Directed by Robert Bresson Robert Bresson likes to fragment the human body.  He referred to actors as models, really just mannequins to be positioned for the camera.  The performances are stale, stripped of emotion, and the point of his films is the context more than any one scene.  His stories feel like sermons, whether about … Continue reading Mouchette (1967)

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow On the surface, Blue Steel is just another cop movie.  We start with a scene of our hero, Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis), gun drawn in what looks to be a dangerous moment on the job.  It turns out to be an elaborate training exercise, the type that we're led to think … Continue reading Blue Steel (1989)

Directed by Harmony Korine Mister Lonely is a weird little film.  It's a story about love and about celebrity impersonators who live together on a commune and never break character.  Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton) goes by Marilyn, and our protagonist, Michael Jackson (Diego Luna) goes by Michael.  There is also Abe Lincoln, Charlie Chaplin, the … Continue reading Mister Lonely (2007)

Directed by Terrence Malick Badlands is very similar to another road trip film made around the same time, Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express.  In both cases, a young couple is on the run, their escape demanding a police pursuit and a media frenzy. They're both amusing at times, too, but Badlands feels like a much more tragic … Continue reading Badlands (1973)

Directed by Nicole Holofcener Enough Said is a romantic comedy about people who have their guard up.  These characters aren't looking to fall in love like the characters of a typical rom-com.  They're older and wiser, but sometimes that wisdom morphs into a wall, keeping the world at arm's length. Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a … Continue reading Enough Said (2013)

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan The title comes from the poem "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins: Márgarét, áre you gríeving  Over Goldengrove unleaving?  Leáves like the things of man, you With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?  Ah! ás the heart grows older  It will come to such sights colder  By and by, … Continue reading Margaret (2011)

Directed by Lynn Shelton I’ve now seen Your Sister’s Sister three times.  It’s one of those movies that I’m certain isn’t as good as I think it is, and maybe that sort of odd confidence made me more critical of the film this time around.  Still, I love it.  It’s one of those heavily improvised … Continue reading Your Sister’s Sister (2011)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Ivan, the titular character, is a 12 year old boy soldier, used in reconnaissance efforts for the Soviets during World War II.  We first meet him in a dream sequence, emphasizing his youth and innocence, but then we quickly dive into his reality, a grim world full of swamps, raining gunfire, … Continue reading Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

Directed by Robert Bresson I've been repeating the title of this film in my head for a while, and I can't figure out the correct way to say it.  Is it "a man, escaped" or is it a statement, as in "what happened?" "A man escaped."  It's important not to think about it, I guess.  It's deceptively … Continue reading A Man Escaped (1956)

Directed by Alain Resnais Night and Fog was one of the first documentaries to touch on the Holocaust.  Released in 1955, this 31 minute film forces us to re-examine the Holocaust at a time when, so fresh in our memory, we may have done anything to forget it.  Through very sharp cinematography, filmed in color … Continue reading Night and Fog (1955)