Sic Semper Moranis

I hate that I didn’t realize the greatness of Rick Moranis until I was in my 50s. I was not a regular SCTV viewer, but I knew him from the Bob & Doug album and a handful of films where I liked him just fine. Today in an article about the dreaded AI version of George Carlin, someone responded that Moranis did a dead-on Carlin impersonation. So, I searched “Moranis as Carlin” on YouTube, and these were the first four responses.

Now, Mint ad aside, all three are excellent. Moranis as Carlin, Moranis as obnoxious movie exec, Moranis as Woody Allen in TAXI DRIVER.

(I’m going to recommend MY BLUE HEAVEN, a 1990 comedy with Steve Martin that is far more enjoyable than I had been led to believe. Moranis plays the straight man to Martin’s mobster. It’s a lot of fun.)

R.I.P. Mike Nussbaum

“Now, I come into your candy store and give you twenty dollars in singles…”

Aw, man…I just read that Mike Nussbaum passed away last week. He was one of my favorite players in HOUSE OF GAMES, David Mamet’s excellent 1987 film. Nussbaum’s Joey explaining a simple con to Lindsay Crouse’s tightly-wound psychiatrist is so much fun, and for me it is in no small part due to how casual the shady characters are about the work. Greatness.

The Criterion Collection: ZATOICHI Box Set

If there is a favorite New Thing from the past month, it is Criterion’s exquisite box set of all 25 ZATOICHI films, from the acclaimed Japanese series that ran from 1962 to 1973. It is beautifully rendered, from the artwork to the format. It has heft. I love it.

I'm Back!

Well, in the span of the last ten days I’ve seen three films in theaters following a 45-month gap.

Now I just need movies worth going to watch, and it’s a step away from the driest season cinema has…so we’ll see…

R.I.P. Tom Wilkinson

We lost one of the great ones this week. Tom Wilkinson was always on point & memorable in films that had amazing casts surrounding him. It’s a very sad loss for cinema.

All those kids in your acting class, see how many of them know his work, then send them away to watch every clip of him they can find.

His fleet opening scene in THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is so wonderful it makes me weep.

STRANGE DAYS

I’ve wanted to watch Kathryn Bigelow’s STRANGE DAYS (2001) for years now…it always seems to be on the service I don’t use. It’s been on Max for ages, and I quit them roughly the week before it showed up there, I think. To compound issues, physical copies of the film seem hard to come by.

And the more I think about it, I don’t know if I saw it when it first came out. One of those films where I’ve seen certain clips so many times I may have Mandela’d myself on this one.

Don’t make me purchase an international Blu-ray, folks. That’s always a 12-sided die role for disappointment.

But this cast…I am transfixed…

JD McPherson Made My Christmas (Better)

On the drive over to my mother’s home Christmas morning, the local station was playing a really excellent mix of non-traditional Christmas songs. Among them was JD McPherson’s “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy”, which may just be my new favorite holiday banger. From his Christmas album Socks, the jubilant ditty is a nifty mix of good cheer, old-school rock, sly wordplay, and really tight, effective musicianship. Kudos! (Check it out.)

Merry Christmas from Steve!

Wishing you well. There will be no new posts for the next two days due to the family thing.

It’s by no means an original idea, but here are some alternatives to Hallmark holiday blandness, and standard good cheer cinema. Personally? I would watch them in this order.

THE MAGIC CHRISTMAS TREE.

TALES FROM THE THIRD DIMENSION.

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT.

ELVES.

EYES WIDE SHUT.

TREEVENGE.

NorwoodEye on Film: The 2023 Hat Tip

These last few years I’ve been turning to the profound, quiet, challenging films more than the delirious, visually stunning ones. In 2023 I was happily surprised that I got more gratification from GODLAND and AFIRE than almost every other film I viewed.

But as lists go, I usually have somewhere between a dozen and 20 films to choose from, and the inevitable culling doesn’t remove too many. This year, I had 9 films I was seriously enamored of, and there is a pretty clear distinction where the Serious Cinema turns to Remarkable Thrills. It’s a pretty jarring step from KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’s waves of unbearable sadness and straight-faced insidious behavior to the spastic digital-rainbow glories of SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE. Or from any of the top five or six films to, say, SISU (which I maintain is deserving of its notable final spot, Jalmari Helander’s pristine vistas and delirious approach to Nazi-killing a unique treat).

These days I am trying to break old habits and not use words like best or favorite; "satisfying" seems more appropriate. And the films below are the ones I found most satisfying in 2023.

(EDIT: 12/30, finally saw GODZILLA MINUS ONE, which now belongs on the list.)

The Hat Tip: Yorgos Lanthimos’ POOR THINGS.

1 (tie) - Mark Jenkin’s BAIT (above) was technically not available in the U.S. until this year, and about a week later, his follow-up ENYS MEN arrived. It was a thrilling experience, getting to see these two disparate films in close proximity rather than waiting years. Jenkin immediately joined the likes of Robert Eggers as a filmmaker for whom I can’t wait to see What’s Next.

2 - Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER.

3 - Hlynur Palmason’s GODLAND tells the story of a Danish priest sent to Iceland to oversee the creation of a new church, and how the environment, language, and his own faith provide challenges as great as the countryside’s (sometimes harsh) beauty.

4 - AFIRE (ROTER HIMMEL), Christian Petzold’s latest is sly, serene, and droll…until it becomes something else. Two friends take a work vacation near the Baltic and approach their respective tasks with vastly different frames of mind. Petzold is, like Jenkin and Eggers, a filmmaker whose name makes me straighten up when I see something new is on the horizon.

5 - Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS has so many elements you’ve seen a thousand times, yet it feels fresh. You know it had a profound impact on me when I tell you I am not always fond of Payne’s films. The cast, cinematography, writing, and music are all on point. But most of all, it just feels so right.

LATE ADDITION: GODZILLA MINUS ONE, which is just amazing. And horrifying. And deeply emotional. And amazing.

6 - Frant Gwo’s THE WANDERING EARTH II is so expansive it makes the epic 2019 original seem downright small. As original science-fiction goes, there’s no beating these films for vast, audacious entertainment.

7 - I’m not sure how many times I will want to revisit KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, its emotions and injustices swirling so thick and for so long that it’s hard to consider it with the fleet thrill of a GOODFELLAS or CASINO. Martin Scorsese has another Great Film on his hands, and Lily Gladstone a performance deserving of every accolade.

8 - If there’s a drawback to SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, it’s that they decided to split the story into two parts, and we now have to wait a year or more to see its conclusion (also see DEAD RECKONING, below). Lacking that completion aspect, it still charms and amuses with whiplash action, a gorgeous, shifting palette of colors and styles, and some great voice work. Oh, and heart. The film’s got heart.

9 - Similarly, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART 1 has all the great strengths of the best action thrillers…but ended with a cliffhanger, and now we wait. It almost seems cruel.

NOTABLE - Demian Rugna’s WHEN EVIL LURKS was my favorite horror film of the year. Gruesome, moody, unsettling; it packs a hell of a punch and doesn’t play fair at all.

GLORIOUS NOT-AT-ALL-GUILTY PLEASURE - If you say Christian Petzold, well that’s great. If you say Christian Petzold and Franz Rogowski, I’m even more ready. Similarly, I love Jalmari Helander, who tells nutso tales while showing off exquisite landscapes; team him up with Finnish compatriot Jorma Tommila, and we’re going to have an incredible time. SISU is 2023’s finest Nazi-destroying, gold-digging (literally), race-to-the-bank, wackadoo actioner. I love this film.

Friday

And finally (?), POOR THINGS.

Thursday

Next up: GODZILLA MINUS ONE.

Wednesday PM

The year is finally wrapping up (movie-wise). Tonight: Bradley Cooper’s MAESTRO.

Wednesday

Im Sang-soo’s THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG (2005).

Tuesday

My internal response when Christmas shopping in a crowded chain store the other day.

Upon entering.

Upon leaving.