M (1931): Metropolis is better known, but M is director Fritz Lang's true masterpiece, instigating the modern crime drama in one chilling swoop - part of the power of this search for a serial killer who preys on small children is how utterly contemporary it remains. Frankly, this film blows away 99% of the crime movies and television shows made today; there is no suspense about who the killer is (brilliantly portrayed by Peter Lorre in his definitive role), as the film instead chooses to fixate primarily upon the mass hysteria of the German townspeople, whose paranoia suspects everyone (one of the films more powerful moments is when an old man innocently speaks to a young girl and is instantly set upon verbally by the girl's mother, which snowballs into a hysterical mob). Lang's attitude towards the ordinary German citizens and the killer himself is unsettingly ambigous; Lang poses still-pertinent questions about vigilante justice, social paranoia, and how much responsibility those with sick compulsions have, and how much understanding we ordinary people can give them. The dark shadings and long stretches of haunting silence (this was Lang's first sound film, and like most filmmakers at the time he was still only tentatively making the transition between silents and talkies) create a grippingly constrictive and morbid atmosphere that perfectly fits the subject matter. One of the greatest and most important films of all time - if like most people you haven't seen this, by all means DO SO NOW.
Grade: A+
Major Dundee (1965): An above average Western dealing with a clash between the Mexican and American armies during the aftermath of the Civil War. I've never been a big fan of Charlton Heston, and while this is a fine example of the genre, it's just a warmup for Sam Peckinpah's later films. Already some of his trademarks are in place: slow motion sequences to enhance the drama and lyricism, and well choreographed scenes of violence (particularly the huge battle in the river).
Grade: B
Metropolitan (1990): A comedy of manners - quaint concept, no? Yes, and this movie takes as subject matter the dissolving of such quaint, archaic concepts as debutantes, the aristocracy, and girls who want to live in a Jane Austen novel. Revolving around parties held by college-age rich kids in Manhattan, this is like an East Coast Bret Easton Ellis without the decadence, and with brains. Not many movies these days center their climax around protecting a female virgin's honor. Few movies contain dialogue as sharp as in the scene in which a character announces that he never reads books - he only reads book reviews, because then you have it both ways: the book's plot and commentary. No movie I have ever seen contains a subplot involving Charles Fourier (don't feel bad, I didn't know who he was until I saw this movie, either. Hey - a movie taught me something! When was the last time that happened?).
Grade: A
Miller's Crossing (1990): The Coen Bros. deliver a gripping gangster melodrama with a convoluted plot straight in the tradition of Chinatown. I'm a big fan of gangster epics, and while this ain't no Godfather or Goodfellas, it's a sterling example of the genre. The main problem is that none of the characters are very well drawn - the plot and cinematography carry the weight of this movie instead.
Grade: A-