February 2018 Film Log

My number of films seen in February was lagging until I made the foolish (from the standpoint of all the MBA classwork I needed to complete) choice to attend nine screenings in the Wexner Center for the Arts' Cinema Revival program on the month's last weekend.  While I felt stressed to get all that homework done, gorging on old movies that looked and sounded fantastic was helpful in clearing my head before diving back into researching the Chinese car market.

I will note that my ratings for the Jean Renoir and Claire Denis films may strike some of you as far too low.  I'll simply say that THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE caught me when I was feeling somewhat drowsy and I wasn't entirely sure what to make of TROUBLE EVERY DAY other than noting that is a singular film.  I also wasn't completely certain how I felt about KING OF HEARTS because of its whimsical treatment of how to act in the face of war, but ultimately I found myself willing to let it work on its level.  I revisited BLACK PANTHER mainly because I didn't trust my initial reaction seeing it the Thursday night before the official opening day.  (The screening was way less than ideal as the theater was extraordinarily warm, a young child wailed through early portions, and the person next to me regularly checked his super-bright smartphone and still had it shining when he turned it over to rest on his leg.)

While it doesn't have anything to do with the film log below, this month I was quoted in an article in The Ringer entitled "The Delayed Gratification of Midwest Oscar Season."

-The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Nathan Juran, 1958): B-

-The 15:17 to Paris (Clint Eastwood, 2018): C

-2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation: (Various artists, 2018): B-
     Includes:
     -Dear Basketball (Glen Keane, 2017)
     -Negative Space (Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, 2017)
     -LOU (Dave Mullins, 2017)
     -Revolting Rhymes Part One (Jan Lachauer, Jakob Schuh, and Bin-Han To,
      2016)
     -Garden Party (Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile
      Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, and Lucas Navarro, 2017)
     -Lost Property Office (Daniel Agdag, 2017)
     -Weeds (Kevin Hudson, 2017)
     -Achoo (Lucas Boutrot, Élise Carret, Maoris Creantor, Pierre Hubert, Camille
      Lacroix, and Charlotte Perroux, 2018)

-Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018): B -- first and second viewings

-The Cloverfield Paradox (Julius Onah, 2018): C- -- HD stream

-The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le crime de Monsieur Lange) (Jean Renoir, 1936): B-

-Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995): A -- repeat viewing (first theatrical viewing)

-Dementia 13 (Director's Cut) (Francis Ford Coppola, 1963): B-

-Early Man (Nick Park, 2018): B-

-Fifty Shades Freed (James Foley, 2018): D

-Game Night (John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, 2018): B

-The Insult (L'insulte) (Ziad Doueiri, 2017): B+

-King of Hearts (Le roi de coeur) (Philippe de Broca, 1966): B-

-Monkey Business (Howard Hawks, 1952): A-

-Peter Rabbit (Will Gluck, 2018): C

-The Revolt of Mamie Stover (Raoul Walsh, 1956): B

-Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963): B+

-Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001): B- -- 35mm print

Shorts compilation program:

-Saving Orphan Films: The Amateurs and Others
     -Home movie of French Quarter, New Orleans, before Katrina (Helen
     Hill, ca. 2002)
     -Venus and Adonis (J. V. D. Bucher and Harry Dunham, 1935)
     -The Inner World of Aphasia (Edward R. Feil and Naomi Feil, 1968)
     -Përjetësi (Eternity) (Dhimitër Anagnosti, 1973)
     -Long Binh Post Exchange [South Vietnam] (Marcellus Hartman, ca. 1971)
     -EPH 4/27/16 (Ephraim Horowitz, 1979)

Short:

-Lick the Star (Sofia Coppola, 1998): B

The top films new to me (current releases):

-The Insult (L'insulte)
-Game Night
-Black Panther
-Early Man

The top films new to me (repertory):

-Monkey Business
-Tom Jones
-The Revolt of Mamie Stover
-The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le crime de Monsieur Lange)
-Dementia 13 (Director's Cut)

Viewing locations & formats:

-Theatrical viewings: 19 (DCP: 18, 35mm: 1)
-Home viewings: 1 (HD stream: 1)

February Totals:

-# of screenings: 20
-# of unique films seen: 17 features, 2 shorts compilation programs, and 1 short
-# of feature films new to me: 16

Year-to-date Totals:

-Theatrical viewings: 31 (DCP: 30, 35mm: 1) (includes one live performance)
-Home viewings: 7 (HD streams: 4, HD recordings: 2, DVD: 1)
-Live performances: 1

-# of screenings: 38
-Unique # of films seen: 34 features, 2 shorts compilation programs, and 1 short
-Unique # of feature films new to me: 32

Because it seems like the podcast got off the ground before this month, I almost forgot to mention that FILMBOUND, the podcast I'm doing with Paul Markoff, launched and has five episodes currently available.  Please check it out.

Finally, a dumb joke of mine became the most popular tweet I've posted and likely is responsible for an invitation to be interviewed on an entertainment program on state-run Turkish TV.

THE 15:17 TO PARIS should have ended with a photo of the actors who would have played the three leads

— Mark Pfeiffer (@markpfeiffer) February 11, 2018