if you live in LA, you can work the wry observations in Los Angeles Plays Itself into almost any conversation. I also really enjoyed the youtube short Vancouver Never Plays Itself.
I assume the threshold for "higher than middlebrow" would be a focus on cinema as an art form not primarily centered on America (aside from Hollywood's golden age, obviously). For any Actual Cinephile it is unserious to include more than a handful of American films (at the very most!) among this millennium's 25 best so far. This blogspot continues to be the best highbrow list resource out there: https://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/
There is a probably special category of "foreign language originals that had hollywood remakes" that does a lot of social signalling, because you can make the highbrow claim whilst nodding to the middlebrow in a way most people will understand.
Classics in this category are Abre los ojos (Vanilla Sky), Infernal Affairs (the Departed) and the original Taxi (not the Kimmel/Latifah remake)
Not going to quibble with ranking Ghost of Mars among Carpenter's worst, but calling Redacted Brian DePalma's worst is a complete misclassification.
Remaking Casualties of War shorn of any studio sheen, attempts at visual lyricism, and movie star talent, instead opting for something this ugly is a righteous choice, especially considering the source material. You will be hard pressed to find another film from a mainstream Hollywood director that is this angry, this politically engaged/enraged; especially taking into account the moment it was made. The final shot ranks among DePalma's best, an absolute gut punch. I highly recommend these two letterboxd reviews for a more articulate defense:
What's interesting about 'best of' lists - and is something that your article gets at but the Times list very much does not - is less the individual movies that get on the list, since that reflects the arbitrariness of personal taste, viewing experience, "whoops-I-forgot-one"-ness and more the logic, either explicit or implicit, behind the selections.
Because it's an understanding of that logic that allows the list to be a useful guide. (Which the Times list very much isn't, except as very fun timekilling clickbait and a window into a vaguely understood and rather culturally archaic notion of prestige, as you note.)
So, while I personally might agree with some of your picks (A Touch of Sin), have seen one at a now-closed drive in and remember it being comically bad (War of the Worlds) and feel annoyed to have forgotten one (Inside Man), the logic behind your choices makes it a really appealing way of learning about some new movies.
(FWIW, I personally ended up with a list of 40 titles, would rank The Century of the Self over Los Angeles Plays Itself, Wild Goose Lake over Election, and Emilia Perez over Un Prophete, but that's the stuff of actual conversation, not comment posts.)
I wouldn't normally turn this into 'what about this film?' but, its absence from the list it suggests you don't know about it and I think it'd be right up your street: JCVD (2008, dir Mabrouk El Mechri). Apologies for turning this into a 'what about this film?' thread.
middle highbrow: TSPDT
high highbrow: piero scaruffi
if you live in LA, you can work the wry observations in Los Angeles Plays Itself into almost any conversation. I also really enjoyed the youtube short Vancouver Never Plays Itself.
Max I know my subscription alone doesn’t pay your bills but I will happily give money to any writer I like who shows that much love to Inside Man.
I assume the threshold for "higher than middlebrow" would be a focus on cinema as an art form not primarily centered on America (aside from Hollywood's golden age, obviously). For any Actual Cinephile it is unserious to include more than a handful of American films (at the very most!) among this millennium's 25 best so far. This blogspot continues to be the best highbrow list resource out there: https://tenbestfilms.blogspot.com/
"Trap" at number 10 is certainly the gonzo shit
Note also Tony Scott's Déjà Vu at number 4 on the 2006 list.
There is a probably special category of "foreign language originals that had hollywood remakes" that does a lot of social signalling, because you can make the highbrow claim whilst nodding to the middlebrow in a way most people will understand.
Classics in this category are Abre los ojos (Vanilla Sky), Infernal Affairs (the Departed) and the original Taxi (not the Kimmel/Latifah remake)
love this list - thank you for sharing! adding some to the ol' watchlist, and prioritizing others. (exclusively from your tier 3!)
Not going to quibble with ranking Ghost of Mars among Carpenter's worst, but calling Redacted Brian DePalma's worst is a complete misclassification.
Remaking Casualties of War shorn of any studio sheen, attempts at visual lyricism, and movie star talent, instead opting for something this ugly is a righteous choice, especially considering the source material. You will be hard pressed to find another film from a mainstream Hollywood director that is this angry, this politically engaged/enraged; especially taking into account the moment it was made. The final shot ranks among DePalma's best, an absolute gut punch. I highly recommend these two letterboxd reviews for a more articulate defense:
https://letterboxd.com/brofromanother/film/redacted/
https://letterboxd.com/michael7e/film/redacted/
I watched it last spring and have not been able to stop thinking about, like a blister on the roof of your mouth that won't go away.
As someone writing a book about it, I'm very happy to see Kill List on here.
What's interesting about 'best of' lists - and is something that your article gets at but the Times list very much does not - is less the individual movies that get on the list, since that reflects the arbitrariness of personal taste, viewing experience, "whoops-I-forgot-one"-ness and more the logic, either explicit or implicit, behind the selections.
Because it's an understanding of that logic that allows the list to be a useful guide. (Which the Times list very much isn't, except as very fun timekilling clickbait and a window into a vaguely understood and rather culturally archaic notion of prestige, as you note.)
So, while I personally might agree with some of your picks (A Touch of Sin), have seen one at a now-closed drive in and remember it being comically bad (War of the Worlds) and feel annoyed to have forgotten one (Inside Man), the logic behind your choices makes it a really appealing way of learning about some new movies.
(FWIW, I personally ended up with a list of 40 titles, would rank The Century of the Self over Los Angeles Plays Itself, Wild Goose Lake over Election, and Emilia Perez over Un Prophete, but that's the stuff of actual conversation, not comment posts.)
https://substack.com/@keenmiler/note/c-129342124
That’s a too long way of saying the Times list was mostly interesting for how uninteresting the editors managed to make it.
AZOR supremacy is real
I wouldn't normally turn this into 'what about this film?' but, its absence from the list it suggests you don't know about it and I think it'd be right up your street: JCVD (2008, dir Mabrouk El Mechri). Apologies for turning this into a 'what about this film?' thread.
Inquiring minds want to know if you’ve seen Caught by the Tides yet…
What's the consensus canon for high highbrow
https://open.substack.com/pub/maxread/p/the-read-max-watch-list?r=53sw&utm_medium=ios
The Slant 100 essential is in the highbrow mix somewhere https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/100-essential-films/