1934

best film:  the scarlet express. It doesn’t have the artistic peaks of the blue angel but it’s von sternberg’s most consistently brilliant film and best narrative not to mention being jam pack filled with a

1933

best film:  Duck Soup. King Kong is a fine choice as well. Both are genre staples. I’d give the edge to duck soup for its all-out comic assault and just about as good as a

1932

best film:  love me tonight is my solid #1 film from 1932. It’s a stylistic innovator for sure (introducing singing in the middle of a scene) and first musical masterpiece. But, it’s no stodgy “first”

1931

best film:  City Lights. This is a tough year because Fritz Lang’s M is a worthy “best film” of the year. I have city lights as Chaplin’s best film and one of the best silent

Arrival – 2016 Villeneuve

There’s much to chew on here that still can’t be fully accomplished in two viewings What I noticed on the second viewing is how straight-forward the voice-over prologue is by Adams—it’s laying out the ending

I, Daniel Blake – 2016 Loach

This social political drama won the Palme d'Or Reminded me of Kurosawa’s ikiru- a damnation of Japanese bureaucracy Ellipsis editing- lack of music—it’s in the vain of cinema’s realism or neo realism (or neo neo-realism)

1930

best film:  The Blue Angel. I think Von Sternberg is as married to mise-en-scene as murnau is to camera movement or Eisenstein is to montage and editing. The Blue Angel has a simple narrative but

The Man Who Wasn’t There – 2001 Coen

This is far from the Coen’s best work but it’s a tribute to their depth of filmography just how good this “b-side” film is Certainly is fully a coen brothers film- but also pays tribute

1929

best film:  Pandora’s Box is the best film of the year but It’s a very weak year- the weakest of the decade. most overrated:  I guess I’d pick Pandora’s box here. I need to see

Interstellar – 2014 Nolan

There is such economy in the screenplay- the word “ghosts” is mentioned like 4 times in the first 8 minutes—I think Nolan is the far superior filmmaker (and writer) but I do see similarities with

1928

best film:  The Passion of Joan of Arc is easily my #1 film from 1928. It’s a giant masterpiece from Danish auteur Carl Theodor Dreyer. It has elements of montage like Eisenstein but highlights the

1927

best film:  Sunrise. I should mention that I still haven’t been able to track down and see Abel Gance’s napoleon. I’m hoping I can do that soon. With that in mind, the best film I’ve

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