A Streams Classic From 2017 Explores My Love of Films -- Lovingly

I've been working furiously on a novel lately and so haven't had much time to post on ye olde blog. I know many of legion of readers are desperate for something so I'm presenting a Streams of Unconsciousness classic. This one from May 2017. I had hoped to write something but it would have been political and I think we can all use a break right now (though there's no hiding from what's going on in this country and I'll address it eventually). Anyway, this is pretty far from political. It's a tribute to film. I hope you like it.

I Love Films and Here's Why

Ingmar Bergman  Woody Allen  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington  Humphrey Bogart  Jules quoting bible verse in Pulp Fiction  The way John Ford frames shots  Barbara Stanwyck seducing Henry Fonda in Lady Eve falling for Gary Cooper in Meet John Doe making a monkey out of Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity  Europa switching from black and white to color and back Chaplin's Little Tramp  Jake Giddes being told it’s Chinatown  Redford and Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein  Psycho  Joel Grey MC in Cabaret  William Holden  Denzel  Fellini  The Bicycle Thieves  The exquisite beauty of Barry Lyndon  The exquisite mystery of 2001  Happy couple in the city in Murnau’s Sunrise  Brando and Leigh in Streetcar  The tracking shots in Goodfellas

Franklin Pangborn perennial bit player in '30s and '40s  Vivre Sa Vie  Battleship Potemkin  Indiana Jones outrunning a boulder  Alec Baldwin’s pep talk in Glengarry  Michael Keaton and Edward Norton in Birdman  The shadows in The Third Man  Llewyn Davis gamely trying to become a star Faye Dunaway more than holding her own opposite Nicholson McQueen Hoffman Beatty Some Like it Hot  Finding out who Tyler Durden really is  Tarkovsky  The cinema photography in Raging Bull  The soundtrack to Midnight in Paris  The helicopter and The Doors in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now  Myna Loy and William Powell on screen banter  The ending of Melancholia  The ensemble cast of Down by Law  Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem Harold Lloyd  The dialogue, the humor, the story in His Girl Friday  Cary Grant opposite Irene Dunne Ann Sheridan Jean Arthur Constance Bennett Rosalind Russell Katherine Hepburn Ingrid Bergman  The Great Escape  The climactic dance scene in Footloose  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Antonious Block vs. The Devil in Seventh Seal  It’s party time in Animal House Jimmy Stewart transforming Kim Novak in Vertigo  Marlene Dietrich  Hearts and Minds  Wes Anderson  Au Revoir Les Enfants Chimes at Midnight  Persona Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country  The Bride of Frankenstein  The Rug and White Russians in The Big Lebowski  The flawless career of Finland's Aki Kaurismaki  Ping ping ping in Das Boot  Taking your date to see the Sorrow and the Pity in Annie Hall  Monica Vitti   I'm funny how? in Goodfellas Umberto D  Once Upon a Time in Anatolia  Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence Polanski's gorgeous Tess starring the gorgeous Natasha Kinski   You're going to need a bigger boat   The Passion of Joan of Arc Roma: Open Citti  Rufus T Firefly Wolf T Flywheel J Cheever Loophole Otis B Driftwood Quincy Adams Wagstaff  Dr. Hackenbush S Quentin Quale Taking Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan  Christmas Eve in Fanny and Alexander  Angels watching over Berlin in Wings of Desire Two men drinking milk and talking in Inglourious Basterds  Ossie Davis saying 'you've got to do the right thing'  The shrinking jury room in 12 Angry Men   Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper tearing it 

up in Silver Linings Playbook   Sunset Blvd. Claudette Colbert  The brave pacifism of All Quiet on the Western Front  Bull Durham  Jules et Jim  It's A Wonderful Life a Christmas staple  The road trip in Y Tu Mama Tambien The long shots in Grapes of Wrath  A Sea of umbrellas in Foreign Correspondent  Investigation of a Citizen Beyond Suspicion The transformation of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day Cinemaphotographers: Haskell Werner Gordon Willis Gregg Toland Sven Nykvist Vittora Storaro Robert Richardson Vilmos Zsigmond Jack Cardiff Robert Burks Kazuo Miyagawa The key in NotoriousDuck Soup Isaac Davis railing about intellectuals in Manhattan Red Desert  I am Spartacus!  The car chase (of course) in Bullitt  Rosebud A woman saying goodbye to her lover going off to battle in The Big Parade The ExorcistEvery second of Heaven's Gate The Emigrants and The New Land La HaineOlivier as Hamlet and as Richard III  The dance scene in Band of OutsidersAkira Kurosawa  Holden says 'let's go' in the Wild Bunch Melville's brilliant debut Silence De Lar Mer  Bonnie & Clyde reimagines cinema  The Stunning Stefania Sandrelli in I Knew Her Well  Bogie goes mad in Treasure of the Sierra Madre Joan Blondell Rushmore The starkness of The Last Picture ShowThe best of pre code from William Wellman: Wild Boys of the Road and Heroes for Sale  The ultimate musical A Hard Day's Night Buster Keaton's The General Sullivan's Travels Jeanne Moreau walking in the rain in Elevator to the Gallows  Attica! Attica! Cate Blanchett Ice Storm Fred & Ginger dancing cheek to cheek Intertwining stories by Altman in Nashville Gosford Park and Short Cuts  Diane Keaton The doubting pastor in Winter Light  Matti Pellonpaa and Kati Outinen sharing screen time Paths of Glory Jean Harlow Max von Sydow  Zodiac: the soundtrack, the re-creation of 70s SF, the cast  Anna Magnani in anything but especially Mamma Roma Germano Maccioni a directing star on the rise Early 1900s New York in Godfather Part 2  Match Point  Wes Anderson's casts Elizabeth Taylor  The storms of Take Shelter The ending and all of Personal Shopper La Dolce Vita 

Yuletide Fun on Film, Another Edition of My Favorite Christmas Films

Fanny and Alexander

Welcome to the 1,000th iteration (he’s exaggerating) of my favorite Christmas films. If you go to the Christmas label on the side of the blog you can find hundreds (again, he’s exaggerating) of other such posts. I believe the exercise worth repeating as tastes change, new movies are seen and changing perspectives worth adding. 

We live in an age in which there is a proliferation of really lame Christmas movies. The Hallmark channel has been cranking them out for about ten years now and Netflix has gotten into the act. They feature sappy story lines, d list actors and shoot-the-script directors. I happily ignore those. Fortunately there are the tried and true with occasional new additions. Many of my favorite are older films, as you’ll note, from the time when story was king. In a lot of these pictures Christmas scenes are tangental. Most have big stars and some are from really good directors. Some try to capture something of whatever the Christmas spirit is. While for others Christmas provides an interesting backdrop or is like one of the characters. 

I’ll not be detailing plot points, instead focusing on the many great performances that highlight these films as well as the picture's relation to the holiday season.

(The following are offered in no particular order.)

Fanny Alexander (1982) Bergman. We start off with the question of what constitutes a Christmas movie. I’ve wrestled with this question before. Here is my latest answer: a movie that centers around Christmas, is set around Christmas or has a significant Christmas scene. Fanny begins with a very long scene on Christmas Eve and then ignores the holiday completely for the rest of its several hours running time (I only consider the extended TV version worth watching). But what a glorious Christmas scene it is with all the pageantry, fun, food, gifts and family (seen through the eyes of a child) that can make the holiday seem magical. It is some of the best stuff on celluloid. The great Ingmar Bergman directed.

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra. It’s a wonderful film. Like F&A one of the greats of all time. It begins and ends on Christmas Eve with the vast middle exploring other times of year. It is sentimental (but not overly) with a simple but profound message. The fact that many people such as myself never tire after repeat viewings is a clear indication of its power. Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell lead a fantastic cast featuring many of Hollywood’s Golden Age’s top supporting players (such as Ward Bond, H.B. Warner, Frank Faylen and Beluah Bondi).

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) Godfrey. Another picture I watch every year and never tire of. The first “pure Christmas” movie on the list it all takes place during the Christmas season, mostly on December 24 and 25. Barbara Stanwyck is radiant, Dennis Morgan is charming, Sidney Greenstreet, Una O’Connor, Reginald Gardner and S.Z. (Cuddles) Sakall round out a top notch cast. It’s a classic romantic comedy with a tight script more than ably directed by Peter Godfrey who, lamentably, never did anything nearly as good. 

Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Jutra. A criminally underrated and under-appreciated movie (probably because it’s over 50 years old and French Canadian — you know how people are). The film is set entirely during Christmas in a rural Quebec mining town in 1949. It’s a coming of age story but a damn good one. Moving, beautifully shot. Realism tinged by the fantasy that is Christmas and being young. Thankfully TCM shows it every year.

The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Lubitsch. It’s as close to perfect a film as has ever been made. Ernst Lubitsch directed. He was constitutionally incapable of making a bad picture. Jimmy Stewart is wonderful as are Frank Morgan and the rest of the cast — special shout out to Felix Bressart. Touching, warm, romantic and the story concludes most satisfactorily on a snowy Christmas Eve.

Rare Exports (2010) Helander. Finland’s (Hyvä Suomi!) contribution to the list. Most definitely a Christmas movie through and through centering as it does on the true story and secrets of Santa Claus. It’s an action/horror/fantasy comedy Christmas story all in 82 wild wonderful minutes. A different take on the typical holiday film, to be sure but one that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943) Sturges. Another film that begins and ends and ends at Christmas with a vast middle that has nothing to do with the holiday. Indeed there’s very little reference to Christmas at all but it’s still a holiday favorite for me and countless others. Plus it’s a Preston Sturges film so you know it manages to be wild, whacky AND intelligent fun. Those Sturges comedies of the early/mid forties never disappointed and all stand up after repeat viewings. The real miracle of the Miracle of Morgan’s Creek is that they got this story of pregnant young girl (who doesn’t know who the father is) past the censors. Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton star but William Demarest steals every scene he’s in.

Happiest Season (2020) DuVall. A fairly new addition to the list. Just had my second ever viewing of it and consider it now to be worthy of regular viewings. One of two LGBTQ friendly Christmas stories on my list, this a more modern take about coming out. It is largely predictable but great fun in getting to the inevitable and somewhat sappy conclusion. Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis co-star but supporting players Daniel Levy and Aubrey Plaza are scene stealers.

Carol (2015) Haynes. Fully the first half is during the Christmas season and then we’re off into other times of the year. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara co-star in my favorite movie of 2015. Our second LGBTQ friendly film, this one set in a time when “no one” came out (the fifties). It’s heart-wrenching, heart-warming and moving and has more than enough Christmas in it to justify inclusion on this list. Todd Haynes’ direction, the set designs and costuming are significant co-stars. 

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Koster. It stars Cary Grant as an angel, what more could you want? That Loretta Young and David Niven co-star (and James Gleason and Monty Woolley are supporting players) clinches the deal. If you’re curious about the word charming just watch Grant in this picture. He manages to be an angel without being preachy about it and rattling on about Jesus and God (who needs that?). Set entirely within the Christmas season ending on the day itself.

Home Alone (1990) Columbus and Home Alone 2 (1992) Columbus. Two more films that I find it impossible to tire of. You know the stories, you know the stars. Macaulay Caulkin was the precious Kevin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were the cartoonishly evil bandits, Catherine O’Hara (the brilliant comic actress) was the frazzled mother. A cameo by the late great John Candy was a highlight of the original and a cameo by the detestable DJ Trumpy is the blight on the second.

Elf (2003) Favreau. Pure Christmas. Pure fun. It’s unimaginable with anyone but Will Ferrell as the oversized titular character. Bob Newhart plays his dad and Ed Asner is Santa. James Caan features as well. It’s a silly movie but the good kind that makes you smile and delight in child-like hi-jinks. For the kind of movie it is it’s excellent. A seasonal staple.

Alistair Sim in A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1951) Hurst. Except no substitute. This is the best (my humble opinion) cinematic rendering of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of the redemption of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Alistair Sim stars in a remarkable performance. He’s on the verge of chomping on the scenery but has just enough restraint to make his performance perfect. 

The Holdovers (2023) Payne. Still in theaters. Obviously the latest addition to the list, I believe it will become a seasonal regular. The missus and I saw it last month and enjoyed it a lot and I wrote a little about it on this blog. Excepting the very end it is set entirely around the Christmas season. Paul Giamatti shines as do co-stars Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

The Thin Man (1934) Van Dyke. Okay not a very Christmasy movie but it does have scenes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Anyway it is the first of the delightful Thin Man series starring William Powell and Myrna Loy and if there’s a better regular screen pairing in cinema history I haven’t heard of it. Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog Asta) tipple their way through life wise-cracking all the way. They also solve murders. This is the best of the series.

Trading Places (1983) Landis. Somewhat of a hybrid Christmas and New Year’s Eve movie. SNL alums Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy co-star along with Jamie Lee Curtis in one of the few really good comedies to come out of the Eighties. It constantly edges towards poor taste but stops short enough for me and is damn funny fun along the way. Begins during the Christmas season and continues just past the new year.

Others to consider: Meet John Doe, It Happened on Fifth Avenue, Remember the Night, A Christmas Tale, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol (1938), The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Man Who Came to Dinner, A Boy Named Christmas, Klaus.

Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I've Liked Greatly, Plus a Look at Three TV Series Finales

Brian Donlevy in The Great McGinty

The Great McGinty (1940) Sturges. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly on this blog, Preston Sturges directed six films between 1940 and 1944 that ranged from excellent to classic McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero— there was also one pretty good film, Christmas in July. As a director he’d done nothing before and had five lesser efforts after. McGinty was the first of this incredible run. Brian Donlevy plays a hobo who votes three dozen times for the political machine one election night (and gets paid handsomely for his efforts) then is hired to work as muscle. He moves up the ladder eventually becoming mayor and then governor. Then it all comes tumbling down. McGinty is brilliant satire on politics and like all of Sturges’ best fare, a joy to watch. The film’s only flaw is that flies by much too fast clocking in at 82 minutes.

Days of Heaven (1978) Malick. Terrance Malick is the one director for whom the term self-indulgent surely applies. Much of what he has made in the last few decades is a long, slow slog through cinematic mire. I’ve enjoyed a few but for the most part Malik’s films are sure cures for the insomniac. However he had two gems early in this career, Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven. The latter is a gorgeous film — all hail cinema photographer Néstor Almendros! Also gorgeous are co-stars Brooke Adams and Richard Gere. I also find Linda Manz as the narrator and younger sister of Gere’s character to be strangely beguiling. Days of Heaven is an example of what Malick could have been making all these years if he gave a tinker’s damn about his audience.

Love Crazy (1941) Conway. One of the lesser of the William Powell/Myrna Loy collaborations (they made fourteen films together). At that it’s still a bit of fun for those of who could watch Powell and Loy sitting around reading the phone book. But as the missus said after we watched Love Crazy, “the script was beneath them.” Due to a preposterous misunderstanding (film and TV “misunderstandings” are notorious for stretching credulity) Loy wants to divorce Powell. He hits on the idea of acting insane so that she must care for him. Hilarity should ensue especially given who are leads are but alas the writers weren’t up to the task. To be sure there are moments but they are few and far between.

Down By Law (1986) Jarmusch. I love this movie so much that it has a place in my top 100 but I'm hard pressed to tell you exactly why. It’s…quirky? Eccentric? Decidedly off-beat? All of the above and more? Definitely more. Three disparate characters find themselves cellmates in a New Orleans (a disc jockey, a pimp and a recent Italian emigre) the first two have been framed the third can argue self-defense. They form a most unlikely friendship in the midst of their despair. Of course they escape and one stumbles into a happy new life tailor made for him. The others seek greener pastures. John Lurie, Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni star as does the soundtrack and the script and direction by James Jarmusch.

The Philadelphia Story (1940) Cukor. How many times have I seen this film? Certainly more than a dozen, maybe twenty times. Like all great films it gets better with each viewing. It stars Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart so that pretty much guarantees a good picture. Roland Young as Uncle Willie and Virginia Weidler as little sister Dinah are scene stealers. The combined efforts of writers Phillip Barry, Donald Ogden Stewart and Waldo Salt are to be lauded as is George Cukor’s direction. Philadelphia Story is most certainly a comedy but the dashes of drama here and there blend nicely and raise the overall story to a higher level. Call it a sophisticated screwball comedy.

The Cranes are Flying

The Cranes are Flying (1957) Kalatozov. A fairly recent discovery of mine this Russian film is subtly anti-war (subtle enough to have gotten by strict Soviet censorship). It’s a beautiful love story too. Two lovers are — as so many were — broken up by war. In this case the Nazi invasion of the USSR. It is an inevitably heart-wrenching and heart-breaking story. There is love, there is hate, there is tragedy and there is -- as ever in life -- hope. Beautifully filmed and acted.

Now a few words on three recent TV series finales.

Succession. The story of the family we loved to hate and by god did we hate the Roys. It was odd to watch such contemptuous people and find yourself at various points rooting for one or the other. They lived in a world of riches that regular folk like myself can only imagine. They bickered constantly, sniped at one another, shifted allegiances at the drop of a hat, held no core beliefs and only wanted more. More power, more wealth. There were no ends to their means other than more. You’d be hard-pressed to get an honest word out of one of them. So, yes, it was compelling. One of the great TV shows of all time. The acting and writing couldn’t have been better. The finale was satisfying and appropriate.

Barry. Speaking of appropriate endings, this show reached perfection in its denouement. Bill Hader has risen, for me, from a favorite entertainer, to genius. He not only starred but wrote and directed this brilliant show that went from comedy to dark morality tale like a slap in the face. It was odd to stay with the title character through all his dramatic changes as his true nature (natures?) became clearer. Hader surrounded himself with an exemplary supporting cast who had rich, clearly drawn characters to embody. I don’t know that there’s even been a show quite like Barry. It’s difficult to classify and impossible not to immerse oneself in.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I was about ready to give up on this program during it’s penultimate season. It had lost it’s early glimmer and verve. But what a comeback! This final season has been great stuff. The centerpiece was Rachel Brosnahan as the titular character (and she was plenty good enough to carry the show) but the depth and talent of the rest of the cast (how does one call them supporting when they offered so much?) raised the show to another higher level. Maisel the show was pure unadulterated fun while shining a rather bright light on sexism and other issues. I miss it already.

It's A Wonderful Life With Jim Jeffries and Fanny and Alexander

Fanny and Alexander 

On my recent list of favorite Christmas movies I did not include Fanny and Alexander (1982) Bergman even though I watch it in December. The first episode of the TV version (which is far, far preferable to the much shorter theatrical version) takes place entirely on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and includes one helluva Christmas party. In any event, none of the rest of the film has a whiff of Christmas in it, so by my standards it doesn’t qualify as a Christmas film. 

My point — and I think I’ve got one somewhere around here — set out to be what a wonderful cinematic feast Fanny and Alexander is. At the heart of the story is young Alexander (Fanny plays a very small part in the film’s action though she is around a lot, maybe Bergman should have more accurately called the movie, Alexander). He represents a sort of everyboy. Alexander does not have a practically broad or expressive personality nor is he prone to hijinks or bad behavior. But we see much of the film through his young eyes. Alexander is a bright lad, curious, imaginative and stubborn. Much of the film centers around the boy’s conflict with his austere and authoritarian step father, the bishop Edvard Vergérus. It is an emotional tug of war and we root desperately for Alexander. 

There is magic in Fanny and Alexander, notably when the titular characters are spirited away from the cruel bishop’s house. But much of the magic is not of the supernatural variety but that of the family and the love and spirit and security it can provide, especially for the young. Very little feels better for tots than to be cocooned in a loving multi-generational family. What better protection against a still mysterious and seemingly unknowable world.

Fanny and Alexander is all about family. The wise and kind grandmother. The loving, self-sacrificing mother. The goofy, fun-loving uncle. The playful cousins. The Bishop represents coldness, oppression and rigidity. The family is love, warmth and sharing one’s bounty.

Saturday night I saw the comedian Jim Jeffries perform at the venerable Warfield Theater in San Francisco. Jeffries is one of those rare entertainers I feel a connection to. Something that cannot be easily explained. Part of this no doubt stems from his openness in sharing his life experiences some of which are relatable to my own (notably drugs and booze). Jeffries referenced the LBGTQ community and even directed a jibe or two there way but unlike Dave Chappelle managed not to say anything insulting or cruel. Jeffries was true to his profession and was all about engendering laughs, not hurting feelings.

I hadn’t been at a comedy show in (checks notes) eons and must say it was great to get out and have many many yucks courtesy of a great comedian.

Friday night the missus and I watched It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Capra a film I never tire of. Director Frank Capra wonderfully cast the movie from the lead role (James Stewart) to the smaller parts. Having Beulah Bondi as ma, was an easy call (it was one of five times she played Stewart’s mother in a film) but from the children to the townspeople, to the bank manager, the perfect actor was cast — and delivered. 

It’s A Wonderful Life is beloved as an uplifting movie that teaches us to appreciate who we are and what we’ve meant to others, but it also, in parts, a very dark film. Principally from the point Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) loses the bank's $8,000 through the time George sees what the world would be like without him. Uncle Billy unknowingly handing the money to the odious Mr. Potter is a heart-breaking moment that leads to a gut-wrenching scene between him and George who calls him a “silly, stupid fool.” George goes on: “Do you realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal, and prison! That’s what it means. One of us is going to jail! Well, it’s not gonna be me.” It’s brutal and a tough watch every time. From there George spirals, yelling at his wife and children, chewing out a teacher, getting punched in return and then almost committing suicide before being “rescued” by his guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers in another bit of perfect casting). But when given the gift of seeing the world as it would be had he never existed, George is horrified by the world as it would have been and cannot accept that no one knows him (an idea that is carried to almost ridiculous lengths — figure it out buddy, it’s like Clarence said, this is a world in which you never existed).  Of course this makes the return to “real life” and the discovery of the community’s largess and love all the more heart-warming and creates one of the great closing film scenes of all time.

The film’s antagonist, Potter, is a perfect symbol of the modern Republican Party ethos. He is greedy, uncaring and wishes to destroy what he cannot own and own what he cannot destroy. He is not unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, with the very big exception that Scrooge, courtesy of three ghostly visitors, ultimately sees the light. Perhaps there could have been a sequel to It’s A Wonderful Life in which Potter enjoys a similar redemption.

Observations on Westerns

Red River

I’ve been watching a lot of Westerns recently and a few things have come to my attention.

In the old west there were only two beverages that anyone ever consumed: whiskey and coffee. On the trail, cowboys, gunslingers and lawmen were forever pouring what must have been really bad coffee. There was no French Roast or lattes on the open range. Nor certainly any half and half or oat milk to splash into the cup. They would drink the coffee anytime of day including just before bed which leads one to believe there wasn’t a lot of caffeine in it (were they all serving decaf?). Tea was never offered as an alternative. Because it’s the movies, recipients received barely a third of a cup (it’s the same on TV).

Once in town heroes and villains alike drank whiskey. Indeed they never seemed to have to specify what they wanted suggesting that whiskey was the only beverage on offer. No martinis, no gin and tonics no tequila sunrises and no frickin’ ice in drinks, no water or soda to cut it either and no beer back. Straight whiskey and you often got a whole bottle. Some people drank copious amounts without slurring words, wobbling or otherwise indicating that they’d gotten so much as a buzz. Yet there was often a town drunk around either for comic purposes or to provide a pitiable figure. Sometimes the drunk was an otherwise respectable figure, like Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939) Ford. Fun but flawed.

Another thing one notices in westerns is the reliance on horses. This was true in most of the U.S. until a decade or two into the 20th century. Horses were ubiquitous and absolutely necessary to anyone who wanted even the slightest bit of independence in their comings and going. Of course in films real horses are used and one gets a sense of the tremendous burden placed on these animals. Those horses got a helluva work out. Only in some movies do characters acknowledge that horses need food, water and rest.

Another feature of the Western is the bad guy. My goodness they could be really damned bad. Some of the cruelest, most sadistic villains on screen are in Westerns. Cutthroats, cheaters, rapists, sadists, cold-blooded killers. Surely such unpleasant characters roamed the west but one assumes they were not nearly so ubiquitous. An occasional flaw in Westerns is how one-dimensional villains are. They’re rotten through and through and that’s about all there is to them. 

Native Americans are of course standard fare in westerns. This is often sad, reflecting as it does the racism that permeated not only those times depicted but the racism extant when the film was made. Mostly Indians are portrayed as murderous savages — “hostiles” — who for unfathomable reasons seem to want to kill every white person they see. They are also shown to be extremely stupid in battle, exposing themselves to gunfire as they wildly charge their well-armed and often fortified defenders. (In realty, most native warriors were adept fighters who did not stupidly march straight into gunfire). 

Some Westerns have sympathetic Indians, although a few are sell-outs betraying another tribe to serve their own purposes. But other films have the proverbial cowboys and Indians getting along companionably or at least forming alliance against more warlike tribes such as the Apaches or Comanches.

Little Big Man (1970 Penn and Dances With Wolves (1990) Costner were two films that flipped the script and made whites the bad guys and the Natives heroes. It was long, long overdue and arguably a case of too little too late.

The manner in which Native Americans are depicted in films can be a deal breaker for people considering watching a Western and I can understand that. As a life-long student of U.S. history I have the advantage of knowing a fuller truth about the treatment of Native tribes (it was just this side of genocide) and armed with the truth can appreciate films for what they are. I was always hesitant about showing my children Westerns and when I did made sure they understood the reality of the situation. 

One thing I like about Westerns is they generally extoll the common man (and the more independent sorts among them) while vilifying the rich and powerful. See again John Ford’s Stagecoach — perhaps the quintessential Western — in which the real bad guy is the wealthy banker who absconds with the payroll. My oh, oh my you should hear this self righteous, bloviating, pompous swindler go on. He complains about taxes. He complains about government regulations. He insists on this and demands that. He looks down on drunks, whores, Indians and Mexicans and anyone else not up to his lofty standards. All the while there's a bag full of ill-gotten loot sitting on his lap.

He gets his comeuppance as the moneyed class often does in Westerns.

Westerns also recognize that some lawmen are corrupt, cruel or incompetent. (In other words no one is spared in Westerns). Usually they get their just desserts from the hero of the story.

Women are treated surprisingly well in Westerns. While men, of course, do the overwhelming majority of the fighting, dying, killing and are the bosses, there are many an independent woman in such films unhesitant about holding a rifle and even pointing it in the right direction. In Red River (1948) Hawks Joanne Dru stands up to two stubborn men and makes the two chuckleheads see reason. Simply put she doesn’t put up with any bullshit.

Westerns also feature an inordinate share of brawls with participants exchanging punch after punch, breaking chairs over one another and tossing opponents through windows. After the dust has cleared the fighters seem little worse for the wear, usually a small stream of blood pouring out of the side of a mouth and a torn shirt. If you bother to think about it, it’s damn silly. Brawls and fistfight, primarily because of their lack of realism, are usually my least favorite part of the story.

So why do I love a good Western? The simple answer is that I like any movie, regardless of genre, that is well-made. Westerns often are gorgeous to look at. The wide open spaces, the canyons, mountains, forests, deserts make for compelling backdrops and can even be part of the story itself. Westerns also can be good at exploring the human psyche. While it is true that villains can be one-dimensional characters, many Western protagonists are complex characters whose motives are conflicted. See for example Jimmy Stewart in the Naked Spur (1953) Mann and John Wayne in The Searchers (1956) Ford. In Budd Boetticher’s string of Westerns Randolph Scott stars and his outwardly simple leading man often betrays a more nuanced character. Red River is rich in interesting characters, beyond the already-mentioned leads (Wayne and Montgomery Clift). 

Westerns also evoke a romantic time in American history when the frontier was not yet closed. Possibilities seemed endless for the enterprising pioneer whether an individualist or part of a collective. But danger lurked. There were the ever-present criminal element, natural hazards, and in the parlance of the time — the untamed savages.

Many characters in Westerns have big dreams. They're going to settle down, get married. Maybe start ranching or farming. They want to get away from their past and live in some place new. In The Gunfighter (1950) King, Gregory Peck's Jimmy Ringo wants to settle in California or the Pacific Northwest or hell, even Mexico, just so long as he can get away from lawmen and young gunslingers who want to test his reputation. Like so many Western characters he longs for a fresh start. Of course such characters face obstacles. Fate will intercede. 

A good Western has engaging characters placed in difficult situations, that’s a simple recipe for a good story and one you’ve got settings like Monument  Valley in the background you’re all set.

Random Thoughts From The Blogger -- Fun and Interesting

Josephine Baker

Jimmy Stewart was too old to play the leads in at least three of his films: Vertigo, Bell, Book and Candle and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Anyone know why occasionally crows will meet en masse in one area and squawk up a storm? It’s like they’re having a convention.

Thank you iPhones for telling me a call is a Spam Risk. That always warrants an immediate decline and saves me from wondering if there’s really someone in Poughkeepsie who needs to talk to me.

Before I leave the topic, allow me to say this: people who make spam calls should fuck all the way off.

I eat a banana everyday and use a second on days I make smoothies. My complaint is that bananas turn brown and soft much too soon. You can’t stock up on them. Can somebody get to work on that?

Buying and mailing thank you cards for a simple birthday or Christmas gift is a colossal waste of paper. Shouldn’t a verbal thank you suffice? Of if necessary, an emailed thanks. What the hell are you supposed to do with the card? Put it on your mantle and admire it for weeks? No, you recycle that sucker.

For most of my life I thought of conservatives as being wrong about most everything. Now I see them — and this based entirely on their actions and words — as being stupid as hell and in many cases downright evil. They are also lying liars who lie a lot. Who do we trace this back to? Reagan? Nixon? Goldwater? They were three especially bad apples. Now the whole orchard is a mess. Oh, I forgot to mention that your average conservative today is also a racist.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Kevin Can F**k Himself, starring Annie Murphy. Not like any TV show I’ve seen before. Actually it’s like a couple of different kinds of show I’ve seen, mashed together. 

In newspaper columns of yore this kind of thing I’m writing here was often referred to as, Thoughts While Shaving, which always suggested to me that some columnists spent way too much time shaving.

Isn’t fresh fruit great? Special shout out to peaches.

What olympics?

I miss people being called “a jive turkey.”

From the legendary Ruth Buzzi: I’ve done a few things I’m not too proud of. For instance, I sold my homing pigeon on eBay 211 times.

This is America today: Sixtenn cases of alleged voter fraud out of 160 million votes in 2020: let's pass 400 new voter suppression laws. 614,000 deaths from COVID: who needs vaccines?

Would it be appropriate to set up a go fund me page so that I could go to Italy and eat some really good pasta? I mean, I REALLY want to.

It’s a shame so few people today know about Josephine Baker. She should be remembered not only as an entertainer, but as a humanitarian. Great woman.

I have a great idea for a film that anyone is welcome to steal. The story of the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the furor it caused. It was one of the controversies that led to the Civil War. A good screenwriter and director could make a helluva film about it. 

Does anyone not like ducks? What’s not to like? I saw someone with a trained pet duck. Pretty cool.

I have a package on the way. It was originally scheduled to arrive today. I've been tracking it. Wednesday it arrived here in Berkeley yet the estimated arrival date was pushed back to Saturday. ???? Thursday it went to Emeryville. ???? Today it's back in Berkeley and still slated to arrive tomorrow. Crazy.

I had a psychiatrist who told me that he had a patient who confessed to murdering her husband. Due to patient-client confidentiality rules he couldn't pass along this tidbit to the coppers. She is a free woman today. Odd to be the doctor and possess that knowledge.

Are you a cinephile? (I am.) If so you owe to yourself to subscribe to the Criterion Channel. Such a selection of great films to watch. You'll create a list and never be able to catch up because they'll be new releases the next month and your list will grow. But what fun. Check it out. 

I guess now there's going to be a clamor for more of these "random thoughts" posts. I'll do my best. Thanks for reading.

A Variety of Topics are Here Explored Including Sales, a Bad Principal, A Golf Ball, Injustice for Woody and Vertigo

Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo

I got an email this morning from The New Yorker informing me that today is my last chance to save 50% on a subscription during their flash sale. Within a few days they'll be sending me an email about yet another opportunity to subscribe at a reduced rate followed by notifications that this sale is soon expiring. Then there'll be another sale, and eventually another. The New Yorker is not alone in this practice. I'd love to be able to subscribe to The New Yorker but that would require a move toward the twenty-eight hour day or the nine day week (28/9 would replace 24/7). There's not enough time to read all the books I have waiting for me or to re-read all the ones I want to revisit and I'm barely scratching the surface of the New York Times that I receive daily.

Speaking of 24/7, when I was teaching middle school we had, for a time, a very bad principal of whom it was said, "she works twenty-four seven, twenty four hours a week, seven days a month." Given her incompetence -- and propensity for fibbing -- it was a blessing that she was lazy. The more she worked, the more damage she did. This woman, who's name was Michele Patterson, was finally sacked, then went on to another unsuspecting school where she also lasted four years before being shown the door. She'd have been excused for being so woefully inept if she hadn't made matters worse by being malicious.

Here's a fun and true fact about me: I completed a two-year master's program in history in one year and graduated with distinction. (This is not a case of humble bragging because I'm not being humble about it at all.) I was the third person in the memory of the department chair to attempt to complete the program in one year, the other two had barely scrapped by. Me, I was the fifth person in the same amount of time among all master' candidates to graduate with distinction. But there's more. At the time I was a practicing alcoholic. My coursework was so intensive and I had to do so much reading that I had a daily planner in which I would write the number of pages I had to read each day to stay abreast. I almost literally did the same with my drinking, planning my binges carefully and merely getting a buzz at other times.

When I was nineteen I was playing baseball on a front lawn with a group of friends. We had -- as was often the case in those days -- been imbibing. I was pitching and we were using a golf ball in lieu of a a regular baseball or softball, can't recall why. The game ended when a batter drilled a line drive right back at me that hit me square in the chin. An inch higher and I would have lost several front teeth. Higher than that and I would have lost an eye, higher than that would have hit me in the forehead and at the least I would have been knocked cold. As it was I was knocked on my back and needed to go to the emergency room for stitches. I was lucky and I still occasional wince at the thought of what that golf ball could have done.

As people tend to do when they don't die young, I am getting older. So far it's going rather well. I exercise six days a week and walk most days. When restrictions ease I'll be back in the gym. I do the Times crossword puzzle and play Sporcle games, read a lot and perform other activities that will help fend off senility. However my stomach is not taking to aging very well, rebelling more and more against certain foods, usually in the form of acid reflux. One week ago I finally gave up my daily cup of English Breakfast tea replacing it with Lemon Ginger herbal tea. Sigh. I never thought the day would come. When first told I should give up black tea I was defiant. I'd already given up drugs and alcohol, cigarettes, meat, gum and coffee, surely I could hold onto my beloved English Breakfast tea. I am here compelled to report the my stomach has felt much better these past seven days. That being said I'm beginning to imagine a future without pizza, tacos and god knows what other treats. Yikes!

On Twitter I have reluctantly unfollowed virtually all of the accounts who were my allies in supporting Woody Allen against the scurrilous attacks directed at him. I still fervently believe in the great director's innocence against the false charges of child molestation brought by his step daughter who I believe was brainwashed by the odious Mia Farrow. However since the terrible and terribly one-sided documentary on HBO ( a hatchet job) called Allen vs. Farrow, my friends on Twitter have been continually re-tweeting the words of Woody's many detractors (then reputing them) or sharing links to articles defending Mr. Allen. Thus I am constantly reminded of the unwarranted hate being spewed towards this innocent man -- one who I've held in high esteem for over fifty years. I do not need reminders of this pain, of this injustice. I no longer want to think of Woody Allen in terms of the false accusations and lies directed at him. I want to think of him in terms of the many great films he's directed or starred in or both. I want to think of him in terms of his writings, his stand-up career and the fact that he's had a long, successful marriage and raised two adopted daughters who both love him unconditionally. Here is an excellent article that exposes the sham that the recent documentary is and here is an excellent piece by documentarian and long-time Woody supporter, Robert Weide.

As I write this the trial of Derek Chauvin -- who is accused of killing George Floyd  -- is underway. The words open and shut case come to mind. Woe betide the country if the killer cop gets off. There will be riots in dozens of major cities and likely some smaller ones. I'll certainly be tempted to join. At the same time it's important that this not be a show trial. Chauvin, murderous bastard that he is, deserves a fair trial just like any other citizen accused of a crime. But it is impossible -- given what we have seen and know of the case -- to imagine anything but a guilty verdict. Let justice be done though the heavens fall. Actually if justice is NOT done the heavens will fall.

I recently watched a film you may have heard of called Vertigo (1958) Hitchcock. It is generally considered one of the great films of all time and is listed among my top 100. HOWEVER, something really bothered me in this my latest viewing. As he was in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Bell, Book and Candle, Stewart is too old for the part of John 'Scotty' Ferguson. He was fifty at the time Vertigo was filmed and looked every bit of it. Kim Novak's character, who falls in love with him, is clearly in her mid twenties as Novak was at the time (twenty-five to be exact). I do not mind May-December romances in films, but I don't buy the fact that she falls in love with Scotty. (I don't for a second doubt that Scotty would fall for the girl, I mean she's played by Kim Novak, as great a beauty as ever graced the screen). Her love for him simply doesn't work for me. Still a great film.

Thank you for joining me for this edition of odds and ends. In the future I may experiment with an edition of ends and odds. (Actually as I look back I've never done  anything called "odds and ends" but I have done "news and notes" so I suppose I should be thanking you for joining me this edition of news and notes and saying that I may experiment with notes and news. Now I'm confused. )

What Film Had the Best Cast? I Try to Answer this Subjective Question -- Off the Top of my Head

Notorious with L-R, Rains, Grant, Bergman

I just saw a tweet that posed the question: "what do you think was the best movie cast of all time?" I saw one answer, The Philadelphia Story (1940) Cukor, before leaving Twitter and coming here to give my answer -- of sorts -- without thinking about it. Thus what I'm doing here is a form of live blogging, or stream of consciousness blogging in which I'm writing as I think. Should be fun -- for me a least. Let's see what I come up with.

As I said the only response I saw was The  Philadelphia Story and that was indeed a good cast with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn. It gets mighty thin after those three with two strong supporting cast members, Roland Young and Henry Daniell. If you're going by best three leads for a film than The Philadelphia Story is in the running.

Cary Grant reminds me of Notorious (1946) Hitchcock where it's him, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains. Another excellent top three. The supporting players, especially Louis Calhern are good if not spectacular.

Claude Rains and Ingrid Bergman come to mind again as they were part of a terrific cast along with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid and some excellent supporting players in Casablanca (1942) Curtiz. The supporters include Sydney Greenstreet, John Qualen, S.Z. Sakall, Marcel Dalio, and Conrad Veidt. This one's definitely a contender.

I think of Rains yet again who was with Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell and Edward Arnold in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Capra. Supporting players include Eugene Pallette, H.B. Warner, Grant Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Guy Kibbee, Harry Carey and Jack Carson. A who's who of Hollywood beloved supporting players of the late thirties. That's a helluva cast.

Two Elia Kazan films come to mind. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) was headed by Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden. Not too shabby. But I think that's topped, if barely, by On the Waterfront (1954) with Brando, Malden, Lee J Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint.

Let's see what the Seventies -- my favorite decade of film -- have to offer. Shampoo (1975) Ashby, immediately comes to mind. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Lee Grant, Carrie Fisher and Jack Warden is pretty formidable. 

The Deer Hunter (1975) Cimino had a stellar cast with Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and John Cazale. That's an impressive foursome.

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Allen is certainly among the best. Check this out: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Dianne Weist, Barbara Hershey, Maureen O'Sullivan, Carrie Fisher, Lloyd Nolan, Daniel Stern and cameos by future stars Julia-Louis Dreyfus and John Turtorro.

A more recent film with a great cast was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) Tarantino. Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Samantha Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern and Emile Hersch.

I can't believe I hadn't yet thought of The Godfather (1972) Coppola. Pacino, Brando, Cazale, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Sterling Hayden.

Godfather Part 2 (1974) Coppola wasn't bad either with Pacino, Cazale, Keaton and Duvall returning joined by DeNiro, Bruno Kirby and Lee Strasberg.

The Ice Storm (1997) A. Lee has a great cast. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire, Cristina Ricci, Katie Holmes and Elijah Wood. The last four were just starting out in Hollywood when the film was made.

Can't forget The Great Escape (1963) J. Sturges. Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, David McCallum and Donald Pleasance. 

A recent Best Picture winner with a great cast was Birdman (2014) Iñárritu. Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough.

The Wild Bunch (1969) Peckinpah might have the best cast of any Western. William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmund O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson and Strother Martin.

Speaking of Ben Johnson, he was part of a great cast in The Last Picture Show (1971) Bogdanovich with Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepard, Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman, Timothy Bottoms, Eileen Brennan, Randy Quiad, Clu Gulager, and Sam Bottoms. Wow.

Spartacus (1960) Kubrick is another strong contender with Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Woody Strode.

Another all star cast from the seventies can be found in All the President's Men (1976) Pakula. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as your leads then Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Jason Robards and Jane Alexander.

L-R, Lemmon, Cagney, Fonda, Powell

How about Mister Roberts (1955) Ford/Leroy with James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, William Powell and Ward Bond. That's five huge stars (albeit Bond was always a supporting player but one who found himself in some of the great films of Hollywood's Golden Age) in one cast. Between them they represent such classics as White Heat, Public Enemy, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, The Thin Man, My Man Godfrey, The Lady Eve, The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers and The Maltese Falcon, to name but two films for each.

Then there's The Departed (2006) Scorsese. How about this: DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen.

Another Scorsese picture, The Aviator (2004), boasts this cast: DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Jude Law and Kate Beckinsale.

One mustn't forget A Bridge Too Far (1977) Attenborough with James Caan, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Elliot Gould, Ryan O'Neal and Maximilian Schell.

I'm going to stop with this one, JFK (1991) Stone. Kevin Costner, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner. Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Gary Oldman, John Candy, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Bacon. That's what I'd call an all-star cast.

I could go on and indeed perhaps will in a second installment. Again, this was just off the top of my head and perhaps I could find more and better casts (more for sure, better? doubt it) with more thought and a little research.

Of course this was purely an objective list. I did not include any films that had greats casts but are not, in my opinion, particularly good films. Also I was the arbiter of who was or is an important actor and that was reflected in the films I chose.

The original question was what is the best film cast of all time. So do I have a winner? Gimme a second here....In looking over what I've written I believe I made my case for one of them in writing about it, Mister Roberts with Fonda, Cagney, Powell, Lemmon and Bond. I may give that a re-think when I consider a sequel to this post. However it is possible that I won't find much to add to this and may not find anything to top the cast of Mister Roberts. It'll be interesting for me to dig into this further. At any rate it was a fun exercise.

Ten Lists of Ten For Your Thanksgiving Enjoyment

Winter Light

Regular readers of this blog (Amadeus Picklepuss of Fitchburg, Massachusetts) may recall that last  Memorial Day  I provided ten lists of ten films in various categories. Much to everyone's chagrin this has become regular holiday feature. Subsequent installments have appeared on this site on Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous Peoples Day and most recently on Veteran's Day. A seventh installment will be posted on Boxing Day (we are closed on Christmas Day).  Meanwhile, please enjoy my Thanksgiving Day list -- or not, entirely up to you.

My Ten Favorite Films From the 1960s

1. Winter Light (1963) Bergman
2. La Dolce Vita (1960) Fellini
3. L’Eclisse(1962) Antonioni
4. Andrei Rublev (1966) Tarkovsky
5. Through A Glass Darkly (1961) Bergman
6. Red Desert (1964) Antonioni
7. Shame (1968) Bergman
8. If… (1968) Anderson
9. Persona (1966) Bergman
10. Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Godard

My Ten Favorite Movies Starring Jimmy Stewart

1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Capra
2. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra
3. Vertigo (1958) Hitchcock
4. The Philadelphia Story (1940) Cukor
5. Rear Window (1954) Hitchcock
6. The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Lubitsch
7. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Ford
8. Destry Rides Again (1939) Marshall
9. The Naked Spur (1953) Mann
10. The Mortal Storm (1940) Borzage

My Ten Favorite Films Directed By Woody Allen

1. Manhattan (1979)
2. Annie Hall (1977)
3. Match Point (2005)
4. Midnight in Paris (2011)
5. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
6. Radio Days (1987)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
9. Zelig (1983)
10. Bananas (1971)

My Ten Favorite Christmas Movies

1. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra

2. Christmas in Connecticut (1945) Godfrey

3. Home Alone (1990) Columbus

4  Elf (2003) Favreau

5. Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943) Sturges

6. Rare Exports (2010) Helander

7. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Seaton

8. A Christmas Carol (1951) Hurst

9. The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Koster

10.The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Lubitsch

My Ten Favorite Films that Won the Oscar for Best Editing

1. From Here to Eternity (1953) Zinneman
2. Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Lean
3. Bullitt (1968) Yates
4. Cabaret (1972) Fosse
5. Jaws (1975) Spielberg
6. The Deer Hunter (1978) Cimino
7. Raging Bull (1980) Scorsese
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Spielberg
9. JFK (1991) Stone
10. The Aviator (2004) Scorsese

My Ten Favorite Movies With a Color in the Title

1. Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Allen
2. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Ford
3. Blue is the Warmest Color (2013) Kechiche
4. White Heat (1949) Walsh
5. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Kubrick
6. The Scarlett Empress (1934) von Sternberg
7. Red Desert (1964) Antonioni
8. The Pink Panther (1963) Edwards
9. Jackie Brown (1997) Tarantino
10. BlackkKlansman (2018) S. Lee

Ten More Films I Wish I Could Squeeze Into My Top 100

1. My Own Private Idaho (1991) Van Sant
2. 8 1/2 (1963) Fellini
3. Nashville (1975) Altman
4. Do The Right Thing (1989) S. Lee
5. Viridiana (1961) Bunuel
6. The Wild Bunch (1969) Peckinpah
7. Animal House (1978) Landis
8. Personal Shopper (2016) Assayas
9. The Verdict (1982) Lumet
10. Silence (1963) Bergman

L'Avventura

Ten Movies I Love that I Didn’t Like the First Time I Saw Them

1. L’Eclisse(1962) Antonion

2. Cries and Whispers (1972) Bergman

3. Nashville (1975) Altman

4. Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese

5. Chimes at Midnight (1965) Welles

6. Interiors (1978) Allen

7. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Ray

8. Jules and Jim (1962) Truffaut

9. The Exterminating Angel (1962) Bunuel

10. Days of Heaven (1978) Malick

My Ten Favorite German Films

1. Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) Herzog
2. The Last Laugh (1924) Murnau
3. Das Boot (1981) Peterson
4. M (1931) Lang
5. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) Fassbinder
6. Downfall (2004) Hirshbiegel
7. Wings of Desire (1987) Wenders
8. Run Lola Run (1998) Tykwer
9. Westfront 1918 (1930) Pabst
10. Phoenix (2014) Petzold

Ten Excellent Films with Scenes From Other Excellent Films in Them

1. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Penn -- Gold Diggers of 1933(1933) LeRoy
2. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) -- Duck Soup (1933) McCarey
3. Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Godard -- The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Dreyer
4. The Last Picture Show (1971) Bogdanovich — Red River (1948) Hawks
5. Home Alone (1990) Columbus -- It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra
6. Play it Again Sam (1972) Ross — Casablanca (1942) Curtiz
7. The Aviator (2004) Scorsese — Hell’s Angels (1930) Hughes
8. Gods & Monsters(1998) Condon -- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Whale
9. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) Malle — The Immigrant (1917) Chaplin
10. ET....(1982) Spielberg -- The Quiet Man (1952) Ford