The House of the Devil, Ti West, 2009

In an era of garishly over-styled horror films, West's satanic chiller is endlessly refreshing. The film wrings its near-constant restless mood from an unsettling scenario, efficient plotting, and smart, loaded compositions.

Pocket Cinephile - Horror 2009

As we've done before, Pocket Cinephile has taken much of this month off to catch up on some of our favorite horror films, both old and new. Here's a list of what we've been watching while the leaves turn and the air crisps.

Carrie, Brian DePalma, 1976.

Poltergeist, Tobe Hooper, 1982.

Night of the Living Dead, George Romero, 1968.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, 1974.

The Children, Tom Shankland, 2008.

The Changeling, Peter Medak, 1980.

Day of the Dead, Georeg Romero, 1985.

Near Dark, Kathryn Bigelow, 1987.

Evil Dead II, Sam Raimi, 1987.

The Children, Tom Shankland, 2008

Shankland's film is taut, intense, and genuinely chilling. While certainly underwritten and suffering from some muddled story logic, this snowbound terror mounts enough moments of legitimate, well-wrought fright to make it worth the effort and Shankland a director to watch.

Sneak Peek - Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans

This is the second clip we've seen from Werner Herzog's forthcoming re-imagining of 'Bad Lieutenant.' Suffice it to say that both clips are high on intensity and long on lunacy, with Cage channeling his inner Kinski. In short, we can't wait.

Stellet licht (Silent Light), Carlos Reygadas, 2007

Invoking by turns Malick's painterly compositions, Bergman's stark solemnity, and Dumont's agrarian primitivism, Reygadas' metaphysical domestic tale is a striking, singular, and difficult work.

2000: A Decade in Film

As we approach the end of the aughts, an unquestionably great decade for cinema, here are 40 films from the decade we here at Pocket Cinephile think will stand the test of time:

1. Twentynine Palms, Bruno Dumont, 2003 / France

2. Zodiac, David Fincher, 2007 / USA

3. Mulholland Dr, David Lynch, 2001 / France, USA

4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Andrew Dominick, 2007 / USA, Canada

5. Le voyage du ballon rouge (Flight of the Red Balloon), Hou Hsiao Hsien, 2007 / France

6. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006 / Germany

7. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen, 2008 / Spain, USA

8. Junebug, Phil Morrison, 2005/ USA

9. Cache (Hidden), Michael Haneke / 2005 / France, Austria, Germany, Italy, USA

10. La niña santa (The Holy Girl), Lucretia Martel, 2004 / Argentina, Italy, Netherlands. Spain

11. All the Real Girls, David Gordon Green, 2003/ USA

12. Elephant, Gus Van Sant, 2003 / USA

13. I'm Not There., Todd Haynes, 2007 / USA, Germany

14. Gosford Park, Robert Altman, 2001 / UK, USA, Italy

15. No Country For Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007 / USA

16. Sous le sable (Under the Sand), Francois Ozon, 2000 / France

17. Y Tu Mama Tambien, Alfonso Cuaron, 2001 / Mexico

18. Before Sunset, Richard Linklater, 2004 / USA

19. Fa yeung nin wa (In the Mood For Love), Wong Kar Wai, 2000 / Hong Kong, France

20. Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino, 2009, / USA, Germany

21. Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts), Susanne Bier, 2002 / Denmark

22. You Can Count On Me, Kenneth Lonergan, 2000 / USA

23. Hable con Ella (Talk to Her), Pedro Almodovar, 2002 / Spain

24. 25th Hour, Spike Lee, 2002 / USA

25. The Man Who Wasn't There, Joel and Ethan Coen, 2001 / UK, USA

26. Japon, Carlos Reygadas, 2002 / Mexico, Germany, Netherlands, Spain

27. Manderlay, Lars Von Trier, 2005 / Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Germany, UK

28. The Saddest Music in the World, Guy Maddin, 2003 / Canada

29. Miami Vice, Michael Mann, 2006 / Germany, USA

30. Melinda and Melinda, Woody Allen, 2004 / USA

31. Ocean's Eleven, Steven Soderbergh, 2001 / USA

32. Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004 / USA

33. The Aviator, Martin Scrosese, 2004 / USA, Germany

34. Amores Perros, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000 / Mexico

35. Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, 2005 / Canada, USA

36. Dogville, Lars Von Trier, 2003 / Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, UK, Finland, Germany, Netherlands

37. Harry un ami qui vous veut du bien (With a Friend Like Harry), Dominik Moll, 2000 / France

38. Police Beat, Robinson Devore, 2005 / USA

39. Dans ma peau (In My Skin), Marina de Van, 2002 / France

40. Open Range, Kevin Costner, 2003 / USA

Sunshine Cleaning, Christine Jeffs, 2008

Jeffs' drama is neither gritty nor lighthearted, and it's that lack of commitment that renders her film workmanlike and flat. The generally reliable Amy Adams seems, for once, stretched in her role as a downtrodden single mother.

The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson, 2009

The directorial debut of Gervais, an otherwise talented comic, writer, and producer, is nothing short of a colossal failure. Baffling story logic, nonsensical plotting, and general ineptitude on most every level make this high concept fable an excruciating undertaking. What's more, the directors borrow Woody Allen's patented Windsor serif font for the credit sequence, an unforgivable offense given the waste that follows.