The Last 37 Films I’ve Seen…

Presented in Rotten Tomatoes-style consensuses…

“The Brothers Bloom has a lot of heart, exceptional performances (especially from Rachel Weisz, my favorite of hers), and a brilliant setting filled with intentional anachronisms, but it’s ultimately too ambitious and should have ended before its unnecessary third act.” [Film, 3.5 Stars]

“Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen… a Transformer has balls, so… yeah.” [Abomination, 0.5 Stars]

“Steven Soderbergh’s sixth effort,Schizopolis, is the definition experimential cinema; even still, it’s hilarious, even though its third act drops off.” [Film, 4 Stars]

“The Last Of The Mohicans i exactly what I expected it would be; Indians with guns and little character development. My least favorite of Mann’s body of work.” [Movie, 2.5 Stars]

“Turning the tables to go into full biopic mode, Michael Mann delivers a true, but rather unambitious film, in Ali.” Also, its good to see someone other than Denzel Washington play a black icon.[Film, 3.5 Stars]

“Going in, I groaned at the thought of Sam Mendes doing a quirky, under-the-radar flick starring two television stars. Coming out, I declared Away We Go a heartfelt, moving, funny, downright exceptional summertime gem; no less than a five star film.” [Film, 5 Stars]

Michael Mann’s Public Enemies is essentially Heat set in the 1930s, resulting in the best live-action film of the summer, Mann’s fourth-best effort, and a gangster film that will get even better with age.” [4.5 Stars, Film]

Tape, an experimental one-room drama with only three characters, is unique because of that, but plain when it comes to the hackneyed script and story.” [Film, 4 Stars]

Faye Dunaway has her sexiest role ever here, but unfortunately, The Arrangement is a hackneyed, underwritten nothing that changes styles more than (insert clever metaphor). It sucks, but it’s good to see Faye.” [Movie, 2 Stars]

“Donkey Punch tries to be an original and unique slasher film. But, when you’re making a slasher film, it is a SLASHER FILM, and with that, there’s not much room to change things up. Kudos, though, for segueing into straight-up pornography for the ‘donkey punch’ scene.” [Flick, 1.5 Stars]

“Soderbergh’s fourth effort, Underneath, is a taut and rather original thriller, with classic Soderbergh fast-cut editing and a story that jumps around. Unfortunately, the bottom drops out towards the end.” [Moviefilm, 3.5 Stars]

“Swimming Pool is a thrilling film with many twists and turns (in terms of style and story direction). Charlotte Rampling cannot do not wrong, and her foxy co-star, the French equivalent of Ashley Tisdale, ain’t too shabby neither. I can’t stress enough the fact that what you expect to happen most assuredly does not in this mixed-language, sexy thriller.

“One of Soderbergh’s experimental entries, Bubble, is an exceptional tale of small town angst and small town crime. Can’t he just direct movies like this?” [Film, 4.5 Stars]

“Director Duncan Jones must watch ‘Lost.’ His first feature, Moon, is good (it’s not great).” But, you can’t be too picky when it comes to sci-fi.” [Moviefilm, 3.5 Stars]

“At an alarming 67 minutes, Kubrick’s second film, Killer’s Kiss, breezes at a barely noticeable pace. That being said, it’s absolutely perfect.” [Film, 4 Stars]

“Blood, Guts, Bullets & Octane is truly a film that does not live up to its name. STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS. Bottom three.” [Abomination, 0.5 Stars]

“Alfonso Cuaron’s first landmark achievement, Y Tu Mama Tambien, is subtle, powerful, and brilliantly focused. Welcome to the top sixty.” [Film, 4.5 Stars]

“Special could have been better, but Michael Rapaport’s performance heightens this otherwise bland indie effort.” [Moviefilm, 3 Stars]

Going in, I was scepticle of how good an actor Larry David really was, how good a screenplay written in the 70’s would be today, and how insufferable the film would be. Well, the screenplay showed it’s age, and the very beginning and very end were insufferable, but the bulk of Whatever Works was a downright hilarious film, my favorite of Allen’s body of work. Also, a socko (and purely enjoyable) performance from Wood, who is still my favorite actress.” [Moviefilm, 4 Stars]

“In The Mood For Love was not for me. Too slow, too pointless, and too repetitive. It was like watching just the flashbacks from a Jin & Sun-centric episode of ‘Lost.’” [Moviefilm, 2 Stars]

“Electionis a flawless, hilarious tale about high school rivalries at all levels. Alexander Payne’s best film; welcome to the top seventy (or so). [Film, 4.5 Stars]

“The King, directed by James Marsh of 2008’s Best Documetary Oscar Man On Wire, is Gael Garcia Bernal’s best film, as well as a tender, slow-moving tale of a man gone insane for love. Welcome to the top forty.” [Film, 4 Stars]

“What Doesn’t Kill You, directed by Brian Goodman, who is played by Mark Ruffalo, is a semi-autobiographical tale about Goodman’s scary Boston life. So, supposedly his life had a lame twist. The audience is also treated to the cheesiest, lamest pre-credits epilogue ever.” [Movie, 3 Stars]

“Wild Things is hilarious, campy fun; the most twists you’ll ever see in a movie ever. But then I wondered if that wasn’t the goal, and it made it more hilarious.” [Flick, 2 Stars]

“Visioneers, starring a then-unknown Zach Galafinakis and directed by first-timer Jared Drake could have been good. It had its moments. [Movie, 3 Stars]

“The Parallax View is a boring, 70’s political paranoia flick this is immediately forgettable.” [Flick, 2 Stars]

“Eros is a chore to watch. The Hand by Wong Kar-Wai was bearable (and more enjoyable than In The Mood For Love), but Soderbergh’s Equilibrium was way too WTF and Antonioni’s The Dangerous Thread Of Things might just possibly be the worst 40 minutes of foreign cinema I’ve ever seen.” [Flick, 1.5 Stars]

“4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days is powerhouse cinema. No music, no frills; it just sucks you in straight from the start and tells you a dark, unflinching tale.

“Animal Factory, directed by Steve Buscemi of all people, is a failure of a prison movie; it paints the clink as a magical candyland, it’s not gritty and dark whatsoever (it featured a smooth jazz soundtrack), and seems to go through the motions; riots, race wars, rape, escape, you’re done. Thanks for watching.” [Flick, 2 Stars]

“Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers is a tender yet uneventful exploration into the life of a serial bachelor who just wants to know; too subtle for my taste.” [Moviefilm, 3 Stars]

“After completed Bradbury’s groundbreaking novel, I was pleased to a film adaptation existed, and I promptly watched it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t pleased to see Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451. Unnecessary changes abound, the film barely does the book justice.” [Movie, 2.5 Stars]

“The deep, dark secrets of Francis Coppola’s masterpiece Apocalyspe Now come alive inHearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalyspe. Also, a vision of the future of cinema provided by Coppola in the documentary is painfully coming true.” [Film, 4 Stars]

“Food, Inc. is an extremely eye-opening journey into the unknown world of corporate control of America’s food system. Instead of giving a ‘shit happens’ scenario like most documentaries of the same caliber, Food literally provided feasible options for the audience to take part in to actually make a difference.” [Film, 4.5 Stars]

“Going in, I knew nothing about Oliver Assayas’ French-language filmSummer Hours. Coming out, I was thoroughly touched by its simple story and how it mirrored some of my own experiences.” [4.5 Stars]

“Rocket Science is way too quirky for its own good and drags a little bit,but it’s pretty funny and its heartfelt story and message shines through.” [Moviefilm, 3.5 Stars]

“It could have done without the endless onslaught of ball/cock/Jew jokes, butFunny People is a hilarious. heartfelt drama; Apatow’s best work yet. I was thoroughly engaged in the story and characters throughout it’s insanely long running time (for a ‘comedy’). Also, it’s probably Adam Sandler’s second best work.” [Film, 4 Stars]

“Though it put me to sleep twice, My Dinner With Andre is a thoughtful exposition on reality, existence, and living presented in a unique, even if it is two guys sitting there for two hours. It’s way inside baseball, but it made me think (and sleep).” [Film, 3.5 Stars]

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed, and I’ve careened through about twenty or so flicks since then. I’ll start with the worst, and lead up to the best. I proudly welcomed a new entry to the Bottom 50 list, taking the number five spot; Vincenzo Natali’s Cypher (0.5 stars, Flick). After watching Cube, which is awesome (though slighty less awesome now that I’ve finished Natali’s filmography), I knew I had to check out more of the director’s work. Instead, I continued with the Cube trilogy; Cube 2: Hypercube and Cube Zero currently inhabit the number two andthirty-two spots on the Bottom 50 list, respectively. Natali’s making of Cypher is a perfect example of having an awesome idea in your head, but having absolutely no technical or intellectual prowess to convey into a film. Which leads me to Nothing, Natali’s third feature (2 stars, Flick). Slightly better than Cypher, but nowhere near Cube, Nothing is just as it sounds. Two butt-buddy best friends wish all their worries would go away, but instead, the world literally disappears around their house, leaving a white, bouncy void of nothing. The stars of the film wrote it with Natali, and you can tell it was one of those ‘hey, I have a crazy idea for a movie!’-type deals that snowballed way too much. It demonstrates such a poor understanding or emotion, narrative structure, and morals. And for a supposed guy movie, it’s pretty gay and has a complete lack of women. On a lighter note, Natali directed a 17-minute short in ‘96 called Elevated, which features three people in a trapped in an elevator by an unknown, outside threat. Hands down, the best live-action short film I’ve ever seen (Geri’s Game still takes the whole cake).

Speaking of shorts, Partly Cloudy, the pre-Up short, is an impressive entry into the Pixar Shorts collection. Probably number three behind Geri and Presto. Speaking of Up (5 stars, Film), my take-two (complete with 3D), was even more amazing; I was reduced to even more tears (and started tearing up just by knowing what was coming). I can envision at least one more stop to see that before the summer’s out. The 3D isn’t there for spectacle, it’s just there to make an amazing film even more layered; not for pop-outs.

Back to the bad, we have Crash (2004, Moviefilm), the ‘Best Picture’ winner of 2005 (2 stars). Straight-up, some ‘ole bullshit. People don’t think/talk/act like that. You can’t expose and comment on the nature of racism by being straight-up racist. The high-tension emotional moments were laughable, and the morals were childish. Does a Best Picture Oscar mean anything any more? Next, we have David Cronenberg’s Videodrome (2.5 stars, Flick), his 1983 morality tale about violence on television. It’s sort of autobiographical; James Woods plays a TV-exec trying to get the most violent and pornographic programming on his TV network for the public to see. Kind of like Cronenberg himself during the time. Some effects were cool and innovative (a living, breathing VHS tape, a VCR in your stomach), but some were laughable and cheap (a bubbling television). It’s message gets muddled and it’s dialogue is painfully un-‘there,’ so see it just for the passable effects. Up next is Mike Judge’s 2006 dystopian comedy Idiocracy (2.5 stars, Movie). I read somewhere that someone said ‘it’s sad that Judge is probably more right than Kubrick, Orwell, and Huxley at predicting the future;’ a world full of retards is already what we’ve become, so he’s pretty much right. Some contrived humor, but overall a good watch. Some lol moments, but most of the draw was the film’s release woes.

Next we have Michael Haneke’s original 1997 German-language film Funny Games (3 stars, Film); if you’re a fan of the remake, you don’t really need to watch the exact same movie… a trap I obviously fell into. Trust me, there’s nothing new to be gotten from it. I completed a much anticipated watch with David Gordon Green’s 2000 debut feature George Washington (3 stars, Film), the stories of some interconnected youths in an unnamed southern U.S. shithole town. I love how DDG makes shithole towns look like beautiful, artful landscapes of emotional discovery. Something about it didn’t fully click for me, but I know look at All The Real Girls in a new, more welcoming light; the kinks I found in GW are worked out and some of the same themes are presented better. Next is Robert Altman’s 1984 experimental piece Secret Honor (3.5 stars, Film), starring only Philip Baker Hall as Dick Nixon. It’s kind of boring, but for any president/PBH nut, it’s a must see. Just him getting drunk and trying to set his story straight; completely fictional, but completely heartfelt and pro-Nixon. Ocean’s Eleven (3.5 stars, Moviefilm), the 1960 Lewis Milestone (great name) rat-pack feature is a fun Vegas romp that lets you know the roots of your favorite heist franchise. In this one, they rob 5 casinos at once. I wouldn’t say it’s good, but I’d definitely say it’s fun, enjoyable, quick, and interesting.

Moving into 4 stars territory, we have Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 epic The Holy Mountain (4 stars, Film). I’ll explain it using a few things featured in the film: immersible human feces bong, latino parapalegic, cheetah heads for breasts (on a man), and a shrine of testicle jars. Interested? It has a great plot, actual characters, and a great message. Probably the most ‘out there’ and ‘different’ film I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen Salo). Definitely recommended if you like films that create extremely dense visuals and push the envelope all the way (a rarity). Next we have Roman Polanski’s 1965 creation Repulsion (4 stars, Film), a chronicle of a young schizophrenic woman who traps herself in an apartment physically, and starts to imagine seen and unseen horrors. It’s slow going, but it’s the start of great style for Polanski (and the start of his ‘apartment trilogy’). Overall, it’s worth it. I’ve Loved You So Long (4 stars, Film), the debut feature from French director Phillipe Claudel heralds the start of a great career. Kristen Scott Thomas, awesome, blah blah blah; it’s great. Lacked the extreme emotional punch I really wanted, but it’s effective nonetheless. The International (4 stars, Film), Tykwer’s first film since Perfume, is a solid entry into his heavily-stylized filmography; it delivers on all levels of action and suspense, but lacks a little on emotional bravada and characterization. Better than any Bourne film; the Guggenheim-replica shootout scene is aaaammmazing. Check it out if just for that. Next we have Norman Jewison’s 1968 original version of The Thomas Crown Affair (4 stars, Moviefilm); while extremely underplotted and undercharacterized, we get a visually astounding heist feature with none other than Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen to lubricate our senses. It’s pretty much all show, and it works like a charm. With Paths Of Glory (4.5 stars, Film), Kubrick strikes again with this beautifully crafted French/German war film set in the 1910s. The atrocities of war are laid bare, and they are foul. Fun fact: there’s only one woman in the entire film, and she’s on screen for, at most, two minutes. And Stanley Kubrick married her. A top thirty film for me.

For new releases, we have The Hangover (4.5 stars, Moviefilm), a perfect guy movie with a perfect cast and a perfect story; you have to see it to believe how ridiculously funny and awesome it is. Best live action film of 2009, so far. Also from 2009, we have Soderbergh’s quiet little experiment, The Girlfriend Experience (4.5 stars, Film), starring porn star Sasha Grey as a high-class prostitute in NYC trying to navigate through her job and personal life. It’s probably one of the most simple character studies I’ve ever seen, but Grey proves she can do more than porn, and assuredly astounds. #4 for 2009. The most important film I need to talk about is 2006’s controversial 9/11 film, United 93 (4.5 stars, Motion Picture). I was so against World Trade Center (2006) and this for the longest time because I thought they were made to profit off of tragedy and marr an otherwise sacred event. I gave in, and in turn, was given one of the most heart-wrenching and glorious tales of heroism, triumph, and miscommunication; no matter if it’s true or not. A top twenty-five film for me. Taking the cake, though, is a small Norwegian gem from ‘06, Den brysomme mannen (The Bothersome Man) (5 stars, Film). It’s open for quite a bit of interpretation, but we follow a man in a purgatory-hell-like city where no emotion is exhibited, and nothing tastes. It appealed 100% to my ‘not everything is as it appears to be’ and ‘unfamiliar dystopia’ benchmarks, taking the #3 spot in the top one-hundred. Highly recommended, if you want a heady, fantastic, Norsk journey into an unknown world.

In progress on: Edtv, Get Carter, Irreversible, Natural Born Killers, Solaris (1972), Spartan, Stereo, The Ninth Configuration, The Dead Zone, and many others. Up next?: Schindler’s List (need a good, solid watch in a non-classroom environment), Das Experiment, and Spider. Coming soon: Reviews for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, The Brothers Bloom and Paranoid Park.

Dirty Harry: Not necessarily my bag. My main draw to it was it’s satirizing of the Zodiac killings; and it just came out silly. Eastwood is fun to watch, but it’s no decade-defining role by any stretch. [2.5 stars, Moviefilm]

Star Trek: It will do wonders for the Star Trek franchise, but it does nothing for the sci-fi genre as whole. I had never noticed ‘lens flare’ before in any movie, but it was blatantly annoying here; it’s literally in ever scene. What looked to be a competent origin story of the Star Trek crew turned into a hackneyed tale of space/time soup with so many plot getaways, you can’t be in suspense for any moment. There was one breathtaking scene, but my breath was taken away by the visuals. I did love Chris Pine; he’s good. But, the rest of the crew seems to just be playing characitures of firm characters. All in all, a fair yawn, even for IMAX. [3 stars, Moviefilm]

Paris Je T’aime: Fine, no complaints. My favorite was the Juliette Binoche/Willem Dafoe vignette (it made me well up in the 10-15 minute span it had), and my least favorite was the utterly incomprehensible evil hair salon one. [4 stars, Film]

The Ice Storm: Loved the hell out of this. Tobey Maguire’s character spoke to me/mirrored me in so many ways it hurt. Top 70 placement. [4.5 stars, Film]

8 1/2: I wasn’t ready. I ‘got’ most of it, and even enjoyed most of it, but the final few scenes lost me, and I wasn’t able to tie it together. Want those sunglasses, though. [2.5 stars (for now), Film]

Layer Cake: Essentially, a better Snatch. Daniel Craig plays British gangster very well. The title says it all; it’s complex, heady, and layered as hell. And the ending gets you twice.

Strange Days: I actually really enjoyed this. Finally, a feature film that centers around my favorite holiday, New Year’s Eve, and in this case, the turn of the century. And, don’t worry; the final action sequence doesn’t take place in the final seconds the century in some cheesy slow-mo fight to the death. Set in a dystopian world just 4 years after the film’s release (the really stretch LA’s gone-to-shit factor in such a short time), Ralph Fiennes plays a ‘memory dealer,’ selling people black market memories through spider-like membrane caps. It’s heady and they handle it well; sort of a designer drug for the future (which is now the past). I didn’t like how the villian was revealed as an already established character (such a lame plot device), but Bill Fitchner and Vincent D’Onofrio play partnered cops; that’s a fucking force not to be messed with. Dishonorable mention to the fakest fucking gunshots I’ve ever heard in a movie as well. [4 stars, Moviefilm]

Ringu: The Ring is probably my favorite PG-13 level ‘horror’ movie. I hate the genre, but it’s a geniuely scary and well-crafted film. I much as hate saying Gore Verbinski did a fine job, I say with swell certainty his update is the finer film. I don’t know if just the Japanese language that I just can’t take seriously, or the horrendously wooden performances of the actors, but it was just so silly. [1.5 stars, Flick]

Insomnia (1998): Now this is the finer film. As swell as Christopher Nolan’s is (as well as all of the performances in it), this just felt more right, and less like a Lifetime Original Movie. Stellan Skarsgaard plays Pacino’s role, looking less haggard, yes, but pulls off the creepy pederast elements better than Al did. It works better as a film set in Norway, although I like Nolan’s ending better. [4 stars, Film]

The Interpreter: It’s messy, but it’s original and inspired, so kudos to that. It was about time that an international thriller set around the UN be tackled. It’s a tad melodramatic at times, but it pulls it all together in a thrilling climax and all dividends are paid off. Love Sean Penn so muh better when he’s emo, too. [3.5 stars, Moviefilm]

Citizen Kane: Ehh, don’t see what all the hype’s about. I’m sure it set a bunch of standards for cinematography and effects in the 40s, but the story and script could have used work. Some times it’s pure silly, albeit a few good lines of dialogue. I pretended I didn’t know about what Rosebud was, and came to the conclusion that it’s final reveal is a cheap, scammy, lame, M. Night-style twist that completely confounds the lesson that is learned; that we’re not supposed know some people’s secrets. [3 stars, Film]

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: Going into it, I was under the impression that it was a modern American classic; a benchmark for recreational drug road-trip comedies. I don’t know where my Johnny Depp agnst came from, but it’s assuredly gone; I loved his performance here. But, not as much as del Toro’s, which is easily his best. I did not stop laughing throughout the whole experience. While Requiem For A Dream will make you not want to do drugs, this, most definitely, makes you want to. I don’t think I’d like to watch it in altered state (it’s already confusing and trippy enough), but it’s a trip nonetheless. Then, I was utterly shocked to find it’s 48% rotten tomatometer (including a 0% cream of the crop!). Sure it’s messy as hell, but it’s fun. And no one makes visuals like Gilliam. [4 stars, Moviefilm]

In honor of my 20th, I present my Top 200, because 200 isn’t too much.

1                   Truman Show, The

2                   Children Of Men

3                   Departed, The

4                   Apocalypse Now Redux

5                   Run Lola Run

6                   American Beauty

7                   Primer

8                   Big Lebowski, The

9                   A Clockwork Orange

10                 Goodfellas

11                 Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer

13                 Network

12                 Game, The

14                 Matchstick Men

16                 Adaptation.

31                 Liar Liar

15                 Killing, The

17                 Inside Man

18                 2001: A Space Odyssey

26                 Office Space

19                 Zodiac

24                 Bonnie and Clyde

20                 Eyes Wide Shut

29                 Pulp Fiction

21                 Happiness

22                 Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The

51                 Dogville

25                 Boogie Nights

23                 Synecdoche, New York

27                 Fight Club

28                 One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

30                 Being John Malkovich

32                 Road To Perdition

33                 Anatomy Of A Murder

34                 Dark Knight, The

52                 Shawshank Redemption, The

53                 12 Angry Men

35                 Barton Fink

36                 One Hour Photo

37                 Heat

39                 Machinist, The

44                 King Kong

46                 Verdict, The

40                 Out Of Sight

54                 Gattaca

43                 Man Who Wasn’t There, The

28                 Gone Baby Gone

41                 American History X

42                 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

45                 Godfather, The

47                 Meet Joe Black

48                 21 Grams

50                 Se7en

55                 Godfather: Part II, The

49                 Nine Lives

59                 Casino

60                 Rear Window

58                 Prestige, The

56                 No Country For Old Men

57                 Punch-Drunk Love

66                 Orange County

61                 Limey, The

62                 Lolita (1997)

63                 Panic Room

64                 Reservoir Dogs

65                 Die Hard

67                 Fargo

68                 Identity

69                 Memento

70                 Green Mile, The

71                 City Of God

72                 Ice Storm, The

73                 S1m0ne

81                 Catch Me If You Can

74                 Lucky Number Slevin

75                 Fast Times At Ridgemont High

89                 Signs

76                 Dog Day Afternoon

82                 Saving Private Ryan

77                 Sunshine

78                 Bottle Rocket

79                 What About Bob?

80                 Syriana

83                 Lookout, The

84                 Hard Candy

85                 Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, The

86                 In The Bedroom

87                 13 Tzameti

88                 Godfather: Part III, The

90                 Love Liza

91                 Smokin’ Aces

92                 A Mighty Wind

93                 Bringing Out The Dead

99                 Jacob’s Ladder

94                 Little Miss Sunshine

95                 Best In Show

96                 Layer Cake

97                 Raising Arizona

98                 Sydney (Hard Eight)

101               In Bruges

100               Thank You For Smoking

102               Pretty Persuasion

103               Wackness, The

104               Your Friends & Neighbors

105               Collateral

106               Rosemary’s Baby

107               Amores Perros

108               Taxi Driver

109               Assassination of Richard Nixon, The

110               All The Real Girls

111               Platoon

112               Toy Story

113               Toy Story 2

114               25th Hour, The

115               Blood Simple

116               Babel

117               WALL-E

118               Cell, The

119               Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

120               Up

121               Thirteen

122               Little Children

123               Ocean’s Eleven

124               Miami Vice

125               Insomnia

126               Sexy Beast

127               Three Kings

128               Mosquito Coast, The

129               Diving Bell And The Butterfly, The

130               Manhunter

131               Cloverfield

132               This Is Spinal Tap

133               After Hours

134               Bad Lieutenant

135               Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

136               Eastern Promises

137               In The Company Of Men

138               Insomnia (1998)

139               Quiz Show

140               All The President’s Men

141               Vertigo

142               Fisher King, The

143               Crash (1997)

144               Snow Angels

145               Funny Games

146               About Schmidt

147               King of California, The

148               Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

149               Happy Accidents

150               Pianist, The

151               Secretary

152               Nothing But The Truth

153               Third Man, The

154               Chinatown

155               Mist, The

156               Ocean’s Thirteen

157               Snatch

158               Bad Santa

159               Strange Days

160               Good Will Hunting

161               Teeth

162               Ice Harvest, The

163               Brick

164               Airplane II: The Sequel

165               Jackie Brown

166               Cube

167               Talented Mr. Ripley, The

168               Grand, The

169               All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

170               Darjeeling Limited, The

171               Raging Bull

172               Wet Hot American Summer

173               Aviator, The

174               Into The Wild

175               King of Comedy, The

176               Risky Business

177               Silence of the Lambs

178               Blindness

179               Princess And The Warrior, The

180               Dead Ringers

181               Heaven

182               Sideways

183               Science Of Sleep, The

184               Illusionist, The

185               Ratatouille

186               Fracture

187               Ladykillers, The

188               Erin Brokovich

189               Burn After Reading

190               Full Metal Jacket

191               Astronaut Farmer, The

192               Running Scared

193               A Scanner Darkly

194               Superbad

195               Lion King, The

196               Adventureland

197               Bicentennial Man

198               Ring, The

199               Hudsucker Proxy, The

200               Death Sentence

I’ve been w/out the internets for a while… and it’s actually really great. Since my last review, I’ve seen…

* Star Trek (3 Stars, Moviefilm)

* Paris Je T’aime (4 Stars, Film)

* Dirty Harry (2.5 Stars, Moviefilm)

* 8 1/2 (Jury’s definitely still out)

* The Ice Storm (4.5 Stars, Film) [Really, really loved the hell out of this. Tobey Maguire’s character spoke to me/mirrored me in so many ways]

* In progress on: Get Carter

Also just picked up Ben Button, *2-Disc *Blu-ray *Criterion. It’s a beaut.

Reviews soon for all those.

Wide, October 16th

Review: The Player

The film with the most Oscar winners ever. This is so full of random camoes, that it gets to the point ‘OK, enough already.’ It provides a great anti-big-time-film-studio-intervention premise, and the story twists and turns, smacking you in the face with an Adaptation-esque final twist. I found it annoying and kitschy at times, but overall, it’s good.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Film

Review: Eyes Wide Shut

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Kubrick is such a master! 400 days of shooting! You can’t buy that power. Vincent D’Onofrio told the then-happy couple, Cruise and Kidman, to ‘buy a house in England’ for the shoot. God bless them, they stuck it out; who wouldn’t, for the chance to work Kubrick in the last year of his life? And it truly is a masterpiece. Anything your expect to see with this film you won’t find. Original, SCARY, dense, sexy, provocative, and thrilling, it is. And, the BEST final line in any movie I’ve ever seen.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Motion Picture