What Janus Watches
My January 2025 in Films
Depicted has having faces, Janus is the Roman god of beginnings/transitions/endings, and so the first month of our calendar year recieves his name. Also taking his name is the distribution company Janus Films. I see a lot of their movies due to my interest in the Criterion Collection; many of my watches are preceeded with the Janus logo, a seal emblazened with the god's face(s!). Looking both toward the past and the future, I wonder what it's like to see as Janus does. I don't know, but I can tell you what I've been seeing lately.
David Lynch
With David Lynch's passing I finally prioritized exploring his oeuvre. A couple years ago I discovered Twin Peaks, a TV series that I found mysteriously compelling. Sometimes I thought it was mind-blowing, sometimes I thought it was boring, ridiculous, or even rubbish. So I've been caught up in some black-and-white thinking. Is Lynch good? Does he have a lot to say or is he a one-trick pony?
With Mulholland Drive I found myself wondering what just happened (in the story, yes, but right now I mean in the fimmaking), and how did he do it? I think the film language is cogent but the narrative isn't and this tenstion enters us into the uncanny.
I love identifying a movie from each year as something particularly meaningful to me, but so far I haven't been able to make such a connection for my birth year. Mark down Blue Velvet as another missed opportunity. I found it compelling, transgressive, and upsetting. It's good art. I'd like to appreciate it more.
Eraserhead is an early Lynch work, and it features many of his hallmarks. I found it engrossing and disturbing.
Written and Directed by Billy Wilder
On something of a whim I decided to watch a picture by the legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder, and then I only wanted to see more. Of course, I'm playing the hits here, choosing the ones he both directed and was the first-credited writer, but such hits!
I feel like I first saw Some Like it Hot about ten years ago and I decided to revisit it. It's a sexy comedy-crime romp. I don't particularly connect with it but it's a fun rewatchable.
Sunset Boulevard is good too, but not something I'd want to revist as it sure made me feel bad! It shares similarities with another I watched this month, Mulholland Drive. Both are named after streets in Hollywood, and both depict the city's industry in dark tones. For a third in this vein, I suggest Magnolia, which may be my favorite of the three. Incidently, I was surprised to hear the name "Gordon Cole" in this movie, as that's a Twin Peaks character played by David Lynch himself. I wonder if he borrowed it from this. Seems especially plausible considering how this film relates to Mulholland Drive.
The Apartment was my favorite of the three Wilder films. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are wonderful in it. It does an expert job manipulating the audience; I felt suspense and I felt empathy, and I laughed. I was delightfully distressed by the tragic choices of his characters. Wilder embued objects and circumstances with meanings that weren't there before the film began. This is going to sound so basic, but he created something; he made me feel something. I think he was incredible at what he did.
Horror
I watched The Uninvited and The Innocents as a double-feature one night, having had no idea how well they paired! In partficular I found the latter to be quite striking and worth viewing again some time.
I want to like David Cronenberg, but he may not be for me. Scanners has a neat sci-fi idea and creative gory effects, but I found the story to be weak and the parts poorly acted. Another incidnetal thought—it seems like this film may have been an inspiration for Stranger Things.
The Seventh Victim is an interesting if clunky mystery.
Hollywood Classics
It turns out that Mildred Pierce and Manon tell a similar story; that of someone being progressively destroyed by their love for an irredeemably materialist young woman. In the former, it's about a mother's love, in the latter it's that of a lover. Of the two, I preferred Mildred Pierce which was directed by the great Michael Curtiz. Manon was directed by the (also) great Henri-Georges Clouzot, and I enjoyed the craft with which he formed his film.
The Big Heat is an enjoyable 1953 crime thriller by Fritz Lang. Definitely something I would rewatch. I noticed that Glenn Ford plays role similar to what he played in Gilda.
Safety Last! is a silent-era gem starring Harold Lloyd. I found its story and visuals quite entertaining! Having been released in 1923, this appears to be the oldest movie I've ever seen!
Murder by Contract is an odd (and good) crime-thriller.
French Film
By my count Cléo from 5 to 7 is only the fifth French New Wave film I've seen and the first by the legendary Agnès Varda. Wow. It makes such bold choices and feels so effortless. It's entertaining, and it's a true work of art.
2024 Animation
Flow is a beautiful wordless animated adventure. One of my favorites released in 2024.
The Wild Robot wan't for me; it seemed derivative. But my kids sure liked it.
Misc
At first I found the hand-held camerawork of Take Out disorienting but I soon got used to it and came to appreciate how it furthers the realism of this depiction of an undocumented Chinese immigrant's one terrible day trying to pay off his loan shark in New York City. It reminded me of Wong Kar-wai's work with its beuatiful color and focus on people of Asian descent trying to eke out a living in an unforgiving urban setting.
Paris, Texas is my second Wim Wenders movie. After loving Wings of Desire last month, I determined myself to watch more of his films, and I'm glad I did. This beautifully shot drama builds slowly to an incredibly moving ending.
RoboCop was of interest to me having enjoyed Paul Verhoeven's other work. This movie, and his 1997 film Starship Troopers, are great because they work simultaneously in two modes. The first is the gratuitous popcorn flick, and the second is the social-commentary-crammed sci-fi. The Running Man—which was released the same year—would make a great double-feature with this.
