2009

Today is December 31st, 2009 is at it's end. Though there are still a couple movies that came this year that I need to see, I clearly won't be seeing them until next year, so I can't include them on my list of my favorite movies from 2009. It was really tough to put this list together. 2009 was a really unmemorable year for film. One of it's few shining moments, however, were the great debuts or star-making roles of the likes of Carey Mulligan, Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Renner, and Melanie Laurent.







Honorable mention #1. Star Trek
Best action movie of the year. Great infusion of comedy, best looking cast of the year.









Honorable mention #2. A Serious Man
Clearly a passion project for American auteurs, The Coen Brothers. Wonderful exploration of manhood, Jewish traditions, and the plight of being the chosen people.









10. The Hangover
A fun, summer comedy that was perfectly cast and had a wonderful use of detail. The establishing shot of the hotel room the next morning is brilliant.









9. Where the Wild Things Are
A worthy adaptation of the classic book. Stunning visual effects, costume design, and great music.









8. Taking Woodstock
I don't know why I liked this movie so much. I enjoy Ang Lee, he creates wonderful characters and his films are meditations on unique points of view. This ensemble film was also well cast and made the great choice to not make a film about the music of Woodstock, but all the work that went into making the cultural event it was and still is.













7. The Hurt Locker
Powerful film. Didn't try to force audiences to take a side in the Iraq War debate. Brutally honest, with a couple exceptions of certain scenes that muddled the story and characters. Star making performances by Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie. Great cameos.








6. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson has completely redeemed himself after his film that shall not be named. Looks beautiful, actors completely match their characters. A joy to watch.








5. Up in the Air
Clooney at his best. Very, very sad. Almost left me hopeless. But I really enjoyed this. As Meg says, I only enjoy movies with sad endings.













4. District 9
A near perfect film. Wonderful debut for both director Neil Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley. Disturbing, grotesque, heartbreaking, and thought provoking. If I'd seen this movie by myself, I probably would've cried the whole time.







3. An Education
Carey Mulligan alone lands this film on my top ten list. What a revolutionary performance. This was one of the two films I really connected with this year. This British film had heart that so many American films lack.









2. Inglourious Basterds
Yet another incredible debut this year, this time for Christopher Waltz as a high ranking Nazi. By far one of the best male performances of the year, Waltz was electric and horrifying. Like so many Tarantino films, there's the right amount of seriousness, comedy, and ideas to be pondered deep into the night. Also, some of the most powerful and tense scenes on film this year.









1. (500) Days of Summer
After much consideration, I've decided this was my favorite film of 2009. A truly original story told in a unique and realistic way, wonderful and understandable performances from the leads, great music, (500) Days of Summer had it all.


What I still need to see: Up, Avatar, A Single Man, Moon, Invictus.

But you should know, up front, this is not a love story.

(500) Days of Summer

By far one of the best films of the year, (500) Days of Summer is an endearing, off beat story about love that isn't a love story. It's beautiful, heart breaking, and entertaining. It explores a commonly experienced, but rarely shown in romantic comedies without a happy ending, feeling towards a person, uncertainty. This film is relevant to both victims and victimizers of love.

This was one of the most relatable films I've seen in quite sometime. Both Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) are incredibly realistic characters. Summer is charming and bewitching, she's always just out of reach for Tom. She doesn't want anything serious, so Tom takes what he can get but she always keeps him at a distance. At some point in one's life, they are a Summer. You have a lot in common with a person, you connect in many ways but there is an unexplainable ambivalence. I really connected with Summer, after I was done hating her for not loving Tom. But Deschanel plays the role with great unapologetic honesty.

Gordon-Levitt is equally wonderful as Tom. A hopeless, naive romantic, Tom believes love is finding someone who likes the same weird stuff you do. Though having commonalities is important, it's not everything and Tom learns this the hard way. Gordon-Levitt captures the roller coaster of emotions felt when love is unrequited impeccably. He is physically and emotionally disheveled at some points, but at another performs the ideal dance sequence of a man in love. I could feel his heart pounding in certain scenes. Both Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are a joy to watch and have wonderful chemistry. They play very well off each other, are very natural, and bring their non-stock characters to life.

Scott Neustadler and Michael Weber wrote a beautiful, witty and devastating chronicle of a break-up. The dialogue is infused with just the right amounts of wit, sarcasm, hope and sadness. The story is told out of order, jumping between Day 1 to Day 266 to Day 54, etc. This non-linear structure works perfectly for this film. We never remember every single day of a relationship, nor do we remember in order.

Another standout aspect of (500) Days of Summer was the soundtrack. Each song fit into the film perfectly, like the song was written for the film. While writing Garden State, Zach Braff wrote songs into scenes and got the rights later. I have no idea if this is the case for (500) Days of Summer, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

2009 was sort of a lackluster year for film, there were few very special movies released. But (500) Days of Summer was a gem, a fine piece of work in a year filled mostly with just alright. It's truly unlike any romantic comedy I've seen: no cliches, no stock-characters, just as close to reality as the cast and crew can get.

Mo'Nique in Precious

Yes, I can hardly believe it myself. Mo'Nique, of Flavor of Love Charm School pulled off an incredible performance as the shameless, complacent, and abusive mother of the titular character. She exudes hate and loss. She's a despicable woman. How Mo'Nique managed to pull this off I'll always wonder, but she turned out one of the best and scariest performances of the year. She is definitely one of the most memorable abusive mothers in film history.

Netflix

Death at a Funeral-Chris Rock is remaking this and it looks funny. I'd rather see the original first.
Mean Streets-Classic.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley-Netflix Instant. Really wanna see it again.

If you're afraid of dying, it shows you have a life worth living.

The Last King of Scotland

This riveting historical fiction film of Ugandan president and tyrant Idi Amin has sentimental value; it rescued my mom and I from a boring and windy New York afternoon. It takes an intimate look at a slice of Amin's life, from the perspective of fictional Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan. The film is a standout biography, due in large part to Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Amin.

When an actor abandons his public persona and himself for a role, that's the mark of an amazing performance. Tom Cruise is always playing Tom Cruise. It's as if he winks at the camera a couple of times throughout a movie, reminding us that he's Tom Cruise. Forest Whitaker comes off as warm, inviting, and gentle. He's like a giant teddy bear. But he shed his public image and transformed into a childish, erratic, monster. His portrayal is incredibly realistic and terrifying to watch. He turns the charm on and off like a light switch. He bewitches with stories of his humble upbringing and his pledges for prosperity and freedom and suddenly instills fear into the heart of those close to him. Whitaker is utterly chilling; Amin is one of the most insane characters in film history.

Though this film belonged to Whitaker, not be ignored is James McAvoy. He turned in a realistic and generous performance. Part of acting is making one's scene partner look good and McAvoy is an excellent buffer for Whitaker's antics as Amin. He provides excellent motivation for Amin's charming and horrifying outbursts. Though his character is fictional, one would think Nicholas Garrigan was a real man as seen by McAvoy's commitment to the role. He plays him with such a sense of purpose, like McAvoy did not want to disappoint the "real" Garrigan. McAvoy realistically begins as a wide-eyed womanizer who is enchanted by Amin to a complacent, broken, and scared young man.

Director Kevin Macdonald creates a wonderful sense of urgency throughout the film, as if any tense scene were an action packed chase scene. In the film's final scene, Macdonald weaves together Garrigan's slow escape with Amin's men quickly and frantically searching for him. He builds unhealthy tension as bloody Garrigan waits for his plane to take off and Amin's men race towards the runway. Each time I see this film I must remind myself that Garrigan escapes because it is so easy to forget when his escape is just barely thwarted.

Macdonald only alludes to Amin's crimes, as the film is told from Garrigan's point of view. I see where some might have problems with this choice, but that would be an entirely different movie. The Last King of Scotland focuses on Amin's seduction of Garrigan and others, and the slow realization of his madness. Well done all.


Marion Cotillard in Nine

Thank you for being one of the few positive parts of this disappointing film. Thank you for so brilliantly playing a long suffering and supportive wife, who was so much more complex than just the spouse of a famous director. Thank you for singing two of the three good songs in the film. Thank you for that amazing performance of "Take It All" where you dangle yourself in front of your husband and find the strength to leave him. Marion Cotillard, you're a Christmas miracle.




Netflix

In the Heat of the Night-Continuing to brush up on classics.
Lost in Translation-Haven't seen this for a while. Would very much like to see it again.
8 1/2-Netflix Instant. Classic. Has to be better than Nine.

I've been busy rewatching Lost.

With 2009 coming to an end, we're thinking about this past year and everything we saw. While I did see some great films this year, there were two in particular that weren't necessarily bad, but were just disappointing.

Extract

This film was destined to be hilarious. Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, J.K. Simmons. These are some of the funniest actors of the moment. The concept had great comedic potential and it was written and directed by Mike Judge, the man behind the classic Office Space. This film had everything going for it, but it completely fell flat. Judge's usual quirky characters didn't entirely shine through, there was nothing comedically special about Extract. I laughed, nay, chuckled on a rare occasion and just left feeling disappointed. It was like Judge rushed this entire film. He didn't put the time and effort into developing the idea and characters and making it better. It was just awkward, shaky, and a disappointment. I was waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. Not only was this film the comedy disappointment of the year, it ranks high up on a list of disappointments of the decade.

Public Enemies

A 1930's gangster film with Johnny Depp as the lead? What could go wrong? A lot actually. Not only was this film a cinematic disappointment, but it was a personal one. For two weeks I spent countless hours at this set, watching perfectionist Michael Mann shoot scenes over and over again, eating up the novelty of watching a major motion picture be made and hoping to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, or Marion Cotillard. Unfortunately, those three talents couldn't save it.
I personally blame Michael Mann. I've only seen his later work, including Collateral and Miami Vice and unfortunately I haven't been very impressed. I don't know anything about types of film (not movies, but the actual film movies are shot on), but in all the Michael Mann projects I've seen, the film makes the movie seem like it's shot on a hand held camera. It looks very realistic and modern. While it looks cool and might work for some films, it didn't work for Public Enemies. This film takes place in the 1930's, using this more modern film is distracting. It looks too clean and too polished. This is a movie about slick gangsters, the film should look somewhat edgy.
In addition to its look, the script lacked imagination and depth. We got a high school biography look at John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis. The film almost entirely ignored how much the public revered Dillinger and treated him like a superhero. We didn't get much insight into these men and because of the lackluster script, the acting suffered. Depp, Bale and Cotillard are extraordinary and accomplished actors but their roles and interactions felt forced. Bale especially always seemed to have his mind on something else, like he wasn't one hundred percent focused on becoming Purvis.

I wish someone would erase these movies from our memories and do them over. So much potential, such disappointing outcomes.

I don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit.

An Education

An Education is a very special film, something I think all women should see. It tells the story of ambitious school girl Jenny, who dreams of going to Oxford until she meets the educated and wealthy David, who takes her into a world she never knew she wanted. It's been a while since I saw a movie I felt really spoke to me. As soon as I left An Education, I couldn't wait to tell others to see it.

As Jenny, Carey Mulligan turned in an establishing performance. This girl is the next big thing. Mulligan captures the innocence, curiosity, and naivete of being sixteen while simultaneously portraying a bright girl who is wise beyond her years. Jenny is an old soul who wants to learn about the world but doesn't know which way is best for her, the school of education or the school of life. Mulligan captured the wide range of emotions sixteen year old girls have towards their parents, school, and love. She was mesmerizing to watch and I look forward to seeing her in other films.

Carey Mulligan was clearly the star but the supporting performances were all strong. Alfred Molina was both funny and frustrating as Jenny's pushy father. Emma Thompson made a fabulous appearance as Jenny's headmistress, a women who had received an education but wasn't very educated. Rosamund Pike was terrific as Helen, one of David's wealthy friends. Pike usually plays intelligent women but Helen was flighty, materialistic, and not very bright. I think it's difficult to play dumb, but Pike was successful. Finally, the always brilliant Peter Saarsgard played David. To begin, Saarsgard nailed a British accent. David was a smooth but slimy character, charming and very suspicious. In many of his performances, Saarsgard lets his audience get acquainted and comfortable with his character, no matter how messed up we discover his character to be. It's a wonderful seduction.

Jenny is a girl who I think a lot of girls and women can relate to. She's smart and inquisitive. She has the desire to travel and learn about French culture. Her family is pushing her into Oxford but they mostly want her to land a rich husband. When Jenny meets David, he presents her with an easy way to experience art and culture and live a rich, extravagant life that she had never experienced. She can skip the hard part of college, go straight to the rich husband, and enjoy all the perks. Jenny belongs in this world. She should be getting to see orchestras perform and traveling to Paris and reading French literature. The easy way is sometimes the far more appealing way but not always the best way and one must not tread lightly on such a decision. However, given the opportunity Jenny had with David, regardless of the fact that he turned out to be scum and a fraud, would you take the easy way out to the good life? I think it's impossible to say which choice one would make and which is right or wrong.

Women need to see this movie. We think we have it hard now, we have no idea. To have almost no say in our futures, to have limited career paths is scary. Once more, to have marriage be the ultimate goal is absurd to me. But I guess that's the way it was back then. While I can't say this is true of all modern, Western women, I think we take our liberties and rights a little for granted. Girls my age didn't have to grow up in a time where women weren't allowed credit cards, and divorce was almost never an option. An Education can serve as a reality check and reminder of how lucky we are in this day and age, though we still have a long way to go.

The title of the film can be understood in two ways. On one hand, it represents Jenny's education and exploration into the world of culture and life lessons, an informal education. Jenny thinks that by being with David, she'll learn about high culture and the world better than through academic study. On the other hand, the title represents a literal, academic education. Jenny encounters two women in the film who were educated by a university. One turned out to be a plain school teacher, Miss Stubbs, while the other is an educated but snobbish and morally uneducated anti-Semite. Jenny might look to these women as potential futures and be scared off of academia by them. I certainly understand her dilemma.

I truly connected with this film. I saw some of myself in Jenny; smart, mature, loving travel, culture and unfortunately, expensive activities such as theater and fine dining. I don't know if I would take the easy way to an easy, more desirable life. I would hope I'd have the good intuition to say no, but I think it's very possible I would make Jenny's initial decision. Like her, I feel old, but not very wise. Being wise will come in time, as I imagine it did with Jenny.

Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

I just finished this book so I was reacquainted with Shannon's brilliant performance as mentally disturbed John, a character who appears for only a few minutes in the film but who rocks the boat every second he's on screen. Shannon doesn't play John as a stereotypically crazy person, but as a shameless intellectual with no barrier between his thoughts and his mouth. Though he's crazy, he acts the way some of us wish we could; being truthful and not putting up with facades. Shannon did bring some humor to this heavy film, but behind the humor was the sadness one feels for a lost a soul. Definitely a more memorable performance this decade.


Netflix

The Woodsman-A supposedly underrated film of the decade.
The Wild Bunch-Classic.
Strangers on a Train-Netflix Instant. A Hitchcock I haven't seen.

A decade in film

The decade is coming to an end and like everyone else, I've made a list of my 25 favorite movies of the decade. Now this isn't a list of the best movies of the decade, just ones that really struck out to me and that I really enjoyed. Strangely enough, films that I consider some of my favorites (Match Point, Little Miss Sunshine) didn't make it on this list. I couldn't tell you why, I just didn't feel right putting some down. They are in no particular order, except for the first one. It's number one for a reason.










Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Almost Famous

Closer

Slumdog Millionaire

The Wrestler
















Memento

Moulin Rouge

Ocean's Eleven















25th Hour

28 Days Later

Pirates of the Caribbean










Before Sunset

Mean Girls

The Motorcycle Diaries

Munich











Children of Men

Little Children

Atonement











The Diving Bell & the Butterfly












Into the Wild

No Country for Old Men

The Dark Knight

Superbad












In Bruges

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I love you in the way I understand love.

The Duchess

Cinema is filled with costume dramas. Most of these are similar stories, changed in some minuscule way, enough to make it appear to be a new movie. But, truly, I love period pieces/costume dramas and I say you can't get enough of a good thing. A new film to add to this ever growing collection is The Duchess, the mostly true story of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, an aristocrat and one of our first celebrities. What sets this film apart from other costume dramas is it's realistic approach to showing audiences what it was really like to be a woman in the 18th century. This authenticity makes the film unique and gives it a level of credibility many costume dramas lack.

I am completely guilty of falling under the spell of costume dramas and period pieces, especially Jane Austen films. I always think how fun it would be to go to balls, wear those beautiful gowns, and ride in carriages around London. Many costume dramas romanticize life for women back then. Even in Pride and Prejudice "poor" Elizabeth Bennett gets to go to balls and socialize with the rich and powerful. Her father doesn't force her to marry a rich but unattractive suitor. She even marries a dashing, wealthy man. A fantasy world is created in these films and the key word is fantasy. Life for a woman in those days was anything like it is portrayed, even for wealthy women. They waited for commands from their parents and were at the mercy of their husbands. They lived in a world of suppression, double standards, and heartache. In Georgiana's world, her odious husband only wants her to produce a son. Meanwhile his mistress, Georgiana's best friend, lives with them, yet he forbids Georgiana to take a lover, to seek the same happiness her husband has. I was incredibly depressed after I saw this movie. I felt like parts of my cinematic history had been a lie; life in the 18th century wasn't romantic.

The casting for this film had to be perfect. An actress who could play a character that possessed grace, beauty, intelligence and resilience was a necessity, as well as an actor who could play a character who was hateful, but slightly sympathetic. The Duchess could not have been as effective without the brilliant work of Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Knightley brings strength and weakness to her role. She is a wounded bird that will never give up trying to fly. Knightley is great at wearing her emotions on her face. She doesn't need words to express herself. Knightley's pin thin frame adds vulnerability to her roles but her physicality consistently expresses her strength, no matter how awful her situation.

Ralph Fiennes is so good at playing loathsome characters. He is stiff and confident in his role as Georgiana's husband and a man of his times. He makes all the decisions, he is in control, he's a man. This is his reality and he won't have anyone change it. He believes all his decisions are logical and correct, while we see them as wrong and tragic. Fiennes avoids letting the Duke become a villainous caricature. He is simply a product of his raising and environment. It takes really strong acting to not let one's character fall into caricature.

This film is an achievement for costume dramas & period pieces of the 18th century. It took the bold step to tell it like it was and successfully showed us a way of life we all know exists but pretend we don't. Some would rather be blissfully ignorant and continue to think that that time period was as romantic as Emma makes it out to be.

Zachary Quinto in Star Trek

Now this is by no means the world's greatest performance but it was an achievement in my book. Until now, Quinto was most well known for playing one of TV's worst, most evil villains, Syler on Heroes. I was quite nervous for him to step into the role of Spock. I feared Quinto wouldn't be able to make me forget Syler existed. Much to my surprise, I was not watching Syler with pointy ears. Qunito brought enough originality to the beloved role to rope in new fans, but maintained enough of the character created by Leonard Nimoy to satisfy die hard viewers. Being able to make one's audience forget one of their most iconic roles doesn't exist is truly an accomplishment.

Netflix

Marathon Man-I. Love. Dustin. Hoffman.
Son of Rambow-Netflix kept recommending this to me.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?-Netflix Instant. One of my favorite professors cites this film as one that changed her life.

I deserve to be all alone. I just don't want you to hate me.

The Wrestler

By far one of the best and most overlooked films of 2008 was The Wrestler, the story of an aging wrestler trying to heal his professional and private life. This might be one of my favorite films of all time. It's wonderfully acted by Mickey Rourke and is brilliantly filmed. These two elements combined perfectly to make this stellar film.

Mickey Rourke is truly an artist. He IS Randy "The Ram" Robinson. He is living in the past and trying to reclaim the glory he once had, wrestling is the only thing he's really good at, it's where his heart is. He refuses to acknowledge that he needs wrestling more than wrestling needs him. He tries to make things work with his estranged daughter and his love interest, but he is an eternal fuck up. I'm sure Rourke brought a tremendous amount of his own life experience to this roll. Like Randy, Rourke was an in demand actor for a long time. Then he caught up in the lifestyle and seemed to fall off the face of the earth. And now, he's trying to make a comeback. On "Inside the Actor's Studio," Rourke said he improvised some of his dialogue, and he wrote Randy's moving final speech. During that speech, it's as if Rourke removes himself from Randy and speaks to the audience as himself. Rourke delivered an incredible performance and I was they could have split the vote for Best Actor last year. I really would've liked to see him win.

Director Darren Aronofsky is a masterful storyteller. He wonderfully parallels the aging Randy's desire to get back on top with aging stripper Cassidy. Both Randy and Cassidy are aging in misunderstood and unappreciated careers. They are getting too old to do their jobs but they don't know how to do anything else. They are kindred spirits but neither can get it together enough to make a relationship work. Cassidy wants to be Randy, but she can't risk getting involved with someone who could kill himself doing his job. It's painful to see love be just out of reach for characters.

What really struck me about The Wrestler is the way it's filmed. The film opens with Randy "The Ram" sitting in a kid's playroom after a fight, back to the camera. In the following scenes the camera stays on Randy's back, we don't see his face for quite sometime. This purposely reminds me of the way cameras follow wrestlers before matches. They attach themselves to the wrestler's back and follow them into the ring. These shots run rampant throughout The Wrestler. It's best used in the scene when Randy is about to start working in the deli at his day job. The faint sound of a roaring crowd can be heard as he walks into his "ring."

Additionally, the scenes of wrestling and it's violence are photographed well. Aronofsky brings a level of respect in his filming of wrestling. He understands what it means to fans and how carefully it can be choreographed. He shows how dramatic and violent the fights can get and really emphasizes how the wrestlers feed off the crowd.

One of my favorite scenes in The Wrestler is when Randy goes to the aging wrestler meet and greet. I was terrified that no one would show up, but a few of Randy's fans, both young and old attend. He beams when he's around them. It made me happy to see Randy get some kind of appreciation, even though he's ruined a lot of his life by his own doing. As the scene concludes, the camera lingers on some of the other wrestlers at the meet and greet. They have broken legs and other life changing injuries. Wrestling is not as glamorous as it is made out to be sometimes, and these are the sport's casualties.

As for the film's open ended ending, I think Randy dies. His heart is clearly faltering in the ring, but he won't quit. He's lost all the people he loves, all that he has left are these fans cheering for him. If he's going to go down, he's going down here. He's a broken down piece of meat but he's giving his last breath to wrestling, even though it's taken away a lot of his life and enabled him to waste the rest.

Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

As Robert Ford, Casey Affleck delivers a tragic performance. He mixes cowardly, sketchy, twitchy, and admiration all into one character, like a crazed fan. He immediately makes viewers feel uncomfortable. I've always liked Casey Affleck and felt very comfortable around him on camera, so to immediately be so turned off by him is quite the compliment. What struck me is that we all know some version of Robert Ford. Socially awkward, wanting to be accepted by the "cool kids," he exists in almost any high school. Though some versions of these stock characters are harmless, others are dangerous like Ford. If he had been treated differently by his brothers, picked on less, his future could have been very different. He leaves viewers asking "What if," the way some people feel after a tragic school shooting. Affleck is haunting, understanding, and pitiful. He elicits so many contradictory feelings from viewers. This performance was truly remarkable.

Netflix

The Deer Hunter-Classic film of the 1970's.
Grey Gardens-HBO's version. I heard good things.
On the Waterfront-Netflix Instant. My moms always bugs me about seeing it, and she usually gives good film advice.

Jack, I swear...

Brokeback Mountain

I think that Brokeback Mountain is sometimes forgotten when people try to think of great movies made in the last decade. It's hard to imagine why, because this film has so many fantastic elements: the acting, the music, the photography to name a few. There is so much right with this movie, it's a shame people don't remember it.

So much of what makes Brokeback Mountain great are the performances. Both Ledger as Ennis and Gyllenhaal as Jack give fully realized, heart wrenching performances, but for entirely different reasons. Ledger is filled with self hatred and denial, but he can't help the way he feels for Jack. It's painful to be with Jack, but it's painful to be away from him. There is never any doubt in a viewer's mind how much Ennis loves Jack and how much it kills him. Ledger emanates love, homophobia, and fear simultaneously throughout much of the film. He is controlled and understated, but all feelings read so clearly across his face, by either an eye flinch or tightened jaw. When Ennis loses Jack, one's heart aches. Watching Ennis smell and clutch Jack's shirt, as if he's imagining Jack in it, hugging him back, brings a lump to my throat just thinking about it. To turn the lump into tears, we have the final scene of the film where Ennis looks at Jack's shirt and a picture of Brokeback in his closet, which I saw as his heart. He longingly looks at both and apologizes to Jack, for all their lost time and the things he never said. He then closes his heart and keeps Jack locked away in there. His performance truly should be remembered as one of the best this decade.

Gyllenhaal's performance is equally heartbreaking. Jack does not have the self-loathing Ennis has. He knows who he is and knows who he loves, and it kills him that he has to hide it. Unfortunately Gyllenhaal's performance was overshadowed by Ledger's but Gyllenhaal is not to be forgotten. When Jack is rejected by Ennis following Ennis' divorce, Jack's cracks begin to surface. They will never be together, all they will have are short, stolen moments in the woods. Gyllenhaal is the soul to Ledger's heart in the film.

Michelle Williams is amazing as Ennis' wife. She perfectly captures the feelings of a woman who feels scorned and rejected by her husband and does not understand the "lifestyle" choices he's made. I believe Anne Hathaway is completely under appreciated in this film. Though she doesn't have too much screen time, she makes her few moments count, especially in her final scene. On the phone with Ennis, she goes through her rehearsed script of how Jack died. We simultaneously see her heartbreak at losing her husband and her anger at him for his secret life shine through her eyes. These four actors are the foundation of this wonderful film.

Brokeback Mountain is beautifully photographed. The sweeping shots of the mountains of Wyoming are not to be missed. The blues are so blue, the greens so green. This open, beautiful, never ending country serves as the perfect contradictory back drop to a world of suppression, fear, and loss. This endless and sweeping landscape seems like it would be a great place to nurture and let love grow. Emphasizing the heartache that can exist is Gustavo Santoalalla's beautiful score.

Brokeback Mountain has spawned one of the most famous movie quotes of the decade, "I wish I knew how to quit you." Make fun of it all you want, but in the context of the film, the line is so overwhelming and powerful. The two of them are so deeply in love, but they can't be together. Ennis can suppress his love and push Jack away, but that won't change how they feel. Jack is in love with him, no matter how many other people he's been with, no matter how many times Ennis has rejected him, Jack can't quit. It's really quite a moving and powerful line.

This movie should not have lost to "Crash" for Best Picture. Each year I lose more and more faith in the Oscars.

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

I guess this is a Heath-centric entry. Both Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight are two of Ledger's most memorable performances and they couldn't be more different. As the Joker, Ledger disappears into the role. There is no trace of any of Ledger's previous performances. His voice, physicality, and line delivery all read insane. Without a care or hesitation, he'll kill someone. He is psychotic, menacing and creates the perfect nemesis for Batman. In my more recent viewings of The Dark Knight the way the Joker fought Batman struck me. It reinforces his insanity and evil. In many action movies, the fights are very clean. They look choreographed and well rehearsed. When the Joker attacks Batman in their final fight, the Joker flails around, arms waving, kicking, squirming, throwing his whole body into it. Nothing about it is clean. Ledger looks like a crazy person just released from a cage. Ledger deserved every accolade he got, it's a shame he wasn't around to enjoy it.

Netflix

Rudo y Cursi-Kept coming about this recent Mexican film during my assistantship.
Jaws-Haven't seen the whole movie. It's time.
Let the Right One In-Netflix Instant. This movie is so powerful and beautifully photographed, I must see it again.

I don't know, it's a mystery.

Shakespeare in Love

I love theater, therefore loving a movie about theater is a given for me. Shakespeare in Love is Tom Stoppard & Marc Norman's imagining of what William Shakespeare's inspiration for Romeo & Juliet was. The film is accessible to mainstream audiences and gives beautiful insight on the creative process.

As much as the film is about love, it truly is about creativity and inspiration. In his daily life, Will Shakespeare picks up inspiration, from a religious figure shouting about a plague on two houses to names of characters. Everyone plays a role in the creative process, not just the writer. Additionally, we see how a piece of work can start out as one thing, and end up as something completely different. In the film, Romeo & Juliet starts out as an comedy about pirates, much like we think the movie will be. But as Romeo & Juliet evolves, so does the movie. It becomes what we know Romeo & Juliet to be, a tragedy.

Inspiration is such a beautiful and fascinating experience, but we don't have the pleasure of knowing how Shakespeare was inspired to write some of his best work (and I believe he wrote all of his work). This film does not market itself as true but simply a "what if" or "wouldn't it be cool if." This film plays with history and creates a wonderful story about an incredible man we don't know a lot about. It paints such a wonderful picture of who Shakespeare's inspiration for Romeo & Juliet could have been, part of me wants to see portrayals of who his inspiration for Othello or The Merchant of Venice were.

The film is incredibly accessible to audiences less familiar with Shakespeare. Director John Madden juxtaposes scenes in Romeo & Juliet to happenings in Will & Viola's life, helping the audience understand the play's text. Will & Viola recite "The Balcony Scene" as they make love, and it's both romantic and witty. As well, Shakespeare is portrayed brilliantly by Joseph Fiennes not as some brooding intellectual but a creative, horny young man looking for his next meal ticket. The film brings the accessibility less Shakespeare-literate audiences need and the personality and imagination Shakespeare lovers would expect.

The film ends with tragedy and hope, as many love stories do. It's wonderful to see Will not only immortalize Viola in Romeo & Juliet but truly capture her spirit and self for Twelfth Night. This is one of my favorite endings in a film. The lovers depart with poetry ("You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die." What a goodbye.) and Viola goes on her ship to America with her loathsome husband, the always entertaining Colin Firth. We hear Will's voice describing Twelfth Night as images of a woman who could or could not be Viola struggling in the ocean play in front of us. We never see her face, just her long curly hair and the fuzzy figure of a man who could or could not be her husband. We are left wondering who this "Viola" is: the Viola we watched for the last two hours living her own Twelfth Night or Shakespeare's new fictional heroine.

Many cried foul when this beat Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture. Though Saving Private Ryan is remarkable, the films are completely different and it is almost ludicrous to compare them. I believe Shakespeare in Love is one incredibly imaginative and tells a story everyone wants to know. The Academy was right to award it with Best Picture.

Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights

Yes, I realize I am talking about TV again. But a good performance is a good performance. Chandler plays Coach Eric Taylor, (formerly) of the Dillion Panthers. Chandler gives a very commanding and sensitive performance as Coach Taylor. He is incredibly human. He is a likable guy, but no where near perfect. He cares about his family and his team, whether they are Panthers or Lions. And man, does Chandler know how to rally both his team and an audience. If coaching football doesn't work out for Eric, he's got a career as a motivational speaker.

Netflix

The Magdalene Sisters-I really couldn't tell you why this is here. It has been for months. But Netflix thinks I should watch it.
Up-Missed it in theaters.
The Bicycle Thief-Netflix Instant.I learned a lot about Italian Neorealism last year, and this is one of the movement's poster films.

Attica!!

Dog Day Afternoon

As I've gotten more serious about film, I've tried to educate myself on the classics. I've complied lists of important/memorable films from Empire Magazine and AFI into a giant Word document where I cross out a movie out when I see it. One film that shows up on many Best lists is Dog Day Afternoon, Sidney Lumet's film about a seemingly painless bank robbery that goes horribly wrong on a hot, Brooklyn afternoon. The film is a tense heist drama with dark humor and even a little slapstick sprinkled throughout it.

This film is where the two sides of Al Pacino meet. We have the scenery chewing, physically engrossing, heart wrenching, loud and out of control Pacino on one side, that we would come to remember in Scarface to name one. As Sonny, Pacino parades himself in front of the police, rallies his spectators, begs for justice not achieved at Attica, the notorious prison riots that left 39 people dead. On the other side, we have the subtler, more internal Pacino, who relies on faint physicality to speak volumes. This Pacino we came to know in The Godfather. The two Pacino's meet in the middle in Dog Day Afternoon. We see Pacino scream and taunt the police, savoring every flavor of the scenery he's chewing. Then we have Pacino silent at the end of the film, going over in his head every mistake he made, realizing his fate and that he royally screwed himself and everyone involved with him. Emotions sweep over his face, and we get each one of them without words. Any mistake Pacino has made in his film choices can easily be forgiven when one watches this film. Any younger film viewer who doesn't quite understand his appeal will get an awakening with Dog Day Afternoon.

The film elegantly balances the drama with the wit. Especially in the beginning, the film has slightly uncomfortable joke after slightly uncomfortable joke. The female tellers, though nervous, are fairly sassy. And who doesn't find sass funny? There isn't as much money in the bank as previously thought. This makes the robbery a bit of a bust for Sonny, but as a viewer, I couldn't help but giggle. Sal, Sonny's partner in crime (the actor also plays the tragic Fredo in The Godfather, how poignant), legitimately believes Wyoming to be a country. The drama definitely outweighs the humor, but the wit makes the film more accessible, the characters more human.

The film is an interesting social commentary about the American viewer. As soon as the police arrive on the scene and barriers are put up, spectators swarm the scene, by the hundreds it appears. We love drama, and we love it even more when it's happening right in front of us. Why do you think there is so much traffic due to rubbernecking? The people surround the bank and cheer for Sonny when he emerges. He shouts for "Attica" and for the police to put their guns down. He is anti-establishment, the people see him as more than a bank robber. He's taking a stand against authority. When a man tackles him, giving the police a chance to capture him, the "hero" is booed. He's an instant celebrity, he's our voice personified. We love him.

This changes quickly when it is announced he is a homosexual. This is the 1970's, and being a homosexual was still incredibly taboo. As soon as it is discovered by the crowd, they turn on him. He is no longer our hero, he no longer represents our voice. He is taunted when he pats down a doctor and FBI agent entering the bank. Being a homosexual quickly becomes the most defining thing about him; it's like the anti-establishment bank robber was a myth. All that's in front of them is a homosexual.

I cannot speak more highly of this film. It truly belongs on every Best list it lands on.

Jon Hamm on Mad Men

As important as movies are, TV is pretty high up there to me. Mad Men, undoubtedly, in one of the best shows on right now (if ever) and so much of that is due to the brilliance of it's lead, Jon Hamm as Don Draper. He is a sheep trapped in wolves clothing. The man has more issues than all the characters on a teen drama have combined. He is a pitbull; he's a stray. The man clenches his jaw and widens his eyes, and people are undone. He commands the role with such power, but when Draper suffers, we feel it. When he finally revealed his skeletons to his wife and broke down, the air left his body and mine. He simultaneously (and quite clearly, for routine viewers) plays two characters at once. Hamm is not afraid to be ugly. He's not afraid to be a bastard. He's not afraid to be broken. If Mad Men were a movie, I'd say give him an Oscar. But he'll have to settle for an Emmy instead, assuming he gets his well deserved one next year.

Netflix

Watchmen-I haven't read the graphic novel, and I've heard this film isn't made for people like me. But I'm curious.
The Class-This French film won a ton of awards.
sex, lies, and videotape-Netflix Instant. This film pretty much launched indie films in America.

What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?

No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers are some of America's/cinema in generals best directors. They are true auteurs. They have created some amazing pieces of film and No Country for Old Men is my favorite. The gritty cat and mouse story of a smart Texas hunter trying to outrun a psychopath over stolen money blew my mind.

It's almost pointless to write about how amazing Javier Bardem was, as it might as well be a fact written in a film history book. There really is no room for discussion. As the air-gun toting, coin flipping psychopath Anton Chigur, Bardem gives the performance of his life. This character is almost not even human, but an unstoppable force. He literally lets nothing get in his way, not a bullet to the leg or a car crash. Bardem looked the part of a stable psychopath; he had this calming, yet slightly unsettling page-boy haircut and this completely stoic face and monotone voice. It really helps that sans page-boy haircut, Bardem looks like a sexy caveman.

The Coen Brothers don't want you to be guessing how crazy Chigur is. They brilliantly establish it within the first couple minutes, when he strangles a police officer with his own handcuffs. As both he and the officer struggle on the ground, Bardem's face explodes with rage and intensity. He bares his teeth like he's a hungry animal. Immediately we have seen what goes on in Chigur's brain: a lust for blood and an unstoppable work ethic.

Like in most Coen Brothers films, the location becomes a central character to the story. The brothers utilize the Texas landscape brilliantly. The film is beautifully photographed. The shots of dessert and sweeping countrysides establish a tone of lack of escape. There is no where our protagonist can hide. He could be safe behind a tree (perhaps an image representing a hotel) but he won't be for long. Chigur will find him. In addition, the Coen Brothers made the distinct choice to not create a musical soundtrack. While this is not an unheard of technique, it was definitely the right choice. Texas is the soundtrack. Wind picking up sand, cowboy boots running on asphalt, guns, that's the music of Texas. It gives the film a more realistic feel, because though we wish there were a soundtrack to our lives, there isn't. Music can sometimes soothe an event in a movie, sometimes calm an audience down. The Coen Brothers do not want us calm. They want us clutching our seats with white knuckles.

One thing that always struck me about the film was it's use of women. There are only four female characters and two of them encounter Chigur, and they do not let him walk all over them. They stand up for themselves and put him in his place. While this doesn't end so well for one of the women, they don't sit by idly and let Chigur take what he wants. They question him and scold him and he is completely taken aback. He's so used to people being afraid of him and giving in without hesitation, he briefly gets the wind knocked out of him. With more development, one could even write an essay about how this film could be interpreted as feminist.

I feel like this review doesn't give the movie justice. It has so many layers and brilliant elements that I could write for hours about it. It's truly an American masterpiece.

Amy Adams in Enchanted

I am a big Amy Adams fan and I think she is brilliant in everything she does. And one of my favorites is Enchanted. While the film is overall pretty good, it's Adams who truly gives it life. She believes, to her core, in magic and the power of love. When she hears about this strange concept known as divorce, in the placement of her mouth and the widening of her eyes, we see that something inside of her has died. If Renee Zellwegger could get nominated for an Oscar for Bridget Jones' Diary, then Adams should have received one for this. This is one of the most committed and fully realized female roles I've seen.

Netflix

Amadeus-I haven't seen this movie in years but I remember loving it. I need to get reacquainted.
Bad Education-I really like Almodovar, and I'm curious to see how well he works with men, because we know how great he is with women.
Breathless-In Netflix Instant. This film is an important French New Wave film, and something I should really see as a film student.

That's what I love about New York: everyone's from a different place.

New York, I Love You

Paris, je t'aime, is one of my favorite films. It is an excellent film comprised of short stories about love in Paris. The film explores all types of love and relationships; heterosexual, homosexual, family, broken love, love rekindled, love beginning. Even a story about love for Paris is explored. This successful film is spawning a whole franchise called the "Cities of Love." Jerusalem, Rio, and Shanghai will all be featured locations for the franchise. With a winning idea begun with Paris, je t'aime, the franchise's second film, New York, I Love You should have been just as a good. Unfortunately, it lacked a lot of the elements that made Paris, je t'aime so special.

The film suffered from a lack of representation. The film did not use New York to its full potential. New York has many distinct neighborhoods with their own love stories. In some of the stories, it was easy to tell the setting (Chinatown, Central Park, The Diamond District), while others were just random street corners or bars. Every neighborhood in New York is unique and many were not clearly represented. I didn't see Chelsea or Harlem to name a few. Part of the magic in Paris, je t'aime. is that there are captions to tell you where in Paris you are. If one is familiar with Paris, they can better visualize the location and place themselves in the story through the neighborhood.

A second lack of representation came from the kind of love shown. Almost all of the stories centered around heterosexual, Caucasian love. There were four non Caucasian characters. There was one story that didn't involve heterosexual love. New York City is the ultimate American melting pot. There is a plethura of different races and ethnicities existing in the city. New York has a homosexual population, that was not represented at all in the film. This film lacked the diversity New York prides itself on.

Finally, most of the stories didn't represent all the elements that make up love. Most of the stories were sweet and cute, which is part of love and just fine, but the film didn't really try to go beyond. Love is scary, exciting, tense, passionate and so much more. The film seemed to start and end at the attraction phase of love. The stories were very one-dimensional; unlike Paris, je t'aime, the individual stories didn't tell an overarching story about love.

For all the negativity I've written about the film so far, there were some memorable in a good way vignettes. Allen Hughes' segment with Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo was a bright spot. The initial feeling of excitement/uncertainty/self doubt when you are getting to know someone was captured well by these actors. The outbursts of smiles followed quickly by panic while on your way to meet this new person happens to most of us. This is one love story you're truly cheering for.

The Natalie Portman-directed segment was my favorite. The only segment not about heterosexual love, the short story was about a little girl and her father. The catch, people think the father is actually the girl's "manny," as he is Latino and she is white. The two actors were sweet together and highlighted how love can be colorblind and how ignorant people can be.

New York, I Love You lacked the love and spirit of it's predecessor. Paris, je t'aime set up the perfect foundation for New York, I Love You but the writers and directors decided to ignore that. I hope the other "Cities of Love" films will learn from New York, I Love You's extreme mistakes.

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada"

Meryl Streep can do no wrong. She truly is a chameleon and the greatest actress of all time. No question. Her turn as ice queen/powerhouse editor Miranda Priestly earned her a rightfully deserved Oscar nomination. With her dagger-like eyes and slightly pursed lips, she can shatter spirits. Her lack of a raised voice when furious makes her employees feel like failures. Truly, Streep is a goddess.

Netflix Queue

The Brothers Bloom-I missed this in theaters.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-Keeping up with my exploration of classic horror.
Dog Day Afternoon-This is in my Netflix Instant queue. Since "Friday Night Lights" isn't controlling my online viewing life anymore, I need to start making a dent in the Instant queue. This film has been at the top of my queue since I started it.