Modern Romance | Brooks | 1981
Can we really tell movie love from real love? I can't believe I waited this long to watch this. So cringeworthy and yet hilarious. I am not at all pleased with how much I related to Albert Brooks's character here :|. It's also clearly an inspiration for Tom Noonan's directorial efforts which I've very much enjoyed as well as Birbiglia's film from last year. Really great stuff.
Mother | Brooks | 1996
It's not as sharp or scathing or resonant as
Modern Romance but it's still very good. I love the way Brooks is able to combine these really silly gags (the moving around of the furniture, the ginormous piece of cheese) with such sharp incisive insights on human relationships. Debbie Reynolds is just sooo great here and totally reminded me of my grandmom with her complaints about the TV and that freezer burnt ice-cream
Defending Your Life | Brooks | 1991
This movie :heart: My favorite of all the Brooks I've seen thus far. I just love the conceit which on paper is so silly but Brooks's brilliance ensures that it ends up being a painfully accurate portrayal of our foibles instead. The '164 misjudgments' montage is one of the most hilarious things ever... I keep being surprised by how good Brooks is at visual gags. The whole idea of courage being the metric of how well one has lived one's life is one that really resonates with me and in that sense, Brooks is comparable to Woody Allen and Larry David but Brooks's film is so much sweeter. Cried my heart out.