La Femme's Top Five

Well, I suppose it is time we get down to brass tacks. One of the main reasons I started this blog was to improve my writing and one of the biggest areas I want to improve in is film criticism and film discussion.  I talk about movies all the time, but I rarely write about them.  So, to ease in, I thought I would start with something that I hope to be a regular feature: a top five, well technically six, list.  

The following are five of my favorite movies.  Some are new. Some are old. But, there are some common links: 1) They have great performances; 2) They have interesting direction; and 3) They are movies that bore a little tiny hole into my brain and I can't get them out.  All of a sudden, a snippet of a scene,  dialogue or a camera trick the director did come back to you and makes you think or makes you smile or in some cases even freaks you out. These aren't necessarily my top five movies of all time, but they are definitely in the conversation.

Snooker makes a great Hedwig!

1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001):  A rock musical about an East German transexual and the corn pone boy /  rock star she falls in love with.  I have seen this movie twice in sing-a-long showings at theaters, and honestly, I have a smile on my face the entire time and come out with a hoarse voice after singing all the songs.  Hedwig has great songs and a great performance by John Cameron Mitchell as the title character.  This film is definitely a lot of fun but also a moving portrait of trying to figure out who you are.

2. Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 1952): This is the ultimate movie musical of the studio era.  Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, it is also a great movie about movies as it tells the story of a studio transitioning from silent to sound films.  The musical numbers are perfectly choreographed, creative and a lot of fun.  The jokes are still really funny and the movie stands the test of time.  Plus, the end of the movie when Don sings to Kathy at the theatre always makes me cry (in the best, happy movie cry kind of way).  It is the kind of movie that, if you are in a bad mood and you watch it, you will smile and feel a little bit better.

3. Before Sunrise / Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 1995 / 2004): When I decided to do this list, these were the first movies I thought of.  Before Sunrise is definitely one of the movies that I watched over and over in my formative years.  The story is simple: two people meet on a train and spend a night walking around Vienna talking.  In the morning they have to part.  Will they ever meet again?  Well, Before Sunset shows what happens ten years later.  These are truly two of the most romantic movies I have ever seen.  I am not a big crier in movies, but these two make me bawl.  Ethan Hawke and Julie Deply have this amazing natural, intellectual chemistry, and you really believe that these two people are making a life-changing connection. They are two heartachingly beautiful tales of love, fate and human connection.  I am generally pretty forgiving of peoples' taste, but if you don't like these movies, we can't be friends.

Edgar makes this beret look good :)

4. Carlos: I love French cinema (hello, see the name of this blog), but let's be honest, French cinema has a reputation of endless discussions of philosophy, unsexy nudity (Louis Garrel, I am talking to you! Je t'aime, but I don't want to see you pee!) and depressing endings that make you wish you were dead.  But Carlos, Olivier Assayas' 5 hour (in three parts) globe-trotting epic about 70's terrorist Carlos the Jackal is definitely not your stereotypical French film.  Yes, there is some discussion of philosophy but even though it is about the birth of modern terrorism, it isn't depressing at all. Plus lots of sexy nudity!  Instead, Assayas uses many of the techniques of the French New Wave (hello, jump cut!) to infuse a rock and roll energy to this movie, much like the early movies of the New Wave - the film has a great energy to it, and it seems fresh and alive.  Edgar Ramirez's performance is everything I love about acting: its bombastic and a bit over the top but, at the same time, he portrays Carlos as a real person who you are at once attracted to and repulsed by.  Plus, the sequence where Carlos and his cohorts raid the OPEC summit is amazing and is a sensational film in its own right.

5. Cabaret: Yes, I realize this is the third musical.  But I actually think all three of the musicals on this list are for people who don't like musicals.  In Cabaret, all of the musical numbers are on stage or in a natural setting, and none of the characters suddenly burst into song.  Directed by the great Bob Fosse (see All that Jazz right now... I will wait...) and staring Liza "with a Z", this movie tells the story of Sally Bowles, a cabaret singer at the Kit Kat Klub during the rise of Nazism in Berlin.  This movie won 8 Oscars in 1972, beating out the Godfather in many of those categories (including Director over Francis Ford Coppola and Supporting Actor over Al Pacino).  It is poignant, funny and Joel Grey's amazing performance as the Emcee is worth the price of admission alone.




All of these great movies are available on Netflix so if you haven't seen them I absolutely recommend checking them out.  I hope you find as much joy in them as I do!  Also, as you can see above, I own them all on dvd.  They are available from the La Femme movie library for a small check out fee :)

Julie