I don’t think I even have a single film starring Brigitte Bardot in this blog though she’s an icon of French cinema. Here she appears in a film by Jean-Luc Godard which also includes Hollywood star Jack Palance and the famous German director Fritz Lang. This isn’t considered one of Godard’s best films but it is interesting in some ways and is easy to comprehend. As it is a film set during the filming of an adaptation of the Odyssey, the characters’ debates about their work applies directly to itself. Apart from this, there are no tricks with form and structure and so this is a relatively conventional film.

This is a tiny independent film that is its director Francis Galluppi’s debut and won over all the critics. It’s easy to see why from the get go with its charm, warm visuals and even the simple story is used to its advantage. It’s such an ode to cinema, wearing its influences on its sleeve, that it sometimes feels like an audition tape but it all comes together very nicely. Unfortunately it runs a little longer than necessary as it keeps piling on layer after layer of plot complications when it should have ended much earlier and that only exposes the thinness of its messaging.

I keep adding these old masterpieces out of a sense of duty but I have to admit that I don’t always enjoy actually watching them. This is the second film by Masaki Kobayashi on my list and I will say that it is easily one of the best samurai films I’ve ever seen. Seppuku itself is now part of the popular vernacular and so hardly alien. Yet the film still succeeds in making it feel viscerally real, dissecting the practice bit by bit with a critical eye. I loved the slow buildup of tension through the extensive dialogue, culminating in explosive violence that literally tramples on traditional notions of samurai honor. I’d expected something much more reverential but this one really doesn’t hold back its contempt for the samurai warrior ethos.

We watched Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng’s debut film some time ago and nothing since because they didn’t seem notable enough. Now here he is with an outstanding film that all the more surprising because of how French it is. This is nothing less than a pure love letter to classical French cuisine that is simply overflowing with passion for food. The term food porn is now part of vernacular but this film takes it to a new extreme and even weaves food deeply into the relationship between the two main characters. I’m not a foodie so I’m left bemused by its audacity but I have to admire the director’s total commitment and the excellence of the execution.

This film won a ton of critical acclaim and gave my wife and I plenty to talk about afterwards, so that’s always a good sign. I suspected at first that this dealt with prejudice against immigrants in Germany but it’s so much more than that. It details the impossibly complex dynamics that teachers in first world countries must navigate in the modern world with all parties, fellow teachers, students, parents, all having a say in everything that they do. In the end director İlker Çatak doesn’t seem to lead us to any firm conclusions but it is a captivating look into the German classroom and it asks good questions.

I pretty much love every film I’ve watched by Sidney Lumet so it was only a matter of time before I got around to this one, especially as it is about a case I’ve actually heard about. Real-life stories like this are hard to portray on film as they involve so many characters and take place over an extended period of time. So it’s very impressive how Lumet was able to distil a basic biography of the man, detail his relationships with women and fellow police officers, and cover his futile attempts to report police corruption over several years in little more than two hours. I don’t much care for films about police as a rule, nor do I have much sympathy for Frank Serpico, but this is an exceptional film on every level.

I enjoyed the first Inside Out way back when it was released and it took a surprisingly long time for them to come out with this sequel. Arguably too long as we’ve long since lost any emotional connection to the characters and 2024 feels like a different era than 2015. The premise of Riley’s puberty ramping up all of her emotions and introducing a whole host new ones is a promising one. But it mostly feels like a reprise of the first film with the trite lesson that every part of Riley has a role to play. Even more disappointing is that it refuses to show any meanness whatsoever so it’s unconvincing and boringly low stakes throughout.