What I Watched In February

A short but busy month for movie watching. Some great views in the Belcourt theater this past month as I took in a couple of older films as part of their Noir Fest 2 series. I was especially happy to get to see the fantastic FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG which has yet to be released on video in any form. I was also happy to welcome back LOST for its final season. BSG follow up CAPRICA started off well but is mired in some truly boring stuff by just the second regular episode. It took me three tries to make it all the way through that one 45 minute chunk of TV entertainment and that is not a good sign. On the other end of the spectrum FX spy comedy series ARCHER is fantastic every episode managing to be as un-PC as possible and screamingly funny at the same time. There is some very sharp writing going on with this animated show but its tastelessness and mean-spirited nature will turn off many.

RAZORBACK (1984)- 7 (good monster film from down under)
CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTER (1968) – 7 (glad to finally catch up with this)
NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986)- 8 (rewatch)
SILK (2006)- 7 (Hong Kong ghost tale)
SUPER SEVEN CALLING CAIRO (1965)- 6 (Euro-spy goodness)
EVIL FACE (1974)- 5 (Kinski elevates a mess of a film)
THE TERRORNAUTS (1967)- 3 (silly/cheesy pulpish sci-fi that plays as a kiddie show)
THE WOLFMAN (2010)- 9 (MUCH better than I thought it would be)
FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG (1955)- 8 (wow! What a dark, twisted tale)
HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (1972)- 8 (insane Naschy tale with everything thrown in)
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (1971)- 7 (George Lazenby plays a burnt out mercenary who goes hippy)
QUAI DES ORFEVRES (1947)- 9 (Clouzot at his brilliant best)
WINNETOU AND HIS FRIEND OLD FIREHAND (1966)- 6 (a.k.a. THUNDER AT THE BORDER- fun German made western)
ROCK’N’ROLLA (2008)- 8 (rewatch with some buddies)
A SERIOUS MAN (2009)- 8 (The Coen’s do their thing quite well)
GIVE’EM HELL MALONE (2009)- 5 (not bad attempt at a modern tough guy noir)
DER ZINKER (1963)- 7 (more krimi goodness)
MANSION OF THE DOOMED (1976)- 4 (mad doctor Richard Baseheart goes eye-happy)
INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU (1968)- 7 (Alan Arkin does a pretty good Peter Sellers)
FANTOMAS (1947)- 8 (fantastic French adaptation)
SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME (1978)- 7 (Carpenter’s REAR WINDOW variant)
THE LADY EVE (1941)- 8 (Preston Sturges was an amazing writer/director)
UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT (1974)- 7 (good little comedy)
THE FEAR CHAMBER (1968)- 2 (pretty awful Karloff Mexi-mess)
SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)- 8 (well done and creepy- Scorsese's VERTIGO?)
THE CRAZIES (2010)- 6 (pretty good remake with a good cast)
EDMOND (2005)- 6 (interesting Mamet tale)
SAVAGE ISLAND (1985) – 4 (your average crappy women-in-jungle-prison film)