I have an ongoing love affair with New York, the city that formed me. I was born here, and though I’ve left occasionally, it was never for very long. The pace, color, and excitement of this amazing town always drew me back like a magnet, and holds me still.
No surprise then that I love experiencing the potent nostalgia of great films that recall the New York City of my early years. Here are just a few:
Blake Edwards’ “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) is one New York film whose quirky charm hasn’t faded. Based on Truman Capote’s novella, this is the story of Holly Golightly (the gossamer Audrey Hepburn), an eccentric, dreamy party girl who won’t come down to earth, and her neighbor, frustrated writer Paul Varjak (George Peppard) who falls under her spell. With a filmography as impressive as Hepburn’s, it’s notable that the cult status of “Breakfast” makes Holly her signature role. Peppard also holds his own nicely as her friend, protector, and suitor. And that score still melts my heart, particularly Henry Mancini’s immortal “Moon River”.
Perhaps the film that transports me back most completely to my New York youth is “The World of Henry Orient” (1964). Directed by George Roy Hill, “World” recounts the Manhattan adventures of two twelve-year old, private school girls (Merrie Spaeth and Tippy Walker) who fixate on, then systematically stalk, a third-rate orchestra conductor and Lothario (Peter Sellers, in top form). The two young female leads, both non-actors, give uncommonly natural performances for the time. And Angela Lansbury plays one girl’s cold, adulterous mother to perfection.
Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” (1967) is another quintessentially New York film. Shot on location at The Dakota apartment building (where John Lennon lived and thirteen years later, was shot and killed) , this story of a modern day witches’ coven with designs on the unborn child of a housewife (Mia Farrow) is a subtle, literate chiller that builds to a shocking climax. Farrow is suitably vulnerable as Rosemary, while John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon stand out in a first-rate supporting cast.
“The Odd Couple” (1968) was the second and best pairing of real-life buddies Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, playing two divorced men who are polar opposites and yet attempt to be roommates. Neil Simon’s story had been a play, and would also spawn both a long-running TV series and an ill-advised sequel. The inspired premise of a platonic, male love/hate relationship is best realized in this, the original film, with Lemmon’s neurotic and melancholy Felix Unger counter-balanced by Matthau’s Oscar Madison, a casual, carefree sportswriter who can’t be bothered to clean up..
My next two New York movies also happen to be among the best cop films ever made “The French Connection”(1971), and “Serpico” (1973).
“Connection” relates the real life story of a dogged NYPD detective who busts a large heroin ring virtually single-handedly. Gene Hackman’s electrifying performance in the central role of Popeye Doyle won him an Oscar and transformed him from solid supporting player to star virtually overnight. Shot verite-style by William Friedkin, this spellbinding movie evokes the slightly fraying quality of New York fifty years ago, which only adds to the edginess of this amazing film.
Sidney Lumet’s “Serpico”, also based on a true story, concerns a courageous young cop who decides to expose widespread corruption within the police department during the sixties. Featuring a stunning portrayal by Al Pacino in the title role (fresh off “The Godfather”), “Serpico” is the ultimate David and Goliath story, about the price of virtue in a less than virtuous world: first, isolation; then, violence.
Two years later came the release of Sydney Pollack’s gripping spy thriller, “Three Days of The Condorays Of The Condor”, starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. A CIA analyst (Redford) just happens to be absent when the rest of his colleagues are slaughtered in their Manhattan brownstone headquarters. He goes on the lam to ensure he’s not next and to discover just what’s going on. Dunaway plays his terrified hostage who first supplies cover, then over time, softens to provide even more (this is, after all, Redford in his prime). With excellent supporting turns by Max Von Sydow and Cliff Robertson, “Condor” is as engrossing and exciting as the city where it takes place.
With these superlative titles, I’ve still only scratched the surface of great cinema shot in and around New York, so happily this theme will bear revisiting.
In the meantime, my own love affair with Manhattan continues, nurtured by these special movies that romance this town, and that recall the early days of our courtship, reminding me why I fell in love in the first place.
More: 3 Favorite Flicks Shot or Set in Brooklyn
I will always remember the pure exhilaration I felt watching Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” for the first time in a theater thirty years ago.
The memory is so clear of first realizing that I was experiencing an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, deliriously entertaining but also completely fresh and unique. What made “Pulp” so exciting and distinctive?
For a start, even though the movie was comprised of familiar plotlines, the film’s structure was unconventional for the time. Sequences seemed vaguely related to each other yet were presented out of order. Still, each scene managed to stand on its own, so there was no confusion.
In addition, the film was by turns unspeakably violent and laugh-out loud funny, and those opposing characteristics merged seamlessly. You went from shock to laughter and back again, seemingly in a nanosecond.
Most intriguing was the fact that “Pulp Fiction” didn’t seem to be based on real life but on other movies. How many pictures have been made about a boxer who throws a fight? Or about a gangster who falls for the boss’s wife? The short answer is plenty.
“Pulp” was peppered throughout with obscure pop culture references (like Dick Dale surf music in a movie where we never see the ocean), and profane, razor-sharp dialogue that would have made Elmore Leonard blush (The “f-bomb” is hurled well over two hundred times). Even as it paid loving tribute to old, mostly forgotten “B” movies, “Pulp” felt ultra-hip and of the moment.
“Pulp”, of course, became an instant cult classic and runaway hit. It would inspire countless lesser efforts, resuscitate the careers of two A-list stars (John Travolta and Bruce Willis), launch two new ones (Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson), and transform the entire independent film business.
Getting “Pulp Fiction” produced was a twisty journey. On completing “Reservoir Dogs”, his first directorial effort, in 1992, Tarantino had the idea of interweaving three separate crime stories into one film. An old Mario Bava horror film called “Black Sabbath” inspired him, but this time, he wanted to merge the stories into a kind of free-form mosaic.
As he described it: “I got the idea of doing something that novelists get a chance to do but filmmakers don’t: telling three separate stories, having characters float in and out with different weights depending on the story…I’m using old forms of storytelling and then purposely having them run awry.“
He started working with writing partner Roger Avary on the script, who focused mostly on the storyline about Butch (Bruce Willis), the boxer who throws a fight. (Reportedly, Avary also conceived the brilliant Christopher Walken “gold watch” scene featuring Butch as a young boy).
Tarantino and Avary finished a draft by the end of the year. Largely thanks to the initial success of “Reservoir Dogs”, the film quickly secured initial financing. Columbia Tri-Star was the first studio to show some interest, but ultimately rejected it as “too demented” and “unfilmable”.
Next stop: Miramax, the indie studio that had just been bought by Disney. The now-infamous production chief Harvey Weinstein loved what he read and quickly picked up the film. “Pulp Fiction” would become the first feature completely financed by Miramax.
Again taking a page from the directors of Old Hollywood, Tarantino liked the idea of a stock company, and so a few of the actors from “Reservoir” would make repeat appearances in “Pulp Fiction”, including Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel and Steve Buscemi.
His original choice for Vincent Vega was another “Reservoir” cast member, Michael Madsen, but he was already committed to another film. Though Daniel Day-Lewis had expressed interest early on, Tarantino chose John Travolta, the actor who had become an immediate pop icon fifteen years earlier playing Tony Manero in “Saturday Night Fever”.
Reinforcing the idea that “Pulp” is all about other movies, it’s no coincidence that the director made sure that Travolta’s Vince Vega got to dance in the memorable “Jack Rabbit Slim’s” sequence, itself chock-a-block full of other vintage movie and music references.
Tarantino’s unerring casting instincts held with the casting of Mia Wallace. Initially more established names like Holly Hunter and Meg Ryan were floated, but after a single meeting the director was set on Uma Thurman, a 23-year-old actress poised for stardom who’d appeared in “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988) and “Henry and June” (1990). Her sly, sexy portrayal of Mia is one of the film’s greatest assets.
Hard as it is to believe, Samuel L. Jackson almost didn’t get the part of Jules. He’d treated his audition as an initial reading, and another actor, Paul Calderon, had come in after him and aced his try-out. Tarantino persuaded Jackson to come back and do it again, and this time around, it was abundantly clear who should play Jules.
Bruce Willis was an inspired choice for Butch, but getting him on-board involved was tricky. Willis was then a big star accustomed to bigger productions and pay-days. But his last few films had been box-office disappointments.
While he’d have preferred to play Vincent, he still knew that Tarantino’s project was special, so he reduced his fee dramatically. However, he also negotiated a cut of the profits, and so ultimately enjoyed a healthy pay-day for a part which didn’t involve a lot of screen time.
Other colorful supporting players- notably Ving Rhames, and veterans Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken in small but memorable turns- also help elevate “Pulp Fiction” to brilliance.
Miramax sensed they were sitting on a gold mine once they saw the overwhelmingly positive reactions at festivals; “Pulp” even won the Palme d’Or, the prestigious top prize at Cannes. They then made the bold decision of giving the film wide distribution from the get-go, an almost unprecedented move for an independent release.
Opening on over a thousand screens in mid-October, 1994, “Pulp” did better in its first weekend than a lot of mainstream releases playing in considerably more theaters. It would go on to earn over $200 million worldwide on a budget of under $20 million, including promotion.
“Pulp Fiction” garnered seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actor (Travolta), Supporting Actor (Jackson), and Supporting Actress (Thurman). It won, deservedly, for Best Screenplay.
Beyond awards, “Pulp” proved that an independent film could be both high quality and highly profitable. It gave A-list players permission to move between wide-release, crowd-pleasing movies, and smaller, smarter, quirkier films.
And in an industry tied to milking established formulas, it demonstrated that original voices and approaches in movies can pay off in a big way. It’s a lesson that Hollywood has to keep learning every few years.
It’s hard to imagine that “Pulp Fiction” will ever lose its punch or feel dated. That means we will want to revisit it often, like that old friend who’s unafraid to be outrageous because he’s fast and clever enough to pull it off.
And of course, I’d hate it if I ever forgot what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris. Happily, I don’t think I will.
Happy 30th, “Pulp Fiction”.
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Fifty years after its release, “Chinatown” (1974) endures as a stunningly effective tribute to the Bogart private eye classics and the best noir entries of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Directed by the gifted Roman Polanski, an iconic performance by Jack Nicholson as private eye J.J. “Jake” Gittes beats at the heart of this film. The rest of the cast is equally stellar, hodwever, with Faye Dunaway as twitchy, mysterious femme fatale Evelyn Mulwray, and powerhouse director John Huston playing her domineering, power hungry (and worse) father, Noah Cross. Even Polanski makes a cameo as a knife-wielding thug.
And let’s not forget Robert Towne’s sterling screenplay, peppered with smart, snappy dialogue that gives even Raymond Chandler a run for his money. In fact, out of eleven Oscar nods for the movie (including Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director), only Towne went home with a statuette for his stinging, perfectly structured script.
So I suppose, after all these years, you think you know everything about this tale of water theft and sisters, I mean daughters! No, sisters!… but I’ll just let vile water baron Noah Cross tell you… “You may think you know what you’re dealing with, but believe me, you don’t.”
Here are a few surprising facts that you probably needed a private investigator (like me) to clue you in on.
The Truth Will Out:
Even the inquisitive Jake Gittes stifles a deep yawn when listening to all the ins and outs of water rights, irrigation, and discussions of “permeable shale.” This aspect of the story may seem a bit murky, but if you know something of Los Angeles history, the reason Towne used this plot device becomes clear as a mountain spring. It’s all based on true events.
In the 1920s, self-taught engineer William Mulholland (yes, as in Mulholland Drive) conspired with political cronies to commandeer the nearest fresh water source, the Owens River, so that the ever-expanding city of Angels could continue quenching its considerable thirst. Twirling his moustache (yes, he had one!), Mulholland came up with a devious plan: to construct the longest aqueduct ever built, then drain millions of gallons of the river into a huge reservoir just outside L.A. — thus bringing all the water to town, and away from farmers near the Owens, who’d previously used it to irrigate their land. Naughty, naughty.
After 200 miles of water pipeline were built, all Mulholland needed was a dam to keep the water inside a natural canyon that he intended to turn into a lake. He then appointed himself (that was easy) to build what became the St. Francis Dam. When cracks began appearing in its foundations, he shrugged them off. Bad decision. On March 13, 1928 the damn dam gave way, leading to one of the biggest disasters in California history. Over 400 people were killed, and bodies were flung as far as Mexico in the deluge. Mulholland was thoroughly disgraced — yet perversely he’d still achieve immortality through the Drive (and the David Lynch film) that bear his name.
In “Chinatown,” Towne simply fictionalizes this occurrence – referring to it as the “Van der Lip Dam disaster,” and the characters of Noah Cross and Hollis Mulwray are both partial composites of the real Mulholland. Now, doesn’t that knowledge help everything flow in the right direction?
I’ll Be In My Trailer:
Actors can be tough to wrangle, and great ones sometimes cause more trouble, just because they know they can. It’s little secret that Jack Nicholson is an avid Lakers fan; for years, we’ve all spotted him courtside looking like he’s about to take a bite of Kobe’s beef. Well, apparently, during the shooting of “Chinatown”, he would take breaks to watch the Lakers do their own shooting, slowing production and stirring up a Napoleonic fury in the 5’5” Polanski.
Though not the first choice for Evelyn Mulwray (the part was originally intended for Ali MacGraw- yikes!), Faye Dunaway was also rumored to have been quite the diva — it’s said she required her assistants on the set to flush the toilet for her (well, it could have been even worse.)
Daddy Issues:
As it happens, during filming Nicholson was dating John Huston’s daughter, actress Anjelica. This made the scene where Noah Cross asks Gittes “Are you sleeping with my daughter” extra awkward. Not only that, Jack claims that Anjelica was visiting the set on the fateful day they filmed that exchange. Good timing, Anj! Let’s hope Jack promised to get her home before curfew.
Return of the Gittes – Chinatown Was Supposed to be a Trilogy:
Nicholson himself ended up helming a sequel to “Chinatown” called “The Two Jakes” (1990), which had a troubled production, received a cool reception from critics, and worst of all, lost money. Perhaps that’s why the intended third film was never made – Paramount just got gumshoe-shy.
According to Nicholson, he and Towne discussed how the three films would tie into the essential elements, with “Chinatown” as (anyone?) water — yes, good, you were paying attention. “The Two Jakes” would represent fire (via oil and gas), and the third film, to be titled “Gittes vs Gittes,” would tie into air (as in air pollution). Ingenious, no?
The plotline of the closing chapter was to have related to Gittes’ divorce, as well as intrigue involving wealthy magnate Howard Hughes. Wonder who’d have played him.
In 2007, Jack was quoted as saying that if Paramount wanted to go ahead, he thought the time was “just about right” for the last Gittes chapter. Apparently the studio didn’t agree — seventeen years after the last outing, Jack (at 70) was getting a little long in the tooth to be a credible sleuth. (Wearing out several pairs of shoes a month, those guys need stamina!).
So, I hope you’ve enjoyed these little-known tidbits. Of course, with a movie like “Chinatown,” there’s always more to discover, lurking just below the surface. This classic wears its fifty years well.
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Previously: How a Dinner Party Knife Fight Launched Jack Nicholson’s Career
With Halloween approaching, thoughts turn to that prized commodity in our popular culture: the horror movie.
It’s been with us since the silent days (“Nosferatu,” anyone?), and it’s one of the few genres Hollywood feels comfortable taking a risk on anymore. Horror has a built-in fan base, skewing younger and male, but also with loyal fans in middle-age.
As a longstanding member of this group, I know we all love the feeling of being terrified at a safe remove. It’s thrilling, and somehow, cathartic.
Hollywood embraces horror movies because they aren’t star-driven and don’t have to be made on opulent sets, or in a computer. Relatively cheap to produce, they can be highly profitable. (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” from 1974 was made for around $150,000. To date, it’s grossed about $30 million).
Not surprisingly, horror movies can be atrociously awful. Yet even a cheesy, amateurish outing can be perversely entertaining — a movie you laugh at, not with. Think Ed Wood’s incomparable “Plan 9 From Outer Space” (1957).
In general, I prefer my scares with a degree of subtlety and a touch of class. Looking back at just the last decade, we have worthy entries both from here and abroad. I’ve listed six of my favorites below.
If they keep you up at night, I’ll have done my job. Happy Halloween!
The Babadook (2014)
Crackerjack Australian feature from director Jennifer Kent follows Amelia (Essie Davis), still grieving the loss of her husband as she struggles to raise her troubled six-year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman). When a children’s book called “The Babadook” mysteriously appears in their house, things go from bad to worse, as the evil character in the book literally jumps off the page. Creepy film really gets under your skin.
The Witch (2015)
Director Robert Eggers’ austere, eerie entry takes us back to Puritan times, when accused witches were burned at the stake. A farming family moves to an isolated patch of land where a good harvest seems unlikely at best. When their baby disappears, mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) blames eldest daughter Thomasin (a superb Anya Taylor-Joy). Evil portents appear, and gradually the film builds to a terrifying crescendo.
Get Out (2017)
Rose (Allison Williams) decides to introduce her white parents (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) to her African-American boyfriend Chris (Daniel Kaluuya). Visiting them in the suburbs, Chris is welcomed, but he quickly senses something’s off. By the time he realizes he really should get out, it’s too late. Jordan Peele’s shocker scores as both a cutting satire on white liberal racism, and a good old-fashioned horror flick.
Hereditary (2018)
Artist Annie (Toni Collette) is absorbing the recent death of her mother, a malevolent woman whose presence lingers after death, particularly in her eccentric daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro). The disturbing atmosphere finally prompts Annie to seek help from Joan (Ann Dowd), who knows all about seances. Petrifying film co-stars Gabriel Byrne as husband Steve, who’s trying to keep it all together. Good luck with that!
X (2022)
In 1979, burlesque promoter Wayne (Martin Henderson) wants to make a porn movie. He rents a rundown rural Texas farmhouse for the set, and drives there with girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth), who’ll star along with Jackson (Kid Cudi) and Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow). On arrival, they meet their hosts, a weird, ancient couple who prove a lot more intrusive than expected. Ti West’s film, which features Jenna Ortega as the lowly sound technician, starts as an homage to campy ‘70s horror, before the blood starts gushing.
Smile (2022)
Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) is a psychiatrist who witnesses the suicide of a patient. Like the most horrific virus imaginable, whatever madness the patient had gets passed on to her. This includes visions of smiling people whose arrival signals impending mayhem. Rose must find the cure for her debilitating affliction, or die trying. Bacon (daughter of Kevin and Kyra Sedgwick) nails her demanding role, and this unnerving movie never lets up.
What would summer be without at least one trip to the beach?
Truthfully, for me one trip is about enough. I have way too many childhood memories of sandy sandwiches and horrific sunburns. And from a swimming perspective, ever since I first saw “Jaws,” I’m strictly a pool man.
Still, I’m that odd (very odd) exception. The majority of sane, healthy people love the sun, catching a wave, and hearing the pounding of the surf. As in a movie theater, there’s also a reassuring sense of community as you bask in a warm, soothing paradise with your fellow bathing suit and bikini-clad humans. A microcosm of society, sights on the beach vary from the sublime to the grotesque. And as in life, most everyone is looking around.
Not surprisingly, the innate drama of beach settings has created some of the most memorable scenes in some of our finest movies. Here’s just a sampling:
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
This undervalued comedy features a formerly reclusive tycoon (Charles Coburn) going incognito and experiencing, for the first time, the everyman joys of a very crowded beach.
From Here to Eternity (1953)
The famous surf-drenched kiss between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr was daring for the time, as Burt drops to his knees in a moment of raw desire. It’s still pretty hot.
M. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Jacques Tati’s clueless, nearly wordless Monsieur Hulot turns a seaside vacation into an almost surreal adventure, with uproarious mishaps all along the way.
A Star Is Born (1954)
Who can forget the moment when Norman Maine (James Mason) takes that final walk after realizing the burden he’s become to his celebrity spouse (Judy Garland)?
To Catch a Thief (1955)
Set on the beautiful French Riviera, Cary Grant proves that a man of fifty can still look great in a bathing suit, even next to Grace Kelly.
Dr. No (1962)
Ursula Andress makes one of the great entrances in all film when her character Honey Rider walks out of the sea with the shell she’s just caught. Brace yourself, James.
8 ½ (1963)
In Fellini’s most autobiographical film, we watch a group of boys delight to the rumba moves of a corpulent prostitute on the beach. Unforgettable.
The Endless Summer (1966)
This exhilarating doc came out just as surfing became a national craze. It follows the world’s top practitioners as they travel the globe in search of the next big wave.
Planet of the Apes (1969)
Spoiler alert: you know things are really out of control when the top of the Statue of Liberty gets washed up on the beach. One of the great endings in all film.
Death in Venice (1971)
Luchino’s Visconti’s tale of tortured desire has composer Dirk Bogarde besotted with a beautiful young man he sees on the beach. He finds he cannot leave Venice — though he should!
Jaws (1975)
Where do I begin? That famous opening scene where the lusty young couple skinny dips, or the sight of all those people racing to get out of the ocean? You pick.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Surfing enthusiast Robert Duvall authorizes some surfing “R&R” even as his unit on the beach is being fired upon. A stand out sequence in an incredible film.
Chariots of Fire (1981)
One inspiring, heroic scene has Olympians running on the beach accompanied by that memorable Vangelis theme. Both picture and score took Oscars that year.
Local Hero (1983)
Much of Bill Forsyth’s sly, charming comedy takes place on a beach in Scotland where Peter Riegert, representing an oil company, goes to buy a seaside town. Burt Lancaster is aces here.
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Jack Nicholson whoops and hollers as he drives his car on the beach in a most unconventional way at high speed. Shirley MacLaine is his willing accomplice.
A Summer’s Tale (1996)
Eric Rohmer’s knowing tale has a young man on a beach holiday waiting for his girlfriend, and initiating some new relationships in the meantime. But what happens when she shows?
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
Jason Segel escapes to Hawaii to forget the girlfriend (Kristin Bell) who just dumped him. Then she shows up with her new boyfriend. Refreshingly human and often hilarious.
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
The scene of the two young fugitives dancing and kissing to Francoise Hardy on the beach is one of this special film’s most magical moments.
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At Oscar time, when all the top contenders are vying for votes and recognition, I always think about the great movies that haven’t received the same degree of attention.
These are the “hidden gems”: movies all too easy to miss (if your career isn’t built around spotting them); but if and when you’re lucky enough to see them, they re-affirm your faith in the art of filmmaking.
These are for the most part “small” independent films, foreign entries, and documentaries. And again, you cannot rely on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to bring them to your attention.
So — if you want a break from all the glossy, high-profile titles vying for the big prize, here are some recent under-exposed winners fully deserving of the highest accolade of all: your admiration.
Oslo, August 31 (2011)
Powerful drama portrays a day in the life of a young addict who leaves rehab and makes one last attempt to fit into a world that seems to have left him far behind.
The Attack (2012)
Taut film concerns an Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv who experiences the trauma of his wife’s violent death, and uncovers a shocking, devastating secret in the process.
Beware of Mr. Baker (2012)
Don’t miss this penetrating and profane documentary of rock drummer Ginger Baker, whose blazing talent was undermined by increasingly erratic behavior.
The Selfish Giant (2013)
In this gritty outing, two boys living in poverty in the North of England salvage scrap metal that they sell to a dealer. This arrangement does not end well. The two non-pros playing the boys are superb.
Tracks (2013)
This recounts the true story of Robyn Davidson, a young woman who attempted to cross the Australian Outback in 1977. The film is stunningly shot, and actress Mia Wasikowska is magnetic in the lead.
Child’s Pose (2013)
Riveting, beautifully acted film from Romania concerns a well-connected middle-aged woman who tries to protect her deadbeat son after he causes a car accident that kills a boy.
Particle Fever (2013)
Who knew physics could be so exciting? This fascinating doc makes a rarefied field of endeavor accessible as a team of scientists seeks to identify an elusive particle.
We Are the Best! (2013)
Set in Stockholm in the early ‘80s, this buoyant, infectious romp follows three adolescent girls who form a band to affirm their undying love for punk rock as New Wave music starts kicking in.
Bastards (2013)
Steamy thriller has a former ship captain going after the shadowy businessman responsible for his brother-in-law’s death. In the process, he ends up seducing the man’s mistress. Only the French!
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Fresh, stylish entry from Iran puts a cool, feminist spin on the vampire picture, as a lovely young bloodsucker is drawn to a young man with troubles of his own.
Force Majeure (2014)
Psychological drama focuses on an affluent Swedish family on a ski vacation. When the father momentarily abandons his wife and kids when an avalanche is imminent, fissures in the marriage surface.
The Overnighters (2014)
Stranger-than-fiction doc portrays the tribulations of a North Dakota pastor who provides shelter for migrants seeking work in the oil-rich fields nearby. Soon his personal life takes a shocking turn.
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I’ve always loved France, and most everything French. One key reason is the French people’s enviable reputation for knowing how to live well. They seem to possess the perspective and confidence to savor all the good things of life: food, wine, romance, and leisure.
In keeping with this enlightened outlook, they honor and promote culture, recognizing that it gives our lives color, spice and, most important, meaning. They are justifiably proud of their film heritage: at the close of the nineteenth century, the Lumiere Brothers were the first to patent a machine that allowed people to view movies simultaneously. Meanwhile their contemporary Georges Melies created the first studio to produce motion pictures.
But it didn’t stop there. Over the century that followed, French filmmakers produced some of the most powerful and enduring movies ever made. Happily, many of these treasures are at our fingertips, streamable anytime on Amazon.
Here are just fifteen invaluable French classics, old and new, that are well worth reading subtitles for. Commencons, mes amis!
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Jean Renoir’s masterpiece follows various intrigues at a French country manor among both masters and servants. This lacerating satire on French mores on the eve of war is a multi-layered work that’s found on many top ten lists, and deservedly so.
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s riveting film concerns desperate men in South America (including a young Yves Montand) who drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerine through rocky territory. It’s both a nail biter and a powerful existential work.
Mon Oncle (1958)
Jacques Tati’s comic genius shines bright in this delightful technicolor romp where the eternally befuddled M. Hulot haplessly navigates an increasingly mechanized world. A fitting tribute and successor to the best work of silent clowns Chaplin and Keaton.
The 400 Blows (1959)
Francois Truffaut’s breakthrough film is a heartrending portrait of a neglected young boy from a dysfunctional home (Jean-Pierre Leaud) who ends up resorting to petty thievery. The story was largely autobiographical and spawned a series centering around the Antoine Doinel character (always played by Leaud).
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Jacques Demy’s all-sung, color-saturated romance introduced the world to a stunning, young Catherine Deneuve. This tribute to the Hollywood musical of the 1950s is elevated by Michel Legrand’s brilliant, Oscar-nominated score. Touching, bittersweet, and a treat for eyes and ears.
Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966)
Jean-Pierre Melville’s peerless gangster picture stars the sad-eyed Lino Ventura as a seasoned crook who escapes from jail eager to start a new life. However, he’s short of cash, and agrees to one last heist to set himself up. But with a savvy cop on his tail, will he live to enjoy the loot?
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Luis Bunuel’s inspired surrealistic exercise satirizes middle-class conventions to devastating effect. Starring Fernando Rey and Delphine Seyrig, the film tracks several couples’ interrupted attempts to have a meal together. Once seen, never forgotten.
Jean de Florette (1986)
Yves Montand plays a greedy farmer who covets the land of his new neighbor (Gerard Depardieu), and sabotages his success by surreptitiously blocking the water source. This fascinating tale of treachery from director Claude Berri spawned a sequel, 1987’s “Manon of the Spring.”
The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Director Kryzstof Kieslowski’s mind bending feature concerns two identical women (Irene Jacob) who never meet but whose lives parallel each other in intriguing ways. Though this meditation on identity and human connection raises more questions than it answers, it hardly lessens the impact.
The Dinner Game (1998)
This sidesplitting farce by Francis Veber concerns an arrogant, womanizing executive who enters a contest to bring the biggest loser he can find to a dinner with his friends. The man he picks, one Francois Pignon (Jacques Villeret), unwittingly turns the tables on his victimizer. Get ready for some sustained hilarity.
Joyeux Noel (2005)
Christian Carion’s captivating film recreates a wondrous occurrence, when on Christmas Eve, 1914, opposing sides on the Western front of World War 1 called a temporary truce and celebrated Christmas in peace. This would be the last holiday for far too many, as this poignant, evocative drama reminds us.
I’ve Loved You So Long (2008)
English actress Kristen Scott-Thomas shows off her acting and language skills playing a woman who goes to live with her younger sister’s family after fifteen years in prison. The film tracks her readjustment to life outside, and finally sheds light on the crime that put her away in the first place.
Time to Leave (2010)
Francois Ozon’s nuanced mood piece centers on gay fashion photographer Romain (Melvil Poupaud), who learns he has advanced brain cancer and elects not to treat it. We watch as this handsome, successful young man grapples with how (and whether) to come to terms with a life cut short.
The Kid with a Bike (2011)
This affecting feature from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne centers on Cyril (Thomas Doret), a troubled young boy abandoned by his father and living in an orphanage. When the town hairdresser (Cecile de France) takes an interest and volunteers to take Cyril on weekends, she quickly gets in over her head.
The Last of the Unjust (2014)
Drawing on footage from his superb 1985 documentary “Shoah,” director Claude Lanzmann returns with this disturbing portrait of Theresienstadt, dubbed by Adolf Eichmann “the ideal Jewish ghetto,” and Benjamin Murmelstein, the surviving head of the Jewish Council who dealt with the Nazis there.
More: 9 French Movies on Netflix You Should Watch Tonight
For a host of reasons, some movies grow stronger with time, while others become relics, capturing a moment in history that seems increasingly irrelevant, even quaint as the years go by.
The sheer impact and staying power of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) reflects both a gifted director at the peak of his talents, and a script dealing in universal truths that resonate with thinking, feeling audiences- then, now and always.
It all began with a short story called “The Greatest Gift,” which covered what would become the latter part of Capra’s film: George Pratt’s despair at his failure and thwarted ambition causes him to contemplate suicide. He is then visited by an angel who lets him experience an alternate reality that finally makes him realize the value of his life and what’s truly important. (Capra would later change George’s last name from “Pratt” to “Bailey.”)
The parallels to that most revered of holiday tales, Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” are clear: Scrooge too is visited by supernatural forces, who introduce scenes from his life — past, present and future — that teach him a fundamental lesson: the ultimate success is to be a good man who loves and is loved in return.
The story’s author, Philip Van Doren Stern, was not getting much interest from publishers, and decided simply to print it on a Christmas card, which he sent out in 1943. (“It’s A Wonderful Life” is thus the only movie ever made based on a greeting card!)
“The Greatest Gift” somehow found its way to an RKO producer in Hollywood, who showed it to Cary Grant’s agent. Based on the agent’s positive feedback, the studio purchased the story for $10,000 as a vehicle for Grant. Three script iterations later, the project was shelved, and ironically, Cary would go off to make another timeless Christmas classic, “The Bishop’s Wife.”
RKO then presented the story and script drafts to director Frank Capra, who was intrigued and bought the bundle for the same price: $10,000. Years later, after the film had gained its deserved acclaim, Capra would say that he didn’t even think of the story as a Christmas film. He just liked it.
Via his production company Liberty Pictures, this would become the only project that Capra would direct, produce, finance, and co-write (along with husband/wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Jo Swerling, and some uncredited “polishing” from Dorothy Parker, Dalton Trumbo, and Clifford Odets!)
Though Henry Fonda was also in the running for the lead, Capra always had James Stewart in mind as he collaborated on the final script. The two had worked together twice before, on 1938’s “You Can’t Take It with You” and the following year’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
Stewart was just back from the war and at first hesitated, feeling he might not be ready to take on such an emotional role. Only an encouraging call from Lionel Barrymore, just cast to play the evil, avaricious Mr. Potter, persuaded him to accept.
Barrymore beat out the other candidates for the Potter role (including Raymond Massey, Louis Calhern, and a young Vincent Price) simply because he’d played Scrooge on the radio to great success. Who better than Barrymore to portray this greedy, bitter character? Thomas Mitchell was also considered, but Capra decided to cast him as George’s gentle, eccentric Uncle Billy instead.
Like his contemporary John Ford, Capra had a group of actors he preferred working with, which comprised a sort of stock company. Jean Arthur was one of his favorite actresses (she’d done three Capra pictures already: 1936’s “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “You Can’t Take It with You” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”), so she was first choice for Mary Hatch Bailey. Unfortunately, she was already committed to a play. After Ginger Rogers rejected the part as being “too bland,” Capra took a chance on ingénue Donna Reed. This would be her first starring role in pictures, but not her last.
Few people realize that this so-called Christmas movie was shot between April and July of 1946 in Encino, California. A heat wave descended on the set, with temperatures rising to 90 degrees on some days. If you look closely, you can see Stewart perspiring in several scenes.
During pre-production, Capra’s team built one of the longest sets ever for the fictional Bedford Falls. It covered a full four acres, with 75 stores and buildings, and a main street extending three city blocks. (Reportedly, the town was based primarily on Seneca Falls in upstate New York, which the director had visited in 1945).
“It’s A Wonderful Life” would also introduce an important innovation in filmmaking. Up to that point, Hollywood productions had simulated snow by painting corn flakes white. It worked fine, except the loud crunching noise when actors stepped on it made redubbing of scenes necessary. Capra wanted to avoid this. So RKO’s head of special effects came up with a new compound combining water, soap flakes, foamite and sugar. It worked like a charm — no redubbing needed.
Capra had told the studio he could shoot the picture in 90 days, and he hit that target. Originally slated for an early 1947 release, the date got moved up when completion of a planned Technicolor feature was delayed at RKO. “It’s a Wonderful Life” premiered in New York City on December 20, 1946, and went into wide release the following month.
The reviews were mixed, with New York Times critic Bosley Crowther faulting the film for its “…sentimentality — its illusory concept of life.” Another problem was that just a week prior to its release, “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) premiered, a monster hit that both took attention away from “Wonderful Life” and gobbled up all the major Oscars that Capra’s film was nominated for, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor.
The film would not come close to recouping its costs over its first-run release, a major disappointment for the director who’d put so much of himself into it — mentally, emotionally, and financially. Over the years though, Capra would always cite “Wonderful Life” as his personal favorite among all his films, and his star Jimmy Stewart would say the same thing.
Much like George Bailey’s moving redemption which caps this amazing work, Capra lived to see his beloved film vindicated on a scale he could hardly have anticipated. Once again, television was the medium responsible. Annual Christmas broadcasts of the movie began in the late ‘70s, and over time, “Wonderful Life” gained a huge and appreciative new audience as it became an ongoing staple of the season.
The film’s influence on popular culture is significant. It’s been referenced in countless TV shows and movies, adapted to radio and TV, musicalized on the stage, and most recently, even turned into an opera. It ranks high on most any list of the best movies ever made.
“It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,” Capra said in a 1984 interview. “The film has a life of its own now, and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I’m like a parent whose kid grows up to be president. I’m proud … but it’s the kid who did the work.”
With respect, it was Frank Capra and his remarkable team of actors, writers and technicians who did the work. And what they created was a brilliant and enduring classic that evokes the true spirit of Christmas year after year.
Attaboy, Frank!
More: Holiday Romance — 6 Christmas Movies That Will Fan the Flames of Love
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Drinking can be treacherous for many people, but I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy it over the years. Though technically a depressant, booze usually cheers me up and fortifies me, particularly when confronting a room full of relative strangers. As Hemingway put it, “I drink to make other people more interesting.”
Not surprisingly, alcohol is a recurring theme in many of our most beloved films. As we all know, by loosening our defenses and inhibitions, liquor accentuates mood, intensifying joy and sadness, affection and anger. Whether its role is benevolent or corrosive depends, of course, on the drinker, their personality and their circumstances. And in that seemingly obvious observation lies the stuff of great stories.
Below is my list of favorite drinking scenes. Some are side-splittingly funny, others unbearably sad. But they all speak to the human condition and help make the movies in which they appear more powerful, insightful and memorable.
The Thin Man (1934)
“Ammunition!” Debonair detective Nick Charles (William Powell) tutors his friends on shaking the right cocktails to the right music. For martinis, it’s strictly waltz time!
The Awful Truth (1937)
In a bittersweet scene in this screwball classic, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne make a sad toast as their divorce is about to come through. The champagne, of course, is flat.
The Bank Dick (1940)
W.C Fields, legendary tippler, plays a bank guard who takes the bank examiner to the Black Pussycat Café, and feeds him a “Mickey Finn” to delay him checking the books. Sublime.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Jimmy Stewart is a reluctant reporter assigned to a socialite’s nuptials who drinks way too much at the rehearsal dinner. His drunken exchange with the sober Cary Grant is justly famous.
Casablanca (1942)
Just when bar owner Bogart is beginning to recover from a broken heart, the lady in question (Ingrid Bergman) walks right back into his life. He drinks, and he vents. “Of all the gin joints…”
Ray Milland rips your guts out as a falling down drunk who bullies, begs and cajoles bartender Howard da Silva for one more shot of rye. This film still packs a punch all these years later.
Key Largo (1948)
Gangster Edward G. Robinson publicly humiliates his boozy mistress (Claire Trevor), forcing her to sing a song in exchange for a drink. It’s still painful to watch this exercise in unalloyed cruelty.
Harvey (1950)
On a lighter note, Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) enjoys a pop, but never imbibes alone. He always buys a round for Harvey, the six-foot tall invisible rabbit who never leaves his side.
Father of the Bride (1950)
Hosting a party for his daughter’s nuptials, Spencer Tracy believes everyone will be happy with martinis, and makes several pitchers. To his mounting frustration, everyone orders something else.
Picnic (1955)
William Holden is a former football star who lands in a Kansas town and finds himself drawn to his old friend’s homecoming queen girlfriend (Kim Novak). Things get messy when everyone drinks too much at the local picnic.
The Apartment (1960)
The scene where the lonely C.C Baxter (Jack Lemmon) gets hammered at a bar on Christmas Eve and ends up taking home a floozy manages to break your heart even as you laugh.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Really, the whole movie is a drinking scene, with plentiful alcohol fueling one couple’s hate and resentment. This blistering film may reflect Liz Taylor’s finest moment on-screen.
The Graduate (1967)
When Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) gives his mother’s friend (Anne Bancroft) a ride home and she asks him in for a drink, boy is he surprised. And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The scene of Karen Allen successfully competing in a contest that involves downing continual shots sends the message she’s plenty tough and can take care of herself. All of which is borne out later.
Goodfellas (1990)
The brutal scene in the bar where Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) goes mental on an older gangster who remembers Tommy’s early days shining shoes remains a highlight.
Out of Sight (1998)
George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez may be on opposite sides of the law in this highly entertaining Elmore Leonard adaptation, but that hardly affects their sexual chemistry when they meet for cocktails.
Young Adult (2007)
Charlize Theron is a gorgeous, alcoholic writer who returns home and simply assumes her old boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) will leave his wife for her. The scene when she realizes he’s really moved on is a doozy.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Kristin Wiig is a bridesmaid whose personal issues surface when she’s selected to be in her best friend’s wedding. Don’t miss her hilarious drunk scene as she tries to infiltrate a plane’s first class cabin.
More: 16 Famous Actors Known to Have a Drink, or Five
Film scholars may differ on the top Bogart-Bacall outing, but for me it’s their second film, “The Big Sleep” (1946), directed by the inimitable Howard Hawks.
It is, first and foremost, the quintessential private eye picture, along with the earlier Bogart classic, “The Maltese Falcon” (1941). The film succeeds in spite of the fact that its dense, twisty plot leaves most viewers slightly bewildered at the closing credits.
Even the pros making the movie were confused. At one point, Hawks and screenwriter William Faulkner called Raymond Chandler, the author of the book on which the film is based, to inquire just who had killed the chauffeur. “Hell if I know!” was the writer’s laconic response.
All you need to know is that Humphrey Bogart makes private detective Philip Marlowe his own, even though Dick Powell had originated the character in “Murder My Sweet” (1944). Also, the case Marlowe’s on involves blackmail and murder- lots of it.
This movie taught Hawks that logic need not be the primary consideration in telling a story cinematically, if you happen to have dazzling star power and a razor-sharp script (credited to Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman).
The backstory on this production is rich. The romance between the stars had begun on another Hawks picture, 1944’s “To Have and Have Not” , which was Bacall’s film debut. How did she get there? Pure chance. Hawks’s glamorous wife Slim had originally spotted the eighteen-year old beauty on a fashion magazine cover, and told her husband “she’s got something.” He agreed, brought her out to Hollywood for a screen test, and promptly cast her opposite Bogie.
Understandably, Hawks felt highly protective of Bacall — some say he was infatuated with her. So he was livid when she fell into a steamy affair with her leading man, who was both married and twenty-five years her senior. Still, there was little he could do, and privately, he had to admit that Bogie’s infatuation made this normally moody, irascible actor go out of his way to help Bacall deliver a credible performance. Basically, she had no acting experience, and would shake like a leaf before, during and after each take. Bogie became a soothing, reassuring presence.
Now, less than a year later, the couple were starting their second film with the director who’d unwittingly brought them together. The affair had shown no signs of cooling, and as a result, Bogart’s rocky marriage to alcoholic actress Mayo Methot was in its death throes. Conflicted about leaving his unstable wife, Bogie himself was drinking too much, and at one point Hawks had to call him out after one too many scotches over the lunch break.
There were issues on-screen as well as off. Viewing first the rushes and then the final cut, Warner executives became increasingly concerned about Bacall’s performance. Martha Vickers, who plays Bacall’s younger sister in the film, had come through with a highly sensual, attention-grabbing performance; by comparison, Bacall was disappearing into the scenery.
The studio had good reason to be worried and watchful. Though Bacall had scored on her first film, her follow-up, “Confidential Agent,” had been a turkey. She was miscast as an Englishwoman and shared zero chemistry with co-star Charles Boyer. If she didn’t rebound in this picture, her film career could fizzle out fast, Bogie or no Bogie.
The decision was made to re-edit the film, cutting some of Vickers’s scenes and shooting a couple of new sequences that replicated the sexual heat the stars had generated in “To Have and Have Not.” The re-shoot included this exchange between Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge (Bacall), which would become one of the most memorable moments in the movie:
Vivian: Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them work out a little first, see if they’re front runners or come from behind, find out what their hole card is, what makes them run.
Marlowe: Find out mine?
Vivian: I think so.
Marlowe: Go ahead.
Vivian: I’d say you don’t like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a little lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Marlowe: You don’t like to be rated yourself.
Vivian: I haven’t met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Marlowe: Well, I can’t tell till I’ve seen you over a distance of ground. You’ve got a touch of class, but I don’t know how, how far you can go.
Vivian: A lot depends on who’s in the saddle.
The re-edited version came out early in 1946, even though most of the film had been shot in 1944 and early ’45. (If you look closely you can see signs of a nation on a wartime footing. Examples include a female cab driver and ration stickers for gasoline). Warner’s was happy to postpone the film’s release; by this point they knew the conflict would end soon, and still had a few patriotic war pictures they wanted to put out before they became irrelevant.
Thus the first version of the movie that the studio had fretted about was shown only to troops overseas in 1945. The rest of the public only saw the second version. While the first is less confusing, with more exposition along the way, most viewers agree that the re-edited film is more entertaining. Though some critics voiced frustration at the impenetrability of the story, the public ate it up, as they still do seven decades later.
As a result, Bacall was back on top professionally, and her personal life was also on the upswing. She and Bogie were finally married shortly after “The Big Sleep” wrapped. They would make two more movies together before the decade was out — both winners. They’d also make two babies: Stephen, named for Bogie’s character in “To Have and Have Not,” and daughter Leslie, named for the late actor Leslie Howard, who had insisted Bogart be cast in his breakthrough movie role as Duke Mantee in “The Petrified Forest” (1934). Their marriage would last until Bogie’s death from cancer in 1957.
I close with the lines that made Betty Bacall famous at the tender age of nineteen:
“You know you don’t have to act with me, Steve. You don’t have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow.”
Thankfully, Bogie whistled.
More: Lauren Bacall’s 9 Best Performances
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