10th: Klute – Alan J. Pakula (1971)
Boy oh boy is Pakula good at directing a conspiracy. I love the way he shoots this movie. Some of the images are just unbelievable. I love his use of shadows, objects, and even the color palette. This movie is kind of a horror movie too. The score is one of the more frightening things I’ve heard in some time. If I had a nitpick, it’s that the romance between Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda’s characters feels a bit forced. They’re obviously both great looking people, but it’s a bit strange to focus on their budding relationship amidst a serial killer movie. All in all, I quite liked it. I’m excited to watch The Parallax View next.
Grade: B+
12th: The Last Detail – Hal Ashby (1971)
70s films are so good. The Last Detail is a delight. The plot and stakes are there, but never forced. In fact, nothing in the film comes before the interactions of the three central characters. It’s one of the best road trip movies I’ve seen. It feels so natural, you can forget filmmaking is happening. I love the way Ashby frequently captures the three characters in the same shot. I love the way he cuts in and out of scenes. These cuts seem to reflect passing time as opposed to any real advance in the story. And I particularly love the ending of the movie. It feels so natural and effortless – something I think is antithetical to most films.
Grade: A-
16th: Notting Hill – Roger Michell (1999)
I put this on as a film that wouldn’t require too much mental effort. I wanted something that would just be enjoyable. That is what this film is. And yet, for as much as I found the film to be pleasant, my attention was drifting the entire time. I don’t know if it had to do with the stakes, the genre, or just me. But I could not sink into this movie at all. And there are obviously some great things in there. Hugh Grant is unbelievably charming. I love how in this, and in Four Weddings and a Funeral, there’s a great group of friends centered in the movie. It almost reminds me of something like How I Met Your Mother. Maybe I can give this another go when I’m in a different head space. For now though, I have to admit that I was underwhelmed.
Grade: B-
27th: Plan B – Natalie Morales (2021)
This is a good comedy. Perhaps more significantly, it answers a lot of questions people seem to have about comedies these days. Specifically, whether you can make something raunchy and full of debauchery in today’s “cancel” climate. I put “cancel” in hypotheticals because I don’t think it’s a real thing. Movies like Animal House or The Hangover weren’t canceled. Instead, I think people like me (straight white men) started to see how shitty some of those movies were the entire time. In other words, a small segment of the population is finally taking into account how shitty it is for straight white dudes to make non-straight white dudes the butt of the joke. Which brings back me to Plan B. This is a movie that pulls off the style of a film like Animal House but without objectifying or ridiculing its characters. It’s really funny and really endearing. There were some (brief) sections that fell flat, but again, I was just so impressed with this movie. I’m excited to see what everyone involved in it does next.
Grade: B
29th: The Parallax View – Alan J. Pakula (1974)
This is an unbelievably cool movie. Everything in it is perfectly in tune. I particularly love the way Pakula shoots it. It appears there’s only one camera, usually at a distance, with most of the frame in shadow. Warren Beatty is amazing. It didn’t strike me until after the movie, but there’s really not that much dialogue in the film. It’s almost entirely action which adds to the overall sense of paranoia. As a viewer you sense things, but you don’t know them. I’m excited to revisit this at some point. My guess is that it rewards multiple viewings.
Grade: A-
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