John Sayles’s Closet Picks 

Decent screenwriter too

A great film. A magnum opus I dare say.

The man behind the original idea for Steven Spielberg's "ET" as well (as far as I remember). Most of his own films are truly remarkable -- "Lone Star", clearly, but also "Passion fish", or "Eight Men Out", among quite a few further titles. Utmost respect from Europe. 🙏🏻🙏🏽🙏

Agree 100% with what you said. I remember sitting in a small arthouse cinema watching Lone Star for the first time... as it went on, I realised I was leaning forward in my seat, just so engrossed in the story unfolding - just completely absorbed. That's John Sayles' writing for you, as with his other films. A true auteur.

My colleague chimes in, saying Sayles in the early 80s was named a Macarthur Fellow (the so-called “Genius Grant”) for his unique approach to filmmaking and storytelling (he’s published acclaimed fiction too). He also wrote the screenplay for PIRHANA (‘78, dir: Joe Dante)!

"The Greed of Barry Jenkins" is a title for a future Criterion-worthy documentary ;-)

Exactly. Too many other invitees simply give a bit of lip service to whatever they pick out (ex: "Oh, I loved this!") then drop the title into their gift bag. BTW: My BR copy of Matewan arrived a couple of days ago. I've been waiting years for the BR version!

Hector Cepeda have you actually seen any of these movies? I’m new to this channel and have never heard of any of these films.

@@roycastanon5754 Of the ones Sayles picked out, I've seen La Strada a few times (at uni, and more so on DVD), and His Girl Friday (many years ago) on TV. I should be surprised that Sayles picked out His Girl Friday, if only because he's one of the film industry's most socially conscious directors (on par with Elia Kazan.) I highly recommend Matewan, and -- another favorite of mine -- Lone Star. His films usually unfold slowly (and the impatient may be put off), but things always development, and I've always ended up caring about his characters. I kick myself that I have yet to see his Secaucus Seven, but I will get around to it!

Hector Cepeda hmmm yes I might check those out. I have only recently started watching lesser known films, before all I watched was blockbusters but I’m finding these smaller movies to be more entertaining

I loved Lonestar, Chris Cooper is astounding in that movie.

Amen on Lone Star. Also, they should include 8 Men Out.

Preach Brother!

Same with me but it was The Return of the Secaucus 7.

kamuelalee Oh my goodness, PLEASE release The Grey Fox. It’s beautiful and severely out of print.

Kino Lorber is releasing The Grey Fox in North America on Blu-ray in early 2020.

Notorious is much better.

I'd also say North by Northwest is better as well but I suppose it's subjective.

@@NoirFan84 - Haven't seen it yet, but I'm planning to.

It's mine too. But also try "The Philadelphia Story" if you haven't already.

too bad for you !

Agreed. I seek out his films and lately his TV work as well. I've suggested him to a few filmmaker friends and they have loved his work too. Just bought Baby It's You recently. He's also number 10 on my top 10 favorite directors.

@@brandothecatmeow "Return to Secaucus 7" is an ideal introduction to John Sayles' minimalist films. "Matewan" is next.

His old stuff is the best

I agree. He really is America's lone FilmMaker, making personal films about values AND subjects that are important but not popular. A true storyteller that never Yields to fashions or popularity AND that somehow (AND heroically) has managed to stay true. As Gene Siskel described him, he's an American treasure.

@Loafy Thanks for telling me. Now it MUST be required viewing in every high school!

agree. excellent film....James Earl Jones and Scott Glenn ?? Movie about union mine workers if I'm remembering correctly...but don't let that put you off...excellent performances.

I've heard it described as a _High Noon_ style western, except instead of bandits versus a sherriff, it's Pinkertons versus a sherriff _and_ the entire town.

Watched it just a couple of days ago for the first time. Was blown away by how good it was (and how good it looked!) Makes me want to watch more of his films

@@-aku-1630 I saw Lone Star years ago but I wasn't exactly blown away by it. I was young though so I should check it out again & see if I feel differently. Matewan though was great, I loved it.

@@NoirFan84 Definitely worth a second look. All of his movies have something worthy about them.

While there is a Scorsese movie in the collection, his ego is far, far too big for that closet. Now a Willem Dafoe visit is OVERDUE.

@@HAL-rx5ln You're joking right?

Marvel is not cinema period

@@taufikhidayatlubis2890 what an original thought, beep boop

@@BrendanMacWade 2 Scorseses, 5 if you count laserdiscs

LS has been in my "Hold until BR arrives" DVD pile for a few years now. The pile is big!

It’s such a great film lone star, personally I think it’s his masterpiece. Has beautiful, bold things to say about race and relationships without ever getting preachy, and uniformly great acting from a remarkably varied cast. The ending got me big time, so moving. A great film

Noble Gas that’s awesome! I love movies and try to watch as diverse a selection as I can. It’s a great art form to dive into deeply.

One of the G.O.A.T.'s in world cinema, without a doubt.

Rather wonderfully there's almost too many great Hawks film to count: The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Rio Bravo, Bringing Up Baby, among many others.

@@kamuelalee Definitely, although I would _still_ say His Girl Friday is incredibly unique and special.

Good, fun movie

very cool

www.imdb.com/title/tt0112120/

Walter Murch should have his own closet video. And it should be 2 hours long. We're waiting for Scorsese to visit with a catered lunch 'cause he's gonna be there all day video.

Swapmeetsearcher to see what moves they’d pick...you know, the whole reason this series exists.

maybe he doesn't like socialist propaganda.

@@PascoZach Then you don't know very much about John Sayles

Amazon Prime has a good copy