The Sophisticated Shut-in
My December in Films
There's something satisfying about gaining exposure to culture; an illusion, perhaps, of productivity. I also enjoy how movies give me a sense of being alive; they make me think and feel ways that everyday life doesn't always prompt. Another thing attracting me to movie-watching is the joy of deeply connecting with an artwork and counting it among my favorite works. I had that feeling a few times this month!
2023 Foreign-language
Usually I watch older movies because it seems easier to identify which may be quality, and there's just so much to catch up on, but the edge of the calendar is creeping toward us and folks are proclaiming their top movies of the year, so I figured I'd try some of the notable films that piqued my interest. I've already seen several Hollywood films from this year, so I decided to try some foreign-language stuff recommended by movie critic Adam Nayman, whose thoughtful insights I always enjoy. As it turns out I may enjoy his film criticism more than his favorite movies. The three that I viewed were released in 2023 but are up for awards this year.
Evil Does Not Exist is Jeanne Dielman, except set in pastoral Japan, so, I hated it.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World does a lot that I can appreciate—I keep thinking about Ilinca Manolache's vivid character, and the tour de force that is this film's ending—but ultimately it's not for me.
La Chimera, like the other two films in this group, takes its time before revealing who anyone is, what they want, or what the story might be. I found the performances of Josh O’Connor and Carol Duarte sympathetic but this one wasn't really for me either.
Christmas
I've decided that It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie. I watch it almost every year and it never fails to impress me and touch me. Like some of my other favorites including The Count of Monte Cristo, Spider-Man 2, and A Serious Man this film centers a well-intentioned though flawed person whose desires are frustrated as he is beset on all sides. It's a story that deeply resonates with me.
Tokyo Godfathers is an animated film by Satoshi Kon, whose work I've previously enjoyed. I quickly grew to love its characters and wished I could follow them through a whole series.
Catching Up With The Coens
The Coen brothers are some of my favorite filmmakers, so decided to fill in some gaps.
I haven't seen The Hudsucker Proxy in twenty-some years, and I had forgotten most of it. It's a 1994 comedy that feels like a Warner Bros cartoon. Every actor is doing a caricature. Every set is over the top. It's great fun.
The Coen's work is so layered that I can't pretend to unpack Barton Fink after my first viewing. I really liked it though, and I'm looking forward to appreciating it more.
Terry Gilliam Gaps
I became interested in Twelve Monkeys because it's directed by Terry Gilliam. I love his 1985 work Brazil. Those two along with 2013's Zero Theorem may form a loose trilogy. I had no idea until the opening credits that this was based on La Jetée which I watched last month—in another strange coincidence. It also makes clever allusions to one of my favorite films of all time, Vertigo. Anyway, this movie is a Greek myth dressed up as a gonzo sci-fi distopia romance. So obviously I liked it.
I decided to continue my Gilliam exploration with The Fisher King which is somehow visually akin to his other work; it's a drama but with fantastical elements, and kafkaesque set designs. This film and Twelve Monkeys are in some ways of a piece. Both deal with mental illness. Both depict women inexplicably sticking with men who give almost nothing in return. And both center a protagonist trying to undo the past. They're classic tales in the strangest of guises.
40s Hollywood Classics
The Lady Eve is a delightful rom com romp starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck. It's comparable to screwball comedies like His Girl Friday and con artist comedies like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I smiled the whole time. I mean, I hooted and hollered too. It makes another new—though very old—favorite.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's decorated A Letter to Three Wives is something special. It is such a well-told story with such wonderfully dimensional characters. The mystery hooked me, the comedy delighted me (with Kirk Douglas' witty, anti-commericialist school teacher getting many of the best lines), and the tension and love between the characters resuscitated my atrophied heart. As we say in today's parlance, Mank was a real one.
Crime
Juror #2 owes a debt to 12 Angry Men but it also has merits that are all its own. I enjoyed this engrossing courtroom drama.
I loved The Big Clock. It stars Ray Milland who I first encountered in one of my absolute favorites, Alfred Hitcock's Dial M For Murder. This movie similarly has Milland's character thinking on his feet as the tension ratchets up. It's quite a funny picture too. I'm going to enjoy rewatching this one! Oh, and there are several things about this movie that made me think of The Hudsucker Proxy. I wonder if it inspired the Coens.
Since Hitchcock is my favorite director I've decided to slowly work through oeuvre. I'm not looking forward to the day when there are no more of his films for me to see for the first time. This month I decided to ration out The Wrong Man, a 1956 film starring Vera Miles and Henry Fonda (who also starred in 12 Angry Men). The way Hitch blocked, shot, and edited this film imbues quite a sparse plot with interest. Bernard Herrmann collaborates again with a haunting though perhaps repetitive score. I fell in love with Fonda's little family in this story. Who knew Hitch had a heart.
Virtue is Carole Lombard's 16th most popular movie on Letterboxd but someone mentioned it on Reddit so of course I had to watch it. I enjoyed how plotty this crime-romance was. I caught myself all like "Look what she did. Oh, and he's going to think—but that means...!"
High Sierra piqued my interest because it stars Bogart. I was entertained but wouldn't recommend it over some of the other crime/noir films of the era. It was a fun surprise seeing Henry Travers (Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life) in another role!
Horror
Suspira is the 4th Dario Argento movie I've seen, having discovered him in October during my unadvisable month of horror-gorging. Most of the movies I'm watching are based on reputation and I've heard nothing but praise about this film so I put it on. It has its merits, like the unusual way it's lit, but I found that to be not as effective as it was in the film it's copying, Blood and Black Lace. Argento's films don't have a lot of plot, they don't make much sense, and they don't have a deeper meaning. So I don't find that they provide me a lot to think or feel. And for some reason, while his pacing is set to turtle-speed his music is set to jaguar-speed.
Nosferatu (2024) is a gothic horror of the highest order. I found it as impressive as it is upsetting. Oh, and this is my second Nicholas Hoult movie this month. He's having a run!
Misc
Wings of Desire is an existentialist essay. It's a thinking movie about feeling. Every shot is gorgeous and every line is poetic. All of that being the case, I think it's worth a return visit soon. Watching this, I finally thought to google the term "arthouse" which turns out to be a label applicable to many of the movies I enjoy. Though certainly some arthouse is loathsome to me. Oh, and incidentally, Peter Falk is so warm and touching in this. His performance alone is worth a viewing of this curious film.
Magnificent Obsession is a 1954 melodrama by Douglas Sirk. I became interested in his work this year and this is the second film I've tried. The other was Written on the Wind. For some reason these movies don't speak to me. I think I struggle with straight-up dramas, the kind that aren't also funny or thrilling or something. I don't think I'm giving up on Sirk though; there are still at least a couple of his movies I'd like to try.
