My Month at the Movies - February 2015

Wandei Mayıs 04, 2022

Okay, so this would be the second installment of the "My Month at the Movies" feature on the blog, although I did several years worth of monthly recaps, so if you're familiar with those, this is pretty much the same. What I present to you in the following post is a ranked list (from best to worst) of EVERYTHING I saw last month (BOOK movies and non-BOOK movies). I've made it my goal in 2015 to watch more movies than I did in 2008 - which, since I've been keeping track, is the calender year where I watched the most movies (311 to be exact). I watched four less movies in February than I watched in January for a total of 37 in February and a grand total of 81 for the calender year thus far (counting the three I've watched in March so far).

FEBRUARY 2015 FILM DIARY - BEST TO WORST (37 FILMS)
1. Dogville (2003 - Lars Von Trier) 10/10
2. The Hunt (2012 - Thomas Vinterberg) 9/10 review
3. Carnal Knowledge (1971 - Mike Nichols) 8.5/10
4. The Miracle Worker (1962 - Arthur Penn) 8.5/10
5 & 6. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2013 - Lars Von Trier) 8/10 review
7. Nightcrawler (2014 - Dan Gilroy) 8/10 quick thoughts
8. Melancholia (2011 - Lars Von Trier) 8/10
9. Rififi (1955 - Jules Dassin) 8/10 quick thoughts
10. Whiplash (2014 - Damien Chazelle) 7.5/10 quick thoughts
11. On Golden Pond (1981 - Mark Rydell) 7.5/10
12. [REC] (2007 - Balaguero, Plaza) 7/10 quick thoughts
13. The Boondock Saints (1999 - Troy Duffy) 7/10
14. Antichrist (2009 - Lars Von Trier) 7/10 review
15. The Theory of Everything (2014 - James Marsh) 7/10
16. Wit (2001 - Mike Nichols) 6.5/10 quick thoughts
17. The Godfather: Part III (1990 - Francis Ford Coppola) 6.5/10 review
18. Boyhood (2014 - Richard Linklater) 6.5/10
19. Caddyshack (1980 - Harold Ramis) 6.5/10 quick thoughts
20. Knocked Up (2007 - Judd Apatow) 6.5/10 quick thoughts
21. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991 - Bahr, Hickenlooper, Coppola) 6.5/10 review
22. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973 - John D. Hancock) 6/10
23. Words and Pictures (2013 - Fred Schepisi) 5.5/10 quick thoughts
24. Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969 - Koji Wakamatsu) 5.5/10 quick thoughts
25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014 - Wes Anderson) 5.5/10
26. Pretty In Pink (1986 - Howard Deutch) 5.5/10
27. The Life of David Gale (2003 - Alan Parker) 5.5/10 quick thoughts
28. Passenger (1963 - Andrzej Munk) 5/10 review
29. Manderlay (2005 - Lars Von Trier) 4.5/10
30. What Lies Beneath (2000 - Robert Zemeckis) 4/10 review
31. Alien 3 (1992 - David Fincher) 4/10
32. Mon Oncle (1958 - Jacques Tati) 4/10 review
33. Playtime (1967 - Jacques Tati) 4/10 review
34. In a Year with 13 Moons (1978 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder) 4/10
35. Birdman (2014 - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) 4/10
36. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 - Richard Brooks) 3.5/10 quick thoughts
37. Andrei Rublev (1969 - Andrei Tarkovsky) 3.5/10 review

BOLD = 1001 MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE

I meant to write reviews for all those 2014 films I watched, but time became an issue and then I also promised myself that I wouldn't force myself to write if I didn't feel like it. It was an EXTREMELY disappointing month, as I'd gone out and blind bought Birdman, as I was sure that I'd at least like it, if not love it. I actually ended up almost hating it. Likewise for Grand Budapest and Boyhood (although I somewhat liked the latter, yet still was disappointed). Honestly, I don't think anyone who was nominated for Oscars this year deserved their nomination (save for a choice few) and since when do we give out awards for mediocrity (I'm looking at you Patty Arquette!). In a perfect world, Ralph Fiennes (for Budapest) and Jake Gyllenhaal (for Nightcrawler) would've gotten Best Actor nods and Gyllenhaal would've walked out with it easily. His performance in Nightcrawler was easily the best acting performance I've seen from 2014 (or maybe neck and neck with J.K. Simmons' Whiplash performance). It was a big month for Von Trier and I have the rest of his filmography on my Netflix queue (save for The Idiots, which they don't have - any help on where I can track it down would be appreciated). Lots of good stuff this month too though, with Nymphomaniac, Melancholia, Rififi, The Hunt, Carnal Knowledge, Nightcrawler and The Miracle Worker all being first time viewings for me and all paying off. Nothing stellar from THE BOOK this month, as the Tati films were a bust and the few others I saw ranged from bad to *meh*.

And now, some stills from MY MONTH AT THE MOVIES. See ya next month!

THE GODFATHER: PART III