Films seen in June
[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. The Breed (2006,
USA) Nicholas Mastandrea -
has redeeming facet [D]
One would have expected that the directorial
debut by the former Assistant Director for names like Romero and Craven would
make for a slightly better horror film than this. One would be wrong…
02. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929, Germany)
G.W. Pabst -
a must see
03. The Free Will (2006, Germany) Matthias
Glasner - 
Excellent [A-]
04.
And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973, UK) Roy Ward
Baker -
a must see
05.
Spite Marriage (1929, USA) Edward Sedgwick &
Buster Keaton -
a must see
06.
April Fool's Day (1986, USA) Fred Walton -
worth seeing
07.
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932, USA) W.S. Van Dyke -
worth seeing
08.
The Tiger and the Snow (2005, Italy) Roberto Benigni
-
a must see [B-]
09.
Hostel: Part II (2007, USA) Eli Roth -
a must see [B-]
10.
Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion (2006,
USA) Michael Blieden -
worthless
[F]
11.
Godzilla Raids Again (1955, Japan) Motoyoshi Oda
-
has redeeming facet
12.
Each Dawn I Die (1939, USA) William Keighley -
a must see
13.
They're Playing With Fire (1984,
USA) Howard Avedis -
a must see
Is it wrong that this campy and severely dated
80’s thriller is some of the most fun I’ve had with a genre film
in a longtime? Featuring the frequently nude and ever ridiculous Sybil Danning
(returning to screens this year courtesy of Rob Zombie) this is equal parts
slasher film and Giallo as directed for the late-night Skin-a-Max crowd. A campy
gem that probably plays today as ten-times better a film than the year in which
it was made.
14.
Vera Cruz (1954, USA) Robert Aldrich -
worth seeing
15.
Slaughter House Phi: Death Sisters (2006, USA)
Lewis Schoenbrun [video] -
has
redeeming facet [D]
16.
Brute Force (1947, USA) Jules Dassin -
a must see
17.
Anita (1973, Sweden) Torgny Wickman -
has redeeming facet
18.
The River's Edge (1957, USA) Allan Dwan -
a must see
19.
Knocked Up
(2007, USA) Judd Apatow -
has redeeming
facet [D+]
Apatow is trying to make a film with substance,
but like his main character he seems doomed to immaturity. His young couple
provides the drama, the foul-mouthed buffoons they hangout with the comic relief,
the only part that really thrives is the tumultuous marriage of Paul Rudd and
Leslie Mann who play the “mature” other couple. Considering that
the laughs come when the movie focuses on the antics of the secondary cast,
this comedy could have been about anything, and it really should have been as
there is about as much here to chew on about parenthood as there was in a film
like Look Who’s Talking. And to further my rant-- It is quite
funny how both Eli Roth and Judd Apatow chose to include a climatic shot in
their films involving prosthetic genitalia, yet Roth is the one taking all the
heat even though both shots are almost identical in the roles they play in trying
to get a reaction out of the audience. Looked at side by side it’s easy
to see which shot is there to serve a purpose and which is there to indulge
the whims a juvenile filmmaker.
20.
Death Ship (1980, UK) Alvin Rakoff
-
worthless
Billed as a “lost classic” when it
was recently released in the UK on DVD, this is one that was better left forgotten.
George Kennedy and Richard Crenna star in the lowpoints of their careers terrorized
by a possessed Nazi ship (think The Car, but with a ship). Not even
a script by the usually efficient and witty Jack Hill can bring this clunky
and unimaginative bore of a picture to life.
21.
The Prestige (2006, USA) Christopher Nolan -
a must see [B+]
22.
Ils (2006, France) David Moreau & Xavier Palud
-
a must see [B]
23.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961, UK) Val Guest
-
worth seeing
24.
The Ring (1927, UK) Alfred Hitchcock -
a must see
25.
SL8N8 (2006, Netherlands) Frank van Geloven &
Edwin Visser -
has redeeming facet
[D]
26.
Confessions of a Psycho Cat (1968, USA) Herb Stanley
-
worth seeing
27.
Deathbed (2002, USA) Danny Draven [video] -
has redeeming facet
28.
1408 (2007, USA) Mikael Håfström
-
has redeeming facet [D+]
Extended "Twilight Zone" episode with
innovation curbed from Polanski and frights lifted from Jap-Horror. Cusak’s
one-man performance keeps things rolling but the film never amounts to anything
significant and when the opportunity arises to go darker and more frightening
it opts instead for a tired emotional subplot involving a deceased child. Vacancy
manages to outdo this in just about every category.
29.
This Film is Not Yet Rated (2006,
USA) Kirby Dick -
worth seeing
[C]
Rosenbaum pretty much nails
it and I wonder if Dick really cares about this issue, or is this just a
stunt to put his name alongside Michael Moore and that Supersize Me
guy in the public eye? The numerous staged scenes with the private investigators
peeling rubber or conspicuously peering through binoculars are just plain awful.
Let’s confront the real issues at hand and leave the garbage picking to
the paparazzi.
30.
Who Can Kill a Child? (1976, Spain)
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador -
a must see
Prime example of home video uncovering a criminally
underseen little gem...
31.
Child's Play (1988, USA) Tom Holland -
worth seeing
(although I have seen this many times before, I'd
never assigned a critical rating)
32.
Galaxina (1980, USA) William Sachs -
worthless
33.
Spies (1928, Germany) Fritz Lang -
a must see
34.
The Great Flamarion (1945, USA) Anthony Mann -
a must see
35.
White Skin (2004, Canada) Daniel Roby -
has redeeming facet