Film Discoveries - April 2018

Hello everyone!  My top watches for April were a pretty diverse bunch.  We've got a little drama, some crime and even a little science fiction/horror.  First up is a John Huston flick about small time people...

Fat City - 1972

The 1970s was a period of filmmaking that I used to reflexively dislike.  The film stock seemed muddy and ugly to me and that turned me off to it.  Now, I see that ugliness and rawness as a feature, rather than a downside.  I've grown very tired of the artificial look that many modern films go for.  The last thing that films from the 1970s look like is artificial, feeling like real life, in all its imperfect, non-color-corrected splendor.  

That all goes to say that I really responded to how real Fat City feels.  There's no glamor here. The plot is driven by the characters and I never get the sense that the drama is being ramped up unnaturally.  It's not particularly uplifting either, but it's meaningful.  It's life on film.

My Letterboxd review:

https://letterboxd.com/carcinogent/film/fat-city/

Availability 

Fat City is currently available on a region free blu-ray from Indicator.  Digital purchase and rental options are also available.

Charley Varrick - 1973

Continuing with the theme of my reappraisal of 1970s films, next up is Charley Varrick.  Varrick is the kind of protagonist that the Man wouldn't allow in our crime films today, never mind that the average guy is probably a bit more Walther Mathau than Tom Cruise.  Don Siegel directs this smarter-than-average crime flick, while the excellent cast includes Joe Don Baker and Andy Robinson.

My Letterboxd review:

https://letterboxd.com/carcinogent/film/charley-varrick/

Availability

Charley Varrick is currently available on Region B Blu-ray from Indicator as well as on DVD from Universal.  Digital purchase and rental options are also available.

Diabolique - 1955

Diabolique has quite the reputation.  Noted as a great suspense piece with far-reaching influence, I'm happy to say it more than lives up to its accolades.

It's a French film, and that's actually pretty important as the norms surrounding sex and marriage in that country were quite different from those in the U.S. during this period.  In the film, an abused wife teams up with her husband's mistress to bump off the dirty, rotten, no-good man.  The whole situation is handled in a very frank manner, which distinguishes it from some American films of the '50s.

You're probably not going to be watching Diabolique to study the society of 1950s France, though.  You watch it because it's a great, tense piece of storytelling.  I was unaware of how much the movie was affecting me until I caught myself holding my breath, waiting to see how it would play out.

My Letterboxd review:

https://letterboxd.com/carcinogent/film/diabolique-1955/

Availability

Diabolique is available on physical media, both DVD and Blu-ray, from the Criterion Collection.  It's also available to buy or rent digitally.

A Quiet Place - 2018

A Quiet Place isn't a success because of its (very) high concept.  A near future in which humans hide from blind monsters who use fine-tuned ears to hunt prey is only interesting for so long.  Rather, it's the themes of the film that set it apart.  A family coming together to face their attackers, with input from the mother, father and children isn't a political statement, but it's refreshing to see it presented without crippling amounts of dysfunction or turning either of the parents into villains.

My Letterboxd review:

https://letterboxd.com/carcinogent/film/a-quiet-place-2018/

Availability

A Quiet Place is currently available for pre-order from sellers like Amazon.