Hey, look: I found the envelope where I'd been putting my 2007 stubs until I started to strew them all over the house--let's see whether I even remember having seen these!
- Killer of Sheep (1977) (4/7, IFC)--Not sure I'm quite as enthusiastic about this recently resurfaced minimalist narrative by Charles Burnett, but it's certainly gritty, intense, and unique.
- Die Große Stille (Into Great Silence) (5/6, Crit)--Here's another hard sell: nearly three hours of near silence about Carthusian monks. Add to that the fact that I'd done my annual Connecticut Food Bank Walk Against Hunger that day, with shoes that weren't broken in and were killing my feet, and how could I have loved it? Yet I did.
- Zodiac (3/4, Post 14)--Manohla Dargis of the Times seems to think this is the best thing . . . well, since she overrated Inland Empire a year ago. Don't get me wrong: both films are more than worth seeing. But not Citizen Kane. Or even No Country for Old Men.
- Zoo (5/27, IFC)--Wooooo! Men fucking and being fucked by horses! I know I read at least one review that raved that the filmmakers avoided sensationalism. OK, I'll grant that given the subject matter, it's as tastefully done as it can be. But as Stan Marsh would say, dude, this is pretty fucked up here.
- Away from Her (5/28, Crit)--I was already a big Sarah Polley fan, but it just ain't right that someone who's not yet 30 should be able to burrow into Alzheimer's so convincingly. Also, Oscar-worthy performances by both Christie and Pinsent--and if the Academy loved Afflicted Guy as much in supporting roles as in leads, Michael Murphy would be a lock, too.
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley (4/14, Mad)--Don't remember much about it, except that I was a bit disappointed; there just doesn't seem to be a lot of variety in these Irish-independence films.
- Duck Soup (1933) (3/25, Crit)--"Something must be done! War would mean a prohibitive increase in our taxes." "Hey, I got an uncle lives in Texas." "No, I'm talking about taxes--money, dollars!" "Dallas! There's a-where my uncle lives! Dallas, Texas!"
- Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (Curse of the Golden Flower) (6/8, Crit)--Oh, all these way-back-when mythic Chinese people-walking-in-the-air and huge-armies-in-gaudily-colorful-dress films are beautiful and exciting, but this one didn't break any new ground, or stick with me enough that I could remember what I'd seen from the ticket stub's "The Golden." [1/14 update: oops: here's the "Curse of th" ticket stub that is obiously for this movie (same venue, 1/12). But the good news is that I've figured out what "The Golden" was . . . ]
- Nuovomondo (The golden door) (6/8, Crit)--A magnificent depiction of the immigrant experience from homeland desperation to Ellis Island degradation. It's like that one part of The Godfather, Part II expanded to feature length.
- Year of the Dog (4/28, Orange)--But in dog years, that's only about 52 days. OK, but not up to my anticipation. Fine performance by Sarsgaard, though.
- Psycho (1960) (4/21, Crit)--Now this is a film that's enhanced by viewing it in a big crowd--though it probably would have been enhanced even more if I'd gone to the 11:30pm show rather than the 11am.
- 28 Weeks Later (5/19, Post 14)--Well, I don't think I'll need to own it, as I needed to own 28 Days Later, but as sequels go, it's pretty effective. But now that [SPOILER ALERT] the virus has reached France, what's the third one gonna be called? 28 mois plus tard?
- Hot Fuzz (4/21, Crit)--Brutally funny, mixing slapstick with smart allusions.
- Day Night Day Night (5/27, IFC)--Stayed for a late show so that I could see this astonishly intense story of a suicide bomber whose motives are murky at best (that being part of the point). Let's see more of Luisa Williams.
- Paris, je t'aime (5/27, Sun)--Great concept, and a few good shorts--I remember liking Alexander Payne's, and I seem to recall that Christopher Doyle's worked for me, but too many of them suffer from novelist-trying-to-write-a-short-story syndrome: they try to wrap things up with O. Henry surprise endings. I went despite the reviews, not because of them, and I'm glad to have had a chance to see it--and I'm in for the upcoming New York, I Love You--but I wish there had been more to it.
- The TV Set (5/11, Crit)--One of the pleasantest surprises of the year--maybe I haven't given David Duchovny enough credit.
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