The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty in postwar New York City transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son. It is crystal clear why The Godfather is so high up on the AFI list. It’s the “be all, end all” of movies for many. It’s a masterclass on filmmaking, honestly. And there’s so many components that director Francis Ford Coppola … Continue reading 2. The Godfather (1972)
Before I can go any further, I need to tell you a bit of my own family history. I grew up with an amazing, loving father. He discovered he had a brain aneurysm in his temporal lobe, behind his eye when I was twelve and my brother eight years old. My father was only forty-four years old when he had his first stroke. One of … Continue reading The Whale (2022)
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. Sunset Blvd marks Billy Wilder’s fourth appearance on the American Film Institute’s “100 Greatest Films” list, and rightfully so. I’ve argued repeatedly that there are too many Western’s on this list, but I would also argue that there’s never enough Billy Wilder. That man, time and time again, … Continue reading 16. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines. You know what’s funny? Every single synopsis that I’ve read for Buster Keaton’s 1926 film The General has put emphasis on the civil war aspect of the film. And, … Continue reading 18. The General (1926)
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall. Annie Hall is one of those films that always has me torn. On one hand, the film stars Woody Allen, who also wrote and directed the film, and we all know how I feel about him. On the other hand, it’s a film that I loved the first time I saw … Continue reading 35. Annie Hall (1977)
The new Charlie Kaufman film, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, has been met with a varying degree of opinions. Some really enjoyed the film while others, not so much. Personally, I liked the film, but that’s only after thinking about it overnight to really make sense of what I watched. Charlie Kaufman is a director and screenwriter that I love, so I partly knew to expect … Continue reading I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020): The Human Condition in Three Acts
“On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone’s hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.” I don’t believe that I have ever seen a Spike Lee film before. So, this was my first one. And, oh, was it a good one. It’s very clear from the beginning that Spike Lee has a … Continue reading 96. Do The Right Thing (1989)
