A VAMPIRE RECORD - My Reactions to the 98th Oscar Nominations

In the entire nearly 100-year history of the Academy Awards, we have had 3 films manage to reach 14 Oscar nominations: All About Eve, La La Land, and Titanic. That record has finally been beaten today not by one nomination, but two.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners received SIXTEEN nominations as it managed to be a film to not only get widespread recognition across the Big 8 categories, but all of the crafts as well. Of course, this was the first year with the new Best Casting category which Sinners also made it into but even if that category didn't exist, it still would've made a new all-time record thanks to it securing a surprise acting nod which I will discuss here soon.

I do want to say that I am definitely a bit surprised that Wicked: For Good got shut out COMPLETELY. I was predicting Ariana Grande to get snubbed so that didn't surprise me, but I did expect it would get in for stuff like Production Design, Costume Design, and Makeup/Hairstyling. Even though both of Stephen Schwartz's new songs were kind of ho-hum, I thought "Girl in the Bubble" would get in by default. I suppose, aside from the fact the film's reception was less than stellar, there was a clear sense of Wicked fatigue and "been there, done that". One has to wonder if they released it as one longer movie if it would've ended up getting a better reception.

Also - it seems very telling that the Academy was willing to vote for freaking Avatar for a costume nod over Wicked: For Good. Maybe I am not a super expert on Avatar and its process, but they actually had real-life costumes that weren't digitized?

One more quick comment before diving in:

What on earth does Park Chan-wook have to do to get recognized?!?! I know that the International category was a bit of a bloodbath this year but even back in 2022 when he had Decision to Leave, a film that easily was the best of that category (I even called it the best film of that year), he still got snubbed. He wasn't going to get into Director and Picture, but there was a good chance of him slipping into Adapted Screenplay.

Alas, that didn't happen...but let's start with that category.

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 BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Will Tracy, Bugonia

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Chloe Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams

Despite loving their previous film Sing Sing which was one of my favorite films of 2024, I can't say that I extend that same love to their follow-up: Train Dreams.

I am fully aware that I am in the minority with that opinion, but I just didn't respond to that film at all. It was shot beautifully, Joel Edgerton did a very nice job, but the script felt very...sparse. Plus, I wasn't a fan of the narration trope used in it.

I am also not overly sold on Guillermo del Toro being here for Frankenstein, but I can see what others saw in it. 

I do think as of right now, PTA will be winning this despite formidable competition from Hamnet. I will say that while Bugonia doesn't have a prayer, it is yet another Yorgos Lanthimos-directed film that will get the shaft in this category despite having a truly stellar script. 

I do think it is a shame that Park Chan-wook couldn't slip in here over Frankenstein and especially Train Dreams. It also seems clear that sequel fatigue deeply affected Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, but I also think it would've made a solid nominee here.

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Robert Kaplow, Blue Moon

Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident

Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

While floated as an outside possibility, the big surprise here is Blue Moon. However, I personally love seeing it included as I felt the dialogue for it was very rich and vibrant. It's nod also signaled early on that Ethan Hawke would make it in as well.

Thankfully, Jafar Panahi made it in here. He seemed like such a sure thing early on only to fade more in recent weeks, but he deserves to be here.

Marty Supreme and Sentimental Value are definitely expected nods, and both are richly deserved. 

In the end though, Ryan Coogler will have this one in the bag. It seems like the major place to reward Sinners unless the tide drastically changes and the industry goes hog wild for Sinners.

What got snubbed? I believe I predicted The Secret Agent to get in here for the pesky 5th slot but honestly that could've gone to something like Weapons or even Sorry, Baby. I would've loved to see Sorry, Baby get a nod for sure.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo, Sinners

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Stellan Skarsgard, Sentimental Value

While not something that was super out of left field, the nomination for Delroy Lindo was not widely predicted. He didn't get in at CC, GG, or SAG...although he is on the BAFTA longlist (those nominations haven't been announced yet) and considering his home turf advantage, he could very well be on that list when it comes out next week.

When I saw Sinners last April, I came out of the film wondering if Lindo could pull it off. His lack of a presence during the 2021 award season for Da 5 Bloods really rubbed people the wrong way and he has been doing great work for decades. In this case, I am very happy the veteran got in, because it was his younger co-star Miles Caton who had gotten in at SAG.

People had been floating the idea of Paul Mescal being the big snub for Hamnet which is kind of crazy it happened considering how well he and his film have been received. Plus, he had been pushed to Supporting likely because it would be easier to get in (typical co-lead/semi-category fraud), so it does seem shocking he was the one to get the axe.

It's a strong category though. I don't dislike any of these performances, and I actually love that Elordi got in because he was quite the pleasant surprise as The Monster in Frankenstein.

At the moment, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I could see a world where Elordi wins SAG, where Skarsgard got snubbed, but then Skarsgard comes back to win BAFTA and the Oscar. 

I suppose Elordi COULD go all the way, but my hunch is still going for Skarsgard.

Aside from Mescal (and Miles Caton), I suppose the only other person here who had an outside shot was Adam Sandler for Jay Kelly, but that film is deservedly DOA. He did a nice job but not enough that I think he deserved to make it onto this list. 

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas, Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan, Weapons

Wunmi Mosku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another 

I knew it was still a possibility, but I just felt that the sinking ship that was Wicked: For Good meant that Ariana Grande was likely to be one contender who got recognized by previous precursors that ends up getting snubbed in the end.

The truth is that while I do think she did a great job in that role, I also feel like she simply shouldn't have been campaigned in this category. If anything, she was even MORE of a lead in this part than in Part 1...and she was clearly a Lead in that too!

Beyond that, this is a great group!

The only one that I am truly bummed to not see here is Odessa A'Zion, who was an absolute dynamo in Marty Supreme. My immediate reaction to her upon seeing it was "How is this girl not more of a serious contender?!" but I was hoping she'd get a Hail Mary reprieve after getting the SAG nod...much like Timothee Chalamet's co-star from last year's A Complete Unknown, Monica Barbaro...and not to be too catty but A'zion's work impressed me more in comparison.

I do think the other lady from Marty Supreme, Gwyneth Paltrow, was less expected to make an appearance here but I really liked her in that. I still preferred A'zion, though.

As for who will win, I actually think Teyana Taylor is in the best position to do so. While Amy Madigan was seen as potential frontrunner after all the buzz and her win at CC, Taylor took the Globe and considering she is in the film that is the Best Picture frontrunner, I do think that could tip the scales in her favor.

I think if Madigan were to win at SAG(Actor Awards...I just realized I have been calling it SAG the whole time), I think she would still lose the Oscar to whomever wins at BAFTA. I do see a world where she does take SAG, but I would be floored if BAFTA went for her. 

I could even see Sinners passion surging to a point where Wunmi Mosaku may sweep in from behind and take the Actor and even BAFTA (being British doesn't hurt)...but I could also see a world where someone like Lilleas wins at BAFTA.

Who is my personal preference? I actually don't know. They are all so great in varying ways. I do love that Elle Fanning had such a come from behind victory to get this nomination because I was truly very pleased with her work in Sentimental Value, but I sort of feel like Lilleas is my favorite here if I had to choose one.

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BEST ACTOR:

Timothee Chalamet, Marty Supreme 

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

No surprises here. Some wondered if Hawke might barely miss as Blue Moon hasn't been playing super strong this season beyond his performance, but that Screenplay nod did signal he was safe.

I know some might've felt Wagner Moura was vulnerable after missing at Actor and not making the BAFTA longlist, but the sad truth is that him missing at the Actors wasn't a shocker, they RARELY go for foreign performances. BAFTA is a bit more surprising, but even they seem to favor foreign films from Europe rather than elsewhere. I just feel like his path to the nod was similar to that of fellow Brazilian Fernanda Torres, who won the Globe last year for I'm Still Here which solidified her chance at a nomination.

Chalamet seems on track to win his first Oscar, which I do think he is worthy to do so for this role...but I kind of wish Hawke could surprise at Actor. No performer has ever won back-to-back Actor awards in Lead so there is a possibility they will opt for someone else. If they don't, I think Chalamet would clearly be stronger than ever.

DiCaprio could surprise I suppose. Him being in the frontrunner helps, but I also really loved his work in OBAA. I do think there is world where he could sneak in and win over Chalamet at Actor and then be a bit more formidable.

As for the missing contenders, the only one I think had the best shot to slip in was Jesse Plemons and frankly, it is a shame he isn't here. I personally think that was his best work to date and that he stole the film from Emma Stone. Joel Edgerton had an outside shot, especially since Train Dreams was well received and he was easily the best thing about it.

It's a shame that Lee Byun-hun didn't gain more traction for No Other Choice, but according to Academy voters, the films of Park Chan-wook don't exist.

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BEST ACTRESS:

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You

Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Emma Stone, Bugonia

This is the only acting category I am feeling confident in calling a complete lock, even though Lead Actor more or less is at the moment, too.

Jessie Buckley has this in the bag.

The only real surprise here is Kate Hudson but that is not totally unexpected. That 5th slot was also expected to potentially go to Chase Infiniti for OBAA, but I did suspect if her youth (it was her first film role) and the fact that she is truly more of a Supporting player would cause her to miss.

I just thought the passion for OBAA would be enough over Hudson. Full disclosure though - I have yet to see Song Sung Blue so I can't comment on Hudson.

Justice has been served as Renate Reinsve is finally an Oscar nominated actress! I wish she had gotten in for The Worst Person in the World back in 2021, but that didn't seem to be in the cards.

Despite what I said about Emma Stone in relation to Jesse Plemons' work in Bugonia, she is still very good, and I certainly don't object to this nomination.

A lot of people are certainly mourning the snub for Amanda Seyfried, whom many felt would be the true competition to Jessie Buckley, but Searchlight certainly fumbled the bag when it came to promoting and releasing The Testament of Ann Lee. 

Lastly, Rose Byrne's nomination is richly deserved and I do think it is the kind of performance that I would truly Oscar-worthy.

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BEST DIRECTOR:

Chloe Zhao, Hamnet

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Normally the Directing branch likes to throw a curveball by nominating an international director who hadn't made much of an appearance throughout award season, so my big swing prediction was Kleber Mendonca Filho for The Secret Agent since his film was surging, and he had even won Directing at Cannes.

Instead, they did stick with Trier as the international nominee that seems to get in nearly every year. I am fine with that, because while it wasn't a film with a lot of flashy flair, he did get incredible performances out of the ensemble.

Frankly, it's a great lineup!

Safdie wasn't a sure thing, so his name popping up made me very happy as I thought he did a marvelous job. Some even wondered if Zhao could miss, but that seemed unlikely to me.

I do think that if anyone would overtake PTA, it would be Coogler...but my god, PTA is so freaking overdue for an Oscar and his work on OBAA would make for a worthy selection.

Some of the snubbed contenders include Guillermo del Toro, whom I honestly wasn't predicting but I just feel like him being left off was the right call. It is a shame that Jafar Panahi's surge died down and that he couldn't make it in here...but it does seem like aside from its Screenplay nod, the early buzz of that film never sustained.

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BEST PICTURE:

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value 

Sinners

Train Dreams

I really didn't think F1 would pull it off. It just seemed like a typical populist PGA nomination, but I guess it slipped in by way of a similar fanbase of voters who put in a film like Ford v. Ferrari. 

I thought that if a populist film from PGA would make the lineup here, it would be Weapons. I didn't predict it, but I did see a world where it could slip in here and in Screenplay...only further bolstering a path for Madigan to win in Supporting.

I predicted It Was Just an Accident in F1's spot and it's a shame it missed as I think it absolutely deserved to be here. 

I guess the big question is whether or not we will see a new surge of love for Sinners or if One Battle will indeed be the long-overdue coronation for PTA?

Personally - I am still very much on the PTA train this year.

I will leave you with that for now. Hopefully I will be able to have a top 10 list up sometime before the Oscars. I still need to catch up on a few films before I feel I can make a definitive list.

"We are infinite..." - The Best Films of 2012

I can't imagine that a lot of you that have been following these posts are feeling particularly anxious to read this installment as I have not been overly enthused about 2012 as a strong year for film. 

If I were ranking films on a 5-star scale, 2010 had 3 films that would receive a lofty 5-star rating. 2011 only had 2 films, but truthfully only A Separation from that year was the true sweeping masterpiece.

2012 offers zero.

I do think highly of the following films, but it is clear that the passion level isn't as strong as it could be. I will say that all of these films would receive a 4.5 rating at least. There are some years of film where I end up putting 4-star films in my top 10 which is not as common as you might expect for me. I suppose there are certain years where I might grade on a curve, but 2012 is a year where I feel very confident in my top 10 though perhaps realize that some of these films wouldn't even crack the list in other years.

One film I did consider for the list was The Sessions, starring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt but that was the only one as I was personally not a fan of the big awards contenders that year like Lincoln. The Silver Linings Playbook, The Life of Pi, and while I would argue that the film was entertaining and a solid watch, Argo was not close to being Best Picture material.

However, we do have a couple of the Best Picture nominees on this list, and we will be starting with one of them.

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#10 - SKYFALL

Directed by Sam Mendes

Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, & John Logan

I have had this list drafted for over a month at this point but kept abandoning it due to just feeling the urge to write reviews for new films or tackling the 70s instead as that decade clearly excited me more to write about (to put it mildly). 

Although, in that interim, I randomly revisited Skyfall over the long holiday weekend I just had and was surprised by how much it held up and how it may be my favorite Bond film of all time.

This was where the Bond series was able to find a way to blend modern sensibilities with the classic feel of earlier films without being too cloying and not having the campy vibe. Although, I do love the very droll and dry undercurrent of humor, and also having Javier Bardem as villain Silva, who plays him with enough slyness that make him a very enjoyable antagonist to watch.

I also think the film works well on an emotional level, considering how it would be the final film to feature Dame Judi Dench, and it also really shocks you in the beginning with the set piece of Eve Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) being put in the difficult position of having to try to shoot down a mercenary named Patrice who is battling with Bond but then accidentally shoots Bond who falls off the train he was on top of, which was going across a high bridge over a river. It is such an epic moment, and while Bond films are typically known for their epic moments, this is right up there at the top.

An absolute romp of a film that makes me realize that sometimes a good entertaining action/thriller isn't truly something to scoff at. Oh, and Adele's Bond song is one of the best!

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#9 - ZERO DARK THIRTY

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Written by Mark Boal

"I haven't been following the controversy surrounding Zero Dark Thirty, but when it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent 3 years married to James Cameron" - Amy Poehler

As her follow to the Oscar-winning war film The Hurt Locker from 2009, Kathryn Bigelow teamed up with the same writer, Mark Boal, to tackle a film that was VERY prescient for the time: the decade long hunt and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden after the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The controversy that Amy Poehler referred to, in what might be the most savagely hilarious joke I have heard told at an awards show, revolved around the extension use of torture in the film as a means of taking a pro-torture stance, namely the use of waterboarding. Journalist Michael Wolff considered the film to be a "nasty piece of pulp and propaganda" and that Bigelow was nothing more than a "fetishist and sadist" for embracing the idea of torture as "right".

I will argue that the usage of torture shown in the film is rather gratuitous in the grand scheme, and that the film does fall into being a bit Hollywoodized in that the efforts of his killing mainly fell upon one person battling against the CIA. It also got flack for playing down the involvement of the Obama administration who, not for nothing, had been president for 2 years when the killing took place.

It is a bit of a complex film when it comes to its legacy, but it also a truly gripping and suspenseful thriller that once again proved that Bigelow is a master at crafting these stories.

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#8 - SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

Written & Directed by Martin McDonagh

Beloved British/Irish playwright Martin McDonagh has made quite a name for himself. After quite a few highly acclaimed successes with plays such as The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Pillowman, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, McDonagh admitted that he actually wanted to pursue writing films more to plays, even stated that he "holds a respect for the whole history of films and a slight disrespect for theatre".  I will say that out of all his feature films, if I would name Seven Psychopaths as my least favorite, then he must be doing something right. 

I have only seen this film twice, once around the time it came out and then again, a couple of years ago where it played even better on rewatch.

Utilizing one of his go-to staple actors, Colin Farrell plays writer Marty Faranan. He's an alcoholic and suffering from a severe bout of writer's block. He has the title for his next script: Seven Psychopaths but doesn't seem to know who exactly his characters will be.

His best friend is a struggling actor named Billy, played by another McDonagh fave, Sam Rockwell. Billy has a means to survive: he kidnaps dogs and then collects rewards by insuring a safe return. 

Hmmm...that's almost Fargo-esque of him.

His partner-in-crime is Hans, who by our good fortune is played by the legendary Christopher Walken, and his presence as a rather bizarre religious man is the kind of energy that works perfectly in a McDonagh universe. 

However, when that duo ends up kidnapping the beloved Shih Tzu of gangster Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson), all hell breaks loose as Marty gets thrown into the crazy criminal underworld of LA... but perhaps it'll serve as good inspiration????

Seven Psychopaths is so over-the-top but in the best possible ways. Farrell does great work as more of a straight man compared to people like Rockwell, Walken, and Harrelson around him...oh and even Tom Waits is there to add to the proceedings in a fun way.

Like I said, it isn't his best film but he's yet to make a bad film...or even just a very good film. McDonagh is low key one of the best filmmakers working today.

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#7 - BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Directed by Behn Zeitlin

Written by Lucy Alibar with Behn Zeitlin 

I can still remember the huge surprise on Oscar nominations morning when both Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed for Directing nominations, and in their place, we got two nominations I love. I won't say what one of them was for as it is for a film I haven't discussed yet, but one of them was Behn Zeitlin.

That is one thing I do love about the Directing branch as they do have a tendency to throw curveballs towards a candidate who may be a bit out of the box compared to what the mainstream routinely nominates.

A tiny film made for under $2 million; Beasts of the Southern Wild was an adaption of Lucy Alibar's one-act play Juicy & Delicious. Set in a small island community in the Louisiana Bayou called "the Bathtub", we meet 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) and her father Wink (Dwight Henry), who is very ill and filled with rage and resentment. As her father's health continues to worsen, nature also seems to go haywire: temperatures rise, sea levels rise, and the ice caps melt which unleash a slew of aurochs, an extinct bovine species. 

In terms of bold creativity and vision, there was something truly refreshing when Beasts of the Southern Wild came out. It is also remarkable the kind of chemistry gets out Dwight Henry and then 6-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who would go on to become the youngest actress ever nominated for an Oscar. She'd eventually lose to Jennifer Lawrence for The Silver Linings Playbook which...all due respect to JLaw but...no.

I am not saying Wallis would've gotten my vote (that would've gone to the previously mentioned Jessica Chastain and a nominee I haven't mentioned yet), but if she pulled this off, I certainly would've been thrilled with the inspired selection.

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#6 - MOONRISE KINGDOM

Written & Directed by Wes Anderson

Co-written by Roman Coppola

We are now in a period of film history where there seems to be some stronger critiques building up against Wes Anderson and how he always makes films that look and sound and feel the same. 

While I would argue he hasn't made a film I have truly loved in a while, although I have been positive on most of them, I still consider him a filmmaker I get excited to check out when he releases a new work.

Moonrise Kingdom is, for me, one of his best. 

Following two young protagonists played by kids making their film debut, an orphan named Sam (Jared Gilman) is attending a summer camp at Camp Ivanhoe led by Scout Master Randy Ward (Edward Norton). The camp is located on an island called New Penzance, off the coast of New England. Young Suzy (Kara Hayward) lives on the island with her parents Walt & Laura (Bill Murray & Frances McDormand). Sam and Suzy meet each other and are both very intelligent and mature for their ages and they do go from being friends to being romantic throughout that summer. By September, they want to run away together and execute a plan to do so.

There is a charm to Moonrise Kingdom that feels so vibrant and alive in a way that feels even more noticeable than in a lot of Anderson's other works. He affectively blends droll, deadpan, and slapstick humor with ease that when I first watched the film upon its release, I knew it was his best live-action work since The Royal Tenenbaums (I did very much love Fantastic Mr. Fox so that doesn't count). 

I could see where some might consider this to be a bit more contrived due to the schmaltzy angle it has, but I found it to be surprisingly affective. He has been able to sprinkle this element into other films of his after the fact, but as a whole film, Moonrise Kingdom is him at his most delightfully whimsical.

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#5 - THE ACT OF KILLING

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer w/Christine Cynn 

*An unnamed Indonesian also assisted with the film*

While this is often considered a 2013 release, it was first released in 2012 overseas so I will adhere to that timeline and give this stellar documentary a shoutout here.

Our subject matter revolves around the mass killings in Indonesia back in 1965-1966, in which those that were deemed communists and against the New Order regime were killed, and then then the killers would become gangsters ruling the country.

The corruption only snowballs from there: rigged elections, destroying to develop more property, and widespread sexual assault, including raping teenage girls and women within the Gerwani Rights Movement. 

Considering how deeply disturbing the topic at hand is, there were quite a few critics who blasted the film for being exploitative and in horrendous taste. Nick Fraser went as far to refer to it as "a snuff film" and began a campaign to plea to Academy voters not to give it the Documentary Oscar.

That sentiment was so strong with some due to how the film utilized one such executioner, Anwar Congo, and his cronies boast about and even reenact via sense memory how they would torture/rape/kill these people. It was the belief that perhaps less focus should've been on the victims rather than the heinous actions of these people...but Oppenheimer's intention was to show how not only was it horrific, but that it was even more horrific that the people were basically saved by impunity.

I have only seen The Act of Killing once, and I likely never will again. It did the job it needed to do, and that is what an uncomfortable but strongly made documentary should do.

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#4 - FRANCES HA

Written & Directed by Noah Baumbach

Co-written by Greta Gerwig

After some of his more recent efforts like White Noise (which I did like more than most) and Jay Kelly, I can't help but wish that Noah Baumbach would go back to making films in the same vein as Frances Ha. In this case, it doesn't hurt that this was his first collaboration with Greta Gerwig who would go on to become his life partner as well. 

Frances Ha is one of those films that will likely alienate some or maybe leave you feeling conflicted as to how much you like it. That isn't to say that it is necessarily it is a difficult watch; it is just under 90 minutes long (much like his best film: 2005's The Squid & The Whale), and the results are quite possibly the warmest and most endearing.

Gerwig is the titular Frances, a 27-year-old dancer whose life is upended when her best friend/roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner) has the opportunity to move to her dream neighborhood of Tribeca with another friend. Frances can't afford their Brooklyn apartment by herself so begins bouncing around from apartment to apartment, including one with her friends Lev and Benji (Adam Driver and Michael Zegen) in Chinatown.

While I was never "blessed with the dance", I certainly do take the idea of watching an artist flit and float from place to place. Sometimes it feels like a cruel joke, but I did opt to leap towards a job field that would provide me with a bit more financial stability, but it also meant sacrificing a lot of my happiness and, not to be melodramatic, my soul.

I am not saying that I want to have a life where I have to keep bouncing around from place to place, but I do miss that feeling of "an artist's life" and I wish I could have a fair amount of that whimsy back. Maybe 2026 will be a year in which I can make more of the steps to work towards that.

As for the rest of Frances Ha, I do love that Baumbach shot the film in the style of The French New Wave, utilizing only the barest of tech as if he were making a student film of the highest order. It truly adds to the film's magic and for all intents and purposes, I think it is better than a lot of people give it credit for.

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#3 - THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Written & Directed by Stephen Chobsky

I am willing to admit that a lot of the time I hear that a film has been adapted from a Young Adult novel, I don't tend to respond to the idea with much enthusiasm. 

My mind immediately goes to something like A Walk to Remember or I think of the Twilight series. I didn't have much familiarity with The Perks of Being a Wallflower other than the fact that I can recall the novel sitting on display shelves at my local Waldenbooks and at Barnes & Noble in the early 00s. 

Once the film was released, I noticed its reviews were quite strong plus it managed to get a Top 10 mention for that year's National Board of Review. I am not saying that is always the end all be all of recognition as they can throw in some random curveballs, but in the case of Perks, it was enough for me to check it out. Plus, any film set in Pittsburgh always gets me a little excited since it was the biggest city I grew up around.

Logan Lerman plays Charlie, a teenager who suffers from clinical depression who is getting discharged from a psychiatric hospital. He is very shy and is nervous about making friends as he begins his freshman year of high school.

He meets two seniors, Patrick (Ezra Miller) and his stepsister Sam (Emma Watson) who eventually help him open up more, including letting them know that his best friend killed himself the previous year. 

I do love this ensemble. We get wonderful work from our trio of young actors, plus I always love seeing the great Joan Cusack, who played Charlie's psychiatrist Dr. Burton.

I am not here to proclaim that I had any kind of severe trauma that would be comparable to that of Charlie, if anything, my trauma was born from religion which I have gone into quite a bit. I was never diagnosed with depression, nor have I had a stay at a psychiatric hospital.

However, I still felt deeply for Charlie.

It was never easy for me to belong, and I always felt shy and unseen by most. While I did eventually find my sanctuary of sorts, I still find myself having a tinge of dread when thinking about my youth. From 6th grade up until around my sophomore year, I found myself loving getting sick as an excuse not to go to school. I would pray for heavy snowstorms to that school would be closed that day. If I had gym class, if I could get away with doing very little, I would gladly do so.

I even remember my county getting called for a 2-hour delay and begging my mom to just let me stay home when they opted not to close for a full day. She knew that I was struggling but she also knew I stayed home A LOT and that I couldn't keep doing it. I do have a memory of crying in my room, because I wanted nothing more than to just stay there.

There is truth to looking at your past and realizing that you eventually did grow and find yourself, but that sometimes you can't help but feel like that kid again. Although that isn't how I should let my life define me, in the end..."we are infinite".

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#2 - THE MASTER

Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

If you came to me even just a few years ago and asked me not just what my favorite film of 2012 was but also my favorite PTA film, I would've said The Master. This is an opinion that was also shared by PTA himself.

I have talked a little about The Master previously and how I do feel the film suffers a little from a bit of a meandering tone that perhaps makes it wane just a smidge on me in recent years...although I still think it was a fantastic film and it is well worth your time.

Set in post-war society following WWII, we meet a nymphomaniac alcoholic Navy vet named Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) who is having a very difficult time adjusting to a normal life. When he happens to stow away on a yacht, he encounters a man by the name of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic and enigmatic leader of a movement known as "The Cause". As one of Dodd's types tends to do in these situations, he sees Freddie as a lost soul and proceeds to convert him into being one of his followers.

The film takes inspiration from various sources, most notably that of L. Ron Hubbard and the creation of Scientology but also elements of the lives of actor Jason Robards and novelist John Steinbeck. This isn't even going into the fact that PTA also got inspiration from seemingly his favorite novelist Thomas Pynchon with his book V. and the documentary Let There Be Light about WWII vets suffering from PTSD.

Yes, PTA writes and directs with great aplomb per usual, and the film looks incredible. It had been the first narrative film to be released on 70mm film in over a decade, and on top of that, this film contains some of the best acting you could ever witness from a film of recent years.

Amy Adams is wonderful and deserves a shout-out. I actually think she should've won the Oscar that year of those who were nominated (this was the year Anne Hathaway won for Les Mis, who I will admit was the best thing about that wretched adaptation). With Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I consider them one of the best film duos ever. What these two accomplish is, no pun intended, masterful.

Brooding character studies are fascinating when done well, and The Master is exceedingly successful.

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#1 - AMOUR

Written & Directed by Michael Haneke

It might be weird to say that Amour is something of a passionate film from Michael Haneke, a filmmaker I have discussed multiple times on this blog. Haneke is someone who isn't exactly looking to brighten your mood...and while Amour is no exception, it strangely feels a lot more potent due to how it manages to somehow be poignant while shattering your entire being into a million pieces. 

Starring two French legends, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva...along with another French legend playing their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert), Trintignant and Riva are Georges and Anne Laurent. Both are retired piano teachers in their 80s and still live fairly active lives, until one morning when Anne suffers from a stroke while eating breakfast. 

Anne undergoes surgery on her blocked carotid artery, but it is not fully successful as it leaves her paralyzed on her right side and she must be confined to a wheelchair. Anne wishes a desire to end her life, but Georges won't even begin to entertain the idea.

Although, in the first scene of the film, you will already know how their story will pan out.

Amour is a film that I immediately recognized as painful and devastating. I would've only been 24 when it came out and now all these years later, it resonates so deeply with me.

I am actually not so sure if I could revisit this film, which is crazy to say considering I have revisited some of Haneke's most diabolical of efforts like Funny Games or Cache. I think Amour was, arguably, his most successful film in that takes his dark depressing energy that could even have a slight skip in its step at times (if you've seen Funny Games, you will know what I am talking about) and gives it a heart. 

It's a tragic romance and an ultimate example in "are you willing to give the love of your life the end that they want?". Watching these two legends act opposite each other was a truly rewarding experience. It feels even more sad in hindsight now that we've lost both Riva and Trintignant, but I am so glad that Haneke was able to capture this glorious swan song for both of them.

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

I do write these posts and often tell myself that maybe writing about these films will surprise me and that I will think more highly of the whole output of that year.

Sadly, that was not the case for 2012. Hell, I ended up losing interest in writing about it and moved on to finishing up a whole other decade instead! I am glad I completed this year though, because these are certainly good films worth seeing for one reason or another. 

I've already written about 2013, which you can read about here.

That means I am moving onto 2014 next, and I will say right now that we will be seeing a shift in the right direction with that year!

"In Heaven, Everything is Fine..." - The Best Films of 1977

When it comes to specific years of cinema in the 1970s, I look at the list I made below and find myself kind of impressed with 1977. I may be praising that decade as a whole, but I can certainly acknowledge that some years aren't as strong as others. Coming off of 1976 after the high of 1974-1975 was a bit of a whiplash, and now we enter 1977, a year that offers a high level of masterpieces that surprised me and quite a few films that flirt with that status. 

You get a little bit of everything here: massive populist hits, animation, horror, romance, avantgarde, camp...and while that might not be an unusual thing to happen for a "Best of" list year to year, this is one of those examples where we are seeing high quality films from each of these genres.

We will have at least SIX 5-star films on this list, although to be fair, I flirt with giving my #7 and #8 choices a 5-star rating as well so this is a year I am very excited to talk about!

I have five Honorable Mentions to discuss, so we will start with those before diving into the top 10:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

DESPERATE LIVING

I talked about John Waters on my 1974 post, and I can't help but express again that if you want to truly embrace the best of black comedy camp, he is THE place to start. Desperate Living is positively trashy and bonkers to the max with one of Waters' favorite actresses, Mink Stole, playing Peggy Gravel. She has killed her husband and now she and her maid Grizelda are on the move and end up in the town of Mortville, where they are all the subjects to a lady known as Queen Carlotta. It is a film that just needs to be seen to be believed. 

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SUSPIRIA

Entering the world of Dario Argento again, we now have what is arguably his most famous film with Suspiria. Jessica Harper plays a ballet student named Suzy who is from America and attending a prestigious European dance academy that just so happens to be a witch coven. I can't help but admit that a lot of my love for this film is for how Argento shoots it. It has got to be one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen, and quite possibly the best shot horror film I've seen. The colors are just so RICH!

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MOMENTS IN A STOLEN DREAM

Known in its native Philippines by a title that translates to "When You Dream & Wake Up", Moments of a Stolen Dream is a film that feels like a bit of a spiritual forerunner to something like In the Mood for Love in that it is a relationship that seems to be a friendship that only blossoms to something more due to some extraneous circumstances. I even see elements of The Bridges of Madison County and Past Lives. Joey (Christopher de Leon) falls in love with a girl named Anna (Hilda Koronel) after striking up a friendship but she is married with a son but is not happy with her relationship with him as he is very domineering and views her mostly as a trophy wife. This one is a bit of an underseen gem, but I found it to be beautifully made.

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STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE

I will flat out admit that I am not the least bit invested in the Star Wars universe, but I can acknowledge that they are often entertaining films...even the ones that are rather bad because then I just enjoy them on a hate watch level. 

However, the original Star Wars was a groundbreaking achievement in so many ways and I will say that a lot of its success does signal an unfortunate shift in the film industry, so I try to ignore that aspect as I do think the populist elements are what make a lot of American films suffer entering the 80s.

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SORCERER 

I don't think I quite understood the appeal to Sorcerer when I first saw it. It was based on the French novel The Wages of Fear which was adapted into a 1953 film which I did eventually watch and considered to be quite great. I then grew to appreciate what William Fredkin did with this adaptation, and I also love that he worked with Roy Scheider after he had been in The French Connection and was now more of a widely known star following Jaws. Scheider was an actor who deserved far better roles and he was mostly underappreciated. His best work would come in 1979's All That Jazz.

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 #10 - THE RESCUERS

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery, & Art Stevens

Written by 

• Larry Clemmons
• Ken Anderson
• Vance Gerry
• Ted Berman
• Burny Mattinson
• Frank Thomas
• David Michener
• Fred Lucky
• Dick Sebast

This selection might raise a few eyebrows, but I have always been of the belief that The Rescuers is the most underrated of the Disney animation canon.

Due to my age, I was first introduced to it through its 1990 sequel The Rescuers Down Under which technically did come out in the early years of the Disney Renaissance but was not as well received by audiences or critics in comparison to the film that came out before (The Little Mermaid) or after it (Beauty & the Beast). However, I found the film to be beautifully drawn and rather intriguing...that opening scene with the sweep across the Australian Outback was unlike anything else I had seen at that time and I would watch that film over and over again.

As I got a tad older, I finally watched its predecessor and I couldn't get over how unique it felt compared to basically any other Disney film I had seen. It felt so dark and dreary and moody, and it had that small musical score that felt very much in line with that jazzy easy listening 70s vibe of the time. It was also the last film to be animated by with help from the group of gentlemen known as Disney's "Nine Old Men" so there is a mix of classic and modern feels in the animation that act as a bridge towards the future.

Two little mice named Bianca and Bernard (voiced by Eva Gabor and Bob Newhart) work with the Rescue Aid Society, a group of international mice who headquartered conveniently under the UN in New York. They are tasked with saving abducted children, and zero in on a 6 year old orphan girl named Penny who is taken by Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page) and her lackey Mr. Snoops (Joe Flynn) in order to use her to obtain a rare diamond in a unsafe cavern that they themselves cannot fit in.

Madame Medusa is one of the greatest unsung villains from Disney because she is truly so evil, not to mention pairing her with the incompetent Mr. Snoops, but the fact they got an actress of Geraldine Page's caliber to do the voice was incredible. Even as a young kid before knowing her work, hearing her in the film was practically revelatory.

I also...it must be said...have had the Rescue Aid Society anthem in my head now for over 30 years.

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#9 - HOUSE 

Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi 

Written by Chiho Katsura & Chigumi Obayashi

The Rescuers may have been a bit subversive for Disney's standards, but House is ready to hold their beer and take a victory lap with it.

House is one of those films that took bold and inventive chances in how to tell a story and how to blend genres only for it to be met with a lot of critical apathy in Japan when it was first released, but did have a solid fanbase from the public. In the years since, not only is it highly acclaimed, but it is considered a true landmark for Japanese cinema.

As a very surreal black comedy horror film that is essentially a fever dream, a young girl we only know as "Gorgeous" who made a trip through the woods with six of her friends to visit her ailing aunt at her country home...but they all encounter supernatural activity and one by one, they succumb to the house devouring them.

A lot about what we see onscreen is utterly baffling, but it is also presented in such an abstract and bizarre way that it becomes infectious to watch and then you wonder what the hell is wrong with you. If there was ever a horror film that can somehow make you feel appalled and almost cheerful all at once, House was a tailormade niche. 

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#8 - THE AMERICAN FRIEND

Written & Directed by Wim Wenders

We now get another outing from my favorite filmmaker to come out of the New German Movement of the 1970s: Wim Wenders...a man who is STILL making films today.

Before I talk about the plot of this film, yes, it is based on one of the Tom Ripley novels that was written by Patricia Highsmith so I will get that out of the way.

Ripley is played by, of all people, Dennis Hopper in this version and he has made the trek to Germany and encounters a terminally ill picture framer named Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz) and coerces him into becoming an assassin. 

Due to the American aspect with Hopper's presence, scenes between him and Ganz are spoken in English (in addition to the scenes that take place in France) while scenes with Ganz and others are in his native German. Hopper does a great job here, but it is Ganz's truly subtle and beguiling performance that makes the film of another level. Ganz has been in so many stellar films over the years, including Herzog's take on Nosferatu and Wenders' 1987 outing Wings of Desire, and to most others, even if they haven't seen it, he has been immortalized virally for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the film Downfall where his scene ranting at his minions became the source of many an online video parody...not that it is a slam at Ganz's abilities; he is truly stunning in that film as he often was in whatever film he acted in.

It may be a bit of a slow-burn, which I'd argue even something like The Talented Mr. Ripley is as well, but I do think it is a strong effort from Wenders who still had the best yet to come within him.

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#7 - ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T

Written & Directed by Agnes Varda

One of my most repeated phrases on this blog is how I feel like I often don't get the chance to discuss certain filmmakers due to whichever topics/areas I end up focusing on. One of those has got to be Agnes Varda, the truly imitable French filmmaker who was a true pioneer for women in the artform and had been the wife of New Wave icon Jacques Demy. 

While not my absolute favorite work of hers, I do think one of Varda's finest outings in One Sings, The Other Doesn't, which tells the story of two young women over a 14 year period revolving around the burgeoning women's rights movement that was blossoming all around the world. 

Beginning in 1962 France, 17-year-old Pauline (Valerie Mairesse) reconnects with 22-year-old Suzanne (Therese Liotard) when she comes across photographs of hers in a gallery. Suzanne is now married with two kids and has a third on the way, but she confides in Pauline that she simply cannot afford a third child so with her help, she obtains money for Suzanne to get an illegal abortion. Roughly another decade passes before the two are reuinited again, but this time, they reconnect through an abortion rights rally. 

One Sings, The Other Doesn't is a film that must've felt radical for its time in a lot of ways, but the sad truth is that in today's political climate, something like this would be considered a bit of a lightning rod. 

I think what makes Varda a truly incredible filmmaker at addressing this kind of subject matter is not simply just the fact that she is a woman, but she presents it in a way that doesn't preach at you. She presents it in a very simplistic, even poetic way and it is hard to deny that the power of it is more assured than if it had been filled with a ton of passionate and heated monologues.

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#6 - ERASERHEAD

Written & Directed by David Lynch

As I write this, we are nearly one year removed from the passing of the legendary David Lynch, a filmmaker who had such a profound influence on me at a young age. While a lot of people might've sat down to watch Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive to honor him upon hearing the news, I came home from work and put on Eraserhead. 

I am not here to say that this is his best film or that it is necessarily my favorite, however it just felt like the right film of his to watch in that moment. Part of it was because it was one I hadn't sat down to watch in several years but I also felt a tinge of sentimentality as it was his first feature film.

While Lynch doesn't talk about his films in much analytical detail, if at all, I do think the parallels of his stories of being a young father living in a very sketchy part of Philadelphia ring true in this story. He famously once said in an interview that he considered Eraserhead to be his most spiritual film and when he was asked if he could elaborate, he simply said "No".

As bizarre as an image as it might be, I certainly can't help but be brought into a trance when a figure known as The Lady in the Radiator comes forward with her cheeks bigger than a Hostess Sno-Ball and sings "In heaven, everything is fine..."

When I first saw the film, I for some reason thought about Pippin. That might seem like an odd comparison but I was like...is she encouraging him to kill himself?

I suppose that's one interpretation, but nevertheless, I still treasure how much David Lynch made me embrace and chase the weirder and darker sides of cinema at an age when perhaps maybe I shouldn't have done it.

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#5 - A SPECIAL DAY

Written & Directed by Ettore Scola

 Co-written by Ruggero Maccari & Maurizio Costanzo

Putting two charismatic performers like Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni together is basically a clear guarantee that you will net marvelous dividends, but luckily A Special Day doesn't rest solely on the artists themselves.

Loren is Antonietta Taberi, a somewhat naive but well-meaning housewife whose fascist husband Emanuele (John Vernon) has taken their 6 kids with him to attend a parade honoring Adolf Hitler coming to town to speak with Benito Mussolini. 

Antonietta has decided to stay home leaving the building unattended except for the landlady Pauletta (Francoise Bird) and a charismatic neighbor across the way named Gabriele (Mastroianni). 

When the family's myna bird escapes, it lands outside of Gabriele's window so she goes to retrieve it, not realizing that he was about to attempt suicide. Antonietta is rather charmed by Gabriele and even tries flirting with him not realizing that he is about to be deported not just for being anti-fascist but also a homosexual. 

Vincent Canby, the rather erratic film critic of The New York Times at that time, talked about how Loren and Mastroianni being present would help attendance but that the film mostly failed because they were too glamorous to make their roles work. I mean, sure, those two were absolutely stunning in nearly every respect but that is totally selling the film (and them) very short.

While the film may flirt with being a tad mawkish, it does lend a certain level of levity to the proceedings but perhaps one things I admire about it is the idea of sexuality being fluid but not necessarily a definitive statement. Like, maybe you remain gay as a man but you may find yourself briefly drawn to a woman, and vice versa. A lot of artistic endeavors at that time seemed to be of the belief that homosexuality could be "cured" by an incredible encounter with the opposite sex which we saw on TV shows like Soap and Dynasty. 

Not to put those shows on any similar playing level as A Special Day, but you get what I mean. I also appreciate how this film deals with the idea of cutting through mass-ideology and working through listening to someone who is different than you and perhaps is willing to bring out the truth within you that you didn't know was there.

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#4 - 3 WOMEN

Written & Directed by Robert Altman 

Story Consultation by Patricia Resnick

Am I the only person who considers 3 Women to be the best film Robert Altman ever made?

I do feel like I have seen some agree with me, but I do get the sense that most gravitate towards something like Nashville. 

I do think the reason I respond to 3 Women, and some of my avid readers probably already know where I am going with this, is that Altman's inspiration for this film was Ingmar Bergman's Persona which might possibly the magnum opus (or at least of the top 3) of that master's career.

Persona was a bit of psychological mindfuck, to say the least, but the story of how the film got conceived is certainly a bit of a crazy bit of info.

Altman's wife was in the hospital for treatment and he felt afraid she would die. One night while trying to get some sleep, he had a bit of a fever dream where he envisioned directing a film with Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek about identity theft that was being shot in a desert setting. Upon waking up, he consulted writer Patricia Resnick to flesh out a story to which she provided a 50-page treatment.

As was true to his dream, 3 Women is set in a small dusty California desert town and we meet a shy and timid young woman named Pinky Rose (Spacek) who just moved to town to work at a spa for the elderly. One of her co-workers is the nonstop jabberer and self-absorbed Millie Lammoreux (Duvall), whom she becomes obsessed with as she wishes she could have an outgoing personality like hers.

Despite being two stark personalities, they both become roommates at an apartment complex run by a drunk, womanizing former stunt double Edgar Hart (Robert Fortier) and his middle-aged but pregnant wife Willie (Janice Rule, the third of the women) who rarely speaks and mostly just paints murals.

There is a lot I could try to say about 3 Women beyond that, but a lot of the film descends into madness that makes it feel not just as bizarre as one of Bergman's works but almost a forerunner to the works of David Lynch, particularly Mulholland Drive.

Sissy Spacek is wonderful here, but it is Shelley Duvall who is the absolute marvel and considering a good amount of her dialogue came from improvisation, I can't help but feel a bit sad that Hollywood truly didn't embrace her the way they should have. Even though she would go on to give a once-maligned and now highly praised performance in The Shining, I think 3 Women represents her finest work and a clear sign that she was the kind of actress who could've gone on to even higher heights.

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#3 - ANNIE HALL

Written & Directed by Woody Allen

Addressing the elephant in the room, how does one approach a piece of entertainment as made by someone who has become a bit of a pariah?

If we were to erase the work of every artist who was a horrible and misguided person, we'd frankly not have a lot of art to enjoy. It's that old adage of "separate the art from the artist", but yes, I do agree that it can be easier to combine the hatred for both with some.

Woody Allen is one of those where I do sincerely feel at his peak, he made some truly entertaining films and had an amazing track record for well over a decade. The interesting thing about Annie Hall is that when I first saw the film, I didn't like it at all. I truly did not understand its appeal whatsoever, until I was in college and revisited the film after a viewing of The Purple Rose of Cairo made me want to check out more films of his.

It was on that viewing that I discovered I was very enamored with it, and I have since watched the film a few more times, including once fairly recently only to realize it still holds up rather well. Considering a lot of the repetitive tropes and themes that Allen would visit time and time again, Annie Hall is an example of him discovering the perfect mix of comedy and melancholy. 

It also doesn't hurt that he had Diane Keaton there in the role that truly made her into the quirky beloved icon she became and still is even after her recent untimely passing. 

The film is incredibly short, but it doesn't need to be longer to be satisfying. In fact, the ending contains a montage of clips we had seen throughout the film diving into their relationship and while these can often feel cloying or tacked on, it doesn't here. I think a lot of the sentimentality is aided by using Keaton's performance of "Seems Like Old Times" as a backdrop to the montage. 

It may not be a popular thing to say with some, but I still love Annie Hall just as a do a few others from his filmography...but I still stand by the statement that his last truly great film was 1989's Crimes & Misdemeanors.

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#2 - THE ASCENT 

Written & Directed by Larisa Shepitko

I now get to shine a light on Larisa Shepitko, another female filmmaker but one that I admittedly don't have a lot of history with. Her work was not as vast due to the fact her life was cut too short when she died at a car crash in 1979 at the age of 41.

Shepitko was also married to filmmaker Elem Klimov, who would go on to make the brutally devastating Holocaust masterpiece Come & See a few years after the accident. Shepitko's last film, Farewell was just beginning filming at the time of her accident, so Klimov would step in to finish the film for her. 

The Ascent would the last film she'd complete in full before her death.

Much like her husband's work later on, The Ascent is an absolutely devastating piece about two Soviet men who go searching for supplies to survive at a nearby farm but it turns out that German soldiers (those pesky punchable Nazis) have already gotten to the area first so they realize they are now in the midst of enemy territory.

Much like Come & See, I don't know if I would ever truly be able to sit through The Ascent again. However, what it adds is that is so stunningly shot that it becomes so beautiful despite how utterly devastating and depressing it is. For as gorgeous as shot is, you may as well have your heart crushed in your hand and your soul beaten with a club. 

All you can really do is get swept up in the world and marvel at what Shepitko was able to do with this, and despite what I just said, I may try to give this film another go soon. It is not an easy watch, but I do feel it deserves to be seen and I wish we could've gotten decades more work from her. I should also finally check out the rest of her filmography as well.

I do want to bring up one more thing, which is a quote from Belarusian writer Ales Adamovich after saw the film at one of its earliest screenings. He had been a veteran of the war and was rather stunned by the amount of care and insight that Shepitko gave to this work. He said "Where did this girl come from, who of course experienced nothing of the sort, but knows all about it? How could she express it like this?"

The film was on the brink of being banned because the regulatory authorities thought what was just going to be a film about partisans was actually "a religious parable" with too much of a mystical edge. They eventually relented, but honestly, what Larisa Shepitko achieved here was mystical.

Also - shoutout to Cate Blanchett, who during the press tour for Tar said that The Ascent should be seen by everyone. I always seem to find new ways to adore that woman.

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#1 - OPENING NIGHT

Written & Directed by John Cassavetes

After quite a few strong efforts decade back a decade or so, including appearances on my 1974 and 1976 lists, I am finally crowning John Cassavetes as making the #1 film for a given year. Although, in a lot of ways, it is pretty arbitrary as I will discuss in my Final Thoughts portion.

His 1976 outing The Killing of a Chinese Bookie did make that list, but it isn't a film of his I think about as much or even want to revisit. It also made me long for the return of his wife Gena Rowlands to the proceedings, which thankfully, Opening Night provides that. 

I have had a history of performing in theatre, although obviously not on Broadway. Nevertheless, I do get drawn to works that delve into the process of performing and developing a piece of art and how it can be its own drama in of itself.

Rowlands is Myrtle Gordon, a highly acclaimed though rather complicated stage actress who is in New Haven for the out-of-town tryout of a Broadway bound play called The Second Woman. 

One night after a performance, she comes across a teenage fan named Nancy who is obsessed with her and proceeds to chase after her only to be struck by a car and killed. Witnessing this death completely unnerves Myrtle even to the point that she seeks out her family to attend her shiva only to be treated with apathy.

From there, we watch Myrtle descend into a nervous breakdown combined with a touch of alcoholism and all we can do is watch with heartbreaking interest because not only is it such a tragic story, it is also captivating as we yet again get a true showcase for the genius that is Gena Rowlands and how well her dear husband guides her performance.

Opening Night can be read as a case of an ultimate "Actor's Nightmare", because phrases like "The Show Must Go On" are not untrue and you have to adhere to the performance, but in the case of Myrtle Gordon, she just had reality collide with her hard to the point that she doesn't even know what's left from right and what matters anymore.

It is truly like a psychological horror film with Rowlands being draped in black surrounding bright reds and yellows as her entire psyche just snaps. I find it so fascinating at how some critics took such a disinterest in Cassavetes, such as Variety claiming that he tackled so many films like this before and that because the public didn't seem overly interested. 

I mean...so was he supposed to stop????

Thankfully, he didn't stop although he would only make three more films before his untimely death in 1989 at the age of 59. Of those three films, only one of them compared to his peak work from the late 60s and 70s: 1984's Love Streams...but I love that Cassavetes, the Indie King, kept up his gig.

He once said in an interview that when he, Rowlands, and his close-knit crew make a film, they certainly hoped people would like it but it was never a goal to create the next big hit. For him personally, the joy was "in making it". 

That philosophy is frankly so refreshing and I will always treasure Cassavetes' work, and I also love that he so frequently gave us a chance to peer into the soul of Gena Rowlands because, MY GOD, she was a ferocious talent that we rarely ever get. 

Thank you both.

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

Even though I did state at the beginning that this would be a deceptively strong year for me to discuss, I didn't truly realize HOW deceptive until I actually started writing about the films.

Even when talking about Eraserhead at #6, I was thinking to myself "Should I put this higher?" and then as I wrote about my entire top 5, I was doubting everything about it in a positive way. I seriously thought for each film "Maybe this should be #1...or that one...or this one..."

So yes, take this whole top 5 as one big #1 selection, because any of them could truly warrant the lofty title, but I think that I feel pretty good about the order I chose. 

I have already written about the following years of the decade, so you can check them out here:

1978

1979

I do find myself a bit flabbergasted by how strong 1977 was, because as I sat down to write it, most of the passion just poured out of me in a way that made me very excited. It was certainly a welcomed feeling over my 1976 post which, admittedly, I don't feel as good about.

I am very happy to share this list with you, and I hope that if you haven't seen some of these, you will feel encouraged to check them out.