Directed by Gene Saks The plot of The Odd Couple orbits divorce, taking place in a time when I have to assume divorce was still a stigmatized novelty. Most of the jokes are derived from the very idea that two middle-aged men could share an apartment, especially as they quickly fall into a conventional husband-wife dynamic. … Continue reading The Odd Couple (1968)
Hal (2018)
Directed by Amy Scott Hal is a wonderful little documentary if only because so much of Hal Ashby's life feels as of yet unearthed. Or maybe that's just my perspective. Hal Ashby (1929-1988) was one of the best directors of the 1970s. A former editor, mythologized for how he would work nonstop, in a cloud … Continue reading Hal (2018)
Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town (2017)
Directed by Christian Papierniak Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town is a punk rock little movie made in the style of something from the early 90s, deeply colored with qualities of other Gen X movies. Mackenzie Davis plays Izzy, down on her luck and stewing in her own misery. When she learns that her ex-boyfriend Roger (Alex … Continue reading Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town (2017)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Directed by Gus Van Sant In Drugstore Cowboy a small gang of four junkies in Portland fight to survive and to get high. They are a little group of outlaws with no intent to do harm but who will do whatever it takes to feel extraordinary. Led by the charismatic Bob (Matt Dillon), they have … Continue reading Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Spielberg (2017)
Directed by Susan Lacy Steven Spielberg has been making full length films for almost fifty years now, and Spielberg celebrates the director's career by touching on all of the high notes. There isn't much drama to this documentary, not that there needs to be, and the story tries to explain some of Spielberg's impulses but mostly … Continue reading Spielberg (2017)
Punishment Park (1971)
Directed by Peter Watkins In Punishment Park, those arrested for crimes agains the country have three days to make their way a couple dozen miles to a designated location in order to earn their freedom. They are mostly nonviolent protestors of the Vietnam War, but by a tribunal and the U.S. government they are seen … Continue reading Punishment Park (1971)
Spirited Away (2001)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Kirk Wise I wish I could've seen Spirited Away when I was a child. For friends who did, it seems this movie is rooted deep within their memories, as if it's something they themselves experienced. Watching it for the first time recently I found it cute, strange and fantastical but nothing more … Continue reading Spirited Away (2001)
Atlantic City (1980)
Directed by Louis Malle Lou (Burt Lancaster) is an aged gangster who longs for the mythologized days of old, and Sally (Susan Sarandon) is a young waitress who hopes to absorb some of his sophistication. Though they live next door to each other it's only over the course of a handful of days that they … Continue reading Atlantic City (1980)
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
Directed by Robert Wise Burt Lancaster is the symbol of virtue, it seems, in just about all of his most iconic roles. Maybe he's not so much so in films like The Sweet Smell of Success and others I can't think of right now, but when I picture Lancaster I picture Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The … Continue reading Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick 2001: A Space Odyssey lives on in certain striking images, like the ape turning a bone into a weapon, HAL 9000's termination or the astronaut, Dave (Keir Dullea) meeting himself in an austere royal bedroom. Upon rewatching this movie what I was struck by was how almost unapologetically this film stitches … Continue reading 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
