10-6
10. The Last Command (1928)- The only silent movie on my list and by far the oldest. The late stage silent films were so limber and capable of epic scale. Josef Von Sternberg was at the peak of the form in 1927-28 but when talking came in and brought with them numerous filming limitations, his gifts were neutered. He is working at his full powers here telling a story of a powerful Czarist Russian general clinging to his power and honor during the Revolution. It's cleverly framed as a flashback from the now former imperialist who is reduced to a broke homeless bum in America seeking out a role as an extra in a Hollywood movie about the Russian Revolution. It's both a grand historic piece and a kind of precursor to psychological noirs. Standouts: I've never seen Emil Jannings be anything but incredible on the screen. This is the performance of a lifetime. It's also interesting to see a young William Powell.
9.
The Father (2020)- Speaking of performances of a lifetime, how about Anthony Hopkins here? I hate his Oscar win got overshadowed by the controversy around the Oscars blundered timing and Boseman's untimely death. Hopkins was every bit as good here as he was 30 years ago in Silence of the Lambs. When I was young, I watched my grandmother fall apart with Alzheimers. My parents are still quite sharp but my MIL has definitely declined. My best friend's dad, who reminds me quite a bit of Hopkins here, is also starting to show some signs of dementia. Given all of this, the movie completely rattled me to my core. Heartbreaking. Stand out: Obviously Hopkins as stated but I wanted to give some credit to Florian Zeller. He's a first time filmmaker and he managed to nail a rather a complex movie that places the viewer in the mind of someone who is mentally deteriorating in such an affective way.
8. Ran (1985)- For a 75 year old director who had only made 2 movies in the last 15 years to make a movie of this scale is just bonkers. Kurosawa absolutely gets on the director Mt. Rushmore. A Samurai film that lays waste to man and his lust for power. Standouts: Kurosawa goes without saying. We also have to credit Shakespeare. The movie is based on King Lear. Incredible that something written 400 years ago in Elizabethan England can translate to medieval Japan and 2020 America. Also respect has to be paid to the people who recently restored the film. It is a gorgeous restoration. I tried to watch the movie a few years ago and I stopped because it looked like garbage.
Trailer for the re-release around the brand new restoration.
7. Beau Travail (1999)- You ever watch a movie and then when it is over, you can't stop thinking about it? I watched this months ago and the end of the movie is still bouncing around in my head. I had found the movie hypnotic and erotic but the ending is what really floored me. It is the kind of movie that has very little plot. It's a group of French soldiers in East Africa, particularly focused on the veteran officer who lives through regiment and order and a bubbling resentful envy of a new recruit. Really it is really a movie about emotions and not characters or events. Stand outs: Claire Deny's eye for natural landscapes and the human form, her color palette and pacing. Then the guts to deliver the ending she does.
6. Another Round (2020)- There is actually a major similarity between the ending of this movie and Beau Travail. I can't give away either, you have to see them both. I can't even really talk about either because I would hate to give away the endings but one could write quite an interesting essay comparing and contrasting them. How they are so much the same but yet deliver the absolute opposite reaction from the audience. Anyway, this movie is quite simple. A group of middle aged teachers find themselves bored with life and decide to conduct an experiment: would life be more exciting, more enriching if they were always just a little drunk? Drinking not as a way to hide from life's problems or unwind on the weekend, but alcohol to revive their passion and open themselves emotionally. No surprise that myself a teacher, approaching middle age and who enjoys alcohol connected with this so much. Standouts: Mads Mikkelson is an absolute movie star. He is so captivating on screen. Hollywood really has missed out, he's built for leading roles.
Trailer for anyone interested