Winter Viewing

Here’s what I’ve been watching on DVD and what I thought of it. 

Network (1976) – “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Ned Beatty won an Academy Award for his performance in one incredible scene. This is a portrait of power, the overly ambitious and greed. I watched it with the Sydney Lumet commentary on as well. He gives a lot of credit to Paddy Chayefsky, the writer, whose life story and career is almost as interesting as the movie.

A Real Pain (2024) – I watched this one and then a BTS video. It’s a powerful film. A Jesse Eisenberg vanity film about anything but vanity. Kieran Culkin controls his characters’ mercurial nature so it’s as sharp as a knife. And his performance is reason alone to check this one out.  However, there is a visit to a WWII Polish concentration camp, Majdanek, that will leave you with a lump in your throat, at least.

 Three Short Films by Werner Herzog – Featuring The Dark Glow of the Mountains (2008)  I’d like to teach a college course on the early documentaries of Werner Herzog. Seriously. What impresses me is how he is unafraid to ask the most direct questions. Like, “What was your mothers’ reaction when you told her your brother was dead?”  Herzog means serious business. In Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984), he gets caught in a fire fight between Nicaraguan rebels and counter-revolutionaries along the Honduran border. Most people would be packing their bags but Herzog is just digging in.

Chef (2014) Jon Favreau inspires in this feel good movie about the pain and pleasure of making cuisine. I listened to the commentary on this film, which included the thoughts of celebrity Chef and co-producer Roy Choi. I loved the Latino-centric vibe of the film which also stars John Leguizamo and Sofia Vergara. And I enjoyed how it becomes a road movie, traveling to some of my favorite foodie places like Austin, New Orleans and LA. 

Stalker (1979) This Andrey Tarkovsky film is based off of the sci-fi novel Roadside Picnic which involves an alien invasion and a room that will bring your single most desired wish to life. Sounds like a good deal except that the room has penchant for killing people. The eponymous Stalker refers to the guide who smuggles daring folks into this heavily guarded zone. This allegorical and philosophical film is difficult and I had to break it up into two viewings. It’s a slow slow burn. Characters disappear and appear in unlikely locations. Characters sleep. But at least for me, the payoff was worth it. So I’d say if you are a total film nerd or love a deeply intellectual and even absurdist film, it’s a must and well worth the effort. Stalker is also prescient in its dystopian imagery of the towers of a nuclear power plant, only a few years before the Chernobyl disaster. 

Six in Paris (1965) – I was looking forward to this collection of 6 films from famous New Wave directors. Ultimately it was rough and amateurish. Disappointing and not memorable. If you’d like an anthology of films about Paris I’d recommend Paris, Je t’aime (2006). Olivier Assayas’ segment is titled “Quartier des Enfants Rouges”, stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and is one of my favorite films ever, long or short. It’s a perfect moral tale, which leads to my next viewing. 

Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales (2020). All of these films are interesting on their own merits. And this Criterion box set includes other cool short films, a documentary and several TV shows from the 1970s with the actors, producers and Rohmer himself. It also includes a book from which these films are based on. If that’s not the definition of literary film, I can’t imagine what is. What absolutely stopped me in my tracks is a film called “My Night At Maud’s”. There are long scenes in this film of people talking about philosophy and religion and relationships. It’s amazing. I have to say it blew my mind to watch people talking at length in a movie. I didn’t think it was possible. But here before my eyes Rohmer proved it’s more than possible and if the characters are interesting and have something to say, it’s mesmerizing, enlightening and inspiring. The other noteworthy film for me in the series is La collectionneuse, shot by Néstor Almendros, who would go on to win an Academy Award for Days of Heaven. There is a similar all natural aesthetic here, in the beautiful countryside around Saint-Tropez. La collectionneuse has to be in the top ten bougie films of all time and is great viewing for a cold, dark winter’s night, as the song says. 

Fearless (1993) – Directed by the great Australian, Peter Weir, this film stars Rosie Perez, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role, Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, John Turturro and the Bay Area. The strangest thing about this film for me is that I didn’t recall ever watching it until a powerful scene with Perez and Bridges toward the end of the movie. That scene jarred my memory. I must have watched this film 30 years ago! So that was a strange phenomenon. It’s a heavy film, dealing with post-traumatic stress from a plane crash. And is based on the stories of survivors from the crash of United Airlines Flight 232 in Sioux City Iowa in 1989. It’s a solid film that I think has been overshadowed by Weir’s more popular works.

Brazil (1985)- This is peak-Gilliam in my humble opinion. It’s wrapped in all of his visual mastery, Monty Pythonesque humor, his steampunk sensibility and an absolutely sick supporting turn by Robert De Niro. Jonathan Pryce stars in this film and as I’ve watched it three times this year, I’ve come to appreciate his physical comedy. There is a moment early on where the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup, another one of the great political satires of all time, is playing on a tv monitor. It’s an apt homage as Brazil is another film in that great tradition. Shameless plug, if you are in the Appleton, Wisconsin area, or want to be, I’ll be screening Gilliam’s Time Bandits and The Fisher King in February and March of 2026, respectively, at the 9th Annual 602 Club Winter Film Series. Join us! 

Have a Happy New Year and a Happy Winter. — L