Last year, the British Film Institute released its decennial list of The Greatest Films of All Time, as decided by a survey of over 1,600 critics and scholars. This year, as something of a New Years Resolution, I’m going to try to watch all 100 of these movies, and write a little bit about each…
Sight & Sound Challenge #78 (tie): “Sunset Boulevard” (1950)
Is “SUNSET BLVD” a horror movie that’s funny, or a comedy that’s scary? Both, neither, it doesn’t matter.
Sight & Sound Challenge #84 (tie): “Blue Velvet” (1986)
David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” opens with a dreamlike collage of suburban idyll and wholesome Americana. Then, a man collapses doing yard work behind his picket fence and the camera leads us underground, where writing black beetles churn beneath the manicured lawn. It’s a masterful and unsettling introduction to a film about the dark side of…
Sight & Sound Challenge #84 (tie): “Pierrot le Fou” (1965)
I’ve fallen into an old cliche with this project — the one where you make a New Years resolution, and stick with it really diligently for a month before falling back into old habits. I’m very behind on my moving watching and movie blogging! But I haven’t stopped entirely. Case in point: I recently watched…
Sight & Sound Challenge #45 (tie): “Barry Lyndon” (1975)
I’ve been trying to go through this list more or less in order, but Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” represents my first big break with with that. It’s for a good reason, though: Yale’s “Treasures From the Yale Film Archive” series was screening a pristine 35mm print. How could I say no? This was my second time…
Sight & Sound Challenge #90 (tie) “Parasite” (2019)
That last few years have seen a glut of movies and TV shows about class conflict and the vulgarity of wealth inequality. Just off the top of my head, there’s been “Knives Out,” “Squid Game,” “White Lotus,” “The Menu,” “Triangle of Sadness,” etc. Bong Joo-ho’s “Parasite” certainly wasn’t the first example of the trend —…