I watched 33 new movies in February, plus rewatched 1 film.
I spent the month mostly concentrating on 2014 films and new
entries from the just released
2015 They Shoot Pictures Don’t They list. My thanks to Bert in The Netherlands for
alerting me to the fact that the new list had been released, and especially for
helping me track down the hardest to find new entries. I also watched single entries from two other
lists since the opportunity to see them happened to come up. Finally, I watched a couple more of the new
IMDB Consolidated Top 250 entries, but I still have three Indian films, with a
combined running time north of 12 hours, left to finish off all the new
additions.
As the month started I had 41 entries left to see in the TSPDT
list. I knew the updated 2015 list was
coming very soon, so I didn’t bother watching any until that happened. I was hoping some of the ones I didn’t want
to watch might drop off. In some cases
that did happen (i.e. three Sirk melodramas), but not for all I had hoped.
The 2015 list had a total of 77 new entries added to it,
many of them documentaries. Because of
the fact that some of the ones that dropped off were ones I had not seen, and
because some of the ones added were ones I had already watched, I ended up with
a net result of 45 entries I had left to finish the newest list. That was only 4 more even though 77 had been
added.
That was the good news.
The bad news is that I now had a total of a dozen new entries that were
more than two hours long, including three that were over four hours long – one
of which was nearly six hours in length.
Another entry was for only part 2 of a three part documentary series,
but it didn’t make sense to watch just that, so I watched all three, which made
for another lengthy time investment.
It wasn’t a complete waste because for the first time this
year a list of “
the next 1,000” movies was also released and the other two
parts were on it. These next 1,000 are
not ranked, but simply listed in alphabetical order. I have seen 412 of them already. I don’t know when or even if I might try to
work on this newest list.
I have added this “next 1,000” list to my TSPDT post at my
Lists from Chip site. I’ve also included
the newest version of the main 1,000, as well as a
list of the 435 former films
that have dropped off it. (I have seen
199 of those. Combined with the 970 I
have seen on the current list, I have watched a total of 1,169 of the 1,435
films that have ever been on a TSPDT main list.)
I’m figuring on completing the current version of the TSPDT
list either this month or next month, depending on how much I concentrate on
it. I’ve still got 11 entries left that
are more than two hours long, including five of the twelve new additions. I did knock off the three new 4+ hour entries
in February.
Here are the 33 new movies I saw in February. Highlighted films are ones to which I would
give at least three stars out of five.
TSPDT (16): A
Diary for Timothy (1945), Taipei Story (1985), Grin without a Cat (1977),
Doomed Love (1979), Moi,
un Noir (1958), Lessons
of Darkness (1992), Elephant (1989), La Commune (Paris 1871) (2000), The
Battle of Chile Part 2: The Coup d’Etat (1976), The Emperor’s Naked Army
Marches On (1987), Harlan
County USA (1976), Ashes of Time (1994), The Age of the Earth (1980), Hamlet (1964), Arabian
Nights (1974), Pickpocket (1997)
IMDB (2): Interstellar (2014), Gone Girl (2014)
101 Genre (1): The Time Machine (1960)
Ebert (1): The Terrorist (1998)
Other Movies (13): Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
(2014), Foxcatcher
(2014), Mr. Peabody
& Sherman (2014), Chef
(2014), Eight
Diagram Pole Fighter (1984), Snowpiercer (2013), Calvary (2014), John Wick (2014), The Battle of Chile Part
1: The Insurrection of the Bourgeousie (1975), The Battle of Chile Part 3: The
Power of the People (1979), When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970), Art and Craft (2014), Miss Meadows (2014)
Rewatches (1): Forbidden Planet (1956)
Dawn of the Planet of
the Apes (2014) – Worthy sequel to first reboot. The cgi on the apes is still impressive and
the story is one that you could see happening. 3.5 stars
Interstellar (2014)
– Nolan tries to do 2001: A Space Odyssey and for the most part succeeds. The ending isn’t quite up to the rest of the
film and there is one major section of plot that requires all of these
extremely intelligent people to all not realize what time dilation’s impact is,
even after they just got done explaining it.
4 stars
Gone Girl (2014)
– Pretty good, but not great. The
trailer essentially gave away the reveal in the film, but thankfully that
occurred about midway through the movie so the rest was not spoiled. 3.5 stars
Foxcatcher (2014)
– Good, but not great. I can see why it
didn’t get a Best Picture nomination.
Carell is good, but Tatum is the real star and he didn’t get enough
credit for the job he did on it. 3 stars
Mr. Peabody &
Sherman (2014) – I loved the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon show when I
was a kid, which included the skits of Sherman and Mr. Peabody time-traveling,
so I was pre-disposed to like this movie. 3 stars
Chef (2014) – Jon
Favreau writes and directs a thinly veiled cooking metaphor for his Hollywood
career – critically acclaimed, but little known; then big budget and critics
turned on him; then returning to his roots with this film. 3.5 stars
Eight Diagram Pole
Fighter (1984) – The second of Steve’s Selections. You can
read my review here. 3 stars
A Diary for Timothy
(1945) – Short done by the British on the hopes for the future now that
WWII was winding down. 2.5 stars
Snowpiercer (2013)
– Cult film that has good moments in it, but ultimately not one that made me
understand the massive amount of fan talk that it has generated. 3 stars
Calvary (2014) – I had heard nothing but good
things about this film, so I was very disappointed when it got done. It had a great opening, a decent middle, and
one of the stupidest character endings I have seen in a long, long time. Yes, I get that it is a Jesus metaphor, but
that story plays much better in an ancient world filled with myth and
superstition, not our modern world today.
2 stars
Taipei Story (1985) – Slice of life among
some Taiwanese people. Early effort that
the director got better at later on.
Watch his film Yi Yi, instead. 2
stars
Grin without a Cat
(1977) – Pointless “documentary” that mostly steals clips from other
documentaries, and also extols the virtues of communism and how it’s going to be
the downfall of capitalism. In fact,
many of the new documentary entries had a very similar message. 1 star
Doomed Love (1979)
– 1970s Portuguese TV miniseries loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, whose entry
on this list appears to be for no other reason than enough people listing
everything this director has ever done on the top-whatever lists and those
lists then getting factored into the overall TSPDT list. 2 stars
Moi, un Noir (1958)
– Sort of, but not really, documentary on what life was like for young black
men in western Africa in the late 1950s. It chronicles their work lives and then what
they do with their free time. It is
actually a fictionalized version of the real thing performed by non-actors who
actually did the jobs. 3 stars
Lessons of Darkness
(1992) – Werner Herzog’s mostly silent images from after Iraq retreated from Kuwait and set thousands of oil
wells on fire. 3 stars
Elephant (1989) –
Short in which people randomly go around city streets and locations shooting
other random people. The first few times
it is shocking, but then it just becomes tedious. There is no dialogue and no explanation of
why we are seeing this. I read
afterwards that it was a commentary on all the lives lost in Northern Ireland with the Catholics
and Protestants killing each other. The
problem is that there is nothing whatsoever in the short with which to
understand that so it ends up just being pointless. Note: Gus van Sant’s film a few years later
that is also titled Elephant, and which included a school shooting, had to have
been inspired by and/or stolen from this short.
1 star
La Commune (Paris
1871) (2000) – Interesting concept – actors portraying people and
journalists in the 1870s, including being in period dress, but with modern news
such as TV, microphones, etc and it being done as if it is a newscast or
documentary. Unfortunately, it just
didn’t work for me. It’s also over four
hours long. And the overall message is
about how great communism is. 1 star
John Wick (2014)
– Better than average action/revenge film starring Keanu Reeves. The director bucked the trend of using
shakycam and instead shot all the action with steadycams, which really allows
the viewer to appreciate the skill that went into them. It also allows them to show that it is
actually Reeves doing a lot of his own stunts, including much of the stunt
driving. 3.5 stars
The Battle
of Chile Part 1: The
Insurrection of the Bourgeousie (1975) – Decent introduction to why elected
Communist dictator Allende was overthrown by the military in Chile in the late 1960s. Very biased. 2.5 stars
The Battle
of Chile Part 2: The Coup
d’Etat (1976) – The events surrounding the actual removal of Communist
dictator Allende from power in Chile. Extremely biased, and something the same director
was still bitching about 40 years later when he made his documentary Nostalgia
for the Light. 2 stars
The Battle of Chile
Part 3: The Power of the People (1979) – Doesn’t really follow the first
two parts chronologically, but instead focuses on how wonderful communism is
and the nirvana Chile would supposedly have become had Allende not been removed
from power. 1 star
When Dinosaurs Ruled
the Earth (1970) – British attempt to capitalize on the success of Hollywood’s One Million
Years B.C. Other than seeing great
looking women and men in what are essentially fur bikinis/trunks, there’s not
much reason to watch this. The stop
motion effects on the dinosaurs were considered top notch at the time. The dozen or so word vocabulary gets really
old after a while as they keep repeating the words over and over and over. 2
stars
The Time Machine
(1960) – Science fiction film that does a good job of adapting the
book. There were compromises for the
time it was made in, of course, but overall it’s worth seeing as one of the
classics of the genre. 3.5 stars
The Emperor’s Naked
Army Marches On (1987) – Documentary ostensibly about a man trying to get
the truth about two deserters from the Japanese Imperial Army that were shot
three days after WWII ended. The
problem is the main subject. He feels his cause is righteous, so he is
therefore allowed to do anything he wants because his actions will be
righteous, too. At best this means being an asshole to most everyone he comes
into contact with and at worst it means murder. In retrospect he probably had a serious
mental illness and should have been getting treated somewhere, not running
around in front of a camera confronting and physically attacking people. 2.5 stars
Harlan County USA
(1976) – Documentary about striking coal miners in the 1970s. It includes the usual stuff with the
aggressive tactics of the coal company to break the strike and how the workers
valiantly hang on. It’s easy to see how
this was included among so many pro-communism documentaries that got added to
the list this year. 3 stars
Art and Craft (2014)
– I'm predisposed to like any film that shows just how much bullshit the art
world and art "experts" are full of, so I went into this expecting to
like it. It turned out to not be what I was expecting, but I still liked it
quite a bit. The main person in the
documentary is a forger who is somewhat mentally ill and copies paintings
almost without knowing why he's doing it. He doesn't sell them, though; he
donates them to museums as the real thing because it makes him
feel good. He was discovered by a
man at one museum who while researching the painting he had received found out
that the same painting was already hanging in not one, not two, but five other
museums. This man essentially made it his life's mission to expose the forger.
There's more than a bit of Inspector Javert in him because the forger is
actually doing nothing illegal and the only thing he's doing to upset people is
making art curators embarrassed that they couldn't tell his forgeries from the
real thing. I was reminded of the film F for Fake. This is definitely worth a watch and it has
something happen that made me sit there and think "only in the art
world" - one of places fooled by him actually does a show on his work and
has him there as a guest of honor.
3.5 stars
Miss Meadows (2014)
– I liked the character and the concept of this dark comedy – emotionally
childish woman tries to bring manners to everyone while also being a vigilante,
but the film is let down by having an easy-out, clichéd ending. 3 stars
Ashes of Time (1994)
– Wong Kar-wai period martial arts film that is unfortunately incoherent for
much of its running time. There are a
number of beautiful shots in it, though.
2.5 stars
The Age of the Earth (1980)
– What a complete waste of time and film.
If I went lower than one star this would receive it. 1 star
Hamlet (1964) –
Well-done Soviet version of the Shakespeare story. It was mostly faithful to the original
play. The setting was impressive. Strangely, though, they had everyone dressed
as if they were in Elizabethan England when the play was written, rather than
12th century Denmark
when the play was set. 3 stars
Arabian Nights (1974)
– I will not call this the best Pasolini film I have seen, since that might be
misinterpreted. Instead, I will call it
the “least worst” of his films. If lots
of full-frontal male nudity works for you then you will definitely want to
check this out. 2 stars
Pickpocket (1997)
– Slow moving slice of life in China
about a young man who picks pockets and has not become a success like his
friends who used to do the same thing. 2 stars
The Terrorist (1998)
– Anyone who thinks a movie from India just means big song and dance numbers
with a lighthearted plot should check out this film. In an unspecified place, and during an
unspecified conflict, a woman is selected to be a suicide bomber. All she's
ever known is the fighting. While preparing for the assassination, though, she
learns she is pregnant. The cinematography is great, and if you like water then
you will love this movie since there are numerous scenes of waterfalls,
raindrops on faces, on leaves, as well as the symbolism of water washing away
sins and of giving life. 3.5 stars
If you go to IMDB.com you will find Christopher Nolan’s
films to be rated far beyond all reason.
There is actually a group of people who tirelessly work through
thousands of accounts they have set up to rank all his movies as high as
possible (and to rank competing films such as The Avengers as low as
possible). The result is that seven of
the eight films he has directed since hitting the public consciousness with
Memento (2000) are not only in the IMDB Top 250 list, six of them are in the
Top 100, and three of them are in the Top 25, including Interstellar at
#23. While Interstellar is far from
being the 23rd best movie ever made, it is good enough to take the
last spot on my Top 10 of 2014 list.
I saw the film The One I Love just before finalizing my Top
10 Films of 2014 list. I’m glad I did
because this movie ended up making it onto it.
It’s another small independent film starring Mark Duplass. In recent years I’ve come to keep an eye out
for his movies that fall into this demographic because he seems to be able to
pick films that are better than average (i.e. 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed, 2011’s
Your Sister’s Sister.) In this case the
Netflix Instant description didn’t exactly sound that interesting, but I gave
it a try anyway just on faith. I was
glad I did. This is a film that went in
completely unexpected directions.
Jesus Camp is a documentary about how fundamentalist
Christians in the U.S. ensure they get their message to as wide a range of
children as possible. As Aristotle
wrote, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” The primary adult focused on in this movie is
a firm believer in this. She draws
parallels with how some Muslims will train children from the time they are
young to groom them to be suicide bombers and how guerillas in Africa will turn
children into soldiers. From her
perspective, she is trying to turn these children into the future generation
that will ensure the country “returns” to the Christian values she believes it
has gone away from. The result is a
sometimes disturbing look at the methods used.
Steve called it one of the scariest documentaries he had ever seen.
The fourth season of Game of Thrones is based on the last third
of the novel A Storm of Swords, as well as parts of A Feast for Crows and A
Dance with Dragons – the third, fourth, and fifth books in the ongoing series
titled A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Please note that this review of the fourth TV
season and fourth book contains spoilers for the first three TV seasons and
books. If you have never seen this show
and would like a spoiler-free overview of what it is about and why you might
want to watch it, please read my review of the first season and book here. My reviews of the second season and book can
be found here and the third season and book here.
When the Oscar nominations were announced in January the
film Nightcrawler was one that I would sometimes hear mentioned as having been
“robbed” (although it did get one nomination for Best Original
Screenplay). Of course, every year there
are some films that have passionate supporters that feel exactly the same way
when their personal favorite does not get nominated so I didn’t pay too much
attention to that. I do try to see as
many Oscar nominated films as I can. And
I did make a mental note to see this movie before doing my Top 10 Films of 2014
list, just in case its supporters were onto something. I am glad I did because this did make my Top
10. Nightcrawler turned out to be a great
movie not just for its story, but also for the lead performance of Jake
Gyllenhaal.
The Wind Rises is purportedly legendary writer/director
Hayao Miyazaki’s last film. There are
those people (I am among them) who hope that 
Let me be honest right up front: I thought this was going to
be the film that would break Marvel's winning streak. A movie about a bunch of strange beings,
including a talking raccoon, based on comic book characters that even someone
like me, who at one time had read comics for years, knew almost nothing
about? Not a chance. Marvel had finally reached too far. Man was I wrong. Not only was this a massive box office hit
for them, it is a hugely entertaining film and it’s my pick for the best movie
of 2014.
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Big Hero 6 recently won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. I have seen four of the five nominated
movies, only missing Song of the Sea. Of
the ones I have seen I don’t feel there is a clear best film among them. The Boxtrolls would be at the bottom for me,
but this film, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
all have a similar level of quality and entertainment to them. And all three have characters dealing with a
loss at key points. The other major
awards reinforce the parity among the films.
The Annie Awards (ones specific to animation) also picked Big Hero 6, but
the Golden Globes selected How to Train Your Dragon 2, and the BAFTA awards
picked The LEGO Movie. Regardless, Big
Hero 6 is a good movie that can keep both children and adults entertained.
Citizenfour won the 2015 Oscar for Best Documentary. Even though I have not seen the other four
nominees this did not surprise me. The
subject matter of this film is Edward Snowden – the man who exposed the fact
that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had been spying on millions of
Americans with no warrants and without even the broad “preventing terrorism”
justification given to it under the Patriot Act. And this was just the beginning; the
revelations continued to come out and had a worldwide impact. Guess what?
There was actually a person there with Snowden as it was breaking in the
news and she captured it all on camera.
The result is an amazing inside look at the few days that shocked
millions.
Watching movies nowadays it sometimes feels like low budget
filmmakers have forgotten what the primary point of a movie is – to entertain. (A studio exec would say it’s to make money,
but the best way to make money is to make an entertaining movie that people
want to see over and over.) The days of
Robert Rodriguez making El Mariachi (1992) for $7,000 and Kevin Smith making
Clerks (1994) for $23,000 are long behind us.
Instead, it seems today’s filmmakers feel that to make up for the lack
of budget they have to make their movie “artistic”, which is a polite euphemism
for “a film only their mother and some professional film critics could
love.” Then just when it seems like all is
lost along comes a film like The History of Future Folk to rekindle hope. I had a smile on my face for most of the
movie, either from the humor, or just from the sheer fun of watching it.
Ida won the 2015 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It was streaming on Netflix Instant and only
82 minutes long, so it was easy to check it out. I have not seen the other four nominees yet,
so I cannot say if this movie was worthy of winning the Academy Award. I will say that I wouldn’t consider it an
Oscar-worthy movie. I have a theory as
to why it did win and I’ll go into that a little later. Despite some flaws it is still a movie worth
recommending.