| Listomania.... Favourite Films of 2009 |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|01:37 pm] |
No one asked but here is a Top 15 List of Favourite Films for 2009. The only stipulation I made was that I had to have seen them in the cinema, which meant that a couple of great films I saw on DVD made in 2009 are left off the list (namely Adventureland and In The Loop).
First, some special awards!
Best Crazy Person in a Movie: a tie between Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road and Mathieu Almric in A Christmas Tale.
Best Move From An Actor After Starring In The Wire: Aiden Gillen, Senator Carcetti, as an Irish, chess-playing, vengeful bad guy in the action movie 12 Rounds.
Best Independent Movie That Was An Independent Movie Cliche But Was Still Very Good: Frozen River.
Best Bad Movie That David Stratton Awarded Four Stars: Knowing.
Best Break-Out Performance From A Bearded Comedian: Zack Galifianikis in The Hangover.
Best On-Set Freak-Out During Production That Was Better Than The Movie Itself: Christian Bale and his issues with professionalism during Terminator: Salvation.
Best Use of Poo-Eating Gross-Out Humour To Completely Derail A Movie Comedy: Year One.
Best Vampire Movie That Was Pretty Much The Same As Twilight Even Though All The Hipsters Said It Was Better Than Twilight: Let The Right One In.
Best Movie That I Thought Was Going To Be Insufferable Twee But Was Actually Sufferable Twee: Paper Heart
Most Charming Female Movie Characters That I Would Have Devoted Nerd Shrines To When I Was In High School: tie between Carey Mulligan in An Education and Rachel Weisz in The Brothers Bloom.
Most Likeable Movie To Feature A Sweaty Juliette Lewis: Whip It. Best Performer To Act Through Their Nose: Giovanni Ribisi in Avatar.
Best Performer To Act With Half Their Face Removed And Still Be Charming: Frank Langella in The Box.
Best Director To Wave Their Hands Up And Down In Front Of The Story They Were Telling: Steven Soderburgh for The Informant!
Best Judd Apatow Movie That Wasn't Actually Directed By Judd Apatow: I Love You, Man.
Best Judd Apatow Movie That Was Actually Directed by Judd Apatow: Funny People.
Best Use Of A Cute Dog Averting A Global Disaster While Millions Perished But It's Okay Because The Cute Dog Survived: 2012
Okay, enough of that... the list
15. WATCHMEN Faithful comicbook adaptation that was a bit heavy on the Matrix slow-mo and the final scene didn't have the kick that it should have, but overall, great visuals, great actors (especially Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach) and great enough that you don't have to worry about whether or not Alan Moore liked it.
14. THE BOX Richard Kelly's creepy, bizarre-o adaptation of a Richard Matheson Twilight Zone episode only lasted two weeks in the cinema, but it had something for it when it was engaging enough to make see that Cameron Diaz is actually an alright actress.
13. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE Intelligent enough to be more than simply the stunt of 'Hey, that's a porn star acting as a prostitute!'
12. ZOMBIELAND & DRAG ME TO HELL
The return of the 90-minute movie that satisfies audience genre expectations while being very clever and most importantly just plain old popcorn fun.
11. MOON
Masterful work by Sam Rockwell.
10. SAMSON AND DELILAH
Masterful work by writer-director Warwick Thornton. The best Australian film in some time...
9. OBSERVE & REPORT
I've seen it twice now and even though it has some of the Apatow improv blahs here and there, the Taxi Driver styled uncomfortable rage lurking underneath Seth Rogen's character made it really something else than your standard mall cop comedy. Last minute Award For Best Climactic Surprise That Is Both Hilarious And Shocking.
8. JCVD
Watching the Making Of Documentaries on the JCVD DVD really expanded what the film does with the Jean Claude Van Damme persona. I think he really went out a limb with this film and commits something that is surprisingly sincere and made me respect him all the more. Last minute Award For Best Action Sequence You Don't Want To End for the title credit sequence.
7. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Above all I felt the marvellous satisfaction of a good story really well told and sometimes that's enough! A gleefully revisionist ode to the power of cinema.
6. DISTRICT 9
A full course meal of a movie. What seems like obvious sci-fi satire is really well handled and Sharlto Copely's performance as his desk clerk character was key to making me care about what happened, giving the third act change-up into Transformers territory a real heart that you wouldn't find in the Transformers sequel
5. A SERIOUS MAN
I love how the Coens can balance profound existential concerns with ironic grotesque laughs. "Accept the mystery."
4. UP
I had not seen a Pixar film in awhile and I was glad to be reminded of how rich, how delightful and in this case how moving their films can be.
3. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Again, like Up, a film that had really moved me. I understood the ideas behind the scenes in Jonze and Eggers' take on the children's story, what it said about being a child and being a parent...
2. THE WRESTLER
One of the first films I saw this year (technically it's a 2008 film but who cares) and still one of the greatest.
1. SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK
The Wrestler would be probably be my favourite film of the year since it's got it all - action, character, heart, 1980s hair metal and I could easily watch it whenever - but I might place Charlie Kaufman's debut film as a director (another film that's technially a 2008 film but again, who cares). What sets Synecdoche New York apart, alongside it's roster of great female performers (Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest), it's clever humour, it's high-concept plot, it's fantastic lead performance by Phillip Seymour Hoffman... was that it actually made me think about life, the shape of it, how we like the lead character seem to be composing our masterwork to an audience that isn't there and to a finish that we won't experience... it seems silly to say such a thing, but yeah, it was a film that made me think deep about things if only for the couple of days after I saw it.
That's that. Volunteer your own cinematic loves for this year, please... |
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| Weekly Rentals Round 3... |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|11:22 am] |
Another week, another batch of weekly rentals viewed and reviewed!
Boarding Gate (2007): I could watch Asia Argento read through a telephone book and still find the results very sexy. Oliver Assayas (who directed Irma Vep) creates a stylish, sparse yet absorbing thriller that follows Argento's ex-prostitute character attempt to reconnect with an old flame, a flailing corporate boss (Michael Madsen proving he still has some acting talent left amidst his consignment to Direct-to-DVD territory) while fulfilling a contract with her shady employers. The camera is fascinated by Argento as she finds herself in tense situations and as her own screen persona moves from the outrageously vampish (the S & M foreplay she indulges Madsen in) to emotional confusion when she is on the run in Hong Kong. Also stars Kim Gordon as a the contact with the fake passports and new identities.
Final Destination 3 (2006): Following on from Rob's recommen  dation (he once outlined both the Saw and the Final Destination franchises in order of value), I checked out this third one that revolves around a rollercoaster accident. Basically the film is just a catalogue of creative kills (much like the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels were to the 1980s). I liked Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the lead; she's pretty and treats the whole thing like she's Meryl Streep (such as when she reacts in horror when her digital photo mysterious records a sign saying 'HIGH DIVE' as 'HIGH D IE'). I also liked it when the annoying characters had their heads smooshed by random "accidents"... this was pretty much everyone in the movie. Also my favourite dialogue exchange here.
The Steam Experiment (2009): I have already discussed on Bullshit Movies and I intend to catch up with more direct-to-DVD Val Kilmer.
Hamlet 2 (2008): I was keen to see this when it was reviewed at Sundance and was set to screen at Luna. However, I can see why they defaulted and the film went straight to DVD. It's a watchable comedy but nothing original. The idea of a self-obsessed high school teacher has already been done in our own Summer Heights High and the film is never as hilarious as that Arrested Development episode where Tobias directed Shakespeare at Maebe's high school. Coogan was great in the lead but needs a better starring role if he is ever to dominate the globe as he should. Lots of scenes were stolen by the parade of hilarious females like Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler and Elisabeth Shue playing herself in an amusing turn.
Redbelt (2008): David Mamet tackles the fight film with this satisfying thriller/character study, his best since Spartan, one of my all time favourite films (though this isn't saying much, Spartan was Mamet's last film before this one). Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as the lowly jujitsu master, Mike Terry, who comes into contact with various characters, embroiling himself in a scam (cue Mamet regulars like Ricky Jay and Joe Mantegna) while resisting competing in a Mixed Martial Arts tournament. What can I say? I love the overheated code of the Samurai purist-driven philosophy Mamet imparts in repeated maxims: "There is no situation that you could not escape from. Know the escape!" P.S. Emily Mortimer is charming as always. Highly recommended.
Spoorlos a.k.a. The Vanishing (1988): I'd already seen the terrible Hollywood remake starring Kiefer Sutherland and knew some of the particulars in regards to the original's tragic ending (in contrast to Hollywood's happy ending), but this film still sucked me in and knocked me out. Follows a young couple on vacation. The wife goes missing at a petrol station. The husband looks for her over the course of three years wanting to know the truth. One day he receives a postcard that promises such a thing at a great cost. At first, director George Sluizer lets you share the anxiety of losing someone in a public place, but then in a unique twist shows us the kidnapper and his preparations. A very chilling climax... but which is also quite moving when you think about it. Recommended. |
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