My Favorite Movies
My Favorite Movies 35 – The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges, 1942)
Few directors dominated the early 1940s like Preston Sturges. While not the first writer-director, Sturges was the most famous early example of a screenwriter who also directed his own films, paving the way for Orson Welles, John Huston and many other. His impressive run of back to back screwball comedy masterpieces, 5 perfect films from…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 34 – A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (Woody Allen, 1982)
1982’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy marked the beginning of a remarkable 30 year unbroken streak of yearly film production for Woody Allen. As with any filmmaker that prolific, there are bound to be some stinkers in there, but I’m here today to let the internet know that the reports of A Midsummer Night’s Sex…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 33 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
Everybody knows that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is (along with This is Spinal Tap) the funniest movie of all time. I could go on and on listing all the funny parts, but, bottom line, if Brave Sir Robin soiling his armor, or the guard trolling the king at the Swamp Castle, or the…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 32 – Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)
I don’t tend to like directors with flashy visuals. I’m a Hawks and Rohmer man after all, for me, restrained stylistics are a sign of a master craftsman with nothing to prove. At least that’s what I think until a director like Wong Kar-wai comes along and I realize I have to rethink my position.…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 31 – Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932)
If Hollywood films are all merely bits of magical mythmaking, then the musicals of the 1930s are their apotheosis. In a world of romantic comedies and westerns, it is not to much of a reach to add “breaking into song and dance” to what one is willing to accept in the name of suspension of…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 30 – Hackers (Iain Softley, 1995)
The A.V. Club, as part of its “New Cult Canon” series, recently published a piece on Hackers. While it correctly pointed to the impossible allure of a young Angelina Jolie’s face, I felt that it largely failed to adequately describe just what makes Hackers so brilliant. I’m sure part of the problem is that any attempt to canonize…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 29 – Pandora’s Box (G. W. Pabst, 1929)
Occasionally an actor will turn in a performance so powerful, that it completely permeates every square inch of the film it is a part of. Usually, as is the case with a film like Last Tango in Paris, the rest of the performances (and the film as a whole) tend to to suffer in comparison.…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 28 – Ordet (Carl Dreyer, 1955)
I’ve been having a hard time keeping these posts spoiler free lately, however, this post is a particularly grievous offender. Because I will be discussing a film, that, perhaps more than any other, one can only see for the first time once, I’d advise anyone who thinks they might want to watch a slow moving Danish…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 27 – Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
Warning, minor spoilers ahoy in today’s review. Of course, if you have looked at the header image you’re already halfway there, so you may as well keep reading. If claiming to love one director marks one’s true ascension to film snobdom (moving beyond being someone who is merely “really into Kubrick”) that director would be Robert Bresson.…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 26 – The Adventures of Robin Hood (William Keighley and Michael Curtiz, 1938)
I’d guess the average amount of times I’ve viewed the films that make it into a My Favorite movies feature is probably around ten. Along with Dazed and Confused, The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the main reasons the number is so high. It is a film that so completely encapsulates the magic…
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