2008 ended and I failed to post here in the last three months. However, I posted on some additions to my canon here.

*During autumn I concentrated on re-watching a dozen films by Godard (VIVRE SA VIE and ALPHAVILLE strike me as masterpieces) and discovering the films made by Kenji Mizoguchi during the 1930s. Japanese films in general were not screened in the West until 1950. It's lamentable that film buffs missed out on so many wonderful films from "the East" (American and European films were regularly shown in Japan, China and India since the Silent Era.)
Perhaps the best 1930s Mizoguchi is TALE OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUMS (the subject of my longest academic essay to date) but the other three I watched are outstanding: SISTERS OF GION, THE DOWNFALL OF OSEN and OSAKA ELEGY.

*I've also developed a deeper appreciation for a few "melodramas" from the classic era that reward close scrutinity and repeat viewings. The films I have in mind include STELLA DALLAS with Barbara Stanwyck, NOW, VOYAGER starring Bette Davis, and GASLIGHT starring Ingrid Bergman (I assume everybody knows that Ophuls' LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN is a masterpiece of the highest order. The films have been grouped by philosopher Stanley Cavell under the term "melodramas of the unknown woman").