10 films: Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Walk the Line
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956). People are replaced by alien copies grown from vegetable pods. Surprisingly good, with the genuine eerie paranoid atmosphere of certain nightmares. [8/10]
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951). An alien lands and tries to stop the violence and wars of Earth. The film is a brilliant plea for pacifism, and one of the few non-corny 1950s science-fiction films. It was fun to learn where Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi, 1992) got the famous phrase “Klaatu barada nikto”. [9/10]
Hearts in Atlantis (Scott Hicks, 2001). A young boy is befriended by an old man, who says he has secret powers and is chased by government agents. The original story is by Stephen King, and for some reason a lot of his works don’t translate well to cinema. This film is boring and predictable. [6/10]
The Thing from Another World (Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks, 1951). A spaceship crash lands in the Arctic and a team of scientists and soldiers fight it out with one of the surviving monsters. Nice mood, great tension between curious scientists and order-following soldiers, and special effects that still hold up good. Another good 1950s sci-fi. [9/10]
Hard Times (Walter Hill, 1975). During the Great Depression a tramp fights street boxing fights for money. A very simple film with few surprises, but interesting if you want to see a tough guy acting, well, tough, and beat people up for 93 minutes. [7/10]
Ā bout de souffle (English title: Breathless) (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960). A man kills a police officer in cold blood, runs from the scene and hooks up with a girl he wants to escape with. High tempo, unsympathetic characters, and a film that tries so hard to be cool it’s entertaining. [8/10]
Tempo di massacro (English title: Massacre Time) (Lucio Fulci, 1960). In the Italian wild west a man learns his home ranch has been taken over by a greedy, evil guy, so he returns home to fight them off. A violent western with the kind of one-dimensional characters you expect, but done with a sense of self distance that makes it highly enjoyable. [8/10]
Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972). Four men go on a canoe trip where nothing turns out the way they want to. I’ve heard a lot about this film, about the famous male rape scene where a character threatens he’s going to make his victim “squeal like a pig”, how the script is used in classes as an example of a perfection, and how Quentin Tarantino watched it age 8 without flinching, but cried when Bambi’s mother died. My expectations were high, and yes, the film is very good and a classic for good reasons, but parts of it felt contrived and over the top. [8/10]
Jade Warrior (original title: Jadesoturi) (Antti-Jussi Annila, 2006). A modern-day Finnish man learns he has mystical sword-fighting powers, and has to battle an ancient evil. The idea of a Finnish Kung fu film is cool, but the execution is less interesting. The fight scenes are OK, but the story has been told too many times to be fun anymore. [6/10]
Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005). Singer Johnny Cash’s rise to fame, his drug addiction and broken marriage, and his determination to keep singing. You don’t need to like Cash’s music to enjoy the film, but it doesn’t hurt. My dad has the LP record At San Quentin, live from the prison, and I used to listen to it as a kid, so I’m familiar enough with Johnny Cash. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon performed all music themselves without dubbing, and even learned their instruments from scratch, which is most impressive. A good film, especially if you’re interested in the artists. [8/10]