skimpole

I am absolutely bananas over Murder on the Orient Express. It is absolutely one of my favorite movies, even in a year when there were probably more great movies than in any other year. Aesthetically, this is indefensible, but I just don't care. It is shocking how well Lumet does the Lubitsch touch, but also how haunting the score played at the beginning, and during the reenactment of the murder, is as well. And there are so many lovely bits, John Gielguld's valet's sharp gesture of his contempt for his boss, the gesture Rachel Roberts makes during the solution scene, the crew inspecting oysters before they're sent to the kitchen, Lauren Bacall's complete nonchalance on finding the murder weapon. And Albert Finney's performance is amazing, since he is so completely different from his character, and one watches him take vain pleasure in his own genius. Death on the Nile has a cleverer solution, but it's not at same level. And one might say the solution's slight at hand shows that Christie was capable of nothing more. I don't know why TCM doesn't show Coming Home or Go Tell the Spartans, so I've never seen them, and De Niro was at the stage of the career when he could do no wrong in The Deer Hunter. But Peter Ustinov really was the best actor of the year. Evil Under The Sun has a clever solution, but I can never remember the motive. I do like one scene where a husband gives his wife a playful slap on her behind when she runs away. As for And Then There Were None, I imagine Cary Grant as Lombard, Ingrid Bergman as Claythorne, Buster Keaton as Armstrong, Sydney Greenstreet as Wargrave, Mary Pickford as Brent, and, in a twist, Peter Lorre as Blore and the most sympathetic of the characters. I can imagine him at a crucial moment appearing on screen saying, "I don't anyone expected anything quite like this."

Well I've seen six of the eight best picture nominees. The six are all competent, enjoyable movies, but so far The Revenant is the one I like best. It actually has imagination, which is interesting because I wasn't that big a fan of Birdman.

Having seen Carol last night I have to disagree. I actually thought the cinematography was both intelligent and less artificial than that for Brooklyn, as well as making perfect sense for a movie that takes place in the winter of 1952. As despite the resemblances, Mara and Blanchett's characters aren't really like Hepburn or Bacall.

I saw six movies over the last two weeks: four this week and two for the week before. The silent version of The Blue Bird had some charm. The Duke of Burgundy is about a lesbian couple who engage in BDSM rituals. (They're also studying butterflies, which is what the title refers to.) This is interesting, but not easy for me to appreciate it. I probably don't have enough empathy for this sort of movie, where sex games have overshadowed everything else in the relationship. Yesterday evening, I watched Josie and the Pussycats, largely because there's problems with my audiovisual system that prevent me from watching DVDs, and it happened to be on television. It's kind of odd that this should be the one property from the Archie universe to make the big screen. It's not a very interesting movie, though Parker Posey makes a good villain, and one wishes more of the awful Cabot siblings. The other three movies were three of the best picture nominees. They're all good, but one wishes they could be better. Saoirse Ronan is so good in Brooklyn that you think the movie is actually better than it actually is. But I couldn't help but notice when I was watching it that it took some time for the movie to actually produce an individual character as opposed to the type of the shy, devoutly Catholic immigrant. Richard Brody criticized the movie since actual Irish women in the 1950s would show more curiosity about NYC than the intelligent and not unambitious character does in the course of the movie. Spotlight is competent, interesting journalism about the Boston Catholic sex abuse scandal. One wishes it showed more cinematic flair and that the characters showed greater emotional engagement with their subject. The Big Short is certainly more fun, though at times it appears like a more "responsible" and less imaginative The Wolf of Wall Street. One problem in its useful narrative is that the people who are betting on the world economy to collapse also have to double as the moral conscience of the movie, regularly getting appalled at the chicanery around them. That doesn't entirely work.

Ah the Academy Awards, so often honoring the right actors for the wrong roles. If you could give the Academy honorees for their best work, what would it be? Emil Jannings, The Last Laugh Warner Baxter, Haven't seen enough movies of his to care George Arliss, Ditto Lionel Barrymore, It's A Wonderful Life Wallace Berry, The Champ Fredric March, The Best Years of Our Lives Charles Laughton, This Land is Mine Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind Victor McLaglen, The Quiet Man Paul Muni, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Spencer Tracy, Adam's Rib Robert Donat, Goodbye Mr. Chips James Stewart, Vertigo Gary Cooper, High Noon James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy Paul Lukas, Watch on the Rhine Bing Crosby, The Bells of Saint Mary's Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder Ronald Colman, A Tale of Two Cities Laurence Olivier, The Entertainer Broderick Crawford, All the King's Men Jose Ferrer, Lawrence of Arabia Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca William Holden, The Wild Bunch Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire Ernest Borgnine, The Wild Bunch Yul Brynner, The Ten Commandments Alec Guinness, Lawrence of Arabia David Niven, Around the World in Eighty Days Charlton Heston, Touch of Evil Burt Lancaster, The Leopard Maximilian Schell, The Black Hole Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird Sidney Poitier, Sneakers Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady Lee Marvin, Point Break Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons Rod Steiger, The Pawnbroker Cliff Robertson, Not enough movies to judge John Wayne, The Searchers George C. Scott, Patton Gene Hackman, The Conversation Jack Lemmon, Some Like it Hot Art Carney, Not enough movies to judge: though I have vague positive impressions of The Late Show from two decades or more ago Jack Nicholson, Chinatown Peter Finch, The Red Tent Richard Dreyfuss, Jaws Jon Voight, Midnight Cowboy Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver Henry Fonda, 12 Angry Men Ben Kingsley, Gandhi Robert Duvall, The Godfather F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus William Hurt, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (I should point out that I really dislike Hurt intensely so it's not too surprising that my favorite role of his has him playing a smug sociopath.) Paul Newman, The Hustler Michael Douglas, Traffic Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune Anthony Hopkins, The Remains of the Day Al Pacino, The Godfather Tom Hanks, Splash Nicolas Cage, Raising Arizona Geoffrey Rush, Elizabeth Roberto Benigni, Down by Law Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects Russell Crowe, L.A. Confidential Denzel Washington, Inside Man Adrien Brody, The Pianist Sean Penn, Mystic River Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master Forest Whitaker, Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai Jeff Bridges, Cutter's Way Colin Firth, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Jean Dujardin, Haven't seen enough movies to choose Matthew McConaughey, The Wolf of Wall Street Eddie Redmayne, Haven't seen enough movies to choose, but certainly not the movie he won an oscar for Janet Gaynor, Sunrise Mary Pickford, Sparrows Norma Shearer, The Women Marie Dressler, Dinner at Eight Helen Hayes, My Son John Katherine Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story Claudette Colbert, The Palm Beach Story Bette Davis, All About Eve Luise Rainer, The Good Earth (quite frankly, not much of a choice) Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind Ginger Rogers, Top Hat Joan Fontaine, From this Day Forward Greer Garson, Goodbye Mr. Chips Jennifer Jones, Portrait of Jennnie Ingrid Bergman, Voyage in Italy Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce Olivia de Havilland, The Heiress Loretta Young, Man's Castle Jane Wyman, All that Heaven Allows Judy Holliday, The Marrying Kind Shirley Booth, Haven't seen any movies with her Audrey Hepburn, Two for the Road Grace Kelly, Rear Window Anna Magnani, L'Amore Joanne Woodward, The Age of Innocence Susan Hayward, The Lusty Men Simone Signoret, Casque D'Or Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Sophia Loren, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Anne Bancroft, 7 Women Patricia Neal, Hud Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria Julie Christie, Don't Look Now Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Glenda Jackson, Hopscotch Jane Fonda, Klute Liza Minnelli, Cabaret Ellen Burstyn, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Faye Dunaway, Chinatown Diane Keaton, Annie Hall Sally Field, Norma Rae Sissy Spacek, Badlands Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment Geraldine Page, Haven't seen enough movies to judge Marlee Matlin, haven't seen enough movies to judge Cher, Moonstruck Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs Jessica Tandy, The Birds Kathy Bates, haven't seen enough movies to judge Emma Thompson, Howard's End Holly Hunter, Raising Arizona Jessica Lange, The Music Box Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking Frances McDormand, Fargo Helen Hunt, haven't seen enough movies to judge Gwyneth Paltrow, Se7en Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry Juia Roberts, Erin Brockovich Halle Berry, Die Another Day Nicole Kidman, Dogville Charlize Theron, Monster Reese Witherspoon, Election Helen Mirren, The Queen Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night Kate Winslet, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Sandra Bullock, Speed Natalie Portman, Black Swan Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights

My choices for 1951 Alice in Wonderland The River Miracle in Milan Diary of a Country Priest Strangers on a Train Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire Chishu Ryu, Early Summer Gene Kelly, An American in Paris Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole Vivian Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire Kathryn Beaumont, Alice in Wonderland Ingrid Bergman, Europa 51 Setsuko Hara, Early Summer Patricia Walters, The River Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Holloway, The Lavender Hill Mob Sterling Holloway, Alice in Wonderland Adolphe Menjou, The Tall Target Richard Loo, The Steel Helmet Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire Chieko Higashiyama, Early Summer Ludmilla Tcherina, The Tales of Hoffman Nora Swinburne, The River Radha Burnier, The River Jean Renoir, The River

I have rather distinct memories of "Lyin' Eyes." Unfortunately it reminds me of Sunday afternoons where I was bored out of my mind since a quarter century ago many things were still closed on Sundays. Not the best thing to remember about Frey, but that has to be my last favorite Eagles song.

My choices for 1950 Sunset Blvd All About Eve The Flowers of Saint Francis La Ronde Orpheus George Sanders, All About Eve Humphrey Bogart, In a Lonely Place William Holden, Sunset Blvd Takashi Shimura, Rashomon Gregory Peck, The Gunfighter Gloria Swanson, Sunset Blvd Bette Davis, All About Eve Ingrid Bergman, Stromboli Peggy Cummins, Gun Crazy Gloria Grahame, In a Lonely Place Orson Welles, The Third Man Anton Walbrook, La Ronde Erich von Stroheim, Sunset Blvd. Severino Pasascione, The Flowers of Saint Francis Toshiro Mifune, Rashomon Alida Valli, The Third Man Anne Baxter, All About Eve Danielle Darrieux, La Ronde Maria Casares, Orpheus Thelma Ritter, All About Eve

Irony: (a) it's a black fly in your Chardonnay ( it's a death row pardon two minutes too late © it's the greatest Howard Hawks movie of all time being directed by Michael Curtiz.

Yes congratulations

I vote for Stevo Machino

I saw three movies last week. Jane Eyre was more interesting than I thought it would be. I wish I actually watched it more instead of listening to it while I made my dinner. The Little Fugitive was also interesting, and I can see why the French new wave was admired it, even if it did not quite meet the highest of standards. But I think the movie of the week was Victoria, At the beginning of this 138 minute single take, one might wonder what the point of such an exercise is. After all the first part seems to demonstrate little more than that hanging out with drunks after clubbing is not a good idea. And indeed, the movie goes on to show that in this case, it's a spectacularly bad idea. More to the point there doesn't seem to be much depth or grace in the single shot, in contrast to Sukorov, Jancso, Angelopoulos, Tarr or German. But as the movie goes on, it becomes progressively more exciting and alarming.

1945, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1967, 1985, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 are the years when none of the Best Picture nominees made my top 10, though to be fair I haven't seen them all. None of the 2015 nominees are on it yet, though I haven't seen six of the eight. 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1992 and 2001 are the years where three of the five nominees made my top 10.

Mad Max, Carol and Spotlight made the top three of both the Indiewire and Village Voice critics polls. I haven't seen six of the eight Best Picture nominees, but I did see Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria. I certainly liked her performance, and it won both critics polls by the largest margin of the four acting categories. So her being snubbed is a bit annoying.

This strikes me as more being tempted by such a person. Otherwise one would have to include all Ralph Bellamy movies.

Can you think of a movie where the woman went with the suitor who took no initiative, ran no risks and made no sacrifices?

Neat schedule Stevomachino! I like the SOTM, the Hayley Mills special, the choices for Silent Sunday, Imports and the Essentials. We don't see Black Narcissus all that often (though we see The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp even less). I also like the TCM Underground choices. I'm not seeing a voting thread. Has the challenge been extended another week?

I actually did see it on video sometimes in the mid nineties. All I remember about it is that York confronts a German plot which ultimately is unsuccessful and the zeppelin crashes. Now if TCM would show The Red Tent that would be awesome.

I saw six movies this week. The Martian shows Ridley Scott at his most competent. But I wonder whether it will be like American Gangster, a movie I saw before several classic Sidney Lumet movies that put it in the shade. I suspect it will be like Apollo 13, only slightly more off-beat, but ultimately forgettable competent entertainment. Certainly, the ending breeds suspicion. And the difference between it and A Man Escaped nicely encapsulates the difference between Scott and Bresson. The Spanish Earth was a propaganda film that lacked particular information and insight. Dr. Erlich's Magic Bullet was an OK scientific biography. Bulldog Drummond was an early sound film and while it ultimately doesn't amount to much, I can see why audiences warmed to Ronald Colman, who is comparatively more engaging than most actors in the very early silent era. Peter the Great, Part II is the sequel to the Soviet historical epic that I mentioned last year. Keeping in mind all the propaganda elements, it's not a bad film with some nice films. Zvenigora is clearly the movie of the week. Aside from reminding me that I should rewatch Earth again, a movie I treated too cursorily when I first saw it, this movie is a very strange one. Beautifully shot, visually dynamic, and with a strange plot that goes forth and back in time, I can see why Guy Maddin included it in his 2012 Sight and Sound top 10 poll.

Three interesting schedules everyone. Lydecker, I noted with particular interest your many pe-1960 premieres, Theo Van Gogh as your foreign film selection, and especially choosing Presumed Innocent as a premiere. Also having Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as the Essential is an interesting choice. Stoopnagle, I like having Dragnet Girl as a Silent film choice, celebrating Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday, and a spotlight for Nicholas Ray. Lonesome Polecat I'm intrigued by the choice of The Postman, a section on Stephen Sondheim musicals, as well as having A Boy Names Charlie Brown as a choice, as well as a spotlight on war movies made by actual war heroes.

Week of June 11, 2017 to June 17, 2017 SOTM: Setsuko Hara The Essentials: Late Spring (1949) Silent Sunday Nights: The Battle of the Somme (1916) TCM Imports: Grand Illusion (1937) and Life and Nothing But (1989) Friday Night Spotlight: Great Actresses and the Directors who Love them TCM Undergound: Vengeance in Mine (1979) Team Challenge: Liv Ullmann, James Mason, Tony Leung, Madhabi Mukherjee Premieres The Winds Rises (2013) The Shining (1980) The New World (2005) The Fixer (1968) Watership Down (1978) In the Mood For Love (2000) Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) The Chronicle of Anna Magadelana Bach (1968) Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927) The Usual Suspects (1995) The Docks of New York (1928) Faust (2011) The Sun (2005) The Sound of the Mountain (1954) The End of Summer (1961) Exempt Premieres The Battle of the Somme (1916) Life and Nothing But (1989) Shame (1968) Charulata (1964) Offside (2006) Shaolin Soccer (2001) Vengeance is Mine (1979) Breakdown 1910s: 2 1920s: 7 1930s: 19 1940s: 12 1950s: 15 1960s: 10 1970s: 10 1980s: 8 1990s: 2 2000s: 6 2010s: 2 I thought I would be too busy to actually work on a schedule this time around, which is why I haven't been commenting on this thread. But about a week ago, an idea come for my schedule. This will be a tribute to 65 years of Best Picture winners. Without any actual best pictures! In rough, but not exact chronological order! The four choices for Wings are fairly self-evident, as are those for All Quiet on the Western Front later that evening. The choices for The Broadway Melody include one musical with the song with the same name, another musical on Broadway, and one of Broadway's most famous names being honored. As for Cimarron the choices include the most famous musical about Oklahoma, and the movie with the funniest line about Oklahoma. The choices for Mutiny on the Bounty involve two mutinous actions, on land as it happens, with the second being a version of Billy Budd. The choices for Gone with the Wind deal with five societies that faced that fate. It includes two aristocracies, one based on slavery, and two indigenous societies. As it happens this week isn't that full of relevant anniversaries, but the 12th is the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, which struck down anti-miscegenation laws. This conveniently is relevant to the first two movies. Whether on the side of justice or against it, birthday boy Basil Rathbone shows You Can't Take it With You. There aren't that many movies about the Dreyfus affair, and the one movie that deals with the Leo Frank case, They Won't Forget, is a shameful evasion. So instead we look at the third anti-Semitic affair, the Beilis affair with the TCM premiere of The Fixer. I'm rather fond of my alternative/inspiration for Rebecca. In fact Suspicion is a surprisingly similar movie since in both Alfred Hitchcock directs Joan Fontaine in a story where she incorrectly believes that her husband is guilty of murdering his first wife. Mrs. Miniver is also the arrangement for the TEAM challenge. All five movies deal with middle class housewives under pressure of a sort, with Shame sharing with Mrs. Miniver a common wartime setting. The actual movie involving Liv Ullmann, James Mason, Tony Leung and Madhabi Mukherjee is open to many ideas, especially there's no particular time the actors all have to be at. And if Katherine Hepburn can play a Chinese woman, then Leung and Mukherjee can play any role they like. One thinks of Anna Karenina with Ullmann playing Anna to Mason's Karenin. Or Vronsky, earlier in his career, with Leung and Mukherjee as Levin and Kitty. One could imagine Vertigo with Leung as Scotty, Mason as Gavin Elster, and with Ullmann and Mukherjee as both versions of Kim Novak's character. We honor Going My Way with two more downbeat films about Catholic priests, then turn to The Best Days of our Lives with three movies about postwar Europe. All About Eve is honored with three movies that look at, respectively, the great actress, the successful understudy and the waspish critic. The Greatest Show on Earth conveniently meets the sports requirement, with movies about boxing, soccer and cycling. And Jean Seberg and Fred Astaire, are both Americans in Paris. Marty is honored by one movie each by Martin Scorsese, Martin Ritt, Steve Martin and Dean Martin. For people who think Gigi doesn't have the full charm of Lubitsch or Ophuls, we have a film from both honoring Gigi, along with Robert Altman's more downbeat movie about being a courtesan. The Sound of Music is honored with three movies that striking combine muisc and film. A Man for All Seasons has a film about Pascal, like Thomas More, an intellectual of strong Catholic convictions, bookended by the more sinister Faust, in versions by F.W. Murnau and Alexander Sokurov. Hollywood films by Maurice Chevalier and Jean Renoir make up The French Connection. And birthday boy Stan Laurel is the honored madcap comedian of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The Friday night spotlight are actresses and the directors who love them. The first four honor Annie Hall in that a gentile actress is involved with a Jewish director. Arguably The Heartbreak Kid not only deals with the same theme, while Jeannie Berlin is presumably loved by Elaine May, her mother. The four movies dealing with Out of Africa start with the racist Trader Horn which was a best picture nominee and arguably better than the winner that year, then movies that come from, respectively, Mali, Egypt and Senegal. The Last Emperor is honored with a movie about Hirohito who, if not Japan's last emperor, was the last one with any power. We reach star of the month Setsuko Hara, whose birthday fell on the 17th, and whose four movies conveniently exemplify Ordinary People. And we conclude the Japan theme with TCM Underground and Vengeance is Mine.

Sunday, June 11, 2017 Wings 06:00 AM With Byrd at the South Pole (1930) Paramount BW-82 min Rear Adm Richard E. Byrd No Director credited P/S 07:30 AM Hell's Angels (1930) United Artists BW-131 min Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow D: Howard Hughes P/S 09:45 AM Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Columbia BW-121 min Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell, D: Howard Hawks P/S 12:00 PM The Wind Rises (2013) Studio Ghibli C-126 min Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto D: Hayao Miyazaki PREMIERE #1 The Broadway Melody 02:15 PM Singin' in the Rain (1952) MGM C-103 min Gene Kelly, Debby Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen D: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen P/S 04:00 PM The Band Wagon (1953) MGM C-113 min Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant D: Vincente Minnelli P/S 06:00 PM Ziegfeld Follies (1945) MGM C-110 min Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, William Powell, Lena Horne, D: Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters, George Sidney and four others P/S Cimarron ("And if it [Oklahoma City] should get dull, you can always go over to Tul-sa for the weekend. I think a big change like that does one good, don't you?) 08:00 PM Oklahoma! (1955) RKO C-145 min Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Gloria Grahame D: Fred Zinnemann P/S 10:30 PM The Awful Truth (1937) Columbia BW-90 min Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy D: Leo McCarey P/S All Quiet on the Western Front 12:15 AM The Battle of the Somme (silent) (1916) British Topical Committee of War Films D; G.H. Malins, J.B. McDowell [EXEMPT] 01:45 AM Grand Illusion (Foreign) (1937) RAC BW-117 min Jean Gabin, Marcel Diallo, Erich von Stroheim D: Jean Renoir P/S 03:45 AM Life and Nothing But (Foreign) (1989) UGC C-135 min Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azema D: Bertrand Tavernier [EXEMPT] Monday, June 12, 2017 Mutiny on the Bounty 06:00 AM Red River (1948) United Artists BW-127 min John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan D: Howard Hawks P/S 08:15 AM Beau Travail (1999) Pyramide Distribution C-90 min Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Gregorie Colin D: Claire Denis P/S It Happened One Night 09:45 AM One Hour With You (1932) Paramount BW-80 min Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette Macdonald D: Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor P/S 11:15 AM Another Thin Man (1939) MGM BW-103 min William Powell, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith D: W.S. Van Dyke P/S Grand Hotel 01:00 PM Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953) Discina Films BW-114 min Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud D: Jacques Tati P/S 03:00 PM Avanti (1972) United Artists C- 140 min Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills D: Billy Wilder P/S 05:30 PM The Shining (1980) Warner Bros C-144 min Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers D: Stanley Kubrick Premiere#2 Gone With the Wind 08:00 PM The Birth of a Nation (1915) David W. Griffith Corp BW-193 min Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall D: D.W. Griffith P/S 11:30 PM The New World (2005) New Line Cinema C-135 min Q'orianka Kilcher, Colin Farrell, Christian Bale D: Terrence Malick Premiere#3 02:00 AM The Music Room (1958) Aurora BW-100 min Chhabi Biswas, Padma Devi, Gangapada Bose D: Satyajit Ray EXEMPT 03:45 AM Russian Ark (2002) The Hermitage Bridge Studio C-96 min Sergei Dontsov D: Alexander Sokurov P/S 05:30 AM Nanook of the North (1922) Les Freres Revillion BW-79 min Allakariallak, Nyla, D: Robert Flaherty P/S Tuesday, June 13, 2017 You Can't Take it With You (as birthday boy Basil Rathbone shows) 07:00 AM Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) Universal Studios BW-71 min Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce D: Roy William Neill P/S 08:15 AM The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Warner Bros, C-102 min Basil Rathbone, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains D: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley P/S 10:00 AM The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) 20th Century Fox BW-81 min Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino D: Alfred L. Werker P/S 11:30 AM The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) 20th Century Fox BW-80 min Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce D: Sidney Lanfield P/S 01:00 PM The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) RKO C-68 min Basil Rathbone, Bing Crosby D: Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronomi, James Algar P/S The Life of Emile Zola 02:15 PM The Fixer (1968) MGM C-132 Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde D: John Frankenheimer Premiere #4 Rebecca 04:30 PM Suspicion (1941) RKO BW-99 min Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke D: Alfred Hitchcock P/S How Green was my Valley 06:15 PM Watership Down (1978) Avco Embassy Pictures C-101 min John Hurt, Richard Briers, Zero Mostel D: Martin Rosen Premiere #5 Mrs. Miniver (or Five middle class housewives under pressure) (This is also the TEAM challenge: the four actors in question are bolded below.) 08:00 PM Shame (1968) Lopert Pictures Corporation BW-103 min Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand D: Ingmar Bergman TEAM-EXEMPT 10:00 PM The Reckless Moment (1949) Columbia BW-82 min Joan Bennett, James Mason D: Max Ophuls P/S 11:30 PM In the Mood for Love (2000) USA Films C-98 min Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung D: Wong Kar-Wai TEAM-EXEMPT 01:15 AM Charulata (1964) R.D. Bansal & Co BW-117 min Madhabi Mukherjee, Soumitra Chatterjee, Shalien Mukherjee D: Satyajit Ray Premiere #6 03:15 AM Tess (1980) Columbia C-186 min Natassja Kinski, Peter Firth D: Roman Polanski P/S Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Going My Way 06:30 AM Diary of a Country Priest (1951) Union Generale Cinematographique BW-115 min Claude Laydu, Jean Riveyre, Rachel Berendt, D: Robert Bresson P/S 08:30 AM I Confess (1953) Warner Bros BW-91 min Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden D: Alfred Hitchcock P/S The Best Years of Our Lives 10:15 AM Passport to Pimlico (1949) Ealing Studios BW-84 min Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford D: Henry Cornelius P/S 11:45 AM The Bicycle Thieves (1948) Produzioi De Sica BW-93 min Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola D: Vittorio De Sica P/S 01:30 PM Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) British Film Institute C-85 min Pete Postelthwaite, Freda Dowie, Lorraine Ashbourne D: Terrence Davies Premiere#7 All About Eve (the great actress, the successful understudy, the biting critic) 03:00 PM Sunset Boulevard (1950) Paramount BW-110 min Gloria Swanson, William Holden D: Billy Wilder P/S 05:00 PM 42nd Street (1933) Warner Bros BW-89 min Ruby Keeler, Warner Baxter, Dick Powell D: Lloyd Bacon P/S 06:30 PM Laura (1944) Fox BW:-87 min, Clifon Webb, Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney D: Otto Preminger P/S The Greatest Show on Earth (special sports feature) 08:00 PM Raging Bull (1980) United Artists BW-129 min Robert DeNiro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci D: Martin Scorsese P/S 10:15 PM Offside (2006) Sony Pictures Classics, C-93 min Shima Mobarak Shahi, Safar Samandar, Shayestah Irani D: Jafar Panahi SPORTS-EXEMPT 11:45 PM Shaolin Soccer (2001) Universe Entertainment Ltd C-87 min Stephen Chow, Zhao Wei D: Stephen Chow SPORTS-EXEMPT 01:15 AM Breaking Away (1979) 20th Century Fox C-101 min Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley D: Peter Yates P/S An American in Paris 03:00 AM Breathless (1960) UCG BW-87 min Jean Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg D: Jean-Luc Godard P/S 04:30 AM Funny Face (1957) Paramount C-103 min Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn D: Stanley Donen P/S Thursday, June 15, 2017 Marty 06:15 AM New York, New York (1977) United Artists C-163 min Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli D: Martin Scorsese P/S 09:00 AM The Spy who Came in From the Cold (1965) Paramount BW-112 min Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner D: Martin Ritt P/S 11:00 AM Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) MGM/United Artists C-88 min Steve Martin, Rachel Ward D: Carl Reiner P/S 12:30 PM Artists and Models (1955) Paramount C-102 min Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine D: Frank Tashlin P/S Gigi 02:15 PM La Ronde (1950) Films Sacha Gordin BW-97 min Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, Simone Simon D: Max Ophuls P/S 04:00 PM Angel (1937) Paramount BW-91 min Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Edward Everett Horton D: Ernst Lubitsch P/S 05:45 PM McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) Warner Bros C-121 min Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, D: Robert Altman P/S The Sound of Music 08:00 PM 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) MGM C-142 min Keir Dullea, Douglas Rain, Gary Lockwood D: Stanley Kubrick P/S 10:30 PM The Chronicle of Anna Magdelena Bach (1968) Frank Seitz Film Production BW-94 min Gustav Leonhardt, Christiane Lang D: Danielle Hulliet, Jean-Marie Straub Premiere#8 12:15 AM Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927) Fox Europa BW-65 min D: Walter Ruttmann Premiere#9 On the Waterfront 01:45 AM The Usual Suspects (1995) Polygram C-106 min Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Kevin Pollak D; Bryan Singer Premiere#10 03:45 AM The Docks of New York (1928) Paramount BW-76 min George Bancroft, Betty Compson D: Josef von Sternberg Premiere#11 05:15 AM Port of Shadows (1938) Franco London Films BW-91 min Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michele Morgan D: Marcel Carne P/S Friday, June 16, 2017 A Man for All Seasons 07:00 AM Faust (1926) UFA BW-100 min Gosta Ekman, Emil Jannings, William Dieterle D: F.W. Murnau P/S 08:45 AM Blaise Pascal (1972) RAI Radiotelevisone Italiana C-129 min Pierre Arditi, Rita Forzano D: Roberto Rossellini P/S 11:00 AM Faust (2011) Proline Film C-134 min Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinksy D: Alexander Sokurov Premiere#12 The French Connection 01:15 PM The Love Parade (1929) Paramount BW-107 min Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald D:Ernst Lubitsch P/S 03:15 PM The Southerner (1945) United Artists BW-92 min Zachary Scott, Betty Field D; Jean Renoir P/S One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (aka, happy birthday Stan Laurel) 05:00 PM The Music Box (1932) MGM BW-30 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert D: James Parrot P/S 05:30 PM Another Fine Mess (1930) MGM BW-28 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy D: James Parrot P/S 06:00 PM Be Big (1931) MGM BW-28 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Anita Garvin D: James M. Home P/S 06:30 PM Blotto (1930) MGM BW-26 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Anita Garvin D: James Parrot P/S 07:00 PM Big Business (1929) MGM BW-19 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jimmy Finlayson D: James M. Home, Leo McCarey P/S 07:30 PM Two Tars (1928) MGM BW-21 min Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy D: James Parrot P/S Annie Hall (as part of Friday Night Spotlight, great actresses and the directors who love them) 08:00 PM Manhattan (1979) United Artists BW-96 min Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway D: Woody Allen P/S 09:45 PM Morocco (1930) Paramount BW-82 min Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou D: Josef von Sternberg P/S 11:15 PM The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon me, but your Teeth are in my Neck (1967) MGM C-108 min Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Jack MacGowran, D: Roman Polanski P/S 01:15 AM Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Orion C-106 min Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Dianne Wiest, Max von Sydow D: Woody Allen P/S 03:15 AM The Heartbreak Kid (1972) 20th Century Fox C-106 min Jeannie Berlin, Charles Grodin, Cybil Shepherd D: Elaine May P/S Saturday, June 17, 2017 Platoon 05:15 AM They Were Expendable (1945) MGM BW-135 min Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed D: John Ford P/S 07:30 AM The Steel Helmet (1951) Lippert Pictures Inc BW-85 min Gene Evans, Robert Hutton D: Samuel Fuller P/S 09:00 AM Ivan's Childhood (1962), Mosfilm, BW-95 min, Nikolai Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeny Zharikov D: Andrei Tarkovsky Out of Africa 10:45 AM Trader Horn (1931) MGM BW-122 min Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, Duncan Renaldo D: W.S. Van Dyke P/S 01:00 PM Yeelen (1987) Atriascop Paris C-105 min Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare D: Souleymane Cisse P/S 02:45 PM Cairo Station (1958) Gabriel Talhamy BW-95 min Youssef Chahrine, Hind Rostum, Farid Shawqi D: Yussef Chahine P/S 04:30 PM Touki Bouki (1973) Cinegrit Studio Kankourama C-85 min Magaye Niang, Mareme Niang D: Djibril Diop Mambety P/S The Last Emperor 06:00 PM The Sun (2005) Nikola Film C-115 min Issei Ogata, Robert Dawson D: Alexander Sokurov Premiere #13 Ordinary People (star of the Month Setsuko Hara) 08:00 PM (Essentials) Late Spring (1949) Shochiku BW-108 min Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu D: Yasujiro Ozu 10:00 PM Early Summer (1951) Shochiku BW-125 min Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima D: Yasujiro Ozu P/S 12:15 AM Sound of the Mountain (1954) Toho BW-96 min Setsuko Hara, So Yamamura D: Mikio Naruse Premiere#14 02:00 AM The End of Summer (1961) Toho C-103 min Setsuko Hara, Ganjiro Makamura D: Yasujiro Ozu Premiere #15 Unforgiven 03:45 AM (Underground) Vengeance is Mine (1979) Shochiku C-129 min Ken Ogata, Rentaro Mikuni, Mitsuko Baisho D: Shohei Imamura EXEMPT

We finally get the premiere of The Young Girls of Rochefort. Pity that I'll probably be out of the continent on vacation when that happens.

There used to be a website called listsfobests or something like that. The point is that you could mark off lists like "1001 movies" and I recall marking 90% of it off.

I saw seven movies over the last two weeks, two in the first week, five last week. Sicario has a good surface, but questions soon arise. For a start, is it really a good idea to hide so many bodies in a Arizona suburb. And there's one seen of helicopters panning the Mexican landscape where the score is so bombastic you think Godzilla is going to pop up. And instead of a real political critique of the drug war, there is a conspiracy angle that doesn't really make much sense if you think about it too hard and amounts to a cop out. Guardians of the Galaxy is the kind of Hollywood blockbuster one thought Hollywood didn't know how to make anymore. It's actually amusing and competent in parts, though the grand climax is a bit weak. Incidentally, there are two teams with that name in the Marvel universe, with the movie being about the second one. Michael Rooker plays the only member of the original team alluded to, and he does have one scene to show just how tough he is. The Assassin is an opaque movie, and it could be clearer. But that just means you should see it more than once. It is a beautiful movie, as well as a subtle and thoughtful one. Two Weeks in Another Town was interesting, the sort of movie about Hollywood Vincent Minnelli could make and be of some value. Although more "grown up" than The Bad and the Beautiful, it isn't as well regarded. Nor do I think this is necessarily unfair. Another Thin Man isn't as good as the previous two Thin Man movies, though it's certainly enjoyable. And I could think of movies that would be a lot worse to end the year with. Smile in retrospect looks like shooting fish in a barrel, but that doesn't mean that beauty contests don't deserve it. One might think the small town hypocrisy is laid on a little thick. But the characters do try to muddle through. Jonathan Rosenbaum compared it to American Beauty, and it does have more integrity than that movie. Divine Madness is actually kind of fun.