4v291o
Watched on Tuesday May 6, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday April 12, 2025.
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Watched on Sunday April 6, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday March 22, 2025.
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Its heart is in the right place, and the callbacks to classic animation are certainly appreciated.
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Cashing in on Laura Gemser's success in the Black Emmanuelle movies, presents a series of stripteases and one bloody native ceremony to achieve a semi-mondo atmosphere. Most of the strip acts seem to be filmed in the same club, so the overall result is more like Ed Wood's Orgy of the Dead, though with women more suited to the modern eye, not to mention pubic hair. Watchable in 10-15 minute chunks.
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Acquired the 4K restoration of the hand-painted original available from Flicker Alley and developed sympathetic pains in my shoulders, neck, eyes and hands imagining what it must have been like to paint this frame by frame.
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Watched on Saturday February 22, 2025.
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That's a half-star (at least) for the sheer moxie involved in actually pulling this off.
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Not as dire as I had been warned, but a few too many violations of the "found footage" concept.
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Watched on Friday February 14, 2025.
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Watched on Sunday February 9, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday February 1, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday February 1, 2025.
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Watched on Thursday January 23, 2025.
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Watched on Saturday January 18, 2025.
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Really, that's a full star for Beverly Garland alone.
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Watched on Saturday January 4, 2025.
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Watched on Tuesday December 24, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday December 21, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday December 21, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday November 30, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday November 30, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday November 24, 2024.
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Watched on Friday November 22, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday October 20, 2024.
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Watched on Monday October 14, 2024.
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Watched on Friday September 6, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday July 6, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday June 29, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday June 9, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday June 8, 2024.
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Watched on Friday June 7, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday June 1, 2024.
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Watched on Friday May 24, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday May 19, 2024.
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Watched on Friday May 17, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday May 12, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday May 5, 2024.
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Watched on Thursday May 2, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday April 28, 2024.
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Watched on Friday April 26, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday April 20, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday April 13, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday April 6, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday March 23, 2024.
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Watched on Friday March 15, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday March 9, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday March 9, 2024.
]]>For several years now, a group of like-minded (some would say brain-damaged) friends have been gathering for a bi-monthly showing of movies that would be best defined as (ahem) the Cinema of Diminished Expectations - though we occasionally slip in a movie of quality for its high Psychotronic content, or just plain coolness. In time, someone referred to this as a "Crapfest", and the name stuck.
Special thanks must go to David Harlan for his peerless hosting of the event and his record-keeping before I started blogging about these things at Yes I Know.
- H.O.T.S.
- Joysticks
- The Beach Girls
- Super Mario Bros.
- Surf II: The End of the Trilogy
- Shogun Assassin
- Magic Christmas Tree
- Sugar Hill
- Evilspeak
- Mystics in Bali
...plus 221 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Work in Progress
- The 13th Warrior
- 1941
- 20 Million Miles to Earth
- The 27th Day
- The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
- The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- [REC]
- [REC]²
...plus 675 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>There will be plenty of lists in this Showdown spotlighting the usual suspects - the exploitation flicks accepted as "good" by filmgoers. I wanted to go a bit deeper on mine, perhaps a bit off the beaten path.
]]>- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- Alien
- Aliens
- Arabian Nights
- Arrival
- Baraka
...plus 91 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I have been so bad this year. Looking forward to doing better in 2020.
]]>Look! Up in the trees! It's coming!
Hubrisween is a tradition started in 2013 by Tim Lehnerer because life wasn't tough enough. Start October 6, and review one horror movie a night A-Z, ending on October 31.
Four years ago there were three of us. In 2015 that grew to five, and so it was in 2016. This is a movie blog pyramid scheme, but the payoff is... actually, I'm not sure, but I've been assured there is one. Time es, and we're down to three blogs and a podcast.
Participating websites: The Terrible Claw Reviews, Microbrewed Reviews, and my own, Yes I Know. The podcast is The Fiasco Brothers Watch a Movie.
This list should be updated daily. Please hit "Read Notes" for links to the reviews.
- A Cold Night's Death
- Anaconda
- Another WolfCop
- Arcane Sorcerer
- Below
- Big Ass Spider!
- The Black Scorpion
- The Boogens
- The Car
- Cast a Deadly Spell
...plus 91 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I have purposely watched a lot of bad movies in my life. My first movie blog, back in the days of Web 1.0, was called The Bad Movie Report. I still participate in an endurance event called Crapfest. So whenever I say something like, "That's not the worst thing I've seen," the response is, "So what IS the worst thing you've seen?" That's a harder question than you might think - I have a tendency to find something to enjoy in movies most people instantly dismiss.
So I do not put movies on a list like this lightly. These are the movies that not are not only devoid of any entertainment value, they also cause physical pain and outrage when you watch them. Generally, the worst movie you are ever going to see will merely be boring - but these? These are The Worst.
- The Avengers
- Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
- Blackenstein
- The Body Shop
- Blood Cult
- Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
- Dondi
- Escape from Galaxy 3
- Halloween Hell
- Intercessor: Another Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare
...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Though I was too young at the time to completely appreciate it, PBS' 1972 series Film Odyssey, hosted by critic Charles Champlin, changed me irrevocably. I never hung around for Champlin's post-movie interviews with filmmakers, which is something I would eat with a spoon today.
But what the series certainly did was kindle my love for movies by showing me they were more than what were shown on TV to fill afternoon and late night time slots. This list of the movies shown is, in part, to help me track down the films I didn't see, and to help my son in his filmic education.
- Jules and Jim
- The Blue Angel
- Grand Illusion
- M
- Seven Samurai
- Beauty and the Beast
- Ivan the Terrible, Part I
- The 39 Steps
- The Rules of the Game
- Intimate Lighting
...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Yeah, I said I wasn't going to do this again. I lied.
Last year was a good time to skip The List, honestly - I was too depressed and upset to follow a regimen like that. I didn't watch as many movies as I did in happier times, and what I did watch was largely escapist trash. Don't get me wrong, I like escapist trash. But it doesn't stick to the ribs.
So here we are, a mix of trash and better than trash. I need to catch up on some kid flicks, and there are some classics I've been putting off for too long.
Good luck to us all in the coming year!
- [REC]³ Genesis
- All the President's Men
- Annihilation
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Arcane Sorcerer
- Arrival
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Bad Day at Black Rock
- The Beast
- Below
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>So an article of this name by James O'Malley appeared in Gizmodo, and this is the only way I could actually visualize/quantify how much of a film snob I am. (I didn't have that many fingers and kept losing my place when making tick marks on paper)
- Seven Samurai
- Mulholland Drive
- Apocalypse Now
- Come and See
- Magnolia
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Vertigo
- Taxi Driver
- Stalker
- Metropolis
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Stolen from MattSinger. He limited his list to Blu-Ray, but as a recent convert to Blu-Ray myself, it would make for a terribly short list. My lust for Criterion editions began back in my Laserdisc days, which is why you'll see some titles here that are not available on DVD or Blu-Ray. This is a respectable listing... but one can never have too many Criterions. I think you know what I mean.
Consider all titles to be on DVD, unless otherwise noted. They are arranged by spine number, because for some reason I wanted this to be really hard.
- Head
- Easy Rider
- Five Easy Pieces
- Drive, He Said
- A Safe Place
- The Last Picture Show
- The King of Marvin Gardens
- Seven Samurai
Blu-Ray, DVD AND Laserdisc!
- The Lady Vanishes
Blu-ray
- Beauty and the Beast
...plus 236 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Look! Up in the trees! It's coming!
Hubrisween is a tradition started in 2013 by Tim Lehnerer because life wasn't tough enough. Start October 6, and review one horror movie a night A-Z, ending on October 31.
Two years ago there were three of us. In 2015 that grew to five, and so it was in 2016. This is a movie blog pyramid scheme, but the payoff is... actually, I'm not sure, but I've been assured there is one. Time es, and we're back down to four.
Participating websites: The Terrible Claw Reviews, Microbrewed Reviews, Web of the Big Damn Spider, and my own, Yes I Know.
This list should be updated daily. Please hit "Read Notes" for links to the reviews.
- Adam and Eve
- Alien: Covenant
- Altered
- Among Friends
- The Beast with a Million Eyes
- Best Friends Forever
- Brides of Blood
- The Bye Bye Man
- Caltiki, the Immortal Monster
- Carrie
...plus 94 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>In order of their watching, which seemed simplest. Ranking some of these above others would be an impossible task.
]]>Cinemonster has become my Jiminy Cricket for movie-watching. I followed his lead in my list for 2015. Then, it's not even Christmas, and he's posted his list for 2016.
FINE.
My list for 2016 isn't as high-minded as 2015's. One hard lesson I learned last year Involved not listing many of the movies for a Halloween Roundtable I do every year, which put me rather behind.
So there's all those nasty lowbrow horror movies, judge me as you will. There's still enough here that allow me to raise my pinky at better dinner parties.
As if I have time for dinner parties.
I learned some lessons last year, and am being a little nicer to myself this year. Things like adding in the aforementioned roundtables, movies I know I will be journeying to a theater to see, and generally trying not to make this one feel like work.
Watching movies should never feel like work.
- 28 Days Later
Watched 10/26/16.
- The Seventh Victim
Watched 10/23/2016,
- Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin
Watched 9/4/16.
- Alucarda
Watched 2/19/16.
- The American Astronaut
Watched 5/17/16.
- Andrei Rublev
Watched 1/17/16. Review
- Bone Tomahawk
Watched 1/25/16. Review
- The Boxer's Omen
Watched 6/1/16.
- The Boy Friend
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Watched 1/13/16.
...plus 92 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Look! Up in the trees! It's coming!
Hubrisween is a tradition started in 2013 by Tim Lehnerer because life wasn't tough enough. Start October 6, and review one horror movie a night A-Z, ending on October 31.
Two years ago there were three of us. In 2015 that grew to five. This is a movie blog pyramid scheme, but the payoff is... actually, I'm not sure, but I've been assured there is one. We were nearly six in number this year, but the new guy chewed through his straps. Well, maybe next year.
Participating websites: Checkpoint Telstar, The Terrible Claw Reviews, Microbrewed Reviews, Web of the Big Damn Spider, and my own, Yes I Know.
This list should be updated daily. Please hit "Read Notes" for links to the reviews.
- Alligator 2: The Mutation
- Alucarda
- The Asphyx
- Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
- The Attic
- The Black Cat
- Blacula
- Body Snatchers
- The Boxer's Omen
- Brain Dead
...plus 117 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- Alien
- Aliens
- Andrei Rublev
- Arabian Nights
- Baraka
- Being There
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>KeithATC published a list of his Top 30 movies viewed for the first time in 2015, which is brilliant. It provides more breathing room than a Top 10 list, and I don't feel that I'm slighting anyone.
Keith also watched more movies than me last year, so he limited himself to one movie per director. If I'd done that, the list would have been shorter, I'm afraid...
More or less in the order in which I watched them last year:
- Army of Shadows
- Lisztomania
- Modern Times
- Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
- Blood and Black Lace
- Peeping Tom
- Through a Glass Darkly
- Le Samouraï
- Mon Oncle
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I grumble when I have to make top 10s. But the peer pressure is starting to hurt my eardrums. First views for 2015 only.
You'll also notice I rarely go out to theaters, so this list is all over the place, chronologically.
]]>My Watchlist mocks me. It is huge, and grows every week, thanks to reading other people's lists on Letterboxd. I have a shelf devoted to Priority Movies. It has fattened itself up to a second shelf, then an overflow box.
Cinemonster posted a list of 100 movies he will absolutely watch this year. Others are bravely following suit. How could I do any less?
(Best of all, cloning Cinemonster's list gave me a jump on making this one - our lists overlapped by 13 movies at least.)
- Belle de Jour
Watched 1/15/15. Review
- City Lights
Watched 8/5/15. Review
- The Great Dictator
Watched 6/14/15. Review
- Modern Times
Watched 3/29/15. Review
- Smiles of a Summer Night
Watched 6/18/15. Review
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Watched 5/17/15. Review
- In the Heat of the Night
Watched 12/7/15.
- Ms .45
Watched 12/21/15.
- Venom
Watched 5/17/15. Review
- Ace in the Hole
Watched 11/30/15.
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Look! Up in the trees! It's coming!
Hubrisween is a tradition started in 2013 by Tim Lehnerer because life wasn't tough enough. Start October 6, and review one horror movie a night A-Z, ending on October 31.
Last year there were three of us. This year there are five. This is a movie blog pyramid scheme, but the payoff is... actually, I'm not sure, but I've been assured there is one.
Participating websites: Checkpoint Telstar, The Terrible Claw Reviews, Microbrewed Reviews, Web of the Big Damn Spider, and my own, Yes I Know.
This list should be updated daily. Please hit "Read Notes" for links to the reviews.
- Anaconda
- Anthropophagous
- Arachnia
- The Asphyx
- The Awful Dr. Orlof
- The Babadook
- The Beach Girls and the Monster
- Bedlam
- Blood and Lace
- Krocodylus
...plus 115 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
- Alien
- Aliens
- Arabian Nights
- Baraka
- Being There
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Casablanca
- Children of Men
...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>In no particular order...
- Powaqqatsi
- Tremors
- Baraka
- My Neighbor Totoro
- The Iron Giant
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1
- The Call of Cthulhu
- Inception
- Samsara
- Seven Samurai
...plus 78 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Hubrisween was a term created by my friend, Tim Lehnerer, for a task that some considered insane: A movie a night in October, running through the alphabet from A-Z, reviewing each, with the letter Z premiering on Halloween. This time, two other movie bloggers, including me, decided to play along.
I'll be attempting to update this list every night until the Challenge is completed, with links to the reviews (be sure you're in List view or click the "Read Notes" button to see the links). The participating blogs are Checkpoint Telstar, The Terrible Claw Reviews, and my own blog, Yes, I Know.
- The Alligator People
- Attack of the Crab Monsters
- The Aztec Mummy
- The Bay
- Beast of Blood
- The Boogens
- Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
- Crocodile
- The Curse of Frankenstein
- Dangerous Seductress
...plus 67 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
- Wild Strawberries
- Children of Men
- Hellzapoppin'
- The Raid 2
- The Gold Rush
- Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
- The Phantom Carriage
- High and Low
- Guardians of the Galaxy
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>This happened last year, but I see no sign of it happening this year. What the heck, it was a unique challenge, I enjoyed myself. I'm gonna do it again this year, even if I'm the only one.
The rules are simple: a movie a night, for 26 nights. Each movie begins with a different letter of the alphabet, until you've run from A to Z. I'm also trying to stick to no rewatches, though a couple I haven't seen in twenty years or more, so the effect is almost the same.
- An American Hippie in Israel
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Battleship
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Children of Men
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Dementia
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Eating Raoul
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Following
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Ganja & Hess
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Harold and Maude
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Review at Yes, I Know.
- Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
Review at Yes, I Know.
...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Steve Grzesiak posted his shame in List of Shame, which led me to wonder if my shame is greater. There is a possibility...
I really hope to be deleting some of these soon...
- 8½
- Ace in the Hole
- The Apartment
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- City Lights
- Come and See
- Dog Day Afternoon
- Elmer Gantry
- Five Easy Pieces
- The French Connection
...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Shamelessly stolen from Dirk Hasselman: My Top Ten Movies from the year of my birth. In no particular order:
]]>So I like movies. That's obvious, or I wouldn't be here, right? So, for mental exercise one day, I decided to try to pick out the one movie for each year that was significant for me. Not necessarily the best movie, just the ones that meant something to me. Sometimes that just came down to "What have I watched more times than any other movie?" How else did you think Plan 9 beat out North by Northwest?
So here we are, 1957- so far:
- Throne of Blood
- Touch of Evil
- Plan 9 from Outer Space
- Psycho
- Yojimbo
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Jason and the Argonauts
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Help!
- Fantastic Voyage
...plus 47 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>At 56 years of age, I'm still catching up on essential cinema. These are the best of what I finally caught up on in 2012. I also did this for 2013.
- Harakiri
- Three Outlaw Samurai
- Fear and Desire
- The Killing
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
- Paths of Glory
- The Prestige
- Bonnie and Clyde
- The Street Fighter
- Sherlock Jr.
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>At 57 years of age, I'm still catching up on essential cinema. These are the best of what I finally caught up on in 2013. I also did this for 2012.
- The Decameron
- The Canterbury Tales
- The Most Dangerous Game
- Arabian Nights
- The Seventh Seal
- Black Narcissus
- Diabolique
- Emperor of the North
- The Holy Mountain
- The Red Shoes
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>First watches only, no rewatches allowed.
]]>As detailed here, the idea is to go through the alphabet a letter a day in March, with a movie each day starting with that letter. It's a whole lot more interesting to me than basketball, that's for sure.
- Attack the Block
- Black Narcissus
- Cronos
- Diabolique
- Emperor of the North
- Flareup
- Go Tell the Spartans
- The Holy Mountain
- Intercessor: Another Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare
- John Carter
...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>As described here, the idea is to spend May watching a different film from Roger Ebert's Great Movies each night, and also Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. To my shame, it was all too easy to find 30 movies from the list I had not yet seen.
- Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
- Faust
- Man with a Movie Camera
- Triumph of the Will
- Metropolis
- Rio Bravo
- The Big Sleep
- Stagecoach
- Beat the Devil
- Double Indemnity
...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I'm not much good at these. But here is my list of the 25 movies I seem to find essential, based on repeated viewings.
Ask me tomorrow, the list will be different.
(...not a particularly high-brow list, is it?)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- Aliens
- Casablanca
- Death Race 2000
- Duck Soup
- Eraserhead
- Evil Dead II
- Hard Boiled
- Head
...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>After I left a lengthy comment on the list "The Vampire Films That People Should Be Watching Instead of That Twilight Crap", and I was STILL thinking of movies after hitting "Post", I realized I should just make my own list.
THIS IS NOT A DEFINITIVE LIST, NOR WAS IT EVER MEANT TO BE. These are movies I have A) seen, and can attest to their quality, and B) enjoyed.
There are a few movies on here that I'm just sort of ambivalent toward (LOST BOYS, VAMP), but they are at least well-made and entertaining.
Suggestions are welcome, but realize that A) some movies I just haven't had the time to see yet, (Stupid job! Stupid sleep!) and that's likely why your favorite isn't on here, and B) there is no way in hell you will ever convince me that BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA was a good movie.
- Nosferatu
- Dracula
- Drácula
- Vampyr
- Dracula's Daughter
- Son of Dracula
- Dracula
- The Return of Dracula
- Blood of the Vampire
- Curse of the Undead
...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I watched 167 films (at least) in 2012, here's the tops.
- The Cabin in the Woods
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Powaqqatsi
- Brave
- Ikiru
- Death Race 2000
- Psycho
- The Godfather
- The Godfather Part II
- La Jetée
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I, personally, was over zombie movies about ten years ago. That hasn't stopped them from being made at a ludicrous rate ever since, though.
My best friend in the world loves them - and since we currently live on opposite sides of the city, she often complains that she no longer has anyone to see them with. Then she threatens to have a bunch of the old gang together to her house for a sleepover and zombie movie party.
I'd give up my personal moratorium for that. But what movies would I suggest? Funny you should ask.
This list is intended to run from dusk 'till dawn. Coffee and popcorn recommended. First one to go to sleep gets their bra put in the freezer. Please replace your speaker on the pole before driving away.
There are notes for those of you interested.
- Dawn of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead commands respect as the first. Day of the Dead is a bleak, powerful downer. This one gets the mix perfectly. It will also make all the old mall fans sigh in nostalgia.
- Prince of Darkness
Kind of stretching the definition of zombie, but not by much. Can't help it, I champion this movie wherever I can.
- Tombs of the Blind Dead
Underrated Spanish zombie movie with unique, creepy zombies and occasional weird diversions, but one hell of a disturbing closer.
- Shaun of the Dead
Time for an intentional larf.
- Zombie Flesh Eaters
It was inevitable that at least one Fulci movie would be on this list, so of course: it would be this one. Not my favorite, but you can't deny it involves zombies.
- Evil Dead II
Intentional larfs continue, but with a ton of thrills to balance them out.
- House of the Dead
This is the movie that broke me of zombie movies. Laughter is probably the only thing keeping us awake by now, and this offers them aplenty.
- The Cabin in the Woods
The ultimate show closer. The first American-made horror movie I have been able to unconditionally recommend in years. Plus: there's zombies.
When I'm tired, when I'm sick, when I'm depressed, my movie comfort food is a martial arts movie. I don't know why, but it always works.
Here is a list of my favorites. It was hard limiting it to ten (an arbitrary number, to be sure, but if it were open-ended I would never finish it) and I tried to spread the love around as much as I could.
There are notes, if that's your thing.
- A Touch of Zen
I love this one because not only is it a good story, but the fighting is fairly realistic... up to the point the heroes do some extraordinary acrobatics, leaving their companions gawping in disbelief. Such maneuvers would later become commonplace.
- Master of the Flying Guillotine
Realism totally out the window for this one, and I couldn't be happier. A delirious exercise in outrageous action. Perhaps Jimmy Wang Yu's finest hour.
- Heroes of the East
One of the best Chinese vs Japanese martial arts movies ever, and quite likely the best martial arts movie, period. Liu Chia-liang made a different brand of movie from Chang Cheh, less operatic, more humanistic and enduring.
- Kid with the Golden Arm
Plot stripped to the bone, this is more comic book than movie, with superheroes fighting to prevent supervillains from stealing a gold shipment meant for flood victims. Chang Cheh and the Venoms made some of the best kung fu flicks. Great fun.
- The Legend of the Swordsman
Speaking of unrealistic, and not caring about it: I walked from the theater dazed, and a confirmed Jet Li fan.
- Drunken Master II
Jackie Chan had to appear on this list somewhere, and why not with this? A beautiful marriage of his roots and his mature movie-making skills.
- Iron Monkey
Superb throwback to late 70s kung fu standard themes. Donnie Yen finally (for the most part) forsaking speeded-fights for scenes that showed off his superb form. My favorite Yuen Woo-ping movie, and that is saying something.
- Chocolate
I also wanted to make sure a Thai flick was on here, and Chocolate nudged out Ong Bak and Born to Fight on the basis of some truly extraordinary fights and at least three instances of "Oh my God, they just killed that stuntman!"
- Ip Man
We needed to get some newer Chinese movies in here, and I finally settled on Ip Man. The newer movies tend to push their propaganda on you, but at least in Ip Man, it is smoothly integrated into the story. Sammo Hung's fight choreography is amazing, and Donnie Yen definitely comes into his own.
- The Raid
I left the theater bruised.