Films

I have long hesitated to publish this list of the films I've watched, largely because it lays bare my questionable taste. Good films, bad films, cheap exploitation films, stuff I've already seen... I'm not too particular.  But the really good films more than compensate for the time spent watching the bad ones. Of course, there's a certain pleasure to be had in watching bad ones, but I'll leave that topic for its own blog post.

2024

My addiction to Emmerdale and EastEnders has cannibalized my movie watching time. This must cease! But it probably won't. I'm invested in both soaps. Nevertheless, here is another highly incomplete list of films I've watched - that I can remember.  

1. I Walked With a Zombie (1943) 
2. Dune: Part Two (2024)
3. The Nun's Story (1959). Starring Audrey Hepburn.
4. Tommy (1975. Music improved since the original studio album was released in 1969.) 

2023

A highly incomplete list. All too often I fall asleep while watching TV. In the morning I have little or no memory of what I watched. I have to piece it together by turning on the TV the next morning to see what channel I left it on. 

1. Nightbreed - The Director's Cut (1990). I saw the original cut years ago. Doug Bradley, who memorably portrayed Pinhead in the Hellraiser series, is also in this Clive Barker effort. Apparently there are at least two director's cuts.
2. Spring and Port Wine (1970). James Mason, Susan George and a host of English TV actors. Slice-of-life kitchen sink drama set in Northern England. Good performances all around. Notable (to me, at least) because Adrienne Posta appears in a small role.  

2022

1. Night Moves (1975, Gene Hackman, teenaged Melanie Griffith)
2. The Green Knight (2021)
3. Tom Jones (1963; Albert Finney, Susanna York)
4. Dune (2022)
5. Mrs. Miniver (1943; I've lost track of how many times I've watched this, but it's still a great film. Greer Garson deserved her Oscar.)
6. Pitfall (1948; interesting to watch Jane Wyatt, who did a fine job in this film noir before she went on to TV fame in Father Knows Best.)
7. Blue Velvet (1986)
8. The Window (1949 noir set in New York City)
9. The Petrified Forest (1936; Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis)
10. Arrival (again; 2016)
11. Farewell My Lovely (1975; Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling)
12. Lady in the Lake (1946; unusual first person point of view camerawork)
13. A Soldier's Story (1984; again)
14. Paths of Glory (1957; Kubrick)

2021

1. The Seventh Seal (1957)
2. The Glass Key (1942; Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd)
3. Saboteur (1942)
4. Gun Crazy (1950)
5. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
6. Red River (1948)
7. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
8. Party Girl (1958; Cyd Charisse. Not as racy as it sounds.)
9. Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
10. Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
11. Kiss of Death (1947. Bizarre performance by Richard Widmark.)
12. News of the World (2020)
13. Show Boat (1936. Contains a troubling blackface segment about halfway through. Odd, given the strong anti-discrimination messages in this film.)
14. The 7th Victim (1943. Hugh Beamont in pre-Leave It To Beaver role in this tale of  Satanists in Greenwich Village. )
15. Argo (2012).
16. This line is dedicated to films I watch late at night and can't remember anything about the next day. Not even the title.
17. Cult of the Cobra (1955).
18. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948; Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.) I saw this in childhood and never forgot the scene where Lancaster explains the duties of a corporate vice president over a three-martini lunch. 
19. I Drink Your Blood (1971). Hippie drifters worship Satan, drop LSD, contract rabies and go berserk. Marketed as a double feature with...
20.  I Eat Your Skin (also 1971). By far the inferior of the two films. Script, acting and production values are very low. It's about voodoo and zombies on a Caribbean island.  Nobody eats anybody's skin.
21. Voyagers (2021). Can be seen as an extended allegory of the Trump presidency.
22. Human Desire (1954. Gloria Grahame, Glenn Ford).  

2020  

1. Ad Astra (2019)

2. Crossfire (1947; Robert Ryan; anti-Semitism theme)  

3. The Invisible Man (2019) 

4. Rambo: Last Blood (very weak) 

5. Joker   

6. The Lighthouse  

7. Richard Jewell 

8. 1917 

9. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 

10. Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood  

11. Hustlers 

12. Life Begins for Andy Hardy 

13. Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble  

14. Kansas City Confidential 

15. The Nun 

16. A Face in the Crowd 

17. Terminator: Dark Fate (This is the last Terminator film I will ever watch.) 

18. John Henry 

19. Klute 

20. (Carry On) Follow That Camel (1967) 

21. Carry On Don't Lose Your Head (1967) 

22. Carry On Up the Khyber (??; 1968) 

23. Carry On Doctor (??; 1967) 

24. Carry On Camping (1969) 

25. Carry On Again Doctor (??; 1969) 

26. Carry On Up the Jungle 

27. Carry On Loving 

28. Wicked Woman    

29. Horror Hotel (1960; aka City of the Dead)  

30. The Horn Blows at Midnight (clever script; original treatment of angels, afterlife) 

31. Baby Doll (directed by Elia Kazan. Script by Tennessee Williams. Good performances inc. Caroll Baker.) 

32. Chocolat 

33. The Seventh Veil (Superb psychological drama; James Mason, Herbert Lom, Ann Todd.) 

34. Red Dawn (1984; weak.) 

35. Mr. Roberts 

36. Kind Hearts and Coronets (Even better than I remembered; Ealing product.) 

37. Carry On Sergeant (1958; first in the series; Bob Monkhouse and William Hartnell) 

38. Carry On Nurse (1959) 

39. Carry On Regardless (1961; the Helping Hands employment agency)  

40. Carry on Cruising (1962) 

41. Carry On Cleo (1964) 

42. The Adjustment Bureau 

43. Stormy Weather (1943; outstanding) 

44. I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955. Susan Hayward as an actress who becomes an alcoholic.) 

45. His Girl Friday (1940) 

46. Carry on Constable (1960) 

47. In A Lonely Place (1950; Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. Excellent.) 

48. House on Haunted Hill (1959; kicking off a binge of Halloween horror movies on TCM)

49. The Black Sleep (1956) 

50. Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) 

51. The Horror of Dracula (1959) 

52. They Won't Believe Me (1947. Robert Young and Susan Hayward. Very fine.) 

53. Where Eagles Dare (1968) 

54. Prometheus (2012. Alien prequel.) 

55. Kiss Me Deadly (1955) 

56. Torn Curtain (1966; Alfred Hitchcock.  The extended scene depicting the struggle to kill a man without access to a weapon is brutal even by today's standards.) 

57. Marnie (1964; Alfred Hitchcock.) 

58. Dead of Night (1945). 

59. I Want To Live (1958; Susan Hayward's Academy Award performance.)