The Last Ten Films I've Seen

Here they are, first to last:

#-Movies I saw in a cinema
*-Movies I saw in a microcinema
^-Moives I have previously seen

1.# "The Trip" (UK. 2010. Dir- Michael Winterbottom. W/Steve Coogan)

2. "Dogtooth" (Greece. 2009. Dir- Giorgis Lanthinos)

3. # "Tabloid" (doc. 2010. Dir- Erroll Morris)

4. "Halloween 2" (2009. Dir- Rob Zombie)

5. "A Little Trip to Heaven" (US/Iceland. 2005. Dir- Baltasar Kormakur. W/Julie Stiles)

6. *^ "Trollhunter" (Norway. 2010. Dir- Andre Ovredal)

7. "The Age of Ignorance" (Canada-in French. 2007. Dir- Denys Arcand)

8. "My Winnipeg" (Canada-in English. 2007. Dir- Guy Maddin)

9. "The Seventh Continent" (Austria. 1989. Dir- Michael Haneke)

10. "Marwencol" (doc. 2010. Dir- Jeff Malmberg)

Brief Notes:

"The Trip" is sort of like a cross between "Easy Rider" and "My Dinner with Andre." It's a witty and funny film.

"Dogtooth" is a film with every taboo subject one can think of, but it is well-made. Amazingly enough, it got a foreign-language Oscar nomination. It is definitely not like the Greek melodramas of yesteryears.

Another person who was actually watching "Tabloid" at the Apeture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC, scorned at me for laughing, but the film is quite amusing, especially given that it is a documentary.

Yes, "Hallloween II" doesn't really belong on this list, but Rob Zombie makes interesting films. Alas, the cliches of the Michael Myers serial killer series entrap the film's plot considerably.

I saw "Trollhunter" at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va. It is definitely a fun film.

"My Winnipeg" is as anyone who has seen a Guy Maddin film will know is quite surreal.

"The Seventh Continent" is perhaps the most depressing film I've seen since "The Bridge," a documentary about people commiting suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

"Marwencol" is simply awesom.

Why We Love Nathan Lee

"Up," "Up in the Air," "Inglorious Basterds," "The Hurt Locker," "Public Enemies" and "Precious" are among the films being cited by many film critics as the best or among the best films of 2009.

Enter Nathan Lee, a long-time film critic of "The Village Voice." He actually placed heavy metal rocker turned film director Rob Zombie's (pictured here) much-panned remake of "Halloween II" as his number two film of the year!

This is not the first time Lee has shocked many of his contemporaries as the openly-gay critic placed the Adam Sandler comedy "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" on his Top Ten list in 2007 proclaiming it would 'do more for gay rights than any fag indie film.'

Lee also sang the praises for the god-awful ping pong comedy "Balls of Fury" (2007) which completely wasted the efforts of the great Christopher Walken.

To be fair to Lee, I got flack for placing "Bruno" number two on my list, but this does seem to be a far more outrageous pick.

Here is Lee's complete Top Ten List, which has been published in "Film Comment" and on indiewire.com:

1) The Headless Woman*
2) HALLOWEEN 2
3) Summer Hours
4) Inglorious Basterds
5) The Sun
6) Next Day Air
7) Adventureland
8) Loren Class
9) The Feature
10) The Limits of Control


SIDEBAR: SNOWPOLYPSE TWO is heading for our area, and it won't be in theatres. Another major winter storm is headed for West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina as well as perhaps Maryland tonight. The Greensboro Farmer's Market in Greensboro, NC, has already announced it will not open on Saturday. Flights have been scrapped at the Roanoke Regional Airport in Roanoke, Va. Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC, announced on Twitter that they may not open tomorrow. And, my alma mater Radford University in Radford, VA., has postponed men's and women's basketball games scheduled for this weekend. It looks like we might get up to 15 inches of snow, which will give me a chance to watch Charlie Rose's interview with economist Larry Summers from Davos, Switzerland on PBS tonight.....