In the 14th week of 2020 for Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We return to the subject of the Seven Deadly Sins in the theme of greed. A theme that play into the dark aspects of humanity as it’s more about wanting more and making sure no one else has anything. Considering the times we’re in and that here in America, we have a personification of greed who not only runs the country but is also putting its people down the fucking toilet. Here are my three picks:
1. Shallow Grave
Danny Boyle’s feature film debut isn’t just a fascinating subject on the theme of greed but also in its exploration of human nature. It’s about three flat mates from Edinburgh who take in a mysterious man only to later find him dead but with a suitcase full of money. It is where the film really takes hold as these three people figure out what to do as some are willing to spend while there is someone who becomes unhinged about where the money comes from and all hell starts to break loose. It is an incredible debut film from Danny Boyle which also features longtime Boyle regular Ewan McGregor in his one of his first film roles.
2. There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s Oil! is a film that is dark representation of greed in how a man whose discovery of oil and the oil boom that would emerge in Southern California in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. Featuring Daniel Day-Lewis in a terrifying yet monstrous performance as a man who goes into the oil business is a study of obsession and power. It shows what a man is willing to do to succeed but also has to endure moments that would shake him but also the sacrifices he would make into his success but at the cost of his own morality and lack of compassion.
3. Knives Out
Rian Johnson’s mystery-comedy is definitely one of the finest films of the 2010s so far as it explores a family whose patriarch had died suddenly as they wonder who will gain his inheritance while an investigator wonders what happened. In the middle of all of this is a young nurse who was caring for this patriarch who created an empire of novels yet had plans about his inheritance as it leads to family members wanting that inheritance. It’s a film that is full of twists and turns that also include some dark secrets as well as revelations about members of the family and why they might’ve been cut off from the inheritance. Daniel Craig’s performance as the investigator Benoit Blanc is a joy to watch as is Chris Evan’s performance as the family’s black sheep in Ransom. Yet, it is Ana de Armas that is the real break out as the nurse Marta who cares for the patriarch played with such reverence by Christopher Plummer.
© thevoid99 2020
9 comments:
We match on There Will Be Blood! Love that movie and Knives Out. I haven't seen your first pick though.
I thought DDL was great in There Will Be Blood but I didn't like the film. It's a very good fit however.
It's been a long time since I've seen Shallow Grave but remember thinking it had a decent concept and good performances.
I did really enjoy Knives Out a great deal even if it underused Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette. Aside from that the three performers you mentioned were standouts and I liked what LaKeith Stanfield did with a role that could have been a nothing. Amazing production design!
I went with three that are interconnected by the fact that the first eventually played into the production of the others.
Greed (1924)-Small town dentist John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) makes an enemy for life when he falls for his best friend Marcus’s (Jean Hersholt) girl Trina (ZaSu Pitts) and marries her. Unexpectedly Trina wins a $5000 lottery (equivalent to almost 80 thousand in current dollars) which turns the once docile and retiring woman into an obsessed miser leading to enormous tragedy for all three. Director Erich von Stroheim’s controversial epic was originally over nine hours long and for the few who saw it said to be a masterwork. MGM demanded cuts with various editors hacking it down to just over two hours and destroying the rest. It has been restored to 239 minutes through the use of existing elements but the original is lost.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)-In Mexico wanderers Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) befriend old prospector Howard (director John Huston’s father Walter who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and together they head to the Sierra Madre mountains to look for gold. They find treasure but it comes at a high price, first in the form of bandits roaming the wilderness but ultimately more so by the greed that consumes them. Though based on the B. Traven novel director Huston sited the ’24 Greed as a major influence.
Greedy (1994)-Elderly tycoon Joe McTeague (Kirk Douglas) is surrounded by his family, a pack of greedy vultures that include Phil Hartman, Ed Begley, Jr. and Bob Balaban, all circling him looking to get their hands on his cash. Joe seeing through their machinations lets it be known he might leave his money to his nurse Robin (Nancy Travis). In an attempt to convince him they are sincere they find estranged grandson Daniel (Michael J. Fox) but that leads to more trouble than they counted on. The ’24 film is given a comic twist here.
Knives Out is such a great pick! I'm hating myself so much for not thinking about it.
I like all three of these choices.
Of them, I've had the most push-back on Shallow Grave, which I find to be the right level of disturbing. I do like Boyle in general, though, so I'm probably predisposed to like it.
I enjoyed the hell out of Knives Out. I'm looking forward to watching it again.
Yet another reminder that I still need to see Knives Out.
Great picks all.
I have seen There Will Be Blood which is an excellent, but unlikeable, film. The bowling scene near the end is horrifying. I need to see Knives Out
@Brittani-Shallow Grave is a recent pick that I saw as I knew it fit in with that list.
@joel65913-Greed is the one film that I really want to see but I never could find the time while my DVR service hasn't been good in recording due to timing issues.
@Sonia-That's OK, you made some good picks as well.
@SJHoneywell-I think Shallow Grave is one of Boyle's better films as I'm so dreading to watch Yesterday.
@Wendell-See it now.
@Jay-Thank you.
@Birgit-Go see Knives Out. It's such good fun.
Nice picks! I haven't seen Shallow Grave, but I love your other two picks. There Will Be Blood is one of Daniel's best performances, and I can't get enough of Knives Out too.
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