Movies in 2026 191

 

The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

Here's a film that I own on DVD, and which never seems to show up on the Criterion Channel, and which I don't watch nearly enough: William Wyler's 1946 Oscar winner and undeniable classic, The Best Years of Our Lives. As with It's a Wonderful Life, although a very different film, every time I re-watch The Best Years of Our Lives I find new places to cry. I don't know if I made it ten minutes in this time before I was weepy, and that was before I balled later on. Shameful. It stars Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell as soldiers returning to their small town after the war, and the struggles that they face returning to civilian life. Russell was a true double-amputee, and he ended up winning two Academy Awards for his performance, a Special Award because they didn't think he would actually win in the category of Best Supporting Actor, and also Best Supporting Actor (when he did win). It's the only time in Oscar history when an actor won twice for the same performance. Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, and Cathy O'Donnell are the women in their lives, adjusting to their pretty fucked up husband/boyfriends, but that statement doesn't do justice to the depth they all bring in their performances. Virginia Mayo gives a wonderful trampy performance as Andrews's wife. The film unflinchingly explored the lives of the returning soldiers, and, I would argue, helped keep America from forgetting them in the afterglow of victory. There are also a couple great scenes showing the growth of early isolationists and naysayers, which might serve as a primer on how movements like MAGA start. I taught a classic on World War II and Film a couple times, and I remember show it to my students. Required viewing.

Movies in 2026 190

 

Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

And speaking of films that I own on DVD, but which are almost universally on the Criterion Channel, there's Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai. It stars Alain Delon at his best and most beautiful as a hitman (Jef Costello) whose hit both succeeds and fails, kicking in his own warrior ethic (hence the title). It's beautifully and starkly filmed, and is far more than simply another film noir. It also stars Francois Perier (as the policeman trying to catch him - the film almost qualified as a procedural),  Nathalie Delon (as Jef's sort-of girlfriend Jane - in real life the two were married for a while), and Cathy Rosier (as the pianist who witnessed the original hit). The ending is classic, and brings an appropriately French existentialist feel to it all (which tended to mark French films noir). I bought the DVD because I was planning on showing it in my Japanese Film Noir class as a counterpoint, but I ended up showing Elevator to the Gallows instead. Highly recommended, and it's setting me off on a Jean-Pierre Melville quest.

Movies in 2026 189

 

Henry Fool (Hal Hartley, 1997)

Lately I've been focusing on my DVD collection, considering that the Criterion Channel will take up less space in my suitcase than thirty DVDs. The question of how many books we're going to bring overseas is a constant discussion point between Janet and myself, and, while she's more horrified by culling books than I am, she's also done a much better job getting started on the process. Recently I upgraded to a new Kindle and purchased some more books, with the notion of, at least initially, I'm going to try and survive on my Kindle with only a couple books making the trip (with other being slow-shipped). But what about DVDs? I watch so many movies on the Criterion Channel which also exist happily in DVD format in my movie cabinet, many of which I bought from the Criterion Collection, which begs the question of whether I need to bring them overseas in a timely fashion. This is especially true when you factor in the region differences with DVD players. However, some of my favorite movies do not live on the Criterion Channel, and thus they will have to make the trip. For instance, it is inconceivable that I won't watch Local Hero at least once or twice a year for the rest of my life, and thus it will have to hide away in my suitcase. Another example would be Hal Hartley's first trilogy, the so-called Long Island trilogy (The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, and Simple Men), which shows up occasionally on the Criterion Channel, but usually is not there, so my boxed set has to come along. Now, a more complicated question would be Hartley's second trilogy, the Henry Fool trilogy. I've never warmed to it in the same way I did the original, although that may also be a testament to my mad love of those three early Hartley classics. This brings us to the first film in that trilogy, Henry Fool. The cast is classic Hartley: Thomas Jay Ryan (as Henry Fool), James Urbaniak (Simon Grim), Parker Posey (Fay Grim), Liam Aiken (Ned), etc. It focuses on the chaos that ensues when reprobate Henry Fool arrives in town and immerses himself in the Grim household, convincing Simon to become a great/terrible/popular/influential poet and bedding down Fay. Like all Hartley films, it has its own brilliant and inexplicable logic and timing and ending which make no sense and perfect sense. I universally recommend all Hartley films, but if you're not familiar with him I wouldn't start with this film or trilogy, because it simply doesn't have the magic of some of his other films, and then you might not get around to watching those films, which would be much more than merely a pity. So, I will recommend it, but with that disclaimer.

A Dream Which We Cannot Always Perceive

 "In the people we love there is, immanent within them, a dream which we cannot always perceive but which haunts us."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (Finding Time Again)

As I mentioned the other day, I'm now well into Finding Time Again, the seventh and final volume of the latest Proust translation, In Search of Lost Time. My first four readings of Proust were of the older Remembrance of Things Past translation, so it's been a treat to be introduced to the new translation. As I was saying to a friend of mine, one of those rare Proustians (we tend to find each other magnetically), I don't speak French so I'm not qualified to say whether or not this translation is better, although it is definitely acclaimed. Some of my favorite passages "disappeared," that is, the specific translation I had memorized, was rendered in a different form. Similarly, there are now passages in the new translation, which I guess were there in spirit previously, but which now jumped out at me even more dramatically. This brings me to the passage above. If I had more time right now I'd delve back into the older translation and spirit out the other version, but I'm way too buried at the moment. It would be interesting to see if I tagged it as dramatically as I did this one. As usual, Proust is spot-on. The person that we love is never simply that person, but the dream that surrounds them, of which we, at that moment, aren't really aware. Sometimes I think the nature of reading Proust is patiently working your way through another social gathering until you reach another life-altering observation.

Movies in 2026 188

 

Dune: Part 2 (Denis Villeneuve, 2024) 

Last night was movie night down at Gary and Ali's, which, of course, made me incredibly happy. A couple weeks ago we watched the first installment of Denis Villeneuve's Dune trilogy, and yesterday we moved on to Dune: Part 2. I liked the first one (generally, I like his films quite a bit) and I liked this one as well. They're so beautifully filmed. My main problem with it is that I think both films, but especially this one, overplayed an Arab fanaticism aspect and downplayed the Islamic mysticism/faith aspect. A similar accusation could be made against Herbert's original work, although I would argue that he doesn't play up the former and more richly explored the latter. I suspect this is much more a condemnation of Hollywood (and Western culture) than it is of Villeneuve himself. The Chani character is pretty far afield from the novel, but that may be more a case of plot positioning. You should give both of them a view. 

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Finding Time

 I'm finishing my latest re-read of Proust, which of course makes the cats happy because it required long stretches of not moving and close reading - and thus fulfilling my true destiny as glorified cat furniture. It helps that Janet is still out of time, and thus their options are more limited.

This should either be labelled, "Retirement" or "Why God Invented Metaphor."

Movies in 2026 187

 

Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1965)

I went ahead and finished off the three films that comprised the Criterion Channel's early James Bond movies collection. Guy Hamilton's 1965 Goldfinger is a lot like Dr. No, that is, two bracketing movies that are much, much weaker than From Russia With Love. You would think that after From Russia With Love you'd have the series figured out, but some studio executive decided that they needed more lasers and time spent in Kentucky, so here we are. There's nothing that I could say or not say that would make you watch or not watch a James Bond movie, but it's pretty forgettable - although doubtless I will watch it again sometime before I shuffle off this mortal coil.