my favorite movie of 1981:

My Dinner with Andre

(Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn. Directed by Louis Malle.)

Why do we require a trip to Mount Everest in order to be able to perceive one moment of reality? I mean, is Mount Everest more “real” than New York? I mean, isn’t New York “real”? … I think if you could become fully aware of what existed in the cigar store next door to this restaurant … it would just blow your brains out!

How can a movie seem impossible to label as either a “comedy” or a “drama,” while being as funny and dramatic as My Dinner with Andre?

Ebert said:

Someone asked me the other day if I could name a movie that was entirely devoid of clichés. I thought for a moment, and then answered, “My Dinner With Andre.” Now I have seen the movie again … and I am impressed once more by how wonderfully odd this movie is, how there is nothing else like it. It should be unwatchable, and yet those who love it return time and again, enchanted.

Siskel & Ebert:

Stream it on the Criterion Channel (try a free 14-day trial), with an hour-long extra of the stars talking about the movie, or Max.

Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.

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