Viewing Journal: 3/30/2011

154) THE FIFTH ELEMENT
(1997 dir. Luc Besson) 4th Viewing: March 30 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/29/2011

153) WIN WIN
(2011 dir. Thomas McCarthy) Date Seen: March 29 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/28/2011

152) OF GODS AND MEN
(2011 dir. Xavier Beauvois) Date Seen: March 28 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/27/2011

151) SUCKER PUNCH
(2011 dir. Zack Snyder) Date Seen: March 27 2011

3D @ Movie Tavern

As much as I disliked this film, and most of Zack Snyder's prior work, I'm still cautiously optimistic about his upcoming Superman film.. I feel like I have the cinematic equivalent of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to this director. I know he's a talented dude (+ the theatrical trailers & ads for his work are always enticing & always showcase his visual strengths) so I keep coming back to him with high hopes.. and then he hurts me so! For what it's worth, I really really loved that Owl-Hobbit movie he did last year called LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS.

150) SCOOBY-DOO 

           ON ZOMBIE ISLAND
(1998 dir. Fukushima / Aoyama) Date Seen: March 27 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/26/2011

149) 13 ASSASSINS
(2011 dir. Takashi Miike) Date Seen: March 26 2011

Samurai classicism to die for! Served up by none other than Japenese cinema's own enfant-terrible Takashi Miike. The last 40 minutes alone is some of the most exciting & nicely staged action I've seen all year. Check it out on Magnet's on-demand channel if your cable provider has it.












148) TEENAGE 

      MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
(1990 dir. Steve Barron) 3rd Viewing: March 26 2011

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Nashville, TN

Got to see GY!BE a couple of days ago at the Mercy Lounge Cannery Ballroom in Nashville.

Needless to say, the show was glorious. They're one the greatest musical acts in the world and were completely worth losing hours of sleep over and driving non-stop to and from Tennessee to witness. After all, they'll probably go on another 8 year hiatus after this reunion tour. So we had to go.

Post by Tobias Ximenez.

↓ This was the only song they performed that didn't completely overload my camera's tiny mic.. Amps were turned up a bit loud ↓

Viewing Journal: 3/25/2011

147) TRASH HUMPERS
(2010 dir. Harmony Korine) Date Seen: March 25 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/24/2011

146) NEVER LET ME GO
(2011 dir. Mark Romanek) 2nd Viewing: March 24 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/23/2011

145) CERTIFIED COPY
(2011 dir. Abbas Kiarostami) Date Seen: March 23 2011

Exhilarating in form, style, and theme.. And that's before we even get into Binoche and Shimell's subtle performances. 

Rarely are films this romantic about the nature of art. I only wish fellow Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi was making films this good in Europe too, so he would be safe away from the clutches of his evil government that has literally imprisoned him... 

Easily Kiarostami's best work since 1990's CLOSE-UP!

Viewing Journal: 3/22/2011

144) HELLBOY
(2004 dir. Guillermo Del Toro) 3rd Viewing: March 22 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/21/2011

143) WASTE LAND
(2010 dir. Lucy Walker) Date Seen: March 21 2011

142) HALL PASS
(2011 dir. Farrelly bros) Date Seen: March 21 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/20/2011

141) FROM PARIS WITH LOVE
(2010 dir. Pierre Morel) 2nd Viewing: March 20 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/19/2011

140) AMISTAD
(1997 dir. Steven Spielberg) 2nd Viewing: March 19 2011

139) LAST ACTION HERO
(1993 dir. John McTiernan) 2nd Viewing: March 19 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/18/2011

138) PAUL
(2011 dir. Greg Mottola) Date Seen: March 18 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/17/2011

137) WAR OF THE WORLDS
(2005 dir. Steven Spielberg) 2nd Viewing: March 17 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/16/2011

136) NO ONE KNOWS 

           ABOUT PERSIAN CATS
(2010 dir. Bahman Ghobadi) Date Seen: March 16 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/15/2011

135) YOU WILL MEET 

     A TALL DARK STRANGER
(2010 dir. Woody Allen) Date Seen: March 15 2011

134) THE TAKING OF 

PELHAM ONE TWO THREE
(1974 dir. Joseph Sargent) 2nd Viewing: March 15 2011

133) A FILM UNFINISHED
(2010 dir. Yael Hersonski) Date Seen: March 15 2011

Viewing Journal: 3/14/2011

132) SOUTHLAND TALES
(2007 dir. Richard Kelly) 3rd Viewing: March 14 2011

"the Cannes cut"

Ok so turns out I didn't misjudge the '07 thing I saw; That theatrical cut is a total bowdlerization of Richard Kelly's vision. Comparable to the 1984 violence inflicted on Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.. & now that I've since read the prequel graphic novels (similar to Secret Diary of Laura Palmer for the Twin Peaks universe) + went down the "USiDent" a.r.g. rabbit-hole as well, my viewing this go 'round felt enriched to the point where I might as well have honestly been seeing the picture for the first time. I've seen that theatrical cut of SOUTHLAND TALES twice & would rate it at about barely a 2 point 5 stars.. But this 2hr 38min fan restoration of Kelly's Cannes film festival premiere aids the film's trippy internal logic by finally putting back essential cypher pieces missing from the other cut. This vision is structurally even more Godardian (WEEKEND '67) -- an apocalyptic mosaic of power, corruption, moral compromise, & cosmic absurdity. It's still a bit frustrating for sure --but it's also hilarious, singular, and ultimately rather moving in its conviction that some scrap of spiritual grace might survive the end of everything. [Maybe in an alternate universe Kelly got additional funds to animate the prologue / comicbook recap at the beginning of this. That would elevate it another half star]









131) RANGO
(2011 dir. Gore Verbinski) 2nd Viewing: March 14 2011