Properly Screened

  "Keep it simple, stupid" was Weesner's first rule of film making. And this movie works largely because of how simple it is. There is very little in the way of traditional plot, and the film does not seem interested in building toward anything in particular. Instead, it moves through small, quiet moments and lets its world take shape gradually. It's a warm bath. In addition to being simple, My Neighbor Totoro  (1988) is strange, funny, and surreal. If the film is about anything, it's about the kind of imaginative space siblings create together, where the boundary between reality and fantasy doesn't exist. Having grown up with a younger sister, that dynamic felt immediately recognizable, and it grounds everything else the film does. Seeing it as part of a Family Film Series (something I’d typically avoid, given my aversion to children) ended up being surprisingly perfect. I expected a theater full of children to be distracting, but instead, their reactions mir...

All I knew about this film going into it was (1) it is very long, (2) it’s set in feudal Japan, and (3) it’s widely considered the cinematic blueprint for the “men-on-a-mission” genre. I suppose there is much to say about this film. But it’s all been said. What I was left thinking about is why there was so much bare ass in this movie. This is, of course, a ridiculous thing to fixate on when watching Seven Samurai (1954), a film that essentially taught modern cinema how to assemble a team, define each member with economy and clarity, and stage action so cleanly that it still puts contemporary blockbusters to shame. Kurosawa’s command of movement is staggering. Every frame feels deliberate. Nothing is wasted. And yet. Why is Kikuchiyo, played by Toshiro Mifune, slaying bandits in a thong? Kikuchiyo is different. While the other samurai are presented as professionals, right down to their clothing, his outfit is improvised and stolen. He looks exposed, sometimes indecent by comparison, wh...