Only a week ago since the Oscar nominations were announced!
And here's my tally of what I have seen so far of the nominees
BEST PICTURE - 3/9
BEST ACTOR - 2/5
BEST ACTRESS - NONE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - NONE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - NONE
BEST DIRECTOR - 3/5
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - NONE
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - 3/5
So some serious watching to do, but I am glad I am two away from a complete directors and adapted screenplays set... and the remaining movies are actually things I want to see!
TINKER TAYLOR SOLDIER SPY (2011)
I realized that seeing a classic spy movie in a theater is a rather rare occurrence for me. Other than James Bond the last time I remember an espionage movie being so powerful was Munich. This one was incredibly quiet and very dry, and required patience and attentiveness to appreciate. Being held complacent by the drab seventies cold war setting made the artistic hiccups of brutal violence very striking. Gary Oldman was so amazing. Hard to imagine this is the same guy as Zorg in The Fifth Element and good old American Commission Gordon in the recent Batman movies. I wish I made a point to see more of his performances because he completely sinks into a character. His head spy role here is so poised, that again those little hiccups of emotional expression are amazing to see as an example of the razor's edge of composure he is required to keep in order to do his job.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
MARY AND MAX / MERMAID
Taking a break from the top 10 (there will be a lot of them) to log some more films I saw in the past week...
MARY AND MAX (2009)
via Sundance On Demand
This is a really powerful movie, one that combines a perfect style of animation with tone and story into something pretty emotionally devastating, but in a unique way. The animator Adam Elliot had some earlier animated shorts that sting in the same way, and which might be essential prerequisite viewing before diving into this. So glad I was able to find this.
MERMAID (2007)
via Sundance On Demand
WIFF 2009
A short description would be a Russian Amelie, but imagine general Russian bleakness being pushed onto a whimsical tale and this is what you get. Found myself a little disengaged and distracted by this one and the flights of fancy it takes. But its a good weird performance by the female lead.
MARY AND MAX (2009)
via Sundance On Demand
This is a really powerful movie, one that combines a perfect style of animation with tone and story into something pretty emotionally devastating, but in a unique way. The animator Adam Elliot had some earlier animated shorts that sting in the same way, and which might be essential prerequisite viewing before diving into this. So glad I was able to find this.
MERMAID (2007)
via Sundance On Demand
WIFF 2009
A short description would be a Russian Amelie, but imagine general Russian bleakness being pushed onto a whimsical tale and this is what you get. Found myself a little disengaged and distracted by this one and the flights of fancy it takes. But its a good weird performance by the female lead.
Monday, January 23, 2012
TOP FILMS OF 2011 - NUMBER 10
THE DESCENDANTS
As I said in my original brief review the use of voiceover at the beginning of this movie is a lousy device. But as I start to think poetically in order to write my first top 10 film essay, I am beginning to forgive this inconsistent narrator that hovers over the first third of Alexander Payne's latest film, only to disappear as the strength of the characters and the performances carry the story to its conclusion. Without the voiceover, it honestly might have been difficult to explain the context of the complex real estate transaction subplot that is essential to the movie's powerful climax.
This movie is about loss, but also what makeshift emotional tools there are out there to cope with loss. Sometimes spirituality serves as a form of escapism from devastating losses, or other secular settings provide the right physical environment to contemplate the bigger picture. Several of Hawaii's islands are the setting of The Descendants, and this tropical utopia serves as a blessing and a curse, as the environment shapes an understanding of these character's contentment, but also makes the sadness of their situation more dissonant. In the cold Midwest its always interesting to see how seemingly perfect natural places are depicted as something other than a place to get away from mundane misery. The quick visit to Hawaii in Punch-Drunk Love for example seemed odd because the weird main characters didn't seem that phased by the awesome beaches they were surrounded by. On a more darker level, the beautifully shot landscapes of Brokeback Mountain, which in any other movie or nature documentary might symbolize the grandest of Creation, becomes a slowly mocking symbol of the increasingly confined (yet physically vast) world that these characters have to occupy to express themselves.
In The Descendants, the intangible and overpowering forces of paradise and beauty are relentlessly fighting against narrow-minded and petty attitudes. The Descendants is not a naive movie though... it doesn't suggest that time heals all wounds and that eventually you can move on from pain. Rather, I think it confirms with peaceful clarity that when someone or something is gone, it is very permanent in a very real way, and that jealousy and bitterness can not hold out indefinitely against an acceptance that circumstances have irreversibly changed. The Hawaiian setting provides that extra visual reminder that there is beauty in the world beyond personal emotions and hangups. Something can be taken, and eventually you can only hold on to that beauty, and appreciating only the best memories of that person. But after that loss, there's also a coda to that pain and acceptance, and that is the nagging sense that your own life (which you are fortunate enough to continue to enjoy) now needs to mean something a little more.
The Descendants navigates this nuanced emotional territory very well. Yeah, there's some clumsy moments with characters but gradually the movie begins to tell the complicated stories it needs to tell with images and raw emotions alone.
OSCAR NOMINATIONS TOMORROW!
This movie is about loss, but also what makeshift emotional tools there are out there to cope with loss. Sometimes spirituality serves as a form of escapism from devastating losses, or other secular settings provide the right physical environment to contemplate the bigger picture. Several of Hawaii's islands are the setting of The Descendants, and this tropical utopia serves as a blessing and a curse, as the environment shapes an understanding of these character's contentment, but also makes the sadness of their situation more dissonant. In the cold Midwest its always interesting to see how seemingly perfect natural places are depicted as something other than a place to get away from mundane misery. The quick visit to Hawaii in Punch-Drunk Love for example seemed odd because the weird main characters didn't seem that phased by the awesome beaches they were surrounded by. On a more darker level, the beautifully shot landscapes of Brokeback Mountain, which in any other movie or nature documentary might symbolize the grandest of Creation, becomes a slowly mocking symbol of the increasingly confined (yet physically vast) world that these characters have to occupy to express themselves.
In The Descendants, the intangible and overpowering forces of paradise and beauty are relentlessly fighting against narrow-minded and petty attitudes. The Descendants is not a naive movie though... it doesn't suggest that time heals all wounds and that eventually you can move on from pain. Rather, I think it confirms with peaceful clarity that when someone or something is gone, it is very permanent in a very real way, and that jealousy and bitterness can not hold out indefinitely against an acceptance that circumstances have irreversibly changed. The Hawaiian setting provides that extra visual reminder that there is beauty in the world beyond personal emotions and hangups. Something can be taken, and eventually you can only hold on to that beauty, and appreciating only the best memories of that person. But after that loss, there's also a coda to that pain and acceptance, and that is the nagging sense that your own life (which you are fortunate enough to continue to enjoy) now needs to mean something a little more.
The Descendants navigates this nuanced emotional territory very well. Yeah, there's some clumsy moments with characters but gradually the movie begins to tell the complicated stories it needs to tell with images and raw emotions alone.
OSCAR NOMINATIONS TOMORROW!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Films of 2011 / Honorable Mentions
Before I start my top 10 it's time for a quick synopsis of the remaining films I saw this year, I wanted to go through some...
HONORABLE MENTIONS
LA QUATTRA VOLCE
This was an experimental film I saw at WIFF that I didn't get around to covering in my synopsis of the film festival back in April. It follows a path of reincarnation between an old man, a goat, a tree, and I think (I can't remember the film perfectly) a pile of coal. Yeah, it's pretty difficult. But you can see what it's trying to do, and it truly uses camera techniques and movement to try and tell a poetic story.
ANITA
WIFF selection as well... a tale of a mentally handicapped Argentinian Jewish girl who is shell shocked by a terrorist attack and is set on a confused path around Buenos Aries, as various characters with their old flaws are annoyed by her naivete but eventually altered by her complete innocence to darker elements of the world. This was pretty sweet and touching, but other movies covered newer ground for me.
THE ARBOR
And another 2011 WIFF... of the obscurities I saw at the festival this one actually showed up on the AV Clubs year-end list as one of their best films. It has a very narrow focus on the short reckless life of a ground-breaking London playwright. But I have to admit I didn't realize how compelling the documentary style was until I was reminded of it by the AV Club's review. The documentary uses actual audio testimonials from the subjects, but the actual visuals are staged with other actors lipsyncing to the recordings. You bet it was a unique experience. I wonder if this type of narrative style will pop up in new films, because it's true I've never seen anything like it before.
HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER
I had tickets for this at 2011 WIFF, but had to leave early because of the weather (or maybe it was getting late... I've bailed out of WIFF before). HuluPlus came through a few months later. This dragged out a bit but at times it was incredibly tense. A young intern type and a seasoned scientist/engineer are stationed in a very remote Russian island to do radiation tests. The mood is set and some tragic news (delivered through fuzzy channels) creates something very dark. The tone is a little off sometimes and there's a central mystery to a character's motivations that doesn't give me anything more than confusion... which makes a 2 hour plus movie hard to sit through.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
LA QUATTRA VOLCE
This was an experimental film I saw at WIFF that I didn't get around to covering in my synopsis of the film festival back in April. It follows a path of reincarnation between an old man, a goat, a tree, and I think (I can't remember the film perfectly) a pile of coal. Yeah, it's pretty difficult. But you can see what it's trying to do, and it truly uses camera techniques and movement to try and tell a poetic story.
ANITA
WIFF selection as well... a tale of a mentally handicapped Argentinian Jewish girl who is shell shocked by a terrorist attack and is set on a confused path around Buenos Aries, as various characters with their old flaws are annoyed by her naivete but eventually altered by her complete innocence to darker elements of the world. This was pretty sweet and touching, but other movies covered newer ground for me.
THE ARBOR
And another 2011 WIFF... of the obscurities I saw at the festival this one actually showed up on the AV Clubs year-end list as one of their best films. It has a very narrow focus on the short reckless life of a ground-breaking London playwright. But I have to admit I didn't realize how compelling the documentary style was until I was reminded of it by the AV Club's review. The documentary uses actual audio testimonials from the subjects, but the actual visuals are staged with other actors lipsyncing to the recordings. You bet it was a unique experience. I wonder if this type of narrative style will pop up in new films, because it's true I've never seen anything like it before.
HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER
I had tickets for this at 2011 WIFF, but had to leave early because of the weather (or maybe it was getting late... I've bailed out of WIFF before). HuluPlus came through a few months later. This dragged out a bit but at times it was incredibly tense. A young intern type and a seasoned scientist/engineer are stationed in a very remote Russian island to do radiation tests. The mood is set and some tragic news (delivered through fuzzy channels) creates something very dark. The tone is a little off sometimes and there's a central mystery to a character's motivations that doesn't give me anything more than confusion... which makes a 2 hour plus movie hard to sit through.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
GOOD WILL HUNTING / HUGO
GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)
"No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine. You ripped my fuckin' life apart. You're an orphan, right? Do you think that I'd know the first thing about how hard your life has been - how you feel, who you are - because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally, I don't give a shit about all that, because - You know what? I can't learn anything from you... I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you wanna talk about you, who you are. And I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't wanna do that, do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief."
OSCAR COUNT
5/5 BEST PICTURE - 2/5 BEST ACTOR - 4/5 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - 5/5 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - 4/5 BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - 5/5 BEST DIRECTOR
Watched via Hulu Plus
HUGO (3D) (2011)
Rockford Showplace Theater
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Best Films of 2011
IT'S TIME...
I gave up on writing extensive entries for each film I've seen over the past year. No real explanation... I think I had adequately exercised my writing chops and just wanted to make sure I kept a record of all the movies I watched. But as much as I resist end of year sentimentality, I think I have to hold on to some summary ritual that attempts to wrap up my experiences in a nice little bow.
I will say that the films I liked this past year really didn't provide an absolute level of escapism that one might say represents the pure movie-going experience. In fact, after my top movie of 2011, the films drop down both in their ability to transport me to another place and in their overall package of complete quality that would make them really timeless. What we have instead are very unique character experiences and derivative ideas that, despite their limitations, are executed nearly perfectly. Even if you couldn't tune out the rest of the world very easily with these movies, the engagement that these films both big and small had with real moments and consequential topics kept me grounded in reality in a good way.
So, just to remind you... my rules for the top 10, with very few exceptions, are films that I saw in theaters in 2011. That means that the many times I did a whole cost-benefit analysis with my time and money and determined to use my astronomically expensive cable connection to see an older movie at home (streaming, on-demand, etc.) instead of the blockbuster as the local theater, then those older movies will NOT appear on this countdown and instead live on as long as the Internet is up and running with their single film log entry in past blog posts. Or maybe they could appear later in a special topical countdown. Who knows?
I'll start next time with a quick recap of honorable mentions and the disappointments with a few short comments. Covering those will actually fully cover all of 2011's eligible films, believe it or not. Stay tuned...
I gave up on writing extensive entries for each film I've seen over the past year. No real explanation... I think I had adequately exercised my writing chops and just wanted to make sure I kept a record of all the movies I watched. But as much as I resist end of year sentimentality, I think I have to hold on to some summary ritual that attempts to wrap up my experiences in a nice little bow.
I will say that the films I liked this past year really didn't provide an absolute level of escapism that one might say represents the pure movie-going experience. In fact, after my top movie of 2011, the films drop down both in their ability to transport me to another place and in their overall package of complete quality that would make them really timeless. What we have instead are very unique character experiences and derivative ideas that, despite their limitations, are executed nearly perfectly. Even if you couldn't tune out the rest of the world very easily with these movies, the engagement that these films both big and small had with real moments and consequential topics kept me grounded in reality in a good way.
So, just to remind you... my rules for the top 10, with very few exceptions, are films that I saw in theaters in 2011. That means that the many times I did a whole cost-benefit analysis with my time and money and determined to use my astronomically expensive cable connection to see an older movie at home (streaming, on-demand, etc.) instead of the blockbuster as the local theater, then those older movies will NOT appear on this countdown and instead live on as long as the Internet is up and running with their single film log entry in past blog posts. Or maybe they could appear later in a special topical countdown. Who knows?
I'll start next time with a quick recap of honorable mentions and the disappointments with a few short comments. Covering those will actually fully cover all of 2011's eligible films, believe it or not. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
TINY FURNITURE / MIAMI BLUES / SPECIAL WHEN LIT
IT'S COMING.... MY 2011 FILM IN REVIEW! Can't wait... or I probably will.
Anyway, this is the first film log entry of 2012... wrapping up what I watched on my holiday break.
TINY FURNITURE (2010)
"I just got off a plane from Ohio. I am in a post-graduate delirium."
Criterion #597
Watched via Sundance Free On Demand
I vaguely heard of this movie when it was listed as playing at the great Music Box Theatre in Chicago. I dismissed it when it popped on as one of the free on-demand offerings but then it got the upcoming Criterion blessing so it became a viable movie watching option.
Pretty quirky and honest... and it is once again refreshing to hear people talk like normal 20 somethings. The honesty is understandable once I found out that the writer-director-star's real sister and mother played the character's sister and mother, and the bohemian Manhattan house that the movie was shot at was also the actual family home. Didn't like the ambiguous abrupt ending though which didn't seem to symbolize anything for me.
MIAMI BLUES (1990)
New Cult Canon
"Where IS the whipping cream?"
Watched via Movieplex HD on Demand
One of the very first entries in AV Club's New Cult Canon feature, this was also not on the top of my list, because... well, a movie from 1990 with Alec Baldwin as some kind of criminal seems like it would just look soooo dated. But it was all right. The feeling I get from most of these almost great cult movies is that there are really weird engaging completely unique moments at a pretty good clip, but they are often interspersed with scenes that can remind you how much time you're wasting. It was a great performance to watch though, and I can understand it's charm.
SPECIAL WHEN LIT (2009)
WIFF selection
Watched via Hulu Plus
A documentary from a previous Wisconsin Film Festival available via my new Hulu account... that ISN'T available via Netflix. Music to my movie-accessing ears/eyes/whatever. Not bad... gets a little fragmented at times, but a nice window into the weird world of pinball fans. A nice looking film too... it reminded me of how neat pinball machine art is, but also how confusing all those pinball bonuses could be. Also a reminder that Chicago is the historic pinball capitol of the world.... I can't believe I haven't taken advantage of that fact in my time in Illinois!
Anyway, this is the first film log entry of 2012... wrapping up what I watched on my holiday break.
TINY FURNITURE (2010)
"I just got off a plane from Ohio. I am in a post-graduate delirium."
Criterion #597
Watched via Sundance Free On Demand
I vaguely heard of this movie when it was listed as playing at the great Music Box Theatre in Chicago. I dismissed it when it popped on as one of the free on-demand offerings but then it got the upcoming Criterion blessing so it became a viable movie watching option.
Pretty quirky and honest... and it is once again refreshing to hear people talk like normal 20 somethings. The honesty is understandable once I found out that the writer-director-star's real sister and mother played the character's sister and mother, and the bohemian Manhattan house that the movie was shot at was also the actual family home. Didn't like the ambiguous abrupt ending though which didn't seem to symbolize anything for me.
MIAMI BLUES (1990)
New Cult Canon
"Where IS the whipping cream?"
Watched via Movieplex HD on Demand
One of the very first entries in AV Club's New Cult Canon feature, this was also not on the top of my list, because... well, a movie from 1990 with Alec Baldwin as some kind of criminal seems like it would just look soooo dated. But it was all right. The feeling I get from most of these almost great cult movies is that there are really weird engaging completely unique moments at a pretty good clip, but they are often interspersed with scenes that can remind you how much time you're wasting. It was a great performance to watch though, and I can understand it's charm.
SPECIAL WHEN LIT (2009)
WIFF selection
Watched via Hulu Plus
A documentary from a previous Wisconsin Film Festival available via my new Hulu account... that ISN'T available via Netflix. Music to my movie-accessing ears/eyes/whatever. Not bad... gets a little fragmented at times, but a nice window into the weird world of pinball fans. A nice looking film too... it reminded me of how neat pinball machine art is, but also how confusing all those pinball bonuses could be. Also a reminder that Chicago is the historic pinball capitol of the world.... I can't believe I haven't taken advantage of that fact in my time in Illinois!
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