The last Steven Spielberg film I watched was Ready Player One and that was only because it was on a flight. The last one that I’d actually sought out to watch was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and we hated it. I was doubtful that I’d ever watch a Spielberg film again but then he made what is effectively his autobiography and of course it instantly becomes essential watching. At first, I was annoyed by how this film telegraphs every single thing that it wants to say so very obviously. Yet I found myself immersed all the same in the world of Spielberg’s childhood and its insights about the power of cinema. By the end, it’s impossible to deny the conclusion that this is a triumph both artistically and personally for Spielberg himself.

I don’t think this Western is that well known today but back in the day it seemed to have been successful enough to spawn a remake and other adaptations. It stars James Stewart and certainly makes for a different kind of Western as he plays a lawman who tries his best to be a pacifist. Together with the musical sequences featuring Marlene Dietrich, that makes this interesting enough and entertaining enough to be worth watching in my book.

This is an English language science-fiction film from Lithuania and I so love how different it is from work produced in the west. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world which is normal enough except that biotechnology dominates and all that is left of civilization depends on it. The plot is mostly solid with good acting by its mainly British cast and the visuals of weird synthetic organisms are appropriately otherworldly and fantastic. My only complaint is that the setting is very grim, yet the main heroine is way too hopeful and nice a person for what she must have lived through.

Banned from making films in Iran and barred from leaving the country, director Jafar Panahi is up to his usual tricks again. Here he purports to be remotely directing a film that takes place in Turkey while being holed up in a small village near the border. It’s a brilliant premise that is clearly inspired by his real life troubles but it would be silly to believe that any of this were actually real. Panahi’s films are usually rather mild in tone even as they are rebuking the Iranian authorities. This one therefore marks a notable departure with how grim and dark it is, reflecting the worsening outlook for freedom in the country.

This feels more like a documentary or even an ethnographic study in video form than a film. Indeed this made was by director Charles Burnett as his masters’ thesis. It features music from some big names and since it never secured the rights to them until 2007, it wasn’t even legal to release this. It seems that many people still managed to watch this and in the intervening time, its reputation has grown until it is now considered one of the greatest films of all time. I’d say that this is certainly something special and the music it uses is absolutely essential to its identity. This is another one of those films that aim only to capture a specific place, time and people and it does nothing short of bringing them to life before your eyes.

This subtly understated film is the directorial debut of Charlotte Wells and is so good that it instantly marks her as someone to take note of. The premise of a father and daughter visiting Turkey sounded great to me but I became less enthused as it became clear that they mostly just spend their time inside the resort. Yet we watch them engaging in a variety of mundane holiday activities, the full depth of the film emerges only slowly as the most important moments are actually the ones that are implied but never directly shown.

Continuing with my exploration of the works of Studio Ghibli, here’s the more childish Kiki’s Delivery Service. In terms of production values, this is a far cruder film than Spirited Away. There’s so little detail in the trees and landscape that Kiki whizzes past. Thematically it’s also much simpler, about a girl finding her independence and nothing else. Yet it’s so sweet and so heartfelt that I think I like it more. Spirited Away is objectively the superior film but this one is truer to itself, knowing what it wants to do and sticking to just that. My one major complaint is that Hayao Miyazaki is so obvious here about how he has a fetish for flying and wants to showcase it everywhere. Come on, there’s such a thing as too much.