Film Log 2009 (Features)
Here’s how my ratings work:
100: An all-time personal favorite; the stuff dreams are made of.
99-90: Just this side of paradise, but still a masterpiece.
89-80: Not quite a masterpiece, but certainly top ten worthy.
79-70: Perhaps not top ten worthy, but a very good film nonetheless.
69-65: A significantly flawed film with just enough redeeming qualities
to recommend it.
64: This is a special category for films with a roughly equal amount
of merits and flaws, films that rate neither thumbs up nor
thumbs down, but rather thumbs across.
63-50: A film whose flaws clearly outweigh its merits.
49-40: A pretty bad movie, but not without redeeming qualities.
39-30: A negligible film with few redeeming qualities.
29-10: A film within hailing distance of Plan 9 From Outer Space.
9-0: Execrable junk, worthy of the infamous Golden Turkey award.
Key:
Any film title bracketed with /slashes/ indicates that I had previously seen it.
001. (Jan 1)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008)
Rating: 54
002. (Jan 1)
Birth (Jonathan Glazer, 2004)
Rating: 73
003. (Jan 3)
Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
Rating: 30
004. (Jan 4)
Be Kind Rewind (Michael Gondry, 2008)
Rating: 37
005. (Jan 6)
Millennium Actress (Satoshi Kon, 2002)
Rating: 70
006. (Jan 7)
Son of Rambow (Garth Jennings, 2008)
Rating: 57
007. (Jan 8)
The Magic Box (John Boulting, 1951)
Rating: 64
008. (Jan 9)
The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
Rating: 77
009. (Jan 10)
Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)
Rating: 67
010. (Jan 13)
Speed Racer (The Wachowski Brothers, 2008)
Rating: 36
011. (Jan 14)
/Sisters/ (Brian De Palma, 1973)
Rating: 69
012. (Jan 16)
Black Sunday (John Frankenheimer, 1977)
Rating: 63
013. (Jan 17)
/Blow Out/ (Brian De Palma, 1981)
Rating: 75
014. (Jan 18)
Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2008)
Rating: 62
015. (Jan 19)
Teacher’s Pet (Timothy Björklund, 2004)
Rating: 68
016. (Jan 22)
/Robocop/ (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
Rating: 71
017. (Jan 23)
The Golden Compass (Chris Weitz, 2007)
Rating: 53
018. (Jan 24)
/The Wrestler/ (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
Rating: 82
019. (Jan 24)
Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
Rating: 80
020. (Jan 26)
Nowhere in Africa (Caroline Link, 2001)
Rating: 74
021. (Jan 27)
Nine Queens (Fabián Bielinsky, 2000)
Rating: 56
022. (Jan 29)
/Stuck/ (Stuart Gordon, 2008)
Rating: 70
023. (Jan 30)
Defiance (Edward Zwick, 2008)
Rating: 46
024. (Jan 31)
Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008)
Rating: 39
025. (Jan 31)
Ghost Town (David Koepp, 2008)
Rating: 60
026. (Feb 1)
Che (Steven Soderbergh, 2008)
Rating: 53
0027. (Feb 2)
/The Fall/ (Tarsem, 2008)
Rating: 68
028. (Feb 4)
The Wackness (Jonathan Levine, 2008)
Rating: 51
029. (Feb 6)
/Burn after Reading/ (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2008)
Rating: 64
030. (Feb 6)
Eden Lake (James Watkins, 2008)
Rating: 68
031. (Feb 7)
My Blueberry Nights (Wong Kar-Wai, 2007)
Rating: 47
032. (Feb 7)
/In Bruges/ (Martin McDonagh, 2008)
Rating: 70
033. (Feb 8)
The Order of Myths (Margaret Brown, 2008)
Rating: 35
034. (Feb 8)
Personal Velocity (Rebecca Miller, 2002)
Rating: 50
035. (Feb 9)
Woman on the Beach (Hong Sang-soo, 2006)
Rating: 75
036. (Feb 11)
Hamlet 2 (Andrew Fleming, 2008)
Rating: 48
037. (Feb 12)
Turn the River (Chris Eigeman, 2008)
Rating: 57
038. (Feb 13)
/Forgetting Sarah Marshall/ (Nicholas Stoller, 2008)
Rating: 65
039. (Feb 14)
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
Rating: 66
040. (Feb 14)
/Vicky Christina Barcelona/ (Woody Allen, 2008)
Rating: 75
041. (Feb 14)
/Frozen River/ (Courtney Hunt, 2008)
Rating: 64
042. (Feb 15)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Bharat Nalluri, 2008)
Rating: 44
043. (Feb 16)
Still Life (Jia Zhang Ke, 2006)
Rating: 69
044. (Feb 17)
Blindness (Fernando Meirelles, 2008)
Rating: 41
046. (Feb 19)
/Rachel Getting Married/ (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
Rating: 68
047. (Feb 20)
Gomorra (Matteo Garrone, 2008)
Rating: 71
049. (Feb 21)
Choke (Clark Gregg, 2008)
Rating: 49
050. (Feb 24)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)
Rating: 68
051. (Feb 26)
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (Guillermo del Toro, 2008)
Rating: 65
052. (Feb 26)
Midnight Meat Train (Ryuhei Kitamura, 2008)
Rating: 39
053. (Feb 27)
The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)
Rating: 70
054. (Feb 28)
I’ve Loved You So Long (Philippe Claudel, 2008)
Rating: 45
055. (Feb 28)
Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008)
Rating: 68
056. (Mar 2)
Five (Arch Oboler, 1951)
Rating: 50
057. (March 4)
The Upturned Glass (Lawrence Huntington, 1947)
Rating: 44
058. (March 5)
Praise (John Curran, 1998)
Rating: 67
059. (March 6)
Death at a Funeral (Frank Oz, 2007)
Rating: 64
060. (March 7)
Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)
Rating: 72
061. (March 8)
L’Enfant (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2005)
Rating: 70
062. (March 10)
Salvatore Giuliano (Francesco Rosi, 1962)
Rating: 70
063. (March 11)
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (David Mirkin, 1997)
Rating: 34
064. (March 12)
See the Sea (François Ozon, 1997)
Rating: 64
065. (March 12)
The Ruins (Carter Smith, 2008)
Rating: 65
066. (March 13)
Frostbitten (Anders Banke, 2006)
Rating: 53
067. (March 14)
Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)
Rating: 70
068. (March 15)
El Vampiro (Fernando Méndez, 1957)
Rating: 39
069. (March 15)
/Dracula’s Daughter/ (Lambert Hillyer, 1936)
Rating: 52
070. (March 17)
Bullets or Ballots (William Keighley, 1936)
Rating: 70
071. (March 18)
/The Devil-Doll/ (Tod Browning, 1936)
Rating: 68
072. (March 19)
/Mad Love/ (Karl Freund, 1935)
Rating: 62
073. (March 20)
Sisters of the Gion (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936)
Rating: 77
074. (March 22)
Knowing (Alex Proyas, 2009)
Rating: 31
075. (March 22)
/My Man Godfrey/ (Gregory La Cava, 1936)
Rating: 70
076. (March 25)
Wife vs. Secretary (Clarence Brown, 1936)
Rating: 52
077. (March 26)
Mr. Thank You (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1936)
Rating: 60
078. (March 28)
I Love You, Man (John Hamburg, 2009)
Rating: 53
079. (March 28)
[REC] (Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, 2007)
Rating: 62
080. (March 29)
Duplicity (Tony Gilroy, 2009)
Rating: 64
081. (March 29)
No Sad Songs for Me (Rudolph Maté, 1950)
Rating: 40
082. (March 31)
She Married Her Boss (Gregory La Cava, 1935)
Rating: 47
083. (April 1)
/Things to Come/ (William Cameron Menzies, 1936)
Rating: 50
084. (April 2)
The Man Between (Carol Reed, 1953)
Rating: 70
085. (April 3)
Inside (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, 2007)
Rating: 5
Not sure why I’m giving this film such a high score. I will say this: this splatter film is repellently violent, yes, but its real downfall is how indescribably, mind-bogglingly idiotic it is. Nobody, I mean nobody, behaves remotely the way real people behave. People do things for just one reason in this movie: to set themselves up to be butchered in the bloodiest, goriest ways possible. I don’t have any moral reservations about “extreme” cinema; but I do have issues with inane cinema. And this is, make no mistake, inane cinema. Hilariously, in the DVD special features, the inept filmmakers earnestly talk about the film as if it were an important work. My guess is that we will not be hearing much from these hacks in the future.
086. (April 4)
The Blue Lagoon (Frank Launder, 1949)
Rating: 42
087. (April 5)
Blindman (Ferdinando Baldi, 1971)
Rating: 52
088. (April 5)
Confessions of an Opium Eater (Albert Zugsmith, 1962)
Rating: 57
089. (April 7)
Freeway (Matthew Bright, 1996)
Rating: 71
090. (April 10)
Timecrimes (Nacho Vigalondo, 2008)
Rating: 69
091. (April 11)
The Silent World (Jacques-Ives Cousteau & Louis Malle, 1956)
Rating: 35
092. (April 11)
Taking Off (Milos Forman, 1971)
Rating: 68
093. (April 11)
/Death Proof/ (Quentin Tarantino, 2007)
Rating: 65
094. (April 12)
Observe and Report (Jody Hill, 2009)
Rating: 58
095. (April 12)
I Was Born, But… (Yasujiro Ozu, 1932)
Rating: 71
096. (April 14)
On the Yard (Raphael D. Silver, 1979)
Rating: 56
097. (April 18)
Monsters vs. Aliens (Rob Letterman & Conrad Vernon, 2009)
Rating: 48
098. (April 18)
Twice Upon a Time (John Korty & Charles Swenson, 1983)
Rating: 66
099. (April 19)
Death by Hanging (Nagisa Oshima, 1968)
Rating: 62
100. (April 19)
Magnificent Obsession (John M. Stahl, 1935)
Rating: 44
101. (April 23)
Geordie (Frank Launder, 1955)
Rating: 49
103. (April 25)
Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009)
Rating: 64
104. (April 25)
Tom Brown’s Schooldays (Gordon Parry, 1951)
Rating: 38
105. (April 26)
Homebodies (Larry Yust, 1974)
Rating: 69
106. (April 28)
The Virgin and the Gypsy (Christopher Miles, 1970)
Rating: 43
107. (April 29)
La Bataille du Rail (René Clément, 1946)
Rating: 62
108. (May 1)
/Great Expectations/ (David Lean, 1946)
Rating: 76
109. (May 2)
Lymelife (Derick Martini, 2009)
Rating: 47
110. (May 3)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi, 2009)
Rating: 68
111. (May 3)
Black Sheep (Jonathan King, 2006)
Rating: 55
112. (May 4)
Sin Nombre (Cary Fukunaga, 2009)
Rating: 47
113. (May 8)
The Curse of the Crying Woman (Rafael Baledón, 1963)
Rating: 41
114. (May 8)
/28 Days Later/ (Danny Boyle, 2002)
Rating: 72
115. (May 9)
Star Trek (J.J. Abrams, 2009)
Rating: 69
116. (May 10)
Days and Clouds (Silvio Soldini, 2007)
Rating: 75
117. (May 11)
Alexandra (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2007)
Rating: 54
118. (May 12)
The Cheat (Cecil B. Demille, 1915)
Rating: 45
119. (May 13)
Crank (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, 2006)
Rating: 64
120. (May 14)
Sugar (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, 2009)
Rating: 59
121. (May 15)
Is Anybody There? (John Crowley, 2009)
Rating: 47
122. (May 16)
Tyson (James Toback, 2009)
Rating: 70
123. (May 16)
In the Electric Mist (Bertrand Tavenier, 2009)
Rating: 61
124. (May 17)
Somewhere in the Night (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1946)
Rating: 44
125. (May 20)
The Girlfriend Experience (Stephen Soderbergh, 2009)
Rating: 55
126. (May 21)
Titicut Follies (Frederick Wiseman, 1967)
Rating: 70
127. (May 21)
Splinter (Toby Wilkins, 2008)
Rating: 64
128. (May 22)
Marley and Me (David Frankel, 2008)
Rating: 65
129. (May 23)
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Steve Carr, 2009)
Rating: 39
130. (May 24)
Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008)
Rating: 44
131. (May 24)
The Uninvited (Charles Guard & Thomas Guard, 2009)
Rating: 29
132. (May 25)
Spermula (Charles Matton, 1976)
Rating: 35
133. (May 26)
Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani, 2009)
Rating: 62
134. (May 27)
/Rodan/ (Ishirô Honda, 1956)
Rating: 41
135. (May 28)
The Creeping Terror (Vic Savage, 1964)
Rating: ½
136. (May 29)
/Mothra vs. Godzilla/ (Ishirô Honda, 1964)
Rating: 64
137. (May 30)
Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009)
Rating: 64
What did you think, Anthony? I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high after hearing all the favorable buzz. I thought there were way too many cheap, unimaginative “Boo!” moments. The explicit references to Evil Dead 2 (eyeballs popping out and flying into the girl’s mouth; possessed people levitating and speaking in freaky voices) might impress those who’ve never seen his earlier films, but I thought he was just repeating himself - 20 years after the fact. The concluding twist is predictable. Above all, instead of Bruce Campbell in the lead we get Alison Lohman. Can you imagine how much better this would have been with BC in the starring role? Anyway, I will see it again when it comes out on DVD. Maybe I’ll like it more when my expectations aren’t so high.
138. (May 30)
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidora (Shusuke Kaneko, 2001)
Rating: 64
Many fans consider this the best Godzilla movie of all time, but it’s lacking one absolutely essential component: Akira Ifukube music. His music was always the best part of any Godzilla movie, and a Godzilla movie without Ifukube music could never be the best of the series.
139. (May 31)
Up (Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, 2009)
Rating: 80
140. (May 31)
Varan the Unbelievable (Ishirô Honda, 1958)
Rating: 22
141. (June 1)
The Railroad Man (Pietro Germi, 1956)
Rating: 56
142. (June 2)
Crazed Fruit (Kô Nakahira, 1956)
Rating: 53
143. (June 4)
Frankenstein vs. Baragon (Ishirô Honda, 1965)
Rating: 18
144. (June 6)
Monster Zero (Ishirô Honda, 1965)
Rating: 37
145. (June 7)
Momma’s Man (Azazel Jacobs, 2008)
Rating: 73
146. (June 8)
The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
Rating: 68
147. (June 11)
War of the Gargantuas (Ishirô Honda, 1966)
Rating: 62
148. (June 12)
Away We Go (Sam Mendes, 2009)
Rating: 53
149. (June 13)
Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (Ishirô Honda, 1964)
Rating: 55
150. (June 14)
The International (Tom Tykwer, 2009)
Rating: 48
151. (June 15)
Derby (Robert Kaylor, 1971)
Rating: 37
152. (June 18)
Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966)
Rating: 51
153. (June 19)
Kill, Baby, Kill (Mario Bava, 1966)
Rating: 64
154. (June 21)
The Twonky (Arch Oboler, 1953)
Rating: 40
155. (June 23)
Deep End (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1971)
Rating: 74
156. (June 24)
Red Angel (Yasuzo Masumura, 1966)
Rating: 71
157. (June 26)
The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2009)
Rating: 54
158. (June 27)
Food, Inc. (Robert Kenner, 2009)
Rating: 70
159. (June 28)
/Happiness/ (Todd Solondz, 1998)
Rating: 92
160. (July 1)
/El Dorado/ (Howard Hawks, 1966)
Rating: 72
161. (July 2)
Hawaii (George Roy Hill, 1966)
Rating: 43
162. (July 3)
Whatever Works (Woody Allen, 2009)
Rating: 64
163. (July 3)
Hunger (Henning Carlsen, 1966)
Rating: 67
164. (July 3-4)
The Pornographers (Shoehei Imamura, 1966)
Rating: 72
165. (July 5)
The Stoning of Soraya M (Cyrus Nowrasteh, 2009)
Rating: 49
166. (July 5)
Sunshine State (John Sayles, 2002)
Rating: 62
167. (July 6)
Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)
Rating: 62
168. (July 6)
Drive-In (Rodney Amateau, 1976)
Rating: 25
169. (July 7)
Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009)
Rating: 71
170. (July 7)
Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (Mark L. Lester, 1976)
Rating: 39
171. (July 8)
Chéri (Stephen Frears, 2009)
Rating: 51
172. (July 8)
The Match Factory Girl (Aki Kaurismäki, 1990)
Rating: 73
173. (July 9)
Truck Stop Women (Mark L. Lester, 1974)
Rating: 57
174. (July 10)
Brüno (Larry Charles, 2009)
Rating: 68
175. (July 10)
A Time to Kill (Joel Schumacher, 1996)
Rating: 47
176. (July 11)
Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, 2009)
Rating: 53
177. (July 11)
/The Outlaw Josey Wales/ (Clint Eastwood, 1976)
Rating: 70
178. (July 12)
The Merry Gentleman (Michael Keaton, 2009)
Rating: 69
179. (July 12)
/Obsession/ (Brian De Palma, 1976)
Rating: 66
180. (July 15)
The Haunting in Connecticut (Peter Cornwell, 2009)
Rating: 32
181. (July 16)
Grass (Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1925)
Rating: 70
182. (July 17-18)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mike Newell, 2005)
Rating: 64
183. (July 18)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2007)
Rating: 71
184. (July 19)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (David Yates, 2009)
Rating: 64
185. (July 19)
The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko, 1977)
Rating: 69
186. (July 22)
The Beast (Walerian Borowczyk, 1975)
Rating: 40
187. (July 25)
/Carrie/ (Brian De Palma, 1976)
Rating: 77
188. (July 26)
Who Can Kill a Child? (Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, 1976)
Rating: 69
189. (July 27)
The Trigger Effect (David Koepp, 1996)
Rating: 61
190. (July 28)
Adoration (Atom Egoyan, 2009)
Rating: 57
191. (July 29)
Sukiyaki Western Django (Takashi Miike, 2007)
Rating: 25
192. (July 30)
Lemonade Joe (Oldrich Lipský, 1964)
Rating: 65
193. (July 30)
The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati, 1976)
Rating: 47
194. (July 31)
Quigley Down Under (Simon Wincer, 1990)
Rating: 65
195. (August 1)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
Rating: 70
196. (August 2)
(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
Rating: 62
197. (August 3)
The Good, the Bad, the Weird (Kim Ji-woon, 2008)
Rating: 70
198. (August 5)
The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005)
Rating: 64
199. (August 6)
The Painted Veil (John Curran, 2006)
Rating: 68
200. (August 8)
A Perfect Getaway (David Twohy, 2009)
Rating: 52
201. (August 8)
In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)
Rating: 77
202. (August 9)
Orphan (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2009)
Rating: 62
203. (August 9)
Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009)
Rating: 71
204. (August 10)
The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009)
Rating: 60
205. (August 12)
Waking the Dead (Keith Gordon, 2000)
Rating: 66
206. (August 13)
The Cow (Dariush Mehrjui, 1969)
Rating: 70
207. (August 13)
Water Drops on Burning Rocks (François Ozon, 2000)
Rating: 46
208. (August 14)
Without Warning (Greydon Clark, 1980)
Rating: 37
209 (August 15)
District 9 (Neill BlomKamp, 2009)
Rating: 69
210. (August 16)
Julie & Julia (Nora Ephron, 2009)
Rating: 41
211. (August 17)
Fragments (Rowan Woods, 2009)
Rating: 27
212. (August 18)
The Great Buck Howard (Sean McGinly, 2009)
Rating: 42
213. (August 18)
The Soloist (Joe Wright, 2009)
Rating: 50
214. (August 20)
World’s Greatest Dad (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2009)
Rating: 69
215. (August 21)
Wristcutters: A Love Story (Goran Dukic, 2006)
Rating: 42
216. (August 22)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
Rating: 82
217. (August 23)
/Inglourious Basterds/ (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
Rating: 82
218. (August 23)
Welcome to Arrow Beach (Lawrence Harvey, 1974)
Rating: 28
219. (August 26)
Life is Hot in Cracktown (Buddy Giovinazzo, 2009)
Rating: 43
220. (August 27)
Sunshine Cleaning (Christine Jeffs, 2009)
Rating: 46
221. (August 27)
/Point Blank/ (John Boorman, 1967)
Rating: 75
222. (August 28)
Julia (Erick Zonca, 2008)
Rating: 74
223. (August 29)
Thirst (Chan-wook Park, 2009)
Rating: 62
224. (August 30)
Under the Sea 3D (Howard Hall, 2009)
Rating: 64
225. (August 30)
The Informers (Gregor Jordan, 2009)
Rating: 41
226. (August 31)
Paper Heart (Nicholas Jasenovec, 2009)
Rating: 53
227. (September 1)
Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (Anthony Newley, 1969)
Rating: 18
228. (September 3)
State of Play (Kevin Macdonald, 2009)
Rating: 68
229. (September 4)
Adam (Max Mayer, 2009)
Rating: 47
230. (September 4-5)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Tom Tykwer, 2006)
Rating: 62
231. (September 5)
/Coraline/ (Henry Selick, 2009)
Rating: 75
232. (September 6)
Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 2008)
Rating: 40
233. (September 6)
Quarantine (John Erick Dowdle, 2008)
Rating: 52
234. (September 7)
Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee, 2009)
Rating: 49
235. (September 7)
/Watchmen/ (Zack Snyder, 2009)
Rating: 70
236. (September 8)
Below the Belt (Rob Fowler, 1980)
Rating: 44
237. (September 10)
Dorm (Songyos Sugmakanan, 2006)
Rating: 52
238. (September 11)
The Hot Box (Joe Viola, 1972)
Rating: 23
239. (September 12)
Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008)
Rating: 53
240. (September 13)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
Rating: 63
241. (September 16)
Made in U.S.A. (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
Rating: 65
242. (September 17)
9 (Shane Acker, 2009)
Rating: 44
243. (September 18)
Fillmore (Richard T. Heffron, 1972)
Rating: 57
244. (September 19)
The Informant! (Steven Soderbergh, 2009)
Rating: 72
245. (September 19)
The Burning Plain (Guillermo Arriaga, 2008)
Rating: 41
246. (September 20)
Cold Souls (Sophie Barthes, 2009)
Rating: 48
247. (September 20)
Treeless Mountain (So Yong Kim, 2009)
Rating: 45
248. (September 21)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Phil Lord & Chris Miller, 2009)
Rating: 71
249. (September 22)
Battle for Terra (Aristomenis Tsirbas, 2009)
Rating: 47
250. (September 23)
Second Skin (Juan Carlos Pineiro-Escoriaza, 2009)
Rating: 66
251. (September 24)
Extract (Mike Judge, 2009)
Rating: 61
252. (September 25)
The Christine Jorgensen Story (Irving Rapper, 1970)
Rating: 15
253. (September 26)
Drive, He Said (Jack Nicholson, 1971)
Rating: 44
254. (September 27)
T.R. Baskin (Herbert Ross, 1971)
Rating: 49
255. (September 29)
Bright Star (Jane Campion, 2009)
Rating: 70
256. (October 1)
Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006)
Rating: 56
257. (October 2)
Ong-Bak (Prachya Pinkaew, 2003)
Rating: 47
258. (October 3)
Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore, 2009)
Rating: 45
259. (October 4)
/Pickup on South Street/ (Samuel Fuller, 1953)
Rating: 90
260. (October 5)
Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
Rating: 40
261. (October 6)
/The Black Cat/ (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934)
Rating: 68
262. (October 8)
/Eyes without a Face/ (Georges Franju, 1960)
Rating: 83
263. (October 9)
Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009)
Rating: 70
This is just an old-fashioned ghost story about things that (literally) go bump in the night dressed up in the fashionable, newfangled video diary format, but it works, mostly because it preys on an elemental fear: our sense of being vulnerable while sleeping.
264. (October 10)
/Modern Romance/ (Albert Brooks, 1981)
Rating: 91
265. (October 10)
Trick ‘r Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2009)
Rating: 61
266. (October 11)
/The Naked Spur/ (Anthony Mann, 1953)
Rating: 80
267. (October 13)
/Raise the Red Lantern/ (Zhang Yimou, 1991)
Rating: 77
268. (October 15)
/A Touch of Zen/ (King Hu, 1969)
Rating: 84
269. (October 16)
/Hangover Square/ (John Brahm, 1945)
Rating: 75
270. (October 17)
13 Frightened Girls (William Castle, 1963)
Rating: 13
271. (October 18)
/The Ballad of Narayama/ (Shohei Imamura, 1983)
Rating: 78
272. (October 21)
A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2009)
Rating: 78
273. (October 24)
Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
Rating: 43
274. (October 24)
/Drag Me to Hell/ (Sam Raimi, 2009)
Rating: 53
275. (October 27)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Carlos Saldanha & Mike Thurmeier, 2009)
Rating: 50
276. (October 30)
/Halloween/ (John Carpenter, 1978)
Rating: 82
277. (November 1)
Jerichow (Christian Petzold, 2009)
Rating: 58
278. (November 3)
Tulpan (Sergei Svortsevoy, 2009)
Rating: 70
279. (November 5)
The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009)
Rating: 72
280. (November 6)
/Crimes and Misdemeanors/ (Woody Allen, 1989)
Rating: 94
281. (November 7)
A Christmas Carol (Robert Zemeckis, 2009)
Rating: 42
282. (November 9)
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (Julien Temple, 2007)
Rating: 62
283. (November 10)
Ransom! (Alex Segal, 1956)
Rating: 48
284. (November 11)
The Halliday Brand (Joseph H. Lewis, 1957)
Rating: 50
285. (November 12)
Song at Midnight (Weibang Ma-Xu, 1937)
Rating: 28
286. (November 13)
An Education (Lone Scherfig, 2009)
Rating: 70
287. (November 14)
Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)
Rating: To be determined
288. (November 15)
Coco Before Chanel (Anne Fontaine, 2009)
Rating: 52
289. (November 16)
Gigantic (Matt Aselton, 2009)
Rating: 25
290. (November 18)
Street Angel (Yuan Muzhi, 1937)
Rating: 47
291. (November 19)
The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (Val Guest, 1957)
Rating: 56
292. (November 20)
Mad Dog Coll (Burt Balaban, 1961)
Rating: 41
293. (November 21)
Humpday (Lynn Shelton, 2009)
Rating: 72
294. (November 22)
Fighting (Dito Montiel, 2009)
Rating: 57
295. (November 24)
The Case Against Brooklyn (Paul Wendkos, 1958)
Rating: 53
296. (November 25)
The Undercover Man (Joseph H. Lewis, 1949)
Rating: 62
297. (November 26)
/Up/ (Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, 2009)
Rating: 80
298. (November 27)
The Box (Richard Kelly, 2009)
Rating: 48
299. (November 28)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, 2009)
Rating: 58
300. (November 29)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)
Rating: 75
301. (November 30)
The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009)
Rating: 43
302. (December 1)
The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, 2009)
Rating: 35
303. (December 2)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (Grant Heslov, 2009)
Rating: 64
304. (December 2)
/The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford/ (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
Rating: 92
305. (December 3)
Frownland (Ronald Bronstein, 2008)
Rating: 66
306. (December 4)
Brothers (Jim Sheridan, 2009)
Rating: 56
307. (December 5)
The Messenger (Oren Moverman, 2009)
Rating: 64
308. (December 9)
Kanchenjungha (Satyajit Ray, 1962)
Rating: 52
309. (December 11)
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2009)
Rating: 43
310. (December 11-12)
Gettysburg (Ronald F. Maxwell, 1993)
Rating: 45
311. (December 12)
Terminator Salvation (McG, 2009)
Rating: 47
312. (December 13)
Me and Orson Welles (Richard Linklater, 2009)
Rating: 65
313. (December 14)
Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008)
Rating: 75
314. (December 15)
The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
Rating: 62
315. (December 16)
Skin (Anthony Fabian, 2009)
Rating: 44
316. (December 18)
Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
Rating: 50
317. (December 19)
/Watchmen/ (Zach Snyder, 2009)
Rating: 70
318. (December 20)
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
Rating: 70
319. (December 23)
Police, Adjective (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009)
Rating: 75
320. (December 30)
The Maid (Sebastián Silva, 2009)
Rating: 62
Drag Me to Hell disappointed me too. It had it’s moments but I was expecting alot more because of all the positive reviews it was getting. If he had used Bruce Campbell it probably would’ve been awesome…
Saw it again, Anthony. Liked it even less the second time. The film strikes me as a vanity project, made by a Hollywood sell out trying to recapture the good old Evil Dead independent days. It simply doesn’t work.
Mat, I generally agree with your selections, but I noticed that you rated both Inglourious Basterds and Halloween with an 82. So, do you really believe that Halloween is that good?
Although I enjoyed Halloween for its suspense, it doesn’t have other qualities for me to grant its praise. If a rating is based on a movie’s relative quality (i.e., its targeted quality versus its realized quality), then I understand how a very ambitious film that only hits, but doesn’t exceed its mark, might receive a lower rating than a film with minimal ambition that achieves some acclaim. Is this how your rating works, or am I way off base in my thinking here?
Mark,
Yes, I really do believe that Halloween is that good. Granted, the film isn’t thematically sophisticated but as an exercise in pure horror/suspense it has few equals. It’s extraordinarily well made (the widescreen photography is particularly impressive, especially the way the killer is shown lurking around the edges of the screen) and the suspense sequences are second to none. Plus, there’s the unforgettable music! Carpenter wrote the music himself, and it’s remarkably effective, even though it’s also pretty simple. Much like the film itself.
Mat