STL #130.2: Analysis and Reconsiderations, Pt. II

 To re-orient: a list is a self-portrait disguised as a map.

50. Cleo from 5 to 7. It's not a lie that this is one film that comes to light when you notice all your favorite movies are directed by men. (Is Jeanne Dielman anywhere here? It really should be.) But it's true that this is a fantastic film in the way it handles the surface of the screen and the passing of time. Confident this belongs. 49. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang. I haven't seen it in decades, but the ending is indelible. 48. Hoop Dreams I really need to see this again. 47. Freaks Like with a lot of these, the initial impact is important. The worm-man, "one of us," etc. 
46. Psycho. Pretty obvious pick. Lots of other choices: Rope, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, 39 Steps, Lady Vanishes. 45. Philadelphia Story. With two f's? Maybe doesn't retain the standing. 44. Out of Sight. For so many reasons. Could go higher. 43. Almost Famous. Could go way higher. Reminds me of Dazed and Confused, which I recently saw again and might fit in here. 42. Third Man. Imperfect as a film, perfect couple. Maybe a bit high. 41. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Time for a rewatch.

Of this set, I feel like I should rewatch Hoop Dreams  and ESofSM. The latter and Psycho may be in trouble. 

40. Elevator to the Gallows. The epitome of cool, really only as a New Wave film could be. 39. Alice, Sweet Alice. A perfect giallo, apparently created in ignorance of the existence of giallo. 38. Dumbo. The one great tear-jerker, perhaps. 37. Citizen Kane. I remember walking around campus, looking at things as if framed for the camera. 36. Big Sleep. A bit on the nose, but my choice for favorite noir. 35. The Big Lebowski. And my favorite pseudo-noir 34. Rear Window. Ok, there it is. Maybe Psycho should go? 33. My Dinner with Andre. The charm of a an enrapturing conversation. Too high? 32. It's a Wonderful Life A sentimental favorite 31. Shogun Assassin. It was a bad time for the empire. Seems low.

Is IaWL a "sentimental favorite"? It's sentimental and I like, it, but other movies (including a certain Jean Arthur feature we'll see below) would be better fits.

30. Jaws. A perfect movie. 29. Jules and Jim. I'd like to see it again, but no doubt still charming. 28. Days of Heaven. Visually beautiful. 27. Eyes Wide Shut. Utterly compelling. 26. The Long Goodbye. That's alright with me. 25. McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Beautiful in its own way, but the world is hard and ugly despite it. A bit high.
24. Annie Hall I watched it again recently, and am wondering if maybe it just doesn't have the eggs anymore. 23. My Best Friend's Wedding. This stands up. 22. Royal Tennenbaums. Perfection of Anderson aesthetic. 21. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Because of Jean Arthur.

I think AH needs to go. I'm not sure it would be a top five Allen movie, if I were to do a systematic rewatch (hmm...)

20. Mandy. The audaciousness of this movie is epitomized by the "Mandy" logo at approximately halfway through. 19. Godfather II. I could include this with part one. I'd like to watch it again. 18. Gimme Shelter. The scene where Mick is listening, but can't make out what it is. 17. Don't Look Now. Lovely ghost story (of sorts), but perhaps a little high. 16. Double Indemnity. There's a speed limit in this two, Mr. Neff. 15. Hard Boiled. It's been a long time, but the canonic HK heroic bloodshed film for putting the human body in extremis. 14. Battle Royal. The moment where the deranged girl killer becomes sympathetic. 13. Deep Red. Emblematic of horror's devotion to formalism. 12. Carrie. So much so, that it's why DePalma went into the field. 11. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not to mention Tobe Hooper, who launched so many gore-laden ships. But this should be top 10.

Not sure about that horror run, though they're all great movies.

10. Manhattan. Likely still my favorite Allen, for the beauty and the self-knowledge (as a shit). 9. Jackie Brown. Need to rewatch, but several scenes stay in my memory. 8. Halloween. I mean, what can be said about the Laurie/Michael dynamic than can be seen in the film? 7. Lost in Translation. I'd love to rewatch, but that scene where he whispers in her ear. 6. All That Jazz. The pinnacle of 70s auteur cinema? Deeply felt and self-indulgent. 5. In the Mood for Love. For sheer beauty, must be the peak. 4. Kill Bill. For sheer kineticism, must be the peak. I think I'm thinking of parts one and two together here. 3. Goodfellas. And I'll live the rest of my life like a schnook. 2. His Girl Friday. Feminine strength, rapid fire banter, and that touching and beautiful interview with the prisoner. 1. The Godfather. Also a perfect movie.

I'm pretty satisfied with the top 10, though it's been so long since I've seen LiT and I feel funny about two QT's (and also by the fact that I consider JB my favorite QT, but rank KB higher). 

So where does that leave us? Find out in STL #130.3!!! Coming later this year!!! Probably?!?

December '25 Reading

 After two months of sloppy record keeping (and few books finished), I aim to do better this month. 

1. Claudius the God. "[T]he God who inflicted the vengeance on him was not one of the urbane Olympian community: he was perhaps the oddest deity that you could find anywhere in my extensive dominions, or out of them, for that matter, a God of whom no image is in existence, whose name his devout worshippers are forbidden to pronounce (though in his honour they clip their foreskins and practise many other curious and barbarous rites) and who is said to live alone, at Jerusalem, in an ancient cedar chest lined with badger-skins dyed blue and to refuse to have anything to do with any other deities in the world or even to acknowledge the existence of such."
2. Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. Great God Pan redux. 
3. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Why that? Narrator calls herself "I who" many things, including "I who never speakbecause there is no one to hear me."
4. Clown Town  by Mick Herron. Extended action scene in which all agents,  including those doomed to meet their end, converge on the action. Cuts from person to person, each taking a different route. Louisa Guy's route follows continuing ellipses, each passage trailing off and picking back up, until she is shot and after much hand-wringing, revives. 
5. Heavy Metal Movies:Guitar Barbarians, Mutant Bimbos, and Cult Zombies Amok in the 666 Most Ear- and Eye-Ripping Big Scream Films Ever by Mike "McBreardo" McPadden. 
6. Why Bob Dylan Matters by Richard F. Thomas. Is the fact that late period BD songs interpolate ancient Roman texts the reason he matters? Or even that he was broadly intertextual all along, going so far as to quote (without attribution, of course) the same yakuza novel twice in every song on Modern Times? I don't think so, but still an interesting read focusing on lesser covered work of an artist who definitely does matter. 
7. NYer of 12/22/25. Puzzle issue. Most NYer article of the year was a review of Stephen Sondheim's work as a puzzle-master (he solved crosswords in his head and was rumored to do solid white jigsaw puzzles). 
8. NYer of 10/20/25. Internet millionaire goes all in to discover to discover brother's killer in Australia. Did his millions drum up a conviction of a mentally ill man?