Lady Vengeance (Chinjeolhan geumjassi) (2005)

Dir. Chan-wook Park

The final installment of director Chan Wook Park's revenge trilogy (preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy) chronicles the efforts of Lee Geum-ja (Yeong-ae Lee) -- known to her cellmates as "the kind Ms. Geum-ja" -- to track down the man who betrayed her. Taking the rap for her accomplice and incarcerated for 13 long years, she plots an elaborate retribution with help from her fellow inmates.

The Honeymoon Killers (1970)

Dir. Leonard Kastle, Donald Volkman

In this film based on the real-life Lonely Hearts murders of the late 1940s, handsome lothario Ray Fernandez (Tony LoBianco) cons lonely women out of money by promising marriage. When he meets nurse Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler), the two fall in love. Posing as brother and sister, the duo cross the country swindling needy women -- and, when necessary, killing them. As their passions become more inflamed, their crime spree grows bloodier.

Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma monogatari) (2004)

Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima

Based on Novala Takemoto's best-selling Japanese novel Shimotsuma Story, this colorful live-action comedy from writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima tells a tale of unlikely friendship. When she meets rough-and-tumble biker chick Ichigo Shirayuri (Anna Tschiya), the refined Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada) is forever changed. But can a big-city girl who adores 18th century France, frilly dresses and parasols save her new friend from certain doom?

January Stats

January Total = 5
2008 Total = 5

Stats:
Rent - 1
Own - 3
Theater - 1
TV - 0
Other - 0
First Viewing - 3

Vengeance Is Mine (Fukushû suruwa wareniari) (1979)

Dir. Shohei Imamura

Legendary Japanese director Shohei Imamura (The Eel) helms this chilling tale of horror and revenge based on actual events about a seemingly harmless young man who blossomed into a cold-blooded, remorseless murderer. On the run from the police over the course of a 78-day killing spree, Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata) reflects on his life via flashback and reveals how he came to have such disdain for human life.

Tideland (2005)

Dir. Terry Gilliam

As seen through the eyes the fiery Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland), director Terry Gilliam creates a world that evokes Alice in Wonderland. With her junkie father (Jeff Bridges) spending most of his time in a stupor mourning the recent death of his wife (Jennifer Tilly), Jeliza-Rose is free to roam the surrounding prairie, where she meets a mentally challenged boy (Brendan Fletcher) and his oddly macabre sister (Janet McTeer).

Clerks. (1994)

Dir. Kevin Smith

Made on a shoestring budget by director Kevin Smith, this classic indie comedy won awards at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Convenience and video store clerks Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed … and bored out of their minds. Between serving nonstop shoppers, the overworked counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their offbeat love lives.

Blue Velvet (1986)

Dir. David Lynch

An innocent (Kyle MacLachlan) gets mixed up in a small-town murder mystery involving a kinky nightclub chanteuse (Isabella Rossellini) and a kidnapper (Dennis Hopper) with a penchant for snorting helium. One of the most bizarre (and critically acclaimed) movies of the 1980s, Blue Velvet inspired a generation of independent filmmakers with its dark look behind the all-American veneer of small-town life.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Dir. Craig Gillespie

Ryan Gosling plays the title character in this oddball comedy about a delusional young man who buys a life-size sex doll over the Internet -- and then falls in love with her. When the besotted young man starts telling people that the doll is his girlfriend, his brother and sister-in-law decide it's time to intervene in this film co-starring Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Kelli Garner and Paul Schneider.

2007 Stats

Total Movies - 131

Stats:
Rent - 59
Own - 38
Theater - 15
TV - 15
Other - 2
First Viewing - 101

Favorite First Time Viewings:
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Grindhouse (2007)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Tenebre (1982)
Cemetery Man (1994)
Waitress (2007)
All About My Mother (1999)
What Have You Done to Solange (1972)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Salem's Lot (1979)
The Squid and the Whale (2005)

December Stats

December Total = 7
2007 Total = 131

Stats:
Rent - 1
Own - 2
Theater - 2
TV - 2
Other - 0
First Viewing - 6

Tommy (1975)

Dir. Ken Russell

The Who made history with this campy cult classic -- the first-ever filmed "rock opera" -- which tells the tale of Tommy (Roger Daltry), a boy who loses the ability to hear, speak and see after the tragic death of his father. Despite his losses, Tommy becomes a pinball champion and religious messiah, only to have his followers betray him. Tina Turner, Elton John and Eric Clapton all turn in performances in this outlandish production.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Dir. Wes Anderson

Following the death of their father, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a journey on the cross-India train the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up some old wounds and proves that their sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in Wes Anderson's lyrical comic drama.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Dir. Tim Burton


Johnny Depp reteams with director Tim Burton for this adaptation of the hit Broadway musical about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a man who becomes a deranged murderer seeking revenge after being falsely imprisoned. To add to the macabre nature of his crimes, he enlists the help of his lover, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who disposes of the victims by baking them into meat pies -- sought after by all of London.

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Dir. Noah Baumbach

Jeff Daniels makes for a haunting Brooklyn professor who's well past his prime, and Laura Linney is his writer wife on the brink of stardom in Noah Baumbach's honest look at the disintegration of a marriage. With their lives headed for distinctly opposite directions, the two can't help but be acrimonious about their impending separation. Unfortunately, their two children are stuck in the middle of the emotional warfare.

Bewitched (2005)

Dir. Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron directs this comedy about a film production of the 1960s sitcom. Hoping to revive his career, washed-up actor Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is convinced that Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman) is the perfect Samantha to his Darrin. Wyatt doesn't know how right he is: Isabel actually is a witch. Isabel's mettlesome father (Michael Caine) tries to derail the production, but gets sidetracked by the actress portraying Endora (Shirley MacLaine).

Singapore Sling (1990)

Dir. Nikos Nikolaidis

In pursuit of a woman he once knew, Detective Singapore Sling is lured into the clutches of a murderous mother-daughter duo that has perverse plans for the unfortunate gumshoe. Directed by Nikos Nikolaidis, this gruesome Greek film noir will shock and disturb even the most impervious viewer as the women sadistically torture the wounded investigator in an orgy of sexual perversion and unrelenting violence.

Notorious (1946)

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

This top-notch Hitchcock espionage thriller builds to an incredibly suspenseful climax. Government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) to spy on her father's influential Nazi friends. As part of her cover, she marries ringleader Claude Rains, but finds she's falling in love with Grant. The 360-degree camera pan around a smitten Grant and Bergman ranks as one of the screen's hottest love scenes.

November Stats

November Total = 3
2007 Total = 124

Stats:
Rent - 1
Own - 1
Theater - 1
TV - 0
Other - 0
First Viewing - 3

30 Days of Night (2007)

Dir. David Slade

When a monthlong darkness sets in on the tiny Alaskan town of Barrow, the locals are visited by a flock of bloodthirsty vampires eager to take advantage of the no-sun zone. The town sheriff Eben Olemaun (Josh Hartnett) and his deputy and wife, Stella (Melissa George), must act fast to save the dark day. Based on a popular horror comic by Steve Niles, the film also stars Ben Foster and Danny Huston.