May Movie Count: 65
2024 Movie Count: 269
What a movie month. I watched just under seventy movies in May and rated thirteen movies as a five star between new watches and rewatches. A couple of my rewatches that garnered a five star rating, again, were Goodfellas, Whiplash, Heat, Skyfall and Everybody Wants Some!!.
Some of the five star first watches I had in May that didn’t make my top five were Paul Schrader’s crime drama Blue Collar, the Mad Max prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Matrix. Without further ado, here are my top five first watches of May.
5. I’m Not There (2007)
Prior to watching I’m Not There, I had mixed feelings on Todd Haynes. I did not like May December, I was lukewarm on Dark Waters and I was a fan of Carol. What I hadn’t done was ventured into his earlier films or his music work like Velvet Goldmine, The Velvet Underground and I’m Not There. Now, having viewed I’m Not There, I’m amped to delve into Haynes’ other work.
I’m Not There is remarkably witty and ambitious in the way that it tells multiple stories from Bob Dylan’s perspective as he begins to reinvent himself through his career. Where the ambition comes into play is how Haynes casted the six variations of Dylan. The youngest being Marcus Carl Franklin as Woody, who is a younger African American actor. And he kills the role where he’s supposed to play an old soul with stories that range all across multiple life times. It’s amazing to see a child actor operate at the level that Franklin did. Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishsaw, to no ones surprise, are great in their variations of Dylan. All four are talented actors with great range, so seeing them at this level wasn’t surprising.
The real scene stealer though of the six Dylan’s was Cate Blanchett as Jude. I firmly believe that Blanchett’s gender blending performance is one of the five best performances of the 2000s decade. It’s up there with Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood and Denzel Washington in Training Day. She alters her voice slightly, but in a manner that’s not bewildering to the audience. Sometimes we hear accents in films that take you out of the film. This wasn’t one of them. This is a great performance that makes I’m Not There a great film.
5/5 Stars
4. That Thing You Do! (1996)
There are two types of music movies. Biopics and then music movies that feel like biopics. That Thing You Do! jumps into the realm of music movies that feel like a biopic. Following the meteoric rise and quick fall of local Pennsylvania band, The Oneders, Tom Hanks treats us to a fun film about how fame can alter relationships, friendships and your life in a short amount of time. Even though Hanks touches on topics that have maimed great bands over the years like The Doors, Oasis, Sonic Youth, Hanks keeps the film light. There are great moments of the band bonding and no real anger boils over, even when Giovanni Ribisi gets left out of the band.
Hanks lets the film be goofy in a lot of ways. But it’s not goofy in a manner that’s over the top. It’s goofy in a way that you feel like you’re friends with the characters and you’re celebrating their big feats. That seeps in especially when they hear That Thing You Do on the radio. A lot like True Stories, this film does two things greatly. A, it provides a whimsical atmosphere that’s comfortable for the viewer. B, it provides catchy songs that you add to your playlist after viewing the film. True Stories has Wild Wild Life and That Thing You Do! has That Thing You Do. Both songs are now staples on my everyday listening playlist.
5/5 Stars
3. Night of the Hunter (1955)
Across the Letterboxd platform, I’d seen a lot of people with Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter in their four favorites. So, I added it to my watchlist and it sat there collecting dust. One night when I got home from work, I sat down and finally rented it. The 1955 thriller that follows the cat and mouse game between John and Pearl Harper and their evil step dad, Harry Powell, played by Robert Mitchum, is fantastic in both its stylistic choices and its storytelling. Stylistically, we see a sleek, yet somehow slimy noir flick that transports you to the deep south in the 1950s. An era and place I’m not sure I’d ever want to be in, and I’m happy I’m not. Night of the Hunter just gives you that quick feeling that you are there.
Storytelling wise, Night of the Hunter is thrilling. The first half of the film establishes Powell’s motive, while the second half shows the true evil he holds. He will travel to the end of the Earth to kill these children in hopes of a sum of cash. It’s truly sinister in the way that Powell tracks these children, and while the film is about the children, Powell is who you focus most on. Robert Mitchum’s performance is slick and boisterous as he plays two people. One moment he’s a loving, yet stern preacher with charm. The next moment, he’s a psychotic serial killer that doesn’t care who gets in his way of money. My literacy on films of pre 1960 isn’t great, but I’d have to say that Mitchum gives one of the best performances of the 1950s.
5/5 Stars
2. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
This is the first of two Oliver Stone films on the list and when I talk about Natural Born Ki—, the next film on the list, I’ll get more into his abrasive style of filmmaking. With Born on the Fourth of July, I want to delve into the bold, raw narrative that Stone drives home. This story is one in a million for young American men in this era. It’s the true story about a young man named Ron Kovic, played by Tom Cruise, who enlists in the marines to fight in Vietnam. Over seas, Kovic accidentally kills one of his own men in combat and is later shot leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Once he returns to the states, Kovic is given subpar rehab treatment and is treated like a charity case to his disdain.
Over the course of the film, Kovic struggles to find his way in his post war world and finds it as an anti war protestor, leading thousands of soldiers who returned home with disabilities and PTSD. There aren’t many high points in the film. Frankly, it’s a depressing story that, even in Kovic’s brightest moments, there’s despair. But past all of that, Tom Cruise gives maybe his best or second best performance. It’s between this, Magnolia or Eyes Wide Shut. I need to do a rewatch of both of those films. Cruise takes the leap of trying a depressing and raw performance in this and truly nails it. Around him, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava and Tom Berenger compliment him so well, but you can’t and don’t want to take your eyes off Cruise.
5/5 Stars
1. Natural Born Killers (1994)
I’m not saying I’ve seen a monumental amount of films in my life, but when you’ve seen over 1,500, it’s rare to sit down with no real expectations for a film and as the end credits roll, you think that you’ve found a new one for your all time top five. That’s how I felt with Natural Born Killers. Oliver Stone’s a divisive film maker that takes lots of liberties. Just watch JFK. There’s a scene where Joe Pesci and Tommy Lee Jones partake in a gay orgy where they’re painted gold in presidential wigs. He’s strange. He’s also very hit or miss with his films. Born on the Fourth of July, which was my second favorite first watch of the month rocks. I also watched The Doors, which, despite having a great Val Kilmer performance, kind of stinks. When it comes to Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone struck gold.
Paul Schrader wrote a great anecdote about Natural Born Killers and how it’s comparable to Pulp Fiction, yet takes a completely different twist on its literacy towards media. “Oliver Stone, a member of the 60’s film generation, found this retro gruel too thin for his taste and rewrote NBK with a heftier theme, the inherent evil of media culture. Tarantino’s theme was the opposite: the irrelevance of themes in a media defined universe. Both films came out in 1994 and they represent two generations of American film makers — the activist and the ironic. Which film you prefer puts you on either side of the generational divide.” He’s spot on about the divide. I loved the narrative of the evil media, and that’s probably why I prefer it over Pulp Fiction.
Natural Born Killers features my favorite performance from Woody Harrelson and a great one from Tom Sizemore. But who really shines is Robert Downey Jr. I know he was in the full throw of his drug addiction at the time, but he fucking kills this role. He’s arrogant in a way where you still kind of like him. He’s able to balance being charming and flippant in a way where his character is memorable to the viewer. All in all, Natural Born Killers is a gory, wild ride that will repulse some viewers and rope others in. Personally, I got roped in and cant wait to rewatch this.
5/5 Stars