Inside (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, 2007)

3/10
I can't think of a reason for Inside to exist other than to break - obliterate, really - a bunch of taboos relating to pregnancy and abortion (spoiling as little as possible). As an actual film, it's laughably flimsy. The "twist" of who the mysterious stranger is should be figured out half an hour into the movie and although it starts out with a promisingly creepy atmosphere, it rapidly devolves into a lunkheaded gross-out fest riddled with plotholes and ludicrous occurences. Aside from some neat special effects, there's nothing worth seeing here.

Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara, 1992)

7/10
Took me a while to get around to this one...pretty good movie, and Harvey Keitel is indeed a powerhouse (well if he wasn't, there wouldn't be much of a movie to speak of) and I enjoyed the parallells between the Mets/Dodgers series and Keitel's character's plight, I thought that was clever. Aside from that there isn't a whole lot here to blow you away and things unfold as you expect them to.

I Am Waiting (Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1957)

6.5/10
First film in the recently-purchased Nikkatsu Noir boxset from Criterion's Eclipse series, this one from 1957 being one of the first hits for the studio. It centres around an ex-boxer searching for his brother and his relationship with a mysterious singer with a Yakuza-related past, and the inevitable ties between the two. The movie jumps through a lot of hoops to set up the predicted final showdown between the main character and the Yakuza boss and the payoff suffers because of it. Unfortunately, the movie reveals its simplicity the more the plot unwinds, but it's well directed, competently acted, and an interesting watch.

Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)

8.5/10
Depp was great as always, Bale was pretty good too with considerably less to do, the shootouts were extraordinary, to say nothing of the explosive, sharp cinematography (ironic that of the two movies I saw, one taking place in the 60's and the other in the 30's, the latter's colour and photography would be the more impressive). The movie plays to Mann's strengths as a writer when focused on the action, and to his weaknesses whenever it centres on Dillinger's romance with Billie. Aside from Mann telling us that these two people must be in love with the use of an almost comically overblown string swell in the soundtrack, the movie doesn't do much to convey to us why the two were ever together. Kind of a small nitpick though; once you get past that there's plenty to enjoy.

Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee, 2009)

5/10
It was...ehhh..just kind of there. The story was good sometimes, less interesting at other turns. I don't know, it must be some kind of feat to base an entire movie around something as daunting and monumental as organizing freaking Woodstock and still have it come off as milquetoast and generally forgettable. Demitri Martin is wholly uninteresting as any kind of main character, and the soundtrack was like bland white noise - this, in a movie about Woodstock. I'm not sure exactly what Ang Lee was really going for here but I can't help but thinking he missed it.

Signs of Life (Werner Herzog, 1968)

6/10
Werner Herzog's first feature film...not very Herzogian stylistically but definitely as much in terms of content and plot devices (namely, the man on the brink of insanity). Peter Brogle does well as Stroszek (not to be confused with Herzog's other Stroszek) but watching the film with the benefit of hindsight, you can't help but feeling he's merely a placeholder for the kind of role Klaus Kinski would soon become synonymous with.

In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008)

8/10
Slow beginning but eventually it picks up steam and actually makes you care about the two main characters, and throws in some good laughs along the way. The script is simple and effective and even though the ending is, again, a bit predictable, it's well-executed (and there's a couple of great lines that follow it). I'd recommend it.

The Petrified Forest (Archie Mayo, 1936)

7/10
Bogart's breakthrough role, and he's very impressive here...the movie is a strange one, virtually devoid of action, revolving around a lonely diner in the desert, and the movie is about 97% dialogue. I could see Jim Jarmusch remaking this in the future.

Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah, 1962)

6.5/10
Enjoyable enough early Peckinpah Western, though pretty tame compared to what a Peckinpah Western typically entails. The betrayal was telegraphed a mile away (intentionally I'd have to assume, but why?) and the parallels between the old cowboys/Old West are beaten into the viewer's skull enough.

District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, Peter Robert Gerber & Simon Hansen, 2009)

9/10
Really, really great...subverted my expectations at just about every turn. The lead actor was great in a complex role, the movie made you feel empathy for the alien characters without relying on worn-out tropes (especially in the case of the infant alien), the half-documentary/half-action aspect is handled very smoothly and never feels like a gimmick (same for the occasional snippets from news outlets, security cameras, etc), and the movie's messages about intolerance, apartheid, etc are made intelligently and without bludgeoning the viewer over the head. And it was probably one of the most aggressively pessimistic portrayals of humanity that I've seen from a "blockbuster" type picture in forever. Neill Blomkamp is definitely going to be a name to watch (and hopefully he'll handle the alluded-to sequel, which seems inevitable at this point...could be disastrous in the hands of anyone else).

The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966)

7/10
Very good Spaghetti Western starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian, often hyped as one of the best SW's outside Leone's Man With No Name Triology. I don't know if I believe that so much but it is very entertaining and very well directed, but a little lacking in "oomph" at the end. I just felt a bit underwhelmed when it was said and done.
Strangely this is still unavailable as a Region 1 DVD, despite the high profile names involved (Cleef, Milian, Sollima, Morricone). I watched it on the Region 2 Koch (Germany) DVD and the picture quality was, for the most part, crystal clear. There were only two audio tracks though, German and Italian, with English subtitles, so I watched it in Italian despite the fact that most of the actors are clearly speaking English which might have taken away from the experience somewhat.
Unfortunately it seems like some of the scenes were never dubbed into English which may explain why it's taken so long for someone to do a R1 release. That or maybe because the viliain is accused of raping and murdering a 13 year old girl.