2009 Notebook: Vol 8

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the second film I've watched twice this year, and though I know I'm not alone in my love for it, I just can't seem to get enough of it. It made sense to watch it again to, sort of, get the best of both worlds, as Almodóvar and Allen have been my go-tos when nothing new looks remotely appealing. I'm still having problems with the labeling of the films (On the Bus, for example, should fall somewhere between "Good" and "Middle-of-the-Road"), but hopefully that'll work itself out. I'm going to try to do a fair amount of writing today, so check back.

The New Favorites

Les corps ouverts - dir. Sébastien Lifshitz - 1998 - France - N/A - with Yasmine Belmadi, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Margot Abascal, Mohamed Damraoui, Malik Zidi, Dora Dhouib, Sébastien Lifshitz

The Good

L'important c'est d'aimer [The Main Thing Is to Love] - dir. Andrzej Żuławski - 1975 - Mondo Vision - France/Italy/West Germany - with Romy Schneider, Fabio Testi, Jacques Dutronc, Claude Dauphin, Klaus Kinski, Roger Blin, Gabrielle Doulcet

Martyrs - dir. Pascal Laugier - 2008 - France - The Weinstein Company - with Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Isabelle Chasse, Juliette Gosselin, Xavier Dolan-Tadros

On the Bus - dir. Dustin Lance Black - 2001 - USA - 10% Productions

The Bad

Too Much Flesh - dir. Pascal Arnold, Jean-Marc Barr - 2000 - France - N/A - Jean-Marc Barr, Élodie Bouchez, Rosanna Arquette, Ian Brennan, Ian Vogt

Revisited: The Old Favorites

Bugcrush - dir. Carter Smith - 2006 - USA - Strand Releasing - with Josh Barclay Caras, Donald Eric Cumming, David Tennent, Eleonore Hendricks, Alex Toumayan, Billy Price

Old Joy - dir. Kelly Reichardt - 2006 - USA - Kino - with Daniel London, Will Oldham, Tanya Smith

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - dir. Woody Allen - Spain/USA - 2008 - MGM/Weinstein Company - with Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Kevin Dunn, Pablo Schreiber

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios] - dir. Pedro Almodóvar - 1988 - Spain - MGM/Sony Pictures - with Carmen Maura, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco, Antonio Banderas, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Manver, Fernando Guillén

Revisited: Les Autres

Party Girl - dir. Daisy von Scherler Mayer - 1995 - USA - First Look - with Parker Posey, Guillermo Díaz, Sasha von Scherler, Omar Townsend, Anthony DeSando, Donna Mitchell, Liev Schreiber