Rewatched Ernst Lubitsch’s “To Be Or Not To Be” last night.

It’s one of the best comedies ever made. One of the great examples of angry comedy. A brilliant satire set in Warsaw in 1939. It’s about a troupe of actors who get involved in a plot to stop a nazi spy from handing over information on the underground to the Gestapo. It has extremely high stakes and you can’t get much more serious subject matter and yet is a blast to watch and riotously funny.

Jack Benny and Carole Lombard are extremely funny as the two leads: a married actor couple in the theatre troupe, but the funniest character is the Gestapo Col. Erhardt played by Sig Ruman, his delivery and facial expressions are sublime. I’ve never heard or seen any confirmation of this, but it seems to me that character and his portrayal are the inspiration for both Col. Klink and Schulz from Hogan’s Heroes.

I was surprised to learn that although now it’s considered one of Lubitsch’s best films, at the time of its release To Be or Not To Be was not particularly well received by the public, and many critics found it to be in poor taste. This is odd as I would have thought a movie about what fucking shitheads nazis are would have gone over well. If ever there was a group of people deserving of scorn and satire it’s the fucking nazis. Lubitsch managed to make a laugh-out-loud, hilarious comedy set in Warsaw about the nazis that bristles with life, righteous anger, and also has some pretty great slapstick and he did it in 1942!

It was remade 40 years later by Mel Brooks, but I have never seen that version. I’m a big Mel Brooks fan and I often think of tracking it down, but end up just putting on the original again. I really don’t see how you could top it.

Currently Playing: Northumbria – “Vinland”

Currently Reading: FOLK HORROR REVIVAL: CORPSE ROADS, Andy Paciorek

I’m watching all of the “Every Frame a Painting” videos on YouTube again. 

I’ve watched many other film essayists on YouTube since discovering EFaP but even the best of them are never quite as good as Tony’s. I’ve learned so much about cinema from these videos. Here’s three of my favorites:

Currently Playing: The British Space Group – “The Ley of the Land”

Currently (still) Reading: SLOW HORSES, Mick Harron

I’d held off on finally doing up this list as I wanted to see The Irishman, The Lighthouse & Knives Out (the less said about that last one the better) before I finalized it. I have now seen them and am ready to share with the world what they’ve all be waiting for:

Joey G’s top 10 films of 2019.

1. Parasite, Dir: Bong Joon-Ho
   It’s every bit as good and better still than you’ve heard. It was the easiest pick I’ve ever had at number one and would also top my best of the decade list were I to make such a thing.
   
2. The Irishman, Dir: Martin Scorsese
   The whole package is extraordinary, but the last hour in particular hit me hard. I have spent a lot of time, and even more in the last few months, thinking about mortality and the passage of time and this particular elegy on the subject absolutely floored me.
   
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Dir: Quentin Tarantino
   I saw this twice in the theatre in 3 days. I rarely get to the theatre, let alone to the same movie more than once, these days. I was utterly captivated by every minute and the more I think about it the higher in my Tarantino rankings it seems to climb (currenlty sitting at number 3 behind Inglourious Basterds and Kill Bill)
   
4. The Lighthouse, Dir: Robert Eggers
   It’s hard to believe there are three movies above this on this list. Almost any other year this would be a shoo-in for number 1. The best looking and sounding movie of the year and just incredible performances from Dafoe and Pattinson. 
   
5. Pain & Glory, Dir: Pedro Almodovar
   This could make a good double-feature with The Irishman. I haven’t seen his whole filmography, but this sits pretty high in my Almodovar rankings.
   
6. Midsommar, Dir: Ari Aster
   This really impressed me. I liked it so much it makes me want to go back and rewatch Hereditary in case I’m wrong about it. (I thought it was boring, stupid and badly written). Some visuals from this movie are seared into my memory forever.
   
7. The Dead Don’t Die, Dir: Jim Jarmusch
   I suspect in a few years people are going to rediscover this movie and realize how great it is. The deadpan comedy and molasses-slow pacing, laconic even by Jarmusch standards, is like catnip for me. I’ve watched it several times now and it gets better on every rewatch.
   
8. Us, Dir: Jordan Peele
   Impeccably made, truly scary, and an absolute BLAST to watch. I suspect, like the Jarmusch, that it will reward rewatches immensely.
   
9. Dolemite is My Name, Dir: Craig Brewer
   I am a sucker for movies about scrappy underdogs making movies. I was already a fan of Rudy Ray Moore and the original Dolemite so this was just utterly delightful. Also, I didn’t realize how much I’d missed seeing Eddie Murphy giving a shit about a movie he was in. 
   
10. The Beach Bum, Dir: Harmony Korine
    There is a scene with Martin Lawrence in this movie that is the funniest scene of any movie all year. 

That’s as good a top 10 as I can recall having. 

I haven’t watched, nor really cared, about the Oscars in several years now, but it still made me happy to see Parasite do so well. I only have lists going back to 1999 but this was the first year that the best picture winner matched my number one! Closest before this was in 2007 when No Country For Old Men– my number 2- won (There Will Be Blood was my number one).

Currently Playing: A.L. Lloyd – “An Evening with A.L. Lloyd”
Currently Reading: SLOW HORSES, Mick Herron

The Wikipedia article for Slow Cinema describes it thus:

” Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema film-making that emphasizes long takes, and is often minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative. It is sometimes called “contemplative cinema”.”

I’m happy someone came up with a label for this style of film-making. It makes it easier for me to search for stuff I want to watch… or at least make a note of for a time when both my children are in bed and I’m awake enough to watch a 2-4 hour movie (ha!).

I will keep assembling this watch-list and hopefully chip away at it as much as I can. It’s also important for my mental health to make time for them. I spend too much time being annoyed by Marvel movies and various Stars War and not enough time enjoying the type of films I lament the absence of. I’d like to spend less time frustrated and bitter about bad movies and more time enjoying and celebrating good art.

Here’s some highlights from my current “slow cinema” watch-list:
TWO YEARS AT SEA (2011), Dir: Ben Rivers
MIRROR (1975), Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky
THE TURIN HORSE (2011), Dir: Bela Tarr
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (2018), Dir: Hu Bo
KAILI BLUES (2015), Dir: Bi Gan
JEANNE DIELMAN 23 QUAI DE COMMERCE 1080 BRUXELLES (1975), Dir: Chantal Akerman
EARLY SUMMER (1951), Dir: Yasujiro Ozu
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1951), Dir: Robert Bresson
ORDET (1955), Dir: Carl Th. Dreyer
AUTUMN SONATA (1978), Dir: Ingmar Bergman

If I ever get around to watching some of these I’ll return to the subject here. This is a reminder to myself for the next time I consider watching 3 hours of Gunpla videos on YouTube. 

Currently Playing: I A De Sers – Miquela

Currently (still) Reading: HEAVY WEATHER, Bruce Sterling