Mörder sind unter uns, Die (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946) aka The Murderers Are Among Us

The Murderers Are Among Us (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946)
Rating: 8.2

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
Rating: 10

Judge: "Are you in a state of grace?"
Joan:"If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me."

Laberinto del Fauno, El (Guillermo del Toro, 2006) aka Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
Rating: 9.3

My favorite film of 2006.

Batoru rowaiaru (Kinji Fukasaku, 2000) aka Battle Royale

Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku, 2000)
Rating: 8.7

I saw this film for the second time in my Contemporary Japanese Film class. I always thought of it as a really "fun film" (I mean it can't really get any more fun than 40 kids put on an island to kill each other off until only one remains alive), but after seeing it again I got a chance to analyze it more critically and realized there is a lot more to it than the underage children nihilistically slaughtering each other.

Kumonosu jô (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) aka Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
Rating: 9.9

The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945)

The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945)
Rating: 9.9

"It shrinks my liver, doesn't it, Nat? It pickles my kidneys, yeah. But what it does to the mind? It tosses the sandbags overboard so the balloon can soar. Suddenly I'm above the ordinary. I'm competent. I'm walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. I'm one of the great ones. I'm Michaelangelo, molding the beard of Moses. I'm Van Gogh painting pure sunlight. I'm Horowitz, playing the Emperor Concerto. I'm John Barrymore before movies got him by the throat. I'm Jesse James and his two brothers, all three of them. I'm W. Shakespeare. And out there it's not Third Avenue any longer, it's the Nile. Nat, it's the Nile and down it moves the barge of Cleopatra."

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
Rating: 10
"My conscience wants vegetarianism to win over the world. And my subconscious is yearning for a piece of juicy meat. But what do I want?"

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
Rating: 9.7

Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (Werner Herzog, 1970) aka Even Dwarfs Started Small

Even Dwarfs Started Small (Werner Herzog, 1970)
Rating: 9.0

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
Rating: 9.0

I didn't have any real problems with the film. In fact I liked the whole concept and it had some very touching moments. It was well acted, and the cinematography and sound also worked well. I just felt that some of the dialogue was very poorly written. For example: They really tried to beat us over the head with lines about how close Clive and Julian's characters were twenty years ago. There are also some unprovoked backstory moments which always annoy me, and after it is discovered Kee is pregnant, Theo reiterates this fact not only once, but twice as if it weren't already apparent.

The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)

The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)
Rating: 9.0

The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927)

The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927)
Rating: 8.0

Offret (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986) aka The Sacrifice

Offret (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986)
Rating: 9.5

A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006)

A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006)
Rating: 7.0

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (Robert Bresson, 1956) aka A Man Escaped

A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
Rating: 10

Trois couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)

Trois couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
Rating: 8.4

Andrey Rublyov (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1969)

Andrey Rublyov (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1969)
Rating: 10