Directed by Andrew Fleming Dick is a comedy about a world that must have made very little sense at the time.  It's not about any one character so much as it is an effort to explain a bunch of things that were beyond comprehension.  The film opens with the Watergate burglary, and it ends with … Continue reading Dick (1999)

Directed by Spike Lee The She in She's Gotta Have It is Nola Darling.  These the object of desire for three men: Jamie, Mars and Greer.  Nola dates all three at once, insistent that she can't or won't settle for just one of them.  She is upfront with her decision, and all three men know about the … Continue reading She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

Directed by Agnes Varda Cleo From 5 to 7 is somehow about both nothing and everything.  A famous French singer, Cleo, wanders around Paris for an hour and a half as she nervously awaits medical test results.  At the end she gets those results, which seem to confirm that she has cancer but that it … Continue reading Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962)

Directed by Eric Rohmer The film opens and closes with a shot of the same gate.  We see teenage Pauline and her 20 something cousin, Marion, going through the gate, and then at the they come back out.  It's a very simple framing device, but I always like those kinds of bookends.  They're very neat. … Continue reading Pauline at the Beach (1983)

Directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin I've only seen a handful of silent films, and I bet many people are in the same boat.  It's not easy to force yourself to sit down and watch 90 minutes of no talking.  It's an adjustment, like waiting for your ears to pop after a long flight. At first … Continue reading City Lights (1931)

Directed by Joel Potrykus Buzzard is described as Office Space on crack, and yeah, that sounds about right.  The difference though is that Peter, the American hero of Office Space, is deeply content with his life and simply doesn't care about anything.  He only begins stealing from the company because there is some hatred towards the corporation and … Continue reading Buzzard (2014)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick From the moment it begins, Full Metal Jacket lets you know that no one matters, at least not in the eyes of the military at this moment in history.  We watch as a number of unsmiling new recruits sit still while their heads are shaved.  In each shot we lose a defining … Continue reading Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock I think I've learned how to digest Hitchcock's films.  The first one I ever saw was 1954's Rear Window.  It was a good film, sure, and I could understand why it was good, but for the most part I was bored during the film.  That's really just because I'm used to modern … Continue reading The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Directed by Peter Bogdanovich Duel and Nocturnal Animals made me afraid of a lonely highway, and Targets makes me afraid of drive-in movie theaters.  I had no idea what this film was about going in, and it's about a serial killer with a sniper.  So, just be aware of that.  Beyond the mass killings, though, this film … Continue reading Targets (1968)

The BFG is a pretty heartwarming movie, and if you haven't seen it, just watch the recent Apple holiday Frankenstein commercial.  That's basically The Big Friend Giant in a nutshell.  The story is about outsiders fitting in.  You have the orphan Sophie (Ruby Barnhill),  who becomes the adopted granddaughter of the Queen, and you have … Continue reading The BFG (2016)