CardiffGiant

This thread is for LISTS ONLY. Discussion of films, questions about the challenge, etc., should be directed to the Discussion Thread. You are; however, encouraged to provide reviews and comments within your list.

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The challenge officially begins August 31 at dusk in whatever location you are in at the time, and ends on October 1st at dawn in whatever location you are in at that time. Also, feel free to time your final Criterion film(s) to coincide with the start of the Horror Challenge.

Checklist:

CardiffGiant

*=First Time Viewing

1. Che (2008)*: I found Part 1 to be better than Part 2, which after reading a little about it, generally seems to be the consensus. I think any film on Guevara is going to be polarizing, but I don't understand how one could give this a 1 or a 5. It is not great and it is not terrible. Many have questioned the omitted controversial aspects of Che's life. I take issue not necessarily with that decision, but the decision to call it Che and make it 5 hours long. I expect a comprehensive look at the person with that type of title and length. I found myself wanting to know more that was never explained, instead, we simply get Che's organization of the battles in Cuba and Bolivia. For many, that may be enough, but I feel that there is a missed opportunity to talk about this immensely controversial figure. Soderbergh's Che strips away the controversy to a level which sterilizes any true examination of Che the person. Del Toro, as always, is amazing, and with a better script, he may have been given more praise for his role in the film. Rating: 3/5
2. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)*: I have gone back and watched some scenes trying to figure out what is so beloved about the film and I don't think I'm going to find it. I've read Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" review, looked at the 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, read other reviews, and I find nothing there to appreciate in the way others have. Yes, it's interesting that Alec Guinness is playing 8 different characters, but that fact alone doesn't carry the film. I don't always like black comedies, but I do like some. The film's final minutes did leave the audience with something to think about, but this is one whose idea I like much more than the final product.Rating: 2.5/5
3. Hopscotch (1980)*: A fun little caper film. At no point does the audience ever think anything major is at stake. Actually a refreshing type of film. In many ways, I wish I had seen this as a kid, I feel like I would have loved it even more.Rating: 3.5/5
4. Rome, Open City (1945)*: The entire time, I kept thinking of how much this film felt like Bicycle Thieves except that there is much more hopefulness in this Italian Neorealistic film. I've been reading up a bit on the film and it's incredible how quickly following WWII that Rosselini got a crew together to film.Rating: 4/5
5. Wings (1966)*: You'll read a lot of reviews that talk about this film as a hidden gem. It certainly is. Larisa Shepitko is a name I had never heard prior to this set. Not in a film text, documentary, etc. Such a strong female lead, directed by woman, but a story that has nothing to do with being female, but rather what it means to be human, to age, to feel disconnected to the younger generations, to feel unappreciated. A great film and I'm glad that someone on the forum talked me into a blind buy a number of years ago during the B&N sale.Rating: 4.5/5
6. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)*: Beautifully shot. A great story and having seen the remake, I was surprised at some of the scenes and plot lines (I'm avoiding spoilers here) that deviate radically from the original. I love the psychological westerns. How can you civilize a country without civility. This film digs at all of those questions. No character in the film is wholly good or wholly bad, they are not caricatures, rather they are products of their environments and the circumstances that they come across.Rating: 5/5

• Interview: Elmore Leonard
• Interview: Peter Ford
• Elmore Leonard's Drawings (Criterion website)
• Essay: Kent Jones

7. Autumn Sonata (1978)*: I can't believe it took me this long to get around to this Bergman film. *A haunting film regarding problems of misinterpretation through the generations.Rating: 5/5
8. Red Desert (1964)*: Isolation, modernity, technology, disconnect...but still some hope seeps through.Rating: 4/5
9. The Browning Version (1951)*: Great acting throughout. A quiet sort of film that never falls into the cliches I expected. Ultimately, the film ends with more questions than answers and there will be much to think about each of these characters.Rating: 3.5/5
10. Dazed and Confused (1993) Audio Commentary*: First time listening to the commentary track on one of my favorite Criterion films. Linklater expertly straddles the line between being fun and informative. It's shocking how much of the scenes are based on real life and he really grills the people that gave him a hard time throughout the process (McDonald's, Schlitz, Jimmy Page, the studio, etc.). I also watched a number of interviews, some of which are listed in my checklist. They were less interesting, but good to have nonetheless.Commentary Rating: 4.5/5
11. Vampyr (1932): A bit better on the rewatch. Still a disjointed film, but the images and sounds are haunting.
Checklist

Gobear

Sep. 1
1. Blow Out (1981)-#562 TV--Quentin Tarantino claims this to be one of his top 3 favorite films, and it's easy to see why: Blow Out shows how movie magic is created through clever editing of sound and image as John Travolta's character obsessively splices together evidence of a political assassination he accidentally witnessed.
2. To Be or Not to Be (1942)-#670 DVD--Ernst Lubitsch and Jack Benny are a match made in comedy heaven in this scathingly funny and dark film about a theater company struggling for survival in occupied Warsaw during WWII. Felix Bressart's performance of Shylock's soliloquy towards the end of the film never fails to get me verklempt.

Sep. 2
3. Genocide (1968)-Eclipse Box 37 Hulu--Incoherent doomsday film about insects destroying humanity that manages to incorporate Cold War paranoia, anti-American stereotypes, and a crazy hot villainness.

Sep. 4
4. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)-#357 DVD--Dennis Price is a picture of deliciously droll evil as he carries out the demises of the D'Ascoyne family who stand between him and and the title of Duke of Chalfont.

Sep. 6
5. Eating Raoul (1982)-#625 Hulu--Eating Raoul was a bit late in satirizing the do-anything 70s atmosphere of casual sex, but Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov are hilarious in this slightly-sitcommish black comedy.

Sep. 7
6. The Holy Man (1965)- Hulu--When you visit India, you can see that it is a country soaked in religion, so I really enjoyed Satyajit Ray's strike for skepticism, showing some enlightened friends exposing a con artist "god man" who has taken advantage of a grieving widower and his daughter.
7. This is Spinal Tap (1984)-#12 DVD--An amazing improv comedy fake documentary, and still a brilliant satire of heavy metal, although the music industry depicted has largely disappeared.

Sep. 8
8. Medium Cool (1969)-#658 Blu-Ray--Still digesting this one. I'm still marveling at Verna Bloom's audacity at filming scenes in the midst of the the chaos during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
9. The Rock (1996)-#108 Blu-Ray--Say what you will about Michael Bay, this is one hell of a fun ride. No profundity, no depth, just sheer bravura movie thrills.

Sep. 10
10. The Life of Oharu (1952)-#664 Blu-Ray--One of Mizoguchi's best, poor Oharu's life is destroyed by betrayal and and the machinations of the Edo period aristocracy.
11. Safety Last (1923)-#662 Blu-Ray--When I was a kid, Charlie Chaplin was the undisputed comedy king of the silent era. Then Buster Keaton's films got their revival in the 80s, and now over the past decade Harold Lloyd's films have been rediscovered. Lloyd epitomized the modern young American of the post WWI era: reckless, optimistic, and determined to get ahead with pluck and daring. This film, in which he plays a hapless retail clerk trying to fool his girl that he's a bigshot, is magnificent.

Sep. 11
12. Ran (1985)-#316 DVD--Perhaps it's appropriate that I'm watching a film about warfare and chaos on this day. It's amazing how Tatsuya Nakadai aged so drastically, from portraying the sexy young gunslinger in Yojimbo to the elderly King Lear figure in Ran in a mere 24 years.

Sep. 12
13. Nanook of the North (1922)-#33 TV--Although Robert Flaherty staged the events in the film, urging his Inuit actors to use traditional tools that were already fading from use and wearing clothes that were being replaced with modern dress, there's a charm about this film as we see Nanook performing the daily routines of Inuit life a century ago. Even though none of the text is real (this isn't a family, the women are Flaherty's mistresses, the igloo is actually cut in half to allow the camera to film), we're still seeing real Inuit showing the real exigencies of life in the Arctic in 1920-21.

Sep. 13
14. La Cage aux Folles (1978)-#671 DVD--I first saw this in its original US theatrical release back in 1978 at the Vogue Theater in Louisville KY. As a young gay boy who was trying to deal with my identity in a time and place that was hostile to boys like me, seeing gay images on screen let me know I was not the only one in the world.
15. Winter Light (1963)-#210 Hulu--Bergman excels in showing individuals in existential crises. As an atheist, however, I found it difficult to empathize with a pastor who realizes that his faith is empty and that God does not exist. He ought to come join the rest of us at the bar.

Sep. 16
16. Nashville (1975)-#683 DVD--As soon as I saw that Nashville had been officially added to the Collection, I slapped my old DVD on. This is easily Altman's greatest film, with richly realized characters representing the fragmented America of the mid-70s. I lived near Nashville when the film came out, and the reaction was so negative because the country music community did not understand that Altman was capturing a snapshot of post-Vietnam America, not a puff piece for the Grand Ol' Opry. It's also surprising that the terrific soundtrack was largely composed by the actors, and not professional songwriters.

Sep. 17
17. Time Bandits (1981)-#37 Netflix-Terry Gilliam's films have a wholly original genius--who else could create a fantasy like Time Bandits? Co-written by Michael Palin and produced by George Harrison, it's a wildly imaginative ride through a Boy's Own compendium of myths and legends. Despite its chaotic birth, Time Bandits still works today.

Sep. 21
18. M (1931)-#30 DVD--Although Peter Lorre created memorable supporting roles in Hollywood classics like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, he never equaled his performance as a twisted child-murderer driven by his compulsions. Lorre is so brilliant, especially in the trial scene when he is being judged by the Berlin underworld. He makes the audience pity him even as they despise him.

Sep. 22
19. Rosemary's Baby (1968)-#630 Blu-Ray-One of my all-time favorite horror films.

Sep. 23
20. Breaker Morant (1980)-#N/A Hulu-I saw this when it came out 30-odd years ago, and it is still a terrific anti-war film, very similar in theme to Paths of Glory.
21. Quadrophenia (1979)-#624 Blu-Ray-Roddam's film captures fully the spirit of The Who's magnum opus, the pure distillation of what it feels like to be a teenager. My only problem is that Jimmy is such a pathetic mope that I was rooting for the Rockers to kick his whiny Mod backside.

Sep. 27
22. The 39 Steps (1935)-#56 Hulu-Although Hitchcock had made some sensational films between his debut The Lodger eight years earlier, this really is his first film that contains his trademark motifs: the wrong man, the ice-cold blonde, the mysterious object that starts the action.
23. The Blob (1958)-#91 Hulu-Who does not absolutely love this movie? It's a amazing that a cult classic this beloved was made by a shoestring outfit that previously had just made made Sunday school videos.

Sep. 30
24. Island of Lost Souls (1932)-#624 Blu-Ray-One of my favorite pre-Code shockers. Charles Laughton's performance as the effete vivisectionist is worth the price of admission alone.

shadokitty

* = First Time View

FTV Total = 5


August 31

1. Stagecoach - Hulu *


Sept 1

2. The Tale of Zatoichi - Hulu


Sept 2

3. Equinox - Hulu *
4. Robocop - DVD


Sept 3

5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - DVD


Sept 10

6. Solaris - Hulu *


Sept 11

7. On the Waterfront - Amazon Prime *


Sept 12

8. Gojira - DVD


Sept 13

9. Cat People - DVD


Sept 14

10. Godzilla, King of the Monsters - DVD


Sept 17

11. The Seventh Seal - Hulu


Sept 18

12. Halloween - DVD


Sept 25

Not Counted Bonus Content
Halloween Unmasked 2000 - DVD


Sept 26

13. The Princess Bride - DVD


Sept 27

14. Monty Python's Life of Brian (Criterion Collection) - DVD


Sept 29

15. Vampyr - Youtube *


Sept 30

16. Jason and the Argonauts - DVD

pacaway

Colors: Blu-Ray | HDDVD | DVD | Theater | TV | Netflix | Crackle

Viewing Icons: ☼ - First Ever Viewing | * - First Home Viewing | * - First Time Using Owned Media

Watched With: μ - M | τ - T | δ - D

August 31:
0.5 (#002) Shichinin no samurai - part 1 (1954) δ ☼ *
a.k.a. Seven Samurai

September 01:
1.5 (#628) The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) ☼ - library
- Truth on the Ground
- Acting Close To Home
- Auditions and Rehearsals
- Trailer
- Essay: How Things Work
2.5 (#628) The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) - commentary

September 02:
3.5 (#157) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
- With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles, featuring Anderson (27:02)
- Interviews with and behind-the-scenes footage of actors Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Danny Glover (26:53)
- Outtakes (2:00)
- The Peter Bradley Show, featuring interviews with additional cast members (14:30)
- Trailers
- Essay: Faded Glories

September 06:
4.5 (#600) Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - library
- Newsreel (5:00)
- Trailer (4:50)

September 07:
5.0 (#141) Les Enfants du Paradis: Part 1: Boulevard of Crime (1945) ☼ - library
a.k.a. Children Of Paradise
6.0 (#259) À ma sœur! (2001) ☼ - library
a.k.a. Fat Girl
- Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Fat Girl (5:30)
- Trailers (American 1:20) (French 1:12)
- Interview: Catherine Breillat Talks about her film and alternate ending (9:58)
- Essay: Sisters, Sex, and Sitcom

September 08:
6.5 (#141) Les Enfants du Paradis: Part 2: Man in White (1945) ☼ - library
7.5 (#426) The Ice Storm (1997) - library
- Trailer (2:30)
- Essay: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

September 13:
8.5 (#276) The River (1951) ☼ *
- Essay: The River (Ian Christie) 2005
- Essay: The River (Alexander Sesonske) 1989

September 21:
9.5 (LD #160) Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - Calgary International Film Festival
Essay - Jason and the Argonauts (Bruce Eder)

September 22:
10.5 (#612) Copie conforme (2010) ☼ - library
a.k.a. Certified Copy
- Interview: Abbas Kiarostami - Love Is An Illusion (16:02)
11.5 (#616) Shallow Grave (1994) ☼ - library
- trailer

September 23:
12.5 (LD #059) The Wizard of Oz (1939) - 3D IMAX

September 28:
13.0 (#002) Shichinin no samurai - part 2 (1954) ☼ *
a.k.a. Seven Samurai
14.0 (#321) Jungfrukällan (1960) ☼ *
a.k.a. The Virgin Spring
- Introduction by Ang Lee (7:04)

September 29:
15.0 (#230) 3 Women (1977)
- Theatrical Teaser Trailer (1:28)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:14)
- TV spot 1 (0:32)
- TV spot 2 (0:32)
- Essay - Dream Project (David Sterritt)
16.0 (#230) 3 Women (1977) - commentary

September 30:
17.0 (#636) Heaven's Gate (1980) δ ☼ - library
18.0 (#260) Eyes Without a Face (1960)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:24) - as The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus with Manster
- Theatrical Trailer (3:44)
- Short Film: Blood of the Beasts, Georges Franju’s 1949 documentary about the slaughterhouses of Paris
- director's explanation of short film

MrTerrific

2013 Criterion Collection Challenge

1. All These Women* - Hulu
2. Monsieur Verdoux* - Blu-Ray
3. Blow Out - Blu-Ray
4. The Devil's Backbone - Blu-Ray
5. Rosemary's Baby- Blu-Ray

Ash Ketchum

Ash Ketchum's 4th Annual Criterion Challenge

* - first time viewing

Sept. 1, 2013
1. *SWORD OF THE BEAST (1965/Japan, 85 min., b&w, samurai adventure/Shochiku) Seen on Hulu (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Hideo Gosha. Cast: Mikijiro Hira, Go Kato, Shima Iwashita.
Intricately plotted tale of clan intra-fighting and a search for gold in 1857 Japan. Well acted and directed; suspenseful and beautifully shot.

Sept. 2, 2013
2. *BABO 73 (1964/U.S., 57 min., b&w, comedy) DVD (Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. / Eclipse Series 33)
Dir.: Robert Downey. Cast: Taylor Mead, Jim Antonio.
Counterculture comedy prefiguring the hippie era. Amusing in parts, tiresome in others.

September 4, 2013
3. *A MAN ESCAPED (1956/France, 100 min., b&w, drama) VHS (in French with English subs.)
Dir.: Robert Bresson. Star: Francois Leterrier.
In 1943, a French resistance fighter, imprisoned by the Nazis, plots an elaborate escape. My first Bresson. I’m not a convert yet; I need to see more.

4. CHAFED ELBOWS (1966/U.S., 58 min., b&w, comedy) DVD (Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. / Eclipse Series 33)
Dir.: Robert Downey. Cast: George Morgan, Elsie Downey, Lawrence Wolf.
Another underground counterculture comedy from the father of Robert Downey Jr. (who’s seen here as a baby). Amusing in parts, silly in others. Nice New York location footage, though.

September 5, 2013
5. *NO MORE EXCUSES (1968/U.S., 46 min., b&w, comedy) DVD (Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. / Eclipse Series 33)
Directors: Robert Downey, Robert Soukis. Cast: Robert Downey, Alan Abel, Lawrence Wolf.
Another underground counterculture comedy from the father of Robert Downey Jr. IMDB says this is 62 min. and lists a cast member who’s completely absent from this print (Aimee Eccles). Is that 16 min. of footage gone for good? There were 16 other minutes of this film I would gladly have traded for footage of Eccles.

September 6, 2013
6. PUTNEY SWOPE (1969/U.S., 85 min., b&w and color, comedy) DVD (Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. / Eclipse Series 33)
Dir.: Robert Downey. Cast: Arnold Johnson, Laura Greene, Antonio Fargas.
Quintessential counterculture comedy from 1969. A big hit at the time. Extremely dated, but still funny in parts. I wonder how young audiences today would find it.

September 7, 2013
7. *CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH (1960/Japan, 96 min., color, drama) VHS (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Nagisa Oshima. Cast: Miyuki Kuwano, Yusuke Kawazu.
Disaffected youth in Japan. Interesting characters, but gets too heavy-handed in its speechmaking and closes out with an unnecessarily melodramatic ending.

September 8, 2013
8. *ZATOICHI AND THE CHESS EXPERT (1965/Japan, 87 min., color, swordplay adventure/Daiei) VHS (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Kenji Misumi. Cast: Shintaro Katsu, Mikio Narita. One of those films which withholds key info about several major supporting characters until the end. I don't like when that's done. It's more suspenseful when we, the audience, know more than the characters. It also has a very abrupt editing style, which threw me off.

September 9, 2013
9. *PICKPOCKET (1959/France, 75 min., b&w, drama) DVD (in French with English subs.)
Dir.: Robert Bresson. Cast: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green.

September 11, 2013
10. *ZATOICHI’S CONSPIRACY (1973/Japan, 87 min., color, swordplay adventure/Daiei) DVD (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Kimiyoshi Yasuda. Cast: Shintaro Katsu, Eiji Okada, Takashi Shimura.
Zatoichi goes back to his hometown only to get caught up in a conflict between the farmers and a merchant, who'd been a childhood friend of Zatoichi's, who seeks to exploit them. A good and suspenseful entry in this long-running series.

11. *DIABOLIQUE (1955/France, 114 min., b&w, suspense drama) VHS (in French with English subs.)
Dir.: Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot.

September 12, 2013
12. ZATOICHI MEETS THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1971/Japan, 94 min., color, swordplay adventure/Daiei) DVD (in Japanese and Mandarin with English subs.)
Dir.: Kimiyoshi Yasuda. Stars: Shintaro Katsu, Jimmy Wang Yu.
Jimmy Wang Yu brings his one-armed swordsman character from Hong Kong movie over to Japan for a memorable encounter with Zatoichi. Wang Yu's character speaks only Mandarin (with subtitles in both English and Japanese) and the miscommunication leads to some tragic misunderstandings. Wang Yu does those Hong Kong-style super-leaps in the air here.

September 13, 2013
13. F FOR FAKE (1975/France-Iran-Germany, 88 min., color, documentary) DVD
Dir.: Orson Welles.

September 14, 2013
14. OHAYO (aka GOOD MORNING, 1959/Japan, 94 min., color, drama) VHS (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Yasujiro Ozu. Cast: Chishu Ryu, Kuniko Miyake, Koji Shitara.

September 15, 2013
15. *F FOR FAKE extras DVD supplements (3)
“Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery” (1997, 52 min., color, documentary) Unofficial sequel to F FOR FAKE which investigates Elmyr de Hory's claims of having sold his forged paintings to numerous museums.
“60 Minutes” Interview with Clifford Irving (2000) Mike Wallace interviews Clifford Irving (one of the subjects of F FOR FAKE) 28 years after interviewing him on "60 Minutes" about his Howard Hughes "autobiography."
Howard Hughes Press Conference (1972) Audio supplement with Hughes' own answers to questions asked him via conference call about Irving's book, which Hughes denies having anything to do with.

16. ORSON WELLES: THE ONE-MAN BAND (1995/Germany-France-Switzerland, 87 min., color and b&w, documentary) DVD (supplement on the F FOR FAKE DVD)
Directors: Vassili Silovic, Oja Kodar.

17. *THE LIFE OF OHARU (1952/Japan, 136 min., b&w, drama) DVD (in Japanese with English subs.)
Dir.: Kenji Mizoguchi. Star: Kinuyo Tanaka.

18. *THE LIFE OF OHARU extras DVD supplements (2)
“The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka” (31 min.)
Document of the actress’ goodwill tour of the U.S. in 1949.
“Mizoguchi and the Art of the Demimonde” (19 min.)
Film theorist Dudley Andrew narrates an illustrated essay on Mizoguchi’s films with the emphasis on UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN and THE LIFE OF OHARU.

September 21, 2013
19. *PALE FLOWER (1964/Japan, 96 min., b&w, crime drama/Shochiku) DVD (in Japanese with English subtitles)
Dir.: Masahiro Shinoda. Cast: Ryo Ikebe, Mariko Kaga.
An arthouse yakuza movie.

September 28, 2013
20. *GENOCIDE (1968/Japan, 84 min., color, sci-fi horror thriller/Shochiku) DVD (in Japanese with English subtitles) Part of the Eclipse 37 set: “When Horror Came to Shochiku”
Dir.: Kazui Nihonmatsu. Cast: Keisuke Sonoi, Yusuke Kawazu, Emi Shindo, Kathy Horan, Chico Roland.
Odd but imaginative eco-horror-insect thriller involving a remote island, a crashed H-bomb, an Auschwitz survivor conducting experiments on poisonous insects, American officers pushing their weight around, a black airman going mad, and all hell breaking loose. Gets pretty gruesome, insect-wise.

Greg MacGuffin

5th Annual September Criterion Challenge

September 1
Fellini: A Director's Notebook 8 1/2
8 1/2 - Theatrical Trailer

September 2
The Last Sequence 8 1/2

September 3
Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert 8 1/2

September 5
Interview with Sandra Milo 8 1/2

September 6
Interview with Lina Wertmüller 8 1/2

September 8
Introduction by Terry Gilliam 8 1/2
8 1/2

September 9
Anatomy of a Murder - Theatrical Trailer
Interview with Foster Hirsch Anatomy of a Murder
Interview with Gary Giddins Anatomy of a Murder
Excerpts from Firing LineAnatomy of a Murder

September 10
Interview with Pat Kirkham Anatomy of a Murder

September 11
Night and Fog

September 12
Newsreel footage Anatomy of a Murder
Behind-the scenes photographs Anatomy of a Murder

September 13
Lord of the Flies - Theatrical Trailer
Lord of the Flies

September 14
Exerpts from Anatomy of "Anatomy" Anatomy of a Murder
Interview with Vittorio Storaro 8 1/2

September 17
Interview with Gerd Gemünden World on a Wire

September 22
Anatomy of a Murder

September 29
Kagemusha Netflix Instant

September 30
The Devil's Backbone - Theatrical Trailer
Video introduction by Guillermo del Toro - The Devil's Backbone
The Devil's Backbone


Checklist:

mrcellophane

*= first time viewing
blue= personal BluRay
black= personal DVD
green= other

August 31st
1. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) - Spine #555
--- "You're an amusing boy, but you haven't got a drop of respect for anything in human life." ~ Mary, on Sidney Falco

• Interview: James Mangold (filmmaker)

September 1st
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)* - Spine #147
--- "Feelings can creep up just like that. I thought I was in control." ~ Mr. Chow, on his feelings for Mrs. Chan

• Deleted scenes
• Documentary: @ In the Mood for Love
• Interview: Tony Rayns (critic), "On the Soundtrack"
• Essay: "In the Mood for Love" / Li Cheuk-to

3. The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa, 1958)* - Spine #116
--- "I saw people as they really are. I saw their beauty and their ugliness with my own eyes." ~ Princess Yuki, on her escape and travels

• Interview: George Lucas (filmmaker)
• Essays: "The Hidden Fortress" / David Ehrenstein ; "The Hidden Fortress" / Armond White

September 2nd
4. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008)* - Spine #513
--- "Grandma said I would bring my kids here - when I have kids. But Grandma is dead, and the house has been sold." ~ Sylvie

• Essay: "A Time to Live and a Time to Die" / Kent Jones

September 3rd
5. Variety Lights (Federico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada, 1950)* - Spine #81 (watched Essential Art House DVD)
--- "I will be the performer. I don't need anyone. I will form the company. I promise you." ~ Checco, on his future plans

• Essay: "Variety Lights" / Andrew Sarris

September 4th
6. The Milky Way (Luis Buñuel, 1969)* - Spine #402
--- "A religion without mystery is no religion at all." ~ The French Priest, on the uncertainty of knowing God

• Inverviews: Jean-Claude Carrière (screenwriter) ; Ian Christie (film scholar)
• Documentary: "Luis Buñuel: Atheist Thanks to God" (Julien Gaurichon, 2005)
• Essays: "Easy Striders" / Mark Polizzotti ; "The Heretic's Progress" / Carlos Fuentes
• Original theatrical trailer

7. This Happy Breed (David Lean, 1944)* - Spine #605
--- "There will always be wars as long as men are such fools as to want to go to them." ~ Ethel Gibbons, on the possibility of war

• Interviews: Barry Day (film scholar) ; Ronald Neame (cinematographer)
• Essay: "Home Truths" / Farran Smith Nehme
• Trailers: Original ; Rerelease

September 5th
8. Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982)* - Spine #287 (Netflix DVD)
--- "If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams and I don't want to live like that." ~ Werner Herzog, on Fitzcarraldo

9. The Makioka Sisters (Kon Ichikawa, 1983)* - Spine #567
--- "We will not be able to see the cherry blossoms in Kyoto." ~ Tsuruko, on the fragmentation of the Makioka family

• Essay: "Of Love and Money" / Audie Bock
• Original theatrical trailer

September 6th
10. Evita (Alan Parker, 1996) - Laserdisc #337 (watched non-Criterion DVD)
--- "Don't cry for me, Argentina." ~ Eva Perón, on her balcony

11. Pleasures of the Flesh (Nagisa Oshima, 1965)* - Eclipse Set #21
--- "It won’t even be a tragedy. It’ll be a farce." ~ Atsushi, on his probable future

September 8th
12. Remorques (Jean Grémillon, 1941)* - Eclipse Set #34
--- "Couples shouldn’t keep things. We should live, love, be together…" ~ Yvonne Laurent, on how married life should be

13. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)* - Spine #339
--- "Why is the world so different from what we thought it was?" ~ Ting-Ting, on the different between reality and expectation

• Interview: Tony Rayns (cinematographer)
• Essay: "Time and Space" / Kent Jones
• U.S. theatrical trailer

September 9th
14. The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa, 1960)* - Spine #319
--- "I didn’t sleep at all last night and seem to have mistaken night for day." ~ Vice President Iwabuchi

• Documentary: Excerpt of Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Original theatrical trailer

15. The Mikado (Victor Schertzinger, 1939)* - Spine #559 (library DVD)
--- "I am right and you are right and all is right as right can be" ~ Pooh-Bah & the Chorus

• Interview: Mike Leigh (filmmaker)
• Essay: “Celluloid Savoy” / Geoffrey O’Brien
• Deleted scene

September 10th
16. Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, 1999)* - Spine #558
--- "There's something inherently disappointing about success." ~ W.S. Gilbert, on The Mikado

• Interview: Mike Leigh (director) and Gary Yershon (musical director)
• Short film: A Sense of History (Mike Leigh, 1992)*
• Deleted scene
• Original theatrical trailer

September 11th
17. F For Fake (Orson Welles, 1975)* - Spine #288
--- "I did promise that for one hour, I'd tell you only the truth. That hour, ladies and gentlemen, is over." ~ Orson Welles, on his intentions

• Introduction by Peter Bogdanovich (filmmaker)

18. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972) - Spine #102
--- "Dinner is served." ~ Simone, on, well, dinner being served

September 12th
19. Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1954) - Spine #14

20. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1955)* - Spine #15

September 13th
21. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (Hiroshi Inagaki, 1956)* - Spine #16

September 14th
22. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)* - Spine #216
--- "The awful thing about life is this: Everybody has their reasons." ~ Octave, on why life and the world sucks

• Introduction by Jean Renoir (director)
• Comparison of the film's two endings
• Selected-scene analysis by Chris Faulkner (scholar/historian)

23. The Organizer (Mario Monicelli, 1963)* - Spine #610
--- "The voice of the majority is the voice of wisdom." ~ Professor Sinigaglia, on complacency

September 15th
24. Something Wild (Jonathan Demme, 1986)* - Spine #563
--- "Remember, no matter what, it's better to be a live dog than a dead lion." ~ Hotel Philosopher, on hangovers (among other stuff)

• Interviews: Jonathan Demme (director) ; E. Max Frye (screenwriter)
• Essay: "Wild Things" / David Thompson
• Original theatrical trailer

September 16th
25. Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945) - Spine #76
--- "I've fallen in love. I'm an ordinary woman. I didn't think such violent things could happen to ordinary people." ~ Laura, on her situation

26. Blithe Spirit (David Lean, 1945) - Spine #606
--- "Down with your head, up with your heart, and you're over the top like a flash and skimming down the other side like a dragonfly." ~ Madame Arcati, on bicycling

September 21st
27. Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)* - Spine #546
--- "Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules." ~ Bobby, on wanting a side of toast

• Interview: Bob Rafelson

September 22nd
28. Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922)* - Spine #33

• Featurette: "Flaherty and Film"

29. Fires on the Plain (Kon Ichikawa, 1959)* - Spine #378
--- "What? You still here? Poor guy, when I'm dead, you can eat this." ~ Buddhist soldier, on his arm

September 29th
30. There Was a Father (Yasujiro Ozu, 1942)* - Spine #526

Checklist

Sondheim

1. A Story of Floating Weeds (Ozu, 1934)
2. The Long Good Friday (Mackenzie, 1980)
3. Schizopolis (Soderbergh, 1996)
4. Border Radio (Anders, 1987)
5. Koko: A Talking Gorilla (Schroeder, 1978)
6. Ikiru (Kurosawa, 1952)
7. Singin' in the Rain (Donen & Kelly, 1952)
8. Brazil (Gilliam, 1985)
9. Charade (Donen, 1963)
10. Naked City (Dassin, 1948)
11. Fanfan la Tulipe (Christine-Jaque, 1952)
12. Jigoku (Nakagawa, 1960)
13. Branded to Kill (Suzuki, 1967)
14. Blood of a Poet (Cocteau, 1932)
15. Orpheus (Cocteau, 1950)
16. Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946)
17. Tokyo Drifter (Suzuki, 1966)
18. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
19. General Idi Amin Dada (Schroeder, 1974)
20. The Ruling Class (Medak, 1972)
21. And Everything Is Going Fine (Soderbergh, 2010)
22. I Shot Jesse James (Fuller, 1949)
23. Richard III (Olivier, 1955)
24. Clean, Shaven (Kerrigan, 1993)
25. The Last Wave (Weir, 1977)

rbrown498

1. Yi Yi* Blu-ray
2. Revanche* Blu-ray
3. Robinson Crusoe on Mars* Blu-ray
4. In the Realm of the Senses Blu-ray
5. Blow Out Blu-ray
6. The Last Wave* DVD
7. Black Narcissus* Blu-ray
8. The Magician* Blu-ray
9. The 400 Blows Blu-ray
10. Insomnia* DVD
11. The 39 Steps Blu-ray
12. Shallow Grave* Blu-ray
13. I Shot Jesse James* DVD
14. The Baron of Arizona* DVD
15. The Steel Helmet DVD
16. House* Blu-ray

*first-time viewing

Checklist:

Final Stats

16 films watched: 11 first-time viewings, 5 repeat viewings
2 formats watched: 11 Blu-rays, 5 DVDs

davidh777

2012: 1 item
2011: 5 items

LJG765

2012 List

Watched List:
*first time watch

Aug. 31
1. Gimme Shelter*

Sept. 2
2. M*

Sept. 3
3. The Hidden Fortress*

Sept. 4
4. The Rock
5. The Black Orpheus*

Sept. 6
6. Godzilla*
Godzilla, King of the Monsters*

Sept. 7
7. Evita

Sept. 8
8. Last Holiday*
9. Häxan*

Sept. 9
10. Seven Samurai*
11. La Cage aux Folles

Sept. 10
12. On the Waterfront*

Sept. 12
13. Jungle Book*
14. Elephant Boy*
15. The Drum*

Sept. 13
16. The Lady Vanishes*

Sept. 15
17. The Third Man*
18. Fishing with John*

Sept. 19
19. The Phantom Carriage*
20. The Beales of Grey Gardens*
21. Monterey Pop*
22. The Princess Bride

Sept. 21
23. Mystery Train*

Sept. 23
24. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
25. The Devil & Daniel Webster*
26. Robinson Crusoe On Mars*

Sept. 26
27. Monsoon Wedding*

Check List:

Mondo Kane

Challenge '09 list
Challenge '10 list
Challenge '11 list
Challenge '12 list

1TV=First-time viewing

1st:
(1TV)1. #523-Night Train to Munich__Carol Reed__1940
Good concept, it just seemed to come up a little short. Worth checking out just for Rex Harrison's performance.
-------------------
2nd
(1TV)2. #607-A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (The Birth of Magellan: Cadenza I__Hollis Frampton__1977)
Well, it's a bit more watchable than the last Frampton thing I watched...
-
(1TV)3. #679-Zatoichi Challenged__Kenji Misumi__1967
The first of many Zatoichi films I expect to watch for this challenge. I was pleased to see that Misumi directed this installment (Who also made my most favorite of the Lone Wolf/Cub movies) A solid entry here, despite only loving the opening & closing acts the most.
-------------------
3rd
4. #533-Crumb__Terry Zwigoff__1995
+Stills Galleries
+Unused Footage
Watched this with Zwigoff's solo commentary. Not too much of the commentary dwells on a lot scene-specifics. Instead there's a lot of focus on the participants that Zwigoff wasn't able to get on film. As well as some background on the genesis of the project. My favorite moments involved an incident when Maxon Crumb visited the Zwigoff household and when Zwigoff mentioned that he gave recommendations from the Criterion Collection to Robert!
-------------------
4th
(1TV)5. #598-World on a Wire__Rainer Werner Fassbinder__1973
This was like Alphaville done Fassbinder style. Though I admit getting restless during part 2 (This is over 200 minutes long) I never did feel that this was dull. Would've liked to have checked out the documentary afterwards, but this was an exhausting viewing.
-------------------
5th
(1TV)6. #488-Howards End__James Ivory__1992
See discussion thread
-
(1TV)7. #403-Cría cuervos__Carlos Saura__1976
Weak and inconclusive ending, but this managed to be the biggest stand-out for me thus far in this challenge. Hauntingly compelling stuff.
-------------------
6th
(1TV)8. #679-Zatoichi the Fugitive__Tokuzô Tanaka__1963
A little identical to the last-viewed Ichi film I saw (Heck, so many of them are identical) but what sets this apart is that we see more different characteristics from Ichi (Such as wrestling,smoking and dancing!) Another thing I liked was that the obligatory Ichi vs Ronin/Samurai battle at the end was nicely drawn out by a bit (A lot of the duels in this series just end way too fast)
-------------------
8th
(1TV)9. #628-The Forgiveness of Blood__Joshua Marston__2011
There seems to not be a whole lot of acclaim for this, but I didn't mind it. Though It's no surprise that I was a bit confused to what "Mediate" and "Besa" meant.
-
(1TV)10. #482-2 or 3 Things I Know About Her__Jean-Luc Godard__1967
+
Antoine Bourseiller
Visual Essay
As one youtuber famously states, "It's a movie about nothing". I tended to agree with him after this viewing wrapped up. Though the visual essay did explain a number of things, this still managed to be the least-liked of the last 3 or 4 Godard films that I've recently seen.
-------------------
9th
(1TV)11. #212-Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie__Vilgot Sjöman__1962
Somewhat of a "Making-of" regarding Winter Light, which is one of my most favorite Bergman films. A bit overlong (4 half-hour TV episodes put together) and often dry (We only see two scenes being filmed. The rest is compiled of interviews), Yet this contains the most in-depth discussion of Bergman's craft as a filmmaker. Most other interviews I've seen with him focus on his private life & religious upbringing. In other words, this was a massive breath of fresh air and a must-see for Bergman fanatics.
-------------------
10th
(1TV)12. #369-Borderline__Kenneth Macpherson__1930
Made in 1930, but it's a silent film. At times, this was difficult to follow since there wasn't a lot of title-cards to give us more info (And what cards there were, they were usually filled with bigotry) Worth checking out though for it's (Often) offbeat filmmaking style. I was especially surprised at how fast certain sequences were cut together. Didn't know they cut edit that fast back then!
-------------------
11th
(1TV)13. #402-The Milky Way__Luis Buñuel__1969
+
Luis Bunuel: Atheist Thanks to God
It's no surprise that a lot of the stabs at dogma went completely over my head (I had never even heard of a Jansenist before) at least there were a few great moments that made this viewing worthwhile. Such as the audible imagination, the priest's story about a miracle, and the "Worker from below" at work.
-------------------
12th
(1TV)14. #158-The Importance of Being Earnest__Anthony Asquith__1953
*Sigh* Well, at least I can admit that I've now seen this. A big snoozer as expected.
-
(1TV)15. #679-Zatoichi and the Chess Expert__Kenji Misumi__1965
The weakest Zatoichi movie I've seen yet for this challenge. Even though the title should have been some kind of indication, the "Chess playing" is mostly minimal while everything else is just uneventful. Even Katsu's swordplay looked sloppy here. I'm sure I'll rebound with my next Ichi flick.
-------------------
13th
(1TV)15. #255-Opening Night__John Cassavetes__1977
+
New conversation between actors Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara
Finely acted, as to always be expected whenever Cassavetes is behind the camera, but I just really wasn't able to get into this one. It felt like the same scene was being replayed over and over. Such a shame since I GREATLY enjoyed the last Cassavetes film I saw,
Minnie and Moskowitz. The one rewarding thing about tonight though was the (Supplement) interview with Gena & Ben. Really great stuff. And thank you, Gena, for explaining what John was always going for whenever the camera-lens seemed too close to an actor's face in his films.
-------------------
15th
(1TV)16. #633-The Canterbury Tales__Pier Paolo Pasolini__1972
Possibly the most dumbest thing I've seen from Pasolini, but hardly a dull moment. Thanks to all the nudity.
-
(1TV)17. #614-Summer with Monika__Ingmar Bergman__1953
Whoa. I think that was the most un-Bergman-like movie I've ever seen. But in a great way! It felt much more like early Fellini or early Truffaut than I what I'm accustomed to seeing from Ingmar. And boy, did I like it. As far as this challenge goes, this just took the top spot away from Cría cuervos. Will I run into something better?
-------------------
16th
(1TV)18. (Eclipse) Street of Shame__Kenji Mizoguchi__1956
I was expecting this to be a slow, moody and highly dramatic piece. Instead it's a rather lively (Mostly) and light-hearted affair...At least untill the last 15 minutes.
-------------------
17th
(1TV)19. #406-A Dancer’s World__1957
The subject matter made this feel like it was much longer than 30 minutes. I did appreciate Martha Graham's seductive voice though!
+
(1TV)20 #679-Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival__Kenji Misumi__1970
I knew things would get back on track with this installment of my Ichi-fest. But I wasn't prepared for how much I would really like this one! Very refreshing to see such diverse characters for once. Such as the blind villain, a gay pimp(!), a cute heroine and a borderline-psychotic samurai-opponent. And since this was the start of the 70s (When things began to get risque and ultraviolent) this allowed a much-needed shot of adrenaline for the series.
-------------------
18th
(1TV)21. #406-Appalachian Spring__1959
-------------------
19th
(1TV)22. #622-Weekend__Andrew Haigh__2011
Good, but I was more moved by "Brokeback".
-
(1TV)23. #441-The Small Back Room__Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger__1949
I dunno. Maybe I'm going through marathon fatigue at the moment, but I just really couldn't get into this (Despite always having a near-perfect score with watching Powell/Pressburger films for these challenges) At least it was a joy to see the lovely Kathleen Byron again. I don't think I've seen a film with her since Black Narcisuss.
-
(1TV)24. #534-L’enfance nue__Maurice Pialat__1968
+
L’amour existe
"Maurice Pialat (Interview)"
Alriight! The french arthouse version of Problem Child! Despite the extremely abrupt ending, I still found this to be one of the more better films I've seen this challenge.
-------------------
20th
(1TV)25. #679-Zatoichi's Flashing Sword__Kazuo Ikehiro__1964
I'm still on a roll with these Ichi films. Another quite pleasing entry here. Loved the underwater fight!
-------------------
21st
(1TV)26. (Eclipse) Caesar and Cleopatra__Gabriel Pascal__1945
One of the more insulting costume dramas I've seen to deal with the subject. On the plus side, it was nice seeing Flora Robson enter this marathon (I've suddenly become a fan of hers during the last year or so)
-
(1TV)27. #371-Body and Soul__Oscar Micheaux__1925
While this was much more coherent than the last-viewed Paul Robeson film I saw, it was still tough trying to decipher what was often being said on the title-cards. Crap like: "Deeus hear fo' tryndah make fo' lawd is ya"(???) And I guess that cop-out ending explained why Robeson played two roles in this.
-------------------
22nd
(1TV)28. #612-Certified Copy__Abbas Kiarostami__2010
Very refreshing to finally run into a film, for this challenge, that takes place in one day....Even real-time, I think. Then again, it's from a director who's a master at this (Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry is also a BIG favorite of mine) I may not have loved this film as much as TOC, but this is still going in my best/favorites list by the time this marathon ends.
-
(1TV)29. #669-Charulata__Satyajit Ray__1964
Even though this dragged in the middle, this was still a major step-up from the last Ray film I saw, Music Room. Contains (Without question) the best ending I've seen in this challenge.
-------------------
23rd
(1TV)30. #195-I fidanzati__Ermanno Olmi__1962
Couldn't really get into this. To be fair, I watched this with a lot of distractions going on around me. At least I was able to like the opening montage.
-
(1TV)31. #618-Gray’s Anatomy__Steven Soderbergh__1997
Well, I'm glad I saw And Everything Is Going Fine (One of my favorites on last year's challenge) before I saw this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had much interest in checking that *Better* film out. Though it was nice to run into something that was completely different in this marathon, most of the movie was just plain annoying to me. I do admit that things began to pick up once we go to the "Sweat lodge".
-
(1TV)32. #350-Seduced and Abandoned__Pietro Germi__1964
+
Commedia all’italiana, Germi Style
Went on longer than it should have. Even though I wasn't a big fan of this, I still seemed to end up liking this more than Germi's Divorce Italian Style.
-------------------
24th
(1TV)33. #205-Veronika Voss__Rainer Werner Fassbinder__1982
+
Dance with Death (Tanz mit dem Tod)
By far, the most gorgeous-looking film I've ever seen from Fassbinder. But what really stole the show for me was the the Dance with Death documentary. I've always known about Sybille Schmitz since Vampyr, but I never knew what a (Tragic) superstar she was. BTW, since I've yet to complete the BRD trilogy with Lola, does a black U.S. soldier appear in that one too?
-------------------
25th
(1TV)34. #646-The Kid with a Bike__Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne__2011
Another piece of amazing work by the Dardennes. At the moment, I think this just might be my favorite film by them. What helped seal the deal was that, just when the story was looking predictable down the stretch, the "Twist" ending occured and allowed more of a beautifully ambiguous touch.
-
(1TV)35. #679-Samaritan Zatoichi__Kenji Misumi__1968
Aside from all the unecessary humorous moments (Which mostly involve a certain comic-relief character), this was one of the most solid Ichi sequels. Contains the best (Obligatory) climactic fight between Ichi and a samurai that I've seen all month.
-------------------
26th
(1TV)36. #361-The Beales of Grey Gardens__Albert Maysles and David Maysles__2006
+
"Introduction"
Granted, it's been a long time since I last saw the original Grey Gardens, but I actually seemed to like this "Sequel" more. I only wish I could've seen an extended piece on Albert's revisit with Jerry (Presented ever-so-briefly in the introduction) and it was quite freaky to hear the mention of Ethel Barrymore playing Big Edie in a movie....Whereas a Barrymore actually did play a Beale in the TV-Movie! (Drew ended up playing Little Edie!)
-------------------
27th
(1TV)37. #570-Zazie dans le métro__Louis Malle__1960
See discussion thread
-------------------
29th
(1TV)38. #372-Sanders of the River__Zoltán Korda__1935
The (Unintentionally) silliest movie I've seen all month, but I was still entertained by this. Thanks mostly to those highly out-of-place musical moments.
-
39. #679-Zatoichi and The Doomed Man__Kazuo Mori__1965
I remember running into this one back when IFC had "Samurai Saturdays", but I had missed the first half-hour. This installment probably had the least amount of action in all the Ichi movies I watched this month, but it had some great highlights. Such as the comic (And tender) bits with the Zatoichi imposter. And, most of all, Ichi's first experience with the ocean. Which is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest moments of the entire series.
-
(1TV)40. #439-Trafic__Jacques Tati__1971
+
Trailer
"Le journal de cinéma"
"Morceaux de bravoure"
In the Footsteps of Monsieur Hulot Pt. 1
See discussion thread
-------------------
30th
(1TV)41. #599-Vanya on 42nd Street__Louis Malle__1994
My last movie of the challenge. Sadly, I don't go out on a very high note here. This kinda felt like an Altman film but without that magic touch. On the plus side, I don't think I've ever seen Julianne Moore look so beautiful.

Bladz

* First Time Viewing

September 2
1. The Bicycle Thief (1948) * - 3.5/5

Travis McClain

Goals
Antichrist
Being John Malkovich
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The English Patient
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

My List also available on Criterion | Letterboxd

1. 9/01 Gomorrah
2. 9/02 The Killing
3. 9/03 The Friends of Eddie Coyle
4. 9/04 Copie conforme [Certified Copy]
5. 9/05 My Man Godfrey
6. 9/05 The Harder They Come
7. 9/06 Crumb
8. 9/07 In Which We Serve
9. 9/07 Rushmore
   9/08 Rushmore Audio commentary by Wes Anderson, co-writer Owen Wilson, and actor Jason Schwartzman
10. 9/11 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
11. 9/13 Koyaanisqatsi
12. 9/16 Being John Malkovich
13. 9/17 Une femme est une femme [A Woman Is a Woman]
14. 9/17 Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick [All the Boys Are Called Patrick] SF
15. 9/18 Hets [Torment]
16. 9/21 Les Diaboliques
17. 9/21 12 Angry Men
18. 9/24 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    9/25 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Audio commentary featuring Academy Award-nominated director David Fincher
19. 9/26 Do the Right Thing
20. 9/28 Two-Lane Blacktop
21. 9/28 Harlan County U.S.A.
22. 9/29 Mon oncle Antoine
23. 9/29 Der Fangschuß [Coup de grâce]
24. 9/29 Ivanovo detstvo [Ivan's Childhood]
25. 9/30 City Lights
26. 9/30 Secret Honor
27. 9/30 Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult [I Am Curious (Yellow)]

56/59 Checklist


Box Sets/Top 10 Lists Started


Looking Back

BobO'Link

Reserved...

popcorn

* = First time viewing

1. 12 Angry Men - The Criterion Collection (1957) - Spine #591 - Unwrapped it just for the challenge. Shared it with my 14 year old daughter who enjoyed it immensely. It goes to show you don't need elaborate sets and locations to make a great film. OWNED
2. * I Married a Witch (1942) HULU
   
   September 1
3. * Picnic At Hanging Rock - The Criterion Collection (1975) - Spine #29 - Recommended by my film professor/mentor, who is teaching a course on Australian film. It focuses mostly on Peter Weir, who he wrote a book about and met last year. When he found out I never saw this Weir classic, he started to show me pics he took at Hanging Rock and said I HAD TO watch it. LIBRARY
4. * The War Room - The Criterion Collection (1993) - Spine #602 LIBRARY
5. * Pina - The Criterion Collection (2011) - Spine #644 - A bit too abstract for me. LIBRARY
   
   September 2
6. * Tokyo Chorus - Eclipse Series 10: Silent Ozu—Three Family Comedies (1931) LIBRARY
7. * Slacker - The Criterion Collection (1991) - Spine #247 - I've been wanting to see this movie that inspired Kevin Smith to start making movies. LIBRARY
8. The Lady Vanishes - The Criterion Collection (1938) - Spine #4 LIBRARY
9. * The Man Who Knew Too Much - The Criterion Collection (1934) - Spine #643 LIBRARY
10. Do the Right Thing - The Criterion Collection (1989) - Spine #97 - Introduced my 16 year old son to this modern classic. More importantly, we discussed it afterwards. OWNED
11. * Foreign Correspondent (1940) HULU
    
    September 3
12. M - The Criterion Collection (1931) FILM CLASS
    
    September 4
13. * Revanche - The Criterion Collection (2008) - Spine #502 LIBRARY
    
    September 7
14. * Dazed and Confused - The Criterion Collection (2008) - Spine #336 LIBRARY
15. Lord of the Flies - The Criterion Collection (1963) - Spine #43 LIBRARY
16. * Badlands - The Criterion Collection (1973) - Spine #651 LIBRARY
17. * The Thin Red Line - The Criterion Collection (1998) - Spine #536 LIBRARY
    
    September 10
18. Annie Hall (1977) FILM CLASS
    
    September 11
19. * Charulata - The Criterion Collection (1964) - Spine #669 LIBRARY
    
    September 12
20. * Vivre sa vie - The Criterion Collection (1962) - Spine #512 LIBRARY
    
    September 13
21. * Ministry of Fear - The Criterion Collection (1944) - Spine #649 LIBRARY
    
    September 14
22. M - The Criterion Collection (1931) - Spine #591 Audio commentary LIBRARY
23. * Easy Rider - America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (1969) - Spine #545 LIBRARY
24. * Chungking Express - The Criterion Collection (1994) - Spine #453 LIBRARY
25. * Vanya on 42nd Street - The Criterion Collection (1994) - Spine #599 LIBRARY
    
    September 16
26. * La Jetée//Sans Soleil - The Criterion Collection - Spine #387 LIBRARY
    
    September 18
27. * Vampyr - The Criterion Collection (1932) - Spine #437 LIBRARY
28. * The Milky Way - The Criterion Collection (1969) - Spine #402 LIBRARY
    
    September 19
29. Hoop Dreams (1994) - Spine #289 HULU
    
    September 20
30. * The 400 Blows - The Criterion Collection - Spine #5 LIBRARY
    
    September 21
31. The Royal Tenenbaums - The Criterion Collection (2001) - Spine #157 OWNED
32. * Wild Strawberries - The Criterion Collection (1957) - Spine #139 LIBRARY
33. * Shadows (1959) HULU
    
    September 22
34. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - The Criterion Collection (2008) - Spine #476 - Unwrapped for Family Movie Night. Looks kind of soft but worth the $5 I paid for it. OWNED
    
    September 26
35. * Grey Gardens - The Criterion Collection (1976) - Spine #123 LIBRARY
    
    September 27
36. * Sanshiro Sugata - Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa (1943) LIBRARY
    
    September 28
37. * The Rules of the Game - The Criterion Collection (1939) - Spine #216 - I really enjoyed Renoir's intro to the film. It explained so much. LIBRARY
38. * High and Low - The Criterion Collection (1963) - Spine #24 LIBRARY
    
    September 30
39. * Tokyo Story - The Criterion Collection (1953) - Spine #217 LIBRARY

Optional Checklist

ororama

1. Murder à la Mod (1968) * 80 min.
2. Naughty Nurse (1969) * 9 min.
3. Forbidden Planet (1956) 98 min.
4. Wild 90 (1968) * 81 min.
5. Beyond the Law (1968) * 98 min.
6. Rupture (1961) * 11 min.
7. Happy Anniversary (1962) * 12 min.
8. The Suitor (1962) * 83 min.
9. Rock'y VI (1986) * 9 min.
10. Doodlebug (1997) * 3 min.
11. Shadows in Paradise (1986) 74 min.
12. The Philco Television Playhouse: Marty (1953) 51 min.
13. Medium Cool (1969) * 110 min.
14. Thru the Wire (1987) * 6 min.
15. L.A. Woman (1988) * 5 min.
16. Five-Minute Films: Probation (1975) * 5 min.
17. Five-Minute Films: The Birth of the Goalie of the 2001 F.A. Cup Final (1975) * 6 min.
18. Five-Minute Films: Old Chums (1975) * 6 min.
19. Five-Minute Films: A Light Snack (1975) * 5 min.
20. Five-Minute Films: Afternoon (1975) * 6 min.
21. Pressure (2006) * 4 min.
22. Open the Door (2007) * 5 min.
23. The Short & Curlies (1988) * 17 min.
24. Life Is Sweet (1990) * 103 min.
25. Hooker on Campus (2007) * 4 min.
26. The Fountain (2007) * 6 min.
27. Creative Nonfiction (2009) * 58 min.
28. Naked (1993) * 131 min.
29. Yoyo (1965) * 96 min.
30. Tiny Furniture (2010) * 99 min.
31. Small Deaths (1996) * 11 min.
32. Kill the Day (1996) * 19 min.
33. Gasman (1998) * 15 min.
34. Ratcatcher (1999) * 93 min.
35. A Sense of History (1992) * 26 min.
36. Blood Wedding (1981) * 71 min.
37. Medium Cool Revisited (2013) * 33 min.
38. M. le Maudit (1982) * 11 min.
39. Ariel (1988) 72 min.
40. Maidstone (1970) * 105 min.


*First time viewing.

Stats:

Undeadcow

September 2
1. Pina [Netflix Streaming] - people artistically dancing everywhere.

September 9
2. Bottle Rocket [Netflix Streaming] - people gloriously botching crime.

September 13
3. 12 Angry Room [Blu-Ray] - people arguing in a room.

September 20
4. Black Orpheus [Blu-Ray] - more people dancing to parade music

September 28
5. Dead Ringers [DVD] - I don't know what is going on anymore.

September 30
6. Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell [DVD]

RKillgore

1. Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953) - I thought it appropriate to start a Criterion challenge that begins on Labor Day weekend with M. Hulot's Holiday. A leisurely paced physical comedy that relies more on awkwardness than outrageousness. There's no real overall story; it's more like a collection of quirky vignettes.

2. M (1931)

3. Mon Oncle (1958)

4. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

tschneck

*First Time Viewing

August 31: Rashomon*-7/10
September 1: Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou*-7.5/10
September 2: Safety Last*-9.5/10
Salo*-7/10
September 3: The Killer*-9.5/10
September 4: Blow Out*_7/10
September 8: To Be Or Not To Be*-9/10

Checklist:

Cronenbergfan71

September 1st
1. I Am Waiting (1957)

September 2nd
2. Weekend (1967)

September 3rd
3. Ministry of Fear (1944)*

September 4th
4. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)*

September 5th
5. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)*

September 6th
6. Branded to Kill (1967)

September 7th
7. The Rules of the Game (1939)
8. Tokyo Drifter (1966)

September 8th
9. Gate of Hell (1953)*

September 9th
10. A Man Escaped (1956)*

September 10th
11. The Seventh Seal (1957)
a. Peter Cowie commentary
b. Ingmar Bergman introduction
c. Bergman Island
d. Audio interview with Max von Sydow
e. Tribute by Woody Allen
f. Bergman 101
g. Theatrical trailer

September 11th
12. Richard III (1955)*
a. Commentary with Russell Lees and John Wilders

September 12th
13. Pandora's Box (1929)

September 13th
14. Army of Shadows (1969)
a. Commentary with Ginette Vincendeau

September 14th
15. Day of Wrath (1943)*
16. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
a. Commentary with Bruce Eder

September 15th
17. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

September 16th
18. Seven Samurai (1954)

September 17th
19. Rashomon (1950)

September 18th
20. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)*

September 19th
21. Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)*

September 20th
22. Akira (1988)

September 21st
23. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)*
a. Video interviews with Pierre Billard and Candice Bergen
b. Joseph: A Character Study
c. The Immigrant
d. Audio excerpts from 1988 AFI interview with Louis Malle

September 22nd
24. The Third Man (1949)
a. Commentary with Dana Polan
b. Shadowing "The Third Man"
c. "Graham Greene: The Hunted Man"
d. Who Was the Third Man?

September 23rd
25. The Baron of Arizona (1950)*

September 24th
26. Safety Last (1923)*

September 25th
27. The Cranes Are Flying (1957)*
28. Ballad of a Soldier (1959)*

September 26th
29. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)*
30. The Lower Depths (1936)*

September 27th
31. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)*
32. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)*

September 28th
33. Crisis (1946)*
34. Black Lizard (1962)*

September 29th
35. Intimidation (1960)*

Trevor

Set

Edit to add: Shame on indiephantom for not taking the bait!

House - In a horror mood, but forgot how bizarre this was. It's like a Scooby-Doo episode on acid.

Bigger Than Life - Nice film, sappy ending though. Sadly, some parallels in my life right now.

Emotion

Cronos

Rosemary's Baby

The Living Skeleton

Dimension X

'09 list
'10 list
'11 list
'12 list



9/22/13

Osaka Elegy (1936)

9/30/13

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) - Spine #300
Carrie (1976)
Sisters (1973) - Spine #89