Author Archives: Nick the Movie Baker

Postmodern cinema tends to refuse the single narrative, often to choosing to tell many stories about different characters than one tale about one protagonist. A trend within this trend is telling different stories about one character with different identities. Such is the case with Teddie/Andrew in Shutter Island (2010) and Betty/Diane in Mulholland Drive (2001).Continue reading “Us (2019): The Postmodern Performance(s)”

Shutter Island (2010) is either the film with the most gas-lighting or the most unreliable narrator, depending on how the viewer looks at it. The fact that it chooses neither is what makes the movie a Gothic masterpiece. No narrative is completely true, nor is either side completely right. Although Teddie plays the role ofContinue reading “Shutter Island (2010): The Freedom of Postmodern Cinema”

In the Mood for Love (2000) is to the brim with monotony, from the score recurring constantly in the film to certain scenes being played out in near identical fashion. While this repetition at first appears to be boring and filler in what is frankly a short movie, it serves the purpose of realistically portrayingContinue reading “In the Mood for Love (2000): The Benefits of Repetition and the Deprivation of Scarcity”

Inglorious Basterds (2009) is self-indulgently fantastical. Stylistically and historically, it is an outlandish film that thrives in how outlandish it is. Hitler, Goebbels and all the other Nazi elite weren’t gunned down in a burning theater as a giant face laughed at their demise. Yet, this betrayal of history is not a drawback from theContinue reading “Inglorious Basterds (2009): Fictionally Factual”

Cache (2005) is an ambiguous film that refuses to tell the audience anything. There is little exposition in the movie, and whatever exposition there is provided by speakers like Georges who discuss their past. But even these sources are untrustworthy. Director Michael Haneke calls upon viewers to notice details and subtle implications themselves so theyContinue reading “Cache (2005): The Thinly Veiled Fear of the Foreigner”

Spike Lee’s breakout film Do the Right Thing (1989) is tonally irreverent. There are scenes showing community and solidarity, and then following that tirades flooding stereotypical expletives and slurs. The viewer is put in an uncomfortable no-man’s land, polarized by Radio Raheem’s two rings, Love and Hate. Another binary opposition is at play throughout theContinue reading “Do the Right Thing (1989): The Jarring Battle Between Love and Hate”

Prior to the New Wave, there were no sensitive men in films. Flawed, yes. But soft? Never. Male protagonists were reserved or cynical, perhaps hardened by a tough life, like Casablanca‘s Rick. Emotions were never worn on the sleeve. To show happiness, audiences would be lucky to get a sly smile, like Sunset Boulevard‘s Joe.Continue reading “Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Robbed of Toxic Masculinity”

To this point, we have studied films in which adult male protagonists traverse professionally lit sound-stages and back-lots adhering to a dramatic script with a clear beginning, middle and end, often containing a B-story where the guy tries to get the girl. It is the clear-cut studio-era formula to film-making. The 400 Blows (1959) spitsContinue reading “The 400 Blows (1959): What’s New About the New Wave”

Surprises are often what makes a story compelling. The various twists and reveals throughout the course of two-hour tale are what make movie-watching an unpredictable experience. If everything were explained in the first ten minutes of a film, there’d be no reason to continue watching. Things must be hidden for the viewer to discover withContinue reading “Rear Window (1954): How Obscurity Leads to Prosperity in Design”

Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a critique of Hollywood’s artificiality and manipulation of ambitious youth trying to make it big. The obvious example is the film’s star Norma Desmond, an aged actress from the Silent Era hoping to make a “return” (not a comeback, as she’ll “reprimand” you for the slightest implication of inferiority) to theContinue reading “Sunset Boulevard (1950): The Wicked Dream”