Title: Russian Doll Release Dates: 2022 Season: 2 Number of Episodes: 7 Summary/Review:
In the first season of Russian Doll Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) must figure out why they keep dying and returning the same moment of their lives. The second season, set 4 years later, finds them traveling in time on New York City’s 6 train. Nadia ends up in 1982 in the body of her mother Lenora (Chloë Sevigny) when she was pregnant with Nadia. Alan ends up in his mother’s body in East Berlin in 1962 when she was an international graduate student from Ghana.
The show feels very different from the first season although maintaining the same level of humor and cleverness. The main theme of the show is dealing with generational trauma and Nadia coming to terms with her disappointment in her own mother while also anticipating the grief of losing her mother figure Ruthie (Elizabeth Ashley in the present day, and Annie Murphy in the past). I feel that Alan’s story gets short-shrift and the whole series concludes rather abruptly. But these are small quibbles regarding an entertaining and high-quality series.
Over the past few years I’ve made a concerted effort to watch lots of movies considered to be among the best of all time. Now, for the first time, I’ve made my own list of favorite movies of all time. Every other Wednesday throughout 2022, I will be revealing ten movies in my list of 250 Favorite Movies of All Time.
Title: Best in Show Director: Christopher Guest Cast: Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard Year: 2000 When did I first watch this movie?: 2000, at the theaters Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The funniest of the improv-based comedies created by Christopher Guest and company, Best in Show is an affectionate satire of the goofiness of dog show culture.
159
Title: Sophie’s Choice Director: Alan J. Pakula Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol Year: 1982 When did I first watch this movie?: Early 1990s Why is this one of my all time favorites?: An adaptation of William Styron’s novel set in post-World War II Brooklyn which tells a story of love and friendship destroyed by mental illness and the lingering trauma of the Holocaust. Features spectacular performances by Streep and Kline (in his first major film role).
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Title: Yojimbo Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Atsushi Watanabe Year: 1961 When did I first watch this movie?: February 2021 Why is this one of my all time favorites?: Kurosawa tells the story of a wandering samurai who saves a town from the grip of two rival gangs by basically destroying the town. It’s a comic action film with increasingly dark undertones that’s influenced generations of Hollywood “antihero” stories. Plus there’s fantastic cinematography, music, and acting.
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Title: King Kong Director: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot Year: 1933 When did I first watch this movie?: Early 1980s, on Thanksgiving! Why is this one of my all time favorites?: THE classic monster horror film about a giant ape whose story has been a favorite since childhood. There’s a balance here of weighing nostalgia against the racist/sexist baggage this film carries. But it’s vast influence on blockbuster movies is undeniable.
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Title: Stalag 17 Director: Billy Wilder Cast: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger Year: 1953 When did I first watch this movie?: Mid 80s on cable Why is this one of my all time favorites?: Just a really compelling WWII prison camp story with a mix of drama, humor, and thrills.
155
Title: Bloody Sunday Director: Paul Greengrass Cast: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley, Kathy Kiera Clarke Year: 2002 When did I first watch this movie?: January 2003 at Brattle Theatre Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The shocking massacre of civil rights protestors in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1972 is recreated in this verite-style film which features multiple perspectives and capturing the “fog of war.”
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Title: Being John Malkovich Director: Spike Jonze Cast: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, Orson Bean, Mary Kay Place, John Malkovich Year: 1999 When did I first watch this movie?: 1999, in the theaters Why is this one of my all time favorites?: An unsettling fantasy film explores the concept of celebrity and allows John Cusack to be completely unlikable, but is nonetheless a wonderfully weird movie.
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Title: The Apartment Director: Billy Wilder Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Edie Adams Year: 1960 When did I first watch this movie?: February 2020 Why is this one of my all time favorites?: A midcentury comedy that satires the seedy underbelly of capitalism and the American Dream with Jack Lemmon as the put-upon mensch and Shirley MacLaine in one of her best all-time roles.
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Title: Clueless Director: Amy Heckerling Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd Year: 1995 When did I first watch this movie?: Around 1996 Why is this one of my all time favorites?: The teen comedy reinvented for the 1990s with the story of a rich and popular Beverly Hills girl dedicating her life to doing good deeds. The movie both captured and influenced youth culture of the era.
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Title: Mean Girls Director: Mark Waters Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey Year: 2004 When did I first watch this movie?: 2004, on an airplane! Why is this one of my all time favorites?: It’s funny that this ended up in the list next to Clueless, because Mean Girls is the definitive teen comedy of its own decade. Tina Fey adapted a serious self-help book into an incisive comedy about cliques and bullying among high school girls.
Panorama of the Mountains 