March 2018 Film Log

My moviegoing March kicked off in a big way with the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri.  It's why I came close to doubling my year's total of films seen in this month alone.  I'll have more to say about it when episode 12 of FILMBOUND is released, but suffice it to say that True/False is one of the highlights of my film year.  (I talk extensively about the festival in the that episode's recommendations segment.)

 I want to point out that I didn't give a grade to HANDSWORTH SONGS from the fest's Neither/Nor section and FLIGHT OF A BULLET because I simply didn't feel equipped to do so.  HANDSWORTH SONGS is very particular to its time and place, and I didn't think I had any handle on the subject to be able to grasp what was being presented.  FLIGHT OF A BULLET is a stickier matter in that the 81-minute, single-take documentary--the duration of an SD card, I'm guessing--lacks context.  Without a frame it can be equal parts intriguing and maddening, especially when the tense first half or so gives way to more banal scenes.  The director was not present at my screening, but an interview with her raises some ethical questions about what is in the film.  The filmmaker was with a Ukrainian militia and shooting footage of a bombed bridge when a bystander questions her right to film the people on the road.  The argument leads to him being threatened and detained for questioning.  The man's identity is not obscured.  Where he lives was identified in the version of the film shown at screenings before it played at True/False, and there's some question as to whether he was killed, perhaps from being in the film.  So that's why I'm dodging the application of a grade for FLIGHT OF A BULLET, a film that can be fascinating, dull, and (potentially) thoroughly problematic in the most serious sense of the word.

I'll also mention that I didn't see three films with secret screening in their official titles.  These films are unknown by festival attendees prior to seeing them, and True/False asks that the title not be publicly revealed.  It's probably not much use to you, but they are listed for my record keeping and for those who know what they are.

-7 Days in Entebbe (José Padilha, 2018): C+

-Adriana's Pact (El Pacto de Adriana) (Lissette Orozco, 2017): C

-América (Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside, 2018): A

-American Animals (Bart Layton, 2018): B

-Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018): A -- first and second viewings

-Bisbee '17 (Robert Greene, 2018): A

-The China Hustle (Jed Rothstein, 2017): B-

-Crime + Punishment (Stephen Maing, 2018): B

-A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica) (Sebastián Lelio, 2017): B

-Flight of a Bullet (Polet Puli) (Beata Bubenec, 2017): (no grade)

-Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross, 2018): B+

-Handsworth Songs (John Akomfrah, 1987): (no grade)

-Lovers of the Night (Anna Frances Ewert, 2017): B-

-Love, Simon (Greg Berlanti, 2018): B+

-Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002): A -- Blu-ray; repeat viewing

-Of Fathers and Sons (Talal Derki, 2017): B

-Our New President (Maxim Pozdorovkin, 2018): C+

-Pacific Rim: Uprising (Steven S. DeKnight, 2018): C-

-The Party (Sally Potter, 2017): C-

-Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg, 2018): C -- 70mm print

-Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018): B

-The Rider (Chloé Zhao, 2017): B+

-Secret Screening Gale: B+

-Secret Screening Mistral: B+

-Secret Screening Zephyr: B-

-Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018): B+

-Taming the Horse (Tao Gu, 2017): C

-Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley, 2017): B+

-Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle, 2018): B

-Tomb Raider (Roar Uthaug, 2018): C

-Unsane (Steven Soderbergh, 2018): B

-Won't You Be My Neighbor? (Morgan Neville, 2018): B+

-A Wrinkle in Time (Ava DuVernay, 2018): C-

Shorts:

-Baby Brother (Kamau Bilal, 2018): B-
-Graven Image (Sierra Pettengill, 2017): B+

The top films new to me (current releases):

-Annihilation
-Bisbee '17
-América
-Thoroughbreds
-The Rider
-Love, Simon

The top films new to me (repertory):

-None this month

Viewing locations & formats:

-Theatrical viewings: 33 (DCP: 32, 70mm: 1)
-Home viewings: 1 (Blu-ray: 1)

March Totals:

-# of screenings: 34
-# of unique films seen: 33 features and 2 shorts
-# of feature films new to me: 32

Year-to-date Totals:

-Theatrical viewings: 64 (DCP: 62, 70mm: 1, 35mm: 1) (includes one live performance)
-Home viewings: 8 (HD streams: 4, HD recordings: 2, Blu-ray: 1, DVD: 1)
-Live performances: 1

-# of screenings: 72
-Unique # of films seen: 67 features, 2 shorts compilation programs, and 3 shorts
-Unique # of feature films new to me: 64