Movies Watched -- Klute (1971)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

118 minute running time so about 20 minutes too long, which is a shame … this isn’t terrible, I didn’t hate it. The squalor of 1971 New York City on full display as is a glimpse of the World Trade Center (under construction) … Roy Scheider with a bowl cut … Donald Sutherland playing a square but not really … Hanoi Jane wearing her corduroy jacket and no bra to see her therapist … It gets a solid yellow rating, though John Farr recommended it. There were a lot of decent 1971 movies (French Connection, Straw Dogs, etc.), and this one fits right in there to give a flavor of the times.

Jane not darning socks in Tuscarora

Best Thriller / Mystery Movies of the 1990s

Added on by C. Maoxian.

These are the best thriller / mystery movies of the 1990s according to John Farr. I’ve arranged them chronologically below:

English-language movies:

  1. Goodfellas (1990)

  2. Hidden Agenda (1990)

  3. Miller's Crossing (1990)

  4. Reversal of Fortune (1990)

  5. The Grifters (1990)

  6. The Hunt for Red October (1990)

  7. The Rapture (1991)

  8. Thelma and Louise (1991)

  9. A Few Good Men (1992)

  10. Let Him Have It (1992)

  11. Malcolm X (1992)

  12. One False Move (1992)

  13. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

  14. The Crying Game (1992)

  15. Carlito's Way (1993)

  16. The Fugitive (1993)

  17. True Romance (1993)

  18. Clean, Shaven (1994)

  19. Fresh (1994)

  20. Heavenly Creatures (1994)

  21. Pulp Fiction (1994)

  22. Speed (1994)

  23. The Last Seduction (1994)

  24. Apollo 13 (1995)

  25. Dead Man Walking (1995)

  26. Heat (1995)

  27. Seven (1995)

  28. Sister My Sister (1995)

  29. The Usual Suspects (1995)

  30. To Die For (1995)

  31. Bound (1996)

  32. Fargo (1996)

  33. Lone Star (1996)

  34. Primal Fear (1996)

  35. Cop Land (1997)

  36. Donnie Brasco (1997)

  37. Hard Eight (1997)

  38. Jackie Brown (1997)

  39. L.A. Confidential (1997)

  40. The Apostle (1997)

  41. A Simple Plan (1998)

  42. Croupier (1998)

  43. Following (1998)

  44. Out of Sight (1998)

  45. The Big Lebowski (1998)

  46. The Interview (1998)

  47. A Civil Action (1999)

  48. The Insider (1999)

  49. The Sixth Sense (1999)

  50. The War Zone (1999)

Foreign-language movies:

  1. Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990) (Swedish)

  2. Monsieur Hire (1990) (French)

  3. La Femme Nikita (1991) (French)

  4. Europa (1992) (German)

  5. Hard-Boiled (1992) (Cantonese)

  6. Man Bites Dog (1992) (French)

  7. 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994) (German)

  8. The Kingdom (1994) (Danish)

  9. La Promesse (1996) (French)

  10. Zero Kelvin (1996) (Norwegian)

  11. Brother (1997) (Russian)

  12. Character (1997) (Dutch)

  13. Funny Games (1997) (German)

  14. Insomnia (1997) (Norwegian)

  15. Open Your Eyes (1997) (Spanish)

  16. Secrets of the Heart (1997) (Spanish)

  17. Seventh Heaven (1997) (French)

  18. Winter Sleepers (1997) (German)

  19. Run Lola Run (1998) (German)

  20. Secret Defense (1998) (French)

  21. In China They Eat Dogs (1999) (Danish)

  22. Running Out of Time (1999) (Cantonese)

Movies Watched -- Going Places (1974)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In French. 118 minute running time so 18 minutes too long. The French title of this is “Les Valseuses” which is slang for “the balls.” This was a strange one, lots of vulgar sexual stuff and nudity, lots of criminality, but it’s also really hilarious and totally absurd, you could tell they had fun making it … young Gerard Depardieu strutting around in his tight pants … definitely not a Hollywood movie … Clockwork Orange must have inspired them and this movie in turn probably inspired Tarantino … I can’t recommend it like John Farr did (“a roguishly erotic, almost nihilistic buddy film”), but I’m glad I saw it and give it a solid yellow rating. I’ve got to check out more of Bertrand Blier’s work.

The back of the DVD case has a blurb from Pauline Kael: “an explosively funny erotic farce — both a celebration and a satire of men’s daydreams.”

Touching something dirty always brings good luck.

Movies Watched -- Chinatown (1974)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

130 minute running time … normally I’d say it’s 30 minutes too long, but will make an exception for Chinatown because it’s one of the best movies of all time … I’ve seen it many times … it’s interesting that Towne wanted a happy ending and it was Polanski who insisted that it ends the way it does… Jack Nicholson was a great actor and this was probably his best role of all time. This is a John Farr reco and of course I second it. Green-go!

Just find the girl.

Best Thriller / Mystery Movies of the 1980s

Added on by C. Maoxian.

These are the best thriller / mystery movies of the 1980s according to John Farr. I’ve arranged them chronologically below:

English-language movies:

  1. Dressed to Kill (1980)

  2. The Shining (1980)

  3. Body Heat (1981)

  4. Prince of the City (1981)

  5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

  6. Thief (1981)

  7. Missing (1982)

  8. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

  9. The Long Good Friday (1982)

  10. The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

  11. Scarface (1983)

  12. Silkwood (1983)

  13. The King of Comedy (1983)

  14. A Soldier’s Story (1984)

  15. The Terminator (1984)

  16. Blood Simple (1985)

  17. Dance with a Stranger (1985)

  18. Runaway Train (1985)

  19. Witness (1985)

  20. Blue Velvet (1986)

  21. Mona Lisa (1986)

  22. Fatal Attraction (1987)

  23. House of Games (1987)

  24. The Untouchables (1987)

  25. Dead Ringers (1988)

  26. Die Hard (1988)

  27. Mississippi Burning (1988)

  28. The Accused (1988)

  29. Do the Right Thing (1989)

  30. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

  31. Sea of Love (1989)

Foreign-language movies:

  1. The Last Metro (1980) (French)

  2. L'Argent (1983) (French)

  3. Cop Au Vin (1984) (French)

  4. The Official Story (1985) (Spanish)

  5. Scene of the Crime (1986) (French)

  6. A Short Film About Killing (1987) (Polish)

  7. Story of Women (1988) (French)

  8. The Vanishing (1988) (Dutch)

  9. The Killer (1989) (Cantonese)

  10. The Seventh Continent (1989) (German)

Movies Watched -- 3 Days of the Condor (1975)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

117 minute running time so around 20 minutes too long … Robert Redford running around the streets of mid-1970s Manhattan, Faye Dunaway and her amazing cheekbones … prominent shots of the World Trade Center, both outside and inside … an old Ford Bronco … his pea coat … the computers and telecom equipment shots … Max von Sydow as bad guy with bad mustache … a CIA within the CIA and paranoia and post-60s conspiracy stuff … this is John Farr reco but it only gets a yellow rating from me, mostly as a period piece.

This whole damn thing was about oil!

Movies Watched -- Just Another Love Story (2008)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Danish. 104 minutes so just about the right length. The Danes know how to make good movies (and TV), they understand how to tell a story … this is a legit mystery / thriller and good ones are hard to come by, so I’ll give it a green-go … might be hard to find, I had to BUY a copy. This was a John Farr recommendation, and I second it.

Thank you, Sebastian. For being so wonderfully courteous, kind, ordinary, and normal.