Directed by Michael Showalter The Big Sick is a very Apatow-ian comedy, which is fitting since he produced it.  Like with Knocked Up or Funny People or Trainwreck or even Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this is a comedy that tackles a very serious situation, without mocking it.  In this case, Kumail Nanjiani's (ex) girlfriend falls into a coma, and he's … Continue reading The Big Sick (2017)

Directed by Louis Malle For Place de la Republique, Louis Malle turned the camera on the people in the street, one street in particular.  He spent ten days in Paris interviewing people who walked by, like catching fish in a net.  Some people ignored him and kept on walking, others volunteered to speak with him, and … Continue reading Place de la Republique (1974)

Directed by Richard Linklater Before Midnight is the third film of the "Before" trilogy.  Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train to Vienna in 1994.  As strangers they spend the night talking about life and falling in love.  In 2003 they meet again for the first time, now in Paris.  They are … Continue reading Before Midnight (2013)

Directed by the Coen Brothers The first thing I noticed about Miller's Crossing is how much Tommy (Gabriel Byrne) gets beat up.  He's an enforcer, working for both sides of a mafia war and everywhere in between.  His loyalty is never certain, not to either side and not even to the audience at times.  So everyone … Continue reading Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Directed by Michael Curtiz I look at Casablanca as a much older version of The Notebook.  It's great, sure, but it's so damn popular, and it's just a love story that it can't be that great, right?  It features starts Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, though I imagine their fame increased dramatically following this film. It's a … Continue reading Casablanca (1942)

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)