FILMS SEEN IN 2016:
Titles will be added when they fall off “the last 10 films I’ve seen.” Slashes indicate repeat viewings. Titles prefaced by a plus sign were seen on home video. The new release section includes 2015 releases that I caught up with this year. All titles are American unless otherwise indicated. Films under 30 minutes will be labelled {S} and those between 30 and 70 minutes {M}. Only films over 30 minutes are rated.
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN
**** Masterpiece
***1/2 Excellent
*** Pretty good but highly flawed
**1/2 Mediocre but not without merit
** Pretty bad
*1/2 Awful
* A superhuman amount of patience was required to sit through it
0 Walked out
NEW RELEASES
THE ACADEMY OF MUSES (José Luis Guerin, Spain) ***1/2
+AFERIM! (Radu Jude, Romania/Bulgaria/Czech Republic) **1/2
+AFTERNOON (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan) ***
+ALI & NINO (Asif Kapadia, UK) **
ALLIED (Robert Zemeckis) ***
ALWAYS SHINE (Sophia Takal) ***
AMERICAN HONEY (Andrea Arnold, UK) **1/2
THE APOSTATE (Federico Veiroj, Spain/Uruguay/France) **1/2
ARRIVAL (Denis Villeneuve) ***1/2
AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY (Jeff Feurzeig) *1/2
BADEN BADEN (Rachel Lang, France/Belgium) ***
BEHEMOTH (Zhao Liang, China/France) ***1/2
THE BIG SHORT (Adam McKay) ***
THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Nate Parker) **
BLEAK STREET (Arturo Ripstein, Mexico/Spain) ***
BORN TO BE BLUE (Robert Budreau, Canada) ***
CAFE SOCIETY (Woody Allen) **1/2
CAMERAPERSON (Kirsten Johnson) ***
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (Matt Ross) **
CERTAIN WOMEN (Kelly Reichardt) ***1/2
CHAU, BEYOND THE LINES (Courtney Marsh, USA/Vietnam) {M} ***
+CHEVALIER (Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece) **1/2
CHRISTINE (Antonio Campos) **1/2
CITY OF GOLD (Laura Gabbert) ***
CLAUDE LANZMANN: SPECTRES OF THE SHOAH (Adam Benzine) {M} ***
THE CLAN (Pablo Trapero, Argentina) ***
THE CLUB (Pablo Larrain, Chile) **
+COSMOS (Andrzej Zulawski, France/Portugal) **
LES COWBOYS (Thomas Bidegain, France) **1/2
CREEPY (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan) **1/2
DANNY SAYS (Brandon Toller) ***
DEADPOOL (Tim Miller) **
+DEAD SLOW AHEAD (Mauro Herce, Spain) ***1/2
DEMON (Marcin Wrona, Poland/Israel) ***
DENIAL (Mick Jackson, USA/UK) **1/2
DHEEPAN (Jacques Audiard, France) **1/2
DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (Benoit Jacquot, France/Belgium) ***
DISORDER (Alice Winocour, France/Belgium) **1/2
DOCTOR STRANGE (Scott Derrickson) ***
DO NOT RESIST (Craig Atkinson) ***
DON’T BLINK – ROBERT FRANK (Laura Israel) ***
DON’T BREATHE (Fede Alvarez) ***
DON’T THINK TWICE (Mike Birbiglia) ***
EAT THAT QUESTION: FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS (Thorsten Schütte, France/Germany) ***
+EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJUATO (Peter Greenaway, the Netherlands/Mexico/Finland/Belgium) **
ELLE (Paul Verhoeven, France/Germany) ***1/2
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (Ciro Guerra, Colombia) ***
+THE ETERNAL RETURN OF ANTONIS PARASKEVAS (Elina Psykou, Greece, 2013) ***
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! (Richard Linklater) ***
EVOLUTION (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France/Belgium) **1/2
EYE IN THE SKY (Gavin Hood, UK) ***
+FASSBINDER: TO LOVE WITHOUT DEMANDS (Christian Braad Thomsen, Germany) ***
+FATIMA (Philippe Faucon, France/Canada) **
+THE FEAR (Damien Odoul, France) ***
FINDING DORY (Andrew Stanton & Angus McLane) **1/2
FIRE AT SEA (Gianfranco Rosi, Italy/France) **1/2
+FISH TAIL (Joaquim Pinto & Nuno Leonel, Portugal) **1/2
THE FITS (Anna Rose Holmer) ***
+FORT BUCHANAN (Benjamin Crotty, France/Tunisia) {M} ***
FOR THE PLASMA (Bingham Bryant & Kyle Molzan) ***
45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh, UK) ***
FRANCOFONIA (Alexander Sokurov, France/Germany/the Netherlands) **1/2
GHOSTBUSTERS (Paul Feig) **1/2
GIMME DANGER (Jim Jarmusch) ***
GLEASON (Clay Tweel) ***
GREEN ROOM (Jeremy Saulnier) **1/2
HAIL, CAESAR! (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen) ***
THE HANDMAIDEN (Park Chan-wook, South Korea) ***1/2
HELL OR HIGH WATER (David Mackenzie) ***
HIGH-RISE (Ben Wheatley, UK) ***
HOCKNEY (Randall Wright, UK) ***
HOMELAND IRAQ YEAR ZERO (Abbas Fahdel, France) ***
HOMO SAPIENS (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria) ***
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (Taika Waititi, New Zealand) ***
I, DANIEL BLAKE (Ken Loach, UK) ***
THE IDOL (Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine) **
I DON’T BELONG ANYWHERE: THE CINEMA OF CHANTAL AKERMAN (Marianne Lambert, Belgium) ***
THE ILLINOIS PARABLES (Deborah Stratman) **1/2
/INTERNATIONAL TOURISM/ (Marie Voignier, France) {M} ***
INTO THE INFERNO (Werner Herzog, UK/Austria) **1/2
+THE INVITATION (Karyn Kusama) ***
IP MAN 3 (Wilson Yip, Hong Kong) **1/2
JACKIE (Pablo Larrain, USA/France) *1/2
JERUZALEM (Doron and Yoav Paz, Israel) **1/2
JIA ZHANGKE, A GUY FROM FENYANG (Walter Salles, Brazil) ***
+LE JUIF DE LASCAUX (Louis Skorecki, France) *1/2
JULIETA (Pedro Almodovar, Spain) **
KAILI BLUES (Bi Gan, China) ***
KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE (Robert Greene) **
KEANU (Peter Atencio) ***
KILL ZONE 2 (Soi Cheang, Hong Kong) ***
KNIGHT OF CUPS (Terrence Malick) ***
KRISHA (Trey Edward Shults) **1/2
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS (Travis Knight) ***
/LA-BAS/ (Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France, 2006) **1/2
THE LADY IN THE VAN (Nicholas Hytner, UK) ***
LAMB (Yared Zeleke, Ethiopia/France/Germany, Norway) ***
LAMPEDUSA IN WINTER (Jakob Brossman, Austria/Italy/Switzerland) ***
LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE (Jeff Krulik) **1/2
LIFE, ANIMATED (Roger Ross Williams) ***
+LITTLE MEN (Ira Sachs) ***1/2
LITTLE SISTER (Zach Clark) **1/2
+THE LOST ARCADE (Kurt Vincent) ***
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (Whit Stillman, Ireland/France/the Netherlands) ***
THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT (Rob Cannan & Ross Adam, UK) **1/2
LOVING (Jeff Nichols) ***
MALGRE LA NUIT (Philippe Grandrieux, France/Canada) ***1/2
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (Kenneth Lonergan) ***
/THE MEASURE OF A MAN/ (Stéphane Brizé, France) ***
THE MEDDLER (Lorene Scafaria) **
MEN GO TO BATTLE (Zachary Treitz) ***
THE MERMAID (Stephen Chow, China/Hong Kong) ***1/2
MIA MADRE (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France) **1/2
MILES AHEAD (Don Cheadle) **1/2
MOONLIGHT (Barry Jenkins) ****
MORRIS FROM AMERICA (Chad Hartigan, USA/Germany) **1/2
MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France) **1/2
EL MOVIMIENTO (Benjamin Naishtat, Argentina) ***1/2
MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA (Dash Shaw) ***
MY JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA (Bertrand Tavernier, France) ***
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING (Nicholas Stoller) **1/2
NEITHER HEAVEN NOR EARTH (Clément Cogitore, France/Belgium) ***1/2
THE NEON DEMON (Nicolas Winding Refn, USA/Denmark/France) **1/2
NERUDA (Pablo Larrain, Chile/Argentina/France) **1/2
THE NICE GUYS (Shane Black) ***
NO HOME MOVIE (Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France) ****
NOTFILM (Ross Lipman, USA/UK) ***1/2
+NUTS! (Penny Lane) ***
+/OFFICE/ (Johnni To, Hong Kong/China) ***1/2
+OF THE NORTH (Dominic Gagnon, Canada) **
THE ONES BELOW (David Farr, UK) **1/2
+ON FOOTBALL (Sergio Oksman, Brazil/Spain) ***
OPERATION AVALANCHE (Matt Johnson, Canada) ***
+THE OTHER SIDE (Roberto Minervini, France/Italy) ***
OUR LITTLE SISTER (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan) **1/2
+PERVERT PARK (Frida & Lasse Barkors, Sweden/Denmark) ***1/2
PETER AND THE FARM (Tony Stone) ***
THE PRISON IN TWELVE LANDSCAPES (Brett Story, USA/Canada) ***
RABIN, THE LAST DAY (Amos Gitai, Israel/France) **1/2
RAMS (Grimur Hakonarson, Iceland) **1/2
REMEMBER (Atom Egoyan, Canada/Germany) ***
+/RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN/ (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea) ***1/2
SAUSAGE PARTY (Conrad Vernon & Greg Tiernan) ***
THE SHALLOWS (Jaume Collet-Serra) ***
SIN ALAS (Ben Chace) **1/2
SNOWDEN (Oliver Stone, USA/Germany) **
SOLITARY (Kristi Jacobson) ***
SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME (Chloé Zhao) ***
SONITA (Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, Iran/Germany/Switzerland) ***
A SPACE PROGRAM (Van Neistat) ***
SPA NIGHT (Andrew Ahn) **1/2
STARLESS DREAMS (Mehrdad Oksouei, Iran) ***
SULLY (Clint Eastwood) **
+SUMMERTIME (Catherine Corsini, France) ***
SUNSET SONG (Terence Davies, UK/Luxembourg) **1/2
SWEET BEAN (Naomi Kawase, Japan/France/Germany) **1/2
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (Natalie Portman, Israel) **1/2
TALE OF TALES (Matteo Garrone, Italy/France) **1/2
+/TANGERINE/ (Sean Baker) ***1/2
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (Dan Trachtenberg) ***
THINGS TO COME (Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany) ***1/2
13TH (Ava DuVernay) ***1/2
THE THOUGHTS THAT ONCE WE HAD (Thom Andersen) ***
THREE (Johnnie To, Hong Kong) ***
TICKLED (David Farrier/Dylan Reeve, New Zealand) **1/2
‘TIL MADNESS DO US PART (Wang Bing, Hong Kong/France/Japan) ***1/2
TONI ERDMANN (Maren Ade, Germany) ****
+TOPONYMY (Jonathan Perel, Argentina) **1/2
TOUCHED WITH FIRE (Paul Dalio) ***
+TOWER (Keith Maitland) ***
THE TREASURE (Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania/France) ***
TWISTED JUSTICE (Kazuya Shiraishi, Japan) ***
UNDER THE SHADOW (Babak Anvari, UK/Jordan/Qatar) ***
+UNDER THE SUN (Vitaly Mansky, Russia/Germany/Czech Republic/Latvia/North Korea) ***
+UNLOCKING THE CAGE (Chris Hegedus & D.A. Pennebaker) ***
THE WAILING (Na Hong-jin, South Korea) ***
A WAR (Tobias Lindholm, Denmark) **1/2
THE WAVE (Roar Uthaug, Norway) **
WEINER (Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg) **1/2
WHITE GIRL (Elizabeth Wood) **
THE WITCH (Robert Eggers) ***
THE WITNESS (James Solomon) ***1/2
+ZOOTOPIA (Rich Moore & Byron Howard) ***
OLD FILMS
+ADVENTURES ON THE NEW FRONTIER (Robert Drew, 1961) {M}
/BAD TIMING/ (Nicolas Roeg, UK, 1980)
/BASIC INSTINCT/ (Paul Verhoeven, 1992)
/BLACK CAESAR/ (Larry Cohen, 1973)
THE BLEEDERS (Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Cameroon, 2005)
THE BLOB (Irwin S. Yeaworthy Jr., 1958)
/BLOOD SIMPLE/ (Joel Coen, 1984)
/BLOW OUT/ (Brian De Palma, 1981)
/BLUE STEEL/ (Kathryn Bigelow, 1989)
/BLUE VELVET/ (David Lynch, 1986)
/BORN IN FLAMES/ (Lizzie Borden, 1983)
BUSINESS IS BUSINESS (Paul Verhoeven, the Netherlands, 1971)
/THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS/ (Peter Weir, Australia, 1974)
CHARLOTTE FOR EVER (Serge Gainsbourg, France, 1986)
/CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT/ (Orson Welles, Spain, 1965)
THE CONVERSATION (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
/CRASH/ (David Cronenberg, Canada, 1996)
+CRISIS (Robert Drew, 1963) {M}
DEATH AND THE COMPASS (Alex Cox, 1992)
/DEMONS/ (Lamberto Bava, Italy, 1985)
DEMONS 2 (Lamberto Bava, Italy, 1986)
DESERT FURY (Lewis Allen, 1947)
/DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN/ (Susan Seidelman, 1985)
DOCTOR, BEWARE (Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1941)
THE DUNWICH HORROR (Daniel Haller, 1970)
THE FALL OF THE ROMANOV DYNASTY (Esfir Shub, USSR, 1927)
FAREWELL, UNCLE TOM (Gulatiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, Italy, 1971)
A FEW HOURS OF SPRING (Stéphane Brizé, France, 2012)
FOXY BROWN (Jack Hill, 1974)
GET OUT OF THE CAR (Thom Andersen, 2010) {M}
THE GLASS SHIELD (Charles Burnett, 1994)
+/GRADUATE FIRST/ (Maurice Pialat, France, 1978)
THE HEARTBREAK KID (Elaine May, 1972)
HEAVY TRAFFIC (Ralph Bakshi, 1973)
HENRY V (Laurence Olivier, UK, 1945)
THE HIDDEN (Jack Sholder, 1987)
HISTORY LESSONS (Jean-Marie Straub/Daniele Huillet, Italy/West Germany, 1972)
HOME MOVIES (Brian De Palma, 1980)
HUSH…HUSH…SWEET CHARLOTTE (Robert Aldrich, 1964)
I KNEW HER WELL (Antonio Pietrangeli, Italy, 1965)
/IN ANOTHER COUNTRY/ (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2012)
IT’S ALIVE (Larry Cohen, 1974)
JOYRIDE (Joseph Ruben, 1977)
KATIE TIPPEL (Paul Verhoeven, the Netherlands, 1975)
THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE (Robert Aldrich, 1968)
THE LAWNMOWER MAN (Brett Leonard, 1992)
LONDON ORBITAL (Chris Petit/Iain Sinclair, UK, 2002)
+/LOULOU/ (Maurice Pialat, France, 1980)
LOW-FLYING AIRCRAFT (Solveig Nordlund, Portugal, 2002)
MANHATTAN BABY (Lucio Fulci, Italy, 1982)
THE MASK (Julian Roffman, Canada, 1961)
MERRILY WE GO TO HELL (Dorothy Arzner, 1932)
MONDO CANE (Paolo Cavra, Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, Italy, 1962)
MONDO TOPLESS (Russ Meyer, 1966) {M}
+MOTHERS OF MEN (Willis Robards, 1917) {M}
+/THE MOUTH AGAPE/ (Maurice Pialat, France, 1974)
/MULTIPLE MANIACS/ (John Waters, 1970)
THE NAKED ISLAND (Kaneto Shindo, Japan, 1960)
NIGHTHAWKS (Ron Peck, UK, 1978)
NOBODY’S WIFE (Adela Segueyro, Mexico, 1937)
OF SPORT AND MAN (Hubert Aquin, Canada, 1961) {M}
ONE-EYED JACKS (Marlon Brando, 1961)
THE OTHERS (Hugo Santiago, France, 1974)
THE PATERNAL HOUSE (Kianoush Ayyari, Iran, 2012)
PEED INTO THE WIND (Curt McDowell, 1972) [M}
POLTERGEIST (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
/PORTRAIT OF JASON/ (Shirley Clarke, 1967)
/POSSESSION/ (Andrzej Zulawski, France/Germany, 1981)
+PRIMARY (Robert Drew, 1960) {M}
PRIVATE PROPERTY (Leslie Stevens, 1960)
THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER (Jacques Doillon, France, 1981)
/PUTNEY SWOPE/ (Robert Downey, 1969)
/REAR WINDOW/ (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
RECONVERSION (Thom Andersen, Portugal, 2012)
THE RED SNOWBALL TREE (Vasily Shukshin, USSR, 1974)
THE RITE (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1969)
+/ROMA/ (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1972)
SEED (John M. Stahl, 1931)
THE SHIMMERING BEAST (Pierre Perrault, Canada, 1982)
/SHIVERS/ (David Cronenberg, Canada, 1975)
SHOES (Lois Weber, 1916) {M}
SLIGHTLY FRENCH (Douglas Sirk, 1949)
SMASH HIS CAMERA (Leon Gast, 2010)
SMOKE SIGNALS (Chris Eyre, 1998)
SPARKLE’S TAVERN (Curt McDowell, 1985)
/THE SPIDER’S STRATAGEM/ (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy, 1970)
THE STUDENT NURSES (Stephanie Rothman, 1970)
SUDDEN FEAR (David Miller, 1952)
SUGAR HILL (Paul Maslansky, 1974)
LOS SURES (Diego Echeverria, 1984) {M}
+/LA TETE D’UN HOMME/ (Julien Duvivier, France, 1933)
TITICUT FOLLIES (Frederick Wiseman, 1967)
TRAIN OF SHADOWS (José Luis Guerin, Spain, 1997)
AN UNBELIEVABLE COUNTRY (Pierre Perrault, Canada, 1970)
THE UNHOLY ROLLERS (Vernon Zimmerman, 1972)
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (Roy Ward Baker, USA/UK, 1970)
THE VIRGIN OF PESSAC (Jean Eustache, France/Germany, 1979) {M}
THE VIRGIN OF PESSAC (Jean Eustache, France, 1968) {M}
/WE WON’T GROW OLD TOGETHER/ (Maurice Pialat, France, 1972)
WHITE FANG (Lucio Fulci, Italy/Spain/France, 1974)
THE WILD PARTY (Dorothy Arzner, 1929)
WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME? (Derek Jarman, UK, 1984)
WINGS OF THE HAWK (Budd Boetticher, 1953)
WISE GUYS (Brian De Palma, 1986)
WORK IN PROGRESS (Jose Luis Guerin, Spain/France, 2001)
SHORTS
+BOSPHORE (Maurice Pialat, France, 1964)
/THE BRIDEGROOM, THE COMEDIAN AND THE PIMP/ (Jean-Marie Straub/Daniele Huillet, West Germany, 1968)
+BYZANTE (Maurice Pialat, France, 1964)
CALIFORNIA SUN (Thom Andersen/Andrew Kim)
/CAROL ANNE IS DEAD/ (Michael Robinson, 1992)
CARRYING FIRE (Marie Burke, Canada, 2009)
CRASH! (Harley Cokeliss, UK, 1971)
DISORIENT EXPRESS (Ken Jacobs, 1996)
+FACES OF NOVEMBER (Robert Drew, 1964)
FIELDWORK FOOTAGE (Zora Neale Hurston, 1927-1929)
FROM HEAVY METAL TO HASIDIM (Jeff Krulik)
FUNGUS EROTICUS (Bradley Eros & Jeanne Liotta, 1990)
GOLDEN GLOVES (Gilles Groulx, Canada, 1961)
HANKY PANKY JANUARY 1902 (Ken Jacobs, 2006)
/HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT/ (John Heyn, 1986)
HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT GOES TO CHINA (Jeff Krulik)
HUSK (Eiko & Koma, 1987)
I BET YOU CAN’T FINISH THAT GLASS OF WATER (John Wiese)
JG (Tacitha Dean, UK)
KATHLEEN TRAILER (Curt McDowell, 1972)
LEATHER BATH (John Wiese)
+LIBERDADE (Gabriel Abrantes/Benjamin Crotty, Portugal/Angola, 2011)
LONELY BOY (Wolf Koenig & Roman Kroitor, Canada, 1961)
NEIL DIAMOND PARKING LOT (Jeff Krulik, 1997)
NEW YORK STREET TROLLEYS 1900 (Ken Jacobs, 1999)
OPEN SESAME (Bradley Eros & Jeanne Liotta, 1989)
/OUTER SPACE/ (Peter Tcherkassky, Austria, 1999)
PUSHCARTS OF ETERNITY STREET (Ken Jacobs, 2006)
RIP GEOCITIES (Faith Holland, 2011)
RONNIE (Curt McDowell, 1972)
THE ROSARY (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley, 1913)
SIMONLAND (Tommy Turner, 1984)
SISSY SPACEK (John Wiese, 2011)
SISSY SPACEK – MATA GALLERY(John Wiese)
SOMA SEMA (Bradley Eros & Jeanne Liotta, 1988)
SOUVENIR (José Luis Guerin, Spain, 1986)
A SPECIFIC POINT IN A CONTINUOUS WHOLE (John Wiese)
SUSPENSE (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley, 1913)
LOS TAITAS (Hugo Santiago, Argentina, 1968)
THE TENSES WITH JOHN WIESE (John Wiese)
THREE GLASS BOTTLES (John Wiese)
THE TONY LONGO TRILOGY (Thom Andersen)
A TRAIN ARRIVES AT THE STATION (Thom Andersen)
TRUE BLUE AND DREAMY (Curt McDowell, 1973)
THE UNLIMITED DREAM COMPANY (Sam Scoggins, UK, 1983)
UNTITLED (John Wiese)
UNTITLED (SILVER) (Takeshi Mureta, 2006)
WHAT HAPPENED ON 23RD STREET IN 1901 (Ken Jacobs, 2009)
WRESTLING (Michel Brault, Marcel Carriere, Claude Fournier & Claude Jutra, Canada, 1961)
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