If only we could recognize that those who combat us in life do so out of hidden pain, and fight them with kindness. If only we could accept our kids for who they are, and say supportive things from the heart instead of trying to mold them. If only we could be content with the life we have, and set aside the idea of the countless other lives we might have led, had we made different decisions along the way.…
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Meek's Cutoff 2010
Absolutely loved this. Director Kelly Reichardt subverts nearly all of the usual aspects of what we’ve come to expect in a Western, and yet creates a film that is gritty, tense, realistic, and gorgeous. It’s an absolute masterpiece. So many of her decisions resonated with me:
- The 4x3 aspect ratio instead of widescreen, mirroring the perspective from a covered wagon or a woman’s bonnet. Along the same lines, the lack of extraordinary scenery (e.g. Ford’s Monument Valley), instead giving…
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Turn Back the Clock 1933
There is definitely an It’s a Wonderful Life vibe to this film, with Lee Tracy in a George Bailey like role, except that instead of imagining a world where he hasn’t existed, he imagines a world where he took a different path in life, pursuing wealth instead of true love. He goes back in his life from 1933 to 1910, with fate having apparently allowed him to make a different decision about an investment opportunity, as well as who he…
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Pastoral: To Die in the Country 1974
“Basically, the whole past is just fiction.”
“But if I don’t try to express it, it remains the core of my being. Don’t you think our lives are built upon the supports of our first experience?”
“Quite the reverse! It’s more like a millstone we drag around. If one isn’t freed from one’s own memory, then one isn’t really free.”This is a film that took me some time to resonate with, as despite brilliant imagery, it was difficult for…
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The Irishman 2019
There’s something nostalgic about seeing all these stars under Martin Scorsese’s direction, and the historical elements that he relates relative to Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa were very interesting to me. Hoffa’s corruption in handling the union’s pension fund, his hard-headed personality, and how his relationship with the mafia soured, leading to his disappearance, is all well told, and the performance from Al Pacino certainly doesn’t disappoint. That’s true across the board as well, with Robert De Niro effective as the…
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The Toll of the Sea 1922
Seeing baby faced Anna May Wong, just one year out of high school at 17 and in her breakout role, is enough to make this film worth checking out. The film was shot in two-color Technicolor (red and green), which I found added to the images, rather than awkwardly detracting from them as I feared it might. Unfortunately, the plot is typical of the period, a variation of the popular Madame Butterfly story of 1898, and it’s pretty maddening. At…
