Once again I am absurdly behind at putting this together, so the commentary is a bit limited, but I wanted to have the list published before I start getting behind on the next one (given that this is apparently now the only function of this blog).
1. The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi, 1995) It's a serious miscarriage of justice that this movie was a critical and commercial failure and Sam Raimi didn't get to make like 10 more Westerns.2. Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979) All of Herzog's bleak existential despair infused into a vampire movie, with Klaus Kinski probably just being his normal self as the deranged monster.
3. Key Largo (John Huston, 1948)
4. The Man From Laramie (Anthony Mann, 1955)
5. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982) I often prefer these more contained Scorsese films over his sprawling epics, and this one really digs into a reprehensible character whose drive for fame at any cost has only become more relevant over time. I expected both Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis to be great (and they are), but I never hear much about Sandra Bernhard in this movie, and she's equally fantastic as a different kind of fame-obsessed narcissist who is also sadly still relevant. I'm not entirely sure about the ending, but everything leading up to it is a perfectly realized blend of satire and psychological thriller.
6. Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2007) Nichols' directorial debut features one of Michael Shannon's best performances, as a gambling addict in small-town Arkansas who tries to mitigate a deadly feud between his two sets of brothers. Nichols captures a rich Southern gothic tradition, from Flannery O'Connor to Drive-By Truckers, with impeccable character detail and rich dialogue. The story is a slow-burn thriller that never shies away from brutality, but also finds compassion for its misguided, tragic characters.
7. Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder, 1957) More in my Novel Suspects article, for my ongoing column on Agatha Christie adaptations (of which this is obviously one of the best).
8. Death Game (Peter S. Traynor, 1977) This thriller is like Michael Haneke's Funny Games crossed with '70s softcore porn, featuring a rare lead performance from Seymour Cassel as a wealthy businessman left alone in his comfortable suburban home after his wife and kids take a family trip. He has a seemingly Penthouse Forum-style experience when two sexy young women (Sondra Locke and Colleen Camp) knock on his door looking for directions, and proceed to seduce him into a hot sexual encounter. They then kidnap and torture him, turning his patriarchal privilege against him, in a perverse, stylish and darkly funny take on a male fantasy gone awry.
9. Time Indefinite (Ross McElwee, 1993) Maybe it's partly because I had just read about the death of Ross McElwee's son from a few years ago before watching this movie, but this struck me as bleaker than the other McElwee movies I've seen. It's bookended by happy moments, but the majority is morbid and full of existential crises, which McElwee of course expresses with his typical dry wit and self-reflection.
10. Two for the Road (Stanley Donen, 1967) As many have pointed out, this is like the entire Before trilogy combined into one movie, elegantly cross-cutting throughout. Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn seem like an unconventional pairing, but they work perfectly together as they chronicle one couple's meeting, courtship, marriage and estrangement across various trips to Europe over a dozen years.
Honorable mentions: Alligator (Lewis Teague, 1980); Antiviral (Brandon Cronenberg, 2012); Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Junta Yamaguchi, 2020); Easy Living (Mitchell Leisen, 1937); Home Movie: The Princess Bride (Jason Reitman, 2020); Paris, 13th District (Jacques Audiard, 2021); Same Boat (Chris Roberti, 2019)
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