My Movie Lists - Andrew Saikali

February 20, 2008


Andrew is an editor at The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Canada, and is a contributing writer at The Millions, a literary blog. When not reading, or feeding his hunger for music (from Bob Dylan, to British rock from the 60s, to The Walkmen), he can often be found sitting, alone, in a nearly-empty movie theatre watching something for the third time.


5 films about writer’s block: (listed chronologically)

Barton Fink: (1991) Who else but John Turturro could bring this Coen brothers’ creation to life? Barton Fink is a playwright (modeled slightly on Clifford Odetts) who is lured by Hollywood to write for the movies. His life becomes wonderfully surreal and nightmarish. With John Goodman as a rather unstrung neighbor and John Mahoney as a Faulkner-like mentor.

Deconstructing Harry: (1997) Woody Allen’s underrated film about Harry Block (Woody) a writer whose thinly-veiled, semi-autobiographical stories come back to haunt him, while he attempts, through a haze of booze and whores, to complete his latest novel.

Wonder Boys: (2000) Grady Tripp, author and professor, is struggling with his own demons as he tries to complete his opus, in this adaptation of Michael Chabon’s novel. Michael Douglas plays Grady opposite Tobey Maguire as the budding author James Leer.

Adaptation: (2002) Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman struggling to adapt Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief for film. Charlie’s “brother” Donald (also Cage) is a novice writer, carefree and confident, where Charlie is brooding and uptight. Offering insight about the duality of man, this was written by the real Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

Starting Out In The Evening: (2007) Frank Langella gives a quietly perfect performance as Leonard Schilling, a 70-ish New York writer struggling for over ten years on his latest novel. Enter Heather (Lauren Ambrose), a grad student doing her thesis on Schilling, and who shakes his foundations.

10 favorite directors (listed alphabetically) with an arbitrary pick for each

Woody Allen:
Husbands and Wives. Judy Davis in one of the best screen performances I’ve ever seen. Davis and Sydney Pollack are in the midst of a divorce, leading their friends (Woody and Mia) to their own marital unraveling. (see also: Crimes and Misdemeanors, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Zelig, Radio Days, Love and Death, and about a dozen others that could easily make this list.)

Wes Anderson:
The Royal Tenenbaums. Yes, the art-direction can get a bit precious, but this whimsical story of a family of dysfunctional geniuses has surprising treats from beginning to end. Luke Wilson’s Ritchie is the heart and soul of this movie. With Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston. (see also Bottle Rocket, Rushmore)

The Coen Brothers:
Fargo. Stark, dark (in a blindingly white, snow everywhere, sort of way), and very funny. A scam turns deadly. William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare are caught up in forces beyond their control. (See also Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing, No Country For Old Men)

Alfred Hitchcock:
Shadow of a Doubt. Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) comes to visit his family in a small town. What’s he hiding? (see also: Notorious, Strangers on a Train, North By Northwest, Rear Window, Vertigo)

John Huston:
The Maltese Falcon. Huston’s directorial debut with Bogart as Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, Mary Astor as the femme fatale, Sydney Greenstreet as “the fat man” and Peter Lorre as Mr. Cairo, in a film noir about “the stuff that dreams are made of.” (see also: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)

Jim Jarmusch:
Down By Law. Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni are on the run in the southern U.S. in this early Jarmusch film. (see also Mystery Train, Stranger than Paradise, Night on Earth, Dead Man)

Stanley Kubrick:
Dr. Strangelove. Peter Sellers in a triple role is matched by George C. Scott in a single, but hilariously unforgettable role in this suspenseful Cold War dark comedy. (see also A Clockwork Orange and, if you’re in the right mood, 2001: A Space Odyssey.)

Martin Scorsese
Goodfellas. Amazing camera work and fantastic music at just the right moments propel this film about neighborhood gangsters. Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci star. (see also Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Departed)

Francois Truffaut:
Jules et Jim. A love triangle from the French new wave. With Jeanne Moreau at the center of this carefully-observed story. (see also Shoot The Piano Player, The 400 Blows)

Orson Welles:
Citizen Kane. No big surprise here. Still tremendously entertaining, with Welles’ larger-than-life portrayal of Hearst-like newspaper magnate Kane. (Sick of Kane? Try The Magnificent AmbersonsA Touch of Evil, or Welles’ performance in Carol Reed’s The Third Man, written by Graham Greene.)

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Comments

8 Responses to “My Movie Lists - Andrew Saikali”

  1. Toronto movie madness on February 22nd, 2008 819 am

    Excellent taste! I like very much Martin Scorsese but I would like to highlight his film Casino which reflects the reality much more. I`m a passionate cinema-goer and to everybody interested in fine films I recommend to check out Toronto movie guide website where you can find a lot of useful descriptions. I must confess I like very much the cultural life in Toronto.

  2. David Chilton on February 22nd, 2008 640 pm

    I know it’s a short favourites list and thus, well, short and subjective, but it’s light on the Europeans, isn’t it? Where’s Cluzot? Lelouch? Renoir? Ken Loach? David Lean? Antonioni? Pasolini? Cavani?

  3. Corey Vilhauer on February 22nd, 2008 1000 pm

    Wasn’t Renoir a painter? Am I really that movie illiterate?

  4. David Chilton on February 22nd, 2008 1122 pm

    Pierre-Auguste Renoir was the painter. He’s the father of director Jean Renoir (probably best known for La Grande Illusion)

  5. Andrew Saikali on February 23rd, 2008 1039 pm

    It’s hard to whittle everything down to a top ten, but those ten really are my favourites - at the moment. A few years ago, I might have balanced the list with more non-American masters (I’m Canadian, by the way, so no accusations of national favouritism, please) - -i just happen to be in a Coens/Wes Anderson/Jarmusch mood the last few years) and while I loved La Grande Illusion and would heartily recommend it, and while I do like isolated films by many of the others you mentioned, I find the ten directors I picked more consistently reflect my own tastes). So that’s that.

    If I’d expanded the list, you’d dee Coppola (G 1&2, Ap. Now, and also The Conversation), Lindsay Anderson (If, O Lucky Man), Polanski (esp. for Chinatown, Repulsion, Cul de sac), early Gus Van Sant, Bergman (esp Persona, Wild Strawberries), Fellini (esp Amarcord, La Dolce Vita), early Bogdanovich (Last Picture Show), Altman’s the Player and Short Cuts (though NOT Nashville)

  6. David Chilton on February 24th, 2008 119 pm

    As Martin Levin has written, lists are drawn up to spark discussion because, after all, there can be no definite list about anything (OK maybe Harold Bloom’s book list and the Ten Commandments - in that order)because they are so wholly subjective. Since you mention Polanski, I would recommend The Tenant (Le Locataire).

  7. David Chilton on February 24th, 2008 120 pm

    Ooops. I meant definitive not definite.

  8. Andrew Saikali on February 25th, 2008 111 am

    Yeah, that’s an interesting film (The Tenant). I also forgot about Kieslowski. I remember being knocked out by the Blue, White and Red films when they came out in the cinemas. Also, older favourites that I’d put on a more comprehensive list would be Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger - who I’d completely forgotten about until an Austrian film maker mentioned them at the Oscars. Loach - I remember seeing Riff Raff when it played the Toronto Film Festival a hundred years ago and really liking that. Like I said, my list is fluid. I mean it’s firm at the moment, but a while ago and a while from now it would look quite different. I was also impressed by the late Lauzon (i think his name was) - the guy who made Leolo.

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