Alvarez Kelly (1966)

During the American Civil War, a man who provides cattle for the North is kidnapped by a Southern general and forced to steal that cattle.

An epic story, eventful and entertaining. In my opinion, films such as this one prove that the western did not decay as a genre in the 60s. The number of productions was smaller, but they were mostly good ones.

Rating: 58

Melancholia (2011)

Two sisters. The first one suffers from depression and is getting married in the first part of the movie. The second one suffers from anxiety, which in the second part of the movie is made worse by news of the impending passage of a planet near Earth.

Trier has a good idea for each and every movie he has ever made, and manages to blow it in each and every one of them (I haven't seen The Kingdom or Epidemic, so count them out of that statement; it's probably well to count Europa out too, just in case). Succinctly put, the big idea here is to explore melancholy (or depression, as it is called nowadays) as a transcendental concept, which lives inside of Justine, and which Claire manages to keep outside her, only to see it embodied as a gigantic celestial body spelling doom. Justine is naturally immune to it, in psychological terms, which is what counts. Like its predecessor Antichrist, it seems to mark a bergmanesque phase in Trier's career (Melancholia has points of contact with Persona, perhaps). But, unlike in Bergman's films, here it all turns into poor cinema. And for (Anti)christ's sake, someone buy this guy a tripod.

Rating: 39

Wag the Dog (1997)

A president is accused of sexual molestation near reelection time. A man is called in to solve the situation, and stages a war to cover the sex story.

More or less a one-joke movie. For a better film on a similar theme see Capricorn One (1978).

Rating: 50

Eid milad Laila (2008)

English title: Laila's Birthday.

A day in the life of a taxi driver (who is a former judge) in Palestine.

Watchable.

Rating: 39

Blazing Saddles (1974)

A crooked government official wants to drive the people of Rock Ridge out of town and buy all the land there, because the railroad will pass there increasing the value of the land.

Second viewing. It begins as a ferocious satire of the U.S. of 100 years ago. Whether and how that reverberates to present-day U.S. is anybody's guess. The rest of it is sheer ludicity.

Rating: 63 (unchanged)

Willard (2003)

Based on a novel by Stephen Gilbert.

A lonely man is abused by his boss and by his mother. He develops a form of communication with the rats in his house, one of whom becomes his best friend.

Interesting horror story, with Freudian connotations.

Rating: 57

Mimi wo sumaseba (1995)

English title: Whisper of the Heart.

A girl of about 13 is a voracious reader. She wanders about the suburbs, following a cat. She is intrigued by a mysterious boy who reads all the books she loans from the library before her. The awakening of love. Familial interactions. School.

Animation. Quite agreeable chronicle of early adolescence. The visuals are impressively realistic.

Rating: 59

The Tree of Life (2011)

The story of a child, his difficult relationship with his father, also his relationship with his mother and two younger brothers. There are several non-narrative stretches which seem to tell the story of life on Earth.

Though fatally hampered by its new-age-ish kitsch style, the narrative-oriented stretches have some dramatic density to them which is, to some extent, genuine. The plot is structured upon three biblical myths: Job, Cain and Abel, and Isaac's sacrifice. The first one is ostensive, through explicit quotations, the second one permeates the story in a more implicit manner, the third one is very subtle and may not be there at all, according to the adopted interpretive viewing stance. Pitt's resemblance to Dean may be a nod towards East of Eden, a better film on a similar theme.

Rating: 40

The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

A Mathematics professor places an ad looking for a girlfriend and meets a Literature professor. They establish a sexless relationship, according to his theories. But she isn't all that comfortable with the situation.

I found this film quite incompreehensible, in human terms. Which does not mean that on some abstract level it cannot be endured (on account of the cinematography, mainly). I suspect it's all a joke around the fact that Barbra is actually quite gorgeous. And also around the other fact that one cannot make a theme out of the manipulation of people by movies when one is a character in a movie: the purported critique becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Rating: 26

Black Caesar (1973)

The rise and fall of a black criminal, from childhood to adult age.

Crime melodrama of crude craftsmanship.

Rating: 38