Each film: 1 shot, 1 sentence.

My film watchings, summarized.

[1shot1sentence]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2103281/

Caesar is one of the best current film characters.

[1shot1sentence]

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258972/

Bautista is great; everything else is garbage.

[1shot1sentence]

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120755/

A trying and caring Tom Cruise can only carry an action movie with a bad plot, a horrible love interest, and uninteresting villains so far.

[1shot1sentence]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/

It’s incredibly impressive how well Rise of the Planet of the Apes ties in with earlier movies to create a cohesive mythology.

[1shot1sentence]

Amadeus (1984)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/

Amadeus is at its best when it’s a movie about man versus God.

[1shot1sentence]

Hoosiers (1986)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091217/

Hoosiers succeeds because it recognizes that individual human stories are the real heart of all good sports movies.

[1shot1sentence]

L’Eclisse [L’eclisse] (1962)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056736/

The missing Anna of L’Avventura and the disintegrating marriage of La Notte do not even compare in tragedy to the nihilistic ending of L’Eclisse which questions the whole meaning of relationships.

[1shot1sentence]

La Notte [La notte] (1961)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054130/

It was easy to see the immediate greatness of L’Avventura but to truly get how good La Notte is will probably require a few more viewings.

[1shot1sentence]

L’Avventura [L’avventura] (1960)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053619/

Layered with so much meaning and intensely thought provoking, it’s easy to see why L’Avventura frequently appears at the top of so many Best Movie Ever lists.

[1shot1sentence]

Contempt [Le mépris] (1963)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057345/

To paraphrase Lester Bangs from Almost Famous, “In every scene of 8½, Fellini accomplishes with dazzling style what it takes Godard a whole movie to not accomplish in Contempt.”

[1shot1sentence]

The Long Goodbye (1973)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070334/

Elliott Gould provides the already iconic character of Philip Marlowe with winks, smirks, and frequently rambling incoherent-ness in one of the best neo-noirs.

[1shot1sentence]

Ministry of Fear (1944)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037075/

Ministry of Fear excels at two traits any good film noir must have: 1) twists and turns to keep the viewer guessing; and 2) making every shadow seem creepy and foreboding.

[1shot1sentence]

The Lady Without Camelias [La signora senza camelie] (1953)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046313/

Antonioni paints everything as absolutely beautiful which makes the tragedy here that much more tragic.

[1shot1sentence]

Drunken Angel [Yoidore tenshi] (1948)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040979/

Like many early films of the great masters, Drunken Angel shows untapped potential (especially here with a dream sequence clumsily thrown in the middle that could have added so much if done right) but also an ability to invoke fantastic acting.

[1shot1sentence]

Risky Business (1983)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086200/

The great synth score from Tangerine Dream really adds to the dark teenage fantasy of Risky Business.

[1shot1sentence]

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/

The Day the Earth Stood Still is still essential 1950s sci-fi though it's nowhere near as great as The Thing from Another World or Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[1shot1sentence]

The Iron Giant (1999)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129167/

The paranoia of the 1950s makes the setting of this coming-of-age story very specific, but the film still delivers a great and timeless message for any era.