Dir - Charles Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin's impact on American cinema is incalculable and his work in the silent era and "little tramp" character specifically have always been iconic. His first talkie though, (after City Lights and Modern Times both stubbornly and brilliantly stuck more-or-less to the silent format), The Great Dictator is my favorite of his works if for any other reason than because of the goddamn balls it took to make it. Chaplin began writing Dictator before Adolph Hitler invaded Poland, but he finished filming it six months later and allegedly arranged to have a copy sent directly to das Führer himself. This was all after the Nazi party published a book that called Chaplin a "disgusting Jewish acrobat", making Dictator an enormously bold and of course very funny "fuck you" to that regime. Also, Chaplin was not Jewish which further shows what those dumb-ass Nazis knew.
Dir - Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman's Amadeus was certainly a gamble for its time; a two hour period piece showcasing the work of the world's most famous classical composer hardly screams "box office gold" for 1984. Amadeus is also hardly a faithful telling of historical event as the arduous relationship between Mozart and Antonio Salieri which is the movie's very core is in fact complete fabrication. Yet it does not set out to be "faithful". Instead, its genius lies in how it is framed as an overly dramatic and comedic study of how genius itself is melodramatically skewed, in this case from the self-depreciating, jealous mind of Salieri. My brother and I have an ongoing disagreement as to whether or not this movie is a comedy, me very much insisting that it is. We are certainly meant to laugh at Tom Hulce's girlish giggle each and every time as well as his on-screen buffoonery, F. Murray Abraham's over the top pompousness, Jeffery Jones childlike nobility, and Elizabeth Berridge's playful and affectionate "Wolfie" hollers.
Dir - Erich von Stroheim
As far as pretentiously ambitious filmmakers are concerned, few were as career-cursed as Austrian born Erich von Stroheim. His dream project for many years was bringing Frank Norris' poverty-to-wealth-to-extreme poverty-to-murder novel McTeague to cinematic life. Yet by the time he got to make it, he had already been run out of Universal for consistently going over budget on his projects and did the same thing to the umpteenth degree here, turning in a meticulously detailed nine hour version now dubbed Greed. His nemesis studio manager Irving Thalberg follow him to his new studio to butcher the film down to a 140 minute version fit for release, which still only saw moderate success once it was. In between the two extremes though, a still imposing four hour print of Greed was made with von Stroheim's blessing, only to be long lost just as its original had been. Refurbished by Turner Classic Movies in 1999 using hundreds of stills and restoring several sub-plots, it remarkably stands up as one of the most uncompromising looks at the unfavorable side of human nature and avarice ever committed to screen.
Dir - Mark Sandrich
Ten Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on-screen collaborations exist and probably the most beloved would be Top Hat. Constant director Mark Sandrich and supporting goof-balls Edward Everett Horton, (who seems perpetually confused), Eric Blore, (who simultaneously seems as creepy as he is gay), and Erik Rhodes, (who seems incapable of not talking in third person as much as he cannot control his Italian accent), all help the screwball Astaire/Rogers flirtation along, keeping the laughs constant. The dance moments contain their usual flair, but never go overboard and "Cheek to Cheek" remains one of those songs that all of us have heard without remembering initially where. I generally prefer musicals when they cannot control their silliness and Top Hat is as delightfully giddy as they get.
Dir - Peter Jackson
If you were to tell me that the guy who made my favorite movie about drug taking, swearing, criminal Muppets Meet the Feebles and the goriest movie ever made Brain Dead would take on J.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and by the last installment even win an Oscar for it, I would have rightfully had you committed. I was on board before opening day on how daft on paper that premise sounded alone, though I was as much a Tolkien fan as I was a Jackson one. The resulting trilogy, (released over three years and lasting over nine-hours), contains some of the least embarrassing looking CGI there has yet been and is as faithful a presentation of Tolkien's Middle Earth as one could hope for. These films were an event, (least of all for the actors and crew involved who dedicated several years of their lives to the project), and it is an emotionally-driven, technically dazzling film epic that is as mandatory as any movie experience so far this century.
Dir - Rob Reiner
The benchmark mockumentary of probably all times is Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer's This Is Spinal Tap. A stone(henge)'s throw away from fiction, Tap pretty much optimizes everything that can and does go wrong/funny with pick-any-famous-rock band from the 70s-early 80s. Intentionally or not, many of the set pieces are direct anecdotes out of known band's histories, but laughing along at the absurdity is only part of the film's charm. The main cast, (all of whom would go on to further great work), are more than competent musicians themselves, lending a level of not just quality but authenticity to these songs, all of which pretty much kick-ass. Are the lyrics to "Big Bottom" really any more ridiculous than "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" if we are to compare? Speaking of comparing, I often size-up This Is Spinal Tap to the BBC Comic Strip Bad News segments, which take a cartoonishly over-the-top and arguably even more hilarious approach to similar subject matter.
Dir - John Milius
Long before Arnold Schwarzenegger turned into a very old, walking parody of himself that seems hellbent on revisiting his old franchises until he drops dead, (this one included), the seven-time Mr. Olympia winner became a household name with Conan the Barbarian. Original American Zoetrope member John Milius brought the Robert E. Howard title-character to the screen for the first time, using a script from none other than Oliver Stone. The long, slow moving sections of Basil Poledouris' chanty score over exquisite scenery often proves mesmeric and I personally consider this to be Schwarzenegger's finest performance. This is not because he barely has any dialog in it, but also because as an enormous, perfectly sculpted human specimen, Schwarzenegger embodies the anti-hero Barbarian to a tee.
Dir - Carol Reed
Post-War film noir, (hey Marge that rhymes and you know it rhymes), has few finer and more stylized gems than Carol Reed's The Third Man. Written by Graham Greene off of his own novella and set and shot on location in Allied-occupied Vienna, Man features layers of conflicting sound, dialog, and images that make the whole thing seem wonderfully askew. Anton Karas' famous zither-composed score is jaunty and almost intentionally distracting. Orson Welles' Harry Lime is both despised, adored, and used by various different people and depending on the circumstances that they are in, he is varying levels of "bad guy". There are dominant Dutch angles used and most of the battle-torn characters as well as the city itself are portrayed in shadows, further tilting everything AND everyone. Least we forget one of film's all time greatest chase scenes and character reveals.
Dir - Gillo Pontecorvo
This might be the most realistic war film ever made. Shot in the deliberate neorealism, "guerilla" newsreel style, Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo's and cinematographer Marcello Gatti's handheld camera work and use of non-actors, real locations, and a massive amount of extras make it almost impossible to believe that no stock documentary footage of the actual events were used. The Battle of Algiers was inspired by the campaign account of Saâdi Yacef, who also stars in the film playing a composite character of himself. Brilliantly, Pontecorvo's fly-on-the-wall vision here never proves insensitive to either the French or Algerian sides, (though it certainly leans more sympathetically towards the latter), and the horror and often pointlessness of it all is never pandering nor barely dramatized.
Dir - Donald Crisp/Buster Keaton
I marathoned a good number of Buster Keaton joints recently; The General, Steamboat Bill Jr., and my brother's favorite Our Hospitality, etc. The Great Stone Face is a very difficult if not impossible chap NOT to fall for, (get it, because he falls a lot?), and The Navigator, (one of his biggest movies at the box office and probably his over-all goofiest), just tickled me to no end. It is the usual situation; Keaton accidentally finds himself in a dire situation, he never changes his expression, and hilarity ensues. More moments in this one than usual had me laughing out loud from Keaton and leading lady Kathryn McGuire thinking their ship is haunted, Keaton having his chauffeur drive him across the street, to easily the funniest wedding proposal scene of all time.
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