Movies watched in August, and brief notes:

The Taste of Tea, Katsuhito Ishii
- Heartwarming postmodern take on Ozu

Crash, Paul Haggis
- One of the worst movies I've seen in the last year; thoughtless liberal claptrap

Schizopolis, Steven Soderbergh
- Quirky Soderbergh pet project; personal and entertaining

Saturday Night Fever, John Badham
- Travolta = stud; misplaced gang-rape scene; sweet dancing

Election 2, Johnnie To
- Gritty Hong Kong gangster movie; awesome; no glamorous violence here

Alien, Ridley Scott
- Thriller/horror in space; great, but Blade Runner still = better

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, Errol Morris
- Ambitious, but Morris's subjects aren't half as interesting as in Thin Blue Line or Fog of War

A Scanner Darkly, Richard Linklater
- Very true to the novel; glad to see they pulled off the scramble suit

The Underneath, Steven Soderbergh
- Soderbergh cutting his teeth; good if you want to watch Soderbergh learn how to make Ocean's movies

Above the Law, Corey Yuen
- Awesome fight scenes; bizarre ending; ass-kicking white lady

Dumbo, Ben Sharpsteen
- Almost cried like I did when I was a kid during the "mom in jail" scene

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr, Errol Morris
- Leuchter just seems like a sad old opportunist

Superbad, Greg Mottola
- Best teen comedy in recent memory; has Apatow's touch

The Limey, Steven Soderbergh
- More Soderbergh cutting his teeth with thrillers; more skillful than Underneath

Gaslight, George Cukor
- 1944 version; I heart Ingrid Bergman; Charles Boyer = creepy as hell

Woyzeck, Werner Herzog
- Kinski is a fucking lunatic; I can't wait to read his autobiography/watch My Best Fiend

The Thomas Crown Affair, Norman Jewison
- Surprisingly disappointing; good cuts, stylized direction; probably cool in '68

Time and Tide, Tsui Hark
- Taiwanese thriller; twisty plot; bodyguards, shoot-outs, Tsui Hark must love John Woo

The Third Man, Carol Reed
- Orson Welles was the smoothest motherfucker on earth when he was young; awesome chase scene in the sewers; written by Graham Greene

Fallen Idol, Carol Reed
- Unique thriller; kid got annoying at the end; written by Graham Greene

Sansho the Bailiff, Kenji Mizoguchi
- Heartbreaking work of staggering genius; emotionally exhausting

The Magnificent Butcher, Sammo Hung
- Hilarious kung fu comedy; Sammo Hung is one of the best kung fu directors

Vernon, Florida, Errol Morris
- Short; amusing; Errol Morris films like he's disgusted with humanity

Pickup on South Street, Samuel Fuller
- Richard Widmark is a champ; I'd love to go on a Samuel Fuller tear now

Night and the City, Jules Dassin
- More Richard Widmark; Jules Dassin is hilarious and has a keen sense of irony

Marathon Man, John Schlesinger
- This movie is famous for its torture scene, but it seemed tame next to Election/Election 2; "Dustin Hoffman as . . . 'The Graduate Student'"

Gates of Heaven, Errol Morris
- Devoted pet owners bury their dead pets; Surprise! People who run pet cemeteries are weirdos; very enjoyable

Election, Johnnie To
- Taiwanese gangsters are the smoothest in the world; well-paced; brutally violent; Johnnie To knows how to end a movie

The Running Man, Paul Michael Glaser
- Schwarzenegger stars in an adaptation of a Stephen King story; if you can imagine a worse premise, I'd like to hear it; puns galore