Directed by: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski
First Viewing
Synopsis: A couple of resistance fighters try to figure out what to do next after realizing that they’ve botched an assassination attempt on a communist politician.
Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Not that I was expecting this to be bad, but I was unfamiliar [...]

Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn
Picture credit: DVD Beaver
First Viewing
Synopsis: A grizzled, normally-solitary steamship captain in WWII-era Africa takes on a passenger who convinces him to help the war effort.
I’ve been a fan of John Huston’s for a while now, so the African Queen has definitely been on my to-see list (I’m also [...]

Directed by: Nick Broomfield
Starring: Nick Broomfield, Arlene Pralle, Steve Glazer
First Viewing
Synopsis: A documentary about a filmmaker’s interactions with Aileen Wuornos’ adoptive mother and her less-than-competent lawyer as he attempts to gain access to Wuornos herself.
Well, this is a bit of a puzzlement. The list isn’t exactly doc-heavy (this is the first documentary I’ve watched [...]

Directed by: Lloyd Bacon
Starring: Julian Marsh, Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers
First Viewing
Synopsis: Behind the scenes as a veteran Broadway director puts on one last show.
This is the second musical I’ve watched for this blog, with the first one being All That Jazz. Boy, they could not be more different. Where Jazz was torpid, dull [...]

Directed by: Ki-duk Kim
Starring: Seung-yeon Lee, Hyun-kyoon Lee, Hyuk-ho Kwon
First Viewing
Synopsis: A man who lives his life in other people’s homes falls in love with an equally damaged woman.
It’s a rare pleasure to go into a movie knowing nothing about what it is about, and then to slowly let the plot unfold. It’s [...]

Directed by: Federico Fellini
Starring: Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia, Bruno Zanin
Second Viewing
Synopsis: A year in the life of a small town in Italy in the 1930s, focusing mainly on one family.
Hmmm… I guess I just don’t like Fellini very much. Of the handful of his films that I’ve seen up to this point, I [...]

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Clotilde Mollet
Second Viewing
Synopsis: A quirky young girl in Paris interacts with her quirky friends, her quirky neighbours, and her quirky love interest. Did I mention that the movie is quirky?
This was not a film that I was particularly looking forward to revisiting. Not that I [...]

Directed by: Federico Fellini
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée
Picture credit: DVD Beaver
Second Viewing
Synopsis: A beleaguered director starts pre-production on his latest film while going through a mid-life crisis of sorts.
I’m about to say something that you’re probably not going to agree with. No point in beating around the bush, so here goes: I [...]

Directed by: John Halas, Joy Bachelor
Starring: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham
Second Viewing
Synopsis: The animals at a farm rise up against their oppressive master, only to see their ideal of a collectively-run farm slowly crumble.
Well, this is the second time that I’ve seen Animal Farm, and I definitely liked it a bit better this time around. [...]

Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Robert De Niro, Gerard Depardieu, Donald Sutherland
Second Viewing
Synopsis: Following the lives of two men in Italy — one rich, one poor — from their childhood in the early years of the 1900s to the fall of the Fascist party at the end of WWII.
I’m going to admit that I actually [...]