Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi If the title character of Asako I & II were more devious, maybe even just more active, then this might be more like Vertigo. She meets and falls immediately for a young man named Baku, his stringy long hair acting like a theater curtain slowly being drawn over his face, hiding something. Asako falls … Continue reading Asako I & II (2018)
Month: August 2019
Wild Rose (2018)
Directed by Tom Harper A young Glasgow woman dreams of making it as a country star in Wild Rose. She is Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley), and she's not like every other wide-eyed fame-minded heroine you see in stories such as this. When we first meet her she is being released from prison, though she maintains a bubbly, … Continue reading Wild Rose (2018)
Red River (1948)
Directed by Howard Hawks John Wayne plays an effective, unexpected villain in Red River, perhaps inspiring John Ford to cast him in such a role in what is considered the greatest western of all time, 1956’s The Searchers. Ford said about Wayne in this film, “I didn’t know the son of a bitch could act.” … Continue reading Red River (1948)
Midsommar (2019)
Directed by Ari Aster The most horrifying moment in Midsommar might be in the prologue. It at least has the most dread in the film, a sequence that like most horror films is dark, moody and tense. The rest of the film takes place in the often bright, sometimes purposefully overexposed and all around pleasant … Continue reading Midsommar (2019)
Transit (2018)
Directed by Christian Petzold Transit exists outside of time, at least any sort of familiar sense of time. It's Casablanca set in the modern day, but that blend of past and present, without getting into the more symbolic elements, makes our own social history feel so immediate. A period piece film having to do with Nazi-occupied France would … Continue reading Transit (2018)
Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans (1927)
Directed by F.W. Murnau Sunrise is a heartwarming story of young love in a busy city. It's playful and beautiful, told with an elegance and sense of humor. Sure the man was about to drown his wife in a lake so that he could run away with another woman, but see he didn't, and then he … Continue reading Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans (1927)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Directed by Howard Hawks It seems to me that older films can be considered great for two main reasons. One has to do with being a bit of an artifact of a particular moment in history, and the second has to do with creating a trend that so many other films copied. The first of … Continue reading Rio Bravo (1959)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Directed by John Ford "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend" The relationship between John Ford and John Wayne was tumultuous but undeniably fruitful, legendary even. They are two icons of the movie western, but for all the worship laid at their feet, it sounds like their lives, both professional and otherwise, weren't all … Continue reading The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Directed by Robert Wiene The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of those films that begins every Film School 101 course overview, along with films like Citizen Kane, Rear Window, Nosferatu, an Ingmar Bergman or two, Chinatown, and Battleship Potemkin. It might be easy to dismiss a film like this if only because it's so damn influential, also like Fritz Lang's Metropolis. … Continue reading The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
Directed by Stephen Frears A social-minded independent film centered around a small business which escalates into some level of violence, My Beautiful Laundrette feels like the precursor to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. It's theatrical with its plotting, but every dramatic turn seems to say something about society at large. In that way the scope … Continue reading My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
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