Quarantine: Days 1 and 2

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974)

Sam Peckinpah always knows how to make you feel like you're in the dirt. His fin de sicle of the West, The Wild Bunch offered up a bloody climax and a clinic in cross cutting shootouts. Peckinpah's greatest strength was his this type editing combined with his use of slow motion.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia was reviled upon its release. "A graceless, dire vision of cheap humanity." Roger Ebert offered one of the few praiseworthy review going out of his way to proclaim Peckinpah was "making movies flat out, giving us a desperate character he clearly loves, and asking us to somehow see past the horror and the blood to the sad poem he's trying to write about the human condition."

It many ways, it's a film that says as much about the 70's as any other of Peckinpah's work of that era. The corporatism, corruption and the death of the individual's ability to be left alone. Warren Oates plays Benny, a down on his luck piano player who accepts a bounty to bring back the head of one Alfredo Garcia. Taking his head across Mexico and becoming increasingly insane along the way. In many ways, the movie is a road trip as a fever dream. We see the stops of Mexico along way and the humanity. Upon first seeing The Wild Bunch, the most striking image was a bunch of kids feed a scorpion to an army of ants. The kind of imagery littered throughout Alfredo Garcia.

Another flourish is that the movie gives a character actor in Warren Oates, the lead role. There's certain character actors who always choose to hang back. Thus their name. Only a handful are actually able to break out and carry a film. Phil Hoffman being one of the more contemporary examples.

Blood, sand, tequila and gunpowder are the types of smells you get when you watch this movie. I'm sure Sam wouldn't have had it any other way.

A+ 

Pairs well with: No Country For Old Men

THE HATEFUL EIGHT (EXTENDED VERSION) (2015)

The directors cut can be exploited for financial gain and has been many a time. A re-release in the theater promising 15 extra minutes or that DVD Director's Cut with an extra scene promising Unrated, juicy bits too hot for theaters. Not here.

Like the best Directors cuts (Aliens, Alien 3 and most recently Doctor Sleep), Tarantino's 8th film now moves to a new rhythm. Clocking in at 180 minutes, the canvas for his confined paranoid pot boiler is as ambitious as an Altman epic. With just 4 chapters instead of 8, the transitions we are so use to are somehow improved with this new cut.

Characters who rarely interacted before now do. Take for instance Chris Mannix and Joe Gage. Their dynamics are strengthened through an exchange early on in Minnie's Haberdashery. Joe Gage's character is given added depth and substantive menace with new scenes. Bob the Mexican is shown to be even chummier. The theatrical presented the film as Major Marquis Warren's story. The Extended Cut turns it into an ensemble film. A+


CRAZY MAMA (1975)

Imagine if American Graffiti crossed paths with Bonnie Clyde. Imagine if that meeting was directed by Jonathan Demme. The man whose manic energy in films like Something Wild is unmatched. Crazy Mama takes the sexual subversion of Something Wild and injects a crime plot into it.

Now I must stress that with Demme, plot is loose. Hanging out with the characters is the name of this game. All set to a wall to wall soundtrack of golden oldies. You see why a director like Paul Thomas Anderson gravitated toward this director so much. Demme's look at cadre of characters without an ounce of judgment the same way PT looked the strange little family of Boogie Nights.

The one thing I've seen in every review of Boogie Nights is how much it feels like Scorsese. The influences are definitely there- the rise and fall structure in particular- yet the beating heart of it involves family dynamics. His Demme influence is every bit a part of this as his influence from Scorsese. And if there ever was one to ask for proof of this, I'd show them Crazy Mama. B+




THE LADY IN RED (1979)

Movies about Dillinger end up one way: Dillinger shot to death in an alley. Michael Mann's Public Enemies being the most recent of the bunch. The script for The Lady In Red John Sayles poses a what if scenario: what if instead of following Dillinger the whole time, we followed the women who wore red. The women who signaled to police that it was Dillinger coming out of the Biograph on July 22, 1934. What if her meet up and eventual witnessing of the death of Dillinger was a bump in the road for her?

In a review for the New Beverly, Quentin Tarantino describes it as not only the most ambitious film Roger Corman and New World Pictures made, but the best script written for an exploitation movie. One of the most notable things about the picture is how Sayles takes the lead Pamela Sue Martin through just about every thirties genre picture: working girl in the big city, story of a prostitute, female convict in a prison and finally the gangster picture.

Boasting a strong supporting cast that includes Robert Conrad, Louise Fletcher, a menacing Christopher Lloyd, Dick Miller (in an particularly sleazy role) and an awesome cameo by Robert Forster. An actor who would go onto to star in Lewis Teague's next film Alligator. A role for which Tarantino would look at as impetus for casting him in Jackie Brown.



Lewis Teague is more well known for Alligator and Cujo. Two exceptional animal attack movies. With a fantastic genre-hopping script from John Sayles, Teague ended up making his finest work.

A/A-



ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (1958)

I always marvel at the 'boy wonder' filmmakers. With the marvel comes a ball of anxiety right in my gut. PTA makes Hard Eight at 26. Soderbergh makes sex, lies and videotape and wins the Palme d'Or for it at 26. Why even try? When I found out Louis Malle made his stellar debut Elevator to the Gallows at the tender age of 24, I threw my hands up.

Of all the French directors of the New Wave, Malle is easily the most diverse. This came much to Francois Truffaut's frustration after Malle's release of The Fire Within had him trying to jam him into the auterist suit so many directors of the time felt more comfortable in.

He's done comedies (Zazie dans le metro), character studies (The Fire Within), coming of age films (Murmur of the Heart), made forays into surrealism (Black Moon), films about Nazi-occupied France (Au Revoir les Enfants), he's filmed monologues between two academic types (My Dinner With Andre) and made a bunch of documentaries about his travels to India.

All of this started with his 1958 debut. Let's not forget that this film wasn't just Malle's debut. It was our introduction to one of world cinema's leading leadies. Jeanne Moreau. She would find herself working with some of the top autuers of the time including Truffaut, Antonioni, and Welles.

This film follows a businessman who murders his employer, the husband of his mistress. A chain reaction of events follow. Maurice Roney and Jean Pierre Melville regular Lino Ventura round out the cast. The score by Miles Davis propels the whole story into motion right from the opening credits.

To create such a confident, assured crime picture at the age of 24 is a miracle. To have it be a prelude to a string of future classics is another.

A

Exploitastic: Tenement (1985)

Roberta Findlay's career in filmmaking began when she met Michael Findlay. The couple turned moviemaking team would go onto directing roughies. Sexploitation films made on a low budget with gratuitous nudity. While she isn't the first women to dabble in these films (that honor goes to Doris Wishman) she is definitely one of the key figures in the genre. The 60s saw a decline in roughies and a rise in hardcore films. Roberta's career started veering more and more toward horror. Following some misfires in the genre, Roberta and Michael wound up making Snuff. A movie which Roberta saw no profits. At this stage, Roberta and Michael separated.

Roberta's career in sexploitation really took off. She ended up making her tribute to Repulsion, A Women's Torment (1977). Justine (1980), Liquid Assets (1982), and Mascara (1983), a movie she made with Henri Pachard all would follow suit. All of which are available through Vinegar Syndrome.



It wasn't until Tenement, the film we are here to discuss today, that she fully embraced no holds barred exploitation that would make even late 70's era Abel Ferrera tuck his tail between his legs and run.

In an interview with Findlay, she pinpoints her inspiration to her childhood. Living in the rat infested tenements in the South Bronx of New York. Now the surprising thing about Tenement is the date in which it was produced and released- 1985. It's a movie that came 10 years too late. A movie that could have played on any of the 42nd Street theaters. Instead it landed smack dab in the middle of the VHS era.

Tenement is unflinching and unforgettable. It also has a memorable role from Paul Calderon of Pulp Fiction.





You can buy Tenement on blu ray from Shriek Show.

Momentum

I

"I can't afford to miss this."

I said this to myself. Twice. The first time was when I went to The Logan Theater to see a movie. I had just come out of the screening and spotted an ad in the lobby:

ANDERSON vs. ANDERSON vs. ANDERSON MONTH
There Will Be Blood                July 3-4
Mortal Kombat                        July 5-8
Bottle Rocket                          July 9-11
Magnolia                                 July 12-15
Event Horizon                         July 16-18
Moonrise Kingdom                  July 19-22
Punch-Drunk Love                  July 23-25
The Grand Budapest Hotel       July 26-29
Resident Evil                           July 30-Aug 1

The WS Anderson didn't interest me as much. Though seeing Event Horizon for the first time in a theater since 1997 would be trippy. From Wes' stuff, the films I'd want to see on the big screen- Rushmore and Tenenbaums- weren't featured. I knew that my work schedule prevented me from seeing a number of these movies anyway. So I decided to make time to see one. The film I'd always wished I'd seen on the big screen. Magnolia. Having basked in the big screen glory of There Will Be Blood back in '07, Magnolia was the movie. Sorry Punch-Drunk.

This brings us to the second time: when I broke the news to my girlfriend. I'd always wanted her to see the film with me but she kept on holding out. She loved all the other PT Anderson films I showed her. A home viewing of The Master being our third date. Punch Drunk Love awakened a sadness even she couldn't put her finger on.

In an interview for Criterion, Bill Hader said that watching the reaction of someone while watching a movie with you is like watching the movie for the first time. There is a vicarious experience that happens. This magical elixir of a film was fragile to me. I only watched it a handful of times and each time the mood had to strike.

She responded with an enthusiastic yes to seeing the movie and the date was set: July 13, 2019 at 11:00pm.

II

I had arrived at around 7 pm.

The uber trip was $15 and took us down a narrow street with parked cars on both sides.

When we finally got to the theater, it was about 2 pm.

It was a fairly empty theater when we were seated. People gradually started trickling in in twos. A couple occupied a row behind us. Theater lights dimmed. Around 11:05, when the New Line Cinema appeared on screen, a couple came in and sat in the row in front of us and a few seats to the right. I noticed the man had a cup of beer. "Well that's normal. There's a bar in the lounge." I thought to myself. He had a ponytail and talked to his wife from time to time as the movie went on.

The three acts of coincidence played through and the darkly comic beats registered well amongst the audience. The opening went off pretty well. But then again, these things happen all time.

The emotional swell of the movie to me is akin to music. Fittingly, PT compared the structure of the movie to A Day In the Life. A rise, then a crescendo. A descent, a rise then another crescendo. The players were playing the same notes just like the last times I listened. Dixon was rapping about "if the sunshine don't work, the good Lord let the rain in." Claudia was frantically running about her apartment while the throbbing tune of Momentum was nearly drowning out the knocks on her door from Jim Kurring.

None of the instruments were out of tune.

There was one element out of place. A commentary track in the middle of this beautiful chaos. It was the man with the ponytail.

There were two people seated in front on him. About 50 minutes in, after incessant interruption after interruption, the couple got up. An employee arrived in their place. The same one who tore my ticket at the concession booth. "Will you please lower your voice? Other people are trying to watch the movie."

A couple minutes went by and I could hear the banter from him to his wife. The preposterousness of someone having to get up and complain about him.

A woman with dark curled hair and formal wear came in and sat in the row to the left of the row I was sitting in. The ponytail man raised his voice to the screen.

"SSSHHHHH"

It came from the woman whom I had figured now was the manager. She got up, went to the man and told them they will have to be quiet. Even without the hints in attire, the authoritative voice with which she used was markedly different from the ticket taker.

"Is it that serious?" The man would say a few minutes after she left. He refused to be quiet. This man grooved to his own soundtrack.

An anger bloomed in my chest and branched outward to my limbs. I started doing what I normally do in these situations. I started nervously picking my skin. Even Charlotte was getting frustrated.

The scene came on when Dixon went in a passed out Linda's car and started taking her money. "Oh man, that is so racist. That's so wrong."

The What Do Kids Know? scene came on and Luis Guzman came on the screen The ponytail man erupted "Finally! A Latino man on screen! Benny Blanco from the Bronx"

His wife told him to be quiet. "It's okay." He whispered. "If we only talk like this, then we won't get in trouble."

Scene after scene went by and each one was pockmarked with this man's interruptions. "I don't know why you're being like this. It's a good movie." his wife would said to him.

I've had many theater going experiences where the guy in front or in back of me is talking or a phone is on and it's glow catches the corner of my eye. This was different. Even after the manager told the patron to be quiet, it only got worse.

Two and a half hours. Two and a half hours of this. In all my years of going to movies, not once did I get up and leave. If you were to tell me it would be during my favorite movie, I would have shook my head at you and laughed. Yet my options I was cycling to narrowed the angrier I got. I was left with two: make a smartass comment to the man since that was the only wavelength he was in tune to or get up and leave. I couldn't have this asshole ruin such an orgasmic ending to Magnolia after ruining so much of the movie so far.

"There's about 7 people here. Just watch it on fuckin' DVD."

"Let's go." Charlotte said. The voice was one of relief. We got up and left.

As I made my way through the lobby I approached the ticket taker and told him that the man whom he told to be quiet was still talking. He said he would inform the manager. I told him that we were leaving anyway.

I thought about how much this cost. Both tickets, the uber rides to and from the theater. It didn't matter as nearly as much as the experience. This was my first chance to see Magnolia on the big screen and I was cheated out of it by an obnoxious asshole. More importantly it was an experience I wanted Charlotte to have. To finally see the movie I'd always raved about to her as my favorite film.

I debated if I should go back into the theater or not to get a refund. Would it be worth risking this asshole getting in my face? Charlotte didn't think so. After weighing the decision and concluding it would be best if we just left, we took an uber home. We had left before the good Lord bring the rain in.

So Now Then

A week later, Charlotte and I would watch the ending of Magnolia in her apartment. If you can imagine listening to the first 4 minutes of A Day In the Life and waiting until a week to listen to the other minute and 12 seconds, you get a good idea of what it felt like to watch Magnolia this way.

Movies have marked many a special occasion between us. Our first date was Inside Llewyn Davis. Our second date: Her. Nearly 6 years of us going to the movies and nothing like this had occured. Why this movie? Was it chance? Do these things really happen all the time?

I would eventually return to the Logan theater to see Midsommar and things were normal. Unruly patrons were apart of my cinematic experiences after this one and I'm almost sure that they will continue to be unless it's a specialty theater like The Music Box. Given a good crowd, a good atmosphere, the theatrical experience can be a truly special thing. It's what every one of us wants when we walk through those doors. That didn't happen on July 13, 2019.


What happened was another reminder of why people would rather sit home and watch NetFlix.

EXPLOITASTIC: POOR PRETTY EDDIE

A new feature that will introduce you to exploitation, sexploitation, blaxpoitation and all of its other subgenres from the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s.



Poor Pretty Eddie is a 1975 flick from Richard Robinson and David Worth and concerns a pop singer Liz Weatherly (Leslie Uggams) who heads out on a road trip. Her car breaks down near an isolated lodge in the backwoods and things start to get weird. The inhabitants of the lodge are an ex burleqsque star named Bertha played by Shelley Winters and her much younger boyfriend, the titular Eddie. An Elvis impersonator who becomes obssessed with Liz.
Character actors Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor co star.

What's interesting about this one is that straddles so many sub genres. It has a black female lead. Yet it's set in the backwoods. So it isn't full on hicksploitation. It goes by two other titles: Black Vengeance. A title that caters to its blaxpoitation leanings. And Redneck County, a title made for its redneck leanings.

Imagine if Lynch and Tarantino had sex during Deliverance and this is what you would get.

Odd Obsessions

We're getting lazy. This critique has been offered on more than one occasion. Not just in the way we create but in the way we consume. The advent of NetFlix and streaming has shuddered the video stores. While boutique labels like Arrow and Criterion allow access to the best looking releases of the films we love. Criterion itself has its own streaming service now.

Of course, it wasn't always like this.
The video store offered a tactile, hands-on experience. It was the playground for any and all loversd of physical media. The sandbox we grew up in. This we can all agree on. Yet the weepy eyed nostalgia tends to blur the actual experience we all had at Blockbuster Video. I can recall going their multiple times. It's how I discovered Audition. Yet for every Audition, there was a Carnosaur. The bargain bins offering $10 movies. The clerk who really just wants you to plop down your money so they can get one step closer to leaving. The memories that stuck with me most were carbed not out of blue and yellow. It was the ma and pop stores. Beggars Video was apart of the Beggars Pizza brand, which just happened to be located next door. Any customer who came in was given free squares of pizza. It was there that two important pieces of history occured.

The first being a glass display case that housed a Chucky doll. Always taunting me before I exited the store. The second being the Faces of Death series.

When I see documentaries recalling the importance of video stores or directors' trip down memory lanes, one thing that causes my synapses to fire rapidly is when they bring up the forbidden fruit. The movies you find with a brown paper bag over them. Faces of Death was the closest I got to this titilation.
Then there was Video Corner. The first video store I knew that had a porn section.

Now keep in mind, all of this was within three blocks in both the west and east direction of my house. It was primo real estate.

I didn't have access to such utopias as CineFile video. So I would eventually create my own paradise in my room.

The way I organize my shelves are alphabetized by director, country and genre. Given that horror and exploitation occupy a good chunk of my collection, they are the only specific genres entire sections are dedicated to.

American/British/Canadian Directors
Foreign Films
I. Asian
  -Japanese
     a. Classic (Ichikawa, Kobayashi, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Naruse, Ozu, Shindo)
     b. New Wave (Imamura, Kurahara, Oshima, Suzuki, Teshigahara)
     c. Contemporary (Fukasaku, Itami, Kore-eda, Miike, Sono)
  -South Korean (Chang-dong, Chan-wok, Jee-woon, Joon-ho, Ki-Young)
  -China and Taiwan (Hu, Kar-Wai, Ming-liang, Woo, Yang)
II. European
  -France
     a. Classic: Becker, Bresson, Clouzot, Dassin, Melville, Ophuls, Tati, Vigo
     b. New Wave: Godard, Malle, Resnais, Truffaut, Varda
     c. Contemporary: Audiard, Belvaux, Breillat, Jeunet, Kassovitz, Kechiche, Noe
  -Italy (Antonioni, Bertolucci, DeSica, Fellini, Pasolini, Petri, Risi, Rosellini, Sorrentino)
  -Germany (Fassbinder, Herzog, Murnau, Schlondorff, Wenders)
  -Russia (Kalatzokov, Klimov, Shepitko, Tarkovsky, Zyvagintsev)
  -Czech Republic (Chitlova, Vlacil)
  -Poland (Kieslowski, Zulawski)
  -Denmark (Dreyer, Vintberg, Von Trier)
  -Austria (Haneke)
III. Mexico, Central and Latin America (Bunuel, Camus, Cazals, Cuaron, Del Toro, Erice, Guerra, Innaritu, Jodorowsky, Meirelles, Sauros)
IV. Africa, India (Ray)

Exploitation
  -Jack Hill
  -Herschell Gordon Lewis
  -Russ Meyer
  -John Waters
Blaxpoitation
Sexploitation
Car Chases
Ozploitation
Revenge
Grindhouse Releasing
Blue Underground

Horror
  -Assorted
  -Directors: Carpenter, Cronenberg, Hooper, Romero
  -Franchises: Halloween, Friday the 13th, Elm Street, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre
  -Silent and Classic Horror (anything up to the 50's with Universal Monsters and Lewton given seperate sections)
  -Italian Genre (Argento, Bava, DiLeo, Fulci, Lenzi, Martino, Soavi, Cannibal flicks)
  -Scream Factory
  -Arrow Video
  -Vinegar Syndrome
  -Severin
Experimental (Anger, Fricke, Hertzfeldt, etc.)
Documentary

There was a video store a few years ago that caught my attention. Odd Obsession Movies. It was located in the Wicker Park area of downtown Chicago. Wicker Park was already home to several hotspots: Myopic Books, Quimby's Bookstore, Wormhole Coffee, Reckless Records.

I made my first visit to Odd Obsession on January 28, 2020. It took me long enough. The hype was real and every bit earned. Entire walls dedicated to exploitation and sexploitation. Films arranged by director, country, genre. From film noir classics to contemporary. Staff recommendations. The works. There were even tapestries depicting Ghana film posters.

Renting movies for the first time in more than a decade felt...satisfying. The first batch being Takashi Kitano's Fireworks, Babas Lunas' Anguish and Buddy Giovinazzo's Combat Shock.

I've found a new place to call home.

My Favorite Soundtracks

One of my favorite things to do is sequencing music playlists. Making sure the song before it and the song after it make a smooth transition. If I want to get adventurous, I try to make it as eclectic as possible. Until I bump into a bag with $500 and am able to afford Premiere Pro, this is the closest to editing I can get.

Soundtracks became a gateway to many of my favorite songs today. All starting with the discovery of the Forrest Gump soundtrack in my aunt's attic amongs a shoebox of CDs. It was just at the right time when I was discovering The Beatles, The Who and other 60's groups. A viewing of the film made it a favorite. Beyond just the glorious soundtrack that carries us through the decades of US history. I remember rewatching it and noticing the absence of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way. A problem that could be corrected with the eventual purchase of Rumors. But still an itch that needed to be scratched. In that sense the soundtrack that I had wasn't a complete one. A similair problem would plague my obsessive listening to the Casino soundtrack.

I started noticing a trend of "soundtrack movies" in the 90's. GoodFellas, Casino, Dazed and Confused, Trainspotting, Boogie Nights, Velvet Goldmine. Movies filled wall to wall with songs that propped up some of the more iconic scenes in cinema history. What I noticed with these movies that had this type of rhythm and feel, was that the soundtrack itself encapsulated that particular period. Making a series worth of NOW That's What I Call Music and countless infomercials for music compilations entirely irrelevant.

If I were to really go back, it can be traced to American Graffiti. The soundtrack, like Forrest Gump, was in regular in rotation. What set it apart from Gump, or any other soundtrack for that matter, was that it took the 'genre' and made it conceptual. Wolfman Jack, the famous disc jockey from the film appeared between songs like some sort of host. It's something I had yet to hear before or since.

Albums like Queens of the Stone Age's Songs For the Deaf have experimented with the 'radio station' concept to much pleasure. Then along comes Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Even before the film has hit theaters, it introduced me to Neil Diamond's Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. It became a song on constant loop.

Now Quentin has famously used songs and scores from exploitation, blaxpoitation, kung fu and giallo movies before. Just look at Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, Jackie Brown, Django Unchained or Death Proof. But nestled inside those soundtracks were always great nuggets: Didn't I Blow Your Mind by The Delfonics, Hold Tight by Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mitch Tich, I Got A Name by Jim Croce, and the inspired mash-up of James Brown and 2Pac with The Payback/Untouchable.

Once Upon A Time didn't pull anything from a specific movie. His first soundtrack to do so since Pulp Fiction. Maybe this was sparked by his cave-in to use an original score on Hateful Eight. Maybe not. The concept to use the music you would hear on the radio in 1969 doesn't just stop at the music itself, he pushes it further than anything on American Graffiti.

When the film finally did hit theaters and I watched it, much was left to be desired. A rewatch only confirmed and deepened those feelings. It was him caving to his worst impulses. It was my least favorite effort since Kill Bill Vol. 1. Though many share the exact opposite feeling. Quentin always did his best work when reigning it in and not giving a fuck about critical feedback. See: Jackie Brown, Death Proof, The Hateful Eight. Pulp Fiction is the exception to all of this. And while I love Basterds and Vol. 2, neither capture the simplicity and tightness those aforementioned three films have.

The movie does a fantastic job on production design. Creating a somber goodbye that crescendos musically with Out of Time by The Rolling Stones in the sequence when Rick and Cliff arrive in LA back from Italy for their last night together. The neon signs lighting up is one of my favorite touches in this sequence. It felt like a period ending. Let alone a decade. Yes it's storybook. Yes it's a love letter. I just wish it did away with the postscript of Manson. There's much to say about this and its highs and lows: the boundless energy of Margaret Qualley, the wasted Bruce Dern, Dakota Fanning's role as Squeaky, the pointless scene between Rick and the 8 year old...but we're getting sidetracked.

The soundtrack on the other hand, is the best thing I was given from this movie. It wasn't just a joyous mix of hits and deep cuts from the late 60's, it included commercials for products, radio DJ interludes, trailers for movies and television, and catchy jingles. This thing even has weather reports. It's a time capsule in the best way.

The following soundtracks are constantly in and out of my CD player.

MY TOP 10 SOUNDTRACKS
1. Casino*
Choice cuts: Otis Redding- Sad Song, Can't You Hear Me Knocking by The Rolling Stones, Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael, Love Is the Drug by Roxy Music, The Glory of Love by The Velvetones, Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues, Without You by Harry Nilsson

2. American Graffiti
Choice cuts: Runaway by Del Shannon, That'll Be The Day by The Crickets, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by The Platters, Ain't That A Shame by Fats Domino, To the Aisle by The Five Satins, Teen Angel by Mark Dinning, All Summer Long by The Beach Boys

3. Rushmore
Choice cuts: A Quick One While He's Away by The Who, Making Time by Creation, The Wind by Cat Stevens, Oh La La by The Faces

4. Velvet Goldmine
Choice cuts: Needle In the Camel's Eye by Brian Eno, Ballad of Maxwell Demon by Shudder to Think, Virginia Plain by Roxy Music, Satellite of Love by Lou Reed, Baby's On Fire by Venus In Furs

5. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Choice cuts: Ramblin' Gamblin' Man by The Bob Seger System, Son of A Lovin' Man by Buchanan Brothers, Good Thing by Paul Revere and the Raiders, Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show by Neil Diamond

6. Bringing Out the Dead
Choice cuts: You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory by Johnny Thunders, Janie Jones by The Clash, What's Your Frequency Kenneth by REM, Bell Boy by The Who

7. Wonder Boys
Choice cuts: Not Dark Yet by Bob Dylan, Waiting For the Miracle by Leonard Cohen, Watching the Wheels by John Lennon

8. Zodiac
Choice cuts: Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan, Inner City Blues by Marvin Gaye, I Wanna Take You Higher by Sly and the Family Stone, I Never Promised A Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson

9. Forrest Gump
Choice cuts: Rebel Rouser by Duane Eddy, Rainy Day Women by Bob Dylan, Sloop John B by The Beach Boys, California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by Fifth Dimension, Everybody's Talkin by Harry Nilsson, Against the Wind by Bob Seger

10. 20th Century Women
Choice cuts: The Big Country by Talking Heads, Cheree by Suicide, Gut Feeling by DEVO, Why Can't I Touch It? by The Buzzcocks




*to whoever sequenced this soundtrack and to whoever decided to use a cover of House of the Rising Sun in place of the original: dude...what the fuck?

Remember, remember...the chill of November

Halloween and Christmas are two holidays that have entire months dedicated to them. November is sandwiched in the middle and is often neglected. Mostly by department stores. For film fans, it's the month of the Criterion sale. Award season movies are released. It's cold enough to wear long sleeve shirts but not too cold to wear your winter coat. You can see your breath.

Constructing this list felt like constructing a house of cards- it could all topple at any moment. So I decided to section it off as the season moves into the frosty throes of winter.

ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN...

Autumn Sonata
A strained mother-daughter relationship. Unflinching and brutal truths. Sven Nykvist's use of burnished harvest colors relay the autumn vibes.

In Cold Blood
I associate the novel with winter because that is when I first read it. The movie fits right on the cusp of the season. My father introduced me to this movie around middle school and Robert Blake's monologue amidst the rain pouring outside the jail always stuck with me.

The Double Life of Veronique
Kieslowski's post- Dekalog career is one I associate with colors. The Colors trilogy for obvious reasions. Veronique has a unique green/yellowish hue to it pallette that I haven't seen any movie use as effectively.

Phantom Thread
Alma retelling her story next to a fireplace makes me want to wrap myself in the blankets with a plate full of asparagus with oil and salt. Not too much butter though.

Last of the Mohicans
Like so many of these picks, the score belongs to the season as much as the movie does. Mann's best films don't even feel like films. They feel like mood pieces. Mohicans isn't as abstract as Miami Vice in that sense. It's more linear. This isn't a bad thing as his style is all over the finished product.

THANKSGIVING STAPLES

Addams Family Values
A sequel that stands up to and just about surpasses the original. The post Halloween hangover coming into Thanksgiving isn't better exemplified by the morbid fun in this movie.

Planes, Train and Automobiles
"I'd like ya to meet a friend of mine."
OK, this one is obvious. John Hughes mastered the X-mas vibe with his scripts for Christmas Vacation and Home Alone. Martin and Candy dynamic odd couple duo is seldom matched.

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Brown, Yellow, Red. What more do you need? A dance number? Well you're in luck. Anderson has a knack for making films that are so damn charming and it peaks with his adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic.

Blood Rage
Slasher films manage to hit all the major holidays: Christmas (Black Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night, Christmas Evil), Valentine's Day (My Blood Valentine), Halloween (duh). Thanksgiving remained a blindspot. With the exception of Eli Roth's Thanksgiving trailer for Grindhouse (the best thing he's done, seriously), there wasn't one to sink our teeth into. Joe Bob Briggs changed that for me when he features Blood Rage on Joe Bob's Drive-In special on Shudder. The Arrow release is chock full of good stuff.

Krisha
Trey Edward Shults catapulted to the top of "New Directors to Watch" after I saw It Comes At Night. I immediately sought out Krisha. Shults channels Cassavetes for a look at a dysfunctional family drama set during Thanksgiving. The turkey scene set to Nina Simone's Just In Time is unforgettable. Just watch it. You'll know it when it comes.

WHEN THE SNOW STARTS TO FALL

American Movie
This movie's timeline lasts longer than the fall and into winter; helping it create a catch-all vibe for the end of October thru Thanksgiving and into February. The scene that always reminds me of the season is when Mark and Mike are crammed into Mark's mom's kitchen watching the Super Bowl on a small television set.
A perfect post-Halloween movie. Jesus told me so.

Wonder Boys
The movie that introduced me to my favorite Dylan song: Not Dark Yet. Hanson nails the feeling of the Chabon book in the same way he nailed Ellroy's LA Confidential. Melancholic yet hopeful.

Foxcatcher
The command of tone by Bennett Miller here is extraordinary. Haunting is a term used to excessive amounts in reviews. This movie actually earns it. Like gliding over glass.
Tatum turns in one of the best performances of the 10's.

Birth
The turn from November to December. The leaves falling on the ground. The snow starting to fall. Even though the films is about rebirth, the opening of this movie with the help of Alexandre Desplat's score expertly captures this feeling of moving into winter.

Manchester By the Sea
You Can Count On Me. Margaret. Manchester By the Sea. A perfect 3-0 record if you ask me. Few films portray grief as realistically as this one. It's genuine and lived in.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Some artists are so specifically tuned to a season. Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen are staples in the winter season for me. The latter being used liberally throughout this picture. Altman helps us out with some stunning imagery along the way.

Inside Llewyn Davis
Coens tapped Bruno Delbonnel to lense this film. The announcement gave me pause since the Deakins collaboration offered so many sumptuously photographed films. I needn't worry. The soundtrack is an integral part to the season.

SNOW BOUND

The Revenant
The wilderness. Survival. Man's primal instincts. It's no wonder Mann went ga-ga over this.

The Hateful Eight
"I ain't ever going out in that shit...ever, ever again!"
There's an essay I can pen to this movie. Exalting it among QT's best since Pulp Fiction. How it's the closest he has gotten with the horror genre. How it's the ugly, bruised, toothless brother of Django Unchained. For now I'll just say that it's an immediate go-to when the snow is so bad I am unable to go anywhere. Roads are closed. Schools are closed. They draw straws to see who will go outside. And OB loses once again.