When I first sat down to watch this a few years ago I was kind of bored by it. Halfway through it went off Netflix and it wouldn’t let me finish. My roommate was watching it as he’s going through a bunch of Hitchcock films in a row and I sat down to finish it. The second half was great. Que Sera Sera is always gets stuck in your head when watching, but it’s great that it is used as a part of the plot at the very end. The shots and editing during the symphony scene is utterly spectacular.
Quarantine Watch #66: Klute (1971)
I wanted to make sure I caught this before it went off of Criterion Channel. It’s weird for me watching this because I was introduced to Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland when they were old people. Going back and watching them younger always is odd to me, I don’t know why. This is for sure the youngest I’ve seen Jane Fonda in a film and man is she great. She really carries everything in this movie, although the true star is the way Alan J. Pakula directs the look of his films. You can see him playing with styles that would eventually make ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, THE PARALLAX VIEW, and THE PELICAN BRIEF stand out. Everything here is very ‘70s which I love. Roy Schneider’s wardrobe is nuts. There is one scene where he is dressed like Tony Montana. I seriously think Brian de Palma was making a nod to this film in Al Pacino’s wardrobe.
Quarantine Watch #65: True History of the Kelly Gang (2020)
I had never heard of Ned Kelly before this film and I was shocked to see how big of a folk hero he was and how many films were made prior to this one. In that regard it was eyeopening. I felt like we didn’t need all the stuff when he was a kid, but I liked the actor who played young Ned. Essie Davis was the standout of this one though. She is such a good actress. I loved the dark colors the world lives in especially when it is coupled by scenes where the light just strobes.
Quarantine Watch #64: Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
I thought this was going to be more meta than it ended up being. The film is such a weirdly absurd thing that plays in a world similar to BIRDMAN (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE). I don’t really know W.C. Field’s work so it’s weird to start with this one because a lot of it plays on expectations of who he is. I’m sure this was thrilling to watch in 1941, but it looses it’s effect as time goes by. A lot of the physical comedy works really well here, it feels like something out of the Three Stooges or THE FLINTSTONES. W.C. Fields also sounds so much like Walter Matthau if he was doing an impression of Winnie the Pooh.
Quarantine Watch #63: Chungking Express (1994)
Wong Kar-wai is the second director I have watched more than one of their films during this quarantine (Alfred Hitchcock being the first). I relate so much to the characters in the film. The music is phenomenal from the jazzy somber sounds to ‘California Dreamin’ in the second half. The sound is elevated further by Faye Wong’s cute dancing. She is gorgeous and it’s so easy to fall in love with her the second you see her. I also really dug the way Wong Kar-wai handled the slowing down of time in order to hone in on specific seconds the characters are experiencing. The images become hypnotic. The color palette of the film is interesting. It’s cool (colorwise) even where there are warm colors.
Quarantine Watch #62: Purple Rain (1984)
Prince is an artist that is so ingrained in American culture, but for me he is one of my biggest gaps in the zeitgeist. My parents weren’t Prince fans so I never heard him growing up. I was only aware of the phrase, “party like it’s 1999,” but never heard the song. Aside from knowing of his cult of personality, seeing his performance at the 2007 Superbowl and Morris Day and the Time appearing in JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, I knew nothing about him. The film lives in this over the top world where everyone is chewing scenery, but it works for it. It’s also dripping with sex. Like this could easily be remade into an erotic Vegas night show (and I’m sure it probably has). I love Morris Day in this. His performance is so big it’s amazing. It’s like if Eddie Griffin played George Jefferson. I also prefer his songs more than the Prince songs, even though I liked a lot of the prince stuff as well. The guitar work is special here.
Quarantine Watch #61: Footlight Parade (1933)
This is both my first Busby Berkley film and my first Jimmy Cagney musical film I’ve seen. It’s also my first dive into these dancing showcase films. I’ve only seen Cagney in the gangster pics, which I think he’s just made for (especially cause of his face). He is a great dancer so it’s interesting that he fell into these two niches. A standout for me here is Dick Powell. He has such a love-able face and attitude. While I haven’t see 42ND STREET or GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 it seems insane that Berkley and Powell worked on all three of these and they all came out in the same year. It’s probably one of the best runs of a person directing films in a row. (even though Berkley only directs the musical and dancing numbers). Joan Blondell is also great as 'Nan. The actual “movie” of the film is okay, but the dance numbers are really impressive. I can’t imagine how expensive it would for someone to do something like it today — as you just don’t see them anymore (unless you count HAIL, CAESER!). The production design is just phenomenal. The racism and the yellow face isn’t great though, but that’s what happens from time to time when you watch stuff from the past (unfortunately).
Quarantine Watch #60: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
It’s easy to see why David Bowie took this as his first acting role — it’s got everything he loves. Aliens, sexuality, outsiders, etc. It also helps that he totally passes as an alien. I haven’t seen a Nicolas Roeg film before, and I really dug this. It felt free and open with all of its actors. Candy Clark was a little bit over the top to me that she starts to become like Courtney Love in THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT or Nancy Spungen. She also really sticks out. I watched this at 4:20 PM on 4/20/2020 and I enjoyed myself.
Quarantine Watch #59: The Natural (1984)
Wonderboy is one of the best props in movie history and when it breaks I audibly gasped. The villains are a little too “mustache twirly” and the stuff they are blackmailing Redford with makes no sense. It also is way longer than it should be. Still there is a lot I liked a lot here. The cinematography is great especially during that great finale scene. The cast has so many great people in it and Redford is charming while toeing a line between a Good Ole Boy and a Tough Guy. I also have to believe that Quentin Tarantino saw this movie and saw the charm and old school vibe of Michael Madsen to then cast him in RESERVOIR DOGS.
Quarantine Watch #58: If.... (1968)
It’s interesting in a film about fighting the establishment these guys are fairly tame (except for the things that happen in their minds). I can still see how youthful fights against the system films followed this. They really did lay the groundwork. The filmmakers are doing things that ANIMAL HOUSE would do 10 years later. It’s so easy to see how Malcolm McDowell got A CLOCKWORK ORANGE after he’s in this film. His personality is devious yet lovable.
Quarantine Watch #57: The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
My dad had always mentioned loving this movie as one of his favorite westerns, but I never had the opportunity to see it. I had seen my fair share of Clint Eastwood films, but I wanted to go back to his westerns during this quarantine time. It takes a bit for this to get going, but after the hour mark, the film gives us scene after scene of Clint Eastwood being a total badass. This is one of those “Clint being super cool” films where he really comes across as a “man’s man.” I’m shocked that it’s PG considering the amount of violence in the film. Everything also plays out very episodically — it could easily be a TV show.
Quarantine Watch #56: The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Because this is a Preston Sturges film the dialogue is so fast, witty, and great. I loved Rudy Vallée’s performance as John D. Hackensacker III. He’s such a sweet dope. I feel like the entire movie is a set up for the final joke at the end which I found spectacular, so meta, and way ahead of it’s time. My main issue is how the film deals with the absurd. It presents like it takes place in the real world, but everyone behaves so erratically they feel like they should be in a Mel Brooks film instead. I’m also shocked that this (and for that matter many of Sturges’s films) got made considering the topics of divorce and leaving her husband.
Quarantine Watch #55: I, Daniel Blake (2016)
I had no idea what this was about and, man if this wasn’t super timely. The villain of the film is unnecessary bureaucracy and it’s played as both drama and comedy because, while it is both frustrating and illogical, it is so absurd that we have no choice but to laugh at it. While there are funny moments here, the cost of such bureaucracy is so prevalent. This a drama and everything that happens to these characters is horrible, but it ultimately becomes so life affirming by the end. Daniel Blake is one of the greatest movie heroes of the 21st century. I loved it.
Quarantine Watch #54: Rear Window (1954)
My roommate has been watching Hitchcock films in chronological order from a BluRay collection he has. I half watched this while I played two games of chess with him. This is my favorite Hitchcock film so it was nice getting to (kinda) see it again.
Quarantine Watch #53: Pather Panchali (1955)
The best parts of this film are the scenes where Apu and Durga are bonding like siblings, whether it is sibling bickering or playing in the rain. These moments are so purely innocent that it helps to lift up their circumstances in the world. The ending is also so heartbreaking. It is amazing that Satyajit Ray was able to accomplish so much with this film on such a low budget (even though the amount of locations and cast are minimal it is still a feat.) The sitar music that scores the film is also a standout. There is influence all over this film, meaning it is easy to see where so many films that we know in and out were influenced by PATHER PANCHALI including things like THE FLORIDA PROJECT, CAPERNAUM, and HONEYLAND.
Quarantine Watch #52: The Hunger (1983)
Tony Scott’s directorial debut is not what I thought it was going to be at all. It’s so different from everything else he did. The pacing was slow and ultimately the plot didn’t grasp me. The standouts of the film is the hair, wardrobe, and production design. I recently dove into Catherine Deneuve’s films having seen THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBORG right before the COVID-19 outbreak. She is really great and I need to see more of her stuff. I’m also always a huge fan of anything with Susan Sarandon especially her early stuff. I’ve never thought of her as sexy before, but damn if she isn’t sexy in this. Hell everyone in this is sexy. I was upset that Bowie didn’t have more to do here nor did he get to act particularly Bowie, and I guess that’s why I prefer the second half of the film to the first half. It’s interesting to see her in Tony Scott’s film before she was in Ridley’s THELMA AND LOUISE.
Quarantine Watch #52: Up in Smoke (1978)
I grew up knowing of Cheech and Chong and seeing them both in various things (Tommy Chong in THAT ‘70s SHOW and Cheech in Robert Rodriguez’s films for instance) including their comedy bits. I’d had put this one off for a long time. I’m glad I watched it while I had time this quarantine. The film really just meanders along, but its so funny in the way it goes. I thought I’d only find Chong funny, but Cheech has a lot to do in this as well. The soundtrack is also phenomenal.
Quarantine Watch #51: House (1977)
The director, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, recently passed away, which lead to so many people I know talking about him and specifically this film. This takes the cake and is seriously the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen. Ôbayashi even has David Lynch beat, which I didn’t think was possible. Before I even got to the titular ‘house’ it was like I just dropped acid and was simultaneously watching a soap opera, A HARD DAYS NIGHT, and an episode of CHARLES IN CHARGE. After I got to the house all bets were off as anything that could happen did happen. The colors are vibrant and feel like they are out of an anime specifically in the wardrobe. Bonkers does not even begin to describe it. Everything from the editing to the acting to the effects to the production design to the camera work is absurd. I need to watch something hyper normal now to come down from it. Also the song that plays almost non-stop throughout the film sounds so much like ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance and that’s all I could think about whenever I heard it.
Quarantine Watch #50: Chris D'Elia: No Pain (2020)
Chris D’Elia comes off as an ass every time he opens his mouth, but he has the jovial-ness of a little kid and it just works. I love seeing him in things whether it’s his stand up shows, in a movie here or there or recurring on THE GOOD DOCTOR. I just think he adds an innocent yet assholish attitude to everything. This wasn’t as good as MAN ON FIRE, his last special, but there were still moments that stood out for me.
Quarantine Watch #49: Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
This movie is actually very funny despite it being both a Hitchcock film and a thriller. Joseph Cotton embodies evil in a way that reminds me of Reverend Harry Powell (from NIGHT OF THE HUNTER). I wish he wasn’t so overtly evil. If Hitchcock played it in the gray area a bit more, I’d really have been more invested.I loved Edna May Wonacott as the little sister. She is so smart and funny, I wish she did more movies and took up a career in acting.
