In an effort to highlight older films, here are the best films I watched this year that were not released in 2021 or 2020. I've also disqualified films from the 1950s, because I'm going to write up several of them for my Top Ten lists in the next few months. I've also already written a full post for "But I'm a Cheerleader." Entries are unranked and listed below by release date.
La Ceremonie (1995) - A fantastic crime drama that sees Sandrine Bonnaire and Isabelle Huppert as a maid and a postal worker who become friends and do terrible things together. It's a film that is largely about the uneasiness of the class and cultural divides, and how shame and resentment can turn toxic. The performances in this are fabulous, and Claude Chabrol is as sharp as he ever was in constructing the nail-biting narrative - all the way through to the explosive finale.
Polyester (1981) - I've had a mixed track record with John Waters films. Frankly, his films are often a little too subversive for me to really enjoy. However, "Polyester" somehow hit a sweet spot, because I am madly in love with it. I adore Divine as Francine Fishpaw. I wish Cuddles were my friend. Oddly, the only part of the film I don't much care for is the gimmick it's best remembered for - the Odorama. Frankly, it just distracts from all the other delightful campiness happening onscreen.
Mur Murs (1981) - I don't know why it took me so long to watch this Agnes Varda documentary, which is all about the mural art of Los Angeles, much of it done by local artists and amateurs. It provides a fascinating sort of bookend to one of Varda's last documentaries, "Faces Places," and serves as a beautiful time capsule of the way Los Angeles was in the '80s, the way I remember it. I find it comforting that there's some record of so much art and artistic verve that is now largely gone.
Monterey Pop (1968) - You can keep your "Woodstock," your "The Last Waltz," and even your "Stop Making Sense." My absolute favorite concert film is D.A. Pennebaker's "Monterey Pop." It's the lineup more than anything else - I grew up on The Mamas & the Papas, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding, and Jimi Hendrix. And the fact that it opens with "San Francisco," one of my favorite songs of all time, just seals it. This isn't the film nerd in me talking. It's the music nerd I forgot was there.
National Velvet (1944) - It might be terribly sentimental and unrealistic, but seeing little Elizabeth Taylor riding her beloved Pie to victory in the Grand National Steeplechase is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen on film. Taylor and Mickey Rooney absolutely carry the film, in spite of their young ages, with stellar support from seasoned actors like Donald Crisp and Anne Revere. It's no wonder the film is so fondly remembered, and why they're still making "girl and her horse" family films to this day.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) - The first of two Charles Laughton films on this list, and the first of two William Dieterle films too. It's wild how well Quasimodo still comes off to this day. The makeup effects are remarkable, and Laughton's performance really is iconic. I also find it very telling that most of the updates to Hugo's novel that the '96 Disney adaptation was excoriated for came from this version. It's clearly the reason "Hunchback" is still remembered as an action adventure story.
The Life of Emile Zola (1937) - I'm sorry to say that I wasn't very familiar with beloved French writer Emile Zola or his involvement with the famous Dreyfus affair before this. Directed by William Dieterle, this is a typical biopic of the era, which uplifts its subject to hero status through a lot of shameless melodramatic devices. However, Paul Muni is so good as the lead, and the "man against the system" plot is executed so well that I found it all tremendously moving and inspiring.
Captain Blood (1935) - I've written a lot about "Captain Blood" this year in various posts, but I just can't get over what a touchstone this film is for so many other subsequent adventure films. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland are sparkling, and the filmmaking is still wonderfully dynamic. I think what really gets me is that the epic adventure is actually properly grounded in historical fiction, giving it a sense of time and place that most contemporary films of this type are sorely lacking.
Lady for a Day (1933) - I watched so many good classic dramedies this year, including "Pygmalion," and the version of "Pride and Prejudice" with Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson. But how could I resist Frank Capra? I'd previously seen the '60s remake of "Lady for a Day," "Pocketful of Miracles," and loved it, but the original is more straightforward, unfussy, and totally delightful. It's a Cinderella story starring a 70 year old woman, one that thinks the best of humanity. It's irresistible.
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) - I was anticipating Charles Laughton's famous performance at Henry VIII, but somehow I completely missed that this movie is a comedy. Alexander Korda is someone that I usually associate with producing spectacles. There's certainly spectacle to enjoy here, but also a lot of laughs and a lot of fun as Henry VIII's personal life spins out of control. After Laughton, Elsa Lanchester has my vote for the best scene-stealer, as the hysterical Anne of Cleves.
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