Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Warner Home Video has announced plans to release a new special edition DVD of Blade Runner, the landmark adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s classic sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? To be titled Blade Runner: The Final Cut, the multi-disc set will include a remastered version of the 1992 director’s cut, as well as the original 1983 U.S. theatrical release and an expanded international theatrical cut, both of which will be available on DVD in the U.S. for the first time.

The director’s cut has clearly come to be considered the definitive version of the film (and rightly so), but the original theatrical release—completed with a tacked-on voice-over narration by star Harrison Ford and an altered ending—has great sentimental value to me, so I’m looking forward to finally being able to get both in the same box .

Cannes 2006 Winners

The jury at the 59th Cannes Film Festival has selected the festival’s winners:

Palme d’Or—The Wind That Shakes the Barley (directed by Ken Loach)
Grand Prix—Flandres (directed by Bruno Dumont)
Jury Prize—Red Road (directed by Andrea Arnold)

My Favorite Films of 2006 (updated 5/13/06)

               My Favorite Films of 2006 (updated 5/14/06)

1. Cache


2. The Three Burials of Melquides Estrada


3. Keane


4. Match Point


5. Thank You For Smoking


6. The Inside Man


7. Freedomland


8. V for Vendetta


9. Lucky Number Slevin


10. Poseidon


11. Mission: Impossible 3

My Favorite Films of 2005

               My Favorite Films of 2005 (revised 5/13/06)

1. A History of Violence


2. Broken Flowers


3. 2046


4. Yes


5. Last Days


6. The Holy Girl


7. Pulse


8. Capote


9. Mysterious Skin


10. Millions


11. Good Night, and Good Luck


12. Brokeback Mountain


13. The Weather Man


14. The Squid and the Whale


15. The Constant Gardener


16. The Girl from Monday


17. Me and You and Everyone We Know


18. Grizzly Man


19. Palindromes


20. Melinda and Melinda


21. Batman Begins


22. Munich


23. Crash


24. Thumbsucker


25. Sin City


26. Junebug


27. Nobody Knows


28. Happy Endings


29. Oldboy


30. The Beat That My Heart Skipped


31. Lord of War


32. The New World


33. Cinderella Man


34. Bob Dylan: No Direction Home


35. Not on the Lips


36. Where the Truth Lies


37. Asylum


38. Walk the Line


39. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


40. Downfall


41. 5 x 2


42. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist


43. The Assassination of Richard Nixon


44. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance


45. 3-Iron


46. The Bad News Bears


47. Empire Falls


48. The Skeleton Key


49. Kingdom of Heaven


50. The Upside of Anger


51. The Family Stone


52. In Her Shoes


53. The Ice Harvest


54. North Country


55. The 40 Year Old Virgin


56. The Brothers Grimm


57. Four Brothers


58. Pretty Persuasion


59. Hustle & Flow


60. March of the Penguins


61. Elizabethtown


62. Tale of Two Sisters


63. Dark Water


64. The Interpreter


65. In Good Company


66. Kung Fu Hustle


67. Red Eye


68. Land of the Dead


69. Rory O’Shea Was Here


70. Off the Map


71. Winter Solstice


72. Stay


73. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


74. Derailed


75. Izo


76. The Island


77. Bewitched


78. Wedding Crashers


79. Sahara


80. Constantine


81. Fever Pitch


82. War of the Worlds


83. Flightplan


84. The Exorcism of Emily Rose


85. White Noise


86. Elektra


87. Fantastic Four


88. Cursed


89. Ring 2


90. The Amityville Horror

One Man Film Festival: War Movies

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Sergent York (1941)
Henry V (1944)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Patton (1970)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Big Red One (1980)
Platoon (1986)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
A Very Long Engagement (2004)
Jarhead (2005)

My Own Private Awards Show

Best Picture: A History of Violence
Best Actor: tie—Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale) & Bill Murray – Broken Flowers
Best Actress:   Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney—Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Supporting Actress: tie—Amy Adams (Junebug) & Maria Bello (A History of Violence)
Best Director:  David Cronenberg (A History of Violence)
Best Original Screenplay: Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Josh Olsen (A History of Violence)
Best Foreign Film: 2046

One Man Film Festival: Future Dystopias

Metropolis (1927)
Things to Come (1936)
Alphaville (1965)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Omega Man (1971)
THX 1138 (1971)
Soylent Green (1973)
The Road Warrior (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
The Terminator (1984)
Robocop (1987)
12 Monkeys (1995)
Gattaca (1995)
Dark City (1998)
Code 46 (2003)

Introduction: 2006 One Man Film Festival

Now is the winter of movie lovers’ discontent. The studios, still trying to shake off their post-Oscar hangovers, dump last year’s bad decisions—Failure to Launch—into the multiplexes. Meanwhile, erstwhile distributor of indie and foreign films Wellspring Media has been swallowed whole by hype-and-cash-bloated mini-studio The Weinstein Company:

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0609,kaufman,72356,20.html

It’s already too late to catch most of the Oscar-nominated films in theaters (how did I not see Munich?), yet still too early to see them on DVD.  

So what’s a movie fan to do? Join me here. Over the next few weeks I’ll be programming a little virtual film festival I’ve dubbed “The 2006 One Man Film Festival,” offering up a list of 10 or so exemplary films from a variety of genres, more of a sampler of the riches of cinema than a series of proverbial top 10 lists.  

One Man Film Festival: 12 Westerns

One-Man Film Festival: 12 Westerns

1. Stagecoach (1939)
2. Red River (1948)
3. The Naked Spur (1953)
4. The Searchers (1956)
5. Seven Men From Now (1956)
6. Rio Bravo (1959)
7. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
8. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
9. The Wild Bunch (1969)
10. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
11. Unforgiven (1992)
12. Dead Man (1995)

My Favorite Films of 2005

               My Favorite Films of 2005 (revised 3/5/06)

1. A History of Violence


2. Broken Flowers


3. 2046


4. Yes


5. Last Days


6. The Holy Girl


7. Pulse


8. Capote


9. Mysterious Skin


10. Millions


11. Good Night, and Good Luck


12. Brokeback Mountain


13. Crash


14. The Weather Man


15. The Squid and the Whale


16. The Constant Gardener


17. The Girl from Monday


18. Me and You and Everyone We Know


19. Grizzly Man


20. Palindromes


21. Melinda and Melinda


22. Batman Begins


23. Thumbsucker


24. Sin City


25. Junebug


26. Nobody Knows


27. Happy Endings


28. Oldboy


29. The Beat That My Heart Skipped


30. Lord of War


31. The New World


32. Cinderella Man


33. Bob Dylan: No Direction Home


34. Not on the Lips


35. Walk the Line


36. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


37. Downfall


38. 5 x 2


39. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist


40. The Assassination of Richard Nixon


41. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance


42. 3-Iron


43. The Bad News Bears


44. Empire Falls


45. The Skeleton Key


46. Kingdom of Heaven


47. The Upside of Anger


48. The Family Stone


49. In Her Shoes


50. The Ice Harvest


51. The 40 Year Old Virgin


52. The Brothers Grimm


53. Four Brothers


54. Pretty Persuasion


55. Hustle & Flow


56. March of the Penguins


57. Elizabethtown


58. Tale of Two Sisters


59. Dark Water


60. The Interpreter


61. In Good Company


62. Kung Fu Hustle


63. Red Eye


64. Land of the Dead


65. Rory O’Shea Was Here


66. Off the Map


67. Winter Solstice


68. Stay


69. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


70. Derailed


71. Izo


72. The Island


73. Bewitched


74. Wedding Crashers


75. Sahara


76. Constantine


77. Fever Pitch


78. War of the Worlds


79. Flightplan


80. The Exorcism of Emily Rose


81. White Noise


82. Elektra


83. Fantastic Four


84. Cursed


85. Ring 2


86. The Amityville Horror