Saturday, March 13, 2010

Movie Roundup: Daylight Savings Edition


Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea - The latest Hayao Miyazaki film is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I'm glad I watched it in Japanese: any Jonases or Cyruses might make it unbearable. It's the Little Mermaid story, except the love story is between five-year old kids. Ponyo's the fish who wants to be human (and eat ham); Sosuke's the boy who loves her. The film is much lighter in tone and less narratively complex than Miyazaki's last three films, though there are hints of a darker side (sights of the polluted ocean in the beginning, trouble between Sosuke's parents (his dad is a sailor who doesn't always come home when he should) but these are largely abandoned in the last half of the film. Similarly, and this is more typical of Miyazaki, there are no real villains in the film. The lack of darkness and any real conflict has its benefits: the film has the relaxed tone of a work by a true master, but it also leaves the impression of slightness, a lack of seriousness that we grownups like to have in the animation we admit to liking. Me, I'd take this over the straining Princess Mononoke any time. The #15 film of 2008.


True Heart Susie - Lillian Gish plays the eponymous and slightly clueless young girl who sells her cow, chickens and ducks to send the neighbor boy (who she's in love with and who looks a bit like Matt LeBlanc) to college. He then comes home, becomes a minister and marries the first gold-digging flapper who looks in his direction (she listens to jazz, wears makeup and ankle-length dresses that are somewhat form-fitting, dances and kisses boys and drinks), much to poor Susie's surprise. The absurdity of Susie's lack of assertiveness is made clear, but the film also adores her for her steadfast stubbornness and patience in waiting for the boy to wise up. Yet for all the silliness of the plot, the movie works because of Gish's performance and the way Griffith captures it with all those terrific close-ups. The #2 film of 1919.


Dracula - The 1931 version directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi. I've only seen one other Browning film (Freaks) but I've yet to be really impressed by him (James Whale seems a much better director of early 30s horror). The cinematography here, especially in the early and final scenes, and shot by German Expressionist master Karl Freund is terrific, but the middle scenes aren't anything special. Lugosi's performance is iconic, of course, and very much different from Max Schrek's in Murnau's Nosferatu. This is the fourth version of the story I've seen, and I've got to say the ones by Murnau, Herzog and Coppola are a lot better. Of those, this one is closest to Coppola's I'd say, at least in how it emphasizes the sexuality of the story. Herzog goes more for dark humor, and Murnau outright creepiness. The #15 film of 1931.


Pandora and the Flying Dutchman - It's not just the brilliant Technicolor cinematography by Jack Cardiff that makes this Albert Lewin film feel like it was instead a Powell & Pressburger film, nor is it the appearance of Marius Goring (star of The Red Shoes). No, there's something about the tragic romantic scope of it, the melodrama that reaches a kind of spiritual level. Ava Gardner plays Pandora, the beautiful woman that everyone falls in love with, and James Mason is the Dutchman, who may or may not be the mythical figure who killed his wife and is sentenced to roam the seas for eternity, coming ashore once every seven years to see if he can find a woman who loves him enough to sacrifice her life for his soul. Everything about it is quite wonderful. The #6 film of 1951.


Heaven Can Wait - This 1943 Ernst Lubitsch film is no relation to the 1978 Warren Beatty film (which is instead a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan) which I haven't seen. But since that film doesn't star Gene Tierney, I can't imagine it's as good as this. Don Ameche plays a dead man telling the story of his life to the devil, explaining why he doesn't think he belongs in heaven. The film is made up of flashbacks of his life filled with petty lies and indiscretions and a great romance with Tierney, his wife, who he may or may not have been entirely faithful to. Despite what seems clear inferences of his dalliances, we never actually see it, and we get the feeling that Ameche's all talk: not nearly as charming or successful as he thinks he is. It's that lack of clarity that makes the film great: he and Tierney are nuanced, complicated characters who are never exactly like what we expect them to be. This subtlety of characterization is a key element of Lubitsch's style, along with the peculiar mixture of light comedy and serious darkness. He's the kind of director who presents the film's most melodramatic moment obliquely and in narration, which makes it far more devastating than acting it out would have been. The #3 film of 1943.


Paranormal Activity - If Speed is Die Hard on a bus, then this must be The Blair Witch Project in a house. A couple is haunted, so the man decides to record the nocturnal goings-on in their bedroom in an attempt to figure out what's really happening and despite the increasingly direct protests of his girlfriend. The film alternates between scenes of them talking about what's happening, meeting a specialist in ghosts and such, and the stationary shots of the camera on its tripod at night. These night shots are the film's true standouts: they're truly creepy. They're as if Sam Raimi had decided to make a film using Tsai Ming-liang's aesthetics. The two actors are terrific, with Katie Featherston looking a bit like a combination of Jenna Fischer and Mary-Lynn Rajskub and Micah Sloat perfectly evoking a pig-headed day-trading jackass. The #27 film of 2007.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Movies of the Year Awards: 2008 Updated 3/2010

I'm going through and revising all the awards I've handed out the last few years. Ideally, these will continue to be updated as I see more movies from each year. So far I've done every year from 1946-2009; 1945 and earlier will also be forthcoming. I'm ranking the nominees in each category, first place being the winner.

Best Picture:

1. WALL-E
2. Sita Sings the Blues
3. A Christmas Tale
4. Waltz with Bashir
5. 24 City

Best Director:

1. Andrew Stanton, WALL-E
2. Nina Paley, Sita Sings The Blues
3. Arnauld Desplechin, A Christmas Tale
4. Jia Zhang-ke, 24 City
5. Olivier Assayas, Summer Hours

Actor:

1. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
2. Benicio Del Toro, Che
3. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
4. Sean Penn, Milk
5. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Redbelt

Actress:

1. Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
2. Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
3. Maria Onetto, The Headless Woman
4. Lina Leandersson, Let The Right One In
5. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Supporting Actor:

1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
2. Mathieu Almaric, A Christmas Tale
3. Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married
4. Eddie Marsan, Happy Go Lucky
5. Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker

Supporting Actress:

1. Kirin Kiki, Still Walking
2. Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
3. Isabella Rossellini, Two Lovers
4. Anne Consigny, A Christmas Tale
5. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona

Original Screenplay:

1. Arnaud Desplechin & Emmanuel Bourdieu, A Christmas Tale
2. Mike Leigh, Happy Go Lucky
3. Jia Zhang-ke & Zhai Yong-ming, 24 City
4. Olivier Assayas, Summer Hours
5. Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Nina Paley, Sita Sings The Blues
2. Wong Kar-wai, Ashes of Time Redux
3. John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let The Right One In
4. Dustin Lance Black, Milk
5. Jonathan Raymond & Kelly Reichardt, Wendy and Lucy

Foreign Language Film:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. Waltz With Bashir
3. 24 City
4. Still Walking
5. Summer Hours

Documentary Feature:

1. Waltz With Bashir
2. 24 City
3. Rembrandt's J'Accuse
4. Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
5. Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired

Animated Feature:

1. WALL-E
2. Sita Sings The Blues
3. Waltz With Bashir
4. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Film Editing:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Sparrow
4. Speed Racer
5. Waltz With Bashir

Cinematography:

1. Eric Gautier, A Christmas Tale & Summer Hours
2. Christopher Doyle, Ashes Of Time Redux
3. Yu Wang & Nelson Yu Lik-wai, 24 City
4. Joaquín Baca-Asay, Two Lovers
5. Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker

Art Direction:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
4. Summer Hours
5. The Brothers Bloom

Costume Design:

1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2. Rachel Getting Married
3. Ashes Of Time Redux
4. Che
5. Milk

Make-Up:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
3. Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Sound Mixing:

1. WALL-E
2. Rachel Getting Married
3. Speed Racer
4. Cloverfield
5. Sita Sings the Blues

Sound Editing:

1. WALL-E
2. Iron Man
3. Cloverfield
4. Speed Racer
5. Hellboy II

Visual Effects:

1. Speed Racer
2. Hellboy II
3. Iron Man
4. Cloverfield
5. The Dark Knight

Original Score:

1. Thomas Newman, WALL-E
2. Max Richter, Waltz With Bashir
3. Grégoire Hetzel, A Christmas Tale
4. Xavier Jamaux and Fred Avril, Sparrow
5. A. R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Original Song:

1. "Down To Earth", Peter Gabriel, WALL-E
2. "Agni Parisha", Todd Michaelson, Sita Sings the Blues
3. "Dracula's Lament", Jason Segal, Forgetting Sarah Marshall
4. "Jai Ho", A. R. Ragman and Gulzar, Slumdog Millionaire

Soundtrack:

1. Sita Sings The Blues
2. WALL-E
3. Gonzo: the Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
4. Rachel Getting Married
5. Slumdog Millionaire

Movies of the Year: 2009 (Part One)


I forgot to post this around New Year's, it's the list of the 62 best films I saw for the first time in 2009. Tons of great movies here.

1. Voyage To Italy
2. All That Jazz
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
4. Mulholland Dr.
5. Histoire(s) du cinema
6. Ruggles of Red Gap
7. Spirited Away
8. Going My Way
9. Wagon Master
10. City Girl
11. The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
12. Now Voyager
13. Maginificent Obsession
14. Waterloo Bridge
15. Age of Consent

16. The Bells of St. Mary's
17. Simon of the Desert
18. The Girl Can't Help It
19. Muriel
20. Kings and Queen
21. Devil's Doorway
22. Footlight Parade
23. Godzilla
24. 3 Bad Men
25. Blast of Silence
26. Killer of Sheep
27. The Most Dangerous Game
28. Gates of Heaven
29. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
30. Three Comrades


31. Spring in a Small Town
32. The Age of the Medici
33. Stalker
34. Trust
35. The Devil and Daniel Webster
36. The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
37. A Time to Love and a Time to Die
38. Woman on the Beach
39. Seventh Heaven
40. The Letter
41. Morvern Callar
42. Deception
43. Shogun Assassin
44. Midnight
45. A Married Woman

46. The Story of GI Joe
47. Show Boat
48. Rebels of the Neon God
49. Beau Geste
50. La Chinoise
51. You Only Live Once
52. Inland Empire
53. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
54. The Good Fairy
55. Wild Reeds
56. Woman is the Future of Man
57. Talk to Her
58. Friday Night
59. Far From Heaven
60. Mirror
61. Made In USA
62. Friday Night Lights

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Movies of the Year: 2009


As we are now more than two months into 2010, it's time to present The End of Cinema list of the Best Films of 2009. As usual in this annual post, I've gone ahead and included films that are not necessarily 2009 films (they're the ones in italics), but the official list (to be found in perpetuity on The Big List) will include only films that were originally released, somewhere in the world, in 2009.

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Sita Sings the Blues
3. A Christmas Tale
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. Oxhide II
6. You, The Living
7. The Limits Of Control
8. Like You Know It All
9. 24 City
10. Still Walking
11. Summer Hours
12. A Serious Man
13. Sparrow
14. Two Lovers
15. Drag Me To Hell


16. Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
17. The Hurt Locker
18. Written By
19. Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl
20. Up
21. (500) Days of Summer
22. Bluebeard
23. Tulpan
24. Star Trek
25. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
26. Ballast
27. Rembrandt's J'Accuse
28. In Search Of Beethoven
29. Bright Star
30. The Headless Woman
31. Air Doll


32. In the Loop
33. Public Enemies
34. Unmade Beds
35. Moon
36. Coraline
37. Face
38. Pelléas and Mélisandre: The Song of the Blind
39. Adventureland
40. The September Issue
41. The Young Victoria
42. Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
43. Funny People
44. Good Cats
45. ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction
46. Anvil! The Story of Anvil


47. Of Time and the City
48. Dakota Skye
49. Food, Inc
50. Way of Nature
51. An Education
52. Avatar
53. Where The Wild Things Are
54. 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
55. Watchmen
56. The Cove
57. District 9
58. Kamui
59. Harry Potter VI
60. Queer China, 'Comrade' China
61. Humpday
62. Moroccan Labyrinth
63. Dear Zachary
64. Wolverine

Movies of the Year Awards: 2009

And here are the winners of this year's Endys, presented along with my Oscar predictions, which haven't been all that good of late. This year's nominations can been found here. As always, only films that entered the cinema universe in 2009 are eligible, which eliminates from competition such fine films as: Sita Sings the Blues, A Christmas Tale, You the Living, Summer Hours, Still Walking, 24 City, Sparrow, Two Lovers, The Hurt Locker, Tulpan, Ballast and Rembrandt's J'Accuse. And, of course, only movies I've seen can be eligible for an Endy.

Best Picture:

Endy: Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: The Hurt Locker

Best Director:

Endy: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Actor:

Endy: Nicholas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Oscar: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Actress:

Endy: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Oscar: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Supporting Actor:

Endy: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress:

Endy: Mélanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: Mo'Nique, Precious

Original Screenplay:

Endy: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Adapted Screenplay:

Endy: Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Oscar: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Foreign Language Film:

Endy: Oxhide II
Oscar: El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Documentary Feature:

Endy: In Search of Beethoven
Oscar: The Cove

Animated Feature:

Endy: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Oscar: Up

Film Editing:

Endy: Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: The Hurt Locker

Cinematography:

Endy: Greig Fraser, Bright Star
Oscar: Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker

Art Direction:

Endy: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Oscar: Sherlock Holmes

Costume Design:

Endy: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Oscar: The Young Victoria

Make-Up:

Endy: Drag Me to Hell
Oscar: Star Trek

Sound Mixing:

Endy: Inglourious Basterds
Oscar: The Hurt Locker

Sound Editing:

Endy: Avatar
Oscar: Avatar

Visual Effects:

Endy: Avatar
Oscar: Avatar

Original Score:

Endy: Boris, The Limits of Control
Oscar: Michael Giacchino, Up

Original Song:

Oscar: "The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart

Documentary Short:

Oscar: China's Unnatural Disaster: Tears of the Sichuan Province

Animated Short:

Oscar: A Matter of Loaf and Death

Live Action Short:

Oscar: Instead of Abracadabra

Soundtrack:

Endy: Adventureland