1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

I got 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (the book edited by Steven Jay Schneider) for Christmas from The Husband. I've wanted this for years, and it's a treat to have my very own copy. There are various editions of this book, and the films included change some over time. I have the 2011 version. I'll add more links below as I write up more of the films.

Before 1920:
1. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
2. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
3. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
4. Les Vampires (1915)
5. Intolerance (1916)
6. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
7. Broken Blossoms (1919)

1920's:
8. Way Down East (1920)
9. Within Our Gates (1920)
10. The Phantom Carriage (1921)
11. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
12. La Souriante Madame Beudet (1922)
13. Dr. Mabuse Parts 1 and 2 (1922)
14. Nanook of the North (1922)
15. Nosferatu (1922)
16. Haxan (1923)
17. Foolish Wives (1922)
18. Our Hospitality (1923)
19. The Wheel (1923)
20. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
21. Strike (1924)
22. Greed (1924)
23. Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
24. The Last Laugh (1924)
25. Seven Chances (1925)
26. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
27. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
28. The Gold Rush (1925)
29. The Big Parade (1925)
30. Metropolis (1927)
31. Sunrise (1927)
32. The General (1927)
33. The Unknown (1927)
34. October (1927)
35. The Jazz Singer (1927)
36. Napoleon (1927)
37. The Kid Brother (1927)
38. The Crowd (1928)
39. The Docks of New York (1928)
40. An Andalusian Dog (1928)
41. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
42. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
43. Storm over Asia (1928)
44. Blackmail (1929)
45. The Man with the Movie Camera (1929)
46. Pandora's Box (1929)

1930's:
47. The Blue Angel (1930)
48. L'Age D'Or (1930)
49. Earth (1930)
50. Little Caesar (1930)
51. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
52. À Nous la Liberté (1931)
53. Le Million (1931)
54. Tabu (1931)
55. Dracula (1931)
56. Frankenstein (1931)
57. City Lights (1931)
58. The Public Enemy (1931)
59. M(1931)
60. La Chienne (1931)
61. Vampyr (1932)
62. Love Me Tonight (1932)
63. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
64. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
65. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
66. Scarface (1932)
67. Shanghai Express (1932)
68. Freaks (1932)
69. Me and My Gal (1932)
70. Zero for Conduct (1933)
71. 42nd Street (1933)
72. Footlight Parade (1933)
73. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
74. She Done Him Wrong (1933)
75. Duck Soup (1933)
76. Queen Christina (1933)
77. Las Hurdes (1933)
78. King Kong (1933)
79. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
80. Sons of the Desert (1933)
81. It's a Gift (1934)
82. Triumph of the Will (1934)
83. L'Atalante (1934)
84. The Black Cat (1934)
85. Judge Priest (1934)
86. It Happened One Night (1934)
87. The Thin Man (1934)
88. Captain Blood (1935)
89. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
90. A Night at the Opera (1935)
91. The 39 Steps (1935)
92. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
93. Top Hat (1935)
94. A Day in the Country (1936)
95. Modern Times (1936)
96. Swing Time (1936)
97. My Man Godfrey (1936)
98. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
99. Camille (1936)
100. Sabotage (1936)
101. Dodsworth (1936)
102. Things to Come (1936)
103. The Story of a Cheat (1936)
104. Captains Courageous (1937)
105. Midnight Song (1937)
106. Grand Illusion (1937)
107. Stella Dallas (1937)
108. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
109. Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
110. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
111. The Awful Truth (1937)
112. Pepe Le Moko (1937)
113. Jezebel (1938)
114. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
115. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
116. Olympia (1938)
117. The Baker's Wife (1938)
118. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
119. Stagecoach (1939)
120. The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (1939)
121. Babes in Arms (1939)
122. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
123. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
124. Destry Rides Again (1939)
125. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
126. Gone With the Wind (1939)
127. Daybreak (1939)
128. Gunga Din (1939)
129. Ninotchka (1939)
130. The Rules of the Game (1939)
131. Wuthering Heights (1939)

1940's:
132. His Girl Friday (1940)
133. Rebecca (1940)
134. Fantasia (1940)
135. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
136. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
137. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
138. Pinocchio (1940)
139. The Mortal Storm (1940)
140. The Bank Dick (1940)
141. Citizen Kane (1941)
142. The Lady Eve (1941)
143. The Wolf Man (1941)
144. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
145. Sergeant York (1941)
146. Dumbo (1941)
147. High Sierra (1941)
148. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
149. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
150. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
151. Now, Voyager (1942)
152. Casablanca (1942)
153. To Be or Not to Be (1942)
154. Cat People (1942)
155. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
156. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
157. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
158. Fires Were Started (1943)
159. The Man in Grey (1943)
160. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
161. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
162. The Seventh Victim (1943)
163. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
164. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
165. Ossessione (1943)
166. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
167. To Have and Have Not (1944)
168. Laura (1944)
169. Gaslight (1944)
170. Henry V (1944)
171. Ivan the Terrible (1944)
172. Double Indemnity (1944)
173. Murder, My Sweet (1944)
174. The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
175. Spellbound (1945)
176. Mildred Pierce (1945)
177. Children of Paradise (1945)
178. Open City (1945)
179. The Lost Weekend (1945)
180. Detour (1945)
181. I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
182. Brief Encounter (1946)
183. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
184. Paisan (1946)
185. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
186. My Darling Clementine (1946)
187. The Stranger (1946)
188. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
189. The Big Sleep (1946)
190. The Killers (1946)
191. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
192. Great Expectations (1946)
193. Notorious (1946)
194. Black Narcissus (1946)
195. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
196. Gilda (1946)
197. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
198. Out of the Past (1947)
199. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
200. Odd Man Out (1947)
201. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
202. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
203. Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
204. Force of Evil (1948)
205. Spring in a Small Town (1948)
206. Red River (1948)
207. Rope (1948)
208. The Snake Pit (1948)
209. The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
210. Paleface (1948)
211. The Red Shoes (1948)
212. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
213. Louisiana Story (1948)
214. The Heiress (1949)
215. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
216. Gun Crazy (1949)
217. Adam's Rib (1949)
218. Whiskey Galore! (1949)
219. White Heat (1949)
220. The Reckless Moment (1949)
221. The Third Man (1949)
222. On the Town (1949)
223. Orpheus (1949)

1950's:
224. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
225. Rashomon (1950)
226. Winchester '73 (1950)
227. Rio Grande (1950)
228. All About Eve (1950)
229. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
230. Los Olvidados (1950)
231. In a Lonely Place (1950)
232. The Big Carnival (1951)
233. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
234. Strangers on a Train (1951)
235. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
236. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
237. The African Queen (1951)
238. Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
239. An American in Paris (1951)
240. A Place in the Sun (1951)
241. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
242. The Quiet Man (1952)
243. Forbidden Games (1952)
244. Angel Face (1952)
245. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
246. Ikiru (1952)
247. Europa '51 (1952)
248. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
249. The Big Sky (1952)
250. High Noon (1952)
251. Umberto D (1952)
252. The Golden Coach (1952)
253. The Bigamist (1953)
254. The Band Wagon (1953)
255. Madame De… (1953)
256. From Here to Eternity (1953)
257. Tokyo Story (1953)
258. Roman Holiday (1953)
259. Wages of Fear (1953)
260. The Naked Spur (1953)
261. Pickup on South Street (1953)
262. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
263. The Big Heat (1953)
264. M. Hulot's Holiday (1953)
265. Voyage in Italy (1953)
266. Tales of Ugetsu (1953)
267. Shane (1953)
268. Beat the Devil (1953)
269. Johnny Guitar (1954)
270. On the Waterfront (1954)
271. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
272. Les Diaboliques (1954)
273. Animal Farm (1954)
274. Rear Window (1954)
275. A Star Is Born (1954)
276. The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
277. La Strada (1954)
278. Seven Samurai (1954)
279. Senso (1954)
280. Silver Lode (1954)
281. Carmen Jones (1954)
282. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
283. Salt of the Earth (1954)
284. Artists and Models (1955)
285. Guys and Dolls (1955)
286. Pather Panchali (1955)
287. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
288. The Mad Masters (1955)
289. Hill 24 Doesn't Answer (1955)
290. The Ladykillers (1955)
291. Marty (1955)
292. Ordet (1955)
293. Bob Le Flambeur (1955)
294. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
295. The Man from Laramie (1955)
296. Rebel without a Cause (1955)
297. The Phoenix City Story (1955)
298. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
299. Night and Fog (1955)
300. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
301. Lola Montes (1955)
302. Forbidden Planet (1956)
303. The Burmese Harp (1956)
304. The Searchers (1956)
305. A Man Escaped (1956)
306. Written on the Wind (1956)
307. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
308. Giant (1956)
309. All That Heaven Allows (1956)
310. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
311. The Wrong Man (1956)
312. Bigger Than Life (1956)
313. High Society (1956)
314. The Ten Commandments (1956)
315. 12 Angry Men (1957)
316. The Seventh Seal (1957)
317. An Affair to Remember (1957)
318. Wild Strawberries (1957)
319. The Nights of Cabiria (1957)
320. Throne of Blood (1957)
321. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
322. Aparajito (1957)
323. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
324. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
325. Mother India (1957)
326. The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
327. Paths of Glory (1957)
328. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
329. Man of the West (1958)
330. Touch of Evil (1958)
331. Cairo Station (1958)
332. Gigi (1958)
333. The Defiant Ones (1958)
334. Vertigo (1958)
335. Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
336. Dracula (1958)
337. Mon Oncle (1958)
338. The Music Room (1958)
339. The 400 Blows (1959)
340. North by Northwest (1959)
341. Some Like It Hot (1959)
342. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
343. Eyes without a Face (1959)
344. Ride Lonesome (1959)
345. Black Orpheus (1959)
346. Shadows (1959)
347. The World of Apu (1959)
348. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
349. Ben-Hur (1959)
350. Pickpocket (1959)
351. Rio Bravo (1959)
352. Floating Weeds (1959)

1960's:
353. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
354. Breathless (1959)
355. The Hole (1959)
356. La Dolce Vita (1960)
357. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
358. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
359. L'Avventura (1960)
360. La Joven (1960)
361. The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)
362. The Housemaid (1960)
363. Psycho (1960)
364. Black Sunday (1960)
365. Peeping Tom (1960)
366. The Apartment (1960)
367. Spartacus (1960)
368. Splendor in the Grass (1961)
369. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
370. La Jetee (1961)
371. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
372. Lola (1961)
373. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
374. La Notte (1961)
375. The Hustler (1961)
376. West Side Story (1961)
377. Viridiana (1961)
378. The Ladies Man (1961)
379. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
380. Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
381. Jules and Jim (1961)
382. Mondo Cane (1962)
383. Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)
384. Dog Star Man (1962)
385. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
386. L'Eclisse (1962)
387. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
388. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
389. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
390. Lolita (1962)
391. Keeper of Promises (1962)
392. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
393. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
394. Winter Light (1963)
395. My Life to Live (1962)
396. Heaven and Earth Magic (1962)
397. The Birds (1963)
398. The Nutty Professor (1963)
399. Blonde Cobra (1963)
400. The Cool World (1963)
401. 8 1/2 (1963)
402. Passenger (1963)
403. Contempt (1963)
404. Hud (1963)
405. Flaming Creatures (1963)
406. The Great Escape (1963)
407. Shock Corridor (1963)
408. The Leopard (1963)
409. Barren Lives (1963)
410. Mediteranee (1963)
411. The House is Black (1963)
412. The Haunting (1963)
413. An Actor's Revenge (1963)
414. The Servant (1963)
415. Goldfinger (1964)
416. Scorpio Rising (1964)
417. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
418. Marnie (1964)
419. My Fair Lady (1964)
420. Woman in the Dunes (1964)
421. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
422. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
423. The Red Desert (1964)
424. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)
425. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
426. Before the Revolution (1964)
427. Gertrud (1964)
428. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
429. Black God, White Devil (1964)
430. Onibaba (The Demon) (1964)
431. Vinyl (1965)
432. The Shop on Main Street (1965)
433. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
434. The War Game (1965)
435. Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
436. The Battle of Algiers (1965)
437. The Sound of Music (1965)
438. The Sargossa Manuscript (1965)
439. Alphaville (1965)
440. Chimes at Midnight (1965)
441. Repulsion (1965)
442. Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
443. Pierrot Le Fou (1965)
444. Faster, Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
445. Golden River (1965)
446. The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (1965)
447. Hold Me While I'm Naked (1966)
448. Blow-Up (1966)
449. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
450. Daisies (1966)
451. Come Drink with Me (1966)
452. Seconds (1966)
453. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
454. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
455. Persona (1966)
456. Masculin-Feminin (1966)
457. Au Hazard Balthazar (1966)
458. Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967)
459. The Graduate (1967)
460. Playtime (1967)
461. Report (1967)
462. Hombre (1967)
463. Belle de Jour (1967)
464. The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
465. Week End (1967)
466. The Godson (1967)
467. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
468. Point Blank (1967)
469. Wavelength (1967)
470. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
471. The Red and the White (1967)
472. Marketta Lazarova (1967)
473. The Jungle Book (1967)
474. The Fireman's Ball (1967)
475. Earth Entranced (1967)
476. Closely Watched Trains (1967)
477. Viy (1967)
478. The Cow (1968)
479. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
480. Planet of the Apes (1968)
481. Faces (1968)
482. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
483. If…. (1968)
484. Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
485. The Producers (1968)
486. David Holzman's Diary (1968)
487. Shame (1968)
488. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
489. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
490. Targets (1968)
491. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
492. A Touch of Zen (1969)
493. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
494. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
495. Satyricon (1969)
496. Z (1969)
497. The Conformist (1969)
498. Easy Rider (1969)
499. High School (1969)
500. My Night at Maud's (1969)
501. Lucia (1969)
502. In the Year of the Pig (1969)
503. The Wild Bunch (1969)
504. Andrei Rublev (1969)
505. Le Boucher (1969)
506. The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
507. Kes (1969)

1970's:
508. Tristana (1970)
509. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
510. El Topo (1970)
511. Woodstock (1970)
512. Deep End (1970)
513. The Spider's Stratagem (1970)
514. Little Big Man (1970)
515. The Ear (1970)
516. Patton (1970)
517. M*A*S*H (1970)
518. Performance (1970)
519. Gimme Shelter (1970)
520. Zabriskie Point (1970)
521. The Bird with The Crystal Plumage (1970)
522. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
523. Wanda (1971)
524. W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)
525. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
526. The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)
527. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
528. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
529. Walkabout (1971)
530. Klute (1971)
531. Harold and Maude (1971)
532. Red Psalm (1971)
533. Get Carter (1971)
534. The French Connection (1971)
535. Shaft (1971)
536. Dirty Harry (1971)
537. Murmur of the Heart (1971)
538. Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song (1971)
539. The Last Picture Show (1971)
540. Straw Dogs (1971)
541. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
542. The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
543. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
544. Cabaret (1972)
545. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
546. High Plains Drifter (1973)
547. Sleuth (1972)
548. Deliverance (1972)
549. Solaris (1972)
550. The Godfather (1972)
551. Cries and Whispers (1972)
552. Fat City (1972)
553. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
554. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)
555. Frenzy (1972)
556. Pink Flamingos (1972)
557. Superfly (1972)
558. The Sting (1973)
559. The Mother and the Whore (1973)
560. Badlands (1973)
561. American Graffiti (1973)
562. Papillon (1973)
563. Enter the Dragon (1973)
564. Mean Streets (1973)
565. The Long Goodbye (1973)
566. The Wicker Man (1973)
567. Day for Night (1973)
568. Don't Look Now (1973)
569. Sleeper (1973)
570. Serpico (1973)
571. The Exorcist (1973)
572. Turkish Delight (1973)
573. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
574. Fantastic Planet (1973)
575. Amarcord (1973)
576. The Harder They Come (1973)
577. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)
578. Dersu Uzala (1974)
579. The Conversation (1974)
580. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
581. Mirror (1974)
582. A Woman under the Influence (1974)
583. Young Frankenstein (1974)
584. Chinatown (1974)
585. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
586. Blazing Saddles (1974)
587. The Godfather Part II (1974)
588. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
589. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
590. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
591. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
592. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
593. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
594. The Wall (1975)
595. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
596. Barry Lyndon (1975)
597. Fox and His Friends (1975)
598. India Song (1975)
599. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
600. Manila in the Claws of Brightness (1975)
601. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
602. Nashville (1975)
603. Cria! (1975)
604. The Traveling Players (1975)
605. Jaws (1975)
606. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
607. Carrie (1976)
608. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
609. All the President's Men (1976)
610. Rocky (1976)
611. Taxi Driver (1976)
612. Network (1976)
613. Ascent (1976)
614. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
615. 1900 (1976)
616. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
617. Star Wars (1977)
618. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
619. The Last Wave (1977)
620. Annie Hall (1977)
621. Last Chants for a Slow Dance (1977)
622. Storszek (1977)
623. Man of Marble (1977)
624. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
625. Killer of Sheep (1977)
626. Eraserhead (1977)
627. Ceddo (1977)
628. The American Friend (1977)
629. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
630. Soldier of Orange (1977)
631. Suspiria (1977)
632. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
633. Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
634. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
635. The Deer Hunter (1978)
636. Grease (1978)
637. Days of Heaven (1978)
638. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
639. Shaolin Master Killer (1978)
640. Up in Smoke (1978)
641. Halloween (1978)
642. The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
643. Real Life (1979)
644. My Brilliant Career (1979)
645. Stalker (1979)
646. Alien (1979)
647. Breaking Away (1979)
648. The Tin Drum (1979)
649. All That Jazz (1979)
650. Being There (1979)
651. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
652. Life of Brian (1979)
653. Apocalypse Now (1979)
654. The Jerk (1979)
655. The Muppet Movie (1979)
656. Manhattan (1979)
657. Mad Max (1979)
658. Nosferatu (1979)

1980's:
659. Ordinary People (1980)
660. Atlantic City (1980)
661. The Last Metro (1980)
662. The Shining (1980)
663. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
664. The Elephant Man (1980)
665. The Big Red One (1980)
666. Loulou (1980)
667. Airplane! (1980)
668. Raging Bull (1980)
669. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
670. Das Boot (1981)
671. Gallipoli (1981)
672. Chariots of Fire (1981)
673. Body Heat (1981)
674. Reds (1981)
675. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
676. Three Brothers (1981)
677. Man of Iron (1981)
678. Too Early, Too Late (1981)
679. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1981)
680. E.T. The Extra-Terestrial (1982)
681. The Thing (1982)
682. Poltergeist (1982)
683. Blade Runner (1982)
684. The Evil Dead (1982)
685. Tootsie (1982)
686. Yol (1982)
687. Diner (1982)
688. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
689. Gandhi (1982)
690. The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982)
691. A Question of Silence (1982)
692. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
693. A Christmas Story (1983)
694. El Norte (1983)
695. Videodrome (1983)
696. Return of the Jedi (1983)
697. The Big Chill (1983)
698. Sans Soleil (1983)
699. The Last Battle (1983)
700. L'Argent (1983)
701. Utu (1983)
702. Terms of Endearment (1983)
703. The Fourth Man (1983)
704. The King of Comedy (1983)
705. The Right Stuff (1983)
706. Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
707. Once Upon a Time in America (1983)
708. Scarface (1983)
709. The Battle of Narayama (1983)
710. Amadeus (1984)
711. The Terminator (1984)
712. Paris, Texas (1984)
713. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
714. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
715. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
716. Ghostbusters (1984)
717. A Passage to India (1984)
718. Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
719. The Killing Fields (1984)
720. The Natural (1984)
721. The Breakfast Club (1985)
722. Ran (1985)
723. Come and See (1985)
724. The Official Story (1985)
725. Out of Africa (1985)
726. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
727. Back to the Future (1985)
728. The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)
729. Brazil (1985)
730. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
731. The Quiet Earth (1985)
732. Mishima (1985)
733. Prizzi's Honor (1985)
734. Vagabond (1985)
735. Shoah (1985)
736. The Color Purple (1985)
737. Manhunter (1986)
738. Stand By Me (1986)
739. Blue Velvet (1986)
740. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
741. She's Gotta Have It (1986)
742. The Decline of the American Empire (1986)
743. The Fly (1986)
744. Aliens (1986)
745. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
746. Down by Law (1986)
747. A Room with a View (1986)
748. Platoon (1986)
749. Caravaggio (1986)
750. Tampopo (1986)
751. Peking Opera Blues (1986)
752. Salvador (1986)
753. Top Gun (1986)
754. Sherman's March (1986)
755. The Horse Thief (1986)
756. Yeelen (1987)
757. Wings of Desire (1987)
758. Project A, Part II (1987)
759. Babette's Feast (1987)
760. Raising Arizona (1987)
761. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
762. Withnail and I (1987)
763. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
764. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
765. Broadcast News (1987)
766. Housekeeping (1987)
767. The Princess Bride (1987)
768. Moonstruck (1987)
769. The Untouchables (1987)
770. Red Sorghum (1987)
771. The Dead (1987)
772. Fatal Attraction (1987)
773. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
774. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
775. The Vanishing (1988)
776. Bull Durham (1988)
777. Ariel (1988)
778. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
779. Akira (1988)
780. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
781. Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)
782. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
783. The Naked Gun (1988)
784. Big (1988)
785. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
786. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
787. Landscape in the Mist (1988)
788. The Decalogue (1988)
789. Die Hard (1988)
790. A Tale of the Wind (1988)
791. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
792. Rain Man (1988)
793. The Story of Women (1988)
794. Alice (1988)
795. Batman (1989)
796. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
797. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
798. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)
799. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
800. My Left Foot (1989)
801. The Killer (1989)
802. Do the Right Thing (1989)
803. Roger & Me (1989)
804. Glory (1989)
805. The Asthenic Syndrome (1989)
806. Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)
807. Say Anything... (1989)
808. The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
809. A City of Sadness (1989)

1990's:
810. No Fear, No Die (1990)
811. Reversal of Fortune (1990)
812. Goodfellas (1990)
813. Jacob's Ladder (1990)
814. King of New York (1990)
815. Dances with Wolves (1990)
816. Europa Europa (1990)
817. Pretty Woman (1990)
818. Archangel (1990)
819. Trust (1990)
820. Close-Up (1990)
821. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
822. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)
823. Total Recall (1990)
824. Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
825. Boyz 'n the Hood (1991)
826. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
827. Delicatessen (1991)
828. A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
829. Naked Lunch (1991)
830. La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
831. The Rapture (1991)
832. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
833. Thelma & Louise (1991)
834. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
835. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
836. JFK (1991)
837. Slacker (1991)
838. Tongues Untied (1991)
839. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
840. The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
841. Strictly Ballroom (1992)
842. The Player (1992)
843. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
844. Romper Stomper (1992)
845. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
846. Unforgiven (1992)
847. Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)
848. A Tale of Winter (1992)
849. The Actress (1992)
850. Man Bites Dog (1992)
851. The Crying Game (1992)
852. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
853. Groundhog Day (1993)
854. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
855. Short Cuts (1993)
856. Philadelphia (1993)
857. The Puppetmaster (1993)
858. Jurassic Park (1993)
859. Blue (1993)
860. The Piano (1993)
861. The Blue Kite (1993)
862. The Wedding Banquet (1993)
863. Schindler's List (1993)
864. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
865. Red (1994)
866. Hoop Dreams (1994)
867. Forrest Gump (1994)
868. The Lion King (1994)
869. Clerks (1994)
870. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
871. Natural Born Killers (1994)
872. The Last Seduction (1994)
873. Pulp Fiction (1994)
874. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
875. The Wild Reeds (1994)
876. Chungking Express (1994)
877. Crumb (1994)
878. Satantango (1994)
879. Through the Olive Trees (1994)
880. Heavenly Creatures (1994)
881. Dear Diary (1994)
882. Muriel's Wedding (1994)
883. Riget (1994)
884. Babe (1995)
885. Deseret (1995)
886. Braveheart (1995)
887. Safe (1995)
888. Toy Story (1995)
889. Casino (1995)
890. Heat (1995)
891. Zero Kelvin (1995)
892. Clueless (1995)
893. Smoke (1995)
894. The White Balloon (1995)
895. Seven (1995)
896. Underground (1995)
897. The Brave Heart Will Take the Bride (1995)
898. Xixch Lo (1995)
899. The Usual Suspects (1995)
900. Dead Man (1995)
901. Fargo (1996)
902. Three Lives and Only One Death (1996)
903. Shine (1996)
904. Breaking the Waves (1996)
905. Independence Day (1996)
906. Secrets and Lies (1996)
907. Gabbeh (1996)
908. Lone Star (1996)
909. Trainspotting (1996)
910. Scream (1996)
911. The English Patient (1996)
912. The Ice Storm (1997)
913. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
914. Taste of Cherry (1997)
915. Funny Games (1997)
916. Titanic (1997)
917. Open Your Eyes (1997)
918. L.A. Confidential (1997)
919. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
920. Buffalo 66 (1998)
921. Rushmore (1998)
922. Run Lola Run (1998)
923. Happiness (1998)
924. Pi (1998)
925. The Celebration (1998)
926. Ringu (1998)
927. The Thin Red Line (1998)
928. Three Kings (1999)
929. Magnolia (1999)
930. Fight Club (1999)
931. The Audition (1999)
932. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
933. All About My Mother (1999)
934. Beau Travail (1999)
935. Being John Malkovich (1999)
936. American Beauty (1999)
937. The Matrix (1999)
938. The Sixth Sense (1999)

2000's:
939. The Gleaners and I (2000)
940. Gladiator (2000)
941. In the Mood for Love (2000)
942. Kippur (2000)
943. Yi Yi (2000)
944. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
945. Amores Perros (2000)
946. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
947. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
948. Memento (2000)
949. Spirited Away (2001)
950. The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)
951. Kandahar (2001)
952. No Man's Land (2001)
953. City of God (2002)
954. Uzak (2002)
955. Talk to Her (2002)
956. The Pianist (2002)
957. Oldboy (2003)
958. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
959. The Best of Youth (2003)
960. The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
961. Head-On (2004)
962. Downfall (2004)
963. Paradise Now (2005)
964. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
965. Tsotsi (2005)
966. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
967. The Departed (2006)
970. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
971. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Making Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan (2006)
972. The Lives of Others (2006)
973. Once (2006)
974. Apocalypto (2006)
975. La Vie En Rose (2007)
976. Paranormal Activity (2007)
977. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
978. There Will Be Blood (2007)
979. No Country For Old Men (2007)
980. Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
981. The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
982. The Dark Knight (2008)
983. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
984. Gomorra (2008)
985. Let The Right One In (2008)
986. The Hurt Locker (2009)
987. Avatar (2009)
988. District 9 (2009)
989. The Hangover (2009)
990. In the Loop (2009)
991. The White Ribbon (2009)
992. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
993. Fish Tank (2009)
994. Monsters (2010)
995. Of Gods and Men (2010)
996. Black Swan (2010)
997. Four Lions (2010)
998. The Social Network (2010)
999. Inception (2010)
1000. The King's Speech (2010)
1001. True Grit (2010)

choosing to be a stay-at-home mom

I find myself dwelling on Ann Romney and Hillary Rosen's little kerfluffle. Rosen's comment that Romney "has actually never worked a day in her life" was extremely awkward, since that particular way of saying that a woman has chosen to stay at home with her children rather than seek paid employment has been avoided like the plague for decades. What was she thinking?

On the other hand, Rosen went on to say Romney has

never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and why do we worry about their future

On that point Rosen is spot on. Romney has been able to be a stay-at-home mom because she wanted to be, with multiple properties, all the advantages that kajillions of dollars provides, staff to help her run her domestic empire...

I think about the women I've known who wanted to be stay-at-home moms but couldn't afford it. I think about the women I've known who didn't want to be stay-at-home moms but had to wait to go back to work until their kids were in school because they couldn't afford daycare.

I wonder about the wives of the men laid off during Mitt Romney's rise to riches, and I wonder how many of them were stay-at-home moms who had to go "back to work" afterwards.

I'm irritated at Rosen for making such a stupid gaffe. I'm irritated at Romney for seeming to think that her ability to "choose" is just like that of every woman with children. I'm irritated at Romney for championing "choice" when it's her choice but not so much otherwise.

I was a stay-at-home mom. Just like her? I don't think so.

Heretics

Heretics, Apotheosis: Book Two is the 2nd in S. Andrew Swann's space opera trilogy. I'm finding these books fascinating and a lot of fun. My main complaint is that the author seems to feel we need an in-depth review of book 1 to start us off. I wish he'd stuck in a review chapter as a prelude, and I could've skipped that part.

from the back of the book:

Nearly two hundred years after the collapse of the Confederacy -the last government to claim sovereignty over all of humanity's far-flung interstellar colonies- forces ranging from the Eridani Caliphate to the Roman Catholic Church to the alien-created AI named Mosasa are jockeying for control. So when strange transmissions are received from beyond the fringes of human space, the race is on to get there first.

As Heretics opens, all hell is about to break loose. Mosasa has been destroyed by Adam -another of the surviving alien AIs. And Adam is about to launch a plan of conquest that has been centuries in the making. If he succeeds, he will rule all humankind -all sentient life-forms- as a God.

Only a few know the truth about Adam's plans and how deeply he has stretched his forces across the galaxy. And even with the aid of some unexpected allies. does the human race have any hope of defeating this seemingly omnipresent and omniscient entity...?

SF Revu calls it "unpredictable, enjoyable, and hard to put down". SF Signal says it's "outstanding".

Ann Romney: pro choice???

from jezebel:

...we have to respect women and all those choices that they make....- -Ann Romney

The Dawn Rider

The Dawn Rider is a 1935 John Wayne Western -he does look young in the '30s- that lasts less than an hour. It's a formulaic plot and quite predictable but fun nonetheless to see John Wayne begin to build his career. The Internet Archive has this online:



Reviews of these old Westerns are few and far between, but Goat Dog calls it a "routine John Wayne oater" and adds, "These films are never first-rate, but they can be highly entertaining, and this one is toward the top of the pile."

Prophets

Prophets, Apotheosis: Book One, is the first book in S. Andrew Swann's science fiction trilogy. I had been looking for recommendations for something in the space opera vein and had seen this suggested. My local bookseller had all 3 books on the shelf. Perfect. I enjoyed the first book and already have the 2nd one on my bedside table waiting for tonight.

from the back of the book:

AT THE EDGE OF HUMAN SPACE- It is nearly two hundred years since the collapse of the Confederacy, the last government to claim sovereignty over all of humanity's far-flung interstellar colonies. The void has been filled by many different powers, ranging from the Eridani Caliphate to the Roman Catholic Church. When strange transmissions are received from beyond the fringes of human space, they reveal the existence of human settlements lost since the demise of the Confederacy, colonies that could shift the balance of power should they be claimed by the Caliphate. Thus begins a race between the most advanced ships in the Caliphate fleet and an expedition of mercenaries and scientists recruited by a AI who has a long history with the Confederacy. But when they reach the source of the transmission, Xi Virgins, they will uncover a threat far beyond the scope of any one human government....

SF Signal gives it 4 out of 5 stars and says it's "A splendidly constructed space opera". SFF World calls it "a rewarding and enjoyable novel, a solid entry in the Space Opera subgenre". io9 concludes:

This volume sets up a lot of action for the next book, and that's cool. But Prophets really feels like the first third of a 600 page novel. If the second book picks up the pace The Apotheosis Trilogy will be a satisfying traditional space opera with a twist.

Sagebrush Trail

Sagebrush Trail is a 1933 John Wayne Western in which Wayne escapes from wrongful imprisonment and dedicates himself to finding the guilty man. It's short at under an hour and can be seen online thanks to the Internet Archive.



This is a fairly predictable old Western, an enjoyable enough take on a standard plot. The music is dreadful.

Wild in the Streets

Wild in the Streets is a 1968 dystopic vision of a future Los Angeles during a time when the youth take the country over and everyone over 35 is confined to concentration camps. It stars Christopher Jones, Shelley Winters, Richard Pryor, Diane Varsi and Hal Holbrook.

youtube has it online:



Moria says it "has a satiric bite that still grabs one quite pleasurably more than three decades later". Roger Ebert gives it 2 stars and calls it "pretty bad". The Spinning Image says,

This could be a prequel to Logan's Run in a way, but a lot grimmer in tone, taking to extremes the worries of its day, although it's quaint to see a film that believes simple politics could change society so quickly.

Only the Valiant

Only the Valiant is a 1951 Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Gregory Peck, Ward Bond, Gig Young, Lon Chaney, Jr., Neville Brand, Jeff Corey (who has a Star Trek connection), Michael Ansara (who was also in Star Trek), Warner Anderson, Steve Brodie, and Terry Kilburn (Tiny Tim in the 1938 Reginald Owen Christmas Carol). I have to feel sorry for Chaney, who, I think, deserves better than he gets in these kinds of roles.

Time Out calls it "surprisingly astringent" and is impressed with Peck. DVD Talk says, "The film is charming for its classic qualities". History on Film describes it as a "by-the-numbers western".

Day of Anger

Day of Anger is a 1967 spaghetti western starring one of my favorites, Lee Van Cleef. Riz Ortolani wrote the music. This is thoroughly enjoyable.

trailer:

Spaghetti-Western.net says, "All in all, this one is a winner" and "Any way you cut it, this is a Spaghetti with enough to keep anyone happy." DVD Talk praises Van Cleef, saying

Talby is a great character for Van Cleef, who turns in a confident, and in places quite chilling, performance. He reveals a real talent for silently employing subtle changes in his facial expression to successfully communicate Talby's feelings and thoughts.

The Red Man's View

The Red Man's View is a 1909 15 minute D. W. Griffith Western film starring Owen Moore. It is a sympathetic portrayal of the plight of Native Americans facing aggressive white encroachment.

It's online at the Internet Archive:

Robbery Under Arms (1920)

Robbery Under Arms is a 1920 Western silent film made in Australia and directed by Kenneth Brampton. It's based on a novel by Thomas Alexander Browne writing as Rolf Boldrewood. The book can be read online here.

This movie is less than an hour long and can be viewed online thanks to the Internet Archive:

"The women suffered, as is their lot."

Alas.

The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter is a 1950 Western starring Gregory Peck as the title character. Also in this are Alan Hale, Jr., Karl Malden, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker and Ellen Corby. It's directed by Henry King. I had never heard of this film before I came across it on youtube, but I'm glad I've seen it. It deserves wider attention.

Time Out has a glowing review, opening by calling it "superb" and closing with this:

Magnificently directed and shot (by Arthur Miller), flawlessly acted by Peck and a superb cast, governed by an almost Langian sense of fate, it's a film that has the true dimensions of tragedy.

The Examiner says, "Strong performances from the assembled cast and Oscar-nominated writing make “The Gunfighter” a must-see film for serious fans of the classic Western." EW recommends it, describing it as "a ruthlessly heartbreaking tale of a famous gunslinger ... grown weary of facing down an increasingly young bunch of challengers to his quick-draw supremacy." Images Journal has it on their list of 30 great Westerns. It gets a 100% rating from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes.

The Ox-Bow Incident

The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1943 Western movie. It's directed by William Wellman and stars Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn and Harry Morgan. Margaret Hamilton, Harry Davenport, Frank Conroy and Jane Darwell also have parts.

This is a perfect portrayal of the lynch mob mentality and is a powerful film.



Images Journal includes it on their list of 30 greatest Westerns. Western Fiction Review says it "perfectly captured the bleak and psychological elements of the story." DVD Talk describes it as an "austere and uncompromising story of a pitiless lynch mob". The Western Review says it "is scarcely less than a perfect picture" and concludes with this:

The Ox-Bow Incident was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1998; it remains a true milestone of the Western’s first half-century, and one of Henry Fonda’s finest films.

Dodge City

Dodge City is a 1939 Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Alan Hale, Bruce Cabot, Ann Sheridan and Henry Travers.

It was at youtube for a short while but is no longer.


There's a version dubbed in German here, but that isn't quite the same.

Slant Magazine calls it "a well-crafted and perfectly capable western". DVD Talk calls it "a pleasant enough westerm with few surprises". Everybody seems to agree that Flynn is misplaced as a wild west sheriff.

In Old Arizona

In Old Arizona is a 1928 Western. Wikipedia cites it as "the first major Western to use the new technology of sound and the first talkie to be filmed outdoors" and says, "The film made extensive use of authentic locations". It also credits the film with being "instrumental in developing the image of the singing cowboy" for which I am not grateful. I was never a fan of the singing cowboy.

The scene where the Cisco Kid and the soldier size each other up -"you got nice big gun, too, eh" while patting each other's holstered guns- was interesting. That came early, and it affected the way I watched the rest of the movie.



Goat Dog describes how bad it is in some detail. I didn't think it was that bad, but the "singing cowboy" is unforgivable.

The Covered Wagon

The Covered Wagon is a 1923 silent film directed by James Cruze. Alan Hale is in this -always a plus- along with Tully Marshall and Charles Ogle (Frankenstein in the 1910 film and Bob Cratchitt in the 1910 Christmas Carol) Wikipedia says it

is considered by many to be the first great Western epic, and established some of the cliches which later became so well known, such as the circling of the wagons in preparation for an "Indian Attack".

watch it online via youtube, where the intertitles are unreadable unless, of course, you read Portuguese, which I don't:



Oddly, I can't locate this film online anywhere else.

Images Journal includes it in their list of 30 great westerns and calls it "the first truly epic scale Western."

Pursued

Pursued is a 1947 Robert Mitchum Western directed by Raoul Walsh. It's a story told in flashbacks. Alan Hale, Teresa Wright, Dame Judith Anderson, Dean Jagger and Harry Carey, Jr. are also here. The music contributes to the atmosphere instead of just being added on as seems the case in so many old Westerns. All in all a wonderful film, interesting at every turn and fascinating to watch.



Senses of Cinema calls it a "nightmare-western" and describes it as "less a traditional western than it is a collision course for the disparate elements of genre." Time Out praises it, calling it "A superb Western film noir". Images Journal considers it one of the 30 best Westerns. The Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a 100%.

Notes from a Small Island

I had read Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson years ago but decided to re-read it before passing it on. It's a travel narrative, telling the story of a few weeks in the author's life spent wandering around Britain -mostly on foot and using public transportation- before he moves back to the U.S. with his family. Bryson has a nice sense of humor, but his descriptions aren't as vivid as some of the other travel writers I've read.

He does mention several other books, including Kingdom by the Sea, Tarka the Otter, In Search of England, The Road to Wigan Pier and Lost Resort: the Flow and Ebb of Morecombe. He also mentions a Wordsworth poem titled "I Can Be Boring Outside the Lake District Too". I found myself particularly interested in the 5th Duke of Portland, W.J.C. Scott-Bentinck (1800-1879) with his underground library nearly 250' long.

I wonder how Bryson can do all that walking and still not understand the purpose of tucking pant legs into socks, but maybe the ticks aren't so much a problem in Britain.

from the back of the book:

After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson -bestselling author of The Mother Tongue and Made in America- decided to return to the United States. ("I had recently read," Bryson writes, "that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another,so it was clear that my people needed me.") But before departing, he set out on a grand farewell tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home.

Veering from the ludicrous to the endearing and back again, Notes from a Small Island is a delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation that has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie's Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey. The result is an uproarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain, from the satiric pen of an unapologetic Anglophile.

Kirkus Reviews calls it "A diverting travel journal". Lonely Planet doesn't like the author's "need to be cynical for the sake of being cynical and nothing more" and describes it as "a pretty average book". EW gives it a B- and closes by calling it "polite, unobtrusive, often charming, and quite easy to overlook."

Have you ever been discriminated against because of your race?

I can't tell you how meaningless this question is when asked of white people in small group settings as a prelude to discussion on race. My answer is "yes". Because when I was a child I experienced this twice. Did it have an impact on me? Yes. After all, decades later I still recall both instances with surprising clarity. Does it mean I now understand what it's like to be part of a group that faces constant, entrenched racial discrimination? Hell, no. The question itself is so stupid it boggles the mind. There must be a better discussion-starter to get the point across.

Congratulations, Hakuho!

The Mainichi Daily News says this is "his 22nd career title, tying him with former yokozuna Takanohana for fifth on the all-time list." The Japan Times reports "Hakuho pulled off an improbable comeback in Houdini-esque fashion, rallying from behind...". Wikipedia says,

This marked the first time a wrestler had come from one win behind to claim the yusho on the final day since Asashoryu defeated Hokutoriki in a playoff in May 2004.

Here's the play-off from this tournament:


Hakuho is a Mongolian wrestler.

Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries is a 1957 Ingmar Bergman film with Victor Sjostrom, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson, Gunnar Bjornstrand and Max von Sydow. I like Bergman's films and I thought this one was beautiful.

trailer:


It's in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, whose author calls it "arguably the warmest of Ingmar Bergman's masterpieces". BBC opens its review by saying, "This is one of the truly outstanding works of post-war European cinema." DVD Journal praises the humor and says,

there is certainly much to admire in this 1958 meditation on aging, recollection and resolve, ... Gunnar Fischer's stark black-and-white photography is rich and stunning, the performances are natural and pitch-perfect, and the narrative is carefully and exquisitely tailored.

Passion Play

What a bizarre little film! I like it, but from what I read I'm in a seriously tiny minority. Passion Play (2010) stars Bill Murray and Mickey Rourke as two men who want the same woman -a woman who has wings and whom Murray rescues from a carnival sideshow in the middle of the desert. Megan Fox and Rhys Ifans are also in it.

trailer:


Salon.com describes it as "an earnest, baffling and occasionally risible love story". Slant Magazine calls it a "rubbish affectation of a film".

Finch

Finch is one of a trio of science fiction books by Jeff Vandermeer, all set in the same location but stand-alone otherwise and is the 1st of them I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm intrigued by the setting and the characters and look forward to reading the other two. The Younger Son has Cities of Saints and Madmen and will lend it to me when I'm ready.

I got a kick out of the passing mention that Finch's father homeschooled him "when it was too dangerous to go to class."

from the back of the book:

Tasked with solving an impossible double murder, detective John Finch searches for the truth among the war-weary ruins of the once-mighty city of Ambergris. Under the six-year rule of its inhuman gray cap masters, Ambergris is slowly crumbling into anarchy. The remnants of a rebel force are dispersed, their leader, the mysterious Lady in Blue, missing. Citizens are being interned in camps. Collaborators roam the streets keeping brutal order. But Finch also has to contend with new forces rising, like the enigmatic spymaster Ethan Bliss, and the contamination of his partner, Wyte, who is literally disintegrating under the strain.

In this powerful and poignant novel, the past and the future, the cosmic and the gritty, collide. What will happen if Finch solves the case? What will happen if he doesn’t? And will Ambergris ever be the same?

The Washington Post likes it and says it "wriggles from the grip of easy categorization." An SF Site review describes it as "New Weird meets pulp noir, a hard-boiled detective story unwinding in Ambergris's surreal mean streets." Strange Horizons calls it "a triumph in terms of both vision and execution." From SF Signal: "BOTTOM LINE: The vibrant storytelling of a perversely beautiful city and its hard-boiled detective is well worth the reading." The Guardian closes with this:

is a compelling experience, a fungalpunk nightmare pullulating with dark, phantasmagorical transformations: it works equally as a stylish detective story, a perverse example of the New Weird fantasy subgenre, and an effective metaphor for the dehumanising effects of occupying forces and totalitarian regimes.

Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic (1995) is a science fiction film loosely based on a William Gibson short story. It stars Keanu Reeves and features Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T and Beat Takeshi. It takes place in 2021 when the main character is being pursued by various factions who want to retrieve information he's carrying stored in a device in his brain. It lost money and got generally negative reviews. I won't want to see it again soon, but I enjoyed this viewing.

trailer:


Moria gives it 3 stars says it "may not be the best science-fiction film ever made but it is still a nifty little effort." Cyberpunk Review gives it 6 out of 10 stars and calls it "pure cyberpunk fun!" DVD Talk says the film is "science fiction trash. Nonetheless, Johnny Mnemonic is never boring". Roger Ebert says it's "a movie that doesn't deserve one nanosecond of serious analysis but has a kind of idiotic grandeur that makes you almost forgive it."

Au Hasard Balthazar

Au Hasard Balthazar is a 1966 French film. I know a lot of people don't like subtitles, but I don't mind them at all. Of course, it makes it impossible for me to do anything else while I'm watching, but that's likely a good thing. It's directed by Robert Bresson. The film follows the parallel lives of Marie and her donkey Balthazar. It's #5 on the Arts and Faith top 100 films list. It's in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

trailer:


opening 5 minutes:


I have the Criterion edition, and there's an article at their site which says,

In Balthazar, little is numinous. We are placed in a hard, corporeal world of rucked, muddy fields and of things and objects, some of them signifiers of a modernity Bresson finds wanting

DVD Talk says, "Its appeal is as basic as a silent melodrama, or a bittersweet Chaplin film, minus the overt sentimentality." Roger Ebert considers it a "great" movie and opens with this:

Robert Bresson is one of the saints of the cinema, and "Au Hasard Balthazar" (1966) is his most heartbreaking prayer.

Senses of Cinema says,

Balthazar is a parable of sin and suffering, but barely a religious one. The Biblical echoes in it in fact seem referential (not reverential).... This Bresson creation, the donkey Balthazar, is one of the most intriguing and powerful in all cinema.

Slant Magazine says it "might be the most rewarding film in the upper reaches of virtually every last "greatest film ever" poll". Time Out says that "the film is perhaps the director's most perfectly realised, and certainly his most moving."

The Howling

The Howling is a 1981 horror film featuring werewolves. It's definitely dated and hasn't aged well. It has multiple werewolves and onscreen dramatic depictions of the transformations. I saw some actors I know from their other work: Patrick MacNee, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, Robert Picardo (Star Trek connection) and Noble Willingham (Star Trek connection). Roger Corman and Forrest Ackerman have cameos.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours says,

The Howling is such a potent reworking of its age-old subject that it’s easy enough to understand how it could spawn six or more sequels over the next fifteen years.

Moria gives it 3 stars. Roger Ebert gives it 2 stars and a review that's one of the least informative I've ever read.

A Frolic of His Own

A Frolic of His Own is a 1994 National Book Award-winning William Gaddis novel.

This is my 3rd attempt to read this book. It wasn't the charm. I'll be donating my copy to the local Goodwill store so someone else can experience the challenge. Honestly, I don't mind a book that's not an easy read, but I don't want it to be a constant struggle.

Gaddis died of prostate cancer in 1998 when he was 75 years old. Wikipedia says he "is now often acknowledged as being one of the greatest of American post-war novelists." I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. As they say, "so many books, so little time". I have read that this book is his most readable, so if you want to go there you can buy your very own copy at Amazon, where the picture at the top of the post came from.

9

This dvd was a gift some time back (it's a 2009 film), but I never watched it -I haven't watched as many movies this last year and a half. Now that my sister has quit helping with The Grandmother and I am going over there both in the mornings and in the evenings I'm going to take some dvds with me and watch them in pieces while I'm waiting for her to take care of her business. I took 9 this morning, and it was a good length. I enjoyed it.

trailer:


Time calls it "visually alluring but hollow". DVD Talk calls it "a stunning achievement in animation" and "stunning, thrilling, and subdued all at the same time". Wired calls it "a fresh take on post-apocalyptic nightmares" and says "it’s the animation, not the acting, that separates 9 from the pack". Film Journal says it's "a visually dazzling, highly imaginative sci-fi animated feature that's marred only by a bland script."

John Carter

We went to a late showing of John Carter last night and had great fun. It was true to the book, but not slavishly so. There was action, humor, romance, adventure. The Husband, The Younger Son and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It's getting mixed reviews, but some of the reviewers I've read seem confused. One, for example, called the story "derivative," but seeing that the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel was written in 1917, I'd ask, "derivative of what?" Another reviewer described the film as "space opera," but since none of the action occurs in outer space but is all strictly planet-bound, I have to wonder how they're defining "space opera".

Here's my favorite trailer:


E Online concludes:

For those old enough to enjoy the books, however, the action is large-scale and awesome. The 3-D isn't essential to the viewing—it neither adds much depth nor throws things out at you, and feels like an afterthought. What does add depths are the suggestions of a larger mythology connecting Earth and Mars that seems like it might be fun to explore more of. Let's hope we get that chance.

Leonard Maltin says,

no movie so rich in imagination and so skillfully staged could or should be dismissed out of hand. If you have even the slightest curiosity about John Carter, I’d encourage you to see it.

The Christian Science Monitor gave it a C+ and called it "fun-free". The Hollywood Reporter says

the film will likely delight sci-fi geeks most of all, but there's enough here for general Disney audiences as well to generate solid box office worldwide.

Slant Magazine hated it, saying it's "not just boring, but ugly, ungainly, and nonsensical." Film Journal says, "It's too good a movie to dismiss outright, but not memorable enough to build a big fan base of repeat viewers."

Yevgeny Zamyatin

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1937 of Russian science fiction writer Yevgeny Zamyatin. There is a short bio here.

His dystopian novel We (1921) was an influence on authors George Orwell, Ayn Rand and Kurt Vonnegut. You can read an English translation online here or here. Salon.com has a review of a recent translation. The SFSite review says it's a book "that will challenge you on many levels".

I still have the paperback copy I read when I was in high school.

from that copy:

D-503 has a soul!

In the future, in a glass-enclosed city of absolutely straight lines, nameless "numbers" -survivors of a devastating war- live out their lives devoid of passion and creativity. The Benefactor gazes down perpetually and sees all. Then, suddenly, D-503, a mathematician who "dreams in numbers," makes a shocking discovery: he has an individual soul!

WE is D-503's passionate adventure in the nightmare world of "unfreedom."

I remember how it impressed me, but I could never get my kids interested in it.

The picture at the top of the post is from Wikipedia.

Stan Brakhage

Today is the anniversary of the death in 2003 of American experimental film maker Stan Brakhage.

Mothlight (1963):


I...Dreaming (1988):


Black Ice (1994):


Senses of Cinema considers him one of the great directors and has an article here. There are numerous resources linked from this page. UBUWEB has video and audio of Brakhage at their site. The Brooklyn Rail has an article. The Creators Project has some of his work embedded in their article and says

Working in a variety of formats, Brakhage’s films are exceedingly expressionistic abstractions, ranging from amorphous collages of vaguely superimposed imagery of his life and family, to direct manipulation with film stock scratched and splattered with paint.
...
Unlike traditional filmmakers, Brakhage wanted to divest consciousness from its representative trappings to allow for an unfettered vision of the subjective experience.

My Mind's Eye has an interview from when Brakhage was 60 in which he says, "one of the most vibrant ways to be dedicated to the arts is to be highly suspicious of every historical or inherited aspect of it". An article at Criterion's site says

In his best-known pronouncement, he summons the movie viewer to “imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective...How many colors are there in a field of grass to a baby unaware of 'Green'? How many rainbows can light create for the untutored eye?” Although he readily admits that any actual return to a state of “innocent,” childlike vision is impossible, lhe persistent project throughout his vast oeuvre has been to guide the eye in a journey of “untutoring,” using every possible cinematic tool as leverage for that journey.

Poets.org says, "Through his insistence on exploring the bounds of perception, poets and other artists felt deeply connected to Brakhage’s work." The Guardian obituary says

For Brakhage, the goal of cinema was the liberation of the eye itself, the creation of an act of seeing, previously unimagined and undefined by conventions of representation, an eye as natural and unprejudiced as that of a cat, a bee or an infant.

Devices and Desires

Devices and Desires is the 8th Adam Dalgliesh detective novel by P.D. James. I kept feeling like I'd read this one before, but then I realized I had seen the tv presentation. This is an interesting enough book, but if this were my first foray into the Dalgliesh world I don't think I'd plan to read much more.

There's a crime fiction author mentioned in the book -H.R.F. Keating- as a favorite of a retired pastor and his wife. He's a prolific author, but I'd never noticed him before. He died last year. Elgar's Cello Concerto is also mentioned as the music Dalgliesh plays as he sorts through his late aunt's photos. You can listen to that here:


EW concludes

Can so many well-turned paragraphs and craftsmanlike chapters really add up to a bad book? They can and they do, when the motor's missing. C+

I have blog posts on these:

#2 A Mind to Murder
#5 The Black Tower
#7 A Taste for Death
#9 Original Sin
#12 The Murder Room
#13 The Lighthouse

and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, which features an appearance by Dalgliesh.

Patsy Cline

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1963 of Patsy Cline, who died in a plane crash just outside Camden, TN. She was 30 years old when she died. There are photos of the memorial site here and here. There is a Facebook page for her songs.

I Fall to Pieces:

How well does Google know you?

Maybe not as well as you fear. They think I'm a 24-36 year old female whose primary interest is shoes.

Looks like I've managed to throw them off the scent. Bwa ha ha.

Randolph Scott

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1987 of actor Randolph Scott, best known for his Western films. His first film was in 1928 and his last in 1962. He had a remarkable career, working with directors John Ford, Cecil B. DeMille, King Vidor, Fritz Lang, John Sturges, Sam Peckinpah and others.

My favorite Randolph Scott reference is from Blazing Saddles:


You can watch some of his films online, including Captain Kidd with Charles Laughton and John Carradine and Abilene Town with Ann Dvorak and Lloyd Bridges.

The photo at the top of the post is from wikipedia.

R.I.P. Davy Jones

I have many fond memories of the tv show and the music. This is such a loss.



When I told my daughter, she said, "He was probably getting on up there, though, right?" I said, "He was 66." She said, "Oh, not so much then. What happened?" Heart attack. Davy Jones. I'm shocked by it.

The Atlantic has an article, which includes this:

he remains a singular archetype in rock history, part of a band that would have been first-ballot shoo-ins in any Rock and Roll Hall of Fame devoted to the real history of the genre. The Monkees weren't the first packaged rock band, but they might have been the best, and no Monkee seemed more comfortable with this legacy than Davy Jones.

SF Gate says,

The Monkees star Micky Dolenz has been left “bewildered” by the death of his band mate Davy Jones because the star was the youngest and healthiest of the group.

Rolling Stone opens with this:

Davy Jones was the grooviest of the Monkees, which makes him one of the grooviest pop stars who ever existed.

CNN:

Despite their undoubtedly contrived origins, they turned out to be one of pop's finest bands, arguably the most underrated in rock history.