Fiction Features
The following is a chronological collection of screen-caps from every single narrative or experimental (i.e. non-documentary) feature - not including miniseries - I watched between February 12, 2013 and February 12, 2014. "Feature" is defined by me as 40 minutes or above in runtime. For a chronological lineup including shorts as well, visit my complete #WatchlistScreenCaps chronology. Links lead to previous pieces on a given film.
Intolerance (1916), dir. D.W. Griffith
On the movie screen, human faces loom large as gods
The Phantom Carriage (1921), dir. Victor Sjostrom
Led by Death's driver past the grief he caused
The Gold Rush (1925), dir. Charles Chaplin
Snow gets in your eyes
Poil de Carotte (1925), dir. Julien Duvivier
Unloved redhead shares his sorrows with the family maid
Exit Smiling (1926), dir. Sam Taylor
Getting into character
Casanova (1927), dir. Alexandre Volkoff
18th-century peep show for Venice's sensual aristocrats
Sunrise (1927), dir. F.W. Murnau
Vows renewed transform city into garden
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
19-year-old makes her debut at court
The Living Corpse (1929), dir. Fyodor Otsep
The surprising dignity of the cuckold
The Public Enemy (1931), dir. William Wellman
Who needs sharpshooters when you've got a Gatling gun
Frankenstein (1931), dir. James Whale
Let there be light...and let it be taken away
Girl Crazy (1932), dir. William Seiter
Pursued by a cardboard cop
King Kong (1933), dir. Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
The horrible dream at the window
The Mind Reader (1933), dir. Roy del Ruth
Wonderfully absorbing, entertaining proto-noir at fast 30s clip with great William performance
Roman Scandals (1933), dir. Frank Tuttle
My first Eddie Cantor: the Woody Allen influence is impossible to miss
The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), dir. Alexander Korda
The great lover overshadowed by his own legend
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), dir. Busby Berkeley
Map of the mad metropolis etched on her smooth skin
Top Hat (1935), dir. Mark Sandrich, chor. Fred Astaire, Hermes Pan
When clouds collide, they dance
Captain Blood (1935), dir. Michael Curtiz
Leaping into battle for Crown and Captain both, no longer a contradiction
A Day in the Country (1936), dir. Jean Renoir
We are born and we did as do the caterpillars, but we can't all become butterflies
They Won't Forget (1937), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
Begins like a postcard to the Old South - turns out it's written with poison pen
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), dir. Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
A man who knows how to make an entrance
Alexander Nevsky (1938), dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Birds of prey perched across the frozen river
Only Angels Have Wings (1939), dir. Howard Hawks
Launching into everyone's favorite number: "Who's Joe?"
Frontier Marshal (1939), dir. Allan Dwan
Birth of Tombstone
The Wizard of Oz (1939), dir. Victor Fleming
Why is it the most artificial backdrops are somehow the most enticing?
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939), dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
The elusive thrill of victory and the all-too-common agony of defeat
The Grapes of Wrath (1940), dir. John Ford
Home sweet home is now a wasteland
Pinocchio (1940), prod. Walt Disney
A Disneyland for little devils
The Philadelphia Story (1940), dir. George Cukor
Will "Lord Marries Kittredge" go the way of "Dewey Defeats Truman"?
Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles
"I always gagged on that silver spoon."
Dumbo (1941), prod. Walt Disney
The United States, color-coded and clearly delineated like a map of Disney World
Blues in the Night (1941), dir. Anatole Litvak
Whistling their way into early noir (p.s. that's Elia Kazan on the left)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), dir. Orson Welles, Fred Fleck, Robert Wise
When comeuppance arrives he's already been forgotten...the greatest comeuppance of all
Bambi (1942), prod. Walt Disney
Twitterpated
The Talk of the Town (1942), dir. George Stevens
The letter of the law vs. the spirit of practical justice
Day of Wrath (1943), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
Wandering the Garden after the Fall
Laura (1944), dir. Otto Preminger
Past becomes present
Murder, My Sweet (1944), dir. Edward Dmytryk
"I'm a homing pigeon - I always come back to the stinking coop no matter how late it is"
Ivan The Terrible, Part I (1944), dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Pick your poison
Christmas in Connecticut (1945), dir. Peter Godfrey
Hollywood's (lost?) ability to mythologize contemporary reality
Scarlet Street (1945), dir. Fritz Lang
A noir with more twists and turns than the subway serpent
Beauty and the Beast (1946), dir. Jean Cocteau
Behold, the hand that slew men
Song of the South (1946), dir. Wilfred Jackson, Herve Foster/prod. Walt Disney
The original Toontown was in Georgia, not California
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), dir. Frank Capra
The cocoon dissolves into a spiderweb
Ivan The Terrible, Part II (1946), dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Sometimes a coronation is an execution
It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), dir. Roy del Ruth
Dressed for the occasion
Out of the Past (1947), dir. Jacques Tourneur
No noir antihero can escape his fate, even where the land is open & the air is clear
Orpheus (1950), dir. Jean Cocteau
The oddness of the everyday, the everydayness of the odd
Winchester '73 (1950), dir. Anthony Mann
For such a well-made gun, it doesn't bring much luck to its owners
Alice in Wonderland (1951), prod. Walt Disney
A fresh taste of that old Silly Symphony spirit with zany anthropomorphism
The Red Inn (1951), dir. Claude Autant-Lara
The secret in the snowman
Awaara (1951), dir. Raj Kapoor
Socially-conscious melodrama w/ comedic streak includes Berkleyesque musical dream set in hell
The Machine That Kills Bad People (1952), dir. Roberto Rossellini
Rossellini being
Rossellini, the director ends up finding the good in everyone...even the devil himself
On the Waterfront (1954), dir. Elia Kazan
Whether he wants it or not, the jacket is now his
Senso (1954), dir. Luchino Visconti
Dressed for a funeral: her lover's, her Austrian occupiers', or her own?
La Strada (1954), dir. Federico Fellini
A fable set in the modern world - just barely
Sabrina (1954), dir. Billy Wilder
The moon is reaching out for her...and so will Bogie
Floating Clouds (1955), dir. Mikio Naruse
"We march united!" sings the crowd, but the lonely couple knows better
Lady and the Tramp (1955), pres. Walt Disney
The morning after
Pyaasa (1957), dir. Guru Dutt
Still powerful, entertaining & resonant half a world away and half a century later
Men in War (1957), dir. Anthony Mann
Letting the men down the line know the path is mined
Tokyo Twilight (1957), dir. Yasujiro Ozu
For once Ozu's silences & simple dialogue express disconnection rather than mutual understanding
For once Ozu's silences & simple dialogue express disconnection rather than mutual understanding
Sweet Smell of Success (1957), dir. Alexander Mackendrick
Checking the early edition for his own obituary
Vertigo (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
The green dream
God's Little Acre (1958), dir. Anthony Mann
Old dreams die hard, be they for gold or Griselda
Paper Flowers (1959), dir. Guru Dutt
The director takes a magisterial view of the world he commands, until he falls from his perch
Mughal-E-Azam (1960), dir. K. Asif
Hallucinatory color & heightened artificiality at times anticipate (good) CGI spectacles
The Sun's Burial (1960), dir. Nagisa Oshima
Sweaty, violent look at lowlives and crooks; hard to follow at 1st, but striking & vivid
The Exiles (1961), dir. Kent MacKenzie
Displaced Native Americans haunting the overlook with alcohol
Through a Glass Darkly (1961), dir. Ingmar Bergman
The lamps are going out all over this little island - who shall see them lit again?
Ivan's Childhood (1962), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
No director better embodies the word "vision" in all its meanings
Being Two Isn't Easy (1962), dir. Kon Ichikawa
From family in theory to family in fact, united by
accidents, moves, sickness, arguments, and death
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), dir. David Lean
Crossing an ocean of sand to reach the actual sea
Mahanagar (1963), dir. Satyajit Ray
Birth of a Saleswoman
The Sword in the Stone (1963), prod. Walt Disney
Unusual Disney feature, one of its most laid-back and episodic (no commercials, though)
Charulata (1964), dir. Satyajit Ray
Terrible print, but emotions came through anyway - ennui, desire, jealousy, tenderness
Marriage Italian Style (1964), dir. Vittorio De Sica
Loren si! Mussolini no!
Courage for Every Day (1964), dir. Evald Schorm
Excellent slice of
kitchen sink with Kafkaesque touches
Alphaville (1965), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Bring two cups of coffee for the detective of emotions and the computer of neuroses
Pierrot le fou (1965), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Reborn on a beach in the south of France, making up stories about the moon
The War Game (1965), dir. Peter Watkins
What Watkins thinks of nuclear euphemisms
Simon of the Desert (1965), dir. Luis Bunuel
Even atop a column in the desert, the saint can't dodge petty truths & sexy snares
Even atop a column in the desert, the saint can't dodge petty truths & sexy snares
Born Free (1966), dir. James Hill
Swimming with a sea lion
Masculin Feminin (1966), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Living and dreaming that total film
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), dir. Mike Nichols
I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!
Nayak (1966), dir. Satyajit Ray
From cash to ash - wandering in a wasteland of wealth
Made in USA (1966), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Playfulness with emotional distance and a heavy heart
Privilege (1967), dir. Peter Watkins
The only person not watching Steven Shorter on TV is...Steven Shorter
La Chinoise (1967), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
You can't be neutral on a moving train
The Graduate (1967), dir. Mike Nichols
He's nervous about his future, she's tired of her past
Death by Hanging (1968), dir. Nagasi Oshima
Dark comedy, scathing satire, unsettling psychodrama, wrapped in newspaper & tied with a noose
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), dir. Stanley Kubrick
Creation myth for the modern age
Yellow Submarine (1968), dir. George Dunning
When I was in preschool, this film introduced me to the Beatles...and so much more besides!
Easy Rider (1969), dir. Dennis Hopper
The pushers score in a Rolls and then roll out scored by "The Pusher"
Midnight Cowboy (1969), dir. John Schlesinger
Hunting rats on the New York subway
Zabriskie Point (1970), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
Opens compellingly on campus, meanders midway in desert, soars w/ gorgeous & bizarre finale
Hi, Mom! (1970), dir. Brian De Palma
Making love at the picture window, for the benefit of the hidden camera across the street
Drive, He Said (1970), dir. Jack Nicholson
Playing ball on the wall
Five Easy Pieces (1970), dir. Bob Rafelson
Sometimes the moment of truth is also a moment of denial
Le Cercle Rouge (1970), dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
A touch of surrealism to depict the DTs
A Safe Place (1971), dir. Harry Jaglom
The dream world of innocent play, swallowed up by encroaching darkness
A Clockwork Orange (1971), dir. Stanley Kubrick
"I'm laughing at clouds, so high up above! The sun's in my heart, and I'm reeeady for love..."
Pakeezah (1972), dir. Kamal Amrohi
Don't piss off the elephants
My Childhood (1972), dir. Bill Douglas
Trapped in an oasis of steam
Jeremiah Johnson (1972), dir. Sydney Pollack
"This place is big medicine. They guard it with spirits."
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), dir. Bob Rafelson
Buying Hawaiian islands and building sand castles over lobster dinner
The Train Robbers (1973), dir. Burt Kennedy
Treasure quietly waiting to be retrieved
Pat Garret & Billy the Kid ('88 "preview version") (1973), dir. Sam Peckinpah
"You chickenshit badge-wearing sonofabitch"
Pat Garret & Billy the Kid ('05 "special edition") (1973), dir. Sam Peckinpah
Reminding Ruthie Lee who's boss - that's all he's got left
Robin Hood (1973), prod. Wolfgang Reitherman
The weak ruler relies on the noose
My Ain Folk (1973), dir. Bill Douglas
All alone in this great cruel world
Chinatown (1974), dir. Roman Polanski
An honest living in a crooked town
Lancelot du Lac (1974), dir. Robert Bresson
Into the Bressonian wood: a ghoulish, spiritually beleaguered Camelot
The Godfather Part II (1974), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Remember the good old days of the Roman Empire
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), dir. Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones
When the weather is misbehaving
Taxi Driver (1976), dir. Martin Scorsese
And these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive
All the President's Men (1976), dir. Alan Pakula
The clacking of typewriter keys sounds the President's death knell
King Kong (1976), dir. John Guillermin
The killer ape as countercultural icon
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976), dir. Alain Tanner
School of Swiss listening to a school of whales
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977), dir. Larry Jordan
Welles and Coleridge, partners in Rime
Watership Down (1978), dir. Martin Rosen
Following the Black Rabbit down the Rabbit Hole
Perceval le Gallois (1978), dir. Eric Rohmer
3 drops of blood in the snow
Superman: The Movie (1978), dir. Richard Donner
About 5 movies in 1. Overambitious perhaps, but I miss overambitious blockbusters.
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979), dir. Werner Herzog
Our Lady of the Rats
Kagemusha (1980), dir. Akira Kurosawa
Even his reflection can't tell him who he is anymore
The Shining (1980), dir. Stanley Kubrick
Do not disturb
The Big Red One (restored cut) (1980), dir. Sam Fuller
The memorial to one war becomes the battlefield for another
Atlantic City (1980), dir. Louis Malle
Wallace Shawn in a restaurant in a Louis Malle movie ... but this time as waiter, not diner
My Bloody Valentine (1981), dir. George Mihalka
Not many horror films can boast a Canadian country theme song. Apropos yesterday...
Cutter's Way (1981), dir. Ivan Passer
Alone again, naturally
Excalibur (1981), dir. John Boorman
A land of silver castles and golden dragons
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), dir. Steven Spielberg
Never realized this was Alfred Molina till now
Body Heat (1981), dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Moment of truth, courtesy Mickey Rourke
The Evil Dead (1981), dir. Sam Raimi
What's that noise?
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg
"All my friends/They all died!" - The Jim Carroll Band (first song on this soundtrack)
Conan the Barbarian (1982), dir. John Milius
True barbarians always bite back
Parsifal (1982), dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
So many fantastic images to choose from in dazzlingly weird Grail opera film
First Blood (1982), dir. Ted Kotcheff
The All-American strip becomes a war zone
Tender Mercies (1983), dir. Bruce Beresford
"You see, I never trusted happiness. Never have. Never will."
The Breakfast Club (1985), dir. John Hughes
Don't do it, Ally!
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), dir. George Cosmatos
Here's one way to exorcise the ghosts of Vietnam
Return to Oz (1985), dir. Walter Murch
Dorothy through the looking glass
Big Bird sings the blues
Commando (1985), dir. Mark Lester
"Welcome back, John"
The Flight of the Navigator (1986), dir. Randal Kleiser
Making a pit stop to take a leak
Manhunter (1986), dir. Michael Mann
Embracing the deadly beast
The Mosquito Coast (1986), dir. Peter Weir
"Not ordinary gumption, but four o'clock in the morning courage, and who's got that?"
Evil Dead II (1987), dir. Sam Raimi
FINALLY watched this movie, just in time for Halloween!
King Lear (1987), dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Cordelia weeping for her fathers, because they are no more
Yeelen (1987), dir. Souleymane Cissé
The wisdom to plant the seed, the patience to let it grow
The Brave Little Toaster (1987), dir. Jerry Rees
Don't let go, or you're toast!
The Dead (1987), dir. John Huston
Her heart forever closed to her husband
Wall Street (1987), dir. Oliver Stone
Gaming the system in the new gilded age
The Lower East Side turns into a dream, under the watchful eye of electronic elves
The Last of England (1988), dir. Derek Jarman
Empire of the spirit is extinguished in a melancholic frenzy
Alice (1988), dir. Jan Svankmajer
What are a fish and a frog without their wigs?
Gorillas in the Mist (1988), dir. Michael Apted
Red-haired witch and silverback gorilla communicate in their own private language
Dangerous Liaisons (1988), dir. Stephen Frears
It was beyond their control
Farewell to the King (1989), dir. John Milius
Watching his men dig their own graves
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), dir. Steven Spielberg
"I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne: 'Let my armies be the rocks, and the trees, and the birds in the sky.'"
The Little Mermaid (1989), prod. Howard Ashman, John Musker
Seeing it in theaters at 6, I feared an unhappy ending; no wonder - I'd read Andersen's original
Valmont (1989), dir. Milos Forman
Not for Forman the elaborate edifices of the aristocracy
Not Without My Daughter (1991), dir. Brian Gilbert
Escape through Khomeini's phone booth
Daughters of the Dust (1991), dir. Julie Dash
Figures amidst the tide, in & out w/ overlapping movements
The Double Life of Veronique (1991), dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski
Life is most delicate in its happiest moments
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), dir. Kevin Reynolds
Riding the arrow through Sherwood
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), dir. James Cameron
Ideal use of special effects for me - models, animatronics, judicious & imaginative CGI
My Own Private Idaho (1991), dir. Gus Van Sant
He has always depended on the kindness of strangers
The Fisher King (1991), dir. Terry Gilliam
The quest for the Holy Gift Exchange
Beauty and the Beast (1991), prod. Don Hahn
One of the studio's most genuine romances, along with Lady and the Tramp
Grand Canyon (1991), dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Fragile fantasy
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), dir. David Lynch
"Don't take the ring, Laura..."
Malcolm X (1992), dir. Spike Lee
Playfully mocking mortality in a Boston park, after his father's assassination but before his own
Groundhog Day (1992), dir. Harold Ramis
That right hook wasn't in Ned Ryerson's actuarial table
The Tommyknockers (1993), dir. John Power
Her mourning period was short-lived
Jurassic Park (1993), dir. Steven Spielberg
Echoing the call of the wild
Short Cuts (1993), dir. Robert Altman
Lemons, booze, soap, and blood in sunny LA
The Thief and the Cobbler (Recobbled Cut 4) (1993), dir. Richard Williams
Aladdin meets Yellow Submarine meets 60s Eastern European animation (emphasis on last)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), prod. Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi, dir. Henry Selick
No trailer ever filled me with as much excitement/anticipation as this when I was 9
The Lion King (1994), prod. Don Hahn
Gorgeously animated, thematically compelling, and oddly monarchist
Stargate (1994), dir. Roland Emmerich
Ra parks his spaceship for the afternoon
The House of Yes (1997), dir. Mark Waters
Stormy night with a family that doesn't use the past tense
Affliction (1997), dir. Paul Schrader
A toast to the damned
SubZero (1998), prod. Benjamin Melniker, Michael Uslan, Randy Rogel, Boyd Kirkland
Not as compelling as Mask of the Phantasm (Batman himself is barely a character here)
Emporte-Moi (1999), dir. Lea Pool
We see the world
through Hanna's new 8mm camera, all wobbly framing and oversaturated
colors
Cruel Intentions (1999), dir. Roger Kumble
Cultures crumble, societies fall, but some things never change
La Commune (2000), dir. Peter Watkins
Live from the barricades, Paris 1871
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), dir. Bela Tarr
The corpse of transcendence
Mulholland Dr. (2001), dir. David Lynch
¿Donde estás?
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), dir. Wes Anderson
Not an asshole, just a sonofabitch
Empire Falls (2005), dir. Fred Schepisi
What we've got here is failure to communicate
Munich (2005), dir. Steven Spielberg
Killing for the land of milk and honey
Zodiac (2007), dir. David Fincher
So close, and yet so far away
Nowhere Boy (2009), dir. Sam Taylor-Johnson
Casual tryout for the local skiffle band
Animal Kingdom (2010), dir. David Michod
A boy's best friend is his mother
Kooky (2010), dir. Jan Sverak
A treehouse is not a home
A Separation (2011), dir. Asghar Farhadi
Her last chance to listen to her hidden brother
The Snowtown Murders (2011), dir. Justin Kurzel
A sickness lingers in the stale air
A Dangerous Method (2011), dir. David Cronenberg
Transference: id to ego
Margaret (theatrical cut) (2011), dir. Kenneth Lonergan
We can't see the big picture but it doesn't matter (she doesn't realize that yet)
Simon Killer (2012), dir. Antonio Campos
Dancing with strangers
The Hunger Games (2012), dir. Gary Ross
Massacre of the innocents, PG-13 or not
Killing Them Softly (2012), dir. Andrew Dominik
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?
It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), dir. Don Hertzfeldt
So many fragments of fleeting beauty - why choose only one?
Argo (2012), dir. Ben Affleck
And the Oscar for Most Facial Hair in a Single Film goes to...
The Master (2012), dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Little sailor of the seas, floating on a park bench in Lynn, Massachusetts, or else in a dream
Frances Ha (2012), dir. Noah Baumbach
"I like things that look like mistakes"
Spring Breakers (2012), dir. Harmony Korine
Double penetration
Silver Linings Playbook (2012), dir. David O. Russell
Dug mellow-funk Philly vibe. Not entirely convinced, but low expectations exceeded.
Les Miserables (2012), dir. Tom Hooper
Many awkward bits and tedious passages, but some powerful moments as well
Django Unchained (2012), dir. Quentin Tarantino
Frankly my dear, I don't give a fuck...
Local Legends (2013), dir. Matt Farley
Welcome to the Manchester music scene. No, not that Manchester.
The Butler (2013), dir. Lee Daniels
Joining the boss for a drink can be the opposite of relaxing
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