Rob Christopher's Blog, page 103

3 things about Barry Jenkins’ IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

If Beale Street Could Talk [2018]

1. Corelle coffee cup.

2. Coltrane, as ever, the music of tenderness.

3. Customers and her hand.

3 things about Kelly Reichardt’s FIRST COW

First Cow [2019]

1. He gently flips over the newt and continues foraging.

2. A drizzle of honey and a dusting of cinnamon. Chief Factor takes possession of the pastry with a handkerchief.

3. Lying side by side.

3 things about David Swift’s HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying [1967]

1. In the mailroom, a 3M box. (3M also provided the office machines seen in the film.)

2. Pom pom stitch.

3. On a shelf in his office: a Pyrex catalog.

3 other things.

3 things about John Badham’s WARGAMES

WarGames [1983]

1. “A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”

2. A kiss on the ferry.

3. He ruffles David’s hair, smiles at the group, awkwardly walks away. And then immediately gets fired offscreen?

3 things about Kirsten Johnson’s CAMERAPERSON

Cameraperson [2016]

1. He needs oxygen. There is no oxygen.

2. Cut from the receptacle of ashes to her mother, still living.

3. She asks about the woman’s sense of personal style.

3 things about Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s IN A YEAR WITH 13 MOONS

In a Year with 13 Moons [1978]

1. A beer and a shot of bitters.

2. The A1 password is Bergen-Belsen.

3. Spitting three times over her left shoulder.

3 things about James Gray’s AD ASTRA

Ad Astra [2019]

1. Freaking out in the Comfort Room.

2. Wispy purple rings.

3. Okay, I can buy someone resorting to hand-to-hand combat with a knife. But no professional astronaut would fire a gun at someone from long range inside a spacecraft.

3 things about Andrei Tarkovsky’s THE SACRIFICE

The Sacrifice [1986]

1. The candles, the plates, the wine.

2. A coin falls out of his pocket and rolls along the hardwood floor.

3. Finally, a collapse.

3 things about Claude Chabrol’s LE BOUCHER

Le Boucher [1970]

1. Serene yoga.

2. “I would say nothing. But please don’t.”

3. Expressionlessly she watches the flashing red elevator signal.

3 things about Joseph Losey’s THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR

The Boy with Green Hair [1948]

1. Passed around from household to household.

2. Cro-Magnon emo: a tear on his cheek, half shaved head, tufts of his shorn green hair.

3. “Remember us as having died with millions of other people for something fine and worthwhile.”

Boy, they don’t make ’em like that anymore. They never did!