Monthly Top Five

Not the best month for me

1. A Time to Live and a Time to Die: "Taiwanese cinema was a big deal in the late 80s and early 90s in part because movies were made by what was essentially the first generation of people to have grown up in the country. Case in point Hou Hsiao-hsien whose coming of age autobiographical film A Time to Live and a Time to Die, which begins in 1947 (the year of the country’s founding) and follows its protagonist up through the 60s. In this the film actually has quite a bit in common with Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day, which is also about young people in the same time and place but this one came earlier and was likely an influence on Yang’s film. I would also recon that it was an influence on later coming of age sagas like Tree of Life and Boyhood to some extent. There were definitely some cultural references in this thing that likely went over my head and I would like to look up some writing on it for more context, but you sort of feel the importance anyway even if you don’t completely understand everything. It’s different from the “slow cinema” that would take over some of the director’s later films and it makes me think I should check out more of his early work."

2. The League of Gentleman: "The League of Gentlemen (not to be confused with the British TV show of the same name or with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was a film made by Basil Dearden which traded in some of his usual social issue work and is instead a more or less populist heist film. It’s about a guy who recruits a number of British army veterans/criminals with the aim of having them carry out a perfect bank robbery with military precision. A similar premise was used the same year in Hollywood for the original Ocean’s 11, but this is in many ways the less flashy and less glamorous take on a similar idea. The actual heist is not exactly the most elaborate forms of the genre we’ve seen but it is visually striking nonetheless. If I had an issue with the movie it’s that it never quite has the time to establish all of the different characters despite going on a bit of a pre-heist detour for much of the second act."

3. Topkapi: "Topkapi was made during a period where Jules Dassin probably could have moved back to the United States and made traditional Hollywood films. The blacklist that initially sent him overseas was pretty much ancient history at this point, but he instead chose to stay in his wife’s home country of Greece, where he would live and make movies most of the rest of his life aside from a stretch where he left to escape the military junta. Topkapi is probably one of the most commercial movies he made during this period as it’s an English Language heist film with stars like Maximillian Schell and Peter Ustinov. The film is actually set in Turkey and at times feels a bit like it was funded by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce because it is very interested in showing off a lot of the cities tourist sites and these travelogue elements do get a little tiresome. It’s also got a bit of an annoying structure that focuses a little too much on side characters and takes a bit too long to get to the actual heist, but once the heist is actually on a lot of its problems are swiftly forgiven. I’m pretty sure that the film was an inspiration for a level in Uncharted 2, or at least it uses a similar location, and it was definitely an inspiration for the first Mission Impossible as the big hook of the heist sequence is a rope dangling thing that was almost certainly a precursor for that film’s most famous set-piece."

4. Boeing Boeing: [note that this review was part of a five film exploration into the films of Jerry Lewis] "When I put my Jerry Lewis retrospective together I was kind of flying blind. I knew I wanted to look at Artists and Models, The Ladies Man, and The Nutty Professor but I wasn’t really sure what my first and final movies would be and ultimately made my choices based in part on availability. For my last movie I’m looking at Boeing Boeing, a movie that (based on the other four movies I looked at) isn’t very representative of the man’s comedy and in which he’s probably more of a co-star to Tony Curtis than the lead performer on. It does hold an important place in the man’s career as it was the last movie under his Paramount contract but it maybe wasn’t the best movie to place in a marathon… but I ended up quite liking the movie in part because rather than in spite of the fact that it isn’t very indicative of Lewis’ style. The film is set in Paris and concerns a pair of American bachelor foreign correspondents and specifically one played by Tony Curtis, who we come to learn has been juggling three separate fiancés who don’t know each other. These fiancés are each stewardesses for three different airlines and he often refers to them by their respective employers (British United, Air France, and Lufthansa), so the plan is that because they all have different flight schedules he can count on them never being in town at the same time. Essentially it’s an update to the sailor who has a girl in every port, but supercharged."

5. Tunes of Glory: "Going to be upfront, I was watching this while working from home on what turned out to be a particularly unpleasant “day at the office” which meant pausing it a lot and that probably colored my viewing. I didn’t know a whole lot about the movie going in, it doesn’t show up on too many “best of” lists, but it has a Criterion edition and they’ve championed the film over the years. The film reminded me a bit of something like A Few Good Men in that it’s a sort of character drama that questions the limits of “military discipline.” It concerns a sort of battle of wills that goes on in a post-war Scottish military division when their old commander (who had a bit of a laid back style) gets replaced by another officer (who decidedly does not have a laid back style) who starts incessantly drilling them in “highlands dance” and riding their asses about other inane things. It’s a movie that kind of questions what the purpose of military tradition is in peace time (and in war time for that matter) while also being a fairly engaging character drama. It’s a bit limited in scope and kind of feels like an adaptation of a stage play (despite actually being an adaptation of a novel) and also features a strong performance by Alec Guinness."

5. Pom Poko (Isao Takahata, 1994)

Much as I do think this anti-capitalist reading is essential and adds a lot to the film, Pom Poko's real charm is as a wondrous animated adventure. The film is full of unique visual ideas, with Takahata really embracing the transformation effects. After his last two films were set quite firmly in the real world, it's quite fun to see the guy embrace fantasy. The parade in particular is a definite highlight. I do wish the central character was a bit stronger, but the overall film is pretty magical. Loads of fun, and with an ending that was both more touching and challenging than I was expecting.


4. Secret Honor (Robert Altman, 1984)

Capone may have been a wet noodle, but after it was over I was in the mood for another movie about a disgraced American figure past his glory days and thought it high time I finally catch up with Robert Altman's Secret Honor. Gotta say, this movie really lived up to my hopes. This movie is 90 minutes of Richard M. Nixon (Philip Baker Hall) drunkenly rambling into a tape recorder in his New Jersey study and it's some of the most compelling cinema I've seen lately. You'd think a one man show like this might be a bit slow but that isn't the case at all. Secret Honor is closer to exhausting, with Hall playing Nixon with an almost manic desperation, this almost Shakespearean figure plagued with insecurity, doubt, hatred and narcissism. Hall really is amazing here. He's an actor so often reserved for solid supporting roles and it's so thrilling to see him be given a major showcase like this. Hall doesn't look that much like Nixon and he also avoids mimicry. What he does offer is a tremendous theatrical performance that I quite simply could not look away from.


3. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

My Own Private Idaho has been one of the most seminal films on my watchlist for quite some time now and Pride month seemed a great time to finally catch up with this classic of the New Queer Cinema. Really, this film completely lives up to the hype. Gus Van Sant's blending of Shakespearean tragedy and 90s indie cinema feels effortless and absorbing, the film drawing a rich portrait of the lives of its characters which also functions as great drama. River Phoenix's lead performance is awesome and the editing and story structure also do a fantastic job forcing the viewer to really identify with the character. The way we drop in and out of the story sometimes jarringly mirrors Mike's struggles with narcolepsy. The film on the whole is very much deserving of its reputation and really holds up. For as heavy as it can get (something morbidly enhanced by Phoenix's death a few years later) My Own Private Idaho is also playful and brave. Had a great time with this one.


2. Naked (Mike Leigh, 1993)

Naked is a two hour movie with almost no plot, consisting mostly of watching a highly misanthropic, cruel, and condescendingly clever young man named Johnny (David Thewlis) wander London while having conversations with a former flame and strangers. It is also some of the most rivetting cinema I've seen recently. The man of the hour is most certainly David Thewlis, who gives an incredible performance. Johnny is on paper an extremely unlikable character. Misogynistic, cruel, and generally just a huge asshole, Thewlis is able to find such humanity in the character without ever being overtly sympathetic. There's so much charisma that it's hard to look a way, and it helps that a lot of the guy's nihilistic rants are written to perfection. Mike Leigh and cinematographer Dick Pope also really bring the grimy London streets to life and while the film is often ugly, it's also so watchable. The film thrives as both an excellent character study and a portrait of early 90s, post-Thatcher England.


1. Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)

Really, I feel Lost Highway is best approached as a genre exorcise, with Lynch wanting to experiment with noir tropes of mysterious crime stories and femme fatales. Lynch would explore similar territory with Mulholland Drive, but there's an aggressive streak that makes Lost Highway unique. The violence here has a bleak edge and the characters are also not especially empathetic or likable. Then there's the Trent Reznor produced soundtrack which is full of loud Heavy Metal rather than the more beautiful music Lynch tends to use. I don't know, maybe I was just in the mood for some Lynchian nightmare shit but I really dug the hell out of Lost Highway. It's such a bleak and hardcore example of David Lynch's style that I found fully engrossing. No, I didn't totally understand everything, but the craft is fantastic, Robert Blake is scary as hell, the music rips, and the film as a whole is a mesmerizing bit of darkness. Lost Highway is awesome.

I haven't even got to my honourable mentions.


L'Age d'Or
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Daughters of the Dust
The Watermelon Woman
Mother (the Bong Joon Ho one - thanks PhantomKnight)

No plans to watch a movie tonight so here's my July list...


1) The Purple Rose of Cairo - I've been trying to fill a lot of gaps in Woody Allen's filmography lately that I haven't seen and I found this to be a very sweet and impressive film, maybe not in scale but at least in how it was entertaining and emotional.  It's another movie about movies but...not really?  There are some glimpses into the behind the scenes workings of the film industry but it's mostly about a woman's search for love, both in movies and elsewhere.  I also admired how Allen doesn't take the easy way out with the ending and gives us a conclusion where each character does what would suit them naturally instead of something the audience expects or would want to see.  

2) Come and See - You know how every once in a while you watch a powerful, striking movie that you never want to watch again?  That's Come and See.  I've heard people talk about it for a long time and it was certainly a good watch but I don't think I was prepared for how brutal it was.  A memorable watch that's stuck with me very clearly since watching it and it's even more terrifying that the massacre at the end was based on the action of a legitimately insane SS unit.  

3) The Killer - A John Woo movie through and through.  It's a simple flick about an assassin with a heart of gold who's betrayed by the Yakuza so he's gotta show them a thing or two using guns with bottomless clips and lots of white pigeons flying through frame.  It's a really fun action movie with some good shootouts, neat shots and Chow Yun-Fat playing a pretty awesome action hero.  I really have only seen one or two movies with him as the lead and he's great in this, even if I can't understand Mandarin.  

4) Crimes and Misdemeanors - Another Woody Allen dramedy that has the Allen hallmarks of relationship angst, adultery and critique only with a dose of murder. Allen is skilled in weaving separate storylines together and once again he brings these threads together in a clever way.  The actual murder plotline feels like it's slugged in there rather clumsily at times but in the context of the whole movie it worked.  I also enjoyed the theme that made me think of A Serious Man in that people didn't seem to get the outcomes they deserved whether right or wrong which is a lot more real than the standard Hollywood ending.

5) Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion - A cool Italian movie about a homicide captain who murders his mistress and leaves clues pointing to him to see if he's certainly above suspicion in a murder case.  The movie is saturated in political themes which are extremely timely given the unrest in the US regarding the role of police, demonstrations, protesters and the like.  Creepy and uncomfortable but also intriguing throughout with a pretty satisfying conclusion for the main character (who played the baddie in Fistful of Dollars/For A Few Dollars More which is pretty cool).

Other watches:
Broadway Danny Rose
Greyhound
2 Fast 2 Furious
Spider-Man: Far From Home
The Vast of Night

I lost track, so 4 I remember were probably last month:

Used Cars
You're Next
Captain America Winter Soldier
Captain America Civil War

Actually I take this back. The Mads live show was the first time I saw Glen or Glenda.

So, revising this:
1. The Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Glen or Glenda
3. Relic
4. Deep Blue Sea 3

I've already seen it, though.

What if I watch another Ed Wood movie I haven't seen? Like Jail Bait or Night of the Ghouls?

Pull the string

5. Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam, 1981)- 8/10

This is quite simply Gilliam at his most inventive and fun. The story itself is lean and not much more than a reason for adventure to occur, but it doesn't matter as hopping from one intricate set piece to another never loses steam and is filled to the brim with sight gags, camera tricks, and wonderful cameos. Time Bandits is an incredibly impressive production, and it's astounding that Gilliam conjured up what he did on a meager budget of five million dollars! He's been largely irrelevant for decades now, but Time Bandits is a reminder of how good a director like Gilliam at the height of their creative powers can be.

4. Tess (Roman Polanski, 1979)- 8/10

An incredibly handsome production, complete with cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth that rivals what he achieved with Barry Lyndon a few years prior before his untimely death. The acting is strong, most surprisingly by Natassja Kinski in the eponymous role, though Tess doesn't quite get to the level of Barry Lyndon or other period piece giants due to a sort of faux attempt at feminism by never allowing Tess to truly break from the destructive men in her life. Doesn't have the usual energy of Polanski's earliest accomplishments but was the last of his strong films until The Pianist.

3. Poetry (Chang-dong Lee, 2010)- 8/10

A woman who is caring for her troublesome grandson finds herself caught in the middle of quieting a scandal while attempting to write poetry. Chang-dong Lee is one of the best voices in Korean cinema, weaving highly complex morality tales through his often lower-middle class protagonists who are trying to find their footing in a society that overlooks them. Poetry features great performances and a chilling conclusion once our protagonist finally finds her poetic voice.

2. Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)- 9/10

I was surprised at how much I loved this film. Often regarded in the "good but not great" section of Hitchcock's resume, I was shocked at how crackling this chamber piece is and how well it all comes together. Yes, the film is essentially characters constantly being embattled with expositions and confessions, but somehow Hitchcock is able to reconstruct the audience's own dramatic irony to keep new twists peppered into the story. It's one of the strongest scripts that Hitchcock directed and one of his finest performances overall and deserves more credit than being Rear Window's little brother in 1954.

1. Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926)- 9/10

Murnau is probably the greatest silent film director of all time, taking the aesthetic elements of German Expressionism but crafting his films' narratives with modern touches of drama that feels less anachronistic than many of his contemporaries. Faust is no exception, as the imagery and effects work is some of the most awe-inspiring the silent era had to offer while working its classic fable into the mix. While the narrative does lag slightly in the second act as Faust courts a woman, the film bookends in two amazing sequences that more than make up for a somewhat lagging middle portion.

Honorable Mentions (basically anything I scored an 8 or above each month that just missed my top five):

Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2010)- 8/10
Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980)- 8/10
Blow Out (Brian De Palma, 1981)- 8/10

1. Seven Samurai (Watched 7/8/2020) - What can I say about Seven Samurai that hasn't already been said repeatedly and much more eloquently by so many others before me? Not much, I don't think. But I WILL say that the film is staggering in its epic scope -- especially considering the time at which it was made -- and that despite already knowing the basic structure of the story from being familiar with The Magnificent Seven and whatnot, the film was still very absorbing. Not only does Akira Kurosawa bring an immense sense of scope to the proceedings, but he also takes the time to make sure that each of these samurai characters feel fully developed and well-rounded so that when the time comes for them to go off into battle, there is actual weight behind it and a sense of truly wanting to see as many of them make it out alive as possible. The same is true for the villagers they come to protect. They and the threat hanging over them are built-up just as well as all the other elements, and when things finally explode at the climax, it really is some gripping stuff.

Will post my list as soon as I update my Letterboxd. Fun fact: none of my films are in English.