by adam cook

Re-watches are indicated by an * | Masterpieces will be in bold | To make things interesting, my 5 most satisfying viewings of each month will be indicated by red font, my 3 least satisfying by blue font | Venue & format indicated by the following: (C) = cinema viewing, (H) = “home”/TV viewing, (S) = school (F) = film, (D) = digital, (DVD) = DVD, (BR) = Blu-Ray, (CF) = computer file or online

Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, Dir. Kent Jones, 2007, USA (H/DVD)

Stella Dallas, Dir. King Vidor, 1937, USA (S/DVD)

The Rules of the Game, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1939, France * (H/DVD)

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Dir. Tony Scott, 2009, UK/USA (H/DVD)

Rio Bravo, Dir. Howard Hawks, 1959, USA * (H/DVD)

Johnny Guitar, Dir. Nicholas Ray, 1954, USA * (H/DVD)

The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, Dir. Sophie Fiennes, Austria/UK (H/CF)

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Dir. Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim, USA (H/CF)

Kissed, Dir. Lynne Stopkewich, Canada * (S/DVD)

Death Race, Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 2008, USA/Germany/UK (H/CF)

Double Indemnity, Dir. Billy Wilder, 1944, USA * (S/DVD)

Resident Evil: Afterlife, Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 2010, Germany/UK/France (H/CF)

The Three Musketeers, Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 2011, USA/France/UK/Germany (H/CF)

Elena and Her Men, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1956, France (H/DVD)

Bitter Rice, Dir. Giuseppe de Santis, 1949, Italy (S/DVD)

Cold Water, Dir. Olivier Assayas, 1994, France (H/CF)

Come On Children, Dir. Allan King, 1972, Canada (H/DVD)

Dying at Grace, Dir. Allan King, 2003, Canada (H/DVD)

A Married Couple, Dir. Allan King, 1969, Canada * (H/DVD)

All is Forgiven, Dir. Mia Hansen-Love, 2007, France (H/CF)

Teorema, Dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968, Italy, * (S/DVD)

Peggy Sue Got Married, Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1986, USA (H/CF)

Some Like It Hot, Dir. Billy Wilder, 1959, USA (S/DVD)

Father of My Children, Dir. Mia Hansen-Love, 2009, Germany/France * (H/DVD)

Into the Abyss, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2011, USA (C/F)

Irma Vep, Dir. Olivier Assays, 1996, France * (H/CF)

Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung, Dir. Olivier Assayas, 1997, France (H/CF)

Into the Abyss, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2011, USA * (C/F)

We All Loved Each Other So Much, Dir. Ettore Scola, 1974, Italy (S/DVD)

Night and Day, Dir. Hong Sang-soo, 2008, South Korea (H/CF)

Ode to the Dawn of Man, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2011, USA (H/DVD)

The White Diamond, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2004, Germany/Japan/UK * (H/DVD)

Goodbye First Love, Dir. Mia Hansen-Love, 2011, France/Germany (H/CF)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2010, USA/Germany/France/Canada/UK * (H/DVD)

4:44 Last Day on Earth, Dir. Abel Ferrara, 2011, USA/Italy/France (H/CF)

The Saddest Music in the World, Dir. Guy Maddin, 2003, Canada * (S/DVD)

Me, Them and Laura, Dir. Carlo Verdone, 2009, Italy (S/DVD)

The Graduate, Dir. Mike Nichols, 1967, USA (S/DVD)

Disorder, Dir. Olivier Assayas, 1986, France (H/CF)

On Death Row, Dir. Werner Herzog, 2012, USA (H/CF)

Go Go Tales, Dir. Abel Ferrara, 2007, USA/Italy * (H/CF)

Previous months:

January/February

Blomkvist:

Salander:

From The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

In what is a spiritual sequel to The Social Network, Fincher moves on from Zuckerberg to a new figure of the information age, examining another of its facets. The contrasting processes of investigation of Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig’s Mikael Blomkvist reveal the chasmic gap between generations, as forms of thinking and understanding (computing) evolve, as memory becomes digital.

From Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997), Resident Evil (2002), and The Three Musketeers (2011).

For all of 2012 I’ll be keeping track of everything I watch (and read)—mostly for personal reasons—but I’ll be making it public on a monthly basis (for now on). This is, in part, inspired by Steven Soderbergh’s publicized “cultural diet“, which tracked his viewing and reading habits for an entire year. Feel free to criticize my own choices and/or to point out what’s missing from my ongoing cine-journey.

Re-watches are indicated by an * | Masterpieces will be in bold | To make things interesting, my 5 most satisfying viewings of each month will be indicated by red font, my 3 least satisfying by blue font | Venue & format indicated by the following: (C) = cinema viewing, (H) = “home”/TV viewing, (S) = school (F) = film, (D) = digital, (DVD) = DVD, (BR) = Blu-Ray, (CF) = computer file or online

January

Louis C.K.: Live at Beacon Theater, Dir. Louis C.K., 2011, USA (H/CF)

Small Change, Dir. Francois Truffaut, 1976, France * (H/DVD)

The Terrorizers, Dir. Edward Yang, 1986, Hong Kong/Taiwan (H/CF)

Secret Sunshine, Dir. Lee Chang-dong, 2007, South Korea (H/CF)

Margaret, Dir. Kenneth Lonergan, 2011, USA (C/F)

Gamer, Dir. Neveldine/Taylor, 2009, USA (H/CF)

Fallen Angels, Dir. Wong Kar-wai, 1995, Hong Kong (C/DVD)

Nenette et Boni, Dir. Claire Denis, 1996, France (H/CF)

The Public Enemy, Dir. William A. Wellman, 1931, USA (S/DVD)

Lonely Boy, Dir. Wolf Koenig & Roman Kroitor, 1962, Canada (S/DVD)

You are on Indian Land, Dir. Mort Ransen, 1969, Canada (S/DVD)

A Dangerous Method, Dir. David Cronenberg, 2011, UK/Germany/Canada/Switzerland/France (C/D)

United Red Army, Dir. Koji Wakamatsu, 2007, Japan (H/CF)

Singin’ in the Rain, Dir. Stanley Donan & Gene Kelly, 1952, USA (S/DVD)

After Life, Dir. Hirozaku Koreeada, 1998, Japan (H/DVD)

Goodbye, South, Goodbye, Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1996, Taiwan (H/CF)

The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Dir. Ermanno Olmi, 1978, Italy (H/CF)

Vengeance is Mine, Dir. Shohei Imamura, 1979, Japan (H/CF)

Andrei Rublev, Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966, Soviet Union (C/F)

They Live, Dir. John Carpenter, 1988, USA (H/CF)

Mulberry St., Dir. Abel Ferrara, 2010, USA (H/CF)

The Artist, Dir. Michel Hazanavicius, 2011, France/Belgium/USA (C/D)

Goin’ Down the Road, Dir. Donald Shebib, 1970, Canada (S/DVD)

Red Desert, Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964, Italy/France * (C/F)

The Mirror, Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974, Soviet Union * (C/F)

Top Hat, Dir. Mark Sandrich, 1935, USA (H/DVD)

His Girl Friday, Dir. Howard Hawks, 1940, USA (S/DVD)

Haywire, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2011, USA/Ireland (C/F)

Ocean’s 11, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2001, USA * (H/CF)

Ocean’s 12, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2004, USA (H/CF)

Ocean’s 13, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2007, USA (H/CF)

Kill List, Dir. Ben Wheatley, 2011, UK * (H/CF)

The Tree of Life, Dir. Terrence Malick, 2011, USA * (H/BR)

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, Dir. Jonas Mekas, 1972, Lithuania/West Germany/UK (C/F)

Les Ordres, Dir. Michel Brault, 1974, Canada (S/DVD)

Out of Sight, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 1998, USA (H/CF)

Rome Open City, Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1945, Italy (S/DVD)

Schizopolis, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 1996, USA (H/CF)

Keyhole, Dir. Guy Maddin, 2011, Canada (C/F)

Strike, Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925, Soviet Union (C/F)

The Dead Zone, Dir. David Cronenberg, 1983, USA (H/CF)

Restless, Dir. Gus Van Sant, 2011, USA (H/CF)

February

Bicycle Thieves, Dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy * (S/DVD)

Shadow of a Doubt, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1943, USA * (S/DVD)

Notorious, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1946, USA * (H/DVD)

North by Northwest, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959, USA * (H/DVD)

Rear Window, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1953, USA * (H/DVD)

Bicycle Thieves, Dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy * (H/DVD)

The Miracle, Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1948, Italy (S/DVD)

Stromboli, Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1950, Italy (H/CF)

Shivers, Dir. David Cronenberg, 1975, Canada (S/DVD)

October, Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1928, Soviet Union (C/F)

Exiled, Dir. Johnnie To, 2006, Hong Kong (H/CF)

Nights of Cabiria, Dir. Federico Fellini, 1957, Italy (S/DVD)

Gilda, Dir. Charles Vidor, 1946, USA * (S/DVD)

Alexander Nevsky, Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1938, Soviet Union (C/F)

The Philadelphia Story, Dir. George Cukor, 1940, USA (S/DVD)

Chungking Express, Dir. Wong Kar-wai, 1994, Hong Kong * (H/BR)

Exotica, Dir. Atom Egoyan, 1994, Canada * (S/DVD)

La Dolce Vita, Dir. Federico Fellini, 1960, Italy * (S/DVD)

Notes on an American Film Director at Work, Dir. Jonas Mekas, 2008, USA (H/DVD)

The Grey, Dir. Joe Carnahan, 2012, USA (C/D)

Ivan the Terrible Pt I, Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1944, Soviet Union (C/F)

Ivan the Terrible Pt. II, Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1958, Soviet Union (C/F)

A Time to Love and a Time to Die, Dir. Douglas Sirk, 1958, USA (H/CF)

An American in Paris, Dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1951, USA (H/CF)

The Big Sleep, Dir. Howard Hawks, 1946, USA (H/CF)

Magnificent Obsession, Dir. Douglas Sirk, 1954, USA (H/DVD)

Shane, Dir. George Stevens, 1953, USA (S/DVD)

Roberto Rossellini, Dir. Carlo Lizzani, 2000, Italy (H/DVD)

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Dir. Neveldine/Taylor, 2012, USA (C/D-3D)

Solaris, Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2002, USA * (C/DVD)

Solaris, Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972, Soviet Union * (C/F)

Le Crime de Monsieur Lange, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1936, France (H/CF)

The Secret World of Arrietty, Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2010, Japan (C/D)

La Bête Humaine, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1938, France (H/DVD)

The Golden Coach, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1953, France (H/DVD)

Ponyo, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2008, Japan * (H/BR)

Resident Evil, Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 2002, Germany/France/UK * (H/CF)

French Cancan, Dir. Jean Renoir, 1955, France/Italy (H/DVD)

Summer Hours, Dir. Olivier Assayas, 2008, France * (H/BR)

The Wages of Fear, Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953, Italy/France (C/F)

The Gold Rush, Dir. Charlie Chaplin, 1925, USA * (C/F)

Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty, Dir. Rafi Pitts, 2003, France (H/CF)

Un Été Brulant, Dir. Phillipe Garrel, 2011, France/Switzerland/Italy (H/CF)

Rendez-vous, Dir. Andre Techiné, 1985, France (H/DVD)

Le Déclin de l’Empire Américain, Dir. Denys Arcand, 1986, Canada (S/DVD)

Event Horizon, Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson, 1997, USA/UK (H/CF)

Directing your attention to my new piece on Hugo—This time I look at it in ideological contrast with its Oscar-competitor, The Artist:

Past/Not Past: A Tale of Two Cinemas in the Notebook @ MUBI.com