Rob Christopher's Blog, page 11

3 things about Quentin Dupieux’s MANDIBLES

Mandibles [2020]

1. Duct-taping the trunk shut.
2. Dominique examines the dog.
3. A bunch of bananas.

3 things about Jeremy Workman’s SECRET MALL APARTMENT

Secret Mall Apartment [2024]

1. An imposing facade without a pedestrian entrance.
2. Explaining tape art.
3. Two things had been stolen: their PlayStation, a photobook.

3 things about John Cassavetes’ A CHILD IS WAITING

A Child Is Waiting [1963]

1. They watch Reuben from behind a two-way mirror as he sits at a literacy machine. It’s lit like a police interrogation room.
2. “It’s not what you can do for these children, it’s what they can do for you.”
3. He finds himself pulled into a game of football.

You could argue that this is the most “conventional” film Cassavetes ever made, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful or affecting. Unique among his works, it’s a film that simply looks beautiful. In later years he was clearly uncomfortable with its visual gloss (courtesy cinematographer Joseph LaShelle, who also lensed Laura), but the tension between its controlled aesthetics and the story’s messiness and intensity really makes this film hum.

Garland is stunning–her best performance apart from The Wizard of Oz and A Star Is Born. But Lancaster and Rowlands are also superlative. And the way Cassavetes handles the child actors illustrates his deep gifts for working with young people.

It may have been released in 1963 but in its insistence on dignity for every human being, A Child Is Waiting is more timely than ever.

3 things about Annie Baker’s JANET PLANET

Janet Planet [2023]

1. Sprinting through the mall.
2. “Die, bug, die!”
3. She starts the car. Classical music radio. She takes a few bites from a chicken drumstick.

3 things about Bruce Geller’s HARRY IN YOUR POCKET

Harry in Your Pocket [1973]

1. We never find out why she she was going to Chicago.
2. Dirt poor. White trash.
3. “If it’s the milk of human kindness you’re looking for, my boy, Harry ain’t the cow.”

3 things about Carl Reiner’s THE JERK

The Jerk [1979]

1. “He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!”
2. Test thrusts.
3. One dollar and nine cents.

3 things about Alan Elliott & Sydney Pollack’s AMAZING GRACE

Amazing Grace [2018]

1. Waterspots above the doorway.
2. Overcome, he steps away from the piano in the middle of the song.
3. The cameraman jockeys for a clear shot of Mick Jagger.

3 things about George Roy Hill’s HAWAII

Hawaii [1966]

1. “We begin now!”
2. A letter to James Monroe.
3. They dive into the surf for relief, but they’ll only catch pneumonia and die.

3 things about Steven Soderbergh’s KAFKA

Kafka [1991]

1. From a crypt to a file drawer.
2. “This has been opened.”
“Shall I reseal it?”
3. Creeping along the seams.

3 things about Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS

Sinners [2025]

1. Charley Patton’s guitar.
2. The garlic test is a clever spin on The Thing‘s blood test.
3. One evening at the Checkerboard Lounge in 1992.