MC's Criterion Challenge 2021 (by way of Letterboxd)

[Ezee E]

What happened to week 12 and 13?

I'm joining in for the 1960s, and will look around to see if I can catch up with a mishmash of other movies.

[Ezee E]

Three Outlaw Samurai is my 60's submission.

It's certainly entertaining, and pretty high on the violence (and Dutch tilts).

What makes this standout is that at first it starts out as being pretty cookie cutter, but the stereotypes eventually show that they aren't simply black-white caricatures but have a much more of a grey moral system. Plenty of betrayal, and the villains aren't only the kidnappers, but the government system that makes them desperate enough to kidnap someone. Good stuff.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I went with Day of Wrath for week 12. Slow camera and character movements provide much-needed room for processing this movie's abundance of thematic riches. It works exceptionally well from any temporal perspective: it's a finely detailed 17th-century period piece, produced during the Nazi occupation of Denmark (Jonathan Rosenbaum called it "one of the great Resistance films"), that used theocratic witch hunt fever as a metaphor for the oppression of women even before Arthur Miller turned his sights on McCarthyism with The Crucible. It doesn't elicit the overwhelming emotional response of Ordet, nor does it reach the level of The Passion of Joan of Arc in being a medium-defining landmark, but Day of Wrath shows a different side of Carl Theodor Dreyer -- underneath the veneer of cinematic control is a man burning with righteous anger. I've already seen a lot of great movies as part of this challenge, and this may be the best one yet. Four stars.

[Mal]

12. The Heiress (1949) - Its romantic and tragic, with the biggest asshole of a father ever for this young woman "spinster" Catherine who can't seem to get out of her shell to find a husband. Enter Montgomery Clift, dashing and accommodating, but ultimately out for himself. Olivia de Havilland is touching, memorable as she navigates this stressful scenario with two men in her life causing her to suffer pain and frustration. Clift opposite de Havilland is charming as her intended love. The sets and costuming are lovely, with emphasis on interior settings since the boxing-in of shy Catherine is a prominent part of the story. 8/10

[megladon8]

Yess!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

The biggest talking point for me (and what I ask everyone I recommend it to after they have seen it)...

By the final scene, do you think Clift had truly fallen in love with her? Or was he still just after her fortune?

We watched Leave Her to Heaven last night. Thoughts incoming.

[megladon8]

Leave Her to Heaven

"Ellen always wins". A line spoken by Ellen's uncle as she wins a swimming race against children. Both the line and the scene tell so much about what may be one of the most abhorrent characters I've seen in film for some time.

Gene Tierney's Ellen is strikingly, stunningly beautiful. Intelligent, well spoken, sexy. Cornell Wilde understandably falls for her immediately, her strange obsession with him adding to the allure of their relationship.

However Ellen's motives are narcissistic, and she ends up being what could be used in a textbook to show sociopathic behavior.

Leave Her to Heaven is stunningly beautiful. Gorgeous outdoor vistas, rich and colorful indoor sets, and evocative costume designs. The way Ellen's wardrobe changes and reflects her moods and emotions (or lack thereof) adds a visual layer that takes great advantage of its relatively primitive (but incredible) colour photography.

I don't want to give too much away because there are several twists and turns that new viewers will want to experience for themselves.

I adored this movie. I think it may be my favorite viewing of the year so far.

Haunting, shocking stuff.

[megladon8]

Watched The Scarlet Empress last night. Will post thoughts later in the day.

[Mal]

By the final scene, do you think Clift had truly fallen in love with her? Or was he still just after her fortune?

Not really, when they first got together, it felt like they were in love with the idea of each other. I never felt like he was genuinely into her, though did care for her.

[megladon8]

The Scarlet Empress

My first experience with von Sternberg may not be a 10/10 masterpiece, but still has me clamoring for more.

First off...holy wow is this movie visually loaded. Nearly garish at times. Even the smallest scale scenes have costumes, sets and props that explode off the screen. Enormous, decorated dresses, detailed murals and wood and stone work, gargoyles and religious statues in every nook and cranny. This film must have been a costume / set designer's wet dream (or maybe ultimate nightmare).

The storytelling doesn't have near as much attention paid to it, unfortunately. Much of the most interesting action takes place via text blurbs transitioning between scenes. The most glaring one is the change in Dietrich's character - her transformation from soft spoken girl to powerful, commanding woman feels like it should have been the crux of the entire film, but is instead mentioned in one of the aforementioned text blurbs, making her switch feel instantaneous.

Strange and tonally inconsistent performances abound, but their eccentricities make them addictively watchable.

As pure entertainment I found it fantastic. The film flew by, consistently visually delightful and filled with memorable and well acted characters.

I just wish the story had been told a little differently.

[Ezee E]

WEEK 51: (Watch a movie from the Bruce Lee set) - I'll add more, as I intend to see them all over the Spring.

The Big Boss:

Amusing, simple story that's elevated by Bruce Lee.

The fight blocking actually shows fighting which seems to be a struggle in modern action movies.

Neat to see how charismatic Bruce Lee is right out of the gate in his first movie. "Commands the screen" gets thrown around too often for actors, but it applies for Bruce Lee.

The Hennessey scene is especially hilarious and kind of comes from nowhere.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Choosing between The Cranes are Flying, Kiss Me Deadly, and Elevator to the Gallows for week 13... I'm leaning Elevator to the Gallows.

[baby doll]

Choosing between The Cranes are Flying, Kiss Me Deadly, and Elevator to the Gallows for week 13... I'm leaning Elevator to the Gallows.Lean elsewhere.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Despite BD's warning, I went with Elevator to the Gallows for week 13. If an original Miles Davis score set to cool French visuals entices you like it did me, you won't be disappointed. But don't expect it to play with cinematic form like some of Louis Malle's nouvelle vague contemporaries -- really this is just some solid film noir, in which the lovers' extremely-typical slow-creep toward doom is as smooth as a steady stream of cigarette smoke. Three stars. Not bad by any means, but I would probably encourage others to lean elsewhere as well.

[Mal]

13. ...And God Created Woman (1956) - There's no story here. Its just Vadim making love to Bardot with the camera. Nice to look at but who cares!
4/10

[megladon8]

Looks like we have all been watching some good stuff lately!

E - have you never seen any Bruce Lee stuff? Surely you've seen Enter the Dragon, no?

[Skitch]

Chinese Connection is also awesome.

[megladon8]

Chinese Connection is also awesome.

Yes it is!

Man, I wish he had gotten to do more. Freaking incredible.

[Skitch]

Yes it is!

Man, I wish he had gotten to do more. Freaking incredible.

Its such a shame. Same with Brandon. His martial arts in Rapid Fire are INCREDIBLE.

[Ezee E]

Looks like we have all been watching some good stuff lately!

E - have you never seen any Bruce Lee stuff? Surely you've seen Enter the Dragon, no?

Yeah, I've seen that, Chinese Connection, and Game of Death all before, but it's probably been over ten years. Definitely due for a rewatch.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Turns out I have an absurd amount of 60s Criterion movies on my watchlist, many of them Japanese.

Le Trou
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
The Big City
The Color of Pomegranates
The Face of Another
Theorem
Kuroneko
Jigoku
Ivan’s Childhood
Double Suicide

I'm leaning either Le Trou because it's been on my watchlist the longest, or Ivan's Childhood because I crave Tarkovsky. But I may end up doubling up this week -- so much I want to see.

[megladon8]

Oh I'd love to hear your thoughts on Kuroneko!

Have you seen Onibaba?

[Idioteque Stalker]

Oh I'd love to hear your thoughts on Kuroneko!

Have you seen Onibaba?

Yeah, watched it last year and loved it. Immediately decided Kuroneko would be next. I may lean away from Le Trou and toward that because Le Trou seems a bit similar to last week's movie, Elevator to the Gallows. But if I'm going to watch something Japanese, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is really calling out to me... Gah! Decisions!

[baby doll]

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and Teorema are both spicy.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I went with When a Woman Ascends the Stairs for week 14, and there it is y'all. The movie I've been waiting for. Not sure I'll ever be able to write much on this one -- I have so many thoughts and feelings swirling around -- but it's a dad-burned masterpiece. My heart just grew several orders of magnitude and simultaneously broke. Five stars.

[Mal]

14. The Color of Pomegranates (1969) - A film I've actually had a guy on a date tell me he wanted to watch with me. We didn't end up watching it together, so with that in mind and this recently inspiring a Lady Gaga video, I dove in. Visually stunning, captivating in every moment. I don't really know exactly what was going on, but did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Shocked I didn't get assigned this at any point in film school. Definitely recommend it! 8/10

[Idioteque Stalker]

14. The Color of Pomegranates (1969) - A film I've actually had a guy on a date tell me he wanted to watch with me.

That's one way to take your relationship to the next level.

[Idioteque Stalker]

The Criterion Challenge 2021 — BUT IN ONE WEEK (https://letterboxd.com/jakealdacoffey/list/the-criterion-challenge-2021-but-in-one-week/)

Is this even mathematically possible?

[Mal]

That's one way to take your relationship to the next level.

That first date was good, but the second date he was very desperate and I was severely turned off. Mess!

[megladon8]

Both of your 60s picks have me super intrigued.

I've always been aware of both of then peripherally, but know absolutely nothing about them.

Going to suggest both of them to Jen for when we get there.

Apologies for falling behind. The new lockdown here has had work consuming my life so Jen and I have been watching a lot of series' and comfort food stuff.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Deciding between Roma, Lady Snowblood, A Poem is a Naked Person, Manila in the Claws of Light, and Harlan County USA for week 15. I'm leaning Roma...

[megladon8]

Deciding between Roma, Lady Snowblood, A Poem is a Naked Person, Manila in the Claws of Light, and Harlan County USA for week 15. I'm leaning Roma...

If you choose something other than Lady Snowblood I'm banning you from the thread.

[Skitch]

If you choose something other than Lady Snowblood I'm banning you from the thread.

Motion seconded

[Idioteque Stalker]

You leave me no other choice...

[megladon8]

You leave me no other choice...

Followed up by tomorrow you posting about Roma.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'll be honest, I'm not eagerly anticipating Roma but through some Netflix DVD mishaps the blu-ray ended up on my shelf.

[quido8_5]

I'll be honest, I'm not eagerly anticipating Roma but through some Netflix DVD mishaps the blu-ray ended up on my shelf.

You should totally anticipate Roma, it's kind of bonkers and a lot of fun. I mean, it is Felling playing fast and loose with the form, plus it looks fantastic. It'd be a solid ****/***** for me.

[megladon8]

You should totally anticipate Roma, it's kind of bonkers and a lot of fun. I mean, it is Felling playing fast and loose with the form, plus it looks fantastic. It'd be a solid ****/***** for me.

Love your avatar, BTW.

[baby doll]

Deciding between Roma, Lady Snowblood, A Poem is a Naked Person, Manila in the Claws of Light, and Harlan County USA for week 15. I'm leaning Roma...Which Roma, the good one or the Cuarón?

[quido8_5]

Which Roma, the good one or the Cuarón?

Bwahaha. I like the Cuarón, but this is well put.


Love your avatar, BTW.

Thanks! I actually watched Videodrome because of the Criterion Challenge. I'm hoping to catch up in May.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Which Roma, the good one or the Cuarón?

Oh snap!

The good one.

[megladon8]

Bwahaha. I like the Cuarón, but this is well put.



Thanks! I actually watched Videodrome because of the Criterion Challenge. I'm hoping to catch up in May.

Was it your first time seeing it? Have you watched a lot of Cronenberg?

[megladon8]

So how was Lady Snowblood, IS?

[quido8_5]

Was it your first time seeing it? Have you watched a lot of Cronenberg?

It was my first time seeing it. I like the Cronenberg that I've watched, but I haven't seen too many:

Dead Ringers *****/*****
Eastern Promises ****.5
A History of Violence ****
Videodrome ***.5
A Dangerous Mind **

(I watched Existenz and Crash about two decades ago, so can't stand behind a rating)

Given that I've liked what I've seen, any recommendation on others?

[Idioteque Stalker]

So how was Lady Snowblood, IS?

Very enjoyable. I guess the worst part of Kill Bill is now I can never see Lady Snowblood without comparing/contrasting.

Begins and ends with all the glorious blood-splattered melodrama you could hope for, but a long flashback, an uneventful “Chapter Two,” yet another flashback, and then the shockingly late introduction of a weak-but-key character all conspire to bog down the middle of the film, making us wait impatiently for “the good parts.” Still, even the slower bits benefit from quirky editing choices (freeze frames, intercutting, short snippets of animation), Fujita’s mobile camera (dude loves his quick-zoom close-ups), and a supremely plushy soundtrack befitting the times. (Theme song “Flower of Carnage,” sung by Meiko Kaji herself, is wonderful -- I instantly recognized it from O-Ren Ishii’s death scene in Kill Bill, a very cheeky move. Speaking of Tarantino, his smartest decision with his homage was to hire Yuen Woo-ping, differentiating himself through fight choreography if nothing else.)

Favorite parts: intro/ending credits doused in red, the hanging bifurcation, and when the guy says, “You’ve got the wrong guy! I’m an elementary school teacher!” Then is stabbed multiple times and while dying from massive blood loss exclaims, “This is an outrage!” Three stars.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Dead Ringers *****/*****

MY MAN

[Mal]

15. Thomasine and Bushrod (1974) - Blaxploitation era western- part romance, part road/robbery picture, all while providing relevant criticism of white supremacy. Really dug it. 7/10

[Pop Trash]

It was my first time seeing it. I like the Cronenberg that I've watched, but I haven't seen too many:

Dead Ringers *****/*****
Eastern Promises ****.5
A History of Violence ****
Videodrome ***.5
A Dangerous Mind **

(I watched Existenz and Crash about two decades ago, so can't stand behind a rating)

Given that I've liked what I've seen, any recommendation on others?

I think Crash is actually a lot better than its initial critical response when it was first released (which was very polarizing). One of those '90s films like Fire Walk with Me that I've done a 180 on after watching it again years after I first saw them.

I'd definitely watch THE FLY. Scanners is interesting, although I'd hesitate to call it a great film. Very early '80s aesthetics and kinda proto cyberpunk. I've heard good things about The Brood.

[Mal]

16. Five Corners (1987) - Ew. A 60s nostalgia trip that feels icky and overwrought. Tim Robbins was definitely wasted- even poor Jodie Foster doesn’t have a lot to do other than compromise for her well-being and surround herself with shitty men. John Turturro throws his mother out a window. Executive Produced by George Harrison. Cinema. 3.5/10

[Skitch]

I think Crash is actually a lot better than its initial critical response when it was first released (which was very polarizing). One of those '90s films like Fire Walk with Me that I've done a 180 on after watching it again years after I first saw them.

I'd definitely watch THE FLY. Scanners is interesting, although I'd hesitate to call it a great film. Very early '80s aesthetics and kinda proto cyberpunk. I've heard good things about The Brood.

Scanners, Crash, The Brood...I wouldn't call any of them great films, but I have a soft spot for what I call experimental cinema. In that, I tend to like a movie that tries something different or insane even if its not that great. I would say all three of those accomplish that.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I think Crash is actually a lot better than its initial critical response when it was first released (which was very polarizing). One of those '90s films like Fire Walk with Me that I've done a 180 on after watching it again years after I first saw them.

I guess that gives me hope then, because I really disliked both of those the one time I saw them.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Deciding between True Stories, Streetwise, or breaking in my new WKW box set with As Tears Go By for week 16. I'm leaning True Stories...

[megladon8]

It was my first time seeing it. I like the Cronenberg that I've watched, but I haven't seen too many:

Dead Ringers *****/*****
Eastern Promises ****.5
A History of Violence ****
Videodrome ***.5
A Dangerous Mind **

(I watched Existenz and Crash about two decades ago, so can't stand behind a rating)

Given that I've liked what I've seen, any recommendation on others?

Given your ratings and what you've seen, I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of his early "venereal horror" stuff. Namely Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood!

[Peng]

my new WKW box set with As Tears Go By

I've heard so much about this new transfer (and some outright changes) from this box set that, if you are able to find them, I would recommend you watch the original version first if you're watching any film from the box set for the first time.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I've heard so much about this new transfer (and some outright changes) from this box set that, if you are able to find them, I would recommend you watch the original version first if you're watching any film from the box set for the first time.

Aside from As Tears Go By, I've seen all of them at least once. Coincidentally, As Tears Go By is the hardest to find, so when it comes down to it I don't have much of a choice.

[Idioteque Stalker]

his early "venereal horror" stuff

I think I'm good.

[megladon8]

I've heard so much about this new transfer (and some outright changes) from this box set that, if you are able to find them, I would recommend you watch the original version first if you're watching any film from the box set for the first time.

That's disappointing to hear...Criterion botched them?

That's not like them at all.

[Idioteque Stalker]

That's disappointing to hear...Criterion botched them?

That's not like them at all.

Peng may have a different viewpoint, but I wouldn't say at all that Criterion botched them. From the accounts I've read the remasters are gorgeous and WKW-approved -- but in some instances can differ to varying degrees from the original releases (aspect ratio, coloring, even editing).

[Peng]

That's disappointing to hear...Criterion botched them?

That's not like them at all.

It's changes from WKW himself. Some of them here (each one is a thread, with the second having Director's Note from WKW himself about the changes down the thread):

1307404772966912005

1333805557040386050

I am eh on the film itself, but changing the iconic green of Fallen Angels is still puzzling:

1333914815916552200

[Peng]

As for a few of the changes in his films I actually love that I've heard about:

Chungking Express - Adding gunshot sounds to its title card; Putting 'Dreams' over the famous coffee shot. (the latter one hurts my soul just reading about it)
In the Mood for Love - Title card no longer in silence, although I don't remember what plays over it now.

[megladon8]

Does Criterion not have a "pre-restoration" or "original" option for any of the films in the set?

This seems very surprising for them.

Darn maybe now I won't pick it up. There are a few films in the set I've never seen and was looking forward to first time viewings with the purchase.

[quido8_5]

Given your ratings and what you've seen, I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of his early "venereal horror" stuff. Namely Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood!

See, this is a real gap in my viewing, but it's difficult to know where to start exploring venereal horror. I've wanted to see The Brood for a while. Let the wild rumpus begin!

[megladon8]

See, this is a real gap in my viewing, but it's difficult to know where to start exploring venereal horror. I've wanted to see The Brood for a while. Let the wild rumpus begin!

It's a good starting place, I'd say, because it maintains the bonkers weirdness of his earlier stuff, while also feeling a bit tighter and smoother around the edges.

I love Shivers and Rabid to death, but they are very rough. Very indie, acting isn't great, some clear guerilla filmmaking going on. Much more B grade than what he started to produce with The Brood and going forward.

And obviously you must see Scanners. The Criterion BluRay is gorgeous.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I went with True Stories for week 16. What an odd little movie. Colorful, humorous, and well-mannered (even in its quirkier moments -- think Wes Anderson), with plenty of good music throughout but very little glue holding everything together. A satirical church sermon becomes a satirical fashion show becomes a satirical television program, with David Byrne introducing it all as if he's making a documentary for alien visitors. I had a smile on my face the entire time -- in the end what's not to like? There's no compelling central narrative (despite John Goodman's valiant effort), so not a lot to love either. Three stars.

[megladon8]

So, we are quite far behind, but I am still loving this thread and challenge and thank everyone for continuing to be engaged :)

Last night we watched In the Mood for Love for week 8 (Romance).

And...wow...

This was Jen's first viewing, and while it was technically my second, the first time I saw it was when it first came out 21 years ago (ouch...). I remembered absolutely nothing except for loving it, so it was like watching it again for the first time.

I'm sure there's nothing I can say about this that hasn't been said a million times over, because it is so well regarded and rightfully so.

But man oh man. One of the greatest on screen romances ever. Visually luscious, it's another where I want to watch it on a computer and just have my finger on the screen cap key the whole time. So many shots became iconic immediately when it was released (I still remember so many from RT days).

Leung and Cheung have chemistry that cuts the soul. The motif of their hands and fingers playing this will-they-won't-they dance, the tension between them each time they pas each other on the stairs. I can't imagine watching this film and not swooning. It is so sexy, romantic, lush.

I feel like WKW doesn't get enough recognition for what he does with the camera itself. Every shot is interesting. There is always a unique and beautiful way used to frame the scene, whether it be use of mirrors, walls, peripheral characters.

We both loved it more than we could put into words, and fully intend to rewatch it soon.

This could end up sneaking its way into my all time favorites list.

Just wonderful.

[quido8_5]

I feel like WKW doesn't get enough recognition for what he does with the camera itself. Every shot is interesting. There is always a unique and beautiful way used to frame the scene, whether it be use of mirrors, walls, peripheral characters.



I am so glad to hear this held up! I haven't seen it in about a decade, but if I were to make a favorite 50 films list or something I'd definitely have to revisit. One thing that I love about WKW is his vision for compelling frames. So often (especially his pre-00s output) there was a sense of cinematic possibility and beauty about his work that is, simply put, inspiring.

[Ezee E]

Bruce Lee - Part 2
I watched Fist of Fury and was pretty underwhelmed, outside of the fights at the end, and the damn carriage toss.

I will say, and I haven't seen Mortal Kombat, but is there a current action fighter star that actually does fights? The last I can think of is Tony Jaa. I could easily be out of the loop on this, but genuinely curious. Would be odd to think of how martial art movies (again, maybe Mortal Kombat, but there's a strong lack of them) don't exist because there aren't many actor-fighters out there that do the choreography. Or maybe directors that don't know how to shoot fighting. Or both?

I smoked a joint earlier, alright?

[Skitch]

Scott Adkins.

[megladon8]

Scott Adkins.

Someone once told me he looks more like Ben Affleck's brother than Casey does, and now it's all I can see.

[Skitch]

He does a youtube show where he interviews other martial artists/actors, and its really good (if youre into that stuff). Scott is a terrifying martial artist. I love it when hes a good guy, I don't like it as much when he plays bad. Thats a ridiculous opinion, but its my feels, man.

[megladon8]

Last night we watched Fiend Without a Face for week 13.

It was a great time, and definitely ranks among the best of the 50s sci fi horror creature features I've seen.

A decent little political commentary, to boot. With American military moving in to a foreign country (in this case the far away land of Canada) and doing whatever the hell they want despite the protests of both the foreign government and citizens. Not listening to absolutely everyone and everything telling them that what they're doing is wrong and is responsible for the mysterious deaths occurring around the base and neighboring town.

Even more hilarious is their portrayal of Canadians and the way the Americans talk about them. So many lines about "these are a simple and superstitious people!". Showing them living like 1700s dirt farmers. Great, hilarious stuff.

The creature effects are awesome. Stop motion, primitive animatronics, camera trickery. Does it look clunky? Yes. But I love it. And I will still take this stuff over undercooked modern day CGI ANY day.

Was so happy to find this on The Criterion Channel. It's one I've wanted to see for many years, but didn't want to spring spring $60+ to blind buy it.

[Ezee E]

"Week 1" - 1984 Criterion Inception release
Under the Volcano

Unique, interesting movie that had to be therapeutic for John Huston in his penultimate movie.

There's A LOT of meandering in the first half, but once the cast gets settled in, it stays pretty interesting from thereon. Finney steps up for a tough role in having to play drunk for the entirety of the movie, and Bisit is also good as someone hoping to cure him.

Tough to watch these kind of movies that center around an alcoholic that is beyond recovery, but the unique setting (Day of the Dead, just prior to World War II, in Mexico) makes it worth the watch.

VERY odd last scene though....

[quido8_5]

"Week 1" - 1984 Criterion Inception release
Under the Volcano

Unique, interesting movie that had to be therapeutic for John Huston in his penultimate movie.

There's A LOT of meandering in the first half, but once the cast gets settled in, it stays pretty interesting from thereon. Finney steps up for a tough role in having to play drunk for the entirety of the movie, and Bisit is also good as someone hoping to cure him.

Tough to watch these kind of movies that center around an alcoholic that is beyond recovery, but the unique setting (Day of the Dead, just prior to World War II, in Mexico) makes it worth the watch.

VERY odd last scene though....

Appreciate your thoughts on this. It is a very difficult film to watch and would probably be unbearable without Finney's bulletproof performance. I definitely agree about the setting. Houston captures the chaotic and disorienting world of a man just conscious enough to realize that he's dying... on the day of the dead. The book is excellent, but possibly harder to get through. The author manages to put you even more into Firmin's distorted head, as well as flesh out some of the characters who are fairly one-dimensional in the film if I remember correctly.

[Ezee E]

Appreciate your thoughts on this. It is a very difficult film to watch and would probably be unbearable without Finney's bulletproof performance. I definitely agree about the setting. Houston captures the chaotic and disorienting world of a man just conscious enough to realize that he's dying... on the day of the dead. The book is excellent, but possibly harder to get through. The author manages to put you even more into Firmin's distorted head, as well as flesh out some of the characters who are fairly one-dimensional in the film if I remember correctly.

Yeah, outside of the main three, the characters are all pretty much cardboard cutouts, fit to serve the primary cast. The casting of the pimp is certainly unique though!

[megladon8]

We very nearly watched that one for week 1. It was a toss up between that and The Hit.

So we watched Blood Simple.

[Yxklyx]

As for a few of the changes in his films I actually love that I've heard about:

Chungking Express - Adding gunshot sounds to its title card; Putting 'Dreams' over the famous coffee shot. (the latter one hurts my soul just reading about it)
....

Surprised to see this mentioned as I'm about to leave on a trip and wanted to see this tonight but I only have it on a crappy DVD (which I just pulled out today) but Prime doesn't have it anywhere.

So where can I see this in a higher resolution? Criterion?

[Ezee E]

Week 24 for me: Any film on the Criterion Channel
The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima) - 1966

Review to come... Looks like this isn't in the Collection itself but is on the streaming service.

THe Morricone score is, to no surprise, awesome.

More to add soon.

[Ezee E]

I'm certainly no expert on Spaghetti Westerns, but this may just be the best non-Leone one that I've seen.

Many different layers of bad guys, and really little to no good guys. Just the way I like these movies.

A legit top tier Morricone score, excellent cinematography that could be mistaken for Leone, and some memorable antagonists, specifically the quick draw monocle guy.

[Mal]

17. The Reflecting Skin (1990) - Damn, this was a bit of a disappointment. It looks great, is cast well, and the score is very nice. But the story just doesn't work for me. Too typical in its storytelling of vampiric-assumptions and childhood trauma. 4/10

[megladon8]

Mal is that one a Criterion or just on the channel?

I can't find it in the collection.

[Irish]

I'm certainly no expert on Spaghetti Westerns, but this may just be the best non-Leone one that I've seen.

Many different layers of bad guys, and really little to no good guys. Just the way I like these movies.

A legit top tier Morricone score, excellent cinematography that could be mistaken for Leone, and some memorable antagonists, specifically the quick draw monocle guy.

+1

Pleasantly surprised by this one, and I liked it for similar reasons.

Tomas Milian and Lee Van Cleef played off one another really well, and the film has some incredible strange and memorable moments.



17. The Reflecting Skin (1990) - Damn, this was a bit of a disappointment. It looks great, is cast well, and the score is very nice. But the story just doesn't work for me. Too typical in its storytelling of vampiric-assumptions and childhood trauma. 4/10

+1

Disappointed by this one, and I disliked it for similar reasons.

Helluva setting and mood but the story ... kinda sucks? I remember it gets lost somewhere 2/3 of the way through. I almost want to see it again to jog my memory.

[Mal]

Mal is that one a Criterion or just on the channel?

I can't find it in the collection.

Channel

[megladon8]

Breaking the rules, cause you do what you want.

[Mal]

Hahaha I’ve been “breaking the rules” for weeks

[Ezee E]

she's just doing week 24.

[Mal]

Other people on letterboxd in the tag are doing the same thing. But if it makes you feel better, I did watch King of the Hill for the first time two weeks ago.

[megladon8]

Ha, I'm not bothered by it at all.

I was just being a dingus.

[Ezee E]

"Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard"

Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) -

This might be the first Godard that I'm in the middle on. I'll usually love or hate his bag of tricks, but in here it manages to hit both.

Godard is certainly at his best when he's using Anna Karina with something to do. Karina seems to be exactly in queue with what Godard has in mind, even in this movie's weaker scenes. She's great.

Unfortunately, this movie feels LONG at it's short 82 minute runtime. There's long stretches of just boring conversation going on (sometimes with the backs of heads being front and center). For every record store, poolhall, and uncomfortable prostitution scene, there's a coffee or cigarettes conversation.

The final scene seems to be the best example of this. A creative use of being a silent movie (callback to one of the better scenes of the movie) and a guy reading Edgar Allen Poe, and then does something with its main character.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) -

This might be the first Godard that I'm in the middle on. I'll usually love or hate his bag of tricks, but in here it manages to hit both.

I watched it for week 3 as well, a rewatch, and it really jumped up for me seeing it again. Fell in love with Karina like never before.

And the soundtrack:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwG-Z1-kCt8

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'm going to keep my list in this post:

Week 1 - 1984 - Love Streams*** - watched January 8
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Kagemusha*** - watched January 15
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - Pierrot le fou** - watched January 23
Week 4 - Horror - The Devil's Backbone*** - watched January 31
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - Three Cases of Murder** - watched February 3
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Spirit of the Beehive*** - watched February 13
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - The Earrings of Madame de...**** - watched February 20
Week 8 - Romance - The Age of Innocence*** - watched February 28
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage**** - watched March 6
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome** - watched March 10
Week 11 - 1930s - La Bête humaine*** - watched March 15
Week 12 - 1940s - Le Corbeau**** - watched March 23
Week 13 - 1950s - Le Plaisir*** - watched April 1
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs*** - watched April 12
Week 15 - 1970s - Don't Look Now** - watched April 17
Week 16 - 1980s - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters** - watched April 23
Week 17 - 1990s - Safe** - watched April 30
Week 18 - 2000s - Bamboozled** - watched May 6

Mr. McGibblets quietly crushing this challenge on page 3. I take umbrage with your ratings of Lonesome and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. I'm willing to bet Mal takes umbrage with your rating of Mishima.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I went with To Sleep with Anger for week 17. Didn't work for me, mainly due to the editing: scenes bleed into one another, and characters shift around according to what is needed for the story, with little effort made toward continuity. Some might say Burnett's Killer of Sheep has a similar heatbeat, but To Sleep with Anger lacks the poetic visuals that accent his brilliant debut. The main draw this time is Danny Glover, whose voice grates on my ears so much I am forced to throw up my hands and say "not for me, but y'all go on ahead" to the hordes of people who seem to truly admire him. Still, pretty incredible it took 17 weeks for me to see a movie I dislike. Two stars.

[Ezee E]

1. 1984 - watch a film released the year of Criterion's inception
UNDER THE VOLCANO

2. Directed by Akira Kurosawa
SEVEN SAMURAI

3. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
VIVRE SA VIE (My Life to Live)

15. 1970’s
THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI

24. Any film on The Criterion Channel
THE BIG GUNDOWN

45. Directed by Ingmar Bergman
FANNY AND ALEXANDER

51. Watch a film featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits"
THE BIG BOSS
FIST OF FURY

[megladon8]

Holy moly Mr. McGibblets. I got some updating to do!

[Idioteque Stalker]

I went with Fat Girl for week 18. Some MC discussion here. (http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?14-28-Film-Discussion-Threads-Later/page2841&p=639415&viewfull=1#post639415) Nice bounce back for me after week 17. Breillat may have a new fan. Four stars.

Mr. McGibblets Style:

Week 1 - 1984 - Repo Man ***
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Stray Dog ***
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - My Life to Live ****
Week 4 - Horror - Kwaidan ****
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - West Side Story ****
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Death of a Cyclist ****
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters ***
Week 8 - Romance - They Live by Night ***
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage ***
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome ****
Week 11 - 1930s - A Day in the Country ***/ Zero for Conduct ***
Week 12 - 1940s - Day of Wrath ****
Week 13 - 1950s - Elevator to the Gallows ***
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs *****
Week 15 - 1970s - Lady Snowblood ***
Week 16 - 1980s - True Stories ***
Week 17 - 1990s - To Sleep with Anger **
Week 18 - 2000s - Fat Girl ****

[Dukefrukem]

I suck at this.

[Mal]

18. The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006) - Little Edie talking. Little Edie walking. Little Edie going for a swim. More of the same, great if this is your thing. 6/10

[megladon8]

I suck at this.

Same, but still love it.

Several of my top 10 first viewings this year have come from this!

[megladon8]

18. The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006) - Little Edie talking. Little Edie walking. Little Edie going for a swim. More of the same, great if this is your thing. 6/10

I read this as "The Beatles of Grey Gardens" and thought it was a Beatles film.

[baby doll]

If I were playing, this is how I'd be doing so far:

Week 2 - Directed by Kurosawa Akira: I Live in Fear (1955) mild
Week 5 - Criterion laser disc - Boyz N the Hood (John Singleton, 1991) warm
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top Ten: The Insect Woman (Imamura Shohei, 1963) warm
Week 11 - 1930s: Shall We Dance (Mark Sandrich, 1937) mild
Week 13 - 1950s: Le Beau Serge (Claude Chabrol, 1958) mild
Week 15 - 1970s: Insiang (Lino Brocka, 1976) warm
Week 16 - 1980s: Bless Their Little Hearts (Billy Woodberry, 1983) warm
Week 17 - 1990s: To Sleep with Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990) warm
Week 19 - 2010s: The Day He Arrives (Hong Sangsoo, 2011) warm
Week 20 - Directed by a woman: S'en fout la mort (Claire Denis, 1990) mild
Week 23 - Comedy: Gregory's Girl (Bill Forsyth, 1980) warm
Week 30 - Black and white: Bitter Victory (Nicholas Ray, 1957) warm
Week 34 - Made in Italy: Europa '51 (Roberto Rossellini, 1952) warm
Week 35 - Made in the Soviet Union: Sayat-Nova (Sergei Parajanov, 1969) warm
Week 37 - A film from the Eclipse series: Mr. Thank You (Shimizu Hiroshi, 1936) warm
Week 40 - Spines #100-200: The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957) warm
Week 41 - Film Noir: Touchez pas au grisbi (Jacques Becker, 1954) warm
Week 42 - Samurai: Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka Sadao, 1937) warm
Week 46 - Directed by Agnès Varda: Les Créatures (Agnès Varda, 1966) mild
Week 50 - Spine #1000+: Mandabi (Sembène Ousmane, 1968) warm

[Mal]

19. The Great Beauty (2013) - Looks nice and has some ideas about ~life~ but damn in the end, this is shallow nothingness. 5/10

[megladon8]

19. The Great Beauty (2013) - Looks nice and has some ideas about ~life~ but damn in the end, this is shallow nothingness. 5/10

I feel like you've been having a lot more disappointments than loves with this challenge.

[Mal]

I feel like you've been having a lot more disappointments than loves with this challenge.

Numerically I can see how that’d be the perception, but I’m actually enjoying it a lot, especially since I’m knocking stuff off my watchlist.

[baby doll]

19. The Great Beauty (2013) - Looks nice and has some ideas about ~life~ but damn in the end, this is shallow nothingness. 5/10Celebrity > La grande bellezza

[megladon8]

Numerically I can see how that’d be the perception, but I’m actually enjoying it a lot, especially since I’m knocking stuff off my watchlist.

Oh well I'm glad you're enjoying the challenge!

Jen and I have been slacking on it just because I've been so tired from work this last while, I rarely want to watch something that requires much thought.

[megladon8]

Question for baby doll...

Criterion has a Fassbinder set with The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss, and Lola.

Thoughts on any / all of these?

[baby doll]

Question for baby doll...

Criterion has a Fassbinder set with The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss, and Lola.

Thoughts on any / all of these?Die Ehe der Maria Braun is probably a top ten movie for me, and the rare case where a director's most accessible and commercial movie is also their best. Lola is great to look at, and no movie with Barbara Sukowa is a complete waste of time, but it's not as compelling dramatically. Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss is great.

[megladon8]

Die Ehe der Maria Braun is probably a top ten movie for me, and the rare case where a director's most accessible and commercial movie is also their best. Lola is great to look at, and no movie with Barbara Sukowa is a complete waste of time, but it's not as compelling dramatically. Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss is great.

Thank you, bd!

Would you recommend these as a starting point for Fassbinder?

[Gizmo]

Crawling along here.

Week 3: Godard - Breathless
I've only previously seen A Woman is a Woman out of the gigantic collection that is Godard, and thought that was decent, but otherwise relatively unmemorable. Breathless is a step up from that, I think, but also had some of the same hang-ups as the prior, and that was the multitude of jump cuts. I read that that was in effort to keep the story as whole as possible, but cut the run time, and I can appreciate that. Overall, I appreciate the film, and mostly enjoyed it, but nothing that I feel will have a lasting impact down the road.

[Yxklyx]

Thank you, bd!

Would you recommend these as a starting point for Fassbinder?

Yes, those are good starting points along with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. After those I'd watch The Merchant of Four Seasons, Beware of a Holy Whore, Fox and His Friends, .. he made like 3 movies a year during the 70s!

[Mal]

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul was the first Fassbinder I saw. Then jumped right into Berlin Alexanderplatz... that was a lot. BRD trilogy is fantastic.

[megladon8]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Sorry, what is the BRD trilogy Mal?

And jeez...he died at 37. Horrible.

[Mal]

“Criterion has a Fassbinder set with The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss, and Lola.”
This is known as the BRD Trilogy (Bundesrepublik Deutschland).

[megladon8]

“Criterion has a Fassbinder set with The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss, and Lola.”
This is known as the BRD Trilogy (Bundesrepublik Deutschland).

Oh, I didn't realize that set was a trilogy of films.

Very cool.

Edit: just looked at the cover art again and saw it is literally called the BRD TRILOGY in gigantic red letters.

Sorry I am the way I am.

[Ezee E]

Haven't finished it, but it's part of the Criterion Channel and pretty good. Sidney Poitier's directed "Buck and the Preacher" is a Black Western that has him and Harry Belafonte fighting off Southern Racists while they head West after the Emancipation Proclamation.

[quido8_5]

Oh, I didn't realize that set was a trilogy of films.

Very cool.

Edit: just looked at the cover art again and saw it is literally called the BRD TRILOGY in gigantic red letters.

Sorry I am the way I am.

Don't ever change. This conversation has made me realize that I can't remember seeing Veronika Voss or Lola, although The Marriage of Maria Braun is fantastic and hugely formative for me. Fassbinder is someone who I've been captivated by for over a decade, but his oevure is so large for living such a short time. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is probably still my favorite. As part of this challenge, I watched the Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and it was depressing. I really liked it, but let me tell ya': the tears did not disappoint.

[Yxklyx]

I also strongly recommend "Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?" but it doesn't seem to be on Criterion so might be hard to track down. I watched it via Netflix DVD back in the day - they had pretty much his entire filmography at one point.

[Yxklyx]

...
And jeez...he died at 37. Horrible.

From what I've read, he died from a drug overdose but not because he wanted to get high but because he was a workaholic and wanted to keep writing/directing lots and lots of movies/shows/plays - and the drugs helped him do that, like how athletes take steroids to improve their performance.

[Gizmo]

Continuing my trial of Criterionchannel streaming, which I never thought I'd be able to use here, so there's a real chance I may finish this challenge after all (if I can stay motivated, as I just don't sit and watch movies/tv like i use to when I was younger and kid-less).

We'll skip to week 9, as I know I've got some silent films to tackle, and would rather not put them back to back as going week to week in order would lead me to do. I decide for the "silent" film take to knock out a short, and avoid Chaplin and Keaton, which I know are inevitable on this list, and I've already viewed a few from each. So I run with:

The Marathon
Alfred Goulding's single reel is pretty standard slapstick fare from a silent film. Fall downs, slaps, mistaken identity, mirror image are all included in these 14 minutes. After all is said and done it felt pretty average, and exited on a pseudo cliff-hanger, so maybe there's a sequel reel 2 where the stakes are even greater, before a part 3 wraps it all up neatly? (that's a joke, by the way). Quick and enjoyable, but really nothing exciting, so average rating overall.

[Ezee E]

Week 33: Buck and the Preacher
*Criterion Channel selection, but not on the Collection.

The premise is interesting, but the execution is unfortunately kind of boring. Poitier/Belafonte/Ruby Dee give it their all though, and fans of Classic Westerns should enjoy this.

Belafonte's Preacher is a character that I would've liked to see other stories abou, especially with those teeth.

Also, not many scores on the Jew's Harp.

[Mal]

20. Black Panthers (1970) - Agnes Varda's short documentary about the Black Panthers and Huey P. Newton's conviction. Essential viewing here, definitely watch. Unfortunately not much has changed since this moment in time.

[Mal]

21. Ten Minutes to Live (1932) - Oscar Micheaux tale of intrigue with a glimpse into the nightlife in Harlem. This is very early filmmaking, so to view it with modern eyes might be a difficult task. Its nevertheless interesting and easy to watch, despite some problems.

[megladon8]

I really want to see some stuff from Agnes Varda. Nearly bought a box set for Jen.

[Mal]

Loads of Varda on the channel! Shorts, interviews, and features.

[Ezee E]

Horror... Maybe the worst genre for Criterion. Let's see what I come up with


1. 1984 - watch a film released the year of Criterion's inception
UNDER THE VOLCANO

2. Directed by Akira Kurosawa
SEVEN SAMURAI

3. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
VIVRE SA VIE (My Life to Live)

15. 1970’s
THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI

24. Any film on The Criterion Channel
THE BIG GUNDOWN

33. Buck and the Preacher (Criterion Channel)

45. Directed by Ingmar Bergman
FANNY AND ALEXANDER

51. Watch a film featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits"
THE BIG BOSS
FIST OF FURY

[megladon8]

Yes there is not nearly enough horror present in Criterion.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Yeah, for horror week I watched Kwaidan. I suppose it is horror... technically. More so just ghost stories. Great movie regardless.

[megladon8]

Night of the Living Dead, Carnival of Souls, Onibaba, Kuroneko, Videodrome, Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby are a few off the top of my head.

[baby doll]

Also Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Gray and Eraserhead. Arguably Sweet Movie.

[Mal]

24. The Gambler (1974) - Caan is the man. Its dark stuff, hopeful yet aware of the reality of the tragic titular gambler - obviously an influence on Uncut Gems.

[Ezee E]

24. The Gambler (1974) - Caan is the man. Its dark stuff, hopeful yet aware of the reality of the tragic titular gambler - obviously an influence on Uncut Gems.

Been meaning to watch this.

[Mal]

Been meaning to watch this.

Expires in a couple days, better get to it!

[Ezee E]

Expires in a couple days, better get to it!

What an odd ending!

[Ezee E]

So yeah, The Gambler is another 70s movie that just makes the 70's stick out as an awesome decade in filmmaking for me.

The characters feel lived in, it's not your typical plotting from beginning to end, and James Caan is more or less still playing as Sonny Corleone, one of my favorite characters in movies.

Plus, there's a scene where James Caan is merciless on his mother in tennis and almost drives a car right into a tollbooth (which has to just be a mistake that they just kept in).

I suppose this can set in for Week 52 on my list.

[megladon8]

Thanks for keeping the thread alive everyone.

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping it updated and active. Work has been nuts (at least I've got an assistant manager now!), and with Jen losing her vision our ability to watched subtitled stuff has been reduced hugely.

[Yxklyx]

Does Criterion channel not have a viewing history?

[Ezee E]

Does Criterion channel not have a viewing history?

Probably not. They can't even have a channel on the PS4

BUTTT.... 50% off sale starts... today??

[megladon8]

Got the World of Wong Kar Wai box set.

It is the most extra box set I've ever seen.

[Mal]

22. Vernon, Florida (1981) - A little gem from Errol Morris about turkey hunting and old timers shooting the shit. I enjoyed it, very much a throwback to more simple times (at least, for most of the US).

[Mal]

23. Eating Raoul (1982) - This is a odd, nasty little dark comedy about a couple trying to scrape up some cash to buy a house/restaurant - and in the process they realize they can lure, rob, and murder unsuspecting victims from a sex ad to fund their dreams. The joke execution is fairly solid and the performances oddly charming. It is a very frank film, with loads of content that would make most run for the hills. But it hit the right notes for me and gave me plenty to chew on, so I'm looking forward to watching more from star/writer/director Paul Bartel (and lucky for me, I just blind bought a copy of his film Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills from the Kino sale). 7/10

[Yxklyx]

23. Eating Raoul (1982) - This is a odd, nasty little dark comedy about a couple trying to scrape up some cash to buy a house/restaurant - and in the process they realize they can lure, rob, and murder unsuspecting victims from a sex ad to fund their dreams. The joke execution is fairly solid and the performances oddly charming. It is a very frank film, with loads of content that would make most run for the hills. But it hit the right notes for me and gave me plenty to chew on, so I'm looking forward to watching more from star/writer/director Paul Bartel (and lucky for me, I just blind bought a copy of his film Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills from the Kino sale). 7/10

Thanks for the reminder - this is one I missed.

This was loads of fun - great recommendation!

[Ivan Drago]

5. Released on Laserdisc (Criterion Collection Laserdisc Titles) - Forbidden Planet 5/5

This was slower than I expected it to be and some of the dialogue within the love story hasn't aged well, but it gets a perfect score for the sound design alone, which makes the film grow uneasier with every new detail the C-57D crew discovers in Dr. Morbius's paradise. Plus the mix of practical and lighting effects for the time were awesome, the sets pop with vibrant colors thanks to the choice of film stock in addition to the subsequent restoration, and the narrative is packed with harrowing yet thought-provoking ideas about God complexes, man's appetite for destruction and its place as a form of creation. Phenomenal stuff.

13. 1950s - La Strada 4/5

Having seen a few films from Fellini before this one, I was waiting for the surrealistic elements to make their appearance and give the film a lighthearted turn. What I got was a film that was surprisingly more grounded in realism and devastating than any of the prior films from Fellini I had seen up to that point. The vaudeville acts at its center wandered post-war Italy hoping for a reversal of fortune that sadly never comes, giving the film a melancholic tone throughout the series of vignettes that play out. Thankfully, Giuletta Masina provides levity through a charismatic, visually-driven lead performance as her character tries to bring hope and optimism to her dying world.

Random aside: I went to a seminar before La Strada that was about Fellini's career, where I learned his films would gradually add more surrealistic and stream-of-consciousness elements as his life progressed. It's as if he always knew that the world of dreams provides more joy and hope than reality ever could, and by the end of La Strada, I was heartbroken that its characters didn't have a place like that to which they could retreat.

27. Directed by Federico Fellini - Nights of Cabiria (if repeat viewings count) 5/5

A keen observation of a changing Rome through the eyes of a spunky but endearing escort as she searches for a life of decadence and love down avenues of spirituality, romance, entertainment and high society until she learns all she needs to get by is an undying spirit. Giuletta Masina recorded another tremendous performance, delivering Cabiria's biting quips with savage ferocity and reacting to the events that unfold around her with powerful facial expressions and body language, especially when she dances alone on the sidewalk to Nino Rota's sweeping score, which aurally conveys Cabiria's dreams of being swept off her feet with wonder and beauty. Add gorgeous black and white cinematography and a meticulous 4K restoration, and you have another timeless masterpiece from Federico Fellini. 5/5

32. Watch any film featured in the Godzilla Boxset - Godzilla vs. Gigan 3.5/5
42. Samurai - Sword of Doom 4.5/5
48. Foreign-Language Oscar Winners (Criterion Collection: Foreign-Language Oscar Winners) - 8 1/2 (again, if repeat viewings count) 4/5

After my first viewing of this in several years, I remember why I didn’t understand much about it when I was in high school: It's really heady and packed with philosophical ideas about life, art and the film industry, leaving viewers with a lot to ruminate on well after the film’s conclusion. That said, I still love how grounded the dream sequences are while still feeling surreal, I love the soundtrack, and the film has been impeccably restored. At the end of it all, though, what is clear is the film's point that making a film is a replication of existence on Earth. Despite the pressures and stressors that come with it, the act of filmmaking is a grand union of eclectic stars and businessmen with eccentric artists, all of whom are carrying personal stories and employ them to not only put on a show for all audiences to enjoy, but also to replicate the spectacle of life itself.


Will post write-ups later. Don't mind me being a late entry.

[megladon8]

Freaking ADORE Forbidden Planet. GOAT sci fi in my books.

[Ezee E]

"WEEK 19" - Any film in the 2010s - MINDING THE GAP

Criterion Sale at B&N.

Picked up:
Minding the Gap
Seconds
Memories of Murder

[Ezee E]

"Week 17" - 90s Film
DEEP COVER

This is a neat little gem that I would've never knew existed if it weren't for Criterion.

Pulpy, VERY early 90s, and Goldblum. For the most part, this works really well, although there's definitely some unintentional comedy that brings it down a notch.

[Skitch]

I really liked Deep Cover. First watch was last year.

[Ivan Drago]

Bought the WKW set, The Breakfast Club, Sword of Doom, La Piscine and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg during the B&N sale last month. The only WKW films I’ve seen in that set are In The Mood For Love and 2046 so I’m really excited to dig into the rest!

Super bummed Nashville and Days of Heaven are out of print now, though.

[Ezee E]

I should watch 2046 again.

[quido8_5]

Bought the WKW set, The Breakfast Club, Sword of Doom, La Piscine and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg during the B&N sale last month. The only WKW films I’ve seen in that set are In The Mood For Love and 2046 so I’m really excited to dig into the rest!

Super bummed Nashville and Days of Heaven are out of print now, though.

Nashville?!

[Ivan Drago]

Nashville?!

Yep. My gut says Paramount wanted their films back for Paramount+. That's why I also grabbed The Thin Red Line when I could.

[Skitch]

I should watch 2046 again.

Me too. I blind bought it years ago. Only thing I really remember is thinking the cinematography was astounding.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Picking up where I left off in May with some documentaries directed by women.

20. Directed by a woman -- Harlan County U.S.A. lives up to its reputation as one of the great docs. One wonders if a male filmmaker would've given as much attention to the families of the coal miners, particularly the wives who were essential to the strike efforts. And the music, good lord... these people aren't just singing songs, they're telling the stories of their sorrow and death-filled lives. Putting the music front and center allows the emotions to come through without resorting to the obvious tactics of lesser advocacy films (like zooming in on a teary testimonial for instance). Essential viewing if you're into documentary film or roots music. Four stars.

21. Pioneers of African American Cinema -- Two shorts from Zora Neale Hurston: Fieldwork Footage and Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940. I guess aside from being an author, Hurston is regarded as the first female African-American filmmaker? These two super amateurish shorts with un-synchronized sound seem more like afterthoughts/by-products to the work Hurston was already doing in the respective communities, and as such their value is more anthropological than cinematic.

22. Documentary -- News from Home is further proof that Chantal Akerman is one of cinema's most radical formalists. On a strictly stylistic level I was enthralled, in a way, by her editing choices and superlative compositions. Thematically, however, I wasn't as tuned in as others -- the passive-aggressive mother gave me anxiety more than anything else. Three stars.

EDIT: I forgot to post week 19 a while back. 2010s -- Certain Women. I can't stay away from Reichardt even though I almost never love her movies.


Week 1 - 1984 - Repo Man ***
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Stray Dog ***
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - My Life to Live ****
Week 4 - Horror - Kwaidan ****
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - West Side Story ****
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Death of a Cyclist ****
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters ***
Week 8 - Romance - They Live by Night ***
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage ***
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome ****
Week 11 - 1930s - A Day in the Country ***/ Zero for Conduct ***
Week 12 - 1940s - Day of Wrath ****
Week 13 - 1950s - Elevator to the Gallows ***
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs *****
Week 15 - 1970s - Lady Snowblood ***
Week 16 - 1980s - True Stories ***
Week 17 - 1990s - To Sleep with Anger **
Week 18 - 2000s - Fat Girl ****
Week 19 - 2010s - Certain Women ***
Week 20 - Harlan County U.S.A. ****
Week 21 - ZNH shorts
Week 22 - News from Home ***

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'll be playing catch up. Next for me is week 23. A Comedy.

Choosing between:
The Cremator
My Man Godfrey
The Last Days of Disco

I'm leaning The Cremator.

[baby doll]

I'll be playing catch up. Next for me is week 23. A Comedy.

Choosing between:
The Cremator
My Man Godfrey
The Last Days of Disco

I'm leaning The Cremator.Lean away.

[quido8_5]

I'll be playing catch up. Next for me is week 23. A Comedy.

Choosing between:
The Cremator
My Man Godfrey
The Last Days of Disco

I'm leaning The Cremator.

Haven't seen Cremator. My Man Godfrey is great-- if you're in the mood for a 30s romantic comedy it certainly delivers the goods. The Last Days of Disco I loved, but I'm a big Stillman fan. If you like his other stuff, this one strays just enough from his formula to make a distinct impression. Of course, script is hilarious (if you like his brand of humor) and the cast is mostly great. Having said that, I haven't watched either in over 15 years. I will be looking forward to your thoughts no matter which way you go.

[Yxklyx]

I don't recall The Cremator being funny at all. The Last Days of Disco is very thin. My Man Godfrey is a classic that I love!

[Idioteque Stalker]

If you like his other stuff, this one strays just enough from his formula to make a distinct impression. Of course, script is hilarious (if you like his brand of humor) and the cast is mostly great.

The only other Stillman I've seen is Metropolitan, which I didn't like mainly due to a weak ensemble imo. I'm into his writing, however, and the cast seems much improved in Disco with Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, and (the far-and-away bright spot from Metropolitan) Chris Eigeman.



I don't recall The Cremator being funny at all.

Heh, yeah Criterion has it listed on "comedy" along with plenty of other questionable choices. I'm choosing between Disco and Godfrey at this point, we'll see where the mood takes me.

[quido8_5]

I don't recall The Cremator being funny at all. The Last Days of Disco is very thin. My Man Godfrey is a classic that I love!

Thin?

[Mr. McGibblets]

I love all four of Stillman's other movies, but remember almost nothing about TLDoD.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Thin?

He's saying the movie's new workout routine is paying off.

[Idioteque Stalker]

23. Comedy -- My Man Godfrey has the look, cast, and script of a classic romantic comedy (some consider it screwball but I'm not so sure). I had a good/not-life-changing time throughout (Prime recommended His Girl Friday as a follow-up, as if...), and was eagerly anticipating the moment when Godfrey becomes a complex character -- a moment that never came. There's probably some incendiary class commentary in there somewhere for people who lived during the Great Depression, but all I could see in the end was a well-behaved ubermensch who solves society's problems with his omniscient stock market superpowers while also managing to teach everyone their own unique and valuable life-lesson. I guess the marriage-rape finale was supposed to be cute, but it's actually every man's worst nightmare. Anyway, a good movie marred by a tidy, pollyannaish final act. My struggle with 30s movies continues. Three stars.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Next up for me is week 24. Anything on the Criterion Channel. Choosing between:

Le Trou
La Ceremonie
Spirits of the Dead
The Big City
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm

Le Trou has been on my watchlist the longest, so it's probably time. But Symbiopsychotaxiplasm sure is intriguing. Leaning towards one of those.

[Yxklyx]

Next up for me is week 24. Anything on the Criterion Channel. Choosing between:

Le Trou
La Ceremonie
Spirits of the Dead
The Big City
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm

Le Trou has been on my watchlist the longest, so it's probably time. But Symbiopsychotaxiplasm sure is intriguing. Leaning towards one of those.

Yeah, Le Trou or The Big City though I've not seen any of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm docs.

The Last Days of Disco - thin, light, spare, slight. Metropolitan is my favorite Stillman.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Yeah, Le Trou or The Big City though I've not seen any of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm docs.

I'll go Le Trou then. I'm not pumped I'll be honest. A 2+ hour prison escape movie doesn't excite me, but by all accounts it's great and sometime one must eat one's vegetables.

[Idioteque Stalker]

24. Something on the Criterion Channel -- Le Trou was on my watchlist because of its ridonculous scores on LB, and I can see why it is well-loved across the board. Expertly crafted, with good characters, some nice camera tricks, and a doozy of an ending. Would it ever end up on someone's all-time favorite list, though? Prison escape movies are just so damn... procedural -- and to its credit I suppose Le Trou leans into this full bore, with more hammering and scraping (dear lord, the scraping!) than any one movie ought to have. Had I seen it 10-15 years ago, the craft alone would've elevated it into some transcendent cinematic echelon. At this point, however, I am content admitting it inhabits a genre in which I hold little interest, and it'll take more than exemplary filmmaking to overcome my bias. Three stars.


EDIT: Next up, Scorsese's Top 10. (https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/214-martin-scorsese-s-top-10) Not a lot to choose from. Going Ashes and Diamonds.

[quido8_5]

Yeah, Le Trou or The Big City though I've not seen any of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm docs.

The Last Days of Disco - thin, light, spare, slight. Metropolitan is my favorite Stillman.

I still don't understand the light, slight criticism of TLDoD. Part of what makes Stillman great is that his films encompass the unbearable lightness of being that his characters exist within. Metropolitan captures this the best, but I think all his subsequent films explore this in a different way-- The Last Days of Disco in a particular way that seems more accessible, but no less weighty.

[Ezee E]

Week 41 Completed
Film Noir - 1947's Nightmare Alley

[Idioteque Stalker]

25. Something from Scorsese's top 10 -- Ashes and Diamonds. Took me minute to get my bearings, but once the characters came into focus I couldn't help but rejoice in how their inner conflicts were reflected in the increasingly expressionistic camerawork and lighting. The final act in particular is a tour de force. You'll hear no qualms from me regarding its status as an arthouse classic. Four stars.

Next up is a movie from Antonioni, then Fellini. Going La Notte and I Vitelloni. I WILL finish this challenge by the end of the year.

[Idioteque Stalker]

26. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni -- La Notte. Watching beautiful people be sad is not my favorite pastime. As much as I admire Antonioni's "trilogy on modernity and its discontents" for the superlative filmmaking and the prescience of its themes, it's been diminishing returns for me since ‎L'Avventura. I've been plenty uncomfortable/bored at parties, and find little pleasure in having others' discomfort/boredom thrust upon me. The early scenes of Jeanne Moreau wandering sadly through the streets of Milan were fascinating on a structural level but empty emotionally -- and before anyone says "that's the point" ... just don't. I sound more negative on this than I really was. Antonioni is a master, deserving of the utmost respect, but at this point I'm tired of jumping through the intellectual hoops required to love his movies. MVP: Monica Vitti's face. Three stars.

27. Directed by Federico Fellini -- I Vitelloni. It's fun (to a degree) seeing Fellini operate in a mode somewhat adjacent to Hollywood filmmaking, in which his more gonzo tendencies merely poke through rather than rip the screen apart and parade into your living room. Despite the movie's strengths, however, I'll take the hit-or-miss episodes of Amarcord, Satyricon, and Roma over this brand of "boys will be boys" nostalgia. MVP: Nino Rota's score. Three stars.

EDIT: Next up: something from the Merchant Ivory Collection. I have no bearings here, so I'll go with the most popular James Ivory movie, Maurice -- unless anyone has a different recommendation.

[Yxklyx]

EDIT: Next up: something from the Merchant Ivory Collection. I have no bearings here, so I'll go with the most popular James Ivory movie, Maurice -- unless anyone has a different recommendation.

A Room with a View or The Remains of the Day - love both of those. I've not seen Maurice but I will this weekend. I don't recall much of anything regarding Howards End.

[baby doll]

I loved Remains of a Day when I was a teenager but then I've never read the book. I was bored by both A Room with a View and Howards End, probably in large part because I read the books before seeing the movies. (Apparently I'm the only one who thinks Daniel Day-Lewis gives a terrible performance in the former, but then I'm measuring him against the book where his character is less of a complete twit.) I was also bored by Shakespeare Wallah.

[Idioteque Stalker]

A Room with a View or The Remains of the Day - love both of those. I've not seen Maurice but I will this weekend. I don't recall much of anything regarding Howards End.

Excellent. FWIW, I used this list (https://www.criterion.com/shop/collection/153-ismail-merchant-and-james-ivory) to choose from and, in an effort to follow the challenge to the letter of the law, only considered titles with "The Merchant Ivory Collection" printed on the cover. That disqualified both A Room with a View and Howards End, which received standard Criterion releases, and The Remains of the Day, which for whatever reason never got a criterion release.

I stayed up late last night and swooned over the first half of Maurice. I'm embarrassed to say the only experience I've had with James Ivory up to this point has been Call Me By Your Name. Fascinating guy. The next challenge is "Oscar winners," so I think I'll take that opportunity to watch A Room with a View.

[Idioteque Stalker]

28. The Merchant Ivory Collection -- Maurice. I've watched this nearly 2.5 hr movie twice over the past few days trying to figure out why I am so blown away by it. Part of it must be I wasn't expecting much directorially from James Ivory, who I am basically new to and assumed was more renowned for his writing than his filmcraft, but was nevertheless drawn in immediately by the lighting (particularly how the actors are often shadowed -- dare I say chiaroscuro?) and the infrequent but highly impactful use of music, most notably choral and organ pieces which usher this story of romantic heartbreak and triumph toward the sublime. If there's a part of you that swoons over a certain type of British architecture (a mossy country manor, a croaking boathouse, the spires of Cambridge), the gorgeous establishing shots alone will make it worth your time. The editing has an odd rhythm to it, in which some scenes are far shorter than one might expect considering the lavishness on display (as with something like The Age of Innocence, the movie looks appropriately expensive); as a result, I felt compelled at points to uncover the "purpose" of certain scenes and, without fail, the morsel of subtext I discovered was delicious. Whereas the relationship in the Ivory-penned Call Me By Your Name oftentimes centered around a coyness typified by hidden messages and guessing games, the characters in Maurice are far more direct, pronouncing in clear language their fears and desires before struggling in the aftermath. I can imagine the midway narrative turn might turn some people off ("Wait, that's not what's supposed to happen!"), but despite its twists the film stays true to its leads' psychological journeys -- and at the end of it all, shouldn't their desires be prioritized above ours?

I loved it. One of the best movies I've seen this year, and totally unexpected. Five stars.

Curious to hear thoughts from Yxklyx, who rated it "only" three stars.

EDIT: Next up: Oscar winner. A Room with a View, clearly.

EDIT 2: Ivory making me swoon again. 1/3 into it and the leads are kinda awkward, but who cares when really all a movie needs is beautiful people walking through tall grass and sharing a kiss set to history's best music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwjmKOv_Cs0

[Idioteque Stalker]

29. Oscar winners -- A Room with a View. At this moment I could live in this Merchant Ivory world forever. Visually and musically just as strong as Maurice. The kiss among the barley with Puccini in the background is an instant all-timer scene. It may be simple to let such a romantic notion grab hold but, as Lord Risley from Maurice said, "Otherwise the mountains will overshadow us." Every character (except DDL's, who was despicable from the get-go) could've been fleshed out properly with a longer running time, or maybe I just wanted the whole thing to last longer. A bit lighter than Maurice (it's a comedy first and drama second, rather than the vice-versa), but just as aching, lush, and ultimately triumphant. The Remains of the Day watchlisted. Four stars.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Next up: Black and white. Options are:

Kiss Me Deadly
The Big City
Kuroneko
Streetwise
Alice in the Cities

I'm excited for all of them, but it is October after all so I'm leaning Kuroneko...

[Peng]

Haven't seen Streetwise from those. I would rank the rest as: Kiss Me Deadly > The Big City > Alice in the Cities > Kuroneko. But even the last one is good and it is indeed an apt October watch.

[Yxklyx]

Kiss Me Deadly > Alice in the Cities > The Big City > Kuroneko

I don't remember anything about the last one. Just re-watched KMD the other night!

Have not seen Streetwise but I think I will tonight after scoping it out.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Well dang, I can't pass on Kiss Me Deadly now.

[Yxklyx]

Well dang, I can't pass on Kiss Me Deadly now.

Streetwise is pretty amazing - but it's not Black and White (were you thinking of the excellent Side Street?). KMD has some horror elements...

[Idioteque Stalker]

Streetwise is pretty amazing - but it's not Black and White (were you thinking of the excellent Side Street?). KMD has some horror elements...

Oh! I assumed it was b&w based on the poster and LB banner. I'll get to it eventually.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Turns out Kiss Me Deadly is not currently available to stream.

30. Black and white -- Kuroneko. Cool movie. Stark b&w cinematography and plenty of neat special effects. Easily one of the most Noh-inspired movies I've ever seen, yet the camera is more mobile than that might suggest. It's the type of movie you silently play in the background of a party or late-night ramen bar to add some ambiance. The chilling story would kill around a campfire, but the way Shindo's Onibaba developed narratively and drew out its symbolism made that film far better suited to feature length. Three stars.

Next up: Directed by Charlie Chaplin. Going with Monsieur Verdoux.

[Yxklyx]

Turns out Kiss Me Deadly is not currently available to stream...

That's too bad! I saw it on 9/25 and marked it as being watched on Prime - assuming that's right, they must have removed it at the end of the month. You really need to see it!

one of reviews on LB: My first impulse is to say, rather improbably, "I've never seen anything quite like that"

I have a DVD - are you in Chicago?

[Idioteque Stalker]

I have a DVD - are you in Chicago?

I visit from time to time, but no. I'm in Tennessee. I appreciate your willingness to help me out though! My gut says it'll be available to stream/rent in the near future -- on the Criterion Channel if nowhere else.

After Monsieur Verdoux I'll be totally lost once again in choosing a film from the Godzilla box set (https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648-godzilla-the-showa-era-films-1954-1975). Gonna double check bacon's Godzilla thread, but if anyone has any tips on what to watch aside from the original...

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'm going to keep my list in this post:

Week 1 - 1984 - Love Streams*** - watched January 8
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Kagemusha*** - watched January 15
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - Pierrot le fou** - watched January 23
Week 4 - Horror - The Devil's Backbone*** - watched January 31
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - Three Cases of Murder** - watched February 3
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Spirit of the Beehive*** - watched February 13
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - The Earrings of Madame de...**** - watched February 20
Week 8 - Romance - The Age of Innocence*** - watched February 28
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage**** - watched March 6
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome** - watched March 10
Week 11 - 1930s - La Bête humaine*** - watched March 15
Week 12 - 1940s - Le Corbeau**** - watched March 23
Week 13 - 1950s - Le Plaisir*** - watched April 1
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs*** - watched April 12
Week 15 - 1970s - Don't Look Now** - watched April 17
Week 16 - 1980s - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters** - watched April 23
Week 17 - 1990s - Safe** - watched April 30
Week 18 - 2000s - Bamboozled** - watched May 6
Week 19 - 2010s - Parasite*** - watched May 16
Week 20 - Directed by a woman - The Virgin Suicides** - watched May 23
Week 21 - A film featured in the "Pioneers of African American Cinema" series - Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.** - watched May 29
Week 22 - Documentary - Hoop Dreams**** - watched June 5
Week 23 - Comedy - Mon oncle*** - watched June 13
Week 24 - Any film on The Criterion Channel - Summertime** - watched June 25
Week 25 - Martin Scorsese's Top 10 - Ugetsu*** - watched July 2
Week 26 - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni - Blow-up**** - watched July 3
Week 27 - Directed by Federico Fellini - La Strada*** - watched August 25
Week 28 - The Merchant Ivory Collection - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe* - watched July 16
Week 29 - Oscar Winners - Great Expectations*** - watched August 2
Week 30 - Black and white - Au hasard Balthazar*** - watched August 7
Week 31 - Directed by Charlie Chaplin - Limelight*** - watched August 5
Week 32 - Watch any film featured in the Godzilla Boxset - Godzilla** - watched August 14
Week 33 - Western - Dead Man**** - watched August 19
Week 34 - Made in Italy - I Vitelloni*** - watched August 24

Caught up again as of 8/25.

Mr. M still killing it on page three, including a ruthless streak where he gave two stars to Don't Look Now, Mishima, Safe, and Bamboozled. I'm catching up though!

[StuSmallz]

I visit from time to time, but no. I'm in Tennessee.You too??

:eek:

[Idioteque Stalker]

31. Directed by Charlie Chaplin -- Monsieur Verdoux. It starts quite dark and frantic, like Uncut Gems by way of Ealing Studios -- but the end feels as though Chaplin is ensuring the audience not mistake him for the character he plays, and that sudden moralistic tone shift doesn't really work. Nevertheless, Chaplin is one of cinema's great icons, and the way he counts money or flips through a phone book is evidence enough of why. Three stars.

32. Watch any film featured in the Godzilla Boxset -- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. Went with this in honor of MF Doom. Don't think this franchise is for me. Two stars.

Next up: Western. Choosing between My Darling Clementine, Red River, and Heaven's Gate. I would lean Heaven's Gate except the length makes it tough to cram into this time-sensitive challenge.

[baby doll]

Next up: Western. Choosing between My Darling Clementine, Red River, and Heaven's Gate. I would lean Heaven's Gate except the length makes it tough to cram into this time-sensitive challenge.My Darling Clementine is great. Red River has some great scenes but it's never been one of my favourite Hawks films. After three viewings, Heaven's Gate is a film I find easier to admire than to love: it's so portentous and solemn and sepia-toned that I can't really get involved in the story. It's eminently worth seeing but far from the misunderstood masterpiece some folks have made it out to be.

[Idioteque Stalker]

In that case I think I'll go Clementine.

Seems odd Criterion has released only seventeen westerns. I would've expected the number to be double or even triple that.

[Mal]

25. Ugetsu - men, amirite? Its beautifully shot and acted well, though unfortunately its a very familiar story of the failings of priorities that we’ve seen in cinema a number of times before. 7.5/10 … I get why Scorsese is a fan.

[Idioteque Stalker]

33. Western -- My Darling Clementine. Maybe I would be more into a version with better audio (rented via Amazon and the dialogue was super quiet, the gunshots hurt my ears, and the galloping horses sounded like distorted digital nonsense). Visually, however, it was frequently awesome. I can't remember the last time I was so taken with clouds. Some nice interiors as well, such as a starkly backlit hallway, or the not-quite-deep-focus shots right down the bar that add some juicy dimension to the saloon. People who love the story use the word "mythic" -- I, who did not love the story, will use the word "simplistic" (though I think we're trying to describe the same thing). Doc Holliday and Chihuahua had the best moments (especially the surgery). Earp was fine. Clementine was a total nothing character, with the actress sucking the life out of every scene she was in. A mild yay from me for the visuals and a spattering of strong scenes, but maybe my least favorite John Ford movie I've seen. Three stars.

Next up: a nice run of movies that has me excited.

34. Made in Italy -- Theorem
35. Made in the Soviet Union -- Ivan's Childhood
36. Made in India -- The Big City

[Idioteque Stalker]

Verrrrry nice run. All of these were exceedingly well-directed.

34. Made in Italy -- Theorem. Pasolini sure was an interesting fellow. Wild movies. Horrifying death. Theorem would be a good movie to write an essay on, and if I were still in school I might've taken the time to unlock a greater appreciation for its heady symbolism. But at this point my interests were primarily formalistic -- such a fantastic looking movie, from the vivid colors to the varied camera techniques to the mid-century modern decor and architecture. The sepia-toned prologue with muddied music and dialogue was a very odd way to open the movie... I was on board straight away. Like Antonioni, however, Pasolini requires more intellectual effort than I am willing to afford right now -- in the end, I'm concerned a deep-dive into its themes and symbolism may yield less-than-acceptable returns. Three stars.

35. Made in the Soviet Union -- Ivan's Childhood. Ah, Tarkovsky. It's been too long my friend. I promise to never again go so long without you. The "war through the eyes of a child" thing is super played out, but this is one of the best and earliest examples (and it thankfully doesn't linger too long on Ivan's tragic innocence like so many others -- this kid is truly out for revenge). Tarkovsky directs the dogshit out of this movie, so much it hardly even matters a majority of the runtime is dudes talking in a bunker. The cinematography and framing, the way the camera moves during perspective shots, the way dreams and reality are trickily edited together, the performances (particularly from the child), the tactile and emotionally evocative sound design -- just all-around, ceaselessly incredible filmmaking. An embarrassment of auteur riches. Tarkovsky is one of the greatest to ever do it. Four stars.

36. Made in India -- The Big City. Despite gushing over Ivan's Childhood, this is my favorite of the three. Through such a simple plot (mom gets a job), Ray and his actors manage to hone in on the complexities of marriage, of gender roles, of pride and shame in a way that feels as provocative as punk but as good-natured as a bedtime story. Empathy is this movie's highest priority, and it is generously doled out to every character. Madhabi Mukherjee blossoms as a woman simultaneously proud of and distraught by her non-traditional role as breadwinner, while her husband must balance his fear of emasculation against the harsh realities of modern life. Sixty years and several feminist waves later, this movie still feels like a viable tool for marriage counselors to start tough conversations with their clients about assumed gender roles. Elegant, probing, and prescient. I'd even choose it over what I've seen from the Apu Trilogy. Four stars.

Next up:
37. A film from the Eclipse series -- Chafed Elbows
38. Kelly Reichardt's Top 10 (https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/370-kelly-reichardt-s-top-10) -- A Poem Is a Naked Person


Week 1 - 1984 - Repo Man ***
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Stray Dog ***
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - My Life to Live ****
Week 4 - Horror - Kwaidan ****
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - West Side Story ****
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Death of a Cyclist ****
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters ***
Week 8 - Romance - They Live by Night ***
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage ***
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome ****
Week 11 - 1930s - A Day in the Country ***/ Zero for Conduct ***
Week 12 - 1940s - Day of Wrath ****
Week 13 - 1950s - Elevator to the Gallows ***
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs *****
Week 15 - 1970s - Lady Snowblood ***
Week 16 - 1980s - True Stories ***
Week 17 - 1990s - To Sleep with Anger **
Week 18 - 2000s - Fat Girl ****
Week 19 - 2010s - Certain Women ***
Week 20 - Directed by a woman - Harlan County U.S.A. ****
Week 21 - Pioneers of African American Cinema - ZNH shorts
Week 22 - Documentary - News from Home ***
Week 23 - Comedy - My Man Godfrey ***
Week 24 - Something on the Criterion Channel - Le Trou ***
Week 25 - Something from Scorsese's top 10 - Ashes and Diamonds ****
Week 26 - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni - La Notte ***
Week 27 - Directed by Federico Fellini - I Vitelloni ***
Week 28 - The Merchant Ivory Collection - Maurice *****
Week 29 - Oscar winners - A Room with a View ****
Week 30 - Black and white - Kuroneko ***
Week 31 - Directed by Charlie Chaplin - Monsieur Verdoux ***
Week 32 - Godzilla Boxset -- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster **
Week 33 - Western - My Darling Clementine ***
Week 34 - Made in Italy - Theorem ***
Week 35 - Made in the Soviet Union - Ivan's Childhood ****
Week 36 - Made in India - The Big City ****

[Yxklyx]

Yeah, the Ray film is also my favorite of those three.

I like Kelly's list - I see that she has A Taste of Honey at #7.

[Idioteque Stalker]

37. A film from the Eclipse series -- Chafed Elbows. Robert Downey Sr. was a trickster savant. A man so cultured he was unafraid to be tasteless. Chafed Elbows is like John Waters riffing on La Jetée. The missing link between Luis Buñuel and Adult Swim. The Tim & Eric to Putney Swope's Mad Men. It's the easiest film to recommend to a very specific type of person -- and impossible to recommend to anyone else. Three stars.

38. Kelly Reichardt's Top 10 -- A Poem Is a Naked Person. Are all Les Blank docs like this? His editing style is curious to say the least. If it worked I would describe it with a positive spin, such as "free-associative" or "elliptical." But I have to agree with Leon Russell himself -- who thought a standard tour doc was being made over a two-year span but instead got this, and succeeded in keeping it locked up for forty years -- and describe it has "mostly nonsense" (so this is where Thierry Guetta/Mr. Brainwash gets his inspiration!). No matter how many wtf editing choices Blank makes, however, the footage is still the footage, and there's plenty to appreciate here, at least musically. Russell is an excellent pianist and a passionate singer who consistently misses the high note -- funnily enough, my favorite moment was "I'm So Lonely I Could Cry," which plays out in full over impressionistic sunset images and features what is easily, shall we say, his "least technically proficient" vocal performance of the entire film, yet it alchemizes into something so beautiful you want to forgive Blank all his other transgressions. Alas, a few fleeting moments of righteousness can't excuse a feature length of sin. Two stars.

Edit to add: A Poem Is a Naked Person is a brilliant title and the reason it came on my radar in the first place.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Next up:

39. Directed by John Cassavetes. Been planning to watch Killing of a Chinese Bookie for a while with a friend. Gonna try to make that happen in the next few weeks, but will skip week 39 for now. If that doesn't work out in a timely manner then I will abandon Chinese Bookie and go with Husbands, the only other Cassavetes with a Criterion release I haven't seen.

40. Watch a film between spine #100-200. Choosing between:

Double Suicide
Loves of a Blonde
The Cranes are Flying

Leaning Loves of a Blonde.

[baby doll]

Loves of a Blonde is pretty great, albeit depressing. The Cranes Are Flying is more exciting for its expressive style than its story, which I can barely remember. I haven't seen Double Suicide but I'm a big fan of Shinoda's Dry Lake and Pale Flower.

Cassavetes ranked: Love Streams, A Woman Under the Influence, Shadows, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night, Faces, Gloria, Husbands, Minnie and Moskovitz.

[Peng]

Can't go wrong with either Loves of a Blonde or The Cranes Are Flying, although I love the latter more.

[Yxklyx]

Loves of a Blonde! Forman at his best.

[Idioteque Stalker]

40. Watch a film between spine #100-200 -- Loves of a Blonde. Sorry y'all, but this did very little for me. It was the same with The Firemen's Ball. The humor/satire must be what I'm missing in both. I can imagine this working if I were to find it funny, but instead I get two painfully long scenes that are at best mildly amusing, with little-to-no character development, and a general air of unpleasantness. On a narrative level it is practically formless. Imagine the restaurant scene in Playtime but without the gags or intricate staging. Visually it does have its moments. Forman's American films may not be as subversive, but they're better in every other conceivable way. Two stars.

Next up:

41. Film Noir -- The Naked Kiss
42. Samurai -- Choosing between The Sword of Doom, Samurai Rebellion, and The Tale of Zatoichi. I'm leaning Samurai Rebellion because Masaki Kobayashi is the real deal. Other two seem cool though.

[Yxklyx]

Samurai Rebellion or The Tale of Zatoichi - I wouldn't think it's necessary to watch the succeeding *25* sequels though, pretty sure they're all standalone/episodic.

[baby doll]

40. Watch a film between spine #100-200 -- Loves of a Blonde. Sorry y'all, but this did very little for me. It was the same with The Firemen's Ball. The humor/satire must be what I'm missing in both. I can imagine this working if I were to find it funny, but instead I get two painfully long scenes that are at best mildly amusing, with little-to-no character development, and a general air of unpleasantness. On a narrative level it is practically formless. Imagine the restaurant scene in Playtime but without the gags or intricate staging. Visually it does have its moments. Forman's American films may not be as subversive, but they're better in every other conceivable way. Two stars.This sounds like a case of having the wrong expectations for a film. I don't think this was intended as a riotous comedy, or a subversive political statement, but is an essentially realistic film about a not very sophisticated young woman from a bleak industrial town who gets cruelly jilted, and the longeurs in which nothing much is happening and informal, quasi-documentary style add to the film's realism. In short, it's a Czech New Wave film.

[Idioteque Stalker]

In short, it's a Czech New Wave film.

Maybe this is my problem. Having seen a small handful, it's possible this movement just isn't for me. The Cremator is still on my watchlist... if I like that then I'll give Closely Watched Trains a chance. If neither really connects, I'll move on.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Samurai Rebellion or The Tale of Zatoichi - I wouldn't think it's necessary to watch the succeeding *25* sequels though, pretty sure they're all standalone/episodic.

That's an outrageous number. These two were my two real considerations. The Sword of Doom gets a shoutout because the title is cool.

[Yxklyx]

That's an outrageous number. These two were my two real considerations. The Sword of Doom gets a shoutout because the title is cool.

As I recall, Sword of Doom looked like a filmed play. I think it was all done on a set. I'd suggest Sword of the Beast if you're looking for a cool title to rival Sword of Doom. :)

[Skitch]

As I recall, Sword of Doom looked like a filmed play. I think it was all done on a set. I'd suggest Sword of the Beast if you're looking for a cool title to rival Sword of Doom. :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhpT8PGslA&list=TLPQMTAxMTIwMjHlkO5YR1j3x A&index=4

Looks like good amount of outside shots to me. Good movie.

[Yxklyx]

Looks like good amount of outside shots to me. Good movie.

Maybe it was just some night scenes. Oh, Tatsuya Nakadai is the lead in that so it's Tatsuya Nakadai vs Toshiro Mifune!

[StuSmallz]

Next up:

39. Directed by John Cassavetes. Been planning to watch Killing of a Chinese Bookie for a while with a friend. Gonna try to make that happen in the next few weeks, but will skip week 39 for now. If that doesn't work out in a timely manner then I will abandon Chinese Bookie and go with Husbands, the only other Cassavetes with a Criterion release I haven't seen.

40. Watch a film between spine #100-200. Choosing between:

Double Suicide
Loves of a Blonde
The Cranes are Flying

Leaning Loves of a Blonde.I've only seen a couple of Cassavetes, but I can't say that I'm a big fan of him so far; I mean, I just straight-up disliked Chinese Bookie and the empty incoherency of its overall experience, and Influence, while pretty good on the whole, was still held back from greatness by some bloat, and a somewhat problematic ending. Out of those other choices though, The Cranes Are Flying, is really, really good, with some beautiful cinematography that isn't just there to show itself off, but also to heighten the underlying emotion of its story (so I'm afraid I can't disagree with baby doll on that one).

[baby doll]

Maybe this is my problem. Having seen a small handful, it's possible this movement just isn't for me. The Cremator is still on my watchlist... if I like that then I'll give Closely Watched Trains a chance. If neither really connects, I'll move on.I haven't seen Closely Watched Trains, although I didn't much care for the two Menzel films I've seen so far (Larks on a String and I Served the King of England), and The Cremator is bad. I'd recommend Chytilovás's Something Different or Jaromil Jires' The Joke instead.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'd recommend Chytilovás's Something Different or Jaromil Jires' The Joke instead.

Solid recs. I'll keep my eye on them since Daisies and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders are relative bright spots for me.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I've only seen a couple of Cassavetes, but I can't say that I'm a big fan of him so far

How dare you. :) I haven't seen as much as Baby Doll, but Cassavetes is a top ten director for me.

[Yxklyx]

How dare you. :) I haven't seen as much as Baby Doll, but Cassavetes is a top ten director for me.

Top ten director for me too but I didn't think much of the Chinese Bookie film. His earliest are the best, like Shadows, Faces, and Too Late Blues. On a different director, I liked both Closely Watched Trains and The Cremator.

[baby doll]

The great thing about Cassavetes' films is that they require the spectator to suspend judgement of his characters, who are continually (re)inventing themselves on a moment-by-moment basis. Is Mabel Longhetti a saint or a nut? Is Cosmo Vitelli a holy fool or just an ass-hole? Cassavetes purposefully withholds the information that would allow the spectator to arrive at a definitive judgement, which keeps his films perpetually open, alive, and fascinating.

[StuSmallz]

The great thing about Cassavetes' films is that they require the spectator to suspend judgement of his characters, who are continually (re)inventing themselves on a moment-by-moment basis. Is Mabel Longhetti a saint or a nut? Is Cosmo Vitelli a holy fool or just an ass-hole? Cassavetes purposefully withholds the information that would allow the spectator to arrive at a definitive judgement, which keeps his films perpetually open, alive, and fascinating.Sure, but that still doesn't make the half hour breakfast scene in Under The Influence any less tedious to sit through...

[baby doll]

Sure, but that still doesn't make the half hour breakfast scene in Under The Influence any less tedious to sit through...Personally I don't find any of the scenes in that movie tedious to sit through. The length of a scene in minutes and seconds has no bearing on whether it's tedious or not. The difference between the long scenes in a Cassavetes film and the genuine tedium of a film like Blue Is the Warmest Colour is that Cassavetes' scenes develop and build and Kechiche's don't. But perhaps more to the point, Cassavetes' scenes need to be long in order to show characters in a perpetual state of becoming and to give spectators the time to reconsider and revise their initial impressions of them.

[Idioteque Stalker]

41. Film Noir -- The Naked Kiss. Another tonal curio from Samuel Fuller that, unlike White Dog and Shock Corridor, never hits its stride. The editing should bear a bulk of the blame, with unclear time jumps, awkward throwaway shots, and a general tendency to abruptly end scenes one or two beats early. To progress so quickly from violent prostitute to World's Most Beloved Nurse (for disabled children, no less) is to lay on the madonna/whore dichotomy a little thick -- and this is even before Fuller doubles down with a bizarre musical moment at the hospital that surely had Sarah McLachlan and the ASPCA licking its proverbial chops. It has its moments visually, but overall this "feminist" film (in which the lead condescends to every other female character but is nevertheless treated as the town hero by film's end) is neither as socially progressive nor as darkly entertaining as it needs and wants to be. Two stars.


42. Samurai -- Samurai Rebellion. Masaki Kobayashi had already eviscerated Bushido propriety five years earlier with Harakiri, but strong direction plus Toshiro Mifune is more than enough to overcome any thematic redundancies. Those looking for samurai hack-and-slash will be rewarded for waiting through ninety minutes of characters politely making outrageous requests while sitting very still. Had Tatsuya Nakadai as the friend/border patrol been given a few more scenes (and the mother character been given any complexity whatsoever) this climax may have broken through the stratosphere, but Mifune very nearly manages it on his own. Three stars.

Next up:
43. A film featured in the "Queersighted: Queer Fear" series (https://letterboxd.com/tediously_brief/list/queersighted-queer-fear-the-criterion-collection/) -- It's time for me to see Hellraiser.
44. A film featured in the "New Korean Cinema" series (https://letterboxd.com/tediously_brief/list/criterion-collection-new-korean-cinema/) -- Kinda tough. I think my best chance to love something is Mother, but it's been far longer since I've seen something from Park Chan-wook, so Lady Vengeance or Mr. Vengeance are options as well. Leaning Mother.

[StuSmallz]

Personally I don't find any of the scenes in that movie tedious to sit through. The length of a scene in minutes and seconds has no bearing on whether it's tedious or not. The difference between the long scenes in a Cassavetes film and the genuine tedium of a film like Blue Is the Warmest Colour is that Cassavetes' scenes develop and build and Kechiche's don't. But perhaps more to the point, Cassavetes' scenes need to be long in order to show characters in a perpetual state of becoming and to give spectators the time to reconsider and revise their initial impressions of them.I know that; that's why I liked the heist in Rififi as much as I did, because it was riveting the entire time, even though it was a half hour-plus sequence without a single line of dialogue, or even one note of music. Because this isn't a matter of me looking at the length of a scene, and randomly deciding that it's too long once it's reached some arbitrary length; that breakfast scene could've lasted the entire movie, and I wouldn't have minded if it had been sufficiently engaging. But, it just didn't engage me enough to justify the large amount of screentime it took, and, while it could've been a great scene on the whole, I still feel that there aren't many filmmakers that could make a half hour of people arguing on-and-off while eating breakfast 100% effective, and based off the final result in Influence, Cassavetes, IMO, just wasn't one of them.

[baby doll]

I know that; that's why I liked the heist in Rififi as much as I did, because it was riveting the entire time, even though it was a half hour-plus sequence without a single line of dialogue, or even one note of music. Because this isn't a matter of me looking at the length of a scene, and randomly deciding that it's too long once it's reached some arbitrary length; that breakfast scene could've lasted the entire movie, and I wouldn't have minded if it had been sufficiently engaging. But, it just didn't engage me enough to justify the large amount of screentime it took, and, while it could've been a great scene on the whole, I still feel that there aren't many filmmakers that could make a half hour of people arguing on-and-off while eating breakfast 100% effective, and based off the final result in Influence, Cassavetes, IMO, just wasn't one of them.I haven't seen the film in a few years so I can't be very specific, but my memory isn't that the characters argue on and off. Rather, when Peter Falk turns up with his buddies and expects Gena Rowlands to cook breakfast for all of them, rather than getting upset as most wives would, she overcompensates by acting as if she's delighted to be cooking for all these guys and telling them how much she loves them until it becomes uncomfortable and Falk tells her to knock it off. In other words, the scene is about two kinds of obtuseness: Falk's (socially acceptable) obtuseness regarding his wife's feelings and Rowlands' (socially unacceptable) obtuseness towards the feelings of the one black guy on Falk's work crew. The scene needs to be long for all of its nuances to register (including the unspoken racial subtext), especially since it's difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint the exact moments when Rowlands' happy housewife routine ceases to be acting and becomes sincere, and when her behavior crosses the line. In other words, for much of the scene it's ambiguous whether Rowlands' behaviour is eccentric but harmless or whether it's really too much, and part of the achievement of the scene is to draw out that ambiguity for an extended period, to make the viewer sit with ambiguity and force them to really think about how they feel about the characters' actions and to reconsider their judgements as the scene unfolds.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Short thoughts tonight.

43. A film featured in the "Queersighted: Queer Fear" series -- Hellraiser. This poor wretched soul, damned to an eternity of unimaginable torture at the hands of a demonic new wave band, somehow manages to return to the mortal world one pulsating globule at a time. With great effort the being slowly reconstructs itself (American Werewolf in London-style, or Nazis from Raiders but in reverse) -- are those arms? Legs? No, a spine. There's the arms. And that must be the brain. God help us all, the thing has a face.

The damnable abomination speaks: IT'S ME, FRANK.

I had a good time. Solid final girl. Three stars.


44. A film featured in the "New Korean Cinema" series -- Mother. Detective stuff is not my favorite. The mother angle made it slightly more interesting. Solid if unexceptional acting, directing, music, visuals, everything. A well-enough-made movie that I will be fine to never watch again. The third act would be more ethically challenging if it weren't so predictable. I'm sure many cinephiles would claim Bong Joon-ho hit a grand slam with Parasite but was hitting homeruns long before... sorry to you early adopters, I understand your plight, but Parasite is far and away his best. The mildest of yays. Three stars.


Next up:
45. Directed by Ingmar Bergman -- Summer with Monika and The Passion of Anna seem like decent options, but I'm leaning Shame because I've owned the dvd forever and never watched it. And who can turn down a Bergman movie called Shame?

46. Directed by Agnes Varda -- Le Bonheur or One Sings, the Other Doesn't. Leaning Le Bonheur due to length.

[baby doll]

A Passion is one of Bergman's two or three best films.

Le Bonheur is one of Varda's very best. L'une chante, l'autre pas is good but not great.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Next year's challenge. (https://letterboxd.com/bslaby/list/the-criterion-challenge-2022/) You bet I'm doing it again.

[Ivan Drago]

Next year's challenge. (https://letterboxd.com/bslaby/list/the-criterion-challenge-2022/) You bet I'm doing it again.

Yeah, I'm gonna commit to this next year.

[Idioteque Stalker]

A Passion is one of Bergman's two or three best films.

Le Bonheur is one of Varda's very best. L'une chante, l'autre pas is good but not great.

I went with the Baby Doll special on this one, with good results.

45. Directed by Ingmar Bergman -- The Passion of Anna. Everything you want and expect from late-60s Bergman is here: a legendary cast, probing characterization, and hefty doses of psychological violence centered around suffering, fear, and isolation. There are a few odd cinematic choices to spice things up as well, such as a fairly explicit sex scene spliced into the main story (but featuring none of the leads -- possibly a visualization of the novel Liv Ullmann's character is translating) and some quick, pseudo-behind-the-scenes interludes in which the four actors provide insight into the characters they depict (as if the DVD extras were accidentally placed within the film itself). What you may not want or expect is numerous counts of animal violence, and some curious narrative rhythms that skip over swathes of relationship development to get to the juiciest bits of confession and cruelty. It should've been longer -- or maybe it's actually beneficial to watch it, along with The Hour of the Wolf and Shame, as a real trilogy. I say good luck to anyone brave enough to do such a thing. Three stars.

46. Directed by Agnes Varda -- Le Bonheur. The "everyone's favorite artsy grandma" narrative that developed during Varda's twilight years belies just how subversive her films could be. This one is all vibrant colors and Mozart on the surface, brutal vivisection of pretty much all men underneath. Like when you look up from smelling the flowers just to realize you've been complicit in fueling a toxic patriarchy. Four stars.


Next up:
47. Based on a book (https://www.criterionchannel.com/by-the-book) -- The Cloud-Capped Star or An Angel at My Table.
48. Foreign-Language Oscar Winners (https://letterboxd.com/bslaby/list/criterion-collection-foreign-language-oscar/) -- I fell asleep in Roma. I guess it's time for a rewatch. Pretty slim pickins for me on this one.

[Yxklyx]

Can anyone else here with Criterion check out the first few minutes of The Music Lovers because the streaming quality is awful and I want to know if it's my connection or just a bad transfer.

[Mal]

41. Nightmare Alley (1947) - I probably won't bother with the Del Toro one after watching this, knowing that GDT made it a longer story. Its not very interesting for me - guy aims high and ends up ruining himself. As a picture, its well made, good performances with twists at every turn (even when we as a modern audience know they're coming). I'd say watch this regardless of your affinity for GDT and whatever he does with the same story. 7.5/10

[Mal]

34. Death in Venice - I’m all for a sad, plodding misery picture… yet this was quite flat for me. Its not as creepy as it could be, though this kind of fascination picture feels awfully dated in the present. Images are fine. I’m very interested in its related documentary. 4/10

[Mal]

27. Toby Dammit - This is now in the Fellini set, so it counts. Its really too bad Terence Stamp never had any weird children to pass on his incredible presence and face. Its a quick one, but plays wonderfully on the same stuff you've seen in 8 1/2 and others... though with a darker twist. Great photography and use of sound. 7.5/10

[Idioteque Stalker]

47. Based on a book -- An Angel at My Table. Better than your average biopic because Campion doesn't shy away from the awkwardness, sexism, and general hardship central to Janet Frame's atypical life story. Aside from that, however, we've all seen this type of thing a hundred times. Three stars.

48. Foreign-Language Oscar Winners -- Roma. For the first half all I could think about was Cuaron's hand at work, all the arthouse tropes he was compiling into an oh-so-respectable cinematic fakery. For instance, there are no fewer than three distinct moments in which the psychology of a character is juxtaposed with a discordant surrounding (sad woman surrounded by marching band, party animal sings into the void amid a raging forest fire and, most egregiously, family realizes daddy's not coming home next to a wedding celebration). Like dude... reel it in a little! It takes some real tragic shit to finally bring the characters into the spotlight, and fortunately that's when the movie clicks. Despite my early annoyances, the emotions in the second half are pretty much undeniable. Three stars.


My friend and I are probably not gonna get around to The Killing of a Chinese Bookie before the new year, so:
39. Directed by John Cassavetes -- Husbands. It takes a great director to make a movie this irritating. It's as if these actors were instructed to "loosen up with some improv, but make it as obnoxious, spiteful, and moronic as possible." I don't care if you're going through some type of collective mid-life crisis because your friend died -- nobody behaves like this. With acting, as with life, if you're unsure what to say next, it's okay to just keep your mouth shut instead of laughing or yelling for no reason. Empty, ugly, undisciplined, and thoroughly unpleasant. I hated every minute of it. One star.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Can anyone else here with Criterion check out the first few minutes of The Music Lovers because the streaming quality is awful and I want to know if it's my connection or just a bad transfer.

It looks bad to me too, like digital distortion or something.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Next up:

49. Josh and Benny Safdie's Closet Picks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSdxbBsShak). Fox and His Friends, Cameraperson, or an overdue Mulholland Drive rewatch.
50. Watch a film with spine #1000 or higher. The Cremator, Streetwise, or Black Is ... Black Ain't.

Leaning Cameraperson and Streetwise.

[Mal]

47. The Magnificent Ambersons - While it does feel like there are bits missing, its an engrossing tale of family bullshit where everyone shoots their shot but falls apart in the end... characters you love to hate. 8/10

[Mr. McGibblets]

I think I'm going to make it, but only by sliding Mon Oncle from where I have it to count as the Foreign Film Oscar Winner. I've been looking at Dersu Uzala for like 4 weeks and can't find the time to watch it.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I think I'm going to make it, but only by sliding Mon Oncle from where I have it to count as the Foreign Film Oscar Winner.


Toby Dammit - This is now in the Fellini set, so it counts.


My friend and I are probably not gonna get around to The Killing of a Chinese Bookie before the new year, so:

Crunch time babyyyyyy

[Mal]

30. A Hard Day's Night - The lads from Liverpool goofing around and running late. I had seen Help! before but somehow never this. Its a lite picture made to market the guys further, though it doesn't shy away from the minds of 20-somethings when given a chance to explore/romp about like the youths they are. Its declared a classic by most... a good time. 7.5/10

[Idioteque Stalker]

49. Josh and Benny Safdie's Closet Picks -- Cameraperson. It's a shame how much good footage ends up on the cutting room floor. Kirsten Johnson decided to do something about it -- and given her pedigree, she's more qualified than most. Still, I'll need more connective tissue than to simply know these images "marked" her. After all, shouldn't we assume that about every documentary? I'm 100% in support of more docs like this, but only from great filmmakers please. I'll be happy to live a life without "Tom Hooper's Cameraperson." Three stars.

50. Watch a film with spine #1000 or higher -- Streetwise. This was fantastic. I can't say it any better than the LB synopsis: "Granted remarkable access to their world, the filmmakers craft a devastatingly frank, empathetic portrait of lost youth growing up far too soon in a world that has failed them." Miraculously avoids poverty porn. Excellently photographed as well. (Shoutout to Tom Krell/How to Dress Well for sampling the opening interview on his song "Say My Name or Say Whatever.") Four Stars.

Final stretch:
51. Watch a film featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits" -- Gotta be Enter the Dragon.
52. Any Criterion film on your watchlist -- Thinking 3 Women.

[Yxklyx]

Should have watched Fox and his Friends! Streetwise is indeed fantastic!

[Mal]

31. The Circus (1928) - Charlie Chaplin up to his usual antics. There is a tiger and a lion. Poor lil tramp has a love triangle. 6/10

[Mal]

46. Ô saisons ô chateaux (1958) - A short from Varda. A vivid historical journey of Loire Valley in France. Its a quick one but quite beautiful and engaging.

[Idioteque Stalker]

51. Watch a film featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits" -- Enter the Dragon. This was totally what I expected, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. A brisk enough first hour of so-so setup, followed by Bruce Lee doing a bunch of awesome shit. He clearly outmatches everyone in terms of skill, so the movie cleverly stacks the deck against him for an awesome final showdown in a hall of mirrors. I thought about Pitt and Tarantino a lot. Three stars.

52. Any Criterion film on your watchlist -- 3 Women. Every great director should make at least one totally nonsensical movie like this, if for no other reason than to explore their strangest cinematic impulses. Loved the slo-mo water effect superimposed over (in front of?) key moments, and the dream sequence is truly one for the ages. Three stars.

I did it! Full list:

Week 1 - 1984 - Repo Man ***
Week 2 - Directed by Akira Kurosawa - Stray Dog ***
Week 3 - Directed by Jean-Luc Godard - My Life to Live ****
Week 4 - Horror - Kwaidan ****
Week 5 - Released on Laserdisc - West Side Story ****
Week 6 - Made in Spain - Death of a Cyclist ****
Week 7 - Wes Anderson's Top 10 - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters ***
Week 8 - Romance - They Live by Night ***
Week 9 - A silent film - The Phantom Carriage ***
Week 10 - 1920s - Lonesome ****
Week 11 - 1930s - A Day in the Country ***/ Zero for Conduct ***
Week 12 - 1940s - Day of Wrath ****
Week 13 - 1950s - Elevator to the Gallows ***
Week 14 - 1960s - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs *****
Week 15 - 1970s - Lady Snowblood ***
Week 16 - 1980s - True Stories ***
Week 17 - 1990s - To Sleep with Anger **
Week 18 - 2000s - Fat Girl ****
Week 19 - 2010s - Certain Women ***
Week 20 - Directed by a woman - Harlan County U.S.A. ****
Week 21 - Pioneers of African American Cinema - ZNH shorts
Week 22 - Documentary - News from Home ***
Week 23 - Comedy - My Man Godfrey ***
Week 24 - Something on the Criterion Channel - Le Trou ***
Week 25 - Something from Scorsese's top 10 - Ashes and Diamonds ****
Week 26 - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni - La Notte ***
Week 27 - Directed by Federico Fellini - I Vitelloni ***
Week 28 - The Merchant Ivory Collection - Maurice *****
Week 29 - Oscar winners - A Room with a View ****
Week 30 - Black and white - Kuroneko ***
Week 31 - Directed by Charlie Chaplin - Monsieur Verdoux ***
Week 32 - Godzilla Boxset - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster **
Week 33 - Western - My Darling Clementine ***
Week 34 - Made in Italy - Theorem ***
Week 35 - Made in the Soviet Union - Ivan's Childhood ****
Week 36 - Made in India - The Big City ****
Week 37 - A film from the Eclipse series - Chafed Elbows ***
Week 38 - Kelly Reichardt's Top 10 - A Poem Is a Naked Person **
Week 39 - Directed by John Cassavetes - Husbands *
Week 40 - Watch a film between spine #100-200 - Loves of a Blonde **
Week 41 - Film Noir - The Naked Kiss **
Week 42 - Samurai - Samurai Rebellion ***
Week 43 - A film featured in the "Queersighted: Queer Fear" series - Hellraiser ***
Week 44 - A film featured in the "New Korean Cinema" series - Mother ***
Week 45 - Directed by Ingmar Bergman - The Passion of Anna ***
Week 46 - Directed by Agnes Varda - Le Bonheur ****
Week 47 - Based on a book - An Angel at My Table ***
Week 48 - Foreign-Language Oscar Winners - Roma ***
Week 49 - Josh and Benny Safdie's Closet Picks - Cameraperson ***
Week 50 - Spine #1000 or higher - Streetwise ****
Week 51 - Featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits" - Enter the Dragon ***
Week 52 - Any Criterion film on your watchlist - 3 Women ***

[Idioteque Stalker]

Stalker's Criterion Challenge Awards!

Best movie: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. Runner-Up: Maurice.
Worst movie: Husbands.

Best performance: Madhabi Mukherjee, The Big City. Runner-Up: Anna Karina, My Life to Live.
Worst performance: John Cassavetes, Husbands.

Best director: Andrei Tarkovsky, Ivan's Childhood. Runner-Up: Agnes Varda, Le Bonheur.
Worst director: Les Blank, A Poem Is a Naked Person.

Best editing: Death of a Cyclist.
Worst editing: The Naked Kiss. Runner-Up: To Sleep with Anger.

Best music: Harlan County, USA. Runner-Up: West Side Story.

Best visuals: Kwaidan. Runner-Up: Theorem.

Best SFX: Lonesome. Runner-Up: The Phantom Carriage

Favorite scene: Kiss in the poppy field, A Room with a View.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-gFsXfbF08

[Mr. McGibblets]

I finished with 9 hours to spare. I will write up superlatives later.

[Mr. McGibblets]

Stalker's Criterion Challenge Awards!

I saw Husbands years ago, but I also really did not like it.

[Mr. McGibblets]

Top 5 Movies

The Cranes are Flying
The Earrings of Madame de...
Le Corbeau
Il Posto
Blow-up


Worst Movie
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Best Surprise
The Phantom Carriage

Biggest Disappointment
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Some Top Performances
Hideko Takamine, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Song Kang-ho, Parasite
Victor Sjöström, Wild Strawberries

Worst Performance
Cork Hubbert, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

[Yxklyx]

Time for a rewatch of The Cranes are Flying and fortunately it's streamable. Love your 3,4,5 but I can't recall anything of 2.

[Ezee E]

I'll do better in 2022!

[Idioteque Stalker]

Some Top Performances
Hideko Takamine, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Song Kang-ho, Parasite
Victor Sjöström, Wild Strawberries

Nice picks. I thought about Takamine as well but tilted toward spreading the love. And The Cranes are Flying is on my watchlist, so there's a very good chance I get to it with the upcoming year's challenge.