The Master (2012, Paul Thomas Anderson) 85
Stellar work from Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and an utterly raw, animalistic volcano of a performance from Joaquin Phoenix, channelling the best of Brando and De Niro, puts him on the Oscar shortlist. A tough, enigmatic piece from Paul Thomas Anderson, with large, glowing cinematography that elevates the overall picture from a "really good" small-screen pic to a "really great" large-screen one.
Blue Sunshine (1978, Jeff Lieberman) 70
10 years after a group of college friends tried a bad batch of LSD they start feeling the aftereffects, namely a spate of mindless zombie-like killing, in this cheesy, culty piece of drug/zombie paranoia that dropped before the rise of the slasher film. You could almost say this is the anti-Big Chill. Loads of fun.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973, Peter Yates) 90
Always great to dig up a lesser-known crime classic. This one, from the director of the ultracool Bullitt,
ranks with Robert Mitchum's finest performances, right up there with Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear, and Out of the Past. Watchable, re-watchable, memorizable, and so good it hurts like a bastard.
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003) 88
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999) 70
Director Errol Morris provided two very different portraits of two very different men, but both films are stamped with his deep-probing documentary style. The Fog of War is perhaps the pinnacle of his career, gleaning surprising insight from an all-time irascible interviewee into many of the most pivotal moments of the 20th Century, including but not limited to the bombing of Japan, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Mr. Death is also engrossing with an oddly egotistical subject, a man who gained success designing execution machines and selling them to various states for use on Death Row, but brought more notoriety by positing as an "expert" and becoming one of the most important Holocaust deniers in the movement.
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011, Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky) 82
Another on the doc front, the final piece (for now) of a truly remarkable story 20 years in the making that is important on so many levels. The trilogy is a testament to the evolution of the documentary format, the failures and frustrations of police and legal procedure, and a testament to indefatigable spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Pulp Fiction (1994, Dir. Quentin Tarantino) 100
Okay, this was at least my tenth viewing of this, and it never looked better than in HD after a bunch of cocktails. I wanted to recommend the next time you watch it take note of all of the times food is mentioned. Made me hungry for a Durward Kirby burger, bloody as hell, of course.
A Dangerous Method (2011, David Cronenberg) 64
I've seen just about everything Cronenberg's done, yes including the oddball of his career Fast Company, and sad to say this is one of his weaker efforts. Kiera Knightly's perf is hit-and-miss, the excellent raw physicality mostly ruined by a distracting, mediocre accent. Not enough happening here to fully pull me in.
Bad Taste (1987, Peter Jackson) 87
Jackson's wild debut feature packs a lot of punch up its low-budget sleeves, with amazing, gory makeup and special effects holding up a hilariously wild story about a team of bizarre Kiwis saving Earth from an alien takeover. He's made a mint with the Tolkien stuff, but he should also be remembered for the unique, twisted start of his career with this, Dead Alive, and Heavenly Creatures. An all-time great movie poster as well. >>The Amazing Spider-Man (2012, Marc Webb) 74
Maybe the terrrrrrrible third part of Sam Raimi's installment left a >> in my mouth. Or maybe I just really like Emma Stone that much more than Kirsten Dunst. For whatever reason, I enjoyed this quite a bit. Great FX. Good supporting cast. Over-the-top baddie and ending.
Melancholia (2011, Lars von Trier) 82
Speaking of Kirsten Dunst...yeah, not a huge fan, but well, at least she has a glowingly framed nude scene in this one. The rest of the film is weirdly gorgeous on the eyes, with lots and lots of unresolved Tristan chords. It's also brutally depressing in line with a lot of von Trier's oeuvre, and maybe not a good suggestion for anyone worried that Earth is truly reaching her last days.
That catches up some stuff for now. I also spent a little time working on Season 4 of "Breaking Bad" and Season 2 of "The Walking Dead" (not fully caught up on either, yet, unfortunately), and then I started a week of James Bond from the get-go, from Dr. No through On Her Majesty's Secret Service, including a quick detour at Casino Royale (the 1967 spoof). I'm frozen on the Bond-a-thon until I either get my hands on a digital copy of Diamonds are Forever or finally get around to hooking up my VCR to a monitor.
