#1110: The President (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1919) (My Favorite 1111 Movies)

The cinematic language employed in the very infancy of film and so early in the career of Dreyer is stunning a hundred years later and anticipate palpably the incredible movies he would go on to direct. The President is the debut film of the great Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer. It has a shocking emotional weight and a breathtaking mastery and invention of the film form.

The story is impressively complex, if a bit too dour and gratuitously sad to go into. Let's just say it is a weighty, joyless family drama. Dreyer's own troubled upbringing oozes into his art in this instance. The film has gorgeous 1919 cinematography and one distinct method employed here is similar to his later masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc. Shots of characters don't place them in a way that makes spatial sense, yet are placed in a way to heighten the emotions of the acting and is unnerving to the viewer through a resulting disorientation. This is obtained by carefully staging shots between cuts, meticulously setting up the characters placement in a way that is uniquely fashioned to the cinematic form, rather than traditional theatre staging.

Dreyer is one of the most emotionally serious filmmakers in history and The President is an early touchstone of the dreamscape silent era.

My Favorite 1111 Tracks (In No Particular Order): Yes "I've Seen All Good People"

There are so many things Yes does right in this early track. While prog-rock and much of Yes' middle period can be dense, heavy, aimless and boring, "I've Seen All Good People" manages to begin light on its feet and is lushly melodic. The core of the song is an optimistic anthem that still manages to weave like a great boxer through perfect 60's harmonies, infectious and gigantic instrumental sections and huge 70's guitar riffs. No one made music like Yes in their prime, before or since.

#1111: LCD Soundsystem's This is Happening (2010) (My 1111 Favorite Albums)

This is Happening begins with "Dance Yrself Clean". It's such a great track that it is kind of the case like in the movie La La Land or the Spoon Ga Ga… album where the beginning is really the best part, although there is plenty more good stuff to come. It is such a meticulously produced track, yet still surprising and unconventional. It succeeds at slowly building minute by minute, building a magnificent electronic tension, yet while being ironically undanceable. "All I Want", is a hypnotic mix of electronic and practical instruments. There is also the 80's synth heavy "I Can Change", which is also nice. "You Wanted a Hit" is a bit too on the nose, which is a problem James Murphy occasionally has. This is Happening opens and also closes out particularly strong with the Talking Heads-ish "Home". This is a nice way to close out an album that is at times musically challenging, shifting towards more sublime.

#1111: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) (My Favorite 1111 Movies)

Not 5 minutes into Raiders and we get a stunningly young Alfred Molina. The great Alfred Molina. This won't be the last time Moline shows up on this list. I do love the opening cave scene. It makes you feel like you're at Universal Studios, or something. I could use more cave scenes and less desert caravans. I prefer the more cave heavy Indiana Jones flick. But, as it ends up, you really can't trust that Alfred Molina can you? Raiders definitely represents that brand of suspension of disbelief film where you have to blissfully disregard historical, archeological and practical facts in order to fully enjoy where Spielberg is taking you. Yet, this movie is decidedly more on the rails and methodical at its core than its sequel. That scene where Marion gets taken away in a basket really reminds me of a part of Buster Keaton's The General. I appreciated that. But, what makes Raiders most charming is its ability to make you always aware that you're in an elaborate film set most of the time, rather than in real locations. It all looks very impressive, while nevertheless obviously manufactured. Yet, this is really more of an asset to Raiders than a liability. It's nice to feel like you are constantly in an extravagant movie ride.

My Favorite 1111 Tracks (In No Particular Order): AC/DC "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Probably the first use of a cannon in a song in rock history... Well at least the most prominent use of a cannon in rock history. This was released as a single one month before I was born in 1982. The song became a staple of encores at live shows and featured cannons on stage! (Not real cannons I would have to presume) It was also recorded in Paris. The track kicks off the album of the same name with a mixture of brilliant, pointy guitars and thick heavy sludge guitars, sliding into Angus' squealing vocal. This is how you could describe many of AC/DC's great tracks. The song is referenced in many places from the movie School of Rock to Beastie Boys lyrics. It's a great track to start off this (one of 3) new feature!

Bobby Kilgore's yearly movie roundup

Well first some movie dork fun...

The Top Ten Films of 1918

1. A Dog's Life (Charlie Chaplin) 2. A Trip to Mars (Holger-Madsen) 3. The Blue Bird (Maurice Tourneur) 4. Shoulder Arms (Charlie Chaplin) 5. Good Night, Nurse! (Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle) 6. Tarzan of the Apes (Scott Signey) 7. The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (Willis H. O'Brien) 8. The Sinking of the Lusitania (Winsor Mccay) 9. Hearts of the World (D.W. Griffith) 10. The Outlaw and His Wife (Victor Sjostrom)

My alternate Oscar nominees in select categories are:

Director: Joel & Ethan Coen (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Wes Anderson (Isle of Dogs), Damien Chazelle (First Man), Alfonso Cuaron (Roma), Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade). Winner: Damien Chazelle

Actor: Brady Jandreau (The Rider), Ryan Gosling (First Man), Christian Bale (Vice), Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk), Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete). Winner: Ryan Gosling

Actress: Rachel McAdams (Game Night), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place), Kiki Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade). Winner Elsie Fisher (Best performance of the year all around. So haunting and effortless and hilarious and subtle and indelible. Ridonkulously overlooked this year)

Supporting Actor: Tom Waits (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade), John Huston (The Other Side of the Wind), Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins Returns), Kyle Chandler (First Man). Winner: Tom Waits (Tom Waits in a Coens movie? They should probably just stop making movies)

Supporting Actress: Sakura Ando (Shoplifters), Claire Foy (First Man), Zoe Kazan (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Greta Gerwig (Isle of Dogs), Marina de Tavira (Roma). Winner: Zoe Kazan

Adapted Screenplay: Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Joel & Ethan Coen (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Josh Singer, James Hansen (First Man), Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk), Andrew Haigh (Lean on Pete). Winner: Joel & Ethan Coen for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Original Screenplay: Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade), Wes Anderson (Isle of Dogs), Mark Perez (Game Night), Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin, Peter Fellows (The Death of Stalin), Alfonso Cuaron (Roma). Winner: Wes Anderson for Isle of Dogs.

Cinematography: Isle of Dogs, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Rider, The Favourite, Roma. Winner: Roma

Film Editing: Isle of Dogs, Eighth Grade, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Other Side of the Wind, First Man. Winner: The Other Side of the Wind.

Visual Effects: Black Panther, Paddington 2, Mary Poppins Returns, Christopher Robin, First Man. Winner: Christopher Robin (It's really a shame they couldn't make something better with how incredibly rendered these characters are.)

Original Score: Eighth Grade, First Man, Isle of Dogs, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Winner: First Man

And my favorite 25 movies of 2018 are...

1. Isle of Dogs 2. First Man 3. Eighth Grade 4. Roma 5. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 6. Game Night 7. If Beale Street Could Talk 8. Won't You Be My Neighbor? 9. Lean on Pete 10. The Rider 11. Shoplifters 12. You Were Never Really Here 13. A Quiet Place 14. Mission Impossible - Fallout 15. Age of Sail 16. White Tide: The Legend of Culebra 17. The Other Side of the Wind 18. Mary Poppins Returns 19. Paddington 2 20. Minding the Gap 21. Incredibles 2 22. The Death of Stalin 23. Tully 24. The Favourite 25. The Polka King

Episode 1, Blogisode 2

Every year, I like to watch through the entire Star Wars saga. Last year I promised myself I wouldn't include Attack of the Clones this time, so 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 it is! It might seem good to watch 1-9 with that new one coming out, but the 2nd tier Star Wars fan that I am, I probably won't be seeing 9 until 2020 anyways. I may even, *gasp*, wait until it comes out on dvd, so 1-9 could be a 2020 thing. Anyways.

As "Written and Directed by George Lucas" just popped up on the screen, I have completed Episode 1. After seeing The Phantom Menace a handful of times, I really think it's pretty underrated and holds up rather well as a primer for the series (especially when you go ahead and skip to Episode 3 afterwards). The fact that the plot is, on its own, pretty inconsequential gives the film a low stakes levity. The effects are underrated and impressive for pre-2000. I would say it has two of my top ten Star Wars characters, not controversially Darth Maul, and perhaps controversially Jar Jar Binks. That's right, the incomprehensible, notorious train wreck is just too awful to resist now.

Yet, admittedly, compared to the originals, it is tough to compete. But, I find all of the misery of the prequels to be concentrated solely in Episode 2. There you find the endless cosmic politics, the horrid, red tinted CGI, the bouncy ball fighting yoda. It's just the worst. But here is some more Jar Jar Binks…

via GIPHY