FILMS SEEN IN
2008:
Titles will be added when they fall off "the last 10 films I've seen."
Slashes indicate repeat viewings. Titles prefaced by a star were seen
on projected video in a theatrical setting, and those prefaced by a
plus sign on home video. The new release section includes
2007 releases that I caught up with this year. All titles are
American unless otherwise indicated. Films under 30 minutes will be
labelled {S} and those between 30 and 70 minutes {M}. Only films over
30 minutes are rated.
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN
**** Masterpiece
***1/2 Excellent
*** Pretty good but highly flawed
**1/2 Mediocre but not without merit
** Pretty bad
*1/2 Awful
* A superhuman amount of patience was required to sit through
it
0 Walked out
NEW RELEASES
*ACTION BOYS (Jung Byung-gil, South Korea) ***
ADRIFT IN TOKYO (Satoshi Miki, Japan) ***
ALEXANDRA (Alexander Sokurov, Russia) ***
*BAGHDAD HIGH (Ivan O'Mahoney/Laura Winter, UK/Iraq)
***
THE BAND'S VISIT (Eran Kolirin, Israel) ***
BATTLE FOR HADITHA (Nick Broomfield, UK) ***
BEFORE
I FORGET (Jacques Nolot, France) ***1/2
BE KIND REWIND (Michel Gondry) **1/2
BOARDING
GATE (Olivier Assayas, France) **1/2
THE CALLER (Richard Ledes) **1/2
CARGO 200 (Alexei Balabanov, Russia) **
CASSANDRA'S DREAM (Woody Allen, USA/UK) **1/2
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS:
THE ENIGMA (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal) **
CITY OF MEN
(Paulo Morelli, Brazil) **1/2
CJ7 (Stephen Chow, Hong
Kong) ***
CLOVERFIELD (Matt Reeves) **1/2
DAINIPPONJIN (Hitoshi Matsumoto, Japan) ***
DARK MATTER (Chen Shi-Zheng) **1/2
DIARY
OF THE DEAD (George A. Romero) **1/2
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (Julian Schnabel, France/USA) **
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS (Jacques Rivette, France) ***1/2
EAT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY (Michelange
Quay, Haiti) **1/2
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (Faith Akin, Germany/Turkey) **1/2
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (Werner Herzog) ***
EXPIRED (Cecilia Miniucchi) **
+FINE, TOTALLY FINE (Yosuke Fujita, Japan) ***
/FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON/ (Hou
Hsiao-hsien, France/Taiwan) ***1/2
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (Cristian Mungiu, Romania) ***1/2
LA FRANCE (Serge Bozon, France) ****
+THE FREE WILL (Mathias Glasner, Germany) ***
+/FROWNLAND/ (Ronald
Bronstein) ***1/2
+FULL BATTLE RATTLE (Tony Gerber/Jesse Moss) **1/2
FUNNY GAMES (Michael Haneke,
USA/UK/France) **1/2
HAPPINESS (Hur Jin-ho, South Korea) ***
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (Jon Hurwitz/Hayden
Schlossberg) **1/2
HER NAME IS SABINE
(Sandrine Bonnaire, France) ***
INSIDE (Julien Maury/Alexandre Bustillo, France) ***
+IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (José Luis Guerin, Spain/France) **1/2
IRON MAN (Jon Favreau) ***
JOY DIVISON
(Grant Gee) ***1/2
+KALA (Joko Anwar, Indonesia) **1/2
KATYN (Andrzej Wajda, Poland) **1/2
THE LAST MISTRESS (Catherine Breillat, France) ***
LIKE A DRAGON (Takashi Miike, Japan) ***
A LOST MAN (Danielle Abrid, Lebanon/France)
**1/2
*LOU REED'S BERLIN (Julian Schnabel) ***
LOVE SONGS (Christophe Honoré,
France) **1/2
MAD DETECTIVE (Johnnie To/Wai Ka-Fai, Hong Kong) ***
*MAN ON WIRE (James Marsh, UK) ***
MARRIED LIFE (Ira Sachs)
**1/2
MISTER LONELY (Harmony Korine, USA/UK/France) **1/2
MOTHER OF TEARS (Dario Argento, Italy) *1/2
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (Wong Kar-wai, USA/France/Hong
Kong) **
+MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD (Daniele Luchetti, Italy) **
MY WINNIPEG (Guy Maddin, Canada) ***1/2
+/OPERATION FILMMAKER/ (Nina Davenport) ***
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES (Michel Hazanavicius, France) **
PARANOID PARK (Gus
van Sant) ***
QUID PRO QUO (Carlos Brooks) **1/2
THE REBEL (Charlie Nguyen, Vietnam) **1/2
REPRISE (Joachim Trier, Norway) **1/2
ROMAN DE GARE (Claude Lelouch, France) **1/2
*SAVE ME (Robert Cary) **1/2
SCHINDLER'S HOUSES (Heinz Emigholz, Germany) ***
A SECRET (Claude
Miller, France) **1/2
THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN (Abdellatif Kechiche, France) **1/2
THE SIGNAL
(David Bruckner/Jacob Gentry/Dan Bush) ***
THE SILENCE BEFORE BACH (Pere Portabella, Spain) ***
SLEEP DEALER (Alex Rivera, USA/Mexico)
***
*SLINGSHOT HIP-HOP (Jackie Reem Salloum) ***
SNOW ANGELS (David Gordon Green)
**1/2
SPARROW (Johnnie To, Hong Kong) ***1/2
*STALAGS (Ari Libsker, Israel) {M} ***
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (Errol Morris)
**1/2
/STILL LIFE/ (Jia Zhang Ke, China) ***1/2
THE STRANGERS (Bryan Bertino) ***
STOP-LOSS (Kimberly Peirce) ***
STUCK (Stuart Gordon) ***
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE (Alex Gibney) ***
+THIS WORLD OF OURS (Ryo Nakajima, Japan) **
+THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS (Bruce McDonald, Canada) ***
/THE
UNFORESEEN/ (Laura Dunn) ***1/2
UNITED RED ARMY (Koji Wakamatsu, Japan) ***1/2
UP THE YANGTZE (Yung Chang, Canada) ***
+VAL LEWTON: THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS (Kent Jones) ***
THE VISITOR (Tom McCarthy) ***
WALL-E (Andrew Stanton) ***1/2
WAR, INC. (Joshua Seftel) **
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN? (Morgan
Spurlock) **
THE WITNESSES (André Téchiné, France)
***1/2
XXY (Lucia Puenzo, Argentina) ***
YOU, THE LIVING (Roy Andersson, Sweden) **1/2
OLD FILMS
ADVISE AND CONSENT (Otto Preminger, 1962)
ALL THAT JAZZ (Bob Fosse, 1979)
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Otto Preminger, 1959)
THE ARSENAL STADIUM MYSTERY (Thorold
Dickinson,UK, 1940)
AUDITION
(Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1963)
BENILDE, OR THE VIRGIN
MOTHER (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal, 1975)
+BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ - episodes 1-10 (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West
Germany, 1980)
BETELNUT
BEAUTY (Lin Cheng-sheng, Taiwan, 2001)
BLOW FOR BLOW (Marin Karmitz, France, 1971)
A BOY AND HIS DOG (L. Q. Jones, 1975)
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS (Alan Rudolph, 1999)
BRIEF CROSSING (Catherine Breillat, France, 2001)
BUDAPEST PORTAIT (Peter Hutton, 1986) {M}
BYE BYE BRAVERMAN
(Sidney Lumet, 1968)
THE CANNIBALS (Manoel de
Oliveira, Portugal, 1988)
/LES CARABINIERS/ (Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1963)
CHIKAMATSU'S LOVE IN OSAKA (Tomu Uchida, Japan,
1959)
/COLD
WATER/ (Olivier Assayas, France, 1994)
DAY OF DESPAIR (Manoel de Oliveira,
Portugal, 1992)
DOOMED LOVE (Manoel de Oliveira,
Portugal, 1977)
*A DRIFTING
LIFE (Lin Cheng-sheng, Taiwan, 1996)
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF MR. WEST IN THE LAND OF THE BOLSHEVIKS
(Lev Kuleshov, USSR, 1924)
FALLEN ANGEL (Otto Preminger, 1945)
*/FANNY AND ALEXANDER/ {5-hour cut} (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1982)
THE FIRST LEGION (Douglas Sirk, 1951)
FRANCISCA (Manoel de Oliveira,
Portugal, 1981)
A GIRL'S TEAR (Iosif Demian, Romania, 1980)
HATARI! (Howard Hawks, 1962)
/IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE/ (Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, 1964)
I DON'T HEAR THE GUITAR
ANYMORE (Philippe Garrel, France, 1991)
/IRMA VEP/ (Olivier Assayas, France, 1996)
JULY RAIN (Marlen Khtusiev, USSR, 1966)
LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (Howard Hawks, 1955)
/LATE MARRIAGE/ (Dover Koshashvili, Israel, 2002)
/LAURA/ (Otto Preminger, 1944)
*LIKE THE RELENTLESS FURY OF THE POUNDING WAVES (Apichatpong
Weerasethakul, Thailand, 1995) {M}
MANDINGO (Richard
Fleischer, 1975)
MARGIN FOR ERROR (Otto Preminger, 1943)
THE MARINES WHO NEVER RETURNED (Lee Man-hui, South Korea, 1963)
ON THE SILVER GLOBE (Andrzej Zulawski, Poland, 1976/87)
+/PIERROT LE FOU/ (Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1965)
PORTRAIT OF HELL (Shiro Toyoda, Japan, 1969)
REAL FICTION (Kim Ki-duk, South Korea, 2000)
THE QUEEN OF SPADES (Thorold Dickinson,UK,
1949)
/REAL LIFE/ (Albert Brooks, 1979)
/RED RIVER/ (Howard Hawks, 1948)
RIO LOBO (Howard Hawks, 1970)
ROME '78 (James Nares, 1978)
SAIT-ON JAMAIS... (Roger Vadim, France, 1957)
THE SECOND AWAKENING OF CHRISTA KLAGES (Margarethe von Trotta, West Germany, 1977)
THE SUDDEN RICHNESS OF THE POOR PEOPLE OF KOMBACH (Volker
Schlondorff, West Germany, 1971)
/THIEVES LIKE US/ (Robert Altman, 1974)
TOBY DAMNIT (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1968) {M}
+TOKYO CHORUS (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1931)
TOO LATE BLUES (John Cassavetes, 1961)
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (Charles Burnett, 1990)
TO THE STARRY ISLAND (Park Kwang-su, South Korea, 1994)
/TROPICAL MALADY/ (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 2004)
TWILIGHT SALOON (Tomu Uchida, Japan, 1955)
UNTAMED (Mikio Naruse, Japan, 1957)
VIOLENT SATURDAY (Richard
Fleischer, 1955)
WALKER (Alex Cox,
1987)
WOMEN IN LOVE (Ken Russell, UK, 1969)
*/WORLDLY DESIRES/ (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 2005) {M}
SHORTS
THE ANTHEM (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)
*EMERALD (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)
*GHOST OF ASIA (Apichatpong Weerasethakul/Christelle Lheureux,
Thailand, 2005)
UNE HISTOIRE D'EAU (François Truffaut/Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1958)
JOHN AND KAREN (Matthew Walker, UK)
LODZ SYMPHONY (Peter Hutton, 1993)
*MALEE AND THE BOY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand,
1999)
*MY MOTHER'S GARDEN (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)
ORISHAS ARE OUR SAINTS (John Kane)
PRESTO (Doug Sweetwald)
RAMP (James Nares, 1976)
*THIRDWORLD (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 1997)
*TWO WOMEN AND A MAN (Roee Rosen, Israel, 2005)
*WINDOWS (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 1999)
*0116643225059 (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 1994)