2009 Notebook: Vol 1

In an effort to keep better track of all the films I'm watching this year, in addition to making some changes throughout the blog, I'll be doing as I did with 2008 releases and listing the last 10 films I've caught. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to categorize the ones I'm seeing for the first time, as placing them in just three tiers was about as beneficial as a "thumbs up" recommendation. I figure the categories will come to me the more I see the films. As well as this, I'm planning on releasing Top 10 (or 20) lists for each of the years of the past decade, with films ranked according to their official release date. Thus, I won't be ranking the films I'm revisiting, but many will (or won't) appear come the end of March when I tackle 2000, eventually heading toward 2009. So here are the first 10, most of which were old favorites as the drive to catch new films has waned since the new year.

Good, If Not Totally Remarkable

Import/Export - dir. Ulrich Seidl - Austria - 2007 - N/A - with Ekateryna Rak, Paul Hofmann, Michael Thomas, Maria Hofstätter, Georg Friedrich

Almost Really Good, Ultimately Not So Much

The Mothman Prophecies - dir. Mark Pellington - USA - 2002 - Columbia Pictures - with Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Will Patton, Alan Bates, Debra Messing, David Eigenberg

Revisited

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - dir. John Cameron Mitchell - USA - 2001 - Fine Line Features - with John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin, Stephen Trask, Alberta Watson, Maurice Dean Wint

In Bruges - dir. Martin McDonagh – UK – 2008 - Focus Features – with Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Jérémie Renier, Thekla Rueten, Zeljko Ivanek

The Living End - dir. Gregg Araki - USA - 1992 - Strand Releasing - with Craig Gilmore, Mike Dytri, Darcy Marta, Mary Woronov, Johanna Went

Mysterious Skin - dir. Gregg Araki - USA/Netherlands - 2004 - Tartan Films/TLA Releasing/Strand Releasing - with Joseph Gordon Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Bill Sage, Elisabeth Shue, Jeffrey Licon, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Billy Drago

Otto; or Up with Dead People - dir. Bruce LaBruce – Canada/Germany – 2008 - Strand Releasing – with Jey Crisfar, Katharina Klewinghaus, Marcel Schlutt, Susanne Sachße, Guido Sommer, Christophe Chemin, Gio Black Peter

The Raspberry Reich - dir. Bruce LaBruce - Germany/Canada - 2004 - Strand Releasing - with Susanne Sachße, Daniel Bätscher, Andread Rupprecht, Anton Z. Risan, Dean Stathis

Shortbus - dir. John Cameron Mitchell - USA - 2006 - ThinkFilm - with Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Justin Bond, Jay Brannan, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles, Alan Mandell

Wild Things - dir. John McNaughton - USA - 1998 - Columbia Pictures - with Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards, Neve Campbell, Theresa Russell, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Bill Murray, Robert Wagner