Naked 
Mike Leigh (1993)

This great early film from Mike Leigh opens on David Thewlis' lowly Northern vagabond Johnny apparently sexually assaulting a woman down a dank London street. From there the Mancunian goes on an Odyssey of sorts around the British capitol; observing his fellow lowly citizens; gradually making his way back to his old girlfriend's house where a slimy- and quite bizarre- Thatcherite sex fiend awaits.

Naked's direction and acting are both remarkable- indeed, both were duly awarded at the 1993 Cannes film festival- but surely the most remarkable thing about this film is that from such base beginnings, not only do we learn to empathize with Johnny, we almost end up liking him too. Thewlis speaks pseudo intellectual rhetoric at ten words a second in the thickest northern drawl you could imagine. He's brash; bullish and is quick to belittle those who seem to send kindness his way and yet, despite all that, Leigh manages to make us understand the man's fury and frustrations, leading us, ultimately, to something close to endearment.

As British films of that era go this is as angry, disgusted and disillusioned as they come. Johnny seems to rape a woman in the opening shot but it's the greed of the times which, quite literally, seems to be raping everyone else. it's uncompromising, it's deeply moving and- in case you hadn't guessed it- it's often quite funny too. Terrific stuff.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Buster Keaton (1928)

Keaton plays an intellectual young dandy who returns to his hometown after attending college in Boston. His dad captains the town's second most successful- by quite some distance- steamboat business and so, when he sees what big city livin' has done to his only son, decides it time to set him straight.

Almost nine decades after the film's release, the how-did-they-do-it factor still remains. The legendary vaudevillian breaks out every trick of deadpan, daring and physical comedy in the book to bounce around a very much pre-health & safety Hollywood set.  The final 20 minutes- in which an inbound twister sends Keaton on a mad one as the entire studio comes down around him- should still set jaws dropping today.

The Player
Robert Altman (1992)

Tim Robbins plays a studio executive who begins to fear for his job, and his life, when a an up and coming hotshot (played by Peter Gallagher) comes on the scene, and a string of death threats follows.

Legendary ensemble director Robert Altman puts his Hollywood Rolodex to terrific use here in creating a Tinseltown tapestry which blends cynicism & greed; wheeling & dealing; quickfire conversation and satire. 

The film, regrettably, hasn't aged particularly well but when it's good, it really is good; beginning, for instance, with a seemingly impossible 7 minute and 47 second shot and ending with an even less likely gag. It's not quite up there with the director's best, but as a biting satire on the Hollywood game, The Player still feels relevant. The film's fingerprints can be seen on much of the work of Paul Thomas Anderson and,more recently, on David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars.

Close Up

Oh the mountain of must-see-movies and my humble attempts to scale it...

Progress will be compiled at the end of each month and the films are listed in order of preference.

Close Up

Abbas Kiarostami (1991)

Kiarostami shoots the real life trial of a man accused of fraud for impersonating a famous Iranian director. The family he dupes expect larceny as his motive but the man assures us his reasons are artistic. Kiarostami plays with the form of film like no one has perhaps before or since as he has the people involved re-enact the events discussed in court; Reality seems to overlap with fiction and we sink deep into the pure wonder of the form; Simply astonishing.

Dogville

Lars Von Trier (2003)

On a black stage with minimal props and lighting the godfather of Dogma 96’ plays out his most audacious effort. On the run from the mob in the 1920s, Nicole Kidman happens upon an old mining town and is accepted into the bosom of their simple community before good old human nature rears its ugly head. The set up may seem gimmicky at first but with nothing to distract us from the greed, lust and prejudice of the townspeople, their (our?) age old vices are left naked and festering. It’s more tongue in cheek than Haneke but with no less disdain for the human race.

Vertigo

Alfred Hitchcock (1958)

James Stewart tracks a woman through the streets of San Francisco as his mind spirals down into this darkening mystery. Colour, music, fear and anxiety are harnessed to perfection. The film topped Sight and Sounds all-time list and it’s difficult to argue with that.

Days of being Wild

Wong Kar Wai (1990)

Featuring one of the best looking casts of all time, Kar Wai’s 2^nd feature- and his first to fully realize his trademark feel- is a hot, humid film of lust in the wee hours of the morning; all fluorescent lighting, electric fans and shadows cast from window blinds; wonderfully lush film making full of wild flashes of life.

Code Unknown

Michael Haneke (2000)

Plotlines, tension and social classes overlap in the French capitol as Haneke gives his grim assessment of big city living. A stone cold sober look at the gaping distances which exist between us.

Nashville

Robert Altman (1975)

Altman’s enormous ensemble cast seem about as stable as a motorway pile-up with the director’s endearing love affair with country music the only glue holding it all together. Yet still he leaves room to breathe. Every character feels detailed and nuanced and the music is delivered with pride and sincerity in this panoramic snapshot of Nashville’s mid 70s music scene. Paul Thomas Anderson’s early career looks covered in his shadows.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Jacques Audiard (2005)

Audiard moves a Harvey Keitel film from 1978 to present day Paris with ease. Romain Duris’ livewire performance as the piano loving thug seems liable to burst off the screen

Taste of Cherry

Abbas Kiarostami (1997)

A man who plans to take his own life encounters a young soldier, a man of faith and an elderly professor as he drives around looking for someone to bury him at dawn. Largely a straight up fiction when compared to his earlier work but this Palme Dor winning film is by no means less beautiful. Like with Kar Wai, the speckles and burns on the celluloid will make you yearn for the pre digital age.

Sans Soleil

Chris Marker (1983)

Taking it’s dreamy narrative from the fictional letters of Sandor Krasna, Chris Marker gives us a hypnotic postcard of early 80s Tokyo and an immersive look at the flickering nature of memory.

Buffalo 66

Vincent Gallo (1998)

Gallo does just about everything in front and behind the camera for this semi-autobiographical film. Its innovations sometimes feel a little forced but the performances- especially those of Huston and Gazzara as Gallo’s parents- are strong and the ending is crisp and satisfying.

Magnificent Obsession

Douglas Sirk (1954)

A year before they combined on the wonderful All That Heaven Allows, Sirk, Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson made this slightly puzzling film. It’s beautiful widescreen Hollywood no doubt but unlike Heaven Allows, the message feels both naive and awfully dated.