Top 10 Performances on Netflix by this Year's Oscar Contenders

Well it's that time of year again.  The time when we collectively decide that actors aren't compensated enough already and begin throwing gold statues at them like we have extra gold to give away.  Every year the discussions go back and forth about how meaningful/less these ceremonies are until it is decided that it's at least a little fun to watch the Weinstein brothers nervously eat themselves further into the grave.  Whatever your opinion of the show is, there is no doubt that those nominated have some acting chops.  And so here are the top 10 performances by this year's crop of talent.

10. Cate Blanchett- Best Actress in a Leading Role- The Talented Mr. Ripley

Cate Blanchett is a chameleon.  She's Meryl Streep in training.  And while her CV may not be as deep as The Lady Streep's yet, she is well on her way.  In The Talented Mr. Ripley, Blanchett plays the minor role of Meredith Logue, a 1950's version of a spoiled brat.  She is the daughter of a textile magnate, and like many rich kids, appreciates very little.  Look no further than her claim that "The truth is, if you've had money your entire life, even if you despise it, which we do -- agreed? -- you're only truly comfortable around other people who have it and despise it" for a peek into her misguided worldview.  Still, she plays a pivotal if limited role in bringing Mr. Ripley to his knees.

9. Judi Dench- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Skyfall

Judi Dench is currently the best M. of any James Bond iteration.  And she's got some steep competition.    John Huston, Robert Brown, Edward Fox, and David Niven have all given M. a run, but Dench does it best.  It takes a powerful woman to play boss to James Bond, and Dench matches Daniel Craig's bond stroke for stroke.  Skyfall offers up M. at her very best.  Unwielding, courageous, intelligent, tragic.

8. Jared Leto- Best Actor in a Supporting Role- American Psycho

Before Jared Leto went off the rails and then came back again, he was a part of this wonderful cult classic.  Leto plays Paul Allen, a young yuppie with a penchant for outdoing his competition.  Unfortunately for him, Patrick Bateman is his competition.  A pity how his story ends, but he just had to get his cards watermarked, didn't he?  A little goddamn humility can go a long way, Paul.  Hope you like Huey Lewis and The News.

7. Sally Hawkins- Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Happy-Go-Lucky

I would urge anybody who has yet to experience Sally Hawkins to move this to the top of their Netflix List.  She is Britain's answer to Kristen Wiig, and if I may be so bold, a far superior choice.  She is at her absolute charming best in Happy-Go-Lucky, playing Poppy, an early 30's teacher bouncing through life aimlessly.  Not an overly unique tale, it's her performance that brings the film to life.  At once hilarious and touching, Hawkins gives us a reason to love Poppy.  Now if she could just learn to drive.

6. Bruce Dern- Best Actor in a Leading Role- The Great Gatsby

Neither film version of The Great Gatsby is very good.  A lot of films get labeled "unfilmable" but I think with this one the proof is in the pudding.  But contrived as it may be, at least the 1974 version of the classic novel didn't have Jay-Z.  Dern is by far the best thing about The Great Gatsby, and for that matter just about every film he has ever been in.  He's a sweet old man now, but there was a time when he was the go-to guy for psychopaths, and that is exactly what he plays here.  Coming from old money and with more than a small streak of violence in him, Dern plays Tom Buchanan.  His temper simmers just far enough below the surface that when he lets loose it is truly a thing of beauty.  If you haven't seen it, google "Bruce Dern whore" and read his interview with the Hollywood Reporter.  Pure gold.

5. Judi Dench- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Shakespeare in Love

That's right it's Judi Dench again.  And this time she is, quite literally, a queen.  Here Dench plays Queen Elizabeth in spectacular, show-stopping fashion.  Her whopping 8 minutes of screen time won her a well-deserved Oscar in a film that undeservingly also picked itself up a gong for Best Picture.  In a cast that includes Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Gwenyth Paltrow, Imelda Staunton, and Colin Firth, Dench once again reigns supreme.  

4. Jennifer Lawrence- Best Actress in a Supporting Role- The Hunger Games

It was almost impossible for Jennifer Lawrence to live up to the expectations surrounding The Hunger Games.  But she did.  And not just met them, but exceeded by a good margin.  Lawrence plays the film's hero, Katniss Everdeen- a strong young woman who fights for her life in a cruel game perpetrated by a cruel empire in a dystopian future.  She brings strength and tenderness to a role that, in lesser hands, could have turned into mere fluff.  The story is good, but Lawrence's performance is the reason to watch The Hunger Games.

3. Christian Bale- Best Actor in a Leading Role- American Psycho

As great as Jared Leto is, American Psycho is Bale's show.  It is also the first time audiences got to experience the full force of what this young man had to offer.  Bale plays Patrick Bateman, a yuppie amongst yuppies.  Everything about him screams "first class douche" in the most obsessive compulsive way possible.  And, oh yeah, he also moonlights as a psychotic killer.  Everything about this performance is perfect from Bateman's love of Phil Collins, to the gleeful delight he takes in dismembering hookers.  It's a modern classic and a beautiful, if twisted tale.

2. Meryl Streep- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Manhattan

I have said before that I believe Manhattan is the best romantic comedy of all-time.  And I stand by that statement.  Every element of the story is necessary without any elements being superfluous.  Woody Allen really achieved a remarkable film through the creation of remarkable characters.  Streep's role here isn't large.  In fact she has a very limited amount of time on screen, but she uses it.  She plays the ex-wife of our protagonist (played by who else, Woody Allen) who has come out and started a romantic relationship with a woman since their split.  And she is a bitch.  But her bitchiness never feels unjustified.  We keep asking ourselves "What the hell did you do to this woman, Woody?".  It's no surprise that Streep pulls it off, but it's nice to see her in a film before she was "MERYL STREEP".

1. Leonardo Dicaprio- Best Actor in a Leading Role- What's Eating Gilbert Grape

This is Leonardo Dicaprio's greatest role.  Before he was Jack, before he was Scorsese's rat, before he took down Wall Street, he was Arnie Grape, the mentally retarded brother of Johnny Depp's title character.  Dicaprio garnered his first Osar nomination for his beautiful and heart-breaking portrayal of a young boy surrounded by dysfunction beyond his ability to grasp.  Leo has deserved his trophy for years now and I personally think he should have gotten it his first time out.

So there they are.  Now grab a blanket and a some junk food and study up.  The big show is just around the corner.

Review- The Road

Watching The Road, I couldn't help but think of a quote I recently heard on the television series True Detective.  In an interview a man makes a very morbid observation-

"...The hubris it must take to yank a soul out of nonexistence, into this... meat.  And to force a life into this, thresher.  Yeah so my daughter, she spared me the sin of being a father."

More than with that show, this quote rings true in the world of The Road- a world first imagined by Cormac McCarthy (acclaimed author of No Country For Old Men) and brought to chilling "life" by director John Hillcoat.  Put mildly, The Road is no feel-good flick.  Rather it examines the darkest elements of humanity at our most desperate and refuses to blink.  On the surface this film tells the story of a man and his son's struggle for survival in a dystopian future.  And at face value, the film is nothing short of stunning.  But The Road is also, at its very best, an examination of the things we do for our children.  Using both major and minor plot devices to brutally drive its point home, The Road is a unique experience.  Not a fun experience, but undeniably unique.

The Road opens with a brief glimpse of a beautiful landscape before plunging us into its world of filth and violence.  The year is unclear, but we find ourselves somewhere in the near future.  Life all but ceases to exist.  Plant and animal life has vanished entirely and the traces of human life are rapidly disappearing as the food supply has dried up.  A character known only as The Man (played with typical brilliance by Viggo Mortensen) begins a hopeless voiceover monologue.  He provides the exposition in a few defeated sentences.  Perhaps most troubling is that this apocalypse of sorts is just as inexplicable to the people inhabiting this tattered world as to those of us viewing it on a screen.  A bright light came, and everything died.  That is about as much explanation as we are ever given, or need for that matter.

The first bit of action we get is of The Man and his son, known only as The Boy (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) running for cover.  We see a single light coming down a tunnel which is slowly revealed as one of the many cannibal gangs that plague the remains of America.  One of the gang separates from the group to relieve himself and stumbles across The Man and The Boy.  The Man instructs the, well other man, that should he so much as look in the direction of The Boy, he'll shoot him with his revolver.  The cannibal calls his bluff and observes that The Man only has enough ammo to kill himself and The Boy and that The Man has likely never killed a man in his life.  Neither confirmed nor denied, The Man makes good on his promise and kills the cannibal, immediately fleeing deeper into the woods with The Boy.  He explains to the boy that they will never become what those men had become, even to survive.  We are the good guys.  They are the bad guys.

In a series of flashbacks it is revealed that The Boy was born into this world.  During the beginning days of the apocalypse The Woman (Charlize Theron) gives birth to The Boy.  Seeing the hopelessness of the world, she eventually decides to leave, though not before giving one of the most brief and heart-wrenching performances of her career.  The Woman disappears into the dark, unforgiving night never to be seen again.  It is a cruel mercy, but a mercy all the same as she points out that there are only 2 bullets in the revolver.  The Boy's only chance is with The Man.

The Boy and The Man continue along the road headed south, hoping to find warmer temperatures. They come across an abandoned storm shelter that is as close to heaven as the pair are likely to see in their travels.  The shelter is stocked with food, water and other survival necessities.  Hearing a dog and figuring people must be close behind, The Man hurries away from the shelter, loading as much as he can onto a cart. As they move they encounter other travelers, thieves, and families.  Most notably they run across an old man (Robert Duvall).  Initially The Man refuses to extend any sort of help to the man, who is clearly in need of it.  But after much coaxing from The Boy he gives in.  The Man and The Old Man have a conversation about God and their existence before The Old Man indicates that he doesn't think about death because he can't afford that "luxury".  This gives the man pause before he must once again set back out on The Road.

Before long The Man and The Boy reach the coast.  For those expecting Cocoa Beach, think more along the lines of the Jersey Shore.  It's a filthy hellhole of a beach, but provides an opportunity to bathe all the same.  As The Man bathes, The Boy sleeps.  The Man returns to find that they have been robbed and hobbles, shoeless, after the culprit.  Upon catching him, The Man uncharacteristically robs him of all of his possessions, including his shoes and underwear.  The Robber, alone and naked, begs or mercy as The Man and The Boy walk away.  Again, after much coaxing The Boy is able to convince the man to return The Robber's possessions, though he is nowhere to be found.  They leave the clothes and a can of their own food where they last saw The Robber and continue on.

The final scenes involve a shoot-out that sees The Man wounded, likely fatally.  The Boy's fate is all that remains.  To preserve the ending, we'll stop there, but sufficed to say it is similar in tone to No Country For Old Men.

The Road will leave an impression on anybody who sees it, that much is certain.  And honestly it is hard to say if it is a "good" film or not.  I would say more than good or bad, it is an important film.  It examines the hells we will wade through for our children, and the way they shape our character even in the face of dire adversity.  One common theme throughout the film is mercy killing.  At the end of just about every scene, The Man is left with a decision.  Does he kill his son and himself, or does he press on?  The exercise gets a bit played out, but is occasionally used to great effect.  The most memorable of these scenes is when The Man and The Boy are trapped in the bathroom of a house, cannibals closing in.  As the cannibals creep up the stairs, The Man presses the revolver to The Boy's head and pulls back the hammer while his finger twitches on the trigger.  More than most films, whether this is a good bit of conflict or a graphic misnomer is left entirely up to the film's viewer.  I tend to side with a good portion of the conflict stepping a bit further than what is actually needed.  If there is so much at stake, then why does The Man allow The Boy to scream when there are cannibals with assault rifles just yards away?  The film seems to meander in its graphic moments with little continuity to reinforce its sense if danger.  I have no problem with a film being graphic.  But if that is the direction you are going to take it in, you need to remain true to it when it is convenient as well as when it's inconvenient.  We only allow you to show us these ugly images under the pretense that there is a purpose behind it and when a young boy is conveniently allowed to scream even while he is deep in hiding, it makes us call bullshit on the entire environment you have worked so hard to craft.

Beyond the material, the cinematography brings McCarthy's world to stunning, depressing life.  The use of oranges, browns, blacks, and grays communicate better than any dialogue, just what state America has fallen to.  The camerawork is nothing short of masterful.  The long shots of the sweeping landscape are somehow beautiful, and peaceful in stark contrast to the close-ups which remain visceral and violent.

But the performances are what really bring this somber tale to death (saying they brought it to life seemed just a bit contrary to the themes of the film).  Viggo Mortensen is excellent, as always.  No surprise there.  However it is his counterpart, the young Kodi Smit-McPhee who really blew me away. He matches Mortensen, stride-for-stride, in what has to be some of the heaviest material in Tinsel Town.  His insistence that The Man continue to do the right thing even when it runs opposite to their own survival remains the heart of the story, without which would be unwatchably bleak.  Great performances by Charlize Theron, Michael K. Williams (of The Wire fame) and Robert Duvall round out what is sure to be the least fun you'll have watching a meaningful film for quite some time.  Or at least until you decide to watch Requiem for a Dream.

Overall Rating- 6/10

Features-The Jerk's 5 favorite Netflix shows 1/28/14

5.  Weeds- Remember when this show was good?  I mean really good and fresh?  Well I've gone back to discover that time, and what a time it was.  A suburban housewife selling weed to keep up appearances.  Before the cartels, and the tunnels, and New York there was just Nancy, Shane, Silas, Andy, and Doug.  It was funny and it was a joy to watch because the stakes weren't too high.  We never wanted Nancy to be in real danger, as much as we might have said we did.

4.  Law & Order: SVU- What a great, awful show.  It is the same formulaic show week in and week out, but God bless it.  There is something comforting about being able to sit down and know that within the time span of 42 minutes, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Maloni are going to find a victim, narrow down suspects, find their killer/rapist/diddler/pornographer/serial whatever and mess him up.  The Wire, it ain't.  But still a solid way to kill an hour.

3.  American Dad- This one is a main-stay.  That is because I maintain after 3 years that this is the most rewatchable show on Netflix, and one of the funniest on television.  Stan is funnier than Peter, Francine is funnier than Lois, Roger is funnier than Brian and Stewie combined, and Haley is funnier than Meg.  For a show whose premise should make it insufferably political (as many Family Guy episodes are) the audience has remained small enough that it doesn't serve as a political mouthpiece for its creator.  It is wonderful.  Watch it.

2.  Lost- I've taken the plunge.  Into insanity, quite literally.  How can a show make so little sense and be so compelling?  Seriously?  I started watching Lost a few years back but this was before the days of Netflix Instant streaming (holy shitballs I'm old) and $50 seasons just weren't possible for a college kid with a drinking problem.  Not much to say about this one really.  If you're curious, watch it.

1. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- This feature's variety may have died with the addition of IASIP to the instant streaming service.  It is the funniest show ever made.  And there are 9 seasons of it, each episode funnier than the last with very few misses in its history.  No show has brought me a fraction of the unbridled joy or laughter that Sunny has.  If you haven't met The Gang yet, I strongly suggest you take a few days off work/school and dig in.  You've got some viewing to do.

Blast from the Past- A Billy Wilder Double Feature

For the grand relaunch of Filmjerk, I thought it appropriate to start a new "segment" of sorts.  "Blast from the Past" will focus on the classics.  Given that the whole of Filmjerk tends to focus on post-1990 cinema, the term "classics" will include films up to that period in time. So don't be surprised to see films like Raging Bull lumped in with older films like The Great Dictator.  I've internally deemed a classic as any film that has a) affected the current landscape of modern cinema and b) holds up to repeat viewings in a different era.

Today we'll take a look at (arguably) Billy Wilder's 2 greatest works- Some Like it Hot, and The Apartment.  It is hard to view the films as works independent from one another given the remarkable similarities in style, tone, talent, and quality.  And while each has its merits individually (and we'll certainly take a look at those) the pair is much stronger than the sum of its parts.  Looking at film as the ongoing, everchanging landscape that it is, these 2 films left one, remarkably large footprint rather than 2 average-sized prints, and directors for decades have thanked Wilder for that.

First to Some Like it Hot.  What a wonderful flick.  It is wonderful in its concept, its execution, its simplicity, just about everything.  That being said, it does have its flaws as any film does.  Just 2 sentences in and I'm already finding this new segment sort of hard.  How do you criticize a masterpiece?  How do you look at the Mona Lisa and say "her forehead is enormous"?  With balls- that's how.  But let's talk about the plethora of beauty first.  Some Like It Hot stands the test of time like few films I've ever seen have.  It isn't a chore to watch.  You can sit down with a generation tailored toward Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith and they will be in stitches when Jack Lemmon comes home drunk, maracas in hand, claiming that he is engaged to the most wonderful man.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Some Like it Hot is a comedy of errors.  Sort of.  It is also a screwball comedy.  Sort of.  I guess I would call it a "screwball comedy of errors".  Loosely using tropes created by The Bard, Some Like it Hot is the story of 2 down on their luck musicians looking for work.  They find some work 100 miles away and have to borrow a car to get to the gig.  Upon arriving at the garage where the car is housed, they witness the murder of 7 Northside Chicago gangsters (an event we refer to as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre) and go on the lam.  Having heard of a gig in Florida, they see their chance for escape.  The catch?  The gig is for an all female band.  There is a quick device used to get the men employed and they head to the train station.  Upon arrival, there is some immediate suspicion, but nothing that the men (women?) can't handle.  Most important on the train is their introduction to Sugar Kane, played by Marilyn Monroe.  She is a tart with a drinking problem, but undeniably cute and bubbly.  They host a party to quickly gain some allies amongst the women, and perhaps set the stage for some slap and tickle later on.

They make it to Florida and Daphne (the monicker Jack Lemmon has selected for himself) is in favor of immediately hitting the road.  He argues that the mob will be looking for them in every band in America.  A fair point, Josephine (Tony Curtis's name of choice) explains that they will not be looking for 2 women playing in an all-female band.  Having had the chance to buddy up to Sugar, Josephine lays the groundwork for some tomfoolery of his own.  He "predicts" that rather than falling for another saxophone-playing ne'er-do-well (which he/she is) Sugar will find a well-intentioned millionaire.  A young and single one to boot.  While this is happening, Daphne has caught the eye of one of the elder residents of the hotel where they are performing named Osgood Fielding.  Dirty old man doesn't really do him justice.  He is a spoiled rich boy all grown up.  But he is lovable.  By God, is he lovable.

Later, at the beach, Sugar Cane is playing around with Daphne.  Josephine is strangely absent, but neither pays this much mind.  Sugar clumsily bumps into an over-the-top rich-looking fellow who introduces himself as Shell Oil, Jr.  Dear christ.  Really?  But Sugar pays no mind as she doesn't exactly have a lot of mind to pay.  Shell Oil, Jr. is very clearly Josephine dressed back up like a man with glasses on.  He explains that he has been unsuccessful in love and pulls the hard-to-get card early.  Daphne comes over to see what all the fuss is about and decides to take Sugar back up to the hotel room where Josephine should be to blow his/her cover.  Making a quick, thru-the-window change, Josephine is able to conceal her identity.  At about this time, Daphne receives an invitation from Osgood Feeling to join him on his yacht, but Josephine has other plans.  Daphne will convince Osgood that she has terrible seasickness and Josephine, Dressed as Shell Oil, Jr. will take their place on the yacht.  From here the two couples both have a romantic evening together.  Yes, even Daphne discovers the wonderful heart of Osgood Feeling.

In the final act the mob holds a "convention" at the exact hotel where the women/men are staying.  Through a series of hysterical errors, their identities are discovered and the rest of the film is spent with the pair avoiding being whacked whilst simultaneously avoiding blowing their respective covers with their respective lovers.  In one of the best conclusions ever written Osgood Feeling states the moral of the story "Well, nobody's perfect!" as they sail off into the sunset.

I promise in Wilder's hands the plot isn't half as confusing as what I just made it out to be.  Its simplicity adds to its spectacle and vice versa.  Wilder embraces all of the cliches of the genre, and those which he doesn't use, he creates.  There is something about not trying to break new ground that is ground-breaking.  The historical significance of this film is undeniable.  It brought drag to the masses- something that wouldn't be accepted again until Dustin Hoffman dressed in drag in a little film called Tootsie (even sparking a theatrical re-release of Wilder's classic).  Almost everything about this film is perfect.  Almost.  The casting is damn near spot on.  Jack Lemmon steals the film, but Tony Curtis keeps great pace as do the archetypal gangsters cast as Spatts and his posse.  And Joe E. Brown might be the cutest old man on film until Jack Lemmon re-paired with Walter Matthau for Grumpy Old Men 40 years later.  My biggest problem is with Marilyn Monroe.  Now smart money says Wilder probably had to attach her to the project in order to put these other 2 relative unknowns in drag on screen in 1959. But to me it is a bit of a shame.  She tries.  You can tell she tries.  And frankly it is refreshing to see Monroe play against type, going for the cute and bubbly rather than the scandalous and seductive.  But she just can't match the rest of the cast.

There are also a few issues with the story.  For one, the discovery by Spatts that these 2 women are, in fact the 2 men from the massacre is a little quick and contrived.  It was like Wilder went "Shit, this thing can't get any longer.  Well, let's cut out half of the third act."  Given the suspension of disbelief we have granted thus far in the film, it isn't overly distracting, but could have been improved certainly.  I also would have enjoyed seeing the men's transformation into Josephine and Daphne, but now I'm getting nit-picky.  Let's move to The Apratment, shall we?  I promise it'll be shorter.

I like The Apartment a bit more than Some Like it Hot.  While still a comedy, it has a decidedly more melancholic tone.  The Apartment is the story of C.C. Baxter (played once again by Jack Lemmon), a cog in a corporate machine.  In order to advance within his enormous company, he allows the use of his apartment to his superiors for their extramarital affairs.  When we meet Baxter, he is already about fed up with juggling 4 different bosses around.  It is leading to complaints from his neighbors and landlord, scheduling conflicts, and a general icky feeling.  But the promise of advancement keeps him true to his commitment to play the fool.  He begins a flirtatious relationship with Ms. Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), who operates the elevator in his building and tries, unsuccessfully, to court her.

He is called into Mr. Sheldrake's (played by the legendary Fred MacMurray) office one day on the 27th floor.  This is huge.  Little does Baxter know, he is walking into a trap.  Mr. Sheldrake has heard about his arrangement with the other bosses and in a brilliant plot twist, requests exclusive use of the apartment for his own philandering.  With the promise of that promotion finally coming through, Baxter agrees.  He gets the promotion, but it doesn't take long to realize that Mr. Sheldrake's mistress is none other than Ms. Kubelik.  Baxter is heartbroken and begins dating much in the same way as the other executives he has seen before him.  One night he is getting drunk at the local watering hole and decides to bring a gal back to his apartment.  He walks in to find Ms. Kubelik unconscious, having attempted suicide by overdosing on his sleeping pills.

The rest of the story is about Baxter manning up.  He is promoted yet again, but his moral conflict is boiling to the surface.  As Ms. Kubelik continues to win his heart as she recovers in his apartment, he begins to see exactly what Mr. Sheldrake is.  Again, in another brilliant conclusion Baxter once more gives a key to Mr. Sheldrake.  A few seconds later, Mr. Sheldrake enters Baxter's corner office as he is packing up for the day and tells him that he gave him the wrong key.  Baxter states that he gave exactly the key that he meant to and that if this is what it takes to get the job, he can cram the job where the sun don't shine.  You go, Baxter!  Ms. Kubelik and Baxter presumably live happily ever after, but not before one of the most genuine, heart-touchiung scenes ever committed to celluloid over a simple game of Gin Rummy.

I have a harder time finding any criticism with The Apartment.  It is a near-perfect tale.  It is hilarious at times, heart-wrenching at others and both most of the time.  It boasts some of the greatest ensemble talent ever assembled and one of the greatest leading men of the past generation.  I can't say enough about Jack Lemmon as an actor.  He is beautiful.  That really is all there is to say.  Rare is the handsome man with perfect comedic timing, and Lemmon is his name-o.  If I were to change anything about The Apartment it would be that it occasionally slips further into gloom than I feel is necessary.  It at times loses sight that it is, in fact, a comedy.  While the suicide plot-line is absolutely necessary, I'm not sure that we need to see the brutal treatment of the doctor slapping Ms. Kubelik around to wake her up.  But I hesitate to even make these criticisms as to change anything about this film would be to bastardize it in some small way.

The Apartment and Some Like It Hot are classics now and were classics from the moment Wilder put pen to paper.  I don't think you'll find too many people who deny that.  But why?  Well they embrace what they are.  And rather than trying to revolutionize storytelling, they just strive to be the best at what they are.  And they succeed.  Some Like It Hot paved the way for The Apartment the following year.  Billy Wilder was Hollywood's funny-man.  Think a gentile Woody Allen of the golden age.  And the straightforward buffoonery of Some Like it Hot allowed him to explore deeper, darker comedy in The Apartment.  He was smart.  He kept what worked.  He shot both in black-and-white though technicolor had been the primary medium for over a decade, and he had faith that his leading man could make the leap from screwball comedy to dark comedy (some might even say drama).  Wilder gave us, with these 2 films, a permanent homage to a very particular place and time in Hollywood that people of my generation never got to experience.  And I thank him.

Overall Ratings
Some Like It Hot- 8/10
The Apartment- 10/10