February Movies!

In order from most to least favored in my belated movie wrap-up for the month of Febraury 2009, is a neatly organized list of the pictures I've seen--with one pretty still atop from the sublime The Battle of Algiers (1966). My former film students will recognize most of these titles because I screened them in class. And for any stragglers from the old Film History 101, I can confidently recommend you see the rest of these movies as well. Enjoy!

The Battle of Algiers - (1965) - DVD
Seen: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis) - (1945) - DVD
Seen: Sunday, February 1, 2009

Citizen Kane - (1941) - DVD
Seen: Saturday, February 7, 2009

Bicycled Thieves - (1948) - DVD
Seen: Friday, February 13, 2009 & Saturday, February 14, 2009

Do The Right Thing - (1989) - DVD
Seen: Friday, February 27, 2009 and Saturday, February 28, 2009

Blow Up - (1966) - DVD
Seen: Saturday, February 21, 2009

Through A Glass Darkly - (1961) - DVD
Seen: Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sparrow - (2008) - Film
Seen: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Click here for my review on Scarlett Cinema.

Wanda - (1971) - DVD
Seen: Sunday, February 15, 2009

The Wrestler - (2008) - Film
Seen: Saturday, February 7, 2009

Winchester '73 - (1950) - DVD
Seen: Thursday, February 5, 2009

Bladerunner - (1982) - DVD
Seen: Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - (2007) - DVD
Seen: Sunday, February 15, 2009

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 - (2009) - Film
Seen: Monday, February 23, 2009
Click here for my review on Scarlett Cinema.

I Shot Jesse James - (1949) - DVD
Seen: Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ride the High Country - (1962) - DVD
Seen: Monday, February 16, 2009

And whoa, it's already April! That means my March movie wrap-up is due already too. This one's going to be killer. With the help of my 10 day convalescence I watched 33 movies in March. Put on the coffee, it's is going to be awhile before this is composed...

Keep on holding on!

Ah, 10 hours until the podiatric surgeon will slice me open, break my bones and put them back together the way God meant them to be!  Or did God intend for my foot bones to be flawed as they currently are?  And if so, what right does mere-mortal-I have to interfere with His divine way?  But God, why would you fuck with me like that?  I question you, G.  And I guess that's why I've arranged to have this flawed and pain-inflicting foot fixed.  I asked the podiatrist if it would be alright to set up taping in the surgery room, but was denied.  "We don't do that," the nurse told me, "but YouTube has foot surgeries if you're curious to see!"  My mother says they won't allow it because I could use it as potential evidence in my potential malpractice suit against them.  She's probably right, but now that I ponder it at this late hour, it does seem like a smart quality control device.

I could be really mean here and embed a video of this foot slicing spectacle, but you're spared for the time being.  For now, I'm going to share with you the first movie I watched in the month of February--a little taste of what to expect from the entire February log of roughly 15 movies.  

Les enfant du paradis (1945)!

Everywhere else this title is indexed by its English translation, Children of Paradise, but this being the only French phrase I can properly pronounce I always ultimately decide to write it thusly.  None of my film history students spoke French so I passed the first public speaking test of its title.  That's fantastic.  And so is the whole movie (I had enough time to show my students only a six minute clip), which I chose as my Superbowl Sunday evening entertainment on Sunday, February 1, 2009.  If you're out there in Internetland, film students, please watch Carne's film and share your thoughts in the comments thread!  Or just watch it.  That will also do fine.

More to come soon!

And Then There Was Paradise...

Le Enfants du paradis (1945)
Seen: Tuesday, April 1, 2008

"I think this is the best movie I've ever seen."

This is the only line I wrote in my notebook in the late evening after I returned from seeing Marcel Carne's beautiful Le Enfants du paradis (1945), and I think that statement is still true.

I will always have my personal favorites (e.g. Taxi Driver, City Lights), but Carne's wartime film exists on another level. It's a masterpiece.