Lee Just Watched (July 24 - Aug 8)

1. The Bothersome Man (06): Billed as a Scandinavian black comedy. Man finds himself in a seemingly perfect but gray world. Is it heaven or hell? I found it intriguing.

2. Ira & Abby (06): Average not very believable romantic comedy. Not my favorite genre.

3. The King of Kong (07): FAH DOC that looks at the world of competitive video gaming. WBTIE, LEM,WWW.

4. Brother Born Again (01): DOC made by a young N.Y. woman who is struggling to understand her brother's choice to become a born again Christian and to live in an Alaskan farmhouse with a group of fellow believers. An interesting story , simply done without any unneccessary drama.

5. Persons Unknown (96): Unsatisfying thriller starring Joe Montagne.

6. Bright Leaves (03): Ross McElwee's DOC about his family's history as North Carolina Tobacco growers. WWW.

7. Fraulein (06): Great flick about three women from Yugoslavia who's lives intersect while working together at a cafe in Zurich. LEM, NWIE, WWW.

8. Goodnight, Joseph Parker (04): Successful neighborhood boy Joey Parker returns to the old NJ bar he used to haunt. Paul Sorvino plays the bar owner. Staged and filmed like a play, everything takes place in the bar. I liked it, OKBNG. My guess is NECOT.

9. Into the Wild (06): Sean Penn's adaptation of John Krakauer's book about an unusual young man who makes his way to the wild's of Alaska. True story and supposedly pretty accurate in the details. I had read the book when it first came out and was riveted. I expected the film to be a dissapointment but far from it. WBTIE. WWW.

10. The Witnesses (07): French drama that looks at the early days (1984) of the Aids epidemic through the lives of a small group of people. BTIE. Brought back the feelings of shock, confusion and terror that this new plague evoked as it made it's way into the mainstream.

11. This Film is Not Yet Rated (06): Rather preachy but informative DOC about the secret world of the MPAA, the group that rates (G,GP,R etc.)all American films.

12. Who Am I This Time? (82): PBS American Playhouse adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's wondeful short story stars a young Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon. FAH.

13. Steven Wright: When th Leaves Blow Away (07): Standup comedy concert. OK if you are a Wright fan.

14. Autumn Hearts : A New Beginning (07): Based on the novel about three Nazi concentration camp survivors reuniting. Not perfect but WWW. Well acted by Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Max Von Sydow and Christopher Plummer.

15. Grande Ecole (04): French film about a group of rich kids at elite business school in Paris. Looks at classism, racism, and homosexuality. OKBNG.

16. Never Forever (07): Provocative and thought provoking drama by director Gina Kim about some tough and bizarre choices made by an American woman married into a very religious Korean/American family. It will probably be put on the blog as I think it would lead to a dynamic and heated discussion. LLI.