Thursday, March 1, 2012

MARCH, 2012 :: movies

BLUEBEARD     ★★★★★
Edgar G. Ulmer, 1944, USA
     












PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN     ★★★★★
Albert Lewin, 1951, UK
     

MARCH, 2012 :: books

TREATISE ON ELEGANT LIVING     ★★★★★
Honoré de Balzac, 1830, Wakefield Press (2010), tr. Napoleon Jeffries
     



























GOLD     ★★★★★
Blaise Cendrars, 1925, Peter Owen Modern Classics (2003), tr. Nina Rootes
     


























SELECTED WRITINGS     ★★★★☆
Paul Valéry, 1895-1945, New Directions Publishing (1964), tr. variou
     


























JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH     ★★★☆☆
Jules Verne, 1864, Penguin Classics (2009), tr. ?
     



























A RUSSIAN DOLL AND OTHER STORIES     ★★★☆☆
Adolfo Bioy Casares, anthology, New Directions Publishing (1992), tr. Suzanne Jill Levine
     

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

FEBRUARY, 2012 :: movies

6 BOROWCZYK SHORTS     ★★★★★
Walerian Boroczyk, 1957/1984, Poland/France
     












14 AUBIER SHORTS     ★★★★★
Pascal Aubier, 1965/2000, France
     












GOTO, ISLAND OF LOVE     ★★★★★
Walerian Borowczyk, 1968, France, Goto, l'île d'amour
     









THE STORY OF SIN     ★★★★★
Walerian Borowczyk, 1975, Poland, Dzieje grzechu
     








POTO & CABENGO     ★★★★★
Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1980, USA/West Germany, [R]
     












MADAME BOVARY     ★★★★☆
Vincente Minnelli, 1949, USA
     











THE FIRST TIME     ★★★★☆
Frank Tashlin, 1952, USA
     











APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS     ★★★★☆
Jacques Tourneur, 1953, USA
     











MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT?     ★★★★☆
Howard Hawks, 1964, USA
     








HIGH CRIME     ★★★★☆
Enzo G. Castellari, 1973, Italy, La polizia incrimina la legge assolve

          .








LE CHANT DU DÉPART     ★★★★☆
Pascal Aubier, 1975, France
     












IL SE PEUT QUE LA BEAUTÉ AIT RENFORCÉ NOTRE RÉSOLUTION - MASAO ADACHI     ★★★★☆
Philippe Grandrieux, 2011, France/Japan
     







THE BEAUTIFUL BLONDE FROM BASHFUL BEND     ★★★☆☆
Preston Sturges, 1949, USA
     











MADAME BOVARY     ★★☆☆☆
Jean Renoir, 1933, France
     











BULLHEAD     ★☆☆☆☆
Michael R. Roskam, 2011, Belgium, Rundskop
     

FEBRUARY, 2012 :: books

MADAME BOVARY     ★★★★★
Gustave Flaubert, 1857, Norton Critical Editions (2004), tr. Eleanor Marx Aveling
     




























IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA     ★★★★☆
Raymond Roussel, 1910, Dalkey Archive Press (2011), tr. Mark Polizzotti
     


























THE COSMOLOGICAL EYE     ★★★★☆
Henry Miller, 1936-1939, New Directions Publishing (1961)
     



























DO YOU HEAR THEM     ★★★★☆
Nathalie Sarraute, 1973, Dalkey Archive (2004), tr. Maria Jolas
     




























THE MELANCHOLY OF RESISTANCE     ★★★★☆
László Krasznahorkai, 1989, New Directions Publishing (2002), tr. George Szirtes
     



























LES CHANTS DE MALDOROR     ★★★☆☆
Comte de Lautréamont, 1868-1869, New Directions Publishing (1965), tr. Guy Wernham
     



























SIDDHARTHA     ★★☆☆☆
Hermann Hesse, 1922, New Directions Publishing (1957), tr. Hilda Rosner
     

Sunday, January 1, 2012

JANUARY, 2012 :: movies

THE CHESS PLAYER     ★★★★★
Raymond Bernard, 1927, France, Le joueur d'échecs

          











BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE     ★★★★★
Henry Hathaway, 1956, USA

          




MESSIAH OF EVIL     ★★★★★
Willard Hyuck/Gloria Katz, 1973, USA, [R]

          The masterpiece of American Independent Horror





A HASH HOUSE FRAUD     ★★★★☆
Edwin Frazee, 1915, USA

          











THE DAY HE ARRIVES     ★★★★☆
Hong Sang Soo, 2011, South Korea, Book chon bang hyang

          







THE TURIN HORSE     ★★★★☆
Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011, Hungary, A Torinói ló

          








FATHER SERGIUS     ★★★☆☆
Yakov Protazanov/Alexandre Volkoff, 1917, Russia, Otets Sergiy

          











LA LECTRICE     ★★★☆☆
Michel Deville, 1988, France

          

JANUARY, 2012 :: books

THE ASTONISHED MAN     ★★★★★
Blaise Cendrars, 1946, Peter Owen Modern Classics (2004), tr. ?
     



























SELECTED WRITINGS     ★★★★☆
Blaise Cendrars, 1907-1956, New Directions Publishing (1962), tr. Walter Albert, John Dos Passos, Scott Bates, and H. L. Stuart
     



























CONFESSIONS OF DAN YACK     ★★★★☆
Blaise Cendrars, 1929, Peter Owen Modern Classics (2002), tr. Nina Rootes
     



























TO THE END OF THE WORLD     ★★★★☆
Blaise Cendrars, 1956, Peter Owen Modern Classics (2002), tr. Alan Brown
     


























ALIEN HEARTS     ★★★★☆
Guy de Maupassant, 1892, NYRB Classics (2009), tr. Richard Howard
     




























THE WIDOW     ★★★☆☆
Georges Simenon, 1942, NYRB Classics (2008), tr. John Petrie
     




























MAIGRET AND THE KILLER     ★★☆☆☆
Georges Simenon, 1969, Harcourt Brace Jan (1971), tr. ?
     

Thursday, December 1, 2011

DECEMBER, 2011 :: movies

MONTE CRISTO     ★★★★★
Henri Fescourt, 1929, France

     










UNA DONNA HA UCCISO     ★★★★★
Vittorio Cottafavi, 1952, Italy

     










TRAVIATA '53     ★★★★★
Vittorio Cottafavi, 1953, Italy

     










ADORABLE MENTUESE     ★★★★★
Michel Deville, 1962, France

     








UNA DONNA LIBERA     ★★★★☆
Vittorio Cottafavi, 1954, Italy

     










LA VENDETTA DI ERCOLE     ★★★★☆
Vittorio Cottafavi, 1960, Italy

     





THE 100 HORSEMEN     ★★★★☆
Vittorio Cottafavi, 1964, Italy, I cento cavalieri

     





DIARY OF A SUICIDE     ★★★★☆
Stanislav Stanojevic, 1973, France, Le journal d'un suicidé

     









HUCKLEBERRY FINN     ★★★☆☆
William Desmond Taylor, 1920, USA