314) Men with Guns (1997), 315) Return of the Secaucus 7 (1979), 316) Amigo (2011) and 317) Lone Star (1996)

314) Men with Guns (1997) Dir: John Sayles Date Released: March 27, 1998 Date Seen: August 8, 2011 Rating: 3.25/5

315) Return of the Secaucus 7 (1979) Dir: John Sayles Date Released: September 5, 1980 Date Seen: August 8, 2011 Rating: 3/5

316) Amigo (2010) Dir: John Sayles Date Released: August 19, 2011 Date Seen: August 8, 2011 Rating: 3/5

317) Lone Star (1996) Dir: John Sayles Date Released: June 21, 1996 Date Seen: August 8, 2011 Rating: 3.5/5

I guess I'm a John Sayles fan. See my interview with Sayles at Nomad Wide Screen.

311) Forbidden Planet (1956)

311) Forbidden Planet (1956) Dir: Fred M. Wilcox Date Released: March 15, 1956 Date Seen: August 6, 2011 Rating: 4/5

Throughout the first half of this film, I thought it was like Planet of the Vampires in the sense that I enjoyed its weird little expressive flourishes but found its characters, its dialogue, its general mood to be pretty uninteresting. Then the Id monster showed up. THEN THE ID MONSTER SHOWED UP. 

310) The President's Analyst (1967)

310) The President's Analyst (1967) Dir: Theodore J. Flicker Date Released: December 21, 1967 Date Seen: August 6, 2011 Rating: 4/5

As much as I love James Coburn's performance in The President's Analyst, I think that the film, generally speaking, is almost entirely carried by its ideas. And the problem with a very funny and wildly imaginative thriller-comedy like this is that its great in theory but often more important for the films it paves the way for. I was especially taken aback at how weirdly disconnected the TPC phone plot from later in the film seems to be from the absurd paranoia of the first half of the film. 

Nevertheless, that messy vibe, that mind in the clouds, in the gutter and everywhere but where it should be kind of style--that's deliberate. To a point, at least. Still, that can be pretty frustrating. This film is strange and I'm not sure that I mean that in a positive way just yet. But I think so. Need to rewatch it.

306) Illustrious Corpses (1976) and 307) Hands Over the City (1963)

306) Illustrious Corpses (1976) Dir: Francesco Rosi Date Released: July 10, 1981 Date Seen: August 2, 2011 Released: 4.25/5

307) Hands Over the City (1963) Dir: Francesco Rosi Date Released: ??? Date Seen: August 3, 2011 Rating: 4.25/5

Fantastically decadent. See my piece on Rosi for Capital New York.

304) Suddenly (1954)

304) Suddenly (1954) Dir: Lewis Allen Date Released: October 7, 1954 Date Seen: July 31, 2011 Rating: 3.75/5

Laughably amateurish in parts but pretty mesmeric, too. And Sinatra! Boy, is Sinatra good in this. See my capsule for the L Magazine.

303) Comrade X (1940)

303) Comrade X (1940) Dir: King Vidor Date Released: December 13, 1940 Date Seen: July 31, 2011 Rating: 4/5

I prefer Ninotchka to this but there's a lot of great belly laughs in this, my favorite Clark Gable vehicle. He's so funny as the crusading reporter and the script is so sharp: the zingers that this film have are rarely not effective. And boy, that tank chase at the end. And hubba hubba, Hedy Lamarr! Yeah, I loiked it a bunch.

301) Captain America (1979), 302) Captain America: Death Too Soon (1979), 309) The Tripper (2006), 312) Captain America (1990) and 313) 3 Dev Adam (1973)

301) Captain America (1979) Dir: Rod Holcomb Date Released (TV): January 19, 1979 Date Seen: July 30, 2011 Rating: 1/5

302) Captain America: Death Too Soon (1979) Dir: Ivan Nagy Date Released: November 23, 1979 Date Seen: July 30, 2011 Rating: 1.25/5

309) The Tripper (2006) Dir: David Arquette Date Released: April 20, 2007 Date Seen: August 6, 2011 Rating: 3.25/5

312) Captain America (1990) Dir: Albert Pyun Date Released (VHS): July 22, 1992 Date Seen: August 7, 2011 Rating: 0.75/5

314) 3 Dev Adam (1973) Dir: T. Fikret Ucak Date Released: Define "Released" Date Seen: August 7, 2011 Rating: AMAZING/5*

Steve Rogers on film. Listen to the Bad Idea Podcast for more questionable fun.

*0.25/5