Dog Bite Dog (2006)

I watched Dog Bite Dog (狗咬狗) because it was leaving MUBI at the end of the month, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how violent Cheang Pou-soi's movie was going to be. This is out of control. And I’m not sure it takes us anywhere at all really. Just violence for the sake of violence. Not much fun. Love me some Edison Chen, though.

Odete (2005)

I didn't love Odete, which was released as Two Drifters in the U.S. (where they wanted to market it to gay audiences. I think the reason I didn't love Odete – although I love João Pedro Rodrigues – is mostly because Odete herself is a total nutjob. Rodrigues's film is about loss and lack, and the young man at the center has lost the man he loves, but the young woman at the center is missing something more existential. I don't know. I was into this for a while, but Odete really started to get on my nerves, and then the ending was really just not for me.

2006 In Review

LOVED
~ ~
1. Children of Men
2. United 93
3. Half Nelson
4. The Fountain
5. Shortbus
6. Volver
7. The Last King of Scotland
8. Water
9. The Queen
10. Flags of Our Fathers
11. Brick
12. L'Enfant
13. Fateless
14. Imagine Me & You
15. Sophie Scholl: the Final Days
16. The Painted Veil
17. Pan's Labyrinth

REALLY LIKED
~ ~
18. C.R.A.Z.Y.
19. Little Miss Sunshine
20. A Prairie Home Companion
21. Tsotsi
22. Time to Leave
23. Friends with Money
24. Three Times
25. Marie Antoinette
The Prestige
Babel
Apocalypto
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
La Moustache
Gabrielle
13 Tzameti

LIKED
~ ~
Ask the Dust
Clean
The Departed
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
Thank You for Smoking
Curse of the Golden Flower
Old Joy
Letters from Iwo Jima
Dreamgirls
Notes on a Scandal
Venus
Summer Storm
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Poseidon

LIKED MORE THAN I DISLIKED
~ ~
Cars
Two Drifters
Duck Season
Monster House
X-men: the Last Stand
Another Gay Movie
Happy Feet
Let's Go to Prison
Running with Scissors
The House of Sand
Lady in the Water

BARELY LIKED MORE THAN I DISLIKED
~ ~
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Devil Wears Prada
Evil
Woman Is the Future of Man
Casino Royale
Snakes on a Plane
Little Children
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
The Oh in Ohio

DISLIKED
~ ~
Eragon
For Your Consideration
Art School Confidential
The Good German
Don't Tell

HATED
~ ~
Blood Diamond
The Last Kiss
Manderlay
Hard Candy
V for Vendetta
Scoop
The Illusionist
The Black Dahlia

COMPLETE AND TOTAL WASTE OF TIME
~ ~
Joyeux Noël
Superman Returns
The Promise
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Good Shepherd
Click