BEST FILMS OF 2011

MY FAVORITE FILMS OF 2011. I should say that there might be a couple of films made in 2010 but I have included them because I saw them this year. I didn't see everything of course. Also, assume they are all PG and up... yes, even RANGO.

(in no particular order)


SUPER 8. A pretty entertaining film about young teens trying to save their town from an alien and a heavy handed U.S. Army. 3/5

THE LINCOLN LAWYER. A slick defense attorney gets in over his head with a nasty client. 3/5

WARRIOR. Two brothers sharing a difficult childhood both sign up for a huge mixed martial arts tournament. 3/5

THE IDES OF MARCH. Political drama about loyalty and power. 3.5/5

MARGIN CALL. The story of the first financial institution to start selling its inventory before the crash of 2008. 3/5

RANGO. A cowboy parody with a lizard called RANGO. Beautiful graphics, and funny. 4/5

BRIDESMAIDS. A comedy about the pressures of being a maid of honor. I saw this on its opening day in a theater full of women; I will never forget it. 3.5/5

POINT BLANK. A French crime thriller about a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. 3/5

SOURCE CODE. A soldier wakes up in the cockpit of his crashed helicopter, and he seems to be having hallucinations about the past or maybe the future. An interesting film. 3/5

WIN WIN. A heartwarming and charming story about a guy trying to survive economic woes. 4/5

13 ASSASSINS. Outstanding action film set in medieval Japan. My favorite movie of the year. 5/5

RED DOG. Heartwarming tale about a dog, everyone's best friend. 4/5

THE GUARD. Unusual comedy /crime film about an unconventional policeman. 4.5/5

OUR IDIOT BROTHER. A comic film about a guy who loves and trusts people way too much. 3.5/5

FRIGHT NIGHT. A pretty entertaining vampire film. It pokes fun at itself and takes itself seriously at the same time, not bad. 3/5

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS. The only watchable romantic comedy of the year. 3.5/5

CRAZY STUPID LOVE. An amusing and touching film about a guy who is forced to reassess himself and his life. 3.5/5

EVERYTHING MUST GO. A quiet drama about an executive who loses his job and his wife because of his drinking. Will Ferrell does a great job at keeping this film from becoming too morose. 3/5

FAST FIVE. The fifth "Fast and Furious" installment is full of clichés, but it's entertaining and fun too. 3/5

FOUR LIONS. A sharp and hilarious black comedy about would be jihadists. 4/5

THE DEBT. A suspenseful film about a Jewish snatch team sent behind the iron curtain to capture a NAZI war criminal. 3/5

LIMITLESS. A struggling writer runs into a high school friend working for drug company, and the friend offers him a sample of a new drug being developed, a drug that superchargers the mind. 3/5

POETRY. A beautiful Japanese drama about a grandmother raising her grandson as she tries to embrace life as fully as possible, including joining a poetry writing class. One of my favorite movies of the last five years. 5/5

THE TREE OF LIFE. This film is a fusion of cinema and poetry. It's quite slow but very beautiful too, presenting the story of a family juxtaposed with scenes of nature. 3.5/5

THE EAGLE. A historical /action film about a Roman legionnaire who goes on a quest to redeem his family's name. 3/5

THE COMPANY MEN. This drama follows several men from the same company who are fired from their jobs because of the economy. A survival tale. 3.5/5

THE BEAVER. This film is about a guy who has an psychological breakdown but finds himself by using a hand puppet in the shape of a beaver. A story of love and survival. 3.5/5

KILLER ELITE. Convoluted yet entertaining action film. 3/5

THE TRIP. Documentary/drama. Steve Coogan and his friend travel around England reviewing restaurants for a British magazine. Funny and touching. 4/5

UNKNOWN. Suspense /thriller. Liam Neeson wakes up in Berlin, and no one remembers who he is including his wife. 3/5

THE RITE. A film about exorcism and the supernatural starring Anthony Hopkins. 3/5

HEREAFTER. The intersecting stories of a man with real psychic powers, a young boy whose brother dies, and a young woman who dies and comes back. 3.5/5

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS. An amazing documentary about the prehistoric caves in France whose walls are covered with pictographs painted by Early Man. Mind blowing. 5/5

THE WAR YOU DON'T SEE. A thought provoking documentary about the role of the media and propaganda in warfare. 5/5

SENNA: THE LIFE OF AYRTON SENNA. A beautiful documentary and biography of one of Formula One's golden boys. 5/5

The Kills & The Heavy

I love discovering new music. I started listening to a couple of new bands (well, new to me) this week. Check this out:

The Kills - an alternative music band with a punk-ish style that has three albums. Most of it isn't my style, but I like a couple of their songs. My favorite songs are "No Wow""



and "U R A Fever".



The Heavy - a rock band with a soul undertone. They only have two albums. The album THE HOUSE THAT DIRT BUILT has about four very good songs and a couple others that don't make the ears bleed. That's excellent, in my opinion. Fav songs are "Short Change Hero":



"How Do You Like Me Now?":



"What You Want Me To Do?":

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Hollywood must take us for idiots to serve up such garbage.

I don't know if you've seen it or not but this is a spoiler warning. I mean, I'm just going to point out one of the many problems with this film; I chose this one to highlight because it's a common problem in action films.

In the film, Captain America is produced by injecting various substances into the body of an underdeveloped private that has shown heart and courage and goodness. But how does Captain America go from a glorified vaudeville actor in the USO to a supersoldier able to assault a Hydra stronghold and free the prisoners they were holding??

He does not have martial arts training. He does not have weapons training. He just suddenly has skills. No training; no Yoda or Sticks (Daredevil) type mentor; nothing.

I hate that. Batman trained under the ninja. The Punisher was SpecOps. Electra was brought up training with the Hand. Even the X-Men trained at the School for the Gifted.

It's a small bone to pick, but one of many in this disappointing film.

Access Pass for Cripples

I get this access 2 entertainment pass for cripples. Two guesses why. Anyway, the card - developed by the good people at the Odeon Theaters - lets you bring an attendant in for free. If you are gimpy enough as I am, you sometimes find it very handy [pun intended] to have someone along who can help you eat popcorn or sip pop or help you if you need to go to the bathroom or kick the shit out of whoever is kicking the back of your wheelchair during the show.

I guess the word got out and everyone from the limping lame to the white trash fat chicks with ingrown toenails decided to apply for this two for one deal, not because they need an attendant, but because it's cheaper (is being a cheap sonovabitch with no conscience a handicap?). So now these asshole have ruined the integrity of the access pass. And every time I pull it out at the till I get the evil eye like I'm trying to pull a fast one, eventhough I am obviously a real live cripple with most of my body paralyzed.

Last time I went, the cow at the till had the nerve to ask me for ID to prove my identity. Unbelievable.

Films of 2010

I was looking at the movies that came out in 2010 to see if any of them deserved to be added to my best films lists on my media blog.  It had not sunk in while I was watching the Oscars, probably because they were so bad, but last year was a horrible year for movies in general.  I went through some of the movies that came out and only a handful stood out in terms of the qualities I like to see in films: 1, a great screenplay regardless of whether it follows a convention or not; 2, excellent acting even if it means non acting (Keanu, yes, I'm talking about you); 3, intelligent direction and cinematography that brings something fresh to the screen without obviousness and artistic pretension.  So which of the films I saw in 2010 meet this criteria?

I've gone over the many movies that came out last year.  TRUE GRIT is a very good movie, probably my favorite from Hollywood.  INCEPTION also is well done even though I thought the side story of Dicaprio's wife was considerably more compelling than the main story of placing an idea into someone's mind.  When a side story is more interesting than the main story, it signals that an opportunity was lost.  I liked THE TOWN as well.  But despite its intelligence and the serious treatment of its subject, the screenplay has more than a couple of clichés that rise to the surface, bloated and stinking.  WINTER'S BONE is gritty and real and full of excellent tension, but it offers no wisdom, no depth apart from its portrayal.  It's a classic exhibit of 'show don't tell' which in the end becomes nothing more than a sketch or a slice of life.  Others deserve mention, including: RESTREPO, LET ME IN, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, and even THE OTHER GUYS.

But the best film from 2010 is a Korean film called POETRY.  This drama will captivate you and make your heart ache; it is sweet and full of wisdom and beauty. The strange thing about this film is it's a small film but large as well.

Quick Review: "THE NEXT THREE DAYS"

I love crime stories.  I don't know a better way to create conflict and drama, and I think most authors would agree with me; war, of course, is another excellent way to imbue the story with conflict and drama but one could argue that war is a crime.  Anyway, I love crime films, and this film does a good job of keeping its audience interested in what is going to happen next.

Basically, one morning a husband and wife and their child here a knock on the door and it's the police with a search warrant.  They burst into the house and find the wife (played by Elizabeth Banks) washing some blood off of her trench coat.  She is arrested for the murder of her boss with whom she had a heated argument today before, plus she was seen leaving the crime scene.  She maintains her innocence but goes to the county jail, where she stays through the trial and subsequent appeals.  The husband (Russell Crowe) comes up with a plan to break her out but finds out that he only has three days to do it.

The film takes its time in developing the husband and the changes he has to go through to break his wife out of jail.  And even though the premise strains credulity, it makes an honest effort of maintaining as much plausibility as possible.  The acting was good.  The direction was good.  The script was good.  It was a good movie with a couple of really tense scenes and a couple of interesting twists.  But it was not outstanding. 

I liked it.  What I didn't like was how the film played with the original crime that the wife commits or doesn't commit.  Throughout the film the audience is kept guessing, but then at the end of the film we find out what happened, and I don't know about you, but I hate being manipulated by carefully edited flashbacks designed to create tension then at the end of the film the director essentially says "see, I got you". 3/5

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

Elizabeth Taylor died today. She was a great actress. She was so beautiful too; she could make your heart stop beating. Anyone who has watched her in films like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" can attest to that rare combination of talent and beauty. Finally, she was a philanthropist and a world class human being. May God be with you, Liz.

In the fifties, sixties and seventies, Elizabeth Taylor ruled the Hollywood world with her talent and feminine power, and despite the inordinate amounts of pressure the studios would place on her shoulders by insisting she work when she didn't want to and placing her in crappy films in order to sell them:

While she wanted to play the lead roles in The Barefoot Contessa and I'll Cry Tomorrow, MGM continued to restrict her to mindless and somewhat forgettable films such as: a cameo as herself in Callaway Went Thataway (1951), Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), Ivanhoe (1952), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) and Beau Brummel (1954). She had wanted to play the role of Lady Rowena in Ivanhoe, but the part was given to Joan Fontaine. Taylor was given the role of Rebecca. When Taylor became pregnant with her first child, MGM forced her through The Girl Who Had Everything (even adding two hours to her daily work schedule) so as to get one more film out of her before she became too heavily pregnant. (Wikipedia)

-- despite this studio system which literally owned actors and told them which films they would be in, Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award five times and won twice, one for A Place in the Sun (1960) and one for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof? (1966).  Both of these films are must-sees for any film-lover.  Suddenly Last Summer (1959) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) are two more of my favourite films with Elizabeth Taylor.  The original Father of the Bride (1950), The Sandpiper (1965), and Giant (1956) are worthwhile films as well.  In these films and many others, she play alongside and against some of the most impressive leading men who have ever acted, and she held her own.

I also deeply admired her dedication to the HIV/AIDS cause and her ability to persevere through many physical aliments with grace and poise.

She was survived by four children and many grandchildren, a family she fought her whole life to keep out of the Hollywood media and rumor mills, no mean feat.

Film: "Certified Copy"

Finding good new movies to watch is always a challenge.  I found this French-Italian film by digging through the "fresh" lists at Rotten Tomatoes which is a compendium of film reviews from North America.  I do not remember how well "Certified Copy" did on the tomato-meter but it was pretty fresh, something in the neighborhood of 90% which is the website's way of saying the 90 percent of the reviewers that reviewed "Certified Copy" gave it a positive review.  It's an imperfect system but it's the best one I've come across so far.  The ratings at IMDB are all over the map.

"Certified Copy" stars Juliette Binoche with whom I've harbored a flickering crush since I saw her in "Trois Couleur: Bleu" (1993) which is a beautiful film I wish I could see again for the first time.  Anyway the film is about a British writer who wrote a book about art and gives a small lecture about art and originality at a local bookstore.  A middle-aged woman with a teen-aged son in tow comes in to the lecture late and leaves early, but she's obviously fascinated by the writer.  Later, we discover she had bought several of the books, had them signed by the writer and, at the same time, had asked him to meet her.  They meet and spend the day together driving through the Tuscan countryside, talking about art and life.  The conversation turns into kind of role playing game where they pretend to be a couple, but they do such a good impression of a couple that one wonders if they are or were a couple and they have known each other the whole time.

It was a very interesting film.  I love these conversation-filled films.  The writing is subtle and intelligent with just the right touch for each character to allow the actor to express the essence of the persona.  The direction is simple, invisible, complementing the script and acting.  And the acting was superb.

Similar films:

The American (George Clooney, 2010)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Scarlett Johanson, 2008)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Juliette Binoche, 1988)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Elizabeth Taylor, 1966)

Paintings: "Salesman" and "Untitled"

I bought myself an extravagant gift the other day, well, last year really, but it took until now to possess them both since the one - an image I like to call "The Furies" - was stuck in the gallery's exhibition until the end.  The artist is Clive Barker, and they are both oil paintings.  The first one is called "Salesman" and  I think it is a representation of Avarice.

He looks great on my wall. 

I studied literature of the middle ages, and the Catholic church in the middle ages was both the church and state; they had absolute power; and it corrupted them; and thank God we now have a separation between them, a thing called the Reformation and for which we owe many brave lives.  Anyway, there was a religious figure at the time called The Pardoner.  He wasn't with the Church officially, but they knew about him unofficially.  He would sell pardons for sins.  In the epic comedy, Geoffrey Chaucer has a tale told by a Pardoner.  They wee the scum of the earth.  This picture reminds me of him; that or an encyclopedia salesman.  :)

 

Salesman by Clive Barker

Blue Valentine

Staring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, this film is about a young coupe falling in love and falling out of love in a marriage that began with an unplanned pregnancy. The film is a drama about relationships, so I didn't expect a lot of action or suspense. But it does deliver a smart script and excellent acting; it doesn't try to manipulate its audience with 'mood' music; it stays away from cliched characterization and soap-opera type dialogue where they fill in a the blanks as though the audience is a congress of idiots. I really enjoyed this little drama.

Ryan Gosling is an impressive actor. He's Canadian, which is cool. You probably remember him from "The Notebook" which, yes, was full of cliches and manipulative plotting, music, and direction, but it was nevertheless effective and (I hate to say this) one of the classic modern romances. But Gosling is much better than that movie. He has a kind of every man look that reminds me of Tom Hanks. He also has an impeccable eye for choosing great scripts and playing subtle, interesting characters... people that could be living next door. Here's a list of Gosling film I've seen and recommend:

The United States of Leland.

The Notebook.

Stay. An strange and beautiful film with Ewen McGregor, Naomi Waits, and Gosling, about suicide, death, and redemption.

Half-Nelson. An amazing film about a highschool teacher addicted to drugs.

Fracture. A smart ans suspenseful thriller with Anthony Hopkins.

Lars and the Real Girl. A strange and touching tale about a young man whose loneliness and unrequited love for his brother's wife leads him to find love in a life-sized sex doll.

Blue Valentine. See above.

Book Club

I finished the book "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova for my book club, and today we are meeting at Starbucks to discuss it. It's kind of weird to call it a 'book club', because it sounds so old, you know? Like we are a flock of old ladies sitting around a living room, reading and discussing books that Oprah recommends, trying our best to sound intelligent, bringing extra material we have researched and photocopied so that everyone knows how "on" you are. Those are the connotations and images that come to mind when I write the words book club down. But it's not that bad. There are only three of us. My best friend Lisa and Anita, an acquaintance I've known for a number of years now. They like to read, but I think we all like slightly different books which is good as it will force me out of my comfort zone, just like this last book.

"Still Alice" is about a Harvard professor that becomes beset by early onset Alzheimer's disease at fifty years old. The book is narrated by the prof herself which heightens the drama and brings the reader into the experience of Alzheimer's. The book is well-written. But it's not a very pretty book to read; the style is more functional than poetic. Yet the book compels one to identify with and empathize with the protagonist. I'm not a big fan of books that have a central subject or agenda at their core, like Alzheimer's or the Holocaust or slavery. But I applaud Genova for imbuing her characters with plausibility and verisimilitude.

The back of the novel contains several discussion and reading guide questions. I've noticed the authors or publishers (I don't know which) have begun putting extra material about the novel at the back of these books. It's a great trend. Smart marketing and good for readers. Some further reading guide questions can be found here.

Os-scars

Good grief. How did I manage to sit through the entire Academy Awards tonight? It was painful. Notable things that happened:

1. James Franco looked and talked like he had a full-body cast on. He is not funny; he is not charismatic; he is terribly dull. Epic fail.

2. Anne Hathaway looked strange. Pretty dresses, all 27 or whatever, but she looked sick and her makeup was fucked up, kind of clownish.

3. The show started and maintained a high level of tedium.

4. Kirk Douglas presented and even though he's a fossil, he had more charisma than the hosts.

5. The winner for best supporting said "fucking" on screen. No delay I guess. Sweet.

6. The Randy Newman performance was botched by the sound guy, because he voice was too low and music too high. He won, but gracefully didn't mention it, though he did mention his 20 nominations and only two wins.

7. Billy Crystal made an appearance (I guess he was backstage for emergency in case the audience started to fall asleep). He did a 5 minute stand up that was the best thing in the entire show. What? Really? He made Anne and James look like tedious bores.

8. The "In Memoriam" was beautiful as usual. Tony Curtis died last year. He was awesome to watch. Celine Dion sang, nice job too. But Halle Barry had to make a speech about Lena Horn who died this last year, and I guess inspired other black actors - ironically I don't think any black people won anything this year. oops.

9. Christian Bale and Natalie Portman won as they should have done.

10. I guess I should have seen the "King's Speech".

11. This year Barbara Walters interviews were replaced by coverage of the after-parties, where the celebrity worship goes full tilt boogie.

12. I think I survived b/c we started watching after dinner and using the PVR to fast forward the commercials. Must remember this strategy. Last year I almost puncture my eardrums with sharp pencils.

This was also posted on the media blog.

Hollyweird Lately

In 2009 and 2010, Hollywood began producing less reality TV and more written dramas and comedies. In 2011, we are waist deep in a wealth of dramatic choice.

Good grief.  How did I manage to sit through the entire Academy Awards tonight?  It was painful.  Notable things that happened:

1. James Franco looked and talked like he had a full-body cast on.  He is not funny; he is not charismatic; he is terribly dull.  Epic fail.
2. Anne Hathaway looked strange.  Pretty dresses, all 27 or whatever, but she looked sick and her makeup was fucked up, kind of clownish.
3. The show started and maintained a high level of tedium.
4. Kirk Douglas presented and even though he's a fossil, he had more charisma than the hosts.
5. The winner for best supporting said "fucking" on screen.  No delay I guess.  Sweet.
6. The Randy Newman performance was botched by the sound guy, because he voice was too low and music too high.  He won, but gracefully didn't mention it, though he did mention his 20 nominations and only two wins.
7. Billy Crystal made an appearance (I guess he was backstage for emergencing in case the audience started to fall alseep).  He did a 5 minute stand up that was the best thing in the entire show.  What?  Really?  He made Anne and James look like tedious bores.
8. The "In Memoriam" was beautiful as usual.  Tony Curtis died last year.  He was awesome to watch. Celine Dion sang, nice job too.  But Halle Barry had to make a speech about Lena Horn who died this last year, and I guess inspired other black actors - ironically I don't think any black people won anything this year. oops.
9. Christian Bale and Natalie Portman won as they should have done.
10. I guess I should have seen the "King's Speech".
11. This year Barbara Walters interviews were replaced by coverage of the after-parties, where the celebrity worship goes full tilt boogie.
12. I think I survived b/c we started watching after dinner and using the PVR to fast forward the commercials.  Must remember this strategy.  Last year I almost puncture my eardrums with sharp pencils.

Kaddish

I was listening to a recording of Allen Ginsberg recite his poem "Kaddish" in Greenwich Village in the seventies.  A kaddish is a Jewish prayer of mourning, and Ginsberg wrote the book length poem for his late mother.  The poem is a list of things of this world his mother no longer has to deal with: the pain, the suffering, the health problems, the injustice, the transient nature of joy and beauty, the family problems, politics, religion, the problems big and small.  This year I am thankful I'm still around to deal with this life.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the good things.  But I'm thankful for the crap too as it is a constant reminder that I am blessed with the ability to choose how to respond to these challenges.

I love Ginsberg's poetry.  The poems have a serene, wise tone to them that remind me of Walt Whitman.  But Whitman had a larger vision; he visualized the earth and its people and how people could love it, and love themselves.  Ginsberg's vision was a little narrower but still potent.  "Howl" has a national vision; it laments the passing of an idealized America, an America that never was or an America that could have been - before Vietnam, Watergate, and the assassinations of Martin Luther, JFK, Malcom X, and Bobby Kennedy.  The poem "America" also explores the author's disappointment and pain as he envisions both what is wrong with America and what could have been right. 

Poems lamenting the destruction of a nation or the possibility of a nation is called a jeremiad, because the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament describes Jeremiah's lament over the destruction of Israel, a destruction they brought on themselves, for not listening to God.