6th: Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny – Louis Black, Karen Bernstein (2016)
Overall a solid documentary. I obviously think the world of Linklater and his films. This movie does a pretty good job capturing what makes him and his body of work so special. I do think some of the framing within the documentary is a little misguided. Specifically with how much they focus on awards and box office returns.
Grade: B-
8th: Brigsby Bear – Dave McCary (2017)
I really, really like this movie. It does a remarkable job of balancing comedy within a pretty sweet story. I wish more films struck this tone.
Grade: B+
9th: Shithouse – Cooper Raiff (2020)
This really is one of my favorite movies in a while. Raiff is able to capture something meaningful and true in all of the awkward moments as this relationship is forming. It’s a sneakily ambitious premise. Like, I’m sure everyone would want to make a movie about a night where they fell in love but to actually execute it through all of those little moments is really difficult.
Grade: A-
10th: Tampopo – Juzo Itami (1985)
On the (albeit too rare) occasions that I am asked for a recommendation of where to start with art-house or foreign cinema, Tampopo is always my first answer. But, let me also add that if I were to find myself in a situation in which some alien needed just one example of film excellence across the entire canon, Tampopo might still be my choice. Why? Because watching Juzo Itami’s 1985 “Noodle-Western” is an almost celebratory experience. I can’t think of another film that shows such reverence for cinema, westerns, friendship, sex, and (of course) food while never becoming pretentious or inaccessible.
To that point, Tampopo is also the uncommon film that is as rewarding on an initial viewing as it is on a rewatch. One of the great charms of the film is that it is so unique, there is no way I could possibly spoil a first viewing. Seriously, for those of you who have seen this film, where would you even begin? And yet, miraculously, having seen Tampopo before doesn’t detract from any subsequent viewings but only adds to them. On my latest rewatch, I was particularly struck by how the ramen lessons in the movie apply as much to the viewer as to the main character. By the time we reach the end of the film, without having the ability to even smell or taste the ramen on screen, we can tell whether or not it makes a worthy bowl. It’s an extraordinary feat of filmmaking that one can hardly notice for all the fun Tampopo is having.
That does, however, bring me to the one obvious downside to this film, which is that despite everything else Tampopo can do, it cannot physically put ramen in your stomach. I would offer one solution to this problem: Have your favorite spot ready to go for as soon as the movie is over. Otherwise, whether this is your first viewing or your tenth, the film will leave you with a painful longing for an honest bowl of noodles.
Grade: A
*Written for Culture Barren
13th: Cha Cha Real Smooth – Cooper Raiff (2022)
Shithouse is my favorite debut in quite a while. Raiff more than delivers on that promise here. What I’m most impressed by is how deftly this film navigates a hyper-specific tone. It manages to be earnest, awkward, and authentic all without becoming saccharine or boring. In the Richard Linklater documentary, there’s a hilarious point made by Ethan Hawke about how all of Linklater’s films are centered on pretty basic things that we’ve all thought of as ideas but are impossible to actually pull off as a movie. I feel the same way about Cha Cha Real Smooth.
Grade: A-
14th: A Scanner Darkly – Richard Linklater (2006)
This is an interesting film in Linklater’s career. It comes right in the middle of his worst stretch of movies (between Bad News Bears and Fast Food Nation) and doesn’t especially fit with the themes and ideas he’s most well-known for exploring. I actually think it’s a pretty well-made movie. Still, I can’t say that I especially connect with it. Maybe that’s just the subject matter?
Grade: B-
Sam Writes Shit 
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