skimpole

I saw three movies last week. I saw December 7th-the Movie as part of my never ending search for good movies from 1943. As it happens, the 1943 was actually a short. The feature was not seen for decades, and given that much of it is devoted to fearmongering about Hawaii's Japanese population, that's probably just as well. Butter on the Latch is an odd independent film about a young woman who decides to deal with the ennui of her life by visiting her friend in a Balkan music camp. She idles the time away, then mythological themes become apparent and strange things happen. Not for every taste. So I suppose the movie of the week is Chronicle of the Years of Fire. This movie, which won the top prize at Cannes, is an epic film about the struggle for Algerian independence. The characterization is a bit weak, but it is visually striking in places.

1. The Tree of Wooden Clogs Ermanno Olmi, Italy 2. Perceval le Gallois Eric Rohmer, France 3. Autumn Sonata Ingmar Bergman, Sweden 4. Doomed Love Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal

Well it's good that someone remembered You Were Never Really Here. Hawke was good, the movie he was in distinctly less so, but Phoenix was clearly better.

Now it's 1999. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Raul Ruiz, Gilles Terrand, Time Regained based on the novel The Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, based on the characters created by Parker and Stone Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, Chris Webb, Toy Story 2, sequel to the movie Toy Story directed by John Lasseter Stanley Kubrick, Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Shut, based on the novel Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler Claire Denis, Jean-Paul Fargeau, Beau Travail, based on the novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville And here is Best Original Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, The Matrix Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Rosetta John Roach, Mary Sweeny, The Straight Story Abbas Kiarostami, The Wind Will Carry us I have not seen The Green Mile (adapted)

Now it's 1998. Here is Best Original Screenplay: Juiio Medem, Lovers of the Arctic Circle Robert Rodat, Saving Private Ryan Tonino Guerra, Theo Angelopoulos, Petros Markaris, Giorgio Silvani, Eternity and a Day Gordan Minic, Black Cat, White Cat Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, Rushmore And here is Best Original Screenplay: Alexei German, Svetlana Karmalita, Khrustalyov, My Car!, based on the short story “In a Room and a Half,” by Joseph Brodsky Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line based on the novel of the same name by James Jones Scott Frank, Out of Sight, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard Chu T’ien-Wen, Flowers of Shanghai, based on the novel of the same name by Bangqing Han Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks, Beloved, based on the novel of the same name by Toni Morrison I have not seen Bulworth (original) or Primary Colors (adapted)

Now it's 1997. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential, based on the novel of the same name by James Elroy Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter, based on the novel of the same name by Russell Banks Paul Attanasio, Donnie Brasco, based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone with Richard Woodley Quentin Tarantino, Jackie Brown, based on the novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard Kevin Williamson, Scream 2, sequel to the movie Scream directed by Wes Craven And here is Best Original Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen, The Fifth Element Melissa Mathison, Kundun Yuri Arabov, Mother and Son Abbas Kiarostami, A Taste of Cherry I have not seen Good Will Hunting (original)

theyshootpictures.com top 1000 movies 1977 Suspira Dario Argento, Italy #394 That Obscure Object of Desire Luis Bunuel, France #545 The Devil, Probably Robert Bresson, France #556 Hitler: A Film From Germany Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, West Germany #753 A Grin Without a Cat Chris Marker, France #932 Ceddo Ouswane Sembene, Senegal #951 Jonathan Rosenbaum's top 1000 movies Le camion Marguerite Duras, France The Devil, Probably Robert Bresson, France Hitler, a Film from Germany Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, West Germany That Obscure Object of Desire Luis Bunuel, Frane

I saw three interesting movies last week. Le Gai Savoir is from Godard's "revolutionary" period, moving beyond narrative films. On the one hand it has Juliet Berto and Jean-Peirre Leaud as two young students talking in radical, vaguely Maoist verbiage. On the other hand, the movie is also strikingly shot and edited, very differently in fact from the Cultural Revolution of the time, and interesting in its own respect. The House that Jack Built is the supposedly infamous new movie from Lars Von Trier. I actually found this picture where Matt Dillon plays a serial killer not remotely as contemptible as critics claim. Instead of suggesting that serial killers are like artists, von Trier seems to suggest that the artist (i.e. himself) is like a serial killer, trafficking in crude violence, misogyny and pretension. When viewed that way, it's a much more interesting work. Also, it has very black humor. The Terrorizers is the most innovative of the four Edward Yang features I've seen. Strikingly shot in its own way, this elliptical and opaque story can be broken down into two stories in 1986 Taipei. The first deals with an unhappy and incomplete novelist, and the rather pathetic husband she is cheating on. The second deals with a femme fatale, well sort of, and the young photographer interested in her while waiting for his draft notice. It's certainly a worthy successor to Antonioni.

Among those films nominated by their countries, but not selected for the final five were The American Friend (West Germany), Soldier of Orange (Netherlands) and The Ascent (Soviet Union).

1. The Ascent Larisa Shepitko, Soviet Union 2. Hitler: A Film From Germany/Our Hitler Hans-Jurgern Syberberg, West Germany 3. A Grin Without A Cat Chris Marker, France 4. The Devil, Probably Robert Bresson, France 5. Ceddo Ousmane Sembene, Senegal 6. House Nobuhiko Obayashi, Japan 7. That Obscure Object of Desire Luis Bunuel, France/Spain 8. A Special Day Ettore Scola, Italy

Now it's 1996. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Nicholas Kazan, Robin Swicord, Matilda, based on the novel of the same by Roald Dahl Anthony Minghella, The English Patient, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ondaatje Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet, based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare Laura Jones, Portrait of a Lady, based on the novel of the same name by Henry James David Cronenberg, Crash, based on the novel of the same name by J.G. Ballard And here is Best Original Screenplay: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Bound Mohsen Makhmalbaf, A Moment of Innocence Mike Leigh, Secrets and Lies Eric Rohmer, A Summer’s Story Pascal Bonitzer, Raul Ruiz, Three Lives and Only One Death I have not seen Sling Blade, The Crucible (adapted).

Now at long last, to the baited breath of no one in particular, my choices for 2017: Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here Steve Buscemi, The Death of Stalin Ryan Gosling, Song to Song Sakari Kuosmanen, The Other Side of Hope Runner-ups: Ethan Hawke (First Reformed), Aleksey Rozin (Loveless), Daniel Giminez-Cacho (Zama), James Franco (The Disaster Artist), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Mathieu Amalric (Ismael’s Ghosts), Javier Bardem (mother!), Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot), Oakes Fegley (Wonderstruck), Hugh Jackman (Logan), Dane DeHaan (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), Tom Hanks (The Post), Yonathan Shiray (Foxtrot), Sherwan Haji (The Other Side of Hope), Timothee Chalomet (Call me By Your Name), Jeremy Renner (Wind River), Tom Holland (Spiderman: Homecoming), Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) , Hugh Jackman (The Greatest Showman), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Liam Helmsworth (Thor: Ragnorak) Actress Juliette Binoche, Let the Sunshine In Rooney Mara, Song to Song Cara Delevingne, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Meryl Streep, The Post Jennifer Lawrence, mother! Runner-ups: Maryana Spivak (Loveless), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Millicent Simonds* (Wonderstruck), Kristin Scott-Thomas (The Party), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Kim Min-hee (On the Beach Alone at Night), Daisy Ridley (The Last Jedi), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Gail Gadot (Wonder Woman), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Kim Ok-bin (The Villainess), Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick), Nicole Kidman (The Beguiled), Elizabeth Olsen (Wind River), Augustina Munoz (Hermia and Helena) * Juvenile Performance of the Year Supporting Actor Jeffrey Tambor, The Death of Stalin Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 Cillian Murphy, The Party Simon Russell Beale, The Death of Stalin Runner-ups: Michael Fassbender (Song to Song) Patrick Stewart (Logan), Xavier Beauvois (Let the Sunshine In), Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin (The Death of Stalin), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Happy End), Cedric Kyles/Cedric the Entertainer (First Reformed), Gerard Depardieu (Let the Sunshine In), Jeff Goldblum (Thor: Ragnorak), Illka Koivula (The Other Side of Hope), Armand Hammer (Call me by your Name), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Roy Romano (The Big Sick), Bruno Ganz (The Party), Michael Keaton (Spiderman: Homecoming), Mark Hamill (The Last Jedi), Tom Hiddleston (Thor: Ragnorak), Toby Jones (Happy End, Atomic Blonde), Michael Cera (Molly’s Game), Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Kevin Spacey (Baby Driver), Clive Owen (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), Grahame Greene (Wind River), Peter Dinklage (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Supporting Actress Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread Marion Cotillard, Ismael’s Ghosts Charlotte Gainsborough, Ismael’s Ghosts Natalie Portman, Song to Song Patricia Clarkson, The Party Runner-ups: Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnorak), Sarah Adler (Foxtrot), Michelle Pfeiffer (mother!), Isabelle Huppert (Happy End), Cherry Jones (The Party), Lauire Metcalf (Lady Bird), Madeline Weinstein (Beach Rats), Holly Hunter (The Big Sick), Carrie Fisher, Laura Dern (The Last Jedi), Alison Janney (I, Tonya), Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water), Lily James (Baby Driver), Marisa Tomei (Spiderman: Homecoming), Allison Williams (Get Out), Rihanna (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), Fantine Harduin (Happy End) -----Nominees not seen this year, Mudbound ------Has there ever been a nominee I disliked as much as The Florida Project? Apparently not.

And here is 1995. First, here's Best Adapted Screenplay: Ian McKellan, Richard Loncraine, Richard III, based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare David Peoples, Jared Peoples, 12 Monkeys, based on the film La Jetee directed by Chris Marker Claude Chabrol, Caroline Ellachef, The Ceremony, based on the novel A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendall Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi, Casino, based on Pileggi’s book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas Amy Heckerling, Clueless, based on the novel Emma by Jane Austen And here is Best Original Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects Andrew Kevin Walker, Se7en Jim Jarmusch, Dead Man Dusan Kosacevic, Emir Kusturica, Underground Gilles Adrien, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, The City of Lost Children I have not seen The Postman (adapted)

Now it's 1994. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Quintin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction Wong Kar-Wai, Chungking Express Tsai Ming-liang, Tsai Yi-chun, Yang Kuei-mei, Vive L’Amour Graham Yost, Speed Kevin Smith, Clerks And here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Ariel Dorfman, Rafael Yglesias, Death and the Maiden, based on the play of the same name by Dorfman Bela Tarr, Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Satantango, based on the novel of the same name by Krasnahorkai Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, David S. Goyer, The Puppet Masters, based on the novel of the same name by Robert K. Heinlein Abbas Kiarostami, Through the Olive Trees, sequel to the movie And Life Goes on… Robin Swicord, Little Women, based on the novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott I have not seen Nobody’s Fool (adapted)

theyshootpictures.com top 1000 movies 1976 Kings of the Road Wim Wenders, West Germany #284 In the Realm of the Senses Nagisa Oshima, Japan #332 1900 Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy #392 The Ascent Larissa Shepitko, Soviet Union #733 News From Home Chantal Akerman, France #861 Fellini's Casanova Federico Fellini, Italy #918 Jonathan Rosenbaum top 1000 movies Edvard Munch Peter Watkins, Norway/Sweden Ici et ailleurs Jean Luc-Godard / Anne-Marie Mieville, France L'Innocente Luchino Visconti, Italy In the Realm of the Senses Nagisa Oshima, Japan Note dates are not precise.

I saw seven movies last week, all of them surprisingly OK. Saying White House Down is the best Roland Emmerich movie I've seen is not high praise and it's not meant to be. But it's certainly better than Olympus Has Fallen, which has an identical plot. Of course much of it is obviously cliched. (Will the protagonist's adorable daughter find herself in mortal peril when she accompanies her father to the White House on the day it's attacked by terrorists? Seriously, you can't guess the answer?) But it's comparatively sober and realistic compared to his other movies, and it's acceptable if you really have no need to think. The Profound Desire of the Gods appears as a sort of Japanese version of Deliverance, only concentrating on the inbred rustics rather than on the metropolitan upper middle class who encounter them. As such one wonders, like in Deliverance, how much of this is really a picture of metropolitan condescension. Shohei Imamura would take a slightly less lurid take in better movies in the future. But although long, the movie itself has a certain power. Birdman of Alcatraz combines two genres, the prison movie and the scientist movie and the result is thoroughly satisfactory. The key for Lancaster's character, as for the scientist movies I saw from the thirties and forties is long and frustrating trial and error. Lancaster is good, if not at his best, though it's hard to say that Telly Savalas and Thelma Ritter deserved their nominations. Crazy Rich Asians has a surfeit of style and panache. The leads have a certain charm, although one notices they're not particularly charming together. The glorification of Singapore wealth rather blatantly undercut any "wealth isn't everything" message. The mother's objections are not really dealt with and the happy ending makes no sense whatsoever. Spite Marriage is not considered one of Buster Keaton's best films. So remaking it and replacing Keaton with Red Skelton in I Dood It is not likely to make an especially good movie. But with two dance numbers by Eleanor Powell, and two musical numbers with Lena Horne, it's a reasonably pleasant one. Teen Titans Go! to the Movies is a DC superhero movie with more good jokes than all the other DC superhero movies put together. This is largely because it's a movie version of an animated series that's more of an affectionate parody of the original comic book. While not brilliant, it's amusing in its own right. (Best joke, adult superheroes tell about the movies made about them. Green Lantern adds there's been a movie about him. "We don't talk about it.") Although one wonders why they never made a movie of their most famous comic book story ("The Judas Contract") having Raven as a goth girl and Starfire as a Power Puff girl is a nice touch. Molly's Game is also OK, sort of like a low energy Casino or The Social Network. It's the sort of movie where Jessica Chastain's cleavage is more impressive than her acting, and the climax is somewhat less than that. But Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is certainly reliable.

1. Cria Cuervos Carlos Saura, Spain 2. Fellini's Casanova Federico Fellini, Italy 3. The Innocent Luchino Visconti, France 4. 1900 Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy 5. Face to Face Ingmar Bergman, Sweden 6. The Marquise of 0 Eric Rohmer, West Germany/France 7. Edvard Munch Peter Watkins, Norway/Sweden 8. Numero Deux Jean-Luc Godard, France 9. A Slave of Love Nikita Mikhalkov, Soviet Union I thought The Tenant was an English language film. I've only seen it once, but it would have been my number one choice.

Does this mean that TCM will ever get around to showing Don't Look Now or The Man Who Fell to Earth?

Now it's 1993. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Robert Altman, Frank Barhydt, Short Cuts, based on several short stories by Raymond Carver Steve Zaillian, Schindler’s List, based on the novel Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Kenneally Martin Scorsese, Jay C0cKs, The Age of Innocence, based on the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton Lillian Lee, Lu Wei, Farewell my Concubine, based on the novel of the same name by Lee Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, The Remains of the Day, based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro And here is Best Original Screenplay: Harold Ramis, Danny Rubin, Groundhog Day Richard Linklater, Dazed and Confused Nanni Moretti, Caro Diario Mike Leigh, Naked Takeshi Kitano, Sonatine I have not seen Shadowlands (adapted)

theyshootpictures.com top 1000 movies 1975 The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet Union #29 Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Chantal Akerman, Belgium #96 The Traveling Players Theo Angelopoulos, Greece #179 Salo, or the 100 Days of Sodom Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy #202 Dersu Uzala Akira Kurosawa, Soviet Union #445 India Song Marguerite Duras, France #491 Xala Ousmane Sembane, Senegal #649 Numero Deux Jean-Luc Godard, France #787 Sholay Ramesh Sippy, India #924 Jonathan Rosenbaum's top 1000 movies Anatomie d'un rapport Luc Mollet, France India Song Marguerite Duras, India Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Chantal Akerman, Belgium Numero deux Jean-Luc Godard, France

Among movies nominated by their country for Best Foreign Film in 1975 by which did not make the top five are the Palme D'or winning Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Algeria), India Song (France), Every Man for Himself and God Against All/The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (West Germany) and The Traveling Players (Greece).

I saw three movies last week. The Illustrated Man starts off, if not well, at least intriguingly taken place about half a century before the movie premiered. Unfortunately the three stories of the future that this frames are much less interesting. The first story, about virtual reality, is so bland and commonplace in its portrayal of a repressed future and cold families that I wasn't paying proper attention to the final kick. People's reaction to the second story is less likely to be "what a moving story of the struggle for survival on an alien planet" and more "Wow! People sixty years really didn't know what Venus is like." The third story, and I say this as an opponent of euthanasia, has a facile ending. Also a better director would have kept Rod Steiger in his place. Blindspotting is the most interesting movie of the week, with the African-American protagonist near the end of his parole, and with a white best friend who has clearly taken Norman Mailer's "The White Negro" too much to heart. Their relationship is interesting, and I would have liked to see more of Janina Gavankar as the ex-love interest. Unfortunately the themes become a little more obvious in the last quarter of the film, with an unlikely coincidence leading to a less than successful climax. All the Money in the World is another slick and empty Ridley Scott movie. As a story of the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty's grandson it's watchable enough. But the movie has little to say except Getty cared only for money and didn't really appreciate other people, and that Getty's daughter in law was understandably much more upset at the kidnapping. Combined with this the movie also has Getty dying while a (very exaggerated) rescue of his grandson takes place. In fact, he died more than two and half years later. Nor does it discuss the grandson's ultimately pathetic fate.

1. The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet Union 2. The Traveling Players Theo Angelopoulos, Greece 3. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France 4. Moses and Aron Jean-Marie Straub/Danielle Huillet, West Germany 5. Salo, or 100 Days of Sodom Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy 6. The Story of Adele H. Francois Truffaut, France 7. Fox and His Friends Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany

Now it's 1992. Here is Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs Neil Jordan, The Crying Game Ingmar Bergman, The Best Intentions Terence Davies, The Long Day Closes David Webb Peoples, Unforgiven And here is Best Adapted Screenplay: James V. Hart, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross, based on his play of the same name Abbas Kiarostami, Life and Nothing More, sequel to the movie Where is the Friend’s Home, directed by Abbas Kiarostami Ron Clements, John Musker, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Aladdin based on the Arabian Nights Tale Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Howard’s End, based on the novel of the same name by E.M. Forster I have not seen Passion Fish, Lorenzo’s Oil (original) Enchanted April or A River Runs Through it (adapted)

Now it's 1991. Here is Best Adapted Screenplay: Woody Allen, Shadows and Fog, based on his play Death Oliver Stone, Zackary Sklar, JFK, based on the books On the Trails of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: the Plot to Kill Kennedy by Jim Marrs Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris Isao Takahata, Only Yesterday, based on the manga Omoide Poro Poro by Hotaru Okamato and Yuko Tone Gus Van Sant, My Own Private Idaho, inspired by the plays Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 and Henry V by William Shakespeare Gilles Adrien, Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Delicatessen Lars von Trier, Niels Vorsel, Europa Yan Hong-ya, Lai Ming-tang, Edward Yang, Alex Yang, A Brighter Summer Day James Toback, Bugsy Leos Carax, Lovers on the Bridge I have not seen Grand Canyon (original) or Fried Green Tomatoes (adapted)