#36 - BOWFINGER
1999; dir. Frank Oz; starring Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham
This is a perfect comedy. Every scene and character has a game and they all coalesce into a macro tapestry. The tops and bottoms of each scene hit with such specific, clear base realities and jokes, respectively. Really damn inspiring.
It’s also visually splendid, though never showily so, and that’s the type of “excellent visual filmmaking” we should honor more. Oz and his team shoot and cut to maximum efficacy of the idea they’re communicating.
Plus, it’s full of emotion/pathos from the jump, and kudos to Martin’s screenplay and this in-cuh-redible cast for making us care deeply about such silliness!
VERDICT: STAYS AND PLAYS
#37 - BRANDED TO KILL
1967; dir. Seijun Suzuki; starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari
It seems as though every director and film I like was directly influenced by this film. And I’ve always loved looking at film history through this lens - what inspires the people that inspire me, and how can I thus get further inspired?
All of the elements that I’ve seen, loved, and played with are present in Branded to Kill. But it’s all, by design, presented as a series of jagged puzzle pieces rather than one cohesive statement. Thus, it was prohibitively difficult for me to latch onto the thing, even as I enjoyed, respected, and appreciated certain scenes, images, and moments.
Making this decision makes me feel a little like a “fake film fan,” like someone who says “I love the Beatles” but turns off the ‘50s rock and roll and R&B that inspired them. But maybe I love the Beatles and the filmmakers post-Branded because of these artists’ specific filtration of their influence. And maybe that’s how the history of creativity works, baby!
VERDICT: GOES AWAY
#38 - BREAKING
2022; dir. Abi Damaris Corbin; starring John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva
Speaking of influences and pet obsessions: I am in love with the film subgenre of “motherfuckers locked in one room are having a bad day.”
Breaking fits snugly and neatly within this micro-history, evoking especially Dog Day Afternoon. But, and my bias is admittedly showing, it plays with so much more immediacy and fervor, elevating it beyond mere genre exercise.
Its performances are out of this world exquisite (Boyega and Beharie needed Oscar noms). Its scripting, based on an awful true story, gives it a seething, sympathetic sense of societal anger that we all need to feel from time to time.
Once this sucker starts, you kinda can’t do anything else but watch it. It’s undeniable!
VERDICT: STAYS AND PLAYS
#39 - BRICK
2005; dir. Rian Johnson; starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Noah Fleiss
It’s a Brick and I’m drowning slowly!
You want more than that perfectly succinct, hilariously clever film criticism? Fine!
Basically, this film is too cool for me now, and I felt its suffocating style, not unlike the dead body that catalyzes the script, “drown me slowly.” At one point I found its voice intoxicating and inspiring - and I’m genuinely grateful for the artistic advancements watching this film when it first came out gave me.
But now? I find it obtuse and alienating. A precocious, “clever” shot across the bow, and that shot across the bow is too confusing to technically “hurt.” Johnson later perfects his formula, becoming one of my absolute fave contemporary filmmakers, but for this one…
VERDICT: GOES AWAY
#40 - BRIDGE OF SPIES
2015; dir. Steven Spielberg; starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan
Despite this film’s chilliness - in its setting’s weather patterns, Kamiński’s hyper-contrast bleach bypass-flavored cinematography, and the way every other American treats our poor Hanks - Bridge of Spies is absolutely a warm bath movie. Yeah, its 2 hour, 20 minute runtime feels a little too long on paper, but I find it gives everyone the appropriately pleasureful nooks and crannies they need to deliver some luxurious damn cinema.
Every single moment is simultaneously funny and suspenseful; evidence not only of the Coen Brothers’ original screenplay but of Spielberg’s unappreciated, Tarantino-esque “what if I played with genre and film history” qualities. He’s making some unprecedented goofs and gags, Mr. Spielbergs - but he’s honoring it all with stakes, emotions, and earnest-ass beliefs.
And that freaking film craft? Jesus. Nobody does it like Spielberg, and you can feel the actors’ great luck at working with such professionals throughout. Just a damn lovely film to watch and rewatch!
VERDICT: STAYS AND PLAYS
Thanks for checking out Greg’s Blu-Rays A-To-Z! Next week: A lot of broken men try their best to redeem themselves.