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Pictured Above: 1931 Academy Awards November 5th, 1930
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Top10 Film Lists is a collection of movies, personalities & lists from my viewing. Everything here is subjective, so I'm always open to suggestions, comments on omissions or just plain new ideas.
Click the boxes for more information, history and reviews....
Click the boxes for more information, history and reviews....
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This Week's Top 10:
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New & Recent Reviews:
Quick Hits: Short Bursts on Recently Viewed Movies
Le Silence De La Mer (The Silence of the Sea) 1949 Jean-Pierre Melville
-Based on one of the first novels written & distributed by French Resistance fighters during the early part of the Nazi occupation of France, Le Silence De La Mer is the first feature film written & directed by French master Jean-Peirre Melville (Bob Le Flambeur, Le Samourai, & Le Cercle Rouge). Telling the story of a old man & his niece as they silently ignore a Nazi officer who has been billeted in their home, the film evolves over 6 months as the officer opens up about his love of France & his belief that German occupation will make both countries better. While his nightly monologues become more personal (the French never respond or acknowledge his presence), the uncle engages in deep voice over narration that explains his feelings, what he perceives to be those of his niece & his growing respect for the humanized & cultured Nazi. Only when the officer is exposed to his Nazi contemporaries, while on leave in occupied Paris, does he understand the horrors that are happening & what is to come. It openly questions German complicity in Nazi atrocities both in anticipation & in their execution & illustrates complex human emotions & feelings without direct dialogue. Shot in a mere 27 days, just 2 years after the war, Melville's debut film is a masterpiece of simple gestures & words belying complex & painful emotions.
**Director Jean-Pierre Melville will be featured as part of September's Noir month with a focus on his 6 Noir features.
-Based on one of the first novels written & distributed by French Resistance fighters during the early part of the Nazi occupation of France, Le Silence De La Mer is the first feature film written & directed by French master Jean-Peirre Melville (Bob Le Flambeur, Le Samourai, & Le Cercle Rouge). Telling the story of a old man & his niece as they silently ignore a Nazi officer who has been billeted in their home, the film evolves over 6 months as the officer opens up about his love of France & his belief that German occupation will make both countries better. While his nightly monologues become more personal (the French never respond or acknowledge his presence), the uncle engages in deep voice over narration that explains his feelings, what he perceives to be those of his niece & his growing respect for the humanized & cultured Nazi. Only when the officer is exposed to his Nazi contemporaries, while on leave in occupied Paris, does he understand the horrors that are happening & what is to come. It openly questions German complicity in Nazi atrocities both in anticipation & in their execution & illustrates complex human emotions & feelings without direct dialogue. Shot in a mere 27 days, just 2 years after the war, Melville's debut film is a masterpiece of simple gestures & words belying complex & painful emotions.
**Director Jean-Pierre Melville will be featured as part of September's Noir month with a focus on his 6 Noir features.
My Top 10 Favorite Films
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2018 Blogathons:
I will be writing about a selection of Ernst Lubitsch silents, made in Germany in the late teens for The Unexpected Blogothan which start on December 7th.
I wrote about Red Dust ('32), which starred Clark Gable, Jean Harlow & Mary Astor & compared it to the remake, Mogambo ('53) which also starred Gable, but with Ava Gardner & Grace Kelly. Link to blogathon: https://bit.ly/2PnKtwk
I will be wrote about My Gal Sal (1942), starring Rita Hayworth & Victor Mature for the 100 Years of Rita Hayworth Blogathon on October 17th. Here is the link to he event: https://bit.ly/2O0OX87
I will be writing about Billy Wilder's classic Some Like it Hot for the Gender Bending the Rules Blogathon on September 21st. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/2JyHOIy
I will be blogging about Preston Sturges' Remember the Night for the Fred MacMurray Blogathon on August 30th. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/2NXSrbo
I will be writing a piece about John Ford's The Searchers for the Natalie Wood Blogathon on July 17th. Link to hosting website here: https://bit.ly/2L6gX89
I will be Blogging about Jean Vigo's masterpiece L'Atalante ('34) for the Free For All Blogathon on 3/3.
I will be reviewing Mogambo ('53), starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner & Grace Kelly for The Clark Gable Blogathon on Feb 1st.
I will be reviewing Criss Cross (1949, Robert Siodmak) for the It Takes a Thief Blogothon on 11/17/17
I will be blogging about Wild Orchids for the Greta Garbo Blogathon on 11/22
I'll be blogging about Blood Simple in the 'Till Death Us Do Part Blogathon on 7/24
I'll be blogging about The Red Shoes in the En Pointe: The Ballet Blogathon on 8/4 & 8/5.
Featured Actor/Actress
Paul Newman
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Featured Director
Top 10 Samuel Fuller Films
A man's man, Samuel Fuller was a crime reporter for a New York daily in his late teens, hobo-ed around the US as a freelance writer in his 20's & enlisted in the infantry in WWII before ever directing his first film. He was a master storyteller, spinning yarns to whomever would listen with a cigar constantly clenched between his teeth. His films about WWII & The Korean War are some of the best ever committed to film, but he was a brilliant social critic who took on racism, pedophilia, & mental health in films that spanned more than 40 years.
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About Me:
I've loved movies for as long as I can remember. For the past 20 years, I've worked for several of the major studios, including MGM, Warner Bros. & 20th Century Fox in their Home Entertainment divisions. The 1930's is my favorite decade for movies and I'm really partial to pre-code & Film Noir.
I've loved movies for as long as I can remember. For the past 20 years, I've worked for several of the major studios, including MGM, Warner Bros. & 20th Century Fox in their Home Entertainment divisions. The 1930's is my favorite decade for movies and I'm really partial to pre-code & Film Noir.
2019 Blogathons:
I will be writing about William Wellman's 1949 film Battleground for the Van Johnson Blogathon.
I will be writing about The Film Noir Villainy of Dan Duryea for The Great Villain Blogathon on 5/24
Picture Credits: Dr Macro
