Here's what I managed for the month, with a little commentary:
The first film from any director you like:
Blood Simple (Coen Brothers) They really hit the ground running--modern noir featuring characters who self-destruct through their own foolishness are pretty much Coen staples. Terrific cinematography by Barry Sonnenfeld and scoring by Carter Burwell round out a perfect set of debuts.
A film with a title that starts with the letters A or B:
The Black Cat Super weird little film highlighted by a Karloff-Lugosi tête-à-tête. I don't recall whose recommendation I saw for this (Captain Terror? Wooley?) but it hit the spot. Imperfect (Tak's review is dead on about the sexism and the ending) but fun.
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #1 (i.e. 10, 21, 31):
Day of Wrath (#125) Slow-building (supposedly too slow for contemporary Danish audiences, so I guess this is an old issue) 1600s period drama of of a young woman married to a much older church elder, in the shadow of a witchcraft inquisition. I appreciate that the age difference is commented on and a source of problems. Superb tension.
A film from before 1920:
A Dog's Life Fun Chaplin short with the usual shenanigans. A big part of my enjoyment of these is still seeing the world the were made in.
An action or adventure film:
Wonder Woman 84 I feel weird that I don't hate this as much as everyone else seems to. It's not good, exactly, but I actually kinda dig that at the end
WARNING: spoilers below
Wonder Woman defeats the villain with words, not fists
Wonder Woman defeats the villain with words, not fists
. Yeah, there's some pretty janky stuff in here (like, don't get me started on the creepiness of the body switch) which prevents it from being actually good, but I have a lot of room for forgiveness for certain kinds of movies. Plus, I really like Gadot as Wonder Woman. She's not the best actor but her awkwardness kind of fits her fish out of water character.
An animated film:
Bambi My wife described this as being like a poem, which I think is spot on. The scenes of the forest burning is some of the most beautiful/frightening imagery I've seen in an animated film. And
WARNING: spoilers below
the mom's death
the mom's death
was not nearly so traumatic as its reputation.
A film with Nicolas Cage (born January 7):
Con Air Oh, man, this movie is as aggressively stupid as I remembered. Unfortunately this is straight action hero Cage (with a "Southern" accent) not full-on Cage unleashed, which I think would have made the film more enjoyable. Its over-the-topness almost works, but too often it drifts back into simple cheesiness and dopey gags. Not for me, but great if you love this kind of thing, I bet.