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May and June Movies - 2018

  1. Memoir of a Murderer - Average at best with one too many twists that ruins everything.
  2. Shoalin Avengers - Better than average martial arts classic.
  3. Ricky Gervais: Humanity - Weak effort by Gervais, who seems to explain every joke.
  4. Haxan - Not sure I saw the right version. Commentary and goofy "Jazz" soundtrack. Meh!
  5. Revenge of the Green Dragons - Starts off pretty interesting, then completely falls apart.
  6. Eg Man Pig aka I Remember You - Tension builds and builds and builds, then nothing.
  7. Turbo Kid - Ode to a ton of stuff with cute robots, gore, Michael Ironside and a garden gnome.
  8. The Phantom Thread - Perfect first hour, becomes somewhat predictable, but still magnificent.
  9. The Post - It's been done before, and better, but it is timely and important.
  10. Star Wars; The Last Jedi - Quite possibly the worst of all the Star Wars film made.
  11. Gate of Hell - Beautiful, but somewhat dull story. Maybe it's just not what I was expecting.
  12. Scandal - One of Kurosawa and Mifune's more human stories. Avoids usual tropes. 
  13. Ms.45 -  Revisited this Ferrara/Tamerlis (Lund) gem. Sadly, #MeToo makes it feel timely.
  14. Beatriz at Dinner - Hayek and Lithgow shine, but Britton is the glue of this tight commentary.
  15. Cargo (Short Film) - Watched this classic short again, in preparation for the feature.
  16. Chronic - Flawed, especially in its editing, but Tim Roth is amazing. It's a personal gut punch.
  17. The Bad Sleep Well - Film Noir by Kurosawa with Mifune. Good, but less than expected.
  18. Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders uses angels to create a dream about life, place, and time. 
  19. Hidden Fortress - Revisted Kurosawa's epic, which served as an inspiration for Star Wars
  20. I am Cuba - Kalatozov's Russian propaganda film drags, but a  B and W visual masterpiece
  21. The Killing (US) - Watched all 4 seasons in seven days. Holder is an all-time great character.
  22. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Pales in comparison to the first, but some good laughs.
  23. The Great Silence - Revered Spaghetti Western with Klaus Kinski. Dull, aside from McGee
  24. Valley of Ditches - Pretty lead, also co-writer, can't save this from taking itself too seriously.
  25. The King's Speech - Firth won the Oscar, but it's Rush who sets the tone and pace. Superb!
  26. Paprika - Sci-Fi Anime which failed to keep me awake. I'll try again later.
  27. Luther - Watched the first two seasons. Feels like a Prime Suspect remake, with better co-stars.
Top Three - The Phantom Thread, Wings of Desire, The King's Speech
Bottom Three - The Last Jedi, Valley of Ditches, Haxan
Biggest Surprise - Wings of Desire
Biggest Disappointment - Star Wars: The Last Jedi 

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