First Time Watches - January
The first month of the new year began with a bunch of bangers. Several of these wound up on my Best of 2025 list.
Song Sung Blue (2025), directed by Craig Brewer
The antidote to all those reverent musical biopics about great men. This is about mediocre people who only want to sing Neil Diamond songs in bars. Jackman and Hudson are great. A bracing snapshot of the real, weird America.
First Comes Courage (1943), directed by Dorothy Arzner
I am just catching up to Arzner, the first consistently working female director in Hollywood history. The gateway drug was Merrily We Go to Hell, one of the most unflinching films about alcoholism ever made. This one is set in the heart of Nazi Resistance Germany, so had a particular resonance today. It is Pro-Resistance and anti-Nazi, to be clear.
Marty Supreme (2025), directed by Josh Safdie
It is, of course, impossible to ignore the rumors and accusations as they are, of course, very bad. But god dang, what a movie.
Uptight (1968), directed by Jules Dassin
I wrote about Uptight here.
Entranced Earth (1967), directed by Glauber Rocha
I got into Brazilian cinema for the first time this year, shamefully, inspired by my introduction to Filho (see below). Rocha was like the Orson Welles of Brazilian cinema. I had seen Black God, White Devil, of course, but this one was more obscure but no less filled with memorable imagery and politics, politics, politics.
The Secret Agent (2025), directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Pictures of Ghosts (2023), directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Filho's time has come. Be sure not to miss the incredible Bacurau. Not a first time watch but my Filho introduction and a masterpiece.
The Ice Tower (2025), directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic
My first Lucile Hadzihalilovic Note to self: see more Lucile Hadzihalilovic movies (Earwig, Evolution, Innocence).
La Verite (1960), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Brigitte Bardot's death in late December made me realize I had seen almost none of her films (Contempt and And God Created Woman, and that was it). This potboiler, directed by H.G. Clouzot, was at the height of her mania and comments very effectively in B.B.'s sexpot image. She plays a woman on trial for murdering her boyfriend, and she shows very clearly she was not just a pretty face and figure. She is genuinely moving. Too bad she was such an off-the-court loser.
Le Signe du Lion (1959), directed by Eric Rohmer
Rohmer's first feature film concerns Pierre (Jess Hahn), a loutish American musician living down and out in Paris. Pierre is largely a swindler and, when an inheritance falls through, he can't pay his rent. When his acquaintances, whom he leans heavily upon (they don't seem to mind that much) leave town for one reason or another, finds himself homeless.
Most of the film consists of one beautifully composed shot after another of Pierre shambling through Paris, trying to survive the hot August day. A resonant film for me as I spent most of my 20's living basically like Pierre, sponging off my friends, sleeping on couches, trying to convince myself and others I was an artist. It never got quite this bad for me, but I was lucky, I guess.
A time machine trip to the City of Light, circa 1959. If you are feeling nostalgic for Paris or are longing to go, this will suffice for a while. With an amusing cameo by Jean-Luc Godard, who needle drops a snippet of Louis Saguer on a turntable over and over again.
