The Last 10 Films I've Seen-- A Lot of Docs

Greetings from the Spring Center Laundromat in silver Spring, Maryland, where we are blogging from live tonight....actually, they closed about three hours ago as their operating hours are from 8:00 a.m.-11 p.m. daily, but there is really such a place. We're not actually even in Maryland, but we thought it would be quirky to mention them.

Most of the last few films I've seen have been quite good, with the exception of "Troll 2" (1990) which I saw tonight at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., which is about four and half hours south of suburban Maryland, but hey---it would be worth the drive!

"Troll 2" is truly a god awful film, but we knew that going in. In fact, a 2009 documentary about that film called "Best Worst Movie," directed by Michael Stephenson, who is the kid in "Troll 2" (he was born in 1978, so he is either 32 or 33 now), is also on this list.

Arta Doboraghi, age 31, an actress who is originally from Kosovo, left quite an impression in her portrayal as an Albanian immigrant in the 2008 Belgian film "Lorna's Silence," which features one of the most surreal sex scenes (involving Doboraghi) I've seen on film in a while. In fact, it occurs after the troubled couple has just broken up?!

"I Need that Record!" is a timely documentary about how modern technology and big box stores (Wally's World) have destroyed unique places like record stores and comic book shops across America. I was just thinking about that when I saw that a great video in Carrboro, NC, (next to the famed Cat's Cradle music club) which may have actually carried every Ingmar Bergman film ever made has, as of this year, closed its doors.

"Beeswax," which was filmed on location in Austin, Tex., is yet another unique slice of life film from Andrew Bujalski, who is arguably the Orson Welles of 'mumblecore' indy films, which feature lots of talking but great, realistic dialogue. And, amazingly enough, he makes indy films which are not as depressing as Bergman's films (seriously, I think "Fanny and Alexander" was even more depressing than "Schindler's List;" even though it's a great film, I refuse to watch it- ever again!).

Here are the last ten films I've seen, and yes we should add that we got this idea from "Film Comment." I hope this doesn't result in a nasty email from Gavin Smith, the excellent editor of that magazine that I've subscribed to for nine years now:

1. "Troll 2" (1990, dir. Claudio Fragasso)

2. "Beeswax" (2009, dir. Andrew Bujalski)

3. "The Beaches of Agnes" (2008, dir. Agnes Varda. doc. France)

4. "Lorna's Silence" (2008, dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardene. Belgium)

5. "The Killer Inside Me" (2010, d. Michael Winterbottom.)

6. "35 Shots of Rum" (2008, d. Claire Denis, France).

7. "I Need That Record!" (2008, d. Brendan Toller. doc.)

8. "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" (2010, dirs. Rick Stern and Anne Sundberg. doc.)

9. "Best Worst Movie" (2009. dir. Michael Stephenson, doc.)

10. "Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Seuss," dir. Felix Moeller. doc. Germany)