The E Street Film Society

Son of Bicentennial Zen

2010-07-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

-"We need to take note of what Chris Columbus's artistic vision is handing us to look at before we delve into the world of walking artificial intelligences who will live with us in our day to day lives. Perhaps the only actor on earth who could have made us look at the human behind the artificial is Robin Williams. The characters make life crystal clear to us, and yet, we can also dream their dreams and share in their sorrow. Bravo Chris Columbus!!!"

-"I ordered this DVD knowing that it was PG - thinking it was "safe". What a mistake that was. I think the movie is more like PG-13 or PG-20! There is a scene with two young adults making out on a motorcycle. I mean, really making out."

-"I didn't like this movie. It was too discouraging......."

-"Overall this movie was descent."

-"What if one day something like this were to happen, through evolution. The same way man came from evolution through generations as animals as there ancestors, it is difently possible. The technical stuff was kind of dumb though, they should have done more research in antonomy and the body, to think you could just pop out organs is kind of ridiclous. The body of humans is very complicated. They should have done more research on that. However, i do like this movie, it is my favorite non-fighting robot movie."

-"Pretty good "robot wants to be human movie" if youre into those."

-"The problem that I have with this movie is that it is "hit you over the head with a dead puppy while watching 9/11 footage" depressing."

-"I don't care if it's 'futuristic'....And if U were a robot - would YOU come back looking like Robin? Ah...no."

-"I think most of the poor critic reviews originate from the incorrect marketing of the film. It may also have something to do with the epic scale of the film, which makes it longer than the average attention span of critics and viewers alike." [Ed.: the film is 131 minutes long]

-"Williams delivers a crisp (and probably) accurate take on a robot."

-"The love at first sight and developing love between a family robot that eventually develops from a workhorse robot to a endearing family member."

-"I just know [Williams] is not done WOWing us yet. Maturity has served him well so far."

-"Did you like Blade Runner? If you did, you will love Bicentennial Man."

-"The starry-eyed treatment of idealized sex is poignantly romantic."

-"A thought-provoking look at the future of biotech and one facet of its potential impact. In the vein of Gattaca, one wonders, "Maybe...not?""

-"The man is a comic genius, but oftentimes so WAYYYYYYY that I'm exhausted watching him."

-"BM had my whole family in tears..."

-"Yes, this movie takes a lot of turns. So buckle up, and put on your "I will not be critical" cap."

-"It is too much emotional for people who are very sensitive about aging process and in insecured/secured relationship."

More Netflix Zen

2010-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

"If you rated this movie badly then you are obviously gay with no game what so ever. This isnt a movie to over analyze, its a movie to watch because your bored and feel like seeing boobs and sex."("Spread")

"Bicentennial Zen" - Netflix Members Review the Robin Williams Movie "Bicentennial Man"

2010-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

-"Pssst. This is NOT a comedy!"

-"Almost every movie, Williams seems to relate to the child actors as mere props to make himself look cuter. I am glad I am not his child."

-"Robots are not human and never will be, but then again, some people believe that humans are advanced monkeys!! LOL"

-"Bicentennial Man is masterful at presenting one of the most basic human fears: getting older and dying ironically what is suposed to be an immortal device. Bravo!"

-"Jeez thought okay? Understanding (Net%*#@!) Not the typical movie I would have popped the Popcorn for a tad bit long though pretty good for the kids no doubt! Especially if you just met a girl who has kids... OOPs speaking out loud? Kids should be sleeping before snacks!"

-"In this movie where they just go To live is to die, it makes no sense. What about all the stuff he encounters during his life? Didnt that mean anything? Werent any of those moments of discovering humanity special? Nope. They were just minor bumps on the road to his death. Like I care."

-"This is not a comedy at all. Its a Pinocchio type (AKA, Data (ala star trek) ) coming of age story."

-"I only remember this very boring story about a Utopian like society that will never exist because human nature is too violent, and I doubt we will ever stop using fossil fuels and coal so the earth is going to be an Ugly Mad Max place instead of the beautiful society depicted in this sleeper."

-"Wow....Very complicated."

-"I think if you dont mind leting your children seeing sexiwal parts its ok ps thous parts are around the bush."

-"it is not practical for a robot to feel and tasted like human and even have skin like human and then again it would happened.It is disgusting for me to see that human would in love with a robot.That is dump."

-"If you dont cry at the end, youre not human."

-"Based on a true story, this heartfelt romp follows Andrew the androids path to become more human. At end of his journey not only does Andrew become more human, we the audience do as well."

-"Kubrickesque thought soup"

-"It presented a fresh approach for us all to understand the "whys" of life with which you could inject your own personal "hows"."

-"It's alot like forest gump, only with robots"

-"Robin shows his dramatic acting skills to the nth degree in this movie!!The cast, and the settings were great.. About the sets.. The one set where the robot repair,and up dating facilty was.. A false extension built on to "Fort Point"where I.am a volunteer for the National Park Service.. we Robin in his original robot costume could not sit down with it on..And it looked really hilarious to see Robin leaning on the brick walls during breaks in filming.. It was surprising how many times parts fell off the costume..Nuff said.. Back to the movie.. One of the seldom mentioned features in the fim was the music!!very good!!I know robin got a"Razzie"for this film, and all I can say to those folks.. Without swearing!! Is "Stick It Where The Sun Don,t Shine"So thats the reason for my top award of"TARE VICTOR GEORGE".. Meaning in my other reviews.."

-"The Remains of the Day meets I, Robot."

-"The movie itself was entirely enjoyable -- but I experienced a lot of technical issues (freezes, skipping, etc) -- but without any obvious physical defects (scratches). I tried both in a home player and my Mac, with the same result. What the?"

-"The robot breaks wind at one point, and it is thought to be hillarious. I have to lie down now...."

-"I wish Robin Williams would start doing coke again."

-"OMG!!!!!!!!!"

COMING SOON: Part 2

Everybody Hates Dan Barnes Zen - Phish 3D Edition

2010-05-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

As usual, verbatim:

-"You are obviously an individual who does not understand Phish. At no point in your rambling, incoherent review were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who has clicked on you your blog is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

-"Perhaps if you stepped outside of your seemingly narrow-mind and actually listened to/ researched their music. You would never venture to say that Phish just jams monotonously for hours on end."

-"We don't like hateful people at shows anyway. Please do not attend. Go see "good" music, like Lady Ga Ga...."

-"Mr. Barnes' claims that the band has no charisma or talent. If this were accurate: why would so many follow and support a talentless band with no charisma for so long? They wouldn't and they didn't have to."

-"I love Sacramento! I mean seriously where can I get more reviews like this?? This is the coolest guy ever. He hates Phish! Most film critics are just sad and pathetic. However, in this review, this guy makes sure we know there are at least several other people who are more pathetic than him. (Hey, that’s batting .500, right?)" [Ed.: As a baseball fan, I can confidently that is NOT right.]

-"It was as if he was jealous that his favorite performers, Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift, don't have there own 3D movie or flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream named after them."

-"Your words seem to flow with the most blatant ignorance, biases, and overall poor composition. You make serveral refecences to drugs and or drug parahenalia in your article conveying an overal negative connotation. These are steryotypical words if there ever were any."

-"Nice work. Keep it up. With dickishness like that, DB's coolness shall never fade."

-"Just an FYI, you’re about to get trolled by a bunch of little children from the lamest and most pathetic messageboard on the planet, Phantasy Tour, a place where the worst of the worst Phish fans spend their days and nights, living behind a computer because they aren’t fit to be seen in public. Any idiot who actually thinks that the disgusting, drug addicted leeches who follow Phish on tour didn’t cause the band’s demise has smoked entirely too much weed. Phish’s fanbase is terrible, just terrible. I really can’t disagree with your article, and again - I actually LIKE the band’s music."

"A zillion of hippies can't be wrong..." [Ed.: these are the same hippies that found an absolutely pristine and bucolic piece of upper New York state farmland, and said, "Hey, let's turn this place into our own personal sewer, invite Sha Na Na to play, and then spend the rest of our lives making everyone who had a fucking job in the summer of 1969 (the same year we put a man on the moon, you hippie scum!) feel bad for having missed out on all of the brown acid, hepatitis, and multiple deaths of Woodstock!"; i.e., a zillion of hippies CAN be wrong.]

-"There is PLENTY more that can be said here, but I am sure that by now there is enough smoke coming out of your ears for one day. So I will spare you of further critisism."

Sneak Previews - Fanny and Alexander

2010-03-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Monday Morning Cup o' Netflix Member Review Zen

2010-03-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

"Please read this review after you have seen the movie- OK, Hi..." ("Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress")

Sneak Previews - "THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE..."

2010-03-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

ESFS Movie of the Week - "The Big Red One" + Sneak Previews - "The Battle of Algiers"

2010-03-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

In many ways, "The Big Red One" feels like the culmination of the two earlier Fuller war pictures. This movie was Fuller's white whale for several decades - it's his most personal movie (he was a soldier in the First Infantry during WWII, and the film contains numerous biographical elements), based on his own novel, and he nearly made it with Warner Brothers in the 1960's. It's more sprawling than the 1950's war movies, yet no less compact and focused on the psychological mechanics of a group of soldiers waiting for certain death. The film even dramatizes a line from "The Steel Helmet" about an officer leading a charge onto the beaches of Normandy.

So why do I feel that "The Big Red One", while fascinating and filled with bravura sequences, is the least of the three Fuller films we've watched? Curiously enough, I feel that shooting the film on location (as opposed to the in-studio shoots of "Fixed Bayonets!" and "The Steel Helmet") robbed the film of a crucial "realism". The more claustrophobic sets of the earlier films gave those films a raw intensity lacking in "The Big Red One", which too often struggles to make epic battles look like they weren't shot on a shoestring.

A bigger problem is that the four soldiers that we follow from their first assignment in North Africa to their liberation of a Czechslovakian death camp fail to compel us. Even if Robert Carradine had never gone to make "Revenge of the Nerds", he still would have been a tepid substitute for Sam Fuller as the cigar-chomping narrator (and is so often the case, the narration reduces rather than elucidates the material). None of the other three soldiers engage us on a personal level (including Mark Hammil as a baby-faced version of Richard Basehart's coward from "Fixed Bayonets!") and their performances lack the gnashing brio of the 1950's films. Even Lee Marvin - playing a version of Gene Evans' snarling anti-hero - plays it a little too laid-back.

That said, "The Big Red One" is Sam Fuller on a grand scale, and the nearly three-hour-long Reconstructed version gives him ample space to indulge in his penchant for savage poetry, bizarre contradictions, and cruel coincidence. In this longer, R-rated version, he also gets to link the penetrative violence of war and the sexual appetite of young men much more graphically. It also gives a much larger part to the Nazi officer who shadows Marvin throughout the war, and we can see how easily the two could switch places.

Still, I can't help but wonder if I made a mistake watching the Reconstructed version first; if someone had never seen "Apocalypse Now", I would strongly dissuade them from watching the Redux cut before seeing the original. I can't be certain if the new scenes expand the original material or simply dilute the effect of the theatrical cut.

Like I said, "The Big Red One" has one daring sequence after another, most of them trampling all over the line between the sublime and the ridiculous. In that sense, it has to have been a strong influence on Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds". It may be that three hours of Fuller is a bit much, considering that this a filmmaker who, in the judgment of David Thomson, "has dealt with every major phase of American experience and returned with the conclusion that the world is a madhouse where ferocity alone survives."

GRADE: B.

Here is the Sam Fuller cameo from "Pierrot le Fou":

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Have a great weekend! Here is a preview for next week's film, Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers":

Program 3 + Netflix Member Review Zen

2010-03-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

As luck would have it, all 5 films scheduled for the next program are available on Netflix Instant Viewing. That means you can watch them at home on your computer or on your Roku device. Those films again:

BATTLE OF ALGIERS
THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE...
FANNY AND ALEXANDER
IKIRU
STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.

Program 3 starts March 15, after "The Big Red One".

**************

Speaking of which, I have not had a chance to watch "The Big Red One" yet - it wasn't until I watched the YouTube preview that I recalled the film had recently received an elaborate "reconstruction", and that this version was nearly 3 hours long. At any rate, I should be able to watch and review it on Wednesday and/or Thursday.

**************

Now for today's Netflix Member Review Zen:

"There has never been a more entertaining work of literature in the history of man." ("The Hangover")

Sneak Previews - "The Big Red One"

2010-03-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

2010-03-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

"FIXED BAYONETS!"/"THE STEEL HELMET" (1951 - Dir.: Sam Fuller)

IMDB and Netflix both have these films listed as 1951 releases, but David Thomson's book puts "Fixed Bayonets!" in 1950. However, IMDB lists "The Steel Helmet" chronologically before "Fixed Bayonets!". Whatever the case, it's hard not to link these two films together - both are about hardscrabble soldiers in the Korean War, both use many of the same actors in almost the same roles, and both are intensely (even disturbingly) realistic despite the fact that they were obviously filmed on soundstages.

The war movie is a natural for a director who liked to describe film as a battlefield, but "Fixed Bayonets!" is a little more limited by its genre and obligatory commercial gestures (e.g., the pair of wisecracking "ethnic" soldiers). "Fixed Bayonets!" is about a terribly outnumbered platoon given a suicidal task - mask their battalion's retreat by making the enemy think they haven't even left. It doesn't take long for the bullets to start flying, and as commanding officers get picked off one by one, pressure starts to fall on the cowardly Cpl. Denno (the monochromatic Richard Basehart), who still can't pull the trigger in combat.

The Cpl. Denno stuff is pretty standard-issue and predictable, but Fuller's concept of war as inherently savage, nonsensical, brutal, pointless, inevitable, and heroic only via circumstance still rattles your bones. "Fixed Bayonets!" is an ensemble piece, but the most fascinating character is Sgt. Rock (Gene Evans), a lifelong soldier who has seen it all. He is superhuman in combat, and has leadership and father figure qualities that endear him to the unit, but we also get the impression that he is half a sociopath, probably unable or unwilling to exist outside the theater of war. Rock tries to comfort and encourage Denno, but he also engages in acts of psychological warfare that seem more devastating to his own men than the enemy. It takes a while for "Fixed Bayonets!" to build steam, but the second half is a goldmine of devastating setpieces, always punctuated with the threat of sudden, overwhelming, and even self-inflicted violence.

Gene Evans is also the star of "The Steel Helmet", looking exactly the same and playing a less affable version of the Sgt. Rock character named Sgt. Zack. Evans was just 28 years old when he made these films, but he gives both characters the look and feel of a man who has lived several lifetimes. His Sgt. Zack is actually a dead man walking by the end of the opening credits, which roll over a bullet-pierced specimen of his titular steel helmet. Zack's company was captured and assassinated, but by an inexplicable twist of fate, he survived a point-blank shot to the head. With the help of an orphaned South Korean boy, he gets free and hooks up with a wandering platoon tasked with securing a Buddhist temple as an observation post.

Despite the fact that both "Fixed Bayonets!" and "The Steel Helmet" are dedicated to the factions of the U.S. Armed Forces, these films are not about jingoism and cardboard heroism. There's nothing explicitly political here except for the odd reference to "commie bastards". The films are about what an incredibly difficult, unrewarding, shit job it is to be in the military. All noble gestures are ultimately futile in Fuller's films, but so are ignoble gestures. A Japanese son of interned parents fights for the country that imprisoned his parents, but lazily resists the North Korean hostage's anti-American rhetoric for reasons even he can't explain. Zack technically "dies" before the film even begins, loses his mind in the final battle, but continues to march on to the next post - this, says Fuller, is the United States Infantry.

"The Steel Helmet" is certainly the superior film of the two, better written and acted, more focused and yet broader in scope. It was hard not to think of Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" while watching "The Steel Helmet", especially if you consider Jeremy Renner's hotshot bomb specialist a prettied-up, X-Games-era version of Sgt. Zack. But Fuller's penchant for grand gesture also made me think of Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" - both filmmakers share a hypnotically schizophrenic nature, and both enjoy great musical crescendoes that stop abruptly.

I seem to keep reaching for comparisons and synonyms for Fuller, but perhaps that's just the natural urge to find order in chaos. So often in "The Steel Helmet", the most heroic act is the most pointless, and the most cowardly act is the most meaningful. The survivors are the ones who are most willing and able to cut themselves off from their humanity.

The Korean War setting for these films may have been due to timeliness, but it's hard to imagine this film existing anywhere other than the jungle.

"Fixed Bayonets!": B+
"The Steel Helmet": A-

Update

2010-03-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

My intention was to watch "The Steel Helmet" this weekend, then write a dual review with "Fixed Bayonets!". However, the disc did not arrive on Saturday, so Netflix willing, I'll get to that tonight.

I have also decided to push the "Classics of Aussie Cinema" program back into the spring. It will be replaced by a 5-week program called "The 5 Best Films I've Never Seen?".

These films were compiled by taking the 200-some films left on the original ESFS candidates list I compiled before starting the blog (all movies that I've never seen), checking the Netflix rating predictions for each one, and taking the 5 highest scores.

Here's the new schedule:

MARCH 15-21: "Battle of Algiers" (1966 - Dir.: Gillo Pontecorvo)
MARCH 22-28: "The Earrings of Madame de..." (1953 - Dir.: Max Ophuls)
MARCH 29-APRIL 4: "Fanny and Alexander" (1982 - Dir.: Ingmar Bergman)
APRIL 5-11: "Ikiru" (1952 - Dir.: Akira Kurosawa)
APRIL 12-18: "Streamboat Bill, Jr. (1928 - Dir.: Buster Keaton)

"Closely Watched Trains", Part 2

2010-02-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Continuing from last week, Jiri Menzel's Oscar-winning Closely Watched Trains follows a milquetoast train dispatcher named Milos who wants little more than to lose his virginity and maintain his family history of sloth and apathy, no easy task in Nazi-occupied Czechslovakia.

Menzel’s film walks the line between crass sex gags and political nonconformity, a combination that must have proved irresistible to the Academy at a time when the old standards of censorship were crumbling to dust. But is it a sexually progressive heir to Chaplin's The Great Dictator, with its slight "hero" haplessly pulled into antiestablishment action like leaves in a swirling breeze? Or is it just a proto-teen sex comedy, with the standard Nobs v. Snobs setup given an artificial "heft" by setting it in a bleakly comic wartime world of collaborators and refugees?

Probably a bit of both, but even if the combination of sexual voracity and political apathy worked slightly better in Menzel’s 2006 I Served the King of England (which I reviewed in the SNR last March), Menzel is never at a loss for naughty-boy and/or morbid sight gags - an old man breaking up cigarettes into his pipe; a lecherous photographer cackling wildly as his house falls down around him; and the collaborative stationmaster attempting to take minutes at an impromptu meeting with Nazi officials while covered in pigeon poop.

I posted a picture last week from one of the film's best sight gags, an achingly uncomfortable scene in which the virginal Milos tries to talk the stationmaster's wife into deflowering him while she strokes a phallic goose neck.

As I said last week, "Closely Watched Trains" was obviously a huge influence on Altman's 1970 "M*A*S*H", with its similar themes of wartime slackers indulging in juvenile hijinks to forget their bleak, boring, and bloody existences. But as with I Served the King of England, Menzel's touch errs too far toward the precious, even when Milos and his oversexed conductor friend hatch a terrorist plot in the last third. It's a good film with a lot of clever moments, but like I said last week, it doesn't do much besides giggle at sex and cluck its tongue at Nazis and jerks. I can do that on my own time.

GRADE: B.

Later this week: "Fixed Bayonets!"

Last Minute Schedule Change

2010-02-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

Like an idiot, I forgot to put "The Steel Helmet" at the top of my Netflix queue. However, I have "Fixed Bayonets" (released the same year) on VHS at home, so we will just cover that one next week and move "The Steel Helmet" to the following week.

Winter Olympics Snowboarding Sportscaster Zen

2010-02-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

An actual quote from the beyond-bad announcers who are calling the snowboarding events:

"There's a term that some of use, it's called 'tapping into the eye of the tiger'."

Mansfield Against the System

2010-02-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

My original draft of today's Cinema Scoped column read "Jayne Mansfield's tits", not "Jayne Mansfield's ta-tas". Free speech is dead.

Sneak Previews - "The Steel Helmet"

2010-02-17T13:38:00.001-08:00

I couldn't find a preview, but here is the first 5 minutes:

ESFS Movie of the Week - "Closely Watched Trains", Part I

2010-02-16T23:09:00.000-08:00

We come to the end of our series of Academy Award winners for Best Foreign Film in the 1960's with Jiri Menzel's 1967 "Closely Watched Trains". Bergman's "Through a Glass Darkly" displayed the Academy's tendency (at the time) to value stagy works higher than purely cinematic works, and also a (somewhat) valuable tendency to reward The Masters. "A Man and a Woman" displayed the Academy's significantly less valuable tendency to reward popular choices, especially since it bested fellow nominees "Battle of Algiers" and "Loves of a Blonde". "Closely Watched Trains" fulfills a third category that is irresistible to Academy voters - glib movies about Nazis.

Hollywood loves Nazis. Let's just say it - they fucking love Nazis. Always have. They make the perfect bad guys, because they're pure evil, they look sharp, they're REAL, and their snootiness is built right into the practice and rhetoric of their villainy. If you include the stipulation "and/or fascists", here is a sample of relevant Best Foreign Film winners and nominees in the last decade or so: "Life is Beautiful" (heroically, they continued to give out the Best Foreign Film award even after Roberto Benigni's win), "The Counterfeiters", "Sophie Scholl", "Joyeux Noel", "Divided We Fall", and "The Chorus". To say nothing of movies about Fascism, post-Fascism, and proto-Fascism like "Pan's Labyrinth", 1993 winner "Belle Epoque", "The Lives of Others", and this year's nominee "The White Ribbon".

By coincidence, I recently read Mark Harris' "Pictures of a Revolution", an extremely smart and well-researched book about the five films that were nominated for the 1967 Academy Awards, and how they represented the shift that was about to occur in American film. The "New Hollywood" was represented by "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Graduate", the fading "Old Hollywood" by "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (whose star Spencer Tracy died just after shooting completed) and the mega-bomb "Doctor Doolittle". The difference-splitter (and thus, winner) was Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the Night", an old-school genre film elevated by superior acting and a slightly revisionist racial attitude.

In many respects, I feel like "Closely Watched Trains" is also a difference-splitter - it has the anti-establishment absurdity and sexual curiosity of the hippies, but it's also coy and cute. Menzel giggles at sex and clucks his tongue at Nazis (and jerks) - nothing too difficult there.

It's hard to imagine that the film wasn't an influence on Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" - both movies follow similar groups of horny, ideologically withdrawn slackers forced into semi-service during wartime (in this case, it's uniformed train station workers in Nazi-occupied Czechslovakia) and the lockstep prigs they take joy in deflating.

That's Part 1 of my review - I'll have more on "Closely Watched Trains" later this week. Don't forget that the Sam Fuller Goes to War program starts next Monday with "The Steel Helmet".

ESFS Movie of the Week - Schedule 1, Week 2

2010-02-08T21:03:00.000-08:00

"A MAN AND A WOMAN" (1966 - Dir.: Claude Lelouch)

The 1961 Oscar win for Bergman's compact chamber drama "Through a Glass Darkly" makes a lot of sense given the time period - the still-young Hollywood was mired in an inferiority complex to the New York stage, and subsequently awarded a higher significance to stage and literary properties put to screen. "West Side Story" won Best Picture that same year, and fellow winners and nominees from the period included "Judgment at Nuremberg", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "My Fair Lady", "Gigi", and the Terrence Rattigan creaker "Separate Tables".

Claude Lelouch's 1966 win for "A Man and a Woman" (over "The Battle of Algiers" and Milos Forman's sublime "Loves of a Blonde"!), meanwhile, probably reflects the film's commercial popularity more than anything. The movie seems to follow the template of Claude Lelouch's career, in that it's tantalizing, pretty and vapid, like a lipstick commercial. Lelouch has been making films steadily since the early 1960's, although few since "A Man and a Woman" have received wide American release (his 2007 "Roman de Gare" played in SF, but did not make to Sacramento; however, his 2002 "And Now Ladies and Gentleman" showed at the Tower). "A Man and a Woman" won the Palme d'Or prize at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, no doubt delighting festivalgoers weary of French films that they didn't get.

There's nothing ungettable about Lelouch's film - it's sort of a New Wave forebear of this summer's indie hit "(500) Days of Summer", an irresistible, smug-cute attempt at rewiring the hardware of romance movies. A handsome man (Jean-Lous Trintignant, sort of a Gallic Ed Harris) and a beautiful woman (Anouk Aimee) meet while dropping their children off at a boarding school. Through cheeky cutaways, we learn that she's the widow of a stuntman who she still pines for (the "samba came into our life" sequence, which shows their idealized bohemian marriage in an extended musical montage, is one of the film's highlights) and that he's a race car driver whose wife committed suicide.

And that's about it - they come together, they fall apart, and then (SPOILER ALERT!) they get back together. The rest is just postcard photography and a fairly original storytelling style - most of the film seems to exist in memory, fantasy, or somewhere in between; photography shifts between color, black and white, sepia, and slate; and there are those tantalizing gaps in the story that are ultimately just empty space.

Despite some truly elegant driving scenes, great photography, and good performances by the leads, the film (much like "(500) Days of Summer") is entertaining but hollow. The actors aren't given the room to develop personalities that might make us care about them, and we never get the impression that there's a guiding hand behind the gimmick, or a soul beneath the surfaces.

GRADE: B-.

Sneak Previews - Closely Watched Trains

2010-02-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Next Monday:

"A Man and a Woman"

2010-02-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

My review is coming tonight.

Sneak Previews - "A Man and a Woman"

2010-02-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

1966 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, Claude Lelouch's "A Man and a Woman"

Movie City USA Actual Comment Zen

2010-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

-"Amiable post and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you for your information."

This comment was posted yesterday on my MCUSA Dare Daniel review of "Stepmom", a review I opened by calling out director Chris Columbus for dedicating the film to his dead mother.

2009 Best Foreign Language Film nominees

2010-02-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

-Ajami (Israel)
-The White Ribbon (Germany)
-El Secreto de sus Ojos (Aregentina)
-Un Prophete (France)
-La teta asustada (Peru)

Multiple winner Pedro Almodovar was the big snub here, as his "Broken Embraces" was left off the ballot.

Movie of the Week 1 - Through a Glass Darkly

2010-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ingmar Bergman.

What can you say about a filmmaker who dedicates "Through a Glass Darkly" to his wife, then makes the only female character in the film an incurable maniac who sleeps with her brother and envisions God as a giant spider who tries to rape her (other than to lament the fact that he didn't live long enough to direct a Sandra Bullock-Hugh Grant romantic comedy)?

The woman is Karin (Harriet Andersson, in an emotionally bare performance), and she's recuperating on an island between electroshock therapy sessions with her brother, her absentee writer father, and the repressive husband she doesn't love (Max von Sydow, natch - somehow, Bergman never saw him as the Gary Cooper type).

In the opening shot, all four of them emerge from the sea frolicking like idyllic creatures, but it's just the first of many deceptive fronts. Almost instantly, von Sydow takes Karin's father aside, and tells him of her debilitating madness. The father weakly excuses himself from family dinner to weep in the kitchen, suddenly aware that his children don't believe in him. Later, his son stages a backyard play that is a clear excoriation of his father, who feigns pride and approbation.

Caught in the middle (and caught "between worlds") is Karin, on the one hand simpler and sweeter than the men, on the other a mess of nasty contradictions. Frigid towards her husband, she nonetheless experiences a sexual rapture when voices in her also-mad mother's bedroom tell her that God will be revealed. She takes her instructions from the voices, and from there the film evolves past a mere "chamber play" into an examination of psychological violence and crippling faith.

I'm sure the film was influenced by despairing Scandinavian philosophers and playwrights I've never heard of, but I see a sort of Swedish Tennessee Williams aspect to the material, as the unstable Karin is pushed towards a revelatory madness by the debilitating "care" of the same men who would protect her.

"Through a Glass Darkly" is part of Bergman's trilogy of faith, so there's a lot of emotional-intellectual torment and a symbolic theistic interplay between the emotionally absent father and an all-purposes "absent" God. It's a four-character piece that would fit snugly on the stage, but Bergman doesn't make any asinine attempts to "open up" the material.

The film is arid, savage, and pure as the desert, but made with purring precision and a formalist craftsmanship that's cut with a jarring naturalism. If the grade seems a little low, it might just reflect my own "crisis of faith", or lack thereof.

GRADE: B+.

Through a Glass Darkly

2010-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The other films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1961 Oscars were "Harry and the Butler" (Denmark), "Immortal Love" (Japan), "The Important Man" (Mexico), and "Placido" (Spain). Every country only gets to put up one nominee, which must have been a real tough call for certain countries in certain eras. Surprisinly, there are no French films among the nominees. "Cleo From 5 to 7", "A Woman is a Woman", "Lola", "Jules and Jim", and "Last Year at Marienbad" were among the films produced in 1961, but those films may not have been imported to the U.S. until years later.

My review of Ingmar Bergman's 1961 winner "Through a Glass Darkly" will be up tomorrow morning, around the same time that this year's Academy Award nominations will be announced.

Best Foreign Film Oscar Winners of the 1960's

2010-01-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

1960 - The Virgin Spring (Bergman)
1961 - Through a Glass Darkly (Bergman)
1962 - Sundays and Cybele (Serge Bourguignon [France])
1963 - 8 1/2 (Fellini)
1964 - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Vittorio De Sica)
1965 - The Shop on Main Street (Jan Kadar/Elmar Klos [Czech])
1966 - A Man and a Woman (Claude LeLouch)
1967 - Closely Watched Trains (Jerzi Menzel)
1968 - War and Peace (Sergei Bondarchuk [Russia])
1969 - Z (Costa-Gavras)

-The category was first offered in 1956 - before that, it was an occasional honorary award.

-8 1/2 was Fellini's third win - he's won four in all. Vittorio De Sica also won four, and Ingmar Bergman took three.

-Italy has won the most Foreign Film Oscars with 10; France is second with 9.

Monday Night Netflix Zen

2010-01-25T17:17:00.001-08:00

"Leave it to Spike to put some pointless b00bs. Every movie he does, get ready for some pointless b00bs." ("The Miracle at St. Anna")

Steaming Hot Monday Morning Cup o' Netflix Member Review Zen

2010-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

"What the F*%$@!!!? What a Piece of S*#$%@!! I have never been so S*!?@!*&%**&*..........!" ("Tool: Unauthorized Biography")

ESFS Returns

2010-01-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

I'll be returning to a regular movie schedule on February 1, after the NFL playoffs are over. Instead of a monthly theme, I will be programming three-film mini-festivals, one movie a week. There will be no Dare Daniel, no critics quotes, no bullshit...just me and the movies. The first two programs will be "Best Foreign Film Oscar Winners of the 1960's" and "Sam Fuller Goes to War". The movies are listed on the sidebar so that you can update your Netflix queues. See you in February...

The Barnesyard's Top 10 Films He Saw For the First Time in 2009

2010-01-04T22:50:00.001-08:00

1) The Exterminating Angel *
2) The Red Shoes *
3) Spirited Away *
4) Europa
5) Design For Living *
6) The Wrestler
7) The Last Laugh
8) Coraline
9) Mouchette *
10) In the Loop

Top 5 Documentaries:

1) Hearts and Minds *
2) Sherman's March *
3) The Order of Myths
4) The Beaches of Agnes
5) Man On Wire

* = ESFS selection

The Barnesyard Ranks Every 2009 Film He's Seen

2010-01-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

THE TEN BEST:

1) Coraline
2) In the Loop
3) Inglourious Basterds
4) Fantastic Mr. Fox
5) The Beaches of Agnes
6) Ponyo
7) Sin Nombre
8) Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
9) The Damned United
10) The Hurt Locker

VERY GOOD OR GOOD:

11) Bruno
12) Sugar
13) Up
14) Cheri
15) The Informant!
16) I Love You, Man
17) The Girlfriend Experience
18) District 9
19) Zombieland
20) The Messenger
21) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
22) Every Little Step
23) Tyson
24) The Tale of Desperaux
25) 9
26) Surveillance

NEAR-MISSES:

27) Goodbye Solo
28) Observe and Report
29) The Road
30) Moon
31) Star Trek
32) It Might Get Loud
33) State of Play
34) The Road
35) Adventureland
36) Paranormal Activity
37) Paris
38) Drag Me to Hell
39) The Box
40) Bad Lieutenant: POCNO

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT:

41) Land of the Lost
42) Monsters vs. Aliens
43) Valentino: The Last Emperor
44) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
45) The Brothers Bloom
46) Astroboy
47) X-Men Origins: Wolverine
48) Anvil! The Story of Anvil
49) Friday the 13th
50) Angels and Demons
51) Julie and Julia
52) Funny People
53) (500) Days of Summer
54) Paris 36
55) Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

NEAR-BAD:

56) Management
57) The September Issue
58) Away We Go
59) Under the Sea 3-D
60) The Maiden Heist
61) The Great Buck Howard
62) Good Hair
63) The Men Who Stare at Goats
64) I Am Because We Are
65) Notorious
66) The Young Victoria

BAD:

67) Born in 68
68) Michael Jackson’s This Is It
69) Public Enemies
70) 2012
71) Duplicity
72) The Invention of Lying
73) Terminator: Salvation
74) Nine
75) Paper Heart
76) The Time Traveler’s Wife
77) Taking Woodstock
78) Extract
79) Youth in Revolt
80) A Perfect Getaway
81) The Boys Are Back
82) Aliens in the Attic
83) The Burning Plain
84) Incendiary
85) Watchmen
86) Sorority Row
87) Whiteout
88) The Lovely Bones
89) Whatever Works
90) The Informers
91) The Edge of Love
92) The Taking of Pelham 123
93) Powder Blue
94) Invictus
95) The Hangover
96) Jennifer’s Body
97) GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra
98) Sunshine Cleaning

UTTER SHIT:

99) Year One
100) The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
101) Fast and Furious
102) Brothers
103) K-20: Legend of the Mask
104) Dance Flick
105) The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
106) Push
107) Pirate Radio
108) The Final Destination
109) Lyme Life
110) Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
111) Surrogates
112) Shrink

THE TEN WORST:

113) New in Town
114) Gamer
115) Knowing
116) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
117) The Echelon Conspiracy
118) Where the Wild Things Are
119) The Limits of Control
120) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
121) Did You Hear About the Morgans?
122) Post Grad

2009 Top 10 Redux

2010-01-01T10:48:00.001-08:00

1) Coraline
2) In the Loop
3) Inglourious Basterds
4) Fantastic Mr. Fox
5) Ponyo
6) The Beaches of Agnes
7) Sin Nombre
8) Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
9) The Damned United
10) The Hurt Locker

And 10 more...

11) Bruno
12) Up
13) Sugar
14) Cheri
15) I Love You, Man
16) The Informant!
17) Zombieland
18) The Girlfriend Experience
19) District 9
20) The Messenger

A Barnesyard in Full

2009-12-30T15:08:00.000-08:00

-There is no Cinema Scoped! column in this week's SNR - The Barnesyard was too busy, given a recent move, a month of jury duty, visiting in-laws, the holiday hubbub, and a concussion on top of it all. CS will be back in business next week. However, this week does feature all three SNR critics dishing on their top 10 of the decade.

-Is it just me, or was "Where the Wild Things Are" the loudest, most annoying, most depressing film of the year? A kid goes to a land of bummed-out magical creatures, where they all get bummed out together, and then the kid leaves. I won't use the film to denigrate the cinematic career of Spike Jonze, since it often takes incredibly gifted filmmakers to make such spectacular disasters. A.O. Scott named it the best film of the year - say no more!

-I don't usually talk about sports here, but I have to say it is a fucking disgrace that Sacramento is not going out to support their Kings. These guys play their guts out every night, they have a lot of talent to go with the grit, and they're one trade away from re-entering the playoff ranks (the lack of size on the frontline is glaring, especially since 7-footer Spencer Hawes plays shorter than Nate Robinson). I haven't shied away from criticizing the Maloofs in recent years, but they've actually done a great job this year on ticket prices and fun promotions. Go to a game, you won't be disappointed.

-SNR put up the wrong popcorn icon for my "Julie and Julia" review, and still hasn't changed it - it should be the indifferent popcorn.

-Admittedly, I've been a little lax on keeping up with films in recent months, but here is my preliminary top 5 for 2009 (I'm doing this from memory, so I'll repost if I forgot anything):

1) Coraline
2) Inglourious Basterds
3) The Fantastic Mr. Fox
4) Ponyo
5) The Beaches of Agnes

Anyone else got a top 5/10 of the year? I'll post a ranked list of every 2009 film I've seen later this week.

-I did get to see "Invictus", which makes "Lilies of the Field" look like "Sweet Sweetback's Baaadasssss Song". After building an entire career on race-baiting violence, is it any surprise that his Clint Eastwood's South Africa movie is about a white rugby team, while an opaque and de-humanized Nelson Mandela delivers one dull speech after another? Tripe of the highest order.

Bonus Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-12-04T00:35:00.000-08:00

"I used to look back on my childhood very fondly. Not so much anymore. Thanks, I really appreciate it." ("GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra")

Netflix Member Review Zen - Talk About Charles Edition

2009-12-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

-"This was a great movie and the guy in this is so on point its scary. Between the both of them they take you to whole another world sex." ("Delta of Venus")

-"The many bad reviews are mysterious to me. Maybe it was marketed more toward the mouth-breathing set." ("Observe and Report")

-"Another family-friendly movie trashed by evil film critics because it as two big stars in it. When is this going to stop? I am so sick and tired of film critics of trashing movies like this for being family-friendly. Does it have jokes that will go over children's heads? Yes. Film critics need to learn that big stars like John Travolta and Robin Williams have families and they want to do movies for their kids. Did I enjoy this movie? Yes. Did I laugh? Yes. Will I recommend it? Yes. Do see this movie." ("Old Dogs")

-"If you are into vampires and/or werewolves, you will love New Moon." ("New Moon")

-"Also moive dont have to make sence or be bibicaly correct." ("Gabriel")

-"Terrible. Very inappropriate for kids. Uses the N word. Decapitation. Castration is a big theme. Robot solicits for prostitution, etc etc." ("Ice Pirates")

-"very angry." ("The Office: Season 2")

-"You have the info but the movie is unavailable. Why?? I can't rate the movie because it is unavailable" ("A Christmas Without Snow"; their rating: 3 stars)

CS #4

2009-10-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

You can check out all of my Cinema Scoped columns here.

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-10-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

This week's Cinema Scoped column (located on the movie times page of the SNR) is about a website that purports to help you find the perfect time to hit the bathroom during a movie. No new movie reviews this week, but there are new DVD reviews of "Land of the Lost", "Adam Resurrected", and "Shrink".

Headline of the Year

2009-10-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

"Bill Murray says "Charlie's Angels" director 'deserves to die'."

Cinema Scoped Premieres Today

2009-10-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy playing Fight Night on the XBox that I completely forgot that my new SNR column Cinema Scoped debuts today. The first column is entitled "The Age of LeBeouf".

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for future columns, please let me know.

Monday Morning Cup O' Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-10-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

-"Nude scene. Not done by Christians, clearly." ("John the Apostle")

-"This was a horriable film & that it wasn’t funny nor was it entertaining, it was meanly a film where the characters can use the F-word as many times as they can." ("Observe and Report")

-"Maybe we need an Rx rating. I guess genitals have to be exposed to make a movie an X rating, because this one (when I turned it off) had not shown genitals." ("Lucky Number Slevin")

-"Felt good to see a underachiever/schleprock type give em hell" ("Paul Blart: Mall Cop")

-"could not see the movie Defected, please find a different one unless it needs cleaning??" ("Biblical Adam and Eve")

-"The reason for the awful reviews became blaringly clear to me. The movie has an extremely successful black man who is also a "family man." Who also loves his "black woman."" ("Obsessed")

-"Boring and lame jews that think they are funny but arent, so they put together this movie." ("Checking Out")

-"Its not what you think, does not fall into the American pie, Porkies, nor any other movie that is qualified as a comedy. Ya see you have to have jokes or gags of some sort." ("A Dirty Shame")

-"Bull CRAP!" ("Otto; or, Up With Dead People")

TGIF Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-10-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

-"I could probably give a 17-hour speech on why this is one of the worst movies of all time, and after that speech, diehard fans of the film would then as well hate it." ("The Incredible Hulk")

TWIB Notes Update

2009-09-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

I just got the latest issue of the SNR, and it looks like my first Cinema Scope column and the Fall Film Preview were pushed to next week. The Scene and Heard is in there, though, along with reviews of "Surrogates", "The Girlfriend Experience", and "Trouble the Water".

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-09-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

It's a very exciting week for The Barnesyard, as my new SNR column Cinema Scope premieres on the movie times page. I also have the Scene and Heard this week, as well as 1/3 of the Fall Film Preview, a review of "Surrogates", and a handful of new DVD reviews. I'll also be returning to my usual 4:40 p.m. slot on KFBK 1530 AM this Friday with reviews of "The Invention of Lying" and "Zombieland".

TWIB Notes - This Week in Barnesyard

2009-09-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

I was not on the radio this afternoon, as I had only seen one film ("Surrogates" - Dump It!!) and my phone is shit. I'll be back on KFBK 1530 AM next Friday at 4:40 p.m..

My new SNR column debuts next week - it's called Cinema Scope, and it's the typical free-form cinematic hey-hey that you've come to expect from The Barnesyard. The first column asks the question, "Are American movies worse than ever?"

Additionally, there will probably be some major changes to this blog in the coming weeks, as it may be folded into a larger Cinema Scope blog venture. Professional Fucking Designer Darcey Barnes is said to be working on the layout. More to come on that in the next few weeks...

Voices - "Patch Adams" (Netflix Member Review edition)

2009-09-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

-"I can't believe I waited so long to watch this!?!"

-"If you are feeling down, laugther is the best medicine, not just chicken soup. Patch Adams prescribes us the medicine needed in this movie. I am doing well how are you."

-"Definitely include this little gem to your next Robin Williams film festival."

-"Two ways to look at this film. One way, watching the film as a film professor or professional movie reviewer and rip it to pieces for all the problems and overthe top acting that has been the downfall for so many movies. Or from another point of view just turn on the film and get hooked in so much into this true story."

-"[Patch] is unconventional and doesn't follow university rules. He sneaks into a pediatric ward of the teaching hospital and makes all the children laugh!"

-"The kind of guy a lot of people would love to be like. Very, enjoyable movie."

-"Patch Adams is the greatest movie ever made. I mean, who wouldn't want a clown to tell you that you have cancer. That is comic gold."

-"I love this movie! My kids love this movie! My whole family loves this movie & we rarely agree on anything! I know how cold & insensitive some doctor are towards there patients & they could use a few life lessons from Patch. You know, they ones who will stand there, hovering by the doorway, & tell you that you are dying from a disease with no known cause or cure & little in the way of treatment, as if they just told you have a cold & nothing more. Yep, those ones."

-"I have a unique perspective, since there are many doctors in my family. I'm not one, even though I was always supposed to be. Why? Because I watched what becoming a doctor did to my uncle. As each year of his medical school experience progressed into the next, he lost more and more of his humanity, with each new year carrying him further and further away from what to me should be all the reasons someone wants to be a doctor. What I thought medicine was isn't what he showed me, through the person he was becoming, was being taught to him. It's not about the money. It's not about the prestige. It's not even about the medicine, even though it's all about the medicine. What medicine is about is the people."

-"This movie is based on a true story; so to me that makes it worth watching. Robin Williams seems to play the role he was meant to play." [Ed.: That would have been really embarrassing if Williams had accidentally played Monica Potter's role.]

-"I really like true stories. Unfortunatly true life stories can also be sad at time."

-"If you need to work on communication skills rent this movie. This movie was recommended to me at a communication seminar, it took me 5yrs to rent it. I am glad that I did and have improved on many of my relationships in real life."

-"Great movie, is great for anyone in medical field. Makes you wonder why compassion has left some medical profession."

-"Makes you wish there were more Patch Adamses in the world!"

-"People and film critics that gave this movie bad reviews just didn't get the point or have no sense of humor. In order to enjoy this movie, you have to have a sense of humor. Patch Adams had a great sense of humor. He made people laugh. He made people feel good about themselves. He proved that laughter is the best medicine. A lot of people just didn't see that."

-"I work in medicine and the days of patients should be happy ,joyous yet maintaing effective care Bravo"

-"This guy (Patch) had a wonderful outlook, and making those sick people laugh, aaah..."

-"We thoroughly enjoyed this funny and sad film. This too much to have write, a brief review should be enough. Go saller."

-"I work in the medical profession. This was a wonderful movie. It so flys in the face of medicine as we know it, on the other hand, medicine has been so wrong many times. Thought provoking"

-"I don't see why most people this movie so much..."

-"Persons whose consciousness does not experience anything beyond sex, power, money, and violence will not like it."

-"LEAVE ROBIN WILLIAMS ALONE!!!"

-"A touhing story based on real life events of a an intern doctor and his stuggle to be himself. The regid einvironment is a challenge he is more than capable matchinf and chaning."

-"If you have a cold heart and think 'feelings' are for wusses, you may end up throwing your dvd player out the window."

-"One star? What a cynical bunch of whiner reviewers. So you want to discourage our offspring from ever seeing this movie? Why don't you go back under the damp, dank, dark rocks you crawled from, or listen up, here's a clue, Parents of Our Future Leaders--movies like these KILL FACIST."

-"I watched this movie until it displayed a flaw. My DVD stopped and a message appeared demanding my immediate attention to check the DVD for scratches. Patch Adams was found with a mark on the back that kept me from watching the entitre movie. Please send me a different copy of the amazng movie, Patch Adams."

-"Well i did dent even order it in the first place i was supposed to get dill bit Taylor and i also did dent order getting even with dad so im not going to pay for some thing i did dent order and i was supposed to get super hero move like i said i wont pay for them."

NEXT WEEK - The Barnesyard reviews "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne", "Pickpocket", "Mouchette", and "Patch Adams". What a week!

Hump Day Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-09-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have seen all 3 of the Bresson films, but haven't had a chance to write about them yet. I'll try to get something up by the end of the week. Here's your zen:

-"As this movie ended we all looked at each other and said, "WHAT"." ("Memento")

-"Hello up there. Is the movie over? I'm still down here... and I'm still in quite a lot of pain. Maybe someone in the lobby could call an ambulance. Oh, the pain is really quite severe. I... I've ..." ("Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me")

-"Disc did not work in my lg blue ray/dvd player or the built in player on my tivo. It did work on my computer but I wasn't going to sit in front of a 15" monitor in an armless computer chair for an hour and a half." ("Adventureland"; their rating: 1 star)

-"Just another worst movie." ("Sex Drive")

-"I am highly offended at this movie! First of all, the title is a blatant drug reference... as in "C'mon, let's FIRE IT UP and smoke the pot." ("Fire it Up")

Tuesday Afternoon Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-09-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

-"This movie was fair. It looks like they want a sequel." ("No Country For Old Men")

Monday Morning Cup O' CH Zen

2009-09-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

-"I thought that this movie was wonderful. I am man enough to say that. I did enjoy this movie. Miley Cyrus is very talented. Along with Shia LeBeouf and Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus does have talent." ("Hannah Montana: The Movie")

-"After watching this movie, you might want to set yourself up a budget. This movie shows how dangerous credit card spending can be. There is nothing funny about credit card debt. I didn't think this movie was hilarious." ("Confessions of a Shopaholic")

Tuesday Afternoon Ice Cold Glass of Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-09-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

-"I love this movie. True, there is no linear narrative/plot. And one character takes a dump on camera (gross). And the Viking language is not accurate. But, it is beautifully filmed." ("Severed Ways")

-"It is horrible acting and bad story line." ("Christy: A New Beginning")

-"The choice of writing or direction was what was really perplexing." ("The Kingdom")

-"Sad but kind of movie to see only once." ("Danika")

-"This film should be required viewing for every high schooler, college resident and politicians." ("Trouble the Water")

-"Yes it was refreshing to see a ordinary gay character. But another "tortured homosexual", please!" ("The Country Teacher")

-"i totally recommend this movie is the best" ("The Hangover")

-"I love a good, violent action movie like any other guy. But really now, this guy flies halfway around the world in his metal suit, with no fuel tanks, no defined alternative energy source. Then he dashes around the skies of Malibu and downtown LA, which the Air Force can characterize as a "training flight"? Plus, I can't stand Terrence Howard. He's gay, and it shows." ("Iron Man")

-"This movie wont play on my Roku instant player. I wish I could have seen it, but it is only available until 10/1/09." ("The 13th Warrior")

-"i love Johny Depp but this movie makes me think it about him in a whole different way." ("Sweeney Todd")

-"Okay Mr. Mendes (director) so suburbia isn't everything it's cracked up to be? While 3rd worlders around the globe pray for some fresh water and a bit of food each day, you poke fun at Americans who can't get over themselves, and their "issues". Yawn..." ("Revolutionary Road")

-"Off the hook!!" ("Crank 2: High Voltage")

-"Very slow movie (esp the ending when everything was slowmo)." ("Natural City")

Tuesday Morning Bowl of Netflix Member Review Bran

2009-09-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

"The movie is dark." ("Seven Pounds")

Previews - "Pickpocket"

2009-09-12T16:14:00.001-07:00

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-09-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've got 4 new reviews in this week's SNR - "Gamer", "Adventureland", "Local Color", and "The Brothers Bloom". Once again, I'll be on the radio this afternoon at 4:40 p.m., talking about such films as "9", "World's Greatest Dad", and "Whiteout". Tune in if you get the chance.

I was able to watch "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne" on Tuesday, but a ridiculously protracted fantasy football draft that stretched over three days (longer than the actual NFL draft, which only takes place at Madison Square Garden) didn't leave me enough time to write about it. That will have to wait for this weekend, along with my review of "Pickpocket".

Previews - "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne"

2009-09-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

We kick off Robert Bresson Month on Tuesday with his 1945 "Les Dames du Bous de Boulogne".

Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-08-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

-"Although subtitled, this is an excellent movie." ("The Black Book")

-"A thriller fatal attraction with deadly consequences. Shot on location in Spain." ("Pyro")

-"This movie should be banned in US in respect with animals." ("The Adventures of Milo and Otis")

-"Sucked balls. David Lynch's movies are all horrible. I accidentally rented it not knowing it was a Lynch joint. This mistake won't happen again." ("Surveillance", directed by Jennifer Lynch)

-"I cannot rate it because the dvd stopped playing half way through. Though you like to know that this particular dvd is defective." ("Into the Arms of Strangers")

-"Its just ok, I get sick of the evil white men of the government trying to kill all the puppy dogs and kittens in the world." ("Race to Witch Mountain")

-"I tried to like the movie but what it comes down to is, it a B.S. propaganda movie to get people to feel sorry for illegal immagrants" ("Crossing Over")

-"This is also an animated cartoon where the animals act like people. When you do this animals can have many faults." ("All Dogs Go to Heaven 2")

-"He experienced more in his life than most do in their lifetime." ("Into the Wild")

-"Its wrong to have this rated PG or even to have it on here." ("Clash of the Titans")

-"It is so close to what is going on in our life now. Just so real" (CSI: NY, Season 2)

ESFS September - The Films of Robert Bresson

2009-08-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Let's try this again - for the month of SEPTEMBER, I have scheduled 3 films from one of the most ascetic directors of all time, Frenchman Robert Bresson. His career stretched over five decades, although his deliberate, almost monastic approach resulted in only about a dozen films. His last film was made in 1983 ("L'Argent"), although he didn't pass away until 1999, at the age of 98. I have selected one film from each of his most crucial decades, in order to see the progression of his style:

SEPTEMBER 8-13: "LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE" (1945)
SEPTEMBER 14-20: "PICKPOCKET" (1959)
SEPTEMBER 21-27: "MOUCHETTE" (1967)
SEPTEMBER 28-OCTOBER 4 (Dare Daniel): "PATCH ADAMS" (1998 - Dir.: Tom Shadyac)

As always, all of these films (including "Patch Adams"!) are available for rental on Netflix.

I have also come up with a schedule for the month of October; rather predictably, the subject is Horror. I've scheduled three of the most highly regarded films of the genre that I've never seen:

OCTOBER 5-11: "SUSPIRIA" (1977 - Dir.: Dario Argento)
OCTOBER 12-18: "BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN" (1935 - Dir.: James Whale)
OCTOBER 19-25: "A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET" (1984 - Dir.: Wes Craven)
OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1 (Dare Daniel): TBD

Countdown to Destiny

2009-08-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've got 7 new reviews in this week's SNR - "District 9" and "Inglourious Basterds" on the popcorn page, "Taking Woodstock" on the movie times page, and "2 or 3 Things I Know About Her", "Tyson", "The Edge of Love", and "The Informers" on the DVD page. I have a total of 12 reviews in this week's issue, which has to be some sort of personal record. And don't forget that I'll be on KFBK 1530 AM on Friday at 4:40 p.m., where I'll be talking about "Taking Woodstock", "The Final Destination", and "Halloween 2".

More exciting news - my brand new weekly film column will debut in the SNR in exactly five weeks. Begin the countdown to destiny!

Hump Day Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-08-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

-"I wonder if the title push meant pushing for streotype and propaganda on certain type of people are good and bad based on their ethnicity, nationality and origin. All in all, this is one great flick, highly recommend!" ("Push")

-"This movie is so ridiculous that whoever made came of with some story lines obviously never went to a party." ("Rave")

-"The promiscuity drove me nuts." ("Mamma Mia!")

-""The Rock" isn't getting it done with the Disney movies. We keep waiting for the next "The Rundown" or "Be Cool"" ("Race to Witch Mountain")

-"This movie has nothing to do with trains and everything to do with heroin." ("Trainspotting")

-"I revisited the original with my roommate last night after thinking the Keanu Reeves remake was tepid and having not seen the old B & W version since I was a kid. YIKES!" ("The Day the Earth Stood Still")

-"These two guys, [Paul] Rodriquez, and [Michael] O'Keefe are a good pair, wish they would of teamed up more often." ("The Whoopee Boys")

-"this was quirky and I found myself uncomfortable" ("Little Miss Sunshine")

Best of 2009 (so far)

2009-08-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

Since I recently became a halfway-legitimate film critic, I have been working to catch up on the 2009 releases. I've finally surpassed 50 films from 2009 (not counting the late 2008/early 2009 awards bait releases like "The Wrestler"), so now seems like a good time to catalog the best and worst of the year so far.

The Top 10 (such as it is):

1) Coraline
2) The Beaches of Agnes
3) Ponyo
4) Inglourious Basterds
5) Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
6) Bruno
7) Up
8) District 9
9) Tyson
10) Every Little Step

The list includes 4 documentaries and 3 cartoons, in case you're keeping count, but that's still a damn fine top 5 for late August.

The Worst 10:

1) Post Grad
2) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
3) New in Town
4) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
5) The Echelon Conspiracy
6) Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
7) Push
8) Powder Blue
9) The Informers
10) Watchmen

The Strange Case of Dr. Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-08-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

-"socialist propaganda. what is this 1924? BOR-ING. Deleuze and Guattari finished Capitalism and Schizophrenia 29 years ago lets dispense with the obvious." ("Babel")

-"Horrible. Incestuous and manic character. Has flight of ideas and rambles. No worth your time." ("I Stand Alone")

-"Charlotte J. more than holds her own in the company of great actors like Giametti and Linney." ("The Nanny Diaries")

-"This was absolutely the best movie I have seen in a while, and I am an ADULT!!" ("Hannah Montana: The Movie")

-"Excellent movie, really makes you think alot, you think your life is bad, it just goes to show someone out there has it shittier." ("Felon")

-"Wow this was great! A great big steaming pile." ("The Vanguard")

Ranking De Palma

2009-08-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

A conversation about Brian De Palma this weekend (along with the release of "Inglourious Basterds", which should cement Tarantino's reputation as the second coming of De Palma) inspired me to dust off and revise my complete ranking of his work. This list was originally posted two years ago on Movie City USA, but it has been updated:

1) Blow Out
2) Carrie
3) The Phantom of the Paradise
4) Scarface
5) Femme Fatale
6) Dressed to Kill
7) Sisters
8) The Untouchables
9) Obsession
10) Body Double
11) Mission: Impossible
12) Wise Guys
13) Carlito’s Way
14) The Fury
15) The Black Dahlia
16) Bonfire of the Vanities
17) Raising Cain
18) Casualties of War
19) Snake Eyes

HAVEN'T SEEN: anything prior to 1973; "Home Movies", "Mission to Mars", "Redacted"

****************

The ESFS schedule for September and October will be e-mailed and posted by the end of the week, with the official restart date of Sept. 8 (the day after Labor Day).

Barnesyard on KFBK

2009-08-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

It looks like they are putting up the audio clips of my appearances on KFBK 1530 AM on the station's blog. I can't get audio on my work computer, so I don't know if it's just a brief clip of my appearance or if it's something longer. I'll be on there again this Friday at 4:40 p.m., talking about Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock".

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-08-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

I've got 6 new reviews in this week's SNR - "Post Grad" on the film page, "The Goods" on the movie times page, and "Born in 68", "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh", "The 10th Victim", and "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" on the DVD page. I should have had my "District 9" review in there as well, but there was some miscommunication there, so it will fall to next week's issue.

Something else exciting to announce: The Barnesyard is going to have a weekly, as-yet-unnamed film column in the SNR starting with the first issue in October. Anyone got any ideas for a column name?

Interpreting the Barnesyard

2009-08-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Due to my annoying ubiquity of late, my movie ratings have been crossing a wide spectrum of systems (e.g., popcorn guy in the SNR, letter grades and bump/dumps here, stars on Netflix). In the interests of clarity, I have come up with this handy exchange table:

5 stars = orgasmic popcorn guy = A/A- = Bump

4 stars = happy popcorn guy = B+/B = Bump

3 stars = indifferent popcorn guy = B-/C+ = Take It or Leave It

2 stars = crushed popcorn guy = C/C- = Dump

1 star = dead popcorn guy = D+ or lower = Dump

Strange Days

2009-08-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

If I tried to make a bet with you six months ago that there would be a picture of me holding a Shia LeBeouf doll on a Clear Channel website, what kind of odds would you have given me? [Scroll down to the 14th to see it.]

Catching Up With the Barnesyard

2009-08-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted any legitimate movie reviews on ESFS, but I certainly haven't stopped watching movies, great or otherwise. Here is a list of every film I've seen over the last 2 months (* = rewatch)

*Stop Making Sense (A)
Amores Perros (B-)
Paris (B-)
The Beaches of Agnes (A-)
35 Shots of Rum (D-)
Z (A-)
*Lola Montes (A)
Born in 68 (C+)
*Alice's Restaurant (B)
Defiance (B-)
Waltz With Bashir (B+)
The Hottie and the Nottie (D)
*The Rules of the Game (A)
Up (B+)
*Dames (A-)
Under the Volcano (B)
*Real Life (B)
*Wild Boys of the Road (A-)
To Live in Die in L.A. (B+)
Last Year at Marienbad (B-)
Two Lovers (B)
Chop Shop (B)
Howl's Moving Castle (B)
Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (B-)
Still of the Night (C+)
*Gold Diggers of 1933 (A-)
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (B)
Lookin' to Get Out (C)
On the Ropes (B+)
Love Me or Leave Me (B+)
Blindness (B)
Beau Geste (B)
My Dinner With Andre (B)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (B)
Bruno (B+)
Land of the Lost (B-)
Monsters vs. Aliens (B-)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (D+)
Tokyo! (B)
Coraline (A-)
The 10th Victim (A-)
Aliens in the Attic (C)
Julie and Julia (C+)
A Perfect Getaway (C)
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (C-)
Inglourious Basterds (x - I'll tell you on Friday; fair warning, Mr. Dub)
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (A-)
Ponyo (A-)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (C-)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (D)
District 9 (B+)

Non-Sequiter Netflix Zen of the Week

2009-08-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

"I'm a United States Marine and all I can say was WOW after I finished watching." ("Prison Break: Season 1")

New ESFS Sidebars

2009-08-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have put up a few new sidebars detailing my opinion of movies currently in release or new to DVD. They are broken into three categories - Barnesyard Bumps is an unqualified recommendation; Barnesyard Dumps is an unqualified rejection; and Take It or Leave It is for films that sit on the B-/C+ line (aka the nexus of "OK" and "Eh"). I'll keep it updated at least once a week so everyone can use it as a handy film/rental guide.

Also, I will be talking movies on the radio (KFBK 1530 AM) again tomorrow at 4:40 p.m., so listen in if you get the chance. I'll be talking about the new releases "Ponyo", "The Goods", and "District 9". In this week's SNR, I have a new review of "A Perfect Getaway" (on the movie times page) and 2 new DVD reviews ("Coraline" and "Tokyo!").

The Barnesyard Plays Film Critic For a Day

2009-08-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

I got the day off from my "real job" last Friday in order to spend the entire day playing "Film Critic" (I took it as vay-cay, so we're safe to discuss). As most of you know, "Film Critic" is the MMORPG fantasy game that I play on the Internet, although lately the line between normality and "Film Critic" has become as blurred as a WoW junkie's line between real, sad life and sexy, axe-wielding elf life.

Last Friday started with a morning screening of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" at the Crest (it opens Aug. 21). Mssr. Dub has sworn me to secrecy regarding the entire film experience (including even whether I liked it or not!), so in that spirit I will only say that "Inglourious Basterds" may or may not be a film of unknown quality in which indistinct characters may or may not do and say things related to an unknowable story.

After the film, I had just enough time to shove a McChicken down my gullet before heading over to SNR HQ to participate in a photo shoot of the paper's three film critics. The picture will be part of an ad that parodies a certain popular, baby-masturbating summer comedy; I have no idea when or if it will run, but I will give everyone a heads-up.

The photos were finished a lot quicker than I had anticipated, which left me a solid two hours to pace around the house, growing increasingly panicky about my debut radio appearance on KFBK that afternoon. People who know me know that I'm not a big "talker", and I'm certainly no nut for public speaking, so you can imagine how nerve-fraying the idea of chatting on the radio was, even for just a 3- to 5-minute segment. Once I finally got on the air, however, the conversation flowed very smoothly and I didn't even feel nervous - I may not be a talker, but I can sure as hell talk movies. The only problem was some inexplicable phone static that butted in intermittently, but that should be resolved before this week's show. Listen in to KFBK 1530 AM at 4:40 p.m. on Friday, when I will be talking about "Ponyo", "District 9", and "The Goods".

Homage a Mssr. Dub Zen

2009-08-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

"This has to be the most intense, disturbing film I have ever seen, and I went to film school!" ("Perfume: The Story of a Murderer")

Mid-Afternoon Zen

2009-08-06T15:07:00.001-07:00

"This flick is entertaining and fun to watch. If you can get over the Seth Rogan Fraggle Rock voice." ("The Pineapple Express")

Conquest of the Planet of Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-08-06T13:18:00.001-07:00

-"Probably the absolute greatest sci fi movie ive ever seen. Feels a lot like Event Horizon." ("Sunshine")

-"An American Carol could have been much more family friendly. Unfortunately, the positive messages about patriotism and truth are totally overshadowed by crude scenes and inappropriate language." ("An American Carol")

-"Vampires and werewolves, who's good, who's bad? Who do I root for?" ("Underworld: Rise of the Lycans")

-"I bought Wonder Woman: The Complete Collection (all three seasons) for $6.00 at Big Lots. I just had to." ("Wonder Woman: Season 1")

-"Roger Ebert can bite me." ("Harold and Maude")

-"Man this movie was hot!!!!!!!!! Beyonce was fine (as usual) and that white girl was nuts." ("Obsessed")

-"Go for it." ("The Doors")

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-08-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have only 2 new reviews in this week's SNR - "Aliens in the Attic" and a DVD review of the Gary Cooper version of "Beau Geste" - but I should have 3 or 4 new ones in next week's issue. Returning from last week are my DVD reviews of Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad", Hal Ashby's "Lookin' to Get Out", the HBO movie "Grey Gardens", the HBO series "Eastbound and Down", and season 2 of "Mad Men". Meanwhile, my first radio appearance on KFBK 1530 AM is this Friday at 4:40 p.m.; I will be talking about the new releases "Julie and Julia" and "A Perfect Getaway". "GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra" didn't screen for critics (or audiences, as far as I can tell), which I'm sure just means that the studio wants the film's AWESOMENESS to be a big surprise.

****************

I was perusing the IMDB Top 250 out of curiosity this afternoon, and I saw that "The Hangover" has actually placed on the list at #185, right between "The Hustler" and Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt". Hey Earth, I'm gonna take a quick nap, can you wake me when you're comprehensible again? Additionally, a 1994 Indian comedy has snuck onto the list at #249. Great, I haven't even seen "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" or "Yojimbo" yet, and now I gotta watch "Andaz Apna Apna"? Auuuuuuughh!!!

Where in the World is The Barnesyard?

2009-08-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, things have been a little slow around here lately; I haven't posted an actual movie review since June 29, and nothing ESFS-relevant since my June 17 review of "Spirited Away". I apologize to my loyal readers for this long, unexplained absence, the reasons for which are many (exhaustion, apathy, work, a virus-laden computer, out-of-town friends and family visiting, etc.).

A few things have changed in my career as a quasi-critic this past month, to the point that I may soon be dropping the "quasi" prefix. As most of you know, I started writing DVD and occasional film reviews on the SNR popcorn page late last year. I had been writing regularly for the News and Review since early 2006, but it seems as though many people (including some people I know and/or work with) have just recently become aware that I'm a published film critic. The lesson: never, ever, EVER underestimate the legitimizing power of a cartoon box of popcorn next to your name.

At any rate, and for whatever reason, I seem to have been noticed (the Sacramento Bee's elimination of its film critic post couldn't help but bump me up a notch), and hopefully you will be seeing and hearing a lot more from me in the coming months. KFBK 1530 AM has asked me to fill in for Carla Meyer in their weekly discussion of new movie releases, so you can listen to me every Friday at 4:40 p.m. I am also trying to increase my print presence, so I will keep you posted on any new developments there. This all means that I will seeing and reviewing a lot more new releases, which will inevitably leave less time for ESFS content. However, I love the ESFS model so much I refuse to abandon it, so I am going to take a brief hiatus to get my ducks in order, and ensure that there won't be any more long delays. Right now, I am looking at a September reboot for ESFS, with official schedules sent out in a couple of weeks.

Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-07-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

"A very good summer movie for the family that even flirts with some educational topics. My teenager found interest in the appearances of Lincoln (a family hero), an evil Egyptian King (due to a museum addicted father) and Owen Wilson (Marley and Me)." ("Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian")

Lock Me Up! - Red Flag Netflix Rant of the Week

2009-07-23T15:53:00.001-07:00

"No stars, but gave it one for [Cuba] Gooding [,Jr.] killing Obama. Dont ask. it is a long and very stupid story." ("Way of War")

CH Zen of the Week

2009-07-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

"Talk about suspense. Taken is one suspenseful movie. It makes you not want to let your children fly anywhere by themselves."

Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-07-17T23:59:00.001-07:00

"We wanted to see this movie Just because of the movie trailer scene, Smell it, smell it." ("You Don't Mess With the Zohan")

Netflix Member Review Zen of the Week

2009-07-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

"NOT A MOVIE FOR KIDS! There is way too many sexual innuedos." ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen")

Are These the 25 Greatest Directors?

2009-07-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Based on the number of their films that appeared on the I Am DB 250, they are:

9: Woody Allen

8: Martin Scorsese

7: Alfred Hitchcock; Stanley Kubrick

6: Billy Wilder; Coen Brothers

5: Howard Hawks; Vincente Minnelli; Steven Spielberg

4: Fellini; F.F. Coppola; PT Anderson; Quentin Tarantino; John Ford; Robert Altman

3: John Huston; Paul Schrader; Otto Preminger; Frank Capra; Brian De Palma; Stanley Donen; Roman Polanski; Preston Sturges; Charlie haplin; Yasujiro Ozu

Lock Me Up!, Vol. 2 - Red Flag Netflix Rant of the Week + more Netflix quotes

2009-07-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

-"Watch this and you will be glad 4 ATF agents met their maker. Too bad no FBI agents died, pity." ("Waco: The Rules of Engagement")

****************

-"Steamy? Tabu? Psychological?" ("Eyes Wide Shut")

-"What happened to Steven Seagal? He looked like he had been stuffed and mounted. Acting??" ("Kill Switch")

-"Would be great for a broadway musical." ("Mamma Mia!")

-"Lets be honest, most old films suck. So do most French films. This is one of them." ("Les Vampires")

-"The streaming version of this season is SCREWED UP. No voices, only music and ambient sound. Please fix this!" ("This American Life: Season 2")

-"The only good that came out of this is my girlfriend wants her hair to look like the main characters and I'm ok w/ that."

-"Any movie with fat kids and Ben Stiller sounds like a good movie to me." ("Heavyweights")

Lock Me Up! - Red Flag Netflix Rant of the Week

2009-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

"When a film this good gets panned so badly, you have to wonder what made the critics sulk. This time, the critics have opened their trench coats to expose their hypocrisies! Critics, like paparazzi, are parasites: few of them have ever created anything; instead, they live off the inspiration of others. What novel, what movie, what play has not been torn apart by at least some critics? Think of greats like Dickens, Hemingway, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock…Some critic somewhere belittled their visions and their creations. The Hollywood/New York critics and the paparazzi walk hand and hand, so perhaps they feel protective of each other. Suddenly, a film that is well acted, written, and directed, is demonized. Suddenly, in this age of senselessly violent movies that get called "artistic," "bold," etc., a movie in which parasitic photographers get what's coming to them is persecuted for not living up to the old Hayes Code standard of crime not paying and murderers always being brought to justice. This movie is funny, exciting, and satisfying, and there is very little graphic violence. How could it receive 1 or even 0 stars unless the critic is angry about the spotlight being swung in his or her direction? How dare a Hollywood insider, like Mr. Gibson, laughingly throw a little sand in the out of control publicity machine? Hmmm?" ("Paparazzi")

The Highest-Grossing Films I've Never Seen

2009-06-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

I was curious about this, so I checked Box Office Mojo to find the highest-grossing films that I've never seen. I only used the domestic list of actual box office receipts, as opposed to the adjusted list, which accounts for the fact that movie tickets today cost about 100 times as much as they did when my parents grew up. The problem is that it doesn't really account for the shifts in technology/economy/society/etc. (e.g., the primacy of theatrical film as an entertainment medium doesn't exist today like it did in the 1930's or 40's). However, this means that the top earners list is dominated by new films ("Monsters and Aliens" barely made a dent in the national consciousness, yet it's one of the top 100 highest-grossing films in American history, based largely on the fact that movies cost $10, and even more for 3-D IMAX). About 90 films have grossed over $200 million domestically, and there are only 6 that I haven't seen, all of them released within the last five years or so:

The Passion of the Christ (12)
Meet the Fockers (37)
Night at the Museum (46)
Rush Hour 2 (67)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (69)
Alvin and the Chipmunks (75)

There could be a future Dare Daniel poll in there. "Monsters and Aliens" (97) and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" (98) fill out the top 100, followed further down by "What Women Want", "Hitch", "Wolverine", "The Bourne Supremacy", "Home Alone 2", "National Treasure", "Wild Hogs", and "Pursuit of Happyness".

Quote Whores - Netflix Zen Redux

2009-06-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

-"I wanted the movie the curious case of Benjamin Butons not the documentary bonus material. Please send me the movie." ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Bonus Material")

-"You CAN'T call yourself a vampire if the sun don't hurt you. Its like if "Blade" and Calvin Klein catalog had kids." ("Twilight")

-"5 stars aint enough, seriously!" ("Hardbodies"/"Hardbodies 2")

-"This movie made me angry, and I still can't figure out why. Even if there was some kind of deep meaning, I was too busy yelling at my computer to notice it." ("Palindromes")

-"I haven't seen it. So I guess I'll rate it a 5, but it looks good! But the review has to be 80 characters so um......................" ("Public Enemies")

-"I am shocked about these reviews. This movie was TERRIBLE. Caviezel had an amazing career until he was blacklisted after Passion." ("Outlander") [Ed.: according to IMDB, Caviezel has appeared in only 7 films and 1 TV series in the 5 years since "Passion of the Christ" was released; the Hollywood blacklist just ain't what it used to be...]

Barnesyard Bites, Vol. 2

2009-06-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

-"EVERY LITTLE STEP" (2009 - Dir.: Adam Del Deo/James D. Stern)
Fairly irresistible meta-doc follows the cruel, dehumanizing rehearsal process for the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line", itself a story of the cruel, dehumanizing rehearsal process. As one aspirant after another performs the same song and dance routines, we start analyzing and comparing each performance, a critical act undercut by hearing the often heartbreaking real-life stories that formed the basis for the show. "Every Little Step" performs the minor miracle of giving heft and significance to a mediocre musical, although I was humming "I Hope I Get It" long after I wanted to.
GRADE: B.

-"STUCK" (2007 - Dir.: Stuart Gordon)
Lowdown, brutally entertaining story of an ambitious young nurse (a surprisingly good Mena Suvari, who also co-produced) who hits a down-on-his-luck schlub (Stephen Rea) with her car, then hides the evidence in her garage and waits for him to die. "Stuck" admirably eschews typical leaden moralizing - Suvari's character never even considers saving Rea, yet she's less a calculating sociopath than a conflicted and irresponsible twenty-something. Of course, it's all tossed out the window in the third act, when "Re-Animator" director Gordon can't help but turn the film into a de rigeur slasher flick. GRADE: B.

Barnesyard Bites, Vol. 1

2009-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

"VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA" (2008 - Dir.: Woody Allen)
One of the most curiously overpraised films of last year, the insipid, marble-mouthed "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" furthers the deterioration of one of the 3 greatest screenwriters in the history of film. Reading an Allen film has become an exercise in futility, since it's impossible to distinguish the boundary between intentions and ineptitude. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are the only actors who don't embarrass themselves, and even then just in the scenes where they speak Spanish. Only the feminine scenery (and beautiful Spanish locations) makes this one watchable, even if Scarlett Johannson's callow performance inspires more incredulity than lust. GRADE: C-.

"UP" (2009 - Dir.: Pete Docter)
More strictly a children's film than their last couple of releases, "Up" nonetheless has all of the humor, visual invention, clever storytelling, and well-developed characters associated with Pixar. Unfortunately, the leads - a lonely old man and a fatherless young scout - are loaded with eye-rolling cliches, while the peripheral elements (talking dogs, a mythical bird named Kevin) steal the show. The film's message - following your dreams will turn you into a lonely psychopath - isn't exactly a positive one for the youths. GRADE: B+.

July Dare Daniel Poll

2009-06-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have eight new candidates for the July Dare Daniel; click on the film to see its IMDB page, then vote for as many movies as you like.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1999 - Dir.: Bruce Beresford)

FIREPROOF (2008 - Dir.: Alex Kendrick)

MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION (2006 - Dir.: Tyler Perry)

MUST LOVE DOGS (2005 - Dir.: Gary David Goldberg)

PAPARAZZI (2004 - Dir.: Paul Abascal)

PATCH ADAMS (1998 - Dir.: Tom Shadyac)

PAY IT FORWARD (2000 - Dir.: Mimi Leder)

SEVEN POUNDS (2008 - Dir.: Gabriele Muccino)

Vote early and - if you're Guphy and want to continue perverting the democratic process - often.

Monday Morning Doublie Shot O' Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-06-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

"Would not play (watch instantly) on my computer or Samsung unit says not available as a watch instantly. Cannot report in normal manner as it dies not show as even attempted." ("The Ramen Girl"; their rating: 1 star)

"This is supposed to be a instant movie and I got an error message from the server. I wanted to watch it, could you guys fix that? kthxbye" ("The Ramen Girl"; their rating: 4 stars)

***************

LATER TODAY: Barnesyard Bites Mini-Reviews
TOMORROW: "AMORES PERROS" review
WEDNESDAY: "THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE" review
THURSDAY: Quotes/clips of "AMORES PERROS" and "THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE"
FRIDAY: Happy Birthday, America! You don't look a day over 230!

The Continuing Story of Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-06-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

-"Disgusting!! How could you put women down so low! There was no need of so much swearing," ("Step Brothers")

-"Hell yeah I have an opinion about this movie! DO NOT PICK IT! This movie looks like its been done by my son with a hand held camera, really I mean what the hell, I wasted my movie on this thing." ("Jack Squad")

-"I dont know why this movie got bad reviews i havent seen it in 10 years but remember it and thought it wasw good enough to add to my queue...excellent movie believe that" ("The Postman")

-"Its pretty sad that there was no way to deal with depression back then. We;ve come along way baby!" ("Revolutionary Road")

-"This movie is a complete LIBERAL BIAS rewrite of the original story. It is loaded with liberal agenda..." ("Peter and the Wolf")

-"The most convoluted and confusing plot of all the Bond movies, or for that matter any movie. James Bond needs to take some happy pills." ("Quantum of Solace"; their rating: 5 stars)

-"Ive never received it some how the postal service return it with out delervering it to me" ("Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon"; their rating: 1 star)

Backhanded Racist Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-06-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

-"I found this movie to be one of Samuel L jackson's best role.thie movie showed me that even though a black cop is put to the test he will still fight for what is right." [Ed.: Apparently, this reviewer was a little iffy on the entire black race before watching Samuel L. Jackson's remake of "Shaft"]

Netflix Member Review Zen

2009-06-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER - The opinions put forth here do not necessarily represent the opinions of ESFS, or of any reasonably intelligent multicellular life form. These are all from real Netflix reviews collected in the last 15-20 minutes.

-"Pleqase ( Why didnt the chick shoot the pick guy while they were fighting???? And the SUV went off the road right by the mine/// OK Ya Right....But still the breathing was creepy" ("My Bloody Valentine")

-"That was dope. A little broadway, a$$ raping, and state rolled into one." ("The Ten")

-"If you like old school french humor (a la pink panther), this is a flick you'll enjoy! 1970's at its best!" ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie"; rating: 3 stars)

-"i watched the preview nd couldnt belive how DUMB this looked wow glad i didnt waste the hour and a half to watch this." ("The Dead Next Door"; rating: 1 star]

-"If you like this movie, you need to be flogged I was excited for this movie when it was coming out." ("Godzilla")

-"This seemed like a nice idea for a story, until it fell into the same old sell-out of graphic hornography." ("Feast of Love")

-"Very strange little movie, with lots of questionable teen behavior occurring without consequences." ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist")

-"My almost 5 year old loves SpongeBob but we stopped watching and returned the movie after the repeated "I'm going to kick your butt" episodes. We don't want our kids to be rude and mean..." ("Spongebob Squarepants: Tide and Seek")

-"Roger Ebert your life is half a star!!!!!!!!!" ("Clifford"; rating: 5 stars)

-"Go Kristie Alley!" ("Fat Actress: Season 1")

-"I was surprised by the negative feedback from the critics even before seeing this film. Riding on the coat tails of practically a film that can be herald as a critical darling," ("The Brothers Bloom")

-"JEWS WITH BALLS! This ain't no Schindlers List - more like "Shindler gets Pissed!" So great to see a Holocaust movie where the Jews say "F@#K You" - fight back and leave the camp." ("Defiance")

-"I FU@KING DARE YOU TO NOT CRY WATCHING THIS MOVIE!" ("Up")

Previews - "The Hottie and the Nottie"

2009-06-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Monday Morning Cup O' Netflix Member Review Zen/SFFF Update

2009-06-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

-"The movie is stupid. If I was the Kremlin, I would NEVER let Stallone into Russia to visit." ("Rocky IV")

**************

I was all up in the Sacramento French Film Festival this weekend; here are my letter grades for each film that I saw:

-Paris: B-
-The Beaches of Agnes: A-
-35 Shots of Rum: D-
-Z: A-
-Lola Montes: A
-Born in 68: C+

My Scene and Heard article about last weekend will be in this Thursday's News and Review, so give it a look. I'm seeing "Transformers 2" after work tonight; what's the over/under on gratuitous product placements for that one? 150? 200? Infinity plus one? I realized this weekend that Douglas Sirk's insanely underrated "The Tarnished Angels", which is not listed on Netflix, was omitted from my top 250. Talking to Dub made me realize that I'm an asshole for not including "The Asphalt Jungle", so let's add that to the list while we're re-editing. Those two will replace "Slap Shot" and "Bonjour Tristesse" in the I Am DB 250.

LATER TODAY: Previews - "Hotel Rwanda" and "The Hottie and the Nottie"
THIS WEEK: Reviews of "Amores Perros" and "Hotel Rwanda"

French Ennui Weekend Zen

2009-06-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

"I thoroughly enjoyed Nurse Jackie....But, having been a nurse for 20 years, the show has an unmistaken sadness and irony that left me very reflective and with feelings of emptiness regarding my chosen career of caring for others." ("Nurse Jackie")

Quote Whore - Intelligent Design Edition

2009-06-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

A sampling of Netflix Member Reviews of Ben Stein's intelligent design documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (sic throughout)

-"Fantastic, eye opening, and anti party view how scientic knowledge is now being censored. I love Ben Stein, and without his humor and carefully chosen film clips I would have been lost in the dogma...thats scientic dogma!!!"

-"I said out loud to the screen, "I love you, Ben Stein. I am so proud of you.""

-"I find my self understanding most of the points ben stien pointed to especially by academic's they refuse to believe there is apossible other side to any and all arguements. Stating it does not fit a proper profile. It is hypethidical in nature but yet that is were all sicence lays isn't it. The opistion to thought or opposit points a view should be welcomed not boycotted. Open your minds."

-"Ben Stein playing his often seen mellow self and brings to the viewers pot of warm water on the stove."

-"I just have one question, “Does the strong believe in evolution make one become a fanatical religionists who is unable to reason intellectually?""

-"If you have a high IQ, are a Republican, Democrat, Jew, Christian, Atheist, Scientist, Nazi, Philosopher, Professor, have a big ego, or have been oppressed or persecuted, I would recommend this documentary for you." [Ed.: FINALLY, a film that Jews and Nazis can enjoy together]

-"As a Highschool biology teacher and a recent graduate of university I totally agree and have experenced some of what is said in this movie. Well put together. Highly recommend! Atleast give a person their chance to purpose conflicting ideas and rational."

-"This about science. Are we getting the truth and are our science elite objective? My brother a PHD professor claims that the greatest lack of objectivity and tolerance is at the University's."

-"It is also about the efforts of those in control of academia - leftists, stalinists and marxists - who MUST be obeyed."

-"This movie is relevant regardless of your beliefs. Let say evolution is all part of it, when it comes down to it, what created that 1st atom that may have started it all. Can you just completely rule out ID?"

-"About time. College is the biggest theatre for confined speech in the last two hundred years."

-"Hooray for Ben and critical thinking skills!"

-"If nothing else it's worth seeing Ben Stein again on the screen, "Bueller, Bueller, Bueller!""

-"He shows us how being closed minded can lead to horrific events. I for one dont want another holocaust."

-"Finally the truth comes out. The educational elite that love to scream censorship on bans of Child Pornography, Pornography, and desecration of national symbols now are judged by their own words by blocking true scientific intellectual freedom with.......censorship. Where is the intellectual honest from the intellectual elite?"

-"As a biology teacher it would be difficult for me to teach in a public school because some student might ask a thoughtful question....What am I going to say?"

-"Ironically, the critic reviews put this film right where the FILM ITSELF says they will, surprising eh?"

Voices - "Spirited Away"

2009-06-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

Critics' quotes about "Spirited Away":

-"Miyazaki's works have a depth and complexity often missing in American animation. Not fond of computers, he draws thousand of frames himself, and there is a painterly richness in his work. He's famous for throwaway details at the edges of the screen (animation is so painstaking that few animators draw more than is necessary). And he permits himself silences and contemplation, providing punctuation for the exuberant action and the lovable or sometimes grotesque characters." (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

-"Haku's unwarranted shifts of personality reflect what distinguishes Mr. Miyazaki from Disney, or any other American animator. His movies are as much about moodiness as mood, and the prospect of animated figures' not being what they seem - either spiritually or physically - heightens the tension. "Spirited Away," which opens nationwide today, deepens Chihiro's uncertainty by not defining the creatures that inhabit this spirit world in simple good-guy bad-guy terms, making them capricious and unintentionally treacherous." (Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times)

-"There are scads of unique and bizarre characters, but some of them are no more than a phantom menace. (Why, exactly, were we were introduced to the mysterious, and creepy, Radish Spirit?)
Certainly, the painterly landscapes show loving care. But the setups with evil witches and strange villains were very familiar. There were moments when it had the feel of Thomas Kinkade meets "The Powerpuff Girls." In some ways the plot is a nod to the old days of Disney, when movies like "Snow White" were magical, fantastic and a little bit disturbing. Young viewers, for example, may be uneasy when Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs. But isn't it just a nod to a similar scene in "Pinocchio," when the boys are transformed into donkeys?" (C.W. Nevius, San Francisco Chronicle)

-"In the tradition of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "Spirited Away" is about a girl who overcomes her fears when plopped into a strange world and takes control of her fate. Along the way she learns courage, love and responsibility, but the messages are woven subtly into the fabric of the tale. Gorgeous, ghostly, multihued landscapes, some of them apparently enhanced with computer-generated depth, mingle with wonderful animated characters: the little heroine Chihiro, cute little scuttling soot-balls with pleading eyes, bouncing green cabbage heads and a squat witch with a corrugated nose who morphs into a crow." (Jane Horwitz, Washington Post)

-"Miyazaki gives you almost too much to look at, yet it is never enough. The delicate wash of imagery in a sequence like the one in which a spectral train moves along tracks submerged in water gives way to colors as eye-poppingly sharp as M&Ms. Unlike even the best American animators -- or just plain filmmakers, for that matter -- Miyazaki doesn't gloss over the terrors of childhood, which here yield their own disquieting beauty. He respects the deep silences of his story, as well as its cacophonies. (The soundtrack is every bit as inventive as the visuals.) Very young children are apt to be frightened by this film, but older ones will recognize in Miyazaki, as with all great fabulists, a kindred spirit." (Peter Rainer, New Yorker Magazine)

-"Ostensibly, it's the story of a girl's voyage into the spirit world to rescue her parents, who, in typical idiotic adult fashion, drive on a road where they shouldn't drive, eat food they shouldn't eat and end up getting turned into pigs. But this premise is, as usual, mainly an excuse for Miyazaki's imagination and id to free-associate, channeling and repurposing elements of Eastern and Western mythology, Lewis Carroll's Alice, E. Nesbit, "Where the Wild Things Are," George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" comic strip, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy and God only knows what else. This movie is so druglike that you'll probably start suspecting at some point that you're actually asleep, since what's unfurling on-screen is more like the arbitrary symbolic language of dream than what usually happens on film." (Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com)

Previews - "Amores Perros"

2009-06-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Spanish-language theatrical trailer for "Amores Perros"; I'm watching it tonight after work.

ESFS Movie of Last Week - "SPIRITED AWAY"

2009-06-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

“SPIRITED AWAY” (2001 - Dir.: Hayao Miyazaki)

With my routinely limited knowledge of Japanese culture and spirituality, it's quite possible that I walked away from Hayao Miyazaki’s sublime animated fantasy Spirited Away without “getting” 90 percent of it. The most beautiful thing about the film is that it doesn’t matter - Spirited Away is infinitely layered, and works on every level for all people. It works as a children’s film, as an allegorical fantasy, as stoner-friendly psychedelia, as a coming-of-age tale, as a fanciful adventure, as animation art, as cultural self-exploration, and as a story about finding spiritual harmony with nature. Spirited Away is one of the smartest and most relentlessly inventive animated films I’ve ever seen. And yes, I’ve seen Bebe’s Kids.

The film begins in the most mundane of settings - a long car ride to a new town, with a petulant, apathetic 10 year-old sulking in the backseat. Things quickly turn bizarre - the car seems pulled by unseen forces through a winding forest road that dead ends at a deserted building. It’s a false front to a setting that is perfectly eerie for a children’s fantasy - an abandoned amusement park. But the amusement park is actually a false front for an only-at-night spirit world where wealthy ghosts replenish themselves at bewitched bath houses and humans are turned into animals.

The little girl is named Chihiro, and she is forced to work at the bath house, which is run by a cruel witch named Yubaba. It’s difficult to say much more about the film without revealing its many fantastic visual treats or compromising the surprises of the intricate narrative. Sufficed to say that some of the many highlights include Chihiro’s encounter with a “stink spirit” client; the third-act intro of an adorable plush-doll creature who doesn’t turn into a jabbering, song-spewing Disney character; the transformation of Chihiro’s parents; and a waddling “radish spirit” who’s as discomforting a party guest as Luca Brazi.

At its heart, Spirited Away is about a little Japanese girl who is the granddaughter of an industrialist (the many-legged man who stokes the coals) and a heartless entrepreneur (the witch), and whose materialistic parents have literally turned into pigs. In order to break the curse and enter a new world that isn’t filled with terror, greed, and uncertainty, she has to find harmony with nature (i.e., the many spirits), remember her real name, and grow character, both traditionally and non-traditionally Japanese.

It’s a story about an immature girl who grows up, so why is there such an aching sad quality to the final minutes? Because the end of the spirit world means the end of childhood, the end of a tether-less, all-day fantasy about the scary unreal. The emphasis switches right back to the mundane (“We don’t want to miss the movers.”), without an imaginary world to escape to anymore. In the end, we all turn into pigs.

GRADE: A

What did you think about “Spirited Away”? Leave your thoughts in the Comments page.

LATER TODAY: Previews - "Amores Perros"
TOMORROW: Voices - "Spirited Away"; movie reviews

The I Am DB 250

2009-06-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with this month's IMDB 250 theme, I have compiled my own list of the 250 best movies - the I Am DB 250. How many have you seen?

About Schmidt
The African Queen
After Hours
Airplane!
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
All Quiet On the Western Front
All That Heaven Allows
All That Jazz
Amarcord
American Gigolo
An American in Paris
Anatomy of a Murder
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Apocalypse Now
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Asphalt Jungle
Babe
The Bad and the Beautiful
Bad Day at Black Rock
Badlands
Bambi
Bananas
The Band Wagon
Barry Lyndon
Barton Fink
Battlefield: Earth
Being John Malkovich
The Bellboy
The Bicycle Thief
The Big Lebowski
The Birds
Blow Out
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Blue Collar
Bonnie and Clyde
Boogie Nights
Bottle Rocket
Breaking Away
The Bridge On the River Kwai
Bringing Up Baby
Broadway Danny Rose
Bullets Over Broadway
Bully
Carrie
Casablanca
Charade
Chinatown
Christmas in July
Citizen Kane
City Lights
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Contempt
The Conversation
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dawn of the Dead
Days of Heaven
Dazed and Confused
Death Proof
The Deer Hunter
Design For Living
Dog Day Afternoon
Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
Dumbo
Ed Wood
8 ½
Election
Enemies, A Love Story
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial (original version)
Europa
The Exterminating Angel
Fargo
Fight Club
Fitzcarraldo
Floating Weeds
42nd Street
The 400 Blows
The General
Ghostbusters
Gilda
The Girl Can’t Help It
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Godfather
The Gold Rush
Goodfellas
Good Morning
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Graduate
The Grapes of Wrath
The Greatest Show on Earth
Gunga Din
Hail the Conquering Hero
Hannah and Her Sisters
A Hard Day’s Night
Harold and Maude
His Girl Friday
The Hustler
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
I’m Not There
In Cold Blood
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
It Happened One Night
It’s a Wonderful Life
I Vitelloni
Jaws
Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring
Kill Bill: Volume 1
The Killing
King Kong
The King of Comedy
Kiss Me, Stupid
Knife in the Water
La Dolce Vita
Lady and the Tramp
The Last Detail
The Last Picture Show
Last Tango in Paris
The Last Temptation of Christ
Laura
Lawrence of Arabia
The Leopard
Lola Montes
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Lost in America
M
Magnolia
The Maltese Falcon
Man Bites Dog
The Manchurian Candidate
Manhattan
The Man in the White Suit
The Man Who Wasn’t There
M*A*S*H*
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Mean Streets
Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet the Feebles
Melvin and Howard
Memento
Midnight Cowboy
Miller’s Crossing
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters
Modern Romance
Modern Times
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Murder My Sweet
My Darling Clementine
My Life to Live
My Man Godfrey
Nashville
Network
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Night and the City
A Night at the Opera
North by Northwest
Nothing Sacred
Notorious
Once Upon a Time in America
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
One From the Heart
Only Angels Have Wings
On the Town
On the Waterfront
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Pather Panchali
Paths of Glory
The People Vs. Larry Flynt
The Phantom of the Paradise
The Philadelphia Story
The Piano
Pinocchio
A Place in the Sun
The Player
Point Blank
The Prestige
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Punch-Drunk Love
Purple Rain
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Radio Days
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raising Arizona
Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
The Red Shoes
Requiem For a Dream
Reservoir Dogs
Rififi
The Right Stuff
Rio Bravo
Rocky
Rosemary's Baby
The Rules of Attraction
Rules of the Game
Run Lola Run
Rushmore
Sabrina
The Searchers
Seconds
The Seven Samurai
Sexy Beast
The Shining
A Shot in the Dark
Singin’ in the Rain
Sleeping Beauty
Some Came Running
Some Like it Hot
Spanking the Monkey
Spirited Away
Stagecoach
Star 80
Starship Troopers
Strangers on a Train
Sunrise
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Bird of Youth
Talk to Her
The Tarnished Angels
Taxi Driver
Team America - World Police
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
There Will Be Blood
They Live By Night
The Third Man
To Have and Have Not
Tokyo Story
Top Hat
Touch of Evil
Toy Story
Trainspotting
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
True Romance
2001: A Space Odyssey
Ugetsu
Umberto D.
Vertigo
Wages of Fear
The Westerner
Wild at Heart
The Wizard of Oz
Yellow Submarine
Zodiac

**************

One significant caveat: I used Netflix to compile the candidates for this list, so there may be a more obscure picture not available on Netflix that belongs on this list. For example, right before I put this list to bed, I remembered Vincente Minnelli's sublimely overheated melodrama "The Cobweb", which has no listing on Netflix. "The Cobweb" is one of the most interesting examples of the link between visual style and inner turmoil, as the plot concerns the debilitating psychological effects that a new curtain pattern has on the patients and doctors of a mental institution. I have to hold out the possibility that there may be more "The Cobweb"'s in my past, so this list is subject to revision. Regardless, I will be adding the I Am DB 250 to my collection of ESFS lists, so you can reference it whenever you like.

UPDATE: I have already found a couple of inexplicable omissions that have been fixed - Lubitsch's "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" and Godard's "My Life to Live" have replaced "The Grifters" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" on the I Am DB 250.

UPDATE 6/30: I saw "Rules of the Game" for the first time in 10-15 years this weekend, and it had to go on the I Am DB 250; it replaces "The Cobweb".

NEXT WEEK: The I Am DB Bottom 100 Movies of All Time

This Week in Barnesyard - TWIB Notes

2009-06-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

I watched "Spirited Away" last night and loved it; I will try to write something about it tonight or tomorrow. I also have "Amores Perros" at home, "Hotel Rwanda" coming tomorrow, and Dare Daniel winner "The Hottie and the Nottie" arriving the next day, pending an investigation into voter irregularity charges I've filed against Guphy. I am going to try to stay current, but I have to prioritize paying work over non-paying work, so we'll see what happens. The good news is that I'll be covering next weekend's Sacramento French Film Festival for the SNR (free pass, bitches!), so look for my Scene and Heard article in next week's issue. And now for this morning's Netflix Member Review zen:

-"Ish." ("Robocop 3")