In general, I’ve been catching up on podcasts. Specifically I've been hitting The /Filmcast podcast hard. And listening to some of my favorite movie nerds hash out flicks made me consider:
My Favorites Films of 2009
(In no particular order)
(In no particular order)
The Hurt Locker made independently because director Kathryn Bigelow demanded to shoot on location in the Middle East. (The studio’s refused because of insurance costs.) The metaphorical balls it took to make this movie is worth noting. But "balls" aside, Bigelow made a classic Hollywood film. The Hurt Locker is a western in the vein of John Wayne. William James is a cowboy who rolls into town and plays by his own rules to save the day – defusing bombs. Notably, the film alternates between reveling in his antics and pulling us into his despair. When James can’t be a hero, he’s lost. Admittedly, the grocery store sequence at the film’s end, risks cliché but transcends it with Jeremy Renner’s outstanding performance. He created a complex character I was afraid of but feared for. And I loved this movie despite a long-standing ambivalence toward war movies. Not my speed.
But The Hurt Locker grabbed me and didn’t let up. Special props to the cinematography. By using a high-speed camera (the kind typically used in hair commercials to make those graceful hair flips oh-so-slow and glamorous), Bigelow showed the violence of the bombs in a way audiences haven’t seen before. It didn’t feel like spectacular Michael Bay style BOOM BOOM! Instead it felt real and dangerous. The opening sequence establishes the turf of these men expertly. And I think The Hurt Locker will always speak of this time, when we played as cowboys on the world stage. The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for Best picture and Best Director among a slew of other awards and deserved them all.
If you like the Hurt Locker, try My Country, My Country. American documentarian Laura Poitras spent 8 months in Baghdad following an Iraqi doctor and his family culminating in the first election following Saddam’s fall. It’s gutsy, engaging and pitch perfect.
Food Inc. made by the authors of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is a sharp and smart revelation about the history of food production in the US and where we are now. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but see this movie. There are things therein you should know. And my favorite aspect is that after Pollan and Scholsser lay down all kinds of heavy truths, they tell you how you can make a difference. And it’s easy: put your money where your mouth is. The Cove took home the Oscar, but Food Inc.’s my personal pick for best doc of ’09.
If you like Food Inc. try The Cove. I prefer Food Inc, for sheer relevance to my life, but The Cove’s a damn fine doc about a shocking event. It plays like Ocean’s 11, and has an ending that is more horrifying than many horror flicks. Not for the faint of heart.
(500) Days of Summer feels like it was made just for me. Sassy trash-mouth girl child? Check. Karaoke of Nancy Sinatra’s "Sugar Town?" Check. Impromptu musical number? Check. Indie it kids Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Double check. (The soundtrack alone had me giddy.) I’ve watched this movie more than any other on this list. It’s like candy. Sweet and addictive.
If you like (500) Days of Summer, try Adam - a quirky romantic dramedy about a young man (played by Hugh Dancy) with Asperger's syndrome and his first love. Like (500), Adam is a bittersweet love story about growing up. Totally worth your rental dollars.
(The rest after the jump!)
The Fantastic Mr. Fox is basically Ocean’s 11 meets Disney’s Robin Hood – bedecked in tweed and corduroy. I’m a big fan of Wes Anderson, and he's made the transition to animation beautifully. Clooney, Streep, Schwartzman and Murray bring tons of quirk and charisma to the characters, and in conjunction with the mad cap caper - it all adds up to a mad good time.
If you like The Fantastic Mr. Fox, try Up in The Air because it’s Clooney on a different speed. The third film from Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) follows a man whose profession is firing people - until he learns he's being downsized. Clooney earns his rep as this era's Cary Grant, as he exudes charm and extols on living life baggage-free. Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick are both fantastic, but what sets it apart is the use of real people as the fired masses. Reitman called in people who have been fired/downsized/let go since the start of the recession, and allowed them to speak of their own experiences. It grounds the movie and allows Clooney’s plight to be spoken of in a unique way. It makes it a film that defines its time.
Cold Souls is based on a dream of director Sophie Barthes, where she met Woody Allen who was vexed by the literal shape of his soul - it looked like a chickpea. This is the base of the dark comedy adventure, Cold Souls. Paul Giamatti plays himself, an actor so weighed down by his soul that he decides to put into storage – where it goes AWOL. This film got a lot of flack for it’s superficial similarities to Charlie Kaufman’s scripts. Yeah, an oddball actor plays himself. Yeah, it’s high concept. But it’s wildly original, touching and beautiful despite these base commonalities. Maybe my favorite of the year.
If you like Cold Souls try Sleeper. Woody Allen’s sci-fi comedy is an admitted inspiration for Barthes. It’s something different from Allen and has touches of the Marx Brothers and Stanley Kubrick. Check it out.
Zombieland is another movie that felt suspiciously tailored to my own quirky tastes. I'm always up for movies about zombies, nerd boys getting the girl, road movies, meta jokes and (SPOILER ALERT) Bill Murray. Zombieland was a ride in theaters and a comfy couch-watching flick as well. It's a jump-inducing sidesplitting good time.
Zombieland is another movie that felt suspiciously tailored to my own quirky tastes. I'm always up for movies about zombies, nerd boys getting the girl, road movies, meta jokes and (SPOILER ALERT) Bill Murray. Zombieland was a ride in theaters and a comfy couch-watching flick as well. It's a jump-inducing sidesplitting good time.
If you like Zombieland try Shaun of the Dead. It's darker and smarter predecessor from across the pond, Shaun simultaneously pays homage to George A. Romero and Richard Curtis, telling the tale of a man trying to prove his worth to his ex, while fighting off zombie hoards. It created the term zom-rom-com, and launched Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Come to think of it - if you haven't seen it already, I'm done with you.
UP made me cry ten minutes in. It's an adventure comedy with gorgeous visuals, a moving message and talking dogs. And like all of Pixar's flicks, it has a dark side uncommon in a much of the treacle pedaled at kids. (Spoiler ahead) Yeah kids, that hero you admire oh-so-much now, may not only let you down – he may try to kill you.
UP made me cry ten minutes in. It's an adventure comedy with gorgeous visuals, a moving message and talking dogs. And like all of Pixar's flicks, it has a dark side uncommon in a much of the treacle pedaled at kids. (Spoiler ahead) Yeah kids, that hero you admire oh-so-much now, may not only let you down – he may try to kill you.
If you liked UP try Ponyo. I mean really if you like Up, watch all of Pixar's films immediately. (Well, skip Cars.) But for something different Ponyo is a good call. If you're moved by the visual storytelling of Up, and are impressed by its refusal to pander – Miyazaki's animation will float your boat. Ponyo is a version of the Little Mermaid tale (fish girl falls for human boy), but like all of Miyazaki's films – it's like nothing you've seen before. There is an unapologetic strangeness to his work, but it's always visually striking and moving.
Inglourious Basterds was a movie I had low hopes for. For me, Tarantino is hit or miss, and as I've mentioned – I'm not generally a war movies fan. Yeah, Basterds is garish and self-obsessed, but it's mad fun! And I mean insane. The first sequence will be talked about for decades by film nerds. Christoph Waltz as a gleeful and deranged "Jew hunter" set the tone for the film the moment he walks on screen. (He deserved that Oscar, and I'm looking forward to the panoply of pics he's got line up.) But what I liked best about Basterds is that sometimes Tarantino's mash of styles just feels like a mess, but here the clash of American and European film styles and film references fit the world at war story. It also fit the tone. The whole world's gone mad, so shall we. Sidenote: even my parents liked this movie. And typically if it has subtitles, they tap out around minute five. Cheers, Tarantino.
Inglourious Basterds was a movie I had low hopes for. For me, Tarantino is hit or miss, and as I've mentioned – I'm not generally a war movies fan. Yeah, Basterds is garish and self-obsessed, but it's mad fun! And I mean insane. The first sequence will be talked about for decades by film nerds. Christoph Waltz as a gleeful and deranged "Jew hunter" set the tone for the film the moment he walks on screen. (He deserved that Oscar, and I'm looking forward to the panoply of pics he's got line up.) But what I liked best about Basterds is that sometimes Tarantino's mash of styles just feels like a mess, but here the clash of American and European film styles and film references fit the world at war story. It also fit the tone. The whole world's gone mad, so shall we. Sidenote: even my parents liked this movie. And typically if it has subtitles, they tap out around minute five. Cheers, Tarantino.
If you like Inglourious Basterds, try In The Loop. This political dark comedy matches the breakneck paced banter, manic energy and uniquely cutting obscenities of Tarantino's work – but within the context of modern day diplomacy. It's like Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin's love child: dark, smart, hilarious and politically biting.
Well that was fun. Let's do it again next year.
~Movie Nerd Girl
Well that was fun. Let's do it again next year.
~Movie Nerd Girl
