And some movies a day late

THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS (2001)

I was trying to remember why this was on my Netflix list... and it was from The Av Club's 19 Terrific Midnight Movies from the last 10 years list. Takashi Miike has made a few well-known cult horror films, and he also made a cameo appearance in Hostel. His extremely weird movie Gozu was actually one of the first random extremely obscure movies I chose to test the ability of my Netflix account to find any film out there for me to see. AV Club described Happiness as less inscrutable than most of his films... even calling it "brisk" and "bright" and there was an overall interesting film concept that sounded very intriguing, based on the idea that some of the horrifying moments were down in either claymation or live-action musical form. Well, it turned out to be as close to as weird and incomprehensible as anything an eccentric director would make. At a certain point late at night it's just hard to stay up to watch one incomprehsible albeit visually striking scene after another. So I had to split this movie up over two days. Absolutely out there, so an adventure for any film watcher.

CHEF'S SPECIAL (2008)

A selection from the WIFF 2009 available on Netflix instant, that was strongly recommended by my Madison friends as hilarious. And it's very amusing, containing actors recognizable from Almodovar films. This is a genre the WIFF program listed as a "Spanish sex comedy", and I think it's distinctive features for me are a wide emotional spectrum from serious to slapstick, not a terrible focus on narrative, and a light-heartedness that might be more appropriate for an episode of a sitcom.

2nd best movie of "2009"

2. THE WRESTLER

Given my (mostly) strict rule of limiting my 2009 list to all new movies seen in theaters that year, there are some that are going to be hard to remember at this very late date. Two of them take the top spots, so don’t blame me for keeping the soliloquies on these great films short.

15 months after I saw this movie, what I can remember the most that makes this film close to timeless is the emotional impact of this character based story and the complete perfection of Mickey Rourke’s performance. More remarkable is that this was Directed by Darren Aronofsky, who had previously made the movies Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain in a hyperactive uncompromising style that signaled broader and more bizarre stories in the director’s future. I can’t put my finger on the thin thread of consistency between these movies, but I think The Wrestler is such a reality-grounded and performance-based story, that the ambitious filmmaker of great skill just has to adapt his camera movements and narrative leanings and fold it into the dynamic character’s journey while staying true to the film’s working-class setting. What might be a conventional story about a ‘broken hero’ who tries to make good, in turn becomes a powerful and intimate film-watching experience, especially in the interesting interplay between the masculine posturing of professional wrestling and the flawed fragile men behind the sport.

A movie like this should have served as an indie film curiosity for me, but it really tugs at your emotional strings. It especially impacted me by raising the question of whether receiving appreciation of what you’re good at is more important than whether those skills or qualities significantly improve your life or those of anyone else close to you.

#3 of 2009

3. A SERIOUS MAN

For those you following at home, I mentioned that a movie got demoted from the top spot. Well this is that lucky film. But you can't blame me for being so ecstatic at an odd film that nearly perfectly presented the particular neuroses and whimsies of the Jewish culture I grew up, and filtered through the incredible freewheeling cinematic style of the Coen Brothers. It was the double the cult movie watching experience... combining the "cult" I'm a part of through my culture and faith, with the teasing narratives, misdirections, and inconclusiveness that was played to its darkest ends with No Country For Old Men and to its completely ridiculous ends with Burn After Reading. Now that I've calmed down from the first viewing I realize that perfect concoction does not make for the most structured fully-formed movie watching experience. No matter... I felt this film hit me deeper because of my Jewish identity, even moreso because of the constant questioning of my devotion to Judaism that has been on the frontburner in the recent year or two. A Serious Man convinced me through its weirdness and charms that the incessant insecurities, occasional paranoia, and simple fun stories are all part of the journey.

One relevant movie

how appropriate that I had this out on Netflix over Oscar weekend!

THE HURT LOCKER (2009)

I'm going to defer a longer commentary on Oscar-caliber movies another time. I'll just say this was solid and interestingly filmed, but lacked the heft of anything I would consider a cinematic masterpiece. Whether the Oscars actually designate cinematic masterpieces is, again, another discussion.

I rewarded myself for a super top secret life improvement project tonight by watching a Comcast On Demand of all the Oscar nominated live action short films of last year. They were all excellent. Auf Der Strecke (On the Line) which didn't win the award taps into such an emotional range in a half hour with such a level power that feature lengths only dream of reaching.

More 2009 movies

Falling REALLY behind here

Favorite movies of 2009...

6. STAR TREK

Speaking of straightforward blockbusters (which Red Cliff would be in America if it was in English), how about blockbusters that tap into a decades old mythology while remaining fresh and entertaining! With a use of time travel that did not seem like a cop out because of the lack of interesting ideas (Star Trek IV, with the whales), this movie provided a clean slate for a lot of potential adventures.

5. IGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

I did review this the first time I saw it because I thought exclamation points were enough to express the consistent joy that comes with seeing a Quentin Tarantino movie. Whether this is something I will not tire of upon a second viewing well the jury might be out on that. Some Tarantino haters or particular film snobs were just looking for a reason to nitpick this movie, while I believe that if we were going to be upset at the faults of his movies, we would have given up on him as soon as The Bride when from a coma to wiggling her big toe to paying for a plane ticket to Japan in a day. I will give credit to those who said the scenes of tension (after the holy-crap heart-pounding opening scene) repeated themselves and seem to have the same climax. The odd twist into a Nazi revenge fantasy and alternate history was also difficult to take in, but exciting. But the dialogue, the style, the shattering of expectations... all here and in full force. The only thing I can say is that maybe, just maybe, some of the films flaws will make it so I might not be eager to see a particular TYPE of Tarantino movie in the future if, for example, it was strictly about gangsters covering the same territory as Pulp Fiction. The familiar tropes are there to see and if front and center I might not want to see them again knowing that Quentin is much more able to confuse and confound and mesmerize by bending expectations and tackling different types of topics.

4. SILENT LIGHT

Talked a lot about this WIFF movie here. I still think it's a uniquely crafted movie that is beautiful to watch and awards patience with meditative transcendence. And call me culturally ignorant, but I still can't believe that there are Mexican Menonites. From Speedy Gonzales to Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, thanks a lot popular culture for making me think of our Southern neighbors as a diverse but ultimately non-Plaudeitsch speaking Hispanic country.