Sunday, November 27, 2011

Adam's Apples

Anders Thomas Jensen, 2005, Denmark (9.1*)

This black comedy has one of the most insane casts since One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). A paroled felon, Nazi skinhead Ulrich Thomsen, who’s perfectly cast here (he just looks like an angry criminal), shows up at a clergyman’s church that serves as a halfway house for some released felons that really should be behind bars. Here they supposedly do community service, but they never seem to do any.

The new arrival soon meets a semi-terrorist Pakistani who holds up all Statoil gas stations because of some capitalist crime by the company against his father; apparently they stole their land to get their oil for nothing, which has happened since oil was discovered. This guy not only has weapons but knows how to use them, as some local crows find out the hard way.

The preacher himself (another fine acting job by Mads Mikkelsen who was the bad guy in the Casino Royale remake, but who has done many excellent Danish films) is a utopian anti-realist who admittedly sees the silver lining to nearly everything. After being beaten senseless for this optimism by the Nazi, he shows up at the skinhead’s door and calmly says “we’ll continue this discussion in the kitchen”. The kitchen is run by an over-sized and over-sexed man who seems to be stuck in his teenage years; he’s the most innocent of the entire group, yet his dirty mind goes into overdrive when a woman shows up.

The apples in the title pertain to the Nazi’s name, Adam, and an apple tree in the yard. Adam decides he’s like to bake an apple pie when the apples are ready. In the meantime, since this film is about whether it’s god or the devil that gives one misfortunes, the poor apple tree goes through hell on earth, nothing goes right for it, yet it’s fruit is the metaphor for the entire film.

Much of this questions the nature of the metaphysical, but in a humorous way. For awhile, you’re so taken aback by some events that you’re saying “what the heck is this?”, then after it’s all over you say “ok – I get it now”. There's a hilarious interchange about a portrait of Adolph Hitler that I won't spoil here, but this humor knows no bounds.

It has a magical quality that few films manage to pull off, without really being a fantasy so much like Field of Dreams or It’s a Wonderful Life or Heaven Can Wait. It’s magic is in it’s eccentric characters, none of whom are similar yet all of whom share the world of the preacher, and they all live apart from urban or even modern problems. Their problems are even larger really, as some unseen force seems to be attacking them whenever possible, especially the preacher – his personal history brings to mind the story of Job, just less extreme.

This won the best feature film award in Denmark, beating out one of my favorites, Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding. I’m not sure if I’d go that far, Bier’s film is one of the best acted in history (and also features Mads Mikkelson); all four major actors in that won best acting awards somewhere in the world, six total (the two women won two each). This was a great year for Danish films, to say the least.

This won 18 awards out of 30 nominations, including several audience awards (Sao Paolo, Warsaw, Wisconsin). Ironically, at IMDB, the fans rate this 7.8 (almost in the top 250), while the critics at Metacritic (36 in all), rank it just 51 out of 100. So average filmgoers like this bizarre film more critics, you’ll think it would be just the opposite once you see it.

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

One Million Total Pageviews

This happened earlier today and I grabbed a screen
shot from each blog, total = 1,000,812
However, Google started keeping these stats about a
year after I started these, so this is half our real total

Thanks to all our visitors, we just crossed one million total page views on both film blogs combined, 860k here at 1000 Dvds to See, which is our site for individual reviews of what I'm building as my top 1000 to view (around 810 so far), and 140k at World's Best Films, which is mostly poll results, award lists, and films by genre or director.

Check out our compendium of polls there, Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net

We also have a list of the top ranked 300 directors (it started as 100 and I expanded it) based on the above 1000 film compendium, Top Ranked 100 Directors, 2011 Edition

Thanks for checking us out and for hanging out awhile, most of you are viewing 5+ pages - I'll have to admit there are lots of lists of films to get lost in, I'm often finding ones I need to update, and we always welcome suggestions, especially for non-English films, we don't have enough of those yet in print in the U.S.

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Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Breaking Point

Michael Curtiz, 1950, bw (8.7*)
Well after To Have and Have Not (1944), which was loosely based on the Ernest Hemingway novel and which introduced Bacall to Bogart, this remake from famed director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) attempted to remain more faithful to the novel, and the author himself thought it was the finest cinema adaptation of any of his works. This was a much more serious and cynical treatment than the Hollywoodish original.

John Garfield is the small boat captain who’s not too particular about who hires out his boat, as he’s seeing some rough economic times, and he needs to make a boat payment pronto or it could e repossessed. He takes on a charter that definitely involves clandestine, illegal activity that may find him in over his head.

Patricia Neal turns in one of her best performances as the woman who drifts into his life from the other side of tracks (or other side of the harbor in this case), and her coy, self-assured demeanor seems more real than Lauren Bacall’s in the original (and I liked Neal even more), as if she’s honed this act on many men before now, and on a classier batch then Garfield. The two had an apathetic, jaded type of chemistry onscreen, which seems more likely given most Hemingway characters; Garfield treated her like a distraction, not an attraction.

The reason the film has been forgotten is that just before it’s release Garfield was called to testify before the HUAC in Congress, and the studio dropped support for the film and the actor like a hot potato, and Garfield’s career never really recovered, ending just two years later. Though Garfield is certainly no Bogart as an actor, in a way he’s even more of an average joe type of guy, so this is the perfect role for him.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Outcast of the Islands

Carol Reed, 1951, bw (9.0*)
One of the best adaptations of any Joseph Conrad novel, this is from his Almayer series, about a British merchant (Robert Morley) on a Malayan island paradise. In this tale, an unscrupulous white trader, Trevor Howard, falls in love with a beautiful native islander and basically sells his soul for money so he can entire her away. I and many others think that Howard gave his best performance here, as a weak anti-hero, but really as a typical, self-serving individual.

A terrific cast of veteran British actors includes (along with Morley and Howard), Ralph Richardson, Wilfred Hyde-White, and Wendy Hiller. Conrad had a way of using real action to explore and reveal the depths of one’s character (or a group), such as in this, Heart of Darkness, and The Nigger of the Narcissus. This was one of my favorite novels of his and Reed has done it justice.

There are some haunting images in this that one will never forget, especially some shot in a torrential tropical rainstorm. I would say this is a a must-see, overlooked classic, perhaps Reed’s best film. It received two BAFTA nominations, for best film and best British film.

This is an unjustly overlooked film, and has only been rated by 300 people at IMDB, while dumb, sophmoric comedies have over a hundred thousand. It's due to be released on DVD in 2012. Look for it.

Mostly noted for the noirish The Third man (1949, bw), Reed also directed the Oscar®-winning best picture Oliver! (1967), the musical based on Dickens’ novel, which was a birarre concept but it worked, except for a lead actor who couldn’t sing a lick, but Oscar-nominee Jack Wild was super as Artful Dodger, which led to his own tv show for kids, appropriately named H. R. Puff-n-Stuff. I recently reviewed Reed’s suspense thriller Odd Man Out (1947), with IRA gunman James Mason on the lam.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Odd Man Out

Carol Reed, 1947, bw (8.8*)
#634, Top Ranked 1000 Films, 2011 Update, all polls.

Master British director Carol Reed made a perhaps even tighter, white-knuckle crime thriller with this gem. In one of his best roles, James Mason shines as a wounded IRA gunman, who is trying to escape a net of British police, and who is both helped and hindered by those along his route.

We are made to feel his personal terror as the camera stays with him, he’s a man alone in an urban war zone and fighting losing odds. This is easily the most intense role of Mason’s long and distinguished career, as he really is noted for cool, collected characters with an experienced and wise demeanor, and normally projects an aura of calm confidence, such as God in Time Bandits (1981) or as heaven’ representative in Heaven Can Wait (1978).

Carol Reed directed some of the best British postwar films. Mostly noted for the noirish The Third man (1949, bw), I liked Outcast of the Islands, from the Joseph Conrad novel, even more. It has a white man in an isolated tropical paradise who sells his soul for money, and it features some of the most haunting images in cinema, filmed during a torrential tropical rainstorm. Reed also directed the Oscar®-winning best picture Oliver! (1967), the musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist (filmed seriously first by David Lean and later by Roman Polanski).

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Monday, November 21, 2011

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Luis Buñuel, France, 1972 (8.6*)
Best Foreign Film (AA)
#99, Top Ranked 1000 Films, 2011 Update, all polls.

Probably the most affable and accessible of the Spanish master’s films, as many are a bit serious or obscure for the average filmgoer. On the surface, this is a comedy about a suburban dinner party.

However, as you would expect from Buñuel, you don’t exactly plan then have a successful dinner party. This story begins innocently enough, but you soon find yourself once again in the mind of an inventive and creative filmmaker, the same one who in his The Exterminating Angel, has guests to a dinner enjoy the meal and the company then find they cannot leave the room.

The dinner party gets delayed by a series of random and spontaneous events that include the hosts having afternoon sex, and a military patrol on war game maneuvers uses the house for a field headquarters.

As usual in his films, what you get out of this is going to depend on what you bring into it, but I wouldn’t look for anything too deep here – I believe this film is more enjoyable than most of his because of that, and for the excellent cast led by Fernando Rey, and the award-winning Stéphane Audran.

Winner of the Foreign Language Film Oscar® for 1972, and six awards total out of 11 nominations

#16 on the Top Ranked Comedy Films of All-Time, 2011 Update

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Master List of Dvd's


DVD's Reviewed So Far
[Updated: 2.08.13] (843 total)


Until I reach 1000, one would have to assume that all these will be in my top 1000 films, which I've never compiled before, it's always a work in progress anyway. One poll I found actually had 3 Jerry Lewis films in the last 30 or so in order to reach 1000 - I don't think I'll have to dig that deep! (though, The Nutty Professor is awfully tempting, isn't it?)


101 Dalmatians (1961)
12 Angry Men (1957) bw
12 Monkeys (1995)
127 Hours (2010)
13 Tzameti (2006) France, bw
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [photo top]
30 Rock (2006)
300 (2006)
The 39 Steps (1935) bw
The 400 Blows (1959) France, bw
50 First Dates (2004)
The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)
8 ½ (1963) Italy, bw
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
A Boy Ten Feet Tall (1963)
A Canterbury Tale (1944) bw
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) tv
A Christmas Memory (1968)
A Christmas Story (1983)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Face in the Crowd (1957) bw
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A Good Year (2007) Australia
A Great Wall (1987)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) bw
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
A Little Princess (1995)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
A Night at the Opera (1935) bw
A Prophet (2009) France
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) bw
A Room With a View (1985)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) bw
A Town Like Alice (1981) Australia
A Very Long Engagement (2004) France
A Wednesday (2008) India
The Absent-Minded-Professor (1961) bw
Ace in the Hole (1951) bw
Adam's Apples (2005) Denmark
Adam's Rib (1949) bw
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
After the Wedding (2006) Denmark
Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) Germany
Alexander Nevsky (1938) Russia, bw
Alice (1990)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975)
Aliens (1986)
All About Eve (1950) bw
All About My Mother (1999) Spain
All the Presidents Men (1976)
All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) bw
All That Jazz (1980) bw
Almost Famous (2000)
Amadeus (1984)
Amarcord (1974) Italy
American Beauty (1999)
American Gangster (2007)
American History X (1998)
American Splendor (2003)
An American in Paris (1951)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
An Education (2009)
An Ideal Husband (1995)
And Then There Were None (1945) bw
Angels and Demons (2009)
Animal House (1978)
Animal Kingdom (2010) Australia
Annie Hall (1977)
The Apartment (1960) bw
Apocalypse Now! (1979)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Army of Shadows (1969) France
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Artist (2011)
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Ashes of Time Redux (1994) China
The Assassination of Jesse James (2008)
Atlantic City (1980)
Atonement (2007)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) France, bw
Auntie Mame (1958)
Austin Powers: Int'l Man of Mystery (1997)
Australia (2008) Australia
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1973) tv
Avatar (2009)
The Avengers (1964-67) tv
The Awful Truth (1937)
Babe (1995) Australia
Babel (2006) Mexico
Baby Boom (1987)
Back to the Future Trilogy (1985)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Badlands (1972)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Russia, bw
Band of Brothers (2001) tv
Band of Outsiders (1964) France, bw
Baraka (1992) Australia
Baran (2001) Iran
The Barbarian Invasions (2003) Canada, tv
Basic Instinct (1992)
Batman Begins (2005)
Battle of Algiers (1965) France, bw
The Battleship Potemkin (1925) USSR, bw
The Beautiful Country (2004) Norway
Beautiful Girls (1996)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
The Beaver (2011)
Beetle Juice (1988)
Before Sunset (2004)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
Best in Show (2000)
The Best of Youth (2003) Italy
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) bw
Beyond Silence (1996) Germany
Bicycle Thieves (1948) Italy, bw
Big (1988)
The Big Chill (1983)
The Big Country (1958)
Big Deal on Madonna St (1959) Italy, bw
Big Fish (2003)
The Big Sleep (1941) bw
The Bird People in China (1998) Japan
Birth (2004)
Black Book (2006) Netherlands
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Black Narcissus (1947)
Black Rain (1989) Japan, bw
The Black Stallion (1979)
Black Swan (2010)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blast From the Past (1999)
Blood of My Blood (2007) Mexico
Bloody Sunday (2002)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Body Heat (1981)
Boiler Room (2000)
Bolt (2008)
The Book of Eli (2010)
Born Yesterday (1950) bw
Bottle Rocket (1995)
Bourne Trilogy (2007)
Brazil (1985)
Breaker Morant (1980)
Breaking Away (1979)
The Breaking Point (1950) bw
Bride and Prejudice (2004) India
Brideshead Revisited (1981) tv
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Broadcast News (1986)
Broken Trail (2006) tv
Brothers (2004) Denmark
The Buccaneers (1996)
Bull Durham (1988)
Burden of Dreams (1982)
Burn After Reading (2007)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)
Butterfly (1999) Spain
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Café Lumière (2003) Japan
Captain Abu Raed (2007) Jordan
Captains Courageous (1937) bw
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Carmen (1983) Spain
Carrie's War (2004)
Cars (2006)
Casablanca (1942) bw
Casino Royale (2006)
Casque d’or (1952) France, bw
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Central Station (1998) Brazil
Changeling (2008)
Chaos (2001) France
Ché (2008)
Chicago (2002)
The Children of Huang Shi (2007) Australia
Chinatown (1974)
Chocolat (2000) France
The Chorus (2004) France
Chungking Express (1994) Hong Kong
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Cinderella Man (2005)
Cinema Paradiso (1988) Italy
Citizen Kane (1941) bw
Citizen X (1995)
City of God (2002) Brazil
City Slickers (1991)
The Civil War (1990) tv
Climates (2006) Turkey
Close-up (1990) Iran
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Closely Watched Trains (1966) Czechoslovakia, bw
Closer (2004)
Clueless (1995)
Cobra Verde (1987) Germany
Come and See (1985) Russia
Coming Home (1978)
The Company (2007)
The Conformist (1970) Italy
The Constant Gardener (2005)
Contact (1997)
The Contender (2000)
Control Room (2004)
The Conversation (1974)
The Counterfeiters (2007) Austria
The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Russia
Crazed Fruit (1956) Japan, bw
Crazy Heart (2009)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) China
Crumb (1994)
The Crying Game (1992)
The Cuckoo (2002) Russia
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7 (2009)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Darling (1965) bw
Das Boot (The Boat) (1981) Germany
Days of Glory (2006) Algeria
Dead Like Me (2003) tv
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Death at a Funeral (2007)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Defending Your Life (1991)
Defiance (2008)
The Departed (2006)
Departures (2008) Japan
Devils On the Doorstep (2000), China, bw
Diabolique (1955) France, bw
Digging to China (1998)
Diner (1983)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Diva (1981) France
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Double Indemnity (1944) bw
Down With Love (2003)
Downfall (2004) Germany
Downton Abbey (2010)
Dr. Strangelove (1964) bw
Dreamland (2006)
Drive (2011)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Duck Soup (1933) bw
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982)
Eagle Eye (2008)
Earth (1998) India-Canada
The Earrings of Madame De.. (1953) France, bw
Eastern Promises (2007)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) China
The Edge of the World (1937) bw
El Alamein (2002) Italy
El Mariachi (1992) Mexico
Election (1999)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958) France, bw
Elmer Gantry (1960)
Emma (1996)
Emma (Miniseries, 2009)
The Emperor and the Assassin (1998) China
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Era Notte a Roma (1960) Italy, bw
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Executioner's Song (1982)
Evergreen (2004)
Everything is Illuminated (2006)
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
The Fall (2007) India-U.S.
Fallen Angels (1995) China
Fantasia (1940)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Farewell (2009) France
Farewell My Concubine (1993) China
Fargo (1996)
Fateless (2005) Hungary-France-UK, bw
Fearless (1993)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Fight Club (1999)
The Fighter (2010)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Fire (1995)
The Fireman's Ball (1967) Czech Republic, bw
Fitzcarraldo (1982) Germany
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Five Minutes of Heaven (2002)
Floating Weeds (1959), Japan
Flowers of Shanghai (1998), China-Taiwan
The Fortune Cookie (1966) bw
The Fountain (2006)
The French Connection (1971)
Frequency (2000)
Friday Night Lights (2004)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Frost-Nixon (2008)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Gadjo Dilo (1998) Romania
The Game (1997)
Gandhi (1983)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) Italy
Gattica (1997)
The Gay Divorcee (1934) bw
The General (1927) bw-silent
Get Carter (1971)
Gettysburg (1993)
Ghostbusters (1984)
The Girl in the Cafe (2005)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy (2009)
Gladiator (2000)
Gloomy Sunday (1999)Germany
Glory (1989)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
God Grew Tired of Us (2006)
Going in Style (1979)
The Golden Compass (2007)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) Germany
The Good Shepherd (2006)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) bw
Goodfellas (1990)
Goodnight Mister Tom (1998) tv
Gorky Park (1983)
Gormenghast (2000)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) Italy, bw
The Graduate (1968)
Grand Illusion (1937) France, bw
Gran Torino (2008)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Japan
The Great Escape (1963)
The Great White Hope (1970)
Green Zone (2010)
The Grey Fox (1983)
The Grifters (1990)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Grumpy Old Men (1993)
Gun Crazy (1949) bw
Half Moon (2006) France-Iraq-Iran
Hamlet (1996)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Happy Feet (2006) Australia
Hara-Kiri (1962) Japan, bw
Hard Eight (1997)
The Harmonists (1997) Germany
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1992)
Heat and Dust (1983)
Heathers (1989)
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Heavenly Creatures (1994) New Zealand
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) bw
Hero (2002) China
Hidalgo (2004)
High and Low (1963) Japan, bw
High Noon (1952) bw
Himalaya (1999) Nepal
His Girl Friday (1940) bw
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Hope and Glory (1987)
House of Flying Daggers (2004) China
House of Games (1987)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
How the West Was Won (1962)
Hud (1964) bw
The Hurt Locker (2009)
The Hustler (1961) bw
I Am Cuba (1964) Cuba-Russia, bw
I Served the King of England (2006) Czech Rep.
I Vitelloni (1953), Italy, bw
The Ides of March (2011)
Il Postino (1995), Italy
Il Posto (1961) Italy, bw
The Illusionist (2010) France-UK
I'm Not There (2007)
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
In a Lonely Place (1950) bw
In a Better World (2010) Denmark
In Bruges (2008)
In Cold Blood (1967) bw
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
In the Mood for Love (2001) Hong Kong
In the Valley of Elah (2007)
Inception (2010)
The Incredibles (2004)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The Informer (1935) bw
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Inherit the Wind (1960) bw
Innocence (2004) France
Inside Job (2010)
Inside Man (2006)
Inspector Morse Series (1987-99) tv
Into the West (2005) tv
Into the Wild (2007)
Invictus (2009)
Iron Man (2008)
The Italian (2005) Russia
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) bw
It's Complicated (2009)
Ivan's Childhood (1962) Russia, bw
Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (1986) France
Jeff Beck: Live at Ronnie Scott's (2007)
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Jezebel (1938) bw
Jodhaa Akbar (2007) India
John Adams (2008)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) bw
Junebug (2005)
Kapó (1959) Italy, bw
The Kids Are All Right (2011)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Kinamind (2005) Denmark
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) bw
The King and I (1956)
The King of Comedy (1982)
King of Masks (1997) China-Hong Kong
King's Row (1941) bw
The King’s Speech (2010)
The Kingdom (2007)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
The Kite Runner (2007)US-China
Klute (1971)
Kolya (1996) Czech Republic
The Krays (1990)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
L'america (1994) Italy
L'avventura (1960) Italy, bw
La Dolce Vita (1960) Italy, bw
La Femme Nikita (1990) France
La Haine (2005) France, bw
La Vie en Rose (2007) France
The Lady Eve (1941) bw
Landscape in the Mist (1988) Greece
The Last Emperor (1987)
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
The Last Picture Show (1971) bw
The Last Seduction (1993)
The Last Station (2009)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) bw
Lawn Dogs (1997)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Le Plaisir (1952) France, bw
Le Samourai (1967) France
Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
Lebanon (2009) Israel
The Legend of 1900 (1998) Italy
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Life With Father (1947)
The Lives of Others (2007) Germany
Lone Star (1996)
Lonesome Dove (1989) tv
The Longest Day (1962) bw
Longitude (2000) tv
Lord of the Flies (1963) bw
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2003) New Zealand
Lord of War (2005)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Lost in Translation (2003)
The Lost Room (2006) tv
Love Among the Ruins (1975)
The Loved One (1965) bw
Lust, Caution (2007) China
M. (1931) Germany, bw
Mad Men (2007) tv
The Madness of King George (1994)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) bw
The Major and the Minor (1942) bw
Malena (2000) Italy
The Maltese Falcon (1941) bw
Man On Wire (2008)
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Man With the Movie Camera (1928) USSR, bw/silent
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Manhattan (1979) bw
Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
Mao's Last Dancer (2009)
Margin Call (2011)
Martin Chuzzlewit (1994) tv
Marwencol (2010)
Mary Poppins (1964)
MASH (1970)
The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2004)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2006)
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Melancholia (2011)
Memento (2000)
The Memory Loss Tapes (2008) tv
Mephisto (1981) Hungary
Metropolis (1927) Germany, bw-silent
Metropolitan (1990)
Micmacs (2009) France
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Midnight Run (1988)
Milk (2008)
Millennium Mambo (2001) Taiwan
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Millions (2004)
Minority Report (2002)
Mister Roberts (1955)
Mongol (2007) Russia
Monsoon Wedding (2000) India
The More the Merrier (1943) bw
Morgan! (1966) bw
The Mosquito Coast (1986)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) Brazil
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) India
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) bw
Mrs. Miniver (1942) bw
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Munich (2005)
Murder Rooms: Dark Beginnings (2001) tv
The Muse (1999)
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
My Brilliant Career (1979) Australia
My Fair Lady (1964)
My Favorite Wife (1938) bw
My Left Foot (1989)
My Man Godfrey (1935) bw
Mystic River (2003)
The Namesake (2006) India-US
Napoléon (1927) France, bw-silent
The Natural (1984)
Ned Kelly (2004) Australia
Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (1995), France
Network (1976)
Never Cry Wolf (1983)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) bw
The Night of the Hunter (1955) bw
The Night Porter (1974) Italy
Nights of Cabiria (1957) Italy
Nine (2009)
Nine Queens (2000) Argentina
No Country For Old Men (2007)
No Man’s Land (2001) Bosnia
Norma Rae (1979)
North by Northwest (1959)
Nosferatu (1922) Germany, bw-silent
Not One Less (1999) China
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
Now, Voyager (1942) bw
Nowhere in Africa (2002) Germany
Ocean's Eleven (1960)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
October Sky (1999)
Odd Man Out (1947) bw
Of Gods and Men (2010)
Off the Map (2003)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Oldboy (2003) Korea
Oliver Twist (1948) bw
Oliver! (1967)
Olympia (1938) Germany, bw
On Golden Pond (1981)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
On the Waterfront (1951) bw
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
One False Move (1992)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
One, Two, Three (1961) bw
Open Range (2003)
Out of Africa (1985)
Out of the Past (1947) bw
Outcast of the Islands (1951)
Outland (1981)
The Pacific (2010)
The Paper Chase (1973)
Paper Moon (1973) bw
Parenthood (1989)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) bw-silent
Pat Metheny: Speaking of Now Live (2003)
Paths of Glory (1957) bw
Patton (1970)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Performance (1970)
Perfume (2006) Germany
The Philadelphia Story (1940) bw
Pi (1998) bw
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Australia
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (2003-07)
Planet Earth (2007) tv
The Player (1992)
Platoon (1986)
The Police: Synchronicity Concert (2005)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Power of Nightmares (2007) tv
Powwow Highway (1989)
The Prestige (2006)
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Pride of the Yankees (1942) bw
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
The Prisoner (1967) tv
Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) Russia
The Producers (1968)
The Professional (1994)
The Promise (2005) China
Pulp Fiction (1995)
Purple Noon (1961) France
Quinceañera (2006)
Quiz Show (1994) bw
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Australia
Raging Bull (1980) bw
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Railway Children (1970, 2000)
The Rains Came (1939) bw
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) China
Raising Arizona (1987)
Rango (2011)
Rashomon (1954) Japan, bw
The Reader (2008)
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) bw
Red Cliff (2008) China
Red Dragon (2002)
The Red Shoes (1948)
Reds (1981)
Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983) tv
Rendition (2007)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Requiem For a Heavyweight (1962) bw
The Replacement Killers (1998)
Repo Man (1984)
Restrepo (2010)
Return of Martin Guerre (1982) France
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979)
Rififi (1955) France, bw
The Right Stuff (1983)
The River (1951)
Rivers and Tides (2003)
The Road Home (1999) China
The Road Warrior (1981) Australia
Rocco and his Brothers (1964) Italy, bw
Ronin (1998)
The Ruling Class (1972)
Run Lola Run (1998) Germany
Runaway Jury (2003)
The Russians are Coming (1966)
Sahara (1943) bw
Salaam Bombay! (1988) India
Samson and Delilah (2009) Australia
Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) Japan
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Say Anything (1989)
Schindler's List (1993) bw
Scrooged (1988)
The Searchers (1956)
Searching for Bobby Fisher (1993)
Secondhand Lions (2003)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) Argentina
Seven Beauties (1975) Italy
Seven Days in May (1964) bw
The Seven Samurai (1957) Japan, bw
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
The Seventh Seal (1957) Sweden, bw
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Shall We Dance? (1995) Japan
Shallow Grave (1994)
Shane (1953)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) bw
The Shop on Main St. (1965) Czechoslavakia, bw
Shutter Island (2010)
Siberiade (1979) Russia
Sideways (2004)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Silkwood (1982)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Sin City (2005) bw
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Singles (1992)
Six Feet Under (2006) tv
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Sleeping Dogs Lie (2008)
Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (2009)
Sleuth (1972)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Smoke Signals (1998)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The Social Network (2010)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Some Like It Hot (1959), bw
Source Code (2011)
The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
Spartacus (1960)
Spider-Man Trilogy (2006)
The Spiral Staircase (1945) bw
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Spring in a Small Town (1948) China, bw
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.. and Spring (2003) Korea
Stalag 17 (1953) bw
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)
Star Trek (2008)
Star Wars Trilogy (1983)
The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995)
State of Play (2009)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) Germany
Stray Dog (1949) Japan, bw
The Stunt Man (1980)
Sullivan's Travels (1941), bw
Sunrise (1927), bw-silent
Sunset Boulevard (1950) bw
Sunshine (1999) Germ.-Austria-Can.-Hung.
Sweeney Todd (2007)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Canada
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) bw
Swing Time (1936) bw
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Take Shelter (2011))
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Tea With Mussolini (1999)
Temple Grandin (2010) tv
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Tess (1979)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) Germany, bw
Thank You For Smoking (2005)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
They Were Expendable (1945) bw
The Thin Man (1934) bw
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The Third man (1949) bw
Thirteen (2005)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
Three Times (2005) Taiwan
Throne of Blood (2008) Japan, bw
The Tiger's Tail (2006)
Time Bandits (1981)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
To Die For (1995)
To Have and Have Not (1944) bw
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) bw
To Live (1994) China
Together (2002) China
Tokyo Story (1953) Japan, bw
Tootsie (1982)
Touch of Evil (1958) bw
Touch the Sound (2004) Germany
Touching the Void (2003)
Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Traffic (2000)
The Train (1964) bw
Transsiberian (2006)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) bw
The Tree of Life (2011)
The Triplets of Belleville (2003) France-Belgium-Can.-UK
Triumph of the Will (1935) Germany, bw
Trouble in Paradise (1932) bw
Troy (2004)
True Love (1989)
The Truman Show (1998)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
The Tunnel (2001) Germany
Turtles Can Fly (2004) Iran-Iraq
The Twilight Samurai (2002) Japan
The Two of Us (1967) France, bw
Ugetsu (1953) Japan, bw
Umberto D (1952) Italy, bw
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
Under the Sun (1998), Sweden
Unforgiven (1992)
United 93 (2006)
Unstoppable (2010)
Up (2009)
Up In the Air (2009)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Valkyrie (2008)
Vanishing Point (1971)
Vantage Point (2008)
Vatel (2000) France
Veer-Zaara (2004) India
Vera Drake (2004)
Vertigo (1958)
Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Viridiana (1961) Italy, bw
Visions of Light (1992)
The Visitor (2008)
Vitus (2006) Switzerland
W. (2008)
The Wages of Fear (1953) France, bw
Walkabout (1971) Australia
Wall-E (2008)
Wall Street (1987)
Wallace and Gromit: 3 Amazing Adventures (2005)
War and Peace (1968) Russia
War Photographer (2001) Switzerland
Warriors (Guerreros, 2007) Spain
Water (2005) India-Canada
The Way Back (2010) Australia
We of the Never Never (1982) Australia
West Side Story (1961)
Whale Rider (2003) New Zealand
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) bw
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
Whistle Down the Wind (1961) bw
The White Ribbon (2009) Germany
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) bw
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Winged Migration (2001) Fr-Ity-Gy-Spain-Switz
The Wings of the Dove (1997)
Winter's Bone (2010)
Witness (1985)
Witness For the Prosecution (1957) bw
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Women (1939) bw
Women in Love (1970)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) Spain
Women Without Men (2009) Iran
Woodstock (1970)
The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Wrestler (2008)
The Yakuza (1974)
You Can't Take It With You (1938) bw
Young Frankenstein (1974) bw
Youth Without Youth (2007)
Zelary (2003) Czech Republic
Zhou Yu's Train (2004) China
Zodiac (2007)


One of the many surreal images in Lars von Trier's
moody SF film, Melancholia


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Artist, photographer, composer, author, blogger, metaphysician, herbalist

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These are the individual film reviews of what I'm considering the best 1000 dvds available, whether they are films, miniseries, or live concerts. Rather than rush out all 1000 at once, I'm doing them over time to allow inclusion of new releases - in fact, 2008 has the most of any year so far, 30 titles in all; that was a very good year for films, one of the best ever.



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