January Recap

Better late than never, I suppose.


The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952) ****
Casque D’Or (1952) ****
The Red House (1946) ***
Taxi! (1932) ***
Broken Arrow (1950) ****
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958) ****
Midnight (1939) ****
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) ***
Gentleman Jim (1942) ****
Moontide (1942) ****
The Man Without a Past (2002) ****
Hondo (1953) *** 1/2
I Was a Male War Bride (1949) ***
Easy Living (1937) ****
Dodge City (1939) *** 1/2
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) *** 1/2
The Major and the Minor (1942) ****
Body and Soul (1947) ***
Funny Face (1957) ** 1/2
Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ****


I wrote mini-reviews for a bunch of these on Letterboxd, which I don't feel like transcribing here.  Let's just say I watched BROKEN ARROW, BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE, MIDNIGHT, GENTLEMEN JIM, and MOONTIDE all within a close proximity to one another and haven't found anything to rival them since.  All masterpieces for various reasons and in disparate genres.  All highly recommended.

I didn't write anything about CASQUE D'OR or THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA on Letterboxd yet, but these two are also masterpieces.  GREEN TEA is the Ozu movie for John.  A Rohmer flick without the temptation, just a general feeling of marriage malaise.   It could easily be retitled "I Think I Love My Husband."  CASQUE D'OR, I think everyone would be a fan of.  It's black-and-white photography looks stunning in HD.  It's flawless poetic realism reanimated for a new generation.

I'm not much a fan of FUNNY FACE.  It's basically void of the charm and insouciance that Donen pictures usually have in spades.

Mitchell Leisen is an underrated comedy director.  Perhaps up there with Gregory La Cava.