100 Films to Watch Before the End, 2
Part one here, part three here.
33: Henson, Jim. Oz, Frank. The Muppet Show.
Most of it is pretty naff really. The gags are often just awful. But pretty much every episode has something like this in it. No? You’re not into singing vegetables? How about this? Alright, alright, what about this? If you can’t enjoy Fozzie and Rowlf duetting, if you can’t enjoy the love between Henson and Oz, there’s really no hope for you…
Okay, singing puppets aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I should stress though that I’m talking about the 70s shows, when Henson was at his peak. After this, and certainly after Henson died, the Muppets became depressing and heartless. Now, as with all the other ‘franchises’, the only decent thing to do would be to put on a ten minute ‘Muppet Apocalypse’ episode and then call it a day.1
34: Herzog, Werner. Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
One day I’ll find a way to break into that poxy cave. Until then we’ve got Herzog’s reverent documentary. Just a taste of what it was to live in the Dreamtime, but perhaps a taste is all you need.
And I can’t leave Herzog without mentioning Aguirre, Wrath of God. Is it Mind-Thrilling Devastation and the Horrendous Awe of Great and Hopeless Struggle (in this case of making the thing), or is it all just pointless and stupid, like Fitzcarraldo? Still not sure, but I love the epic synth-powered OST.
35: Higgens, Colin. Ashby, Hal. Harold and Maude.
‘I haven't lived. I've died a few times.’ Black comic masterpiece with a great wooden vagina moment. For some reason it hasn’t been remade with the genders reversed.
Hal Ashby made a few good ones in the 70s (back when Hollywood made good films), the best of ‘em probably being Being There, The Last Detail and Shampoo.
36: Huston, John. Kipling, Rudyard. The Man who Would be King.
‘When we’re finished with you you’ll be able to slaughter your enemies like civilised men.’ Tremendously enjoyable yarn which has a good dig at the old Empire as it goes. Most of the pleasure, outside of Kipling’s racy tale of hubris—two ex-soldiers from the Raj make their fortune in a hidden region of Afghanistan—comes from Michael Caine and Sean Connery, never more engaging, playing off each other.
37: Hykade, Andreas. Love and Theft.
Mesmerising animated short; themewise along the same lines as Koyaanisqatsi, but focusing on modern iconography. Ring of Fire is excellent too, showing how incredibly potent animation can be, hitting a primeval otherplace that live action just can’t quite get to. I read that Hykade was working on a feature about Jesus, but nothing seems to have come of that.
But please take a look at this, if you haven’t already, on a nice big screen with good speakers / headphones…
38: Imamura, Shôhei. Hasebe, Keiji Profound Desires of the Gods
Wild, exotic, fucked-up, feverish, tropical masterpiece about an engineer who goes to live on a remote island with a family of inbreds. Astonishing things happen; and even more astonishing, they are somehow believable. A subtle commentary on modern Japan’s relationship with its animist past makes up the backbone of the story, but its meandering, random slice-of-warped-life majesty is what keeps you going. Shôhei Imamura is, for me, up there with Kurosawa — not as great a filmmaker — quite hamfisted from time to time — but for pure wild madness, unbeatable in Japanese cinema. Also recommended: The Ballad of Narayama and the chirpier Dr Akagi.
39: Itami, Juzo. Tampopo.
Talking of pure wild madness, try this stupendous, aimless 80s Japanese food comedy. I’d say it was funny how such an unwild people can make such films, but that’s how character is, a series of ‘contradiction points’. The most conspicuous qualities of both people and peoples is always attended by its [repressed or acknowledged] opposite.
40: Ivory, James. Jhabvala, Ruth Prawar. Forster, E.M. A Room with a View.
Extremely, tremendously, wonderful and beautiful, but worth watching for Daniel Day Lewis’ good to the point of hilarious rendition of the priggish Cecil Vyse. Follow it up with My Beautiful Laundrette, released at the same time, in which Lewis plays a suedehead yobbo, and marvel at the man.
41: Jensen, Anders Thomas. Arcel, Nicolaj. Riders of Justice .
Jensen specialises in freaks, cripples and outcasts; all recognisably human and perfectly melded to compelling plots. He writes for a superb ensemble, here Nicolas Bro, Lars Brygmann, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s a testament to the astonishing lack of ego in the latter that he—a handsome leading man—can play Jensen’s weirdos so well.
Also recommended; Jensen’s Men and Chickens and his superb black-comic take on the Book of Job, Adam’s Apples.
42: Jodorowsky, Alejandro. The Holy Mountain.
Absolutely nuts. Nothing like it on earth. God only knows how it got made. Totally defies analysis, largely because, I think, Jodorowsky himself didn’t really know what he was doing and just wanted to present one insane image after another. A notorious flop when it was released, which should give heart to anyone making something truthful to the world: aim for a flop I say.
Another good one, although nowhere near as brain-bending, of course, is the recent documentary about the sci-fi that Jodorowsky never made, Jodorowsky’s Dune. Such a shame he didn’t get to make it, and the keys to the Kingdom were instead given to that monumental bore Denis Villeneuve—although it is interesting to ponder on why Villeneuve, who ‘hates dialogue’, can’t make an interesting film for toffee while Jodorowsky, who also isn’t big on talking, can produce the kind of compelling cinema that Villeneuve can only dream of.
But I’ll leave that for you. Meanwhile, get over to this…
And this…
And of course this…
