Seven Beauties (1975)

I finally watched a Lina Wertmüller film! And now I want to watch ALL of the Lina Wertmüller films! Why did I wait so long? I really want to give The Academy credit for nominating this film for four awards including Best Director. I get that it thoroughly checks off that "holocaust" box that Oscar Voters love so much, but it does it in such an audacious and radical way. Or maybe I'm just observing things from the perspective of today. In the 70's, you could simply say that Nazis and Fascism were bad because they are bad. Today, saying such things will get you branded as Anti-Fa. Funny how a film can become MORE radical with age! And that's not even taking into account all of the gender issues at play here. Brava, Lina!

Dunkirk (2017)

Remember the early days of IMAX when the theaters were mostly in museums and pretty much exclusively showed educational spectacle and documentaries? This kinda reminds me of those days. More so than anything else, this film is a visceral experience. When the screen is large enough to fill your entire field of vision it's hard not to get sucked in. But it's full credit to Christopher Nolan that it works this well. This could easily have been something along the lines of those weird attempts at doing narrative film in Cinerama. And it doesn't reduce human tragedy to mere spectacle either. Dunkirk is a uniquely cinematic experience. It almost seems sacrilegious that this will eventually be screened on televisions and phones. There's really only one way to truly see this film.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

From a narrative standpoint this movie didn't have to open with the D-Day Invasion. You could have easily snipped out those first twenty-six pages of screenplay, started with the telegrams being typed out, and gone from there. Sure there are little character beats that get dropped in that opening sequence (about Captain Miller in particular) but nothing that isn't also covered later. It feels like the type of indulgence that a studio reader would have suggested cutting for budget's sake. But this isn't a screenplay, this is a film. On the page it's a pretty straightforward account of taking the beach. But with sound and images on a screen, it's an assault. It beats you into the ground. That opening is there to traumatize the audience. Now you are in Captain Miller's boots. You're startled by loud noises and hypervigilant about threats from all sides. Is this what it's like to have PTSD? Anything can happen and anyone can die at any moment. And that is why Steven Spielberg is a master.

Five Came Back (2017)

This was an interesting experience. Since I had already read Mark Harris' excellent book of the same name, a lot of these stories were old news to me and that really held me back in the early chapters. I mean it was cool getting to see some of the footage that I'd only read about, but nothing new was really brought to the table. There wasn't anything that really justified this being a film rather than a book. But then there's that final third. In its final hour, this doc really becomes cinema. As fascinating as I found the book, it didn't move me. The final segment of this film moved me greatly. Five Came Back will go down as one of the finest documentaries about cinema ever.

The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

For better or worse, when you make a period piece you are judging the past. Often the judgement is positive. Weren't things so much better back in the day? This rose colored perspective almost always ignores the various horrors that were going on during the time period in question. As a German man born almost immediately after the end of World War II, Rainer Werner Fassbinder has nothing good to say about the past. Using Maria Braun as a stand-in for the entire country, Fassbinder paints a very bleak portrait of post-war Germany. Not only is Maria an opportunist who will do anything to move forward financially, she also continues to carry a torch for her missing/imprisoned Nazi husband. An entire Nation doesn't just suddenly change their prejudices or impulses overnight and the "progress" of today is often built on a rotten foundation. We are forever wedded to the past. Fassbinder never wants us to forget that.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

My relationship with The Hurt Locker has been a complex one. From 2009 until 2012 I was absolutely in the bag for this movie. When it won Best Picture and Best Director I was on cloud 9. So what changed in 2012? A little movie called Zero Dark Thirty was released. As good as The Hurt Locker was, that other film was somehow better. It touches on many of the same themes yet in a more complex, less black and white manner. And the things it has to say about America and the War on Terror are deeply profound. So of course it was almost universally ignored come Award Season. The only statue it took home was for Sound Editing, and even that it had to split with Skyfall due to an extremely rare tie.

Ever since then I've been bitter. Why did The Hurt Locker get so much love and Zero Dark Thirty got none? Kathryn Bigelow didn't even get a nomination this go around. Did The Academy figure she'd already been honored too recently? Better not give her another one lest she start thinking she's as good as sacred John Ford or some such! Can't make this honoring women thing into a regular occurrence. One every 82 years is plenty! But I digress...

So yeah, I had begun to unfairly hold The Hurt Locker's six Oscars against it. But then it occurred to me: Why does it have to be one against the other? This isn't sports, this is art! There doesn't have to be one clear winner and one clear loser. Or at the least its like soccer where there can be ties. These are both five-star films and The Hurt Locker's award success does not negate all the numerous merits of Zero Dark Thirty. If anything, it might turn more people on to Zero Dark Thirty. And so, after much soul searching, I was finally able to watch The Hurt Locker again. And guess what? It's a really great movie!

Phoenix (2015)

I have no clue what it is like to live through a war. Hopefully I never will. Not only is there all the grief and loss that comes with bombing and battles, but there is also the shock of coming home to a world that has moved on without you. Your old apartment has been blown to bits and that person who always swore they would love only you doesn’t even recognize you. You want everything to be the same but that isn’t possible. You cling to what you knew. No matter how hard you try to go back to the “old you”, you cannot. And it isn’t just because everyone and everything else has changed. You have changed as well. You have lived through experiences that only others who lived through them can understand. Stuff that you’d probably not talk about. From here on, you are out of step with the rest of the world. How can you ever really come to grips with that? Phoenix is about all of that and so much more. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen all year.

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

When I read that this film consisted of a series of one-act plays all stitched together I was worried that it would feel episodic. I also feared that it would feel visually un-cinematic as filmed versions of stage plays often do. But thanks to the talented screenwriting of Dudley Nichols and the visual genius of director John Ford and cinematographer Greg Toland (who would later go on to photograph Citizen Kane) this film was able to come off as something all together unique and magical. The photography and sets cast a spell on you by creating a mood that is inescapable. You feel as though you are living on that boat with those men. Combine that with the joy of watching so many great character actors being given their proper moment in the spotlight, and what you get is something really special. The only truly sour note is John Wayne's Swedish-ish accent. Thankfully there's really only one prolonged scene of that particular torture. The rest of this voyage is certainly a journey worth taking.

Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

As America can surely attest, it’s a lot easier to start a war than to end one. Pull a trigger, press a button and you are off to the races. Stopping a war is a much more complicated process. Signing a treaty does not bring the dead back to life. It also doesn’t change the fact that war has become a way of life for all of those involved. If the war has gone on long enough, it might be all that young people know. They haven’t been able to experience the wonderful and awkward moments of adolescence. It’s hard to worry about something as seemingly insignificant as acne or dating when the more pressing issue of survival is hanging overhead. And then the war stops. Suddenly you can take the time to enjoy the company of a nice young lady. You can flirt and make love. But just below the surface all the awful muck of the past lies in waiting. And when you’ve become accustomed to taking orders, it is hard to stop. Though World War II ended nearly seventy years ago, we are still dealing with its fallout today. There are no clean breaks.

Three Kings (1999)

The fall of 1999 was a big turning point in my life. It was the start of my sophomore year of high school and I had just joined an after school arts program that would eventually take over the rest of my high school experience. It was a transitional phase between one group of friends and another. During this brief window of time I read two very formative books (Breakfast of Champions and The Catcher In the Rye), discovered albums like Weezer’s Pinkerton and Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy and saw lots of really good movies. I particularly remember watching Fight Club the night before I took the PSAT and American Beauty immediately afterwards.

In addition to all the other ways my life was changing at the time, 1999 was also the beachhead of my political awareness. I took to progressive politics with the fury of a Catholic convert. I wrote editorial for the school paper questioning the official story of The Kennedy Assassination and a term paper on how Malcolm X was a personal hero! Within a year I would be attending Nader rallies at the Long Beach Arena. As such, Three Kings was a great film to see at this time. David O. Russell crafted the perfect film for my burgeoning political awakening and my already deeply entrenched love of cinema. This movie was funny, the filmmaking was admirably showy, the action was intense and the humanist message was overwhelming. When I received my first DVD player as a birthday present the following fall, this and American Beauty were the first two discs I got. Perhaps it's time to upgrade it to Blu-ray...

Rome Open City (1945)

In the wake of World War II millions were dead and much of Europe lay in ruins. The devastation was so intense that we are still dealing with the fallout today. Knowing all of this it is hard to believe that Roberto Rossellini was able to produce and release this film within five months of V-E Day - but he did. Out of the ruble of war, Rossellini and his collaborators were able to make a work of great emotion and rugged beauty that has gone on to inspire filmmakers in impoverished and desolated countries the world over. The artistic spirit is a resilient one. You don't need millions of dollars and beautiful sets to make a great film, all you need is a camera and passion.

The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Follow Clive Candy (Roger Livesey) as he lives, laughs, loves and fights his way through forty years of British military history.

*      *      *

The sheer visual power of this film is something that simply cannot be denied. It's a style so lush and enveloping that there is no way to escape it. The colors and emotions are so intense that they are able to leap from the screen and take you over, both body and soul. Those simple shots of floating leaves near the end of the film are just as powerful and resonant as anything Yasujiro Ozu ever concocted. Add to this the stellar performances on display and resistance is futile. I know people love to trumpet The Dark Knight as the high water mark in terms of cinematic adaptations of comics, but this film did it better. Twenty-seven years before  Christopher Nolan was even born, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were able to create a cinematic masterpiece by taking a "silly" two-dimensional comic-strip character, and making him both human and tragic. 

You laugh at my big belly, but you don't know how I got it. You laugh t my mustache, but you don't know why I grew it. How do you know what sort of fellow I was when I was as young as you are, 40 years ago?

Watch this movie and you will understand.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Chronicling the ten-year man-hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

*      *      *

Time to start believing the hype. Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal have succeed in turning an event we all know the outcome of, into one of the most tense and intense pieces of cinema ever. It's so good in fact that I kind of wish this film could exist in a political vacuum where people could put aside questions of torture and due process, and just marvel at the sheer might of the filmmaking on display. Sadly there is no vacuum to be found when you are dramatizing a true story, during Oscar season, near an election, featuring events that occurred as recently as one year ago. People are going to bring all kinds of baggage to their interpretation of this film no matter what, but for me it's all about watching Maya's face in that last shot. It's all right there. If the emotions on her face cannot convince you of the filmmakers' sympathies, then nothing will. Like John Ford's The Searchers before it, Zero Dark Thirty is a film destined to be debated for years to come.

Atonement (2007)

After witnessing something she doesn't understand, young Briony (Saoirse Ronan) makes some unfounded accusations; the fallout from those charges extends through WWII and beyond.

*      *      *

When this film was released in 2007, my interest in seeing it was near zero. Its trailer reeked of "Oscar bait" and I had already sat through The English Patient once. The only thing that made me kinda maybe want to see it, was a co-worker's description of a long single-take shot on a beach. Well finally this past June I got over my snobbery and sat down to watch the film, and man was I blown away!

Seeing as the source material was published in 2001, I can most assuredly say that this story was not originally intended as an allegory for President George W. Bush sending young women and men to die for a lie; but when you acknowledge the fact that two wars were well underway at the time of the film's release, it's impossible to not at least see parallels. Even if you put contemporary politics aside, the film is still a devastating exploration of the huge tragic ripples that can be caused by tiny deeds. Oh and did I mention they use the C-word?! No matter how you slice it, definitely not your average grandma movie.

Che (2008)

Two films about Che Guevara (Benicio Del Toro). One film about the successful revolution in Cuba, the other about the less than successful revolution in Bolivia.

*      *      *

While attempting to overthrow the government of Bolivia, Ernesto "Che" Guevara stuck religiously to the playbook of the Cuban Revolution. This lead directly to his execution on October 9, 1967. They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Yet is it not equally insane to do the same thing and expect the same results. By it's very definition, Revolution changes everything. Not just the country in question, but the world around it. After Cuba fell, the Capitalist world was on watch. Che didn't stand a chance. 

After the revolutionary hit that was Sex, Lies and Videotape, Steven Soderbergh spent the better part of the 90s making commendable flops. The world had changed, yet he remained the same. Eventually he learned the delicate art of playing the Hollywood game while still holding true to his own muse, but I think those years adrift really stuck with him. Aside from the late Orson Welles, I cannot think of a filmmaker better suited to bring this tale of failed ambition to the screen.

La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) (1997)

Buon giorno, Principessa!

Roberto Benigni plays Guido, a Jewish waiter, eternal optimist, and lover of life. He meets and falls in love with Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, his wife in real life) and eventually marries her. Their happy life with their son is interrupted when the family is sent away to a concentration camp, and Guido must go to astonishing lengths to protect his young son from the horrors of World War II.

This film is, you guessed it, beautiful. It doesn’t really get into the true horrors of the concentration camp, but it’s a view that Guido wants his son to see. To his little son, it’s just a game. Not a fun game, but certainly one that he’s safe inside. Guido does everything in his power to reach his wife anyway he can, to let her and his son know that he loves them and would do anything to keep their spirits up. Benigni’s Guido has a Chaplin-esque quality to him: funny, a little mischievous, and quick on his feet. He won an Oscar for his role, and it was well deserved.

Yes, this film is sad (there are a couple of scenes that absolutely WRECK me), but it’s life-affirming too. The music, the sweet little boy, the way everything comes together...it’s perfect. What a wonderful movie!

Enjoy, and don’t forget the tissues! Oh, and watch it in Italian. Grazie!

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent up river to find and kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) while the Vietnam War rages on around them.

*      *      *

The common consensus on Apocalypse Now is that the reason the film is so effective, is because the insanity of the subject matter was mirrored in the actual production of the film. All you have to do is check out the amazing documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse and you will find ample basis for this  opinion. And while it's fun to gossip about who said what and who was or wasn't high, the often glossed over fact is that EVERYONE involved in this film was an artist of the highest order: Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Vittorio Storaro, Walter Murch, the list goes on. I don't care how much dope you smoke, film students with video cameras could not have produced a work this brilliant. Only this elite squadron of creative minds could have pulled such beauty from such chaos. I could honestly watch this movie all day on a loop.