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June Movies

I slowed down quite a bit in June. Lots of reasons, but mostly my mind has been in a negative place and I don't enjoy watching movies when I'm in a bad mood. That being said a few gems this month snapped my out and despite watching three movies that are deemed to be in the top ten off all time (Tokyo Story, Man with a Movie Camera, The Rules of the Game), the best movie I watched all month was A Separation. I'll probably put it in the top 2 of the past five years and definitely in my top 50, maybe even 40, ever.

  1. Warrior - Hardy and Edgerton are sensational as brothers fighting for very different reasons.
  2. Oldboy (Original) - Re-watched. Still one of the greatest films ever made.
  3. John Wick - One of those movies which may be so bad that it's good. Hint: It's not.
  4. Afflicted - Found footage road trip turned vampire tale. If you don't mind the fatal flaw it's fun.
  5. Borgman - Danish psychological "horror" looks at class systems with a devilish twist.
  6. Tokyo Story- Ozu. Family. Simplicity. Brilliance in every facet of film making imaginable.
  7. Hot Girls Wanted - Disgusting, exploitative doc about amateur porn. Praised by Sundance???
  8. Army of Darkness - Campbell is great in over-the-top third part of silly horror trilogy
  9. Wadjda - First female directed Saudi film is beautiful, with incredible acting by young lead.
  10. Willow Creek - Easily one of the 2 or 3 worst movies I've ever watched.
  11. Man with a Movie Camera - Considered one of the greatest of all-time, but the music???
  12. American Sniper - If FOX was in charge of military recruitment videos, this would be it.
  13. The Past - Flawed, but superbly made drama of three lives, hindered from moving on.
  14. Leviathan - Brutally slow Russian tale,  ruined by its simplistic, monotone nature.
  15. Kill, Baby...Kill - Bava's masterpiece is atmospheric, but the acting takes away so much.
  16. The Sunset Limited - Cormac McCarthy's disheveled play, misses on every mark.
  17. Timbuktu - Weak subplots, subtitle alignment and flow, kills beautiful moments. 
  18. The Guest - Awful script, plot and acting equal an all-time worst nominee.
  19. Late Phases - Pulls no punches. Goes from start to finish with just a fun, well acted story.
  20. Deep Blue Sea - Re-watched - One of my ultimate guilty pleasures.
  21. Mother - Korean award winner didn't do it for me. All been done before and better. 
  22. A Separation - Iranian masterpiece. One of the most perfect films ever made. 
  23. The Rules of the Game - Renoir's acclaimed masterpiece inspired the craft, but not this viewer.

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