The Author Pans Wes Anderson's Latest and Then Discusses How Directors Fade Away

The Phoenician Scheme

Wes Anderson has lost the plot. And so did his latest film. I recently saw The Phoenician Scheme. It was unmistakably an Anderson film, he has a style like no one else. But as his been the trend with him, that style got in the way of telling a story. Enough already with the quirky characters and the deadpan expressions and the lovely colors, the famous actors popping up in minuscule roles and the silliness. It’s gone from refreshing and exciting to…this again? Anderson is a director getting in his own way. 

It was hard to tell what the Phoenician Scheme was supposed to be about. In terms of a storyline it resembled something a couple of stoned fifteen-year-old boys would concoct. It was all over the place with a lot of characters introduced seemingly for the sake of it. A great artist would either try to do something different from time to time or hit it out of the ball park every time. This was the same old schtick and it was a weak grounder to third.

My three favorite of Anderson’s films are Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom. They had beginnings, ends and middles. They were told with style and verve and a uniqueness that was extraordinary. But I don’t know what the hell he’s on about with his latest. I liked his previous picture, Asteroid City. That’s liked not loved. The French Dispatch and the Grand Budapest Hotel were also nice. But the downward trend had by then begun that for me culminated with hot mess that is the Phoenician Scheme.

It got me thinking about a somewhat related topic: do directors do their best work early and in the middle of their career and fade at the end? The simple way to answer that is to look at the last three films by great directors and see how they measure up to his/her earlier work.

Martin Scorsese’s last three feature films are Silence, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon. All decent films but bloated and excessive and not at all comparable to the likes of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas which are all masterpieces of modern cinema.

Francis Ford Coppola made the Godfather The Godfather Part 2, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now in the Seventies. Since then nothing to write home about.

John Ford ended his career with Cheyenne Autumn, Young Cassidy and Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend. Not exactly Stagecoach, Grapes of Wrath or The Searchers.

Howard Hawks, he of His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep and Red River, brought his career to a close with pictures called Red Line 7000, Rio Lobo and El Dorado.

Ingmar Bergman, my favorite director of all time, finished his oeuvre off with Saraband and a slew of TV movies that were little seen or heard of.

Federico Fellini, who like Bergman made a string of classics in the fifties and sixties, closed out his career with Ginger and Fred, Intervista and The Voice of the Moon.

Alfred Hitchcock’s long brilliant career petered out with Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot. The latter of those three was a nice movie but nothing that one would compare with Psycho, Notorious, The Lodger or any of a dozen other classics he directed.

I checked out other directors -- Akira Kurosawa, Charlie Chaplin, Jean-Luc Goddard, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Billy Wilder, Vittorio De Sica -- and it was the same story. 

The only exceptions I came across were Luis Buñuel — his last three were the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise, That Obscure Object of Desire and Phantom of Liberty, all among his best — and Aki Kaurismäki who’s latest film, Fallen Leaves, is my favorite of his. It was preceded by two other excellent films, Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope. Of course Kaurismäki could conceivably come out of retirement and muck it all up. Hope not and doubt it.

It is rare indeed for a director’s best work to be at the end  of his career. The creative flame must simply burn out. I suppose it can be likened to athletes who, absent an early retirement, are often shadows of their former selves as their careers wind down.

Based on his latest work, this already seems to be the case with Wes Anderson.

Ten Underrated Films From Ten Great Directors

From The White Sheik

At the risk of being obvious, great directors make great films. Sometimes as many as half a dozen and in a few cases as many as nine or ten. These are the films that come to mind when one hears that director' name. For example, John Ford is automatically associated with such classics as The Searchers (1956), Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Stagecoach (1939). He's only slightly less remembered for How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and My Darling Clementine (1946). But Ford directed over 100 films (cranking out about half of those in an eight-year period during the silent era) so inevitably there are some really good pictures he made that, while certainly not forgotten, are little remembered, particularly in comparison with those of his that are part of the Hollywood canon. So it is with all great directors. Terrific films that either were spurned by the critics, did poorly at the box office, failed to garner any awards or -- as is often the case -- a combination of two or all of these factors. In writing this post I've been subjective. I'm determining that a film was underrated based on whether a) I really like it and b) whether it seems a lesser known work of the director. No one can argue with me as to whether I like a film or not but some may take issue with whether a given film is not well-known.

White Sheik (1952)Fellini . Given the string of classics by Federico Fellini that followed, it's understandable that White Sheik is relatively forgotten. This is no crude early work from a director who had yet to find his voice. While White Sheik portended the beguiling style to come from the great Italian filmmaker, it is a wonderful film in its own right with enchanting visuals, endearing characters and an imaginative story line. The great Italian actor Alberto Sordi was typically wonderful in the title role. A just-married couple has come to Rome for their honeymoon where they will be surrounded by the groom's relatives and afforded a chance to meet the Pope. As the staid groom naps, the innocent bride naively seeks her favorite comic book character. But this is a Fellini film so of course she finds him. The premise doesn't begin to convey the magic that ensues. What follows is a charming, delightful, funny and bittersweet story that, in my mind, is among Fellini's best work.

Shutter Island (2010) Scorsese. I'm truly baffled that Shutter Island was not a bigger hit with critics or audiences. Martin Scorsese is of course better known for his earlier work such as Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas (1990) and of his films this century, it is The Departed, (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Irishman (2019) that are most frequently noted. However in the last twenty years my favorite of his films are The Aviator (2004) and Shutter Island. The former got a slew of Oscar nominations (11) with five wins. But Shutter Island was shut out at the Oscars and gained no other significant awards or nominations. Why? Beats the hell out of me. It is as visually stunning a film as Scorsese has ever made. A brilliant cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson. It is a compelling story based on a popular novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. It works as a psychological thriller, a modern horror story and as a detective yarn. A truly wonderful film.

From Amistad.

Amistad (1997) Spielberg. Amistad is not only an excellent film, it is an important one. The story of the slave revolt aboard the Amistad in July, 1839 and the subsequent trial  over the fate of the Africans, who had landed on US soil after commandeering the slave ship bound for sugar plantations, is one that deserves to be widely told.  Their trials were a cause célèbre that attracted the attention of Americans of all stripes, particularly abolitionists, one of whom -- former president John Quincy Adams -- tried their case before the Supreme Court. Many big budget low-minded films from Steven Spielberg have been given much more attention, particularly at the box office, but Amistad is among his best works. An excellent cast was led by Anthony Hopkins as Adams along with Matthew McConaughey, Stellan Skarsgård, Morgan Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Djimon Hounsou as Cinque, the African's leader. It's a film that was generally admired by critics but for some reason didn't catch fire, despite being both historically accurate (for a Hollywood film) and inspiring. This former history teacher recommends it for classroom use.

Face to Face (1976) Bergman. Face to Face seems to have gotten lost among all the great films being released in the mid 1970s and is certainly lost among the prodigious output of great films from Ingmar Bergman. That it wouldn't crack my top ten of Bergman's film is hardly a slight considering the competition. Frequent Bergman collaborator Liv Ullman starred as a psychiatrist married to another psychiatrist. The subject matter isn't exactly light fare (par for the course in a Bergman film) as she suffers a mental breakdown. But also like many Bergman films, it is a beautifully told story that challenges and inspires the intellect. The centerpiece is a wonderful performance by Ullman buttressed by an exemplary supporting cast.

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) Coens. Joel and Ethan Coen have been cranking out films for over thirty years. Most of them have been excellent, few have flopped and some have been masterpieces (see No Country For Old Men (2007), Inside Llyewn Davis (2013) and The Big Lebowski (1998)). They've also tackled different genres in different times and different places as the three aforementioned films show. With the Man Who Wasn't There they created a modern film noir (fully committing to the atmosphere by shooting in black and white). It stacks up with the best from film noir's post-war heyday. Billy Bob Thornton is excellent as the perpetually stoic and emotionless lead, a barber who gets mixed up in a murder that is ultimately his wife's doing. The fates of characters, like in classic noir, is predestined. The Coens are master storytellers and this is truly one of their best. Far from just an homage to a film style of the past, it is an excellent stand alone movie.

The Long Voyage Home (1940) Ford. You'd be hard-pressed to find a movie with a better opening five minutes. There's not a word of dialogue as the camera pans across a merchant marine ship in dock in the West Indies. It was a brave decision by John Ford to begin the film in such a fashion and he hit a home run. It didn't hurt that he had the great cinema photographer Gregg Toland to work with. Long Voyage Home, based on a series of Eugene O'Neill plays, is set mostly aboard a ship during the beginning of World War II and tells the story of the various crew members as they journey from the Caribbean to Baltimore and then home to England. Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, John Qualen, Barry Fitzgerland and John Wayne (as a Norwegian -- complete with accent!) star. I particularly relate to the film as my father was in the merchant marines during the war (he was at the helm of one ship that was torpedoed and aboard two other ships that were strafed by enemy planes). Long Voyage Home is an engaging film with interesting characters and, as with most Ford films, has striking visuals.

I Confess (1953) Hitchcock. Perhaps less ambitious than many of the films Alfred Hitchcock made around this time, it's about as good a film as some such as Rear Window (1954) and Dial M For Murder (1954) and better than other such as Stage Fright (1950) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Montgomery Clift stars (in the only film he made with Hitch) as a priest who hears a murderer's confession and himself becomes a suspect. The priest's conundrum is that he cannot clear his own name without violating the seal of the confessional. It is a taut thriller, well-paced and featuring a strong cast that includes Anne Baxter and Karl Malden (like Clift, these were both Baxter and Malden's only appearances in a Hitchcock film). Upon its release, I Confess received mostly mixed reviews with many downright negative. This I'll never understand. It is among my ten favorite Hitchcock films.

From Love and Death.

Love and Death (1975) Allen. Love and Death was immediately followed by Annie Hall (1977), Interiors (1978) and Manhattan (1979) in other words the time in which Woody Allen became known as more than a director of silly, if hilarious, comedies. When people think of Allen's early comedies, it is usually Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971) and Sleeper (1973) that come to mind. Love and Death was a transitional movie. While chock full of gags, wit and slapstick, it also foreshadowed the nods to directors like Bergman and Fellini that would come to typify Allen's work along with the first of many references to Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. It wasn't that Allen was getting more serious with Love and Death but he was clearly adding greater dimension to his comedy. I think for that reason it's an important work in his oeuvre and a very funny movie to boot.

The Fortune Cookie (1967) Wilder. My favorite screen pairing of co-stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. And undoubtedly the best film ever to feature footage of a Cleveland Browns football game. While it may not be in a league with such Wilder masterpieces as Sunset Blvd. (1950), Some Like it Hot (1959), Double Indemnity (1944) and The Apartment (1960), it's damn entertaining. Lemmon is, as always, superb here as sports photographer, Harry Hinkle, who suffers a minor injury on the sidelines of a Browns game. His brother-in-law (Matthau), a notorious ambulance chaser, tries to persuade him to feign a serious injury and thus win a big lawsuit. Hinkle is reticent until he sees it as a way to win back his estranged wife. It's funny, touching and entertaining and deserves more recognition.

Death in the Garden (1956) Bunuel. Luis Bunuel made twelve excellent films between 1956 and 1977 and this was the first of those and probably the least-remembered. It is about a disparate group of characters who, for various reasons, flee a fictional Central American village that is in the midst of a revolt against the government after the police exercise extra judicial powers. Those on the run are hotly pursued because they include an accused bank robber and rebels. Along for the ride are a priest, a prostitute and the ubiquitous beautiful young woman. It's exciting stuff with little of the surrealism that would highlight Bunuel's later works. In fact it's barely recognizable as a Bunuel film at all. But the story telling is economic while including the stunning visuals that typify the director's work. Also, like most of Bunuel's films, it is unpredictable. It deserves its place among his more renowned works such as Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).

The Blogger Herein Answers the Question: What are the Best Decades Enjoyed by Films Directors

Woody Allen directing Radio Days (1989).

In my last blog post I checked in with my favorite active U.S. directors to see how their careers were doing. In doing so I noted what a terrific output Woody Allen had in the 1980s directing no less than eight excellent films. This inspired to me compile a list of the ten best decades enjoyed by film directors. There are several caveats, the most important being that my definition of a good or great film is based solely on my own tastes. I'm sure anyone else taking on the same task would have very different lists. Also I'm not going by ten-year periods but specific decades. Thus a director cranking out seven great films between, say, 1974 and 1983 is of no help.

This sort of list penalizes those directors who go or went years between films such as Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin or Quentin Tarantino.

Chance plays a huge factor. Two of the people on the list (Preston Sturges and Hal Ashby) made no other outstanding films outside the decade in question and happened to start their string of greats at the beginning of the decade. Still, I thought it a worthy exercise.

It's also interesting to note that other than Allen in the '80s all the other great director decades were in the '40s through the '70s. Not sure what to make of that. 

Hitchcock and Allen -- all notably prolific directors, each made the list twice.

One criteria I established was that a director had to have at least five qualifying films in the decade. This eliminated Francis Ford Coppola who had four great films in 1970s.

Final note: I lied in the first paragraph in saying that this is a list of ten as it includes 11 different decades. I winnowed down an original list of 20 by counting how many films I loved from the director's output that decade, how many made my list of great films and how many are in my top 100. I came up with a three-way tie for the final two spots and rather than spilt hairs decided to include them all.

I offer the eleven in no particular order, within the lists all films are in chronological order.

Woody Allen the 1980s
1. Stardust Memories (1980)
2. Zelig (1983)
3. Broadway Danny Rose (1985)
4. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
5. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
6. Radio Days (1987)
7. Another Woman (1988
8. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1988)
Note: Eight excellent films in one decade is outstanding.

Ingmar Bergman the 1960s
1. The Virgin Spring (1960)
2. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
3. Winter Light (1963)
4. The Silence (1963)
5. Persona (1966)
6. Shame (1968)
7. The Passion of Anna (1969)
Note: This includes three films in my top 100.

Hal Ashby the 1970s
1. The Landlord (1970)
2. Harold and Maude (1971)
3. The Last Detail (1973)
4. Shampoo (1975)
5. Bound for Glory (1976)
6. Being There (1979)
Note: As said in the intro, this was the extent of it for Ashby, but oh what a decade.

Michelangelo Antonioni the 1960s
1. L'Avventura (1960)
2. La Notte (1961)
3. L'Eclisse (1962)
4. Red Desert (1964)
5. Blow-Up (1966)
Note: Those first four in five years represent a great four-picture run.

Robert Altman the 1970s
1. MASH (1970)
2. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
3. The Long Goodbye (1973)
4. California Split (1974)
5. Nashville (1975)
6. 3 Women (1977)
Note: Although he made very good films for the next 30 years, this was his peak.

Howard Hawks the 1940s
1. His Girl Friday (1940)
2. Ball of Fire (1941)
3. To Have and Have Not (1943)
4. The Big Sleep (1946)
5. Red River (1948)
Note: Hawks also had excellent output in the '30s and '50s.

Hitchcock directing Rebecca

Alfred Hitchcock the 1940s
1. Foreign Correspondent (1940)
2. Rebecca (1940)
3. Mr. And Mrs. Smith (1941)
4. Suspicion (1941)
5. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
6. Lifeboat (1945)
7. Spellbound (1945)
8. Notorious (1946)
Note: If I were ranking the decades this would likely be first or second (to Allen's '80s)





Luis Bunuel the 1960s
1. The Young One (1960)
2. Viridiana (1961)
3. The Exterminating Angel (1962)
4. Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
5. Simon of the Desert (1965)
6. Belle de Jour (1967)
7. The Milky Way (1969)
Note: Some might say I cheated here because Simon is a short film.

Woody Allen the 1970s
1. Bananas (1971)
2. Love and Death (1975)
3. Annie Hall (1977)
4. Interiors (1978)
5. Manhattan (1979)
Note: Bananas and Interiors couldn't be more different.

Preston Sturges the 1940s
1. The Great McGinty (1940)
2. The Lady Eve (1941)
3. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
4. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
5. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943)
6. Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Note: Not only did Sturges do all his great work in one decade, he did it all in a five-year span.

Alfred Hitchcock the 1950s
1. Strangers on a Train (1951)
2. I Confess (1952)
3. Dial M For Murder (1954)
4. Rear Window (1954)
5. The Trouble With Harry (1955)
6. Vertigo (1958)
7. North by Northwest (1959)
Note: He'd just had a great decade and had more to come in the Sixties staring with Psycho in 1960.

The Blogger Checks in on the Careers of Eight Long-Time U.S. Film Directors

Scorsese (left) with Robert DeNiro during the filming of Taxi Driver.

I'm checking in with some of America's greatest living directors to see how their careers are going. I’ve been inspired to write this post by listening to Ben Mankiewicz's Turner Classic Movies podcast,  The Plot Thickens. The first edition of it is an eight-part story of Peter Bogdanovich, the noted director, writer and film historian and an oft-used talking head for DVD special features.

Besides working in films for over 50 years, Bogdanovich has gotten to know a who’s who of Hollywood's greatest directors and actors including Howard Hawks, John Ford, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Henry Fonda and Cary Grant. Bogdanovich is wonderfully entertaining to listen to, not only because of all the stories he can tell, but because the way he tells them which often includes imitating the person he is discussing. He’s also damn funny.

Mankiewicz is an excellent interviewer and in the podcasts he includes snippets from interviews with those who have known, worked with and loved Bogdanovich as well as sound bytes from various films. Bogdanovich's own story is damn compelling. His second film was The Last Picture Show (1971) one of the greatest American films ever made. Period. He followed that with two other huge hits, What’s Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973). There then followed a succession of critical and box office flops.

Bogdanovich went on to make a lot of good films but nothing ever approached The Last Picture Show. He’s nothing to feel ashamed of, of course. He created a masterpiece, some other good films and has been an invaluable source of insight, information and anecdotes about the motion picture business. His story inspired me to look at some of the other better American directors of today and see how their career trajectories are going. I’ve limited myself to directors whose work I admire — so there’ll be nothing here about Clint Eastwood — and those who’ve been at it for at least 25 years. You'll note that this is totally subjective and I'm defining great, good, mediocre or bad films based entirely on my own taste -- though in most cases my opinions jibe with the general consensus.

It's interesting to note that several of these directors made their best films early in their careers. Why this is often the case is a topic I may explore at another time.

Martin Scorsese
In a period of 15 years he directed three of the greatest films of all time: Taxi Driver, (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas (1990).  He has continued to crank out films in the 30 years since Goodfellas and although he won the Best Picture award for one of them (The Departed) (2006) he’s made no more masterpieces. Most of the films he’s made this century have been good (I particularly like The Aviator, (2004), Shutter Island (2008)) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)) but they lack the spareness and muscle of his three great earlier works. Scorsese’s recent pictures suffer from excess. They are bloated and not necessarily because of their length. He’s lost clearly lost some of the edge he had as a younger director.

Woody Allen
Arguably America’s most prolific director, he hasn’t let up in over 50 years of cranking out movies although evil forces have kept his latest picture, Rainy Day in New York (2019), from being released in the States and goodness knows about his upcoming feature, Rifkin’s Festival (2020). In any event, Allen hit is stride in the late Seventies with Annie Hall (1977), Interiors (1978) and Manhattan (1978) coming out in successive years. The first and last of that trio represent, for me, his greatest work although one can hardly say there’s been much of a drop off considering the Eighties saw the releases of such great Allen productions as Stardust Memories (1980), Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio Days (1987), Another Woman (1988) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). That’s a helluva career in one decade. The Nineties were comparatively lean but still included Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Bullets over Broadway (1994), Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and Deconstructing Harry (1997). The last 20 years have included some of Allen’s best work in Match Point (2005), Vicky Cristina, Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011) Blue Jasmine (2013), and Wonder Wheel (2017). So while the 70/80s might have been his most fecund period, Allen has continued to grace us with great films and at 84 years of age does not appear to be slowing down.

Francis Ford Coppola
No one in the U.S. or anywhere else for that matter, has ever had a four picture run to match Coppola who from 1972 through 1979 made The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part 2 (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He has since directed 15 feature films and some have been good but most forgettable and none an American classic. On the one hand it is a precipitous drop but on the other hand The Godfather alone is more than enough to hang your hat on.

The Coen Brothers, Joel (left) and Ethan

The Coen Brothers
It’s hard to believe that they’ve been at it for 36 years as to me they seem to young and fresh and still outside of the Hollywood establishment. They started with Blood Simple in 1984, a great debut film, and have consistently put out good to great films ever since including Fargo (1996), The Big Lewbowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), No Country For Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009) and Inside Llyewn Davis (2013). However since Davis they’ve only directed two films, both passable efforts, Hail, Caesar! (2016) and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018). Joel Coen was doing an adaptation of MacBeth when the lockdown took effect. It’s way too early to say they’ve fallen off their game but it will be interesting to see what they come up in the next few years. I would still have great faith in their ability to create another masterpiece.

Steven Spielberg
This is becoming a familiar refrain: His best work was at the beginning of his career starting in the 1970s.  Four of his first five films were Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and ET (1982). He’s had four other terrific films since all from between 1989 and 1998: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Schindler’s List (1993), Amistad (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). In the last 20 years he’s had a few good movies but nothing —again this is a familiar theme — to match his earlier work. He's become a mainstream director who does not challenge himself preferring safer projects.

Quentin Tarantino
The youngest on the list at 57, Tarantino hit the scene with Reservoir Dogs in 1992. He’s made four brilliant films: Pulp Fiction(1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  (2019) all spread out nicely over the past 25 years with one coming out just twelve months ago. He’s only made ten feature films and four are masterpieces and none of the other six have been bombs. He’s already had a great career and at 57 has a ways to go. Simply put, he marches to the beat of hims own drummer and this serves the creative juices quite well.

Jim Jarmusch
Like many others, Jarmusch had a blazing start to his career with Permanent Vacation (1980), Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and Down By Law (1986) back-to-back-to-back. In the following 24 years he’s made some films I’ve dearly loved (Dead Man (1995), Night on Earth (1991) and Patterson (2016)) as well as some such as Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) that I’ve dearly hated (can you dearly hate?). His most recent picture was The Dead Don’t Die (2019) which I didn’t see because I refuse to see anything about zombies. I also refuse to see any vampire movies but made an exception for Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) which I quite liked. There is zero evidence that his career flagging and at 67 could well have some more gems in him. Despite a few (for me) bombs, he’s had a terrific career with many of his better films later in his career.

Spike Lee
Spike’s first major film was his third and it was one of the greats of American cinema, Do the Right Thing(1989). It’s no insult to Mr. Lee to say that he’s done nothing since to match it. He’s had a very good if unspectacular career highlighted by Malcolm X (1992), Bamboozled (2000), Inside Man (2006), BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020). He’s also made a lot of shorts, documentaries and documentary shorts. Spike Lee is 63, has another documentary in post production and a feature film in pre production, both likely delayed by the pandemic. He’s a had an exemplary career and it appears far from over.

I'd Like You to Meet Three Friends of Mine....

Left to right this is Francis, Woody and Martin. Guys, I'd like you to meet the readers of this blog (both of them).

I'm Not Quite Done With Directors Yet, This Time I Look at Directors as Characters

I've been a lot about my favorite directors recently and and I'm not ready to let go of the topic. I now proudly present directors as characters in films. These six movies give varying degrees of insight into the film-making process but all are excellent films. I give each a hearty recommendation.

Johnny Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood (1994). Ladies and gentleman the world's worst director of all time Mr. Ed Wood. Here is the incredibly true story of Ed Wood who made such classic bombs as Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959). This bit of dialogue says it all:

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: And cut! Print. We're moving on. That was perfect. Ed Reynolds: Perfect? Mr. Wood, do you know anything about the art of film production? Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Well, I like to think so. Ed Reynolds: That cardboard headstone tipped over. This graveyard is obviously phony. Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Nobody will ever notice that. Filmmaking is not about the tiny details. It's about the big picture. Ed Reynolds: The big picture? Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Yes. Ed Reynolds: Then how 'bout when the policemen arrived in daylight, but now it's suddenly night? Edward D. Wood, Jr.: What do you know? Haven't you heard of suspension of disbelief?

And, oh by the way, Wood is a cross dresser and his life is full of romantic complications (not that the two are mutually exclusive.) Tim Burton directed and an excellent supporting cast includes Martin Landau who won an Oscar for his portrayal of an aging Bela Lugosi.

Francois Truffaut as Director Ferrand in Day For Night (1973). Truffaut directed himself playing a director. I actually think it's more confusing than it sounds but that's just me. Anyway the great French director pulled it off on this story of the complexities faced on a a film shoot, especially when off set relationships interfere.

Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi in 8 1/2 (1963). Guido is a famous director who is in need of inspiration for his next picture. He is harried wherever he goes by wife, mistress, friends and memories. This beautiful film is clearly semi autobiographical. Just as its protagonist finds what he's looking for through dreams 8 1/2 is itself clearly the stuff of dreams. As esteemed as 8 1/2 is, Mastroianni's performance is actually under appreciated.

Woody Allen as Sandy Bates in Stardust Memories (1980). Many critics savaged this film in large part because Allen used it to lampoon critics and audiences. This only proves that many critics are big cry babies. Stardust Memories is classic Allen. Sandy Bates is a not at all thinly veiled version of Allen himself. Beleaguered by fans, obligations, lovers, past and present, and the vagaries of being a famous artist in a celebrity obsessed culture. This is, depending on how you look at it, somewhat of spoof or homage to, 8 1/2.

Joel McCrea as John Sullivan in Sullivan's Travels (1941). Sully is a successful director, mostly of light comedies and musicals but he wants to do more. Sully yearns to tell the story of the down and out. He further decides the only way to do so is by living among the poor. See my recent post on this great film for more.

Steve Martin as Bobby Bowfinger in Bowfinger (1999). Bowfinger is a director given one last chance to come up with a hit. The star that he wants for the film won't do the picture but there's no stopping our determined director who films him anyway. Martin is terrific in the title role as is Eddie Murphy in two roles including that of the reluctant star. A high-larious film.

You Know You Really Like A Director If... (Part Eight)

Yes it's true, proof positive that you really like a director is the fact that you can create a list of ten films of his that you really like. I have proved this in the past with lists of top ten films from: Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, William Wellman, Martin Scorsese, Howard Hawks and Frank Capra. This week's honoree is Billy Wilder.

When various actors for the same director keep getting nominated for Oscars or are otherwise recognized for their work it ain't no coincidence. The likes of Wiliam Holden, Jack Lemmon, Ray Milland, Gloria Swanson, Shirley MacClaine and even character actors like Robert Strauss were honored for work in Wilder films. Surely much credit must go to Wilder the writer who provided or tinkered with the screenplays for most of Wilder the director's films. Indeed Wilder started as a screenwriter with such classics as Ninothcka and Ball of Fire to his credit.

The relationship with Ninothcka's director is significant. The man was Ernest Lubitcsh who was Wilder's idol. Both came to the U.S. via Germany. Wilder was one of Adolph Hitler's unintentional gifts to Hollywood. When Der Fuhrer came to power a veritable who's who of German cinema hightailed out of the the Fatherland. Wilder may have been the greatest among them.

Though many of his films were comedies and many others were cynical (and some both) Wilder directed a wide variety of film. He made films dealing with Alcoholism, World War II, romance, newspapers, Sherlock Holmes, murder plots, courtroom drama and however you'd classify Sunset Boulevard.

Wilder was a daring director. While avoiding elaborate camera work or sets, he focused on subject matter that pushed the boundaries of what Hollywood would allow and he maintained his focus on character and plot. The results were some of the best films of his era and any other era for that matter. I believe the list bellow will illustrate this point.

1. Sunset Boulevard (1950). My fourth favorite all time American film, which is my way of saying I think it's a masterpiece. Not like any film made before or even since.

2. The Lost Weekend (1945). Take it from one who knows, Ray Milland's portrayal of the alcoholic Don Birnahm is spot on. Wilder and Milland created a compelling look at the depths to which a drunkard can and will sink.

3. Some Like it Hot (1959). One of the greatest comedies of all time. Marylin Monroe jiggles and giggles, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag are fast talking and funny. Surely you've seen it.

4. Double Indemnity (1944). Barbara Stanwyck, silly wig and all, is sexy and evil. Fred MacMurray is a slick talking sap but Edward G. Robinson steals the picture. Film noir at its absolute best, indeed a highly influential film in the genre.

5. The Major and the Minor (1942). The premise is ridiculous. Ginger Rogers could no more have passed for a 12 year old girl than I could, but that does little to diminish the laughs which are plentiful in Wilder's directorial debut. He wanted to start with a sure fire hit and he did.

6. Stalag 17 (1953). William Holden won the Best Actor Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of a cynical wheeler dealer who's suspected of being a Nazi plant. The setting is a German POW camp during World War II and the drama is deep but cut nicely by moments of humor.

7. Witness For the Prosecution (1957). An interesting twist on the usual stuff of courtroom dramas what with Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich heading the cast. Has the requisite plot twist at the end but mostly enjoyable for the performances.

8. The Apartment (1960). That it was overly lavished at the Oscars reflects on the quality of what Hollywood was producing back then and in no way detracts from what a fine film this is. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacClaine couldn't be more watchable, which makes the film worthy of repeat viewings.

9. Fortune Cookie (1966). Walter Matthua and Lemon together for the first time and what a winning note they started on. Matthau is positively brilliant as the prototypical shyster lawyer and Lemon does a whole lot more with an rather ordinary part than most anyone else would or could have.

10. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). I know you can't believe this made my top ten but I really love this irreverent look at the legend of the great detective. He's a druggie and his sexuality is subject to debate. Wilder wisely cast unknowns as Holmes and Watson (they remain so today) and created an oddly effective film, never mind the somewhat silly case they're on.

You Know You Really Like A Director If... (Part Seven)

You know you really like a director if you can make a top ten list of your favorites from among his films. Previously I've offered top tens of Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, William Wellman, Howard Hawks and Martin Scorsese. This week's installment features Frank Capra.

Capra was supposedly a Republican who voted against FDR four times. Yet he made some of the most liberal, verging on radical, mainstream films of Hollywood's Golden Age. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe in particular, he warned against shadowy powers exerting unimaginable powers in our political process. In Smith it was graft hungry businessmen who could control congressman and muzzle the press. In Doe it was a megalomaniac with fascist tendencies who could aspire to the highest political position in the land.

Capra imagined an America where an ordinary Joe (or Jefferson) could take on these giants like a modern day David slaying Goliath. The love and support of a formerly cynical woman helped. Indeed what Capra did so well was show people transforming. Not just just falling in love but embracing ideals or values.

To many Capra is overly sentimental. It's not productive for me to address this view of Capra which folks are fully entitled to. I do feel he went to heavy on the schmaltz with You Can't Take it With You (1938) a film I don't particularly care for. But a movie like It's A Wonderful Life, in my mind, hits at too many truths to accurately and too adroitly to be thought maudlin.

Capra loved the notion of ordinary people a heroes and in a day and age when we're inundated with super natural crime fighters this is especially to be appreciated. But Capra also was adept at comedy, witness Platinum Blonde and Arsenic and old Lace, but also note the humor in even his most dramatic films.

Lubitsch had a touch but so too did Capra. His films celebrate its characters. They move along deftly and entertain us along the way. There is room, in fact a lot of it, for Capra's depiction of gritty common folk fighting for better days. Capra loved America. It shows. Nothing wrong with that, especially when he can show its underside and give us chuckles along the way.

Here are my ten favorite Capra films.

1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). My second favorite film of all time. Upon its release it was assailed by fascists, communists and even good ole American capitalists. In fact even today Mr. Smith draws fire for its supposedly subversive political message, mostly from conservatives. Obviously this film did something quite right. It's the story of political corruption over running one state that reaches all the way into the hallowed halls of the U.S. Senate. Jimmy Stewart plays the naive Senator Jefferson Smith who challenges the graft hungry Taylor Machine. In addition to Stewart the all star cast includes Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur and Guy Kibbee.

2. It's A Wonderful Life (1946). Now a Christmas classic although only the very beginning and the end of the film are set during the holiday. Stewart stars again this time paired with Donna Reed. Also returning is Thomas Mitchell who is a delight as Uncle Billy. It's one of the few movies that seeks to be heart warming and succeeds beyond any possible expectation. Its eternal themes of appreciating what you have and the importance of family and friends have and likely never will be better realized on screen. For me watching it is one of the joys of the Christmas season.

3. Meet John Doe (1941). Like many great films it comments on several themes. One is the madcap world of newspapers, another it the Great Depression and a third is the politics of demagoguery. I've only just started. Gary Cooper is the title character, a hobo who becomes a political cause celebre. Barbara Stanwyck is the reporter who creates the John Doe character and unwittingly launches a populist movement. Edward Arnold is as evil, nasty and mean as he was in Mr. Smith.

4. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). One of the screwiest of all screwball comedies and the only film Capra made with Cary Grant. Grant hated his performance but the rest of us delight in his turn as Mortimer Brewster a newlywed who discovers that his old maid aunts are poisoning elderly gents (don't you hate it when that happens). With the likes of Peter Lorre, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson and Edward Everett Horton on hand, this is comic gold. Priscilla Lane is the blushing and befuddled bride.

5. It Happened One Night (1934). Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in a road picture the likes of which you'll we've never seen since. Gable is a reporter, Colbert an heiress on the run from daddy and the two form a partnership that can only lead to them falling in love. It swept the Oscars but more importantly has endured and stands up no matter how often you watch it.

6. Platinum Blonde (1931). It's a Jean Harlow picture but 18 year old Loretta Young is do damn gorgeous and plays such a sweetie pie that she steals the picture. The great tragedy of watching the film is to realize that the male star, Robert Williams, died about the time of the film's release. he was on the verge of stardom. Thankfully we have this delight to enjoy him in, Young and Harlow. Williams plays a reporter who in the process of looking for the scoop on a young heiress (Harlow) falls in love and marries her. They're mismatched. A fellow reporter (Young) is more his cup of tea. Will true love out or will this unhappy union go on?

7. Broadway Bill (1934). What, another heiress? Yup, this time played by Myrna Loy with Warner Baxter as the male lead along with a horse named Broadway Bill. There's horse racing, gambling, romance and comedy. It is a vastly under appreciated film despite its presence on DVD. Do yourself a favor and rent it some time. Thank me later.

8. Lost Horizon (1937). It's rotten luck when your plane crashes in the Himalayas just as you've escaped war torn China, but if you in turn stumble upon Shangri-La, it's your lucky day. Such is the happy lot of the five protagonists of this story. They find Eden within the mountains, peace and serenity abound and people suffer no ill health and live eternally. It could be pretty cornball stuff but Capra does a nice job with James Hilton's novel. Ronald Colman, Thomas Mitchell, H.B. Warner, Edward Everett Horton and Jane Wyatt star.

9. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). What could be better than in inheriting a fortune? As far as Longfellow deeds is concerned, plenty. Especially when big city shysters come along and try to take advantage of him. He's a small town lad, happy enough to play his tuba. Jean Arthur plays a reporter who uses deception to get the scoop on Deeds. But wouldn't you know it, the two fall for each other. Meanwhile our hero has to fend off the swindlers.

10. Lady for a Day (1933). With character names like Dave the Dude, Missouri Martin, Apple Annie, and Shakespeare you know your watching a Damon Runyon story. From IMDb's plot summary because I couldn't put it better myself: "Apple Annie is an indigent woman who has always written to her daughter in Spain that she is a member of New York's high society. Now her daughter plans to return to America with her new fiance and his father, a member of Spain's aristocracy. Annie must pretend to be wealthy or the count will not give his blessing. She gets the help of Dave the Dude, who considers Annie a good luck charm, to obtain a luxury apartment and entertain the visitors, but things don't always go quite as planned." May Robson and Warren Willliam star.

You Know You Really Like A Director If... (Part Six)

A sure sign you really like a director is that you can come up with a list of ten films he's directed that you really like. As regular readers of this blog (both of us) know my look at favorite directors has become a weekly series and today's post on Martin Scorsese marks part six. Previous directors that I've recognized are Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, William Wellman, John Ford and Howard Hawks.

I love listening to Scorsese talk about films. He can be seen and heard in film documentaries and featurettes aplenty. His love of and appreciation for films from all parts of the world from all decades is as evident as the brilliance of his directing. Scrosese doesn’t just talk about films and directors and stars, he enthuses about them. This enthusiasm is infectious. I liken it to two people who’ve seen a film that you haven’t caught yet. One tells you, “you’ve got to see it.” The other tells you how great the experience was of seeing it and how much they loved it. Invariably the type of recommendation the second person provided will be the more convincing to me.

Scorsese’s unabashed love of film comes through in his style of film making. He holds nothing back. Stories are told with great verve and excitement. And honesty. Is there now a more honest filmmaker?

Controversy has followed Scorsese, as it does many great filmmakers. In his case because of the violence depicted in some of his movies and the supposed unflattering portrayals of Italian-Americans. Suffice it to say his movies are not politically correct, that would corrupt the process. Many of his films, such as Mean Streets and Goodfellas draw from Scorsese’s own experiences growing up in New York. Along with several of the great gangster films ever made and other dark subjects explored in films like Taxi Driver, Scorsese has made Kundun (1997) about the dalai lama and the The Age of Innocence (1993) a costume drama based on an Edith Wharton novel. He’s nothing if not versatile.

Here are my top ten:

Goodfellas (1990). At the top of my list of Scorsese films and near the very top of all films ever made. Rich with unforgettable scenes, lines and performances. See my post from last February for more.

Raging Bull (1980). Scrosese has had the good fortune and good sense to surround himself with some exceptional talents. Among them actor Robert DeNiro who gave the performance of a lifetime as boxer Jake LaMotta and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, a three time Oscar winner, one for Raging Bull. This is utterly uncompromising film making. Both brutal and balletic. Considered by many critics to the best film of the 1980s.

The Aviator (2004). I seem to love this film more than anyone. I’m so clueless that I’ve never understood why it did not receive more critical acclaim and sweep that year’s Oscars. It’s the story of Howard Hughes over a 25 year period beginning with his filming of Hells Angels. It includes Hughes’ affairs with Kate Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Faith Domergue, his unsuccessful battle with OCD and his successful battle with congress. Most of all the Aviator, as its title suggests, is about Hughes the pilot and innovator in airplanes. Leonardo DiCaprio starred and is letter perfect, as is the film.

Taxi Driver (1976). This is a real poser. I mean trying to summarize Taxi Driver. Jeez, saying anything about in a few sentences seems wrong. Travis Bickle is a mentally unstable cab driver who vacillates between wanting to be an assassin or a vigilante killer. He takes an interest in a beautiful campaign worker and later a very young prostitute. How's that? For chrissakes just see it. DeNiro stars along with Cybill Sheperd, Jodie Foster and Harvey Kietel as one of the slimiest pimps you'll ever see.

Mean Streets (1973). It’s telling that a movie saw raw can be so damn good. An excellent film on its own terms it presaged much more to come. See my post from last Summer for more.

The King of Comedy (1982). Creepy, unsettling, embarrassing, uncomfortable. Yet I love it. Wrote about just the other day, see that post.

Gangs of New York (2002). DeNiro isn’t the only actor who gives brilliant performs for Scorsese. Just see Daniel Day-Lewis in this film. Also see some amazing set designs, costumes and special effects that re-create the Five Points Section of New York in the 1860’s. DiCaprio starred, though Day-Lewis stole the show. Yes its about the various gangs of mid 19th century New York but it's also about immigration, city bosses and the draft riots. Wonderful history and story telling.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Immediately raised the hackles of people who hadn’t seen it, never would and wouldn’t understand it if they did. Based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis adapted for the screen by Paul Shrader, it pictured Jesus as what he was, a man. Some will argue that he was far more and the film allows for that too. Makes all those biblical epics of the 30 years prior seem like cartoons.

The Departed (2006). The only Scorsese film to garner him a Best Director Oscar and his only Best Picture winner too. Featured a rich cast of A list male actors, DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Whalberg, Jack Nicholson and Alec Baldwin. It’s the Irish mob, good cops, bad cops, people working undercover for both sides. Plenty of tension, violence and drama.

Casino (1995). Draws inevitable comparisons to previous gangster film from Scorsese and inevitably suffers as a result. DeNiro and Joe Pesci are back this time the setting is Las Vegas at the tail end of the mob’s control of the gaming industry. A very good film in its own right. 

Also be sure to see A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) in which he discusses some of the American films he has most loved and been influenced by and Il Mio Viaggio in Italia (1999) (aka My Voyage to Italy) a similar look at Italian films.