Let's see...
Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
9/10
This is called a neo-noir, but it is much more in line with the classic noir films, in my opinion. He manages to hit all of the beats that are traditionally found in classic noir, but he also somehow manages to make it stand on its own, rather than serving merely as an homage or mash-up. Perhaps it's the fact that it can show some of what older noir films could only imply (such as Gittes's nose being cut). Jack Nicholson is really good in this; he manages to give a character that is traditionally very cold and calculation a warmth and humor that made him very identifiable. I also loved the soundtrack; though jazz is traditionally a very cool style of music, the music in this film somehow manages to convey a certain warmth that really helps to draw the viewer into the story. Overall, this is a very good film. I'm not sure why I am giving it a 9 instead of a 10; I think that I just started the movie a little light and couldn't get as into it as I probably should have because I was fighting back sleep as I watched it. I will definitely be rewatching it in the future, as I think it deserves better than what I gave it.
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
10/10
Awesome. In most respects, Wilder's films have not aged a day; I have not yet seen Double Indemnity or The Apartment, but I have seen Ace in the Hole, Some Like it Hot, and now this and enjoyed all of them quite a bit. I think Ace in the Hole is still my favorite of his, but this film is a close second. Gloria Swanson's performance is one of the all-time greats; she is funny, expressive, dark, and ultimately very tragic. von Stroheim is also wonderful in this; I have only seen him in two things (this and The Grand Illusion), but what I like about him is that he manages to hit this really perfect spot in which he is very, very mannered but also very warm and humane at the same time. He may be feeding into Norma's delusions, but we know that he is only doing it because of his love for her. William Holden does a very good job as the lead character; I love how the lead characters in noir film almost step outside of the stories and become commentators. Anyway, I loved the shit out of this movie.
Umberto D. (Vittorio de Sica, 1952)
9.5/10
A fine piece of neorealist filmmaking. During the first act of this film, I was not really sold on it; I simply could not get into it, for whatever reason. However, at some point in the second act (and when I use act, I mean it more in the sense of time, as I don't know that this film can be said to follow a traditional 3-act structure), I started getting really into it; I think it's Umberto's relationship with his dog that really got to me, as I am a huge dog lover, and this is certainly one of the great man/dog relationships that I have ever seen in a film (it has inspired me to seek out Wendy and Lucy sometime soon). I think that what changed was that in the second act, I came to understand the true meaning of Umberto's fight. He is not fighting to keep his apartment. He is fighting for dignity in a world that has no more use for him. When he considers suicide toward the end, it is not cowardly; it is logical. We understand what is driving him to that, and even if we don't want him to do it, we don't begrudge him his choice. I was also very moved at the way that the dog gets mad at him toward the end, and I was touched when they 'made up'. I still think The Bicycle Thief (I know that that title is a mistranslation, but I actually prefer it) is better, but this is a very, very close second (and it could overtake it with time).
Ballast (Lance Hammer, 2008)
9/10
A very truthful story of 3 people who try to get their lives back into order after a suicide. All 3 of the principles perfectly embody their characters. Lawrence is a man who has just lost half of himself and is not sure what to do with himself anymore; I was a little bit touched when he finally had gotten himself together enough to get his dog back from his neighbor. James is a wannabe gangsta whose voice hasn't even changed yet; there is both comedy and tragedy in his attempts at intimidation toward the beginning of the movie. He undergoes a very successful arc as he tries to incorporate Lawrence as some sort of quasi-father figure, and by the end of the film, we have the sense that he is finally on the right track. Marlee is somebody who has been dealt a raw deal in life; she looks young, but at the same time, her years of substance abuse manifest themselves in her face and mannerisms. She is a full-time mother; she has a job, yes, but that job only exists for her to scrape together enough money to put food in their mouths from week to week. The strange little family that these three create out of tragedy is heartwarming. I said it earlier, but American neo-neorealism (a cumbersome term) is one of the best fledgling genres; I think that this film ranks below the works of Ramin Bahrani, but it is still very nice (and there are some very pretty shots in it).
Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)
8/10
Hitchcock was one of the all-time great directors; he always made very effective choices. However, I think that his scripts were sometimes mixed bags, and this film is an example of that for me. I loved all of the stuff with Uncle Charlie; anything with Joseph Cotten gets bonus points, as the man knew what he was doing on the camera. I also loved the bits of humor between the father and the friend as they discussed how to kill one another. I thought the parts with the detective, however, were a little bit weak, particularly the romance angle. Plus, I think that Hitchcock makes a couple of strange editing choices, and the curtain line is pretty lame. However, this film DOES have one of the best deaths that I have ever seen at the end of it; watching a man fall out of a moving train only to be hit by another train is somehow very satisfying. Overall, I enjoyed this film, but it's not one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.
The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)
9.5/10
A good movie about making movies. This film is more plot-driven than some other Altman films, but he still throws in a lot of those trademark Altman touches (particularly in some of the party scenes toward the beginning, and of course, the opening shot somehow manages to be perfectly Altman in its execution while still quoting Touch of Evil). There is a lot of tension created from the dual story threads (the post cards and Tim Robbins' murdering of the writer), and I squirmed in my bed during the scene where he finds the snake in the car. I also enjoyed the bit of self-reflexivity toward the end. I didn't care for the bit about Whoopi Goldberg's character looking for tampons, but that was my only real qualm. This film also hit my personal love for movies where you are forced to identify with a scumbag. Overall: another fine film from Mr. Altman.
i have mostly good things to say about the following films...
