Seconds (1966)
QFS No. 212 - Long drought of essays will be overcome by finally resuming periodic takes on films! We resume with John Frankenheimer’s Seconds (1966). Frankenheimer helmed some of the landmark films of the 1960s and ’70s and continued working into the 2000s. The great American filmmaker is one in a long line of great directors who started in television, working alongside the legend Sidney Lumet and, like Lumet, was influenced by the storytelling and production rigors required for the small screen.
Stand by Me (1986)
QFS No. 194 - To start the year, we need to honor a favorite filmmaker of many of ours. The truly tragic and shocking death of the legendary filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner has been on the minds of many of us for the last several weeks now. And while it’s important to mourn him and the horrific way his life unexpectedly ended, it’s also essential we remember him for all the joy he brought to our lives. And what an incredible life.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
QFS No. 161 - Yes, Umbrellas of Cherbourg (`964) may not seem like a holiday classic. But it very well could be!
Brazil (1985)
QFS No. 158 - Is now the right time to watch a film about trying to life under the gaze of a dystopic government with a crippling and heartless bureaucracy on the eve of what could be the downfall of representative democracy in this country?
Princess Mononoke (1997)
QFS No. 157 - We are all long overdue to be taken away to a different land. At least for a couple of hours. And there’s perhaps no one better suited to take us elsewhere than the Japanese master of animation, Hayao Miyazaki.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
QFS No. 154 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder is one of those filmmakers whose work I, as film snob and student of film, should have seen. But instead, I pretend I know about Fassbinder – of course I do. I went to film school, you see.
Sicario (2015)
QFS No. 153 - I’m sure many of you saw Sicario (2015) when it came out or in the ensuing nine years afterwards. I, however, am not one of them, hence this pick. It’s been on my list for a while, especially because of the filmmaker at the helm.
Imitation of Life (1959)
QFS No. 152 - Director Douglas Sirk’s name is synonymous with melodrama. As someone who studies film and works in entertainment, this is one of those givens you know about even if you don’t know his movies.
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
QFS No. 151 - This is the first kaiju film selected by Quarantine Film Society. Kaiju, of course, is the film subgenre in which giant monsters destroy things. I think it’s amazing that what seems like a very limited type of film has a named subgenre, but this is where I’m wrong. There are tons of these movies and television shows varying in quality in the 70 years since Godzilla (1954) came out from Japan. I’m certainly no expert on these films, but I do enjoy a good giant animal picture now and again.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
QFS No. 150 - In 1931 and 1932, there were a few gangster pictures that helped established the genre – Little Cesar* (1931), The Public Enemy (1931) and this week’s selection Scarface (1932).
Scarface (1932)
QFS No. 149 - In 1931 and 1932, there were a few gangster pictures that helped established the genre – Little Cesar* (1931), The Public Enemy (1931) and this week’s selection Scarface (1932).
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
QFS No. 145 - We haven’t yet selected a John Cassavetes film here at Quarantine Film Society and this shortcoming has sent shockwaves throughout the organization.* What’s just as shocking is that I, your humble narrator, have never seen a Cassavetes film. In 2013, The New Yorker, wrote that Cassavetes “may be the most influential American director of the last half century” and A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Cassavetes’ most beloved work.
Black Girl (1966)
QFS No. 141 - Black Girl will be our first ever selection from Senegal, and our first selection of a film by Ousmane Semebene. Sembene is considered the “dean” or father of African cinema. Did I know this before? No. Am I ashamed of that? Yes.
Hard Eight (1996)
QFS No. 140 - This is our first QFS selection of a Paul Thomas Anderson film. You know him from all of his great work over the last 25 years but Hard Eight was his first feature. I’ve seen so many of his films but I’ve never seen the first one so this week’s selection attempts to remedy that.
High and Low (1963)
QFS No. 139 - It’s been entirely too long since we’ve selected a Kurosawa film here at Quarantine Film Society. It was way back in July 2020 when we were young and terrified but watched the masterpiece Yojimo (1961, QFS No. 13. The offending parties to this nearly four-year gap have been reassigned to new minor roles within The Society.
Wanda (1971)
QFS No. 138 - Woah, what’s that you say? You’ve never heard of Wanda? You uncivilized movie ignoramus. That’s outrageous, well I oughta…
Okay fine. Neither had I.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
QFS No. 137 - For our four-year anniversary of QFS, we decided to select an epic by the great David Lean. Yes, it took us four years to get to a David Lean film, and for the most part it’s because I’ve seen most of the epic classic ones. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) remains one of my favorite films of all time and we could easily have selected it to commemorate our four years of watching and talking about movies. But instead, I picked what is my second favorite Lean film, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Ace in the Hole (1951)
QFS No. 136 - I’ve managed to see a great deal of Wilder’s films but he made so many that there are a lot left for me to watch. He’s another one, like John Ford, with a very high batting percentage of great hits. I went with Ace in the Hole because, well, don’t we all want to bask in the glow of Kirk Douglas’ chin for nearly two hours?
Past Lives (2023)
QFS No. 134 - What I know about this film approaches zero. I do know it’s from South Korea and that it’s Celine Song’s first film after being a staff writer on a major Amazon series. So, you know – pretty amazing, that!
The Holdovers (2023)
QFS No. 133 - This is our first selection of an Alexander Payne film, one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers. I’ve seen nearly all of his films, hence its exclusion from the QFS Priority Selection List since I’ve seen nearly all of them. Truly one of the great living screenwriters, a modern auteur.