2015 Blind Spot Series: Winter Light + my 2016 list

What I knew going in: Absolutely nothing. It was just a random title I selected from Bergman's films.

Well, here is is. My final Blind Spot film of 2015. I love participating in this so much. When I threw my list together, I saved this one for last because it had "Winter" in the title and seemed fitting. But this is definitely not a cheery movie by any means.

Pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) is having a bit of a spiritual crisis. He goes through the motions at his small church with an even smaller congregation. He's a widower, and frequently refuses the love of a woman, Marta. (Ingrid Thulin) who says she's in love with him. He's also faced with counselling a depressed man named Jonas (Max Von Syndow) though he doesn't know what to say to him since he's barely a believer anymore.

This movie is bleak. I'm so torn on how I feel about it. On one hand, I think it was wise of Bergman to have a run time of 81 minutes as this is a very depressing story, but on the other hand, it doesn't feel fully fleshed out. It's fascinating on the surface. I'm not sure what exactly I wanted from this film. I think this is one I'll probably have to revisit again at a later time to see if it comes to me.

Acting wise, it's solid. Syndow doesn't get much to do but you can clearly see the depression etched on his face. Björnstrand also perfectly portrays his spiritual crisis in a very subtle way.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B- (Part of me wants to give this a C, but I think there's something there, and I just need to take more time to reflect.)

Memorable Quote: "I never even knew her." - Marta (Ingrid Thulin)

And now for my 2016 list for this event set up by the very gracious Ryan McNeil over at The Matinee. This is my 3rd year, and I finally narrowed my list down. Sorry, All About Eve and Videodrome. You were close. 


1) Au Revoir Les Enfants
2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next
3) The Apartment
4) Marnie
5) Funny Face
6) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
7) The Passion of Joan of Arc
8) The French Connection
9) JFK
10) The Miracle Worker
11) All The President's Men
12) Chinatown

Okay, Netflix. Throw a few more of these on Instant to make my life easier.

2015 Blind Spot Series: Bringing Up Baby

What I knew going in: It was another screwball comedy, and the director seems to think he mostly failed at it.

David (Cary Grant) is a paleontologist who is trying to secure a hefty donation for his museum, and also a missing dinosaur bone he needed to complete a skeleton. While out trying to impress the person who may be donating, he crosses paths with Susan (Katharine Hepburn) an irritating heiress who decides she loves him. She drags him into her shenanigans which involve a dog stealing his bone, and her pet leopard Baby escaping. 

 I had such a strange feeling while watching this. I could feel myself wanting to hate it, Susan is honestly the fucking worst. But I could never stop. It still had these very endearing moments despite me wanting to scream every now and then. 

Grant is always good, as is Hepburn. A lot seems to be made of her comedic timing in this film and how hard it was to get her to pull it off. I didn't notice, I thought it worked fine. It's hard not to love Grant, especially when he's playing such a charming idiot. The biggest question for me will be whether or not this film stays in my memory better than His Girl Friday did. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "You tried it in the tail yesterday and it didn't fit." - Alice ( Virginia Walker)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Smiles of a Summer Night

What I knew going in: Apparently this is Woody Allen's least favorite Bergman film, despite the fact that he's seemingly tried to capture its feel it over and over.

It's funny, when I went through a list of Bergman movies and started adding them to my Blind Spots, this was one where I don't even think I looked at the plot. When I watched Wild Strawberries last year, I wondered if that was the closest thing Bergman would ever get to a comedy. Nope, that is this film.

Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Björnstrand) is a lawyer married to a 19 year old, Anne. (Ulla Jacobsson) They haven't consummated their relationship. Fredrik gives her time, but eventually her eyes start to wonder to his son, on a break from seminary school, Henrick. (Björn Bjelfvenstam) Only he's too busy lusting after their hot maid, Petra. (Harriet Andersson) Then you have Fredrik trying to rekindle and old flame in Desiree, (Eva Dahlbeck) a stage actress. Only she's having an affair with the Count Carl Magnus Malcolm, (Jarl Kulle) who is cheating on his wife, Charlotte. (Margit Carlqvist) Desiree decides the only sensible thing to do is invite them all to a dinner part at the same time. Catch all that?

I made it sound more confusing that it really is. The film is just fun. It's almost slap stick-y in nature. There's all these affairs going on, yet the fact that none of the actors actually have romantic chemistry with each other is kind of golden. It's easy to root for Desiree, who gives zero fucks at this point, and Petra because they are just fun. It's very theatrical and beautifully shot, like every Bergman film I've seen has been. This also feels very different from the others, and I appreciate that he went for something light hearted, but still threw a very intense scene in there that completed worked.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "Does it fit? Not too big? Not too small?" - Count Carl Magnus Malcolm (Jarl Kulle)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Welcome To The Dollhouse

What I knew going in: I had seen clips of this on IFC's Indie Sex documentary.

Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo) is an awkward 7th grader who is severely bullied at school and neglected at home in favor of her smarter older brother and her perfect little sister. She has no clue how to act in social situations, so when some people are kind to her, her anger gets the best of her and she lashes out. She's so desperate for attention that she latches on to any boy that will say more than a few words to her. 

Being a lover of independent films, I know this is one I probably should've seen awhile ago. It's frequently talked about and has almost somewhat of a cult following. This is a role that Matarazzo will known for the rest of her life for playing. No one could've played Dawn like she did. 

As for living up to indie level hype? I'm a bit torn on a few things. While Junior High is quite literally the worst, I was a bit distracted by some of the things that went on here. They were almost too over the top. Dawn's locker graffiti being left up all year long, the entire class chanting "wiener dog" at her during an assembly without any teachers doing a single thing. I'm sure variations of these things happen, but it brought me out of the moment a bit. I know the film is technically a dark comedy, but that's never the feel I got from it. I always felt like it was quite tragic. 

That being said, the good far outweighs the bad. I liked the performances, the "angry" music that played off and on to transition scenes. Melissa Toth, the costume designer honestly should've gotten an Oscar nomination based on Dawn's attire alone. She's criminally underrated for her work. There's a sequel of sorts in post production right now, though Matarazzo won't reprise Dawn. (She feels that playing her again would soil the ending of this film.) So Greta Gerwig will step in instead. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Why do you hate me?" Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Mulholland Dr.

What I knew going in: That this movie, as many put it is "pretty fucking weird."

A woman (Laura Harring) is being driven in the back of a limo. They pull over on Mulholland Dr. and a man in the passenger seat is about to kill her. Suddenly, another car hits them head on, and the woman is the only survivor. She stumbles into an apartment complex where Betty (Naomi Watts) a fresh faced aspiring actress has just arrived from Canada to pursue her dreams. The woman can't remember anything. She says her name is "Rita" but she got it off a movie poster. Betty decides to help Rita find out what happened to her. At the same time, the police investigating the accident know someone is missing. Meanwhile a director, Adam (Justin Theroux) is broke and being bullied into casting a certain woman in his next production. And his wife cheats on him with Billy Ray Cyrus so you know he's having a bad day.

I found all the scenes of Rita and Betty's story to be completely fascinating. Naomi Watts is such a treasure. I love watching her on screen and she's excellent here. It's an interesting mystery. I also liked seeing the audition scenes in Hollywood. They were exactly how I assume auditions are really like.

There was some filler that I didn't care for. The cops, the botched robbery, though that was hilarious. And the film does get super weird in the last 45 minutes or so. Overall, I enjoyed it, even if parts of it left me scratching my head.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "What are you doing? We don't stop here."  - Rita (Laura Harring)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Misery

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is an author famous for writing a series about a girl named Misery. He decides to kill her off in the final novel so that he can move on to other things. His car skids off the road in a snow storm and he's saved by Annie (Kathy Bates) a nurse who patches him up and calls herself is "number one fan." But whens he gets her hands on his final Misery book, she keeps him captive and forces him to re-write it so that Misery doesn't die.

It's really sad how long it's taken me to watch this film. I always got the references when people made Annie Wilkes jokes about super fans, but it's nice to finally watch the whole thing. Aside from the performances, especially Kathy Bates, she was wonderful here, I loved the score. I loved how it was sweet, almost music box like when we first meet Annie, then it gets harsher every time she does something crazy.

The suspense is excellent and the film ages well. I never did read the book, though I might have to some day to compare.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "Virginia, when you're in this car you're not my wife, you're my deputy." - Buster (Richard Farnsworth)

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2015 Blind Spot Series: Taxi Driver

What I knew going in: I had seen the first 15 minutes or so of this movie a long time ago, so I figured it was time to finish it.

Travis (Robert De Niro) is an insomniac who drives a cab at night to keep himself busy. He becomes infatuated with a woman named Betsy (Cybill Shepard) who works on a political campaign. He becomes consumed with the idea that the scum must be cleaned from New York City. On his personal quest of becoming the moral police, he focuses on Iris (Jodie Foster) a 12 year old hooker he wants to free from the life she lives.

I remember thinking the film was a bit slow when I started it so long ago, but I didn't get that feeling this time around. I actually loved how quiet was. How everything felt so meticulous. De Niro was just excellent here. Probably the best I've seen him. 

That shoot out at the end was pretty ridiculous. No one knows how to properly aim a gun apparently, but damn that shot of De Niro putting his own fingers to his head was haunting. I'm glad I finally got around to finishing this.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "You're so square." - Iris (Jodie Foster)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Primal Fear

What I knew going in: I've seen bits and pieces of it over the years, and I knew Edward Norton gives a great performance.

A hot shot lawyer Martin Vail (Richard Gere) - and we know he's a hot shot because that's literally how he introduces himself to his client picks up a case involving a 19 year old man, Aaron (Edward Norton) who is accused of slaughtering an Archbishop. His former girlfriend, Janet (Laura Linney) ends up as the prosecuting attorney, but Martin starts to believe that his client may actually be innocent of this crime.

The one thing keeping me from watching this movie in the past is Richard Gere. I can't stand the guy, and I thought he was terrible here as well. Still, even though he is our lead, all the other actors around him are so good they drown him out. Norton obviously is brilliant. Laura Linney, Alfre Woodard, Andre Braugher, and Maura Tierney give great performances as well, even though they are small.

I love a good courtroom drama, and this one was very entertaining and the story felt very rich. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "Theeeeerrrrresssssss motive." - Tommy (Andrew Braugher)

2015 Blind Spot Series: The Crying Game

What I knew going in: The big reveal - which did not play out like I thought it would.

*****Spoiler Alert!*****

Ah, The Crying Game. This movie is rather infamous by now, isn't it? I have a friend who saw this in theaters and said people actually walked out. I wish I had been old enough to be there and yell "Y U MAD BRO!?!?!" after all of them. 

Jody (Forest Whitaker) is an English solider kidnapped by some IRA soldiers. Fergus (Stephen Rhea) sympathizes with him and in the three days he's held captive, they share stories. Jody talks about his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson) and how if something happens to him, he wants Fergus to find her and tell her that Jody loves her. Well, something bad happens, so off Fergus goes to find Dil.

Okay, I think everyone knows that Dil is a guy. Literally everyone knows that about The Crying Game, but what surprised me was this is actually revealed in the middle of the film. I expected them to kind of go the Sleepaway Camp route and do it at the end. Obviously in 1993 this was a much bigger deal then than it was now, but it was a pretty genius marketing ploy on their part.

The film is so much more than that though. It's interesting, touching, brutal. The performances are great. Neil Jordan is a wonderful director. (have you seen Breakfast on Pluto? You should.) The film is nearly two hours, but it feels much shorter. I'm happy to say that this is yet another positive mark on my 2015 Blind Spot list. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "Told you I was fast." - Jody (Forest Whitaker)

2015 Blind Spot Series: The Elephant Man

What I knew going in: The basic story.

Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) comes across a side show act centered around a "freak" known as the Elephant Man. This man is actually John Merrick (John Hurt) who suffers from a mysterious illness. Treves attempts to take him away from his abusive life to study him further, only to find out that John is actually a very articulate and gentle soul.

It's only March, but this is my favorite one so far. It was shot in 1980, but it's shot in black and white and it makes it feel much older. The story was fascinating, and aggravating at times. Seriously, I wanted to punch that Night Porter so badly. Both Hopkins and Hurt were wonderful. Hurt especially gives a great performance under all that make up.

I've had quite a few people tell me this isn't of of Lynch's bests, but honestly, this is fantastic. The only film of his I've seen in full is Eraserhead, and this one felt so different. He's on my Blind Spot list one more time with Mulholland Drive. My only real complaint with it is the final scene being a little weird in comparison to the rest of the film.

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "My life is full because I know I am loved." - John Merrick (John Hurt)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Enter The Void

What I knew going in: That this film would be very trippy, and something about a penis.

With the amount of people that told me I need to see this, I was expecting this film to be much older. It was released in 2009. Easily my youngest Blind Spot.

Oscar (Nathanial Brown) is an American drug dealer living in Tokyo that is shot and killed early on in the film. The film is shot entirely from his perspective. First as he's alive, he's our eyes in real time. Then after he's passed, we hover above our remaining characters; His younger sister, Linda (Paz del la Huerta) and friends Alex (Cyril Roy) and Victor. (Olly Alexander)

This movie is so beyond belief fucked up I can hardly explain it. The opening credits alone should come with a seizure warning. It's full of psychedelic graphics that cut away from the story, but strangely work with the narrative. There were a few times that I found the film to be a bit much, but it was very interesting. The acting in this movie is a bit weak to be honest. (minus Olly Alexander) It relies heavily on the atmosphere to tell its story, but thankfully that's enough.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B+

Memorable Quote: "Do you remember our pact?" - Oscar (Nathaniel Brown)

2015 Blind Spot Series: His Girl Friday

What I knew going in: That this was one of the more famous "screwball comedies."

Hildy (Rosalind Johnson) was once a star reporter. She walks into her office after a long absence to tell her boss, Walter (Cary Grant) that she quits and is moving to Albany to marry the mild mannered Bruce. (Ralph Bellamy) But Walter is actually Hildy's ex husband, and he spends the rest of the movie trying to convince Hildy to stay and do her job rather than marry.

This movie was just plain adorable. It didn't really make me laugh, but it certainly made me smile several times. I like how face paced the dialogue was. I feel like that will be the most memorable part of the film for me. The entire cast was great, especially Grant, even though I wanted to dropkick his character several times throughout.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "From now on I thank you to keep your nose out of my affairs." - Walter (Cary Grant)

2015 Blind Spot Series

I had such a good time doing the Blind Spot challenge in 2014 that doing it again was a no brainer. This year's list is a little different though. A few of these movies I've actually seen bits and pieces of, but I've never sat down to watch the entire film in one sitting and I'd like to change that. Here's my list! What have you seen? Am I in for a good year?

*EDIT - I have updated my list with their final letter grades.*

1) Misery (A)
2) Primal Fear (A)
3) Mulholland Dr. (B)
4) Smiles of a Summer Night (A-)
5) Taxi Driver (A)
6) Bringing Up Baby (B-)
7) Welcome to the Dollhouse (B)
8) His Girl Friday (B-)
9) The Crying Game (A-)
10)The Elephant Man (A)
11) Winter Light (B-)
12) Enter The Void (B+)

(I'm not sure why I saved my gif here. I've had this draft for months, but I'm leaving it because it's hysterical. I suppose it could represent how I feel about awesome movies.)