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.