I’ve made it relatively clear that I am a fan of genre films, up to and including exploitation films. I grew up on these movies and they have helped shape my future movie watching habits, so I have enjoyed quite a bit the recent bit of mainstream love for grindhouse films.
Now, coming on the heels of the outstanding Ozploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood, comes a film devoted to the American exploitation films of the same time. Now the film does not look to have quite the same level of frenzied adoration as its Australian counterpart, but with its massive cast of interviewees it should prove to be a fascinating look at one of my favorite parts of cinema history.
Special thanks to The Documentary Blog for the heads up on this film.
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Pretty much every movie related website on the Internet has come up with some sort of Best of the Decade list over the past month. But while the majority of them focused on straight up “Best of” lists featuring relatively well known films, I figured in the spirit of this website that I would instead focus on the lesser known films that have been made over the past ten years.
But one question I had to figure out was just how should I whittle down films as “Long Tail” films. Plenty of films started out as smaller films that eventually found their audience, while there is certainly a fair share of films that were initially given a wide release. So I decided I would use two different determining factors to help figure out which films would be considered part of the long tail.
The first is the amount of screens the film was released on during its theatrical run here in the US. I decided to go with a relatively small number of screens as the ceiling (100 at the films widest release) and that any film that broke that would simply be dismissed. This number essentially acts as the films initial chance to gain potential viewers. Films eliminated by this include The Proposition (158 screens), City of God (242 screens) and The Triplets of Bellville (463 screens).
Secondly I went off of reviews on IMDb.com. Once again I selected a fairly small number of reviews as the ceiling (no more than 10K). This number reflects the film’s total audience, as the films that are more popular with mainstream audiences, or those that have rabid fan followings, typically break that number quite easily. Film eliminated by this number include such seemingly smaller films like Oldboy (28 screens, 87016 votes), Dead Man’s Shoes (2 screens, 16286 votes) and Let the Right One In (53 screens, 45413 votes).
While still far from a perfect system, this seemed to work pretty well in eliminating a fairly large chunk of lesser known films, making it a far more manageable task for me to select some of my favorites from what remained. One interesting note, this process seemed to favor documentaries as twelve ended up making the list. So while the quality of documentaries has grown throughout the decade, it still seems like the form still has a ways to go to capture the public’s attention.
And without further ado, I give you this decades 30 Best Long Tail Films.
Shockingly uninteresting update for this week, as no new films are added. The most exciting update seems to be that two films, The Answer Man and Burning Plain, have been pushed to later release dates. Wheee!
Wait … scratch that. One new addition this week! That being the mockumentary Paper Heart, starring Michael Cera as Michael Cera and Michael Cera’s girlfriend as Michael Cera’s girlfriend. Nice to see he is not simply relying on playing the same character over and over again, but rather simply including others in on the fun.
One interesting thing to note is that we are now scheduled to open six, count ‘em (I know you won’t!) six new films on August 14th. While theoretically we will have the screen space I just don’t see how that will ever happen. That is a ridiculous amount of new movies to release on one weekend. My guess is a couple of them get pushed, though since three of those films have already been pushed once, don’t be surprised if they simply disappear into the ether. Its a shame really, though I know this is only interesting to those of us who rabidly follow these updates. By those I of course mean me and Daniel.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
08/07 The Cove Uptown***
08/07 The End of the Line Lagoon
08/07 Paper Heart Lagoon (NEW)
08/14 Not Quite Hollywood Lagoon***
08/14 Adam Edina
08/14 Ponyo Edina ***
08/14 Spread Lagoon
08/14 Soul Power Lagoon
08/14 The Answer Man Edina (NEW DATE)
08/21 Inglorious Bastards Lagoon***
08/21 Lorna’s Silence Edina
08/28 Cold Souls Uptown ***
08/28 The World’s Greatest Dad Lagoon ***
08/28 Taking Woodstock Lagoon***
08/28 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Edina
08/29 The Adventures of Robin Hood Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 The Bride of Frankenstein Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 It Happened One Night Edina (One Night Only) ***
09/04 Thirst Lagoon ***
09/04 Afghan Star Lagoon
09/04 My One and Only Edina
09/09 9 Lagoon ***
09/11 The Baader Meinhof Complex Uptown
09/11 Captain Abu Raed Lagoon
09/11 Play the Game Edina
09/18 Bright Star Uptown
09/18 The Beaches of Agnes Edina
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Paris Edina
09/25 Other Man Edina
09/25 Burning Plain Edina (NEW DATE)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown***
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon
10/02 The Boys are Back Edina
10/02 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 Damned United Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 New York, I Love You Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
11/13 Crude Lagoon
12/04 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
A few additions this week, and a couple of films shuffle around on the schedule. Soul Power gets pushed a few weeks back, while The Merry Gentleman falls off the schedule, probably never to be seen. Hopefully The Parkway swoops in and shows it for a week.
As for additions, Jane Campion’s latest film, Bright Star, finally has a release date, and it will open exclusively at The Uptown, while the back end of the schedule sees several new additions with Other Man, No Impact Man, The Boys are Back and Crude receiving bookings. But, of course, the big addition is A Serious Man, the Coen Brother’s latest film has been booked for an exclusive engagement at The Uptown. But keep an eye on The Walker, as they are in talks to screen the film much earlier then the October release date.
I’m probably not supposed to reveal that little detail but really, like either party is reading this blog.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
07/31 In the Loop Uptown***
07/31 $9.99 Lagoon ***
07/31 Shrink Edina
07/31 Humpday Lagoon
08/07 The Cove Uptown***
08/07 The End of the Line Lagoon
08/07 The Answer Man Edina (tentative)
08/14 Not Quite Hollywood Lagoon***
08/14 Adam Edina
08/14 Ponyo Edina ***
08/14 Spread Lagoon
08/14 Soul Power Lagoon (NEW DATE)
08/21 Inglorious Bastards Lagoon***
08/21 Lorna’s Silence Edina
08/28 Cold Souls Uptown ***
08/28 The World’s Greatest Dad Lagoon ***
08/28 Taking Woodstock Lagoon***
08/28 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Edina
08/29 The Adventures of Robin Hood Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 The Bride of Frankenstein Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 It Happened One Night Edina (One Night Only) ***
09/04 Thirst Lagoon ***
09/04 Afghan Star Lagoon
09/04 My One and Only Edina
09/09 9 Lagoon ***
09/11 The Baader Meinhof Complex Uptown
09/11 Captain Abu Raed Lagoon
09/11 Play the Game Edina (NEW)
09/18 Bright Star Uptown (NEW)
09/18 The Beaches of Agnes Edina
09/18 Burning Plain Edina/Lagoon (tentative)
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Paris Edina
09/25 Other Man Edina (NEW)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown (NEW)***
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon (NEW)
10/02 The Boys are Back Edina (NEW)
10/02 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 Damned United Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 New York, I Love You Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
11/13 Crude Lagoon (NEW)
12/04 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
After a host of new additions last week this week is a little light on new additions. Most of the changes have to do with listing several films as now being tentative dates, as the next couple of weeks are pretty top heavy with new additions, and some are going to have to be pushed.
But their are two new additions, though they are not listed until December. This first is William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (What a title!) and the second is Broken Embraces, the new Pedro Almodovar film that stars Penelope Cruz’s cleavage and a cast of thousands (or not).
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
07/24 500 Days of Summer Uptown
07/24 Betty Blue: The Director’s Cut Edina***
07/24 Seraphine Edina (tentative)
07/31 In the Loop Uptown
07/31 $9.99 Lagoon ***
07/31 Soul Power Lagoon (tentative)
07/31 Shrink Edina
07/31 The Merry Gentleman Edina (tentative)
07/31 Humpday Lagoon
08/07 The Cove Uptown***
08/07 The End of the Line Lagoon
08/07 The Answer Man Edina (tentative)
08/14 Not Quite Hollywood Lagoon***
08/14 Adam Edina
08/14 Ponyo Edina ***
08/14 Spread Lagoon
08/21 Inglorious Bastards Lagoon***
08/21 Lorna’s Silence Edina
08/28 Cold Souls Uptown ***
08/28 The World’s Greatest Dad Lagoon ***
08/28 Taking Woodstock Lagoon***
08/28 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Edina
08/29 The Adventures of Robin Hood Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 The Bride of Frankenstein Edina (One Night Only) ***
08/30 It Happened One Night Edina (One Night Only) ***
09/04 Thirst Lagoon ***
09/04 Afghan Star Lagoon
09/04 My One and Only Edina
09/09 9 Lagoon ***
09/11 The Baader Meinhof Complex Uptown
09/11 Captain Abu Raed Lagoon
09/18 The Beaches of Agnes Edina
09/18 Burning Plain Edina/Lagoon (tentative)
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Paris Edina
10/02 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 Damned United Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 New York, I Love You Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
12/04 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon (NEW)
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