Movies in 2026 21

Faithless, (Liv Ullmann, 2000)

It took me a couple viewing sessions to make my way through Liv Ullmann's Faithless, and not simply because it's a long movie. Mainly, it was simply a very raw and painful film, and it took a while to work through. It's easy to think of Liv Ullmann "merely" as an actress, but she's also a very talented director. The script was written by Ingmar Bergman himself, and he was clearly coming to grips with the damage that he had caused through his own well-documented infidelities. Lena Endre's performance as Marianne is staggeringly brilliant. The ending was not particularly satisfying, but the ending of affairs is never particularly satisfying either, so I guess there's some symmetry here. Highly recommended, although this would not qualify as a good date night selection.

Movies in 2026 20

 

The Killing, (Stanley Kubrick, 1956)

Re-watching The Asphalt Jungle clearly put me in a film noir - and especially a Sterling Hayden film noir - mood, as I watched Stanley Kubrick's The Killing again this afternoon. I'm not a huge Kubrick fan, although he would not fall into that list of artists that I admire more than I like that I discussed earlier. I would probably argue that The Killing is actually Kubrick's best film, although I don't know if I would die on that hill (but I don't think I'm merely being a contrarian either). Takumi Furukawa's excellent Cruel Gun Story, starring the immortal Joe Shishido, which I always show in my Japanese film noir class is essentially a remake. Highly recommended.

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The Asphalt Jungle, (John Huston, 1950)

Recently I watched John Huston's final film, The Dead, at the end of the year, so I guess there's some sort of poetic logic that I watched a film from his earlier years at the turning of the season. The year 1950 is sometimes referred to as the year film noir reached its peak, or at least it's the year that produced the most films noir. In that year John Huston, who years earlier helped begin the genre with The Maltese Falcon, produced one of its shining lights, The Asphalt Jungle. While later posters would celebrate/promote Marilyn Monroe (it's one of her first roles), she actually plays a small role (although she's quite good). Sterling Hayden stars in what is probably his best performance. I'm sure that when I first saw The Godfather I had no idea who that police chief getting shot by Michael was (such was my ignorance). I often will show the first give minutes of the film in class, because they are just about perfect it setting the mood of the film beautifully. Highly recommended. 

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Sex, Lies, and Videotape, (Stephen Soderbergh, 1989)

Curse the day that Stephen Soderbergh met George Clooney. It's sort of painful to watch this wonderful 1989 film, great in its own right and important in its role in inspiring independent cinema, and not think of all the great movies that could have been made if Soderbergh was not distracted making smug and utterly comfortable vehicles for Clooney. I like both Soderbergh and Clooney a lot, but I think their careers, especially Soderbergh's, would have taken a more interesting path if they weren't such frequent collaborators. 

Smoking Bishop

 Yesterday my excellent friend Steve popped into the Breakfast of Excellence to give me a wonderful birthday gift. It was a collection of recipes for all the drinks that appear in Charles Dickens stories. This is an epic gift!!

As all right-thinking individuals recall, after his time with the ghosts, Scrooge invites Bob Cratchit for a bowl of Smoking Bishop so that they can discuss his family's future. 

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New Rose Hotel, (Abel Ferrara, 1998)

As I'm sure I've discussed, there is a subset of artists that I know more in theory than in reality. That is, I admire their vision and what they accomplished and completely support their recognition, but who I have never warmed to. This would include artists like Prokofiev and Stravinsky and Altman, etc. I appreciate how they changed the world and their process, but I just don't, personally, like their work. This led to my famous misstep with my friend Kevin when I was trying to make that point about They Might Be Giants, not realizing that it was his favorite band. Another artist that might find their way into this eclectic collection would be Abel Ferrara. Last night I watched his New Rose Hotel, which starred Christopher Walken, Willem Defoe, and Asia Argento. Obviously, I love independent filmmakers, and I like many of the actors who work with Ferrara, and I celebrate anyone who keeps film noir alive, but I don't think I've ever seen a Ferrara film that I truly liked. The characters remain vaguely out of focus for me, and thus I simply don't care about them as I should. Still, this will not keep me from watching more of his movies in the future. 

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The Valley of the Bees, (Frantisek Viacil, 1968)

Possessing a subscription to the Criterion Channel has taught me so much (and, with the exception of the CFL, who do I show more love to than the Criterion Channel?). As I've often noted, my Japanese Film Noir class grew out of the Criterion Channel's collection of the same name. Another collection that I've loved (and which I partially harvest for my Fascism class this semester) is their Czech New Wave collection. The other night I watched Frantisek Viacil's The Valley of the Bees, which is the final film in his history trilogy (following The Devil's Trap and Marketa Lazarova). The Valley of the Bees focuses on the story of two men, Ondrej and Armin, who are members of the Teutonic knights, and the tragedy that ensues when Ondrej fees the order and Armin journeys to bring him back. It works beautifully as a historical critique of fanatical religion, but it's difficult to not read read it as a commentary on communism. I need to watch more Viacil films.