Directed by Federico Fellini 8 1/2 must be the most autobiographic film of Fellini's career.  From what I've read, each of his films has an autobiographic quality, but this one, the title of which refers directly to the number of films he had mad, is specifically about a movie director (Fellini's same age) who suffers from … Continue reading 8 1/2 (1963)

Directed by Federico Fellini I Vitelloni is like a handful of other college/post-grad movies.  The first one that comes to mind, though probably not the best example, is Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming (1995).  Each film is a loose collection of stories following a group of friends as they attempt to put their lives together even … Continue reading I Vitelloni (1953)

Directed by Federico Fellini Giulietta Masina, Federico Fellini's wife, plays Cabiria, an escort looking for a way off the streets.  She is bold, brash, loud, proud and Chaplin-esque.  Between her expressive face and entertaining dance moves, she's hard not to enjoy just form a visual standpoint.  Those same attributes were harnessed in La Strada (1954) to … Continue reading The Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Directed by Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Kenneth Stilson Adventures on the New Frontier was a television documentary produced for ABC in 1961.  It offers a surprisingly candid portrait of President John F. Kennedy as well as First Lady Jackie Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, the man Kennedy defeated in the primaries before the general … Continue reading Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)

Directed by Fritz Kiersch Children of the Corn is a terrible movie, but it might be a good terrible movie.  It's very 80s, between the crappy computer effects and Linda Hamilton (of Terminator fame) as well as Burt's mullet and faded blue jeans.  The story is very simple, but it's stretched out to fit its 90 … Continue reading Children of the Corn (1984)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann) is an actress who suddenly goes mute, and when nothing is found to be medically wrong with her, she is described as struggling from "crippling apathy."  Elizabet goes to stay at a beachside house with her nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), a young woman who admires Elizabet and … Continue reading Persona (1966)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman Are we supposed to pity Isak or feel for him? Wild Strawberries is a very introspective journey by Dr. Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom), an elderly, nostalgic man who is haunted by his fears of death.  He's on his way to receive an award, but that's hardly the story.  We spend the … Continue reading Wild Strawberries (1957)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman The Seventh Seal begins with a knight (Max von Sydow) playing chess against death.  The knight is named Antonius Block, and he has just returned from the Crusades to find his country picked apart by the Black Plague.  Block is obsessed with finding meaning, and thus God, wherever he can.  He plays … Continue reading The Seventh Seal (1957)

Directed by Federico Fellini La Strada follows the depressing journey of a young woman across Italy, dealing with the abuse of a circus performer until she finally gets the courage to leave him.  Gelsomina (played by Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina) might as well be a puppy dog.  She is filled with a childlike innocence, but … Continue reading La Strada (1954)

Directed by Louis Malle Wally and Andre (Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory) don't carry on a dialogue throughout their hour and a half or so long dinner as much as they exchange monologues.  The film presents the events of the story as an evolving conversation, and while they do build on what the other says, conveying … Continue reading My Dinner with Andre (1981)