1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in November 2012
1) The Actress (1992 - Stanley Kwan) 2/10 - This one had a ton of potential and after rereading my review, maybe I was just too tired to appreciate it. I don't know though, the execution just wasn't there and I can't envision myself enjoying it even if I'd been well rested.
2) Salvador (1986 - Oliver Stone) 4.5/10 - Stone did absolutely nothing for me.
3) Fargo (1996 - Joel Coen) 10/10 - TOP 20 selection!
4) JFK (1991 - Oliver Stone) 6.5/10 - The best of the Oliver Stone picks, but still not that great. I went a little too gaga on it at first, but IT IS very interesting, so there's that.
5) Natural Born Killers (1994 - Oliver Stone) 5/10 - Again, a ton of potential gone down the toilet. Woody Harrelson was fantastic and this should have made him a much bigger star than he currently is. The opening 5-10 minutes was also pure gold. The rest...not so much.
6) Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988 - Marcel Ophuls) 3.5/10 - Rarely interesting and just too long.
7) Grave of the Fireflies (1988 - Isao Takahata) 7/10 - TOP 20 selection!
8) The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985 - Hsiao-hsien Hou) 3/10
9) A City of Sadness (1989 - Hsiao-hsien Hou) 4/10
10) Brazil (1985 - Terry Gilliam) 8/10 - TOP 20 selection!
11) Come and See (1985 - Elem Klimov) 5.5/10 - I'd really like to watch this one again someday, because I really feel I short changed it.
12) The Puppetmaster (1993 - Hsiao-hsien Hou) 2/10 - All of these Hou films were just the absolute opposite of what I look for in movies and didn't appeal to me in the least.
13) Diner (1982 - Barry Levinson) 5.5/10 - My initial '6.5' was a little too high. Nothing extremely special about "Diner" and it's inclusion is a mystery, because this is, by no means, a MUST SEE.
14) The Natural (1984 - Barry Levinson) 6/10 - Perhaps...PERHAPS the biggest disappointment of 2012, as I really had high hopes for the baseball movie with Robert Redford and it just didn't deliver.
15) Good Morning, Vietnam (1987 - Barry Levinson) 3/10
16) Rain Man (1988 - Barry Levinson) 9/10 - TOP 20 selection!
17) The Last Battle (1983 - Luc Besson) 7.5/10 - TOP 20 selection!
18) It's a Wonderful Life (1946 - Frank Capra) 7/10 - TOP 20 selection!
19) Ceddo (1977 - Ousmane Sembene) 1/10 - Blah!
20) Paris, Texas (1984 - Wim Wenders) 8/10 - TOP 20 selection!
21) Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985 - Paul Schrader) 5.5/10 - A BEAUTIFUL film, but one that I just couldn't get into. "Kyoko's House" is still easily the best segment of the movie.
22) Tootsie (1982 - Sydney Pollack) 6.5/10 - Just a hair away from being a '7' and nearly took a "Ten Worth Mentioning" spot.
23) Glory (1989 - Edward Zwick) 7/10 - Went WAAY overboard on this one initially. Still, it came just as close as "Tootsie" to nabbing a "Ten Worth Mentioning" spot...good stuff here, with Broderick showing he's more than just Ferris.
24) Out of Africe (1985 - Sydney Pollack) 2/10 - Again, I say "BLAH!"
25) The Unbelievable Truth (1989 - Hal Hartley) 6/10 - Very mediocre film. Sometimes funny, sometimes interesting, somewhat interesting characters...nothing extremely special about it though.
26) Deewaar (1975 - Yash Chopra) 7/10 - Another one that was seriously contemplated for a "Ten Worth Mentioning" spot, but just came up a little short. Very good Bollywood film and it'd work really well as an introduction to the genre.
27) The Man in Grey (1943 - Leslie Arliss) 3.5/10 - Nothing film here, but that Margaret Lockwood...she was great!
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in December 2012
1) Gallipoli (1981 - Peter Weir) 6/10 - Started and ended great, but unfortunately for "Gallipoli", movies have a middle.
2) Sunless (1983 - Chris Marker) 1/10 - Didn't get it and thus we start the finale of the last 100 and perhaps the worst string of film I've watched for THE BOOK, thus far.
3) Heaven and Earth Magic (1962 - Harry Smith) 1/10
4) The Mad Masters (1955 - Jean Rouch) 2/10
5) The Battle of San Pietro (1945 - John Huston) 1/10
6) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986 - John Hughes) 7/10 - Another one that was seriously considered for one of those "Ten Worth Mentioning" spots, but came up a little short.
2012: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
A HABITUAL LIST MAKER REEXAMINES HIS YEAR IN MOVIES...WITH THE USE OF LISTS
**All lists are in no particular order**
TOP 10 Discoveries of 2012:
1. Contempt (1963)
2. The Lives of Others (2006)
3. 3-Iron (2004)
4. Mildred Pierce (1945)
5. Head-On (2004)
6. The Stranger (1946)
7. Amores perros (2000)
8. Barry Lydon (1975)
9. Dear Diary (1994)
10. The Vanishing (1988)
TOP 10 Re-Discoveries of 2012:
1. Sleuth (1972)
2. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
3. Memento (2000)
4. The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)
5. Se7en (1995)
6. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
7. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
8. Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
9. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
10. Rain Man (1988)
TOP 10 Disappointments of 2012:
1. Down by Law (1986)
2. Persona (1966)
3. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
4. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
5. The Killers (1946)
6. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
7. The Third Man (1949)
8. Touch of Evil (1958)
9. Seconds (1966)
10. The Natural (1984)
Top 5 Actors That Grabbed My Attention in 2012:
1. Michael Caine
2. Robert Mitchum
3. Michael Palin
4. Gunnar Bjornstrand
5. Tommy Lee Jones
Top 5 Actresses That Grabbed My Attention in 2012:
1. Ava Gardner
2. Julianne Moore
3. Jane Russell
4. Margaret Lockwood
5. Isabelle Huppert
Top 5 Directors That Grabbed My Attention in 2012:
1. Stanley Kubrick
2. Nanni Moretti
3. Wes Anderson
4. John Frankenheimer
5. Darren Aronofsky
Well that about does 'er. If I had to guesstimate, I'd say February is when you'll see me back here working my way through the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book. Until then (or whenever I get back here) be well and hopefully you have enough reading material to keep you busy here at the "1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die" blog.
January 4, 2013 11:34am
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