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.
06.
Macabre (1980, Italy) Lamberto Bava -
worthless
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.
08.
The Clock (1945, USA) Vincente Minnelli -
a must see
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
12.
Breaking and Entering (2006, UK/USA) Anthony Minghella
- worth seeing
[C]
13.
Thief of Bagdad (1940, USA) Ludwig Berger, Tim
Whelan, and Michael Powell -
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, "At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World
in the Last Cinema in the World" - David Cronenberg, "I
Travelled 9000 km To Give It To You" - Wong Kar Wai
*** - "Darkness" -
Dardenne Brothers, "The Electric Princess House"
- Hou Hsiao-hsien, "Occupations" - Lars
von Trier , "Cinéma Erotique" - Roman
Polanski, "Happy Ending" - Ken Loach, "The
Gift" - Raoul Ruiz, "The Foundry"
- Aki Kaurismäki,"Recrudescence"
- Olivier Assayas, "First Kiss" - Gus Van
Sant, "Movie Night" - Zhang Yimou, "One
Fine Day" - Takeshi Kitano
** - "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
* - "Where is my Romeo?"
- Abbas Kiarostami, "8944 km from Cannes"
- Walter Salles, "47 Years Later" - Youssef
Chahine, "Cinéma de Boulevard" -
Claude Lelouch, "Trois Minutes" - Théo
Angelopoulos
zero - "The Lady Bug" - Jane Campion, "Diary
of a Movie Goer" - Nanni Moretti, "The Dybbuk
Haifa" - Amos Gitai, "War in Peace"
- Wim Wenders, "No Translation Needed" -
Michael Cimino
16.
Vampyros Lesbos (1971, West Germany) Jess Franco
- worth seeing
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.
24.
Manhunter (1986, USA) Michael Mann -
Masterpiece
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 ***]
30.
King Solomon's Mines (1950, USA) Compton Bennett
& Andrew Marton
-
worth seeing
31.
The Abandoned (2006, Spain) Nacho Cerdà
- worth seeing
[C]
32.
Police Beat (2005, USA) Robinson Devor -
Masterpiece [A]
33.
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964, Japan) Ishirô
Honda -
a must see
34.
Rabid Dogs (1974, Italy) Mario Bava -
Masterpiece
35.
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006, Hong Kong) Zhang
Yimou
- worth seeing
[C-]
36.
Frailty (2001, USA) Bill Paxton -
a must see
37.
Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971, Italy) Lucio Fulci
-
a must see
38.
Lights in the Dusk (2006, Finland) Aki Kaurismäki
- worth seeing
[C]
39.
The Monster Squad (1987, USA) Fred Dekker -
a must see [first viewing 10 years]
40.
Vanishing Point (1971, USA) Richard C. Sarafian
-
Excellent
41.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972,
Hong Kong) Chor Yuen
-
worth seeing
42.
Season of the Witch (1972, USA) George A. Romero
- worth seeing
43.
The Acid Eaters (1968, USA) Byron Mabe -
worthless
44.
Sunshine (2007, UK) Danny Boyle -
a must see [B-]
45.
Zodiac (2007, USA) David Fincher -
Excellent [A-]
46.
Pumpkinhead (1989, USA) Stan Winston
-
worth seeing
47.
Miranda (1985, Italy) Tinto Brass -
worthless
48.
Fanny and Alexander (1982, Sweden) Ingmar Bergman
[5-hr cut] -
Masterpiece