Movies. Images. Words.
This project was started out of a need for purposing my instagram, then it became an important artistic expression. I’d watch a movie, and when I’d see a particularly arresting shot or one having importance to the overall film, I’d take a picture of the paused moment and create collages out of those still images. Then i’d try to summarize the film in three phrases or sentences. I’d top these off with a significant quote from the movie. Behold: my movie collages.
Brothers in armed robbery.
Shattered narrative.
Discordant harmony of Hoffman and Hawke.
“May you be in heaven half an hour, before the devil knows you’re dead.”
The Tramp goes feature-length with a smile and perhaps, a tear.
Undercrank me, baby!
Jackie Coogan: A child star for the ages.
“Please love and care for this orphan child.”
A satire & history lesson on race in the media.
Pierre Delacroix/Peerless Dothan vs Julius Hopkins/Big Black Afrika.
The angry, incisive Spike Lee we all know and love.
“When American people want something, they want it now and they want it big. They wanted the hula hoop, they wanted their yo-yos. Who could ever forget those lovable pet rocks, beanie babies, Pokémon? Now the latest, hottest, newest sensation across the nation was blackface!” - Pierre Delacroix
Hal Ashby’s quirky quintessential unconventional countercultural love story.
Morbid fascination meets life-affirmation.
“Harold loves Maude and Maude loves Harold. - Maude
Ashby’s last great film, Sellers’ last great role: two legends unite and ignite.
Chance the gardener becomes Chauncey Gardiner.
Communication becomes projection.
“Life is a state of mind.”
This movie brings the realness about small town American problems and the unclear resolutions that exist and permeate our lives.
The prodigal fuck-up brother returns and the single-parent sister relearns.
Linney shines as Ruffalo strongly supports and Broderick surprises in a smaller role.
“He's gonna find out that the world is a horrible place and that people suck soon enough and without any help from you!” - Sammy
The darkest, smartest, most conscious Western ever made: A Western to end all Westerns.
Our scars inside run deeper and are more visible than our scars on the outside.
Somewhere between the simple myths and the tall tales lie the abhorrent violence and harsh truths of the Old West.
“Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” - William Munny
A cautionary tale of the consequences of instant “success” on the ego and the world surrounding a man with artistic aspirations.
Warning: don’t ‘Duffy” yourself out of the business.
Never fuck with Harvey.
“As for my film career? Get used to it, 'cuz it ain't goin' anywhere. Period.” - Troy Duffy
True story bank robbery gone awry turns into a media and law enforcement circus; who are we rooting for?
Top 5 Lumet, Pacino at his most electric, Cazale at his creepiest (that hair!), and introducing…Chris Sarandon
One barks, one bites, and the heat is on.
“Attica! Attica Attica!” - Sonny
This is not the story of Vegas, but the story of America and where we’re headed: consumer culture, shallow exchanges, corporate sponsorship, and Wall Street ownership.
You can be the best gambler in the world, but one bet on the wrong person and the whole house of cards can tumble.
I want all of De Niro’s funky neon-colorful badass suits.
“This is Las Vegas, we’re supposed to be out here robbin’ you dumb fuckin’ heeb.” - Nicky Santoro
DePalma does Vertigo with a wild twist and “Benny” Hermann provides the perfect Hitcockian score.
Zsigmond’s soft, blown-out, textured lighting dreams a little dream of a Southern millionaire who loses his wife and child, but does he???
This is DePalma being DePalma: split diopters, slow motion suspense, beautiful assured photography, and just a touch of B-movie schlock.
“The plot thickens. Let us sit and tell sad tales about deserted daughters and lonely husbands.” - Sandra Portinari
Brining anime into the mainstream and into the future.
Biker gangs, atomic explosions, lab experiments on psychic children, and two friends caught in the middle of political upheaval: a delicious combination for neon-soaked, future-world mayhem.
We all have the power within us, we just have to wisely know when to use it.
“What memories are held in our genetic material? The beginnings of the universe?” - Kiyoko
The heart of pet cemeteries vs. the business of pet cemeteries.
Two sons taking over a family business: one son a guitar-playing, marijuana-growing California boy, the other son a business-minded, straight-edged former insurance salesman.
Werner Herzog boiled and ate his own leather shoe because Errol Morris got this movie made.
“Surely at the gates of heaven an all-compassionate God is not going to say, ‘Well, you're walking in on two legs, you can go in. You're walking in on four legs, we can't take you.’” - Mrs. Harberts
Once upon a time in a distant land, humans were the collared playthings of jolly blue alien giants.
It’s Oms vs. Draags on a dangerous planet of strange creatures, blue-people bubble meditation, knowledge headsets, and very primitive tendencies.
In the end it is obvious, but we must recognize how we can help and learn from each other in order to live in peace.
“What a shame we can’t play with her anymore.” - Draag Child
Just one look from the stoic, broken Harry Dean as Travis says a thousand words; could this be one of the best performances of all time?
What does a father look like and what do the colors red and green have to do with it?
It’s easy to get lost in America, but it’s just as easy to find what you’re searching for.
“Well, I see your light's still on, so I guess you must be out there. It's okay if you don't want to talk, you know. I don't want to talk either, sometimes. I just like to stay silent.” - Jane Henderson
Child prodigy pianist with daddy issues rejects his talents and works in the oil fields of Southern California, but dad is sick now and Bobby Dupea must go home to face his demons.
Familial pressure and expectations can cause serious psychological damage.
One of the most downer ‘70’s endings, but somehow I can relate to this intelligent, ornery nomad.
“You're all full of shit!” - Bobby Dupea
David and Jason: brothers and accomplices forever after refraining to save their grandfather from choking on fish bones.
This is a surreal Atlantic City before the casinos, a desolate resort town in winter; you don’t pass go, you don’t collect $200.
Jack Nicholson play the straight man and Bruce Dern plays the eccentric wildcard; it’s a play against type for Jack that yields stark emotional depth.
“But in the funhouse how do you know who’s really crazy, how do you know that it’s supposed to be you that stops it?” - David Staebler
Chaplin stays silent while the rest of the movies go “talkie” and it results in his most exciting and poignant film.
The Tramp falls for the blind flower girl and they both find that money and status don’t have much to do with love.
What if the blind flower girl is the film industry, going from silent to talkie? What if the Tramp is Chaplin falling in love with film, pumping money into the industry, and changing it before his eyes? Just a thought.
“A comedy romance in pantomime.”
“Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.” - Rashi
“Accept the mystery.” - Clive’s father
It’s the Book of Job set in small town Jewish America: one man tries to do everything right, but receives so much wrong in return. He goes in search of answers to questions like, “Why do the righteous suffer?”
Rabbit #1: Try to see things in a new way, “ Just look at that parking lot.”
Rabbi #2: The goy’s teeth set to Jimi Hendrix, “A sign from Hashem? I don’t know. Helping others? Couldn’t hurt.
Rabbi #3: Congratulates the Bar Mitzvah boys by reciting lines from Jefferson Airplane, “The Rabbi is busy. He doesn’t look busy! He’s thinking.”
This is the Coen’s most personal film: a small masterpiece of large moral and philosophical implications.
My personal favorite of theirs.
“It’s a beautiful world.” - Robert Crumb
There’s Charles: a recluse with homicidal tendencies. There’s Maxon: a socially anxious loner who got the brunt of their father’s abuse. Then there’s Robert: the sexually-abnormal non-romantic. Common denominator: all beautiful artists.
He’s countercultural, but not psychedelic., so get it right you hippie posers.
Piggyback rides, women with large breasts and wide hips, men with large noses, freaks, his innermost desires, fears, unsavory thoughts, and biting social commentary - Just a few of the images and word box themes you’ll get from the mind of R. Crumb.
This is pro football according to Oliver Stone: injuries, jealousies, hypocrisies. With locker room brawls and pregame calls to duty. They run, they jump, they fight, they claw to get their money, their fame, their future, and their inches.
It’s an exciting, intense game of instinct, but also an extremely-calculated backroom game of chess.
The arrogant star-power of the individual vs. the collective sacrifice of the team.
“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.” - Vince Lombardi
This movie dropped like a bomb of horror found footage the likes we had never seen before: three friends go into the woods seeking out an evil legend for their documentary. Let’s say they found what they came for.
Horror rule #767 - Once you bring in the camera equipment, the shit starts to hit the fan.
The woods are a scary motherfuckin’ place.
“I’m scared to close my eyes, I’m scared to open them.” - Heather Donahue
Two lonely souls find each other in the midst of personal crises: one on a mission of self-destruction, the other on a mission of self-redemption. In many ways, they save each other.
One of the most beautifully-sad movies ever made.
This is Nicolas Cage’s best performance. Say what you want about him, but FACT: he is a great actor.
“I accepted him for who he was, and I didn’t expect him to change, and I think he felt that for me too. I liked his drama, and he needed me. And I loved him. I really loved him.” - Sera
This is what the films noir of the ‘40’s and ‘50’s should have been without the regressive production code: sweaty, sexy, sultry tales of plotted murder, greed, money, desire, and torrid affairs.
It’s never that easy to kill off somebody’s husband.
Take me to a time when Kathleen Turner was hot, William Hurt was in great movies, and Lawrence Kasdan was an interesting filmmaker.
“Ned, someday your dick is going to lead you into a very big hassle.” - Lowenstein
Some say it’s overrated and overhyped, some say it’s lauded more than it should be. I say those people are simply WRONG. The hype is real, this is quite possibly the greatest movie ever made.
The storytelling, the camera angles, the lighting, the editing, the makeup, the innovations abound from a 25-year-old genius named Orson Welles.
No one word can explain a man’s life.
“That’s one of the greatest curses ever inflicted on the human race, memory.” - Jed Leland
“Women: the nice ones, the most frigid of the race, doesn’t matter in the end. Inside, they’re all the same: meat and gristle and hatred, just simmering. And I for one have had it with their shit.” - Chad
Here’s the premise: two corporate employees are sent to a branch office for six weeks to work on a project. They pick out an insecure woman from the office, both of them date her, she falls for them, they pull the rug out from under her and dump her simultaneously.
Yes it’s sick, yes it’s disturbing, but fuck if it’s not pitch-black funny.
This is not a misogynistic movie, but a movie about misogyny…with a twist. Could this be made today? I don’t think so.
Ladie and gentlemen, introducing…Aaron Eckhart.
“Let’s span time, OK? Let’s span time together.” - Billy Brown
With style and substance galore, Vincent Gallo bursts onto the scene with this strange tale of love, revenge, and redemption. What happened to this promising actor/writer/director?
It’s Lynchian, but Gallo brings a grit and certain masculine energy to the bizarre Buffalo situations.
Their relationship started with a kidnapping and a forced meeting-of-the-parents. He didn’t want her to touch him, she just wanted to help. They ended up in love, both getting what they needed.
“Boy, have we got a vacation for you.” - Westworld Advertisement
There’s Medievalworld, there’s Roamnworld, then there’s Westworld. Indulge in your innermost fantasies and desires while living in the past of your choice. Best vacation ever? Or nightmare waiting to happen?
A fun looks at the pitfalls of robots and artificial intelligence, but is it just inevitable that everything will go wrong? Should we really summon that demon?
OK HBO, the pilot was awesome, different from the movie, but that’s good. It looks to be going into dark and mysterious places. Let’s see what happens.
“When you use more than 5% of your brain you don’t want to be on Earth, believe me.” - Bob Diamond
What an interesting concept: you die and go to Judgement City, your life is reviewed and examined and defended closely for 4 days, then it’s decided whether or not you move onward and upward. But what if you fell in love in Judgement City? Could your fate be changed at such a critical juncture? All of this brought to us by one of the greatest comic minds of our time, Mr. Albert Brooks (formerly Albert Einstein).
Rip Torn: one of the most underrated comedy character actors ever! Just brilliant.
It’s all about fears. Overcome them and you’ll move forward, can’t get over them and you go back to Earth to try again.
Another Albert Brooks classic: two responsible people with a “nest egg” quit their square jobs and go on a trip through America to find themselves.
It’s worth seeing this movie just to see Albert Brooks try to get a large sum of money back from a casino. This scene includes a hilarious cameo from the late, great Garry Marshall.
Dropping out of society is easier in theory than it is in practice.
“I’ve seen the future, and it’s a bald man from New York.” - David Howard
“‘Modern Times.’ A story of industry, of individual enterprise - humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness.”
Chaplin’s final appearance as the Little Tramp brings him to the forefront of class struggle during the Depression. To make us laugh at this rather grim societal landscape is only part of his pure genius.
From factory worker to labor leader to jailbird to shipyard worker to partner-in-crime to mechanic’s assistant to waiter to singer to tramp again.
Industry and government are the enemies of personality, individuality, and creativity.
“This whole world’s wild at heart and weird on top.” - Lula Fortune
David Lynch takes us ot his own land of Oz where the Wiked Witch wants her rebellious Dorothy daughter back from a convicted manslaughterer in a snakeskin jacket and all those lovers want to do is live happily ever after to sing “Love me Tender.”
Sailor Ripley, Lula and Marietta Fortune, Johnnie Farragut, Marcell Santos, Mr. Reindeer, Bobby Peru, Juana and Perdita Durango, and 00 Spool: these are the fantastic and bizarre character names in this uncanny world.
Love conquers all crazy, overprotective mothers with mob boyfriends who burn their houses down and kill their husbands.
“There’s always a girl in the picture, haven’t you ever been to the movies?” - John L. Sullivan
A rich, jaded film director sets out to make a movie about the hardships and harshness of the times, but he knows nothing of the struggle or suffering of the everyman.
Try to make a movie with social significance, a movie that’s a commentary on modern conditions, the problems that confront the average man, to show that film is the sociological and artistic medium it is…with a little sex of course.
Ever wonder where to title “O Brother Where Art Thou?” came from? It’s from this movie that the Coen Brothers borrowed it.
“Take me with you, stream, on your dark journey.” - Narrator
Rabbits: princes with a thousand enemies. Be cunning and full of tricks, said Frith the Sun God, and your people will never be destroyed.
A lone rabbit has a vision of foreboding danger and blood-soaked fields. He urges his colony to leave their warren for a safer destiny and protection from human’s environmental destruction.
Wonderfully inventive animation for this amazingly adept adaptation of a British adventure novel starring anthropomorphic rabbits with language and mythology all their own.
Bonus: an Art Garfunkel song set to a sentimental montage serenades in the middle of the film.
“I’m the bad guy? How’d that happen?” - D-Fens
Michael Douglas comes unhinged as a middle-class defense plant employee who, after being fired, abandons his car in hot, heavy L.A. traffic and walks home protesting and disposing of all of society's ill along the way. The only problem is, he’s a crazy fuck too.
He takes on a convenience store owner, gang members, homeless people, fast food employees, a nazi, asshole golfers, and eventually the LAPD. It’s a wild journey west through smoggy early ‘90’s Los Angeles and only one cop on his last day can put an end to the madness.
It’s not about race in this one. It’s about class, being “economically viable” in the face of a changing world, and what happens to a man who loses everything along with his sanity on his way home.
“Get with it. Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars, in a speck on one in a blink. That's us, lost in space. The cop, you, me... Who notices?” - Vincent
24 hours in the life of cab driver Max and contract killer Vincent. Vincent hires Max for the night and they embark on a thrilling, killing mission through digitally-photographed Los Angeles to “visit some friends.”
There’s a philosophy to Vincent’s madness, but Max is just practical enough to not buy into his bullshit. He improvises and adapts with some Darwin and I, Ching thrown in for good measure.
Top notch, badass performances from Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, with a dash of Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem to sweeten the pot of this modern L.A. crime classic.
“Little did I realize that what began in the alleys and backways of this quiet town, would end in the Badlands of Montana.” - Holly
Two lovers on the run in the ‘50’s: one a James Dean-looking insightful and thoughtful yet trigger-happy cold-blooded killer, the other an inquisitive young girl in love and along for the ride. Together they made their way through the Plains of the United States seeking solitude until it all falls off the rails.
Malick’s juxtaposition of the beauty of nature and the horror of violence along with its connection to the nature of man is just stunning. It’s a peek at what’s to come a little later in his career.
He always wanted to be a criminal. She always wanted someone to love and someone to love her back in the same way. They both got what they wanted for their brief moment in time together.
“Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.” - Bennet Marco
Superb political thriller about ann unenviable, unlikable Medal of Honor recipient brainwashed by Communists to assassinate a presidential candidate and the friend and fellow POW digging for the truth to stop the sinister plot.
Frank Sinatra gives a career-best performance as the tortured vet trying to uncover the meaning of his terrifying dreams and the consequences it could have for the whole country while Angela Lansbury gives a chilling performance as the mother of the brainwashed assassin, pulling the strings of this frightening puppet show.
Communist conspiracies and capitalist paranoia rule the day, but crazier things can happen in our present political climate, right?
“Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” - Aldous Huxley
A day in the life of George Falconer, a homosexual college professor in the ‘60’s who’s lost the love of his life and decides to end it all. Somebody unexpected saves him from himself, but in this life, it’s impossible to stop what’s already coming.
Tom Ford is playing with skin tones here: skin is flush and healthy and vibrant when in lust or in love or making human connections, but then skin and atmosphere are gray when alone or thinking of negative possibilities. It is quite the spectacular and effective technique.
Colin Firth plays it brilliantly and subtly; he’s at times dreary and melancholy to the max, but then conversely alive at times in ways that make him feel that life is worth living despite the worst that happens to us.
“So here’s my little world, where I can make things happen, and I can create anything I want…I figured I’ll never get all those memories back, so I’ll just make new ones.” - Mark Hogancamp
Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar and incurred massive brain damage. With his memory erased, his life in tatters, he creates a world of his own within a fictional town called Marwencol to give himself an unorthodox form of therapy to repair the damage.
It’s an unbelievable story of an unlikely artist coming from the most unlikely of places presenting an unlikely form of artistic expression while rising from the ashes of a terrible trauma.
“Inspiring. Affecting. Fascinating. Stunning.” - Just a few of the very apt descriptors used to articulate the photographic work of Mark Hogancamp.
“Bye-bye my life goodbye.” - Joe Gideon
Joe Gideon, the fictional Bob Fosse: lover of women, song and dance, speed, and his own misery. He must come to terms with his failures and shortcomings as a human being while mounting an elaborately-sexy stage production, editing his new feature film, and juggling the women in his life as well as his declining health.
This is my kind of musical: one in which there is real darkness, one in which there is no random breaking into song and dance, one in which the musical numbers are expertly weaved into the narrative to serve crucial plot purposes.
Narcissism is one of the greatest threats in the theater, film, or art world. Glamour can kill.
“If you’re wondering who the Best Boy is, it’s someone’s nephew. Don’t forget to validate your parking. And uh, for all of you good people in the Midwest, sorry for saying fuck so much.” - Gay Perry
Inept criminal turned fake actor turned private detective Harry Lockhart runs into his high school crush Harmony Faith Lane at a party in Los Angeles after many years apart. She friend-zoned him and slept with his best friend Joe Chutney, but now he must solve the case of her murdered sister to win her heart as well as the respect and friendship of Gay Perry.
This is a witty meta-movie to the max. It knows you’re watching a movie and revels in every second of it while at the same time telling a great, pulpy, and at many times hilarious L.A. noir detective story for the modern age.
RDJ and Val Kilmer have some of the best comic chemistry I’ve ever seen. Shane Black is a master of the “buddy comedy.” See Lethal Weapon or more recently, The Nice Guys for further proof of his comedic writing prowess.
“I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine. I would say that’s that mattress man.” - Barry Egan
A sweet little love ditty about a man named Barry Egan: brother to seven sisters, salesman of plungers, procurer of pudding for frequent flier miles who meets a beautiful lonely lady and a mysteriously-abandoned harmonium on the same San Fernando Valley morning. When love came into his life, music came into his life at the same time. The music and the love are inexorably-connected.
The ample lens flares and the fiery temper outbursts are out of control in this movie in a spectacularly-expressive way. They contribute powerfully to the narrative and to the meaning of these two sensitive souls’ love. It’s bold filmmaking at its best.
I grew up on Adam Sandler comedies, but this showcased him in a bright new light, a light that I whole-heartedly wish he would switch on more and challenge himself like he did here.
“There is truth, and there are lies, and art always tells the truth even when it’s lying.” - Craig Schwartz
From the twisted mind of Charlie Kaufman and the visionary style of Spike Jonze, comes this gem about a lowly puppeteer who finds a portal into the brain of John Malkovich. It deals with playing God and the struggle to be who you want to be in your own skin, but finding who you truly are through the eyes of someone else.
It’s real, it’s surreal, and grounded in reality, but raised to a super-heightened level. There is no way to really describe this movie because it all sounds ridiculous. You have to see it to believe it.
Why did Kaufman choose John Malkovich, of all people, as his subject? Who the fuck knows, but it’s brilliant.
“It’s a good scream. It’s a good scream.” - Jack Terry
A presidential candidate is assassinated. The “accident” is seen and heard by B-movie sound man Jack Terry. He saves a woman from the wreckage and only they together can solve and expose the truth behind the cover-up.
It’s my favorite John Travolta performance. One of the first times I’ve said to myself, “Oh wow, he’s really a great actor.” He’s surprising, sensitive, sullen, and sardonically paranoid. He runs the gamut of emotions and what he gets in the end is the perfect scream.
This is De Palma’s masterpiece. It’s a movie about making movies, it’s got all the split screens, split diopters, political conspiracies, and B-movie killers. He says everything he wants to say about the filmmaking process and the arduous, perilous journey to make it all come together.
“You couldn’t change the past. But the future could be a different story. And it had to start somewhere.” - Narrator
A bored, uninspired suburban housewife and a handsome unsuccessful stay-at-home dad come together in a thunderstorm of lust and pent-up sexual desire. At the same time, a pedophile has moved back into the neighborhood and threatens the town’s perfect existence.
It’s quite an apt comparison to Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. Our main character wants to escape the banalities of her life for something more sophisticated and romantic, but these desires come at a cost too expensive for her means, stemming from her hunger for an alternative and a refusal to accept a life of unhappiness.
Todd Field, please make more movies. With this film as well as 2001’s In the Bedroom, he has created two modern masterpieces focusing on the crises and tribulations of American suburban life.
“At some point you gotta decide for yourself who you’re going to be. Can’t let nobody make the decision for you.” - Juan
Little, Chiron, Black: same human being, different people. They struggle against the demons in society while hiding their true identity. They grow, but they change outwardly, not inwardly. He eventually finds salvation, discovering his truth in the man who always knew who he really was.
The score by Nicholas Britell is haunting and enhancing, adding weight and depth to the already-dramatic journey. The photography is hallucinatory and precise, knowing what to reveal, knowing how to see this world and the characters that inhabit it.
Structured like a play, shot like a film, it’s a wholly original modern work of art the likes of something i’ve never seen before, tackling an important subject in a setting in which it’s never been tackled.
“I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion... If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way…” - Ricky Roma
This movie, based on the stage play and written by the singular David Mamet, explores the grit and grime of the life of salesmen. It shows the dubiousness, the duplicity, the deception, the diligence, the desperation, and the pugnacious persistence it takes to close.
Shot like a noir, vulgar as fuck, soaked in reds and blues representing the blood and sweat that these men lay on the line for their job; it’s an impressionistic look at this small corner of the sales world.
What a cast: Jack Lemmon like you’ve never seen him before, at his most desperate and pathetic. Al Pacino as electric, yet subtle as you’ve ever seen him, Kevin Spacey (RIP) as a slimy company man, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin spitting some of the best Mamet-speak ever put to film, and finally Alec Baldwin who comes in for one of the most memorable and insulting rousing-of-the-troops scenes ever made.
A brave and strange debut about a young tomboy boxer who, after joining a dance team hat has transfixed her , starts to observe, and maybe even cause sudden “fits” of uncontrollable spasms, fainting, and loss of breath in the girls of the team.
The mystery is palpable yet tied up in this delicate coming-of-age tale. What are the fits? What is causing them? And what do they mean to our protagonist? It’s fun to speculate about these questions. The answers are not simple.
Beautiful photography with gritty realism and an entrancing performance from Royalty Hightower help make this underseen gem rise above something just audacious to make Anna Rose Holmer a director to watch.