A note on authorship attribution: A thing we film studies folks discuss sometimes is the fact that a director takes credit for the work of a huge production team. Do I re-ify that flawed system by attributing these movies by director only? Probably, but if you're going to look them up to watch, they'll be easiest to find by director. Sometimes that's how it goes.
I've linked to trailers for each movie from the title.
The Big Sleep - dir. Howard Hawks
My favorite film noir. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Howards Hawks! Intrigue! Violence! Double Entendre! What more could you ask for? Also, William Faulkner is credited as one of the screenwriters.
The Fall - dir. Tarsem Singh
A pretty movie with mediocre plotting, sometimes cast as a modern-day Wizard of Oz or a 21st century Princess Bride. It's really, really pretty and tons of fun.
Fitzcarraldo - dir. Wener Herzog
One way to frame this movie is a movie about crazy dreams and the efforts necessary to bring them to fruition. The movie's behind-the-scenes story parallels, to some degree, the plot of the movie, with the central set piece (you'll know what it is when you see it) tying them inextricably together. It features the as-frightening-as-it-is-excellent acting of Klaus Kinski.
O Brother Where Art Thou - dir. Coen Brothers
This is the "Cannery Row" of my movie list. Not nearly as critically acclaimed as some of the Coens' other movies, but eminently quotable, tons of fun, and the movie that got me interested in American roots music, an interest that I still pursue. I'm hoping to track down a copy of "Sullivan's Travels," the movie that this movie is based on (and a movie that gets a shoutout in On The Road, incidentally).
Firstly, I transcribed Ozu's name in the Japanese fashion, family name first. This movie is very, very slow (or, as David Bordwell describes it, "calm"). It is the story of family tensions. Some things happen. Other things don't happen. This is a beautiful, beautiful movie, but I will only recommend it to those with a good deal of patience. Roger Ebert says that he re-watches this movie every year and gets something new out of it every time. If that's not high praise, I don't know what is.
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