LawrenceA

Bogie, I haven't seen SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN, THE HUNT, IN THE HOUSE, ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, or THE ACT OF KILLING. I know the first two, and the last. One of them is on the 1001 list. All-in-all, 2012 wasn't a great year for me. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS probably won't be liked as much by others as much as I liked it. As a horror fan, that genre has been in a sorry state for quite some time. So when one comes along with so much originality, while also commenting mercilessly on how unoriginal so many horror movies are, I am extra pleased. The very best advice for this one is know as little about it as possible before seeing it. LOOPER is a time travel sci-fi/crime flick. The attention to the time travel mechanics are noteworthy, but my tolerance of Joseph Gordon Levitt, especially when doing a Bruce Willis impression, only goes so far. DREDD is a brutal,straight ahead action film, one of the best in a while, and much better than expected. END OF WATCH was, again, much better than expected, with good performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. THE AVENGERS is THE AVENGERS. Big Hollywood summer film, with better actors and dialogue than most. COMPLIANCE is an uncomfortable experience, but as bizarre and unbelievable as it gets, it's all 100% true.

2012 - 167 films seen 1. The Cabin in the Woods 2. Life of Pi 3. Lincoln 4. Skyfall 5. Cloud Atlas 6. Looper 7. Silver Linings Playbook 8. Django Unchained 9. The Master 10. Argo Runner-ups: The Impossible, Dredd, End of Watch, The Avengers, and Compliance. Uncle Bingo's Kartoon Korner: Frankenweenie & Brave Larry's Choice: none

Here are the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die entries for 2011: The Artist Bridesmaids The Cabin in the Woods The Descendants Drive The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo The Kid with a Bike** Le Havre A Separation** Shame Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy The Tree of Life War Horse

kingrat, nice choices. I agree about BEST EXOTIC... I liked the film much more than I expected to, but with that stellar cast it's hard to go wrong. I also agree about critical dismissal of a lot of over-50 films, but I certainly wouldn't include horror in a list of critically admired genres. In fact, I can't think of a genre that's more consistently critically reviled. THE ARTIST was cute, I felt, but seemed to mostly wow people who have never seen a silent movie. I'm not trying to lump you in with that crowd, obviously; as a regular TCM viewer, your film knowledge is broader than the average filmgoer. For my tastes, THE ARTIST was a nice movie, but not exceptional beyond its b & w cinematography and silent-film premise. I caught LE HAVRE when it was on, too. It got off to a rocky start for me, but came around by the end.

No, I was being stupid. Paul Muni was only 4' 9''.

Both Gary Cooper and James Stewart are listed as 6'3''. John Wayne was 6' 3 and a half inches. Vincent Price was 6' 4''. Christopher Lee was 6' 5'', but you wouldn't really call him a leading man.

1930

SPARTACUS

Paul Muni was 6' 9''.

Bette Midler was in THE ROSE with Fredric Forrest

The Sundance film festival is in full swing at the moment, and an article I just read talked about a standout film screened there. It's the story of the Nat Turner slave rebellion, and is the work of young African-American writer, director, and star Nate Parker. The film received multiple standing ovations, and was quickly purchased by Fox Searchlight in the biggest acquisition of the festival. The word out of the screening is that it is already the front runner for the next Oscars. What do you think? The choice of title is sure to be inflammatory to some. And after the racial diversity controversy of this year's Oscar season, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Gabriel Over the White House

Jack Klugman

Katharine Hepburn was in GRACE QUIGLEY with Nick Nolte

AN ACT OF MURDER

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION Next: dog walker

Largo, Maximillian - Klaus Maria Brandauer in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Limitless were both genre films that looked unexceptional from the trailers. I was really surprised and impressed by how good they both ended up being. Especially with the Apes film, I didn't think there was anything left to say, and had no desire to see it. But friends insisted, and I'm glad I did. Hot Coffee is one of those documentarys that get your blood boiling. It's about the concerted effort by corporate America and right-wing politicians to demonize and marginalize civil litigation in the U.S. Take Shelter is an interesting indie drama that may or may not have a supernatural element. Regardless, Michael Shannon is terrific in it. The Raid: Redemption is a breathless martial arts film from Indonesia. It was immediately greenlit for an English-language remake. See the original first! The Innkeepers is from Ti West, a director who's making a name for himself with his odd, throwback style. His films aren't gory or ultra violent. They have original, fully drawn characters dealing with strange occurrences. I have heard his films lumped in with the mumblecore movement, if you know what that is. His earlier film The House of the Devil is also recommended.

Bogie, I haven't seen We Need to Talk About Kevin, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Kung Fu Panda 2, or Carnage. I have Tintin to watch, but haven't yet, either. Attack the Block was on my longer runner-up list.

SansFin, I haven't heard of Notes from the New World or Land of Oblivion. Edit: I just looked up the latter film, and it looks very interesting. Plus, I like Olga Kurylenko. TopBilled, I haven't seen Water for Elephants, Habemus Papum, or Pariah. I also haven't seen, but have copies of, Coriolanus and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Swithin, I still haven't seen that Woody doc.

Well, it IS in my Larry's Choice section, and not in my actual top ten or runner-ups.

I've been reading a book on the history of music videos and MTV and how they changed the music industry. There's an entire chapter devoted to a single video, considered so terrible that it derailed a musician's career for good. And said musician was coming off of back-to-back hit albums and heavy-rotation rock radio singles. So enjoy:

2011 - 186 films seen 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2. Drive 3. The Tree of Life 4. The Descendants 5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes 6. Hugo 7. Warrior 8. Contagion 9. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 10. The Raid: Redemption Runner-ups: Midnight in Paris, Limitless, Take Shelter, The Innkeepers, and Hot Coffee. Uncle Bingo's Kartoon Korner: none (I haven't seen any) Larry's Choice: Hobo with a Shotgun - I usually don't like films that set out to be a cult film. They usually try too hard and fail to be anything but dumb and annoying. But Hobo with a Shotgun succeeds where others have failed.

Here are the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die entries for 2010: Black Swan Cave of Forgotten Dreams** Four Lions** Inception The King's Speech Monsters Nostalgia for the Light** Of Gods and Men (no one mentioned this, but it's very good, and worth seeing) Senna** The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit

PSYCHO (1960) and PSYCHO (1998) FUNNY GAMES (1997) and FUNNY GAMES (2007)