First half of 2010

Finally (finally) caught Blue Velvet at the Brattle the other night. FABULOUS. I loved it.

And hey! We're halfway through 2010 already! So I thought I'd go ahead and rank the films I've seen thus far...

Winter's Bone (hey! Guess what? This is playing RIGHT NOW. You can go see it RIGHT NOW.)
Red Riding: 1974
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Fish Tank (2009/2010 release, but I saw it in January, so I'm adding it here)
Red Riding: 1980
Perrier's Bounty
Cell 211
Red, White and Blue
The Killer Inside Me
The Crazies

All of the above are really fantastic and well worth checking out. Hmmm.... been sort of a violent year thus far. And no - I haven't seen Red Riding 1983 yet....

The following films you may enjoy, depending on your mood and preferences:

Kick Ass
Iron Man 2
I Love You Phillip Morris
Marwencol
Micmacs
Alice in Wonderland
Tiny Furniture
How to Train Your Dragon (in 2-D. I'm fairly certain this would be higher in 3-D, but I was on a plane.)
Anne Perry: Interiors
October Country
Shutter Island
Down Terrace
The Extra Man
Cracks

Non-2010 releases (because apparently I don't watch movies on netflix anymore):
Awesome:
Lars and the Real Girl
Hunger
Bronson
Blue Velvet

Worth checking out:
There Will Be Blood
Quantum of Solace
Hangover
Terminator 3

Ummmm - not so much:
Withnail & I
Rashomon
Nine

Most anticipated for the next 6 months? Ondine, I am Love, Red Riding 1983, The Girl who Played with Fire and Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Inception, Salt, Animal Kingdom, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, happythankyoumoreplease, Centurion, Never Let Me Go, Conviction (JUST GIVE SAM ROCKWELL AN OSCAR), Harry Potter, The Fighter. Some others, too, without release dates, which may get pushed to 2011.

And of course some that will depend on reviews, like Red.

Speaking of mid year reports, here is one from IndieWire.

Also - the next two months at the Brattle are fab. A Cabaret mini-rep, a bunch of noir, the restored Metropolis and a bunch of the best of the oughts - which includes a TON of films I really should have seen by now and haven't (Wendy & Lucy, The Lives of Others, 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days.) PLUS!! A double feature of Zodiac and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - how fabulous is that?!

Woohoo!

I thought I had missed a bunch of films while I was abroad (like Ondine and I am Love), but it turns out that they just haven't opened yet in Boston! I may, however, have missed Agora. Also, Perrier's Bounty is coming back, which I definitely want to see again. And there's a Dennis Hopper festival on at the Brattle, which has a few movies I've always been meaning to see.

I'm sorry the bigger releases aren't up to snuff this summer. I had hopes that the A Team or Jonah Hex could turn out to be campy fun. I guess I'll go watch District 9 again, instead. (I'll still be seeing Prince of Persia, though...) I'm debating Splice. It turns out that I was spoiled for the third act stuff a while ago, but I do like Sarah Polley...

While I was abroad I did manage to see I Love You Philip Morris, which is in the running for most cursed movie around since it STILL hasn't been released in the US. It's good, although it is much more dramatic than it is being marketed as. I also saw Nine, which was horrendous. Seriously, Rob Marshall, what happened?

As a reminder, Winter's Bone is currently out, and it is absolutely a MUST SEE film. This year's Hurt Locker, if you will. Please go check it out. And The Killer Inside Me opens next week and is worth checking out if you aren't too squeamish.

Due to being abroad I've dropped to 76th in my box office game. *sniff*

I'll try to post some travel notes soon.