Though it was off to a shakey start, Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival proved to be THE film event of the summer. Even the truly terrible films made for irreplaceable experiences due to the uniquely passionate Fantasia audience. The closing night… Scott Pilgrim and then, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Could it have been any better? Most of my home viewings were pretty radical too. It wasn’t easy narrowing down the list to just five!
August on the other hand was more subdued. Most of my viewings were slanted towards recent hollywood releases, for better or for worse. I am hoping to delve back into the work of foreign and older filmmakers in September. Let’s hope I can discover some new gems.
Five Best Films I Saw in July
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (Eli Craig)
Fish Story (Yoshihiro Nakamura)
The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Edgar Wright)
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik)
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Five Best Films I saw in August
Closely Watched Trains (Jiri Menzel)
Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles & David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin)
Hot Fuzz (Edgard Wright)
Les Beaux Souvenirs (Francis Mankiewicz)
Missing (Costa-Gavras)
House of Mirth and Movies 
So you ended up watching Missing, eh?
Yay for Edgar Wright movies ^_^
These seem like ‘surprising’ entries for you, though of course the festival doubtless ‘skews’ them toward the recent. I read some of your other pieces and they were quite illumining, as usual. I’m not surprised that that Serbian film turned out to be pompous junk, tho there’s always a ‘market’ for the positioning of aspiring art-house shock films (on a related note, my brother just left me a portentous voicemail announcing that he’s finally watched “Salo”.
Some of these screencaps look so Luc Besson–like! What is this angel holding a gun to her head?!
There was something I had thought to say about that ‘housing market’-themed horror, but I’ve forgotten it. Oh well. I’m very enthusiastic about Septembers and hope you’ll find lots of classical films to briskly breeze past your critical eye.
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I even did a radio show about it, keep up trip!
Wright is nice.
Jason: The fantasia film festival dominated my time entirely, so yes, it is skewed. Looking back i actually forgot I saw Sombre, should probably be in Tucker and Dale’s spot. Too lazy to edit actual post though.
The Angel is actually Juliet. A very hilarious version of the play.
I hope I’ll see a lot! I have a bunch of Sternberg lined up. Also some Satyajit Ray, which will be new for me.
You’re so busy these days I feel like I’m losing you.
Wow, I do not remember that scene in Hot Fuzz…
it’s from the “performance” of Romeo and Juliet.