Foxtrot – 2017 Maoz
Even if it’s not a glowing success (not in my top 10 of 2017 after one watch) I appreciation Maoz’s formal approach—everything is very carefully set up- every sight gag and joke is told with
The 7th Best Actress of All-Time: Liv Ullmann
best film: Persona is Ullmann’s best film as I think it’s Bergman’s greatest (and she isn’t in Seventh Seal which I think is probably the best closest). But, don’t sleep on Cries and Whispers. It’s
The 8th Best Actress of All-Time: Catherine Deneuve
best film: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. There are really three candidates here. There’s Umbrellas (my ultimate choice), Repulsion (overlooked Polanski masterpiece) and Dancer in the Dark (where Deneuve is in support of course). I’ve actually
The 9th Best Actress of All-Time: Marlene Dietrich
best film: Touch of Evil but it’s not as black and white as it first looks. Von Sternberg isn’t Welles but he’s an important and great director. His work in mise-en-scene (and his best work
The 10th Best Actress of All-Time: Barbara Stanwyck
best film: Double Indemnity is a landmark film for American cinema (directed by Wilder born in Austria/Hungry) and film noir. It’s the pretty easy choice here for Stanwyck’s best film. The only real contender is
Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice – 1952 Ozu
It’s minor Ozu, but only in the context of the great run he was on at the time- I had a hard time finding the most beautiful screenshots here (this isn’t as well-known as his
Hang’ Em High – 1968 Post
It is an admirable and enjoyable rip-off of Leone’s Dollar trilogy. We have Clint in the lead of course (this was his first American film after the trilogy and they even asked Leone to direct
The 11th Best Actress of All-Time: Faye Dunaway
best film: Chinatown is the best of the lot though I also consider Network and Bonnie and Clyde to be masterpieces. Dunaway’s achievement in Chinatown may not be on par with Polanski, Towne (damn that
The 12th Best Actress of All-Time: Diane Keaton
best film: The Godfather is an easy choice for almost every actress in film history but it’s a surprisingly tough one for Keaton with not only the sequel, The Godfather Part II, but Annie Hall
Lean on Pete – 2017 Haigh
I’m not as big an admirer of Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Weekend) as most critics- find him, at least once time a piece through his films, to be largely artistically unambitious visually Buscemi is solid
The Pillow Book – 1996 Greenaway
Greenaway has largely abandoned his past aesthetic choices of mise-en-scene, long takes and the old “moving art” he used in The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover and Prospero’s books- Here’s he’s in
The 13th Best Actress of All-Time: Juliette Binoche
best film: Blue and Cache stand alone in the upper echelon for Binoche (I don’t really count the half-second she’s in Red). She has a slew of films in a tier or two below: Lovers