Murder, My Sweet

1944 offered up plenty of treasures for fans of Noir. There was Laura, Woman in the Window, Phantom Lady - and of course, everyone's favorite, Double Indemnity… though I’m more partial to Murder. “Murder, My Sweet” that is. Adapted from the Raymond Chandler novel, Farewell, My Lovely, it sees private eye Philip Marlowe embroiled in two cases; one, a missing person, the other, involving a murdered client, and both just might be the death of him.

This was part of Dick Powell’s successful image change. Known previously for light comedic musicals - and looking very much like a character out of a Dr. Seuss book, what with that button nose, thin upper lip and cartoonish smile. You wouldn’t think he could pull off the tough guy act. But he did, wonderfully. And he delivers Chandler’s colorful dialogue like it was written specifically for him. Sure, Bogart outclassed him as a hard ass, but Powell was the better smart ass.

Along with our charismatic star, the well-cast picture includes Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley, who provide the glamour, while Otto Kruger and Mike Mazurki bring the menace.

Director Edward Dmytryk helms a good-looking picture, shot by Harry J. Wild, with Toland-inspired depth of field and low angle shots, nice use of shadows too. Its most notable moment is the expressionistic ‘coked up’ nightmare sequence - though the film as a whole has an off-kilter, druggy, dreamy vibe to it, beginning with Moose Malloy’s startling first appearance. He’s seen as an oversized reflection on Marlowe’s window - where his looming figure appears and disappears like a ghost. In addition, there’s the black-out effect whenever Philip slips into unconsciousness.

Character-wise we’re offered these interesting off-handed details: Marlowe sniffs - he sniffs a drink before partaking of it, he sniffs a couple of cigs, which he tosses away, before reaching into his coat to pull out his own brand (did those other smokes have an odd smell, were they marijuana?) Marlowe striking a match on Cupid's backside, to which he gives a few quick glances. Not the whole statue, just the butt interests him, I don’t know why. Or the bit when he steals the old woman’s whisky bottle; again, why (to give her a night off the booze, or to give him something to drink later). None of this adds to the overall plot but are simply curious personality grace notes.

It should go without saying that Marlowe’s twin cases, which quickly intermingle, are a kick to follow -- so there you are, it checks off all the Noir boxes. The style, the story, and hard-boiled language, the first-person perspective, the femme fatale. You can’t go wrong with this one if you’re in the mood for a night of murder and mystery.

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Most Wins - 3 or More

Buster Keaton, Actor/Director - 6 total

1919-20: Best Short: One Week
1920-21: Best Short: The Playhouse
1921-22: Best Short: Cops
1923-24: Best Picture: Sherlock Jr.
1926-27: Best Actor: The General
1936: Best Short: Grand Slam Opera

Luis Buñuel, Director - 4 total

1928-29: Best Short: Un chien andalou

1930-31: Best Picture: L’Age d’Or

1932-33: Best Short: Land Without Bread

1967: Best Picture: Belle de Jour

Cate Blanchett, Actor - 4 total

1998: Best Actress: Elizabeth
2007: Supporting Actress: I’m Not There
2013: Best Actress: Blue Jasmine

2022: Best Actress: TAR

Alain Resnais, Director - 4 total

1955: Best Short: Night and Fog
1956: Best Short: All the World’s Memory
1959: Best Picture: Hiroshima Mon Amour
1961: Best Picture: Last Year at Marienbad

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Director - 4 total

1972: Best Miniseries/TV Film: Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day

1973: Best Miniseries/TV Film: World on a Wire

1975: Best Miniseries/TV Film: Fear of Fear

1979: Best Picture: The Marriage of Maria Braun

Charlie Chapin, Director - 4 total

1914-15: Best Short: The Champion 

1915-16: Best Short: One A.M. 

1916-17: Best Short: The Immigrant

1920-21: Best Picture: The Kid

Lon Chaney, Actor/Makeup - 3 total

1920-21: Best Actor: The Penalty

1925-26: Special Award - Best Makeup: The Phantom of the Opera

1926-27: Supporting Actor: Tell It to the Marines

James Stewart, Actor - 3 total

1939: Best Actor: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 

1946: Best Actor: It's a Wonderful Life 

1958: Best Actor: Vertigo

Carl Theodor Dreyer, Director - 3 total

1927-28: Best Picture: The Passion of Joan of Arc 

1948: Best Short: They Caught the Ferry 

1955: Best Picture: Ordet (tie)

Orson Welles, Actor/Director - 3 total

1941: Best Picture: Citizen Kane

1941: Best Actor: Citizen Kane

1949: Supporting Actor: The Third Man

Most Nominations Without a Win

I love 'em but I just couldn't find a way to get them an award, so here's a favorite actor and director with a list of their nominations.

Michèle Morgan, Actress - 6 total 

1938: Port of Shadows

1942: Joan of Paris

1946: Pastoral Symphony

1951: The Strange Madame X

1954: Obsession

1957: Retour de manivel

Films I've Seen, Ranked

Mikio Naruse, Director - 7 total

1935: Wife! Be Like a Rose

1952: Lightning

1952: Mother

1954: The Sound of the Mountain

1960: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

1964: Yearning

1967: Scattered Clouds (aka, Two in the Shadow)

Films I've Seen, Ranked

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2023

Poor Things (Director: Yorgos Lanthimos)
Nominees: The Blue Caftan, Past Lives, Afire, Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, All of Us Strangers, The Taste of Things, Godzilla Minus One

Oscars pick: Oppehnheimer
Nominees: American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest

The Blue Caftan is another moving, tender tale from Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzan, this beautiful film put tears in my eyes and shows humanity at its finest. The quietly disturbing Zone of Interest (which was a shoo-in for Best Sound Design) on the other hand, shows us humanity at its worst, with Poor Things, my top film among my top 3, laying somewhere in between.

This feminist Frankenstein traces the character arc of our protagonist from childlike innocent, to her sexual, then social awakening and finally her discovery of self and her purpose in this world. The movie is strikingly imaginative - intelligent and wise, but not overbearing - dark, but not hopeless. There's hilarious black humor, tender, truthful moments, and delightful twists and turns, especially in witnessing the lothario, played by Mark Ruffalo, come undone. He's not the rogue he thinks he is, and is actually pretty conventional, when mixing with those in polite society. Speaking of which... 

Early on it made me think of Luis Buñuel's L'Age d'Or, the notion of having to suppressing our urges was very Buñuelian (though Bella doesn't suppress a lot, she says and does what she will), and the look of its bright unreality echoed Fellini (the scenes at sea brough to mind the arrival of the Rex in Amarcord, as well as the visuals in the film, And the Ship Sailed On) - and I loved this quality in the film.

As with The Favourite, the director is joined by screenwriter Tony McNamara, who has brought constancy in theme and storytelling to Lanthimos' films, the contradictions I found in his earlier works has been erased with McNamara at his side.

The acting is sublime - Stone deserves all her accolades (also, best dance since Wednesday's), and Dafoe (with his stories about his father) is at top form, but all of them are stand outs (Ramy Youssef was such a likeable sweetheart) - and how delightful to see the great Hanna Schygulla in a small role.

My Top Films of 2023

🎭Acting - Stone or Hüller or... Rosy McEwen, who became the wildcard in this category, I really like what she brought to Blue Jean, playing this person whose living this divided life - outgoing with one, suppressed with the other. Emma and Sandra gave very different, but equally absorbing performances; and each were the primary on-screen forces in their respective films. I'm rather drawn to subtle or naturalized acting, and while Hüller had explosive moments, she was mostly reserved, and a marvel on a purely technical level, the way she threw in these accents that added so much fullness and nuance to the character. But that's no knock-on Stone, who was spot on for what was required in her role (I get why the LA critics called it a tie between the two, it's apples and oranges, why not take both). Gladstone? I liked her, but I saw her as support (which is where I nominated her).

As for others I admired - Margot Robbie (Barbie), DeCaprio & De Niro (KotFM), Michelle Williams (Showing Up), Madeleine Yuna Voyles (The Creator), Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Vivian Oparah & David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Saleh Bakri (The Blue Caftan), Alma Poysti (Fallen Leaves), Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Riz Ahmed (Fingernails), Jamie Foxx (The Burial), Julianne Moore (May December), Michael A. Goorjian (Amerikatsi), Gael Garcia Bernal (Cassandro), Jessica Chastain (Memory), Daniela Marín Navarro (I Have Electric Dreams), Thomasin McKenzie (Eileen)

Best Actress: Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Honorable Mentions:

Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Shayda * Kaitlyn Dever, No One Will Save You * Natalie Portman, May December * Eliza Scanlen, The Starling Girl * Emma Stone, Poor Things * Lubna Azabal, The Blue Caftan * Jessie Buckey, Fingernails * Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla * Leonie Benesch, The Teachers Lounge * Greta Lee, Past Lives * Rosy McEwen, Blue Jean

Best Actor: Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

Honorable Mentions:

Teo Yoo, Past Lives * Paul Giamatti & Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers * Franz Rogowski, Passages * Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer * Arieh Worthalter, The Goldman Case * Sōya Kurokawa, Monster * Thomas Schubert, Afire * Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction * Mads Mikkelsen, The Promised Land * Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days 

Supporting Actress: Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers

I also liked Rosmund Pike, Saltburn and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers 

Supporting Actor: Ben Whishaw, Passages

Also, Charles Melton, May December

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American Beauty

This was a movie I adored on its release and was happy for its Oscar win. It wound up a close second for the Felix.

Beauty's story centers around Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) and his midlife explosion. Lester is seemingly living the life, with a family, a good job, a nice house... but under the surface, he's stagnating, powerless, and underappreciated. When I first saw the picture, I locked in on Burnham, however, watching it again -with eyes wide open- I was even more impressed with it on the whole. Just like Lester eventually does, I saw the big picture. Annette Benning's character, for example, was more understandable and I became a bit more sympathetic towards her.

Alan Ball's script tears the facade from this suburban neighborhood and reveals its true face. Sam Mendes direction is concise, there's not an ounce of fat on this movie (unlike many directors, Mendes will cut and cut and cut, until he captures a story's truest essence. This caused concern among writers, producers and the studio heads at DreamWorks, who were worried he was editing out too much). It's astute and has a cutting sardonic wit. There are elements of farce (which works for some, fails for others). It can be visually arresting (the scene where the roses spring from the cheerleader's chest), Conrad Hall's cinematography is all about the details - the lighting, reflection, and painterly red. The distinct score from Thomas Newman eschews traditional conceits and adds much to the personality of the film.

As for the paper bag that trips up some viewers? I was an art student; I once stared at a rusted old pipe where a glint of sunlight caught a bubble of dew. I thought it was beautiful. Filming a bag floating around and seeing something profound in it is something I can relate to. (An old GF called this trait my "Quirky ways", lol. So, I can understand why some might find it weird)

The ending is poignant – at the point of seduction Lester's dream girl says something that opens his eyes. He sees her for what she is – not a Goddess, not an object to possess - but an insecure, uncertain kid. Throughout the movie, he has been about feeding his specific wants and desires. Until finally, he sees the bigger landscape - and what emerges from that is perceptive and moving.

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2022

TÁR (Director: Todd Field)
Nominees: The Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave, Women Talking, The Quiet Girl, The Northman, The Batman, Return to Seoul, Godland, Joyland

Oscars pick: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Nominees: TÁR, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fablemans, All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking

TÁR is measured, but not boring - like music, it has a certain tempo, metre, and note values that are suitable and right for such a tale. At the start we meet the title character, a respected conductor, during an interview, is this moment dull or dry, not to me, I was riveted, even by the things I didn't completely understand, I was pulled immediately into this world, fascinated by this person, and I appreciate that the filmmakers didn't 'dumb it down', that it respects the intelligence of the viewer, even when it becomes academic. In this scene, Blanchett's Lydia Tár comes off controlled, practiced, but still passionate... and as the film moves towards its finish, that control slips, and we see the person underneath the veneer. It's an astonishing transformation from a great actor who continues to show that there are no limits to her talent.

Along with exploring who she is as a maestro, there's the matter of Lydia's personal life and a secret that haunts her. Did she have a hand in the death of a former protégé, was that protégé obsessed with her, or is Lydia a predator, who groomed, then decarded and blacklisted her? When word gets out about her behavior and her part in this tragedy, Tár's fall is swift and humiliating (the neighbors knock on her door, not to fawn over her as she expects, but to complain about the noise). But still the music thrives, it's in her blood, no matter where or for whom it shared.

Feild also brings in that aged old question of separating the art from the artist, and he comes at it from both angles. It's a subject Spencer Kornhaber covers quite well in his superb piece for The Atlantic.

And what about the -perhaps- supernatural qualities, as Dan Kois puts forth in his article for Slate? If you consider the discussion and debates on what it all means, what it's trying to say, you discover a rather, Last Year at Marienbad vibe to it, where all interpretations are valid (and equally invalid) and the lack of concrete absolutes are an asset. So, is she being haunted, is everything all in her mind from the point where she falls after running from the dog? Is she actually in a coma at the hospital, did she die, and this is her personal hell?

Whatever angle I come at it, TÁR got under my skin, it made me think and ask questions and argue with myself. I still can't get it out of my head. While there were a couple of close contenders, this is the one I come back to, and reflect upon again and again. A movie that does that, has to be my Best Picture.

An MUBI interview with Todd Field

Oscars? I didn't watch them. I knew what was going to take all the major prizes, and it was for a flick I flat out disliked. And that's all I have to say about that.

My Top Films of 2022 

🎭 Acting - Cate Blanchett becomes my first 4-time winner (surpassing 3 timer Jimmy Stewart). I also awarded a pair from Inisherin - Condon was a first-time nom and win, Gleeson has long been a favorite (this was his 5th nomination), so I'm very happy to finally give him an award (though yes, he's right on that co-lead line). The only truly tough choice was at actor, with Park and Colin in a dead heat.

Other performances I admired this year include... Zoë Kravitz (Batman, Kimi), Dale Dickey (A Love Song), Claire Rushbrook (Ali & Ava), Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Florence Pugh (The Wonder), Catherine Clinch (The Quiet Girl), Margot Robbie (Babylon), Bárbara Lennie (God’s Crooked Lines), Kristine Kujath Thorp (Sick of Myself), Raffiella Chapman (Vesper), Gracija Filipović (Murina), Hazel Doupe (You Are Not My Mother), Sally Hawkins (The Lost King), Claire Foy and the cast of Women Talking 

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, TÁR

Honorable Mentions:

Haley Lu Richardson, Montana Story * Siiri Solalinna, Hatching * Ana de Armas, Blonde * Viola Davis, Woman King * Tang Wei, Decision to Leave * Park Ji-min, Return to Seoul * Michelle Yeoh, EEAAO * Zar Amir-Abrahimi, Holy Spider * Virginie Efira, Revoir Paris * Lee Ji-eun, Broker * Jennifer Lawrence, Causeway * Emma Mackey, Emily

Best Actor: Park Hae-il, Decision to Leave

Honorable Mentions:

Christopher Abbott, On the Count of Three * Owen Teague, Montana Story * Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin * Adeel Akhtar, Ali & Ava * Mark Rylance, The Outfit * Bill Nighy, Living * Mehdi Bajestani, Holy Spider * Alexander Skarsgård, the Northman * Felix Kammerer, All Quiet on the Western Front * Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Noms: Rasti Farooq, Joyland * Dolly de Leon, Triangle of Sadness

Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Noms: Trevante Rhodes, Bruiser * Barry Keoghan, Banshees...

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2021

The Power of the Dog (Director: Jane Campion)
Nominees: Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, Old Henry, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? The Worst Person in the World, Spencer, Azor, Sardar Udham, Cyrano, The Innocents, Boîte noire

Oscars pick: CODA
Nominees: The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza, Belfast, Dune, Drive My Car, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Don't Look Up, West Side Story

An example of the stupid, rude, and lazy comedy at this year's Oscars, was the jab directed at the Power of the Dog for being too boring to sit through. In truth, putting aside the fact that it's an artistic triumph, Campion's masterpiece was engrossing from beginning to end - the pacing was impeccable, and I was so wrapped up in the story, photography, direction, and performances, that time just fell away. Boring? Not in the least. 

A gay man and his brother, a widowed mother, and her son are at the center of this idiosyncratic tale, which upends western mythology in order to explore matters of repressed sexuality and toxic masculinity.

The apex predator in the film is rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), a cruel, coarse (petulant) son of a bitch, who'll hurt anyone he perceives as weak or a threat to his way of life (Peter and his mother, Rose). Part of this behavior comes from him just having an ugly side, part of it comes from pride and overcompensation, part of it is fueled by loneliness and jealousy. However, I don't believe it comes from a place of self-loathing - when we catch him in a private moment, he's content with who he is, and the memory of who he loved, it's only society that prevents him from being open about his sexuality.

When Phil eventually shows a softer side, it's perhaps because he sees himself in young Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at that age, and through him, a chance to reclaim what he's lost, only with him in the role of 'Bronco Henry' (the now deceased cowboy who took Phil under his wing) - though it can seem a sudden and drastic pivot to go from mean to mentor, this does add a bit of ambiguity, as his change of heart can also be viewed as another way for Phil to stick it to the boy's mother, Rose (Kirsten Dunst at her finest) who he despises for marrying his brother.

His hateful behavior is driving Rose to self-destruction and that's where we drift into some tangled psychological webs, and the question of who's the spider and who's the fly, come into play.  

In addition, as shown in the examples above, Dog is a film of many layers, with many ways to read a scene.

Phil, for example, is possessive, he'd rather burn unused skins than trade them to those in need. And when Rose gives them away without permission, he flies into a rage, like a child having a tantrum ("They were mine!" he shouts) -- but more than that, her action prevents him from finishing the gift of the rope. His anger then is born out of extremes - hatred for Rose (who undermined his authority and embarrassed him), and affection for Peter.

As for Peter, Phil sees him as weak - unappreciative, and unaware that the young man's clinical, surgical mind is more dangerous than a bullet. For Peter, Phil is a tumor he needs to cut away in order to save his mother's life... though, even here there are layers - in an interview, Campion spoke of the ending and how Phil would, in turn, become Peter’s own Bronco Henry, with the rope representing their connection, and the secret between them - for a gay man at that time, she explained, it was easier to love a ghost than a real person.

My Top Films of 2021

🎬 In closing: Worst Oscar ever, for the cringey comedy, for the disrespect shown to animated features, for that sappy, anodyne movie winning the top prize over elevated works like PotD and Drive My Car - but most especially for the disturbing 'assault' (from a self-proclaimed vessel of love), followed by the standing O he later received (shameful). Though there were positives (DeBose's speech, Gaga's sensitivity, and patience with Liza) it was, in general, an unpleasant nights viewing - the fix, show-wise? The ceremony desperately needs a touch of class (see Gaga), they need to love and respect great cinema - drop the crass humor, the insulting introductions (see animated features) and allow all the awards to be given on the main stage. 

Best Actor: Peter Dinklage, Cyrano
Honorable Mentions: 
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog * Tim Blake Nelson, Old Henry * Lakeith Stanfield & Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah * Denzel Washington, Tragedy of Macbeth * Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey * Mahershala Ali, Swan Song * Simon Rex, Red Rocket * Vicky Kaushal, Sardar Udham * Stephen Graham, Boiling Point 

 

Best Actress: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Honorable Mentions:
Patti Harrison, Together Together * Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter * Kristen Stewart, Spencer * Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World * Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers * Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza * Milana Aguzarova, Unclenching the Fists * Jodie Comer, Last Duel * Babetida Sadjo, Our Father, The Devil * Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho 

Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga, Passing

Also: Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter & Kirsten Dunst, PotD

Supporting Actor: Anders Danielsen Lie, Worst Person in the World

Also liked: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

 




So many actresses, I didn't have room to nominate them all, but here are a few others I admired... Emma Stone, Cruella, Essie Davis & Thomasin McKenzie in The Justice of Bunny King, Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah, Seidi Haarla, Compartment No. 6, Joanna Scanlan, After Love, Jessica Barden, Holler, Lady Gaga, House of Gucci, Judi Dench, Belfast, Arawinda Kirana, Yuni, Alexis Louder, Copshop, and Rebecca Hall, The Night House

+ Note: Our Father, The Devil only had a limited release in the States in 2023, it played in festivals in 2021 and throughout 2022 - so I'm just going to place it in 2021, for the Best Actress nom.

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To Kill a Mockingbird

Drawing from Harper Lee's semi-autobiographical novel To Kill a Mockingbird tells its story through the memories of a child - as siblings Jem and Scout discover truths about prejudice, misconception, as well as learning that their unglamorous, unconventional father, was truly an admirable man. To me, it's a beautiful film, with a Southern Gothic ambiance that mixes romanticism with harsh reality - something that is reflected in the cinematography, direction, Elmer Bernstein's score, and the screenplay penned by Horton Foote. Acting-wise Gregory Peck gives the performance of his career and young Mary Badham is memorable as tomboy Scout. She's a natural, believable - which was needed as this tale unfolds through her eyes. Mockingbird captures the essence of the novel but improves upon it by cutting out the excess and the –at times- condescending tone.

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