2003 Rank 'em as you see them

Thanks for your interesting reply.

I'm sorry you regard City of God as exploitive, but not surprised at all, alas: you're not in such a minority as you seem to think. It's not a "very few" people who objected to City of God--Oscar did, for the same reasons, and there is a whole faction of critics who had that opinion. For the other films, fair enough, except that with Monster, you did miss something -- a remarkable performance -- but one can't know what one was missing unless one sees the movie. I am sorry I have not seen all the films you recommend and do think I may very likely have missed something.

On the genres, good examples thereof, fine, I think I see what you're getting at; certainly that can be a valid reason for praising Terminators. I'm not so sure that City of Ghosts is a beautiful example of a genre but it's a creditable first directing effort by Dillon. Freaky Friday and Elf perhaps are the better examples; but I didn't see Freaky Friday, only Elf, which was entertaining, but not a great comedy. Buffalo Soldiers is a different case. I certainly don't object to its being a "nasty" attack on the US military; quite the contrary. I wish it had been "nastier"; and I did find it funny. I just didn't think it was a very good movie. I was very disappointed in it.

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Since documentaries are now playing in local theaters, winning major awards, I'm not gonna make special sections for them. If they're good enough, they'll be, otherwise, too bad.

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Well of course, if they're not good enough, you can't put them on your Best List. We all have our agendas to some extent. You are pushing perhaps successful B pictures, which you call "beautiful examples" of genres. I am encouraging documentaries. But if you're implying that I choose a special section for them because they've been winning major awards, you misunderstand my point of view. I'm happy when something I like wins a major award, but I don't make it my personal favorite for that reason. Awards have a big effect on the public acceptance of a genre, an actor, a director, etc. But they don't change my personal evaluation of a particular movie.

As you know by now, I may get to see a tad more current theatrical showings than you do but I am not the buyer or even the renter of films that you are. Hence I can't expect to make up my lacks and gaps on your and arsaib4's lists except where I really must make it a project because you've both made it clear that certain directors are musts to know about. I thought you recommended Mondays in the Sun to me. I think Rosenbaum went overboard on Down with Love--wooden and artificial, though the art direction was to die for. I have expressed my extensive reservations on Capturing the Friedmans already. However, it deserves inclusion in a list of 2003's "historically", shall we say, significant documentaries, as does Tarnation, which I found tedious and self indulgent in so many ways, but which is also for good or ill a sort of trail-blazer likely to be rememered as such.

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Originally posted by oscar jubis


Russian Ark
American Splendor
Decasia
Blissfully Yours
Aro Tolbukhin
Lavoura Arcaica (To the left of Father)
Divine Intervention
11'09"01
Ali Zaoua
Les Diables
Chihwaseon
Millenium Actress
Marooned in Iraq
Mondays in the Sun
Stevie
Capturing the Friedmans
Down With Love

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Unqualified:
Russian Ark (2002 U.S. release/will top my 2002 list)
Blissfully Yours (Loved it/no official dist.)
Decasia (liked it/not enough screenings)
Aro Tolbukhin (Loved it/no U.S. distribution at all)
Les Diables (Did Not watch/ no U.S. distribution at all)
Lavoura Arcaica (Did Not Watch/ no U.S. distribution at all)

Undeserving:
Down With Love
Mondays in the Sun
Divine Intervention
11'09"01 (did like some of the shorts)
Marooned in Iraq
American Splendor
Ali Zaoua

Did Not Watch:
Chihwaseon
Capturing the Friedmans
Millenium Actress
Stevie

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
As you know by now, I may get to see a tad more current theatrical showings than you do

Actually I don't know. I would estimate I go to theatrical showings about 6 to 10 times monthly (except February for the MIFF). Now that I keep a journal, I can say I've gone to theatre 7 times so far in January and will likely go twice more before the month is over for a total of 9. I don't know if that is less or more than you. What is clear to me is that you watch current releases up to a month before I do for two reasons. Many films get to this smaller market a couple of weeks after they get to the Bay Area, and I avoid crowds like the plague, waiting one to three weeks after their release date. I've seen every film nominated for Oscar at the theatre, for instance, except The Aviator.

I am not the buyer or even the renter of films that you are. Hence I can't expect to make up my lacks and gaps on your and arsaib4's lists except where I really must make it a project because you've both made it clear that certain directors are musts to know about.

Theatrical showings are the way to go. But unless one lives in NYC. attends fests and special screenings, and has sufficient leisure time, one would miss out on many worthy films if one resists home viewing. I'm flattered that you take my opinion (and arsaib4's) into consideration. I think both of us would recommend strongly two Mexican films:Japon and Aro Tolbukhin, Weerasethakul's Blissfully Yours, and Springtime in a Small Town. So make the room as dark as you can, sit close to the set, and...enjoy.

Arsaib4: Thanks for indulging me with your last post. Glad to find out you appreciate Russian Ark and Aro Tolbukhin as much as I do. If you don't include undistributed films on your list, I'd like to see a "best undistributed film" category on your 2004 list.

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Originally posted by oscar jubis

I think both of us would recommend strongly two Mexican films:Japon and Aro Tolbukhin, Weerasethakul's Blissfully Yours, and Springtime in a Small Town. So make the room as dark as you can, sit close to the set, and...enjoy.

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Absolutely. Since both Springtime and Japon are now available in the U.S. one should definitely try to see these two first.

Arsaib4: Thanks for indulging me with your last post. Glad to find out you appreciate Russian Ark and Aro Tolbukhin as much as I do. If you don't include undistributed films on your list, I'd like to see a "best undistributed film" category on your 2004 list.

I appreciate your interest and I'll certainly make a separate list for undistributed films.

(Addressed to Oscar, but arsaib4 is involved in the recommendations too, definitely.)

I only said "a tad." I've seen a tad more than you in the theaters, probably, latterly. I know you've seen a lot. You do an amazing job of keeping up on new stuff and also revisiting or discovering earlier films. I have kept a record of (most) of the movies I have seen in theaters and otherwise during the past few years. In 2004 I saw a lot more than in 2003, a total of about 160, from Adieu to Zatoichi, of which only 10 or 15 of the ones I saw for the first time were on a moniter. I can't tell you by the month. I haven't been more than five times to the theater this month because I've been busy socializing and studying and writing and there has been less opening; I've seen most of what's showing and only what appears to be the dregs of what's currently available seems to remain unseen by me (except for a couple of interesting new items). In December I was on the East Coast, mostly in New York, and I went about 28 times. Normally I don't go that often -- I go as often as you -- but I went to 14 theatrical showings in November because I went to the N.I.C.E. Italian mini film festival in San Francisco; and I saw 11 in 12 days in September in Paris, and I saw a bunch in New York in June; I have 'binges,' you see. I think in the immediate future I may either have more of these 'binges,' or go to more festivals, more than the almost none up to now.

I think there are a lot more than those you mention in this entry that you and arsaib4 have recommended that I need to find on dvd and watch, but if those three are both your strongest recommendations, I'll give them priority. I also have seen only one Hou Hsiau Hsien and hardly any Kierastami, and there's another Chinese director, maybe several, you've been saying is essential to know about and admire. If I got lucky at "Movie Image," the small, cool rental store in Berkeley, and they let you keep them out more than one night the way the more commercial Reel Video does for new issues, I might have a little at-home binge of the highest priority items among your selections some time soon. I must make a list. I have not gone to Movie Image for several years.

I used to watch a lot more videos than theatrical showings--it was the other way around--and I didn't see many in New York or elsewhere as I have lately. But I did not like that couch potato life and don't want to go back to it. I've grown to prefer the big screen, in spite of obnoxious viewers, stale popcorn smells, etc.

Watching Japon on the big screen was an experience I won't forget. It just wasn't the same at home but I'd still see it at home now than to wait around for it to appear again as part of a mini-fest or something like that. Try Netflix for DVD rentals if you like.

Actually, I wish I had more of an opportunity to go on these "binges." I guess I do but they only last a couple of days at a time. There are certainly some advantages when you live in NY. Just spent a 6hr block watching 3 Catherine Breillat films last weekend but only 1 was worth watching. Also saw a fantastic French film from a U.S. born director named Eugene Green; the film was Le Monde Vivant produced by the Dardenne bros. from Belgium. Silent Waters, recently released is well made film from Pakistan (perhaps their first film ever). Plan to see a few Sergio Castellitto films as Walter Reade is having his retro.

I think me and Oscar have become somewhat creative as to how to go about buying these foreign releases. One certainly has to spend a lot of time in front of a computer in order to do so. (I do because I work in a computer lab.) One can throw away a lot of money going after every new release that shows up on foreign DVD sites (I've done that in the past but now I've become more aware). Reading magazines like Film Comment helps as they usually specify "unknown pleasures" from around the world. Ebay is the best option although it's not w/out some risk.

I think me and Oscar have become somewhat creative as to how to go about buying these foreign releases

You sure have. Oscar has helped me with eBay a little, with good results. Netflix is another story. I have avoided it, because I don't want to get into the habit, and I might just wind up with more than I could watch, because as I said I prefer to watch in theaters. I have more leisure now--I am semi-retired, I have an independent income, and my time is my own even when I'm doing my art work, and I've made a point of traveling more as long as I can. I especially like spending time in New York and last time I spent five weeks in New York even though I live in California. I've even thought of moving to Manhattan but that may not be realiztic, I don't know. So much of my life is here, and it would be hard to relocate, alone.

I will consider Netflix, maybe I could make requests to a friend who gets it to see the items you and Oscar have recommended, such as Japon.

If you work in a compuer lab now I understand how your entries keep on coming lately. I have been at the computer too long the past few days, but it's enabled me to have quite a running conversation with you and Oscar, which I've enjoyed. How Oscar does it as a therapist, I don't quite know. I don't understand how he finds the time for all that he does.

I don't want to buy many dvd's. I accumulated a lot of videos and I rarely watch them, and there's no reason to think it would be any different. But I know once I get going, as with CD's, of which I have hundreds and keep getting more, I will continue at a a greater speed. Now I hardly ever buy any. I have some sets of the Sopranos, Kieslowski's Dekalog (found for me by Oscar), and some Wong Kar Wai and a few others, and that's it. I have a greater number of laser disks and am still getting them! I have a good laser disc/CD/dvd player combination, a Pioneer Elite model, which is quite good quality--the sound is excellent for CD's.

I have begun taking French lessons--my French is pretty good, accent is good, I like languges, but I need more vocabulary and practice--and my tutor is into movies and I expect to watch more French films and share them with her. I loaned her L'École de la chair with Isabelle Huppert, based on a Nashima story, and she watched it with her husband and we had a nice little discussion of it; this is a film I happen to love and have watched multiple times -- I think Huppert is in her best in it -- and my tutor had very keen observations about it. The French are so keen on cinema, so intelligent about it, I am going to really enjoy this--we're also discussing a novel by the Moroccan writer in French Tahar Ben Jalloun. Studying Italian lthe ast couple of years has led to my focusing more on Italian movies as you already know. I recently watched Bellocchio's Buongiorno, notte, his reexamination of the Aldo Moro kidnapping, and I think it's really very fine. I'm watching Salvatores' Amnesia, now, on my computer and it doesn't seem that great. I was disappointed with Singing Behind Screens. Actually the middleborw Last Kiss of Muccino, which I've come to admire more (well acted, nifty editing) through watching it over and over and over on dvd (you see I do watch the occasional dvd) to improve my oral comprehension of up to date Italian, has made me admire the technique of Sergio Castellitto. He just has a little part, but he handles it with such fine technique! The man has amazing control of the effects he wants to achieve. No wonder he's in great demand by foreign directors. They know they can rely on him to produce fine work at a moment's notice. Now as a director I'm curious how he has been.

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Originally posted by Chris Knipp


I loaned her L'École de la chair with Isabelle Huppert, based on a Nashima story, and she watched it with her husband and we had a nice little discussion of it; this is a film I happen to love and have watched multiple times -- I think Huppert is in her best in it --

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Isabelle Huppert. I'm not sure what to say anymore. She is so great is so many films that whenever I watch something; whether a new or an old one, lesser films people probably haven't heard of (La Vie Moderne etc.); it's astonishing how she stands out above the rest. For me, it's hard to say where she was the best...and she still has a long way to go.

Studying Italian lthe ast couple of years has led to my focusing more on Italian movies as you already know. I recently watched Bellocchio's Buongiorno, notte, his reexamination of the Aldo Moro kidnapping, and I think it's really very fine. I'm watching Salvatores' Amnesia, now, on my computer and it doesn't seem that great. I was disappointed with Singing Behind Screens. Actually the middleborw Last Kiss of Muccino, which I've come to admire more (well acted, nifty editing) through watching it over and over and over on dvd (you see I do watch the occasional dvd) to improve my oral comprehension of up to date Italian, has made me admire the technique of Sergio Castellitto. He just has a little part, but he handles it with such fine technique! The man has amazing control of the effects he wants to achieve. No wonder he's in great demand by foreign directors. They know they can rely on him to produce fine work at a moment's notice. Now as a director I'm curious how he has been.

Yeah, we've certainly had a few discussions on the current Italian cinema. I'm kind of waiting for a release date on Biongiorno to talk about it more I guess. (I hope Wellspring doesn't throw it away.) Believe it or not The Last Kiss has played on a few cable channels recently which was somewhat surprising. Perfect little film to watch on TV isn't it? A guilty pleasure I guess because of Giovanna Mezzogiorno. Mucchino's next film should be releasing soon in Italy.

Castellitto, if he hasn't already, is about to join the very elite group of European male actors. Just look at some of his work recently...Va Savoir, L'ora di Religione, Non Ti Muovere, Caterina la Vie Cita etc...just amazing. His next film is also with Bellochhio. He's the perfect male actor for the "auteurs," able to display various emotions all at once.

I'm glad we share interests in these things


Castellitto, if he hasn't already, is about to join the very elite group of European male actors. Just look at some of his work recently...Va Savoir, L'ora di Religione, Non Ti Muovere, Caterina la Vie Cita etc...just amazing. His next film is also with Bellochhio. He's the perfect male actor for the "auteurs," able to display various emotions all at once.

Indeed. I would like to see everything he' s been in and everything Huppert has been in. I can't say she was at her best ever in L'École de la Chair, because I haven't seen all her screen performances, but it's as good as I've seen, and as ideally suited to her talents and personality.

I look forward to your and others' seeing Buongiorno, notte. I have put off writing about it because nobody here has seen it, and because the context is so complex, and because I've got other things to write about, but I loved it, and it was something that's on a confined enough scale to work well on a monitor--so long as you have a good sound system for the music.

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
How Oscar does it as a therapist, I don't quite know. I don't understand how he finds the time for all that he does.

The time and the money. In the same spirit of disclosure as your post...
After 20 years of full-time work, thrifty and simple living, and prudent investment, I find myself working part-time with flexible hours with a house and no mortgage, and plenty of time for cinema, friends and family. I watch no TV, always eat home-cooked, buy used dvds in mint condition then resell some, attend matinees, drive a jalopy, use public facilities like parks, schools and libraries, and actually, it's my wife who's the penny-pincher. I may increase my work hours in the future as needed, when the kids get a bit older or move out. I hope to always have the time to watch movies and argue with you about them.

That's really smart. Good for you!

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Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I look forward to your and others' seeing Buongiorno, notte. I have put off writing about it because nobody here has seen it, and because the context is so complex, and because I've got other things to write about, but I loved it, and it was something that's on a confined enough scale to work well on a monitor--so long as you have a good sound system for the music.

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Actually, I have seen this film; I thought I mentioned it before to you but maybe not. That's why I said that I was also waiting for others to see it before talking about it. I'm glad you have though; most likely on the DVD you got from Italy, right?

Anyway, I loved it also. It would've made my top ten if it was released here last year. Bellocchio hasn't just simply documented the events, but rather, he has given us his idealistic portrayal through the dreams of the fictional character he has invented. It's certainly a "complex" film as you said. The title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem about the struggle between choosing right and wrong and Bellocchio smartly avoids any didacticism here. He allows the political tragedy to unfold in the confines of a small apartment between a tightly knit "family." I thought Maya Sansa, who was in practically every scene in the film, was a revelation.

I agree with all of that. Yes, it's one of the dvd's I bought in Florence. It does feel intimate, and it's disturbing, yet somehow peaceful. I want to write about it when I can find the time and focus. I was confused about your having seen it--naturally, since hardly anybody here has seen it yet. Is it coming to the US?

Apparently this is the poem (Googled http://plagiarist.com/poetry/6285/):

Good Morning—Midnight
Emily Dickinson
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Good Morning—Midnight—
I'm coming Home—
Day—got tired of Me—
How could I—of Him?

Sunshine was a sweet place—
I liked to stay—
But Morn—didn't want me—now—
So—Goodnight—Day!

I can look—can't I—
When the East is Red?
The Hills—have a way—then—
That puts the Heart—abroad—

You—are not so fair—Midnight—
I chose—Day—
But—please take a little Girl—
He turned away!

Mysterious and cryptic as some of her poems are.

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Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Is it coming to the US?

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Wellspring acquired the film in March last year and it was scheduled to play at the end of the year but obviously that didn't happen. I hope that they release it shortly.

I see-- thank you. I hope so too.