March 2011
27 posts
February 2011
23 posts
Screening Log: Weekend of 25 February 2011
I moved. So I had little time to watch anything. Except for
1. Even the Rain (2010, Icíar Bollaín) [B, semi-reluctantly] [screener]
2. The latest Parks and Rec, Community and The Office. Plus some Peep Show with the beloved ex-roomies before they were ex. For old time’s sake.
3. The fucking Oscars. Also, live tweeted it for GreenCine Daily.
Screening Log: 24 February 2011
1. Paul (2011, Greg Mottola) [C/C+] [press screening]
2. Ca. 25 minutes of India Song (1975, Marguerite Duras), available in a relatively clean, subtitled copy in 11 parts on YouTube. I’ll chip away at this one (which I saw about ten years ago in 16mm).
3. 30 Rock, plus two episodes from the seventh series of Peep Show with the roommates with whom I will this weekend part ways.
Screening Log: 23 February 2011
1. Watched a bit more of Romancing the Stone. Again, this was the first time I saw any of it in ca. 20 years. Frankly, I would have watched Jewel of the Nile on Instant, had it not been in the wrong A.R. Instead… [Netflix Instant}
2. Hamilton (2006, Matthew Porterfield) I’m a great admirer of the much-buzzed Putty Hill, and am sorry to report this is a dry run that fails to overcome...
Screening Log: 21 February 2011
1. Angel (2007, François Ozon) Amusingly sarcastic anti-biopic with wildly ambivalent take on its horrid protagonist. Can’t exactly sustain a full two hours and eventually succumbs to the genre’s faults, but still a nifty machine and awesome awesome Romola Garai. [B/B-]
2. Poetry (2010, Lee Chang-dong) No. [B-/C+]
Screening Log: Weekend of 18 February 2011
This was the weekend two very good friends married eachother, so I was mostly away from movies, TV, YouTube, etc. I also drank way too much or just enough depending on how you look at it. Regardless, I found time for:
1. I Am Number Four (2011, D.J. Caruso) [D+] [theatrical, for work]
2. A good stretch of Romancing the Stone (1984, Robert Zemeckis), my first in ca. 20 years. [Netflix Instant]
...
Screening Log: 17 February 2011
1. /Ne Change Rien/ (2009, Pedro Costa) Saw it projected this time, which does make a lot of difference. On video this still looks video; projected on film, save the two bright scenes (including the finale), it looks like the most gorgeously lit B&W film this side of Tarr. There are several levels on which this film can be enjoyed, and this time I was mostly grooving on the lighting. Or lack...
Screening Log: 16 February 2011
1. Belatedly caught up with the near-smackdown delivered to the human race by our new computer overlord, who has decreed Toronto is now a U.S. City. [YouTube]
2. Madea Goes to Jail (2009, Tyler Perry) I am one of many, I assume, white critics who have never seen a Tyler Perry film in its entirety. Chose this because a) it’s apparently indicative of his style without being too unbearable...
Screening Log: 15 February 2011
1. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010, Brad Anderson), which isn’t worthy of a picture. [C-] [screener]
Screening Log: 14 February 2011
1. /The Social Network/ (2010, David Fincher) [B+] [DVD]
2. A good stretch of Zodiac (2007, David Fincher), because why not? [DVD]
Screening Log: Weekend of 11 February 2011
I’ve been freaky sick all weekend, which means I’ve had lots of time to lie in bed, feel sorry for myself and watch movies. Early on, I made a semi-conscious decision to revisit classics I hadn’t seen in roundabout a decade, which is why I did up two Hawkses (Ball of Fire and The Big Sleep, 1946 version) and, piqued by Mike D’Angelo’s revisit not long ago, Close...
Screening Log: 10 February 2011
1. Outside the Law (2010, Rachid Bouchareb) Bouchareb is the Ed Zwick of movies about European Arabs. But considerably less annoying. More tk. [B-] [screener]
2. Missed Community and most of The Office, but caught Parks and Rec and 30 Rock. P&R is still the best show on TV right now. [television]
I’m probably deathly sick, so the weekend bout of the Screening Log ought to be fun.
Screening Log: 9 February 2011
1. Finished The Philadelphia Story (1940, George Cukor) So loose and unpredictable — Stewart’s never been cooler, plus many freewheeling drunk scenes — and yet it’s still my least favorite of the big three Hepburn-Grants. [A-] [DVD]
2. Whimsically watched the first third of Spartacus (1960, some guy). [YouTube]
3. Krull (1983, Peter Yates) I am not an 11 year old boy,...
Screening Log: 8 February 2011
1. Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters Episode 7, aka the new one, aka the one where he “interviews” himself and loses his shit because his lowly assistant appeared the night before on a much superior show. Wonderful that there’s still milk to seize from this udder. [YouTube]
2. Swept Away…by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (1974, Lina Wertmüller) It’s...
Screening Log: 7 February 2011
1. The new New Pornographers video for “Moves,” the one starring everyone. I almost wish Kevin Corrigan was the in the New Pornographers. [YouTube]
2. Obama vs. O’Reilly. This constitutes the only thing that I watched from last night’s Bowl. [YouTube]
3. The trailer for Submarine (above), the recently Sundanced feature debut of British comic actor Richard Ayoade (Moss...
Screening Log: Weekend of 4 Jan 2011
1. The Roommate (2010, who cares) I enjoy trash. This is not trash. It’s shit. There’s a difference. [D] [theatrical, for work]
2. Salt (2010, Philip Noyce) Retarded but fun. Usually with Kurt Wimmer it’s just the former. [B-] [DVD]
3. Our Beloved Month of August (2009, Miguel Gomes) Shapeless sorta-doc becomes slack sorta-fiction. Emotions conveyed primarily through live...
Screening Log: 3 February 2011
1. The Office, Parks and Rec and The Office. Will do up Community tomorrow. Couldn’t they just pack these four together in one block? Would make life so much easier. Watching Parks and Rec (amazing) enabled me and the roommates to watch… [actual network television]
2. Three more episodes of Parks and Rec. [Netflix Instant]
3. A good stretch of Last Tango in Paris. RIP, shit....
Screening Log: 2 February 2011
1. Nashville (1975, Robert Altman) A friend compared this to Infinite Jest or a Pynchon novel. Which I somehow never realized is basically accurate. Loved, among other things, the scene where Keith Carradine fucks all his mistresses and wouldbe-mistresses with an Oscar-winning song. [A-] [screening]
2. Finished Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations S02E01: China; started S02E02: Miami.
Thinking...
Screening Log: 1 February 2011
1. Parents (1989, Bob Balaban) Exists at the nexus of David Lynch and John Waters, though not remotely as interesting or successful as either. I’m split between Siskel and Ebert: I’m with Rog in that this lacks rigor, but also with Gene in that it’s still amusing. Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt are fucking awesome. [B-/B] [YouTube]
2. Matilda (1996, Danny DeVito) DeVito is the...
