2009 Movies
January
Peep Show, Season 1, 2003 — Possibly more cringe-inducing than the original Office.
Valley of the Dolls, 1967 — Patty Duke shines in this as a boozing pill popper, but it’s not as good as the book (and the book ain’t great).
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, 1965 — Surprisingly excellent, with lots of boobage, and not even in the B-movie ironic way. I watched this on an illegally burned disc, since the movie has never been released on DVD. Shh!
The Office, Season 1, 2001 — BBC version, which, by the way, is far superior.
*Motörhead: Ace of Spades, 2005 — Why are Lemmy and Phil never shown with Eddie Clark. His performances are cheesily CGI-ed together with the other guys, and they’re never interviewed together. I want to hear less about Hawkwind and more about this mysterious rift!
Junebug, 2005 — At first this movie felt very obvious and film school sophomore, but a week or so after viewing it certain vignettes have stuck with me, making me wonder, “What did that mean?” I consider a work of art good, regardless of it’s flaws, if I can’t get it out of my brain.
February
Sugartime, 1995 — What possessed me to rent this, I don’t know, other than the fact that I found it excruciatingly romantic upon first viewing (when I was 15!). This was a made-for-HBO movie before HBO made stuff good, and it shows. John Turturro is okay in it, Mary-Louise Parker is awful, but worst of all is the incredibly ’90-sounding “’50s music” adorning the soundtrack. If you made a movie in 1995 on a non-existent budget set in the 1950s this is exactly what it would look and sound like: horrible.
Shaun of the Dead, 2004 — The first time I saw this movie was the Christmas that it snowed in Houston. It has held up surprisingly well.
*Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961 — God I love Holly Golightly. But not Holly Golightly as portrayed by Audrey Hepburn. I love the tragic, unhappily-ending Holly Golightly as originally envisioned by Truman Capote.
Breasts: A Documentary, 1996 — This made-for-HBO documentary was made before HBO was good. I was excited by the concept of stark-nekkid women talking about their bodies, but it came off as shallow and too cutesy, with very little exploration into the deep dark world of what it means to be female.
In The Mood For Love, 2000 — Beautiful film, but after watching 2046 I feel like WKW is a bit of a one-trick pony. The repetitive music, the slow motion shots. But C loves this movie and we own it now, so I have plenty of time to be convinced otherwise.
March
The Josephine Baker Story, 1991 — I barely remember seeing this the first time it was broadcast on television. I remember it being much better then, but I would have been 11, so oh well. Lynn Whitfield is beautiful but has a horrible boob job. The production values are what you might expect from an early 90s made-for-HBO movie. But this music is decent, and as a biography, it does a good job showing all the eras of Baker’s life. I came away from this loving her even more, stubborn as she seemed to be.
Carnivale, The Complete Series — It’s a shame that this complex, fascinating and beautifully-shot series was cut short, but in the end I felt the creators were getting a little sloppy and a little hokey with the story lines, relying on clichéd dialogue to wrap everything up nicely. Some episodes seems to exist solely to set up other episodes, and that was annoying. I do, however, love the direction they went with Libby and Jonesy, and the final few episodes contained some of the most haunting imagery I can remember in film-making. The tar-and-feather scene gave me nightmares.
The Good Woman, 2004 — I simply can not accept Helen Hunt as a seductress.
True Stories, 1986 — My dad used to tell me about this movie, ask me if I’d seen it. I never have until just now, but it’s a wonder. The Talking Heads have always held a certain fascination for me. They have a kid-like appeal, despite the mature nature of some of their lesser-known hits.
April
13 Conversations About One Thing, 2001 — Low-key and simple. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, but this movie just didn’t do anything for me, in spite of the presence of Alan Arkin.
The Insider, 1999 — Back when Russell Crowe was good. This movie is TENSE. I assume half of it is bullshit, or exaggerated, and even with that allowance the half I believed was still TENSE. An especially engaging story for anyone interested in the process of reporting or journalism in general. And also? Conspiracies!
The Witch, 1966 — An odd, oddly-dubbed Italian film that is by parts utterly psychedelic and yet totally predictable. There is an amazing risqué dance scene halfway through the film but that and the unknown star’s obvious beauty was not enough to make up for the overriding sense of violence against women, including everything from face slaps to borderline rape. Not sexy.
May
Persepolis, 2007 — I loved everything about this movie.
Control, 2007 — Beautifully filmed and soundtracked, but the storytelling seems lacking. Based on his window’s book, maybe that’s why.
June
Baby Mama, 2008 — If you’ve seen the trailer you’ve seen all the funny parts.
Tikimentary, 2008 — Fun but perhaps a bit incomplete. I would have liked to see interviews with more than just a handful of people.
Grey Gardens, 1975 — I’m obsessed.
July
Hearts of Darkness, 1991 — A horrifying look into the making of one of my all-time favorite movies.
Grey Gardens, 2009 — Made-for-HBO movie sheds a bit more insight into the life of the Beales in the 1940s and ’50s, but how much of it is fictionalized is unclear. The rest of the movie is acted almost word-for-word from the documentary, which seems like a waste.
August
Boogie Man, 2008.
September
Running with Scissors, 2006. Decent movie. Makes me want to read the book. It hit pretty close to home. You know Burroughs’ mothergave a rebuttal to NPR?
*The Illustrated Man, 1969. Excellent creepy ’60s sci-fi.
October
Mad Men Season 2. Still love this series, but as I’m watching Season 2 people are putting spoilers to Seasn 3 all over the internet. Some people don’t have cable (and don’t want it), y’know?
Swimming to Cambodia, 1987. I want to make performances like these.
AutoFocus, 2002. Fun and freaky. No casting of Willem Defoe as a weirdo (not even Bobby Peru) will kill my love for him.
Art School Confidential, 2006. If you liked Ghost World and think this might be just as good, you will be very disappointed.
November
Fur, 2006. A totally made-up version of Diane Arbus’ life starring a Botox-faces Nicole Kidman (boooo) and a hyper-hirsute Robert Downey Jr. (sexy as hell). Stupid.
American Psycho, 2000. Completely different than what I expected. I’m sad it took me a decade to get around to watching it. Though I’m still not a Bale fan.
The Beales of Grey Gardens, 1975. Additional footage from the original documentary which adds little to the first film.
December
The Squid and the Whale, 2005. Very Wes Anderson-like but still good on its own merits. Laura Linney is awesome, the kids are sufficiently creepy and the story itself is sad yet realistic.
Little Miss Sunshine, 2006 — More like “Little Meh Meh-shine.” How the eff did Alan Arkin win an Oscar for the 20-minutes or so his character is on screen here?
*Movies marked with asterisks have been previously watched.
