Well, so the year is over. I will refrain from wrapping up the year right now because I intend to write a nice long(ish) wrap up post tomorrow. But I felt December deserved a proper 2011 in Films post just like every other month of the year got. I’m also not going to write about any of the 2011 releases I saw in December (I fit A LOT in at the eleventh hour), because hopefully you read my Favorite Fifteen Films post from earlier today already. December saw a slight decline in film watching, partially because of finals and partially because I’ve been visiting my parents (who, as you may remember, live in the middle of nowhere) for the last two weeks. I did, however, watch all nine Lew Ayres Dr. Kildare films thanks to their TCM and DVR, so that’s pretty fantastic. Now I’m just rambling (that may be because it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m drinking a white russian and listening to big band tunes), so I’m just gonna to stop writing now and after the cut you’ll find the list of all the new-to-me films I watched in December, plus some thoughts on five that really stuck out.

1. Adventure in Manhattan
2. The Prince and the Showgirl
3. Moneyball
4. We Bought A Zoo
5. Xanadu
6. Shame
7. River of No Return
8. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
9. 9
10. College (1927)
11. Boxcar Bertha
12. The Gentle Sex
13. These Three
14. Natural Born Killers
15. The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
16. Death Takes A Holiday
17. Underworld (1927)
18. Johnny Suede
19. The Quatermass Xperiment
20. Plot Device
21. Young Adult
22. Weird Science
23. Career Opportunities
24. Chimes At Midnight
25. C Me Dance
26. Zombie High (aka The School That Ate My Brain)
27. Bridesmaids
28. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
29. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
30. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
31. A Dangerous Method
32. Carnage
33. Fort Bowie
34. The Last Sunset
35. Albert Nobbs
36. We Need to Talk About Kevin
37. Man in the Shadow
38. Apache
39. Rampart
40. Another Earth
41. J. Edgar
42. Invitation to a Gunfighter
43. Young Man With Ideas
44. Warrior
45. The Vikings
46. Scrooge (1970)
47. L’arbre de Noël (aka The Christmas Tree)
48. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
49. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
50. Indestructible Man
51. Divorzio all’italiana (Divorce – Italian Style)
52. War Horse
53. Young Dr. Kildare 
54. Calling Dr. Kildare
55. The Secret of Dr. Kildare
56. Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case
57. Dr. Kildare Goes Home 
58. Dr. Kildare’s Crisis
59. The People vs. Dr. Kildare
60. Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day
61. Dr. Kildare’s Victory
62. The Devil’s Double
63. Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation)
64. The Last Temptation of Christ
65. Eyes Wide Shut
66. Le notti bianche

1880s: 0
1890s: 0
1900s: 0
1910s: 0
1920s: 2
1930s: 7
1940s: 8
1950s: 10
1960s: 6
1970s: 3
1980s: 4
1990s: 4
2000s: 2
2010s: 20

Although I saw fewer new-to-me films in December than I did in previous months (only one less than November, though), I saw quite a bit of great films. It always baffles me that no matter how many films I manage to see, I always find so many more that I need to see and so many that I wind up loving to pieces.

The Prince and the Showgirl, 1957 (dir.  Laurence Olivier)

Skip My Week With Marilyn and just watch the real thing, you will not regret it. She is so effortlessly genius in this film (well, maybe it took a great deal of effort, but it never shows). I’ve heard a lot of bad things about this film, but I don’t understand any of the dislike of it. It’s charming and quirky and, as always, you can’t take your eyes off of Marilyn for an instant.

The Heartbreak Kid, 1972 (dir. Elaine May)

Elaine May is one of the greatest comic geniuses Hollywood ever had, it’s a shame they eat her up and spit her back out so ruthlessly. Every film of her’s that I’ve seen, whether she’s written it, directed it or just acted in it, has been great because of her involvement. This film is no different. There was a remake that came out a few years ago (I haven’t seen it), that I believe took the premise and made it very slapstick-y. This film is far from slapstick. It’s a dark comedy, with a lot of honesty and heart and probably one of the best films to come out of the 1970s. It’s a shame Elaine May couldn’t get the love her male American New Wave counterparts managed to get.

Chimes At Midnight, 1965 (dir. Orson Welles)

I’m still floored that I got to see this film at last – and I got to see it on the big screen! At the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (where I saw many a great film when I was in college). Orson is superb (when is he not?) and his take on Falstaff is everything I’ve ever wanted for the character. This is maybe my favorite of Welles’ Shakespeare adaptations.

Divorzio all’italiana (Divorce Italian Style), 1961 (dir. Pietro Germi)

I’m going through a bit of a Marcello Mastroianni phase right now and this movie is just too perfect. It’s almost two movies in one and Mastroianni gives such a perfectly dark comic performance in it. Not only is it one of the best unreliable narrator films I’ve ever seen, it’s also got one of the best, subtly ironic endings ever.

The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988 (dir. Martin Scorsese)

I just saw this one today (it was the last of Martin Scorsese’s narrative films I had to see; more on that tomorrow) and I absolutely loved it. This film tackles so many of the issues of faith that are brought up in several of Scorsese’s films (especially his earlier films) and I’m so glad he was able to get it made and express all these feelings he’s probably had for many years. I hope he was as happy with the outcome as I was. Also, I have to admit I was more than a little attracted to Willem Dafoe in this film (I usually am though, so. . .) and it is perhaps his greatest performance. What a shame he got snubbed at the Oscars that year.

Again, don’t forget to check back tomorrow for a proper round-up of the entire year in all its crazy film watching glory.