Sorry this is late. For some strange reason (even though my birthday was the first of February) I forgot February started. But anyways, some good stuff here, even though I spent most of the month watching Lost (the TV show). First time viewings only, alphabetical order. Hooray for 2010!
Blood Diamond (Edward Zwick, 2006)
“God left this place a long time ago.”
The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
“Michael, why are the drapes open?”
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009)
“Not bad for a 197-year-old blind lady.”
Singin’ In The Rain (Gene Kelly and Stanley Donan, 1952)
“Lina. She can’t act, she can’t sing, she can’t dance. A triple threat.”
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
“Nobody’s perfect!”
2009 was a pretty good year for film. Admittedly, I did not see very many films (either due to a late release date in Australia, i.e. not been released yet, or a limited release) and I still have some I would like to see (such as Bright Star – I may edit these such films in later should they prove worthy) but here’s a quick list of my favourites of the year.
(500) Days of Summer (Directed by Marc Webb)
A highly original ‘romantic comedy’ (I use the term loosely), (500) Days of Summer looks at how Tom falls in love with the flighty and free-spirited Summer and their tumultuous relationship, spanning 500 days. It is a largely non-linear film, and jumps around to different stages in their relationship, showing their first meeting, first date, fights, break-up, re-meeting, and final day where they each move on with their lives. It was refreshing and original in it’s composition, as well as diverse in it’s themes, showing both pure bliss and happiness alongside confusion, depression and anger. Whilst the fact that I couldn’t stop smiling for a few days didn’t exactly deter me, my favourite part of this film was the references to music. I know it’s going to make me sound a bit geeky, but I was thrilled at all the nods to The Smiths, The Pixies, and most of all, Belle and Sebastian. It helped me connect with the characters on another level. It has something for everyone, but it went very deep with me, and despite great competition, has held up as my favourite of the year.
Inglourious Basterds (Directed by Quentin Tarantino)
My first Tarantino film, and completely amazing. It begins in Nazi-occupied France, where most of the story occurs, where a young Jewish girl, Shoshanna, watches her family be massacred before her eyes by Colonel Hans Landa (a.k.a. ‘The Jew Hunter’). In the following chapters we are introduced to the Inglourious Basterds, led by Lieutenant Aldo ‘The Apache’ Raine, who ambush and massacre Nazis; Bridget von Hammersmark, a German movie star; Frederick Zoller, a German war hero; and finally Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. Despite the large number of characters, all of them are very well developed, and all pretty badass. My favourite character and performance would have to be that of Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa. “That’s a bingo!” All in all, whilst historically inaccurate, it’s fun, it’s gruesome, and generally one of the most awe-inspiring films you will ever see.
Adventureland (Directed by Greg Motolla)
I didn’t have many expectations when I first walked into this. I’d heard from everyone that it was by the guy who did Superbad (which I haven’t seen) and that it was completely unlike what the trailers depicted it as (which I also hadn’t seen). So, there I was, on a plane to London, bored, and thought “hey, this looks alright and some people said it was good, why not give it a whirl?”. It turned out to be a very touching and moving story of college graduate James Brennan, who returns home for the summer after finding out he is unable to afford the trip to Europe he had planned. With no work experience and a useless degree, he ends up working at the local amusement park Adventureland, which turns out to be a life-changing experience. He is on the cusp of manhood without ever having experienced the real world, and this film documents his awakening to reality. A wonderful little film.
District 9 (Directed by Neill Blomkamp)
Let’s just say this was a damn awesome film. Epic, yet totally original, Blomkamp takes us to Johannesburg as a space ship crashes, full to the brim of sickly aliens, who are then shuffled off to a militarised shanty town called District 9 after finally rescued from their ship. Years later, the ship remains, completely inoperable, hovering above the city, and the aliens have become second class citizens within the society (being of course an allegory comparing the situation to the apartheid regime recently overthrown in South Africa). The film begins as the main character, Wikus van der Merwe, is placed in charge of moving the aliens to a new settlement far away from central Johannesburg. The following events outcast him from human civilisation and force him to rely on an alien named Christopher Johnson, as they help each other to reach common goals. Highly original, a tonne of fun, and very realistic, District 9 was the surprise of the year, and it’s a shame it is being shunned by the awards circuit.
NB: I wrote that last part before it was nominated for an Oscar. Wow.
The Princess and the Frog (Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker)
Heaps of people are saying Up was the best animated film of last year. Whilst I loved Up, and it deserves every bit of praise it gets, I believe Disney topped Pixar this year. The Princess and the Frog is a stunning return to former glory for the studio, and showed they can still create magic. Their latest masterpiece follows the old tale of the Princess and the Frog very loosely, and creates a very original story out of it. Tiana, a poor girl working multiple jobs to earn enough money to buy her own restaurant, has toiled all her life for a little slice of happiness. Mistaken by the prince Naveen for a princess, he kisses her in hope of turning human again. However, quite the opposite happens and Tiana is turned into a frog! The film follows their antics as they try to become human again, and they enlist the help of a trumpet-playing alligator and a hill-billy firefly, while are kept from success by the evil Shadowman (or Dr Facilier) and his other-worldly allies. The Shadowman is one of the best Disney villains ever, with his voodoo powers, eerie voice and epic musical numbers, and proves very scary and believable. The music is outstanding – each song is unique, fits perfectly with the story, and is really catchy in the usual Disney style – and the animation is totally flawless and utterly gorgeous. The funnest and second prettiest (behind Avatar) film of the year.
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s my final 5 for 2009, and they’re all of rather high quality considering how little I saw last month.
Basic Instinct (Verhoeven, 1992)
Memento (Nolan, 2000)
Nadja (Almereyda, 1994)
Pleasantville (Ross, 1998)
Public Enemies (Mann, 2009)
Not an overly great month by all means for new viewings, but I’ve scraped together some. First time viewings only, alphabetical order.
Black Narcissus (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger, 1947)
Death on the Nile (John Guillerman, 1978)
Lola Rennt [Run, Lola, Run] (Tom Tykwer, 1998)
DON’T HATE ME, DON’T HATE ME, I SWEAR IT’S NOT THAT BAD. I DID ONLY RATE IT A SEVEN, BUT GODDAMN CRAPPY MONTH ARGH.
New Moon (Chris Weitz, 2009)
New York, New York (Scorsese, 1977)
[reposted from RottenTomatoes film orgy recommendation thread]
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Starring Deborah Kerr
Recommended by Immaculate Reception
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think Powell and Pressburger would ever come close to the greatness of The Red Shoes, but here they’ve done it. In one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, the duo have come up with a psychological horror set in the mountains of northern India. A group of nuns, led by Sister Clodagh (Kerr), have succeeded in acquiring an old windy palace just outside of Darjeeling, and intend to establish a school for children and girls, as well as a hospital for the locals. Little do they know how the palace will effect them…
Tempted by the clear air, the rude Mr Dean, and the presence of a prince, the nuns slowly lose their connection to their convent, and to God, as they succumb to life’s pleasures one by one. The power of life is enhanced by this eerie castle perched on a cliff, and slowly drives them, as believers in abstinence and God’s way, insane. The beauty of this place is enhanced by some of the best cinematography I ever seen, by Jack Cardiff, as the colours, the heights, the shadows come to life before your eyes. The sets, make-up and costuming all enhance this as well, however the film is really all about Cardiff’s wonderful work. He brings the film to an entirely new level.
Overall, I’d highly recommend this to anyone and everyone wanting to watch a great film. Thanks to Immaculate for finally getting me to watch it. Definitely an instant favourite.
10
A great month, and some hard choices. Alphabetical order, first time viewings only.
(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
”She took a giant shit on my face. Literally.”
“Literally?”
“Well, no, not literally. That’s disgusting.”
All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
“Lloyd, honey, be a playwright with guts. Write me one about a nice normal woman who just shoots her husband.”
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.”
Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
“You’re not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you’ve met, she’s not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you’re perfect for each other.”
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
“Oh, someone has seen her, all right. Someone always sees a girl with $40,000.”
Honourable Mention:
The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
“One of us had to die. With me, it tends to be the other guy.”
Directed by: Wong Kar-Wai
Starring: Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Brigette Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro
A film exploring love, and it’s consequences, Chungking Express depicts two nearly unrelated stories following two couples and their connection. The cinematic style and presentation of the story is thrillingly original, and gorgeous to look at. We see the blurry, fast-moving city of Hong Kong, clearly a soft spot with the director, and see how the surroundings interact with it’s inhabitants, namely our four main characters. It is an essentially beautiful film that feels more like a painting or a documentary trying to capture the wonders of a certain time and place.
The first story is that of a woman in a blonde wig (Lin) and cop 223 (Kaneshiro), she a drug dealer who has been involved in an operation gone bad, and he a cop who has just broken up with his girlfriend. This story mainly centres on the cop and his obsession over his ex, May, which is released through his dedicated purchase of a can of pineapple every day that will expire on the 1st of May (his birthday). He feels his love will expire on that same day, a month after the split, should she not change her mind. The woman in the blonde wig appears just as cop 223 has decided he will fall in love with the next woman he sees, and she then sleeps all night as he watches old movies by himself in their hotel room. Their relationship represents the sad side of love. The kind that isn’t reciprocated, nor consummated, and never even really existed. This love just appeared to help cop 223 move on with his life – a rebound relationship. They barely even interact, yet they both have a lasting effect on each other’s lives. I personally much less prefer this half, mainly due to the poor characterisation of the woman in the blonde wig, who we only really know as an ice queen who wants her drugs back and has the power to kill. Cop 223 is, however, greatly drawn, and I really felt for him at several points, though couldn’t really believe his infatuation with the woman in the blonde wig. He had a very believable persona, and I know many people would be able to relate to him and his pain.
At the end of this story, we are introduced to Faye (Wong), a new worker in the corner store that Cop 223 visits regularly. Completely moving on to her and now ignoring the previous main characters (who disappear), we see her spot cop 663 (Leung), another regular at the store. He, during her time observing him, is left by his air hostess girlfriend. The ex visits the store and leaves a letter for cop 663, which, of course, everyone reads. A set of keys to the apartment to cop and the air hostess shared is left in the envelope, which Faye then takes advantage of using once she realises the cop doesn’t want to have the letter. Soon, Faye is spending most of her spare time sneaking into his apartment and cleaning things up for him to try and make him feel better, satisfying her obsession with him. Her free-spirited, friendly, and eccentric nature make her a very lovable character, and the way she bumbles about his apartment like it’s hers is very cute. Whilst we have the slightly sadder overtones of cop 663 grieving over the loss of his girlfriend, it’s portrayed humourously as he talks to random objects in his house as if they’re people. This is the real love story of the film, and the best aspect of it. It’s sweet, unassuming, natural and a little bit strange – which makes it all the more believable.
Altogether, whilst I prefer the happier and more realistic take on love that was provided by the second half, the film would’ve felt incomplete without the character of cop 223. It’s gorgeous as it is, not only in it’s message and characters, but in the innovative cinematography. Wonderful on the eyes, as well as the heart. A great film.
9
What a crazy month. Sorry for being a horrible blogger. School holidays have literally just started and I have A Boy and His Dog and Chunking Express lined up for this weekend to make up for it (hooray). The usual format – alphabetical order, first time viewings only. I only saw six movies for the first time this month, so it includes one film I wouldn’t have otherwise included.
District 9 (Neil Blomkamp, 2009)
Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1992… This was the one I wouldn’t have otherwise included)
The Scent of a Woman (Martin Brest, 1992)
Filed under: 5 Best of the Month, Film | Tags: 1965, 2004, 2008, Changeling, Clint Eastwood, Diarios de Motocicleta, For A Few Dollars More, Gran Torino, Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married, Sergio Leone, The Motorcycle Diaries, Walter Salles
The usual. First time viewings only, alphabetical order. Please note, this month was pretty sucky.
Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
Diarios de Motocicleta [The Motorcycle Diaries] (Walter Salles, 2004)
For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
Filed under: 1960's, Film, Sergio Leone | Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Lee van Cleef, Sergio Leone, Spaghetti Western, Western
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè
A simply classic western, For a Few Dollars More proves a very enjoyable watch, with double-crossing, bank-robbing, and bounty hunting galore. Whilst bogged down by the various spoofs and copies made over the years, it is still a very enjoyable film to watch, and would do so again without hesitation.
For a Few Dollars More is about two bounty hunters, Monco a.k.a. The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) and Colonel Douglas Mortimer a.k.a. The Man In Black (Lee Van Cleef), and their attempts to kill the notorious El Indio and claim the $10,000 bounty on his head. After going it alone for a while, the pair decide to team up in order to take on El Indio and his gang, who are collectively worth $27,000. Monco on the inside, the Colonel on the outside. But with crooks all around, and being crooks themselves, will someone sniff them out? Who can they trust?
One thing I was not expecting going into this was for it to be so technically accomplished. The cinematography was absolutely gorgeous, with rich shots of the wonderful desert location stealing the show. Massimo Dallamano also constructed some beautiful shots inside, as well as out, which really heightened the tension in some scenes. The colours in particular were delightful. The score, of course, speaks for itself. The classic whistled line by Ennio Morricone is really quite effective, and he other parts of the score just as good. To be completely honest, the film would have probably been excessively boring without the score, as it really creates interest in the scene, the characters and the situation – just as a good score should. I know this is probably a pretty strange thing to comment on, but the dubbing was actually pretty good. Usually I find dubbed films really annoying and unbearable, but this was pretty alright. Quite pleasant, and not as jarring and obvious as other dubbing attempts I’ve seen.
Altogether a fun, violent, and excessively awesome film, For a Few Dollars More proves an all around good watch for anyone and everyone.
8
