LogJun05.html

02. Mysterious Skin (2004, USA) Gregg Araki - **** Excellent

03. The Holy Girl (2004, Argentina) Lucrecia Martel - *** a must see

04. Kings and Queen (2004, France) Arnaud Desplechin - *** a must see

05. Café Lumière (2004, Japan) Hou Hsiao-hsien - **** Masterpiece - Review found here

06. Cinderella Man (2005, USA) Ron Howard - ** worth seeing

07. The Corpse Grinders (1972, USA) Ted V. Mikels - • worthless

08. Splendor (1999, USA) Gregg Araki - *** a must see

09. Head-On (2004, Germany/Turkey) Fatih Akin - *** a must see

10. Only Angels Have Wings (1939, USA) Howard Hawks - **** Masterpiece

11. Nowhere (1997, USA) Gregg Araki - ** worth seeing

12. Criss Cross (1949, USA) Robert Siodmak - *** a must see

13. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971, UK) Robert Fuest - ** worth seeing

14. French Cancan (1955, France) Jean Renoir - *** a must see

15. The Devil-Doll (1936, USA) Tod Browning - *** a must see

16. A Good Lawyer's Wife (2003, S. Korea) Im Sang-soo - ** worth seeing

17. Team America: World Police (2004, USA) Trey Parker - 2nd viewing

18. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005, USA) Ken Kwapis - * has redeeming facet

19. Æ Fond Kiss (2004, UK) Ken Loach - *** a must see

20. Arizona Dream (1993, USA) Emir Kusturica - ** worth seeing

21. Toute une Nuit (1982, Belgium) Chantal Akerman - * has redeeming facet

22. Masculin, Féminin (1966, France) Jean-Luc Godard - **** Masterpiece

23. 800 Bullets (2002, Spain ) Álex de la Iglesia - ** worth seeing

24. On Top of the Whale (1982, Netherlands) Raul Ruiz - **** Masterpiece

25. The Girl Can't Help It (1956, USA) Frank Tashlin - *** a must see

26. Bread and Alley (1970, Iran) Abbas Kiarostami - short

27. Two Solutions For One Problem (1972, Iran) Abbas Kiarostami - short

28. The Chorus (1982, Iran) Abbas Kiarostami - short

This has to be the worst big screen comic book adaptation yet. Where Tim Burton’s Batman films were an absolute tour-de-force of expressionistic set design and off the wall theatricality, Nolan chooses to render his film in a more realist manner—real city streets, a rational approach to costumes and acting—the results of which come across as laughable at times when the “realism” clashes with the fantasy elements to produce an uncomfortable mishmash of styles (cf. the updated “I’m Batman,” line or just about anytime Bale speaks in his costume for that matter). Another example is a film like Sin City, which transposes the style of comic book story telling, so that you can practically feel each frame of illustration, Nolan edits his film to shambles using an insipid flashback structure to communicate Bruce Wayne’s inner-demons. While we are on the subject of realism, lets consider the casting of Katie Holmes for a moment, as one of the city’s top District Attorneys… mmmm realism. Now if all this wasn’t bad enough, we have a network of villains—racist stand-ins for Arabs with a hatred for Western Civilization, “realistically” played by an Irishman. They conspire to purge Gotham of the infidels, and Nolan goes for a 9-11 inspired bit of filmmaking channeling the chaotic smoke filled streets of New York City. By the time the climatic finale rolled around featuring a train hurling down the tracks with Liam Neeson on a suicide course to take out Gotham Tower, I had to muster all my strength not to throw-in the towel. Could Batman Begins be “too real” for my own tastes? Maybe someone in the theater was to blame, but I could have sworn I smelt shit.

30. Monday Morning (2002, France) Otar Iosseliani - *** a must see

31. Hana and Alice (2004, Japan) Shunji Iwai - *** a must see

32. Whisky Galore! (1949, UK) Alexander Mackendrick - *** a must see

33. Howl's Moving Castle (2004, Japan) Hayao Miyazaki - **** Masterpiece

34. PTU (2003, Hong Kong) Johnny To - *** a must see

35. The Sect (1991, Italy) Michele Soavi - *** a must see

36. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwan) Edward Yang - **** Masterpiece

37. Ivan the Terrible pt. I + II (1944-6, Soviet Union) Sergei Eisenstein - **** Masterpiece

38. The Pink Panther (1963, USA) Blake Edwards - *** a must see

39. King of New York (1990, USA) Abel Ferrara - *** a must see

40. Land of the Dead (2005, USA) George A. Romero - **** Excellent

41. Phantasm (1979, USA) Don Coscarelli - *** a must see

42. Blue Rita (1977, Switzerland) Jesus Franco - • worthless

43. Harold and Maude (1971, USA) Hal Ashby - **** Masterpiece

44. Unknown Chaplin, episode 1 (1983, USA) Kevin Brownlow & David Gill - No rating assigned until I have viewed the other two episodes, but as it might be a while until I have those in my possession, I'll just say that this series is simply brilliant.

45. Mad Hot Ballroom (2005, USA) Marilyn Agrelo - ** worth seeing

46. Mondo Topless (1966, USA) Russ Meyer - * has redeeming facet

47. Branca de Neve (2000, Portugal) João César Monteiro - * has redeeming facet

48. L'Arrivée (1998, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

49. Dream Work (2001, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

50. Manufraktur (1985, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

51. Motion Picture (1984, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

52. Get Ready (1999, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

53. Miniatures - Man Berlin Artists in Hoisdorf (1983, Austria) Peter Tscherkassky - short

54. Sons of the Desert (1933, USA) William A. Seiter - **** Masterpiece

55. It's a Gift (1934, USA) Norman Z. McLeod - *** a must see

56. The Window (1949, USA) Ted Tetzlaff - *** a must see

57. War of the Worlds (2005, USA) Stephen Spielberg - ** worth seeing

58. Man's Castle (1933, USA) Frank Borzage - **** Masterpiece

59. Monday (2000, Japan) Sabu - *** a must see