Author: Ryan Swen

2023 First Watches

Ryan Swen Lists Tags: ,

Renewed Appreciation: Millennium Mambo

Shorts: A Short Story, The Sower of Stars, Oh Supreme Light

  1. La Cérémonie (1995, Claude Chabrol) [January]
  2. That Old Dream That Moves (2001, Alain Guiraudie) [January]
  3. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (2022, Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor) [January]
  4. Stars at Noon (2022, Claire Denis) [January]
  5. Both Sides of the Blade (2022, Claire Denis) [January]
  6. Glass Onion (2022, Rian Johnson) [January]
  7. Passages (2023, Ira Sachs) [January]
  8. Kimi (2022, Steven Soderbergh) [January]
  9. Fremont (2023, Babak Jalali) [January]
  10. Last Things (2023, Deborah Stratman) [January]
  11. A Common Sequence (2023, Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser) [January]
  12. Skinamarink (2022, Kyle Edward Ball) [January]
  13. The Tuba Thieves (2023, Alison O’Daniel) [January]
  14. Gush (2023, Fox Maxy) [January]
  15. The Batman (2022, Matt Reeves) [January]
  16. Flash Point (2007, Wilson Yip) [January]
  17. Elvis (2022, Baz Luhrmann) [January]

2023 Omnibus Log

Ryan Swen Lists Tags: ,

001. That Old Dream That Movies (2001, Alain Guiraudie) Laptop, File 01 Jan – 9
002. Kimi (2022, Steven Soderbergh) Television, File (Parents) 02 Jan – 7
003. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (2022, Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor†) Laptop, Screener 04 Jan – 9
s001. A Short Story (2022, Bi Gan) Television, File (Friend) 04 Jan – 8
s002. The Sower of Stars (2022, Lois Patiño) Television, Screener (Friend) 04 Jan – 8
004. La Cérémonie (1995, Claude Chabrol) Television, File (Friend) 07 Jan – 10
005. Flash Point (2007, Wilson Yip¢) Monitor, File 12 Jan – 6
006. Both Sides of the Blade (2022, Claire Denis) Television, File 14 Jan – 8
007. Stars at Noon (2022, Claire Denis) Television, File 14 Jan – 8
008. Elvis (2022, Baz Luhrmann) Television, HBO Max 19 Jan – 5
009. The Batman (2022, Matt Reeves) Television, HBO Max 24 Jan – 6
s003. Oh Supreme Light (2010, Jean-Marie Straub) Television, File 25 Jan – 7
010. Glass Onion (2022, Rian Johnson) Television, Netflix 25 Jan – 7
011. Gush (2023, Fox Maxy^) Television, Online Platform [Sundance] 27 Jan – 6
s004. It’s Raining Frogs Outside (2021, Maria Estela Paiso) Monitor, Online Platform [Sundance] 28 Jan – 6
012. Last Things (2023, Deborah Stratman) Monitor, Online Platform [Sundance] 28 Jan – 7
013. Fremont (2023, Babak Jalali^) Monitor, Online Platform [Sundance] 28 Jan – 7
014. Passages (2023, Ira Sachs^) Monitor, Online Platform [Sundance] 29 Jan – 7
015. A Common Sequence (2023, Mary Helena Clark^ & Mike Gibisser^) Monitor, Online Platform [Sundance] 29 Jan – 7
016. The Tuba Thieves (2023, Alison O’Daniel^) Television, Online Platform [Sundance] 29 Jan – 6
017. Skinamarink (2022, Kyle Edward Ball^) AMC Burbank, DCP 31 Jan – 7
018. +Millennium Mambo (2001, Hou Hsiao-hsien) 2220 Arts + Archives/Acropolis Cinema, File (Volunteer) 02 Feb – 10 [up from 9]

2023 Viewing Log

Ryan Swen Lists Tags: ,

January
That Old Dream That Movies (2001, Alain Guiraudie) – 9
Kimi (2022, Steven Soderbergh) – 7
De Humani Corporis Fabrica (2022, Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor) – 9
A Short Story (2022, Bi Gan) – 8
The Sower of Stars (2022, Lois Patiño) – 8
La Cérémonie (1995, Claude Chabrol) – 10
Flash Point (2007, Wilson Yip) – 6
Both Sides of the Blade (2022, Claire Denis) – 8
Stars at Noon (2022, Claire Denis) – 8
Elvis (2022, Baz Luhrmann) – 5
The Batman (2022, Matt Reeves) – 6
Oh Supreme Light (2010, Jean-Marie Straub) – 7
Glass Onion (2022, Rian Johnson) – 7
Gush (2023, Fox Maxy) Sundance – 6
It’s Raining Frogs Outside (2021, Maria Estela Paiso) Sundance – 6
Last Things (2023, Deborah Stratman) Sundance – 7
Fremont (2023, Babak Jalali) Sundance – 7
Passages (2023, Ira Sachs) Sundance – 7
A Common Sequence (2023, Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser) Sundance – 7
The Tuba Thieves (2023, Alison O’Daniel) Sundance – 6
Skinamarink (2022, Kyle Edward Ball) DP – 7

January
+Millennium Mambo (2001, Hou Hsiao-hsien) DP – 10 [up from 9]
+Figure Minus Fact (2020, Mary Helena Clark) –
+Rose Hobart (1936, Joseph Cornell) –
No Bears (2022, Jafar Panahi) –

Top 31 of 2022

Ryan Swen Lists Tags: , Leave a comment

The following list is formed from the reds, oranges, greens, and blues that I have seen at time of writing that were commercially released in 2022.

1. The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)

2. EO (Jerzy Skolimowski)

3. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)

4. Il buco (Michelangelo Frammartino)

5. A New Old Play (Qiu Jiongjiong)

6. One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Løve)

7. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg)

8. RRR (S. S. Rajamouli)

9. Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)

10. The Girl and the Spider (Ramon and Silvan Zürcher)

11. In Front of Your Face (Hong Sang-soo)

12. TÁR (Todd Field)

13. Introduction (Hong Sang-soo)

14. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)

15. El Gran Movimiento (Kiro Russo)

16. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)

17. Avatar: The Way of Water (James Cameron)

18. The Cathedral (Ricky D’Ambrose)

19. Nope (Jordan Peele)

20. Fabian, or Going to the Dogs (Dominik Graf)

21. Benediction (Terence Davies)

22. Armageddon Time (James Gray)

23. Los Conductos (Camilo Restrepo)

24. Wood and Water (Jonas Bak)

25. Onoda (Arthur Harari)

26. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)

27. Ahed’s Knee (Nadav Lapid)

28. Riotsville, U.S.A. (Sierra Pettengill)

29. Return to Seoul (Davy Chou)

30. Expedition Content (Ernst Karel & Veronika Kusumaryati)

31. A Night of Knowing Nothing (Payal Kapadia)

2022 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Ballot

Ryan Swen Lists Tags: , Leave a comment

Career Achievement
(3) Paul Vecchiali
(2) Jean-Marie Straub
(1) Claire Denis

Best Cinematography
(3) Il buco
(2) EO
(1) The Fabelmans

Best Supporting Performance
(5) Rayan Sarlak, Hit the Road
(4) Kwon Hae-hyo, In Front of Your Face
(3) David Lynch, The Fabelmans
(2) Anne Hathaway, Armageddon Time
(1) Steven Yeun, Nope

Best Music/Score
(3) EO
(2) RRR
(1) Crimes of the Future

Best Production Design
(3) A New Old Play
(2) White Noise
(1) Avatar: The Way of Water

Best Editing
(3) El Gran Movimiento
(2) TÁR
(1) Decision to Leave

Best Animation
(3) Avatar: The Way of Water
(2) Jujutsu Kaisen 0

Best Screenplay
(3) The Novelist’s Film
(2) The Fabelmans
(1) In Front of Your Face

Best Lead Performance
(5) Tang Wei, Decision to Leave
(4) Léa Seydoux, One Fine Morning
(3) Kim Min-hee, The Novelist’s Film
(2) Lee Hye-young, In Front of Your Face
(1) Jack Lowden, Benediction

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
(3) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
(2) Riotsville, U.S.A.
(1) Expedition Content

Best Director
(3) Jerzy Skolimowski, EO
(2) Park Chan-wook, Decision to Leave
(1) Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, The Girl and the Spider

Best Picture
(3) The Novelist’s Film
(2) EO
(1) Decision to Leave

Best Film Not in the English Language
(3) The Novelist’s Film
(2) EO
(1) Decision to Leave

New Generation
(3) Alice Diop, Saint Omer
(2) Davy Chou and Park Ji-min, Return to Seoul
(1) Ricky D’Ambrose, The Cathedral

December 2022 Capsules

Ryan Swen Musings Tags: Leave a comment

Yi Yi [rewatch]
This has never not been among the heights of cinema for me, but something that always puzzled me before this viewing was the focus on the father, sister, and brother, with the mother whisked unceremoniously away for most of the film. But apart from the absence it creates, the room allowed for all members of the family to flirt with the unknown (even the mother, trying out overt spirituality), it also removes the closest familial connection to the grandmother. Everyone else is at a slight remove from the old, comatose woman they express their thoughts to, whether by blood or by a generation gap; even the uncle has to overcome the grandmother’s apprehensiveness. If Yi Yi is the most incisive of films about family, it’s also crucial that the family is forced into unconventional circumstances for so long, that the final reunion is as bittersweet as possible, with chances for new life lost and the passing of a loved one. But they are together in the end, still fundamentally themselves, and that’s what matters.

Decade Top Tens

Ryan Swen Lists

Features, Mid-Lengths, Shorts

Ten Favorite Moving-Image Works

  1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
  2. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
  3. Sans soleil (Chris Marker)
  4. A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
  5. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
  6. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
  7. Céline and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
  8. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
  9. Yourself and Yours (Hong Sang-soo)
  10. Out 1: Noli me tangere (Jacques Rivette)

Ten Favorite Directors

  1. Edward Yang
  2. David Lynch
  3. Wong Kar-wai
  4. Hong Sang-soo
  5. Jacques Rivette
  6. Tsai Ming-liang
  7. King Hu
  8. Alain Resnais
  9. Éric Rohmer
  10. Johnnie To

2020s

  1. Drive My Car (Hamaguchi Ryusuke)
  2. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
  3. Walk Up (Hong Sang-soo)
  4. Pacifiction (Albert Serra)
  5. The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)
  6. Days (Tsai Ming-liang)
  7. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) (C.W. Winter & Anders Edström)
  8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (Alexandre Koberidze)
  9. EO (Jerzy Skolimowski)
  10. Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World (Adam Curtis)

2010s

  1. Yourself and Yours (Hong Sang-soo)
  2. Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke)
  3. Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang)
  4. Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch)
  5. La Flor (Mariano Llinás)
  6. The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo)
  7. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami)
  8. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raúl Ruiz)
  9. Asako I & II (Hamaguchi Ryusuke)
  10. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien)

2000s

  1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
  2. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
  3. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
  4. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
  5. Platform (Jia Zhangke)
  6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
  7. Oxhide II (Liu Jiayin)
  8. Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Andersen)
  9. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
  10. Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien)

1990s

  1. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
  2. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai)
  3. Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Peter Chan)
  4. Trust (Hal Hartley)
  5. Heat (Michael Mann)
  6. Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-wai)
  7. La Cérémonie (Chabrol)
  8. Mahjong (Edward Yang)
  9. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch)
  10. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami)

1980s

  1. Sans soleil (Chris Marker)
  2. L’Argent (Robert Bresson)
  3. The Killer (John Woo)
  4. A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  5. Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko)
  6. Peking Opera Blues (Tsui Hark)
  7. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki Hayao)
  8. Shanghai Blues (Tsui Hark)
  9. Pedicab Driver (Sammo Hung)
  10. Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme)

1970s

  1. A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
  2. Céline and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
  3. Out 1: Noli me tangere (Jacques Rivette)
  4. (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton)
  5. Perceval le Gallois (Éric Rohmer)
  6. The Mother and the Whore (Jean Eustache)
  7. India Song (Marguerite Duras)
  8. Femmes Femmes (Paul Vecchiali)
  9. Dirty Ho (Lau Kar-leung)
  10. Eraserhead (David Lynch)

1960s

  1. The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy)
  2. Muriel, or the Time of Return (Alain Resnais)
  3. La jetée (Chris Marker)
  4. Dragon Inn (King Hu)
  5. Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais)
  6. Wavelength (Michael Snow)
  7. All My Life (Bruce Baillie)
  8. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  9. The Love Eterne (Li Han-hsiang)
  10. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard)

1950s

  1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
  2. Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
  3. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa Akira)
  4. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks)
  5. Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi Kenji)
  6. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
  7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks)
  8. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
  9. Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujiro)
  10. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)

1940s

  1. Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
  2. Late Spring (Ozu Yasujiro)
  3. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
  4. Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
  5. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
  6. Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu)
  7. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
  8. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
  9. The Heiress (William Wyler)
  10. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)

1930s

  1. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
  2. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
  3. Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey)
  4. Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell)
  5. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
  6. Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg)
  7. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
  8. M (Fritz Lang)
  9. A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir)
  10. Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)

1920s

  1. Napoléon (Abel Gance)
  2. Spione (Fritz Lang)
  3. The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman)
  4. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau)
  5. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  6. Greed (Erich von Stroheim)
  7. The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg)
  8. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Fritz Lang)
  9. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
  10. Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)

Pre-1920s

  1. Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade)
  2. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  3. Tih-Minh (Louis Feuillade)
  4. Fantômas (Louis Feuillade)
  5. The Musketeers of Pig Alley (D.W. Griffith)
  6. The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  7. The Sprinkler Sprinkled (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  8. Tunneling the English Channel (Georges Méliès)
  9. The Black Imp (Georges Méliès)
  10. A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès)

Features Only

Ten Favorite Feature Films

  1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
  2. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
  3. Sans soleil (Chris Marker)
  4. A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
  5. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
  6. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
  7. Céline and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
  8. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
  9. Yourself and Yours (Hong Sang-soo)
  10. Out 1: Noli me tangere (Jacques Rivette)

2020s

  1. Drive My Car (Hamaguchi Ryusuke)
  2. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
  3. Walk Up (Hong Sang-soo)
  4. Pacifiction (Albert Serra)
  5. The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)
  6. Days (Tsai Ming-liang)
  7. The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) (C.W. Winter & Anders Edström)
  8. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (Alexandre Koberidze)
  9. EO (Jerzy Skolimowski)
  10. Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World (Adam Curtis)

2010s

  1. Yourself and Yours (Hong Sang-soo)
  2. Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke)
  3. Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang)
  4. Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch)
  5. La Flor (Mariano Llinás)
  6. The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-soo)
  7. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami)
  8. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raúl Ruiz)
  9. Asako I & II (Hamaguchi Ryusuke)
  10. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien)

2000s

  1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
  2. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
  3. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)
  4. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
  5. Platform (Jia Zhangke)
  6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
  7. Oxhide II (Liu Jiayin)
  8. Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Andersen)
  9. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
  10. Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien)

1990s

  1. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
  2. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai)
  3. Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Peter Chan)
  4. Trust (Hal Hartley)
  5. Heat (Michael Mann)
  6. Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-wai)
  7. La Cérémonie (Chabrol)
  8. Mahjong (Edward Yang)
  9. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch)
  10. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami)

1980s

  1. Sans soleil (Chris Marker)
  2. L’Argent (Robert Bresson)
  3. The Killer (John Woo)
  4. A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
  5. Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko)
  6. Peking Opera Blues (Tsui Hark)
  7. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki Hayao)
  8. Shanghai Blues (Tsui Hark)
  9. Pedicab Driver (Sammo Hung)
  10. Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme)

1970s

  1. A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
  2. Céline and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)
  3. Out 1: Noli me tangere (Jacques Rivette)
  4. Perceval le Gallois (Éric Rohmer)
  5. The Mother and the Whore (Jean Eustache)
  6. India Song (Marguerite Duras)
  7. Femmes Femmes (Paul Vecchiali)
  8. Dirty Ho (Lau Kar-leung)
  9. Eraserhead (David Lynch)
  10. Two English Girls (François Truffaut)

1960s

  1. The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy)
  2. Muriel, or the Time of Return (Alain Resnais)
  3. Dragon Inn (King Hu)
  4. Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais)
  5. Wavelength (Michael Snow)
  6. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  7. The Love Eterne (Li Han-hsiang)
  8. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard)
  9. Yearning (Naruse Mikio)
  10. High and Low (Kurosawa Akira)

1950s

  1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
  2. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa Akira)
  3. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks)
  4. Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi Kenji)
  5. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
  6. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks)
  7. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
  8. Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujiro)
  9. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
  10. A Star Is Born (George Cukor)

1940s

  1. Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
  2. Late Spring (Ozu Yasujiro)
  3. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
  4. Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
  5. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
  6. Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu)
  7. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
  8. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
  9. The Heiress (William Wyler)
  10. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)

1930s

  1. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
  2. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
  3. Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey)
  4. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
  5. Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg)
  6. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
  7. M (Fritz Lang)
  8. A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir)
  9. Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)
  10. Fury (Fritz Lang)

1920s

  1. Napoléon (Abel Gance)
  2. Spione (Fritz Lang)
  3. The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman)
  4. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau)
  5. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
  6. Greed (Erich von Stroheim)
  7. The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg)
  8. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Fritz Lang)
  9. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
  10. Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)

Pre-1920s

  1. Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade)
  2. Tih-Minh (Louis Feuillade)
  3. Fantômas (Louis Feuillade)
  4. The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith)

Mid-Lengths Only

Ten Favorite Mid-Length Films

  1. (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton)
  2. Wavelength (Michael Snow)
  3. Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
  4. Zorns Lemma (Michael Snow)
  5. Grass (Hong Sang-soo)
  6. Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley)
  7. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
  8. Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo)
  9. That Old Dream That Moves (Alain Guiraudie)
  10. Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)

2020s

  1. Section 1 (Jon Bois)
  2. earthearthearth (Saïto Daïchi)
  3. Introduction (Hong Sang-soo)
  4. EVENTIDE (Sharon Lockhart)
  5. There are not thirty-six ways of showing a man getting on a horse. (Nicolás Zukerfeld)
  6. Education (Steve McQueen)
  7. FIRST TIME [The Time For All But Sunset – VIOLET] (Nicolaas Schmidt)
  8. Rampart (Marko Grba Singh)
  9. Will-o’-the-Wisp (João Pedro Rodrigues)
  10. Alex Wheatle (Steve McQueen)

2010s

  1. Grass (Hong Sang-soo)
  2. Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo)
  3. The Princess of France (Matías Piñeiro)
  4. No No Sleep (Tsai Ming-liang)
  5. Aragane (Oda Kaori)
  6. Claire’s Camera (Hong Sang-soo)
  7. The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack)
  8. Journey to the West (Tsai Ming-liang)
  9. A World Without Women (Guillaume Brac)
  10. Classical Period (Ted Fendt)

2000s

  1. That Old Dream That Moves (Alain Guiraudie)
  2. It Felt Like a Kiss (Adam Curtis)
  3. The Hand (Wong Kar-wai)
  4. Disorder (Huang Weikai)
  5. Through the Forest (Jean-Paul Civeyrac)
  6. L’Idiot (Pierre Léon)
  7. Lost in the Mountains (Hong Sang-soo)
  8. Profit motive and the whispering wind (John Gianvito)
  9. Looking for Tsai (Patrik Eriksson & Erik Hemmendorff)
  10. Petite conversation familiale (Hélène Lapiower)

1990s

  1. Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley)
  2. U.S. Go Home (Claire Denis)
  3. La Vie des morts (Arnaud Desplechin)
  4. The Mammals of Victoria (Stan Brakhage)
  5. Nitrate Kisses (Barbara Hammer)
  6. Xiao Shan Going Home (Jia Zhangke)

1980s

  1. Standard Gauge (Morgan Fisher)
  2. Contact (Alan Clarke)
  3. Les Sièges de l’Alcazar (Luc Moullet)
  4. American Dreams (Lost and Found) (James Benning)

1970s

  1. (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton)
  2. Zorns Lemma (Hollis Frampton)
  3. The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (Raúl Ruiz)
  4. The Bench of Desolation (Claude Chabrol)
  5. Poetic Justice (Hollis Frampton)
  6. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (Joan Micklin Silver)
  7. Italianamerican (Martin Scorsese)
  8. From These Roots (William Greaves)
  9. Liza With a Z (Bob Fosse)
  10. The Inner Scar (Philippe Garrel)

1960s

  1. Wavelength (Michael Snow)
  2. Not Reconciled (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet)
  3. The Immortal Story (Orson Welles)
  4. Black Girl (Ousmane Sembène)
  5. The War Game (Peter Watkins)
  6. Simon of the Desert (Luis Buñuel)
  7. The Koumiko Mystery (Chris Marker)
  8. The Brig (Jonas Mekas)
  9. The Trial of Joan of Arc (Robert Bresson)
  10. Pasazerka (Andrzej Munk)

1950s

  1. Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
  2. Statues Also Die (Alain Resnais & Chris Marker & Ghislain Cloquet)
  3. Une simple histoire (Marcel Hanoun)

1940s

  1. I Walked With a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur)
  2. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer)
  3. The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur)

1930s

  1. A Day in the Country (Jean Renoir)
  2. The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin)

1920s

  1. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
  2. Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
  3. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton)
  4. The Seashell and the Clergyman (Germaine Dulac)
  5. Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirshoff)

Shorts Only

Ten Favorite Short Films

  1. (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton)
  2. La jetée (Chris Marker)
  3. Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
  4. All My Life (Bruce Baillie)
  5. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  6. Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell)
  7. Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
  8. Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky)
  9. Allures (Jordan Belson)
  10. The House Is Black (Forough Farrokhzad)

2020s

  1. earthearthearth (Saïto Daïchi)
  2. A Short Story (Bi Gan)
  3. The Sower of Stars (Lois Patiño)
  4. If you could go back, I would see her. (Joshua R. Troxler)
  5. Labor of Love (Sylvia Schedelbauer)
  6. EVENTIDE (Sharon Lockhart)
  7. Point and Line to Plane (Sofia Bohdanowicz)
  8. The Big Trim (John Magary)
  9. Visit (Jia Zhangke)
  10. Autoficción (Laida Lertxundi)

2010s

  1. No No Sleep (Tsai Ming-liang)
  2. Engram of Returning (Saïto Daïchi)
  3. Arboretum Cycle (Nathaniel Dorsky)
  4. Les trois désastres (Jean-Luc Godard)
  5. Transformers: The Premake (Kevin B. Lee)
  6. List (Hong Sang-soo)
  7. Shakti (Martín Rejtman)
  8. The Hedonists (Jia Zhangke)
  9. Redemption (Miguel Gomes)
  10. Let Your Light Shine (Jodie Mack)

2000s

  1. The Heart of the World (Guy Maddin)
  2. Trees of Syntax, Leaves of Axis (Saïto Daïchi)
  3. Origins of the 21st Century (Jean-Luc Godard)
  4. The Follow (Wong Kar-wai)
  5. The Skywalk Is Gone (Tsai Ming-liang)
  6. Lost in the Mountains (Hong Sang-soo)
  7. ( ) (Morgan Fisher)
  8. Cry Me a River (Jia Zhangke)
  9. Textism (Hirabayashi Isamu)
  10. Green Fuse (Saïto Daïchi)

1990s

  1. Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky)
  2. Je vous salue, Sarajevo (Jean-Luc Godard)
  3. Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (David Lynch)
  4. When It Rains (Charles Burnett)
  5. Ambition (Hal Hartley)
  6. Black Ice (Stan Brakhage)
  7. Am Meer (Ute Aurand)
  8. The Mammals of Victoria (Stan Brakhage)
  9. Theory of Achievement (Hal Hartley)
  10. Joy Street (Suzan Pitt)

1980s

  1. Standard Gauge (Morgan Fisher)
  2. Night Music (Stan Brakhage)
  3. Expectations (Edward Yang)
  4. Orderly or Disorderly (Abbas Kiarostami)
  5. Cat Listening to Music (Chris Marker)
  6. Ein Bild (Harun Farocki)
  7. The Garden of Earthly Delights (Stan Brakhage)
  8. The Birth of Magellan I: Cadenza I (Hollis Frampton)
  9. En rachâchant (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet)
  10. New York Story (Jackie Raynal)

1970s

  1. (nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton)
  2. Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr)
  3. Poetic Justice (Hollis Frampton)
  4. Asparagus (Suzan Pitt)
  5. Critical Mass (Hollis Frampton)
  6. Associations (John Smith)
  7. Introduction to Arnold Schoenberg’s “Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene” (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet)
  8. Projection Instructions (Morgan Fisher)
  9. La Soufrière (Werner Herzog)
  10. Wong Sinsaang (Eddie Wong)

1960s

  1. La jetée (Chris Marker)
  2. All My Life (Bruce Baillie)
  3. Allures (Jordan Belson)
  4. The House Is Black (Forough Farrokhzad)
  5. Mothlight (Stan Brakhage)
  6. Dog Star Man (Stan Brakhage)
  7. Arnulf Rainer (Peter Kubelka)
  8. Cosmic Ray (Bruce Conner)
  9. The Nail Clippers (Jean-Claude Carriére)
  10. Castro Street (Bruce Baillie)

1950s

  1. Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
  2. Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
  3. Le chant du Styrène (Alain Resnais)
  4. Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (Chuck Jones)
  5. Rabbit Seasoning (Chuck Jones)
  6. A Movie (Bruce Conner)
  7. Rabbit of Seville (Chuck Jones)
  8. Pescherecci (Vittorio De Seta)
  9. Surfarara (Vittorio De Seta)
  10. Operation: Rabbit (Chuck Jones)

1940s

  1. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid)
  2. Fireworks (Kenneth Anger)
  3. Radio Dynamics (Oskar Fischinger)

1930s

  1. Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell)

1920s

  1. Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel)
  2. Rain (Joris Ivens & Mannus Franken)
  3. Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirshoff)
  4. Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy)
  5. The Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra (Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich)
  6. Liberty (Leo McCarey)
  7. Record 957 (Germaine Dulac)
  8. Brumes d’automne (Dimitri Kirshoff)
  9. Tokyo March (Mizoguchi Kenji)

Pre-1920s

  1. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  2. The Musketeers of Pig Alley (D.W. Griffith)
  3. The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  4. The Sprinkler Sprinkled (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  5. Tunneling the English Channel (Georges Méliès)
  6. The Black Imp (Georges Méliès)
  7. A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès)
  8. The Baby’s Meal (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  9. Boat Leaving the Port (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  10. The Unchanging Sea (D.W. Griffith)

Decision to Leave

Ryan Swen Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

Decision to Leave finds Park Chan-wook burrowing into, if not entirely new territory for South Korea’s preeminent crime filmmaker, then the foundations of his strongest aspects. The bifurcated telling of a detective’s (Park Hae-il) continuously shifting relationship with the wife (Tang Wei) of his latest investigation’s decedent, it operates almost polyrhythmically, letting the dead ends and often humorous tangents inherent to a bewildering murder case play out while remaining intently precise in its dealings with the beats from shot to shot. The visual schema constantly dazzles, employing bold diagonals, distorted and unexpected POVs, and superimpositions of digital information that playfully carries the film along its deliberately mirroring halves. But the true heart of the film rests in its potent riff on Vertigo, where identity is shaped along more ambiguous lines, and, above all, Tang’s performance, surely among the greatest by an actor not primarily speaking in their native language. Her capacity for simultaneous seeming total transparency and opacity molds the emotional tenors of the film, rendering it a tentative romance where the words — spoken in Korean or Mandarin — take on so many other unintended resonances. The entirely appropriate ending rings with such force because of the care and confidence placed in the proceedings, an exquisitely enigmatic dance which must end in the only way possible.

Triangle of Sadness

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Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning follow-up to his Palme d’Or winning The Square epitomizes a certain contradiction: he is a director who I wish I didn’t like as much as I do. In its tripartite narrative, which follows the disintegration of a relationship over the course of increasingly absurd circumstances, Triangle of Sadness does, all things considered, have little else on its mind aside from the skewering of the nouveau riche as their environments get turned upside down by machinery, unwelcome workers, and eventually the natural world itself. But while Östlund’s aims are fairly pat, aside from a late-breaking development which productively deepens the complexities of otherwise steadily declining relationships, his skill lies in the actual orchestration of his scenes, and in the touches of comedy that arise from carefully placed running gags. As might be expected from such a scattershot approach, the good and the bad (and the ugly) intermix freely throughout, often in the same scene. Östlund’s spare aesthetic, mostly conveyed in long shot, and his facility with actors as anchoring presences — in The Square Claes Bang; here, Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean, with Dolly de Leon coming to the fore in the last, crucially distended third — helps unite many of these sequences. And on some level, I find such devices as a woman who can only speak one German phrase, the elevation of aerosolized water to a necessary part of survival, and the sight of Woody Harrelson (as the Communist captain of the yacht which serves as the setting of the second act) and a Russian manure baron totally soused, reading Marx quotes back at each other over the intercom as the boat is battered by ocean waves irresistibly funny; your mileage will certainly vary.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

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George Miller’s return to feature filmmaking after his career’s apotheosis Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) trades that film’s tactility and near-relentless narrative drive for something much more fantastical and circular, with largely mixed results. While Three Thousand Years of Longing takes as its jumping-off point the extended encounter between a narratologist (Tilda Swinton) and the djinn she unwittingly unleashes (Idris Elba), the film moves with uncertainty between their present-day hotel room and the simulacra of ancient times that the genie has experienced. Each of the three stories he tells revolves around the circumstances in which he was imprisoned, feeling free to meander through the massive, beautiful, and uncanny digital structures and the somewhat weaker stories, which vary between the joy of learning and the delight in grotesquerie. It truly is unfortunate that Miller’s worthy but limited effort — by his gleefully maximalist sensibilities that overwhelm the delicate tête-à-tête; by first too little, then too much footage of the present day; by a romance that, while affecting generally and carried out well by the two actors, feels schematic — came out just a year after Memoria. The fear and trembling in the face of the supernatural/extraterrestrial that Swinton conveyed so potently there reappears here in attenuated form; there is even a scene where the djinn acts as a radio receiver for all the noises of the modern world. Three Thousand Years of Longing and Miller himself are best in the moment, in little tricks and teleological progressions, which only inconsistently come to the surface here.