2003 Screening Log Redux (...continued from here)

252. (13 Jun) /Joe Versus the Volcano/ (1990, John Patrick Shanley)* 85
253. (16 Jun) The Big Chill (1983, Lawrence Kasdan)* 43
254. (16 Jun) Trouble in Paradise (1932, Ernst Lubitsch) 70
255. (17 Jun) Swimming Pool (2003, François Ozon) 45
256. (17 Jun) Le Divorce (2003, James Ivory) 58
257. (17 Jun) /The Pledge/ (2001, Sean Penn)* 65
258. (18 Jun) Runaway Train (1985, Andrei Konchalovsky)* 27
259. (19 Jun) Model Shop (1969, Jacques Demy) 41
260. (19 Jun) Christine (1983, John Carpenter)* 61
261. (20 Jun) Ninotchka (1939, Ernst Lubitsch) 44
262. (20 Jun) Cluny Brown (1946, Ernst Lubitsch) 53
263. (20 Jun) Hulk (2003, Ang Lee) 55
264. (21 Jun) Flirting (1990, John Duigan)* 63
265. (22 Jun) The Tenant (1976, Roman Polanski) 61
266. (22 Jun) Shadows and Fog (1992, Woody Allen)* 78
267. (23 Jun) /Ghostbusters/ (1984, Ivan Reitman)* 73
268. (24 Jun) Friday Night (2003, Claire Denis) 10
269. (24 Jun) The Hard Way (1991, John Badham)* 41
270. (26 Jun) /Affliction/ (1998, Paul Schrader)* 80
271. (27 Jun) To Be or Not to Be (1942, Ernst Lubitsch) 46
272. (27 Jun) The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Ernst Lubitsch) 82
273. (27 Jun) 28 Days Later (2003, Danny Boyle) 54
274. (27 Jun) Tender Mercies (1983, Bruce Beresford)* 74
275. (28 Jun) The Dead Zone (1983, David Cronenberg)* 63
276. (29 Jun) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel) 75
277. (29 Jun) The Merry Widow (1934, Ernst Lubitsch) 48
278. (30 Jun) Obsession (1976, Brian De Palma)* 45
279. (01 Jul) Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003, McG) 63
280. (01 Jul) 48HRS. (1982, Walter Hill)* 46
281. (02 Jul) /Punch-Drunk Love/ (2002, Paul Thomas Anderson)* 99
282. (03 Jul) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003, Jonathan Mostow) 63
s28. (03 Jul) La Vie d’un fleuve: La Seine (1931, Jean Lods)
283. (03 Jul) L'Atalante (1934, Jean Vigo) 42
284. (03 Jul) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg) 47
s29. (04 Jul) One Froggy Evening (1955, Charles M. Jones)
285. (04 Jul) \The Band Wagon\ (1953, Vincente Minnelli) 73
286. (04 Jul) One-Armed Swordsman (1967, Zhang Che) 52
287. (04 Jul) The Hired Hand (1971, Peter Fonda) 69
288. (06 Jul) Smiles of a Summer Night (1955, Ingmar Bergman) 35
289. (06 Jul) Ashes of Time (1994, Wong Kar-Wai) 37
290. (06 Jul) Death Becomes Her (1992, Robert Zemeckis)* 77
291. (08 Jul) My Life (1993, Bruce Joel Rubin)* 81
292. (10 Jul) It's Always Fair Weather (1955, Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly) 52
293. (10 Jul) Popeye (1980, Robert Altman)* 62
294. (11 Jul) Kiss Me Kate (1953, George Sidney) 42 [in 3-D!]
295. (11 Jul) Desert Fury (1947, Lewis Allen) 45
s30. (13 Jul) Two Mouseketeers (1952, Joseph Barbera, William Hanna)
296. (13 Jul) An American in Paris (1951, Vincente Minnelli) 38
297. (14 Jul) Bubba Ho-Tep (2003, Don Coscarelli) 49
298. (15 Jul) Any Number Can Win (1963, Henri Verneuil) 61
299. (15 Jul) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003, Whore Verbinski) 36
300. (16 Jul) WarGames (1983, John Badham)* 57
s31. (17 Jul) Dogville of My Childhood (2003, The MovieMartyr)*
s32. (17 Jul) /Trent/ (2002, jaredsapolin.com)*
s33. (17 Jul) Puce Moon Rising (2003, baaab's Insanity)* [~]
301. (18 Jul) How to Deal (2003, Clare Kilner) 46
302. (19 Jul) What's Up, Doc? (1972, Peter Bogdanovich)* 53
303. (20 Jul) Un Flic (1972, Jean-Pierre Melville) 38 [rate at which polar ice caps are melting > Un Flic's pace]
304. (20 Jul) Time After Time (1979, Nicholas Meyer)* 72
s34. (21 Jul) À Bientôt J'Espère (1967, Chris Marker)
305. (21 Jul) An Injury to One (2003, Travis Wilkerson) 70
306. (21 Jul) Vagabond (1985, Agnès Varda)* 47
307. (22 Jul) On the Town (1949, Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly) 71 [Hey baaab, Charade is better!]
308. (22 Jul) Bad Boys II (2003, Michael Bay) 62
309. (23 Jul) /The Breakfast Club/ (1985, John Hughes)* 57
310. (24 Jul) Seabiscuit (2003, Gary Ross) 35
311. (27 Jul) Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985, Tim Burton)* 56
312. (28 Jul) thirteen (2003, Catherine Hardwicke) 77
313. (29 Jul) Dirty Pretty Things (2003, Stephen Frears) 44
W/O. (31 Jul) Ugetsu (1953, Kenji Mizubordomo)
314. (31 Jul) Repo Man (1984, Alex Cox) 46
315. (02 Aug) /Big Trouble/ (1985, John Cassavetes)* 84
316. (03 Aug) Heathers (1989, Michael Lehmann)* 67 [The inconsiderate fucking swine at Two Boots theater decided to project this on... video.]
317. (03 Aug) They Live (1988, John Carpenter) 80
318. (05 Aug) The Professor (1972, Valerio Zurlini) 74
319. (05 Aug) /Love and Death on Long Island/ (1998, Richard Kwietniowski)* 71
320. (07 Aug) Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003, Jan De Bont) 40
321. (07 Aug) Gigli (2003, Martin Brest) 65
322. (07 Aug) American Splendor (2003, Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini) 49
323. (07 Aug) The Big Sleep (1945, Howard Hawks)* 66 [Yep, 1945. I accidentally watched the 116 min. pre-release cut. Oops.]
324. (08 Aug) /The Purple Rose of Cairo/ (1985, Woody Allen) 63
325. (09 Aug) The Age of Innocence (1993, Martin Scorsese) 29
326. (10 Aug) /Chinatown/ (1974, Roman Polanski) 83
327. (10 Aug) Ruby in Paradise (1993, Victor Nunez)* 51
328. (11 Aug) The Right Stuff (1983, Philip Kaufman)* 50
329. (12 Aug) Lost In Translation (2003, Sofia Coppola) 64
330. (12 Aug) Loving (1970, Irvin Kershner)* 75
331. (13 Aug) S.W.A.T. (2003, Clark Johnson) 46
332. (13 Aug) Charlotte Sometimes (2003, Eric Byler) 30
333. (14 Aug) Dead of Night (1945, Cavalcanti, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, Charles Crichton) 50
334. (16 Aug) /Notting Hill/ (1999, Roger Michell)* 65
335. (17 Aug) Open Range (2003, Kevin Costner) 69
336. (17 Aug) /Charlie's Angels/ (2000, McG)* 63
337. (19 Aug) Targets (1968, Peter Bogdanovich)* 64
338. (20 Aug) Paper Moon (1973, Peter Bogdanovich)* 83
ZZZ. (21 Aug) These Are the Damned (1962, Joseph Losey) [not the film's fault; I was tired as hell]
339. (21 Aug) Casualties of War (1989, Brian De Palma)* 62
340. (23 Aug) The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003, Jim Fall)* 42
341. (24 Aug) Blind Chance (1982, Krzysztof Kieslowski) 43
342. (25 Aug) /Home Movie/ (2002, Chris Smith)* 79
s35. (26 Aug) Rabbit Hood (1949, Charles M. Jones)
343. (26 Aug) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Michael Curtiz, William Keighley) 28
344. (26 Aug) /Bowling for Columbine/ (2002, Michael Moore)* 86
345. (27 Aug) /Roger & Me/ (1989, Michael Moore)* 78
s36. (28 Aug) Welcome to WillieWorld (2001, Scott Saunders)
346. (28 Aug) The Technical Writer (2003, Scott Saunders) 21
347. (28 Aug) Nightmare Alley (1947, Edmund Goulding) 45
348. (29 Aug) Once Upon a Time in the West (1969, Sergio Leone) 29
[Tortuously slow and pretty damn vacuous, with an uncomfortable streak of misogyny to boot {i.e. the way everyone in the film treats Claudia and particularly the way the film makes light of the way they treat Claudia -- cue my audience laughing uproariously again and again and again -- and the way Claudia seems to embrace being treated these ways; a film has to internally address its misogyny -- there has to be a seriousness of intent there -- if I'm to just roll over and stomach it}. I'm well aware that many critics think Once Upon a Time in the West nothing less than an expansive contemplation of the Western past and I can appreciate all the allusions {to Ford's Monument Valley, casting erstwhile Wyatt Earp so against type, ripping the simple plot from the great -- and relatively terse! -- Johnny Guitar, etc.} and I can't deny Leone's skill as picture-maker, his reliably evocative compositions, his studies of faces, and the way he builds sequences. I also can't discount the greatness of the prologue. But all those strengths only get you so far {around forty minutes far, and yet the movie continues to chug along for another one hundred and twenty-five more, during which I will confess to being mostly bored outta my skull/wanting to hit the aisle}. I'm capable of liking Leone a lot {i.e. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly} and Morricone's typically brilliant work {which I get more out of on its own, then piled onto the film} keeps me nominally awake, but there's an emptiness at the core here, an aggressive style-over-substance mind set that I find terribly, terribly disagreeable.]
349. (31 Aug) His Girl Friday (1940, Howard Hawks) 50
[Funny and careful first act promises something rivaling The Awful Truth {though Hawks is not nearly as tender or nuanced as McCarey}, but once the 'plot engine' kicks into gear {and love takes a backseat}, it's all downhill. Nadir has to be when the film invites us to gasp at the girlfriend jumping out the window, then mere moments later begs us to laugh at Grant picking up the mother onto his shoulders. Such is the way of His Girl Friday's world: if you're too quick to worry about tonal melding and always too eager to crunch in that next joke, why tackle something as grave as a man on death row {esp. when it's just a pretext for silly amorous escapades}? As a study of political corruption, the movie's facile; as a romantic comedy, incomplete. I don't have to settle for this when the same year brought the overwhelming beauty of The Shop Around the Corner.]
350. (31 Aug) Pickup on South Street (1953, Samuel Fuller) 76
[Guess the key here is to think of Widmark's character as the directorial voice or else the whole fight-the-Commies routine is almost unbearably stupid. But if we allow the undiscriminating {read: couldn't care less about patriotism since he believes everyone is equally fucked up} Widmark = Fuller, then Commies are not Commies so much as the only dudes without any sort of morals {but again, you can't look at this equation as cause and effect; that is to say, being a Commie is independent of having no morals}. And therein lies the strength of Pickup: its anguished empathy for the forgotten {most notably re: Moe, Ritter's lovely performance making her character's quest to save enough money for her own funeral heartbreaking}, its depiction of the honor and loyalty amongst the primal shysters and petty criminals just struggling to get by. That this empathy comes from someone as ostensibly ferocious and gritty as Fuller {whose swollen camera juts into faces and tight spaces, sweaty close-ups held pregnant} makes it all the more moving. Granted the 'romance' angle is clumsy and unnecessary, but as a pungent vision of New York City's pre-Vietnam fringes, the film's nearly incomparable.]
351. (01 Sep) Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern (1997, Steven Ascher, Jeanne Jordan) 65
[As much a personal essay as a documentary, the unshakeable feeling that many important moments weren't filmed {which is to say it's somewhat amateurishly made} is compensated for by sheer intimacy {filmmakers = family of subjects} and boiling emotion. The {at times} overbearing voice-over oscillates between naive, superfluous and profound, but the film's intertwining of change and aging, its ideas about perseverance in the face of strife, and its rich sense of history, go a long way towards reaching burrowed truths about rural Americana.]
352. (02 Sep) Heavy (1996, James Mangold)* 71
[If Mangold's career was unfolding in reverse, who the hell would think he could be so sensual? Slow going at times, but it's keenly observed, with Tyler's luminescence and Taylor Vince's reticence bashing together and forming a sort of focused conviction that Mangold never lets down. This dude needs to get back to his roots, pronto.]
353. (02 Sep) /Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr./ (1999, Errol Morris)* 77
[Often deluded as Auschwitz-denier Leuchter comes off, I'm most intrigued by his refuters offering no more substantial evidence than a few Nazi documents. Mostly, however, they just issue the same sorta superficial statements Leuchter dangerously bandies about, but the difference -- indeed one of the reasons this movie is remarkably complicated -- lies in that when all is said and done I genuinely believe Leuchter's ruined life is the result of a "simpleton" trying to do good, a man "under a spell" acting out of misguided compassion. Whereas -- and I write this as someone who was born and raised Jewish {some of my immediate family lives in Israel right now} -- the Jewish interest groups {aka the people who are essentially responsible for destroying Leuchter's life} seem to be acting out of sheer malice, even if it is malice derived outta self-defense. One of Morris's great strength lies in his refusal to align our sympathies for us; another is of course his hypnotic visuals {I vote for the few minutes of film where Leuchter is discussing his daily forty cups of coffee/six packs of cigarettes routine as one of the most stunning sequences ever}. FYI department: The late Caleb Sampson's haunting score contains a main refrain that sounds nearly identical to one of Brion's pieces in Punch-Drunk Love.]
354. (04 Sep) The Great Santini (1979, Lewis John Carlino)* 50
[I'm sorry to tell you this little kid but you pretty much are an annoying whiny crybaby loser who needs to toughen up and I am happy you have the greatness of The Great Santini to help you do this. He might be a tough dude and it might seem like he's being too hard on you, but you are truly a wimp, let's face it. I mean really, why do you cry so much? And why must your waterworks be so grotesquely excessive? Jesus, life is tough. Deal with it. Just be happy you got that stupid Oscar nomination which you didn't deserve. Anyway, Robert Duvall is great in this movie as The Great Santini. And the younger Blythe Danner is good as The Great Santini's Gwyneth Paltrow. I mean I know they're blood and all, but it's scary. At best this film can come off like a demented melodrama and at worst it can come off like a maudlin and an obvious. Also, I liked the ending.]
355. (04 Sep) Play Dirty (1968, Andre de Toth) 46
[Important disclaimer: As I've probably mentioned elsewhere on this site, the War Film is one of my absolute least favorite genres. There's some strong sequences of almost satiric absurdity here, but not enough, and usually they're too fatalistic for my taste anyhow. Tooth's intentions are mostly admirable, try as he does to depict the tense calm in between blow-out battle storms, but the pace is just too laborious for me to embrace and the three War Film staple brothers named Bleakness, Lost Morality and Hypocrisy all seem as familiar as ever. Maybe when I get Alzheimer's this movie will seem fresh to me.]
356. (05 Sep) /The Long Kiss Goodnight/ (1996, Renny Harlin)* 49
[Remembered liking this a lot in the theater, quite disappointed to discover it hasn't held up for me. Shane Black's The Last Boy Scout is a lowbrow favorite of mine {which definitely does hold up}, but the script that made it on screen here is not nearly as accomplished as that one. Main problem is Black writes cynical PIs better than any other characters and whereas in The Last Boy Scout he wisely made one of those dudes his protagonist, here he relegates him {a wonderful Sam Jackson} to second string, placing Davis's amnesiac assassin at the front {nice in theory to have a girl lead an action film, but too bad Davis is a weak actress}. Harlin knows how to shoot this type of affair, but the villains are lame {even though their motivation is compelling}, there's too much action, and I just didn't really care.]
357. (06 Sep) Les Créatures (1966, Agnès Varda) 41
[What the hell is this nonsense? More Swimming Pool-type crap? There's a bunch of stuff about writer Michel Piccoli {as a guy named Edgar Piccoli} and some other dude playing some surreal game that involves literally watching over humanity and using mortals as chess pieces: Two people are placed in a situation where they must respond to {artificially inflicted, by the evil dude Piccoli is facing off against} anger and betrayal, but it's essentially the same two outcome scenarios repeated again and again {outcome 1: the people react favorably; outcome 2: the people don't}. If anyone finds this deep, good for them; all I know is I allotted some bonus points for the funny scenes where Piccoli randomly carries on conversations with various animals.]
358. (06 Sep) Blue Collar (1978, Paul Schrader)* 83
[Dense, searing condemnation of Union politics and racial warfare among the lower working class. Pryor and Kotto are astonishing {Keitel's excellent, also} as Schrader manages to strike a perfect balance between thriller, relationship drama, comedy, and social action. It's a searching hybrid, full of pain and uncertain of solutions, the oppressiveness of fiscal reality forcing the American City to teeter on the brink of implosion.]
359. (07 Sep) Touchez pas au grisbi (1953, Jacques Becker) 52
[{NB. Rating unreliable due to subtitling companies' continual inability to grasp that small white lettering on white backdrops is impossible for a human eye to discern.} Gently mournful tone and suggestive visuals are nice, but everything feels slight, a movie based around Jean Gabin's face {granted, one of cinema's greatest} more than anything else. The little emotional heft comes from Gabin's poignant relationship with underling René Dary, a disappointed but loving father and a your-best-ain't-good-enough son. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.]
360. (08 Sep) /All the Real Girls/ (2003, David Gordon Green)* 86
361. (09 Sep) Intolerable Cruelty (2003, Joel [and Ethan] Coen) [~] 80
[Fear not: It's still very much a Coen Bros film through and through, albeit one with an occasional throwaway sop to mainstream America. Variety's certain this'll be the Coens' biggest success ever, but I'm definitely not convinced {and that's a compliment}.]
362. (09 Sep) Trick (1999, Jim Fall)* 22
[I'll get you back for this, baaab.]
363. (10 Sep) The Hospital (1971, Arthur Hiller)* 88
[Absolutely stunning. Maybe comments forthcoming, but I should probably wait until after a second viewing.]
364. (12 Sep) Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003, Robert Rodriguez) 38
[This empty, incoherent bloodbath is only watchable when Depp's on screen {aka when it's knowingly goofy and stupid}.]
365. (12 Sep) Eureka (1984, Nicolas Roeg)* 43
[Bracing prologue sets up Roeg's swing-for-the-fences approach to this banal material {= he equates a routine thriller with nothing less than... the freakin' cosmos}. A few remarkable sequences in the midst of pablum; Rutger Hauer and Theresa Russell = worst. couple. ever.]
366. (13 Sep) Matchstick Men (2003, Ridley Scott) 75
367. (13 Sep) The Hunger (1983, Tony Scott) 62
[Really just a strikingly dour mood piece, but few American films are as concerned with aging and mortality {or possessed by a fear of blood, which coincided with an AIDS epidemic on the verge of explosion}. When Scott economically visualizes this dread {Bowie's receding hairline juxtaposed against the cartoon he's watching, the monkey decomposing, Bowie rapidly growing old, the chaotic finale with Deneuve assaulted}, the film works as vivid nightmare; otherwise everything can veer into the muddled.]
368. (15 Sep) Anything Else (2003, Woody Allen) 70
369. (16 Sep) In the Mood for Love (2001, Wong Kar-Wai)* 57
[Happy to see wkw finally self-impose the same rigorous restraint maintained by his characters here {meaning no voice-over, no flashy digressions}. Often {esp. when the music swells and the frame rate fluctuates} this is a ravishing tone poem about emotional withdrawal, pining for an out-of-touch affection {even eating simmers with a promising eroticism}. And yet it's also such a cold film, the man and woman left distant not just from each other, but from the audience. A kind of movie to watch many times, wondering if you'll ever get any closer to the sad ciphers at its torn heart.]
370. (16 Sep) Zero Day (2003, Ben Coccio) 46
371. (17 Sep) In America (2003, Jim Sheridan) 51
[Too manipulative {gimme a break with that voice-over, Sheridan}, even if it is dedicated to the real Frankie's memory. Wonderful performances abound {the Bolger sisters are a revelation} and an agreeably stylized, outsider's view of NYC, watching in awe as the seasons change. Falters badly in the third act though, when an understated focus on money troubles {like the strong getting-an-AC sidebar}, gives way to heavy-handed melodrama {Hounsou chants the baby back to life!}. Still, the surreal 'Desperado' set piece is one of the most haunting scenes of the year.]
372. (17 Sep) Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003, Victor Salva) 30
[A cheap, useless movie, the former attribute being especially unforgivable since this is the second film of a successful franchise that exists almost solely to make money. In other words: We all paid for the first, and we're rewarded with... this {= lousy effects and dull 'thrills'}? I wouldn't be complaining if the financial paucity was rooted in an inspired set-up, but instead its clearly due to laziness, a lack of imagination, and -- of course -- greed. Tirelessly monotonous, at least half the film unfolds on a school bus and yet each trapped student remains undistinguishable from the next.]
373. (17 Sep) /Anger Management/ (2003, Peter Segal)* 72
[Still dumb, still makes me very happy. Subverting Sandler's persona by questioning whether a semi-regression {to the Happy Gilmore days of yore} is a fitful emotional decision {aka is reticence really any healthier than aggression?}, it's a silly movie about centering yourself and finding the correct balance.]
374. (18 Sep) Cabin Fever (2003, Eli Roth) 56
[*Spoilers.* Much is queasily effective, with a menace that seems to be everywhere at once {here's another film that's scared of blood; might be a Gen Xer's fear-of-AIDS subtext: notice the only character who seems to consistently practice monogamous and "safe sex" is the only one who doesn't contract the 'virus'?}, but Cabin Fever's also -- kinda like its characters -- incredibly cruel. I quickly got the sense everyone was doomed {since the threat is so shadowy and unavoidable, the causes so uncertain} and it became like watching mice navigate a maze to a chunk of poison. Roth knows how to draw creepy supporting players better than his fairly bland protags, though I guess that's always the way it's gotta work with these horror flicks.]
375. (18 Sep) /Lost In Translation/ (2003, Sofia Coppola) 65 [first viewing: 64]
376. (18 Sep) Crazy Mama (1975, Jonathan Demme)* 42
[Welcome to America as God's country, "you do good, you get good," even if that just means robbing people well in this colorful slice of 50s Americana, complete with sprightly tunes and rolling energy. Odd that the women aren't shooting themselves to freedom so much as domesticity {a husband and a quiet place to settle down = "everything a girl could ever want"}, guess the point is no matter what women actually want, society shouldn't decide for them. What annoys me is that the lively surface hides a mean undercurrent {probably seeing the futility of women's struggles?}; this approach could only be a success if Demme worked at exposing the lie of 50s 'opportunity,' but his relentlessly playful and upbeat tone suggests otherwise. Also annoying: acting is pretty poor, the situations absurd, the dialogue strained.]
377. (19 Sep) Cold Creek Manor (2003, Mike Figgis) 34
[Do me a favor, Figgis. Next time you wanna pick up an easy paycheck and make a moronic Hollywoof thriller, please make sure you choose a script where something actually happens. A family being attacked by five snakes doesn't cut it in my opinion. Thanks bud.]
378. (19 Sep) /The Witches/ (1990, Nicolas Roeg)* 44
[Strange that such a visually robust film can occasionally get bogged down in verbosity. Starts off eerily {with Roeg stamps}, then descends into an exceedingly simple set-up. Hardly anything here, but still better than most kiddie flicks.]
ZZZ. (20 Sep) The Manchurian Candidate (1962, John Frankenheimer)
379. (20 Sep) \The Manchurian Candidate\ (1962, John Frankenheimer)* 62
[Obviously well crafted, but I've done my homework and I still can't figure out why it's so beloved. Ahead of its time and questioned the institutions of power, yes, but is this a deep film or just an enjoyably paranoid thriller? I say the latter. Plus there's an undercurrent of patriotism here {foreign nations depicted as shadowy brainwashers; the final line's sentiment} that's hard to stomach if Frankenheimer's convinced he's blowing the lid off buried governmental corruption truths {even though he isn't -- merely commenting on the perils of witch-hunting doesn't cut it, or at least doesn't cut it circa 2003}. Eminently watchable, if slightly overlong and somewhat overrated.]
380. (20 Sep) /Mean Streets/ (1973, Martin Scorsese) 87
[Pretty revelatory to return to this and get a refresher course in just how thoroughly Scorsese influenced modern American film. I kinda ignore some of the finer religious undertones and focus on Mean Streets' energetic evocation of a time and place {that singular vibe emitted by early 70s Little Italy, even though Mean Streets was mostly filmed in LA; takes a theatrical viewing to fully appreciate just how gorgeous the cinematography is here} and most of all, its heartbreaking portrait of two friends, one a sinner convinced the world needs more compassion {even though he can't quite muster up enough for himself}, the other ferociously self-destructive. Come back De Niro... come back...]
381. (21 Sep) The Same River Twice (2003, Robb Moss) 74
382. (23 Sep) /Alien/: Director's Cut (1979 [sic], Ridley Scott) 72
[Don't know how this differs from the regular cut because I haven't seen the original in so long, but I can't imagine they vary much if the director's cut is only a few minutes longer. Unnecessarily, I might add, since I've always thought Scott builds the atmosphere a little too methodically. While the technical credits are marvelous, the set pieces appropriately agonizing, the details impeccable, the acting superb, and the tension well mounted, at heart this is really just a run-of-the-mill monster movie: spanning two hours and change, little happens. Not that I'm complaining, of course.]
383. (24 Sep) 21 Grams (2003, Alejandro González Iñárritu) [~] 87
[Already my vote for the year's most misunderstood film and it doesn't even open for two months. Full review definitely forthcoming.]

Move onward...