Singin' in the [Mise-en-]scène: The Wicker Man, La France, I Used to Be Darker

Well, after a very lengthy Monday post, I ended up missing a few days...and now here's a short list of recommendations.

This list is inspired by the current run of Matthew Porterfield's I Used to Be Darker at Sundance Cinemas, and my recent viewing (finally) of the original The Wicker Man (unfortunately I haven't seen the restored print of The Wicker Man that has been circulating in theaters).

This is a list of films that feature singing but are not musicals, properly speaking, or are very unconventional musicals.  I Used to Be Darker is not streaming yet (but I recommend putting it in your queue at GoWatchIt), so I'm adding the film that it most reminded me of, Once (2006).  Okay, Once has been easily translated into a Broadway musical, but I'm not sure if it is a film musical.

What all these films share is that they engender the unique exhilaration of simply watching someone sing, especially when you're not expecting it.  I think elaborating on that might ruin the experience, if you're not already familiar with these films.  This list certainly is not exhaustive (I considered putting Nashville and Magnolia on the list...oh, I guess I just did), so any additional recommendations on this theme are welcome in the comments section.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, UK, 1973, 89 minutes)

Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.

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Once (John Carney, Ireland, 2006, 85 minutes)

The Guy is a Dublin guitarist/singer-songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad's Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. The Girl is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her mom and her daughter by night.

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La France (Serge Bozon, France, 2007, 102 minutes)

During the First World War, Camille (Sylvie Testud), a young woman whose husband is away fighting at the front, receives a short letter of break-up from him. Distraught, she decides to go to join him, but is driven back by the rule of the time which forbids women to move around alone. She has no other recourse than to dress herself up as a man so as to be able to take to the road on foot. As she lives near the Western Front she hooks up with a passing group of French soldiers without too much trouble. But there's something a bit odd about these stragglers, and it's not just their habit of bursting into song at every opportunity.

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The American Astronaut (Cory McAbee, USA, 2001, 91 minutes)

Samual Curtis's first mission in this bizarre science fiction musical comedy requires him to take a cat to a saloon on an asteroid. There, he meets his former dance partner (the Blueberry Pirate) and collects his payment: a device capable of producing a Real Live Girl. Including music by alternative rock group The Billy Nayer Show, this film began life as a live show with a loyal following.

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Stingray Sam (Cory McAbee, USA, 2009, 61 minutes)

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet.

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I Used to Be Darker (Matthew Porterfield, USA, 2013, 90 minutes)

When Taryn, a Northern Irish runaway, finds herself in trouble in Ocean City, MD, she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. But Kim and Bill have problems of their own: they’re trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter Abby, just home from her first year of college. A story of family revelations, people finding each other and letting each other go, looking for love where they’ve found it before and, when that doesn’t work, figuring out where they might find it next.

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Terrence Malick: Six Films Streaming on Roku

A strange thing about doing these posts is that I discover strange patterns in my viewing habits, and what I have and haven't seen.  For example, as I discovered that all of Terrence Malick's films are available through one service or another on Roku, I also realized that for some reason I have only seen the middle three: The Thin Red Line, The New World, and The Tree of Life. I have at least some excuse for missing To the Wonder, which only played on the big screen once on the UW-Madison campus, but it appeared relatively quickly on Netflix streaming, so I should have caught up with it by now.  I really have no excuse for not seeing Days of Heaven; I even owned a copy of it when it first came out on DVD, but those were the days when you were never quite sure if all of the DVD authoring would be compatible with your particular DVD player, and since I could never get it to play in the correct aspect ratio, I never watched it.

Everyone was pretty excited when The Thin Red Line came out in 1998, Malick's first feature in 20 years; since then he has been downright prolific, with the last two features coming out in consecutive years.  As you may recall, there was some pretty odd responses to his Palm d'Or winning The Tree of Life when it came out in 2011.  Several theaters felt it was necessary to post a consumer warning at the box office, perhaps because some irate customers might have been expecting something more conventional from a movie with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

Pictured is the placard I came across when I saw the film at Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina.

I offer no such warning here.  Instead I encourage you to explore some of the most gorgeous images in American cinema, from the Oscar-winning cinematography in Days of Heaven by Nestor Alemendros, to the most adorable baby's feet you've ever seen in The Tree of Life.

Posters and Synopses from The Movie Database

To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, USA, 2012, 112 minutes)

A romantic drama centered on a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart.

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The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, USA, 2011, 139 minutes)

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

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The New World (Terrence Malick, USA, 2005, 135 minutes)

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

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The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, USA, 1998, 170 minutes)

Based on the graphic novel by James Jones, The Thin Red Line tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. A powerful frontline cast - including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney - explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.

(Until 10/31/13)

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Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, USA, 1978, 94 minutes)

In 1910, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer. A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.

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Badlands (Terrence Malick, USA, 1973, 94 minutes)

Dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950's, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.

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Mike Leigh: Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake, Topsy-Turvy

If you're not familiar with the work of director Mike Leigh, here is a good sampling of his films available on Netflix Watch Instantly.  Leigh works very closely with his actors in the development of his scripts, producing particularly ambitious and impressive performances and nuanced character development.

Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, UK, 2008, 118 minutes)
Netflix: London teacher Poppy Cross (Sally Hawkins, in a Golden Globe-winning role) is eternally cheerful, but when someone steals her beloved bike, she takes up driving and gets paired with Scott (Eddie Marsan), an instructor who's her polar opposite. The relationship is strained till Poppy's bright personality attracts a co-worker, making Scott unexpectedly jealous. Director Mike Leigh's effervescent tale also copped a Golden Globe nod for Best Picture.  Netflix link.

Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, UK, 2004, 119 minutes)
Netflix: Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal) spends her days doting on her working-class family. But Vera also has a secret side: Her family and friends don't know that she visits women and helps them induce miscarriages for their unwanted pregnancies. When the authorities get wind of her activities -- then illegal in 1950s England -- Vera's world quickly falls apart, deeply affecting both her and her family.  Netflix link.

Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, UK, 1999, 161 minutes)
Netflix: After their production of "Princess Ida" tanks, Arthur Gilbert (Allan Corduner) and William Sullivan (Jim Broadbent) start a cold war that threatens to end their long-lasting partnership -- but friends and associates work overtime to bring them back together. The result is their classic play "The Mikado." Mike Leigh's thoughtful musical comedy-drama garnered four Academy Award nominations and won for costume design and makeup.  Netflix link.

Naked (Mike Leigh, UK, 1993, 125 minutes)
Netflix: A self-confessed lost boy heads for the big-city grit and glamour of London to escape the repercussions of his most recent misstep -- the sexual assault of a young woman. But a fresh start isn't meant to be.  Netflix link.

Christian Bale: The Fighter, The Machinist, Henry V

So I happened to watch some old Charlie Rose shows on auto-play on Hulu this weekend, and eventually the episode with Mark Wahlberg, David O'Russell, and Christian Bale talking about The Fighter started playing.  I was half paying attention as I worked on other matters, but then I started listening to Christian Bale, and turned to watch him as he discussed the film.  I haven't seen or heard many interviews with Bale, but it occurred to me that he might be doing the interview in character.   Take a look for yourself in the embedded video below.

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I'll leave it up to you to decide whether this is great or pretentious (and you can look at other Charlie Rose interviews with Bale for contrast).  But there's no denying that Bale has been willing to completely dedicate himself to his craft and to his roles.  In that spirit, it might be a good time to look back at both The Fighter, and another role which took a physical toll on Bale, The Machinist.  And to round out today's entry, we can go back to a film that very few of us probably remember that he was in at the age of 15, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V.

The Fighter (David O. Russell, USA, 2010, 115 minutes)
Netflix: After a string of defeats, Mickey Ward rediscovers his fighting will with help from trainer and half-brother Dicky (Oscar winner Christian Bale) -- a once-talented pugilist and small-town hero now battling drug addiction.  Netflix link.

The Machinist (Brad Anderson, USA/Spain, 2004, 101 minutes) 
Netflix: Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) hasn't slept in a year, and his physical and mental health have eroded. So when cryptic notes pop up in his apartment and he has visions of a co-worker nobody else can see, is it reality -- or just the next level of insomnia? His call-girl girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) seems to be the only bright spot in Trevor's quickly deteriorating world. And he, too, seems to be breaking down.  Netflix link.

Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, UK, 1989, 137 minutes)
Netflix: Kenneth Branagh received Oscar nods for both directing and starring in Shakespeare's homage to the English king who united France and England, featuring Emma Thompson in a funny and sweet-natured turn as the French princess. Bold, realistic battle scenes and impassioned speeches that uncover the treachery of the king's advisors and unite a heavily outnumbered army keep even the iambic-pentameter-phobic engrossed.  Netflix link.

Robert Altman: The Long Goodbye, Thieves Like Us, Vincent & Theo

It looks like we will have a very small window of opportunity to watch Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye on Netflix Watch Instantly.  I had just noticed that it had been added it seems like a few weeks ago, but as I prepared this entry I noticed on InstantWatcher that it is scheduled to expire on November 1.

If you haven't seen it before, you should take this opportunity to do so.  As he did with many genres in the 1970s, Altman undermines the conventions of the film noir detective film while fine-tuning his staging and shooting style that would reach its peak with Nashville a few years later.  Elliot Gould could not be more different than Humphrey Bogart as Phillip Marlowe, nor could the sun-splashed pastel Los Angeles be more different than the dark streets we most often associate with Raymond Chandler.  Altman also mixes a wide range of tones in the film, so some viewers might not be sure exactly what they're watching (the studios weren't exactly sure what to do with the film, which led to a range of publicity campaign strategies).  The mix of tones is readily apparent in the opening sequence, with the jokey use of multiple versions of "The Long Goodbye" theme song (a self-aware comic motif that continues through the film).  But it would be misleading to call this a comedy or a spoof, particularly with scenes involving Marty Augustine (Mark Rydell) and his young mistress.  The film takes elements of the genre seriously enough to explore the disconnect between the values of the film noir hero and 1970s America.

There are several other Altman films currently streaming, including O.C. and Stiggs, which I have mentioned before.   For now, below I will just include another film from one of his most productive periods, Thieves Like Us, and a film from his so-called comeback in the 1990s (although he would have denied ever being away in the 1980s), Vincent and Theo.

The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, USA, 1973, 112 minutes)
Netflix: Robert Altman cleverly updates the exploits of classic 1940s hard-boiled gumshoe Phillip Marlowe (Elliott Gould, in an unforgettable performance), who ferrets out a killer in the City of Angels circa 1974. Now, Marlowe is a wisecracking cynic who deals with coke-addled, sun-worshipping suspects and nudist neighbors. Funny, suspenseful and engaging, the film features an early, unbilled appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Netflix link.
Note: Expiring 11/1/11

Thieves Like Us (Robert Altman, USA, 1974, 122 minutes) 
Netflix: A trio of criminals (Keith Carradine, Bert Remsen and John Schuck) go on a bank-robbing spree through the Depression-era Deep South, terrorizing the population and managing to stay just one step ahead of the law. Along the way, each robber also finds love in director Robert Altman's period crime drama. This remarkable and understated 1970s film also stars Shelley Duvall, Tom Skerritt and Louise Fletcher.  Netflix link.

Vincent & Theo (Robert Altman, USA, 1990, 140 minutes)
Netflix: Robert Altman's biopic delves into the lives of painter Vincent van Gogh (Tim Roth) and his dedicated brother, Theo (Paul Rhys). The story centers on the pair's relationship as gallery owner Theo struggles to promote the works of his brother, who remained a relative unknown until after his death. As Theo fails in his efforts and his financial problems mount, Vincent's disturbed mental state worsens, and both brothers sink into despair.  Netflix link.

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African Cinema: A Screaming Man and Munyurangabo

Netflix Watch Instantly is not particularly strong in African cinema.  In an earlier post, I mentioned the work of Ousmane Sembene, the late Senegalese director who has three films on Netflix Watch Instantly (Black Girl, Xala, and Mandabi).  But overall Netflix could take some lessons from Mubi and Fandor regarding African cinema.  However, I was very pleased to see that A Screaming Man from Chad began streaming on Netflix this past weekend.  I had a chance to see A Screaming Man at the 2011 Wisconsin Film Festival and it was a straightforward but very moving story about a man's complicated relationship with his son after he loses his job (and his pride) at an exclusive hotel in Chad.  In addition to strong visual storytelling, A Screaming Man also features exceptionally beautiful cinematography.  It's debut on Netflix Watch Instantly prompted me to look at other features that I have missed over the past few years, Munyurangabo and Bamako, both of which are now in my queue.

A Screaming Man (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad, 2010, 91 minutes)
Netflix: Adam (Youssouf Djaoro) was a security guard at a posh Chad hotel until its new owners replaced him with his son (Dioucounda Koma). In this nation torn apart by civil war, citizens are called upon to help. But Adam only has one thing to give, forcing him to make a devastating choice. Emile Abossolo M'bo and Djénéba Koné co-star in this powerful drama, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.  Netflix link.

Munyurangabo  (Lee Isaac Chung, Rwanda, 2007, 93 minutes)
Netflix: Orphaned by Rwanda's genocide, young Ngabo (Jeff Rutagengwa), a Tutsi, sets off to mete out rough justice with his Hutu friend Sangwa (Eric Ndorunkundiye) in this earnest drama, which netted director Lee Isaac Chung an Independent Spirit Awards nod. Packing a stolen machete, the boys leave the city of Kigali and head to Ngabo's rural village. Along the way, they stop at Sangwa's parents' home -- where their tribal differences soon come to a head.  Netflix link.

Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mali, 2006, 112 minutes)
Netflix: Director Abderrahmane Sissako's insightful social drama juxtaposes the troubled relationship between a bar singer (Aïssa Maïga) and her unemployed husband (Tiécoura Traoré) with the overwhelming economic hardships of Africa, illuminated through a mock trial against key international financial institutions. While spokesmen from African civil society rail against the World Bank, Melé and Chaka are struggling just to keep their marriage together.  Netflix link.

Independents: Little Fugitive (1953) and O.C. and Stiggs (1985)

Fittingly my last entry on the wave of new films arriving on Netflix Watch Instantly on April 22 is on the day itself.  There too many worthy films to mention in one entry, so feel free to check the Google Reader Shared Links widget on the right hand side of this blog or visit my Shared Items page.

Today is also the first time I've focused Quick Pick selections on American independent features, and as you'll see I'll use the category very broadly to discuss films that are part of the history of American independent filmmaking.

Morris Engel had the "independent spirit" long before that became a widely used term.  He and his collaborators, his later wife Ruth Orkin and writer Raymond Abrashkin, produced The Little Fugitive on a $30,000 budget, and its influence has been significant and long reaching.  It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screen Story, and it won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.  It's immediate influence was felt in the work of American independent pioneers such as John Cassavetes and French New Wave filmmakers like Francois Truffaut.  Truffaut later said about The Little Fugitive, "Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with [this] fine movie."  In 1997, the film was inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry for its historical and aesthetic significance.

The Little Fugitive (Morris Engel, USA, 1953, 80 minutes)
Netflix: Sibling relations get tested when Lennie Norton (Richard Brewster) must care for his younger brother, 7-year-old Joey (Richie Andrusco). Lennie and his friends soon tire of Joey always being around, so they pull a practical joke on Joey: They tell him he killed Lennie. Believing Lennie's pals, Joey heads for one of the world's largest playgrounds -- Coney Island, where the amusement park and its characters come to life through a child's eyes. Netflix link.





Robert Altman always had a liminal status in as a maverick in Hollywood, but even when he was working overtly in genre filmmaking, he has had a lasting influence on American independent filmmaking.  If we take Popeye (1980) as the box-office bomb that exiled him from Hollywood, and The Player (1992) as his return to the fold, then O.C. and Stiggs is an interesting example of what Altman was up to out in the wilderness. The truth is that he made 7 1/2 feature films in that period (if we include his segment from Aria) and several other television projects like Tanner 88, so he always considered calling The Player a comeback film somewhat absurd.  But the mid-1980s was indeed a rough period for Altman.

I had a chance to talk to producers of O.C. and Stiggs, Ted Mann and Peter Newman, when they were in Madison, Wisconsin for a screening of Stuart Gordon's Space Truckers.  They explained that Altman was not always easy to work with during the production, and that Altman had significantly changed what they believed had been a very strong script.  While Altman was known for intelligently deconstructing many popular genres, perhaps assigning him to helm a 1980s teen-sex comedy was not the best idea for anyone concerned.  MGM shelved the film for several years, giving it only a limited release in 1988.  Altman later conceded in an interview included in the Tanner 88 DVD that the film didn't work, and he elaborated on those comments in the eventual DVD release of O.C. and Stiggs ("The screenwriters hated me and I hated them in return").

But the film does have its supporters, and perhaps the best articulated defense (which acknowledges its shortcomings) is Nathan Rabin's entry on the film in his My Year of Flops series.  Rabin writes:  

Altman argues that audiences and National Lampoon wanted Robert Altman's Porky's and were flummoxed when he delivered a satire of teen schlock instead. I think O.C And Stiggs is a satire, but less of teen sex comedies than of the things that always enraged Altman: consumerism and hypocrisy and racism and the narcissistic self-absorption of well-fed Caucasians. Here Altman occasionally comes off like the misanthropic cheap shot artist his critics have always accused him of being–like pretty much all '80s teen sex comedies, this seems to think homosexuality is inherently a laff riot–but behind the snark lies a genuine shiver of revulsion towards the complacency and sun-baked decadence of the Reagan '80s.

Several Netflix users have joined Rabin in the defense of O.C. and Stiggs in the comments section for the film.  Personally, I believe that there is nothing better than Altman in top form (McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville) and nothing worse than Altman when he's bad (Beyond Therapy, Pret-a-porter).  But I'm looking forward to finally catching up with O.C. and Stiggs, if only to see how I feel about the debate over the film.

O.C. and Stiggs (Robert Altman, USA, 1985, 109 minutes)
Netflix: Two teens try to destroy a suburban family in director Robert Altman's risqué comedy, which follows misfits O.C. Ogilvie (Daniel Jenkins) and Mark Stiggs (Neill Barry), who see red when an insurance salesman cancels the policy of O.C.'s grampa (Ray Walston). Bent on revenge, the youngsters carry out a vendetta against the loutish salesman (Paul Dooley). The high-powered cast includes Jane Curtin, Martin Mull, Dennis Hopper and Louis Nye. Netflix link.

Richard Linklater: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset

Here's an good idea for a double feature if you're looking for one: a marathon screening of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004).  Linklater has always alternated between his personal and mainstream projects, and Before Sunrise is perhaps one of his most indebted to European art cinema sensibilities (particularly with it's overt nod to Antonnioni in the location montage at the end).  Before Sunset is unique in that it is one of the few sequels to be made so long after the original (nine years) where the characters have also aged the same number of years (the other example that comes to mind is The Three Jakes, the sequel to Chinatown).

Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, USA, 1995, 100 minutes)
Netflix: This intoxicating film from director Richard Linklater stars Ethan Hawke as an American backpacker who strikes up a conversation with a lovely fellow traveler (Julie Delpy) on the train to Vienna and persuades her to spend his last day in Europe with him. Wandering the picturesque streets of the Austrian capital, the two share stories of their pasts and their dreams for the future, ultimately forging a bond that leads to love. Netflix link.

Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, USA, 2004, 80 minutes)
Netflix: Ethan Hawke reprises his role as Jesse, a traveling American who fell for a sweet French girl named Celine (Julie Delpy) while he was backpacking through Europe, in this sequel to the 1995 hit Before Sunrise that's set nine years after they met. Now a successful author, Jessie's on a book tour in Paris when Celine shows up at a reading, just hours before his plane leaves. It's their last chance at closure -- and maybe their second shot at love. Netflix link.

Kelly Reichardt: Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy

This week I will be in Madison, Wisconsin for the 2011 Wisconsin Film Festival, where I was invited to be a juror for the Wisconsin's Own competition (for filmmakers and films with ties to Wisconsin).  I will post Quick Picks this week, and upon my return I will resume the normal schedule.


One film I plan to catch is the new film from Kelly Reichhardt, Meek's Cutoff.  The screenings are currently Rush Tickets only, so those in Madison may be able to get last minute tickets at the door.  The two screenings are at the UW-Cinematheque on Saturday, April 2 at 9:15 p.m. and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.


For those unfamiliar with her work, her previous two films are currently available on Netflix Watch Instantly.  I have to admit her work has grown on me after my initial mixed response to Old Joy, which at times I felt was a bit too minimal and elliptical (and perhaps even precious) for its own good.  But what I did like about her commitment to straightforward visual storytelling was confirmed with the well observed Wendy and Lucy, which made me more sympathetic to the first film in retrospect.  She certainly has become an important voice in American independent filmmaking.

Those of you who have seen Meek's Cutoff (in Madison or elsewhere) please feel free to share your response in the comments section below.

Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2006, 73 minutes)
Netflix: When old friends Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham) embark on a weekend camping trip in the Oregon Cascades, they find themselves exploring much more than nature in this meditation on friendship, memory and generational malaise. As the men journey deeper into the wilderness -- first losing, and then finding, their way -- they struggle to find common ground in the divergent paths they've chosen. Netflix link.

Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2008, 80 minutes)
Netflix: With earnest hopes for a fresh start, Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) sets her sights on a high-paying job at an Alaska cannery. But her journey takes a heartbreaking detour when her beloved dog, Lucy, goes missing and her car decides to conk out in Oregon. There was a time when Wendy had nothing to lose, but now she could lose everything. Kelly Reichardt directs this nuanced drama that was nominated for a Best Feature Independent Spirit Award. Netflix link.

Sidney Lumet: Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict

Edit 4/22/11: As you probably know Lumet died on April 8, less than a month after I posted this Quick Picks selection.  Of all the essays about his career published subsequent to his death, the best has been by David Bordwell in his Observations on Film Art blog. He even debunks some of the standard-story claims I make in my brief summary, thanks to actually re-visiting the films rather than depending on memory.  (Thus, his commentary on Lumet's early films are particularly enlightening.)


This week I'm returning the Quick Picks closer to their original inspiration: less talk, more titles and links.

Sidney Lumet has had an amazing career in the American cinema, ranging from his directing debut with 12 Angry Men in 1957 through Before the Devil Knows Your Dead in 2007.  Admittedly there have been some rough patches (like 1990s, for example) but he still has managed to helm some true classics.  While not particularly flamboyant in terms of visual style, nor adventuresome in terms of narrative structure, the best Lumet films are incredibly well crafted, well acted, and concise cinematic gems. 

For a lengthy discussion of his career in film and television, check this series of videos at the Archive of American Television.  If you're not familiar with it already, you also might be interested in looking at Lumet's book on the craft of filmmaking, Making Movies.

Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1975, 124 minutes)
Netflix: To get money for his gay lover's sex-change operation, Sonny (Al Pacino) -- who's married with kids -- teams up with Sal (John Cazale) to rob a New York bank on a scorching-hot summer day. The stickup goes awry when the press gets wind of the circus sideshow-esque story. Chris Sarandon, Charles Durning and James Broderick co-star in this classic Sidney Lumet-directed film based on an actual event from the 1970s. Netflix link.



 

Network (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1976, 121 minutes)
Netflix: When network news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) loses his mind on the air, his outrageous rants reach viewers at home, boost the ratings and intrigue cutthroat network executives Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. William Holden contrasts their avarice as an old-school TV journalist hopelessly out of step in writer Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning masterpiece, which predicted today's rash of trash television and shock-laden news broadcasts. Netflix link.

The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1982, 129 minutes)
Netflix: A washed-up, ambulance-chasing attorney (Paul Newman) gets a chance at redemption when his friend (Jack Warden) tosses him an open-and-shut medical malpractice case. But instead of accepting an easy cash settlement, he takes the powerful defendant to court. James Mason plays the opposing counsel, whom his legal adversary calls "The Prince of Darkness," in this courtroom drama from director Sidney Lumet. Netflix link.

Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1988, 116 minutes)
Netflix: After they bomb a napalm plant during the Vietnam War, Arthur and Annie Pope (Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) are fugitives, never able to settle down in one place for too long. Years later, their son (River Phoenix) falls in love with a young woman (Martha Plimpton) and must decide whether to keep running with his family or stay put and risk never seeing them again. Phoenix earned an Oscar nod for his performance; Sidney Lumet directs. Netflix link.

Before the Devil Knows Your Dead (Sidney Lumet, USA, 2007, 116 minutes)
Netflix: The perfect crime goes horribly wrong for brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) when they botch a robbery of their parents' jewelry store in this wrenching drama from legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who was 82 when he directed the film. Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris co-star as Andy and Hank's unsuspecting parents, with Marisa Tomei appearing as Gina, Andy's unfaithful wife. Netflix link.