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One Cut of the Dead (Japan, 2017)

What happens if you're filming a zombie movie when a zombie apocalypse breaks out? One Cut of the Dead attempts to answer that question. Said apocalypse happens in real time without cuts or edits. It's a technical achievement on par with Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, but with zombies.

One Cut of the Dead is also clearly inspired by Charlie Brooker's Dead Set, where the cast of a Big Brother reality show are locked inside of the Big Brother house when a zombie apocalypse breaks out.

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

James William Guercio, the record producer who discovered and nurtured such acts as Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago directed exactly one film, Electra Glide in Blue.

Best known as a pop music producer and owner of Caribou Ranch recording studios outside of Nederland, Colorado, Guercio produced and directed this western on motorcycles as a sort of great American novel on film. Personally, I'm a sucker for these films from the American New Wave. But this isn't Easy Rider, where the younger generation condemns and threatens societal institutions. Electra Glide in Blue is a far more nuanced examination of the definition of success and the American Dream.

Robert Blake is brilliantly cast as a short-statured motorcycle cop in rural Arizona with ambitions of making detective. And Jeannine Riley (of Petticoat Junction fame) gives a moving performance as an aging starlet. 

Conrad Hall's cinematography captures the desolate beauty of Monument Valley. Most of the band Chicago play smaller roles as hippies, and an eagle-eyed observer can even catch a young Nick Nolte in the background of some scenes.

Aniara (2018)

Who's up for some Swedish science fiction? 

Aniara is dark, high-concept science fiction film which ponders everything from cruise ship culture to class warfare. Set in the near future, a luxury, high-speed cruise ship in space ferrying rich passengers from Earth to Mars. The inevitable accident occurs which sends them careening out of the solar system with no means of reversing trajectory. This film is about the evolution of a society on ship in which the passengers have no control over their direction or destination.

I was struck by how well the familiar themes and mood of an Ingmar Bergman film can mesh with a futuristic, science fiction setting. Be warned -- this film isn't going to leave you in a very good mood. But it is intriguing and worth your time.

Parasite (2019)

I can't say that I've ever been a fan of South Korean cinema, but Bong Joon Ho's Parasite has me intrigued and I'm seeking out more of his films, at the very least.

Parasite won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, along with something like 28 other international film awards as of this writing. It's quirky, funny, and the characters draw you in. The fact that it is a foreign film to American audiences means that you really don't know what to expect. This film doesn't fall neatly into any category, and you certainly don't have a clue as to how everything will resolve by the end of the movie.

I can't wait to discover more of Bong Joon Ho's films. And I highly recommend that you take a chance on this one, even if you're not one of those "foreign film types."

What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

This 1971 exploitation film stars Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, and Dennis Weaver. And it's raunchy, weird fun. You can tell it was made by some people who truly understand the craft of filmmaking. But it's very uneven. For the most part, the script is incredibly tight. This film moves, and you're never bored. Agnes Moorehead (Endora from Bewitched) is nothing short of brilliant in a supporting role as a radio evangelist.

The fact that Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters were best friends only adds the to strangeness of this situation. I will cop to the fact that the only reason I checked this out was because I'd recently read Rachel Syme's excellent New Yorker article titled, Watching Shelley Winters Go Rogue in Debbie Reynolds’s 1983 Exercise Video, “Do It Debbie’s Way.” This is weird stuff, indeed.

So take a chance on this and peer into the weird and wonderful friendship of Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.

All Night Long (1962)

Patrick McGoohan and Charles Mingus walk into a bar...

I'll admit it. I watched this film because of the jazz and fact that it was released by Criterion. I kept watching because I was sucked into the plot of Shakespeare's Othello set in a 1962 London jazz club. 

The film mixes actors and jazz musicians on the same stage. And it quite successfully sets the scene of a private jazz club on the Thames owned by ultra-wealthy Richard Attenborough in the role of Roderigo, or in the hipster parlance of the jazz scene, just "Rod." Dave Brubeck shows up and everyone stops and says, "Hey, it's Dave Brubeck!" exactly the way that they would have in 1962.

All Night Long is definitely worth your time. It contains some amazing performances from both actors and musicians. Whenever I watch an old film like this, I invariably end up on imdb and Wikipedia reading about the lives of the actors and directors. In this case, Betsy Blair, former wife of Gene Kelly and American ex-patriot who left America because of the Hollywood blacklist, was one of the more interesting paths of discovery.

Skidoo (1968)

Grouch Marx plays the role of God. And did I just watch Jackie Gleason drop acid on Alcatraz island?

This film is the document of a time -- a time when mid-20th century entertainment stars felt that they needed to get on the bandwagon of the changing times in order to remain relevant. Think Ethel Merman's disco album. It's almost unwatchable, yet you can't look away.

They Might Be Giants (1971)

The quirky, obscure rock band, They Might Be Giants, took their name from this quirky, obscure 1971 film staring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Based on a 1961 play by William Goldman (The Lion in Winter), Goldman adapted his play for this film.

Justin Playfair (Scott) is a respected judge who, after the death of his wife, retreats into a fantasy world and is convinced that he is Sherlock Holmes. Playfair's brother is trying to have him committed to a mental institution in order to steal Justin's considerable wealth. But Playfair must first be certified insane by Doctor Mildred Watson (Woodward). The movie chronicles the development of Playfair and Watson's relationship.

This film is about what it means to be sane in a world that seems to be spinning into insanity at a faster pace every day. It is oddly comforting to watch this film from the 21st century. We have the same worries about the future as the characters of 1971 while simultaneously knowing that, as far as 1971 is concerned, it all worked itself out more or less alright. Time marched on and the world changed for better and for worse.

The defining quote of the film references Don Quixote, not Sherlock Holmes, and it speaks to the idea that reality is exactly what you make of it at any given time. Speaking of Don Quixote, Playfair states:

"Of course, he carried it a bit too far. He thought that every windmill was a giant. That's insane. But, thinking that they might be... Well, all the best minds used to think the world was flat. But, what if it isn't? It might be round. And bread mold might be medicine. If we never looked at things and thought of what they might be, why, we'd all still be out there in the tall grass with the apes."

I absolutely loved the first two acts of the film, but it all fell a bit flat for me towards the end. What starts as a romp through every crazy character in Manhattan becomes a Felliniesque farce that feels far too over-indulgent for 21st century sensibilities. Still the ideas of wonder and fairness resonate throughout. And I will forever associate the phrase "they might be giants" with the possibility, however remote, that a little bit of magic might be just around the corner.

Moon (2009)

Sam Rockwell deserved an Oscar for his portrayal of Sam Bell in Duncan Jones' Moon. But that's not why I watched it.

Duncan Jones deserved an Oscar for his directing and his screenplay for his film, Moon. But that's not why I watched it.

David Bowie was reported to be extremely proud of his son, Duncan Jones', film Moon. But that's not why I watched it.

No, I'm a HUGE Matt Berry fan. And when I saw that Matt Berry was in a film, I just had to watch it! And while Matt's 30-45 seconds on screen definitely do not disappoint, I was blown away by the tight script, the crisp directing, and the amazing performances in Duncan Jones' Moon. And you will be, too. Don't read anything about it. Don't Google it. Don't look it up on imdb.

Just watch it. I guarantee you won't regret it.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

I thought Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 film, Network, was the first and last word on the power and corrupting influence of mass media. But I've just seen Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd from 1957, and I'm awestruck. This film is 62 years old, and it remains an incredibly relevant criticism of mass media.

The film feels so modern, in fact, that I can't imagine what a 1957 audience would have made of it. Andy Griffith's performance is enormous, powerful, and frightening. I can't believe that he didn't receive an Academy Award nomination. The Eisenhower-era audiences seemed genuinely confused by this movie. And the critics were either nonplussed or panned it altogether. One notable exception being François Truffaut, who said the film is "a great and beautiful work whose importance transcends the dimensions of a cinema review."

My take is, yeah, what Truffaut said. This film is important.

In the second half of the film, Patricia Neal grows darker with every scene. Kazan lights her like a skeleton towards the end, her angular face often turns into the shadows or is half eclipsed by shadow. And Walter Matthau takes a turn as the educated cynic who knows exactly how this all ends.

This film is very much worth your time. The observations contained here continue to resonate over 60 years after its creation.