Bone

70s Drama
4.5 Stars

A great find. Yaphet Kotto, one of the most underrated actors around (consistently excellent in Homicide, Live and Let Die) excels in this offbeat dramedy. The film veers between light and inventive dark moments. It captures the post-civil rights movement in a way I hadn't seen before, and blends this with a Save the Tiger/Breezy type generation clash. There's a freshness that also lasts about the way the film was shot. For a while it felt like a California Scorsese style. Highly recommended.

The Machinist

00s Drama
4.5 Stars

Let's get this out of the way. Christian Bale is a dynamo in this film, going to such lengths as to wither down his body for the cause. He looks disgusting, but perfect for the role. The film is a swirling, paranoid world not totally dissimilar from Se7en or Angel Heart. Can you believe he hasn't slept in a year? I could. This movie was surprisingly good.

Dark Star

70s Sci Fi
4.5 Stars

Hugely enjoyable low-budg film by John Carpenter. This is by the screenwriter of Alien, but this is a comedy, almost a hippies in space kind of thing. Borders on existential comedy, although those aspects are a bit forced. Pokes a finger in the eye of machismo, the pacing is good, and it doesn't take itself seriously. Influenced by Dr. Strangelove and 2001, no doubt. Great rental.

I Wake Up Screaming

Noir
4.5 stars

After a rocky opening, this one gets going in a huge way. It must be said that Laird Cregar, for my money, steals the show as an obsessed cop that reminded me a lot of Forest Whittaker as Cavanaugh in The Shield. There are a few times when the lighting inventiveness is stunning, and really capture what noir lighting is all about. The story about a murdered model is done in a fairly complex way. Overall, the movie has a similar feel to The Night of the Hunter, in the stark, Gothic contrast.

Two-Lane Blacktop

70s Drama
Existentialist
4.5 stars

This film can easily be held up to represent the best of 1970s American cinema. With an incredible cast (Warren Oates, James "Fire and Rain" Taylor, Dennis Wilson, and a don't blink cameo from Harry Dean Stanton), this story exists in the some of the same spaces as Easy Rider. Like Cockfighter, this film lurches ahead at its own pace using minimal dialog. Drag racing is the theme, and the viewer is challenged to draw metaphorical meaning. A strong, surreal, existential film.

Hiroshima Mon Amour

50s Drama
Existential
4.5 stars
My Uncle Stu's Favorite Film!

A poetic, interesting piece on the nature of loss. My Uncle Stu's favorite film, and his is one opinion I trust. For my money, this is about as powerful as film making gets. It's hard from 2008 to understand just how pervasive and horrifying WWII must have been on every level of consciousness, but the existence of this film and Night and Fog reveal some of how coping was approached by Resnais.

Strait-Jacket

60s Drama
Woman in Danger
4.5 stars

This is best described as a "B" picture, but Joan Crawford gives an amazing performance, at once psychotic and sad. I found myself getting quite taken in by her character. It's a totally campy movie, with George "Police Squad" Kennedy as some sort of threatening farmhand, but this movie deserves a special place in any film lover's heart.

Genghis Blues

Music Doc
4.5 stars

Fascinating story about blind American who picks up Tuvan singing and travels to Mongolia. The music is incredible. A bit like watching home movies spun into a great story. Would have shown this one to my students had there been more time.

Sympathy for the Devil

60s Drama
4.5 stars

I don't know if I've ever seen a film quite like this. I really liked this movie. A bit clunky, but the camera movements were outstanding. Scenes of the Rolling Stones working out the title song cut between various scenes of revolutionaries, artists and intellectuals. Great filmmaking. Requires a lot of concentration to watch, but should be more well-known.

Tokyo Story

50s Drama
4.5 stars

The camera never moves! A lyrical story about realizations at the end of one's life. Growing old doesn't seem like fun. Slow and steady wins the race, or does it?

Performance

70s Drama
4.5 stars

With Mick Jagger. A very interesting film of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Outstanding. Contains the early music video Memo From Turner. I watched this a couple of times and texted several friends about it.

Le Cercle Rouge

70s Drama
French
4.5 stars

Great, relatively unknown stylish French crime film. Hugely inventive, and deserving of much wider recognition. Recommended without reservation.

Radio On

Borderline 70s/80s Drama
British
4.5 stars

This is a real gem of a find, a British art house road movie. The opening, with the German version of Bowie's "Heroes" and a camera moving around an apartment, is wonderful and sets the tone for what follows. One of the best soundtracks I've ever heard including Kraftwerk (from Radioactivity), incredible visual sense (Wim Winders had some involvement with production), pacing meditative, and overall a strong film.

Criss Cross

Noir
4.5 Stars

A gem of a noir with Burt Lancaster as a sympathetic lovestruck man. The film, like the great Kiss Me Deadly, features a shot of the Angels Flight in Los Angeles. The story is good, the only thing keeping this from being a 5 is the all-too-quick final scene between the triangle of lovers.

Wild Strawberries

50s Drama
Existentialist
4.5 Stars

This would have been a 5 but it carried just a tad too long towards the two-thirds mark for me. Definitely the basis for Woody's Deconstructing Harry. I think I found a new favorite filmmaker in Bergman. Some of growing old sure doesn't look fun.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

British
60s Drama
4.5 stars

Great British realism new wave film about wayward lad in youth home who also runs fast, and is thus a target for being exploited. About a lot more, though, so you gotta pay attention. Lead actor oozes charisma.

Clean Slate

Coup de Torchon
French
80s Drama
James Thompson
4.5 stars

So much a better Thompson production than The Killer Inside Me, this French film is a scary story about a cop in Senegal who becomes comfortable with killing his foes. Shot very urgently. Highly recommended.

District B13

French
00s Action
4.5 stars

Wild, kinetic cop film with crazy chases, etc. Similar to beginning of the more recent Casino Royale. Clips of one of the amazing chase scenes made a round on the internet when this film came out. This is one of those films you can invite a bunch of people over and watch.

Jazz on a Summer's Day

Music Doc
4.5 stars

They cheated with recreating a party scene, but beautiful photography throughout. The music presented here represents jazz at the highest levels, but the commentary here would seem to be on the audience as much as the musicians. Consistently exciting.

The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack

Music Doc
4.5 stars

Great movie about daughter trying to have a relationship with her famous father. Very telling. A combo music bio and family story. Wonderful. Another film I showed to my UCSC students.