now that i got that out of system, i would like to welcome people back to mise en meh. ive been a little quiet since my ten megawatt list that took most of my christmas break from me. during that time i was writing i was watching A LOT of movies. i will resume the recent watching feature soon but for now i want to talk about avatar.
i saw it last week in a HUGE IMAX. as far as IMAXs go, this was a big one and of course it was in 3D.
i winced quite a bit during the movie. in fact, during each of the stupid navi dancing sequences, my wife and i were downright LOLing at the ridiculousness of it.
'silly navi. its going to take more than that to save ripley!'
before i start talking about what i liked in this awesome awful film, ill talk about the badness. going into avatar, i had heard a lot of things on this movie.
@secretcristina said it was about 'blue cats living in an internet tree'
@radmike likened to ferngully as did hitler
this is my favorite hitler video btw...but that is for another blogspot.
yes avatar was incredibly stupid. the plot was nothing new and downright silly with predictable turns, clear good and evil, and a lot of cinematic pilfering (the final battle between jake sully and the evil military guy reminded me a lot of the final battle scene in iron man). frankly, hitler is right and sam worthington is awful. REALLY awful. his acting is laughably mad and is frequently outacted by anything remotely on screen. in fact, signourey weaver really phones it in too and you have to wonder if any of the flesh actors were too distracted by the awesomeness of pandora to actually concentrate on acting.
but again, this movie is not about humans.
the world of pandora was the most amazing thing ive ever seen. floating mountains!? YEAH! crazy dog things!? WHOA! FERNGULLY RE-IMAGINED! FUCK YES!! i never wanted to leave the magical land of pandora and every moment in this world was so frickin' cool.
this is a game changer. much like the matrix did with action sequences, avatar made 3D movies with motion capture characters look silly. if you compare the navi with any of the characters in the zemekis trilogy of mediocre to attrocious IMAX films (polar express, beowolf, christmas carol), the navi reign and everything else looks silly.
a coworker of mine was comparing the 3D in avatar to beowolf. in the latter, characters would take out a weapon and seem to say something, 'look at my sword in 3D! it is totally in 3D! is this not blowing your mind!' or 'im going to swing a stein of ale and bits of red shit is going to come FLYING out at you because its 3D! ISNT THIS AWESOME!' with avatar, 'here are some floating mountains. it is impossible to picture these in 2D because this is a real place and these are really some floating mountains.'
avatar should NOT have won the golden globe for best drama. that should have went to hurt locker which should win the oscar as well. avatar was an outstanding cool film that will change the course of action films from now on. it is NOT a best picture. the story and the acting were passable to downright abysmal. cameron should get a best picture nod of course and possibly win but this film should not take away best picture honors from hurt locker, a brilliant, impressive, smart, understated, and all around excellent film. the hurt locker doesnt have weak points and will change the way hollywood will make movies about contemporary war.
next up for avatar is a sequel and maybe jimmy cameron should borrow the wachowskis to put in some cool bullet effects. that would be SWEET. seriously jim, i cant wait ten years to go back to pandora. i want to see some of those faraway lands referenced and maybe see the internet tree again.
of all the major awards shows (sorry people's choice--not you), i have the most contempt for the golden globes or the hollywood foreign press awards. basically, its a chance for minor critics to give awards to whatever movies they feel can get the most ratings. but in the end no one watches and it isnt really much of a litmus test for the oscars (that would be the critics choice and the guild awards). anyway, because im so anti-hfpa and so pro-other tings here are my picks:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Hurt Locker (2008)
this is the movie to beat and avatar fever was still a bit calmer when the critics were voting.
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Julie & Julia (2009)
(500) days has got a good shot but no can stop the streep
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)
clooney as himself. jeff bridges is the mickey rourke of this year
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
UGH!
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days of Summer (2009)
part of the love for this movie was the levitt.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)
a lock.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)
another lock
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
lock again
Best Director - Motion Picture
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
ditto. lock.
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino
tarantino is the ultimate always the screenplay never the film guy
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham("The Weary Kind")
a crap song but the stuff they go for
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
A Single Man (2009): Abel Korzeniowski
i would love to see where the wild things get it but a single man was pretty brilliant
Best Animated Film
Up (2009)
will anyone who think this isnt going to win never bet again?
Best Foreign Language Film
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
im thinking haneke can pull this one off. the real contest is between this and almodobar's broken embraces
DONE. enjoy your evening of stupid awards show nonsense and im going to go back to writing real blogs soon
thinking back over my life watching films from this decade, ive been drawn to the macabre movies that tend to make me feel empty inside. why do i do this to myself? as ive said before, i watch movies to feel extremes and it might be because im so cynical and embittered with life that its hard for me to experience something that makes me feel good about life and humanity. dont get me wrong, there have been quite a few films i loved that genuinely made me feel happy throughout the years like that over the years. as i discussed earlier in the list, harold and kumar go to the white castle is one of them. the scene in which they finally got their burgers made me feel great to be alive as it was seeing two people struggle and then get exactly what they want. that is something i can relate to and something i have experienced- a struggle and an inevitable pay-off though not all conflicts end that way.
with wall-e, the struggle was the loss and eventual redemption of humanity. the character of wall-e, the last garbage collection bot on earth, through years of mindless work discovered humanity and finds joy and pleasure in the smallest details and minutiae we all take for granted. meanwhile, the actual human race has lost all the things that made themselves unique. they relied on machines for everything -- food, movement, reproduction and while excretion was not covered in the film, we can make a wager as to some other things those chairs did. in short, human beings could barely be classified as living things and certainly not unique. also, at any point in the movie, it doesn't show humans loving anything (love being perhaps one of the most important feelings of the human spirit). though wall-e, one of millions of similarly produced beings, alone on the planet discovered all these things and more and sought the one thing that humanity neglected: real physical contact. wall-e wanted to hold eva's hand (eva of course being another scouting droid robot sent to recover hints of plant life on earth) which he understood as the ultimate sign of love. when eva is struck down, wall-e nurses her(/it?) back to health and shelters her from rain and other elements, again something that humanity has forgotten.
without giving away spoilers (though i think we all know how it ends) the pay-off of the film is epic and consistently drives me to tears. the message for me is not that love conquers all, which im not sure i actually believe in life, but that nothing is as worse of as it appears. in the beginning of the movie, humanity seemed worse for the wear but there was a spark still alive in the form of wall-e. in that spark, there was hope, and eventually, humanity did survive and for me, knowing that seemingly insurmountable odds can be overcome is an invigorating feeling.
on a side note, to anyone who has seen the film and not paid close attention to the credits, i suggest you do so. it traces the future of the human race of when they leave the ship to a recovery of their culture and it does so through art movements in history. in other words, earliest images of humans leaving the ship are cave paintings than go to ancient egyptian-->medieval-->renassaince-->impression etc. in fact, here it is:
so there ya go. my favorite movies of the last 10 years. that only took me about 30 hours to do.
the next 4 films in the top 5 are all foreign and have all debuted to some acclaim. however, these movies from here on in affected me more than any other films this decade and they all fall within my top 20 favorite movies of all time. 3 Iron is a Korean film directed by Ki Duk Kim who i have written about quite a bit on this list. this film is about a man who breaks into people's houses when they are on vacation and live there. he doesnt steal or wreck anything. in fact, he just moves in and cleans or organizes their things before he moves out. along the way he meets a girl who joins him in this quest. the girl is in an unhappy marriage and forms a strange codependent relationship with this this other guy. so, the description of the film only gets stranger from here on in. it is mostly silent and the two leads never talk save for one important line at the film spoken by the girl. throughout the course of the film, the man learns how to make himself invisible not in the literal sense but to live in the natural world without being seen. there is nothing supernatural just the ability to avoid being seen by using quiet and speed. in the 90 minutes movie, you encounter one of the most unique love stories ever produced on film. the themes of lonliness, isolation, and in the end, redemption are common to all ki duk kim films but in this one the stately silent and claustrophobic modern world appear more beautiful than usual. ive seen this about 5 or 6 times and each time i discover new things to admire with this film. Here is the trailer...
and here is the full film...
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
this movie absolutely should have won the best foreign film oscar in 2007. in fact, this probably should have won best picture overall. it won the cannes palm d'or which is a pretty big award. so, what is this about? it is about a romanian woman trying to help her friend get an abortion in 1987. problem is that abortion is illegal in romania and they have to do it on the black market. i think its obvious what that the title refers to. directed by christian mungui, this is a tragic tale and one that gets increasingly more tragic as the film goes on. throughout the film it becomes clear that the abortion is one of the simpler parts of their story. what continues is a dark tale of abuse, lies, and a movie that is too painful to watch twice. why do i put myself through these experiences? i could have watched transformers and everything could have been better. i never would have had to sit through this incredibly depressing film that left me too broken to cry by the end of the film. but then i wouldnt get to experience this amazing tell of human drama. this is a topic that i would never have to deal with otherwise and that is exactly why i watched this. with film, it is possible to experience life as you could never. a true life drama most likely happened to people, quite a few of them and films like allow someone like me, living a comfortable life close to boston to watch the struggles of romanian women in the 80s do something that just about any american could do without having to watch the compromises they made. here is the trailer:
this is in my top 10 favorite films of all time and though its considered a horror film, i consider one of the most intense and well done psychologically dramas ever made. directed masterfully by kiyoshi kurosawa, this movie is about the dead returning to on earth through computers. as the dead continue to re-enter the world, people begin to disappear into the void between worlds. like 3 iron, this is a study on alienation in the modern world. the message of the film is that is as the world gets closer throughout computers, people can become increasingly segregated into their own cyber worlds. in this respect, it is logical to think that the dead can still exist in a cyber world. this film came out in 2001 which was before a lot of the social networks and iphones and the constant connectivity which is now considered normal in society. in the film people who were once living become completely immersed in their computers and quite literally disappear in a fuzz. pulse was remade in the US and like most US remakes, completely missed the point. instead of an existential rumination of society and isolation due to increased false connections of interwebbing, it was a horror film about the dead walking the earth. the original pulse is scary but is so much more than your standard horror film. its a mindfuck and an experience. this is almost necessary to watch twice to fully appreciate what is going on in the film. im not sure if you can see kairo as a warning or a promise as to what the future will bring but its an intense and thought provoking film. here is the trailer that does sell it as a scary ass horror film. here is the trailer:
i cant find a link for the whole film :( sorry!
2. Lilja-4-Ever
a few years ago the Onion made THIS LIST featuring 24 movies that are too painful to watch twice. on this list were many of my favorite movies i have seen more than once (bergman's winter light? pssshaw ive seen that 4 times. audition? kids stuff.) but #23 is the subject of this blog entry. Lilja-4-Ever is a Russian film made by the brilliant swedish director lukas moodysson (who helmed the excellent together and fucking amal). it is about a russian teen who accidently ends up sold into forced prostitution. in short, this is the second most depressing movie ive ever seen and the most intimate and tragic film ever made on the subject of human trafficking. in the film, moodysson condemns those prey on the girls, the countries that support it, and the western world in general for not doing enough. the heroin, lilja is championed as a martyr and the ultimate victim. i dont want to talk about this movie too much because i want you all to watch this movie. its a masterpiece and it does not shove its message down your throat and if you it did, it wouldnt be nearly as effective. the most heartbreaking aspect of the film is its gritty reality and the sense of further impending doom. watching this movie you know that things arent going to get better. after all, even before she is sold into prostitution, she has a close not entirely sexual friendship with a local boy who commits suicide after she leaves and becomes her guardian angel. his best though sad is unfortunately one of the more redeeming aspects of the film. i watch this film and loved it for the same reasons as 4 months 3 weeks 2 days; for the unflinching view of someone else's reality. the magic of film allows us all to experience legitimate problems of the world. this sort of thing happens and though these are fictionalized accounts, the stories could be typical to most tales of human traffic and other violations of basic human rights.
i never thought that i would the phrase 'severely underrated' and 'steven speilberg' in relation to each other. but yes, this is a steven speilberg movie that is incredibly UNDERrated. i didnt like ET, AI, minority report, war of the worlds--im not really much of a speilberg fan. in fact, i find his films sappy and insipid most of the time. unless the films are about jews apparently. schindler's list didnt pull any punches and that was an unquestionable masterpiece. munich is not alone a great film about jews but also about palestinians. the film, about the secret retaliation of the israeli government of a palestinian planned kidnap-murder of israeli athletes in the 1972 olympics, is a gripping and well executed movie with an even greater morale and lesson. while i was fully expecting speilberg to say 'palestine is bad. israel is good,' he took a more controversial and i think, more relevant stance. that is, he said that both sides are right AND wrong. it was their constant warring that is tearing apart the social dynamic in not just their part of the world but the world in general. this deserved more awards attention than it got and i think because it didnt take the obvious stance that it was perceived as anti-israel by some. frankly, this is just as ridiculous as thinking that dinosaurs exist on an island off the coast of costa rica.
rather than post a clip from the movie, i decided to an interesting interview with spielberg about the film
9. A Tale of Two Sisters
throughout the aughts, we had a lot of horror movies come out all the world. the worldwide popularity of J and K-horror films scared a lot of people and with these brilliant original films came the shitty remakes that besmirched the originals reputations. this film, (called Janghwa, Hongryeon in korean) is not only the best horror movie ive ever seen but among the best ive seen period. even the american remake, the uninvited (with emily browning and elizabeth banks) was pretty good! what made the original so fantastic was a perfect combination of drama, mystery, and horror. there were a few very well planned scary ghost and things pop out moments that were extraordinarily well timed. one of the downfalls with most horror films is that it relies on scary 'things popping out' rather than setting up an aire of mystery that is genuinely frightening. this is a scary stepmother, psychological unrest, and haunted house movie in one and and the trademark horror movie twist was actual a real surprise. for me, this sets the standard for horror movies. it was beautifully shot and perfectly executed and i want everyone to see this. NOW. so i pasted the first part below. WATCH THE WHOLE DAMN THING! (subtitled)
8. Head-On
turkish director (hold on keep reading, ill be talking about porn in a second) faith akin's the edge of heaven (discussed earlier in this list) is one of the most exciting directors to watch for the coming decade. head-on is the story of two social misfits recently out of a mental hospital after attempting suicide and failing. the film is a beautiful story of love developing in very unlikely situations and between two people who would seem unfit for any love in general. however, there is an interesting story behind the film. the performance of sibel kekilli, the female lead, won several major MAJOR acting awards around the world. soon after, it was discovered that she was a major MAJOR adult film star. if you google her name, you will see a hell of a lot of naked pictures of a rather explicit nature. why am i bringing this up? mainly to get you guys to keep reading but just to remind all of you that brilliant actresses are everywhere and that you shouldnt judge. in my opinion of the most interesting actresses around is named erin brown. she used to do soft core porn under the name misty mundae and is now a sort of b-horror movie actress. all she needs is a good role and a great director and she can be the next sibel kekilli. i know i went a bit on a tangent on that one and but i assure all of you that this is one the finest international films of the last 10 years.
7. Garden State
what!? garden state!? 7th best movie of the decade? no. it is not the 7th BEST movie of the decade. it is my 7th FAVORITE movie of the decade. for me garden state is an intensely personal film. the issues that zach branf's character deals with i can relate to very closely. as a former NJ ex-pat, i did have a lot of issues with my family that kept me away from my homestate for years. and while i did became a minor celebrity or work in a posh asian restaurant that sells ketel one vodka drinks, i had brief success and then failure as a musician and was working and cleaning up in a lab to make money. so there were a lot of parallels i saw between the film and me. i saw a few times in theater and while it wasnt the movie that directly caused me to patch up my relationship with my parents, it was a factor. unfortunately, whilst in new jersey i never met a natalie portman epileptic who introduced me to the shins. for the records, i LOVE the shins and i did BEFORE garden state and i was definitely irritated by all the extra attention. so yeah, i loved this movie. its twee and romantic and inspirational and like...nick and nora's infinite playlist + MORE indie. mmm...
6. Kill Bill
yes i am including this as one entry. yes i am a huge tarantino fan. yes i have watched these movies a dozen times. yes the first movie i ever went to see alone was vol 2 at 11 am on a friday. i regret nothing. here is my favorite scene. its the last one but its perfect:
the only film on this list done entirely with puppets...unfortunately. its a shame that south park creators trey parker and matt stone only do a movie every decade or so because all of them have been pretty damn funny. though this one is not just funny, its a biting satire on war, terrorism, the media, and um...broadway. i cant recall a second in this movie i didnt love and really think its one of the most perfectly executed comedies of all time. even from the opening shot of a puppet in the backdrop of paris operating a puppet to a cockroach version of kim jong il to playing away in a tiny spacecraft and then back to 'everyone has AIDS,' this is one of the funniest movies of all time much less the decade.
and oh yeah...MATT DAMON
19. Piano Teacher, The/La Pianiste
so now we are going from satirical puppet comedy to a twisted tale of BS&M piano teacher/student relationships. this is the final of four films by director michael haneke on the list and it is the most intriguing of his films. isabelle huppert stars as a firm riged stick up the ass piano teacher living with a controlling verbally abusive elderly mother. she meets a young student who unleashes in her weird sexual obsessions that have just existed in her private life. one of the best examples of class struggle and sexual perversion combined, it is a dark and strange experience and perhaps his most disturbing since funny games (which was remade this decade with naomi watts to some success). below is a very good representative scene towards the beginning of the film
18. Match Point
the aughts will be known as the decade where woody allen found his touch again. after stumbling with a series of films in the mid to late 90s, he made 3 films which many consider to be among his best, melinda and melinda, vicky cristina barcelona, and this film. returning to subject matter and styles closer to interiors than annie hall, this fascinating morality play featured some brilliant performances and an absolutely rivetting and mind bending conclusion. i am a huge woody allen fan and even loved the much criticisized scoop but match point was definitely a deviation from his traditional styles and moods. while i do mention interiors above, there is no hint of scandanavian bergmanesque pretension. it is just a great, well acted drama that is yet another entry into the excellent canon of woody allen.
17. Isle, The/Seom
another well respected director on this list is korean auteur ki duk kim. he is one of my favorite directors working today and this early-ish work of his is my favorite one of his films. the plot of this film is a fine representation of his usual themes. this film is quite literally a manifestation of the phrase 'man is an island.' a woman works at a small resort in which men live in tiny houses on a lake to fish. on this resort, her main responsibility is to take prostitutes who arrive out to the men in the lake. she meets one such man who feels a similar type of lonliness and isolation that she feels. like all of kim's works, the emphasis is not on words but on moods and feelings. originally i watched this because i thought it was a horror movie but discovered one of the most intense psychological character dramas i have ever seen. this movie changed my life. i included the trailer but my favorite scene is on youtube. however, its the final shot and without the context of the rest of the movie doesnt make any sense. my apologies to anyone who doesnt speak korean (like me)
16. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
dark foreign film. uproarious comedy. i think we have a trend here. harold and kumar. what is there is to say about this film. this film is an instant cult classic and destined to be the beginning of a great and very funny franchise. what i am going to talk about is my favorite scene of the movie--the scene where they finally get to white castle. after 90 minutes of buildup and epic journeys, they finally arrive at white castle. beaten up but no beaten, they order their burgers and fries and they eat. they eat like they never have before. such cinematic gratification i have never seen before and when they were eating those burders, i wanted to get up and applaude. it is felt so good to see people really get exactly what they want. and ive totally serious too. it is was seriously amazing to watch. oh yeah, the battleshits scene was pretty funny too. my favorite sequence begins at 3:19 below
15. Hard Candy
for just about everyone, ellen page is juno, a spunky pregnant teen. but for me, she is hayley stark, one of the most intriguing, mysterious characters of modern film. in hard candy she plays a 14 y/o girl who meets a 32 year old guy on the internet and meets him. said man is played brilliantly by patrick wilson. he is a pedophile but seems like a really cool, nice, good looking guy and she seems like a really mature girl who an older guy who really could fall for. but this movie is all about appearances and who characters appear to be. hayley stark is soon not be revealed to be who she is and neither is wilson's character. what follows is a 2 character play of exacting twisted revenge in the name of those who were taken advantage of. as great as wilson is in this, the film belongs to page whose cool, sophisciated demeanor fades into a cold, calculating femme fatale quickly and ruthlessly. without a doubt, one of the most uniquely played 2 character dramas since Sleuth (michael caine and sir laurence olivier)
14. Nobody Knows/Dare mo shiranai
the 4th most depressing movie ive ever seen and like most of the top 5, it is japanese. they certainly do like depressing the fuck of their people. directed by hirokazu koreeda, whose 2009 film still walking is appearing on many year end best of lists, nobody knows is about a small family (eldest child 12) who is abadoned by their mother and forced to survive on their own. needless to say, things dont go terribly well. someone this did not receive a lot of attention in the west which is absolutely ridiculous. a film this powerful and moving needed to be seen by more people. the film is really about what horrible things parents can do to their child and how selfish one particular parent was. what makes it even more devastating is that this was based on a true story.
away from the sad realm of japanese film (for a bit) and into the wonderful land of nick park. chickenrun was my favorite film of 2000 and it has held up very very well over the last decade. with wallace and gromit (the curse of the wererabbit nearly made the list) still kickin' this delightful tale of chickens overcoming the evil tweedy farm family is still awesome. i love those plucky chickens (pun intended!). well, frankly i dont have a lot to write on this film and im kinda running outta gas on this particular film. its cute, funny, and another reason NOT to hate mel gibson. man, this guy must be talented to have dodged as much crap as he is this decade. dag. alright, two more left. i can do this.
every decade needs an epic italian drama and in the 00's we got this one. huzzah! shown in 2 parts, this incredible work is a typical family generational drama but was especially poignant. like all good films of this nature, there is a relationship between 2 brothers that gets severed by time and interest coupled with tragic deaths and political movements. everything i am saying right now isnt terribly new or original but just particular well done. i havent seen many movies that are this effortlessly six hours. in scope, i would legimately compare this to the godfather I and II or to lesser known italian masterpieces like ermano olmi's tree of wooden clogs. im not really surprised that this one didnt get an oscar nomination as it was produced for italian television. this doesnt mean its not brilliant or a masterpiece. in fact, just put it on the netflix q already.
11. All About Lily Chou-Chou
ok the last of the runners up. after this its all top ten and im really excited because this is taking way longer than i wrote it would. ok, here we go. so of all the obscure foreign films i put on this list, this one is the most obscure from a critical standpoint. this one probably wont end up on the end of critics lists which is a damn shame. all about lily chou chou is about two friends and their obsessive fandom over j-pop star lily chou chou. together, they listen to her, see her concerts, write about her on the interwebs and in messages boards. though the two friends do drift apart, their love of lily keeps them together. the way the film is shot is one of the most interesting aspects of an already excellent film. it is very dark and in the middle, there is a 30 minute sequence filmed entirely on hand held video (like blair witch or paranormal activity found footage kind of thing). its unrelenting and paints a portrait of a desperate and increasingly further isolated youth. despite its relative obscurity, it is ranked as one of the top 50 films about music in the IMDB top genre rankings so there is definitely an audience out there. i seriously recommend it of course. AND you can watch it on youtube for free! i embedded the first part below
**NOTE BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE TOP TEN**
i left out IN BRUGES! im not sure how this happened but if i had the chance, i would play it into the 70s. sorry. rest assured that i did love that film.
in the 00's, spike lee's best 2 films were about white people. that isnt to say that his 'when the levees broke' and 'bamboozled' werent excellent (they were) but for me, spike's 25th hour was a masterpiece. it was a pitch combination of post 911 new york representing a broad cross-section of contemporary (white) society. edward norton delivers his upteenth great performance and there are some outstanding turns by barry pepper, phillip c hoffman, brian cox, and anna paquin. bamboozled nearly the cut as did inside man but in terms of subtle, dramatic story-telling, this is the work lee has done. the scene below is one of my favorite scenes of any movies of all time.
29. High Fidelity
oh high fidelity. this is a predictable choice for anyone that knows me. an obsessive music-phile whose snooty elitism and devotion to his music covers up a brick wall of insecurity and self doubt. i love nick hornby's book but i also love this movie quite a bit, dare i say just as much. there are bits about this movie love such as the springsteen cameo (attached below) or jack black's awesome rendition of walking on sunshine or let's stay together. mostly though, i love the dreary love of music as the healer, the redeemer, the bringer together, and the cause and solution of fights. this is the pinnacle of intelligent comic dramas and a must see for music fans.
28. Morvern Callar
for the most part, this round of 10 films have a great deal widely seen films though this one might not be as well known. morvern callar is name of samantha morton's character, a scottish supermarket clerk whose boyfriend commits suicide leaving behind his unpublished novel. she takes it and gets it published under her name leading to fame and riches. directed by lynne ramsay, arguably the best female UK director working today, this is a bleak (im saying that word a lot arent i) and grainily shot film, firmly entrenched in the realm of the cinema verite. though as much credit as ramsay gets for a brilliantly executed film, it is with equal respect to samantha morton who portrays the title character with bravada, subtlety, and quiet insecurity. all in all, another great performance of the 00's.
another director i fell in love with this decade is korean auteur ki duk kim. he has already had a couple films on here and there is still another to come. but this is most certainly his standout film of the decade in terms of critical reception. this is a simple tale of a boy raised by a monk and is corrupted by the arrival of a woman. like many of duk's film, there is hardly any dialogue, big expensive outdoor shots, and the characters are secondary to nature. there is a beauty and artistry to kim's style in which the script is almost unnecessary. in that respect, there is definitely a limited audience for kim but for those who can appreciate films with this sort of artistry, its amazing. i tried to find a certain clip of the young monk writing out passages of a buddhist text using a cat's tail but i cant find it...so im not going to include a clip.
26. 21 Grams
another big international trend of the 00's was the emergence of the big 3 mexican directors. there was alfonso cauron (y tu mama tambien, which i hated), guillermo del toro (pan's labyrinth), and alejandro gonzalez inarritu whose 21 grams changed my life. i think this is one of the first films i saw that made me appreciate this sort of dark, redemptive cinema. all 3 performances (and bonus points for melissa leo) were tremendously good. much like many of the films on this list, it is shot in a style most grainy and full of grit and tenacity. oh how i love this film. here is the trailer and if you havent seen the movie, there are ways to watch it. *wink*
25. There Will Be Blood
paul thomas anderson managed to maintain daniel day lewis crazy urge to hammily overact until the last scene where he really let him go and thereby created one of the greatest scenes in film history. lets all realize paul dano was just as good.
24. Brick
one of the more obscure american films on the list but a fascinatingly unique and original film. the concept seems pretty stupid: film noir in high school but in the hands of director rian johnson, this was straight out of the 40s. large kudos belong to the star of the film joseph gordon levitt. now a star in his own right and largely recognized as one of todays great young actors, when this decade began, he was the kid from third rock from the sun. then he did mysterious skin and the world realized how good this kid was. brick was made a couple years after and those who saw this outstanding crime film continued to be in amazement of levitt. he is basically amazing in everyone hes in but for me this is my favorite performance of his and my favorite movie hes done so far. i put in the red band trailer...because its naughty! its a great trailer nontheless. (btw the trailer isnt naughty. no nudity. sorry)
23. Royal Tenenbaums, The
fasten your seat belts, i have 3 movies in a row that were widely seen, widely loved, and are on my best of decade lists. what can i say about wes andersen that hasnt already been said? ever since bottlerocket, he has been making witty, highly intellectual, black comedies that are equal parts funny, quirky, and sweet. by doing so, he has changed the world of independent film. he is one of the most consistent directors working today and all of his films get criterion releases; what does that say about him? this isnt my favorite film of his (that would be rushmore), but its close. the color schemes alone should be enough to guarantee it a spot in any DVD collection. im not sure i want to be a tanenbaum though, maybe just befriend margo. like all andersen films, the soundtrack is beautifully done and music is perfectly complemented to the visuals. i include a clip which uses elliott smith's needle in the hay, an example of a song reminding me of a movie.
22. Shaun of the Dead
one of the great things about writing about commercially popular films is that i can find all my favorite clips from movies! as for shaun of the dead, im not even going to write about a huge blurb about it. this is the greatest horror comedy of all time and quite possibly the 2nd best zombie of all time (original dawn of the dead. w00t). here is my favorite clip:
FUCK. i cant embed it... but its the one where shaun and ed try to pick records to throw at zombines. WATCH IT HERE
21. Lost in Translation
what can i possibly say about this that hasnt been said before. well, its pretty divisive. i know a lot of people that hated this movie and didnt get it. i know people that watched it again and then loved it. for me, there are so themes and messages that i can relate to. there is of course the obvious themes of lonliness and isolation all brought home by bringing the action to japan. there is parody of hollywood starlets and indie rock snootiness and of course, there is the opening shots of scarlet johannsen's ass. for me, this movie is about having people in your life that you love but still being lonely and not content. as for the last scene in the movie, the esoteric nature of the quiet whisper between bill murray and scarjo is perfect and without question, one of the greatest movie endings of all time. though that isnt my favorite scene in the movie; the honor belongs to the 30 seconds of bill murray singing roxy music's more than this. all of the themes in this movie can be summed up by his sad, mellow yet sometimes forced, occasionally pained delivery of the lyrics as a bewigged scarjo sits in the background looking on as if to say 'i can relate.'
i love film. in fact, im obsessed. not in the cute little ive taken a film class and saw citizen kane way; but more of a im going to take a weekend and watch 16 movies kind of way. this is my movie log. currently, my goal is watch every movie on the theyshootpictures.com starting list of 7000+ films but also a bunch of other film lists, canons, and misc crappy new releases that find their way onto my netflix queue that i will watch. on this blog, im gonna write about it without using spellcheck or capitolization (you know, signs of 'the man' and his oppressive society!). im also a huge music fanatic and scientist (but we will not bring science here very often). in short, i get easily obsessed with things and cant stop moving. i also eat lots of yogurt.
