Films seen in July
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02. The Tale of the Rat that Wrote
(1999, Ireland) Billy O'Brien [short] - not recommended
03. Behind
the Mask: The Rise and Fall of Leslie Vernon (2006, USA) Scott
Glosserman -
has redeeming
facet [D]
“Comes off as too clever for its own good.”
would be an understatement. Sort of a mix of Man Bites Dog and the
pop culture self-reflexivity of Scream, this mostly free form slasher
film is more annoying than anything else. Fans of the genre tend to back films
like this as a case for a deeper more intellectual aspect of horror cinema,
but trust me, there is a lot more to chew on in direct-to-video films like Skin
Crawl than this over-hyped attempt at something different.
04. Isolation (2005, Ireland) Billy
O'Brien [2nd viewing; last viewing Sep.'05;
rating remains solid, B+]
05. Reform School Girls
(1986, USA) Tom DeSimone - 
worth
seeing
A mess to be sure, but like They're Playing
With Fire, it remains something of a fascinating cultural artifact for
the decade that spawned it.
11.
Over the Edge (1979, USA) Jonathan Kaplan -
a must see
14.
Raja (2003, France/Morocco) Jacques Doillon -
a must see [B-]
15.
Chacun Son Cinema (2007, Various) Listed in order
of preference:
** - "Zhanxiou Village"
- Chen Kaige, "Awkward" - Elia Suleiman,"The
Last Dating Show" - Bille August, "Anna"
- Alejandro González Iñárritu, "In the
Dark" - Andrei Konchalovsky, "Open Air Cinema"
- Raymond Depardon
"47 Years Later" - Youssef Chahine, "Cinéma
de Boulevard" - Claude Lelouch, "Trois Minutes"
- Théo Angelopoulos
zero - "Diary of a Movie Goer" - Nanni Moretti,
"The Dybbuk Haifa" - Amos Gitai, "No
Translation Needed" - Michael Cimino
17.
The Big Cube (1969, USA) Tito Davison
-
worth seeing
19.
Flight of the Living Dead
(2007, USA) Scott Thomas -
worthless
Re-titled from Plane Dead so as to cash
in on the Snakes on a Plane hype, this must stand as one of the worst
films I’ve had the misfortune to see in well over a year. Intentionally
campy, but incompetently shot, edited, and scripted, the real sin is how unintentionally
offensive this comes off with regards to its "elephant in the room"
subject matter. I had a similar experience with Dorm of the Dead, so as of this
moment I’m swearing off Romero pun-films altogether.
22.
Video Violence... When Renting is Not Enough
(1987, USA) Gary Cohen -
a must
see
Shot on video horror is genre in its own right.
Many of these films are downright awful, but occasionally you come across something
special. This wild and damn fun time capsule of a 1980’s vintage, plays
like Caché had it been directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Anyone
who remembers the day of oversized VHS boxes and independent video stores will
have a hard time not cracking a nostalgic smile.
23. Hobo With a Shotgun (2007, USA)
Jason Eisener, Rob Cotterill, and John Davies [short] - average
Winner of the 'Grindhouse Trailer' competition.
downloadable here.
26.
Underworld (1927, USA) Josef von Sternberg -
a must see
27.
Video Violence 2 (1987, USA) Gary Cohen -
worthless
29.
Queen of Outer Space (1958, USA) Edward Bernds
-
has redeeming facet
[camp
rating ***]
30.
King Solomon's Mines (1950, USA) Compton Bennett
& Andrew Marton
-
worth seeing
32.
Police Beat (2005, USA) Robinson Devor -
Masterpiece [A]
36.
Frailty (2001, USA) Bill Paxton -
a must see
40.
Vanishing Point (1971, USA) Richard C. Sarafian
-
Excellent
41.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972,
Hong Kong) Chor Yuen
-
worth seeing
43.
The Acid Eaters (1968, USA) Byron Mabe -
worthless
46.
Pumpkinhead (1989, USA) Stan Winston
-
worth seeing