack Shaefer's (Shane) novel is a movie that takes a stark look at the end of the traditional cowboy era of American history. Within that framework is another traditional narrative, that of the old man struggling to come to terms with his advancing years in a world changing faster than he can possibly keep up. And Lee Marvin excels in that role better than almost any other actor in the history of American cinema.Busting (1974) Dir. Peter Hyams
The script by Hyams is wonderfully cynical, a true classic of crime screenwriting from the 70s, that amazing period of grimey creativity that brought us 98% of all the very best crime cinema that was ever made. It is filled with wit, delivered perfectly (naturally) by Gould and another really good performance from Blake who really underplays his character, becoming almost a straight man for Gould's typical bafoonery. But Gould has an edge to him that you tend not to see in his more famous roles, a serious, determined existential edge that turns him much more in to the "sad clown" than even his bumbling private eye in Long Goodbye could achieve. He has a pretty brilliant 'tache too.Straight Time (1978) Dir. Ulu Grosbard
Dustin Hoffman is at his subtle and intense best as a career criminal who makes his choices and is prepared to live with them. With support from Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and a remarkably reined in Gary Busey this is a quality film with a quality cast that doesn't quite scale the heights it might have.The Bothersome Man (2006) Dir. Jens Lien
The Bothersome Man is a Norwegian satire of modern consumerism and obsession with appearances, a surreal comedy and utopia gone wrong, a fable about daring to be different, an original tale of what may even be the afterlife yet still manages to recall Jeunet et Caro, Gilliam, Andersson and Wenders, even more specifically at times I was thinking of The Truman Show, The Matrix and Wristcutters. Beautifully framed using an unassuming palette of greys and blues and filled with wonderfully strange moments that more often than not will have you laughing out loud.Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Dir. Sergio Leone
At nearly three hours Once Upon a Time in the West is most definitely not long enough to do all of it's many storylines and complex characters justice. It's a majestic western, visually astounding with a score to die for but suffers in the storytelling department, as have the three previous Leone films.Crossroads (1986) Dir. Walter Hill
Colour me surprised to find that Crossroads is without doubt one of the highlights in the career of Walter Hill, this take on the legend of Robert Johnson is essentially The Karate Kid with blues guitar instead of kung fu but with real soul and no contrived fist pumping moments. Ry Cooder's soundtrack is perfectly matched to the mood of one of the best films about music I've seen.Autumn Sonata (1978) Dir. Ingmar Bergman
Wow. Ullman and Bergman are sensational as the repressed emotions boil up and two women set out seemingly to destroy each other. Everything about this feels completely authentic. At least from watching mothers and daughters interact over in my family over the years anyway.
Masterpiece
Blow Out (1981) Dir. Brian De Palma
Visually it is an incredible experience from start to finish; littered with incredible single shots, amazing set pieces, stunning ideas pulled off with seeming nonchalance and even the dated effects are impressive. As you would expect from a film about the work of a sound engineer the audio design is top quality too, layer upon layer of noise and silence enhancing the sumptuous visuals and the career best work from John Travolta.Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010) Dir. Edgar Wright
I'm honestly conflicted over giving this film the full marks. After tonight's screening at the Rooftop Cinema in Perth I reckon I must have seen it an even dozen times and it just keeps getting funnier. But it's a teen comedy comic book adaptation. Conflicted!Tokyo Story (1953) Dir. Yasujiro Ozu
Edgar Wright has done such a great job in adapting the visuals, mood and attitude of the excellent graphic novels, the soundtrack is phenomenally well chosen and the cast all excel in their roles however small plus it seems like Michael Cera was born to be Scott Pilgrim.
I heart Scott Pilgrim so much. Full stars!
A devastatingly effective piece of cinema, carefully crafted with great pathos. I'd not noticed previously that it shares many similarities with another of my all time favourites, Secrets & Lies, especially in terms of structure, tone and the power held over the viewer, which has sort of blown my mind. Ozu directed what is probably the pinnacle of this little social realist drama sub-genre 43 years before Mike Leigh came close to matching him.Spring Breakers (2013) Dir. Harmony Korine
It seems I just can't get enough of Spring Breakers. I can't believe that this film is tying with Gravity for my best film of 2013. In my head I'm doing something ridiculous, I'm including it on a list with Citizen Kane; the kind of incredible films that both entertain and leave you marvelling at the skill of the director, films with many layers that you feel like you will never come close to comprehending no matter how many times you watch them. I feel like that is wrong.Army of Shadows (1969) Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Pick a WWII movie, pick your favourite WWII movie, I guarantee you it's not as good as Army of Shadows. There's a very real chance that you could pick ANY other movie in the entire history of cinema and it wouldn't be as good as Army of Shadows.
For 145 tension filled minutes Jean-Pierre Melville keeps the viewer in the palm of his hand, a director at the height of his almost magical powers, every moment exquisitely crafted in tones of blue-grey and quite aptly shadow and light.
I'm ready for the fallout, Superman fans sharpen your claws and do your worst. Any other opinions also welcome, recommendations via twitter are invited.
Haha, I kind of want to waste my time with The Island. It's been on my watchlist for some time, actually.
ReplyDeleteSpring Breakers! I LOVE that movie! It's firmly in my top 10 of 2013 list.