after life

1998 film by hirokazu koreeda. i wish this was an anime and not a film, because it revolves around a great idea but it turned out to be really boring unlike his other films.

faces

1968 film by cassavetes, i think might be the best one i saw of him yet. i have to finish the marriage trilogy i guess. class, power and sex were thematized brilliantly. at the end of the day it turns out that i'll beat you with my money.

chris marker's 1963 film is beautiful. the poetic, sci-fi story told in still images captivated me. its remake 12 monkeys could not convey the same lyricism. everyone should watch this.

body heat

lawrance kasdan's film from 1981 and a film of one of my favorite genres- neo-noir or simply a sexy thriller. in an ideal world i would be teaching a class with these neo-noir films. from chinatown to fatal attraction...i want to watch the accidental tourist and the big chill now because lawrance kasdan might be really good (well except for wyatt earp).

serpico

sydney lumet film about the extreme police corruption in ny in 70s, so much better than his latest film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (how can someone get all the great actors and actresses philip seymour hoffman, ethan hawke, marisa tomei and make a film about marisa tomei's naked body- at best?) anyway al pacino is so lovable in his role as this hippie disillusioned cop.

scarecrow

1973 film by jerry schatzberg. similar to midnight cowboy and follows that tradition of the friendship of two drifters and outcasts. great performances by al pacino and especially gene hackman. great film.

the red violin

very negligible film. ok, the story about this instrument of passion, but so what?

rivers and tides

at last i watched this much-talked about documentary and i have to say i was impressed. it's obvious that andy goldsworthy is a very notable artist and he might even make us reevaluate kant's sublime.

bottle rocket

wes anderson's first film has similarities to his last darjeeling limited. however it is obvious that this film is a first film full of promise, but not as good as the other ones. it was too episodic but a scene with a running man with a great soundtrack reminds you that it's wes anderson.

the knack...and how to get it

if you can get thru the accent, this film is a stylized funny 60s film about "sexual revolution." unfortunately i could not get thru the accent and it did not have any subtitles.

the times of harvey milk

a great documentary about the first openly gay city official ever elected. i am really fascinated by american history. this film makes me wonder if anything changed since the 70s (if not for worse) and also about the american justice system. how can a white middle class family "all american" guy kills two guys and gets 5 years meanwhile we know if the same crime was committed by a muslim or an afrcian-american they would get the death penalty? and ironically on the other hand, if it was only the straight although somewhat radical, mayor who got killed (and not also the gay and outspoken harvey milk) the same middle class ex-cop would still get at least life sentence? great documentary.

32 short films about glenn gould

recently i came to the conclusion that bach is my favorite composer by far. glenn gould is supposed to be the best bach pianist, i have yet to try other pianists to judge. the film itself was great because it wasn't your ordinary biographical film about a genius. instead the fragments, little interviews, gould's writings and video art the film gives the perfect impression of this eccentric genius.

moloch

although i'm not a big sokurov fan- in fact i don't like him at all- this film was not so bad. however i still prefer bruno ganz's downplayed acting in downfall to the acting here.

a man and a woman

1966 academy award for foreign language and cannes grand prix winner, directed by the ever-romantic claude lelouch. it was beautiful. the shots, montage, soundtrack were all great in dissecting a relationship between a man and a woman. jean-louis trignant might be my favorite actor.

puppetmaster

Hou Hsaio- Hsien's 1993 film, boring, couldn't watch.