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Year by year: My faves of the 2010s
Will the 2010s be the last hurrah for the full-fledged movie theater-going experience? Streaming and home devices were certainly changing habits before COVID decimated theaters. There is some reason for optimism, thankfully. At any rate, this decade was an eclectic one… 2010: 10. Four Lions, director: Chris Morris9. The Fighter, director: David O. Russell8. Let…
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The Tree of Life (2011)
Not many pictures are so flat-out ballsy as to interrupt its principal narrative in order to reveal the origin of the cosmos. But Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life does just that. This coming-of-age story is ambitious and audacious, bold and bewildering. It is 2001 with a Texas twang. It is amazing. That doesn’t mean…
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Year by year: My faves of the 1970s
Hollywood’s second golden age saw the emergence of film school influences, cultural upheaval, experimentation, and a European art-house sensibility. Conversely, the decade also saw the birth of the blockbuster. With apologies to a podcast of the same name, these are (along with the 1980s) the movies that made me. 1970: 10. The Landlord, director: Hal…
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The Hustler (1961)
The Hustler is a straightforward morality play, but told with a lean intensity that pushes it into the realm of classic cinema. It helped that the 1961 picture featured a slew of great acting performances, particularly a superstar-making turn by Paul Newman. Based on a 1959 novel by Walter Tevis, The Hustler follows Fast Eddie…
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The Social Network (2010)
As the boy wonder who invented Facebook in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg was the world’s youngest-ever, self-made billionaire. He was also, at least according to The Social Network, a bona fide genius whose brilliance was matched by a cruelty borne of insecurity and resentment. And this deeply ambivalent portrait of Zuckerberg was in 2010, predating what…
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Year by year: My faves of the 1930s
The end of the silent era and the beginning of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the Production Code. Oh, and the Depression. And Hitler. 1930: 10. Morocco, director: Josef con Sternberg9. King of Jazz, director: John Murray Anderson8. Hell’s Angels, director: Howard Hughes7. The Divorcee, director: Robert Z. Leonard6. The Criminal Code, director: Howard Hawks5. Animal…
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Year by year: My faves of the 1990s
For cinephiles, 1999 is considered a banner year akin to 1939 (Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, etc.), but truth be told, the entire decade was freaking awesome. 1990: 10. The Exorcist III, director: William Peter Blatty9. Reversal of Fortune, director: Barbet Schroeder8. The Comfort of Strangers, director: Paul Schrader7. The Hunt for…
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The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to how one feels about writer-director Wes Anderson. His meticulously fussy visual style, offbeat humor and unflagging quirkiness have won both ardent fans and equally ardent detractors; one viewer’s delight is another’s eye-rolling preciousness. The Grand Budapest Hotel, quintessential Anderson, will not woo the unconverted. As with…
Cutting to the Chase with Phil Bacharach
Let’s talk about movies.
Cutting to the Chase with Phil Bacharach 