20 Movies From a 10 Day Quarantine - Part 2: #10 - 1

Warner Bros. released their first motion picture, a war drama titled My Four Years in Germany, in March of 1918. That same year, Louis B. Mayer moved to Los Angeles to produce his first film, Virtuous Wives under the banner of his new production company, MGM. These titans of cinema both somehow found traction amidst a global pandemic and a World War that would claim over 70 million lives.

It's wild to think of the hard work and dedication that kept the gears turning through such tumultuous times. Thanks to that perseverance, I can sit at home and stream films from these studios over 100 years later while holed up due to another worldwide pandemic.

So allow me to present, with humble appreciation, my little top 10 list (including 2 from MGM) of the movies that made being quarantined a little more tolerable.

Part 1: #20 - 11

Part 2: #10 - 1

10. A l'interieur (Inside) (2007)

A woman in her third trimester of pregnancy has the stabbiest Christmas ever when a scissor-wielding stalker breaks into her house in this French home-invasion horror flick.

It's the most visceral movie I've seen this year and it had me pacing my living room and hiding behind the couch in distress. The sound design is disturbing as hell but pales in comparison to the close-up kills in this gore-fest. 

Even though it was by far my most unpleasant viewing experience, it's not at the bottom of this list. I've got to give credit where credit's due. The acting, pratical effects, editing, sound design and the absolutely nutso ending made up for the physical discomfort and shitty horror movie logic.

9. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

This sharp and sweet romantic-comedy is the precursor to "You've Got Mail". Our two leads (Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, pictured above) meet through a classified ad in a newspaper. They begin to pen anonymous romantic letters to one and another whilst working together in the same retail goods shop, Matsuchek and Company. The two-pen pals are unaware of the other's in-person identity. 

To all of us who have worked in the retail industry, Matsuchek and Company will feel very familiar. The comradery between coworkers, the kind-hearted but overbearing boss, as well as the gossip and occasional dupicity, still exist in working spaces now much the same way they did in 1940.

The jokes sneak up on you and are easy to miss as they come peppered through quick and snappy line readings. There just aren't many romantic comedies quite as pleasantly amusing as this one.

8. Trading Places (1983)

Trading Places takes a formalistic approach to the body-swap comedy genre (versus the mystical used in movies like Freaky Friday and The Hot Chick). In it, successful business broker Winthrope (Dan Akroyd) loses his status and position in society to conman Valentine (Eddie Murphy) due to a wager the owners of his brokerage firm make. 

We're a product of our environment and if we are removed from our current one and placed in an entirely different one, we will inherent new qualities and characteristics to match our present surroundings. It's a compelling thesis for an 80's comedy that you've probably all seen before but I just got around to watching.

It takes place during Christmastime with cameo appearances by SNL comedy alums including James Belushi and Al Fraken. More than the clever concept, it's the madcap slapstick performances by the entire cast that make this a holiday comedy classic.

7. Prospect (2018)

The Olympic Peninsula serves as inspiration for this low-budget sci-fi thriller about a father/daughter mining operation on an alien planet gone sideways.

Seattle directors Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl spent their college years backpacking throughout the peninsula and always thought, with its dense greens and isolated habitats, that it kind of looked like an alien planet.

The pair returned to the Hoh Rainforest for a 2-week backpacking trip, this time it also served as location scouting for their film premise,

The father/daughter duo navigates the alien planet 'prospecting' for valuable ore. The directors managed to craft a thrilling tale of survival and negotiation on a micro-budget with props that look like they were picked up from thrift stores. 

It's a fantastic exercise in what you can do to an environment that's familiar to many by simply recontextualizing it. The movie primarily belongs to Sophie Thatcher (who plays the daughter) but it is Pedro Pascal and his charm that ultimately keep things speeding along. The plot is competent, but Prospect's best feature is showing us we've got an alien planet in our own backyard, right here in the PNW.

6. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

An excavation team in Finland works to unearth the original Santa Claus, who, in this universe, is a demonic presence who boils naughty children.

Young Finnish actor Onni Tommila plays Pietari, the 11-year-old son of a reindeer hunter. He's been studying the legend of Santa Claus and knows Old Saint Knick's true intentions, he's the only one in town preparing for the worst.

I'm going to refrain from sharing too much more because I don't want to spoil as this adventure that doubles as a hilarious, dark comedy. Its run time is a brisk 80 minutes, just hop on this sleigh ride for a jolly good time.

5. Badlands (1973)

Badlands + Cocaine = True Romance

I love catching up on the movies that inspired some of my favorites. True Romance simply lifted the plot of Badlands and injected some Tarantino dialogue ("I know I'm pretty, but I'm not as pretty as a pair of titties"). From the story to the narration, even the use of steel drums on the score.

Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek have believable chemistry as a wildly inappropriate couple (he's a 25 and a murderer, she's 15) who go on a dour crime spree across the Dakota Badlands and into Montana.

Loosely based on the real-life crime-spree of Charles Starkweather and Carol Ann Fugate in 1958, Badlands is director Terrance Malick at his most accessible. As someone who was totally lost watching later films of his like Tree of Life, that's a big plus for me.

4. Dr. No (1962)

The first-ever Bond flick takes place in Jamaica, where my wife and I honeymooned last year.

Since I've been back, I've been searching for a visual that represents the amount to Red Stripe I drank while there. At one point in Dr. No, Bond punches a bartender he's been interrogating and sends him sailing into a dozen crates full of Red Stripe, and I thought, that's about right. 

This one doesn't disappoint. Come for the dope credit sequence, stay for the hazmat henchmen.

3. Days of Heaven

Another beauty by director Terrance Malick. This film is gorgeous, and not just because of a young Richard Gere.

The 1979 academy award for Best Cinematography deservedly went to Nestor Almendros for his work on this film. His camera catches the beauty and perils of working as a laborer on a farm in Texas during the early 1900s.

2. Seven Samurai (1954)

This has been on my watch list for ages but I've always been scared away by the 210 minute run time. It took quarantine to get to it, and wow.

3+ hours and not a minute wasted. A truly spectacular and epic feat by director Akira Kurosawa and I can't recommend it enough. There's an intermission at the 1:45 mark that is a great breakpoint in case you also find yourself intimidated by the long duration.

1. The Apartment (1960)

This was my first ever Jack Lemmon movie and I found watching him to be absolutely intoxicating. He plays an insurance agent whose coworkers walk over him so much you'd think he was a doormat, but he lights up like a candle whenever he's around the office elevator operator Fran, played by Shirley MacLaine. 

Lemmon brings a comedic physicality to the role that propels every scene he's in. Its virtuosity through absurdity, his exaggerated movements and flair more mirror that of a stage actor than someone acting in front of a camera. His comedic timing is impeccable and I was in stitches throughout the 2-hour runtime.

Fred MacMurray is Weinstein levels of vile as an executive of the company who's having an affair with Fran. The corrupt corporate culture of corruption, abuse and infidelity makes The Apartment ripe for a remake, but let's just let this one be. It's perfect as-is.