January and February Wrap

Talk about a change of pace.

After a staggering 2007, which saw some monstrous personal highs in regards to wall-to-wall movie-going, January saw me hitting some deep deep water. The 2007 pace (about 8 movies per week) shifted steeply down to a little more than 3 movies a week in the New Year. And no surprise - priorities...shifted. I determined in late December that 2008 was going to be the year for reading (remember that?) and frankly, the start of the year is always a little fallow at the movie theare. So the fact that I finished two books in January and watched only 15 movies isn't out of whack with what was planned or expected. Nevertheless, looking back at the first two months of the year, I'm amused by how little I watched and posted.

This then is the wrap-up for Jan and Feb, or a few words about the movies that didn't get properly posted in the last 9 weeks:


In Bruges (2008) ~ Without question, the first best film of 2008. In Bruges is jammed full of Christmas presents for people that love movies: first among them, Martin McDonogh's sharp dialogue, which feels jagged and fresh, while never seeming strained or showy. In fact, it's no surprise to read that McDonogh has a background in theatre as his very particular language emphasizes character quibbles over action and continuously gets hung up in the most excellent eddies of conversation. The dialogue here should offend lots of people (who among you isn't ready to laugh at a racist dwarf?), but for a black-hearted comedy such as this, the tone is perfect in every scene. At the center and rewarded with the most treacherous lines is Colin Farrell whose performance is, as far as I've seen, career-best. This is a Colin Farrell that I'd watch again and again: funny and dark, layered and endearingly devilish. So much good stuff to be found here. Truly recommended.

The Brave One (2007) ~ Kind of terrible. In an effort to demonstrate her anguish and conflict in becoming a vigilante, Jodie Foster instead gives the most retched and unsympathetic lead performance that I can remember. The film is equally ugly, shot as it is through mossy and muddy filters with the sort of cinematic subtlety you'd expect from a first-year film student (glaring example #1: was it necessary to "tilt" the camera on its axis everytime Foster felt distress; isn't this the most head-slamming (and obvious) way to communicate this sort of anxiety?) A clumsy script overstuffed with awkward coincidences (maybe New York is smaller than I imagined?) and the worst sin for a sleezy revenge thriller: the movie is unbearably boring. Ugh.

The Savages (2007) ~ So it appears that I must have walked into the wrong movie. Expecting a sharply observed, well-paced, character-driven comedy (see also: Wonder Boys, Sideways), I found myself instead watching a slow-moving character drama about committing a sick father to an old folks home. No problem, I'm sure, if that's what you're wanting (plenty of critics seem to love this film) but Fox Searchlight did a fairly bang-up job of convincing me I was seeing something entirely different. So it is that I left the theatre disappointed that the movie wasn't funnier and even more disappointed that it was actually a bit of a downer. I'm usually a lot more flexible than this in my movie-going, but in this instance, I was really looking forward to The Savages that I saw advertised. Which wasn't this.

Lust, Caution (2007) ~ A solid 100-minute period-romance and spy-film stretched to 2:40 with all the lush particular details and pregnant pauses you might expect to pad that extra hour. I understand that the story has a greater meaning and impact for Eastern audiences, but as a Western viewer, it felt relatively lean and kinda straightforward. The ending in particular was sort of frustrating for reasons that I won't spoil here; however performances by the leads were exceptional (and also remarkably brave). Period details of occupied Shanghai were stunning, but the whole package seemed a little dull and arthouse.


Safety Last (1923) ~ My first Harold Lloyd film and I'm both impressed and underwhelmed at the same time. Lloyd's style doesn't quite compete with the timeless class of Chaplin and Keaton, but on its own merits, it's still funny and clever. Lloyd seems to love the comedy of misdirection, and it's a tremendous compliment to his writing that there's some fresh angles to be found in the misunderstandings here even for a modern viewer (with decades of sitcoms hijinks behind him). The high-point of the film, of course, is the skyscraper climb and famous clock-face sequence which is where this casual comedy becomes compulsively watchable. Outside of that, it's a fair, if unexciting silent comedy.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988) ~ Frankly, this might be as good as animation gets. The story of two orphans in battle-torn Japan is devastating, compounded by the childlike simplicity (and adult understanding) of everything that happens: a child's story told through a child's view of the world but ultimately intended for adults to watch. The tragedy creeps up, which makes it all the more sinister, and there is tremendous sadness and loss to every frame. (Sounds like fun, I know.) The animation seems direct and simple but it's remarkable how much work has gone into the natural performances of the main characters (and their specific child-like appearances). To be honest, it's one of the rare and remarkable movies that I find tremendously painful to watch and as a result, not one that I can rewatch often. But still such a spectacular film.

Rush Hour 3 ~ Simply. Terrible. Were the first two movies this passively racist?

Bridge On the River Kwai (1957) ~ Jolly good, as thoses Brits might say. David Lean's second-choice epic surprised me in a good number of big ways. First, it was much more of an adventure film than I was honestly expecting with a second half that bristles with excitement and genuine tension. The last 15 minutes are unexpectedly suspenseful and wracked with the sort of character crisis that makes for...well, a Classic Movie. In fact, I can see all of the elements that make this a perennial AFI classic and can understand the reason that people are still actively watching it 50+ years later. Even better, as a child of the late-70's and the Lucas/Spielberg blockbusters in particular, there's a few hidden jewels: for example, is it wrong that the jungle sequenced reminded me so much of Raiders. Is it OK to enjoy the Alec Guiness performance on two levels: both as a masterful on-screen role (complete with a knock-down speech in the last act) and as an early Obi-Wan performance. I'm sorry. I am what I am.

Cloverfield (2008) ~ And the real monster here is the hype. Therein lies the problem: the movie is built on a terrific promise that can never possibly be delivered, least of all by the CG monster. I came into this film on the balls of my feet, excited about the concept and enormously open to the "ride". But ultimately that's all there is to Cloverfield. While it's already been described in countless reviews as the movie-theatre equivalent of a theme-park ride, the description couldn't be more accurate. The movie unrolls with the same depth, plot and structure as any Universal Studios backlot rollercoaster with jumps and frights timed to activate as you roll past. Which makes the cinema experience kind of empty.

Also, shaky-cam was a big, big problem for me. I'm typically pretty sturdy when it comes to handheld camera work and movies like Blair Witch and Bourne didn't cause me any problems. This movie did. So it is that at the end of the "ride", I had to wonder - I mean, seriously wonder - if my inability to simply release and enjoy Cloverfield was a sign of holy-crap!...middle-age. After all, roller-coasters are a young man's past-time and while I might not be "old" yet, it seems unavoidable that there is a generation gap within this film. I wonder what the 16-year-old Jer might have made of this film and I have to think that he would have adored it.


Definitely, Maybe (2008) ~ It might sound like faint praise, but I can't seem to come up with a better description for Definitely, Maybe than enormously "cute". In fact, "cute" in bulk-shopper-at-Costco quantities: the kid is cute, the character introductions are cute, the performances are cute and of course, the ending is endlessly cute. So if there's anything to distinguish Definitely, Maybe from a million other precious chick flicks and cute Valentines movies (and there is!), it's that the story is told in a surprisingly unique and compelling way.

The central "mystery" of the story (the identity of the Abigail Breslin's mom in the story of how her father met her mother) is actually quite a lot of fun and keeps the story moving with momentum that it otherwise might not have had. To be frank, the film does such a good job of setting up all the "women" that it's not immediately clear who the mom is going to be or how the film is going to find a satisfactory ending (face it...the ending requires at the very least that there be 2 losers.) I genuinely think that Ryan Reynolds has the leading man chops to carry this kind of movie and surrounding him with leading ladies like Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Banks makes the whole package kind of an easy sit. For a movie not really designed for someone like me, I really enjoyed it.

Also worth celebrating: Kevin Kline's scene-stealing cameo which should now throw him into rigorous competition with Bill Murray for all crusty, white-haired and bearded supporting roles in the future. Nice!

My Best Fiend (1997) ~ The great joy of January was finally getting my hands on a copy of the Herzog/Kinski box from Anchor Bay, and this was the first disc I queued up. While Herzog's documentary on his leading man might seem the perfect post-script for a Herzog/Kinski marathon, it also works very well as prologue. The relationship between the two men is one of the great gifts of cinema and it's a real delight to watch Kinski chewing up sets as Herzog waxs nostalgic about working with his leading monster. And there's equal parts madness and celebration to be found in this excellent documentary which kicked off a mini-run of Herzog films for me. [Random musing: I can't help but wonder what the alternative movie universe is like, where Kinski accepts Spielberg's invitation to play one of the heavies in Raiders...hmmm...]

Woyzeck (1979) ~ And after 11 Herzog films, I finally found one that didn't light me up within minutes of watching it. Dry and artful, Woyzeck feels exactly like what it is: an arthouse adaptation of a existential German theatre play. Kinski is brilliant, as good as he's every been in anything, but the film is so stiff and literate that it feels more like an exercise than an entertainment.

Still, regardless of how difficult it is to crack the shell on this film, there's still That Murder. I bristled in the final minutes of the film as the act of violence that defines the second half of the film is described as "beautiful"; it's the very definition of ironic. Regardless, there's no question that the film goes to an unusually sensational place in those final minutes and delivers a murder that is absolutely heart-stopping in its authenticity. Shot at a crazy-slow speed so that every blow seems to last an eternity (flies can be seen skirting in and out of the shot), the terrible sequence and the inhuman transformation of Kinski's face are what ultimately make Woyzeck a movie worth its place in the Herzog pantheon. It's really tough to recommend a movie based on a sequence of unbearable brutality, but there it is: Kinski's acting in this sequence makes him a bigger monster than most genuine horror movie icons. Forget Jason and Freddy: the transformation in Kinski's eyes as he goes from victim to victimizer is the thing of real nightmares.

Also, as a big bonus, after finally watching Woyzeck unfold, I now have a new way to appreciate the already immensely appreciable Blood Money record by Tom Waits. Written for a stage play of Woyzeck, Waits songs are fascinating but somewhat cryptic for someone not familiar with the play. No more.

Martian Child (2007) ~ As the movie started, I turned to T. and told her to expect we'd be throwing around the word "cute" before the movie was over. This, given the DVD cover, synopsis and what little I'd heard about this mostly forgotten Cusack film. Still, John Cusack is John Cusack and if you're a fan, you're a fan. And I'm a fan. I haven't seen a John Cusack movie yet that I haven't at least marginally enjoyed (I skipped the unholy trio of American Sweethearts, Must Love Dogs and Serendipity but quite liked Ice Harvest). So this seemed like a harmless enough Saturday night.

The thing about the movie is that it mostly works and works well when it does. The relationship between Cusack and the boy he adopts in the film is genuine and convincing, heartbreaking at just the right turns. There's a sincerity (Cusack in particular) to everything that passes between them that won me over and had me rooting for them to overcome their problems. When played smart and subtle in that opening hour, the film is quite good. Bobby Coleman is also a remarkable catch for the filmmakers, handling a complex child role with surprising maturity and without pulling out any Cute Kid ammunition. I suspect that if this film had a larger profile, a lot of praise would have been rained on this young actor.

The problem then lies in the last 30 minutes of the film when the decidedly low-key and sweet character story invites its Hollywood friends to come over and play. There's a book launch sequence near the end of the film that is groaningly awful as the writers open the toolbox and start hitting everyone in the theatre on the head with big heavy plot-hammers. Beyond that, the drama overreaches its climax by creating "peril" that feels as tagged-on and out of place as Annie pursued and trapped on the drawbridge. Those final minutes almost entirely erase the good will of everything in the first half.

Persepolis (2007) ~ Endlessly charming and really just easy to watch, Persopolis surprised me by ringing far more emotion out of its simple animation style than I might have expected. The clean black and white aesthetics of the film create a bit of a barrier in the opening minutes of the movie, but once the story begins to roll, it's virtually impossible not to appreciate the imaginatic designs and storytelling. For her part, Marji is a great lead, a rich character and an excellent gateway into the Iranian politics of the early 1980's. Tremendously enjoyable even if it isn't quite as great as the year-end hype might have suggested.

Re-Animator (1985) ~ Sweet delicious 80's gore. Here's a minor cult classic that was brand-new to me and feels very much like a movie that would have been a permanent fixture in my basement VHS collection back in the day. The horror walks a fine line between cheeky and trashy, but Jeffrey Combs is a great center to the movie as the creepy but ultimately principled doctor. There's no real scares to be found here, but like its low budget cousin (Evil Dead II), Re-Animator is simply a really great time. The Anchor Bay DVD is spectacular to watch, with gorgeous detail and colours that pop off the screen: an experience I'm certain I wouldn't have had on VHS 10 or 15 years ago.

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007) ~ I was genuinely surprised at how much I was blown over by this doc. The space program is hardly new subject matter for anyone (least of all producer Ron Howard), however I don't think I've ever seen it told quite like this. As a collection of first-person interviews with the veterans of the Apollo missions, this is an invaluable document, but more decidely, it's also a wonderful collection of first-hand stories and recollections of the trip to space and the moon by the only people on the planet who have ever had the experience. Just imagine that for a moment. And in that context, there's no limit to the amount of authentic "wonder" in this film: every story and every scrap of archived NASA footage is awesome and drives home the monstrous feat of the Apollo missions. Like most people, the achievements of the space program in 1969 are somewhat yesterday and been-there done-that, but hearing the details from the people at the center of history creates a new experience that comes as close as it must have been to experience the first trip to the moon. Surprisingly emotional also.

Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) ~ Here I was expecting a film that would rest entirely on Benicio Del Toro's shoulders. I've never been much of a Halle Berry fan so the expectation was that a marvelous Del Toro performance would balance the Berry black-hole-of-talent and create a sort of neutral proposition. However, as the film progressed, I found that my stand-offish attitude was more and more weakened until I was enjoying Berry's role almost - ALMOST - as much as Del Toro. But I'm getting ahead of myself because Del Toro's performance is quite easily one of my favourite of 2007 - drastically overlooked (almost as overlooked as the film itself). Benicio Del Toro did something remarkable in his performance of a man kicking a drug problem by converting me into a life-time fan. Seriously. He's now at the top of The List, someone I'll be ready to watch and enjoy even in the most trashy projects. As for the rest of the movie, Things We Lost in the Fire is an underrated drama that should have gotten far more print and conversation when it came out: it's terribly sad in stretches and surprisingly genuine throughout. In fact, the unconditional friendship at the heart of the film between Del Toro and David Duchovny is done so well that I was 100% on-board for everything that followed - a good sign as the relationship is the heart and soul of the film. Equally natural was the family dynamic between Berry and Duchovny and in particular, the children (excellent and mature performances here). A great late discovery and movie that deserves more attention if only for Del Toro's gob-smacking performance.

Dan in Real Life (2007) ~ The very definition of a bad airplane movie. Cobbled together with all of the invention of a tired sit-com, I actually couldn't believe the set-up for the film was this contrived and obvious. Steve Carrell, normally funny without even breaking a sweat, feels like he's forcing things as he struggles to play another variation on the ruffled loser-dad. Once the clumsy plot mechanics were in motion and the sad-sack plot was fully engaged, I found myself tuning out. By the time the character "misunderstandings" and "hijinks' began to roll at full-speed, I simply couldn't handle it anymore. I regret that I couldn't finish the movie. Did I mention I was on an airplane?

Spies Like Us (19850 ~ Oh boy, how much do I miss the Chevy Chase of the early 1980's? And Spies Like Us, along with ¡Three Amigos!, is a minor classic of the sort of loose and easy SNL-inspired comedies that were a staple of adolescence. I'm not sure how much there is to enjoy here now that isn't necessarily soaked in nostalgia, but it doesn't matter one bit. This is still a fantastic film. Also notable as the only on-screen role of Joel Coen (he of the Coen Brothers); along with appearances by Sam Raimi, Ray Harryhausen and Terry Gilliam. Great stuff jammed with iconic Chevy Chase/Dan Aykroyd memories.

Zapped! (1982) ~ Speaking of nostalgia, any day with an early 80's sex-comedy starring Scott Baio and Willie Aames is an OK day by me. I can't believe how much of this movie came back to me as I watched it...how many times I must have watched it as a kid??

Sunshine (2007) ~ For a film that hangs so much of its impact on visual spectacle, it's unfortunate that I didn't get to see this under the most ideal circumstances. Upconverted from a hotel pay-per-view broadcast to an HD screen in the wrong format (ugh), I think most of the effects and eye candy were lost on me as I struggled to simply make out actors from the distorted features and flattened heads. Even still, there was plenty to enjoy in Sunshine as it's always a pleasure to find a sci-fi film that is precisely that: all about the science and aw-gee technical designs (see also: 2001, though this is hardly that transcendent). For the first half, when the science and "the mission" are at the center of the film, the movie is frightfully good; however Sunshine strays a little from this winning formula in the final act when horror/thriller elements begin to creep up. Outside of this unfortunate distraction, the spine of the film is surprisingly strong and peppered with good performances throughout. I'm sure I'd be hailing the film a lot more if I could have been able to marvel at Boyle's slow-moving spaceships and imaginative compositions. I'll be checking this out on a clean DVD one day soon to remedy the problem...

The Indian Runner (1991)

Seeing Into The Wild this year was a kind of minor revelation: to discover that Sean Penn could shoot such a beautiful and surprising visual story and also coach rich natural performances from his cast. Who knew that Sean Penn had this kind of talent in him behind the camera...?

Oh.

...apparently I never saw The Indian Runner.

In many ways, The Indian Runner is the very thing that people like me have been holding up as such a breath of fresh air in 2007: a lean and stylish character-driven drama that hangs as much on the aesthetics of the 1970's as the very particular vision of its director. There's a funny contradiction to the movie, balancing a particular 70's chemistry that's been seen countless times with the confident, original eye of a new director. It's surprising the details that pop: a train pulling away behind tall grass, the camera finding shadows on the wall, the way that a car drives between two characters, interrupting a private moment. All of this is just a stone's throw from what was so exciting about the output of the early 70's. And like those films, The Indian Runner is stone-cold cool. Everything about this movies projects a sort of casual directness that pretty much lights me up as a movie-goer. This is some very large movie-going fun.

The story of two brothers was inspired by a Springsteen song and that's enough of a spoiler right there for anyone familiar with Highway Patrolman. The basic set-up is deceptively easy: the good brother tries to keep the bad brother out of trouble. But both the song and the film dig deeper than that.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the film, given the source material, was Penn's decision not to use the Springsteen song at any point; I fully expected to hear it in the final minutes of the film or at the very least, the closing credits. However given that the film takes place before the Springsteen song was recorded and that the soundtrack is populated with very specific period songs, this seems like a deliberate decision. Even so, I could still feel the lyrics of the Springsteen song creeping up throughout the film, playing in my head even when there was no music on-screen:

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin',
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood

Intentional or not, it's a pretty remarkable trick.

Here's another 2007 invention that was already pioneered in 1991: The Naked and Tattooed Viggo. For most people, Viggo Mortensen didn't really hit the cultural radar until this little trio of films calls Lord of the Rings came and went in theatres, but I've come to understand he was pumping out high (very high) quality character work for years before that. And he was virtually invisible in everything he did (I had to go back and rewatch his appearance in Carlito's Way just because I couldn't believe that was Viggo). However The Indian Runner is one of those movies where the fine Art of Viggo was anything but invisible. In fact, for a movie that would have been quite excellent without his performance (I'll get to the rest of the cast in a minute), the screen practically sizzles whenever he shows up. This young, greasy, baleful, devil-may-care Viggo can't be switched off on demand - he forces your attention. He's ridiculously good and I dare say as good as he's ever been in anything (current work included), particularly in the later scenes of the film.

The rest of the cast, not exactly bargain-bin talent, is equally excellent. David Morse, as good a lead as any, brings a stiff amount of patience and stability to the movie playing what could have been a thankless role for any other actor. This is one of those lead roles which is largely the "straight man" around which the story turns and when it's done right, it should come across as barely a performance at all. That's not easy and largely thankless, however Morse matches Mortensen's intensity in every way. This is, in every way, his film first.

There's also a very young Patricia Arquette, in a Mia Farrow haircut, providing a remarkably unpredictable performance as Viggo's child-like fiance.; a very gentle and understated performance from Charles Bronson; a tiny but despicable appearance by Dennis Hopper, and oh! some dude named Benicio Del Toro fresh off his star-making performance of Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in Big Top Pee-Wee (you think I joke??)

My point here is that everything - and everyone - is running at 100% in this film and the final output is a minor classic that I'm surprised more people don't talk about today. To be honest, I don't know what I was doing for the last 17 years that made me miss out on this one.

Aguirre, Wrath of God (1973)

Damn cannibals. Damn jungle.

I've seen a lot of movies in my lifetime, but nothing quite like Aguirre, Wrath of God. To try and relate it to something familiar isn't easy; if I had to try, I might describe it as Herzog's own sort of Apocalypse Now, a Conrad-style descent into madness on a river. But hard as it might be to imagine, Aguirre makes Apocalypse Now look like the Hollywood version with its expensive sets and wealthy movie stars; in contrast, Herzog's film feels like the real deal. Shot cheap and filmed on location in South America with an authentic cast, genuine death and agony seem to linger at the edge of every frame. The jungle doesn't get paid to perform and there's a very real sense in every sequence that it's barely 10 feet away from devouring the cast and crew. If Klaus Kinski doesn't get them first.

What makes Aguirre astonishing, like so many other Herzog films, is the tremendous sense of awe that envelopes it. This isn't a movie that is quickly digested and forgotten and there's at least a half dozen images that startled me as much as anything I've seen on screen. Many of those images happen right at the jungle's edge which surrounds and swallows men (and horses) as easily as it produces surprises. A baby sloth. A raft full of monkeys. A tall ship stranded atop a tree. These images float into the frame like dreams and in that particular Herzog way get deep deep under the skin. Plot and character, rendered so spare in this kind of movie, seem like secondary considerations. An elysian score, sounding neither like a pure synthesizer or human voice, carries the entire experience into a different dimension. Or at alternate stretches, silence, which betrays the dream-like quality of the visuals into a much more dreadful place, and invites the jungle to add its own hungry soundtrack.

Beyond these visuals and flourishes, there's Kinski. Well of course Kinski is a magnificent visual unto himself, loping and twisting through every shot and eyeing the jungle as if he could glare it into submission. But more important than that glassy look is that performance that bleeds madness. Watching My Best Fiend early this week and hearing first-hand about Kinski's ferocity on-set, it's clear from that terrific face that he might as well be a wild animal carefully photographed with handlers and meat incentives just off-screen. There's the legend that Herzog directed him at gunpoint, dispelled by Herzog himself in the Kinski documentary as only a threat to shoot him in the head if he tried to abandon the production. Even so, it's clear that Kinski walks a fine line between performance and reality. At one point, as he lifts a small monkey in one hand, I was actually terrified that he might actually bite its head off. Such an awful thing wouldn't be unexpected in a movie like this.


Aguirre won't be for everyone. Despite the immediate sense of danger, the movie drifts slowly down river, silent for long stretches and detached at the most curious points. Perhaps the most interesting instance of this is when a parallel raft of explorers becomes trapped in an eddy, spinning out of control for hours. The action (and subsequent doom) of the raft is regarded from such a distance that it's virtually background to the main story. The fate of the raft is delivered off-screen and left intentionally mysterious. And in this way, it's most effective, adding to the growing sense of dread and anxiety and foreshadowing the castatrophe to come.

O Sweet Movie Goodness, this is the stuff of legend! Herzog and Kinski floating deliriously down the Amazon river, butchery at their backs. I can't wait to continue deeper into this Herzog-Kinski box set...

There's Still Much Blood

I can't remember the last time that a movie made it hard for me to go to sleep, but there you have it. There Will Be Blood was swimming in my head all night.

I read a substantial numbers of reviews and message boards this morning, but found the following to be the most well-written and on-the-nose commentary on TWBB. AICN's Moriarty usually writes excellent reviews but this one crystalized the particular misanthropy of Daniel Plainview and the monstrous impact of the movie better than most. This passage in particular articulates well why I left my brains on the floor at the AMC:

When you’re first falling in love with film, when you’re starting to realize you are a film geek, there are SO MANY amazing, classic, essential films and filmmakers that you need to catch up with. And thanks to video, I remember when I would fall in love with a filmmaker like Stanley Kubrick and I would be able to watch 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Lolita, Paths of Glory, The Killing, The Shining and Barry Lyndon all in the space of a week, all for the first time. Do you know what kind of a hole that left in the back of my skull? Once you’ve really caught up to a certain point, though, you don’t get to discover true classics as often, because there aren’t that many left. You don’t get to gobble up whole filmographies at once because you already have. That experience of having my brain chemistry altered by a film is more and more rare these days, and I suspect the same is true for many of you who are also rabid film freaks. You still hope you’re going to feel it whenever you put on some new film, but you’re starting to suspect that you’ve caught up... that you’re not going to get your head caved in as often... and it’s a little bit depressing.

Well, There Will Be Blood was that sort of experience for me. It hit me that hard, that immediately. There Will Be Blood restores my faith in American film in general. It is still possible to make a classic, a new film that tells a story in a unique way and that makes no apologies. This is not homage. It’s not post-modern. It’s not pastiche. It’s not a sequel. It’s not a remake. It’s not a reimagining. It’s not ironic. It’s not some ham-handed political screed. It’s not an excuse for style over substance. This is, simply put, a great story about a great character told confidently by a great filmmaker.

You can read his entire review here.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Following There Will Be Blood tonight, I did something that I don't think I've ever done before. I walked right back in and watched it again.

Er, sort of. I don't want to sound part-time about this, but it's an almost-3-hour movie and I promised my wife that I'd be home from the theatre in good time. In truth, I could really only watch that first hour again and when the time came to finally get up and leave, it felt a bit like I was trying to pull off a band-aid. I did it quick and it hurt; I really didn't want to go. If not for the outside world, I very badly would have watched the entire movie again.

There Will Be Blood is one of those unstoppable juggernaut films that propels forward with such momentum that it knocked me flat. How ironic that I should see The Best film of 2007 almost 3 weeks into 2008. I'm struggling to avoid raving-lunatic hyperbole but I'm in that heady honeymoon period that follows a truly intoxicating movie experience. Right now, I wouldn't hesitate to put There Will Be Blood at the top of my 2007 list, bumping every movie that you see further down this blog by one number. That buzz may fade in the days to come, but there is no question the movie will ultimately settle in the top 2. To my great and happy surprise, it's even more satisfying than No Country.

Paul Anderson has done something remarkable. I know well and have enjoyed Anderson's other films, but wasn't at all prepared for this. To be honest, given movies like Boogie Nights and Magnolia, no one could really be prepared for TWBB. The movie erupts like an instant classic with confidence and directness that very few working directors could muster. The ones who could accomplish this kind of powerhouse film fit on a very short list: Scorsese, Malick, Kubrick, Huston, Ford. And at times, TWBB gently passes familiar homage to great movies, lifting echoes of everything from Leone Westerns (those sets!!), John Huston (Treasure of the Sierra Madre...sweet goodness!!) and even Citizen Kane (yes, I can see the comparisons now). But in the end, it's also something unique and special which must be why I'm spinning like a teenage boy with his first beer.

An essential part of what gives TWBB such an uncommon pace and flavour is Jonny Greenwood's astonishing score. Words won't do his enormous creativity any justice but Greenwood's urgent, spastic music adds an edgy madness to the movie that spirals faster and faster as the story stretches out. At times, sequences seem to sizzle and boil like a kettle on a stove, threatening to explode before the camera can cut away to the next scene (it very often doesn't get away in time). It's Greenwood's score, layered on some stunning photography, that took my breath away more times than I can count.

It's an old song that Daniel Day Lewis is one of the best working actors of his generation. In TWBB, he sort of takes that mantle and smashes it over his knee. There is stuff going on here in his voice, his face, his body language that puts every other performance I've seen this year into a distant second (including Casey Affleck's complex performance in Jesse James, something I didn't think could be unseated). Yet Day Lewis' achievement is so measured and mannered that it almost feels like a put-on. There's bound to be plenty of people trying to copy Lewis' particular cadence and dialogue, but it's not a cartoon or parody by any stretch. Seeing that first hour again, there's something happening in his eyes that sells everything to come. There's madness and dangerous compulsion there. Barely covered hatred. This might be the best thing that Daniel Day Lewis has ever done.

Of course it's tough to grab the spotlight in that kind of shadow, but the rest of the cast fares extremely well. Paul Dano, in particular, steals the screen whenever it's required of him, showing surprising range and presence when he's facing off against Day Lewis. His sermons (in particular the "out, out" sermon) are so overblown that they almost "overdo" it, but then that's the line that TWBB dangerously walks at various stretches (and part of what makes it so exciting). Dillon Freasier, for his part as Day Lewis' son, has one of those man-child roles where it's tough to imagine how any casting director could find a kid with the right maturity and depth to handle the part. And finally Hans Howes, who I've never seen before this film, showed up to almost walk away with the movie for his very small part.


No spoilers here but I'd be remiss not to make passing and cryptic mention of that ending which in its own way is as challenging as the sharp right-hand turn in No Country. I spent more time thinking about that damn last scene on the drive home than any other, in part because it's so contrary. At first pass it feels like it might just be a bad scene stuck on the end of a great film, but I think that's just the harsh and quick reaction. Like any masterpiece worth revisiting, I think it's meant to frustrate and compel you to come back. Lord knows I was. But with more and more thought, I'm not sure the film could have ended any other way. And more importantly, the milkshake jokes are now paying in spades!

Boy. Even in light of the crazy reviews that have been travelling the Internet, I wasn't quite prepared to have my face blown off like this. As I think back on the film, what's most exciting is just how many great scenes and moments there are: it's really an embarrassment of riches. That the entire film is packaged with such a lean spine and the head of a rhinerocos in full-charge makes it as close to perfect as I can imagine. It's not perfect, but the flaws are part of what makes the package so scrumptious.

I wouldn't have let 3 weeks float by if I'd known what I was missing in the meantime...

Montage-ing Slowly...

This is a fun, if occasionally clumsy, clip-reel collecting some of the very best bits of the very best films of 2007 (the video calls itself "The Year of Drama" but that's more than a little questionable given the inclusion of some comedy titles). Spoiler-free if you're worried.

It's so enjoyable to see this many excellent films rolled together into one delicious movie snowball. It also drives home what a uniquely fantastic year this has been for great movies. Consider that if you haven't seen all or most of the movies in this clip show, you might just be missing something special...?

(I counted 4 movies here that I'll need to catch up on in the weeks to come, but There Should Finally Be Some Blood tomorrow night...)

No Country for Round Tables

Discussing No Country For Old Men is a good thing. Good for you and good for your friends.

This podcast is a little on the longish side and does stray into some awkward tangents, but nevertheless a very worthwhile listen. Just a group of on-line critics discussing everything from the ending of the film to Javier Bardem's mullet.

Worth putting on the next time you're painting a room or some other brain-light chore...

http://www.nocountryforoldmen-themovie.com/podcast/

The 2007 Highlight Reel (Part A)

I love lists. Absolutely love them. Love making them. Love reading them. Love posting them. So it is that I wanted to post my top movies of 2007. In truth, I just wanted to see all these movie titles collected in one space at one time.

It's a beautiful thing...

It was an unusually productive year for me in the theatres in large part because it was an uncommonly great year for new movies. The best of the 21st Century for certain and I'm dubious that we'll see another year this great for a while (writer's strike, crappy '08 line-up and all.) I saw 125 first-run movies in 2007 and have taken the Top 13 (or about 10%) as the prime cut; however it's worth noting that I saw at least 30 movies this year that I would consider to be at the very least excellent or better.

These 13 are spectacular without exception.

The Cream of the Crop

Ranked by preference as of today and right now at this moment, but it changes like the weather. All are solid, instantly re-watchable and marked tremendously pleasureable movie-going experiences for me. Most would be in my top-5 in any other movie year:

13. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ~ Frankly, I'm a little surprised to see this movie on my list. When I walked out of the theatre I wasn't sure that I liked it much at all. As it turns out, it simply didn't make any kind of immediate impact on me but in the days that have followed, it's growing on my mind the way the best movies do. Oh, I love it when movies percolate like this. What strikes me now and the thing I keep coming back to is the particular visual style of the film. To say that the scattershot imagery and memory-tinged photography reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is to betray exactly how much I'm falling for it, because Eternal Sunshine is one of my most cherished favourites. What makes Diving Bell so remarkable is that like Eternal Sunshine, it follows a sort of emotional logic and structure and frequently spins outwards into great romantic segueways. At the centre of the picture is a man trapped in his body, which would be compelling in its own right. But at the margins is something far far richer and Julian Schnabel and Janusz Kaminski outdo themselves finding imaginative ways to bring the inner spirit of the man to life. This is what it looks like to see someone's dreams and memories on film. Further to that, I can't get the blasted Ultra Orange song that sits in the spine of the film (and trailer) out of my head.

12. In the Valley of Elah ~ Another great surprise. For someone who has yet to be knocked over by Paul Haggis, I wasn't expecting a lot from this movie and slotted it casually into a Sunday night trip out. Good thing too as this is the kind of movie I might have otherwise skipped. The final scenes and in particular the final haunting image (which I suppose I should have seen coming) hung over me for days. Annie Lennox's Lost sticks in my ear. This was a really great year for Tommy Lee Jones and he's as good in this movie as he is in No Country for Old Men, in many ways playing the same sort of thoughtful, deliberate and patient role. What's devastating here is the intolerable grief that he buries deep in his heart but which informs every step he takes through the movie. Brilliant, moving stuff and it's a shame that the film got lost in the fall shuffle.

11. Gone Baby Gone ~ Damn, Ben Affleck? This is probably the only movie on the list that I couldn't quickly and easily watch again dealing as it does with the abduction of a 4-year-old girl. The subject matter is raw, but the performances, direction and dialogue are all so amazing and unexpected that I've been recommending the movie to virtually everyone I see. Both Ben and Casey Affleck demonstrate awesome range as director and actor respectively, and the supporting cast (Harris in particular) is equally on-game. This was the one film of the year that I actually embarrassed myself with a large and inappropriately loud gasp during a critical point in the film: a sure sign that the movie had its hooks in me deep and good. I lost all track of where I was.

10. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters ~ The best documentary of 2007 is also the funniest and the most moving. The back-and-forth rivalry between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell is the stuff of legend, and the background politics (and machinations) of the classic arcade tournaments go well beyond the rules of Q-bert and Donkey Kong. If it was just funny, I would be recommending this movie, but the movie finds some deeper chords in the second half and I'm surprised how much it upset me. Frankly, I'm astonished that somebody caught this story on film.

9. The Darjeeling Limited ~ Like a lot of people, I had written Wes Anderson off with the trailer for Darjeeling. If ever a man could appear to be parodying himself, this was it. And in just about every way, Darjeeling is exactly the movie that I was expecting but so much more. Key to this is the inclusion of the Hotel Chevalier short at the front of the film which cues the flavour and sets up some delicious pay-offs in the film proper. The transition to the main film (opening titles) was one of my favourite movie sequences of 2007. Still, what surprised me the most is how much I laughed during the film, rolling with every absurdity and snatched entirely into the Whitman's bizarre family dynamic. It's a gorgeous film to watch, capturing a vibrant and colourful India that can't possibly exist in the real world. If Wes Anderson wants to continue to do the Wes Anderson Thing, I'm game. I can't wait to see this movie again.

8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead ~ A perfect mousetrap that turns on a startling emotional spring. Everyone in this film comes to work with their A-game and it's always a pleasure to see someone like Albert Finney inspired and knocking down scenery. This is one of those films that's a treasure to experience in a dark theatre as the stress builds until the tension for release becomes unbearable. I'm not sure how it will play on repeat viewings as so much hinges on not knowing where the movie is going to spin off next, however for first-time theatre experiences, this one was absolute aces.

7. Into the Wild ~ I was so primed for this movie that I made a special day of it, taking a pilgrimage to an old movie theatre in Kingston and giving it the extra time on either side that I felt it would need to sink in. All of this paid off in spades and created a really special movie day. Penn's film doesn't play like anything else I saw this year, following Chris McCandless' cross-country odyssey with an off-beat pace that suits the subject matter perfectly. But in hindsight, I'd love to see it again on a double-bill with Grizzly Man, another favourite that documents a similar lost spirit.

6. Away From Her ~ I started this film on DVD before bed one night with the intention of watching only 30-minutes but the damn thing hooked me deep and kept me up well past midnight. What snared me was the performances; but what puts the movie on the list now is Sarah Polley. Really, it is still unbelievable to me that a movie this mature and this well-crafted could come from a first-time feature director, particularly one under the age of 30. There is a wealth of experience here that masters in their final years struggle to realize. And that story...devastating. Julie Christie is reaping a lot of attention for her performance, but it's Gordon Pinsent who is the silent heart of the film, tacitly watching the love of his life disappear into the abyss.

The Top 5:

...is rock-solid and unlike the list above, the sequence here is pretty firm. All 5 are movies that I will be watching again and again and again in the years to come. Instant classics every one:

5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ~ This one started creeping up on my radar the minute I read that title. Then images started creeping on-line and that second, heart-stopping trailer which showed how beautiful a western could be. Without contest, it was the most anticipated film of the fall for me and it paid off in every respect (the fact that it's #5 only means that the next 4 months all drastically surpassed expectations...) I can't wait to see it again.

4. Sweeney Todd ~ This was supposed to be my last film of 2007 and awkwardly ended up being my first matinee of 2008. Still, even with only 24 hours between me and the Todd, I am already thinking more and more about it. Songs are stuck in my head and more importantly, those bloody bloody beautiful and horrendous images. The fact that it's a sort of Tim Burton's Greatest Hits is only one of many things that makes it special for me. I'm also an enormous fan of the Sondheim musical and couldn't be more thrilled that Burton adapted it right. Johnny Depp in particular plays such a hollow, dispirited Sweeney that I immediately have to see the movie again. I was also delighted that Burton didn't shy away from the gore, as much as it may alienate a lot of audiences. That final image is one of my favourites of 2007 (er, 2008?)

3. Juno ~ Sweet, sweet Juno , pure movie sugar and the cynic's favourite kicking bag for late 2007. This was a highlight for me at this year's Toronto Film Festival and came as the crown-jewel of a virtually perfect movie day. In fact, I haven't been in a theatre as enthralled and enthusiastic as this once since I saw an early screening of Amélie years ago (Sept 10th, 2001 to be exact.) The thing about Juno is that after you cut through the fast comedy and singular dialogue (which is excellent), there's a beating heart to the picture which is really, really tough to deny. The movie might start as some sort of spunky teen-pregnancy film but it ends on an authentic and richly realized chord which fills your heart. A lot of the credit for this goes to Jennifer Garner of all people who I think travels the most interesting path in the film. Unlike the other movies in this top 5, I can't say if I'll be able to watch Juno 5 or 10 or 20 more times without seeing it lose its charm; however, it's here because the initial screening and response was so unique and wonderful that I'm lucky if I get a theatre experience like that once in a decade.

2. No Country for Old Men ~ Three times I've watched this stunning movie and it's getting better every single time. What's funny to me now is how closely it mirrors Raising Arizona which until now had always been my favourite Coen Brothers film. In so many ways NCFOM is like the dark-side remake of that film and that just endears it to me all the more. Then there's that ending...sweet money, it couldn't be any better. In fact, it's the ending (and in particular the final pensive scene with Tommy Lee Jones at the kitchen table) which to my mind has cemented this film as a masterpiece. 10 years and 50 years from now. "And then I woke up."

1. Once ~ I've written so much about this film already on this blog. Like No Country, I've watched it 3 times already and it's quickly passed the point of a simple favourite to that uncanny level of comfort food. In fact, I struggled between this movie and No Country in the top spot; it seemed to me that this was the best heart movie of the year while No Country was the best head movie. And at the end of the day, I'm a sucker and a girly-man...

Honorable mention:

Hairspray ~ which has become the most-watched movie of my household in 2007, in large part because it is spun almost daily by my 4-year-old. I liked it the first time I saw it but with each consecutive viewing, I'm finding more to appreciate. The music is as dynamic and sends both my kids bouncing off the walls like hyper-caffeinated chocolate. It's a fun piece of business that should hold up well in the years to come.

Zodiac ~ my first impression back in March was sort of messo-messo, but then that's true of at least a few movies on my best of list above. The difference here is that I didn't go back and give Zodiac another chance. I think this is one that needs another viewing and I'm looking forward to revisiting the special Director's Cut DVD coming out in January.

It's also worth adding the handful of high-quality movies that fell just outside my list (and barely):

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ~ Absurb how treacherous this movie is in the second half. All on a minimal scale where the dread and anxiety is left imagined in the heart and mind of the viewer.

The Bourne Ultimatum ~ It's a rarity that the final part of a trilogy is the best. Are you listening, Spider-Man 3??

The Orphanage ~ I swear to you that I got genuine palm-sweats not once, but twice during this film. A lot of similarities have been drawn to Devil's Backbone, The Others and even Rosemary's Baby (all are fair comparisons), but I was a little surprised at how much old-school Poltergeist was happening here, particular in the middle act. This is a superior, virtually flawless ghost-story movie. You'll know already if that does anything to stoke you.

Superbad ~ The best belly-laughs that I had in a movie theatre all year. The movie might be totally filthy, but there's heart to it that makes it worth watching and re-watching. Between this and Juno, I find myself hunting down 3 seasons of Arrested Develoment just to catch more Michael Cera.

Special Note:

There Will Be Blood ~ TWBB seems to be cut from the same material as most other movies that have made this year so great. I haven't seen it yet but it opens in Toronto on Friday. I'll be making a trip of it in the next week or two and based on the early word, it's very realistic that it will end somewhere on the list above. For now, it's the only noticeable omission in my 2007 playlist.

The 2007 Highlight Reel (Part B)

Like I said, I love lists.

In addition to a ton of first-run movies, 2007 was also an exceptional year for catching up on old classics. I've already posted a slew of impressions of the old movies on this blog, but thought it might be interesting to list the absolute Best of the Best from 2007: those classics which were 5-star experiences and demonstrated their pedigree in every way. An interesting list for me anyway.

Here's a snapshot of the films that absolutely slayed me this year, in alphabetical order:

3:10 To Yuma (1957) ~ The original. The 2007 remake was a great modern Western in its own right but the original is The Cheese: shot wider, richer, and in vicious black and white with a killer lead performance by Glenn Ford. For 1957, this movie is astonishingly progressive. It's the version I watched first and everything else is coloured by that. As such, I prefer it about 5-to-1 to the new version (which I also really liked.)

Badlands (1973) ~ The very reason that I'll never need to watch True Romance again.

The Conversation (1974) ~ One thing that 2007 has made clear to me is how much the movie world misses Gene Hackman, who hasn't worked in 4 years and hasn't made anything of substance in almost 7 years. Between this classic, The French Connection and Night Moves, it's revelatory how much Hackman brought to the party in the early to mid-70's. And to think that my first impression of the man was as Lex Luthor.

Double Indemnity (1944) ~ Billy Wilder's classic noir has redefinied the entire sub-genre for me. This is exactly the sort of movie that I look for every Monday night when I tackle a new old movie and this one in particular is the sizzling benchmark: callous, crisp, and undeniably toxic. The dialogue is like a back massage that pinches and then burns, while the performances, every one, overwhelmed me. Fred MacMurray fires comebacks and come-ons like no one I've ever seen before, and it's a shame that more directors didn't tap into this jet-black cynicism.

Faust (1926) ~ Perhaps one of the earliest silent epics to blow my mind; forget for a moment that it's a beautifully classical silent picture with another crazy-mad performance by the incomparable Emil Jannings as Mephisto. That would be enough for me. However what excited me more was the enormous scale of production and absolutely insanity on display from the opening frames: earth-shaking celestial figures, super-sonics flights over the sleeping city, plagues and devastation. All very modern and rendered with Murnau's singular style and direction. While this might have been the year of Buster Keaton for me, the movies of F.W. Murnau weren't very far behind...

Footlight Parade (1933) ~ I think I made my mad-crush on this film pretty direct when I wrote about it here.

The General (1926) ~ The movie that single-handedly launched a massive year-long love-in for all things Buster Keaton and all virtually things silent. Funny to consider that just a year ago, I still considered this type of old masterpiece to be a bit of "work"; now I gravitate quickest towards the old silent classics, devouring anything that I can get my hands on. I'm finding that almost anything that has survived the test of 80-90 years, is worth the adventure. I received the spectacular 11-disc Art of Buster Keaton box-set as a gift this Christmas and early-2008 should see a new gush of Keaton catch-up. I honestly can't wait to get started.

The Gold Rush (1925) ~ The best of the Chaplin films I watched this year and I tapped into about 4 or 5 of them. Chaplin still takes a back-seat to Keaton for me, but in the months to come, I certainly intend to keep the competition going between them and will watch as much Chaplin as I can find.

The Graduate (1967) ~ Ah, it's one of those kinds of classics - the kind that are so influential, film-school-large and "important" that it's practically embarrassing to admit that you've never actually seen it. I made up for it this year and the biggest surprise of The Graduate is that it is much lighter and looser comedy than I ever expected. In fact, it has an awful lot in common with a lot of modern comedies from the likes of David O. Russell, the Coen Brothers and even Wes Anderson. I laughed a lot and in particular appreciated the measured and studied performance by a very very young Dustin Hoffman who is a revelation in his first on-screen role.

The Great Silence (1968) ~ I'm always interested in revisionist Westerns and this is one of those heavy stylish Italian sorts that doesn't do anything that you might expect it to. For starters, it unfolds in stark winter under heavy snow giving Western visuals that I've never seen anywhere else (apart from maybe McCabe & Mrs Miller which came 3 years later.) The violence is extreme and bloody, punishment handed out with a sort of Old Testament measure. And the ending...? That's probably why the movie made the short-list in the first place. I wouldn't dream of spoiling anything here, but the finale needs to be seen to be believed. It's true that they don't make them like this anymore, but I can hardly believe they made them like this in the first place.

The Hustler (1961) ~ Paul Newman in his peak is unlike just about any other movie star in the world. And watching him glide into a pool hall, all charm and arrogance and brilliance, is a special movie thing. Surround him with legends like Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott and it's a Christmas present. (No kidding, it really was...)

The Last Laugh (1924) ~ Another Murnau masterpiece and quite literally the most compelling silent I watched this year. The hook? The film is entirely dialogue-free told through stunning pantomime and more importantly, delicate visual clues. This, in many ways, is pure cinema. It's a delight to watch a movie like this and find not only that it's easy to follow, but that there's a deep emotional current to it. Bonus points for another prodigious Emil Jannings performance.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) ~ I found this movie too hard to write about and made one half-ass attempt here. I'm no better position to articulate the impact of the film here and now.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) ~ I was an enormous fan of Grizzly Man and in many ways, it was the gateway film that turned me onto the sublime documentaries of Werner Herzog. This one is actually even better than Grizzly Man. The story told here formed the basis of Rescue Dawn, which is an excellent movie in its own right, however the real-life account of that narrative is far more compelling. Dieter Dengler is a fascinating and engaging tour guide on a remarkable emotional journey. I'd recommend this version of Dengler's story first in the same way that I'd recommend reading a novel before you see the adaption. Undeniably excellent.

The Long Goodbye (1973) ~ I didn't know this until just this year, but Elliot Gould is one of the coolest men on the planet. Or he was at least. Ini 1973. I absolutely loved this movie, as much as any 70's crime-film I've ever seen.

Mean Streets (1973) ~ Early Scorsese and the first delight was that Scorsese came to the screen fully-formed. I was expecting something sort of derivative and sketchy, like an early artist finding his voice, but instead found one of the most personal and compelling Scorses films I've seen.

Modern Times (1936) ~ I wrote much more about it here, but this was another stand-out Chaplin film. How did I go so long without dipping into these old silents?

Nashville (1975) ~ It's a genuine pleasure to return to a movie like this and find that you've grown enough as a movie fan for it to blossom into a favourite. My first-year film-school experience of Nashville was somewhat underwhelming and textbook-stiff so it took a little conviction to watch it again. However the subsequent reward was all mine. It may be true that Robert Altman composes his movies for big pay-off in repeat viewings and Nashville is a great example of that. I wrote more about it back in July.

Philadelphia Story (1940) ~ This was enough of a thrill to send me rushing after a run of Katherine Hepburn films. Movie stars and performances like this are movie gold. I mentioned Paul Newman above and Hepburn is another one. Sweet damn.

Spellbound (2002) ~ Just a surprisingly warm and touching documentary. Every kid in this documentary is starring in their personal story and its to the credit of the filmmakers that they don't choose to highlight one over another, even as the competition gets narrower. Instead, the movie seems to be overflowing with respect and affection for its subjects. I had as much invested in the final rounds of this Spelling Bee as I've ever had in any legitimate sporting event.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) ~ Another Keaton classic and one of the other silents to really impress me from virtually minute one. The infamous storm sequence that closes in the picture is the principle reason to watch this but Keaton fills the edges with so much humanity and subtle character action that the movie would still be a 5-star experience if you cut it in half.

The Thin Man (1934) ~ As you can tell, I'm a big fan of great dialogue and many of these old classics deliver lines that you can only dream about. The Thin Man, to be honest, isn't about much more than snappy banter and one-liners, but all are delivered with such easy-going swagger that it's like hanging out with the coolest cat at the party. Elsewhere on the web, I read this movie described as someone's personal movie comfort food and it's easy enough to see why. This is the sort of movie that settles like a favourite shirt with every viewing, effortless and comfortable. A personal little treasure.

Vanishing Point (1971) ~ It's embarrassing to me that it took a movie like Death Proof to point me towards a great movie like Vanishing Point, but there it is. Always go to the source, kids. This is one arresting and distinguished "car" movie that completely annihilated my expectations by being nothing like anything I've seen before. Minimal, inward and frankly kind of sublime. The best part: it put me back in the spirit of a cross-country road-trip, which is always welcome feeling.

Honorable Mentions:

The Cameraman (1928)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Lives of Others (2006)
McCabe & Mrs Miller (1971)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Princess Mononoke (1997)

214 Quick Reviews (Part 1) ~ December 2007

It was an early rule for me that I wouldn't waste a lot of time trying to play "catch up" with movies that I didn't have time to blog at first pass. The message: looking backwards would only slow any movement forwards... A good rule, I think. And ironic given that this blog has sat cold since early August.

Here's the exception then. With the advent of Facebook and Flixster, I've been pretty diligent about keeping a passing journal on most of the movies I've been watching - not every movie and sometimes no more than a sentence or two, but a "snap-review" nonetheless. And as the year-end approaches and I begin to reflect on the year that was (which was fantastic!!), I've been looking back at these capsules and looking for a home where I could keep them going forward. The Monday Project seems the solution.

This then is the first (or by blog-chronology, the last?) of seven postings (in reverse order) that will catch me up for about 80% of my movie-going in the last 6 months. Not everything - I didn't keep track of the various kids movies that I watched with my daughter during our Friday Night Movie Nights or the terribly crappy work-related stuff or even repeaters - but most of what I've watched is here as are the snap judgments that were usually scribbled down within a few hours of watching the movies. If nothing else, it should update this blog with a fair degree of verbal whiplash...

Starting with movies in the last 31 days...


DECEMBER:

Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Aaron Sorkin scripts are a dream for actors who love to spit clever dialogue and both Hanks and Hoffman have an awfully good time with this. Hoffman in particular chews scenery with such reckless insanity that I'd be the first one in line for a Charlie Wilson sequel that focused entirely on his character. I'd love to see him get the recognition that he deserves for this movie in what is already a fantastic Philip Seymour Hoffman year. As for the rest of the film, it's an interesting but sometimes uneasy balance of screwball comedy and real-world politics. In some stretches, with Sorkin's sharp dialogue, it plays like a Howard Hawks comedy from the 40's with one-liners running at 100 mph (and it's delicious when it's doing so); however on the flip side, there is an undercurrent to the whole affair (most noticeably during a well-timed airplane sound effect) that makes easy enjoyment of the film difficult. After all, amid all of the "hijinks", the root of the story is about funnelling a billion dollars into a covert war. But did I mention Hoffman steals the picture...?

Waitress (2007)
Enthusiastically underwhelming. Waitress feels every inch like an indie movie that wows small festival audiences and bores the mainstream. And not in a good way. I'm thankful for Nathan Fillion who turns everything he does into something fun, however Waitress as a whole felt very small and derivative. In fact, it sort of reminded me of any number of Friday night network dramedies that I skip past on a regular basis. Familiar faces putting on a stiff scripted show...

Tekkonkinkreet (2007)
Visually, this is pretty much as good as it gets. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I was dazzled with imagery quite like this: the textured and Rube-Goldbergian designs of Treasure Town are a marvel onto themselves, but add the stylish character designs and meticulously crafted action sequences and frankly, you're left with a nosebleed. The plot itself is a little thick (as expected) but anchored by an unusually rich relationship between the two central characters. I would have been satisfied enough if this film was a beautiful, hollow affair, but because I genuinely cared for the main characters, it developed into something far, far better. Dreamlike at times, but never anything less than spectacular.

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
The world didn't need another Die Hard movie but thankfully, it's OK. Forget that Willis' character has blossomed from "everyman" to ridiculous "action-hero" in the last two decades, what matters is that the movie has fun. Len Wiseman shoots action well (particular the car chases which are tremendously energetic) and the supporting cast is entertaining (especially Justin Long.) I had a reasonably good time. Is all of this faint praise? Feels a little bit like faint praise...?

Hot Rod (2007)
Yikes. The best thing that I can say about Hot Rod is that it's mercifully short. Headlining the latest bad SNL skit inexplicably stretched to feature-length, Samberg is funny but not quite funny enough to turn Hot Rod's thin premise into something more than an extended trailer. Like any post midnight SNL skit, the movie has pretty much spent all of its energy and good ideas by the halfway point, stranding its otherwise talented cast to pad the run-time with "bits" that generally don't work. In this case, it actually feels like most of the "deleted" scenes have found their way back into the movie. Like a sucker, I'll confess that I did laugh at most of the 80's songs (and in particular, the Footloose spoof). I'm an easy mark for that stuff...

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
If it wasn't real, it would be tough to believe that it could be, but King of Kong is one of the most entertaining docs I've seen this year. Proof that documentaries aren't always "work", KOK is more hilarious than most Hollywood comedies and heartbreaking to boot. The story is a treasure for a doc filmmaker: overflowing with wildly colourful characters, garnished with a ton of "twists" and a plot loaded with arcade intrigue. Billy Mitchell is a marvelous villain and like many of the characters in the film (most especially Mr. Awesome), should give up his hot sauce career for one in the wrestling ring. So enjoyable that I watched in twice in 3 days...

La Vie en Rose (2007)
At this point, biopics of this sort are so cliché that it's hard to find anything new to enjoy in them. Marion Colliard's performance is excellent and she deserves virtually all the praise she's receiving, but then isn't that just part of the biopic "formula"? To be honest, there's nothing in this film that hasn't been done a dozen times before and nothing strong enough to recommend watching it. I was all kinds of bored throughout.

Halloween (2007)
There's a special place in movie hell for Rob Zombie. Putting aside for a moment that Halloween 2007 is one of the ugliest, clumsiest films that I can remember, the big mystery for me is how Zombie could take Carpenter's lean classic and not find in it an interesting, engaging or even scary remake. Not one bit. Every reveal, every classic moment, every piece of business that should resonate with Carpenter fans has been fumbled including the shameless cribbing of Carpenter's original POV shots and music. In his effort to "improve" the original, Zombie has layered in so much extra (and unnecessary) baggage that the movie is like a slobbering drunk with terrible undercooked dialogue, weak performances and head-scratching diversions: chief among them, why does it take 45 minutes for the Halloween story to finally start rolling? Why do we need to spend so much time with the punky kid actor playing the young "tormented" Meyers? Does Zombie think this adds depth to the Michael Myers monster? Because really, it just demonstrates how little Zombie understands about what made the original film work - kind of like making a Jaws remake that focuses entirely on how the shark spends its days off. I'm not a slavish fan of the original and would have absolutely welcomed any well-built remake, if only because Michael Myers is a fun horror icon and it's (usually) fun to watch these classics re-invented. However this is a movie so bad that it virtually tarnishes everyone who appears in it. Every time a new familiar face showed up I found myself asking the same questions, "Malcolm McDowell? Really? E.T.'s mom? How could you? Clint Howard? What would your brother say?" I'm trying to avoid extreme hyperbole here, but I truthfully think this is one of the most unenjoyable films I've ever seen. Top 5 at least. My biggest regret is that I watched it alone when I should have watched it with a group of friends so we could share the pain and unintentional hilarity together.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Who doesn't love a bleak, street-level abortion flick...? I absolutely couldn't wait for this movie to end and in this rare instance, that's actually a compliment. The movie starts slowly but builds into something quite unbearable in its second half as a terrible sense of dread eclipses everything. In fact, there were at least two extended sequences in the second half that turned my stomach in knots. By the time the credits rolled, I could barely stand but was grateful for the mercy of the theatre lobby. This might not sound like a lot of fun to most people, and I can't say that I need to see this again anytime soon, but it's nevertheless one of the best films I've seen this year.

I'm Not There (2007)
I'm not a big Dylan fan though I desperately wish I was. As a result, I'm Not There could only be 80% of the movie for me that I'm sure it is for hard-core fans. As a non-fan, Haynes' film is simply overflowing with cinematic goodies, fresh with bold performances, mind-blowing direction and genuinely startling images. As a movie lover, it's a gift and I had a blast even as much of the "code" and Dylan obscurities drifted over my head. Still, the music - which is ultimately at the center of the movie - was never less than excellent. My only complaint might be that the film was about 30 minutes too long.

Atonement (2007)
Two things impressed me a great deal: Joe Wright and James McAvoy. Wright's direction is nothing short of stunning, from the compulsive clicking and clacking throughout the soundtrack to the breathtaking photography. The "beach sequence" really is something special, but it was the quieter moments that surprised me more: Wright clearly has an eye for English countryside. Similarly, McAvoy delivers the performance of his early career and promises to be someone to watch. As for the other elements of Atonement, I was a little underwhelmed. After the frankly engaging first act, the movie seemed to lose focus and to be totally honest, the "fall-out" of events and ultimate finale left me a little cold (sort of a lower-case atonement as far as I'm concerned.) This is bound to get a lot of attention in the coming weeks as Oscars ramp up, but for me it simply falls in the very-good-not-great category in part because the last half of the story failed to live up to the promise of the first hour.

Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Surely this is as good as a Mr. Bean feature can actually be? It's not a total failure because at 86 minutes, it's pretty much the right length. And that's probably the best compliment that I can pay to it. I have to be honest that I actually smiled (not quite laughed) maybe twice...? [sidenote: what's up with Willem Dafoe? Did he have a fight with his agent or something??]

First Snow (2007)
A minor work by some very talented people: Guy Pearce, J.K. Simmons, Mark Fergus, William Fichtner. All are great in this, and Guy Pearce in particular gives an intelligent and complete performance as the doomed lead who finds himself trapped in a modern noir thriller. Ending was a little disappointing but the ride was very good.

Reservation Road (2007)
It's the quality of the performances by Joaquim Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly that elevate Reservation Road from being just another Sunday-night TV movie...but not by much. Strangely every element of this film which seems built for awards-attention (performances, direction, etc.) hits as many false notes as true ones. There are some high-points for virtually everyone involved (in particular, Phoenix and Connelly) but the cast seems stranded without much room to grow beyond the opening set-up of the film. In other words, Ruffalo remains guilt-ridden and paranoid throughout, Phoenix is forever obsessive and heart-broken, and every variation on these feelings is played out over and over through the film. As a result, the movie starts as an affecting (and in moments, devastating) character drama but spins its wheels until the soft and almost cowardly conclusion.

Paprika (2007)
It was at exactly 55 minutes that I tuned out on Paprika which is the point when the balance between sumptuous imagery and thick techno-babble edged too far to the side of babble. The concept of adventuring through people's dreams is great (worked so well in Dreamscape!) and ideal candy for animating, but it's tough to tackle dream logic and maintain a clean, decipherable storyline. In this case, the plot hangs on techno-gadgetry that might as well be from a Dr. Seuss book and when the time comes to start doing some heavy lifting to keep up with the story, it simply isn't easy to catch up. Too bad. The animation is mostly spectacular, but for my money, I'll stick with the superior Tekkonkinkreet.

The Simpsons Movie (2007)
10 years too late and completely aware of the fact, the biggest surprise of The Simpsons Movie was that it works very, very well. There's no question that the opening 30-40 minutes are when the film cooks the most, following gag after gag with the same loose and irreverent spirit of the early TV seasons. In the second half, the laughs slow down a bit as the "big-screen plot" takes over, but it's a pretty good "big-screen plot" and the movie never stales. A friend has a general theory that for a movie-adaption of a popular TV show to be made, one of the following must happen: 1) a regular character must die (check!) 2) a character must appear nude (check!) 3) there must be swearing (er, almost...Homer gives the finger at one point) or 4) the TV status quo must be significantly upset by the destruction of a major location, etc. (check! check!!) In that respect, The Simpsons Movie has earned every point necessary for a worthwhile big-screen jump, and it's also happens to be very sharp. Really, what more did you want?

I Am Legend (2007)
Not having read the book or seen the other films based on Matheson's story, I Am Legend was everything I wanted it to be and frankly, a little more than I was expecting. The level of detail in the post-apocalyptic New York was sensational and went a long way to selling the whole experience, but what impressed me more was how unusual this was for a blockbuster: largely dialogue-free, extra-grim subject matter, Will Smith playing with all screwball mannerisms dialed way down. The result was uncommonly intense and refreshing - everything a good genre picture should be. The only real complaint (and one I've seen echoed virtually everywhere) was the unusual decision to rely entirely on CG creatures, particularly given how easy it would have been to accomplish the creature designs with basic make-up and lighting. Strange in a movie where every effort is made to create a convincing "reality" that the realism was ultimately undermined by one of the easiest effects to create. Still, CG monsters aside, I Am Legend was excellent and one of the most entertaining comic-book experiences of the year. I'll be watching it again.

Death at a Funeral (2007)
Poor Frank Oz, virtually relegated to the direct-to-video category, and not un-deservedly. Death at a Funeral starts out with a generous amount of wit and some fun performances but by the time the "title" comes into play, it begins to feel derivative and like nothing special. Nevertheless, points awarded for Alan Tudyk who I enjoy in virtually everything.

The Namesake (2007)
Here's the first movie I can remember that doesn't visit the Taj Mahal from the same postcard angle as every other movie. Instead, the family tour goes behind the walls and into the courtyards and temples which is perhaps the best analogy for The Namesake. Refreshing to find a movie about Indian immigrants that skirts stereotypes and offers a rich (and I have to believe authentic?) portrait of Indian culture amid an American suburb. The movie seems stuffed with personal and private moments that surely must come from someone's real background (if not Mira Nair, then the author of the book upon which the film is based). In fact, the only real sour note for me was the casting of Kal Penn who I hoped would surprise me with a great dramatic performance, but didn't. He felt like an odd fit for a film that was otherwise sincere and lived-in.

Stardust (2007)
On paper, it's clear why so many people have compared Stardust to The Princess Bride: a clever, fast-moving, frothy fairytale with modern sensibilities, outlandish character performances and tongue-planted-deeply-in-cheek. But in execution, Stardust actually seems quite different; I've struggled to try and put my finger on the reason why and failed to find it. Hmmm? Similarities aside, Stardust is great fun, an epic adventure with broad action sequences, colourful characters (De Niro's character barely...barely...avoids the slide into cheese) and a geniunely romantic heart. Watching Claire Danes light up (literally) when she kisses her hero is one of those touching images that will either make you adore the movie or throw up in your shoes. I wasn't one of the ones to throw up in my shoes.