Films seen in December
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01. House (1986, USA)
Steve Miner -
worth seeing
02. House II: The Second Story (1987,
USA) Ethan Wiley -
worth
seeing
03. Faces of Children (1925, France)
Jacques Feyder - 
a must
see
04. Hot Rods to Hell (1967, USA) John
Brahm -
a must see
05. The Possession of Nurse Sherri
(1978, USA) Al Adamson -
has redeeming facet
06. The Abominable Snowman (1957, UK)
Val Guest -
a must see
07.
Paris, je t'aime (2006, France)
-
has redeeming facet
[D+] or breakdown below...
"Montmartre" - Bruno Podalydès - zero
"Quais de Seine" - Gurinder Chadha - **
"Le Marais" - Gus Van Sant - *
"Tuileries" - Joel & Ethan Coen - **
"Loin du 16ème" - Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas
- *
"Porte de Choisy" - Christopher Doyle - **
"Bastille" - Isabel Coixet - zero
"Place des Victoires" - Nobuhiro Suwa - ***
"Tour Eiffel" - Sylvain Chomet - **
"Parc Monceau" - Alfonso Cuarón - *
"Quartier des Enfants Rouges" - Olivier Assayas - ***
"Place des Fêtes" - Oliver Schmitz - ***
"Pigalle" - Richard LaGravenese - **
"Quartier de la Madeleine" - Vincenzo Natali - **
"Père-Lachaise" - Wes Craven - zero
"Faubourg Saint-Denis" - Tom Tykwer - ***
"Quartier Latin" - Gérard Depardieu & Frédéric
Auburtin - zero
"14th arrondissement" - Alexander Payne - ****
08.
The Amazing Transplant (1971, USA) Doris Wishman
-
has redeeming facet
09.
The Twilight Zone - SSN 1.8 - Time Enough at
Last (1959, USA) John Brahm -
a
small masterpiece
10.
The Twilight Zone - SSN 1.9 - Perchance to Dream
(1959, USA) Robert Florey -
The Beaumont story is larger than
Florey's direction is capable, but still manages to be somewhat incredible.
11.
Act of Violence (1948, USA) Fred Zinnemann
-
a must see
12.
Beer and Pretzels (1933, USA) Jack Cummings [short]
-Pretty muddled.
13.
I Like Mountain Music (1933, USA) Rudolf Ising
[short]
- Nostalgia for the era's artwork, nothing else.
14.
Flying Down to Rio (1933, USA) Thornton Freeland
-
worth seeing
15.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933, USA) Frank
Capra
- a
must see
16.
This is England (2006, UK) Shane Meadows -
Excellent [A-]
17.
Fight for Your Life (1977, USA)
Robert A. Endelson -
has redeeming
facet
It's just not the kind of exploitation that is
enjoyable...
18. Twilight Zone SSN 1.10 - Judgment
(1959, USA) John Brahm - Check out Val Lewton's Ghost Ship instead.
19. Twilight Zone SSN 1.11 - And When the Sky Was
Opened (1959, USA) Douglas Heyes - Quite
solid, very early precursor to Final Destination, note that this plotline
is infinitely more effective when it eliminates the grisly deaths and instead
focuses on the anxiety provoked by such a scenario.
20. Twilight Zone SSN 1.12 - What You Need
(1959, USA) Alvin Ganzer - Brilliant little episode, but
it demands a short runtime which would explain the numerous films that took
this concept and failed with it. 28 minutes is perfect.
21. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982,
USA) Amy Heckerling - umpteenth viewing ; no change in rating
****
Post-Office X-Mas party hangover viewing part
one.
22. Napoleon Dynamite (2004, USA)
Jared Hess - 3rd? viewing; rating lowered to *** [B-]
Post-Office X-Mas party hangover viewing part
two .
23. Superbad (2007, USA) Greg Mottola
- 2nd viewing ; rating lowered to *** [B]
Post-Office X-Mas party hangover viewing part
three.
24.
The Girl Next Door (2007, USA)
Gregory Wilson -
has redeeming
facet [D]
I’ve always championed the Ketchum novel
of the same title as a masterpiece of sorts, a brutal badass read that kicks
the shit out of the reader and afterwards leaves you feeling like you need to
go give everyone you love a hug. This film adaptation, although mostly faithful
to the book, seems to exist solely for the filmmaker to see how far he can push
the envelope, and other than actually pulling off the impossible feat of actually
getting the damned thing produced, Wilson really doesn’t accomplish much
else. This is an ugly, nasty little film (don’t get me wrong the cast
is terrific) that has not the slightest idea of why it needs to exist. American
filmmakers are beginning to resemble the naive children in Ketchum’s book,
playing a sick little game with their torture porn films, trying to one-up each
other, they are brutally out of touch with reality and a depressing reflection
of the state of our culture.
25.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964, USA) Bryon Haskin
-
Excellent
26.
Fort Apache (1948, USA) John Ford
-
a must see
27.
Family Plot (1976, USA) Alfred Hitchcock -
Masterpiece
28.
Right at Your Door (2006, USA) Chris Gorak
-
a must see [B-]
29.
Longing (2006, Germany) Valeska Grisebach
-
a must see [B]
30.
White Zombie (1932, USA) Victor Halperin -
worth seeing
31.
Killer of Sheep (1977, USA) Charles Burnett
-
a must see
32.
A Christmas Story (1983, Canada) Bob Clark -
umpteenth
viewing ; no change in rating ****
33.
Arctic Tale (2007, USA) Adam Revetch & Sarah
Robertson -
has redeeming facet
[D]
34.
Planet Terror (2007, USA) Robert Rodriguez
-
a must see [B+]
- first solo viewing
35. Several Friends (1969, USA) Charles
Burnett [short]
After just one viewing each, I actually think
I prefer this to Killer of Sheep, if only because Burnett shows more
narrative focus here. I could be way off of course, and Killer of Sheep
does have that soundtrack…
36. The Horse (1973, USA) Charles
Burnett [short]
This one is mysterious, illusive, and rather
great.
37.
When it Rains (1995, USA) Charles
Burnett [short] -
Masterpiece
38. Twilight Zone SSN 1.13 - The Four of Us Are
Dying (1960, USA) John Brahm
Nicely structured episode with a very interesting
visual/psychological device; John Brahm may be a major directorial discovery
for me in 2007.
39. Twilight Zone SSN 1.14 - Third from the Sun (1960,
USA) Richard L. Bare - Vintage TZ stuff. Loved it.
40. Twilight Zone SSN 1.15 - I Shot an Arrow into
the Air (1960) Stuart Rosenberg
Predictable to be sure, but this is fairly grim
stuff for late 50’s television; I can’t fathom what this looked
like back then.
41.
Hatchet (2007, USA) Adam Green
-
a must see [B+]
42.
The Fly (1958, USA) Kurt Neumann
-
a must see
43.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984, USA) Charles
E. Sellier Jr. -
2nd viewing [last seen on March '06]; no change
in ratting **
44.
Blood Car (2007, USA) Alex Orr
-
worth seeing [C]
Could’ve been a scathing critique of America’s
oil consumption, however Orr seems to be more interested in looking at the car
as a vehicle for getting girls. In this sense the movie would be more appropriately
titled Fuck Car, a passable Midnight Movie that never really aspires
to be much more.
45.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2007,
USA) Ridley Scott
-
has redeeming facet [D-]
Digital makeovers should be illegal. Thankfully
the 5-disc boxset is a treasure and does not force Scott’s computer meddling
on us.
46.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(2007, USA) Tim Burton -
Masterpiece [A]"Possibly not since Vincente Minnelli has
anyone directed a musical with such absolute mise-en-scéne." - J.
Hoberman