Melancholia - Lars von Trier (2011)

        Finally got to watch Lars's new movie.
It was good. Initially it feels a bit too reminiscent of Antichrist. I go back and forth with it because it's more simple than Antichrist or Dogville (haven't seen his earlier stuff yet) which gives it a feeling of dull hopelessness that works for the story. Kirsten Dunst does a great job. All the characters are very well played. The filming was beautiful which is cool, but I felt like that's the main reason I liked it, which is not so cool. Basically, it could have been better, but it's still an interesting look into the battle of depression and anxiety.

Watch it.

List of Recommendations

For my posts so far, I've written only the movies seen since I started the blog.
Here's a list of some other magnificent movies. Many of them are among my favorites - all wonderful, weird, or just worth watching.  No particular order.

Down in the Valley - David Jacobson (2005)  with Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood
The Fountain - Darren Oronofsky (2006) with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz
Mr. Nobody - Jaco Van Dormael (2009) with Jared Leto
Gerry - Gus Van Sant (2002) with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck
Altered States - Ken Russel (1980) with William Hurt
The Assassination of Richard Nixon - Niels Mueller (2004) with Sean Penn
A Love Song for Bobby Long - Shainee Gabel (2004) with Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta
Buffalo '66 - Vincent Gallo (1998) with Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci
THX 1138 - George Lucas (1971) with Robert Duvall
Pandorum - Christian Alvart (2009) with Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster and Cam Gigandet
Koyaanisqatsi - Godfrey Reggio (1982) with nobody..   AAmazing film.
Never Let Me Go - Mark Romanek (2010) with Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield
Boy A - John Crowley - 2007 with Andrew Garfield
Willard - Glen Morgan (2003) with Crispin Glover. It's silly, but I love the feel to it and Crispin Glover.
The Ballad of Jack and Rose - Rebecca Miller (2005) with Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle
Stay - Marc Forster (2005) with Ewan Mcgregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling
The Dark Hour/La Hora Fria - Elio Quiroga (2006) one of those over-looked, but great movies.
Elephant - Gus Van Sant (2003)
Taxidermia - György Pálfi (2003)  Hungarians yo... crazy.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - Chan-wook Park (2002)
The Lives of Others/Das Leben der Anderen - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (2006)
Gummo - Harmony Korine - (1997)
Stroszek - Werner Herzog (1977) with Brüno S.
The Wrestler - Darren Aronofsky - (2008) with Mickey Rourke and Even Rachel Wood
Delicatessen - Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991) with Dominique Pinon
Good - Vicente Amorim (2008) with Viggo Mortensen
Fat Girl/A Ma Soeur! - Catherine Breillat (2001)
Antichrist - Lars von Trier (2009) with Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg
Eastern Promises - David Cronenberg (2007) with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts
Naked Lunch - David Cronenberg (1991)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser - Werner Herzog (1974) with Bruno S.
Nell - Michael Apted (1994) with Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson
Twelve Monkeys - Terry Gilliam (1995) with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt
Black Death - Christopher Smith (2010) with Sean Bean
Babel - Alejandro González Iñárritu (2006) with Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt
Oscar and Lucinda - Gillian Armstrong (1997) with Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett
What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Lasse Hallström (1993) will always be a favorite of mine.
Downfall/Der Untergang - Oliver Hirschbiegel (2004) with Bruno Ganz
The Fall - Tarsem Singh (2010) with Lee Pace         beauuutiful movie.  a forever favorite.
Boys Don't Cry - Kimberly Peirce (1999) with Hilary Swank and Chloë Sevigny
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
Jacob's Ladder - Adrian Lyne (1990) with Tim Robbins
Control - Anton Corbijn (2007)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - John McNaughton (1986)
Pi - Darren Aronofsky (1998)
Shortbus - John Cameron Mitchell (2006)
The Chumscrubber - Arie Posin (2005) with Ralph Fiennes, Camilla Belle, Jamie Bell.. even Glenn Close
The Adventures of Priscilla - Queen of the Desert - Stephen Elliot (1994) w/Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving
Chung King Express - Kar Wai Wong (1994)
Mouth to Mouth - Alison Murray (2005) with Ellen Page
Princess Mononoke - Hayao Miyazaki (1997)
Things We Lost in the Fire - Susanne Bier (2007) with Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro
The Tracey Fragments - Bruce McDonald - (2007) with Ellen Page
Storytelling - Todd Solandz (2001) with Selma Blair
Wilby Wonderful - Daniel MacIvor - (2004)
Micmacs - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2009) with Dominique Pinon and other funny french people
Kontroll - Nimród Antal (2003)

Watch them!

The Passion of Darkly Noon - Philip Ridley (1995)

        Strange. The acting feels cheap, but intentionally so. Brendan Fraser always looks like goofy baboon, but it works in this movie. He's fucking crazy. Viggo Mortensen plays a mute.. and is really hot. I'm glad I watched this and recommend it just for something odd and entertaining.

Watch it, yo.

Paperhouse - Bernard Rose (1988)

        Really great movie.  I was a little surprised.  I loved it. Creative, oddly intense, entertaining. The actors are interesting and play their roles very well and the filming fits into the story well.

Watch it!

Synesthesia - Toru Matsuura (2005)

        I liked this. What's good: the music; the end is wonderful and pretty; I liked a few of the characters a lot. What's eh: I don't know how intentional things were other than symbolism in colors. It feels cheesy/unbelievable at times, but Asian movies are usually kinda silly like that. Overall, I enjoyed the whole process and thought the story was trying to be unique. The way it ended is what I really liked. It's a fun, interesting movie.

Watch it.

The Book of Eli - Albert and Allen Hughes (2010)

        I know everybody has seen this already.. I hadn't, so here you go.   I don't really like Denzel and I don't like Hollywood-style cinematography - the dramatic music and swishing sounds are annoying and dumb. The story was good.        I don't recommend it.  You've probably already seen it, but if not...

Don't watch it.

Hounddog - Deborah Kampmeier (2007)

        Not worth watching. The symbolism is really obvious and cheesy. Dakota Fanning and David Morse are great which is why I watched it, but the story wasn't put together well and the cinematography is cheap.

Don't watch it.