Phillip Youmans

@phillipyoumans

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Phillip Youmans recommended Touki Bouki (1973) in Movies (curated)

 
Touki Bouki (1973)
Touki Bouki (1973)
1973 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"First up, Touki Bouki. It’s such a raw experimental work. I love its visual honesty and color palette. It also speaks to such an interesting experience within the diaspora – the idea of feeling sort of alienated by your own home. By Djibril Diop Mambéty, it speaks on a ton of things: cultural domination, neocolonialism, how you can feel alienated from your own culture. A visceral and brutal film made in the ’70s in Senegal. It starts with this beautiful wide static shot. We [the audience] are on sticks looking out as this herd starts to approach, and the color palette is insane. Like I said, it was made in the early ’70s, and they don’t shy away from showing anything. I don’t want to go too deep into what they don’t shy away from, because it’s a lot."

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There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
2007 | Drama

"Next up is There Will Be Blood. I gotta say, Paul Thomas Anderson might be the best working director alive. There Will Be Blood was such an interesting balance of showing why Daniel Plainview prospered in the oil rush of California. But it also shows how he’s essentially decrepit as a human being. He’s almost rotting away. He’s losing sight of his own humanity. It’s about dehumanization. Even outside of how gorgeous it looks, especially when the fire ignites the oil derrick and then the camera is rushing in. It’s a low angle tracking shot following Plainview as he’s rushing toward the fire. The colors in that scene are literally just dumbfounding. But the biggest thing is performance, performance, performance, performance, performance! Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing, and Paul Dano as the pastor is freaking insane. Insane! And his dynamic with Daniel Plainview is some of the most compelling s–t I’ve seen on film. The fact that Plainview views Paul Dano’s character as a necessary mechanism to control the people in the town, but he doesn’t give him any bit of respect; Plainview doesn’t believe a lick of what Dano is saying in those church services. But he feels it’s important for the people in the town that are working day in and day out for him to believe it. It’s such an interesting dynamic."

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
1975 | Crime, Drama, Thriller

"Dog Day Afternoon is next because Al Pacino’s performance is bomb! So is John Cazale‘s performance. Dog Day Afternoon has such a dope condensed chronology, and Sidney Lumet is dope – Serpico, Network, 12 Angry Men – just so dope. But Dog Day Afternoon is probably easily the piece that I would ride with the most. The biggest hallmark of it is, again, performances, performances, performances. From Al Pacino to the guy who plays the cop. Having the need to sort of harmonize with each other on an experience level. It’s so interesting because some of that was improv by Al Pacino and John Cazale. You can tell that they have such a close relationship. They’re so comfortable with each other as actors – it’s organic, and it shows on screen."

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Phillip Youmans recommended City Of God (2002) in Movies (curated)

 
City Of God (2002)
City Of God (2002)
2002 | Crime, Drama

"City of God is kinetic and visceral. The active camerawork is gorgeous. City of God really did try to find those moments where we can pause and view these characters without any judgment. No character in City of God is black-and-white. There are moments when, even though we know some of these dudes are ruthless killers, they show us little hints that showcase their youth and make it clear to us that they’re still 16-, 17-, 18-years-old at the end of the day. One scene in particular I remember is Li’l Zé. He was this ruthless overlord, but he gets turned down at that dance party. And you just see his face where he’s smiling at first, and then you just see the embarrassment wash over him. Oh my God! Literally everyone in the world knows that moment; everyone in the world knows what it’s like to get rejected. But considering that we’ve seen this man brutally kill people at this point, I think it’s so interesting how the filmmaker also never intended for you to judge those characters. But he also never wanted to give a romanticized view of their life. He wanted you to fully understand how difficult and horrifying some of those realities can be. City of God is a masterpiece. Really quick though, I also want to take the time, and give a special mention to Ava DuVernay’s work. Ava makes the most culturally important work of our time as a filmmaker. 13th is what taught the entire world that we’re essentially living in a re-engineered version of slavery. Ava is committed to promoting awareness. Outside of her being an extraordinarily talented filmmaker, she makes incredibly formative and culturally impactful work. I just want to shout her out as well."

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Apocalypse Now (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
1979 | Action, Drama, War

"Apocalypse Now was one of the first films that I saw that showed film could be a malleable art form, something that could exist outside of a super-traditional three-act structure. Martin Sheen and his character are sort of wrestling with more than just trying to find courage, but also trying to find some reason for why he was there in the first place. Speaking to a lot of Vietnam vets, I know it’s especially prominent in the Black experience. Soldiers felt incredibly disenfranchised about Vietnam because they weren’t being respected back home, but expected to have the motivation to fight for their country. But looking at it even from Martin Sheen’s case, his character is white, but that was part of his motivation."

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