2012

Barbara (Director: Christian Petzold)

Nominees: Zero Dark Thirty, Moonrise Kingdom, Searching For Sugarman, The Invisible War, Cosmopolis, Avengers, Looper, Amour, It's Such a Beautiful Day

Oscars pick: Argo
Nominees: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Oscar's baby, Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, was gripping and I liked it well enough. I just thought it pushed the manipulation/tension buttons too hard. After a while, I was like "Just get 'em into the damn air Ben!" Yeesh, I was half expecting a man to show up on the wing of the plane, to keep the suspense rolling.

Looking over the Academy's nominations: I enjoyed Lincoln, Django Unchained, and Life of Pi. The others were mostly just okay. Silver Linings Playbook, for example, started off fantastic, but it slipped into conventional rom-com waters at the end and stop being special.

Two from Oscar that stood out for me...

Amour. I'm not a Michael Haneke fan, but this was very well done. It dragged a bit, the director was likely shooting for a certain measured rhythm, kin to what Dryer would do. But I don't find Haneke as accomplished with the technique. The story is brutal. I've seen many films about death, but I've rarely seen one a raw and painful as this. Still, the director also injects a rare (for him) warmth into the relationship.

I also admired Zero Dark Thirty - the nail-biting look at the hunt for bin Laden. I reject the notion that this is pro-torture, as much as I rejected the criticism that Hurt Locker was pro-war. It simply presents the act as fact. I'm glad the writer and director didn't play the apologist, but instead simply shows us this action and these people, and the cost this hunt exacted on them. The filmmakers take some dramatic license with the material, but not to the detriment of the whole, you still get a sense of what happened. Beyond that, it's prime filmmaking. I think it's a better paced, tighter directed, and scripted picture than Kathryn Bigelow's Hurt Locker, and it was my pick among the Oscar nominees.

Outside of Oscar, I liked Don Hertzfeldts unique and imaginative existentialist comedy, It's Such a Beautiful Day. Both intimate and cosmic - its simple line drawings carry so much weight and wisdom and yes, beauty. It speaks about the mundane repetitions that fill up our lives - and the strange thoughts and observations we carry in our heads, as it follows the days and life of Bill, a man who is slowly losing his grip on reality. The droll humor is both darkly funny, a little sad, and filled with contemplative truths about mortality, and how the little joys, even those that are seemingly insignificant, are what makes life wondrous. It was formed out of three shorts Don filmed over the years but works smartly as a whole. Just a brilliant piece that really spoke to me.

2012 was a difficult one to pin down, and I've switched this around a few times over the years, but I believe I've finally found one that will stick. Christian Petzold's Barbara, an absorbing cold war drama about an East German physician who is exiled to a remote area as punishment after applying for an exit visa.

MUBI notebook author, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, summarized Christian's style as practical but not utilitarian because each shot has a sense of purpose. He went on to add... "Petzold is a genre director whose work eschews conventional devices and techniques; his films, essentially thrillers, operate by never giving a viewer cues—visual, musical, or tonal—as to what sort of film they're watching. His plots read like pulp but play like natural, logical developments of the setting and characters". I kept this in mind as I watched and noted the directorial qualities Ignatiy highlighted in his review.

The film is among the director's finest, though on first viewing it can seem too precise, too emotionally detached, and cool. Every hair tucked in place, neat and combed, clothing pressed and perfect - however, another look reveals that there is indeed a lot of feeling boiling under that surface veneer. If the movie doesn't shout at you, doesn't wave its arms about, or aggressively pull at the heartstrings, that doesn't mean it's missing a beating heart. Much like its protagonist, skillfully played by Nina Hoss, it holds its emotions close to the vest. It (and she) has to, as someone could be watching and recording her every move, even a friendly colleague is a potential threat. The paranoia is tangible, but not brazenly presented, there's nuance and subtlety throughout... still, you feel it - whether it's anger over the dehumanizing politics, or the frustration in seeing the pain and sadness that envelopes characters who lack the freedom to live where they chose... even the sacrifice is underplayed, moving, but not overwrought.

While the film is carefully directed and planned - through it all, Barbara is tense, affecting, and bares its soul, quietly, but beautifully and with honesty.

Other films I enjoyed in 2012 listed here... Letterboxd Top 100+

Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt (also A Royal Affair)
Honorable Mentions:
Jean Rochefort, The Artist and the Model * Philip Seymour Hoffman & Joaquin Phoenix, The Master * Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln * Denzel Washington, Flight * Jean Louis Trintignant, Amour * Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained * Tim Roth, Broken * Fabrice Luchini, In the House 

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Honorable Mentions: 

Waad Mohammed, Wadjda * Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild * Eloise Laurence, Broken * Rachel Mwanza, War Witch * Cosmina Stratan & Cristina Flutur, Beyond the Hills * Saskia Rosendahl, Lore * Nina Hoss, Barbara * Keira Knightley, Anna Karenina * Emmanuelle Riva, Amour * Cho Min-soo, Pieta

Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises & Les Misérables






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2011

Hugo - in 3D (Director: Martin Scorsese)
Nominees: A Separation, Midnight in Paris, House of Pleasures, Take Shelter, Source Code, The Artist, Moneyball, The Rabbi's Cat, Hotarubi no Mori e

Oscars pick: The Artist
Nominees: The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Tree of Life, War Horse

2011 was a year where film looked nostalgically upon itself, in The Artist, My Week with Marylyn, Hugo and, in casting a wider net to include art and music, Midnight in Paris.

I waited longer than Oscar did to finally award Scorsese -- such an odd thing considering his brilliant contributions to the world of cinema. My favorites from the man came in strong years where I preferred another -- and in weaker years, what he offered wasn't his best (or rather, a favorite of mine). He just never seemed to be at the right place at the right time... until now.

Hugo is about things and people who are forgotten and rediscovered (the story concerns an orphaned boy who endeavors to repair an automaton his dad was working on before he died). And it's centered around one of film's great innovators, the father of special effects if you will, George Méliès – which is why if ever there was a picture that should have been filmed in 3D, using every FX trick in the book, it's Hugo. The movie is a love letter to the magic of motion pictures and to the people who make dreams come alive (and used every invention at their disposal to do so)

The 3D is remarkable, not only for the depth of field, but also for those scenes that mirror silent film techniques (a character falls, and you see footsteps above her, as in Hitchcock's The Lodger) as well as modern flourishes, such as a beautiful moment where papers spin around our young lead actors. Scorsese also has fun with it, especially with close-ups (as in a scene in a bathtub). I'd add, that much like Herzog with Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Martin didn't use it as a gimmick, but as an essential piece of the filmmaking puzzle. And I'm selecting Hugo as a theatrical 3D feature, my first under that criterion. The effect was woven into the production and was as key to the storytelling process as score, editing, lighting, and so forth. (For me, it's just not the same watching at home in 2D).

Anyhoo -- Performances are strong, direction and Oscar-winning cinematography from Robert Richardson is without peer - and I like that the movie isn’t cynical. It's a good family film with a good heart. In one scene, after Hugo takes his young friend Isabelle to see her first motion picture, she later thanks him and adds... "It was a gift." That sums up this movie and the film going experience in total, perfectly.

Other's I liked in the year include, The Skin I Live In, Harry Potter, The Descendants, Tree of Life, Super, The Adjustment Bureau, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, Contagion, The Ides of March, Incendies, The Adventures of Tintin, Limitless, Griff the Invisible, Rio, Another Earth, Mozart’s Sister, Project Nim, Le Havre, Tyrannosaur, Buck, X-Men First Class, and Ann Hui's warm and human A Simple Life, which features some nice acting from Deanie Ip and Andy Lau.

Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Honorable Mentions:
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy * Sam Shepard, Blackthorn * Brendan Gleeson, The Guard * Michael Fassbender, Shame * Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur * Peyman Moaadi, A Separation * Aksel Hennie, Headhunters * Matthias Schoenaerts, Bullhead * Jean Dujardin, The Artist * Anders Danielsen Lie, Oslo, August 31st

Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Honorable Mentions:
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady * Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene * Charlize Theron, Young Adult * Lauren Ambrose, About Sunny * Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur * Lubna Azabal, Incendies * Adepero Oduye, Pariah * Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea * Viola Davis, The Help

Supporting Actor: Shahab Hosseini, A Separation

Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan, Shame

Special Award - Best Ensemble: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kathy Burke, Roger Lloyd Pack, Tom Hardy, John Hurt


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2010

Winter's Bone (Director: Debra Granik)
Nominees: In A Better World, True Grit, Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine, Black Swan, Let Me In, I Saw the Devil, 13 Assassins

Oscars pick: The King’s Speech
Nominees: The Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone

2010 was all about the ladies. A lean year that nevertheless yielded several outstanding films... but only a handful I'd categorize as great. And women directed my two at the top.

Winter's Bone
Incredible film - which offers something we need more of in the movies; strong, complex female characters. Jennifer Lawrence plays a girl from the Ozarks who is searching for her missing drug dealer father, in order to keep from losing the family home. The production is understated -kind of Earthy poetic- there an undercurrent of ever-present tension and a sense of danger. While it tells a bleak, hard story, it still provides a feeling of hopefulness.

Lawrence was a revelation. She is utterly convincing playing Ree - young but tough - Determined to keep her family together and hold on to their small spot of land, and struggling to keep herself free from the drugs that are so part of the culture she’s grown up in.

I like the authentic look and tone of the piece; it was filmed in the hardscrabble Missouri hills, using real houses and casting of local people. It feels genuine, the homes looked lived in, the people are weather-worn, with unpolished faces full of character. The distinct language, even overall sound is a landscape that lends texture to the film. I've seen it described as 'hillbilly gangster rural noir', which sounds as good a description as any, but it also has elements of fable – it's the model of the quest-type saga: The journey rife with hardship - secrets unearthed – the mentor guide, and an obtained talisman that will set our hero free.

In A Better World
Susan Bier's well deserved Oscar winner for Best Foreign film is about revenge (and abuse of power). And all the forms it takes. But it's also about empathy and forgiveness. Susan takes no sides, gives no pat answers, she simply allows the characters do what they will. It's up to them to react or turn the other cheek. Some find Bier’s movies contrived, and they are to a degree, but for a purpose. I find her moral conundrums thought-provoking and moving. Her stories stick with me. I can't stop pondering them, and this film was no exception.

The Kings Speech was okay, nice acting, but it didn’t deserve the best picture or direction Oscars. The critics choice, the Social Network, I didn't care for. I found Arron Sorkin's script artificial, manipulative, heavy-handed. Plus I simply don't enjoy spending time with all these entitled dickweeds and could care less about their story.

Note: This is the first year I nominated remakes of Felix nominated originals (True Grit, Let Me In)

As to my best actress? Rabbit Hole addressed a difficult subject. I felt the script was wise and the performers did it justice. It avoided many of the clichés I expected them to drift into. Kidman and Elkhart worked really well together ---- At the risk of getting overly personal - my little sister died young and I saw my mother and father go through a lot of this kind of thing. And to me, it felt like an honest portrayal of the subject. Diane Wiest has a scene with Kidman where they talk about whether the pain ever goes away, which was a poignant moment that struck a tearful chord of truth.

Supporting actress? It's funny to see how many of us place Steinfeld in this slot when she's really the protagonist; with more screen time and lines of dialogue than anyone in the film. I think it's because she (Mattie) places herself in the side-kick position. She needs Rooster to find and deal with Chaney. He even saves her life. It's like Walter Huston in Sierra Madre. He has as much screen time as Bogart, but he's seen as the sidekick. And sidekicks get the supporting nods.

I struggled mightily to find my actor - there are lots of good ones, but not any that stood far above the rest. I went with the leads in the brutal, bloody revenge thriller I Saw the Devil. I originally was going to go with Min-sik alone, but as with my previous twin victors, one was just not as great without the other. He and Byung-hun were inseparable.

Best Actor: Choi Min-sik & Lee Byung-hun, I Saw the Devil
Honorable Mentions:
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version * The cast of "In a Better World" * Javier Bardem, Biutiful * Christian Bale, The Fighter * Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine * Ewan McGregor, The Ghost Writer * Colin Firth, The King's Speech * George Clooney, The American * Robert Duvall, Get Low

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Honorable Mentions:
Natalie Portman, Black Swan * Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone * Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine * Lesley Manville, Another Year * Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy * Yoon Jeong-hee, Poetry * Alma Blanco, La Yuma * Catherine Keener, Please Give

Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Supporting Actor: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone







Other movies I liked include: Tuesday, After Christmas, Skeltons, Love in a Puff, The Arbor, Cafe Noir, A Cat in Paris, Easy A, Kick-Ass, Megamind, Inception, How to Train Your Dragon, Mysteries of Lisbon, Cyrus, Welcome to the Rileys, Troll Hunter, Barney’s Version, Shutter Island, Another Year, Fair Game, Flipped, The Secret World of Arrietty, The Illusionist, Defendor, The American, The Runaways, The Kings Speech, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, The Eclipse, Please Give



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2009

Up in the Air (Director: Jason Reitman)
Nominees: A Serious Man, The Secret of Kells, The Secret in Their Eyes, An Education, The Girlfriend Experience, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sin Nombre, Broken Embraces, Mother, Moon, It Felt Like a Kiss, Mr. Nobody

Oscars pick: The Hurt Locker
Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

In 2009 there wasn't one monster work of genius, but rather a block of superb movies that were pretty much on equal footing. And after years of debate and several re-watches, my current pick is...

Up in the Air is a savvy, genuine tale that sees George Clooney playing a guy without ties, who flies across the States just to fire people. Hard, funny and moving – it was a picture that stayed with me. And is one that will mean different things to different people. But I like how critic Jonathan Romney summarized it: “Up in the Air is as eloquent about today's executive culture as The Apartment was about that of 1960. It is a brutal, desolate film – but also a superb existential rom-com, and the most entertaining lesson in contemporary socio-economics that you could hope for.”

As with other Jason Reitman flicks the title sequence is colorful and adds to the tenor of the feature (Saul Bass would be proud), the score is full of character, the script perceptive with language as sharp as a tack.

The film boasts a charismatic cast (along with George there’s Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, and a host of familiar faces in small roles). I liked their interactions and the rapport that builds between them. Ryan Bingham is a great character for Clooney. He’s an asshole with a lifestyle choice that doesn’t leave room for any deep, significant relationships (even with his family). But he’s charming and I liked his arc of development. I enjoyed watching this person go from where he is at the start of the picture to where he is at the end. I actually felt for the guy and hoped he’d settle down with Farmiga’s Alex. They were good together, and she was such a key part of his growth. Their final phone call was a punch in the gut.

Yes, the songs and cinematography can be rather obvious, though they do capture the mood and tone, the camera work for example - what these people do is cold, and that’s reflected in the harsh lighting, and the various shades of blue. When the story shifts to the wedding the colors warm up -even though it’s a snow-filled winter- with brown, orange and rose-tinted hues filling the screen.

Up in the Air is balanced, beautifully structured. It addresses change soberly and smartly. Add it all up and in my humble opinion it's the director's finest work - watching it again, a decade later, and it still impresses.

Oscar-wise I wasn’t as wowed by its Best Animated Feature winner, Pixar's UP, which –like WALL-E - had a brilliant opening sequence, before de-evolving into the standard Pixar madcap chase sequence. I’m getting bored with the formula. I disliked best picture nominee The Blind Side, liked A Serious Man better on a second viewing -- thought District 9 and Inglourious Basterds were both decent.

Big winner The Hurt Locker was at times brilliant, but it got into a repetitive groove –guy would do something intense followed by a quiet scene at the base- back and forth with this until I grew numb to it all. The film does finish strong with a scene in the States and had a great finale. I did admire the Hurt Locker, though I don't consider it the years best (but how cool that a female director finally got some Oscar props.)

Best Actor: Sam Rockwell, Moon
Honorable Mentions:
Viggo Mortensen, The Road * Tom Hardy, Bronson * Ben Foster, The Messenger * Michael Sheen, The Damned United * Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart * Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker * Hugo Weaving, Last Ride * Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man * Steve Evets, Looking for Eric * Filippo Timi, Vincere * Ricardo Darín, The Secret in Their Eyes

Best Actress: Kim Hye-ja, Mother
Honorable Mentions: 

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Vincere * Carey Mulligan, An Education * Penélope Cruz, Broken Embraces * Katie Jarvis, Fish Tank * Sylvie Testud, Lourdes * Sophie Okonedo, Skin * Helen Mirren, The Last Station * Blanca Engström, Flickan * Kerry Fox & Anamaria Marinca, Storm * Lotte Verbeek, Nothing Personal

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Other movies I enjoyed in 2009


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2008

Synecdoche, New York (Director: Charlie Kaufman)
Nominees: The Dark Knight, Let the Right One In, Still Walking, Man on Wire, Wendy and Lucy, Goodbye Solo, Gran Torino, Waltz with Bashir, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Two Lovers

Oscars pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

Going over the year I was finding one wonderful movie after another. I accumulated so many that I finally had to force myself to stop at 13 nominees (which doesn’t include the popular WALL-E – a film I thought was phenomenal at the start before it slipped into the standard Pixar formula - extended slapstick chase sequence stuff and all. Among animation releases, Waltz with Bashir (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film) and Sita Sings the Blues were its betters – though Sita was ineligible for Oscar consideration as it was tied up in legalities over the use of PD music).

08 offered small treasures – Like the warm and funny Somers Town, which simply follows two boys who become friends and fall for a beautiful waitress. And Wendy and Lucy, which features Michelle Williams at her finest. What I liked about Williams in films like Synecdoche and Blue Valentine and here, in the neorealistic Wendy and Lucy - is that she is authentic and lacking in any Hollywood gloss. There’s not a false note in her performance, no artifice or ostentation. She is as honest a performer as I’ve ever seen. Wendy isn’t a high octane, emotionally charged, big tears n’ screams, flashy type performance - the kind that grabs Oscar’s attention. It’s simply as real and as true as life itself – and with every gesture and look, William’s subtly conveys the loneliness, hurt and frustration within her character.

As to the big blockbusters? The Superhero genre saw the release of the two of its very best – the bright and funny Iron Man, and the grim, thematic masterpiece, The Dark Knight, which overshadowed “Begins” and set a new standard for comic book movie maturity and excellence. It was also buoyed by standout Oscar-winning performance from Heath Ledger as the demented Joker and is highlighted by one breathtaking scene after another (e.g. the car chase through Gotham)

My favorite foreign fare was Let the Right One In. A Swedish vampire film about the friendship between a withdrawn, bullied boy and a little girl... who isn't a little girl. It's sparse, stylish, haunting - very atmospheric and in a strange way, beautiful. Not a good vampire flick if all you want is slam bam violence and gore in your horror films (though that is present)... but if you can appreciate the poetic melancholy infused throughout the piece, you might become as enthralled by it as I was.

"Let the Right One In" is ranked among my top 10 favorite films from the decade

Not far behind it was Hirokazu Kore-eda's thought-provoking Still Walking – a film that recalls Ozu's examinations on the family dynamic, especially in the way the camera work and movement were so fascinatingly choreographed.

There were also great documentaries, among them Man on Wire. Which is a look at a high wire performer who crossed the twin towers.

Best picture winner Slumdog Millionaire? Yeah, I liked it a lot and am okay with it winning, but I liked other movies more. At the top of the list is Writer Charlie Kaufman's directorial début Synecdoche, New York - and while It divided viewers and crashed at the box office - I think it's the best film in a year loaded with movies I prize.

And yet, how to describe something so unorthodox, so... huge in scope? It's bizarre, unsettling - time is out of balance (some characters age, while others don't). It’s about loss and missed opportunities and self-destructive tendencies -- and it expresses ideas about the mundane, empty nature of life, and the need to live it to the fullest.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a troubled theatrical director, Caden Cotard, who searches for authenticity by re-creating his world in a play, set in a massive warehouse+. So you have an exploration of a life within a life within a life. It's an ambitious film that attempts to examine existence in all its intricacies. I was awestruck and challenged to think. With its many layers, it imparts something new with each viewing.

The picture can be irritating, solipsistic - it's bitingly funny and sadly tragic - It's confounding and wonderful. It's extremely detailed (look in the backgrounds, note small items like the two newsstand sets, one completely functional, the other –indicating your in the set within the set, just being built). It's impossible to view this passively and without introspection. It's a film that is very personal, and because of that, it's not something one can be completely objective about. People loathe it, or they hail it as the greatest film of the decade. I personally am so blown away by it, that it overshadows even my high regard for Let the Right One In and the Dark Knight. It's the 8 ½ of our age and my winner for the Felix.

+Cotard, as reviewer Aaron Hillis put it, “Is deteriorating physically, artistically, romantically, spiritually... (he is) wrestling with onscreen angst from the deepest, most depressing of human worries: the finite constraints of creativity, love, and mortality, and whether existence itself is at all relevant.

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
Honorable Mentions:
Melissa Leo, Frozen River * Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky * Kristen Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long * Maria Heiskanen, Everlasting Moments * Tilda Swinton, Julia * Karoline Herfurth, A Year Ago in Winter * Yolande Moreau, Séraphine * Kate Winslett, The Reader

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche New York (top)
Honorable Mentions:
Michael Fassbender, Hunger * Brendan Gleeson & Colin Farrell, In Bruges * Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler * Josef Bierbichler, A Year Ago in Winter * Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino * Sam Rockwell, Snow Angels * Vincent Cassell, Mesrine I & II * Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (pictured above)







Other movies I enjoyed (and not mentioned above) include: The Chaser, Quantum of Solace, Ghost Town, Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day, In Bruges, Chocolate, Frozen River, Summer Hours, Happy-Go-Lucky, Wanted, Revolutionary Road, Doubt, Everlasting Moments, Frost/Nixon, Bolt, Departures, A Christmas Tale, The Bank Job, Definitely, Maybe, The Cove, The Class and the Visioneers.


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2007

Once (Director: John Carney)
Nominees: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Counterfeiters, Juno, Lust/Caution, There Will Be Blood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, My Winnipeg, Persepolis, You, The Living, Munyurangabo, Yella, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Oscars pick: No Country for Old Men
Nominees: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

I can’t jump on the No Country for Old Men bandwagon – It has a brilliant set-up and moments of pure cinematic bliss, but the film falls apart for me in its final act. I get that the old guys talking are the philosophical point of the film -- but you could have had that AND the big dramatic confrontation you were setting up throughout the film as well. Killing your protagonist off-screen was a bad move; it destroyed the dramatic pulse that was building to a fever pitch. For me it was akin to listening to an orchestra play, and as they approach the stunning crescendo… the musicians shrug, set down their instruments, walk off stage and then talk you through the music. Still, it was nice that the Brother's Coen finally received some Oscar love. The movie sparked a lot of healthy adult debate, and a lot of healthy (and unhealthy) adult minds went to see it, so that was encouraging at least.

Certain American critics were incensed when it lost the Palme d’Or to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and Two Days at Cannes. But I agree with the selection. 4 Months is a devastating and discomforting story that centers on an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania (and the time and place and politics are essential to the story). Anamaria Marinca gives a striking, minimalist performance - playing a student who is wrangled into fixing her incompetent friend's messes. In doing so, she finds herself dragged through an emotional nightmare. This isn't a fun movie; it's brutally painful and starkly filmed. At times it made me sick to my stomach. Not only for what it shows - but also for what you're not shown, or what you hear (that terrible sound in the pitch black hall of an apartment complex). But it is so accomplished in telling its story -so unforgettable- that I was very tempted to give it the Felix. I would have done so if not for one lovely tale that -as RT puts it- "set the standard for the modern musical".

If 4 Months shatters, Once beguiles.

Set in my beloved Ireland - Once is a delicate, tender love story about fellow musicians/kindred spirits – who are also in troubled relationships with others. It's a small film, the direction and script are unpolished, and because the leads are musicians and not actors you get some off-key delivery of lines. But that’s to the films advantage as well as its charm -- the bond between these two felt natural, real.

The characters were fully formed people (he's self-effacing, she's frank) who I liked and could relate too – which helps facilitate the connection I have with it. But it also offers so many small treasures: The scene in the music store when they first play together (the Oscar-winning number "Falling Slowly", which is described by the director as the equivalent of their love scene). The bit when she writes lyrics for his music, and -after buying batteries for her walkman- makes the trek back home, wearing her PJs and large fluffy slippers, singing the track as she goes. I liked the moment on the bus where he's answering her questions through singing and playing his guitar (something I've done on a number of occasions). And I enjoyed watching these two wander around Dublin, getting to know one another, as she drags the vacuum he fixed for her like a puppy on a leash.

While there's not much story, and what there is, is related mostly via the brilliant songs, it is wise in its observations on the nature of relationships. Not everything is cut and dried, just as it is with real-life love, which can be difficult to define and place in a nice, neat box. Sometimes a heart can be split into two places and belong to two different people. The relationship here isn't physical, though there is an obvious attraction. It's primarily based on respect and kindness and the shared love for music.

It's a beautiful beautiful story, a beautiful relationship backed by beautiful tunes. The formula for its success is as simple as that.

Of the remaining Oscars noms, I absolutely hated Atonement and wish Once had garnered its slot. Michael Clayton wasn't bad; There Will Be Blood is impressive. Juno was a special one. Whip-smart and funny, with a good heart.

And finally, a word about my Best Supporting Actress, Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There:
Cate’s Bob Dylan (here called Jude Quinn) is a caustic, angular, hollow-cheeked, self-invented chameleon who cuttingly brushes aside any attempts to define him. Dismissive of almost anyone (except David Cross as Allen Ginsberg) - at a party she introduces... "Norman this is Brian Jones, from that groovy covers band!" Her sections in the film are at times Felliniesque, and her lanky, otherworldly Dylan is more than words and facial expression. Cate throws her entire body into the role, making the performance a dynamic, barely containable exercise that leaps off the screen and shakes audiences to the core.

Other features I didn't nominate but liked include, Across The Universe, Enchanted, Eastern Promises, Waitress, I’m Not There, The Visitor, Reign Over Me, Shoot Em Up,The Darjeeling Limited, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Lookout, Mesrine: Killer Instinct pt 1, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, Breach, The Savages, Gone Baby Gone, Chop Shop, Dedication and Edge of Heaven.

Best Actor: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Honorable Mentions: 

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, The Savages and Charlie Wilson’s War * Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood * Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly * Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson's War * Gordon Pinsent, Away from Her

Best Actress: Anamaria Marinca, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Honorable Mentions:
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose * Laura Linney, The Savages * Jeon Do-yeon, Secret Sunshine * Tang Wei, Lust Caution * Ellen Page, Juno * Amy Adams, Enchanted * Bijou Phillips, What We Do Is Secret * Julie Christie, Away from Her * Nina Hoss, Yella 

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

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2006

Pan's Labyrinth (Director: Guillermo del Toro)
Nominees: Notes on a Scandal, The Host, Wristcutters: A Love Story, The Lives of Others, After the Wedding, Paprika, Volver, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Babel, Red Road

Oscars pick: The Departed
Nominees: Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

Del Toro's masterpiece is without question the finest film of the year. Critic Simon Foster said it best... "In juxtaposing the realism of a Fascist state’s adherence to spirit-crushing violence with the soaring fantasies of an innocent’s dream world, director Guillermo del Toro has created one of the most damning indictments of dictatorial politics ever filmed. Yet what ultimately emerges from his extraordinary Pan's Labyrinth is intrinsically humanistic; a celebration of the strength of spirit mankind possesses to overcome such evil."

I started using that quote after trying to sum up the film in my own words and finding myself buried under a pile of lengthy, overwritten paragraphs. It's such a contemplative, stimulating piece of film. Thankfully Foster was able to sum it up succinctly for me.
   
Why do I feel del Toro is our best fantasist today? There's an honest sense of wonderment and a lack of pretension in his work. He can address important issues without it coming off self-important; his heroes might falter in the face of grave situations, but they do so without turning into whiny emo irritants. He's a master at capturing a story's thematic elements and presents them deftly. His films can be a wild roller coaster ride when the situation calls for it (Blade II), but he usually handles that with equal aplomb and understands how to go big, without getting bloated. The Warner brother's style cartoon humor in Hellboy II set off warning signals -- could that wonderful ‘big kid’ mindset of his turn into stupid childishness the way it has for George Lucas?  Let's hope not -- and let us hope he continues to return home and make movies like this and the Devil's Backbone – I think they keep him sober and grounded, while still allowing him to play in magical realms.

Oscar finally gave Martin Scorsese his due - The Departed is a good -if an over the top- picture, that's less a police procedural and more an exploration of the psychology of two men pretending to be who they aren't. It features some standout performances from Damon, Nicholson and especially DiCaprio, who is finally starting to look like an adult. It’s not Martin's best but it is worthy of high praise.

I liked Oscar's other nominees, though Little Miss Sunshine didn't knock me out.

Acting!
Mühe's performance in The Lives of Others is understated, but don't let the lack of showiness fool you. This is a great performance. He plays a Stasi agent investigating a couple, and at first, Gerd is a man with few emotions, his face is a mask. Slowly but surely though, he grows a conscience - and the transformation is restrained, yet powerful. Sadly, Ulrich died a year after making this film, at the age of 54 from stomach cancer

My actresses are all brilliant, but Notes on a Scandal features Dame Judi at her best. Teacher Barbara Covett isn’t an easy character; on the surface, she’s just a mean, bitter, unlikable... well, bitch (excuse my French). That would have been enough for most movies. Make her an unpleasant psychopath. But Judi adds nuances – for one: There’s the desperate loneliness, and damn if I can’t relate/feel sorry for her in that pain. The scene about the cat – she’s both a major irritant and psychotic (and funny in an absurd way... "Someone has died!" she cries), but there’s also genuine loss and anguish etched on Dench’s features.

The film is an acting tour-de-force. The interplay between Blanchett and Dench is like manna from Heaven for anyone who appreciates great acting. And it helps that the ladies, and especially Judi, speaks some amazing, cutting dialog.

Best Actor: Ulrich Mühe, The Lives of Others
Honorable Mentions:
Mad Mikkelsen, After the Wedding * Clive Owen, Children of Men * Christian Bale, The Prestige * Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland * Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed * Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland * Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson * Alan Rickman, Snow Cake * William H. Macy, Edmond * Peter O'Toole, Venus * Guy Pearce, Factory Girl

Best Actress: Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Honorable Mentions:
Penélope Cruz, Volver * Kate Dickie, Red Road * Helen Mirren, The Queen * Ivana Baquero, Pan’s Labyrinth * Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal * Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby * Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson * Kseniya Rappoport, The Unknown Woman * Sienna Miller, Factory Girl * Jodie Whittaker, Venus

Supporting Actress: Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Supporting Actor: Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
I was also impressed with Stephen Graham in This is England






Other movies I enjoyed include - Casino Royale, Half Nelson, Black Book, The Good German, Stranger Than Fiction, 10 Items or Less, Hollywoodland, the Bridge, Factory Girl, Volver, Friends with Money, The Fountain, The Queen and loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies, Hana, 12:08 East of Bucharest

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2005

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Director: Cristi Puiu)
Nominees: Pride & Prejudice, Grizzly Man, Munich, Little Fish, The Gits, L'enfant, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, War of the Worlds

Oscars pick: Crash
Nominees: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich

In reassessing ‘05 I still found the Academy's top contenders, Crash and the overwrought, choppily paced soap opera Brokeback Mountain, frankly, overrated. Good Night and Good Luck was soft and superficially rendered. Of Oscar's nominees, only Munich impressed me. (Capote was fair).

That's not to say the season was bereft of goodies: Among them - 2 musical docs: The Gits - a heartfelt look at the life and murder of Seattle Grunge artist Mia Zapata. And a respectful exploration of a strange man's "15-minutes of fame" in, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

There were dramas such as Little Fish, a raw character piece about a former heroin addict (wonderfully played by Cate Blanchett) who is trying to get her bearings and stay straight. And from Belgium, L’Enfant, the story of an amoral thief who does something unthinkable.

‘05 gave us interesting spins on classic noir, crime stories. Like the hilarious Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang with its superb casting of Robert Downey Jr. Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan - and Brick, which sets its hard-boiled tale in a High School.

There were literary adaptations as well, from Joe Wright's take on Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. With Kiera Knightly’s spot-on turn as Elizabeth Bennett. And of course, Christopher Nolan’s grand, humanistic riff on the dark knight detective in Batman Begins.

Among the years most memorable was my winner, The Death of Mr, Lazarescu, which is about an old man who feels ill one night and calls for an ambulance. But instead of receiving the immediate medical attention he needs, he winds up on a journey through hell. (It’s no accident that one of his names is Dante).

Sometimes called a black comedy, and while there are amusing lines of dialogue and whatnot, there’s nothing really funny about this situation. The film exposes the absurdity of a broken health system that allows people to fall through the cracks. Hospitals are understaffed, doctors and nurses are buried under red tape. Beyond that, the picture speaks to life and humanity in general. People can be well-meaning, compassionate, or they can be total assholes. They gossip and lecture, humiliate one another and get wrapped up in their own personal dramas, which doesn't allow much time for anything else, even a sick man -- Or it can just be the matter of a job being a job, and jobs are a pain in the neck... whether your a janitor or a healer or an ambulance driver.

The movie frustrates and hurts in its brutal honesty. And the documentary-style storytelling, filmed using shaky hand-held cameras, makes it feel lived in and real. But make no mistake, this is a well thought out, brilliantly constructed social commentary - a cry for human kindness and empathy and a better-organized system of treating those in need.

Other movies I liked (not previously mentioned) include Constantine, Serenity, The Brothers Grimm, Sky High, Walk the Line, Angel-A, Linda, Linda, Linda, A History of Violence, Sin City, The Corpse Bride, Millions, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Caché, The Proposition and many of these mentioned below...

Best Actor: Romain Duris, The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Honorable Mentions:
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote * David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck * Bill Murray, Broken Flowers * Issey Ogata, The Sun * Jérémie Renier, L'enfant * Tommy Lee Jones, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada * Ray Winstone, The Proposition * Daniel Auteuil, Caché

Best Actress: Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Honorable Mentions:
Luminița Gheorghiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu * Sarah Polley, The Secret Life of Words * Gwyneth Paltrow, {Proof} * Julia Jentsch, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days * Cate Blanchett, Little Fish * Ellen Page, Hard Candy * Jennifer Connelly, Dark Water * Nathalie Baye, The Young Lieutenant * Juliette Binoche, Caché

Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug

Supporting Actor: Hugo Weaving, Little Fish







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