Touch of Evil (1958)
QFS No. 160 - Let’s get this out of the way first – in Touch of Evil Charleton Heston plays a Mexican. (But… barely.) Do with that information what you will. Just about the only negative I have about this film. Everything else in Orson Welles’ masterpiece places it high on my list of personal favorites.
City Lights (1931)
QFS No. 159 - It’s that time again at Quarantine Film Society – time to watch a Silent Film!
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.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
QFS No. 156 - Shaun of the Dead is directed by Edgar Wright, wacky genius behind one of my favorite Quarantine Film Society selections Hot Fuzz (2009, QFS No. 29), selected in our group’s first year. As it is the eve of All Hallow’s Eve, we are once again legally compelled to have a film with some sort of Halloween-appropriate content.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
QFS No. 155 - I deliberately know nothing about Carnival of Souls (1962) but it’s an influential horror film and this is the time of the year for influential horror films.
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).
Blow Out (1981)
QFS No. 148 - Brian Da Palma is one of the great polarizing filmmakers of our time, I think I can safely say. He has made some of classic films – Carrie (1976), Obsession (1976), Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987), the first Mission: Impossible (1996) – but has also made several bombs. Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) was a legendary box-office disaster and Mission to Mars (2000) is a truly terrible film and I dare you to convince me otherwise. But it’s not the financial failures of some of this films that have made him polarizing.
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
QFS No. 147 - Kaagaz Ke Phool – which translates to “Paper Flowers” – is known as one of the great films from the Golden Age of Hindi Cinema.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
QFS No. 146 - The late great Roger Corman produced this film about a dystopic, mayhem-ridden future. And I, for one, have been keen on seeing it. It takes place in the distant future, the year 2000! What will life be like then? Who knows! Well, the late great Roger Corman will tell you!
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.
Superbad (2007)
QFS No. 144 - Superbad (2007) feels like it has remained a worthy modern stupid comedy all these years later. Stupid comedies are the lifeblood of the industry – just look at Animal House (1978), to pick one school-related stupid comedy as an example. That has endured and is still referenced by at least a subset of the American public (men 45-75 years old). And with summer now starting, won’t it be something nice just to turn off the old noggin and watch a couple of nerdy teenagers just trying to do (super) bad things? I think so.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
QFS No. 143 - There are a lot of great things about this movie even if you don’t know about it at all, just as I don’t. First, look at that title! It’s our second longest QFS selection title after Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, QFS No. 98).
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
QFS No. 142 - Let’s curl up with a classic Hollywood movie, and The Philadelphia Story (1940) is about as classic as it comes. Jimmy Stewart? Check. Cary Grant?! Check. Katherine Hepburn?!? Check. The great George Cukor at the helm?!?! Check and mate.
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.