3 things about Alfred Hitchcock’s SABOTEUR

Posted on January 12, 2020 by robchristopher

Saboteur [1942]

1. Running into the bebop cat at the charity ball. “Beat it out, son. Beat it out.”
2. Curlers in her beard.
3. Perfect choice: a nasty soliloquy captured in a long shot.

You don’t hear many folks talk about this film nowadays, but seeing it again I think it’s really underrated. He’s trying out some of the ideas he’d later perfect in North by Northwest. And the script offers up some pretty provocative ideas about America and patriotism. I personally like how abrupt the ending is.

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3 things about Luca Guadagnino’s CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Posted on January 11, 2020 by robchristopher

Call Me by Your Name [2017]

1. Sounds of the peach.
2. He just shrugs.
3. “And before you know it, your heart is worn out, and, as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it, much less wants to come near it.”

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3 things about Emilie Upczak’s MOVING PARTS

Posted on January 8, 2020 by robchristopher

Moving Parts [2017]

1. Unintelligible whispers of advice.
2. “I’m sorry that your brother died, but this isn’t a hotel. Work still goes on here. Make yourself pretty and go upstairs.”
3. He raises the cleaver. An implicit threat.

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3 things about Mati Diop’s ATLANTICS

Posted on January 7, 2020 by robchristopher

Atlantique [2019]

1. Explaining how a corkscrew and a bottle opener work.
2. Virginity test.
3. “He doesn’t even know how to dig!”

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3 things about John Dahl’s THE LAST SEDUCTION

Posted on January 6, 2020 by robchristopher

The Last Seduction [1994]

1. “Just go away.”
“I haven’t finished charming you.”
“You haven’t started.”
2. On top, in control, pounding the roof of the car.
3. Quickly wiping her fingerprints off the can of Mace.

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3 things about Whit Stillman’s THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO

Posted on January 5, 2020 by robchristopher

The Last Days of Disco [1998]

1. Hidden in the sub-basement.
2. “There’s something really sexy about Scrooge McDuck.”
3. “A lot of people like to say they won’t take no for an answer. I just wanted you to know that I’m not one of them. I can be easily discouraged. I will take no for an answer.”

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3 things about Whit Stillman’s BARCELONA

Posted on January 4, 2020 by robchristopher

Barcelona [1994]

1. Reading from the Old Testament while dancing to “Pennsylvania 6-5000.”
2. Jaunty eyepatch.
3. “But they have no idea how delicious hamburgers can be. But it’s this ideal burger of memory we crave not the disgusting imitations you get abroad.”

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3 things about Whit Stillman’s METROPOLITAN

Posted on January 3, 2020 by robchristopher

Metropolitan [1990]

1. Cha cha record.
2. “The most important thing to realize about parents is that there is absolutely nothing you can do about them.”
3. Two glasses of water before bed.

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3 things about Paul Thomas Anderson’s HARD EIGHT

Posted on January 2, 2020 by robchristopher

Hard Eight [1996]

1. “You should know before you ask a question like that.”
2. Reno lounge jazz combo covering “All Blues” by Miles Davis.
3. Gently tugging down the cuff of his overcoat.

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A selected inventory of 2019.

Posted on January 1, 2020 by robchristopher

By the numbers …

159: feature films I watched in 2019 (21 of which I viewed in a theater)
55: books I read in 2019
28: pizzas we ordered from The Art of Pizza
23: mystery green statistic

Happy New Year!

(Also, I went to the gym 139 times last year.)

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