Directed by Sergei Eisenstein The Battleship Potemkin was a Soviet propaganda film made about the events of an uprising in 1905.  It's a silent film, with the occasional text to tell us what the soldiers are saying, but otherwise it relies on Sergei Eisenstein's editing to not only make the story clear but the emotion … Continue reading The Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Directed by Richard Linklater Before Sunset has a little bit of Casablanca in it, though I maybe I only say that because I just watched the Humphrey Bogart film recently too.  This movie is a sequel to 1995's Before Sunrise, a story that introduced us to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse and Celine … Continue reading Before Sunset (2004)

Directed by Louis Malle ...And the Pursuit of Happiness is Louis Malle's documentary follow up to God's Country, though it's not a sequel and features none of the same characters.  Still, it feels connected.  Where the former film was concerned with lifelong Americans in a small Minnesota town, people who were born there and unlikely to … Continue reading …And the Pursuit of Happiness (1986)

Directed by John Huston I'm not sure where to begin with The Maltese Falcon.  It is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, perhaps in the top 50, and it's most well-known for how influential it is.  It may be one of if not the first film noir, inspiring a series of … Continue reading The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Directed by Walter Lang Desk Set felt like a somewhat lazy film.  It's one of those old films that I feel like I should appreciate because... it's more of a museum piece or a symbol of the times.  If anything, it's a Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn film, and from what I can tell, they were like … Continue reading Desk Set (1957)

Directed by John Huston The African Queen is the boat Charlie Allnutt (Humphrey Bogart) pilots through Africa in newly German-occupied land during World War I.  Among other things, he delivers mail between villages, including to one in which Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) works as a missionary.  When the village is ransacked by the Germans and … Continue reading The African Queen (1951)

Directed by Sidney Lumet 12 Angry Men takes place in one room and just about in real time.  The film starts with the end of a trial, and the camera focuses on the defendant, a young man, as the jurors who hold his life in their hands, filter into the jury room.  11 of the … Continue reading 12 Angry Men (1957)

Directed by Louis Malle The shot I remember most in God's Country, a 1985 documentary, shows an elderly woman in a retirement home, seemingly unaware of anything that's going on around her while a toothpaste commercial plays loudly in the background, out of focus.  On its own, this shot suggests a world and a time in which … Continue reading God’s Country (1985)

Directed by Joon-ho Bong In Okja, a girl named Mija (Seo-Hyun Ahn) grows up with a genetically engineered super pig, Okja, who is then reclaimed by the Mirando corporation, with their eyes set on slaughtering the pig for food and profit. Mija pursues Okja from the mountains where she lives all the way to Seoul, and … Continue reading Okja (2017)

Directed by Edgar Wright Baby Driver is a lot of fun, and that's about all there is to say.  I love Edgar Wright's style, particularly his sense of visual comedy, and he has a way of making you love the heroes of his movies.  In this case, Baby (Ansel Elgort) is immensely likable, first because … Continue reading Baby Driver (2017)