Top Films of 2018: 20-14
A fun Humphrey Bogart romp with a plot that often seems to be coming apart at the seams. It is held together by great performances from Peter Lorre and Kaaren Verne. Humphrey plays a gambler that becomes a detective.
The Square is difficult to describe, and beneath the oddness there is an interesting satirical film. A curator with many personal and professional issues struggles to clean up the damage that has been done to his museum after a controversial video for one of the installations almost ruins his reputation. The cinematography and color palette, as well as a few disturbing performances, lend the film a vibe that is at times humorous and at other times shocking. I recommend this one if you like art films that also provoke discussion.
Black Girl, one of the first sub-Saharan African films, addresses the effects of colonialism, racism, and class in subtle, yet effective ways. The film tells the story of Diouana, who moves from Senegal to France to work for a rich couple. It aptly addresses the divide between Diouana and her employers, while showing how difficult it is for the young girl to find her way in a culture that mistrusts and disrespects her.
A neo-noir film about an ex-professional football player (Gene Hackman) that works as a detective in Los Angeles. The film's plot is reminiscent of other private eye plots, specifically those of Raymond Chandler, yet captures a different sensibility of the city. Unlike Chandler, Penn's film shows a Los Angeles in decline with a hero that is often in despair.
This Harold Lloyd short is fun like his other pictures. Lloyd plays a man who gets drunk and avoids the police in a slapstick scene, while a girl (Mildred Davis) sleepwalks on the ledge of a tall building. While not as interesting or influential as Safety Last, which has a similar scene, the film continually surprises. Any of Lloyd's films contain ample evidence as to why he is still considered one of the big three of silent comedy during this period.
My favorite of the Marx Brothers films I watched this year is the first film they made with an original plot that was not based on their earlier Broadway career. The brothers are ship stowaways attempting to avoid the crew. They end up helping save the daughter of one group of feuding gangsters. The film's slapstick scenes include a barrel scene where they sing "Sweet Adeline," and critics debate whether Harpo sings.
Richard Linklater's Slacker does not have a linear plot, and that is one of the reasons it is spectacular. It effectively captures a time and a place, depicting aimless 20-something characters in Austin, Texas. Each character is given a few minutes of conversation before the camera picks up one of them and follows them to a different setting where another conversation takes place. In this way, the film covers a lot of colorful characters and situations, ranging from JFK conspiracists to television collectors, musicians and hangers-on. Throughout the film, characters discuss ennui, social malaise, and the problems of politics. In doing so, the film captures not just a place, but a generation, as it comments on the travails of the Generation X era.
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