1958 - A Random Cinematic Year In Review

Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.

1958 was a year that kicked of decades of exploration and wonder. Russia's SPUTNIK was joined in space by the US's first orbiting satellite, The Explorer 1. Later that year, Congress approved funding to form a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space called the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). Cinema did not remain unchanged. The drive to explore the heavens coupled with our nation's willingness to fund said explorations (albeit our motivations were anything but purely scientific), inspired amazing works of scientific based fiction for decades to come. You can find examples of this inspiration from Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY ('68) to Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN ('15) and a whole lot of STAR WARS & "Star Trek" in between.

In a deleted scene, the Xenomorph kept stealing Predator's stapler.

Another significant advancement in the world of technological wonder happened in 1958. The microchip (or integrated circuit) was created. The concept of miniaturizing multiple transistor circuits gave way to an entirely new direction of progress in the electronics manufacturing industry. This is the technology that would ultimately lead to the fact that you may be reading this on a device that fits into your pocket and has far more computing power than the first space shuttle.

These types of technological advances can be found in all aspects of our lives; not the least of which is the film industry. Smaller, light-weight, cheaper cameras have found their way from low-budget independent flicks to every Summer blockbuster. The camera's lower weight and profile make them much more versatile when it comes to mounting and placement for a far wider range of perspectives. The result of which can be seen in all of its magnificent glory in action films like Gareth Evan's RAID series...

RAID 2: BERANDAL (2014)

as well as anything by South Korea's Kim Jee-woon...

I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)

This turns out to be a great opportunity for the horror genre as well. I'm reminded of a particular scene involving a wheelchair in David Robert Mitchell's 2014 film IT FOLLOWS and so many hauntingly beautiful and extremely creative shots in Nicolas Pesce's super creepy THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (2016).

Aside from the portability of the equipment, its continuously dropping price-tag has had a far greater effect on the industry and the art form in general. Just twenty years ago, an idea and boatloads of passion were quite simply not enough to make a film. You also needed to find someone with at least 7 figures to put into it. These people work for studios and they see your idea as their investment and your budget as their leverage. This fact put the artist at the mercy of the industry; a relationship that rarely yields a product with the type of artistic integrity that is more likely found on a canvas and an easel or scribbled on a notepad in a guitar case. There are tons of exceptions to this but the general rule seems to be: the more that an artist's passion has to rely on someone else's money for its realization, the larger the gap will be between that passion and the realization... The point is, 1958 was a great and revolutionary year for technology... and therefore, a great year for film.

My Top 5

5 - ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS - Directed by Louis Malle

There aren't many films that are cooler than this one. Its a French Noir with an improvised score by Miles Davis. Its one of those moral tales of a simple plan that should have gone off without a hitch... But without a hitch wouldn't make a very good movie. Treat yourself to a great performance by Jeanne Moreau and you won't be disappointed.

4 - VERTIGO - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

This is the greatest film of all time according to Sight & Sound. I guess I don't quite agree with their assessment considering I actually prefer three other films just from the same year but... they have a good reason. Vertigo is probably Hitchcock's most influential film today. It wasn't his first or last twist ending... or even his best. But it has the type of charisma and tension that has made it resonate with audiences for the past half of a century. There are very few filmmakers that have accomplished that. He did it a lot... like twenty times... 

3 - ASHES AND DIAMONDS - Directed by Andrzej Wajda

The world of film lost a lot of important people last year. Polish director, Andrzej Wajda was one of them. This was his third installment of his thematic "War Trilogy" which also included A GENERATION and KANAL. These films take place in front of the backdrop of the Warsaw Uprising, NAZI occupation and the ensuing Communist takeover. However, they are much more about struggle and humanity than they are about politics or socioeconomic systems. This is a sign of an artist with patience and wisdom beyond his years.

THE MUSIC ROOM - Directed by Satyajit Ray

Ray's filmography doesn't contain any missteps. His films range from really good to flat out masterpiece. When you start your cinematic career with The Apu Trilogy ('55-'58), you've really hit the ground running. This was his first film after Apu and I think it's every bit an essential art house film as anything by Kurosawa, Renoir or Bergman. It gets criminally overlooked because it is not from one of the cinematic powerhouse countries of its time. If you've never experienced Satyajit Ray, this is a great place to start. 

1 - TOUCH OF EVIL - Directed by Orson Welles

In 2012, the aforementioned VERTIGO overtook Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE  (1941) as Sight & Sound's Greatest Film of All Time... Well, in my opinion, as great as KANE is, it's not even Welles' best. That title would go to this film. This is art-house pulp at its absolute finest. Its a dark, dirty back-alley story of murder and revenge seen through the lens of  masterful artist that has harnessed the power of light and shadow.

1996 - A Random Cinematic Year In Review

Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.

1996 saw the births of young starlets like Abigail Breslin, Lorde and Dolly the Sheep. It also saw the deaths of great thinkers Timothy Leary, Carl Sagan and Tiny Tim.

While the FBI was pre-occupied with identifying and arresting the Unabomber and not finding 2Pac's killer, the Nerdlucks snuck in and stole the talents of some of the greatest basketball players on Earth... and Shawn Bradley. Luckily, NASA was able to save the NBA stars with the help of some sort of a boom-box genie named Kazaam... Unfortunately, Larry Johnson was never able to recover his talents... It was in the news.. Look it up.

I had N64 taste on a Tamagotchi budget

I had a lot of fun in 1996... I was 15 years old. I was all about punk rock, Scully & Mulder and watching movies. My first concert was Face to Face at The Electric Ballroom in Tempe, AZ. I saw Roland Emmerich's INDEPENDENCE DAY at the original Cine Capri in the Biltmore area and I snuck into the West Wind Drive-In in Glendale through a hole in the chain link fence to watch Ben Stiller's CABLE GUY.

The aforementioned INDEPENDENCE DAY was the top grossing film of the year with $306,000,000 and Anthony Minghella's THE ENGLISH PATIENT virtually swept the Oscars (I've still never seen it...)

Quite possibly, the most important thing to happen in cinema in '96 however was a device made by Toshiba called the SD-3000. 

It was the first DVD player. You could take one home for just less than $700. Later, this technology would turn out to be the most rapidly adopted consumer product ever and it had a massive effect on the film industry. DVD's higher resolution and durability, cheaper production and better copyright security gave film distributors the opportunity to continue making profits on their films long after they had left the cineplexes. I think the cultural significance is just as important as well. The home video experience was greatly improved by this invention. Casual film fans and cinephiles alike began acquiring larger home collections of these discs. Consumer's willingness to buy gave the distributors more of a reason to release more options on the platform. Archived films and boatloads of special features made it possible for anyone with an interest to study cinema from all around the world and from every cinematic era. Now, with multiple options for streaming platforms and VOD, the physical media seems to be taking a far back seat in the home video market. But keep in mind: for many, it was the DVD that gave a lot of us the opportunity to truly indulge our budding fascination with this art-form in the first place...

My Top 5

5 - THE GOD OF COOKERY - Directed by Stephen Chow

I love Stephen Chow movies and this one is criminally underrated. It's available to stream on Netflix at the time that I'm writing this and you should probably stop doing what you are doing right now and watch it. Its absolutely absurd and completely heart-warming at the same time. If you're into SHAOLIN SOCCER or KING OF COMEDY, you'll like this one just as much. I think I actually prefer this one.

4 - RIDICULE - Directed by Patrice Leconte

Somewhat like THE GOD OF COOKERY, I'll file this one as another underseen gem by a well liked international filmmaker. I haven't seen all of Leconte's films but I've never seen one that I disliked. I think his THE WIDOW OF SAINT PIERRE and MONSIEUR HIRE are his masterworks. This film exists somewhere around the top of his middle tier. Its a film about the power of words and rapier wit and as such, its dialogue is written fantastically. Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" musical has recently reminded me a bit of this film.

3 - BOTTLE ROCKET - Directed by Wes Anderson

I am a fan of Wes Anderson's style... That being said, I think that in most of his films, the minutia of his style tends to get in the way of his characters and story. I think that's why this and THE DARJEELING LIMITED are my two favorites. This is his first and most unpolished movie. And its the one that I've revisited the most. 

2 - BREAKING THE WAVES - Directed by Lars Von Trier

Von Trier films are all over the map for me. I think that he has made everything from masterpieces like this one to absolute pieces of tripe which only exist to assault the human senses like THE ELEMENT OF CRIME... The only film of his career that I like more than this one is DOGVILLE. I usually don't care much for this film's shooting style either. Much of it is hand-held, and very narrow. It just really works with this flick though. It is also probably Emily Watson's greatest performance. And that's saying a ton.

1 - FARGO - Directed by the Coen Brothers

This is an R rated film that I saw when I was 15 years old in the theatre with my Father. That in itself was special. But this film was different. It was the first time I had experienced a piece of cinema that I couldn't fit into a genre box. It was funny but not really a comedy. It was composed out of visually beautiful grotesqueness and its overall tone was almost a deafening quietness. I didn't know films could do or be that. You see, I always knew that I like watching movies more than all of my friends... I didn't really know why, I just did. I had no ambitions to analyze them any further, it was just how I prefered to spend my leisure. But I think this was the first time that I ever saw a film as a piece of art. And subsequently, my passion for this art-form has grown in me ever since. You could say that because of FARGO and my inability to compartmentalize it into any specific genre or theme, my life as a cinephile has become compartmentalized... or partitioned if you will... into two segments: Pre-FARGO and Post-FARGO... The Coen Brothers became my favorite filmmakers that day.

1968 - A Random Cinematic Year In Review

Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.

1968 was a very eventful year in the news. The United State's involvement in The Vietnam War was facing the its worst problems both at home and abroad.The Tet Offensive was North Vietnamese's most successful campaign and amid mounting public outcry and protests, President Johnson's approval rating plummeted.

This year also saw two of the most historically significant political assassinations. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F Kennedy were both shot within months of each other.

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal." - MLK

Not all the news of the year was bad however. On Christmas Eve, the crew of NASA's Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit the Moon.

The year in cinema was rather eventful as well. Two of the most famous films of all time actually opened on the same day. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and Franklin Schaffner's PLANET OF THE APES both opened on April 3rd. 2001 ended up winning at the box office but lost the Oscar to Carol Reed's OLIVER!.

The Festival at Cannes took place during massive general strikes and anti-capitalism and anti-consumerism demonstrations. As a form of acknowledgement, the festival decided not to hand out any awards. Films were screened from some of the best of the Japanese, French and Czech New Waves....

And meanwhile, back in the states,.. A young and ambitious filmmaker from The Bronx, was running around a small town in Pennsylvania inventing a subgenre of horror that is today worth more than the GDP of some countries... 

My Top 5

5) CAPRICIOUS SUMMER - Directed by Jiří Menzel

When I think of the late 60's, I think of Japanese, French and Czech films. This film isn't quite the masterpiece as Jiří Menzel's previous effort, CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS but its more than entirely watchable. Just imagine how light and airy a Czech film could be when it's not taking place during the Nazi occupation... 

4) 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick didn't make any imperfect films and this one is no exception. It is not meant to be merely watched, but consumed, over and over in the decades following its release. I really don't know what else to say about this one. It's comforting like a warm blanket. At any time, I can watch any part of it in passing or enjoy it all the way through. It never disappoints.

3) SHAME - Directed by Ingmar Bergman

There are plenty of dark Bergman films to choose from but this highly underrated gem might take the cake. It is essentially about all of humanity's worst traits and how tight of a grasp they have during wartime. Stress, anxiety, impotence, cruelty and betrayal all take their turns on the center stage here. Liv Ulman and Max Von Sydow make for brilliant puppets to these aforementioned human conditions.

2) NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - Directed by George A. Romero

It's really impossible to understate this film's significance. The importance of what Romero did for horror and its zombie subgenre is eclipsed only by what he did for American independent DIY filmmaking. In 1968, the auteuristic attitude hadn't quite infiltrated the American studio system yet. And this film's success (10th at the box office) surely led to some of this nation's culture towards artistic freedom.

1) ROSEMARY'S BABY - Directed by Roman Polanski

Every Roman Polanski film feels as though it is the exact film he was trying to make. Every technical aspect is meticulously planned. Simultaneously disarming and disturbing , its easy to forget that this is Polanski's first American film and he was only 35 when he made it. I'll never get tired of watching this one... 

1987 - A Random Cinematic Year In Review

Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.

1987 - The aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair found us all in a country that was becoming more and more comfortable with trusting the government less and less. 

"I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House, I dunno. They say he's a descent man, so maybe his advisors are confused..."

The previous year’s Oscar Winner for Best Picture was Oliver Stone’s anti-war Vietnam drama, PLATOON. 1987 followed suit with a couple of its own noteworthy films about the same subject: Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, FULL METAL JACKET and John Irvin's underrated HAMBURGER HILL.... Both of which, I think are far better than PLATOON...

Maybe my favorite monologue ever...

Bernardo Bertolucci's beautiful epic, THE LAST EMPEROR won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars. Maurice Pialat's UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN took the Palm D'Or at Cannes while The Golden Lion at Venice was won by fellow Frenchman Louis Malle for his AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS.

The top grossing film of the year was Leonard Nimoy's 3 MEN AND A BABY. Wait... what?.. I had no idea that Spock was directing feel good family comedies in the late 80's. I don't really remember this film but take that in for a minute... PREDATOR, THE LOST BOYS, DIRTY DANCING, and HELLRAISER all came out in the same year. These films spawned a countless number of sequels and remakes... and 3 MEN AND A BABY beat them all at the box office...

This is NOT Antonio Banderas

My Top 5

5) WALKER - Directed by Alex Cox (US) 

Speaking of anti-war, anti-Americanism...anti-everything.... As much as I love Cox's earlier releases REPO MAN and SID & NANCY, I think this is his masterpiece. Ed Harris plays William Walker, the American mercenary that took over the country of Nicaragua in the mid 19th century as part of America's 'Manifest Destiny' bullshit. This film is full of expressionistic and surreal anachronisms used to tie the past to the events taking place at the time the film was released. "Before Rambo... Before Oliver North..." may be the best tagline ever...

4) EVIL DEAD 2 - Directed by Sam Raimi (US) 

This is my favorite of the Ash trilogy... which makes it also my favorite Raimi film. I think the climate of horror films that we find ourselves in today is largely influenced by this film.... and for good reason. This film strikes the perfect balance between the earnestness of its predecessor and the overtly silliness of its sequel.

3) RAISING ARIZONA - Directed by The Coen Brothers (US) 

Looking back at their filmography, it could be easy to overlook this one as a fun excursion that doesn't quite fit into their overall repertoire. This would be a mistake. This is one of their absolute best films. I would also add that although I'm a huge fan of the Coen's more recent work with cinematographer Roger Deakins, I honestly don't think that Barry Sonnenfeld gets enough credit for his work in their first three films. The shot composition is beautiful.

2) WINGS OF DESIRE - Directed by Wim Wenders (Germany) 

This is such an amazingly poignant and poetic film about the gift that is humanity.When I think of 80's Arthouse films, I think of Wim Wenders; primarily because of this film and his 1984 American masterpiece PARIS, TEXAS. Its beauty has stood the test of time and I feel that it is influence is still echoed by today's artists. One of my favorite films of the past few years, Jonathan Glazer's UNDER THE SKIN owes a lot of inspiration to this piece. I've never seen its American remake... I'm not sure why I would...

1) THE PRINCESS BRIDE - Directed by Rob Reiner (US) 

This is my favorite film of 1987. It's also the film that I've seen more than all of the others combined. I grew up with this film and thankfully, I never grew out of it. I still watch it pretty often. I'm not saying it's the most important film of this year and I'm definitely not saying it's the best film of the year... All I'm saying is that if I have to choose which of these films to pop in the Blu-Ray player right now... The story is a lot of fun, the framing device is done well, the acting is great all around (especially by Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn) and the dialogue is endlessly quotable... Also, I just noticed that my top two films on this list have amazingly charming performances by Peter Falk... As you wish...