Blood of the Beasts (1949)

Director: Georges Franju
Writer: Georges Franju

Blood of the Beasts is an extremely confronting documentary that simply shows us the methods that French slaughterhouses used to kill animals in the late 1940s. Georges Franju shows us the implements they used to kill the animals, including an axe, a large knife, a gun, and a long reed. We then see exactly how they used them... It is these images that have the power to drastically change a persons outlook on the meat industry and animal cruelty.

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) - ★★★

Directors: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim
Writers: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim
Stars: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Twink Caplan, John C. Reilly, Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Ray Wise

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie was a huge disappointment. My favourite comedy TV show happens to be Tim and Eric's Awesome Show: Great Job! In their show, they make intelligent, hilarious, and ultimately disturbing commentaries on the stupid shit mankind does (whether it is inventing stupid products, or stupid TV shows). The actual story of the film is its biggest letdown. It doesn't give them many opportunities to flex their crazy, off-coloured humour. They have to follow a coherent storyline that makes a little bit of sense, which throws their usual methods out of whack. While I still enjoyed this movie immensely, I'd call it the longest, unfunniest episode of Tim and Eric I've ever seen. It's funny, but I miss the non-stop laughs they used to give me.

Evil Dead (2013) - ★★★½

Director: Fede Alvarez
Writers: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues (Screenplay), Sam Raimi (Original Screenplay)
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore

Evil Dead is the scariest movie I've seen all year (and yes, I've seen The Conjuring). It had me in a constant state of fear for the last 45 minutes, and few films have ever done that to me. It's your average Cabin in the Woods plot/story, done more gruesomely and effectively than ever before. The demonic possessions were almost as scary as that of The Exorcist (1973), and the acting was pretty good for the most part. There's no way I could form an emotional attachment to a movie such as this. All I know is that I never want to see it again... partly because it scares the crap out of me, and partly because it will never be as exciting as the first time I saw it. I don't know about you, but my faith in the horror genre has officially been restored in 2013!

A Serbian Film (2010) - ★

Director: Srdjan Spasojevic
Writers: Aleksandar Radivojevic, Srdjan Spasojevic
Stars: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Slobadan Bestic, Katarina Zutic, Luka Mijatovic

A Serbian Film would have to be one of the most overblown movies ever talked about. Review after review, people and critics were saying that this was the most disgusting, horrific, bloodiest movies ever made. While it is disgusting and graphic, I found the THOUGHT of the movie more disturbing than the actual movie itself. It came across just plain ridiculous to me, which made it very hard to find anything truly affective. It deals with pedophilia, necrophilia, incest, torture, and murder. I'm one of those people who gets disturbed by movies easily. Hostel (2005), 120 Days of Sodom (1975), and even Guinea Pig (1985) were more shocking and disturbing to me than A Serbian Film. So many people are calling this the ultimate extreme shock-horror film of all time... but to me it was a grossed-out pile of "meh."

House of Sand and Fog (2003) - ★★★½

Director: Vadim Perelman
Writers: Andre Dubus III (Novel), Vadim Perelman, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Jonathan Ahdout, Kim Dickens

House of Sand and Fog is a very good movie. The story is interesting, and the performances are really touching. It's frustrating, because it's one of those films that make you watch an impossible situation unfurl into a catastrophe. I didn't particularly find it effective, or 'great' in a sense. I'm kind of on the fence with this one, because I know that it's a good movie, but it didn't really get to me. At times I feel a bit 'eh' when I think of this film, but then I remember Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo's performance, which instantly raises it in my esteem.

A Place in the Sun (1951) - ★★★½

Director: George Stevens
Writers: Theodore Dreiser (Novel), Michael Wilson, Harry Brown
Stars: Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Revere, Raymond Burr

A Place in the Sun is a beautiful film, and its story is chock-full of controversial topics. Sex before marriage, abortion and murder are highlighted here, yet somehow the story was only lukewarm to me. I didn't see any fiery moments of anger or passion, it was all very methodical. Even though it has such interesting subjects to talk about, nothing really piqued my excitement or curiosity. The performances were really good, but not masterful. The set production and clothing was fantastic, but not breathtaking. The music by Franz Waxman is gorgeous, but not very memorable. It's definitely an above average film, but to me it wasn't 'great.'

Longhorns (2011) - ★½

Director: David Lewis
Writer: David Lewis
Stars: Jacob Newton, Derek Villaneuva, Dylan Vox, Kevin Held, Stephen Matzke, Bonnie Marion, Katrina Sherwood

I'm becoming quite the LGBTI film-buff. My aim is to watch as many films in the genre as possible, and I heard good things about Longhorns. It's not a good movie, but it's kinda cute. It's clearly low-budget and amateur, and the story isn't anything special either. I guess what makes it interesting is the performances by Jacob Newton and Derek Villaneuva. The sunshiny, cutesy, Southern charm of Newton managed to make me enjoy the film, which is only 75 minutes long. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who likes good cinema and a high level of decency. There are a total of 5 full frontal naked men in this movie. No, it's not a porno. It's not even soft-core. It's just a 'bad' movie that emits happiness.

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) - ★★★★

Director: Anthony Mann
Writers: Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina, Philip Yordan (Screenplay)
Stars: Stephen Boyd, Sophia Loren, Christopher Plummer, Alec Guinness, James Mason, Anthony Quayle, Omar Sharif

The Fall of the Roman Empire (FRE) is probably the most visually stunning film I've ever seen. Life of Pi has the most brilliant special effects I've ever seen, but FRE takes the prize for greatest set production... by far! Scene after scene, gasp after gasp, the grand vision of Rome, the costumes... everything had me mesmerised. The story is epicly amazing, which is a given considering ancient Rome is arguably the most interesting period in history. I loved the performances (for the most part), I adored the score, but above all I adored the way they rebuilt ancient Rome. It's like it never left! The pacing is a bit too slow, and Stephen Boyd's performance was pretty annoying, but I'm still in awe of how epic this movie is.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - ★★★★

Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati (Screenplay), Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Mickey Knox
Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti

It took me a while to warm up to this film, but in the end I really liked Once Upon a Time in the West. It has a rating of 8.7/10 on the International Movie Data Base (IMDB), making it one of the highest rated movies of all time. I wouldn't give it that title, not until I at least watch it again. The first hour of the film was flat to me. My energy levels depleted slowly but surely until I actually turned off the movie (a sin against cinema, I know). I decided that I should finish it today. Let's just say that the last hour and a half slowly built up this film in my esteem, until it reached a stunning climax that had my excitement and film fanaticism going wild. There were a couple of other big problems I had with it, but the ending was so masterful that it almost redeemed any fault I found with the movie.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - ★★★★★

Director: Julian Schnabel
Writers: Ronald Harwood (Screenplay), Jean-Dominique Bauby (Book)
Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Anna Consigny, Max Von Sydow, Niels Arestrup

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is one of the most sensational movies of all time. This is a film that has the power to change a person's life. Ikiru (To Live) by Akira Kurosawa is the only other film that has had such an effect on me, where it's actually made me re-evaluate what I'm doing with my life. It's one of the most touching stories I've ever seen, and in my opinion it could not have been made better. It delved deep into my heart and took me an a powerful emotional journey, which had many laughs and many tears. Not only is this one of my favorite movies, it's also one of the greatest movies of all time. I'd give this the Best Picture Oscar for 2007, even over There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and Atonement.