So before I put TIFF behind me for another year, allow me one last word of thanks to everyone who stopped by and took in my festival coverage. The last few weeks stand in stark contrast to the first year I covered TIFF, when about five people were reading my work. So once and for all – thanks for everything.

That said, buckle up folks. Not only did I pass my 300th film watched for the year this week, but I realized that barring unforeseen circumstances, I’ll end up seeing 100 films in theatres this year. Scary stuff! But before we move forward, let’s look back at the insanity.

Here’s what was on tap…

Screenings
THE GUARD – This is criminally underexposed.
FROM UP ON POPPY HILL – How’s that anime syllabus coming along gang?
URBANIZED – Pity Rob Ford didn’t accept the invite to watch this film.
THE ARTIST – One of my very favorites of the festival, and indeed the year
THE IDES OF MARCH – Ditto!
PEARL JAM TWENTY – If you’re a fan, you must watch this.
ALOIS NEBEL – One of the bigger letdowns of the festival.
YOU’RE NEXT – Great madness of the midnight variety.
KEYHOLE – “That penis needs dusting”
EXTRATERRESTRIAL – Two Words: Tennis balls.
A DANGEROUS METHOD – Starting to think I was the only one who liked this one.
SHAME – A truly divisive film.
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS – That Greta Gerwig sure is a charmer
HELENO – Promising, but so very messy.
SLEEPING BEAUTY – I was told it was terrible. I was told wrong.
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME – Coming out next spring: Go see it.
VIOLET & DAISY – Flawed, but ultimately a good watch.
UNION SQUARE – Strange to be transfixed by someone so annoying.
TYRANNOSAUR – See this as soon as you have the means.
INTRUDERS – I’m starting to believe no one does thrillers as well as the Spanish
THE SKIN I LIVE IN – The TIFF film I’m most looking forward to revisiting.
JUAN OF THE DEAD – Dude! Cuban Zombies!!
CRAZY HORSE – A whole lot of naked ladies.
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE – Who knew there was a talented Olsen sister?
DRIVE – I liked it, but not as much as you did
TRISHNA – My TIFF capper, and proof that Winterbottom is hit-and-miss.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE PUSHER 2 – Anyone who loved DRIVE needs to see this film
KILLER’S KISS – There’s just not enough fighting with mannequin parts these days.
A FACE IN THE CROWD – A whole other side of Andy Griffith.
THE PUSHER 3 – This one gets icky.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
ADVENTURELAND – I like it a bit more on rewatch than I did in the linked review.
ABOUT A BOY – “So there I was…singing with my eyes closed”
BONNIE & CLYDE – What more could I say about faye Dunaway in this film?
BIG – This has held up rather well. I’d like someone to tackle it for my “Falling/First Time” series.
ADAPTATION – The last great Nicolas cage movie?
CITIZEN KANE – Upgrading it to blu-ray was money very well spent.

Boxscore for The Year
190 First-Timers, 127 Re-Watched
317 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

23 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched 9/3 – 9/23)”

  1. WOAHHHH. Man…I wish I lived in a land with film festivals :'( There are quite a few of my ‘MUST WATCH THIS YEAR’ films in you screenings list and I love the rewatched ones.

    Let’s see. Bad month for movie-watching again since I got hooked on to a much-needed True Blood marathon.
    I saw Drive today, and yes I really really really loved it. It’s up there with Midnight in Paris in my best films watched this year thus far. Then I saw my first Almodóvar- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and loved it too. I saw Win Win (nice but didn’t really care for the ending), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (too cool and touching even), Crazy Stupid Love (Gosling and his photoshopped body- bfcnfinjhghlkn!!).

    In the rewatched stuff, I saw The Exorcist (one of my favourite horror movies ever), Wimbledon(my total lack of tennis knowledge always makes this film very exciting) and Across the Universe(I had forgotten how much I loved that film…started my Beatlemania).

    1. You had quite the wonderful week of watching yourself! HEDWIG especially is a film that is near and dear to my heart.

      Glad to hear someone getting into Almodovar! I’d suggest ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER and TALK TO HER as your next two watches, and likewise coax you to listen to the Almodovar episode of The Film Locker.

  2. it’s simply incredible how many films you’ve seen.

    as always my list is on monday but i’ll share my hot picks from my week of viewing: Billy Wilder’s WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, Seijun Suzuki’s TOKYO DRIFTER and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s PULSE.

  3. I want your life. Looking at that list of flicks, my jaw is dropping in utter ‘Woooowww’ness. 300 flicks? Bloody hell, sir. I’m nearly hitting 200, and I still have a goodish chunk to go (about 23).

    Now you liked CITIZEN KANE on Blu-Ray. I wager you’re gonna pick up BEN-HUR on BD as well? I’ve gone through five different reviews, and all of them praise the video quality ginormously. I think it will be worth it. Although not a fan of the Gift Set.

    1. Oh Lordy…BEN- HUR on blu? I’m failing with my “no upgrade” rule these days, so I might have to refrain. Likewise, my DVD copy of HUR is pretty loaded with features.

      KANE wasn’t intended, but two young blogger friends talked me into it.

      As for my watchlist, I hadn’t realized I was so close to 200 new titles. Between that and the nearing 100 screenings it seems like it’s been a movie-obsessed year! Will be curious to see how the pace slows as we get into the fall.

      PS… Welcome to The New Matinee!

  4. For the past week, a trio of films by Alain Resnais in Mon oncle D’Amerique, Wild Grass, and Last Year at Marienbad and yesterday, I did a double feature for Moneyball and Drive.

    The only other film I saw this week on Wed. as with every 9/21 is Lost in Translation. Unfortunately, I had DVRed the film on HD TV but couldn’t watch it so I had to settle on watching it on a small TV from my DVD copy. Having seen bits of the film on HD in comparison to my DVD copy has convinced me to get a Blu-Ray copy of the film once I can afford and obtain a Blu-Ray player.

  5. That’s it, we’re getting you tested for performance enhancing drugs. This is getting ridiculous. I’m calling congress, setting them up to host a hearing on this whole affair.

  6. Wow. What an awesome TIFF lineup. I really want to watch the Pusher trilogy. I caught up with Refn before Drive by watching Valhalla Rising, which I thought was ‘interesting’ but I really want to watch his earlier films.

    I was the one (or at least one of the people) to tell you Sleeping Beauty was terrible wasn’t I? I initially had no idea what to think of the film when I saw it at SFF. It was compelling enough, almost trance-like, but having discussed this film with some friends following its cinema release in Australia, we all decided that it actually wasn’t very good.

    Of course, not everyone shares this opinion, but there are so many details in the film that are just wrong. She attends Sydney University but whips out at University of Western Sydney ID at one point. I wish it was that easy to get a new apartment, and I’ve never seen anyone wipe a table like that before. Plus some of that dialogue was awful. I feel like the ending made no sense either, considering what we had already seen. Oh well, I’m glad you enjoyed it.

    This week, amongst my new release screenings were Eye of the Storm, Red Dog and The Whistleblower. I also re-watched Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Stalker, Lancelot Du Lac and Ronin.

    1. The overall idea worked for me despite the individual flaws you mention. The funny thing is that it could be due to you priming me for it to suck that I found it “not so bad”.

  7. That’s it?

    God damn Ryan, really slacking … only 36 films.

    Seriously, though … you did a great job man – all the coverage was very fun and enjoyable to read. Looking forward to a lot of these films.

    This week I saw …

    Clerks
    Snowflake Affect
    Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
    Ceremony
    Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
    The Human Centipede

    ^^^^
    Perhaps the most random compiled list of films.

  8. As always great coverage. I don’t know how you do it.

    Horrible Bosses
    Moneyball
    Death Race
    Nirvana Live at the Paramount
    The Guard

  9. Wowee, someone has been busy!

    This week I’ve seen:
    Dogville
    Your Highness
    Take Me Home Tonight
    Hesher
    Stolen Lives
    Shaun of the Dead
    Wuthering Heights (the 1992 with Ralph Fiennes)
    (and Rio and Catfish tonight)

    I also managed to rewatch Gone with the Wind, Up in the Air and Heartbreaker.

      1. Uh…well, I’ve mulled it over long enough. I don’t think I really *liked* it, as such, but it was a very good movie. I’d just never watch it again. It was exhausting.

        Mind you, I’m loving old Lars von Trier at the moment!

        1. I can understand that. I’ll never forget how restless the audience I saw that film was. The title card that announced that the film was ending soon actually garnered a round of applause.

          I’ll likely be digging into LVT over the next few months – wish me luck!

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