My Favorite Movies

pakula's film is not so much a mystery or suspense piece as it is a character exploration. fonda is in top form as the emotionally detached yet volatile, vulnerable bree daniels and sutherland is a great counterpoint as the cool, levelheaded detective john klute. the two meet when klute begins to investigate a string of call girl murders his dear friend may have committed. his search for the truth takes him deep in bree's former life as a call girl and eventually in to her present life as a struggling actress who is weary of new york city and its violent underbelly.

this is altman's 4th to last film and it is a wonderful black comedy that is set in the deep south. all types of mishaps, comic and poignant come about when elderly jewel mae orcutt(patricia neal) decides to join her husband buck in the afterlife.

once again, the ultimate backstager. a near perfect film.













this is the eternal backstager musical. many films of its time tried to tell the same tale of ambition and heartache in the theater but few have succeeded or endured like 42 street. the screenplay is tight and filled with many a great wisecrack, the direction is fast paced and sharp, the cast top notch and the finale, with dances staged and filmed by busby berkeley are all classic.

powell and pressburger acheived a master feat by shooting this melodrama in blazing technicolor on british film studio soundstages. their feat is that the film is very tactile and so vibrant! it is well played by the cast, which includes deborah kerr, david farrar, sabu, kathleen byron and flora robson, and it is gorgeously scored by brian easdale.

the 1949 version of henry james' 'washington square' is superior to the 1990s remake. olivia de havilland is perfection as shy catherine sloper as are ralph richardson as her autocrat father austin sloper, miriam hopkins as her gadfly aunt penniman and montgomery clift as the oppurtnistic suitor morris townsend. it is a beautifully designed and shot film and also features a lyrical score by aaron copland.

this film always affects me on a personal level. i have the same reaction when i see it that most people have to 'the color purple'. the story is simple. a psychopathic, self styled minister is chasing a hidden stash of 10,000 dollars. his search takes him to a young widow and her two children. he marries, then murders the widow. the children run off in to the night to escape what may be possible death.
director charles laughton tells this story, which could be very grisly in someone else's hands, with a personal sensitivity to the child actors and to the great lillian gish, who plays rachel cooper, the protectress of the children.

when christopher guest lampoons something that a viewer knows, the jokes land on target and with full force. and though i liked 'best in show' and 'a mighty wind' and enjoyed 'spinal tap', 'guffman' wore me out from scene one! the semi-documentary style, guest's direction and too-right portrayal of corky st. clair and his cast of cronies make a great film comedy of the 1990s!

catherine o'hara can do wrong. she is always a standout in ensemble pieces due to that extraordinary commitment to her characters and their individual dilemmas. as marilyn hack, a 40-ish actress who succumbs to hype that comes with her work on a film titled 'home for purim' she is her usual brilliant self! everyone is touched by the greatness, including harry shearer, jane lynch, parker posey, ed begley, jr., etc.

i really thought that this film was going to charm everyone in its path. and if it hadn't been for hurricane 'juno', it might have. keri russell was delightful as the waitress with a driftwood husband that has to learn how strong she is. well written and directed by the late adrienne shelly, it was and is a sweet and delightful film.

this 1961 film has many plot elements that are taken for granted. but as directed by tony richardson, opened up for the screen by playwright shelagh delaney and acted with such energy and focus by its cast, it's very watchable and very fresh. probably its two gifts are rita tushingham as jo and its ability to make up laugh and touch our hearts with her story.
one final reason this film is so watchable is because it chronicles the shift in power in this world from a conservative way of thinking to a more encompassing way of thought in our relations with others.

what is there not to like about this brilliant classic comedy? it has a great balance of darkness and effervescence, great plot twists that are brought about through some wonderful dialogue, a uniformly brilliant cast and a stunning black and white look that defines new york city at the end of the 1950s.