Category: Film

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Greatish Performances #21

Dan Seeger

#21 — Jeff Bridges as Jack Lucas in The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991) Legacy is a tricky thing for actors. When the time comes to start assessing which films stand as their seminal works, a reckoning that often comes after an obituary has been penned and published, the list of necessary titles might be shaped by factors that stand outside the performances themselves. A film that is considered a classic but might not contain the performer’s finest work takes primacy over a compromised or forgotten outing that ultimately holds within it better or more representative acting. I have a feeling … Continue reading Greatish Performances #21

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Now I’ve got goons on my landing, thieves on my trail, Nazis on my telephone, willing me to fail

Dan Seeger

As is often the case with the most significant media innovations, the introduction of the the sort of pervasive punditry that absolutely infests broadcast new a few decades later came about as a sort of desperate accident. ABC was mired in last place, trailing well behind competitors CBS and NBC, when it came time to cover the presidential nominating conventions of the Republicans and the Democrats. The other networks opted for their usual gavel-to-gavel coverage, something ABC couldn’t afford. (It’s worth noting that this was at a time when the conventions were far more likely to be newsworthy events, as opposed to … Continue reading Now I’ve got goons on my landing, thieves on my trail, Nazis on my telephone, willing me to fail

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From the Archive: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Dan Seeger

This week’s review is dug out of the archive thanks to the recent (and fabulous) Key & Peele sketch. I and my movie reviewing cohort saw Gremlins 2: The New Batch together during the summer of 1990, while we were formulating the idea of launching a movie review show in the fall. It’s very possible this was the movie that sparked the idea of launching a movie review show in the fall. Though the show wasn’t up and running when this was released, we found ways to cover Joe Dante’s spirited sequel a couple of times, including this review upon its … Continue reading From the Archive: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

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Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty

Dan Seeger

#20 — Drunken Angel (Akira Kurosawa, 1948) One of film history’s most amazing partnerships between director and actor begins here. Akira Kurosawa cast Toshiro Mifune sixteen times over a span of fewer than twenty years, making the actor feel like the great director’s manifestation of self on screen, in much the same way that Martin Scorsese once admitted he cast Robert De Niro repeatedly in the parts he himself would like to play (presumably Leonardo DiCaprio has fulfilled much the same role in recent years). It could, however, be even simpler than that. Drunken Angel so fully takes advantage of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty

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By the time I get to Phoenix she’ll be risin’

Dan Seeger

Phoenix takes place in Germany shortly after the end of World War II. The city of Berlin is reeling, much of it still in ruins, and the portion of its Jewish population that somehow survived the concentration camps is returning, warily ready to restart their lives but still understandably burdened by spiritual wounds that will likely never heal. One of those returning is Nelly (Nina Hoss), whose face was badly damaged by a bullet wound. The doctor charged with reconstructive surgery asks her about the appearance she’d like him to provide. Nelly insists she wants to look like herself, a choice … Continue reading By the time I get to Phoenix she’ll be risin’

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I wanna write my whole life down, burn it there to the ground

Dan Seeger

Brilliance is devilishly difficult to capture on film. So often, the necessary concessions that come with condensing prickly complexities into a concise cinematic narrative leave supposed acts of creative genius looking like shabby husks and the individual behind such revered greatness falling into pat, simplified categories, disposable icons with fervent spark and chasm-like flaws. Maybe the mightiest accomplishment of the many within The End of the Tour is the film’s honest, complicated, engrossing consideration of how brilliance resides uneasily in a society unprepared to meet it with due respect and gratitude. It is one of the few instances I can think of in … Continue reading I wanna write my whole life down, burn it there to the ground

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Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-One

Dan Seeger

#21 — Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943) Family is a twisty, tricky thing. For Charlie (Teresa Wright), a cheery teenager in a small California town, the imminent arrival of her uncle, also named Charlie (Joseph Cotten), is cause for rejoicing. The two have an obvious connection through their shared nickname (he’s Charles, she’s Charlotte), but there are hints at other parallels, with director Alfred Hitchcock framing them in similar ways in their respective introductions. The connection is positioned as profound, which of course only serves to make an eventual spiritual betrayal all the more harsh. Shadow of a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-One

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Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-Two

Dan Seeger

#22 — The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) I need to begin with a confession. As might occasionally be the case in a lifelong journey through film, I was initially wrong about The Third Man. First encountering it in a college film class (or, to be more precise, an English class taught by a movie-crazy professor who found a way to wrangle her passion into three credits worth of her teaching load), I found Carol Reed’s lush film noir to be, well, dull. It’s too long ago for me to pinpoint what triggered this reaction, especially when refracted through my later … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-Two

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Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-Three

Dan Seeger

#23 — The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (Preston Sturges, 1944) My general inclination is to look askance at films that overtly rely on cultural daring to make their impact. This isn’t always true, as the use of variants of “audacious” in any number of rave reviews will testify. Further, that policy softens significantly the earlier a film’s copyright date. There are instances where I can’t help but marvel at the material that was slipped past Hollywood’s strict codes. I’d like to think that my critical acumen remains heightened enough that I can see through the older films that are as hollow as … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Twenty-Three