Forty Shades Of Blue

Slow, depressing, dreary story of a Russian woman's life in America, her older, rich boyfriend, and his oldest son (who is more her age).

The Name Of The Rose

I just watched this for the second time, having seen it when it came out in 1986! I remember really being intrigued by this one, and followed it up by reading the book by Umberto Eco, which led me to more of his books and others. And it has Ron Perlman! (of whom I know I wasn't that aware of in 1986).

Corpse Bride

Tim Burton and the usual suspects doing a creepy, stop-action story. Even though it's a musical it was fairly enjoyable, especially the animation.

Flight Of The Conchords

Very funny show on HBO (just finished watching Season 1) about two singer-songwriters from New Zealand and their manager trying to make it in the USA.

Here's a clip featuring one of my favorite songs, Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros:

Daywatch

Russian. The sequel to Nightwatch, this one continues the story of Anton and the war between the forces of darkness and light. Great FX, a bit of a confusing storyline at times, but it's all tied up nicely at the end. I found both of these epic fantasy movies to be very enjoyable.

Tekkonkinkreet

Anime, based on the manga by Taiyo Matsumoto. Weird power struggles between yakuza, street gangs, and two kids, Black and White, in Treasure Town. Great animation, though the story was a bit hard for me to follow.

AVP-R

Aliens Vs. Predator Requiem. Should be the last one since it's a requiem, but from the ending it looked like a set up for another, though maybe just a Predator movie. Anyway, it wasn't more than I expected, a B movie with the usual shortcomings. But I just couldn't resist the genre, or the chance to see such a movie on xmas day.

Army of Shadows

L' Armée des ombres, 1969, Jean-Pierre Melville. Dark, well structured and paced movie about the French Resistance in Nazi occupied Paris.

The Lives of Others

German drama about the East Berlin Stasi in the mid-80's. Very poignant, moving film about secrecy, identity, and the slippery moral ground of state control. I really liked this one, though I had a bit of a problem with the protagonist's too-quick conversion from tough hard-liner to convinced realist to active humanist. Also questioned the need for a certain character to die and how that death serves the story.

Fido

Comedic zombie flick set in a world where the zombies have mostly been controlled, and enclaves of 50's era towns use them as slaves doing menial or low-end jobs. A boy and his zombie romzomcom. Great production values, some pretty funny moments, but felt flat overall.

Quai Des Orfevres

A French policier, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Beautiful, touching film of jealousy, love, and murder.

What I've Watched Recently

Haven't posted to this in quite awhile, but here's a quick list of some movies & documentaries I've seen recently, in no particular order:

A Woman Under the Influence

The Mist

Beowulf

Into the Wild

Band of Outsiders

Breathless

Jules and Jim

Day For Night

Comedy of Power

The Bridesmaid

L'Avventura

8 1/2

Disturbia

The Burmese Harp

Peeping Tom

28 Weeks Later

Perceval le Gallois

Z

Shower

La Moustache

Nobody Knows

The President's Last Bang

Northfork

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

No Logo

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

Dexter: The First Season

*I'm sure I've forgotten some...