200 Movies in 2020 Challenge!

[Vishop]

58.The Day The Earth Stood Still(1951)
59.The Conversation(1974)
60.The Graduate(1967)
61.The King of Comedy(1982)
62.The Killing(1956)

[Mister Mets]

Haven't updated in some time.



Movie #17/ 1960s Movie #1/ Criterion Edition #1: Blast of Silence
The early neo-noir has much to recommend: lovely cinematography, especially when it comes to the early 1960s New York locations, and a focus on the minutiae of being a hitman (scouting the target, obtaining weapons that require specialized modifications.) Director Allen Baron is able to explore the internal crisis of a professional killer who starts feeling lonely on Christmas in a way that doesn’t hit the expected beats.
8/10

Movie #18/ Seen In Theaters #9/ 2019 Movie #7: 1917
Seeing it again, maybe it’s a little slow at times as a result of the mostly real-time single-take approach. Maybe. But there’s so much that works spectacularly well to highlight missions where it’s dangerous even if you don’t actually encounter the enemy.
10/10

Movie #19/ New Movie #11/ 1950s Movie #1: Daddy Long Legs
The Fred Astaire/ Leslie Caron (two-time Academy Award nominee; lead in the Best Picture winner Gigi) has some impressive sequences, but can’t get past a really skeevy story of a wealthy middle-aged trust-funder falling for an 18 year old orphan who becomes roommates with his niece after he sponsors her. The film’s characters become aware that that’s a little weird, and then the focus is on why the couple works so well despite that.
6/10

Movie #20/ New Movie #12/ 2010s Movie #2: The Tribe
It’s a well-told story of a teen who comes to a new school and falls in with the wrong crowd, getting involved in very criminal behavior. It’s a standard enough coming of age story, except much much darker than usual (Larry Kramer has come up a lot in the reviews). The gimmick is that most of the characters are deaf, communicating exclusively through sign language, almost turning this into a silent film (the noise of the world still matters; there is simply the added tension that the characters are unaware of it all.) The nuance and specifics are lost, but much is gained in an unusual expressiveness where a slap or a punch is part of conversation.
8/10

Movie #21/ New Movie #13/ 1970s Movie #4: The Buddy Holly Story
This musical biopic is pretty standard. Buddy Holly faces opposition in his burgeoning music career, and keeps succeeding by not being awesome and not compromising his values. It’s strange to see Gary Busey actually giving a really good performance, and while the movie is predictable and somewhat cliched (to be fair, some of that might be due to how later films like Bohemian Rhapsody told very similar stories of a lead singer facing conflict with his bandmates) but it is a lot of fun, and gets across the personality of one of the original rock and roll stars.
8/10

Movie #22/ New Movie #14/ 1930s Movie #1: Devil Dogs of the Air
I watched this James Cagney/ Pat O’Brien pre-World War II marine film with my dad, and the main interest is the effects and the historical airplanes, rather than cliched conflicts, where there really isn’t much of an enemy (these films get a lot better in World War II, where there are greater stakes.)
7/10



Movie #23/ 2000s Movie #1/ Finnish Movie #1: Helsinki Forever
This take on Helsinki in film looks at the history of the city and the different sections, some of which are known much more to the locals than to the tourists. It’s very relaxing, and something that could be done to great effect with other cities. It could feel like a 70 minute Youtube video, but if so, it’s a very well made one.
8/10

Movie #24/ New Movie #15/ Seen In Theaters #9/ 2020 Movie #5: The Invisible Man
The Blumhouse reimagining considers the Invisible Man with a focus on the victim, ably played by Elizabeth Moss, who can obviously convey much more range than the typical horror movie screen queen (granted, there is a lot to terrify any lead here.) It explores more modern ideas of gaslighting, surveillance and abusive, powerful men. The twists are mostly excellent, although there are some questionable moments, even if one of the biggest (evidence that can prove someone’s innocence and left in the bad guy’s mansion) has tremendous and satisfying payoff at the end.
8/10

Movie #25/ New Movie #16/ 1960s Movie #2/ Criterion Edition #2: Festival
An impressive documentary capturing the folk scene in the mid-60s, with the expected standouts (lots of Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary) and some legends discovered in the nick of time, so their performances are still impressive. It’s fun and there’s a lot to appreciate (teens reverently listening to an old blues man singing about his nine inch candy stick; three Bob Dylan covers in very quick succession.) After Monterey Pop and Woodstock, I’m a bit disappointed to see a documentary where they won’t typically do the full songs, especially with a much-hyped single minute of a spaced out Johnny Cash doing “Walk the Line.”
9/10

Movie #26/ 1930s Movie #2: Steamboat ‘Round the Bend
Watching the John Ford/ Will Rogers comedy again, the good bits (a history museum retrofitted for a southern audience, a steamboat race, the search for a particular revivalist preacher) do hold up, even if much of it is dated, in terms of depictions of conflicts between the educated and the swamp people of Louisiana.
7/10

Movie #27/ 1990s Movie #3: The Truman Show
It’s a clever concept; a man living in a seemingly ordinary life unaware that the rest of the world is watching, and they have some fun with it. Jim Carrey is great at depicting the dawning realization that something very strange is going on, as he starts testing the limits of the world. Ed Harris steals the show as the producer who has developed a paternal relationship with Truman, while controlling everything that’s going on in his life.
9/10

Movie #28/ 1990s Movie #4: Dazed and Confused
Linklater’s comedy gets across the aimlessness of a group of teenagers in Austin, while also featuring some iconic moments, a high amount of which come from bit player Matthew McConaughey in his film debut.
8/10

Movie #29/ Silent Movie #1: The Thief of Bagdad
This is just one of the great fantasy movies, and probably the best silent adventure fantasy film, with one of the all-time great charismatic leads in Douglas Fairbanks, and tremendous effects, sequences and production designs. There is a great sense of joy to it.
10/10

[Mister Mets]

Movie #30/ New Movie #17/ Estonian Film #1/ 2019 Movie #8: Truth & Justice
This is the first Estonian film adaptation of the nation’s great novel, so it’s a relief that all involved handled it pretty well (even making the ten film short-list of best foreign language films, although not the final nominations.) I’m sure Estonian students are happy to have an alternative to reading the 550+ pages of the novel to get a sense of the major cultural touchstones. The story is intimate (set largely in a farm) but iconic, showing the struggles of a man trying to do what is right, while slowly getting corrupted and being blind to his own shortcomings. It gets the obvious stuff (one of the great neighbor rivalries in literature) as well as the subtle (the taciturn typically Estonian farmer unable to truly express himself.)
9/10

Movie #31/ New Movie #18/ 1930s Movie #3: Drums Along the Mohawk
I had seen one John Ford film earlier in the year with Steamboat ‘Round the Bend, but I do aim to get some more use out of the massive Ford at Fox box set I’ve had for years. This is probably one of the least-remembered Ford/ Fonda collaborations. It was just bad luck to have a star-studded drama about newlyweds dealing with pivotal moments in American history come out in the same year as Gone With the Wind. This is an okay drama about the revolutionary war, which gets better with the arrival of Edna May Oliver’s tough as nails widow, a curmudgeonly boss and ally. It’s John Ford’s third best film from an year with Young Mr Lincoln and Stagecoach, but it’s alright.
7/10

Movie #32/ New Film #19/ 1930s Movie #4: Doctor Bull
The first collaboration between John Ford and Will Rogers suffers from some technical limitations that make it difficult to recommend (it was an early sound film so the quality isn’t great even before considering the need for a more complex restoration.) This is the kind of story of one man standing up for old-fashioned small-town values that Capra would handle a lot better, although it is a decent showcase for one of the biggest movie stars of his day.
6/10

Movie #33/ 2010s Movie #3: Contagion
This medical procedural has gotten much more relevant lately, as the situation is no longer a weird hypothetical but similar to something we’re dealing with now. It’s exceptional at showing the potential effects of a new pandemic, intersected with smaller stories.
9/10

Movie #34/ New Movie #20/ 1970s Movie #5: The Crazies
George Romero’s non-zombie movie about a plague that makes people go crazy is certainly not subtle, but it’s interesting to see a contagion film where the main civilian characters get into fatal encounters with the army. This is a story where there are no bad guys, and everyone’s out for themselves. It shows the potential chaos of a crisis.
7/10

Movie #35/ 2000s Movie #2: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy continues to hold up. Peter Jackson & company avoid the problems of an overstuffed middle film, by setting up some of the most extraordinary battles in fantasy films, and showcasing Andy Serkis’ Gollum, a different type of monster: pathetic and tragic, but still dangerous.
10/10

Movie #36/ John Ford Film #4/ Henry Fonda Film #2/ “Greatest Year” Film #2/ 1930s Movie #5/ Criterion Edition #3: Young Mr Lincoln
This is an interesting period legal drama, illustrating some of the legends about young Abraham Lincoln. Henry Fonda doesn’t exactly disappear into the role, but it does fit his stoic but friendly demeanor.
9/10



Movie #37/1940s Film #1: My Darling Clementine
Watching this, I’m almost convinced that no Western could be better. There are so many beats that are standard for westerns, but they work here because it’s so mythic, depicting events that will be etched in the nation’s memory. The rivalry between Henry Fonda’s Wyatt Earp and Victor Mature’s dying Doc Holiday does take some different turns, overshadowing the cattle thieves who are the ostensible villains, although they get their moments.
10/10

Movie #38/ New Movie #21/ 1980s Movie #1: Flesh & Blood
The final collaboration between Paul Verhoeven & Rutger Hauer certainly shows the horrors of medieval Europe, in a way Game of Thrones fans might appreciate. It’s pretty nasty, with betrayal, rape, and the plague, although there is substance to it, in the stories of survival at any cost during changing times.
7/10

Movie #39/ 1940s Movie #2: The Lady Eve
It’s Preston Sturges at his wittiest, Henry Fonda as an occasionally goofball straight man, and Barbara Stanwyck as the con artist who falls for him. Very funny and very charming.
9/10

Movie #40/ New Film#22/ 1930s Movie #6: Gunga Din
Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr make for a fun trio in an adventure movie, although it seems kinda slow after all the pastiches of the era (Spielberg’s Indiana Jones, Joe Johnston’s Captain America.)
7/10

Movie #41/ New Film#23/ 1990s Movie #5: The Snapper
This is a solid dramedy by Stephen Frears about a large tight-knit Irish family that has to adjust when the oldest daughter is pregnant and won’t say who the father is. It’s elevated by little touches that highlight the family and the culture.
8/10

Movie #42/ 1970s Movie #6: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
With the Coronavirus, I can identify a lot more with the scenes where the main characters are worried about whether strangers will be able to pass on their condition. This is an effective invasion film, showing the arrival of something truly alien, and a slow building of paranoia.
9/10

Movie #43/ 1940s Movie #3: Laura
The noir classic of an investigator who falls in love with the woman whose murder he is trying to solve is elevated by Clifton Webb’s toxic broadcaster, and some classic twists that really change the story.
9/10

Movie #44/ Silent Movie #2: Phantom of the Opera (Kino Restoration)
The Kino restoration is fantastic, showcasing the fantastic set design, as well as innovative uses of tinting/ color. Lon Chaney’s Phantom remains one of the great silent villains; sympathetic but also quite mad.
10/10

[Mister Mets]

Movie #45/ New Movie #24/Silent Movie #3: The Fall of the House of Usher
This adaptation of several Edgar Allan Poe stories is short, but dreamlike. The sense of atmosphere and the visuals are extraordinary.
9/10

Movie #46/ “Greatest Year” Film #4/ 1930s Movie #7: Ninotchka
It might not be that surprising that a collaboration between Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder results in one of the wittiest scripts ever, a clash of cultures of the freedom and decadence of France versus the coldness and efficiency of the Soviet Union, as exemplified in a romance between Greta Garbo’s initially cold Soviet envoy and Melvin Douglas’s debonair playboy.
10/10

Movie #47/ New Film #25/ 1990s Movie #6/ Ebert Favorite #6/ Finnish Film #2/ Criterion Edition #4: The Match Factory Girl
Aki Kaurismäki tells a story of a melodramatic situation, with a character who is barely expressive. There’s a scene where she writes a letter, and seems to talk more and with greater emotion than in the rest of the film combined. The style is fantastic, and there are some really great touches that establish the reasons for her simple but extraordinary revenge.
9/10

Movie #48/ New Film #26/ 1950s Movie #2/ French Film #3/ Criterion Edition #5: The Lovers
Louis Malle’s French New Wave drama provides an unconventional resolution to a love triangle as a house-wife deals with a stiff husband insisting the blowhard boyfriend come for a visit. Then her car breaks down, and a third option emerges.
9/10

Movie #49/ New Film #27/ 2010s Movie #4: Byzantium
This is an odd vampire film by Neil Jordan. The concept of an immortal mother and daughter seemingly close in age has a lot of potential. The scenes largely cover their origins in Britain during the Napoleonic wars and the modern era, with nothing in between, so this is a film I didn’t like that much, but could imagine as a TV show. It unravels pretty easily if you pull some threads apart, and the final showdown seems artificial, but there’s some good to it.
6/10

Movie #50/ 1960s Movie #3: Once Upon a Time in the West
Seeing it after binging a few Henry Fonda films does highlight the boldness and effectiveness of the decision to cast him as the villain. There is a greater maturity to this than in the Dollars trilogy, exploring some common western themes (the changing of an era, a gunslinger seeking revenge on behalf of a loved one) with Leone’s signature aesthetic and a tremendous score by Ennio Morricone.
10/10

Movie #51/ New Movie #28/ 1980s Movie #2: The Navigator A Medieval Odyssey
This is an interesting film in terms of perspective, as medieval villagers travel to a strange land: 1980s New Zealand. There’s some fun with the culture clash, decent stakes due to a kid’s prophecy, and some final twists that address some potential problems with the rules of the narrative.
7/10

Movie #52/ New Film #29/ Silent Movie #43: 3 Bad Men
This John Ford silent western is fun, as three likable scoundrels take it upon themselves to protect a young woman. But it’s also quite busy, dumping a lot of characters into a historically volatile time. Still, the payoff is fantastic with the final stand of the antiheroes.
7/10

Movie #53/ 2000s Film #3/ French Film #3: Amelie
A quirky and fun film about a strange woman who decides to be an agent of good after changing one person’s life for the better, elevated by all the details about the people in her life, the elaborateness of her plans to change everyone else, and her own struggles to accept the risks of seeking happiness for herself.
10/10

Movie #54/ 1930s Movie #8: Destry Ride Again
Jimmy Stewart is pretty good as a man with modern (at least during 1939) sensibilities trying to change a nightmarish section of the American west. The film doesn’t quite live up to the courage of its convictions, with a competent but generic conclusion. Marlene Dietrich is great as a flawed woman inspired to do good.
8/10

Movie #55/ New Film #30/ French Film #4: Battle of Algiers
Some parts of the film do benefit from an understanding of a generations old struggle, although the Criterion collection has a lot of extras if you’re unclear about which group was responsible for which attack. The neorealist take on the conflicts between Algerian rebels and the French military highlights the shortcomings of both sides in a relatively nuanced way. This film has been used as an instruction manual by some groups, although that’s more about their problems than the movie’s.
10/10



Movie #56/ New Movie #31/ 1960s Movie #5: A Safe Place
This was in a box set of BBS films, showcasing a production company that was really important in the early days of the New Hollywood. It’s one of the lesser known films, although noteworthy for brief appearances by Orson Welles as a magician and Jack Nicholson as the type of jerk he plays so well in the 70s. It’s a convoluted narrative, jumping around in time, dealing with a main character who doesn’t have the tightest grip on reality. Despite the flaws, there is a tremendous understanding of character.
7/10

Movie #56/ 1950s Movie #3: Shane
This is a western with more green than I’m used to, taking a standard but certainly well-told story of a gunslinger getting involved in a clash between locals and ruthless criminals to another level with the relationship between the man and a boy he meets. Other great features include Jack Palanche’s man in the black hat, the main bad guy’s understandable motives, and the question of whether Alan Ladd’s generally likable Shane can fit in modern society. This is a film that understands that change comes with winners and losers, with the mastermind of the criminals trying to protect his way of life, albeit one that harmed others.
10/10

Movie #57/ New Movie #32/ 1990s Movie #4: Contact
This is almost a sci-fi procedural, taking us through first contact step by step, emphasizing the political drama (including seamless insertions of actual Bill Clinton footage), character focus and moral questions more than the stuff about aliens and terrorists. It’s slow at times, and a bit obvious in some of the arguments about faith VS science, but it goes in some interesting directions, and does have a believable vision of what it would be like to meet visitors from another planet.
8/10

Movie #58/ New Movie #33/ 1960s Movie #6: A Report on the Party and the Guests
I’ll admit I picked this as the shortest film in Criterion’s “Pearls of the Czech New Wave” box set. It’s a solid but brief fable of parkgoers encountering strange bureaucrats who invite them to a party, and slowly strip away their sense that they have rights worth protecting.
7/10

Movie #60/ New Film #34/ 1950s Movie #4: A Man Escaped
This is an astounding minimalist film that reminds me a lot of The Passion of Joan of Arc, a film Bresson essentially remade but didn’t like. Usually, films where the style is supposed to be stripped of artifice are bleak and pessimistic, but this one takes it in a different direction. There is great power in the story of someone overcoming the terrible circumstances depicted so effectively and unambiguously. Yes, a man is a prisoner of the Nazis, with limited understandings of his environment, but that makes it all the more impressive when he determines a potential escape.
10/10

[Attila Kiss]

61. Get In (2019) - Netflix
62. Smokin' Aces (2006) - Netflix
63. Hardware (1990) - VHS Collection
64. The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - Netflix
65. How Much Do You Love Me? (2005) - DVD Collection
66. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) - Netflix
67. From Paris With Love (2010) - DVD Collection
68. Vanishing Act (1986) - VHS Collection
69. The Debt Collector (2018) - Netflix
70. Dangerous Lies (2020) - Netflix

[C_Miller]

60. The Lodge (2019)
61. House (1977)
62. Memories of Murder (2003)
63. Armageddon (1998)*
64. The Wizard of Oz (1939)*
65. Sophie's Choice (1982)
66. The Last Picture Show (1971)
67. The French Connection (1971)
68. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
69. Frankenstein (1931)*
70. Jaws (1975)*

[C_Miller]

Being done with school and being out of work due to COVID, I have been able to watch a lot more movies. I am 1/5th of the way through the AFI Top 100 list, which has been one of my goals this year.

71. Red Eye (2005)
72. The Godfather Pt. 2 (1974)
73. Toy Story (1995)*
74. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)*
75. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)*
76. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)*
77. No Country for Old Men (2007)
78. Bad Education (2019)
79. Raging Bull (1980)
80. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)*

[foxley]

I just watched my 75th feature film for the year: Against All Flags, a lesser known Errol Flynn swashbuckler from 1952. Not Flynn's greatest film, but an enjoyable watch nonetheless (and a nice change from some of the exploitation films I've been watching recently), and greatly enhanced by Maureen O'Hara as female pirate captain 'Spitfire' Stephens, and Anthony Quinn as the suitably oily villain Capt. Roc Brasiliano. And there is some serious chemistry between Flynn and O'Hara.

My films so far:

1) Revenge (2017)
2) The Gentlemen (2020)
3) Knives Out (2019)
4) Countess Dracula (1971)
5) Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
6) The Mad Magician (1954)
7) Once Upon a Spy (1980)
8) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
9) Logan Lucky (2017)
10) Frankenstein Island (1981)
11) The Island (1980)
12) Frozen II (2019)
13) Hell Fest (2018)
14) Escape Plan (2013)
15) Bottle Rocket (1996)
16) The Hoodlum (1951)
17) American Mary (2012)
18) Razors: The Return of Jack the Ripper (2016)
19) Faster (2010)
20) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
21) Snuff-Movie (2005)
22) How to Rob a Bank (and 10 Tips to Actually Get Away with It) (2007)
23) Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
24) The Kunoichi: Ninja Girl (2011)
25) I Saw What You Did (1965)
26) Blackenstein (1973)
27) Peeping Tom (1960)
28) Hannie Caulder (1971)
29) The Sniper (1952)
30) More Dead Than Alive (1969)
31) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
32) Timber Falls (2007)
33) Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (2020)
34) The Freakmaker (1974)
35) Serial Mom (1994)
36) Primal (2019)
37) Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
38) Death Line (1972)
39) Hobo With a Shotgun (2011)
40) Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
41) Creepshow (1982)
42) Killdozer (1974)
43) Judas Kiss (1998)
44) The Screaming Skull (1958)
45) M.F.A. (2017)
46) Scream and Scream Again (1970)
47) Tales from the Hood 2 (2018)
48) The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937)
49) Lady Ninja Kaede (2009)
50) Slashers (2001)
51) Money Movers (1978)
52) Gunless (2010)
53) The Man from Colorado (1948)
54) Prairie Fever (2008)
55) Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
56) Seven (1979)
57) Tiger House (2015)
58) Death Spa (1989)
59) Starkweather (2004)
60) Curse of the Headless Horseman (1972)
61) Accident Man (2018)
62) From Beyond the Grave (1974)
63) The Bold Caballero (1936)
64) Valdez Is Coming (1971)
65) Swashbuckler (1976)
66) Shrooms (2007)
67) Killer Workout (1987)
68) The Suckers (1972)
69) Apache (1954)
70) Van Helsing (2004)
71) Scavenger Hunt (1979)
72) The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (1966)
73) Bruiser (2000)
74) John Tucker Must Die (2006)
75) Against All Flags (1952)

[Vishop]

63.Justice League Dark: Apokolips War(2020)
64.The Lighthouse(2019)
65.The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog(1927)
66.A Fistful of Dollars(1964)
67.The Magician(1958)
68.The Lion King(1994)
69.The Man Who Knew Much(1956)
70.Parasite(2019)
71.The Man Who Laughs(1928)

[Attila Kiss]

71. Layer Cake (2004) - Netflix
72. Taxi (1998) - DVD Collection
73. Taxi 3 (2003) - DVD Collection
74. Ski Patrol (1990) - VHS Collection
75. The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) - DVD Collection
76. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) - DVD Collection
77. Ski School 2 (1994) - DVD Collection
78. The Wrong Missy (2020) - Netflix
79. The Lovebirds (2020) - Netflix
80. John Henry (2020) - Netflix

[Mister Mets]

Movie #61/ New Movie #35/ 1990s Movie #5: City Slickers
Jack Palanche is excellent as the last of the old breed, a contrast with Billy Crystal’s city guy. The “one thing” lesson may not be great advice, but it’s an iconic moment. It was a fun film about the midlife crisis of a man who hasn’t gotten to be the hero in a western.
8/10

Movie #62/ New Movie #36/ 1980s Movie #3: Zelig
Woody Allen’s mockumentary of a human chameleon is stylistically different from his usual work, but there are some great gags and absurd twists.
8/10

Movie #63/ 1930s Movie #9: Stagecoach
Thomas Mitchell is decent in his Oscar-winning turn as a drunkard doctor forced to show his mettle. John Wayne is a movie star from his introduction 18 minutes in, so we don’t mind the second climax to give his story a resolution after the stagecoach reaches its destination. It’s an easy concept for a great movie, with a group of unlikely companions travelling together through dangerous territory, but executed very well.
10/10

Movie #64/ New Movie #37/ 1970s Movie #7: Drive, He Said
Jack Nicholson’s directorial debut provides an interesting capsule of the 1960s college atmosphere. The main story about a young athlete wondering what to do going forward is okay, although overshadowed by the complete breakdown of his best friend, a guy trying to avoid the draft by taking as many pills as possible.
7/10



Movie #65/ New Film #38/ 1960s Movie #7: Daisies
The highest ranked Czech film on the They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 1,000 and BBC’s sixth best movie directed by a woman is a strange, experimental cartoon with mostly real people. A brief read of any article about it shows that the critique of culture and consumption is well-thought out, but it isn’t some impenetrable avant-garde nonsense; it’s also weird and fun nonsense.
9/10

Movie #66/ New Movie #39/ 1980s Movie #4: Ariel
Aki Kaurismäki’s crime drama ends up being more cheerful than Match Factory Girl, which was ostensible a comedy. He has a weird approach of putting droll blue-collar Finns into films we’ve otherwise seen before, which does have satisfying results.
8/10

Movie #67/ 2000s Movie #4: Primer
In this film, we can see both the low budget and the amount of thought writer/ director Shane Carruth put into his work. There are some compromises (a largely offscreen car chase, a pivotal event that occurs off-camera) that make a movie that already has a convoluted time-travel plot tougher to understand, but it is also satisfying in the depiction of ordinary people coming up a discovery with tremendous potential and risk. It works both because of their relationship, and the sense that this is how scientists stumbling on to something major would act.
9/10

Movie #68/ New Film #40/ 1960s Movie #8/ TSPDT List #4/ World War 2 Film #1/ French Film #4/ Criterion Edition #13: Army of Shadows
This movie wasn’t released in the United States until 2006 because French critics had trashed it for depicting De Gaulle in a positive light, which is an absurd criticism for a film about the struggles and shortcomings of the French resistance. It’s an excellent, powerful take about the reality of Nazi-occupied France.
10/10



Movie #69/ New Movie #41/ 1950s Movie #5: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Marilyn Monroe at her loveliest, Jane Russell as her loyal but different-minded best friend, iconic musical numbers, and a script that isn’t quite on the level of the best of Wilder, Lubitsch and Sturges, but close enough.
9/10

Movie #70/ New Movie #42/ 1980s Movie #5: Wild Style
I checked this out because it played a part in Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree. It’s worth seeing more as a time capsule of the hip hop scene before it became a dominant cultural force, than for the story. There are some shortcomings for production values and performances, which makes it tough to appreciate the films’ internal logic. Lead Lee Quiñones is authentic when talking about what the art means for him (since he was a top graffiti artist), and the musical performances are excellent.
7/10

Movie #71/ 1940s Movie #4: The Big Sleep
A depiction of the life the New Yorkers of City Slickers wanted to live for a little while. It’s an atypical western that earns the conflict between John Wayne’s tough as nails cattle boss and Montgomery Clift as his adopted son.
10/10

Movie #72/ 1980s Movie #6: Batman
This is a strangely paced superhero film, largely introducing Batman from the perspective of two reporters, so that it’s not actually confirmed that Bruce Wayne is Batman until about halfway through. The production design is amazing, Keaton is affable, and Nicholson’s Joker is a lot of fun, but the movie is a bit of a mess with some strange internal logic at times.
7/10

Movie #73/ 1940s Movie #5: Red River
A depiction of the life the New Yorkers of City Slickers wanted to live for a little while. It’s an atypical western that earns the conflict between John Wayne’s tough as nails cattle boss and Montgomery Clift as his adopted son.
10/10

[Mister Mets]

Movie #74/ New Film #43/ 1970s Movie #8: The King of Marvin Gardens
This isn’t the first BBS film saved by its depiction of a particular location at an interesting time (Atlantic City between its boardwalk heyday and the advent of legal gambling.) There are some solid performances from a subdued Nicholson, an unhinged Ellen Burstyn, and Bruce Dern’s manic con artist. It doesn’t always work, but it is often powerful.
7/10

Movie #75/ New Movie #44: Four Sons
I’ve thought that early Ford did the kind of movies that Capra would do better, but upon further reflection, this is also the kind of material that Ford will do better (How Green is My Valley, The Quiet Man.) This is a flawed but enjoyable film about the immigrant experience in the early 20th Century United States, and the losses in World War One.
7/10

Movie #76/ New Film #45/ 1960s Movie #9: Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors
Sergei Parajanov had a primitive take on young love in a Ukranian Hutsul village, which fit the setting, with an exploration of what happens after an intense young man loses the love of his life, and tries to go on living.
9/10

Movie #77/ 1980s Movie #7: Terms of Endearment
James Brooks’ confident debut as a director has a smart script about an intense but messy mother/ daughter relationship over the course of a pivotal decade, with terrific performances, netting two well-deserved acting Oscars, and two further acting nominations. He takes stories that could be in a melodrama (a housewife feeling underappreciated, affairs, the turn at the end) but adds goofiness and joy.
9/10

Movie #78/ New Movie #46/1940s Movie #6: Sands of Iwo Jima
This was the film that got John Wayne his sole Oscar nomination from his first thirty years of stardom, and I can see why it went over so well. His performance as a tough sergeant is the highlight, and there is some complexity to it beyond the standard cliches. He is strict, and we certainly get a sense of a nice guy underneath, but he is also flawed and self-aware. The rest of the film isn’t bad; a World War Two movie with more grit than you would anticipate from the late 1940s.
8/10

Movie #79/ 1930s Movie #10: Only Angels Have Wings
I bought this film a few years back based on a critic’s argument that it was the best Hollywood film of 1939. I still wouldn’t go that far, but it is an exceptional drama of the people involved in a dangerous profession.
10/10

Movie #80/ New Movie #47/ 1950s Movie #6: When Willie Comes Marching Home
There’s a tonal inconsistency to this World War 2 comedy about a likable guy who wants to go to war, but can’t earn the respect of his neighbors because he’s stuck in town, training the real soldiers. The central conflict is a bit hard to accept, and doesn’t really gel when he’s finally offered a dangerous mission in Europe. There’s a lot of charm, but the stakes are often just too low.
7/10

Movie #81/ New Movie #48/ 1940s Movie #7: Tobacco Road
Fox thought this comedy about a poor family would be a bigger hit than The Grapes of Wrath. While it compromised on the source material, it is rare how this movie depicts the truly poor, often at their most pathetic and selfish. Even if it toned down the play it is based on, it is daring in the depiction of the grotesques.
7/10



Movie #82/ New Film #49/ 1960s Movie #10: It Happened Here
I had been familiar with Kevin Brownlow as a film preservationist (he was largely responsible for restoring Abel Gance’s Napoleon to its five-hour length) so it was a little weird to discover that he had been responsible for an alternate history independent film Mark Kermode had recommended. It does convey the sense of an ordinary person trying to live a normal life in an England occupied by the Nazis, a powerful concept handled matter of factly.
8/10

Movie #83/ 1970s Movie #9: The Last Picture Show
This is connected to a lot of films I’ve seen this month. It’s a BBS film, and I’m seeing plenty of those as part of the box set. There’s a plot point about characters in the film watching Red River. There are some similarities between Curly and Sam the Lion (actors from Westerns in previous generations playing a mentor figure who seems to be from a different dying era, with a key scene where they recall a lost love and end up winning Oscars.) It’s one of the highlights of the new Hollywood of the 1970s, depicting the end of an earlier era, with one hell of a cast showing the stories of teenagers becoming adults.
10/10

Movie #84/ New Movie #50/ 2019 Film #9: Ashes in the Snow
It’s a bit distracting that this film is in English. I get that a lot of films about events in Europe in modern memory are in English (Schindler’s List as the ultimate example) but those have the advantage of an all-star cast which isn’t the case here. It’s not all that different from Holocaust dramas, although it depicts a different form of mass murder, with mass deportations of the Baltic nations, an event that is significant to me as it is something that happened to some of my ancestors. There was an anecdote about Crazy Rich Asians that might apply here. A white filmgoer said that it was derivative of romantic comedies, and Asian-American viewers yelled back that they wanted to see themselves in these stories. And there is something about seeing the stories of our ancestors, even if the actual execution of it is just okay.
7/10

Movie #85/ 1960s Movie #11: Easy Rider
When this film came out, it was daring by speaking to the concerns and interests of a younger generation. It’s impossible to convey that to a modern audience, although what it loses by all the imitations it gains by its effectiveness as a time capsule, covering two young dopes, travelling the United States, sometimes finding friendly faces and sometimes facing opposition. The situations may occasionally be extreme, but it’s not always what you expect.
10/10

Movie #86/ New Movie #51/ Silent Movie #6: Spies
Fritz Lang’s silent espionage saga is sometimes slow and convoluted, but often quite clever with some astounding silent action sequences, and some decent twists in a clash between a spy network and the authorites.
8/10

Movie #87/ 1970s Movie #10: Five Easy Pieces
As with Easy Rider, it’s difficult to appreciate the impact of Nicholson’s Robert Dupea on younger audiences in the early 70s who saw themselves represented on film. This is still quite satisfying as the depiction of a truly alienated man. I’m not sure Nicholson’s ever been more sensitive (while still deeply flawed), although the film is more than just a showcase for him, given the variety of kooks he interacts with.
9/10



Movie #88/ New Movie #52/ 1950s Movie #7: Horse Soldiers
The sole Ford/ Wayne collaboration in a ten film John Wayne DVD set isn’t one of their better efforts. Wayne’s tough Civil War colonel seems derivative of a few of his other performances, without the nuance of Sands of Iwo Jima or the fire of Red River. It’s Ford, so there are some great sequences, but it’s also Golden Age of Hollywood, so the South is given more credit than they deserve.
7/10

Movie #89/ 1940s Film #8: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
This Huston/ Bogart collaboration feels more like a noir than a Golden Age of Hollywood adventure. Honestly, Bogart is darker and more despicable here than he is in any noir, in a story of down on their luck prospectors who very quickly get comfortable with the idea of killing strangers in order to maintain their wealth.
10/10

Movie #90/ New Movie #52/ 1970s Movie #11: The Shootist
Wayne took this role after many others had turned it down, which seems a bit surprising, since no one else could have played this particular version of the story so well. He sells the performance of a dying legendary gunslinger in a movie that conveys the changes in the old west quite well; the West has gotten more crowded, and been changed with the arrival of modern amenities. It’s Don Siegel, so it’s not subtle, although there are great supporting performances by Jimmy Stewart (who sells the idea of a deep shared history), Lauren Bacall and Ron Howard, as a slightly older version of the kid in Shane. The villains aren’t great, but they’re okay. I don’t necessarily buy the reaction of the town.
8/10

Movie #91/ 1940s Movie #9: His Girl Friday
This might have the fastest dialogue of any movie ever. It’s a great showcase for Hawks and one of the definitive Cary Grant performances as a charming but manipulative newspaper man trying to get his ex-wife/ best reporter back.
9/10

[C_Miller]

Finally cleared 100. I am now a third of the way through the AFI Top 100 list, which puts me in pretty good shape, though that should be done before the end of the summer (though we'll see if I can bring myself to watch It's a Wonderful Life in 90 degree weather). This stretch was pretty heavy on rewatches, so I've fallen behind on where I want to be on new to me films for my 150 new films in 2020 goal. My goal for 50 Foreign films in 2020 have taken a backseat to the AFI Top 100. I've also found myself distracted with the quarantine, so subtitled movies haven't been great. Hoping that changes now that I'm back at work. As always, starred films are rewatches.

81. Air Force One (1997)*
82. A Trip to the Moon (1902) - This is kind of a cheat as it's 15 minutes long, but its's one of the oldest examples of a narrative film. I'll watch at least 201.
83. Toy Story 2 (1999)*
84. Toy Story 3 (2010)*
85. Network (1976)
86. Some Like it Hot (1959)*
87. On the Waterfront (1954)*
88. Schindler's List (1994)
89. Rear Window (1954)*
90. Chinatown (1974)
91. The General (1926)
92. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)*
93. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
94. Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
95. Titanic (1997)*
96. King Kong (1933)
97. All About Eve (1950)
98. The Lovebirds (2020)
99. The Half of It (2020)
100. The Invisible Man (2020)

[Mister Mets]

I saw an interesting movie challenge online that could give ideas on anyone stuck on what to watch next.


Seqart has also put two 80 minute documentaries on Warren Ellis & Grant Morrison on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtnkhgDn8A8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZcflWe6Fhc

Criterion has decided to show their support for the black lives matter movement by lifting some key films by African-American directors from the paywall, so that's another potential resource.
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/06/cr...ng-1202235384/

[Attila Kiss]

81. Tank Girl (1995) - DVD Collection
82. Top Secret! (1984) - DVD Collection
83. Fire And Ice (1983) - DVD Collection
84. Starship Troopers (1997) - DVD Collection
85. The Corporal And The Others (1965) - DVD Collection
86. Opium: Diary Of A Madwoman (2007) - DVD Collection
87. The Witness (1969 banned until 1979) - DVD Collection
88. Mortal Kombat (1995) - DVD Collection
89. Bottom Of The World (2017) - Netflix
90. The Shadow (1994) - DVD Collection