The Social Network – David Fincher (2010)
Jungle Fever – Spike Lee (1991)
There is something I find to be so compelling and a little frustrating about Lee’s films. He is undoubtedly one of the most important and best filmmakers ever. Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X are two of the greatest films of all time. More than that, they’re two of the most important films of all time. They tackle issues of race, identity, and history so fearlessly. I don’t know if anyone has made better films than Lee on those subjects. I think perhaps the most important reason why these films work is because Lee is so honest in them. He avoids asking easy questions. He refuses to give easy answers. But I wonder if this very thing that makes so many of Lee’s films great is the same thing that makes so many of them messy? Jungle Fever seems like a perfect example of this. Lee tackles an incredibly nuanced and difficult subject in the film. Moreover, he asks the most difficult questions about it. Can an interracial relationship ever work? Is it immoral on some level, even with the best intentions? Is being interested in someone from a different racial background inevitably exploitative? And in asking these questions, Lee gets magnificent performances to carry these situations out. Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Spike himself, John Turturro, Tim Robbins, Samuel Jackson, and Michael Imperioli all in one film? It’s dazzling. The way Lee films the scene of Wesley Snipes and himself gliding down the street? Get out of town. It’s so fucking good! And yet, I’m not sure if this movie works. It’s so messy. And while Lee refuses to give easy answers to the questions he asks, I can’t help but feel he turns his attention away from them. The climax of the film, for instance, is Flip’s brother being killed by his dad. To me, it seems to have little to do with the pressing issues posed in the rest of the film. Still, I might be wrong. After all, there is a long, long history of white people not understanding Spike’s work. It is entirely possible that could be happening here.
Grade: C+
jungle-fever-e28093-spike-lee-1991-2
21st: Ford v Ferrari – James Mangold (2019)
I’m surprised by how much I liked this movie. It’s incredibly watchable. I mean that in the best way possible. The movie is two and a half hours long and mostly flies by. The action is thrilling. Christian Bale and Matt Damon are obviously compelling protagonists. It’s a well-made blockbuster on almost every level. Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it a great movie? Unfortunately, I think the movie lacks the flourishes that would really set it apart. There are few surprises. There isn’t much nuance. The dialogue and characterizations are good, but never complex. It feels like this movie was the biggest and safest version of what it set out to be. That makes for a good film. And in some parts, a very good film. To be great, it would need an element of subversion somewhere. That is something this movie has no interest in doing.
Grade: B
Ford v Ferrari – James Mangold (2019)
23rd: I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Charlie Kaufman (2020)
This was fun to watch. I particularly liked most of the 2nd Act. Toni Collette and David Thewlis are delightful. I admire Kaufman’s idiosyncratic vision. I can’t explain any of what it meant.
Grade: B-
I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Charlie Kaufman (2020)
27th: Zodiac – David Fincher (2007)
This movie is unbelievably good. There are the obvious things I could point to: the way Fincher designs and shoots 1970s San Francisco, the lived-in performances of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., the startling horror of the Zodiac attacks themselves. Yet, there is still something about this movie that I can’t put my finger on. This movie has a hypnotic, propulsive power to it that I don’t fully understand. I’m confident that it’s one of the five or ten best movies of this century, but I can’t say exactly why. What I do know is that once you start watching this movie it grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. Perhaps that’s the real power to it. That this movie does to its viewer exactly what the Zodiac case is doing to its protagonists. It’s a film about the power of obsession that obsesses the viewer. It’s a film about the worst aspects of humanity that reels the viewer into its darkness. Perhaps the thing I love most about this film is that it gets better with each scene. For how much I like this movie, the beginning is a little slow. We don’t even meet Mark Ruffalo’s character until the 30-minute mark. But that’s okay. It’s intentional. The film is laying an enormous amount of groundwork. Once it gets to a certain point, we realize that it’s just building and building. I’ve said before that I think the basement scene is the scariest movie moment I’ve ever experienced. And while I still think it is, I also have to say that it’s not even my favorite scene from the third act. The diner scene between Gyllenhaal and Ruffalo is incredible. It feels, at once, like the culmination of everything the movie has been building as well as a scene that completely transcends it.
Grade: A
Zodiac – David Fincher (2007)
28th: The Social Network – David Fincher (2010)
This is widely considered the best movie of the decade. It probably is. I think the film’s greatest hallmark is in how dark, scathing, and corrosive it is. In a forward to one of her books, Ursula K. Le Guin notes that the best science fiction is not predictive. On the contrary, it’s extrapolative. She argues that the great writers don’t aim to predict the future but instead attempt to distill and express what currently exists. David Fincher couldn’t have known all of issues that would arise from Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg back in 2010. But he did know how Zuckerberg and the company conducted themselves in their founding. By being attuned to the present, he made a movie that feels predictive of our current situation. It’s remarkable! Given all of this, I think Fincher’s greatest achievement in this film is how effortless this movie is to watch. It’s a blast.
Grade: A
Social Network, The – David Fincher (2010)
29th: Magic Mike – Steven Soderbergh (2012)
This movie is really fun. I was struck last time by how good the movie is in contrast to its setting, plot, themes, whatever. I guess I just didn’t have high expectations. This time I went in remembering the film quite fondly. By contrast, I was mildly disappointed. I think in some sense this movie feels stitched together. Soderbergh really depends a lot on the strip club set-pieces to stretch the movie to 90 minutes. But they mostly work, and so does the movie.
Grade: B
30th: My Best Friend’s Wedding – P.J. Hogan (1997)
This movie is ludicrous. I could nitpick a million things about it. Almost every aspect of its set-up and plot is completely convoluted. But Julia Roberts is really good, Cameron Diaz is really good, Rupert Everett is amazing and the songs are great.
Grade: C
My Best Friend’s Wedding – P.J. Hogan (1997)
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