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.