DISCOVERIESCoeur Fidele Jean Epstein, 1923
Hopefully a starting point for a further exploration into silent film come 2011. Basically, I wish more modern filmmakers used superimposed images.
Lucky Star Frank Borzage, 1929
My introduction to Borzage and Gaynor/Farrell and the miracle of love. In Borzage, love has the power to transcend all logic. This probably makes him the greatest ever.
Ruggles of Red Gap Leo McCarey, 1935
A lot of it has to do with the sublime performance by Charles Laughton (and Wesley Ruggles), but also about how it concerns itself with distinctly American values. It also happens to be hilarious.
Angel Ernst Lubitsch, 1937
I expected this to be another Lubitsch film that's warmly comic, sophisticated and elegant, etc. In a sense, that still holds. However, the issue of infidelity, which is kind of treated as a farce in
One Hour With You, here gets a surprisingly mature, sober treatment. Dietrich and Marshall are fantastic.
The Mortal Storm Frank Borzage, 1940
I had to choose a Gaynor film. Then I had to choose a Sullavan film. That's how the Borzage choices came about.
Three Comrades and
Little Man, What Now? are probably better choices for Sullavan's amazingness, but this one also gets brownie points for fully taking on the devastation going on Nazi Germany. Borzage is for the children.
The Clock Vincente Minnelli, 1945
[noembed]
This gets a mention for perhaps having the best minute or so I watched all year.[/noembed] It's a film full of unabashed romanticism, of prolonging the moment of bliss for as long as possible, etc. It could classify as one of those films that use a city as a plaything for lovers. Points for making me think Judy Garland is hot.
Force of Evil Abraham Polonsky, 1948
It's an attack on capitalism masquerading as a tone poem masquerading as film noir. It's alternately brutal and tender. Garfield is nothing short of amazing, but he's probably outdone by Thomas Gomez. And ain't that something.
Awaara Raj Kapoor, 1951
It's the only classic Bollywood film I saw all year so perhaps this is tokenism. Who cares. It's parts social criticism, romance fantasia, courtroom drama, and, of course, musical. Raj Kapoor is born into the gutter and is destined to stay there until he falls in love. The pathos of Chaplin mixed with Cantinflas? This was great.
Bend of the River Anthony Mann, 1952
I kinda threw my hands and just chose one of the three Mann/Stewart collabs I saw. Though I probably chose the wrong one.
Winchester '73 has a gleefully maniacal Dan Duryea messing things up.
The Naked Spur has the badassery of Robert Ryan. But
Bend of the River is probably the only film that has come close to making me like Arthur Kennedy. That's gotta count for something.
The Quiet Man John Ford, 1952
The stereotypes are lovely. The romanticism inherent in every shot of this idealized Ireland is contagious. And John Ford probably never got closer to pure poetry as he did with the scene in the graveyard when the rain starts pouring down. It's the stuff dreams are made of.
Written on the Wind Douglas Sirk, 1956
Both trashy and moving. Though the biggest impact that Sirk's movies have on me is just how they look and sound like. I
love that color.
The Tall T Budd Boetticher, 1957
A mention for the entire Ranown cycle. Each film has its own pleasures, one of which is seeing what kind of foe Scott is going to stand off with.
Seven Men From Now probably has the best foe in Lee Marvin, but
The Tall T is possibly the leanest, most brutal out of all these films. The feeling of violence is palpable.
Rio Bravo Howard Hawks, 1959
Possibly the most perfect movie I saw all year. Okay, i'm just kidding. Except I'm not. As far I'm concerned, all movies need to take a break from their narratives to indulge in a little play (like the songs, here). Life is not complete without it.
Charulata Satyajit Ray, 1964
A sign of peace. And hopefully a sign of more Ray to come in 2011. I had stupid preconceived notions about what I thought this was going to be like and hence avoided it, but I should've trusted worm. I should trust worm more. We all should.
My Night at Maud's Eric Rohmer, 1969
A stand-in for all the Rohmer I watched this year (okay, not enough, but I tried). Jean-Louis Trintignant is wonderful. He's both irritating and wrong-headed at times (maybe this is a better description of Brialy in
Claire's Knee), but also relatable and lovable. And it's just a beautiful film on the level of staging, dialogue, imagery, etc., as well.
Out of the Blue Dennis Hopper, 1980
We skip the 70's cuz they were obviously the worst decade ever (for cinema, specially). Linda Manz's creation of Cebe is fantastic. Tough talking punk fascinated with Elvis and fraught with daddy issues. Truly self-destructive film filled with fascinating behavior and moments. Also has that Neil Young about burning out and fading away.
Thief Michael Mann, 1981
A man at work. A man who is a professional, really good at what he does. So much so that he becomes a commodity for others to exploit.
Thief is about the need for independence, the need to own yourself and own what you do. Maybe that's when that dude tells Caan that he "owns the paper on his CINECAST!ing life," he has the reaction that he does. Also, just badass.
Prenom Carmen Jean-Luc Godard, 1983
I won't have any of this post-1967 slump talk about Godard anymore. It's just as fun as any of his 60's features, with its young, hot lovers, bank robberies, etc., and with a visual sophistication that just about outdoes
any of its contemporaries.
Streetwise Martin Bell, 1984
I have nothing to say about this other than it was just devastating. Loved these kids.
Wild Reeds Andre Techine, 1994
Throwing another bone to pix (lol). No, kidding, this was also swell. Bunch of young characters struggling to navigate the strange world that is desire. Or, friendship. Or, you know, growing up. I would've loved for this to been an installment in the
pixote said series.
CONTEMPORARY (2000 - 2009)
Barking Dogs Never Bite Bong Joon-Ho, 2000
Call me an asshole, but I apparently find lots of humor in people trying to kill and eat dogs. So much so that I'm willing to even place it above the much more ambitious
Memories of Murder (another candidate for inclusion here). But, when it came down it, my loyalties are more to Doo Na Bae than they are to Song Kang Ho. So, there you go.
Le Pont Des Arts Eugene Green, 2003
Eugene Green revisits some stuff from
Toutes Les Nuits (the students, the passion, the poetry) but with the newfound transcendence cribbed from
Le Monde Vivant. Just kidding. Except I'm not. It could probably match up with any of Tony Scott's metaphysical romances.
Breaking News Johnnie To, 2004
I watched a few Johnnie To films this year.
Throwdown was probably the most bizarre, a judo film that felt like a musical.
Mad Detective was the most radical and puzzling.
Running Out of Time was just a blast. But I'm choosing this one because it's about manipulating images, but also because of its bravura opening sequence. The best To experience I had all year was rewatching
Sparrow on the big screen though.
Light is Calling Bill Morrison, 2004
"In Light is Calling, footage is re-photographed from James Young’s The Bells, but here the breathtaking beauty of the physical decay of the photographic emulsion is highlighted. Compared to the more abstract Decasia (an earlier Morrison work), the director here has permitted a semblance of an actual plot from the original film: a militiaman riding, a woman waiting, a meeting, a departure. As images emerge through the painterly swirls of emulsion, the viewer is invited to reflect on the ephemeral quality of the film and, by extension, the construction of characters." Sure.
Mutual Appreciation Andrew Bujalski, 2005
Justin Rice plays a budding musician who kinda stumbles forwards and backwards, or maybe just does a crab walk. It's primarily a record of conversations, of the gaps, of the frustration. It's a film I admire because it resolutely goes nowhere. Also, Rice happens to be hilarious.
Saawariya Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2007
Bollywood version of White Nights. I like it because of its opulence, its ridiculously ornate sets, its shimmery lights. But also because, well, it's just [noembed]
freaking beautiful[/noembed].
Ponyo on the Cliff Hayao Miyazaki, 2008
It's not a trifle nor is it just a kid's movie. It's watching a master imbue
every single frame of his work with that indelible quality that makes his work special. I could watch it on repeat forever. It's great.
Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson, 2009
This counts since I saw it in the theater just this year. I had to drive 30 minutes to find a theater that was still playing it, but drive I did. I'm still a little mystified how it won the Filmspots last year, but I'm not complaining. It deserved it.
Halloween II Rob Zombie, 2009
I love those parts where Zombie will hold a shot from a distance and let that horror seep in for a little bit and then move on. I called them tableaux of dread: moments where nothing was really happening, or it was just a full-body portrayal of massacre. Strange film. I'm probably overrating it, but that's fine. I think this is worth watching and talking about.
Love Aaj Kal Imtiaz Ali, 2009
Imtiaz Ali is now probably one of the filmmakers I'm most interested in watching develop. This and
Jab We Met were both love stories that were told in a dignified and entertaining way.
Love Aaj Kal is probably the more complex one, since it also includes an alternate story line that serves to highlight the present one and further the themes. Whatever. That's all boring. This is a hugely entertaining movie. Even my mom liked it.
CURIOSITIES / WTF'SThe Gang's All Here Busby Berkeley, 1943
I don't mean to relegate Berkeley to this category (films that are bizarre, unclassifiable, etc., but in a good way), but I couldn't find room for this oddity in the other section. Plus WTF is just about the only reaction there is to be had after witnessing this film's many set pieces and numbers.
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery Bob Clampett, 1946
I watched a few cartoon shorts earlier this year and it was a wonderful experience. I found the Chuck Jones ones to be a little too ossified (at least, I admired them more than genuinely liked them). The Tex Avery ones were pretty hilarious (I could've easily chosen
Magical Maestro or
Bad Luck Blackie or something like that). But, in the end, I chose this one because it blows up just about every convention of the mystery/detective genre, does it with wit and aplomb and in a frenzy, and features Daffy Duck making out with a pig.
The Telephone Book Nelson Lyon, 1971
Pretty freewheeling early 70's comedy about a woman who hears the world's greatest erotic phone call. The film then goes on to detail a host of other kooky fetishes and stuff all while remaining pretty hilarious. The film's final animated interlude will probably make you go WTF.
Liquid Sky Slava Tsukerman, 1982
New Wave psycho punks under the influence of who knows how many drugs, insult each other, rape each other and god knows what else all while aliens watch and abduct. It can be a slog to get through, but it's very rewarding for that final monologue that the main character delivers about how much shit she's had to get through to make it to where she is. She kills with her FILMSPOTTER!, you see.
Cracking Up Jerry Lewis, 1983
Lewis' final film is possibly his freest since
The Bellboy. It's a film almost without any responsibilities to anything that came before it. The set up is ridiculously general and the action often gets so far away from the main character that the only relation they have is that they're all played by Jerry Lewis. It's an excuse for performance, just an excuse for a movie. Not all of it hits, but it's fantastic nonetheless. Godard even went as far as referencing it in his film,
Keep Your Right Up.
All For the Winner Jeffrey Lau + Corey Yuen, 1990
This gets included as a nod to the Far East bracket for which I had to watch all of these damn movies. The kicker is that this, the best out of all them, isn't even in the bracket. I'm sure pix is going to commit suicide soon enough. Chow and Ng Man Tat are just ridiculously hilarious. Maybe the funniest moment I saw all year was when Chow imitates Chow Yun Fat coming into the room. Hilarity defined.
La Vie Nouvelle Philippe Grandrieux, 2002
I seriously have no idea what to make of this movie. It has its champions and I can kind of see what they're talking about. Still, I probably saw no more violent film this year than this. Not violent as in showing things, but just a state of being; the implications of the film, as it were. Each image is suffused with dread, nightmarish qualities. There's barely any talking, just confusion. Grandrieux's psychosexual preoccupations are deeply troubling and I'm not sure I can get beyond that, but I can safely say that I've never seen a film quite like it. Think of
INLAND EMPIRE or
TROUBLE EVERY DAY and then decide if that's something you would like to see...
The Room Tommy Wiseau, 2003
Apparently Tommy Wiseau is coming to our theater for a screening of the film. I may have to sneak him my paper about the communal experience that is seeing his film and how it ties back into his influences (Tennessee Williams and other types of melodrama). Spoons and shit, you know?
Dasepo Naughty Girls Lee Jae-Young, 2006
It's as if they decided that
Sex is Zero was bullshit and just made it as bizarre and filled with as many non-sequiturs as possible. This can only be a good thing.
Gamer Neveldine/Taylor, 2009
Absolutely spurious and filthy and depraved and exploitative and whatever else you want to call it. N/T would probably laugh and say, "sure." But it's media skewering is almost gleefully CINECAST!ed up. I'd call it satire, but it's hard to know where they're criticizing or just getting off on it all. This is depressing stuff.
I'll come back with some stats later.