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