Imitation of Life [1934]
1. Upon overhearing the cost estimate for the furnishings, she begins singing “I Put My Trust in Jesus.”
2. There can’t be too many other movies which feature a playboy ichthyologist.
3. She tries to comfort her daughter. “You gotta learn to take it. It might as well be now.”
The Night of the Following Day [1968]
1. Using black duct tape, he connects the earpiece of one phone to the mouthpiece of another. Analog call-forwarding.
2. Marlon Brando: “Listen, man! If you want to get freaky, you don’t do it with her!”
3. He licks the dollar bill. Heroin residue.
Dr. No [1962]
1. “When did you say you had to leave?” she asks him.
They kiss.
“Immediately.”
They kiss again.
“Almost immediately,” he adds.
2. Sweaty face. Spider on the bedsheets.
3. Conveyer belt shower.
The Tree of Life [2011]
1. Hairy sunflowers.
2. The oily residue of meatloaf on a blue Churchill china plate.
3. An elderly, gnarled hand becomes young and smooth.
The Docks of New York [1928]
1. Her reflection in the water. She jumps. Then, ripples appear.
2. “You may be big game aboard ship, but you’re only an animal-cracker here.”
3. It’s the morning after his wedding night. He gets dressed next to a windowful of seabirds.
The Maltese Falcon [1941]
1. “Who put that bright idea into your head?” he says, moving away from her a fraction.
2. As he listens to her story he plays with his lower lip.
3. “I’m a man who likes to talk to a man who likes to talk.”
Flash Gordon [1980]
1. She refuses to cooperate. “Bring me the bore-worms,” he says.
“No!” she screams. “Not the bore-worms!”
2. Bulging eyeballs, protruding tongue.
3. Ming’s green blood.
Asylum [1972]
1. A human head tightly wrapped in brown butcher paper, tied with string. Very Giorgio de Chirico.
2. Charlotte Rampling stares into the mirror and laughs maniacally.
3. Miniature robot Herbert Lom.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams [2010]
1. A gallery of horses. One has its mouth open. You can almost hear it whinny.
2. On the cave’s floor: the footprint of an eight-year-old boy next to the footprint of a wolf. Was the wolf stalking the child? Were they walking together? Were the footprints made years apart?
3. They allow Herzog to mount a camera on a stick in order to get a closer view. Digital grain in 3-D.
Okay. So this is a good use of the medium. It’s extraordinary. Your breathing slows down, you grow calm in wonder. As if you were really there. The cave feels like it exists outside of time.
Red Beard [1965]
1. Sandals spread across the ground outside the entrance to the hospital.
2. “Even bad food tastes good if you chew it well.”
3. She scrubs the edge of the window frame then slides open the screen. Snow is falling. She scoops some up and mixes it into the water bucket, reapplies the compress to his forehead.
