The Month in Movies - July 2005

[A.J. Hakari]

Heyo! Here be the Month in Movies column for July 2005, a place for the schmoes to summarize their movie viewings for the month and discuss with one another. And this thread marks the second anniversary of when I started posting the Month in Movies columns, so that's cool. :)

Here's my list for July '05, on a **** scale...

Number of First-Time Viewings: 40
Number of First-Time Viewings in 2005 (so far): 287

THE BRILLIANT

(none)

THE GREAT

Dawn of the Dead (1978) - *** 1/2
A Love Song for Bobby Long - *** 1/2
Gates of Heaven - *** 1/2

THE PURTY GOOD

Burden of Dreams - ***
The Devil’s Rejects - ***
Born Into Brothels - ***
Rings - ***
Gunner Palace - ***
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - ***
Dark Water (2005) - ***
Night of the Living Dead (1968) - ***
The Medusa Touch - ***
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare - ***
Wishing Stairs - ***
Hanzo the Razor: Who’s Got the Gold? - ***
Wedding Crashers - ***
Admissions - ***
The Upside of Anger - ***
Howl’s Moving Castle - ***
Steamboy - ***
Space Station - ***
Premonition - ***

THE O.K.

Fantastic Four - ** 1/2
Elvis Has Left the Building - ** 1/2
The Island (2005) - ** 1/2
Dracula: The Dark Prince - ** 1/2
Michael Moore Hates America - ** 1/2
Bride & Prejudice - ** 1/2

THE SO-SO

Bad News Bears (2005) - **
The Fearless Freaks - **

THE SUCKY

National Lampoon’s Going the Distance - * 1/2
Blast - * 1/2
Soft for Digging - * 1/2
Company Man - * 1/2
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary - * 1/2

THE REALLY SUCKY

King’s Ransom - *
Rebound - *
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie - *

No rating:

Monster Mania
Mystery Science Theater 3000: “Hercules Against the Moon Men”

THE BEST:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001611DI.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

THE WORST:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00094ARVO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Best Actor: Kevin Costner, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER
Best Actress: Lauren Ambrose, ADMISSIONS
Best Supporting Actor: Gabriel Macht, A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, ADMISSIONS
Best Director: George A. Romero, DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Best Original Screenplay: George A. Romero, DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Shainee Gabel, A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG
Biggest Surprise: MICHAEL MOORE HATES AMERICA
Biggest Disappointment: BAD NEWS BEARS (2005)
Most Fucked-Up Movie: WISHING STAIRS
“I’m Pretty Damn Sure No One Else Has Seen This”: THE FEARLESS FREAKS
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Wooley (Jim Baffico), DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
“Why Is He/She Still in Movies?”: Martin Lawrence, REBOUND
Recurring Genre: Documentaries
Ultimate WTF? Moment: Hye-ju’s private birthday party, WISHING STAIRS
Best Line: “Life’s not worth living if I’m not beautiful!” -Howl (voice of Christian Bale), HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE
Best Scene: The old woman’s story about her grandson, GATES OF HEAVEN
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin’ See: (tie) NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Coolest Title: THE FEARLESS FREAKS

--------

Discuss and post your own lists! :cool:

[The Other]

I had a really good month and probably saw a record high amount of films...lots of 4's

All films are listed chronologically by grade.

TOTAL: 37

The Roaring Twenties (1939) - 5/5
My Favorite Wife (1940) - 5/5
Home Movies (1940) - 5/5 (8 minute short film)
Wages of Fear (1953) - 5/5
Dear Frankie (2005) - 5/5

Gunga Din (1939) - 4/5
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) - 4/5
Northwest Passage (1940) - 4/5
Foreign Correspondent (1940) - 4/5
The Letter (1940) - 4/5
Our Town (1940) - 4/5
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) - 4/5
The Sea Wolf (1941) - 4/5
Ball of Fire (1941) - 4/5
Sergeant York (1941) - 4/5
Jane Eyre (1944) - 4/5
Ordet (1955) - 4/5
Charade (1963) - 4/5
A Very Long Engagement (2004) - 4/5
Up and Down (2005) - 4/5
War of the Worlds (2005) - 4/5

The Four Feathers (1939) - 3/5
Made for Each Other (1939) - 3/5
Vassilisa the Beautiful (1939) - 3/5
Kitty Foyle (1940) - 3/5
The Great McGinty (1940) - 3/5
Christmas in July (1940) - 3/5
Madame Curie (1943) - 3/5
Mask (1985) - 3/5
The Upside of Anger (2005) - 3/5

Algiers (1938) - 2/5
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) - 2/5
The Thief of Bagdad (1940) - 2/5
I Married a Witch (1942) - 2/5
White Noise (2005) - 2/5

I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - 1/5
Fantastic Four (2005) - 1/5


BEST FILM: Dear Frankie (2005)
--A melancholy tear-jerker that, amazingly, never once goes over the edge into false or maudlin sentimentality. And of the 19 movies I’ve seen from 2005, it’s my favorite, so far.

WORST FILM: I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
--What a boring-ass, bullshit movie. Thankfully it was only 67 minutes. Nothing ever happens in it. Zero story whatsoever. Makes Jacques Tourneur’s other popular horror flick, 1942s Cat People, which I gave a 2/5, look great. His great 1947 flick, Out of the Past, is beginning to look more and more like a fluke.


BEST ACTOR: Henrik Malberg - Ordet (1955)
Runner up: James Cagney - The Roaring Twenties (1939)

BEST ACTRESS: Irene Dunne - My Favorite Wife (1940)
Runner up: Claudette Colbert - Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

*side note: Colbert was born to be photographed in Technicolor! Her skin-tone is amazing. Not to mention it’s the best performance I’ve seen her give, so far.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Charles Vanel - Wages of Fear (1953)
Runner up: Emil Hass Christensen - Ordet (1955)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Emília Vásáryová - Up and Down (2005)
Runner up: Gladys George - The Roaring Twenties (1939)

BEST DIRECTOR: Henri-Georges Clouzot - Wages of Fear (1953)
Runner up: Raoul Walsh - The Roaring Twenties (1939)

BEST SCREENPLAY: My Favorite Wife (1940)
Runner up: The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Wow, The Roaring Twenties was the runner up in 4 categories this month.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: My Favorite Wife (1940)
-- Hysterical! I actually put it off to almost the end of my list of films from the year 1940 to see, and out of the exactly 20 films I’ve seen from 1940, it’s now my fourth favorite of that year, behind The Great Dictator, The Grapes of Wrath and Rebecca. Highly recommended!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
-- kind of, I wasn’t expecting too much after Cat People disappointed. Nothing much disappointed this month. I did expect a little better from Fantastic Four though. That sucked.

“I’m Pretty Damn Sure No One Else Has Seen This”: I’d say Home Movies (1940), but anyone who rents the My Favorite Wife DVD will get to see this as an extra. Maybe it was my mood when I saw both just last night, but the feature and the short were fucking hysterical!

But most likely the most obscure is Vassilisa the Beautiful (1939), a Russian fairy tale featuring a frog turning into a princess, and a fight with a three-headed snake creature.

Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: All the religious zealot’s in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (1955). I’m an atheist, and the people, like those in the film, who’s faith is THAT fucking extreme scare me probably more than anything. It’s just too much.

RECURRING GENRE: It’s never a genre, but now movies from the 1940s, baby!

Coolest Title: Wages of Fear (1953)

[ilovemovies]

I saw a lot of rewatches, but very few new movies. Here they are the newbies in descending order:

9. Dark Water 7/10
8. The Island 7/10
7. Barbershop 7/10
6. Me and You and Everyone We Know 7/10
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 7/10
4. Notting Hill 7/10
3. The Fantastic Four 7/10
2. The Wedding Crashers 7/10
1. Stealth 7/10


No great movies. But no bad ones either. I enjoyed all of them obviously.


Now the rewatches:

The Forgotten 7/10
The Pacifier 7/10
ID4 7/10
Suspect Zero 7/10
First Daughter 7/10
Big Fat Liar 8/10
Meet the Parents 7/10
Once Upon a Time in Mexico 7/10
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 8/10
Saburban Commando 7/10
Mission: Impossible II 7/10
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 8/10
Reign of Fire 7/10
xXx: State of the Union 7/10
Final Destionation 2 7/10



Special awards:

Best movie: Stealth

Most pleasant Surprise: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (followed by Me and You and Everyone We Know and Barbershop)

Best Actor: Hugh Grant, Notting Hill

Best Actress: Miranda July, Me and You and Everyone We Know

Best Supporting Actor: Vince Vaughn, The Wedding Crashers

Best Supporting Actress: Isla Fisher, The Wedding Crashers

Best Director: Rob Cohen, Stealth

Best Screenplay: Me and You and Everyone We Know

[Tayzlor]

10/10
The Decalogue
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
In the Mood for Love
Barry Lyndon*
Walkabout*
The Player
Sherlock, Jr.

9/10
Platoon*
M. Hulot's Holiday
The Man with the Movie Camera
Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night
Mon Oncle
Taste of Cherry
Secret Honor

8/10
Interiors
The Woodsman
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Koyaanisqatsi
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Casino
Our Hospitality
My Neighbor Totoro
Close-Up

7/10
Open City
Sleeper

[Briare Rabbit]

Dark Water- *1/2
All the King's Men- ***
Wedding Crashers- ***
Ghost World- ***1/2
A Time to Kill- ***
In the Heat of the Night- **1/2

Best Picture: Ghost World
Best Director: Terry Zwigoff, Ghost World
Best Actor: Can't decide between Poitier and Steiger, so Broderick Crawford takes the banana
Best Actress: Thora Birch, Ghost World
Best Supporting Actor: Vince Vaughn, Wedding Crashers. Though Kevin Spacey and Buscemi both did good.
Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson, Ghost World
Best Screenplay: Wedding Crashers, Ghost World
Biggest Surprise: Wedding Crashers
Biggest Disappointment: In the Heat of the Night

[SAI]

First viewings asterisked

1st
*Affliction 4/5*
*Scrubs: Season 1 5/5*

3rd
*The Philadelphia Story 5/5*
*Kung Fu Hustle 4/5*

8th
*Wages of Fear 3/5*

9th
My Summer of Love 5/5
*A Shot in the Dark 3/5*
The Incredibles 4/5

10th
Eastern Condors 4/5

11th
The Magdalene Sisters 5/5

12th
24 Hour Party People 4/5
Jude 5/5

13th
Butterfly Kiss 4/5
*All The President's Men 4/5*

14th
*Les Diaboliques 4/5*

15th
*P.S. 4/5*
*The Iron Giant 4/5*

16th
eXistenZ 4/5
*We Don't Live Here Anymore 2/5*

17th
Bram Stoker's Dracula 4/5
*Warriors Two 4/5*
Shaun of the Dead 4/5
*Windtalkers 2/5*

18th
The Killer 4/5
Mr Vampire 3/5

20th
*The Children's Hour 2/5*
Sabrina ('54) 5/5

22nd
*The Descent 4/5*
*Los Debutantes 3/5*
*Overnight 4/5*

23rd
*Open Hearts 4/5*
* To Have and Have Not 4/5*
*M 5/5*

24th
*Felicia's Journey 4/5*
The Life of David Gale 3/5
*Malena 3/5*
Swimming Pool 5/5
*The Haunting 1/5*

25th
*Picnic at Hanging Rock 4/5*

27th
*Intimate Strangers 4/5*
*Standing in the Shadows of Motown 4/5*

28th
*Shivers 2/5*
*No Such Thing 4/5*
The Sweet Hereafter 4/5

30th
*Katie Tippel 3/5*

31st
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4/5
Wes Craven's New Nightmare 4/5

Totals
July: Films; 46 (+1 TV Series)
First Viewings; 28 (+1 TV Series)

2005: Films; 287 (+5 TV Series)
First Viewings; 177

Best Film
(Cinema)
http://www.maxim-magazine.co.uk/picture_library/dir_15/maxim_pic_7980.jpg
The Descent (4/5)

Best Film
(First Viewing; Home)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0780021150.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif
M (5/5)

and

http://content.nkino.com/article/0018/18980/m2.jpg
The Philadelphia Story (5/5)

Worst Film
(First Viewing; Home)
http://ruthlessreviews.com/pics/haunting1.gif
The Haunting (1/5)

Awards
(First Viewings only)
Best Director: Neil Marshall: The Descent / Fritz Lang: M
Best Actor: Peter Lorre: M / Bob Hoskins: Felicia's Journey
Best Actress: Laura Linney: PS / Katharine Hepburn: The Philadelphia Story
Best Supporting Actor: James Stewart: The Philadelphia Story
Best Screenplay: The Philadelphia Story
Biggest Surprise: The Descent / No Such Thing
Biggest Disappointment: We Don't Live Here Anymore / The Children's Hour

[Jake_Vig]

Roman Holiday - 9/10
Black Hawk Down - 9/10 (rewatch)
Trust - 8.5/10 (rewatch)
A Very Long Engagement - 8/10
Paper Lion - 8/10
Million Dollar Baby - 7.5/10
The Edge - 7.5/10 (rewatch)
Batman - 7.5/10 (rewatch)
XXX - 7/10
Constantine - 6.5/10
Young Adam - 6/10
The Girl From Monday - 6/10
Triplettes of Bellville - 6/10
Prozac Nation - 4.5/10
Anaconda 2 - 3/10
XXX: State of the Union - 2.5/10
Paparazzi - 2/10

Awards (1st viewings only):
Best Movie: Roman Holiday
Worst Movie: Paparazzi
Best Actor: Alan Alda, Paper Lion
Best Actress: Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Albert, Roman Holiday
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Young Adam
Best Director: William Wyler, Roman Holiday
Best Screenplay: Roman Holiday

[wyodebbie]

* first viewing

8.5 to 10/10 (A-, A, A+)
American Beauty
Boogie Nights
Crying Game
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Goodfellas
Man Who Wasn't There
Mississippi Burning
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Moulin Rouge ! (2001)
Mulholland Drive
Piano
Scarface (80's)
Wonder Boys

8/10 B+
Aviator
Cell, The
Closer
*Machinist
*Manchurian Candidate (2004)
*Million Dollar Baby
Misfits
Missing (1982)
Mister Roberts
Mona Lisa
Monseiur Hire
Monster
Mother, The
Moulin Rouge (1952)
Mrs. Brown
Player

7/10 B
Bram Stoker's Dracula
*Cellular
*Collateral
Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Doors
Home At The End Of The World, A
*Ironweed
Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Miracle On 34Th Street
Miracle Worker
Mommie Dearest
Monster's Ball
Moonstruck
Mortal Thoughts
Mr. And Mrs. Bridge
Mr. Holland's Opus
Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle
Murder, Inc.
Net
*Phantom Of The Opera (2004)
Sex, Lies and Videotape
*Silver City
Single, White Female
Spider
*Tamarind Seed
Unfaithful
*We Don't Live Here Anymore
While You Were Sleeping

6/10 C+
Beyond Borders
*Bright Young Things
De-Lovely
*Eulogy
Fire With Fire
*Head In The Clouds
Missing, The (2003)
Mona Lisa Smile
Mother Night
Mr. Jones
Mr. Saturday Night
Mrs. Soffel
Mrs. Winterbourne
Multiplicity
Murder By Numbers
Murder In The First
Murder of Crows
Practical Magic
*Village

5/10 C
*Doctor Zhivago (2002)
Never Talk To Strangers

4/10 C-
Mistrial
*Passion Of Christ

Best of New Viewings: Machinist, The
Worst Of New Viewings: Passion Of Christ

[Cronos]

Number of First-Time Viewings: 83
Number of First-Time Viewings in 2005 (so far): 378

10/10
Batman Begins
Descent, The

9/10
Cooler, The
Welcome To The Jungle
Runaway Jury
Childs Play 4: Bride Of Chucky

8/10
50 First Dates
Commandments
Mr. Jealousy
Warriors, The
Bad Moon
Scary Movie 3
Van Helsing
Dressed To Kill
Pieces Of April
Callan
Eye For An Eye
Brave New Girl
Fall Of The House Of Usher, The (60)
Storytelling

7/10
Jade
Racing Stripes
Trigger Effect, The
Firefox
Species 3
Blue Crush
Cheaper By The Dozen (03)
In The Line Of Duty: Smoke Jumpers
Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation
In The Bedroom
Josie And The Pussycats

6/10
Haunted Mansion, The
St Elmo's Fire
Taking Lives
Too Late For Tears
Cold Creek Manor
Every Mother's Worst Fear
National Lampoon's Blackball
Chill Factor
Major Dundee

5/10
Hot Chick, The
Weekend At Bernie's 2
Great Waldo Pepper, The
Resurrection
Firestarter
Maltese Falcon (40)

4/10
Possession (02)
Sex Lives Of The Potato Men
Hunting Humans
Volcano: Fire On The Mountain
Bright Young Things
Other Sister, The
Evelyn
Gunfight In Abilene
Strictly Confidential

3/10
Billy Madison
Wrinkle In Time, A
Death Drums Along The River
Chorus Line, A
Viva Max
Hellcats Of The Navy
Mind Of Crime
Target Earth
Cab To Canada
Follow Your Heart
Ghost Ship, The (40s)
Doing Life

2/10
National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion
Chicago (02)
Shattered Promises
Time To Triumph, A
Wild America
Reality Of Love, The
Patron Saint Of Liars

1/10
Warriors Of Virtue 2: The Return To Tao
Dragonworld
Everybody Loves Sunshine
Shoes Of The Fisherman, The
Piranha 2: The Spawing
Housewife From Hell
Oklahoma!
Keep It Clean
Yearling, The

THE BEST: BATMAN BEGINS

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009IW88A.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

THE WORST: THE YEARLING

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000069I1J.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Best Actor: Christian Bale, BATMAN BEGINS
Best Actress: Maria Bello, THE COOLER
Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman, BATMAN BEGINS
Best Supporting Actress: Katherine Heigl, BRIDE OF CHUCKY
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, BATMAN BEGINS
Best Original Screenplay: BATMAN BEGINS
Best Adapted Screenplay: RUNAWAY JURY
Biggest Surprise: BRAVE NEW GIRL
Biggest Disappointment: FIRESTARTER
Most Fucked-Up Movie: STORYTELLING
"I'm Pretty Damn Sure No One Else Has Seen This": THE GHOST SHIP (43)
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: The Scarecrow, BATMAN BEGINS
"Why Is He/She Still in Movies?": Ashton Kutcher, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
Recurring Genre: Horror
Ultimate WTF? Moment:finding out "A Red File For Callan" has already been made into a film
Best Line: Jesse: How'd you end up like this?, Tiffany: It's a long story., Chucky: If this were a movie, it would take three or four sequels to do it justice. BRIDE OF CHUCKY
Best Scene: the car chase, BATMAN BEGINS
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin' See: BRIDE OF CHUCKY
Coolest Title: BRIDE OF CHUCKY

[Hannibal21]

FIRST VIEWINGS ONLY (listed chronologically by grade, if several films from a single year receive the same grade, then they are listed alphabetically):

Rain (1932) - 5/5
Repulsion (1965) - 5/5

The Big Heat (1953) - 4.5/5
Contempt (1964) - 4.5/5
Fanny and Alexander (the five hour version, 1983) - 4.5/5

Pandora's Box (1929) - 4/5
Born to Kill (1947) - 4/5
King of the Hill (1995) - 4/5
Batman Begins (2005) - 4/5

Clash by Night (1953) - 3.5/5
Ordet (1955) - 3.5/5
Winter Light (1963) - 3.5/5
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) - 3.5/5
The Whales of August (1987) - 3.5/5
Audition (1999) - 3.5/5
Murderball (2005) - 3.5/5
War of the Worlds (2005) - 3.5/5

42nd Street (1933) - 3/5
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - 3/5
Band of Outsiders (1964) - 3/5
Manic (2003) - 3/5
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) - 3/5
Cinderella Man (2005) - 3/5
Dark Water (2005) - 3/5
Happy Endings (2005) - 3/5
The Island (2005) - 3/5
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005) - 3/5
Robots (2005) - 3/5
Sky High (2005) - 3/5
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - 3/5

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) - 2/5
House of Flying Daggers (2004) - 2/5
Bad News Bears (2005) - 2/5
Bewitched (2005) - 2/5
Fantastic Four (2005) - 2/5

The Shanghai Gesture (1941) - 1.5/5
Detour (1945) - 1.5/5

Miss Congeniality 2 (2005) - 1/5

BEST FILM: Repulsion (1965)
-One of the best horror/psychological thrillers I've ever seen in my life. Genuine scares abound made even more terrifying by the ominous mood and Catherine Deneuve's performances. The scenes where she loses her grip on reality with those hallucinations climaxes the horror of a truly terrifying film.

WORST FILM: Miss Congeniality 2 (2005)
-There really isn't anything much to say here. Want a film to roll your eyes to? Watch this gigantic pile of shit.

BEST DIRECTOR: Roman Polanski for Repulsion
-Absolute perfection in every way, there's no telling where he could lead the audience in the film by the way of the camera following Deneuve's steps.

BEST ACTOR: Walter Huston in Rain
-I watched Rain for Joan Crawford, but Huston was equally great (possibly better) in a demanding, complex role to pull off. He really made the character of the religious missionary perfectly tyrannical and hateful. Runner-up would be Henrik Malberg in Ordet.

BEST ACTRESS: Louis Brooks in Pandora's Box
-This month has been a great one for performances by leading actresses, which consists of Crawford (in Rain), Deneuve (in Repulsion), Stanwyck (in Clash by Night), Trevor (in Born to Kill), and the extraordinary Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light, but none of them beat Brooks' beautiful characterization of the immortal Lulu in my eyes.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jan Malmsjo in Fanny and Alexander
-The additional scenes gives him a lot more screen time to flesh out, his performance as the Bishop is as terrifying and unforgettable as ever. Runner-up would be Emil Haas Christensen in Ordet.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat
-Runner-up would be (I never thought I would sing praises for her) Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds.

BEST SCREENPLAY: Contempt
-Runner-up would be Batman Begins.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Sky High
-I expected to dislike this film with every fibre of my being, but I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. It's hilarious and surprsingly clever, extremely entertaining!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Detour
-I fail to see why this film receives so many accolades. I was intrigued for about the first 15 minutes or so, but once the Ann Savage character was introduced, it descends into a contrived and utterly annoying mess.

BEST SCENE: Sadie Thompson's confrontation with the missionary in Rain ("The next time you see them you can tell 'em this for me, that Sadie Thompson is on her way to hell!")
-Runner-up: Pretty much any scene that involves Scarecrow in Batman Begins.

"I'M PRETTY DAMN SURE NO ONE ELSE HAS SEEN THIS": Ehhh, the one that comes closest would have to be Rain

PERSON/CHARACTER I NEVER WANT TO MEET: Asami in Audition
-Runner-up would be Johannes in Ordet.

RECURRING GENRE: Not exactly a genre but with movies like Rain, Fanny and Alexander, Winter Light, and Ordet, I did have myself a bit of a trilogy on religion, a subject I'm particularly sensitive to this month.

CRUSH OF THE MONTH: Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box, Scarlett Johansson in The Island, Brigitte Bardot in Contempt

[arto_j]

First time viewings : 23

Say Anything...- 10/10
Sympathy for Mr. Vengenance - 10/10

Batman Begins - 9/10
Patton - 9/10
Sin City - 9/10

Fahrenheit 451 - 8/10
Mean Streets - 8/10
Primer - 8/10
Zatoichi - 8/10

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing - 7/10
Mean Girls - 7/10
Sahara - 7/10
Team America : World Police - 7/10

After the Sunset - 6/10
Elektra - 6/10
Hide and Seek - 6/10

Ladder 49 - 5/10
Hollywood Ending - 5/10
Dark Water - 5/10

Blade : Trinity - 4/10

The Forgotten - 3/10

Fishing with John - no rating
MST3K - Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell - no rating

Best film :http://www.8weekly.nl/images/art/mrvengeancedvd.jpg

Worst film :http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006IIKQW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Best Actor: George C. Scott, PATTON
Best Actress: Julie Christie, FAHRENHEIT 451
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio del Toro, SIN CITY
Best Supporting Actress: Dakota Fanning, HIDE AND SEEK
Best Director: Chan-wook Park, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
Best Original Screenplay: Cameron Crowe, SAY ANYTHING
Best Adapted Screenplay: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez, SIN CITY
Biggest Surprise: MEAN GIRLS
Biggest Disappointment: DARK WATER
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Yellow Bastard, SIN CITY
Recurring Genre: none
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The ending of the Willem Dafoe episode in FISHING WITH JOHN
Best Line: "I gave her my heart...and she gave me a pen." SAY ANYTHING
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin’ See: SAY ANYTHING
Coolest Title: SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE

[Kucha]

Not a good month for me at all.

THE BEST:
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ORDINARY PEOPLE

THE WORST:
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HEAD OVER HEELS

Hide & Seek - 5/10
Ordinary People - 8/10
Million Dollar Baby - 9/10 (REWATCH)
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - 8/10
Head Over Heals - 4/10
The Interpreteur - 8/10
The Brooke Ellison Story - 7/10
Constantine - 5/10
D.E.B.S - 7/10
Fat Girl (A Ma Soeur!) - 7/10
September 11 (11 9 01) - 6/10
The Upside Of Anger - 8/10
Heathers - 7/10
Laws Of Attraction - 5/10
Baby Boom - 6/10

(These are excluding rewatches)
Best Actor: KEVIN COSTNER, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER
Best Actress: MARY TYLER MOORE, ORDINARY PEOPLE
Best Supporting Actor: TIMOTHY HUTTON, ORDINARY PEOPLE
Best Supporting Actress: ROXANER MESQUIDA, À MA SOEUR!
Best Director: ROBERT REDFORD, ORDINARY PEOPLE
Best Original Screenplay: À MA SOEUR!
Best Adapted Screenplay: ORDINARY PEOPLE
Biggest Surprise: HEATHERS
Biggest Disappointment: CONSTANTINE
Most Fucked-Up Movie: À MA SOEUR!
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The ending of À MA SOEUR!
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin’ See: THE UPSIDE OF ANGER

[zeppelin]

A
1. Stand by Me (1986)
2. Batman Begins (2005)
3. The Truman Show (1998)
4. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

A-
5. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
6. La Dolce Vita (1960)
7. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
8. Forrest Gump (1994)
9. Lost in Translation (2003)
10. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
11. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
12. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
13. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
14. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
15. House of Games (1987)

B+
16. Say Anything (1989)
17. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
18. Wedding Crashers (2005)
19. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
20. The Blues Brothers (1980)
21. Harold and Maude (1971)
22. Shrek (2001)
23. Salvador (1986)
24. Hoosiers (1986)

B
25. The Killing (1956)
26. The Natural (1984)
27. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
28. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
29. Aliens (1986)
30. Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
31. Bad News Bears (2005)
32. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)

B-
33. The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1995)

C+
34. Sexy Beast (2001)

Best Director- Joel Coen, The Man Who Wasn't There
Best Actor- Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump
Best Actress- Maria Falconetti, The Passion of Joan of Arc
Best Supporting Actor- Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Best Supporting Actress- Marie Windsor, The Killing
Best Screenplay- La Dolce Vita
Best Cinematography- The Man Who Wasn't There

[phelonious]

No rewatches this month.

7/10 - War of the worlds / Speilberg
He could probably phone in his directing from his backyard swimming pool by now, so everything is there, all the beats, all the images. Extremely passive ending though. Dakota is a bit too young to be the emotional core of the film, a better choice would have been having the mother along for the ride and let her fret about the fall of mankind.

7/10 - Après Vous / Salvitori
Slightly slow by North American standards, but it's a comedy with a couple of very watcheable actors, Daniel Auteuil and Sandrine Kiberlain. Auteuil plays the head Maitre'D of a posh restaurant who tries to help a suicidal man reconcile with his girlfriend, then slowly beings to fall in love with her while he's trying to play the matchmaker.

5/10 - L'enquête corse / Berbérian
Reno and Clavier are always hilarious together, unfortunately, they don't actually have an scenes together until the last third of the film. Interesting trip to the island of Corsca. the warring factions struggling for independance, the various levels of competing police beaucracy.

8/10 - Blind Shaft / Yang
Boffo opening. A billion chinese are quickly becoming schemers and scammers---opps i mean, entrepreneurs and businessmen ... run for the hills--like now!. Great symbolism and wicked irony.

8/10 - Gegen die Wand (Head on) / Aiken
A look at two people profoundly wounded by life, who crash--head on into one another and fall in love and heal themselves. Wonderful film. Fragile. A bit extreme at times. Funny glimpse into patriarchal turkish society.

6/10 - Layer Cake / Vaughn
Ah, the british gangster film. The opening is a bit too detatched and uninvolving; it gave full weight to some incidental characters then switched to our hero, the drug dealer with a plan.

6/10 - The Wedding Crashers / Dobkin
Good summer comedy. Because Vaugh and Wilson are such merciless dickheads, there is something really delicious as when their past begins to catches up on them. Vaughs scenes are particularly funny, less so with Wilson, because we're waiting for his past to be discovered, all the while he's with her.

6/10 - C.R.A.Z.Y. / Vallée
A portrait of a family of five boys which follows the second youngest born on Christmas day 1960, and focusing on the relationship with his father. The changes are subtely marked off in choices of TV shows, fashion, hair styles, music. Great soundtrack.

7/10 - Sabah / Nadda
Does what it sets out to do, Arsinee Khanjian plays a 40 year old muslim spinster who falls in love for the first time. Allah! Chick flick.

5/10 - The longest yard / Segal
By the numbers remake.

7/10 - Walk on water / Fox
Nice scenic little tour around Israel. Interesting characters, A Mossad agent's past as an exterimator begins to slowly creep up with him; his new assignment is to ply information from a german woman living in a Kibbutz acting as a tour guide for her visiting brother. Their grandfather was a war criminal.

10/10 - Ae Fond Kiss / Loach
Second generation immigrants begin the inevitable process of assimilation.

6/10 - Trouble in Paradise / Lubitsch

8/10 - Hustle and flow / Brewer
Great to finally see Terrance Howard in a meaty role.

5/10 - Must love dogs / Goldberg
Some of the jokes and situations fall a little flat. At times it seemed like a televisiion sit-com without the laugh track.

4/10 - Les temps qui changent / Téchiné
A bit hard to believe, that someone would actually wait 30 years to track down the love of their life? This is an old man's film full of nostagia and fear.

7/10 - Little Black Book / Hurran
Avoided seeing this when it came out cause I didn't want to see another romantic comedy with Britanny Murphy, but I ended up really enjoying it cuz it quietly morphed into something entirely different.

[Fisting Ackbar]

Ranked from best to worst:

BEFORE SUNRISE 10/10 (rewatch)

BEFORE SUNSET 9/10 (rewatch)
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT 9/10

OFFICE SPACE 8/10 (rewatch)
MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL 8/10
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 8/10
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM 8/10

RED ROCK WEST 7/10 (rewatch)
HITCH 7/10 (rewatch)
MR. & MRS. SMITH (2005) 7/10 (twice)
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS 7/10
BASIC INSTINCT 7/10 (rewatch)
I HEART HUCKABEES 7/10 (rewatch)

WAYNE'S WORLD 2 6/10
HOSTAGE (2005) 6/10

FOUR ROOMS 5/10
FANTASTIC FOUR 5/10
EASY MONEY 5/10

BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON 4/10

MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS 3/10


Best Actor: Rod Steiger - IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Best Actress: Angelina Jolie - MR. & MRS. SMITH (2005)
Best Supporting Actor: Deep Roy - CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Best Supporting Actress: Ione Skye - FOUR ROOMS
Best Director: Norman Jewison - IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Best Original Screenplay: IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Best Adapted Screenplay: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Biggest Disappointment: FOUR ROOMS
"I'm Pretty Damn Sure No One Else Has Seen This": EASY MONEY (?)
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Mars (Ben Foster) - HOSTAGE (2005)
"Why Is He/She Still in Movies?": Sandra Bullock - MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The Thai prisoners singing "Like a Virgin" - BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON
Best Line: "They call me MISTER Tibbs!" - IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Best Scene: The argument run - MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin' See: FOUR ROOMS
Coolest Title: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

[Terror Australis]

My Month In Movies - July

5/5
Taxi Driver
Sin City
War Of The Worlds (2005)
The Incredibles
Capturing The Friedmans
Field Of Dreams
Bullets Over Broadway

4.5/5
JFK
Breaking The Waves
The Night Of The Hunter
Last Tango In Paris

4/5
The Thing From Another World
Frida (2002)
Shattered Glass
Cujo
The Last Shot
Cube
48HRS
Delicatessen
Napoleon Dynamite

3.5/5
The Big Liebowski
Spy Kids
Play It Again, Sam
A Very Brady Sequel

3/5
Fantastic Four
The Parallax View
Darkman

2.5/5
Elektra
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Take Away

2/5
(none)

1.5/5
Cruel Intentions 3
Sanctimony (beware, it's a Uwe Boll film!)

1/5
Catwoman


Best Film: TAXI DRIVER
Worst Film: CATWOMAN
Best Actor: Robert De Niro, TAXI DRIVER
Best Actress: Emily Watson, BREAKING THE WAVES
Best Supporting Actor: Mickey Rourke, SIN CITY
Best Supporting Actress: Dianne Wiest, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY
Best Director: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller, SIN CITY
Best Original Screenplay: TAXI DRIVER
Best Adapted Screenplay: SIN CITY
Biggest Surprise: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
Biggest Disappointment: FANTASTIC FOUR
Most Fucked-Up Movie: DELICATESSEN
"I'm Pretty Damn Sure No One Else Has Seen This": TAKE AWAY
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Harry Powell, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
"Why Is He/She Still in Movies?": Sharon Stone, CATWOMAN
Recurring Genre: Comic Adaptations/Superhero Films
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The "Butter" Scene, LAST TANGO IN PARIS
Best Line: "If you build it, he will come", FIELD OF DREAMS
Best Scene: The "Are you talking to me?" scene, TAXI DRIVER
Movie I Finally Got to Friggin' See: THE INCREDIBLES
Coolest Title: WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005)