November 2011

November 2011

Skhizein (Clapin, 2008) (short)|||||+++ / 7.5
Dog (Templeton, 2001) (short)|||||+++
Peter and the Wolf (Templeton, 2006) (short)|||||+++ / 7.5
Anna & Bella (Ring, 1984) (short)|||||++ / 7
The Cathedral (Baginsky, 2002) (short)|||||+
Dreams and Desires: Family Ties (Quinn, 2006) (short)|||||+++ / 7.5
Food (Svankmajer, 1993) (short)|||||+++ / 8
Tower Heist (Ratner, 2011)|||||4
* Kung Fu Panda (Osborne, 2009)|||||5.5
Monsters vs Aliens (Letterman & Vernon, 2009)|||||4.5
* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Hand, 1937)|||||7
Melancholia (von Trier, 2011)|||||8
A welcome return by Trier to his Dogme vivacity (over Antichrist's aimless formalist portent). I've long held high-nosed, negative opinions about ceremonies, from graduations to weddings (told myself I had to see this in preparation for the holiday), so the film being prominently an evisceration of any and all worldly contrivances and trivial sentimentality makes von Trier's screenplay an incredibly satisfying work of deep snark. A movie about the Death of Bullshit (i.e. the world).
Gap-Toothed Women (Blank, et al., 1987) (short)|||||++
God's Angry Man (Herzog, 1980) (short)|||||++ / 7
Happy Feet Two (Miller, 2011)|||||8
Mimic: Sentinel (Petty, 2003)|||||5.5
Mimic: Sentinel, aka Mimic 3, is very low-budg and inadequate, with a script that hardly comes together (very little narrative pay-offs in the end), spurts of questionable performing, and some disappointing fumbled build-up, but ultimately, this J.T. Petty guy is a marvelous filmmaker. The first half of the film is fantastic, it's only when the horror sets in that he and the film begin missing marks.
L'Atalante (Vigo, 1934) (short)|||||7.5
Zero for Conduct (Vigo, 1933) (short)|||||++ / 7
Bullhead (Roskam, 2011)|||||5
Lola (Fassbinder, 1981)|||||8
Bush Mama (Gerima, 1979)|||||7.5
Snake Feed (Granik, 1997) (short)|||||+ / 5.5
Nocturne (Von Trier, 1980) (short)|||||++ / 6
Feelings (Solondz, 1984) (short)|||||+ / 5.5
Carmen (Payne, 1984) (short)|||||++ / 6.5
Doodlebug (Nolan, 1997) (short)|||||+ / 5.5
Barn (Mangold, 198?) (short)|||||+ / 6
Russian Ark (Sokurov, 2002)|||||8
The Fly II (Walas, 1989)|||||3
Martha (Fassbinder, 1976)|||||7.5
Sisters of the Gion (Mizoguchi, 1936)|||||7.5
I'm Here (Jonze, 2010) (short)|||||+ / 5.5
Lost Highway (Lynch, 1997)|||||7.5
* M (Lang, 1931)|||||8.5
Lucifer Rising (Anger, 1972) (short)|||||++
The Red Balloon (Lamorisse, 1956) (short)|||||+ / 6.5