Sherlock Jr. – 1924 Buster Keaton
A jaw-on the floor masterpiece, and, believe it or not, one that doesn’t really take off and fly until the last 20-25 minutes—so you can imagine how good those last 25 minutes are There are
The 163rd Best Director of All-Time: Mario Bava
Bava. The father of the Giallo Italian horror sub-genre (with Argento as an acolyte and semi-contemporary) Bava did what the genre what Leone did for the western—he brought a hyper-stylized visual panache to the table
Our Hospitality – 1923 Buster Keaton and John Blystone
A brilliant premise- a play on the Hatfield and McCoy feud—here we have the Canfield and McKay family. The comedy unfolds (after a really good dramatic thunderstorm-aided opening of the two elder namesakes in a
Three Ages – 1923 Buster Keaton and Edward Cline
Buster’s debut feature film—my first time catching it and I’m very happy I finally did. It doesn’t have the polish of his second feature, 1923’s Our Hospitality, but it is certainly funny, and ambitious, here
Battling Butler – 1926 Buster Keaton
It may be the least (or close) of the 11 archiveable Keaton films made from 1923 to 1929 but they all should be studied and appreciatedYou’ll notice frequently in the titles Keaton puts himself way
The Comfort of Strangers – 1990 Schrader
It has some of Schrader’s trademark erotica fetishism, visually he deftly channels Visconti, Ozu, and Antonioni to deliver exhilarating cinematic style If anyone thinks Schrader is merely a screenwriter this is as good a place
Made For Each Other – 1939 Cromwell
The talent and star power of Carole Lombard (first billing over Stewart) and Jimmy Stewart carry a sometimes uneven tone in the film into the archivesA nice playful wipe edit up as Stewart goes into
Go West – 1925 Keaton
There’s really two movies here in Keaton’s 69 minute Go West. The first 45 minutes or so it’s a very funny fish out of water comedy with Keaton, at his finest, struggling to make it
The Impossible – 2012 Bayona
J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage) crafts a solid drama led by the ever reliable Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. You absolutely forget McGregor and Watts (Watts especially in a very good physical performance—she is bruised and
L’Innocente – 1976 Visconti
Visconti’s last film—release just after his death in 1976The little details in the opening credits are all Visconti—apparently that’s his hand flipping through the actual source material book (not an uncommon or overly inventive credit
The 162nd Best Director of All-Time: John Boorman
Boorman. Since I’m trying to watch 500+ movies a year (far cry from 2011-2016 when I was putting away 1000+) the lists here are in flux as I try to continue to educate myself with
The 161st Best Director of All-Time: John Frankenheimer
Frankenheimer. Frankenheimer is often overshadowed because his artistic peak was in the early 1960’s- a time so fertile with, frankly, superior efforts from more talented auteurs. Still, his trademark kinetic style holds merit—as does The