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Films seen in July
[10/2] Note – New commitments at work have proven to deprive me of all my writing time. I will put a couple of sentences on everything from now on to share my thoughts, however I don’t see myself churning out anything substantial anytime soon…
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01. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958, USA) Nathan Juran -

worth seeing

02. The Tale of the Rat that Wrote (1999, Ireland) Billy O'Brien [short] - not recommended

03. Behind the Mask: The Rise and Fall of Leslie Vernon (2006, USA) Scott Glosserman -

has redeeming facet [D]

“Comes off as too clever for its own good.” would be an understatement. Sort of a mix of Man Bites Dog and the pop culture self-reflexivity of Scream, this mostly free form slasher film is more annoying than anything else. Fans of the genre tend to back films like this as a case for a deeper more intellectual aspect of horror cinema, but trust me, there is a lot more to chew on in direct-to-video films like Skin Crawl than this over-hyped attempt at something different.

04. Isolation (2005, Ireland) Billy O'Brien [2nd viewing; last viewing Sep.'05; rating remains solid, B+]

05. Reform School Girls (1986, USA) Tom DeSimone -

worth seeing

A mess to be sure, but like They're Playing With Fire, it remains something of a fascinating cultural artifact for the decade that spawned it.

07. Dead Silence (2007, USA) James Wan -

has redeeming facet [D+]

Cluttered back-story and all, this feels like a poor attempt at creating a franchise. Thankfully the box office fish didn’t bite, so we won’t be hearing from Mary Shaw and her stupid dolls again anytime soon.

09. The Messengers (2007, USA) Danny & Oxhide Pang -

worth seeing [C-]

The script is horrendous, but these guys have a talent that’s hard to ignore. I’m eventually expecting a breakthrough film from the Pang Brothers, but there is little chance of that happening as long as they are making films in the US. File this one under “interesting failures.”

10. Day of the Animals (1977, USA) William Girdler -

worthless

11. Over the Edge (1979, USA) Jonathan Kaplan -

a must see

14. Raja (2003, France/Morocco) Jacques Doillon -

a must see [B-]

15. Chacun Son Cinema (2007, Various) Listed in order of preference:
**** - "It's a Dream" - Tsai Ming-liang, "I Travelled 9000 km To Give It To You" - Wong Kar Wai
*** - "Darkness" - Dardenne Brothers, "The Gift" - Raoul Ruiz,"First Kiss" - Gus Van Sant, "Movie Night" - Zhang Yimou
** - "Zhanxiou Village" - Chen Kaige, "Awkward" - Elia Suleiman,"The Last Dating Show" - Bille August, "Anna" - Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Artaud Double Bill" - Atom Egoyan, "In the Dark" - Andrei Konchalovsky, "Sole Meeting" - Manoel de Oliveira, "Open Air Cinema" - Raymond Depardon
* - "8944 km from Cannes" - Walter Salles, "47 Years Later" - Youssef Chahine, "Cinéma de Boulevard" - Claude Lelouch, "Trois Minutes" - Théo Angelopoulos
zero - "Diary of a Movie Goer" - Nanni Moretti, "The Dybbuk Haifa" - Amos Gitai, "War in Peace" - Wim Wenders, "No Translation Needed" - Michael Cimino

17. The Big Cube (1969, USA) Tito Davison -

worth seeing

18. Hollywood or Bust (1956, USA) Frank Tashlin -

a must see

19. Flight of the Living Dead (2007, USA) Scott Thomas -

worthless

Re-titled from Plane Dead so as to cash in on the Snakes on a Plane hype, this must stand as one of the worst films I’ve had the misfortune to see in well over a year. Intentionally campy, but incompetently shot, edited, and scripted, the real sin is how unintentionally offensive this comes off with regards to its "elephant in the room" subject matter. I had a similar experience with Dorm of the Dead, so as of this moment I’m swearing off Romero pun-films altogether.

20. SiCKO (2007, USA) Michael Moore -

a must see [B-]

Moore’s ego has always tended to spoil his work for me, and while it still rears its ugly face on occasion in this film, there is also a heartfelt sincerity underlying his typically poignant political commentary. As Jonathan Rosenbaum says, “this is essential viewing.”

21. Paprika (2006, Japan) Satoshi Kon -

Masterpiece [A]

Miles ahead of any animated film produced by this country in decades, Satoshi Kon has taken what has in recent years become a cliché art form, and elevates it to a level only hinted at in Richard Linklater’s recent work. A seamless -- almost Markerian-- meditation on the notion of history and memory combined with the Hollywood dream factory we find in films like Mulholland Dr, this is a surreal but equally cerebral piece of filmmaking. It may fall under the category of ‘cyberpunk’ however it has a far less dystopic and violent approach to the subject matter that lends to the film a more immediate and moving quality. Gorgeous and poetic in every sense, this is a powerful meditation on cinema, the state of the world, to the very nature of the human heart. In short, a major piece of cinema.

22. Video Violence... When Renting is Not Enough (1987, USA) Gary Cohen -

a must see

Shot on video horror is genre in its own right. Many of these films are downright awful, but occasionally you come across something special. This wild and damn fun time capsule of a 1980’s vintage, plays like Caché had it been directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Anyone who remembers the day of oversized VHS boxes and independent video stores will have a hard time not cracking a nostalgic smile.

23. Hobo With a Shotgun (2007, USA) Jason Eisener, Rob Cotterill, and John Davies [short] - average

Winner of the 'Grindhouse Trailer' competition. downloadable here.

25. Abigail Leslie is Back in Town (1975, USA) Joseph W. Sarno -

a must see

26. Underworld (1927, USA) Josef von Sternberg -

a must see

27. Video Violence 2 (1987, USA) Gary Cohen -

worthless

28. Pursued (1947, USA) Raoul Walsh -

a must see

29. Queen of Outer Space (1958, USA) Edward Bernds -

has redeeming facet [camp rating ***]