First-Time Viewings (June, 2011)

I started a new job in June so I wasn't able to catch up with as many new and older films as usual. Of the pre-2011 films I caught up with for the first time my favorites were Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile (a film I really regret that I hadn't seen before now), Karyn Kusama's Girlfight (which features a really remarkable performance by Michelle Rodriguez) and Jeff Garlin's funny and moving I Want Someone to Eat Some Cheese With.

Some other older films I enjoyed included Jean-Pierre Mocky's No Pockets in a Shroud (a film that offered up my favorite Sylvia Kristel an early role), the undervalued S.W.A.T. (a beautifully done modern action film), the Bogart post-war drama Tokyo Joe (whose title inspired one of my favorite Bryan Ferry songs) and the infectiously fun Wild Target.

The worst of the batch included the rather lame Rock Hudson-Leslie Caron comedy A Very Special Favor and the atrocious Jim Kelly snoozer Hot Potato.

Special mention has to go to Lucio Fulci's Conquest, one of the maestro's films I hadn't seen before that I greatly enjoyed despite its faults and the rare Candy Stripers, an entertaining 1978 Bob Chinn production that he shot around the same time as the key Johnny Wadd films Blonde Fire and China Cat.



Here is the full list of pre-2011 films I caught up with in June:

8 Mile ****1/2
A Very Special Favor **
Candy Stripers ***
Conquest ***
Girlfight ****
Hot Potato *
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With ****
Melinda **1/2
No Pockets in a Shroud ***1/2
Operation Mad Ball ***
Ordeal **1/2
S.W.A.T. ***1/2
Tokyo Joe ***1/2
Wild Target ***1/2

As for 2011, I believe the only new film I managed to get out and see was Super 8, which I enjoyed greatly. I can't remember the last time I only saw one movie at a theater in a months time but the new job has been occupying much of my time and thoughts.