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June & July - Movies of 2017

I'm still only about 110 movies, so far this year. Paltry numbers compared to years past. This month a slight change has occurred; a library card. So possibly going to revisit some classics, but who knows...my new list is growing and growing. Hard to believe I was in the hospital and a rehab center during this time. Seems like months ago. Also, a side note. I do not count documentaries in my top or bottom 3, so I am not a Negro is not getting snubbed. It's brilliant and is a must see film.

  1. Black Belly Of The Tarantula - Giallo. Beauties and young Gianinni. Works, but a bit boring.
  2. Sarah Silverman: A Speck Of Dust - Her delivery is like no other and it works magnificently. 
  3. Headshot - It's no Raid: Redemption, but unreal action and violence and non-stop energy.
  4. The Image (short) - Young David Bowie as painting comes to life, with It Follows vibe. 
  5. The Keepers (series) - Strong start, but too much staged dramatization, hurts message.
  6. Blondie's New York - Doc about making of Parallel Lines. Very good and personally important.
  7. Dead Silence - Horrible James Wan film about dolls, spirits and bad script writing.
  8. In The Mouth Of Madness - Solid Carpenter, starting to feel dated. Uneven Sam Neill.
  9. I Am Not Your Negro - Powerful! Baldwin's tale is infuriating in that we've not come very far.
  10. Carnival Of Souls - The version I saw was colorized and this film needs to be in B&W!
  11. The Salvation - Fun, if not silly Western, with marvelous and good looking cast.
  12. The Addiction - Abel Ferrara's 90's vampire flick is a metaphor for everything. Lili Taylor A+
  13. DePalma - Wonderful doc about the director's life in film, his success and many failures.
  14. The Lodger - Silent Hitchcock didn't work for me, other than in it's use of light.
  15. Little Dieter Needs To Fly - Herzog doc that became Rescue Dawn. Painfully dull.
  16. The Snare - Pretty people lose it. We've seen it before. Tries to be cerebral, but fails.
  17. The Void - Homage to Carpenter, Lovecraft and others, suffers from style over substance.
  18. Human Lanterns - Shaw Bros do a martial arts horror movie. Beautiful, but boring.
  19. The Last Man On Earth - Vincent Price as The Omega Man. Dull, rushed, but effective.
  20. Teheran Taxi - Jafar Panahi's Taxi is a beautiful, funny and powerful look at Iran's daily life.
  21. Master Of The Flying Guillotine - Rewatched one of my all-time favorite Kung Fu films
  22. What the Health - Food Doc. Follow up to Cowspiracy. Much better and scary in many ways.
  23. Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge - Short film chronicles woman's life. Wonderfully done
  24. Antarctica: Ice and Sky - Brutally boring. Sad, because it should be fascinating and important.
  25. Once Upon A Time In Anatolia - Beautifully shot. Powerful. What movies should be!
  26. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - I wanted to like it, but it was bad in every way.
  27. Shame - Being a Bergman classic, I expected more, but Nykvists cinematography is tops.
  28. Here Alone - Zombie movie, but so much more. One of the best horror movies in years.
  29. Rashomon - Re-watched Kurosawa's masterclass in storytelling. A true game changer.
  30. Colours Trilogy: Bleu - Binoche dazzles in visually and musically dazzling Kieslowski film
  31. Colours Trilogy: Blanc - Suffers from dull plot, but makes its point. Just didn't click for me.
  32. Colours Trilogy: Rouge - The best of the three. The clever duality and Irene Jacob shines.

Top Three: Once Upon A Time In Anatolia, Rouge, Here Alone
Bottom Three: Dead Silence, The Void, 
Biggest Surprise: Here Alone
Biggest Disappointment: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story


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