Rob Christopher's Blog, page 19

3 things about George Pollock’s MURDER AHOY

Murder Ahoy [1964]

1. A smashed bottle of Plymouth gin.
2. Intercepted message.
3. Swordplay with Margaret.

3 other things.

3 things about Errol Morris’s THE PIGEON TUNNEL

The Pigeon Tunnel [2023]

1. The joy of self-imposed schizophrenia.
2. “I really don’t think any artist, whether he’s a writer, a painter, or anybody else, I don’t think he has to explain his work beyond a certain point. If it’s raised those questions in you, you’re already having a good time.”
3. George Smiley as the father he never had.

3 things about David Cronenberg’s NAKED LUNCH

Naked Lunch [1991]

1. “If you look carefully at my lips, you’ll realize that I’m actually saying something else. I’m not actually telling you about the several ways I’m gradually murdering Joan.”
2. A basket of dried centipedes.
3. Sleeping half-buried in the sand.

A selected inventory of 2024.

By the numbers …

221: feature films I watched in 2023 (24 of which I viewed in a theater)
42: books I read in 2022
31: pizzas we ordered from The Art of Pizza
16: pizzas we ordered from other pizzerias
131: mystery green statistic

Happy New Year!

What I Watched in 2024: My 11 Favorite Films

ALL OF US STRANGERS [2023, directed by Andrew Haigh]
THE BEAST [2023, directed by Bertrand Bonello]
OTHER PEOPLE [2016, directed by Chris Kelly]
THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS [1949, directed by David Lean]
PERFECT DAYS [2023, directed by Wim Wenders]
QUEER [2024, directed by Luca Guadagnino]
SAM NOW [2022, directed by Reed Harkness]
THE SEA WOLF [1941, directed by Michael Curtiz]
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL [2023, directed by Mstyslav Chernov]
VENGEANCE IS MINE [1984, directed by Michael Roemer]
THE ZONE OF INTEREST [2023, directed by Jonathan Glazer]

3 things about Luca Guadagnino’s QUEER

Queer [2024]

1. “I was afraid of that, an untutored palate.”
2. He pairs his mention of the policeman with a leg lift.
3. Embracing beneath the skin.

3 things about David Lean’s THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

The Bridge on the River Kwai [1957]

1. Sitting alone on the edge of his bed, crying in shame.
2. “I haven’t the foggiest.”
3. He emerges from “the oven” with purple bruises covering his chest.

3 other things.

3 things about Sean Baker’s TANGERINE

Tangerine [2015]

1. “This one only has one shoe!”
“She’s from the hill, she’s a hillbilly.”
2. Sharing her wig at the laundromat.
3. “He doesn’t do my drugs.”

3 things about Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR

Interstellar [2014]

1. Points of light pinging across the the ship.
2. Cooper never loses his farmer’s tan.
3. Timothée Chalamet becomes Casey Affleck.

3 other things.

3 things about Ernst Lubitsch’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER

The Shop Around the Corner [1940]

1. He proffers an over-large tip to the taxi driver, telling him to send his son through college.
2. A shattered lightshade.
3. “Do you like chicken soup?”

3 other things.