Masculin Féminin (1966)

French New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Leaud was best known as the sullen romantic Antoine Doniel in Francois Truffaut's five-film cycle. In Masculin Féminin, he stars as the other half of his persona for director Jean-Luc Godard. Ostensibly, the film traces the relationship between left-wing rebel Paul (Leaud) and pop singer Madeleine (Chantal Goya). But as always, Godard uses the story to hang a myriad of sociopolitical ideas and pop culture references upon. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Brainy ▶ Brainy or complex
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Shoah (1985)

The late Gene Siskel once called this magnificent, overwhelming documentary "the greatest use of film, ever." Director Claude Lanzmann spent years collecting these stunning, matter-of-fact interviews with anyone connected with the Holocaust, from survivors to eyewitnesses to SS tormentors. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Brainy ▶ Brainy or complex
• Optimistic ▶ No thanks
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Realism ▶ Magical, Futuristic, Fantastic
• How Things Happen ▶ By cause and effect, mechanics, rules or facts
• Comfort Level ▶ Distressed, disturbed, unsettled or unresolved
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Pace ▶ Slow
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Vivre sa vie (1962)

Andrew Sarris had the same feeling back in 1963, when he reviewed Vivre sa vie. Sarris first complained that Godard had made five films in France, but Vivre sa vie was only the second to open in the United States. (The first was À bout de souffle, otherwise known as Breathless, Godard's feature debut and still his most famous film.) Then he went on to mention that he hadn't quite got the newer film, but that Godard's films tend to age well and reward multiple viewings. It was a prophetic review, as Vivre sa vie has indeed aged well and rewarded the persistent, and it stacks up against Godard's greatest masterpieces. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Brainy ▶ Brainy or complex
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating

Contempt (1963)

A screenwriter Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) upsets his marriage to the beautiful blonde Camille (Brigitte Bardot) by taking on a job for an egomaniacal American film producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance). His task: adapt Homer's "The Odyssey" for director Fritz Lang (playing himself). In several instances, he passively lets Prokosch hit on his wife, and she begins to resent him for it, though they continue to play mind games and guessing games with one another over the real cause of the rift. Meanwhile, Lang has his head deeply into "The Odyssey" and discusses with Paul several possibilities as to why Ulysses might have stayed away from his wife Penelope for so many years. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Brainy ▶ Brainy or complex
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time

Lessons of Darkness (1992)

One of the great documentaries of the 1990s serendipitously returned to the 2000 San Francisco International Film Festival, finally giving me a chance to see it. The movie is Lessons of Darkness (1992), and it's directed by Werner Herzog, who was a member of the German New Wave, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, and it's arguably his best film since perhaps Fitzcarraldo (1982) or even Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). read more...

Search for streaming:

• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Rigid or strongly constrained
• Overall Depth ▶ Deep or penetrating
• Takes itself Seriously ▶ Yes please
• Originality ▶ Different or novel for its time