1. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950): This has got to be one of my favourite movies of all time. I’ve talked about how much I love the series of dramas that came out in the fifties that showed the “dark side” of Hollywood; this one is totally the best one. I love the way he sort of brings in silent film aesthetics when he’s inside Norma’s house.
  2. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (W. D. Richter, 1984): Apparently, this is some kind of cult thing, and I can see why, because it’s the most ridiculous movie ever made. Buckaroo Banzai is a half-American, half-Japanese surgeon/particle physicist/rock musician. Who is famous. We got through the Star Wars-y scroll that explained the premise, and I turned to Alex and said “He’s obviously had hundreds of girlfriends.” It’s pretty funny, but I got bored by the end, especially because it’s never clear how much of it is camp and how much of it is trying to be actually good. (About half the actors are doing one, half are doing the other, and John Lithgow is basically always a cartoon.) On the other hand, it is ridiculously pomo: it’s supposed to be a “continuing adventure” in a serial that doesn’t actually exist, in the tradition of old-timey sci fi serials. Also, Jeff Goldblum is dressed as a cowboy for most of the movie for no apparent reason.
  3. Across the Universe (Julie Taymor, 2007): Aw, I’d only read a couple of reviews before I went to see this, and they were hesitantly positive, but this apparently got a 48% at Rotten Tomatoes. I assume that is because 52% of critics have cold, shriveled hearts. Honestly, you guys know I like everything, but this was everything I hoped it would be. Taymor’s not afraid to tell this big sweeping iconic sixties story, pushing at the edges of the boy-meets-girl musical genre, and I thought she did a pretty exceptional job of making the Beatles songs fit in naturally with the story — everyone knows they weren’t written for the movie, but it kind of feels like they could have been. Anyway, it’s gorgeous, like all the characters live inside the Beatles songbook, and when they need to express their unspoken emotions, they do it in Lennon and McCartney and occasionally Harrison-isms. It’s gorgeous and filled with lovely Julie Taymor touches — like all the puppets, including the five ladies who I think represented Vietnam. Anyway, it’s beautiful, and I guess it’s destined to a be a cult favourite.