November Movie Status – And Update on Hard to Locate Films

SUMMARY:

I saw 48 new movies in the month of November, plus 2 TV show seasons, plus a re-watch of a Web series season.  Last month I mentioned I had found myself working on several different movie lists and as a consequence had some films that I simply could not locate.  I asked for help in finding them and was the beneficiary of the generosity of multiple people.  After being pointed towards a free trial of Hulu Plus last month I also examined a few other lists I have in order to see both what was hard to locate and what was available via Hulu Plus.

Where I stand right now is that I am actively working on the following lists: Oscar Best Picture Nominees, the six 101 [Genre] Films YouMust See Before You Die lists, They Shoot Pictures Don’t They, Empire’s lists of the Top 100 World Films and Top 500 Films, Roger Ebert’s Great Movies, and three different lists of the Top 100 British films of all time, which yield a total of 178 different entries.  Many of these overlap, but I am showing films under only one list’s count in the details below.

If you have a good memory you know that I was working on the Sight and Sound Critics’ Top 250 Films list last month, but have not mentioned it yet.  That is because I am in a state of limbo.  I have now watched every film on it, except one – Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks – which is one of the films that I cannot locate anywhere.  So I have not completed the SSC list, but I have gone as far as I can with it.  I will have to consider this list dormant until such time that that film ever becomes available.

All of these different lists can be seen by clicking on the names of them.  They link to my Lists from Chip posts on them.

THE FILMS I CAN’T FIND:

Last month I listed 19 films that I was unable to locate.  With the help of people who responded to that post, plus some extreme internet searches on my part, I was able to locate and see 7 of those.  There are two others that someone has said they will get to me when they have a chance.  I did have to add two new films from other lists, though, so the net total of movies that I am hoping someone can help me find is now 14.

Here are the films that I simply cannot track down, but need to in order to complete various lists.  Note – the only pay services I have looked at so far are Netflix and Hulu Plus.  I suppose if enough show up on another pay service it might be worthwhile to join to see them.  I’m hoping to keep costs as low as possible, though.  If you have a good source for them, but do not want to tell the world by leaving a comment here, then please email me at golf04330@yahoo.com with your suggestions.

Here are the films I was able to see, along with where you can get them, too.

The Red Badge of Courage (1951) – I finally found it.

http://ryushare.com/caoj4co92iav/The_Red_Badge_of_Courage_1951_DVDRip.rar

Out 1, noli me tangere (1971) – thanks to james1511 of The Cameraman’ Revenge

1: http://www.sendspace.com/file/cjvgjw
2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/eiex4j
3: http://www.sendspace.com/file/6umvjt
4: http://www.sendspace.com/file/g9qr1i
5: http://www.sendspace.com/file/x9hlrx
6: http://www.sendspace.com/file/t2615m
7: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3vcmr6
8: http://www.sendspace.com/file/2oxx4v

Out 1, Spectre (1974) – After further research on my part it turns out that this is not a follow-on to the 1971 TV minieries.  It is actually an attempt to release the 13 hour original as a four and a half hour theatrical movie.  Considering that I saw the entire thing, combined with the lack of availability of the theatrical cut, I am going to consider this entry as being completed, too.  Yes, there were a few comments I found that said the theatrical cut used different takes in some scenes, but honestly, after 13 hours of watching people do acting exercises like rolling around in a pile muttering gibberish, I don’t think a different take of it will be any more enlightening.

Kings of the Road aka Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) – I finally found it.

http://www.4shared.com/video/yelKAreo/imlaufderzeit_wimwenders1976dv.html

Flowers of Shanghai aka Hai shang hua (1998) – A post for it appeared about a week after I did last month’s status.  By the way, if you are looking for foreign films, especially Asian ones, and most especially South Korean ones, then this site may be a godsend for you.

http://moviesoftheworld.com/flowers-of-shanghai-1998/

Alice in the Cities aka Alice in den Stadten (1974) – thanks to thevoid99 of Surrender to the Void and Steve Honeywell of 1001plus.  The first pointed out that it was going to be shown on TCM, an American cable channel dedicated to classic films.  I actually learned from this that the TCM website has a bug in it when you are looking to see if a film is in the upcoming schedule.  Instead of checking TCM’s site directly, choose the “TCMdb” option, then in the resulting list click on the film’s name, then on this page it will show you if it is coming up.  The second pointed me to Hulu Plus for another film and I discovered this one was also there.  If you have never signed up for this service you get a one week free trial.  I discovered how to make it a two week free trial by going as far as putting in my contact information, but not my credit card, then canceling out.  They then sent me an email offering to double the time of the free trial.  I accepted it.

Carnival in Flanders aka La kermesse heroique (1935) – thanks to Steve Honeywell of 1001plus.  He pointed out that this was available via Hulu Plus.  If you have never signed up for this service you get a one week free trial.  I discovered how to make it a two week free trial by going as far as putting in my contact information, but not my credit card, then canceling out.  They then sent me an email offering to double the time of the free trial.  I accepted it.

The ones I am searching for:

101 Genre Films:

City Streets (1931) – a gangster film with Gary Cooper, directed by Rouben Mamoulian

The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) – a gangster film directed by Fritz Lang.  I have had someone say they will make this available when they get a chance.

Sight & Sound Critics Top 250: (This is the only film I have left to complete the list.)

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003) – a nine hour documentary on the falling industry in a region of China from director Bing Wang.

They Shoot Pictures Don’t They:

Empire (1964) – Andy Warhol’s experiment to see if he could do anything and still get film critics to fawn over him.  It worked.  This is an 8 hour static shot of the Empire State Building from dusk to 3:00 AM.  I suppose I could just stare at a picture of the Empire State Building for 8 hours and call it good.  J

Anatahan aka Ana-ta-han (1953) – a Japanese film from Josef von Sternberg

Minamata aka Minamata: The Victims and Their World aka Minamata: Kanja-san to sono sekai (1971) – a Japanese documentary on industrial chemical poisoning.  I swear that this exists only on the TSPDT list and on IMDB and nowhere else on the internet.  Even IMDB has little information on it.

Liebelei (1933) – an early Max Ophuls film

Doomed Love aka Ill-Fated Love aka Amor de perdicao (1979) – a six episode Portuguese TV mini-series from Manoel de Oliveira retelling Romeo and Juliet.  Believe it or not, I tracked down the video.  Unfortunately it has Portuguese audio and hardcoded Italian subtitles only.  I’ve searched and English subtitles do not exist, but I found one comment that said that someone had done a rough translation of the Italian ones embedded in the video and had posted them at karagarga.net.  Unfortunately, that site appears to require that you be invited by someone else to even view the forums.  I don’t need an invite, but if you have access to it, could you please save the English subtitles to someplace where they are available?  Or you could email them to me since the files should be small.  Thanks to an anonymous responder last month I now know that there is also a theatrical version that runs about 30 minutes less than this.  I would take either version and be very happy.

Dust in the Wind aka Lian lian feng chen (1987) – a period film from director Hsiao-hsien Hou. 

Under the Bridges aka Unter den Brucken (1946) – a film from Helmut Kautner

Variety aka Variete aka Jealousy (1925) – a film from E.A. Dupont

The Italian Straw Hat aka The Horse Ate the Hat aka Un chapeau de paille d’Italie (1928) – a film from Rene Clair.  I have had someone say they will make this available when they get a chance.

Now, the two new ones:

Roger Ebert’s Great Films:

A Woman’s Tale (1991) – a film from Paul Cox

Top British Films:

Gallivant (1997) – a sort-of documentary/travelogue where director Andrew Kotting drives around England with his 90 year old grandmother and 9 year old daughter.

Any help you can provide in tracking these down will be most appreciated.

THE FILMS I SAW IN NOVEMBER:

Here are the 48 new movies and TV show seasons I saw in November.  Highlighted movies are ones to which I would give at least three stars out of five.  I will single out the four and five star films, as well as the worst films, in the paragraphs below the lists.

Oscar Nominees (5): David Copperfield (1935), The Informer (1935), Les Miserables (1935), One Hour With You (1932), Crossfire (1947)

101 Genre (12): The Innocents (1961), Grey Gardens (1975), Lacombe, Lucien (1974), High Tension (2003), Sonatine (1993), The Dinner Game (1998), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), Phantasm (1979), Reefer Madness (1936), Foxy Brown (1974), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), When Worlds Collide (1951)

SSC (6): Kings of the Road (1976), A Canterbury Tale (1944), Melancholia (2011), Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Colossal Youth (2006), Out 1: noli me tangere (1971)

TSPDT (12): Alice in the Cities (1974), Carnival in Flanders (1935), Princess Yang Kwei-fei (1955), The Tenant (1976), Spies (1928), Sauve Qui Peut (la vie) (1980), Purple Noon (1960), Il Grido (1957), Il Posto (1961), Out 1: Spectre (1974), In a Year with 13 Moons (1978), Alexander Nevsky (1938)

Ebert (2): The Fall of the House of Usher (1928), Souls for Sale (1923)

Other Movies (11): Thor: The Dark World (2013), Micmacs (2009), Terribly Happy (2008), The Croods (2013), White House Down (2013), The Way Way Back (2013), The To Do List (2013), The Internship (2013), Red 2 (2013), R.I.P.D. (2013), People Will Talk (1951)

Re-watches (0):

TV Series (2):  How I Met Your Mother Season 8, Eureka Season 5, Web series The Guild Season 6 (re-watch)

I had no five star movies in November.  Here are the four star films I saw:

Les Miserables (1935) is superior to the recent musical version in two main ways.  First, Charles Laughton is fantastic as Inspector Javert.  He brings some humanity to what often becomes a two dimensional role.  Second, the ridiculous innkeepers that were so out of place in the musical barely appear in this version.

One Hour with You (1932) is a lot of pre-Code naughty fun from director Ernst Lubitsch and stars Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.  The two play a happily married couple who are tempted by others.  I loved the very suggestive song Three Times a Day that was sung by Chevalier and Genevieve Tobin, whose character is trying to seduce him away from his wife.

Souls for Sale (1923) might be the earliest parody of Hollywood that I have seen.  A newly married woman thinks twice about her husband and leaves him.  (Good instincts since he’s going to kill her for her money.)  She ends up in the desert and comes upon a sheik on a camel.  It turns out he’s just an actor, who is also a great seducer of women. (The resemblance to Rudolph Valentino is completely intended.)  She ends up becoming a film star.  There are numerous cameos from big names, like Charlie Chaplin, actually making films of their own.

Micmacs (2009) is another piece of strange, happy weirdness from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.  A man whose father was killed by a land mine, and who has himself been the victim of a drive by shooting, seeks revenge against the two arms merchants who made the weapons.  He gets helps from a bunch of people living on the fringes of society.  By the way, the title does not refer to the Indian tribe from Maine and Atlantic Canada.  Apparently “micmac” is a slang term for a prankster in French.

I recently reviewed Thor: The Dark World (2013).  It is a big step up from the first film and a worthy successor to The Avengers (2012).  You can read that review here.

I had two one star films in November.  Reefer Madness (1936) is a “cult classic” that I finally got around to seeing.  I’m guessing that the people who are entertained by it are probably smoking reefer while they are watching it.  It’s not a “so bad it’s good” kind of film; it’s just plain bad.  Colossal Youth (2006) is an extremely slow and boring movie where all the characters talk AT each other in an artificial manner instead of talking TO each other.  Pretty much everyone in the film is a non-actor, too.  Want to watch a 15 minute long, unbroken shot of a woman complaining about the birth of her child, all while the other person in the scene looks very bored, then screws up his line towards the end, calling the character by the wrong name?  Then this is the movie for you.

Movie – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

When most people think of “monster movies” they have images of fun but dumb movies, standard characters, perhaps cheesy special effects, bad accents, etc.  Academy Award level acting probably is not something most people expect when they sit down to watch one.  (Yes, the 2003 film Monster earned Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar, but the title refers to her character’s actions, not a physical monster.)  Well, in the perhaps unique case of the 1931 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, lead actor Fredric March won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in both title roles.  Off the top of my head I can’t think of any other Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Invisible Man, Jekyll/Hyde, Zombie, Godzilla, etc. film that had someone win an Oscar for their acting in it.

Movie – Spider-Man 2 (2004)

When Spider-Man came out in 2002 it was wildly successful.  I thought it was very entertaining and watched it more than once.  The questions began almost immediately – would the inevitable sequel be able to keep up, or would it disappoint?  As it turns out, the sequel didn’t just match the first one; it surpassed it.  It had all the right elements in it, some great acting in key scenes, and a very satisfying ending.  In fact, until The Avengers was released in 2012 I considered Spider-Man 2 to be the best superhero movie that had been made.

Note: this review will contain spoilers for Spider-Man (2002).

Movie – The Invisible Man (1933)

James Whale is probably best known for directing Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), but he also brought to the screen another of the classic horror characters – The Invisible Man.  Unlike the two Frankenstein movies, this 1933 adaptation was much more faithful to H.G. Wells’ 1897 short novel.  The movie not only pioneered some special effects techniques, but it also launched the film career of Claude Rains who “appeared” as the title character.  The film was a sensation and has spawned over a dozen versions of the concept since it was released, including comedic, horrific, and even erotic ones.

Movie – Burke and Hare (2010)

Burke and Hare is a dark comedy from director John Landis (Animal House, An American Werewolf in London).  It was his first feature film in more than ten years.  The film uses the real life case of William Burke and William Hare and how they “procured” cadavers for Dr. Robert Knox, a professor at Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland in 1828.  There had been a 1970s movie on the subject, but I had never seen it.  I had also never heard of this case, so the film was entirely new to me.  While it did play some with motivations, my understanding is the principal facts are generally accurate in this.  I like twisted humor, so this movie was right up my alley.  The subject and tone of Burke and Hare also fits in well with its other Ealing Studios counterparts such as Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Ladykillers (1955).

Movie – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Years ago I was in a store and came across The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on a bargain DVD.  It cost me next to nothing so I bought it even though I had not seen the movie and knew nothing about it other than it was old and I recognized the title.  Predictably, the DVD transfer wasn’t in very good shape, but I was still able to watch it. And what I saw was quite a surprise to me.  I was not expecting much and instead I got what may very well be the oldest film there is with a surprise twist/reveal in it.  I did not see it coming at all.  Don’t worry. I will not be spoiling it in this review.

Movie – The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

My first experience with The Rocky Horror Picture Show was not a positive one.  When I was in college VHS tapes of movies were exploding in popularity, but the people who owned the rights to this film refused to release it in order to keep people going to the theaters that were showing the midnight movies.  Somehow my college got the film and showed it on campus one evening.  I went in knowing NOTHING about either the film or the audience participation.  When it started and people were yelling “lips!” I thought it was a little funny.  I soon caught on that the people who did know the movie had all these rituals.  Unfortunately, I knew none of them in order to play along, so I just sat there kind of irritated because I couldn’t hear any of the dialogue or the songs.

Movie and Book – Frankenstein (1931)

Both the 1931 Frankenstein film and the book on which it was based – Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus – were massively influential in their respective media and in pop culture.  The amazing thing is that the two bear little resemblance to each other.  In the film the monster is a creature of low intelligence whose physical appearance is markedly different from humans.  In the novel the creature becomes an intelligent, albeit hideously ugly, man whose main physical difference is his great size.  It’s interesting to note that the common mistake of referring to the creature himself as “Frankenstein” pre-dates 1931 and had already started from the popularity of the novel.  It was the film (and the follow-up 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein) that cemented that misconception in people’s minds.  Both the novel and the film are worth checking out.

On this Veterans Day/Remembrance Day/Armistice Day

I originally posted this video back near the U.S. Memorial Day because it honors the sacrifices made by the families of military veterans.  It shows the families being surprised by the return of their parent, spouse, or child that is serving in the military.  It is also a good tribute to the veterans themselves and it feels like a far more fitting post for today from me than a movie review.

As I wrote back when I originally posted it: “I don’t care what you may think of the military; this is about human beings.  I try not to judge people I haven’t met, but if you are completely unmoved by this video then you must be dead inside.”

Movie – Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor: The Dark World does not really fit into the spirit of this Evil Doctors and Mad Scientists category that I am currently doing, but it was so entertaining that I wanted to write about it now instead of weeks from now.  And it does literally have a “mad scientist” in it: Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is much the worse for wear after the events of The Avengers (2012).  Having had Loki in his head for so long has left him a little bonkers.  He’s raving about “convergences” and such.  But is he mad, really?

This film is a worthy successor to The Avengers.  It is definitely better than the first Thor film and I would rank it just below The Avengers and equal to Iron Man (2008) in regards to the best Avengers-related films.  Joss Whedon’s hand is definitely on display. No, he didn’t write or direct this film, but Marvel has placed him in charge of all of their Phase 2 films, which are the post-Avengers ones.  I detected some definite “Whedonisms” in this film and it is the better for them.

Movie – The Skin I Live In (2011)

The Skin I Live In is a very interesting film from Pedro Almodovar.  It’s sure to surprise many, upset some, and maybe even traumatize a few.  It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe and won the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, beating, among others, A Separation (2011).  It was nominated for 16 Goyas (the “Spanish Oscar”), winning four of them.  It’s a film that may challenge you with the moral and ethical questions it raises, but it is definitely worth your time.

Movies with Evil Doctors and Mad Scientists

“She’s the Dr. Doom to my Mr. Fantastic, the Dr. Octopus to my Spider-Man, the Dr. Sivana to my Captain Marvel.  [pause as realization hits]  You know, it’s amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees.  You’d think the Masters programs would do a better job of filtering them out.” – Dr. Sheldon Leonard, The Big Bang Theory

I’m doing this category only after a little bit of hesitation, and partially because I just really like the quote above.  I hesitated because as someone with an interest in science and knowledge it often bothers me in films when a similar character almost inevitably ends up being evil, or at least led astray and harmed by his/her thirst for knowledge.  The evil scientist is as much a stock character as the bad guy with a foreign accent.  Unlike the latter archetype, nobody is out there protesting when smart people turn out to be evil.  It’s apparently okay to dump on them because, well, they’re smart.  Beat them up in school, see them suffer in movies; it’s all connected. 

One of the reasons I like the film Contact (1997) so much is that it is the rare film that treats science and scientists with respect.  It’s also a rare film that treats faith with respect.  To have both together in one movie is nothing short of remarkable.  You can read my review of it here.

Films have used these kinds of evil characters almost from the first days of the invention of the movie camera and they have continued right up to the films that are still being released today.  That doesn’t mean that all movies that use it are bad, though; far from it.  I will be reviewing some of the classics of the genre.  And the fact that the mad scientist is such a cliché makes it ripe for parody and reinvention.  I will review a couple of those kinds of films, too.  In all, I will be posting ten new reviews.

I won’t be including any James Bond movies since almost all of them would qualify and this category would end up being one on Bond instead.  I also won’t be including Bond parodies like Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) – starring Vincent Price and Frankie Avalon, no less!  I do like the title, though.

You will not find any torture porn horror movies such as The Human Centipede here.  I haven’t seen it, but I know what happens and you couldn’t pay me to watch that.

Finally, you may be expecting me to include the film Dr. Strangelove (1964), but Peter Sellers’ mugging for the camera as the title character is actually my least favorite part of that movie.  I will be including a film which references that character, though.

As I review the films I will come back and add the links for them here.

The Skin I Live In (2011)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Burke and Hare (2010)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Iron Sky (2012)
Spy Kids (2001)

The City of Lost Children (1995) – posted January 11, 2011

X-Men: First Class (2011) – posted June 11, 2011

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – posted July 26, 2011

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) – posted August 21, 2011

Iron Man 3 (2013) – posted May 3, 2013

Young Frankenstein (1974) – posted September 5, 2013

On to the reviews…

October Movie Status – And Can You Help Me Locate Some Films?

SUMMARY:

I saw 85 new movies in the month of October, plus re-watches of 5 TV show seasons.  After completing the original 1,001 Movies list last summer I mentioned I might work on some “low hanging fruit” – lists where I had only a few entries to go to complete them.  After a couple months of hardly watching any movies, the month of September got me re-energized with watching all the new additions to the 1,001 Movies list.  In October I took aim at the Time Magazine All-Time Top 100 Films, as well as the Sight & Sound Directors (SSD) Top 100 Films.  I completed both of them. 

In the course of doing this I found a good source for a number of the foreign films I had not yet seen.  This carried over to the Sight & Sound Critics (SSC) Top 250 Films list, every one of which is also in the They Shoot Pictures Don’t They (TSPDT) list, so even though I had more than 300 left to go on that one, things snowballed from there.  Since some of these also crossed over with the 101 Genre films lists put out by the same folks who do the 1,001 Movies list, I also knocked off some of those.

Readers of prior monthly statuses may be wondering about my ongoing quest to see all of the Oscar Best Picture nominees.  While I only saw a couple in October, I did check off Trader Horn (1931), which was the last one for which I had not been able to track down a source.  It aired on TCM during the month.  While there is still one film presumed to be lost, and one or two others that only exist as single copies in the UCLA film vaults, I should be able to watch all of the others I have remaining.

All of these different lists can be seen by clicking on the names of them.  They link to my Lists from Chip posts on them.

THE FILMS I CAN’T FIND:

Now, I mentioned in the post title that you may be able to help me.  Just like the 1,001 Movies list, critics like to name films that are difficult, if not impossible, to find.  It’s especially difficult to find the TV miniseries that they can’t seem to help placing on top MOVIES lists.  The apparent rule of thumb is that if it is long, then critics put it on the list, whether it is a 9 hour Chinese documentary on industry or a 1979 Portuguese six hour TV remake of Romeo and Juliet. 

Here are the films that I simply cannot track down, but need to in order to complete these various lists.  Note – the only pay service I have looked at so far is Netflix since I am already a member.  I suppose if enough show up on another pay service it might be worthwhile to join to see them.  I’m hoping to keep costs as low as possible, though.  If you have a good source for them, but do not want to tell the world by leaving a comment here, then please email me at golf04330@yahoo.com with your suggestions.

101 Genre Films:

City Streets (1931) – a gangster film with Gary Cooper, directed by Rouben Mamoulian

The Red Badge of Courage (1951) – a war film directed by John Huston

The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) – a gangster film directed by Fritz Lang

Sight & Sound Critics Top 250: (I only have 7 films left, but 4 of them are trouble.)

Out 1, noli me tangere (1971) – a 12 hour “film” on the 1968 uprisings in Europe from director Jacques Rivette.  (See also the TSPDT list for another Rivette film).  I’ve actually found a downloadable version, but it is 30 freaking gigabytes.  I just want to see it, not burn DVDs of it.  I’m hoping someone might know of a reasonably sized version.

Kings of the Road aka Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) – an early Wim Wenders film.  (See also the TSPDT list for another Wenders film.)

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003) – a nine hour documentary on the falling industry in a region of China from director Bing Wang.

Flowers of Shanghai aka Hai shang hua (1998) – a period film from director Hsiao-hsien Hou.  (See also the TSPDT list below for another film from him.)

They Shoot Pictures Don’t They:

Alice in the Cities aka Alice in den Stadten (1974) – an early Wim Wenders film.  (See also the SSC list above for another film from him.)

Empire (1964) – Andy Warhol’s experiment to see if he could do anything and still get film critics to fawn over him.  It worked.  This is an 8 hour shot of the Empire State Building from dusk to 3:00 AM.

Anatahan aka Ana-ta-han (1953) – a Japanese film from Josef von Sternberg

Minamata aka Minamata: The Victims and Their World aka Minamata: Kanja-san to sono sekai (1971) – a Japanese documentary on industrial chemical poisoning.  I swear that this exists only on the TSPDT list and on IMDB and nowhere else on the internet.  Even IMDB has little information on it.

Liebelei (1933) – an early Max Ophuls film

Carnival in Flanders aka La kermesse heroique (1935) – a film from director Jacques Feyder

Doomed Love aka Ill-Fated Love aka Amor de perdicao (1979) – a six episode Portuguese TV mini-series from Manoel de Oliveira retelling Romeo and Juliet.  Believe it or not, I tracked down the video.  Unfortunately it has Portuguese audio and hardcoded Italian subtitles only.  I’ve searched and English subtitles do not exist, but I found one comment that said that someone had done a rough translation of the Italian ones embedded in the video and had posted them at karagarga.net.  Unfortunately, that site appears to require that you be invited by someone else to even view the forums.  I don’t need an invite, but if you have access to it, could you please save the English subtitles to someplace where they are available?  Or you could email them to me since the files should be small.

Dust in the Wind aka Lian lian feng chen (1987) – another period film from director Hsiao-hsien Hou.  (See also the SSC list above for another film from him.)

Out 1: Spectre (1974) – Jacques Rivette’s shorter companion to Out 1: noli me tangere (1971) (see the SSC list above for the other.)  This follow-up is “only” 4 hours long.  Unlike the other one, I have not found any source for this.

Under the Bridges aka Unter den Brucken (1946) – a film from Helmut Kautner

Variety aka Variete aka Jealousy (1925) – a film from E.A. Dupont

The Italian Straw Hat aka The Horse Ate the Hat aka Un chapeau de paille d’Italie (1928) – a film from Rene Clair

Any help you can provide in tracking these down will be most appreciated.

THE FILMS I SAW IN OCTOBER:

Here are the 85 new movies and TV show seasons I saw in October.  Highlighted movies are ones to which I would give at least three stars out of five.  I will single out the four and five star films, as well as the worst films, in the paragraphs below the lists.

Oscar Nominees (2): San Francisco (1936), Trader Horn (1931),

101 Genre (4): Army of Shadows (1969), Chelsea Girls (1966), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

Time (12): Band of Outsiders (1964), Nayakan (1987), Ulysses’ Gaze (1995), Mon oncle d’Amerique (1980), Leolo (1992), The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936), Mouchette (1967), Pyaasa (1957), The Last Command (1928), TV – Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), Baby Face (1933), TV – The Singing Detective (1986)

SSD (3): Opening Night (1977), Husbands (1970), I Am Cuba (1964)

SSC (23): Tropical Malady (2004), Death in Venice (1971), The Turin Horse (2011), The Devil, Probably (1977), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), A Moment of Innocence (1996), Day of Wrath (1943), I Was Born, But… (1932), Blissfully Yours (2002), Touki Bouki (1973), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), By the Bluest of Seas (1936), Histoire(s) du Cinema (1998), Sicily! (1999), Floating Clouds (1955), Stromboli (1950), The River (1951), The Life of Oharu (1952), Love Streams (1984), Where is the Friend’s Home? (1987), Imitation of Life (1959), The Passenger (1975), Germany Year Zero (1948)

TSPDT (33): Tale of Tales (1979) (short), Rose Hobart (1936) (short), Le sang des betes (1949) (short), Un chant d’amour (1950) (short), The Seasons (1975) (short), Not Reconciled (1965), Numero Deux (1975), The Green Ray (1986), El (1953), India: Matri Bhumi (1959), Charulata (1964), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), Man of Aran (1934), French Cancan (1954), The Wind (1928), Teorema (1968), My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1986), Passion (1982), Accattone (1961), El Sur (1983), Que Viva Mexico (1979), Late Autumn (1960), Placido (1961), Vive L’Amour (1994), The 47 Ronin (1941), Wild River (1960), Antonio das Mortes (1969), Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954), Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), The Executioner (1963), From the Clouds to the Resistance (1979), La Region Centrale (1971), The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)

Other Movies (8): The Revisionaries (2012), Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 (2012), The Whale (2011), Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome (1996), This is the End (2013), Your Sister’s Sister (2011), Jack Reacher (2012), Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

Re-watches (0):

TV Series (5):  All re-watches: The Big Bang Theory Seasons 2-6

I had no five star movies in October.  Here are the four star films I saw:

The Last Command (1928) is a very clever “meta” film from more than 80 years ago.  It is loosely based on the true story of a Russian general who after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution ended up in Hollywood as a film extra.  This movie stars Emil Jannings and he justifiably won the first Best Actor Oscar ever handed out.  I was expecting nothing and got a very moving film.

Placido (1961) is my best surprise so far from the TSPDT list.  It’s a screwball comedy from Spain.  It may have the fastest dialogue I have ever encountered in a foreign film.  I had never heard of director Luis Garcia Berlanga, but he also did another dark comedy in the list that I liked – The Executioner (1963).

Your Sister’s Sister (2011) is a far better than average comedy/drama about complicated relationships and it works despite the somewhat out there concept.  Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed) scores again, and this film also features the best performance I’ve seen from Emily Blunt.

Jack Reacher (2012) features one of my favorite characters that Tom Cruise has ever played.  I don’t know if there will ever be another movie, but it’s made me interested to check out the book series that the character comes from.

I just reviewed Much Ado About Nothing (2013).  You can read it here.

I had several one star films in October, but I will only mention one of them.  La Region Centrale (1971) is from Michael Snow – the man who brought us Wavelength, a 45 minute zoom at a wall, which is the 206th best movie ever made according to a critics' consensus.  Now comes this film.  Forget about a puny 45 minutes of wasting our time. This features THREE HOURS of nothing but a camera rotating in place and sometimes spinning. And it's the 425th best movie ever made, according to a critics' consensus. And they wonder why people think they are out of touch.

Movie – Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

As I promised in my last post, here is my review of Joss Whedon’s film Much Ado About Nothing.  (And if you like movies at all but haven’t seen my last post you should really check it out.)  I’ve done reviews of most everything Whedon has had a hand in, so if you want to reference those you can find my parent post for them here.

Back in late 2011 or early 2012 there was a surprise announcement that Joss Whedon had adapted and already completed filming Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing – all while in the midst of post-production on the biggest film in Hollywood: The Avengers (2012). Reactions ran the gamut from “are you serious?” to “that’s Joss Whedon”.  The film was held back for a while, making its debut at some festivals, and was finally released to the public in the summer of 2013.  Despite his success with The Avengers, movie theaters wanted nothing to do with a Shakespeare adaptation that had no big name stars in it.  It played the arthouse circuit then was released to DVD/BD where I finally got a chance to see it.  I enjoyed myself.  I had also seen the 1993 Branagh version way back in the day and comparisons between the two are impossible to ignore.  I will include some of those thoughts in this review.

Video – A Very Impressive Performance of Famous Movie Themes and Re-creations of Images from the Films by the Ohio State Marching Band

I was going to be posting my review of the Joss Whedon film Much Ado About Nothing today, but I ran across this video and it’s just too good not to share with folks who like movies.  I will review Whedon’s film in my next post.

In this video the Ohio State marching band performs the themes of, and re-creates images from, both old and new Superman, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and The Pirates of the Caribbean – and all in less than nine minutes.

For those folks unfamiliar with American college football here are a few things you should know to understand why this performance is happening:

1. Like soccer (football to you) there is a halftime break for the athletes.
2. For college football that halftime usually includes performances by the marching bands from the two colleges that are competing.
3. Marching bands are orchestras composed of horns, woodwinds, drums, cymbals – basically all the instruments you do not sit down to play – and they are conducted by someone standing on the sideline on a platform so that he/she can see and be seen.
4. These halftime shows for the larger colleges are basically major competitions between the marching bands for bragging rights.
5. Ohio State’s main rival is Michigan and you see the two colleges’ banners during the Pirates of the Caribbean re-creation.

Enjoy.

Video – Two Videos of the Castle Cast at the Paley Center

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

The first video is a twelve minute clip from the longer March 9, 2012 session.  It concerns the instant classic film noir episode The Blue Butterfly from Season 4.  They have the cast talk about it then recreate some of the lines in the accents they used in the show.

The second video is the entire one hour session that was just held September 30, 2013.  Please note that the first episode of Season 6, and by extension the cliffhanger from the end of Season 5, are discussed in this video, so if you have not seen them then this will contain spoilers.  This was captured from a web stream so the video is pretty choppy in places.  The audio is fine through the entire thing, though.

Book – Storm Front

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

This is the sixth novel to be published under the author’s name of Richard Castle – the fictional character on the TV show Castle.  When the show opened Richard Castle was the popular author of a series of thrillers that all had the main character of Derrick Storm.  He was just publishing his final Storm book, though.  He had killed off the character since he was bored with him.  He soon got an inspiration for a new character of Nikki Heat, an NYPD detective based on the Detective Beckett character he was working with on the TV show.  During the course of the show we have seen the Castle character write five Nikki Heat novels. 

This fall a new Derrick Storm book was also published.  It is not a graphic novel “adaptation” like the ones done for the first three non-existent Derrick Storm novels.  This is a new story that picks up four years after Richard Castle killed off the character.  The first thing he’s got to do is explain how Storm is still alive.  It turns out that the CIA faked his death because things were just too hot for Storm and he needed to lie low for a long time.  He’s now been tapped to once again help the CIA because there has been a reappearance of Storm’s old adversary Gregor Volkov.

Book – Richard Castle’s A Calm Before Storm

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here. 

To date there have been six novels published under the author’s name of Richard Castle – the fictional character on the TV show Castle.  When the show opened Richard Castle was the popular author of a series of thrillers that all had the main character of Derrick Storm.  During the course of the show we have seen the Castle character write the five Nikki Heat novels, which are based on the Detective Beckett character, and a new Derrick Storm novel.  What about all those old Derrick Storm novels that are supposed to already exist?  The people involved with the show decided to do “adaptations” of these books in the graphic novel format.

Book – Deadly Heat

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

Deadly Heat is the fifth book by “Richard Castle”, the fictional writer on the TV show Castle.  The actual author of these books is speculated to be one of the real authors who have appeared on the show (i.e. Michael Connelly, James Patterson) or one of the show’s creators (i.e. Andrew Marlowe).  Like the first four books, this one has events or plot points similar to things that have happened on the Castle TV show in the prior season.  This book addresses the revelations and open plotlines from the fourth book.

TV – Castle Season 5

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.  In the coming days I will post reviews of the three newest books.

Note 2: There are spoilers for Season 4 in this post, especially the final episode of that season since it directly relates to the events of Season 5.

This season picks up the morning after Season 4 ended.  Beckett had finally admitted her desire for Castle and had shown up at his apartment.  As the season opens Castle wakes up alone in bed.  Was it all a dream?  Nope.  Beckett comes in with a couple cups of coffee.  Castle quizzes her.  Does she regret it?  Was it a one time thing caused by the trauma of almost dying and then quitting the police force?  Nope and nope. 

Movie – Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins is the well known live action Disney film that stars Julie Andrews.  It was not only the biggest box office hit of the year when it was released, but it was nominated for an astounding 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  Only the films All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) ever received more – both with 14.  Mary Poppins won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews in her big screen debut.  She was only the second woman to achieve this (after Shirley Booth for 1952’s Come Back, Little Sheba.)  So what made this film so popular with both audiences and filmmakers?  For the former it was simple: this is a heartwarming family film that presents a happy message for kids.  For the latter it can be summed up in two words: Julie Andrews.

Movie – The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

If you have never heard of this film before today, I can completely understand.  I never heard of it myself before it was added to the most recent edition of the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.  It is from writer/director Peter Greenaway (The Pillow Book, Drowning by Numbers) and might be the most normal of the four films of his that I have seen.  Of course, “normal” is a relative term.  For instance, this film has a naked man who is some sort of moving statue that most people cannot see.  He might represent the Green Man from Anglo mythology.  And if you have a penis aversion (would that be “phallophobia”?) then you should know that you see everything.  This is just a small touch of Greenaway’s typical strangeness, though.  The main part of the film involves a slow realization that what we think is going on may be completely wrong.  And it all involves a murder.

Movie – The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Writer/director Luis Bunuel’s film The Exterminating Angel (not to be confused with the 2006 film The Exterminating Angels which actually has angels in it) has a title that really doesn’t have much to do with the movie.  That has not stopped people from generating wild theories on what it really means.  The simple answer is that Bunuel had a colleague who was going to write a play with that name and Bunuel liked the title because he felt people would see “The Exterminating Angel” on a sign and buy a ticket.  It was all about commercial success, not artistic pretensions.  That’s not to say that this film doesn’t contain any number of patented Bunuel surreal moments, like a bear and some sheep being kept inside the house in which the film takes place.  I liked this film, but it will not be for everybody.  I will explain.

Movie – The Great White Silence (1924)

One of the things that older movies do is give us a window into the past.  Sure, we may not think of that while we are watching them, but on some level we appreciate them because they have forever captured something that no longer exists.  It may be the youth and vitality of a performer, how the social mores of the time impacted the stories, or in the case of the documentary The Great White Silence, the real life 1911-1912 Robert Scott expedition to attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.  While watching this it was impossible for me not to marvel over the fact that I was seeing things that happened more than 100 years ago on Antarctica.  Combine that with an absolutely pristine restoration and I enjoyed this film quite a bit.

Movie – The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

I first became aware of the film The Adventures of Prince Achmed after I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on DVD in 2011.  One of the best parts of the latter film was a three minute long animated sequence that tells the tale of three brothers who encountered Death, and the three items (the Hallows) that they received from him.  The style of the animation was quite unique to me and I looked into it some after I had watched the film.  Even though it was done via cgi, I learned that the silhouette style of it was heavily inspired by the oldest surviving full length animated film – the aforementioned Prince Achmed.  I made a mental note to track it down sometime, but when the latest edition of the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die included The Adventures of Prince Achmed I bumped it up to the top.  I’m very happy that I watched the film.  It’s far more than just a historical curiosity; it actually manages to convey emotions and to generate a feeling of adventure, peril, and wonder in the viewer.

Movie – F for Fake (1973)

Orson Welles made many different kinds of films over his career.  Citizen Kane (1941) is the acknowledged best of the bunch.  After that opinions differ, but Touch of Evil (1958) is probably the one I see most often mentioned next.  I would agree with those two rankings.  After seeing F for Fake, though, I have to say that I would put it very close to, and possibly even with, Touch of Evil in terms of how good it is.  It’s a puzzle box of a movie that may or may not be a documentary, may or may not be Welles stroking his ego, and may or may not be Welles having a tremendous joke on everyone.  I feel it’s quite possibly all three.

Movie – Toy Story 2 (1999)

The tale of how Toy Story 2 came to be is a curious one.  It was only the third film to come from Pixar – Toy Story (1995) and A Bug’s Life (1998) being the first two – and they were already doing a sequel?  What happened is this little animation company got taught a lesson in real life business from the massive Disney Studios.  Pixar had signed a deal with Disney to produce five animated films.  After the success of the original Toy Story, Disney started prepping a cheap, knockoff, direct to video sequel of it.  This horrified Pixar, who offered to do the sequel themselves.  They also figured it would get them one film closer to not having to deal with Disney anymore.  After they released Toy Story 2 Disney said “not so fast, the deal calls for five original films; sequels don’t count.”  This meant that Pixar had to not only get back to Monsters, Inc., which they had set aside to work on Toy Story 2, but they also had to deliver Finding Nemo and The Incredibles to Disney.  After that Disney just bought Pixar outright.

The amazing thing is that despite all of this Toy Story 2 is a fantastic film.  In fact, I considered it the best film that Pixar had ever done until Toy Story 3 eclipsed it eleven years later. 

Three Common Plot Points That Are Just Plain Wrong

There are any number of clichéd plot points that we’ve seen over and over in movies and TV episodes.  Maybe it’s the person who gets shot, sits up, and always rips open their shirt to show the viewer that they have a bullet-proof vest on – who does that in real life?  Maybe it’s the criminal who takes One Last Job or the cop who is One Week from Retirement – either way we know it’s not going to turn out well.  Maybe it’s the random object or person that shows up early on for no reason and then plays a critical role during the climax.

While all of these have been done to death, they are not wrong.  (Note: by “wrong” I mean factually, not morally or ethically.)  Bulletproof vests do stop some kinds of bullets.  Sometimes big cases do come up just as a cop is going to retire.  No, what I mean are plot points that have appeared tons of times, but every time they do they are flat out wrong, and it requires them to be wrong for the plot point to work.

I will count these down to the most common, most incorrect plot point.  Here they are:

September Movie Status

I saw 41 new movies in the month of September, plus 2 TV show seasons, plus 2 shorts, plus 2 re-watches.  The majority of those were for the 1,001 Movies list, which just got 49 more films added to it this month.  I had seen 21, so that left 28 to watch to once again complete the list.  I did that.  I also ranked all 49 additions in this post.

I only saw one Oscar Best Picture nominee.  That was Hold Back the Dawn (1941).  I had never been able to locate it, but Adolytsi of Adol’s CinematoBlogoWebboScreed tracked down a copy for me.  Big thanks to him for this.

Here are the 44 new movies, shorts, and TV show seasons I saw in September.  Highlighted movies are ones to which I would give at least three stars out of five.  I will single out the four and five star films, as well as the worst films, in the paragraphs below the lists.

1,001 Movies (28): Diva (1981), The Eagle (1925), The Devils (1971), Limite (1931), The Goddess (1934), Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979), Some Came Running (1958), The Consequences of Love (2004), The Exterminating Angel (1962), The Exiles (1961), The Great White Silence (1924), Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), Peter Ibbetson (1935), Fireworks (1997), F for Fake (1973), Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), The Hired Hand (1971), A Throw of Dice (1929), Moolaade (2004), Elephant (2003), Osama (2003), Sleeping Dogs (1977), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Wake in Fright (1971), Summer with Monika (1953)

Oscar Nominees (1): Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

Other Movies (14): Now You See Me (2013), Oblivion (2013), The Wolverine (2013), Elysium (2013), The World’s End (2013), Sound of My Voice (2011), Delicacy (2011), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Lotte Reineger: Homage to the Inventor of the Silhouette Film (2001), The Secret of the Marquise (1922) - short, Design for Living (1933), Full Circle (2008) – short, Castaway on the Moon (2009), Chasing Ice (2012)

Re-watches (2): The Man from Earth (2007), Iron Man 3 (2013)

TV Series (2):  The Big Bang Theory Season 6, The Big Bang Theory Season 1 (re-watch)

I had no five star movies in September.  Here are the four star films I saw:

The Great White Silence (1924) – Quite possible the single clearest and cleanest silent film I have ever seen.  And to think that the footage was shot in 1911 and 1912 in Antarctica.  This was a very good addition to the list.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) – Another great addition to the list as this is the oldest surviving animated film.  It’s not just a curiosity, though, but a movie that gives a sense of adventure, peril, and triumph.

F for Fake (1973) – Another “why wasn’t this on the list in the first place” addition to the 1,001 Movies.  I really liked the whole question of how much, if anything, we are seeing is real.  It was meta before anyone had coined the term.

Now You See Me (2013) – This is a heist film and I like that genre.  It also has several good questions on just who is working with whom.  I was able to figure out who was behind it all, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment.  This was a fun movie.

Delicacy (2011) – Audrey Tautou shines as a woman whose perfect husband dies, so she throws herself into her work for three years.  Suddenly she inexplicably starts to romance not only a subordinate, but a man who is at best only average looking.  All the people around her wonder what is going on with her.  The man is featured almost as much and he imbues his character with a full three dimensions, too.

Castaway on the Moon (2009) – A little bit Castaway with Tom Hanks, a little bit Amelie, and quite charming throughout, this is the kind of film that will put a smile on your face (unless you are dead inside and don't like it when a movie makes you feel good.)  It’s not science fiction; it’s a light contemporary drama from South Korea.  While it has several funny moments in it I would not call it a comedy/drama.

And it wouldn’t be a real month of watching entries from the 1,001 Movies list without a one star film.  That is Limite (1931).  It’s both pretentious and boring.  It’s what Un Chien Andalou would be if it were two hours long instead of 30 minutes.  It’s the only film the director ever made.  After seeing this, I am NOT surprised.

Change of Plans for Today, and Change for This Website Going Forward

I was planning to do my first of several movie reviews of the 2013 additions to the 1,001 Movies list today.  Instead, I got blindsided by Amazon late last night.  Here is the key paragraph from an email I received from them:

“We're writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective October 6, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Maine state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor LePage on June 5, 2013, with an effective date of October 9, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after October 6, nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Maine residents.”

What Amazon is referring to is that Maine (the state I live in) passed a law requiring online retailers to collect sales tax if purchases are made by Maine residents.  (That’s much simplified, but it gets to the gist of it.)  Many years ago a federal law was passed that online retailers had to collect sales tax for those states where they had a physical presence, even if it was only a distribution center or a support center.  Amazon has no such presence in Maine.

Of course, they do not get to decide what is and is not constitutional.  That’s the job of the U.S. Supreme Court.  I’m sure that since this state law is related to interstate commerce, and since the Constitution says that interstate commerce is under the control of the federal government, not the states, that that is what Amazon will argue.  In the meantime, though, Amazon has apparently decided to exact retribution on the people who live in my state for the actions of the government – 99% of whom I didn’t vote into office.

I Completed the Entire 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List…Again

Hopefully you read that title in your head with Bill Murray’s delivery of “It’s Groundhog Day…again”.  If not, go back and try it now.  I’ll wait.

(dum dum de dum do dum do DUMMM do du-)

Oh hey, you’re back.  It’s better with that delivery, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve now seen the 49 films that the 2013 edition added to the 1,001 Movies list.  I had already seen 21 of them, which meant I had 28 to track down.  And since I had completed the entire list in July of this year, I just had to knock off these 28 new additions and I would once more be done with it.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to rehash everything I wrote back in July.  If you missed that post, though, you can read it here.

Instead, I am going to rank the 49 films that got added, and then over the coming days and weeks I’m going to review many of the ones I would recommend.  Some I have already reviewed since I either included them in other movie categories, or they were Oscar-nominated films.  Every year I do as many of the Oscar nominees as I would recommend between the time the nominations are announced and the time the awards are handed out. 

Hike – Skyline Trail, Benjies Lake Trail, and Bog Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia

View of Skyline Ridge from the Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia is a 185 mile driving loop that is famous for its views, especially the northern third that traverses Canada’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  For those people who are familiar with the Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park in Maine, the Cabot Trail is a combination of the two – many curves, scenic turnouts, and fantastic views of both mountains and ocean.

Book – William Shakespeare’s Star Wars

In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) a Klingon Chancellor said, “You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.”  I’m going to paraphrase/parallel that and say that you have not experienced Star Wars until you have read the original Shakespearean version.  What’s that?  You didn’t realize Star Wars was originally written by Shakespeare?  Well, neither did I until I recently picked up this book – thoughtfully presented by Ian Doescher.  It has everything you would expect from Shakespeare and even some things, like Banthas and Jawas, that you might not.

Movie – Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best westerns ever made.  And to think that director Sergio Leone didn’t even want to make it because he was tired of doing westerns.  He couldn’t find any interest in a film he wanted to make titled Once Upon a Time in America, so he resorted to doing what he was best known for in the U.S.  It wouldn’t be until the 1980s before he would finally get to make that other film.  Despite the fact that this wasn’t his first choice he put together a great cast and story.  It includes not two antagonists, but four or even five – all with their own agendas that cause them to sometimes join with one another and sometimes to oppose one another.  That complexity is rare in westerns, whose stock in trade is easily identifiable good guys and bad guys.  Perhaps this complexity came from the fact that the film was co-written by Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento.  The latter two would go on to become successful directors in their own right.

Kickstarter Campaign for a Sequel to the Fantastic 2007 Film The Man from Earth

Back in 2007 Netflix recommended a movie to me that I had never heard of.  It was titled The Man from Earth (aka Jerome Bixby’s The Man from Earth).  As you can probably tell from the title and author it is a science fiction film. On thing I should be clear on: it is NOT “sci-fi”.  There are no space battles, ray guns, aliens, or any other clichés of the sci-fi genre.  Instead it presented a terrific story – the kind that keeps you thinking about it long after the film is over.  If you have not seen it you can find out about it by reading my spoiler-free, very positive review of the film here.  If you want to see the film, you can watch it streaming from both Netflix Instant and Hulu Plus.  Netflix also has it available on DVD.

I enjoyed the film immensely, even going so far as to watch it again just a couple hours after I finished watching it for the first time.  One thing I never really thought about was a sequel, though.  This is not because I wouldn’t want to see more of the main character, but simply because it didn’t occur to me.

Well today I found out that the original filmmakers have just initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund a second film.  They say that over the years they have been approached many times by people wanting the rights to make more movies, a TV show, or other properties from the idea.  They had resisted all of them because they felt they weren’t right – much like Jerome Bixby’s son Emerson fought for years to get The Man from Earth, his father’s final, and perhaps greatest, story made into a worthwhile movie.

Their goal is only $175,000 by October 10, 2013.  The first film was made on a shoestring, so this may be a comparable budget.  It ended up being pirated from a screener before it was even released, and they did not make back their money until they opened a Paypal account and asked for voluntary donations from those who had seen it for free.  (The director of the film, Richard Schenkman, wrote an article about how piracy actually helped spread the word on how good this film was.  You can read that here.)

As it turns out, millions of people saw it, loved it, and drove a ton of interest in it.  For over a year it was the most searched for science fiction film on IMDB.  It is those people who have also been driving interest in a sequel.  With the successful experience of gathering funds over the internet, this time the filmmakers have gone the Kickstarter route for funding, rather than going to studios.

I wanted to embed their video discussing this effort into this post, but I couldn’t find it on Youtube yet.  It is on the project’s Kickstarter page, as are a description of what they want to accomplish, and a list of the various perks and benefits you get for the various levels of donations.  If you’ve got the dough you can even get a walk on role in the film.

If you have never heard of Kickstarter, it was founded in 2009 to help fund creative projects.  There is no risk to contributors because if the project does not reach its funding goals in the time specified then the project is off and all funds are returned.  Either you get what you contributed to (in this case a movie), or no money leaves your wallet.

I’m putting my money where my mouth, well keyboard, is and I’ve made a contribution.  Even if the second film is only half as good as the first one it will still be well worth seeing.  You know what?  I’m going to go pop in my DVD of the first film and watch it again right after I finish this post.

Here is the Kickstarter page for this film if you want to find out more and/or make a donation.

The Definitive List of Additions, Re-additions, Removals, and Changes Made to the 1,001 Movies List By the 2013 Edition, Plus Where You Can Find Them

This would have been up hours ago, but I’ve been besieged by powerful thunderstorms all day.  Now and then my UPS/Surge Protector takes a hit and shuts things down to protect my computer.  After the third or fourth time it gets really annoying.  I’ve basically been typing between the lightning strikes.

Anyway.

I have now gone through the entire 2012 and 2013 Editions side by side and put together the list of all changes the latest edition made to the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list.  I will list those below, along with where you can see them, as well as some thoughts and analysis on what got added and removed.  Overall, 47 films got added, 3 got re-added, 50 got removed, and one entry got changed.  The latter resulted in two more films being added, but without adding extra entries.  I will explain below.  The total list now contains 1,152 entries.

The 2013 Edition of the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Is Now Available

This morning I received a comment on a post saying that Skyfall was mentioned on the Amazon U.K. site as one of the films to be added.  Out of curiosity I checked the U.S. Amazon site to see if it said the same and found something else: they are now shipping the 2013 hardcover edition of the book.  This is despite the fact that they still say it is not being published until October 1, 2013.  I put in an order for it and I should get it tomorrow.  At the bottom of this post I’ve included a direct link to this Amazon page for anyone else who is interested in getting it.  I don't know if bookstores would have it yet.

And by coincidence, later this morning I received an email from Colby Mann, a person working his way through the list.  He said he had received notice from Amazon that his order of the book was going to ship.  He was letting me know.  He also pointed out that parts of the Table of Contents were visible on Amazon. 

By comparing those parts to the 2012 edition’s Table of Contents I was able to put together a partial list of the movies being added and removed.

Here are those films:

Movie – Blue Crush (2002)

Why might you want to watch Blue Crush?  Well, it’s not for the freshness of the story, which has been done many times.  But how many movies can honestly claim they have original plots in them anyway?  It’s not for the Academy Awards, because it received none.  This is more an Mtv Awards kind of movie.  So why bother with it?  Because it has stunning cinematography and sound for the ocean, wave, and surfing scenes, of which there are plenty.  When I used to demonstrate my widescreen TV and surround sound system to people in the early 2000s (neither was common yet) I used to play the lobby and rooftop scene from The Matrix (1999) and the surfing practice scene from the middle of Blue Crush.  Many people would exclaim over the way the ocean really stood out.  In addition, since this is a movie about surfing there are plenty of great looking women and men that often appear in swimwear.

Movie – Young Frankenstein (1974)

How about the year Mel Brooks had in 1974?  He directed what are now known as two genre spoof comedy classics – Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.  While the sendups of western clichés and the “meta-ness” of Blazing Saddles are fun, I prefer Young Frankenstein’s take on the monster movie genre in general and the Frankenstein’s monster movies in particular.  Brooks and the film’s star, Gene Wilder, co-wrote the film and you could tell they had a blast making it.  They received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to The Godfather Part II.  “Adapted” is a bit of a reach.  There’s not a lot of connection between this film and Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, other than the concepts.  Young Frankenstein actually is closer to the Frankenstein movies that it is making fun of.  Regardless of what it is based on, it is a very funny movie.

Movie – The World Unseen (2007)

The World Unseen is a drama set in Cape Town, South Africa in the 1950s.  While the ban on interracial relationships certainly plays a part in this film, that’s not the primary focus.  Instead it is the story of two women, one an unconventional one who runs her own restaurant and another who is a traditional housewife with a husband and three kids.  Neither woman is white or black, though; both belong to the Indian minority that settled in Africa following the troubles in their home region before, during, and after WWII.  Writer/director Shamim Sharif based the film on her own 2001 novel of the same name.  Even though she was born in England, she is of Indian and South African heritage.  While I know little of what South Africa was like in the 1950s this movie felt very authentic to me.  South Africans must have agreed because this film won 11 of the 15 SAFTAs (South African Film and Television Awards) in 2008, including Best Director and Best Ensemble Cast.

August Movie Status

I saw 5 new movies in the month of August, plus 2 TV show seasons.  For those people who remember seeing me post a couple of months with 100+ new movies seen, that “5” is not a typo.  After completing the 1,001 Movies list in early July I’ve been taking a break from movies.  In fact, I’ve seen only 11 movies in the last eight weeks, and one was a re-watch.  The only Oscar Best Picture nominee I saw in August was watched mostly because it was expiring from Netflix Instant viewing.  I watched Late Spring on the last day of the month just so I had seen at least one film from a couple of other lists; in this case, it was the only film in the They Shoot Pictures Don’t They Top 100 that I had not seen.  It was also on the Sight and Sound 2012 Critics Top 250 list.

Here are the 5 new movies I saw in August.  Highlighted movies are ones to which I would give at least three stars out of five.  

Oscar Nominees (1): A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Other Movies (4): Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Late Spring (1949)

Re-watches (0):

TV Series (2):  Castle: Season 5 (re-watch), Covert Affairs: Season 3

I had no four or five star movies in August.  Since I saw so few, I will comment on each.

A Farewell to Arms (1932) – This is based on the classic Hemingway novel.  Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes play the star-crossed lovers.  The film was surprisingly frank about sexual matters for its time, even with the fact that the Production Code was not yet being enforced.  I don’t know how faithful it is to the novel, but I did read that after some debate the studio kept the ending from the book.

Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) – Submarine drama with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster.  You can read my review of it here.

Kick-Ass 2 (2013) – Sequel to the very entertaining Kick-Ass.  It’s a step down, but still has its moments.  You can read my review of it here.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) - Decent action scenes, but like all action movies it has some really big plot holes that you have to ignore.  Unfortunately, I couldn't ignore the fact that the entire concept is based on the idea that the threat of killing the President would be enough to force the hand of the U.S. government.  The President is neither royal nor religiously divine.  He's not a King or a Pope.  He's just a man hired to do a job. There was one before him and there will be one after him.  If he's killed then in a very short time the next person in line will be sworn in.  It's the Presidency that is important, not the President.  And for a movie that consciously echoes Die Hard and Under Siege, there's a funny bit where a macho helicopter mission is launched.  Apparently none of the characters in the film has seen Die Hard.

Late Spring (1949) - This is basically the exact same story as Ozu's later film An Autumn Afternoon (1962), which I had already seen.  It even has the same actor playing the same role - the widower who is trying to get his daughter to marry.  I have no idea why the 1,001 Movies editors picked An Autumn Afternoon over the more celebrated Late Spring for inclusion in their book, especially if the former is a remake of the latter.

I like the films of Ozu's that I have seen, and I respect him as a filmmaker, but I don't love his films.  Perhaps its cultural, perhaps his style just doesn't mesh well with me.  If it's the latter, he wouldn't be the first acclaimed director I've had that reaction to.

  

In September I may be taking some time to do some hiking, so I don’t know if my total of movies seen will be higher or around the same as August.