TO END ALL WARS

TO END ALL WARS (2001, USA, David L. Cunningham, Brian Godawa screenplay from Ernest Gordon book

TO END ALL WARS is a film with something to say. Which turns out to be its great strength, as well as its greatest weakness.

I should have loved this film – it's about self-sacrificing heroism in the face of impossible circumstances, the power of forgiveness over hatred, the futile tragedy of war and God's way of peace in the midst of it. And I was pulling for it – ever since reading the glowing article in Books & Culture a couple summers ago, then hearing of the film-makers' travails trying to get it onto big screens or into video stores, I've been wanting this project to succeed.

The premise is a great one, and the story true, inspired by Ernest Gordon's auto-biographical Miracle On The River Kwai. It comes out of the same brutal prisoner of war camps that gave us the deeply affecting BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. The Japanese are striving to build a strategic railroad link to India, and they are willing to sacrifice their prisoners to build it on an impossible schedule. How will these men stay alive in such extreme and hopeless conditions?

The men begin a secretive "jungle university," teaching one another whatever they know best: the philosophy of Plato, the poetry of Shakespeare, or the radical teachings of Jesus. In so doing, they discover purpose and hope. Screenwriter Brian Godawa draws out the deepest of Christian truths in this horrific but anything-but-God-forsaken setting. There is a spiritual maturity here that very few films achieve. When a man like Ernest Gordon – who survived the camps and went on to serve as chaplain at Princeton University for a quarter century – speaks of the faith, his experience gives him immense authority, and Godawa brings a passion and wisdom to the task of rendering these truths into cinema that is in turn inspiring.

Unfortunately, it may be his very eagerness to convey these insights that undermines the effectiveness of the story he seeks to tell.

In his book Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films With Wisdom & Discernment, Brian Godawa insists that every film is, fundamentally, an embodiment of a philosophy, and that what Christians who watch films should really be watching – or watching out for – are the underlying worldviews. It almost feels as though he sees a movie as a bottle, and what really counts is the message inside: we need to smash the bottle, sift through the broken glass and dig out the message concealed inside so we can decide whether it's Christian or not.

TO END ALL WARS doesn't require much sifting or digging – the worldview is front and center, displayed in the way he fashions his characters and spelled out in an ever-present voice-over. The film-makers don't want this picture to be described as "a Christian film," but for all its strong language and refusal to solve every problem with a conversion, I'm afraid it still feels like propaganda. That's the real problem with "Christian films" – their preaching. Worse swearing and better theology and production values only provide a higher-quality varnish on what is, after all, still a pulpit. TO END ALL WARS doesn't hand us pat answers, but it hands us answers nonetheless, or at least theme statements, in a way that leaves little room for ambiguity or mystery.

This message-first approach results in a film that is far too easily reduced to a tidy character chart. We realize early on that Campbell embodies The Loyal-But-Driven Military Man, Dusty is the personification of Compassionate Self-Sacrifice, Ernest will have to choose between their two worldviews, and Reardon ("Yanker") will serve as the central character's irascible foil – and there just aren't enough surprises in the journeys of those emblematic central characters to create real interest.

Compare the baffling, but utterly convincing, character reversals in David Lean's KWAI movie, and the agonizing moral complexities that emerge – not to mention the way we are drawn into the story. The KWAI screenwriters don't explain how people ought to be, so much as observe how they are, in all their mystery and complexity. TO END ALL WARS deals with deeper truths, but it tells too much and shows too little.

Still, there is much to praise. I liked all the performances here, testimony not only to the actors but to the director who inspires such consistently good work from his entire cast. Mark Strong is the Christlike Dusty: trained at the Bristol Old Vic and seasoned in productions at the RSC and the Royal National Theatre, he fills even his silences with such a tremendous sense of presence and calm it's hard to imagine another actor in the role. Kiefer Sutherland gets the most unpredictable and dynamic role as the self-interested American whose true allegiance is often in doubt, and he plays him with an opaque changeability that keeps us guessing, providing much of the story's dramatic interest. I was particularly struck by Yugo Saso, who plays the interpreter with tangible compassion and intelligence.

I wanted to like this film more than I was able to. I applaud its sentiments, cheer its substantial theology – suffering before glory, cross before crown – and admire the persistence it's taken to get this labor of love to the audience it deserves. But it's not a story I should have had to stand outside of – not when the film's preoccupations are so close to my heart.

Should you rent TO END ALL WARS? Absolutely – it's far more worthwhile than 90% of the commercial product you'll find lining the walls of your local video store. Am I glad I saw it? Certainly – this is an important story, well worth telling, and I intend to watch it again. Its message of costly sacrifice and hard-won reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel, and the fact that this story is drawn from actual events demands attention. If only the film-makers had stuck to telling the story, and let the message take care of itself. If only they believed that dramatic action can speak louder than words.

PS Lots of people like this movie better than I did. There's a very good Books & Culture article that redresses the balance.

Available at Videomatica

Originally published at Christianity Today Movies

To End All Wars: Books & Culture

I didn't much care for this one. But since that's a minority opinion among Christian cinephiles, here's a word or two from the other side...

To End All Christian Films
A movie that takes evil seriously.
Eric Metaxas
Books & Culture, July/August 2002, Vol. 8, No. 4, Page 6

Can a Christian film use the "f" word? Well, that's one question. But it begs another: what, exactly, is a Christian film? By my lights, it has become all too fashionable for sophisticated Christians to sneer at Christian artistic efforts. And yet, just between us evangelical chickens: how have things gotten to where reasonable folks will sneer at the mere mention of the phrase "Christian art," as if the juxtaposition of the words were somehow inherently cackle-inducing?

The movie that prompts these questions is To End All Wars, a powerful film that tells the absolutely harrowing tale of a group of Allied POWs conscripted by the Japanese to build the Burma-Siam railway during World War II. Based on a true story told by Ernest Gordon in his book, In the Valley of the Kwai, this movie is bloody, violent, and profound, portraying a raw, full-throated Christianity of the sort that hasn't been much in evidence since, say, Dostoesvsky. It is emphatically not the cinematic equivalent of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

As the story goes, Gordon, played with an inner luminosity by Ciarán McMenamin, is a 24-year-old captain of the 93rd Battalion of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, a decidedly Scottish outfit. Their commander is Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Mclean, played by the extraordinary James Cosmo. In anything Cosmo does he practically bursts out of the screen into a theater near you. He is the sort of sixtysomething tough- guy who might eat Jack Palance and Sean Connery for breakfast with kippers.

When Mclean and the 93rd are captured, they quickly realize that their Japanese captors will accord the Geneva Convention the same respect they accord Marquis of Queensbury Rules. When Major Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle) receives a brutal beating, Mclean explodes in protest and is promptly brutalized himself. Afterward, the bleeding Mclean croaks his plan to his "good boys": they will make their escape as soon as he has healed. But some weeks later, after another impolitic outburst, the great man is killed by his captors, and the futility of escape from this isolated hell becomes quite clear.

Later, Gordon himself is savagely beaten for forgetting to bow to a guard, and is sent to the prison "hospital," known as the Death House, a miserable roach motel wherefrom none return. But a Christian POW, Dusty Miller (Mark Strong), attends to Gordon, giving him his own meager rations and quite miraculously saving his life. Soon thereafter one of the other POWs, knowing Gordon had planned to become a teacher, asks him about the meaning of all their sufferings. Gordon, still smarting from his time in the Death House, isn't interested in answering philosophical questions just yet. But Miller prods him to engage the man, to try answering these questions. "When a man loses hope," says Miller, "he dies."

So Gordon decides to start what he calls a jungle university. There, amid the ghastly stench of the Death House, where the Japanese will not bother them, Gordon kindles hope and life. He begins to teach a few willing pupils, starting with Plato's idea of justice. It is at once completely absurd and quintessentially, achingly human, this handful of broken POWs stirring in their tomb, in their Platonic cave, if you will. But they will not stay here for long studying the shadows within, for Sunday is a-comin', if I may mix Platonic and Christian metaphors (it's been done before). The pathetic group of them there inevitably evoke various archetypal images, from the Fiat Lux of Genesis to the light coming into the world in John's Gospel to Jesus' resurrection. In this cradle and crucible, meaning meets meaninglessness and throttles it, and Life says to Death, be thou removed.

Soon the lessons expand beyond Plato. Another prisoner teaches Shakespeare, and another teaches the men how to play music on instruments that they themselves have fashioned. It is moving and fanciful, and it all happened.

The fatally embittered Major Campbell will have none of this treacle. When he sees that the classes are giving the men another hope besides escape, he despicably tells the Japanese about the school, and they break it up. All the books, a Bible among them, are confiscated.

But Gordon and Miller don't pay Campbell back for his vicious betrayal. They somehow manage to love him, thereby heaping hot coals upon his head. It is to the film's inestimable credit that it can portray Christian love palpably and effectively. But this is only possible because it has portrayed evil effectively first.

We live in a culture where actual evil is almost never portrayed except to give us a frisson of something amid the nothingness, where it is still believed not to exist at all—pious 9/11 caveats notwithstanding—and where the bumpersticker aphorism, "Mean People Suck," is about as out-on-a-limb as most folks are willing to go in that judgmental direction. The innocents who cling to this attenuated version of what the Spanish call realidad would do well to sit through this movie, because the evil level in it is about two-and-a-quarter headspins shy of The Exorcist—and it is all the more affecting, because these horrors are not sensationalistic spookhouse shenanigans but solid, documented, historical facts.

And yet there is something literally demonic in the cruelty and inhumanity of the Japanese soldiers here depicted. Their code of Bushido—a hypermoralistic worldview that is unspeakably racist, unspeakably cruel, and utterly power-worshiping—is what gives the contrasting biblical outlook such relevance and resonance and punch, that gives the few heaven-sent beams of light a cavern of blackest darkness in which to play.

What Christian films—and Christian "art" in general—have lacked is a willingness to portray evil convincingly. It was Milton's Satan and Dante's Inferno that made them two of the most powerful Christian artists of all time. Because they understood evil and did not shrink from it, their depictions of goodness had power. In order to be redemptive, art has to convince us there is something real from which we need redeeming.

Conversely, much secular art in the last half-century illustrates confusion and pain brilliantly but provides no antidote. The screeching hell of marital discord in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives puts the viewer as close to seeing the need for God as any "Christian film" ever has, but stops there. Ditto John Updike's anti-paeans to adultery and suburban ennui; he limns the darkness all so well, so perfectly—too perfectly—and then splits for the golf course. We get universes of darkness without light, and from Christian "artists" we get watts of light without darkness. So it seems a little chiaroscuro is generally in order. Early on in the movie, at Mclean's funeral—which is a genuine Christian funeral rather than the papier-mâché facsimiles Hollywood usually gives us ("dearly beloved…ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and so on)—Miller reminds his fellow prisoners that "there is suffering before glory, there is a cross before the crown." That says it.

Kiefer Sutherland's character, Lieutenant Jim Reardon, is the only one in the film who himself makes the journey from darkness to light. Sutherland portrays the quintessential American, brash and independent to a San Andreas fault. Like some zonked-out Vietnam War GI 25 years ahead of his time, Reardon is content to hang back and groove on the rubble, as it were, figure out how to get by while everyone else sweats about the nasty situation. And so he engages the local black market, procuring rice alcohol and other amenities for himself—and if his selfish self-sufficiency hadn't backfired on him, he might have built a tidy capitalistic empire in the moral darkness. But it backfires badly, and then we see his other quintessentially American traits: heart and soul. Yet we are more inclined to sing "Amazing Grace" than "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Reardon's journey and much of this film can be tough to watch, but when at the end of the movie Gordon's voiceover poses such questions as "At what price mercy?" and "Who is my neighbor?" we don't cringe, we engage. He, and the movie, have well earned the right to pose them. Earning this right separates this film from what is usually termed a Christian film.
Directing his second feature, David Cunningham bobbles the ball here and there: the dramatic arc can be a bit squirrely; the music prods us in spots; and the unshirted brutality might have been pulled back a whisker or three. But to hell with these nits; this is a powerful and profound movie, one that deserves praise and attention and discussion and emulation. The way I reckon, it is the Christian film to end all Christian films. Glory, hallelujah. Onward.

Eric Metaxas (www.ericmetaxas.com) is the author of many children's books, including Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving (TommyNelson).

THE BEST TWO YEARS

THE BEST TWO YEARS (2003, USA, Scott S. Anderson)
It’s all about the work.

The poster gives the set-up. Against a postcard-gorgeous background of windmill and poppies walk four black-suited young missionaries. The first two stride purposefully forward, oblivious to all except their mission. The fourth sees only the book he studies intently. But it's Missionary Number Three who breaks the symmetry, his body turned away from us, snapping a picture as he walks.

Those are Elders Johnson and Van Pelt out front. They're men on a mission, quite literally, and all's right with the world. They've got girlfriends back home, their partnership is working great in a goofy, dorm-room put-down kind of way and most important, their numbers are up in all categories; Discussions taught, Books of Mormon placed, Referrals made, Proselyting hours logged and Challenges issued. (The Weekly Statistics form they fill out looks eerily like a baseball score card, which is, I guess, appropriate for this Made In America religion).

The one with the spectacles bringing up the rear is the newbie, Calhoun, a nerdish, over-eager convert who tries too hard and has no aptitude for the task at hand.

But Missionary Number Three would rather shoot pictures in the park than work his way through a tightly scheduled "To Evangelize" list. They're running late, but it doesn't phase Elder Rogers to take a sudden detour for Dutch baking from a roadside stand. When the squad returns home, he's the one who fools around with Dutch kids in the street. Rogers isn't pass up any chance to stop and smell – or at least photograph – the flowers.

K.C. Clyde is a winsome performer who's nicely cast as this story's doubting disciple. Low key and sardonic, he's at home in his body, eminently watchable. You have to like this guy. He's got a wryly observant sense of humour and an unforced charisma that leaves no doubt Rogers would be one heck of an evangelist if he'd only get his act together.

Which is precisely what our story's about. For reasons that are revealed over the course of the film, Elder Rogers long ago lost his original zeal, and now his very faith may be in question.

Clyde completely succeeds in winning us over with his portrayal of this refreshingly round peg in very square hole, and his work is clearly the film's greatest strength. Unfortunately, it also points up the movie's greatest problem.

Once Rogers regains his faith, he takes no more pictures, takes no more detours, buys no more stroopwafels. Either he or the writer can no longer take time for such peripheral self-indulgence. The character who insisted that numbers don't matter is now running up a record tally, and there's no doubt the movie wants us to take that as an unqualifiedly good thing. More likely, many viewers will conclude this whole Mormon mission business is a pretty driven and life-denying endeavour.

Frankly, Elder Rogers is the only one of these guys I'd want to hang out with. He's savvy, he doesn't get drawn in to the bickering of his dorm-mates, he seems to relish the world with an artist's appreciation, and he wears his top button undone. What's not to like?

But that all changes when he recovers his flagging faith. He gets with the program and, for all we know, becomes pretty much the same as his much less interesting fellow missionaries. Ultimately he tells his partner, "it's all about the work."

What a pity.

This is essentially a relationship story, so the film's other problem is the superficiality of these relationships. Wacky dorm-room shenanigans wear thin pretty quick, and they really aren't an adequate way to explore relationships or character in the first place. The final leave-taking is sadly unaffecting: is this a script problem, or are mission-field relationships really this shallow? These boys share months or years together, but to judge by this film, it's only "time served" – the friendships are only, in the final analysis, about the work, and there's less of a bond among them than I'd expect after a half-decent weekend retreat. Some of the performances play into this problem, going for a two-dimensional comedy that's too broad to work on screen.

The film does succeed in a number of ways, though. David Nibley is strong as Elder Johnson, and he does a nice job with Johnson's own long-awaited story reversal – if only it had come much earlier in the movie, we could have had some far more interesting character development there. Scott Christopher is just right as the potential convert, Kyle Harrison. The music is ear-catching, the exterior photography is eye-catching, and there are some effective uses of simple-but-nifty camera tricks, point-of-view and time-lapse shots that really enhance character development.

THE BEST TWO YEARS is very much a "Mormon movie" – it's about Mormons, by Mormons, for Mormons. The fascinating thing is that it may have real interest for evangelical Christians – especially those who are most likely to consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a non-Christian cult, but who may have more in common culturally than they ever would have imagined.

Over the past decade or two, there has been an explosion of Christian involvement in theatre and film, with churches hiring ministers of drama and films being produced specifically for such a market. Box Office Mojo gives sales figures for movies "produced by Christians outside the Hollywood system to promote their principles" – and alongside THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, LEFT BEHIND, LUTHER and THE JUDAS PROJECT you'll find plenty of LDS titles, everything from THE BOOK OF MORMON and LATTER DAY NIGHT LIVE to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

Fact is, the live theatre tradition among the Latter Day Saints goes back much further than a couple decades, and out of their strong affirmation of performing arts is growing a niche-market film industry that is worth paying attention to. It's not uncommon for films like THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN and GOD'S ARMY to show up on the shelves of neighborhood video stores – where you'll probably find THE BEST TWO YEARS once it finishes its limited theatrical run.

A number of reviewers are cautiously hailing this charming but flawed story as the best Mormon film so far. It's very much in keeping with the spirit of Mormon theatre – in fact, it began as a stage play that was wildly successful with Mormon audiences. It's about evangelism, but it's not primarily evangelistic, it's confessional. Like pageant plays about Mormon settlers making their way to the Promised Valley, this story celebrates the community by giving witness to its shared experience. The opening song makes that connection: "I believe that the Mormons make the best pioneers, so I'm going to the land of the tulips, I'll be knocking out my best two years...".

To its credit, THE BEST TWO YEARS shows a refreshing willingness to acknowledge the foibles and possible problems with some Mormon missionary practices, but the story ultimately comes round to affirming the value of the whole enterprise. Mainstream Christians may have deeper objections to Mormonism than this film acknowledges, but conservative evangelical viewers who can get past those concerns will connect at a human level with the sense of standing outside the prevailing culture, the passionate desire to have a testimony and share it with others, and the often painful tension between the mandate to evangelize and the immense personal and cultural barriers to carrying that out.

My own misgivings have always come down to the strong impression that, overall, this particular church doesn't really get grace. Whatever they may believe about the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, there still seems to be a pervasive belief that, from that point on, you have to earn your way – that you have to do certain things, not do other things, attain certain standards of righteousness and service, in order to qualify for various after-life perks, or maybe even eternal life itself.

I know individual Mormons who share my absolute conviction that Jesus' death wins us eternal life if we simply receive it from Him as a gift, and that nothing we can do will add to that in any way. That is the good news. Wherever individual Christians or specific denominations may differ, on that point there's just no wiggle room. Preach something different, you're not preaching the gospel.

Apart from my affection for the open-hearted charms of this film, or my qualms about questionable artistic choices and story-telling weaknesses, my real concern about THE BEST TWO YEARS is that it conveys a very dangerous message: you are what you earn. "Blessed are the spiritually ambitious, for by hard work they shall earn success." The soundtrack music calls Elder Rogers' predicament "a fall from grace," but I'm troubled by the cause it identifies: "I know deep down the truth is, I've been afraid to toe the line." I hear words about grace, but most of what I see tells me that, really, it's all about works.

I don't know if that's a problem with the film, or with the soil it springs from. But in either case, it just won't do.


An edited version of this review first appeared at Christianity Today Movies.

HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG & 21 GRAMS

Observations on HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG

This is a film that sticks with you. It's rich and intricate, and the more you reflect on its specifics, the more its meaning and mysteries present themselves.

My wife has been mulling ever since we saw the film last night, and at one point she said she thought the film was like a poem. I think she meant that it was moody and sparse and evocative, that it engaged the senses and didn't always make its intentions known: we couldn't constantly see the machineries of plot grinding away. Her comment made me think, though, of film poetry in another sense: this movie rhymes. Over and over again, images and scenes "sound like" what's come before, and in that way the film gains a remarkable sense of unity and interconnectedness. Kathy stops (or is stopped?) on the threshold of "her" home to avoid getting blood on the floor: earlier, Behrani cautioned his son (who didn't seem to care) about getting blood on things when he came into their apartment with his knees bloodied from skateboarding. The plastic bag Kathy's foot is wrapped in is echoed by the garment bag at the end of the film. Nadi offers tea to Kathy – it is the (ironic) welcome of a hostess, it is an offer of friendship that (ironically, again) becomes a marker of cultural difference, but most importantly as the story progresses we come to see that it offers an almost sacramental peace, a healing calm and respite – also a dark irony. Mr Behrani takes tea as an act of meditation, to quiet himself: a slant rhyme to other drinking, which deadens pain. And when Kathy comes into the house a second time, Mrs Behrani has her take a bath to calm herself. The bath and the tea, and the release they offer, end up sounding very much alike by the end of the story. And of course the film's final stanza is deeply satisfying, structurally – a precise rhymed couplet to the opening lines, slightly elaborated.

There are rhymes that are almost entirely visual. The camera takes its time to look at environments, especially the interiors of the various "homes" – there's an intricate rhyme scheme to be found in images of cleaning, the way we regard sinks and taps, the angles of walls and floors and doorways, the different beds these characters sleep in (even the bath tub). It also spends considerable time contemplating exteriors, mostly fog. (I had thought the title or the film slightly deficient in the latter respect, initially: the camera's preoccupation with the latter certainly illustrated that this was a house of fog, but how was it a house of sand? Of course, once we ask ourselves that question, the title seems utterly apt, even biblical.)

The film makers often use the outside environment, the weather in particular, as "pillow shots" between scenes: rather than cut directly from one sequence to the next, scenes are often "cushioned" from one another with images of the outdoors, mostly in fog, often rendered threatening by time lapse techniques. This gives us space to contemplate the events of the story, to let significance soak into us. It also provides a sense of structure and order, as the metre in a poem. And when this framing convention is subtly shifted, it provides another very significant rhyme: on two occasions I can remember, the sped-up cloud or fog imagery is unexpectedly imbedded in the middle of a scene, in such a way that we seem to be looking through the eyes of a character, who responds with alarm to this vision – in one case, Mr Behrani, in the other, Kathy. A potent camera technique which has provided space and structure suddenly becomes something more: not allowed to stand outside the story, like a frame around a picture, these images become part of the character's experience within the story. This vision is now shared by the characters themselves. They are seeing evidence that events are beyond their control and moving much too fast: time is out of joint, the natural order has been violated, the world cascades into the sea. There's something Shakespearean in this imagery of nature responding to wrong and dreadful choices of humans: "The night has been unruly. Where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, Lamentings heard i' th' air..."

The moment back in Iran when the colonel ordered that chainsaw to be fired up and those mighty trees were leveled, removing any impediment between him and the open sea, some terrible erosion began: there was nothing to keep their lives from slipping, tumbling off the earth and into the ocean like the fog. It was as if he invoked a curse at that moment: in his hubris, something dire was unleashed, and we glimpsed it on the face of the woman on the beach below, alarm and confusion and a helpless anger, her two children running from the sea in a sort of panic. Of course later we realize that these are the wife and children of the man himself, posed in uniform at the railing of his deck, surveying the tree-stripped horizon with satisfaction. And I think of his wife's eventual comment that it was his fault they had to leave their homeland: because we never see the actual events that led to their departure, I couldn't help thinking it was somehow because of the trees. Foolish, of course, but also true? The way a child might misattribute actual specific causes and effects, lacking information or good understanding of their parents' realities, but nonetheless seeing something in the pattern of behaviour. It wasn't this father's cutting of the trees that caused them to have to leave their home, but that act revealed something in his nature that we intuitively understand to be connected with his inability to function under the new regime – something forceful, proud, intransigent, perhaps visionary or idealistic, but also threatening and potentially destructive. There is another visual and narrative rhyme in the two railed decks that view two different seas, two sets of workers wielding tools, cutting wood, imposing Behrani's will on things.

There is a fatefulness in this story that seems close to Shakespeare's tragedies (and I suppose those of the Greeks, and Arthur Miller), and it is truly Shakespearean that the relentless inevitability of events (but not quite inevitability: at so many moments, changing the course of things seems within the characters' grasp) seems not only in the hands of some external fate or fates, and somehow inextricably interwoven with nature, but just as inescapably that it's to be rooted in the natures and consequent actions of the people themselves. Some of the apparent inevitability seems as threatening as it does precisely because these dark consequences arise out of the characters' choices, and we are led to wonder if the inevitability is build into their own hearts. (Another set of visual rhymes involves the times when the colonel – or, for that matter, the sheriff – chooses to don his uniform. Fateful moments all.) It is frightening to think our fates are in the hands of ineluctable natural forces or vengeful gods: when we consider that perhaps our own choices, and the choices of the people around us, are just as inevitably shaped by the darknesses in our hearts, that fear is compounded into real horror – the threat is so close at hand, so undeniable. Some actions will bring destruction, darkness will flow out of us – from our pride and prevarications, from our weakness and addictions, from our disrespect and disregard, from our certainty that we know how things should be and our blind willingness to do all we can to make them so, whatever the cost.

*

...And a few on 21 GRAMS

Massoud Amir Behrani turns to God when his own will and resources can no longer make the world bend to his desires. And God – if there is a god in the world of SAND AND FOG – will have none of it. It may be that there is no god here. It may be that God is powerless, or that this God is detached, uninvolved, or perhaps even vengeful: "Behrani has sought to make himself a god, he shall have the consequences." If there is a God in the world these film makers have made, he's apparently not a rescuing god.

In this I was reminded of Jack Jordan, Benicio Del Toro's deeply flawed character in another film that's all about tragic circumstances, and the violent consequences of tragic flaws in desperate people. He too calls on God to save him, and God doesn't come through. The estimable Jeffrey Overstreet commented that, in 21 GRAMS, "If there is a God, he's gonna hang you out to dry, especially if you try to serve him." His apt comment has led me to wonder how that's different from the God in THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG? Or the book of Job, for that matter.

Jeffrey's reaction to 21 GRAMS was negative: he found the film's emotional tone over-wrought, the narrative devices a smoke-screen for a thin and melodramatic plot, and he took issue with what he saw as a cynical portrayal of the Del Toro character's Christianity (inflamed by interviewer Jeffrey Wells' representation of the director's stance toward Christian faith). It's a completely understandable response, well-stated and well-supported: it just didn't happen to be my response. I thought the intensity of tone seemed suited to the horrific circumstances of the characters (which didn't seem so improbable to me), I found the shattered story-line engaging and invigorating, and I saw Jack Jordan as a violent and violated man clinging, white-knuckled, to the hem of Jesus' garment. From the outset he was haunted by his past, which was completely understandable. He was also grotesquely inconsistent at living out the faith he was clinging to so fiercely and awkwardly – which I also understand, from first-hand experience. And when he brought about a tragedy of unbearable weight, his newly awakened conscience was crushed. I could only wonder if I would fare any better in such a situation.

God didn't rescue him. All I can say is, sometimes God doesn't. God didn't take Mr Behrani's deal, either. I wasn't surprised: life is often like that. "Are we to expect only that which is good from the Lord? And shall we receive no misfortune?" To tell such stories – Job's story, Massoud's story, Jack's story – isn't necessarily cynical or God-denying: in my experience, sometimes God simply doesn't do as He's told. He doesn't behave as we think He should. Now, it's also true that sometimes God does rescue us: sometimes, Jesus saves. Sometimes he lifts us out of our agonizing circumstances, sometimes He works the miracle that calms the storm or raises our dead child from death. But sometimes He does not.

Sometimes we tire of the fact that there are so many stories where Jesus doesn't save, and so few where He does. But what else would we expect? That second truth isn't one that very many people really know, faced with all the hard things that are part of every life, including every Christian life. How many people are able to be wedded to Christ for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? Following Jesus simply isn't something most people are going to do, at least not over the long haul. Not long enough to really get to know Him. Jesus said as much: the Way is narrow and few enter, the Kingdom of God is little like a mustard seed, all that. Most intelligent people clear out when Jesus says "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you" – only a dumb, devoted handful stick around at that point, having nowhere else to go.

A friend who has lived most of his past 20 years in Liberia and Ivory Coast has taught me the way African believers greet one another in those tormented places – a ritual conversation, a reminder, a small everyday liturgy;
You: God is good.
Me: All the time?
You: All the time.
Me: God is good.
That is deep wisdom, coming from people who have suffered it all, and who nevertheless persist in clinging to their God. In neither of these films do the characters know God quite so well. Few of us do. For the most part we count on God to make our circumstances pleasant, and if things in our lives get really nasty – as they do sometimes, in some lives, as in these two films – we are all too likely to conclude that God isn't there, or that He isn't listening, or doesn't care, or is powerless. We ask Jesus for an easy answer, He gives us a hard one, and we go away sad.

We want a God we can order around. We want to put on our uniforms, hire God like a contractor, and have him cut down the trees we don't like, build the deck we desire, free us from our addictions or raise our children from the dead. We'll pay the price if He'll do what we want him to. "And can You start today?"

Both HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and 21 GRAMS are available at Videomatica

Critical Consensus: The Films Of 2003 (MCN)

Critic Top Ten Lists - 2003
compiled by Movie City News

1 Lost In Translation
2 Return of the King
3 Mystic River
4 American Splendor
5 Finding Nemo
6 In America
7 Capturing the Friedmans
8 Master and Commander
9 21 Grams
10 Kill Bill 1

11 City of God
12 Cold Mountain
13 Station Agent, The
13 Elephant
15 House of Sand & Fog
16 Whale Rider
17 Fog of War
18 Spellbound
19 Seabiscuit
20 School of Rock, The

21 Barbarian Invasions
22 Triplettes of Belleville
23 Big Fish
24 Dirty Pretty Things
25 A Mighty Wind
26 Irreversible
27 Magdalene Sisters, The
28 Raising Victor Vargas
29 Thirteen
30 Pirates of the Caribbean
30 Man Without A Past

32 Shattered Glass
33 Russian Ark
34 Son
34 Lilya 4-ever
36 Etre et avoir
37 Bus 174
38 Gerry
39 In This World
40 Winged Migration

41 All The Real Girls
42 Spider
42 Unknown Pleasures
44 28 Days Later
44 Pieces of April
46 Love Actually
47 Secret Lives of Dentists
48 Japon
49 Swimming Pool
50 Man on the Train, The


51 Bend It Like Beckham
51 Bad Santa
51 Monster
54 Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary
55 Last Samurai, The
56 Love & Diane
57 Demonlover
58 Angels In America
58 Ten (Kiarostami)
58 Company, The
58 Good Thief

62 Dancer Upstairs
63 Girl with a Pearl Earring
63 Looney Toons: Back In Action
65 Peter Pan
66 Open Range
66 Down With Love
68 Sweet Sixteen
69 Weather Underground
69 Pianist, The
69 Together

72 Something's Gotta Give
72 Medea
74 Divine Intervention
75 Laurel Canyon
76 Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The
76 Friday Night (Vendredi soir)
76 Platform
79 Northfork
79 Matrix Reloaded

81 Intolerable Cruelty
81 My Life Without Me
83 Blue Car
83 Phone Booth
83 Human Stain, The
86 X2
86 Carnage
86 In The Cut
86 Madam Sata
90 Rivers & Tides
90 Missing, The

92 Chihwaseon
92 Dark Blue
92 Gloomy Sunday
92 Mondays In The Sun
92 Old School
92 Waiting for Happiness
98 Tupac
98 My Architect
98 Stone Reader
98 Stuck On You

102 Matchstick Men
102 Morvern Callar
105 Stevie
105 Distant
109 Owning Mahowny
109 Dogville
111 Songs from the Second Floor
113 Holes

Data compiled January 1, 2004
A&F Top Ten Lists - 2003
compiled by Ron Reed

1 Return of the King 184.5
2 Finding Nemo 157.0
3 Lost In Translation 135.5
4 Master and Commander 106.0
5 Stevie 76.0
6 In America 64.0
7 Son 56.0
8 X2 55.0
9 Spellbound 54.5
10 28 Days Later 49.5

11 Pirates of the Caribbean 48.5
12 Winged Migration 48.0
12 Man Without A Past 48.0
14 Station Agent, The 42.0
15 In This World 41.0
15 American Splendor 41.0
17 House of Sand & Fog 40.5
17 Kill Bill 1 40.5
19 City of God 40.0
20 Dirty Pretty Things 39.0

21 Pieces of April 34.0
22 Whale Rider 32.5
23 Raising Victor Vargas 30.0
24 Triplettes of Belleville 29.0
25 A Mighty Wind 28.5
26 Man on the Train, The 28.0
27 Seabiscuit 26.0
28 Cold Mountain 24.5
29 School of Rock, The 24.0
30 Big Fish 23.5

31 Etre et avoir 23.0
32 Fog of War 21.0
33 Shattered Glass 20.0
33 Bus 174 20.0
33 Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The 20.0
36 Hulk 18.0
37 Angels In America 17.0
38 Open Range 15.0
38 Barbarian Invasions 15.0
38 Shape of Things, The 15.0
38 OT: Our Town 15.0

42 Bend It Like Beckham 14.0
42 Elephant 14.0
44 Holes 13.5
45 Thirteen 13.0
45 Rivers & Tides 13.0
45 All The Real Girls 13.0
48 Intolerable Cruelty 12.5
49 Distant 12.0
50 Drifters 11.0
50 Time of the Wolf 11.0


52 Bright Leaves 10.0
52 25th Hour 10.0
54 Owning Mahowny 9.0
54 Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary 9.0
54 Ten (Kiarostami) 9.0
54 Secret Lives of Dentists 9.0
58 Russian Ark 8.0
58 21 Grams 8.0
58 Northfork 8.0

61 Voices of a Distant Star 7.5
62 Magdalene Sisters, The 7.0
62 Bad Santa 7.0
62 Friday Night (Vendredi soir) 7.0
62 Distant Lights 7.0
66 Matchstick Men 6.5
67 Tears of the Sun 6.0
67 Under the Skin of the City 6.0
67 Levity 6.0
70 Springtime in a Small Town 5.0

71 Better Luck Tomorrow 4.0
71 Capturing the Friedmans 4.0
71 Love Actually 4.0
71 Girl with a Pearl Earring 4.0
71 Decay of Fiction, The 4.0
71 Gospel of John 4.0
71 Gerry 4.0

78 Spider 3.0
78 Bruce Almighty 3.0
78 Guys, The 3.0
78 Tunnel, The 3.0
78 The Cooler 3.0
78 Alien: Director's Cut 3.0
78 Chaos 3.0

85 Irreversible 2.0
85 Lilya 4-ever 2.0
85 Down With Love 2.0
85 Something's Gotta Give 2.0
85 Matrix Reloaded 2.0
85 Blue Car 2.0
85 Matrix Revolutions 2.0
85 Once Upon a Time In Mexico 2.0
85 Calendar Girls 2.0
85 Life of David Gale 2.0
85 Reconstruction 2.0
85 Terminator 3 2.0
85 Mystic River 2.0

98 Last Samurai, The 1.0
98 Nowhere In Africa 1.0
98 He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not 1.0
98 Weather Underground 1.0
98 Derrida 1.0
98 Trials of Henry Kissinger 1.0

Last tabulation February 28, 2004

THE ROOKIE

THE ROOKIE (2002, USA, John Lee Hancock, Mike Rich screenplay)
Your grandfather once told me it was okay to think about what you want to do until it was time to start doing what you were meant to do. That may not be what you wanted to hear.

When there's an envelope taped to a birthday present, you pretty much know what's going to be inside that envelope, but that doesn't mean you don't open it. This movie's a lot like that: it's an inspirational greeting card of a movie – in its look, in the shape and style of its storytelling, and in its "follow your dream" sentiments. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't bother watching it.

When a film sets out to tell the story of a high school science teacher and baseball coach whose uninspired players make him a promise to try out for The Bigs if (against all odds) they win the championship, chances are this story's going to run the base paths in pretty familiar fashion. And when Coach is a guy who hangs a medallion of Rita, patron saint of impossible dreams, from the mirror in his pickup truck, it's pretty much preordained that things are going to work out.

The real surprises come in how this movie gets where it's inevitably going, in the attention it pays to the difficulties human relationships go through in the pursuit of dreams – whether they also happen to be divine callings or not. One of the people at the centre of Jim Morris's life is his father, a preoccupied man made over into the image of the military that owns him and directs his steps: the accomplishment of the movie-makers is not to leave Dad and son stuck there, but to track that troubled relationship on into adulthood, without falsifying it. When the elder Morris advises his son to do what he is meant to do, I couldn't help remembering a similar conversation with my own mother as I faced a decision whether to go into the ministry or to pursue the life of a theatre artist. I wonder if it's just a personal reading, or whether this father's advice doesn't ultimately convey something about the inevitability of living out one's vocation – particularly one that's being steered by the unstoppable Saint Rita and the prayers of a pair of Texas nuns. (On her deathbed, Rita was asked by a visitor if she'd like anything brought from her home town. She asked for a rose. The visitor returned to the family estate, frozen in the middle of winter, and found a single blossom on an otherwise bare rose bush.)

The other central character in this man's life is his wife Lorri, and Rachel Griffiths' portrayal truly provides the centre of gravity for this film. What an actress! She charges the standard-issue strong-but-supportive wife role with tremendous electricity and presence, and every one of her big scenes is filled with unspoken nuance before or between or after the lines – check out her exit from the porch after the talk about their son, her reaction to the sport coat call, or the scene where she finds her husband in the bullpen. I hear she's a regular on SIX FEET UNDER. Almost makes me consider watching television.

For all its too-handsome instant-nostalgia look, the film gives us lots of specific detail as well. The family's arrival in Big Lake, Texas is marked by BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY on the theatre marquee. Elvis sings the gospel-tinged "Midnight Rider" as Morris throws BP. The high school ball games may be predictable in serving exactly the plot functions we know they'll have to serve, but they also feel like ball, and not Big League TV ball either. Jim's son wears his rally cap at a key moment in the game, and we realize that he's getting the kind of fathering his dad never got. It's a treat to see this ordinary father arrive at try-outs beleaguered by the minutae of baby maintenance, and I appreciated the light touch about the "miraculous" increase in this washed-up pitcher's fastball. I love the concision of that next-to-final shot, summing up this man's life and calling in the high school trophy cases, and then the final image of nuns scattering flower petals – they're roses because of Saint Rita, and they're yellow because, well, this is Texas!

I'd recommend this movie for families to watch together – it's a well-made, positive story with faith elements that can provide an entertaining evening together or some great conversation about real questions of vocation or the miraculous. Still, I can't help thinking the writers let us down with this treatment of the true story of Jim Morris's improbable shot at the major leagues – could it be that shrinking the role of faith to a good luck amulet and one pre-game prayer session denies us any sense that Christianity offers anything more than a mix of destiny-shaping magic and civic religion. Does God serve no more role in this believer's life than to provide baseball miracles at the request of some long-ago nuns? Is that what authentic personal faith looks like, or is it just a Hollywood kind of shamanistic superstition?

But most of the time I'm just glad that Hollywood can make a baseball movie – and this is very much a Hollywood movie – that's also about the hard work of marriage and parenting and being parented. More surprisingly, it doesn't feel obliged to negate the power of God that worked in this man's life. In THE ROOKIE, God may be on the bench, but at least He's allowed in the ballpark.

VIEWING JOURNAL

2025

A Complete Unknown (Jan 3, IV, Nick Braun)

Thelma (Jan 7, home, Carole) screenwriterish

Ghostlight (Jan 9, home, Dan Williams New Year)

THE BRUTALIST (Jan 18, Scotiabank, Kenton + Voth)

The Outfit (Feb 9, Netflix) contrived

The Brutalist (Mar 2, Park, 72mm, Nick Braun)

Juror No. 2 (DVD) unconvincing courtroom drama

Saturday Night (Mar 27, DVD) pretty good, great third act, some fantastic performances.

Godzilla Minus 1 / Minus Color (Apr 20/21, macbook) VG

A REAL PAIN (Apr 22/23, macbook at Dad's, PN REC)

 

Bicycle Thieves (May 20, VIFF) VG

Killer of Sheep (May 27, Pacific Cinematheque) VG

Shall We Dance (Jun 14, VIFF)

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (Jun 20, Dad's)

Network (Jun 27, home, Carole)

Lilo & Stitch (Jul 18, Carole & Avilas)

What Time Is It There? VG

BOYHOOD (Sep 7, VIFF, Paul Kirby)

Riefenstahl (Sep 19, VIFF, Rudi Krause)

I Am Cuba (Sep 23, VIFF, Tom Balke) VG

Fort Apache, The Bronx (Sep 24, VHS)

One Battle After Another (Sep 25, premiere screening, SCRiverport) VG

anemone (Oct 14, IV, Nick Braun) [Daniel Day Lewis, Irish recluse] X

a house of dynamite (Oct 15, IV, Elliot Spilsbury) [White House nuclear threat]

BLUE MOON (Nov 12, IV, Elliot Spilsbury)

Sound of Silence (Nov 13, SCR, Carole)

Swimming To Cambodia (Nov 21, laptop)

Bank of Dave (Nov 25, laptop)

O Brother Where Art Thou (Nov 30, VIFF, Carole)

The Place Beyond the Pines (Dec 3, laptop)

Rental Family (Dec 4, SCR, Carole)

the mastermind (Dec 5, Rio)

The Ballad of Wallis Island (Dec 7, laptop)

Breathless - a third of it

Nouvelle Vague (Dec 9, Rio)

Wake Up Dead Man

Jay Kelly (Dec 30, laptop)

The New Yorker: "Anyone who thrilled to the deglammed indie vibes of Margot at the Wedding (2007) may find a slick, starry bauble such as Jay Kelly to be a journey into uncharted realms of schmaltz." Overstated, but apt.

2026

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jan 4, Park, Elliot Spilsbury) 

Eephus (Jan 15, Mubi, Dan Williams New Year)

honey don't (Jan 15, laptop, Dan Williams New Year)

Kim's Video (Jan 19, Mubi)

Grand Theft Hamlet (Jan 22, Mubi)

Sentimental Value (Jan 23, VIFF, Carole)

Islands (Feb 4, VIFF, Carole)

Mean Streets (Feb 8/9, VHS)

marty supreme (Feb 19, Fifth Ave, Elliot)

The Promised Land (Mar 21/22, Prime)

Waiting For Guffman (Mar 25, DVD, Carole) meh

A Mighty Wind (Mar 26, DVD, Carole) much better

The Big Year (Apr 3, Thea, Katie, Carole)

Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (Apr 5, Katie, Thea, Carole)

Project Hail Mary (Apr 11, Carole, Michael and Jan Hart)

black bag (Apr 23, laptop) cold, slick, I bailed

ballad of a small player (Apr 23, laptop) bailed. slick, fast, unlikeable. I want heart, not style

Man With A Movie Camera (Apr 26, VIFF, Rosie)

That's The Way God Planned It (May 7, Park)

The Sheep Detective (May 9, SCR, Carole & Tom Balke)

The Latest From Deseret (May 10, Cinematheque) info@christopherpavsek.ca

Appaloosa (May 11, iMac)

Blue Heron (May 15, VIFF, Peter Senkbeil)

Pressure (Jun 9, SCR, Carole)

The Green Ray (Jun 10, Cinematheque, Elliot)

Stolen Kingdom (Jul 27, Rio)

****

Mary Poppins

Thomasina

Ride The Wild Surf / Around The World Under The Sea

Batman

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Jeremy

Godspell

Jesus Christ Superstar

Doctor Zhivago

Gone With the Wind

Love Story

Play It Again, Sam

Key Largo

Jaws

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

1978

Casablanca (Aug 12, Ridge)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Aug 12, Ridge)

12 Angry Men (Aug 27-30, Ridge)

Witness For The Prosecution (Aug 27-30, Ridge) ?

Take The Money and Run (Sep 3-6, Ridge)

The Producers (Sep 3-6, Ridge)

Rebel Without a Cause (Oct 1-4, Ridge)

East of Eden (Oct 1-4, Ridge)

On The Waterfront (Oct 24-26, Ridge)

The Ugly American (Oct 24-26, Ridge)

1979

Walkabout (Feb 16-18, Ridge)

Julia (Feb 16-18, Ridge)

The Last Waltz (Mar 2-4, Ridge)

Bound For Glory (Mar 2-4, Ridge) ?

Who Has Seen The Wind (Mar 19-22, Ridge)

Lies My Father Told Me (Mar 19-22, Ridge)

Murder on the Orient Express (Apr 2-4, Ridge) ?

Death on the Nile (Apr 2-4, Ridge) ?

Harold and Maude (Apr 13-15, Ridge) ?

Harold and Maude (Jul 19-22, Ridge, Sue) 

King of Hearts (Jul 19-22, Ridge) ?

? THX 1138

? Days of Heaven, Calgary

? The Warriors

1980-82

Eraserhead

Doctor Zhivago (June, 1980)

Harold and Maude (Dec 22/23, Ridge, Carole)

The Hand

The Shining

The Last Wave

1982-84, CalArts

Star Wars #2

Tender Mercies

The Dresser

Terms of Endearment

Rumble Fish

? Christine

? Sirk movie

? nuclear apocalypse movie, CalArts

1985

The Year of Living Dangerously (Jan 13)

The Year of Living Dangerously / Under Fire (Jan 24, Marineview Film Festival)

Tender Mercies / Lies My Father Told Me (Jan 25, Marineview Film Festival)

Superman (Jan 26, Marineview Film Festival)

? The Mission

Stop Making Sense (Feb 16, Ridge)

The Hit (ND, Ridge)

From Mao to Mozart (ND, Ridge)

Birdy (Jun 7, Ridge, Morris)

1986

The Trip to Bountiful

2003

ADAPTATION (Jan 3, Theatre)
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Theatre)
GOSFORD PARK (DVD)
DEKALOG 1, 2, 3 (DVD)
NINE QUEENS (Jan 17, VHS)
MONTEREY POP Disk 3 (Jan 19, DVD)
DOOR TO DOOR (Jan 19, VHS)
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Jan 23, Theatre)
AMERICAN MOVIE (Jan 30, VHS)

THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING (DVD)
THE HOURS (Feb 11, Theatre)
A BUCKET OF BLOOD (DVD)
WHERE'S MARLOWE (VHS)
TWO GIRLS & A GUY (DVD) X

CHICAGO (Mar 1, Theatre)
THE WEIGHT OF WATER (Mar 8, VHS)
THE SON (Mar 14, Theatre)
THE PIANIST (Mar 16, Theatre)
BODY HEAT (Mar 17, VHS)
LAST DAYS OF DISCO (Mar 18, VHS)
SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (Mar 19, DVD)
ONE HOUR PHOTO (Mar 22, VHS)
DRAGNET (Mar 26, VHS)
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (Mar 27, DVD)
THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS (Mar 29, VHS)

DONNIE DARKO (Apr 1, DVD)
THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN (Apr 28, VHS)

HOURS & TIMES (May 3, VHS)
RUSSIAN ARK (May 6, Theatre)
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST (May 6, Theatre)
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (May 11, Theatre)
A MIGHTY WIND (May 12, Theatre)
LAUREL CANYON (May 13, Theatre)
DEATH WISH (May 14, VHS)
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (May 17, DVD)
TWO OF US (May 18, VHS)
MATRIX RELOADED (May 19, Theatre) X
MATRIX (May 21, VHS)
TWIST & SHOUT (May 22, VHS)
TIME OUT (May 29, VHS)
THE MAN ON THE TRAIN (May 31, Theatre)

SPELLBOUND (June 8, Theatre)
PERSONAL VELOCITY (June 20, DVD)
ANDREI RUBLEV (June 21, Theatre)
OLD SCHOOL (Airplane)
THE MIRACLE MAKER (June 25?, DVD)
THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (Schloss Mittersill, DVD)

PALE RIDER (July 13, DVD)
THE SIXTIES (July 18, VHS)
SPIRITED AWAY (July 20, DVD)
OWNING MAHOWNEY (July 21, Theatre)
THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (July 24, DVD)
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN (Theatre)
TWELFTH NIGHT, d. Trevor Nunn) July 28, VHS)
ROMEO + JULIET, d. Baz Luhrmann (July 28, VHS)
ROMEO AND JULIET, d. Franco Zeffirelli (July 31, VHS)

FINDING NEMO (August 3, Theatre)
PHONE BOOTH (August 6, DVD)
IKIRU (August 7, Theatre)
THRONE OF BLOOD (August 7, Theatre)
GOD TOLD ME TO (August 11, VHS)
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (August 11, Theatre)
NOT OF THIS WORLD (August 15, DVD)
OPEN RANGE (August 15, Theatre)
MST3K: POD PEOPLE (August 21, VHS)
MST3K: THE GUNSLINGER (August 21, VHS)
28 DAYS LATER (August 21, Theatre)
THE LOVE BUG (August 22, Drive In)
ETRE ET AVOIR (August 23, Theatre)
GHOST DOG (August 27, DVD)
THE ROOKIE (August 30, VHS)

DEAD MAN (Sep 1, DVD)
LES MISERABLES, d. Bille August (Sep 5, DVD)
LES MISERABLES, d. Claude LaLouche (Sep 7, VHS)
WHALE RIDER (Sep 7, Theatre)
SALESMAN (Sep 8, DVD)
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (Sep 10, DVD)
WINGED MIGRATION (Sep 11, Theatre)
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (Sep 14, VHS)
WISE BLOOD (Sep 16, VHS)
CHILDREN OF HEAVEN (Sep 17, DVD)
GATES OF HEAVEN (Sep 18, VHS)
COOL & CRAZY (Sep 22, DVD)
TEARS OF THE SUN (Sep 24, DVD)
LOST IN TRANSLATION (Sep 26, Theatre)
STOLEN SUMMER (Sep 30, DVD)

THE RAPTURE (Oct 3, VHS)
CONFLICT [AKA Catholics] (Oct 7, DVD)
THE QUIET AMERICAN (Oct 7, DVD)
ANGER MANAGEMENT (Oct 14, DVD)
SCHOOL OF ROCK (Oct 20, Theatre)
FIGHT CLUB (Oct 21, DVD)
DEKALOG IV (Oct 28, DVD)
AMERICAN BEAUTY (Oct 30/31, DVD)

MYSTIC RIVER (Nov 4, Theatre)
WIRED TO KILL (Nov 4, VHS) X
BARCELONA (Nov 5, VHS)
METROPOLITAN (Nov 6, VHS)
THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE (Nov 9, VHS)
ELEPHANT (Nov 15, Theatre)
THE GOOD GIRL (Nov 21, DVD)
ATTACK THE GAS STATION (Nov 23, DVD)

MY NEW GUN (Dec 2, VHS)
MASTER & COMMANDER (Dec 4, Theatre)
21 GRAMS (Dec 5, Theatre)
BRUCE ALMIGHTY (Dec 5, DVD)
A DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Dec 10/11, DVD)
Extended LOTR: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Dec 11, Theatre)
EMMA (Dec 12, DVD)
Extended LOTR: THE TWO TOWERS (Dec 13, Theatre)
THE LAST SAMURAI (Dec 17, Theatre)
THE COMMITMENTS (Dec 18, VHS)
ABOUT A BOY (Dec 19, VHS)
LOTR: RETURN OF THE KING (Dec 27, Theatre)
PETER PAN (Dec 29, Theatre)

2004

LOVE ACTUALLY (Jan 1, Theatre)
THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (Jan 3, Theatre)
I CONFESS (Jan 6, VHS)
LE CONFESSIONNAL (Jan 7, VHS)
ALIENS (Jan 10, VHS)
BIG FISH (Jan 11, Theatre)
THE STATEMENT (Jan 14, Theatre)
IN AMERICA (Jan 14, Theatre)
CONFIDENCE (Jan 16, DVD)
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (Jan 17, Theatre)
SEABISCUIT (Jan 23, Hotel)
TOKYO STORY (Jan 24, Theatre)
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (Jan 25, DVD)
STEVIE (Jan 26, DVD)
GAMBLING, GODS & LSD (Jan 27, DVD)
THE STATION AGENT (Jan 29, Theatre)

LOCAL HERO (Feb 14, DVD)
WHEN WE WERE KINGS (Feb 15, VHS)
FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (Feb 22, VHS)
WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (Feb 23, VHS)
IKIRU (Feb 25, DVD)
THE FISHER KING (Feb 28, DVD)

BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON (Mar 2, DVD)
THE LONELY PASSION OF JUDITH HEARNE (Mar 4, VHS) X
THE BEST TWO YEARS (Mar 4, DVD)
PIECES OF APRIL (Mar 5, DVD)
COLD HEAVEN (Mar 9, VHS) X
CONTROL (Mar 9, VHS)
SECRET WINDOW (Mar 15, Theatre) X
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (Mar 17, Theatre)
NORTHFORK (Mar 30, DVD)
SHATTERED GLASS (Mar 30, VHS)

THE ICE STORM (Apr 3, DVD)
THE RECKONING (Apr 7, Theatre) X
THE EIGHTH DAY (Apr 11, VHS)
THE ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Apr 12, Theatre)
13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING (Apr 13, VHS)
SEDUCING DOCTOR SOMETHINGOROTHER (Apr 14, Theatre)
DOGVILLE (Apr 21, Theatre)
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (Apr 23, VHS)

THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS (May 3, VHS)
THE ADDICTION (May 3, VHS)
BEST IN SHOW (May 4, VHS)
GOODBYE, LENIN! (May 5, Theatre)
CLOSE-UP (May 6, VHS)
HAMLET Ethan Hawke (May 8, DVD)
HIDING AND SEEKING (May 13, Theatre)
MATCHSTICK MEN (May 14, DVD)
THE LIFE & TIMES OF HANK GREENBERG (May 20, VHS)
THE THIRD MIRACLE (May 23, VHS)
COBB (May 27/28, VHS)
BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (May 29, VHS)
FEAR STRIKES OUT (May 29, DVD)

THE SANDLOT (June 1, DVD)
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (June 2, DVD)
THE LONGEST DAY (June 6, DVD)
THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE (June 11, DVD)
TO END ALL WARS (June 12, DVD) X
ARLINGTON ROAD (June 13, DVD)
MY FAIR LADY (June 22, DVD)
HELL HOUSE (June 24, DVD)
THE STATION AGENT (June 25, DVD)
THE MISSING (June 28, DVD)

DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND (July 1, DVD)
FRAILTY (July 1, DVD)
JOHN Q (July 2, VHS)
KILL BILL 1 (July 3, Theatre) 
KILL BILL 2 (July 3, Theatre)
KING ARTHUR (July 5, Theatre)
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE '62 (July 28, DVD)
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE '04 (July 28, Theatre)
RIVERS & TIDES (July 29, Theatre)
RIVERS & TIDES (July 31, Theatre)

SWING KIDS (Aug 2, VHS)
SWIMMING POOL (Aug 3, VHS)
TWIN PEAKS: Pilot Episode (Aug 3, VHS)
TWIN PEAKS: Episodes 001/002/003 (Aug 5, VHS)
TWIN PEAKS: Episodes 004/005 (Aug 6, VHS)
THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL (Aug 9, Theatre)
HAMLET [Branagh] Part I (Aug 10, VHS)
TWIN PEAKS: Episodes 006/007 (Aug 10, VHS)
FIRE WALK WITH ME (Aug 10, VHS)
HAMLET [Gibson] (Aug 12, VHS)
MARIA FULL OF GRACE (Aug 14, Theatre)
COLLATERAL (Aug 16, Theatre)
TITUS (Aug 23, DVD)
ZABRISKIE POINT (Aug 24, VHS)
THE DREAMERS (Aug 25/26, DVD) X
HERO (Aug 31, Theatre)
TWIN PEAKS Pilot + 001-007 counted as 4 films

UNBREAKABLE (Sep 1, DVD)
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Sep 4, DVD)
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (Sep 5, DVD)
TENDER MERCIES (Sep 15, DVD)
THE SON (DVD)
IN YOUR HANDS (Sep 23, Theatre)
ADDICTED TO ACTING (Sep 25, Theatre)
+ 3/7 = 71/96

BRIGHT LEAVES (Oct 2, VHS)
COLD MOUNTAIN (Oct 2, DVD)
FORGIVENESS (Oct 5, Theatre)
TIME OF THE WOLF (Oct 5, Theatre)
SEARCHING FOR THE WRONG-EYED JESUS (Oct 5, Theatre) X
STOKED (Oct 7, DVD)
MONA LISA SMILE (Oct 9, DVD)
MOST ("The Bridge," Oct 14, Theatre)
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (Oct 19, DVD)
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Oct 22, DVD)
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Oct 23, DVD)
A MAN ESCAPED (Oct 29, DVD)
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (Oct 29, DVD)
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Oct 30, VHS)
EVIL DEAD 2 (Oct 31, VHS)

FIELD OF DREAMS (Nov 7, VHS)
CHARIOTS OF FIRE (Nov 7, DVD)
RAY (Nov 7, Theatre)
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (Nov 9, DVD)
THE GODFATHER (Nov 18, DVD)
THE GODFATHER II (Nov 20/21, DVD)
I HEART HUCKABEES (Nov 24, Theatre) X
THE BEATLES: THE FIRST US VISIT (Nov 26, DVD)
GAMBLING (Nov 27, DVD)

AVALON (Dec 4, DVD)
AUTO FOCUS (Dec 6, VHS) X
MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (Dec 7, Theatre)
TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE (Dec 8, DVD)
FINDING NEVERLAND (Dec 10, Theatre)
FINAL SOLUTION (Dec 11, DVD)
THE SEA WITHIN (Dec 15, Theatre)
BEFORE SUNRISE (Dec 17, DVD)
BEFORE SUNSET (Dec 22, DVD)
POLAR EXPRESS (Dec 23, Imax Theatre)
RETURN OF THE KING EE (Dec 25, DVD)
THE INCREDIBLES (Dec 26, Theatre)
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Dec 29, DVD)

2005

Spider-Man 2 (Jan 6, DVD)
Hotel Rwanda (Jan 7, Theatre)
A Very Long Engagement (Jan 7, Theatre) X
Sideways (Jan 9, Theatre) X
The Merchant of Venice (Jan 11, Theatre)
The Return (Jan 13, DVD)
Million Dollar Baby (Jan 15, Theatre)
The Aviator (Jan 15, Theatre)
The Last Man On Earth (Jan 16, DVD)
Tootsie (Jan 22, VHS)
Only You (Jan 29, VHS)

City Of God (Feb 1, DVD)
The Terminal (Feb 13, DVD)
The Village (Feb 26, DVD) X
A Midwinter's Tale (Feb 28, VHS)

Mean Creek (Mar 1, DVD)
Hitch (Mar 5, Theatre)
The Big Red One (Mar 6, Theatre)
Bagdad Cafe (Mar 12, DVD)
Morvern Callar (Mar 15, DVD)
Behind the Red Door (Mar 17, DVD)
Most (Mar 20, DVD)
Men In Black (Mar 22, VHS)
Ghostbusters (Mar 22, VHS)
The Big Sleep (Mar 24, VHS)
City Slickers (Mar 24, DVD)
Falling Down (Mar 24, DVD)
Mystery Men (Mar 25, VHS)
Clueless (Mar 26, VHS)
Most (Mar 30, DVD)

Millions (Apr 3, Theatre)
Joni Mitchell: A Life Story (Apr 10, DVD)
Shadowlands BBC (Apr 12, VHS)
Hotel Depot (Apr 15, DVD)
Legends of the Fall (Apr 16, DVD)
What Dreams May Come (Apr 24, DVD)
The Woodsman (Apr 25, Theatre)

Amelie (May , DVD)
Light Sleeper (May 6, VHS)
Dear Frankie (May 15, Theatre)

Walk On Water (Jun 5, Theatre)
Touch (Jun 8, VHS)
Au Hasard Balthazar (Jun 9, DVD)
Around The Bend (Jun 11, DVD)
Au Hasard Balthazar (Jun 14, DVD)
Around The Bend (Jun 14, DVD)
Birthday Girl (Jun 16, DVD)
Crash (Jun 17, Theatre)
Garden State (June 18, DVD)
Whale Music (June 19, DVD)
Cinderella Man (June 20, Theatre)
Around The Bend (June 26, DVD)
Shadowlands BBC (June 27, DVD)
Bruce Almighty (June 28, DVD)
Hard Eight (June 29, VHS)

Dear God (July 1, VHS)
The Interpreter (July 5, Hotel)
Batman Begins (Theatre)
Dekalog 5 (July 7, DVD)
Dekalog 6 (July 7, DVD)
Dekalog 7 (July 8, DVD)
Dekalog 1 (July 9, DVD)
Crimes & Misdemeanors (Jul 12, DVD)
Heaven [Tykwer] (July 14, VHS)
Fearless (July 16, VHS)
Election (VHS)
The Truman Show (DVD)
The Princess & The Warrior (July 20, DVD)
Run Lola Run (July 21, DVD)
Magnolia (July 21/22, DVD)
Punch-Drunk Love (July 22, DVD)
Signs (July 25, DVD)
Star Wars III
The Last Wave
Gallipoli

Hill Number One (DVD)
Saving Grace
Blade Runner (Aug 13, DVD)
The Quarrel (Aug 12, DVD)
Spartan (Aug 18, VHS)
Red Eye (Aug 19, Theatre)
Shawn Of The Dead (Aug 21, DVD)
Andrei Rublev (Aug 31, DVD)

Step Into Liquid (Sep 1, Theatre)
Son Of Hercules vs. Venus (Sep 2, VHS)
The Man Who Planted Trees (Sep 8, DVD)
The Man Who Planted Trees (Sep 9, DVD)
Spanglish (Sep 10, DVD)
Amistad (Sep 11/12, VHS)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Sep 14, Theatre)
Slumlord (Sep 14, DVD)
Amistad (Sep 16, DVD)
The Constant Gardener (Sep 16, Theatre)
...And God Spoke (Sep 18, DVD)
March of the Penguins (Sep 20, Theatre)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Sep 20, Theatre)
The Celebration (Sep 25, VHS)
Dancer In The Dark (Sep 26, DVD)
Dear Wendy (Sep 27, VHS)
Dog Nail Clipper (Sep 29, Theatre)
Dogville (Sep 30, DVD)
Manderlay (Sep 30, Theatre) X

Arvo Part (Oct 2, Theatre)
Toeing The Line [including On A Sunday] (Oct 2, Theatre)
The Novena (Oct 3, Theatre)
3 Needles (Oct 4, Theatre) X
Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Oct 5, Theatre)
A Man Escaped (Oct 8/9, DVD)
Everything Is Illuminated (Oct 11, Theatre)
Rosetta (Oct 17, DVD)
La Promesse (Oct 18, DVD)
The Verdict (Oct 19, VHS)
Flight Plan (Oct 20, Theatre)
Lost 1:1-2 (Oct 22, DVD)
Lost 1:3-6 (Oct 23, DVD)
A History of Violence (Oct 25, Theatre)
Lost 1: 7-10 (Oct 30, DVD)

Lost 1: 11-16 (early Nov, DVD)
Good Night and Good Luck (Nov 8, Theatre)
Jarhead (Nov 10, Theatre)
Lost 1: 17-18 (Nov 13, DVD)
Lost 1: 19-20 (Nov 15, DVD)
Andrei Rublev (Nov 17, DVD)
The Squid & The Whale (Nov 18, Theatre
Stalker X
Ripley's Game
Lost 21-End
Capote (Nov 29, Theatre)

The Insider (Dec 3, DVD)
Protocols of Zion (Dec 5, Theatre)
In A Lonely Place (Dec 5, Theatre)
No Direction Home (DVD)
Super-Size Me (DVD)
Syriana (Dec 13, Theatre)
Out Of The Past (Dec 14/17, DVD)
Secret Lives of Dentists (Dec 17, DVD)
The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Dec 21, Theatre) X
Touching The Void (Dec 21, DVD)
Stone Reader (Dec 21/22, DVD)
Cannes Advertising Festival (Dec 23, Theatre - last showing at the Ridge)
It's A Wonderful Life (Dec 25, DVD)
OT: Our Town (Dec 30, DVD)

2006

Ryan/Walking/Syrinx (Jan 7, DVD)
My Summer Of Love (Jan 7, DVD)
Hallelujah (Jan 8/, DVD)
Tombstone (Jan 8/, DVD)
Ryan
Say Anything (Jan 15/, DVD)
Murderball (Jan 15, DVD)
Munich (Jan 22, Theatre)
Cinderella Man (Jan 26, DVD)
Born Into Brothels (Jan 27, DVD)
Broken Flowers (Jan 27, DVD)

Eve & The Fire Horse (Feb 4, Theatre)
Transamerica (Feb 11, Theatre)
Hair (Feb 12, VHS)
High Fidelity (Feb 12, VHS)
Brokeback Mountain (Feb 19, Theatre)
Junebug (Feb 26, DVD)

Creature Comforts (Mar 9/12, DVD)
Walk The Line (Mar ?, DVD)
16 Blocks (Mar 12, Theatre)
Twelfth Night (Mar 15, VHS) A&F
Tsotsi (Mar 17, Theatre)
The Count Of Monte Cristo (Mar 18, DVD)
Open Range (Mar 19, DVD)
The Edukators (Mar 23, DVD) A&F
Moll Flanders (Mar 30, vhs)

The Luzhin Defence (Apr 1, VHS)
Sophie Scholl (Apr 2, Theatre)
Boondock Saints (April 7, DVD)
Les Miserables du vingtieme siecle (April6/8, VHS)
Safe (Apr 13, DVD) A&F
The Miracle Maker (Apr 16, DVD)
L'Enfant (Apr20, Theatre)
Bubble (Apr 28, DVD)
Magnolia (Apr 29, DVD)

In The Heat Of The Night (May 6, VHS)
Return To Me (May 12, VHS)
Black Hawk Down (May 15, DVD)
Being Julia (May 20, DVD)
Grizzly Man (May 25, DVD)
Office Space (May 28, DVD)

Nicholas Nickleby 1 (DVD)
Prairie Home Companion (Jun 18, Theatre)
Burden Of Dreams (Jun 22, DVD)
Iron Giant (Jun 24, DVD)
Wordplay (Jun 25, Theatre)

The Thomas Crown Affair (Jul 1, VHS)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (Jul 2/3, VHS)
Superman Returns (Jul 3, Theatre)
I'm Your Man (Jul 3, Theatre)
Joe Vs. The Volcano (Jul 6, VHS)
The King (Jul 7, Theatre)
The Lake House (Jul 9, Theatre)
Superman (Jul 10, DVD)
Days Of Heaven (Jul 15, Theatre)
Around The Bend (Jul 16, DVD)
A River Runs Through It (Jul 23, DVD)
I Walked With A Zombie (Jul 25, DVD)
Cat People (DVD, Jul 27)
Stars In My Crown (VHS, Jul 27)
Waking Ned Devine (DVD, Jul 29)
Cat People: Schrader (DVD, Jul 31) X

Curse of the Demon (Aug 1, VHS)
The Neon Bible (Aug 1, VHS)
Police Beat (Aug 3, Theatre)
Strange Cargo (VHS)
Little Miss Sunshine (Aug 5, Theatre)
Cat People (DVD)
I Walked With A Zombie (DVD)
Metropolitan (Aug 9, DVD)
Big Country (Aug 11, VHS)
High Noon
Ugetsu (Aug 14, Theatre)
Son of the Bride (Aug 16, DVD)
Divided We Fall
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Aug 26, DVD)
Bride & Prejudice (Aug 29, DVD)
Wicker Man 1973 (Aug 30, DVD)
Wicker Man 2006 (Aug 31, Theatre)

Hawaii, Oslo (Sep 6, DVD)
Stop Making Sense (Sep 8, VHS)
Pride & Prejudice 2005 (Sep 9, DVD)
Barcelona (Sep 10, DVD)
The Last Days of Disco (Sep 12, DVD)
The Straight Story (Sep 22, VHS)
The Devil And Daniel Johnston (Sep 23, DVD)
49 Up (Sep 28, DVD)

Danielson: A Family Movie (Oct 3, DVD)
My Night At Maud's (Oct 3, DVD)
Her Majesty (Oct 4, DVD)
Hawaii, Oslo (Oct 5, DVD)
Requiem (Oct 7, Theatre)
Son Of Man (Oct 7, Theatre)
Son Of Man (Oct 10, Theatre)
The Mission (Oct 19, DVD)
The Upside Of Anger (Oct 21?, DVD)
Seeing Red (Oct 22, DVD)
Fight Club (Oct 24/25, DVD)
City Lights (Oct 28, DVD)
The Prestige (Oct 29. Theatre)
Game 6 (Oct 31, DVD)

The Departed (Nov 1, Theatre)
Ushpizin (Nov 2, DVD)
The Big Lebowski (Nov 10, VHS)
The Queen (Nov 10, Theatre)
My Voyage To Italy I (Nov 27, DVD)
Patriot Games (Nov 29, DVD)

Taxi Driver (Dec 1?, DVD)
Dad (Dec 7, VHS)
Apocalypto (Dec 9, Theatre)
Match Point (Dec 13, DVD)
Stranger Than Fiction (Dec 15, Theatre)
Lost City (Dec 19, DVD)
Rome, Open City (Dec 19/20, DVD)
Scrooged (Dec 22?, DVD)
Love Actually (Dec 26?, DVD)
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (Dec 29, DVD) X
History Boys (Dec 30, Theatre)

2007

Little Children (Jan 1, Theatre)
Volver (Jan 1, Theatre)
Akeelah & The Bee (Jan 2, DVD)
United 93 (Jan 3, DVD)
End of the Spear (Jan 3, DVD)
Perfume (Jan 6, Theatre)
Children Of Men (Jan 6, Theatre) X
Ushpizin (Jan 7, DVD)
C.S.A.: Confederate States of America (Jan 8, Theatre)
Old Joy (Jan 8, Theatre) X
The New World (Jan 9, DVD) X
The Proposition (Jan 10, DVD) X
Sophie Scholl (Jan 13, DVD)
Joyeux Noel (Jan 16, DVD)
Pan's Labyrinth (Jan 17, Theatre)
The Painted Veil (Jan 19, Theatre)
The Death Of Mr Lazarescu (Jan 20, DVD)
Ushpizin (Jan 24, DVD)
The Spitfire Grill (Jan 24, VHS)
Into Great Silence (Jan 25, Theatre)
Flowers of St Francis (Jan 26, DVD)
Pursuit of Happyness (Jan 27, Theatre)
Miracle Mile (Jan 28, vhs)
Amazing Grace (ND, Theatre)
21/24

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Feb 8, DVD)
Brick (Feb 11, DVD)
Dave (Feb 14, DVD)
Spalding Gray: Pleasures Of Terror (Feb 15, DVD)
The Girl In The Cafe (Feb 16, DVD)
Ryan (Feb 17, DVD)
Thank You For Smoking (Feb 19, DVD)
Rumble Fish (Feb 22, VHS)
Sliding Doors (Feb 23, DVD)
Babel (Feb 24, Theatre)
The Last King Of Scotland (Feb 24, Theatre)
With A Friend Like Harry (Feb 28, DVD)
30/36

The Ultimate Gift (Mar 2, DVD)
Pan's Labyrinth (Mar 3, Theatre)
Black Dahlia (Mar 6, DVD) X
The Day The Earth Stood Still (Mar 8, DVD?) or 2006?
The Notorious Bettie Page (Mar 8, DVD)
Homicide (Mar 13, VHS)
The Woodsman (Mar 15, DVD)
Return To Me (Mar 17, VHS)
Out Of Africa (Mar 23, DVD)
Steel Toes (Mar 25, Theatre)
The Lives Of Others (Mar 27, Theatre)
Sharkwater (Mar 29, Theatre)
Such A Long Journey (Mar 30, DVD)
Open City (ND, DVD)
Saving Grace (ND, VHS)
41/51

Fido (Apr 1, Theatre)
Adam's Apples (Apr 5, Theatre)
When The Levees Broke 1 & 2 (Apr 6, DVD)
Sherrybaby (Apr 7/8, DVD)
Mouchette (Apr 12, DVD)
After The Wedding (Apr 14, Theatre)
Stranger Than Fiction (Apr 14, DVD)
The Birds (finished Apr 15, VHS)
Twelve Angry Men (in progress, VHS)
Jeremy (NYC: Apr 26/27, DVD)
47/61

Nightmare Alley (finished May 5, DVD)
Fracture (May 6, theatre)
The Player (May 6, DVD)
L.A. Confidential (May 10, VHS)
Black Book (May 19, Theatre) X
Fatal Attraction (May 25, VHS)
Best Of Youth Act 1 (May 26, DVD) X
Jindabyne (May 27, Theatre)
The Aura (May 27, Theatre)
54/70

Matchstick Men (June 2, DVD)
French Kiss (June 3, DVD)
Once (June 6, Theatre)
?
Away From Her (June 13, Theatre) X
Day Of Wrath (June 15, Theatre)
FUBAR (June 16, DVD)
Eagle versus Shark (June 20, Theatre) X
Mostly Martha (June 24, DVD)
60/78

Open Your Eyes (Jul 1, DVD from vhs)
Vanilla Sky (Jul 2, DVD)
About Schmidt (Jul 12/13, DVD)
Black Snake Moan (Jul 16, DVD)
Ten [Kiarostami] (July 20, DVD)
Cry The Beloved Country [1995] (Jul 20, VHS)
The Shining (Jul 21, DVD)
Book Of Life (Jul 24, DVD)
Breach (Jul 27, DVD)
49th Parallel (Jul 29, VHS)
Angel-A (ND, Theatre)
68/89

Possible Films: Hal Hartley (Aug 4, DVD)
Brakhage (DVD
The Green Mile (Aug 7, DVD)
The Bourne Ultimatum (Theatre
Amadeus (Aug 10, DVD)
Copying Beethoven (Aug 11, DVD)
Central Station (Aug 13?, VHS)
Black Robe (Aug 13?, DVD)
Flatliners (Aug 28, VHS)
74/98

Across The Universe (Sep 10, Theatre)
This Is England (Sep 11, Theatre)
3:10 To Yuma (Sep 13, Theatre)
Twelve Angry Men 1997 (Sep 16, VHS)
We Are Marshall (Sep 18, DVD)
Across The Universe (Sep 23, Theatre)
You, The Living (Sep 27, Theatre)
The Monastery: Mr Vig & The Nun (Sep 27, Theatre)
Eastern Promises (Sep 27, Theatre)
For The Bible Tells Me So (Sep 27, Theatre)
Fantastic Voyage (Sep 29, VHS)
You Told Me, You Love Me (Sep 30, Theatre)
In The Shadow Of The Moon (Sep 30, Theatre)
Secret Sunshine (Sep 30, Theatre)
86/112

The Man From London (Oct 1, Theatre)
One Hundred Nails (Oct 8, Theatre)
Perfect Stranger (DVD)
Michael Clayton (Oct 14, Theatre)
Into The Wild (Oct 19, Theatre)
The Camden 28 (Oct 21, DVD)
Driving Miss Daisy (Oct 24, DVD)
Dan In Real Life (Oct 28, Theatre)
93/120

Cool Hand Luke (Nov 2, VHS)
American Gangster (Nov 8, Theatre)
Lars and the Real Girl (Nov 8, Theatre)
White Palms (Nov 10, DVD)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Nov 11, Theatre)
The Godfather (Nov 17/18, DVD)
Gone Baby Gone (Nov 24, Theatre)
99/127

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (Dec 2, Theatre)
No Country For Old Men (Dec 2, Theatre)
It's A Wonderful Life (Dec 4, DVD)
Waitress (Dec 5, DVD)
Silent Running (Dec 13, DVD)
Ratatouille (Dec 21, DVD)
The Savages (Dec 22, Theatre)
I'm Not There (Dec 22, Theatre)
The Host (Dec 26, DVD) X
I Am Legend (Dec 26, Theatre)
Longford (Dec 28, DVD)
Atonement (Dec 29, Theatre)
Sweeney Todd (Dec 30, Theatre)
Hairspray (Dec 31, DVD)
111/141

2008

Juno (Jan 3, Theatre)
Bobby (Jan 5, DVD)
Knocked Up (Jan 9/10, DVD)
There Will Be Blood (Jan 12, Theatre)
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (Jan 17, Theatre)
Zodiac (Jan 27, DVD)
6/6

A Man For All Seasons: Scofield (Feb 19, DVD)
A Man For All Seasons: Heston (Feb 19, VHS)
The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Feb 28, DVD)
+1/3 = 7/9

Persepolis (Mar 7, Theatre)
The Darjeeling Limited (Mar 7, DVD)
Across The Universe (Mar 7, DVD)
In Bruges (Mar 11, Theatre)
In Bruges (Mar 18, Theatre)
Margo At The Wedding (Mar 21, DVD)
U2 3D (Mar 23, Theatre)
The Ten (Mar 26, DVD) X
In The Valley Of Elah (Mar 27, DVD)
U2 3D (Mar 29, Theatre)
+7/10 = 14/19

August Rush (Apr 2, DVD) X
Silk (Apr 3, DVD)
The Brave One (Apr 5, DVD)
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Apr 8, Theatre)
Serpico (Apr 9, DVD)
Bella (Apr 13, DVD)
Superbad (Apr 15, DVD)
Heima (Apr 18, Theatre)
Zodiac (Apr 17-19, DVD)
Stand By Me (Apr 20, VHS)
Casablanca (Apr 20, VHS)
The Woodsman (Apr 21, DVD)
Ben X (Apr 27, Theatre)
The Sisters (Apr 30, DVD)
+10/14 = 24/33

The Visitor (May 2, Theatre)
So I Married An Axe Murderer (May 10, VHS)
Redbelt (May 19, Theatre)
Waco: The Rules Of Engagement (May 21, VHS)
Shallow Grave (May 22, DVD)
Die Hard With A Vengeance (May 24, DVD) X
Son Of Rambow (May 27, Theatre)
Heavenly Creatures (May 30, VHS)
The Band's Visit (May 31, Theatre)
+9/9 = 33/42

You Can't Take It With You (June 3, DVD)
Ordet (June 8, DVD)
Silent Light (June 8, Theatre
Stripes (June 11, DVD)
+3/4 = 36/46

Get Smart (July 9, Theatre)
Titus (July 10, DVD)
Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (July 12, Theatre)
Forrest Gump (Jul 15/16, DVD)
Dark Knight (Theatre)
Wall-E (Theatre)
Pack Of Lies
+4/6 = 40/52

21 (Aug 13, DVD)
In Bruges (Aug 17, DVD)
Manhattan (Aug 24, DVD)
The Awful Truth (Aug 27, DVD)
The Great Debaters (Aug 29, DVD)
Iron Man (Aug 31, Theatre)
+5/6 = 45/58

I Am Sam
Appaloosa [DW?]
Married Life
Mama Mia (Oct 7, Theatre)
Cherry Blossoms (Oct 8, Theatre)
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Oct 28, Theatre) X
American Buffalo (Oct 31, VHS)
Hitch (Oct 31, DVD)
+6/8 = 51/66

Happy-Go-Lucky (Nov 4, Theatre) X
Casablanca (Nov 5-7, iPod)
Word Wars (Nov 18, DVD)
Koyaanisqatsi (DVD)
Stalked (Nov 26, DVD)
I've Loved You So Long (Nov 29, Theatre)
Love Affair (Nov 30, DVD)
+6/7 = 57/63

Romeo et Juliet (Dec 2, DVD)
I'm Not There (Dec 5, DVD)
The King Of Kong (Dec 7, DVD)
Slumdog Millionaire (Dec 9, Theatre)
Rachel Getting Married (Dec 11, Theatre)
Paranoid Park (Dec 11, DVD)
Shotgun Stories (Dec 12, DVD)
Milk (Dec 18, theatre)
A Christmas Carol - 1951 (Dec 25, VHS)
It's A Wonderful Life (Dec 26, DVD)
The Godfather (Dec 29, Theatre)
Synecdoche, New York (Dec 31, Theatre) X
Doubt (Dec 31, Theatre)
+9/13 = 66/76

2009

Slumdog Millionaire (Jan 4, Theatre)
MST3K: Hercules Against The Moon Men (Jan 5, DVD)
Gran Torino (Jan 7, Theatre)
Chop Shop (Jan 8, DVD)
The Wrestler
Defiance (Jan 20, Theatre)
Ed Wood (Jan 31, DVD)

Tell No One
Be Kind Rewind
Boy A
The Gleaners and I
Man On Wire  [DW?]
U23D
State Of Play
Sunshine Cleaning

The Trial of Joan of Arc (Apr 3, Theatre)
The Apartment (May 3, DVD)
Some Like It Hot (May 21, DVD)
The Soloist (May 23, Theatre)

Up
Black Widow (Jun 18, DVD)
The Sweet Smell Of Success (Jun 21, DVD)
Star Trek 2009 (Jun 22, Theatre)
Up (Jun 25, Theatre)

Sunset Boulevard
Rope
The Best Years Of Our Lives
Revanche
Lake Tahoe

Appaloosa
500 Days Of Summer (Theatre)
Leatherheads (DVD)
Role Models (Aug 28, DVD)
Taking Woodstock (Aug 31, Theatre)

Woodstock (Sep 2-?, DVD)
Julie & Julia (Sep 4, Theatre)
The Moon (Sep 4, Theatre)
Lorna's Silence (Sep 6, Theatre)
Inglourious Basterds (Sep 16, Theatre)

Antichrist (Oct 3, Theatre) X
Frozen River (Oct 4, DVD)
Kiss Me Deadly (Oct, VHS)
Sleepless In Seattle (Oct 27, DVD)
Away We Go (Oct 28, DVD)
Stir Of Echoes (Oct 31, VHS)

Where The Wild Things Are (Nov 1, Theatre)
A Serious Man (Nov 6, Theatre)
Coraline (Nov 7, DVD)
One False Move (Nov 8, VHS)
Pirate Radio (Nov 15, Theatre)
The Border (Nov 18, VHS)
Seraphine (Nov 24, DVD)
The Mirror (Nov26, Theatre)
The Magnificent Obsession (Nov 26, Theatre)
Munyurangabo (Nov 29, Theatre)

Godfather III (Dec 9, DVD) X
Godspell (Dec 11, DVD)
Night At The Museum (Dec 16, DVD)
An Education (Dec 17, theatre)
The Road (Dec 17, theatre)
Sherlock Holmes (Dec 28, theatre)
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (Dec 29, Theatre) X
The Fantastic Mr Fox (Dec 30, Theatre)

FAVES 2009
Where The Wild Things Are
Up
The Apartment
Me and Orson Welles
The Sweet Smell of Success
Julie & Julia
The Fantastic Mr Fox
Sunset Boulevard
A Serious Man
Invictus
An Education
Revanche
The Wrestler
The Border
500 Days Of Summer
Inglourious Basterds
Lorna's Silence
Coraline
Pirate Radio

2010

Invictus
Me and Orson Welles (theatre)
Me and Orson Welles (theatre)
The Book of Eli (Jan 17, Theatre)
The Blind Side (Jan 17, Theatre)
The Hurt Locker (Jan 21, dvd)
Anvil! (Jan 23, dvd)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Jan 28, theatre)

Everlasting Moments (Feb 2, DVD)
The Great Buck Howard (Feb 7, DVD) X
The White Ribbon (Feb 11, Theatre)
The Last Station (Feb 11, Theatre)

Waltz With Bashir (Mar 22, DVD)
Five Minutes Of Heaven (Mar 24, DVD)
The Compleat Beatles (Mar 29, VHS)

Starting Out In The Evening (DVD)
District 9 (Apr 19, DVD)
Sweet Smell of Success (Apr 25/26, DVD)

Godspell
Broadway Danny Rose (vhs)
The Secret In Their Eyes (May 9, theatre)
Shutter Island (May 16, theatre) X
New York, I Love You (May 22, DVD) X
Winter's Bone (Jul 6, theatre)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Jul 8, theatre)
Ballast (Jul 11/12, DVD)
Summer Hours (Jul 15, DVD - partial) 
It Might Get Loud (Jul 21, DVD)
I Am Love
Breathless (DVD)
Psycho (Aug 9, DVD)
The Reader (Aug 10, DVD)

A Prophet () X
Lady Chatterly (Sep 4/5, DVD)
Get Low (Sep 7, Theatre) X
The Ghost Writer (Sep 12, DVD) X
Inception (Sep 16, Theatre)
The American (Sep 21, Theatre)
Animal Kingdom (Sep 23, Theatre)
Me and Orson Welles (Sep 25, DVD)
Me and Orson Welles (Sep 26, DVD)
Man On Fire (Sep 27, DVD)
Me and Orson Welles (Sep 28-??, DVD)

North Shore (Oct 11, DVD)
Of Gods and Men (Oct 12, Theatre)
Calle 54 (Oct 15/16, DVD)
The Social Network (Oct 17, Theatre)
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Oct 18, Theatre)
Surfwise (Oct 19, DVD)
Backbeat (Oct 24, VHS)
Nowhere Boy (Oct 25, Theatre)
Two Of Us (Oct 25, VHS)
Seven Pounds (Oct 28, DVD)
Lonesome Dove (Nov 6-12, DVD)
Please Give (Nov 14, DVD)
Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow (Nov 15, DVD)
Laura (Nov 30, DVD)

The King's Speech (Dec 30, Theatre)
Johnny Got His Gun (Dec 30, DVD)

FAVES 2010
Animal Kingdom / Blue Valentine
(Me And Orson Welles) / (Psycho)
The King's Speech
Nowhere Boy / True Grit / Winter's Bone
Of Gods and Men
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo / Please Give / The Fighter / The American
Kick-Ass / The Secret In Their Eyes / The White Ribbon / (The Reader)
Another Year / Toy Story 3 / 127 Hours / Catfish
Marwencol / Black Swan / Exit Through The Gift Shop
(Waltz With Bashir)

2011

Friends With Money (Jan 1, DVD)
Toy Story 3 (Jan 3, DVD)
Sugar (Jan 4, DVD)
The Fighter (Jan 8, Theatre)
Black Swan (Jan 8, Theatre)
True Grit (Jan 8, Theatre)
How To Train Your Dragon (Jan 13, DVD)
Blue Valentine (Jan , Theatre)
Marwencol (Jan 19, Theatre)
Kick-Ass (Jan 20, DVD)
Red Riding: 1974 (Jan ??, DVD)
Another Year (Jan 30, Theatre)

127 Hours (Feb 4, Theatre)
The Town (Feb 6, DVD)
The Way Back (Feb 7, Theatre) X
The Damned United (Feb 12, DVD)
Catfish (Feb 20, DVD)
Dogtooth (Feb 23, DVD - unfinished) X
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Feb 24, DVD)

Incendies (Mar 3, Theatre)
A Single Man (Mar 9, DVD)
The Adjustment Bureau (Mar 12, Theatre)
Lincoln Lawyer (Mar 21, Theatre)

Babies
$9.99
Heaven's Gate

Farewell, My Lovely (Apr 8/10, VHS)
Deliverance (Apr 9/10, DVD)
Water For Elephants (Apr 30, Theatre)

Undertow (May 8, DVD)
Thank You For Smoking (May 10, DVD)

The Conformist (Theatre)

George Washington (DVD)
In A Better World (Jun 24, Theatre)
Bill Cunningham New York (Jun 27, Theatre)

Small Town Murder Songs (Jul 11, Theatre, JP)
Centaur (Jul 16, Pacific Theatre)
Cadillac Records (Jul 17, DVD)
Seraphim Falls (Jul 18, DVD)
Tree Of Life (Jul 20, Theatre)
All The Real Girls (Jul 23, DVD)
Midnight In Paris (Jul 26, DVD)
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (July 27, Theatre)

The Left Hand of God (Aug 1, VHS>DVD)
Changeling
Another Earth (Aug 18, Theatre)
The Trip (Aug 18, Theatre)
Solitary Man (Jul 20 / Aug 19, DVD)

Zoolander (Sep 18, PVR)
Never Let Me Go (Sep 19, DVD)
The Help (Sep 21, Theatre)
Howl (Sep 22, DVD)
Kick-Ass (Sep 24, DVD partial)
Moneyball (Sep 25, Theatre)

The Mill and The Cross (Oct 1, Theatre)
The Bang Bang Club (Oct 1, DVD)
The Thomas Crown Affair (Oct 15, VHS)
Jerichow (Oct 16, DVD)
Ostrov / The Island (Oct 31, DVD)

Ides Of March (Nov 27, Theatre)

The Third Man (Dec 3, DVD)
The Descendants (Dec 6, Theatre)
A Christmas Carol: 1951 (VHS)
While You Were Sleeping

FAVES 2011
George Washington
Bill Cunningham, New York

Moneyball
Tree of Life
Midnight In Paris
Centaur
Another Earth
The Mill and the Cross
The Ides of March
The Descendants
In A Better World

2012

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: US (Jan 4, theatre) X
The Way (Jan 4, theatre) 
Margaret (Jan 4, theatre)
Blow Out (Jan 5, DVD)
Hugo (Jan 7, theatre) X
My Week With Marilyn (Jan 7, theatre)
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Jan 14, online)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Jan 23, theatre)
Pina (Jan 29, theatre)

Five Corners (mar, vhs)
Moonstruck (mar, dvd)

Clueless (Apr 7, vhs)
Mystic Pizza (dvd)

Missing (May 6, dvd)

Midnight In Paris (May 16, dvd)
Winter's Bone (June 5/6, DVD)
Moonrise Kingdom (June 8, Theatre)
Hunger Games (June 9, Theatre)
Ides of March (June 24, DVD)

Rango (Jul 14, Netflix)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (July 19, Theatre)
Higher Ground (Jul 27, Netflix)

Best Exotic Marigold (Aug 6, Theatre)
Killer Joe (Aug 13, Theatre) X
Win Win (Aug 13, Netflix)
Incident At Loch Ness (Aug 14, DVD - backyard)
[Sleuth (Aug 30, VHS)]
Rabbit Hole (Aug 31, DVD)

The Other Woman (Sep 11, Netflix)
The Words (Sep 19, Theatre)
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (Sep 22/23, Theatre)
Taxi Driver (Sep 29, DVD)

Abu, Son Of Adam (Oct 3, Theatre)
Pather Panchali (Oct 6, DVD)
Aparajito (Oct 14/16, DVD)
The Master (Oct 15, Theatre)
Man Push Cart (Oct 22, DVD)
Midnight Cowboy (Oct 23/24, DVD)
Margaret (Oct 25, DVD)
Chasing Mavericks (Oct 28, Theatre)
Perks of Being A Wallflower (Oct 30, Theatre)
Argo (Nov 11, Theatre)
Life of Pi (Nov 25, Theatre)

One Day
The Big Year
Take Shelter

Psycho (DVD)
Anna Karenina (Theatre)
Perfect Sense (Dec 10, Netflix)
Hitchcock (Dec 12, Theatre)
It's A Wonderful Life (DVD, Dec 23)
LOTR 1: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD, Dec 25)
LOTR 2: The Two Towers (DVD, Dec 26)
In The Mood For Love (Dec 29, DVD)
The Hobbit (Dec 30, Theatre) X

2013

Motorcycle Diaries (Jan 3, DVD)
The Chorus (Jan 4, DVD)
Lincoln (Jan 5, Theatre)
Django Unchained (Jan 6, Theatre) X
Promised Land (Jan 6, Theatre)
All The President's Men (Jan 7-13, DVD)
A Mighty Heart (Jan 7-13, DVD)
Rocky (Jan 7-13, DVD)
Sophie Scholl (Jan 7-13, DVD)
The Bourne Ultimatum (Jan 7-13, DVD)
The Bourne Identity (Jan 12, DVD)
The Black Dahlia (Jan 12-13, DVD) X
Rabbit-Proof Fence (Jan 14-16, DVD)
Milk (Jan 19, DVD)
Capote (Jan 20, DVD)
The Wrong Man (Jan 25, DVD)
A Separation (Jan 31, Ridge Theatre)
Rust and Bone (Jan 31, Ridge Theatre)

Dragnet 1966 (Feb 4, DVD)
Au Revoir Les Enfants (Feb 7, DVD)
Sleepwalk With Me (Feb 9, Netflix)
The Wannsee Conference (Feb 10, VHS)
Munich (Feb 15-17, DVD)
The Informant! (Feb 17, DVD)
Goodfellas (Feb 18/19, DVD)
Conspiracy (Feb 22, DVD)
Munich (Feb 23, DVD)
Rosewood (Feb 24, VHS)
The Hudsucker Proxy (Feb 24, DVD)
Source Code (Feb 25, DVD)
Goodfellas (Feb 27, DVD)
American Gangster (Feb 28, DVD)

The Bourne Supremacy (Mar 2, DVD)
Back To The Future (Mar 6, DVD)
Gods and Generals (Mar 6/7, DVD)
Song of Bernadette (Mar 8, DVD)
Fried Green Tomatoes (Mar 9, DVD)
Eight Men Out (Mar 12, DVD)
No (Mar 13, Theatre)
Patton (Mar 16, DVD)
L.A. Confidential (Mar 16, DVD)
The Shootist (Mar 16, DVD)
Infamous (Mar 22, DVD)
Nixon (Mar 24, DVD)
Wreck-It Ralph (Mar 28, DVD)

Che: Part One (Apr 1, DVD)
True Grit (Apr 4, DVD)
Zodiac (Apr 4, DVD)
Surf's Up (Apr 4, DVD)
The Number 23 (Apr 5, DVD) X
In Cold Blood (Apr 7, DVD)
The Alamo (Apr 27, DVD)

Thirteen Days (Apr 3, DVD)
Valkyrie (Apri 3, DVD)
Jurassic Park (May 5, Theatre)
The Karate Kid (May 11, DVD)
Saint Ralph (May 13, DVD)
Argo (May 16, DVD)
Silver Linings Playbook (May 19, DVD)
Back To The Future (May 20, DVD)
Zero Dark Thirty (May 22, DVD)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (May 29, DVD)
Dragnet '54 (May 31, DVD)

Farewell, My Lovely (Jun 1, VHS)
Downfall (Jun 2, DVD)
Moneyball (Jun 10, DVD)
12:08 East of Bucharest (Jun 10, DVD)
Apollo 13 (Jun 13, DVD)
Ben Hur (Jun 16, Theatre)
Missing (Jun 18, DVD)
Howl (Jun 20 DVD)
Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (Jun 20, DVD)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (Jun 22, DVD)
Invictus (Jun 22, DVD)
The Hiding Place (Jun 26, DVD)
Mud (Jun 26, Theatre)
Take The Money and Run (Jun 28, DVD)
Bobby (Jun 30, DVD)

Katyn (Jul 3, DVD)
Zelig (Jul 6, DVD)
Breaker Morant (Jul 7, DVD)
Julie & Julia (Jul 12, DVD)
Che: Part Two (Jul 14, DVD)
Soul Surfer (Jul 20, DVD)
CSA: The Confederate States of America (Jul 23, DVD)
Public Enemies (Jul 24, DVD)
20 Feet From Stardom (Jul 27, Theatre)
The Way Way Back (Jul 27, Theatre)
To Live and Die in L.A. (Jul 28, DVD)
Agatha (Jul 30, VHS)
The Bourne Legacy (Jul 31, DVD)

JFK (Aug 5, DVD)
Lincoln (Aug 7, DVD)
Kings Of Summer (Aug 15, Theatre)
Blue Jasmine (Aug 16, Theatre, Katie, Sacramento)
Summer Of Sam (Aug 18, DVD)
Goodbye First Love (Aug 19, DVD)
The Boat / Das Boot (Aug 21, DVD)
42 (Aug 23, DVD)
The World's End (Aug 28, Theatre)
V For Vendetta (Aug 31, DVD)

Fresh Bait (Sep 1, DVD)
A Tale Of Winter (Sep 1, VHS)
North Face / Nordwand (Sep 12, DVD)
Museum Hours (Sep 16, Theatre)
The Act Of Killing (Sep 16, Theatre)
The Battle Of Algiers (Sep 17, DVD)
The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain (Sep 22, DVD)
Romero (Sep 24, DVD)
Martian Child (Sep 25, DVD) X
A Story Of Children and Film (Sep 26, Theatre)
There Will Come A Day (Sep 27, Theatre, VIFF)

Salvador (Oct 1, DVD)
Now You See Me (Oct 2, DVD)
Prisoners (Oct 3, Theatre)
On The Road (Oct 12, DVD)
Bright Star (Oct 16, DVD)
Quiz Show (Oct 20, DVD)
The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life (Nov 7, DVD)
About Time (Nov 10, Theatre)
Flight (Nov 11, DVD)
Helter Skelter (Nov 14, DVD)
Monty Python & The Holy Grail (Nov 16, Regent College)
Gravity (Nov 29, Theatre)

Kon-Tiki (Dec 2, DVD)
Taking Lives (Dec 5, DVD) X
The Pride of the Yankees (Dec 5, DVD)
Safety Not Guaranteed (Dec 5, DVD)
Captain Phillips (Dec 6, Theatre)
The Place Beyond The Pines (Dec 7, download)
The Falcon and the Snowman (Dec 16, DVD)
It's A Wonderful Life (Dec 25, DVD)

American Hustle (Dec 29, Theatre)
Dallas Buyers Club (Dec 29, Theatre)

2014

Saving Mr Banks (Jan 1, )
Inside Llewyn Davis (Jan 2, )
Charlie Wilson's War (Jan 4, )
To Kill a Mockingbird (Jan 8, )
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (Jan 13, )
Live from Baghdad (Jan 19, )
Her (Jan 23, )
Good Morning, Vietnam (Jan 26, )
Nebraska (Jan 27, )
The Time Machine (Jan 28, )

The Hunt (Feb 2, )
12 Years a Slave (Feb 10, )

The Gospel According to Matthew (Mar 11, )
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Mar 16, )
Glory (Mar 27, )
Somewhere in Time (Mar 30, )
The Lincoln Lawyer (Mar 31, )

Stella Days (Apr 5, )
Runaway Jury (Apr 18, )
Noah (Apr 20, )
Finding Vivian Maier (Apr 24, )
Anatomy of a Murder (Apr 27, )
The Railway Man (Apr 28, )

Love Is All You Need (May 3, )
Rainmaker (Gresham) (May 4, )
The Client (May 12, )
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (May 21, )
M (May 25, )
Jaws (May 28, )
Closed Circuit (May 29, )

Basic Instinct (Jun 3/7, )
We Are the Best! (Jun 4, )
Rosemary's Baby (Jun 9, )
Fat Man and Little Boy (Jun 29, )

Nowhere Boy (Jul 1, )
A Hard Day's Night (Jul 4, )
Sorcerer (Jul 11, )
Jersey Boys (Jul 15, ) X
One Missed Call (Jul 17, )
Young Mr. Lincoln (Jul 19, )
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Jul 21, )
K-PAX (Jul 21, ) 
District 9 (Jul 31, )

Labor Day (Sep 1, )
Boyhood (Sep 2, )
Le Samourai (Sep 21, )
Frances Ha (Sep 22, )
Band of Outsiders (Sep 25, )

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Oct 4, )
The Judge (Oct 11, )
Chef (Oct 16, )
In the Valley of Elah (Oct 17, )
Major Dundee (Oct 26, )

Birdman (Nov 4, )
Birdman (Nov 7, )
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Nov 8, )
Kill the Irishman (Nov 15, )
The Firm (Nov 15, )
Enough Said (Nov 17, )
Frequency (Nov 23, )
The Homesman (Nov 28, )
The Last Sentence (Nov 28, )

A Few Days in September (Dec 1, )
May 18 (Dec 2, )
Blue Ruin (Dec 11, )
Calvary (Dec 11, ) X
The Overnighters (Dec 17, )
Contagion (Dec 19, )
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dec 25, )
Whiplash (Dec 27, )
Black Friday (Dec 30, )
A Very Long Engagement (Dec 31, ) X

2015

Mommy (Jan 1, )
Interstellar (Jan 3, )
Foxcatcher (Jan 4, )
Inherent Vice (Jan 11, )
Selma (Jan 13, )
United (Jan 20, )
Kill Your Darlings (Jan 22, )
The Rover (Jan 23, )
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (Jan 24, )

The Company You Keep (Feb 4, )
No Reservations (Feb 7, )
The Great Gatsby (Feb 15, )

Original Sin (Mar 11, )

The Secret Lives of Dentists (Apr 11, )
Culloden (Apr 20, )
The War Game (Apr 24, )

Joe Versus the Volcano (May 1, )
Far from the Madding Crowd (May 2, )
Seven Psychopaths (May 27, )

Begin Again (Jun ~24, itunes)

The Wolfpack (Jul 7, )
Wild Tales (Jul 8, )
Love & Mercy (Jul 10, )
Testament of Youth (Jul 13, )
The Greatest Game Ever Played (Jul 15, )
PT 109 (Jul 20, )
Mr. Holmes (Jul 24, )
Ruby Sparks (Jul 26, )

Ride the Wild Surf (Aug 1, )
Shaun the Sheep Movie (Aug 14, )
Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound (Aug 24, )
Final Destination (Aug 26, )

The Class (Sep 5, )
What We Did on Our Holiday (Sep 6, )

Nightcrawler (Oct 4, )
Eadweard (Oct 5, )
Southpaw (Oct 8, )
Crimson Peak (Oct 22, ) X
Steve Jobs (Oct 24, )

The Martian (Nov 2, )
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Nov 10, )

The Butler (Dec 1, )
Brooklyn (Dec 7, )
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Dec 12, )

2016

Concussion (Jan 1, )
The Big Short (Jan 4, )
Creed (Jan 4, )
In the Heart of the Sea (Jan 4, )
The Mass Is Ended (Jan 8, ) X

Pawn Sacrifice (before Jan 15, iTunes)
Out of the Furnace (Jan 16, )
Spotlight (Jan 23, )
The Revenant (Jan 24, ) X

Numb (Feb 2, )
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Feb 5, )
Hail, Caesar! (Feb 13, )
The Sting (Feb 27, )
Bridge of Spies (Feb 29, )

Buddy Holly Story (Mar 1, )
Numb (Mar 2, )
Escape from Alcatraz (Mar 3, )
Citizenfour (Mar 4, )
Citizen Kane (Mar 12, )
I Want to Live! (Mar 27, )
The Godfather (Mar 30, )

Dinner Rush (Apr 5, )
Midnight Special (Apr 6, ) 
Everybody Wants Some (Apr 17, )

Much Ado About Nothing [Whedon] (before Apr 27)
Eye in the Sky (Apr 30, )

The Lady Vanishes (May 8, )

The Lobster (Jun 6, ) X

Neither Heaven Nor Earth (Sep 6, )
Hell or High Water (Sep 13, )
Napoleon Dynamite (Sep, )
The 33 (Sep, )

The Confessions (Oct 1, )
The Italian Job (new) (Oct, )
Babies (Oct, )
The Italian Job (original) (Oct, )

The 33 (Nov 4, )
Captain Fantastic (Nov 4, )
The Man Who Knew Infinity (Nov 4, )
The Nice Guys (Nov 4, )
Pawn Sacrifice (Nov 4, )
Top of the Lake (Nov 13, )
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Nov 20, )
Manchester by the Sea (Nov 30, )

Way Way Back (Dec, )

The Fits (before Dec 29, iTunes)

American Sniper (, )
Once Upon A Time In The West (, ) X
The Seven Five (, )
The Endless Summer (, )
Force Majeure (, )

2017

Silence (Jan 6, )

Jackie (Jan 6, )
Spotlight (Jan 8, )
The Godfather (Jan 22, )

Paterson (Feb 13, )
What Women Want (Feb 13, )
The Game (Feb 14, )
Toni Erdmann (Feb 16, ) X
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (Feb 20, )
OJ: Made In America (Feb 23, )
Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (Feb 24, )
Queen of Katwe (Feb 28, )

The Devil Wears Prada (Mar 12, )

2 Trains Runnin' (Jul 3, )
The Bad Batch (Jul 3, ) X
The Hero (Jul 3, VIFF Theatre)

LaLa Land (before Jul 21, iTunes)
The Big Sick (Jul 22, Riverport Theatre, inc.)

Lion (before Jul 28, iTunes)

A Ghost Story (Aug 23, )
Dunkirk (Aug, )

Wind River (before Nov 16, iTunes)

The Lost City of Z (before Nov 16, iTunes) X
Wonderstruck (Nov 15, )

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Dec 8, )
The Florida Project (Dec 14, )
Lady Bird (Dec 16, )
The Big Sick (Dec 26, )

Blade Runner 2049 (, )
Burn Your Maps (, )
Jack Reacher (, )
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (, )

Manifesto (, )
A Most Wanted Man (, )
No (, )
The Battered Bastards of Baseball (, )
The Meyerowitz Stories (, )
The Chosen (, )

The Young Offenders (, )
Black Friday (, )

2018 

The Disaster Artist (Jan 2, Theatre)
Battle of the Sexes (Jan 2, Theatre)
The Square (Jan 2, Theatre)
78/52 (Jan 10, Theatre)
The Post (Jan 23, Whistler Theatre)
Phantom Thread (Jan ?, Theatre) X

I, Tonya (Feb 3, Theatre)
The Party (??, Theatre) X
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (Feb 5, Netflix)
Hostiles (Feb, Theatre | Kenton)
Get Out (Feb, Rio Theatre | Carole, Rosie, Coopers)
Logan Lucky (Feb, Netflix)
Trumbo (Mar 2, DVD)
Living In The Material World (Feb 28, Netflix)

Isle Of Dogs (Apr 21, IV Theatre)

On Chesil Beach [after May 25]
Sweet Country (Jun 4, VIFF Theatre)
Bill Evans: Time Remembered (Jun 12, VIFF Theatre. Nelson, Chris Hawley)
Come Sunday (Jun 13, Netflix)
A Most Violent Year (Jun 19, DVD)

Dogtown & Z-Boys (Jul 4, DVD) 
Borg McEnroe (Jul 9, Theatre, Tofino)
Three Identical Strangers (theatre)
Beast (Jul 23, Rio Theatre, Mack)

Peaky Blinders, season 1 (Aug, computer)
Michael Collins (Aug, computer)

The Last Picture Show (Oct 3, computer)

Longford (completed Nov 1, computer)
The Old Man and the Gun (Nov 2, Theatre, Carole)
Paterson (Nov 7, DVD)
Say Anything (Nov 8, DVD)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Nov 20, Netflix)
Ready Player One (Nov 22, iTunes)

Float Like a Butterfly (Dec 7, theatre)
Green Book (Dec 13, theatre)

Sing Street (before Dec 25, iTunes)
Shoplifters (Dec 26, theatre)
Roma (Dec 30, VIFF) Mule (Dec 30, theatre)

2019

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Jan) X

A Hidden Life (Jan 3, 2019)

On The Basis of Sex (Jan 19, theatre, Merced, Katie)

A Bread Factory: Part 1 (Jan 23) X

The Maiden Heist (Jan 27, DVD) X

The Trip to Bountiful (Jan 30, DVD)

Cold War (Feb 2, 2019)

The Catcher Was A Spy 

Tolkien (May 11)

Harold & Lillian (May 12)

Best of Enemies

Filmworker (May 13)

Jim & Andy (May 15)

The Sisters Brothers (May 16)

The Highwaymen 

The Founder (inc)

Woman at War

Echo in the Canyon (Jul 6)

Boyhood (Jul 18)

Duplicity (Aug 12)

Repulsion (Aug 13)

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood 

Apocalypse Now

The Lighthouse (Oct 31) X

Jojo Rabbit (Oct 31)

Harriet

Motherless Brooklyn

It All Started with a Photograph (Nov 16)

The Farewell 

The Irishman (Dec 16)

The Two Popes (Dec 17)

2020

63 Up (Jan 2)

A Hidden Life (Jan 3)

Joker (Jan 3)

Parasite (Jan 14)

Ford v Ferrari (Jan 16)

Little Women (Jan 18)

All My Sons (Jan 23)

The Gentlemen (Jan 24) X

Corpus Christi (Feb 5)

1917 (Feb 7) X

Satan and Adam

Downton Abbey movie (inc)

Contagion (Mar 16, Netflix)

Outbreak (before Mar 22, iTunes) 

Singin' In The Rain (DVD)

The Rainmaker

What About Bob?

Joe vs The Volcano

Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave

Miles Davis: The Birth of the Cool

Black '47 (May 8)

Rear Window (Rio)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Rio) X

Won't You Be My Neighbor? [doc] (online)

Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (online)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Oct 16, online)

Happy Feet (Oct 18, DVD with Rosa)

The Rider

The Personal History of David Copperfield (Dec 5, streaming) X

Leave No Trace (Dec 17)

The Polar Express

2021

Friday Night Lights

First Cow (Jan 8)

Mank (Jan 8)

Dirty Dancing

The Last Champion (Feb 2, iTunes)

My Journey to Italy: Martin Scorsese, Vol. 1   

The Dig (Feb 8, Netflix)

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Mar 2, DVD)

Highway Patrolman (Mar 21)

Some Came Running (Mar 24)

News of the World (Mar 26)

Promising Young Woman (Mar 26)

Some Came Running (billed Apr 4, iTunes)

Nomadland (May 2)

Princess Mononoke (Aug 1)

Summer of Soul (Aug 2)

Pig (Aug 4)

Chappaquidick (before Sep 16)

Green Knight (Sep 16, Theatre)

Candyman 

Mosquito Coast X

Richard Jewell (Oct 29)

Dune (Nov 6, Davenports) X

The French Dispatch (Nov 7, Karen Cooper) 

Small Town Crime (Nov 15, Netflix) X

Band of Brothers (completed Nov 28, DVD)

Hand of God (Dec 7, VIFF) X

UNDATED

Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood [Hanks] 

Knives Out X

Yesterday

Neymar Jr. and the Line of Kings (DAZN) 2022?

2022

Drive My Car (Jan 3, Rio, Anthony Ingram)

The Lost Daughter (Jan 5, streamed, DanW)

C'mon C'mon (Jan 5, Rio, KarenC)

Licorice Pizza (Jan 10, Fifth, Carole KarenC Rosie)

Macbeth (Jan 13, Park, Anthony Ingram)

Greyhound (Feb 2, computer)

White Men Can't Jump (Feb 17)

Baby Driver (Mar 28)

Father Stu (Apr 25, theatre)

Stand By Me (May 29, home)

The Shawshank Redemption (Jun 2, home)

Everything, Everywhere All At Once (Jun 6, Theatre, PN)

Dark Waters (Jul 1, Netflix in Josh's camper trailer)

White (Jul 24, Cinematheque, Rosie)

Elvis (Aug 8, SC)

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (Aug 9, IV)

Free State of Jones (Sep 9, Netflix)

The Year of Living Dangerously (Sep 21, Kathy Parsons' Squamish trailer)

Emily the Criminal (Sep 27, Rio, John Voth)

Soviet Bus Stops (Oct 4, IV)

Knowing (Oct 3ish, DVD)

The Good Nurse (Oct 19, VIFF)

Battle of Britain (Nov 3, laptop)

Be Kind Rewind (Nov 4, laptop)

Tár (Nov 7, Fifth Avenue)

36 Hours (Nov 9, laptop)

Watchmen (Nov 11, iMac - skimmed)

Come Back Anytime (Nov 13, VIFF) Ramen maker

The Banshees of Inisherin (Nov 15, Park)

Memories of Murder (Nov 16, Rory's)

The Guard (Nov 17, Rory's)

3000 Years of Longing (Nov 18, The Fritz Theatre, Salt Spring)

The Fabelmans (Dec 28, SC, Thea)

2023 

RRR (Jan 1, VIFF)

White Noise (Jan 2, home, Dan W)

Apollo 10 1/2 (Jan 2, home, Dan W)

The Whale (Jan 9, IV, Steph)

Brokers (Jan 22, IV, Rosie)

Aftersun (Jan 16, Rio, Carole)

Empire of Light (Jan 29, Rio, Carole & Chantal)

King Richard (Feb 1, computer)

RRR (Mar 25, Rio, Karen Cooper)

The Blues Brothers (Mar 29/30, computer) 

Kajillionaire (Apr 1/2, computer)

The Jesus Revolution

Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher

Tower (May 1-8, DVD)

Night and Fog (May 1-8, DVD)

The House is Black (May 1-8, DVD)

Harlan County USA (May 1-8, DVD)

Almost Holy (May 1-8, DVD)

The Fabelmans (May 11, home, Carole)

CASABLANCA (May 30, home, Carole)

Butter (Jun 17)

The Lady in the Lake (Jun)

Bella (Jul 3)

I Like Movies (Jul 19)

Oppenheimer 

Asteroid City

Taxi Driver (Aug 27, Rio, Kenton)

Theatre Camp (Aug 28, Rio, Carole)

Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game (Sep 13, laptop)

 

Crackerjack (Oct 11, plane to Orlando)

Reset 

Killers of the August Moon (Oct 19, SC)

Stop Making Sense (Nov 1, IV, John Voth)

Priscilla (Nov 15, SC, Carole) not great

Next Goal Wins (Nov 22, SC, Carole) good

The Big Heat (Nov 24, laptop)

The Killer : Fincher (Nov 30, Mel Kirby's) blech

Welcome to Marwen 

I saw '71 sometime, probably maybe 2023 or 2024? 

2024

Blackberry (Jan 7, TV, Thea and Carole)

Golda (Jan 8, computer, Dan Williams)

Anatomy of a Fall (Jan 8, computer, Dan Williams)

Freud's Last Session (Jan 13, Fifth Ave, Carole & Rosie)

The Green Fog (Jan 13, computer)

King Charles III (Jan 25, living room, Carole)

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Jan 26, Macbook)

Psycho (Jan 31, home, Carole)

The Sting (home, Carole)

Women Talking (Feb 27, Macbook)

The Holdovers (Mar 13, home)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Apr 11, home)

The Snake Pit (Apr 15, home)

Fandango (Apr 16, home)

Love and Mercy (Apr)

Lincoln Lawyer (Apr)

Leave the World Behind (completed Apr 29, Netflix)

Perfect Days (Apr 30, VIFF)

Evil Does Not Exist (May 10, VIFF)

Twist and Shout (May 14/15, computer)

X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (May 15, computer)

The Longest Day

Wildcat (May 29, IV, Rosie)

Saving Private Ryan (May 28/30, computer)

Shooting For Socrates (Jun 4, computer)

The Year My Parents Went On Vacation 

Saving Private Ryan (Jun 10, computer)

Chinatown (July 23, Rio, Mel Kirby)

Echo in the Canyon (Jul 27, computer)

Night of the Hunter (Jul 28, computer)

The Green Ray (Aug 7/8, computer)

Sing Sing (Aug 12, 5 Ave, Kenton)

Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen (Sep 3, VIFF)

American Hot Wax (Sep 6, laptop)

Lost in the Shuffle (Sep 7, Rio, Allen & Carole)

Paris, Texas (Sep 11, Rio, Tuesday Night Music Club) 

The Turin Horse (Sep 21, iMac)

Megalopolis (Sep 30, Nelson)

The Zone of Interest (Oct 6, Macbook)

Steal This Movie (Oct 18, Macbook)

Janet Planet (Oct 24, VIFF)

The Vast of Night (Oct 24, computer)

Conclave (Oct 26, SC, Carole)

The Apprentice (Oct 20, Kenton)

Conclave (Nov 2, John Voth)

All Of Us Strangers (Nov 8, Macbook)

Rebel Ridge (Nov18/19, Netflix)

Let's Get Lost (Nov 24, VIFF, Chris Hawley)

Hundreds of Beavers (Dec 8, VIFF, Steph)

Get Out Of The Car (Dec 30, laptop)

Three Colours: Blue (ND)