Track the Films You Watch (2008) (1 Viewer)

[Brook K]

December Update

Ended the year on a good note both in quantity and quality. I made the jump to Blu-Ray and am loving the increased picture and especially sound quality. Mario will be happy to note I finally took in the Mexican Bunuel's and enjoyed them all to one degree or another though Susana and The Young One were my clear favorites. Also finally finished off the Eclipse Late Ozu set (just in time as I recently received their Kurosawa box). I also had my heaviest month of theater going in some time, even if 3 of the viewings were over a 2 day period. This gave me my movie of the month, and pending several 2008 releases I need to see, a possible movie of the year in Gran Torino, a culmination of Clint Eastwood's many years of cinema contributions as an actor and director into a fully mature artistic vision offering laughs, thrills, nostalgia and a plainspoken honesty about life.

Number Watched: 31

Best 1st Time Viewing: Gran Torino

Honorable Mentions: Susana, The Young One, The End of Summer, A Christmas Carol (1938), Circle of Deceit, Doubt

2008 Films (Based on NY/LA Release)
Doubt (2008, John Patrick Shanley) (Theater) - B+
Gran Torino (2008, Clint Eastwood) (Theater) - A
The Happening (2008, M. Night Shyamalan) (Blu-Ray Rent) - D-
Kung Fu Panda (2008, Mark Osborne & John Stevenson) (Blu-Ray Rent) - B+
Mamma Mia! (2008, Phyllida Lloyd) (Blu-Ray Rent) - B
Milk (2008, Gus Van Sant) (Theater) - B
Mongol (2007, Sergei Bodrov) (DVD Rent) - B+
Slumdog Millionaire (2008, Danny Boyle) (Theater) - B
Standard Operating Procedure (2008, Errol Morris) (Blu-Ray Rent) - B+
Wanted (2008, Timur Bekmambetov) (Blu-Ray Rent) - B-


Pre-2007 Films Seen for the 1st Time
As Tears Go By (1988, Kar Wai Wong) (DVD Rent) - B
The Book of Life (1998, Hal Hartley) (DVD Rent) - C-
The Brute (1953, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - B
A Christmas Carol (1938, Edwin L. Marin) (DVR TCM) - B+
Circle of Deceit (1981, Volker Schlondorff) (DVD Rent) - B+
Days of Being Wild (1990, Kar Wai Wong) (DVD Rent) - C+
The End of Summer (1961, Yasujiro Ozu) (DVD Own) - B+
Gran Casino (1947, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - C+
Iron Jawed Angels (2004, Katja von Garnier) (DVD Rent) - C+
The King of Kings (Roadshow Version) (1927, Cecil B. DeMille) (DVD Rent) - B
Project A II (1987, Jackie Chan) (DVD Rent) - C+
Robinson Crusoe (1954, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - B
Susana (1951, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - B+
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964, Roger Corman) (TCM DVR) - B
A Woman Without Love (1952, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - B
The Young One (1960, Luis Bunuel) (DVD Rent) - B+

Re-Visits (All DVD's owned unless otherwise noted)
A Christmas Story (1983, Bob Clark) - A
Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird) (Blu-Ray Owned) - A-
Swiss Family Robinson (1960, Ken Annakin) (DVD Rent) - B

 

[Brook K]

2008 Update

Movies Seen: 337
1st Time Viewings: 316

Best 1st Time Viewings:
1. An Autumn Afternoon (1962, Yasujiro Ozu) - A
2. In a Lonely Place (1950, Nicholas Ray - A
3. Equinox Flower (1958, Yasujiro Ozu) - A
4. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939, Kenji Mizoguchi) - A
5. Gran Torino (2008, Clint Eastwood) - A
6. One, Two, Three (1961, Billy Wilder) - A-
7. There Was a Father (1942, Yasujiro Ozu) - A-
8. The Tin Star (1957, Anthony Mann) - A-
9. The Mist (2007, Frank Darabont) - A
10. I Confess (1953, Alfred Hitchcock (DVD Rent) - A-

Other films I gave "A" or "A-" Ratings: (in no particular order)
Funny Games (2008, Michael Haneke) (Theater) - A-
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008, Andrew Adamson) (Theater) - A-
WALL*E (2008, Andrew Stanton) (Theater) - A-
Burn After Reading (2008, Joel & Ethan Coen) (Theater) - A-
Juno (2007, Jason Reitman) (Theater) - A-
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, Tim Burton) - A-
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007, Zach Helm) - A-
Out of the Blue (2006, Robert Sarkies) - A-
Vitus (2006, Fredi M. Murer) - A
Get on the Bus (1996, Spike Lee) - A-
Sucker Free City (2004, Spike Lee) - A-
Footlight Parade (1933, Lloyd Bacon) - A-
Moolaadé (2004, Ousmane Sembene) - A-
The Naked Spur (1953, Anthony Mann) - A-
Blast of Silence (1961, Allen Baron) - A-
Wings (1927, William A. Wellman) - A-
Scorsese on Scorsese (2004, Richard Schickel) - A-
Gate of Hell (1953, Teinosuke Kinugasa) - A-
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962, Ralph Nelson - A-
Love in the Afternoon (1957, Billy Wilder) - A-
Hud (1963, Martin Ritt) - A-
Le Deuxième Souffle (1966, Jean-Pierre Melville) - A-
Late Autumn (1960, Yasujiro Ozu) - A-

 

[Adam_S]

I'm going to have to amend my top five, somehow I missed adding this into my film tracker spreadsheet back in June. :-P

 

[Adam_S]

I'm certain you'll love Orphans, I was not particularly amused by the incredibly long running time, amped up Dickinsian melodramatics or the typical Griffith manipulations I've all come to expect from his films (thinking of his ending race-to-save in all his films). LOL my favorite Griffith is probably New York Hat because it was short and Pickford was quite good.

But it was the running time I found most disagreeable, the film never seemed to be over.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Hi Brook,


I've just seen this post and, sure enough, I'm pleased with your ratings overall. It seems that I love ROBINSON CRUSOE (1952) more than anybody else around here but that may be because:


a) it was one of the earliest Bunuel films that I watched (the fourth one, I think)
b) I've now watched it 4 times in all
c) unlike the rest of you (I suppose), I've watched it screened theatrically - at London's National Film Theatre


I don't know if you've seen my "To go or not to go (BluRay)" post in the Track 2009 thread but, in case you're wondering, I still haven't taken the plunge!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

edit

 

[Mario Gauci]

Erm...Joe...you do realize that 2009 has already started, don't you

?