Every month, A Place for Film brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.
Michaela Owens, editor | Along Came Jones (1945)
Is there anything more delightful in life than watching a bashful Gary Cooper fall in love? My answer is “no.” With an “aw, shucks” persona that is only rivaled by Jimmy Stewart’s, Cooper was equal parts vulnerable and tough, his sincerity and belief in doing the right thing providing him with a backbone that always convinced him to stay and fight. This could frequently be found in Cooper’s Western characters, such as Melody Jones of Along Came Jones.
When Melody and his sidekick George (eternal scrooge William Demarest) arrive in the small town of Paynesville, they are mistaken for wanted outlaw Monte Jarrad (a snarling Dan Duryea) and Monte’s “half-wit” uncle. Meanwhile, the real Monte is wounded and hiding in the barn of his longtime sweetheart, Cherry (a luminous Loretta Young). Cherry tries to use the mix-up as a way to help Monte escape, but the more time she spends with noble and sweet Melody, the more she begins to question whether Monte deserves her loyalty.
Along Came Jones loves to poke fun at the Western, and with the presence of Cooper, one of the genre’s icons, the film is very successful at it. One of the running gags, for example, is that Melody, our hero, is terrible at handling a gun. This guy couldn’t shoot the broad side of a barn. Someone who could, though, is Cherry. An excellent sharpshooter, she provides the film’s extremely satisfying ending, which involves a surprisingly brutal showdown between Monte and Melody. Loretta Young is one of my favorite actresses and this movie wonderfully showcases her warmth and intelligence. The sheer beauty of stars Young and Cooper is reason enough to see Along Came Jones, but luckily the film’s mixture of humor, romance, and adventure makes your stargazing all the more enjoyable.
Jesse Pasternack, contributor | La Commare Secca (1962)
I watched this on FilmStruck recently because Bernardo Bertolucci directed it at the age of 21. That is how old I am at the moment. La Commare Secca’s plot is reminiscent of the Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon, because both movies consist of flashbacks from the perspectives of different people. In this film, the police interrogate several suspects to find out who killed a prostitute. La Commare Secca is great from a technical standpoint due to its lyrical cinematography and ambitious tracking shots. It doesn’t match the glory of Bertolucci’s later films, but it is a fantastic start to a memorable career.
Ed. note: Unfortunately, a trailer for this film was not found.
Katherine Johnson, contributor | Lady Bird (2017)
Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is a phenomenal film, and I am so glad I saw it this month and can share it with you. Written and directed by Gerwig, whose acting role in 2012’s Frances Ha was critically acclaimed, this film shows a different side to Gerwig’s talent, and to the talent of all those involved in the project. I think A.O. Scott does a much better job of articulating the brilliance of Lady Bird than I could do here. On October 31st, 2017, Scott wrote for The New York Times:
“What Ms. Gerwig has done — and it’s by no means a small accomplishment — is to infuse one of the most convention-bound, rose-colored genres in American cinema with freshness and surprise. The characters can look like familiar figures… Every line sounds like something a person might actually say…
That might make ‘Lady Bird’ sound drab and dutiful, but it’s the opposite. I wish I could convey to you just how thrilling this movie is. I wish I could quote all of the jokes and recount the best offbeat bits. I’d tell you about the sad priest and the football coach, about the communion wafers and the Sacramento real estate, about the sly, jaunty editing rhythms, the oddly apt music choices and the way Ms. Ronan drops down on the grass in front of her house when she receives an important piece of mail. I’m tempted to catalog the six different ways the ending can make you cry.
I’ll settle for one: the bittersweet feeling of having watched someone grow in front of your eyes, into a different and in some ways improved version of herself. In life, that’s a messy, endless process, which is one reason we need movies.”
David Carter, contributor | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
I watched a grip of movies this month, old and new alike. Various films noir (The Killers, Le doulos, Ministry of Fear), rewatches and fresh views from one of my favorite directors, Agnès Varda (Cléo from 5 to 7, Vagabond, The Gleaners and I, Visages Villages), and electrifying new films from some filmmakers on the rise (Mudbound, Lady Bird) to name a few. So picking one to talk about is tough. Generally I like to use these round-ups to highlight a movie that’s little seen or underappreciated so why not pick a very commercial Guy Ritchie film from the summer of 2015 that flopped at the box office?
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. falls into a category of movie I like to call the “3 star blockbuster,” an entertaining movie with a stellar cast, a solid functional script and just enough style to make it stick in your brain for a little while. These movies don’t transcend their goals but they hit the target pretty well and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. checks all those boxes. It’s a big screen remake of the television show that ran from 1964-1968 starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum about counter-espionage and law enforcement agents who work for an organization called U.N.C.L.E. The movie stars two of the most square-jawed and handsome boys working today: Armie Hammer and a very sexy and charming Henry Cavill. Cavill plays the sophisticated American conman Napoleon Solo, who rubs up against Hammer’s no-nonsense Russian operative Ilya Kuryakin. The movie itself is a fun ride with some great chemistry between the two leads, a great supporting cast that includes Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, and the magnetically statuesque Elizabeth Debicki, and it features one of the best extended background gags I’ve seen in a movie. Give this one a rent when you need an action movie with a little style.
Laura Ivins, contributor | Table 19 (2017)
Table 19 (dir. Jeffrey Blitz, 2017) is an example of why I still enjoy brick-n-mortar video stores.
Directed by the same man who directed the 2002 documentary Spellbound, and co-written by Blitz and the Duplass brothers, Table 19 is a cute wedding dramedy with Anna Kendrick in the lead role of Eloise. Eloise was formerly the maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding, but after being dumped by the bride’s brother (who is also the best man), she finds herself relegated to the “should’ve RSVP’d with regrets” table of “randoms,” Table 19.
We’ve seen versions of this premise before, but what’s fresh about this film is the emphasis on the interpersonal dynamic (and emerging friendship) between the reject guests of Table 19. Between them, they have some cringe-inducing, some funny, and some touching moments, so that the ensemble of diverse characters forms a satisfying backbone to the main romantic plot. Table 19 has a couple of nice twists and a good amount of redemption, making it a surprisingly enjoyable rental.
But I never would’ve seen it, if not for browsing the video store. The algorithms of the streaming world have yet to suggest it to me. It’s a small film (est. $5 million budget), and so it didn’t have the mainstream marketing machine behind it. And yet it’s a mainstream enough romantic comedy that it’s unlikely to pop up on most indie film or arthouse publications (and if so, with a bad review). Without the video store, I might never have known Table 19 existed. And I’m glad it does. And I’m glad I watched it.
Nathaniel Sexton, contributor | Lady Bird (2017)
Playing like a prequel to Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s 2012 collaboration Frances Ha, Gerwig’s first feature as a solo director explores the self-centered follies of adolescence while never betraying its young protagonist, instead rooting for her throughout. Lady Bird follows Saoirse Ronan as Christine (or “Lady Bird,” a name given to herself by herself), a semi-outcast senior at a private Catholic high school in Sacramento in 2002. The final year of high school offers challenges: as Lady Bird struggles to understand herself, she hopes to leave her hometown, get out from her mother’s worrying, and find culture, preferably on the campus of a liberal arts college somewhere on the East Coast.
Lady Bird focuses in on the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship, explores class anxieties in a private school setting, and lyrically builds a movingly sympathetic portrait of an ambitious, slightly out-of-step, teenage girl. Highly reviewed and currently sitting on the record for per-theater limited release ticket sales in 2017, Gerwig’s first full outing is a vision of a better broadly-appealing American independent mode of storytelling. It’s funny and sweet and sad and for those who grew up in the early naughts, it carries with it an undeniably beguiling demi-nostalgia.