Man Movies

We’ve still got a lot of movies that start with “M” on our list, but we’ve muddled our way through the manly films — that is, films that start with the word “man.”

Bestest:

• The Man in the White Suit — 1951. Brilliant.

Quite good:

• A Man for All Seasons — 1966. The King has big shoulder pads.
• The Man Who Wasn’t There — 2001. Great atmosphere. Great mood. Great look. Fun to watch, at least if you’re a noir-lovin’ fool like me. But it veers into gratuitous weirdness toward the end.

Interesting:

• Man with the Movie Camera — 1929. Fast-paced montage, with no narrative, plot, dialog or characters. Great soundtrack.
• Man of Aran — 1934. First talkie by the “Father of the Documenary,” this looks like documentary, but is actually fiction. A deeply flawed but nonetheless fascinating piece of cinema. The story of the film is even more intriguing than the film itself.

Not so good:

• Man on Fire — 2004. Good performances. Artsy production (which I liked). But this is a shamelessly manipulative revenge fantasy, a nasty piece of trickery. It’s like emotional blackmail. It left me feeling dirty.
• The Man Who Fell to Earth — 1976. Kind of boring, not to mention confusing, but stylish.