Film Journal

[wpqx]

2/1
Shanghai Gesture (1941) - 6/10
Devil in the Flesh (1946) - 6/10

2/2
Histoire(s) du Cinema 3
Mighty Like a Moose (1926) - 8/10
Intentions of Murder (1964) - 7/10
Lights of Night (1958) - 10/10
Canyon Passage (1946) - 8/10
The Devil in Miss Jones (1972) - 7/10
Histoire(s) du Cinema 4 - 10/10

2/3
The Detectress (1919)
One Wet Night (1924)
Know Thy Wife (1918)
Rowdy Ann (1919) - 10/10
Hearts and Flowers (1919)
The Rounders (1914)
Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916)
Oh, Doctor! (1917)
The Garage (1920)
The Boat (1921) - 7/10
The Iron Mule (1925)

2/4
Quai des Orfevres (1947) - 8/10
Kes (1969) - 8/10

2/5
The Big Combo (1955) - 9/10
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) - 9/10
Moonrise (1948) - 6/10
Eastern Promises (2007) - 8/10

2/6
Gorillas in the Mist (1988) - 6/10
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 10/10
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) - 5/10
Affliction (1998) - 8/10

2/7
Nobody's Fool (1994) - 9/10
Pillow Talk (1959) - 10/10
The Boss of it All (2006) - 7/10
100 Years of the World Series

2/9
The Sea Hawk (1940) - 8/10

2/10
Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) - 6/10
We're No Angels (1955) - 8/10

2/11
The Stratton Story (1949) - 6/10
City Girl (1930) - 6/10

2/12
Song of Ceylon (1934) - 5/10
War and Peace (1967) - 8/10
By the Bluest of Seas (1936) - 6/10

2/13
Ugetsu (1953) - 10/10
Sixteen Candles (1984) - 8/10

2/14
Nightfall (1956) - 8/10
The Pilgrim (1923) - 7/10
A Dog's Life (1918) - 6/10
The Petrified Forest (1936) - 6/10
The Bond (1918) - 5/10
How to Make Movies (1918) - 5/10

2/15
Diary of the Dead (2007) - 9/10
Carnival in Flanders (1935) 8/10

2/16
The Dybbuk (1937) - 7/10
The Silent World (1956) - 8/10

2/17
7 Women (1966) - 6/10
Marketa Lazarova (1967) - 10/10
Class Relations (1984) - 7/10

2/18
The Reckless Moment (1949) - 8/10
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) - 4/10

2/19
The Bellboy (1960) - 10/10
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) - 5/10
Alpha Dog (2006) - 4/10
Panic in Needle Park (1971) - 9/10

2/20
High Heels (1991) - 8/10
Junebug (2005) - 6/10

2/21
Training Day (2001) - 8/10
The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938) - 6/10

2/22
My Apprenticeship (1939) - 6/10
Midnight (1939) - 10/10

2/23
Awara (1951) - 8/10
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) - 6/10
La Region Centrale (1971) - 3/10

2/24
The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) - 10/10
A Canterbury Tale (1944) - 8/10

2/25
Floating Clouds (1955) - 9/10
Barren Lives/Vidas Secas (1963) - 8/10

2/27
Days of '36 (1972) - 8/10
The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice (1952) - 8/10
The Lusty Men (1952) - 9/10

2/28
Not Reconciled (1965) - 10/10
Letter From Siberia (1957) - 10/10
Yesterday Girl (1966) - 8/10
Brutalitat in stein (1961) - 6/10
An Experiment in Love (1963) - 4/10

2/29
Too Early, Too Late (1981) - 5/10
King of the Children (1987) - 9/10
Anatahan (1953) - 10/10
Sun Shines Bright (1953) - 6/10

Best Film of the Month - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Worst Film of the Month - La Region Centrale

Discovery of the Month - Not Reconciled

[arsaib4]

How did you get a hold of the criminally unavailable The Hour of the Furnaces?

[wpqx]

I've actually had it for about a year and a half. My copy I ordered from subcinema.com The quality was passable, but you can't expect perfect transfers when these films were originally photographed under abnormal conditions. The film actually played at the University of Chicago last Fall but due to some other obligations (18 hours of work) I was unable to spend 5 hours watching a movie. I expect the next few months to be ridiculously low with a new job and baseball season approaching.

[arsaib4]

The Hour of the Furnaces is simply one of the greatest documentaries I've seen ever seen. It's Mr. Solanas' most important work to date. After about a 20 year absence, he has returned to the documentary form recently with the likes of Memoria del saqueo, La dignidad de los nadies and Argentina latente, all good films that you can probably find at Facets or at one of the other specialty stores in Chicago.

[wpqx]

I'll very slowly work my way around to some of his other films.

[wpqx]

3/1
30 Days of Night (2007) - 2/10
Planet Terror (2007) - 10/10

3/4
Murder by Contract (1958) - 10/10

3/8
Suspended Step of the Stork (1991) - 8/10
Revenge of the Nerds II (1987) - 9/10
Total Recall (1990) - 8/10
Predator (1987) - 10/10
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - 9/10

3/9
Wings of Eagles (1957) - 8/10

3/10
Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon (1957) - 8/10

3/11
Parade (1974) - 6/10

3/13
The Crimson Kimono (1959) - 8/10

3/14
Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) - 7/10
Spaceballs (1987) - 10/10
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1996) - 6/10
The Big Lebowski (1998) - 10/10

3/15
Monte Carlo (1930) - 8/10

3/16
The Lady with the Little Dog (1959) - 6/10
A Short Film About Love (1988) - 9/10

3/17
A Short Film About Killing (1988) - 9/10

3/19
One Hour With You (1932) - 10/10

3/20
The End of Summer (1961) - 7/10
Mother India (1957) - 7/10

3/21
Chronicle of a Summer (1961) - 8/10
Love Streams (1984) - 9/10

3/22
Major League (1989) - 10/10
Escape From New York (1981) - 10/10
The Terminator (1984) - 10/10

3/23
The Fallen Idol (1948) - 8/10

3/24
To Lavoisier, Who Died in the Reign of Terror (1991) - 6/10
Breakfast Table Top Dolly (1970-76) - 6/10

3/25
49th Parallel (1941) - 8/10

3/26
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) - 10/10

3/27
Way to the Stars (1945) - 10/10

3/30
The Saragossa Manuscript (1964) - 9/10

3/31
The Party (1968) - 6/10

Best Film of the Month - Major League (in honor of opening day)
Worst Film of the Month - 30 Days of Night
Discovery of the Month - One Hour With You

I saw some good films this month and a few that my ratings might seem abnormally high. There are a great deal of childhood favorites that I may be prejudice to and there are few guilty pleasures as sweet as Revenge of the Nerds II. Director info as well as availability information is available upon request as usual.

[R6dw6C]

Maybe it's a simple question but I'd like to know what makes "Planet Terror" such an outstanding film?! I'm really curious... As you maybe remember, I didn't like it at all. Solid "gory entertainment" - but somehow, I felt like being at the wrong place when I saw it at the cinema and also that it could only be the 18 Rating which kept all the 14 and 15 year old people out of the theater...

Besides, I'm surprised about your low rating of "The Party" - I thought it was much more impressive than the "Pink Panther"-Films, a totally over-the-top destructive orgy of Slapstick (and I'm not too fond of this kind, usually).

Do you also think that there is much misogyny in "The Saragossa Manuscript"? I was really surprised how obviously it was displayed.

[wpqx]

I loved Planet Terror and found it the obvious high water mark in the Grindhouse set. I'm partial to zombie films and this one was extremely well done. The Party just seemed like same old Peter Sellers/Blake Edwards faire. Not bad per-se just not anything worth praising. I wasn't too concerned with that aspect of The Saragossa Manuscript. I just thought that its construction and the whole narrative structure was interesting.

[wpqx]

The month started off with a bang and finished with a whimper. On the plus side I just finished an epic paper and am only one disc away from wrapping up Heimat, so all signs point to a much more productive and prolific May.

4/1
They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969) - 7/10
El Verdugo (1963) - 8/10
La Femme Infidèle (1969) - 9/10

4/2
I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967) - 9/10
Ganga Bruta (1933) - 8/10
Macunaima (1969) - 10/10
The Lion Has Seven Heads (1970) - 10/10
Bullet in the Head (1990) - 10/10
Goodfellas (1990) - 10/10

4/3
Merry Go Round (1955) - 6/10
Avanti! (1972) - 10/10
Touki Bouki (1973) - 8/10
Contras' City (1969) - 5/10

4/6
The Far Country (1955) - 10/10

4/7
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) - 6/10
India Song (1974) - 6/10

4/8
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - 10/10

4/9
The Marquise of O (1976) - 7/10
Vagabond (1985) - 8/10
Conversation Piece (1974) - 8/10

4/10
Sugar Cane Alley (1983) - 8/10

4/11
Hour of the Star (1985) - 5/10

4/14
Dead or Alive (2000) - 6/10
We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974) - 8/10

4/15
An Unreasonable Man (2005) - 9/10

4/16
The Night Porter (1974) - 8/10
Grey Gardens (1975) - 6/10
A Slave of Love (1976) - 6/10

4/17
American Gigolo (1980) - 10/10
The World According to Garp (1982) - 6/10

4/18
Zombie Strippers (2008) - 10/10
The Big Lebowski (1998) - 10/10

4/27
La Roue (1922) - 9/10

4/29
Douce (1943) - 8/10

Best Film of the Month - Goodfellas
Worst Film of the Month - Hour of the Star
Discovery of the Month - The Lion Has Seven Heads

My rating of Zombie Strippers might seem ludicrously high, but good trash is hard to find.

[arsaib4]

Was your copy of Ganga Bruta subtitled?