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Mon Oncle (1958)
Rediculously funny. This is the warm center of Tati's life work, the crossroads between the silly human comedies that came before it and the complex commentaries on modernity that came after; wonderfully, this film takes a little from both recipes and the result is a perfect concoction which is always entertaining but also thought-provoking. Some of the finest Tati moments are contained within this movie, including several choice scenes involving bored kids, a fish fountain, modern kitchens and garage doors. Tati's immortal character, M. Hulot, is so easy to laught at, but also to connect with. His blundering misadventures are totally hysterical, but there is something to be said about the plausible and tragic possibility of being left behind by an always-evolving world.
The House of the Devil (2009)
"They don't write 'em like that anymore". Ti West gets it; and, thanks to his passion for horror, his understanding of the intracacies that make it work, and an extremely creative directorial vision, he has helmed the most exquisite horror film of the last decade, at the very least. This is high art, the kind of slow-burn, character driven terror story that simply isn't told today, thanks to a supply and demand process fueled by a mass with no patience and no desire to experience real suspense. Though on its surface the film might start off looking like an homage, or a simple throwback to the genre, West quickly reassures us that he isn't just playing games. While he does nod to the nostalgic pleasures of horror generations past (an incredibly fun and effective score by Jeff Grace, eye-popping gritty cinematography by Eliot Rockett), this is a serious and effective story on its own. I cannot say enough good things about this movie, and I cannot express the importance I feel that filmmakers and films like these have amongst a world of trash.
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