Argo. I liked this one. The tension isn’t the violent suspense of The Town or the queasy terror of Gone Baby Gone. It’s just a precarious scheme, one chance, and there’s no shooting their way out. Very polished. And Ben Affleck has the best poker face in the game right now.
Warrior. So good, you guys. I love this movie so much. (My first review.) It does nothing you don’t expect but it does it all so well. Like Umberto Eco says:
When all the archetypes burst in shamelessly, we reach Homeric depths. Two cliches make us laugh. A hundred cliches move us.
Heat. My third viewing (first, second). This is officially my second favorite movie after Out of the Past.
It seems like (Pacino’s) Hanna has more fun than (De Niro’s) McCauley does. Maybe I’m projecting, and he’s just more fun to watch because he’s more exasperated and has the power to say whatever he wants. He definitely smiles more. His stakes are lower in a way. He’s got a day job, a sense of purpose, even if home life is a wreck. Note the close of the hospital scene, when he’s paged back into action, he gives his wife a smile before an almost gleeful run down the stairs, back to the chase. Compare to the ending, where there’s no triumph on his face. More like disappointment.
McCauley is always more restrained, as he always has less room for error. (Hanna asks him, “What are you, some kind of monk?”). After two really upsetting phone calls (one with adversary Van Zandt, one with his partner Trejo at the breakfast joint), he doesn’t slam the phone or toss it, but seems to pause, gather himself, and return the phone to rest.
At the diner with Hanna, McCauley mentions that recurring dream of running out of time. Note how, towards the end, when he’s looking to find Waingro, Eady and Nate mention/ask him about the time he has left before he catches his flight out of the country. A guy who does things like to wrap his glasses in paper napkins loses his usual discipline, and things go haywire.
One last thing: I love how the music is so supportive. It’s there in subtle ways like in the drive-in money exchange, where much of the tension rides on the music, but it’s not until the fade-out that you realize the music is even there. It’s present in more obvious ways like in the nighttime balcony romance, with that noodly jazz guitar playing behind soft, gauzy synth curtains. Lord, I love that.
Other movies I re-watched this year include Winter’s Bone, Melancholia, Mission Impossible, Days of Heaven, Blade Runner, Bloodsport, The Last of the Mohicans, The Godfather, Drive, Mean Girls, The Shawshank Redemption, Raging Bull, and Aliens.
I’ve really been itching for another viewing of Warrior. Update: done.
Life of Pi. Awesome special effects and photography, almost worth watching simply for the spectacle. (Reminds me of The Fall in that way). I’d like it sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more overall without the (blunt, preachy) narrative wrapper. I DNFed on the book several years ago. Not sure how it compares.
John Carter. Easily the most teal-and-orange movie I’ve ever seen. I feel like there’s a good movie hiding in here somewhere. Overhaul the terrible dialogue, trim judiciously. It has some decent-enough swashbuckling action (and one really effective battle), and thankfully doesn’t rely on dumb one-liners or dopey comic relief characters or modern-day allegory. It’s really straightforward, for all its excess in other ways (effects, cast, milieu) Andrew Stanton directed a dud here, but at least he’s still got Finding Nemo and Wall-E on his resume…
The Killing. I’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey four or five times at least, and it’s fantastic, but watching The Shining a few years ago really killed my interest in Stanley Kubrick’s work. This one resurrects it. Awesome camera and soundtrack and a great set of characters. Multiple perspectives and time cuts. Also touches on some of the practical aspects of dealing with piles and piles of money.
Serpico. I like how Pacino embodies the role here, and how you can pick up on the passage of time from the way his look and behavior changes. Also, 1970s hospitals are TERRIFYING.
Melancholia. I like it even more on second viewing (the first), especially after reading Steven Shaviro’s essay.
Heat. Michael Mann, man. This still blows my mind on second viewing. (The first). I love (Pacino’s) Vincent Hanna so much in this one. He truly does not give a shit. And he drives like a cop. I also finally realized that Hanna’s sidekick Cassals (Wes Studi) is so familiar because he also plays Magua.
El Aura (The Aura). Too bad Fabián Bielinsky is no longer with us. I think he was on to something here. This one meanders ever so slightly, but still pretty solid. I love the rural photography; the pace; the way it doesn’t prepare you for anything, but makes you wait and watch this guy get in over his head. Ricardo Darín is so awesome. I really liked him in El Secreto de Sus Ojos, too.
The Keep. I’m sure there’s a cult following for it somewhere. Some of the photography and the Tangerine Dream soundtrack are worthwhile. Otherwise, it’s not quite Michael Mann’s best work. That said, if you want to see gothic-scifi-horror with Nazis set in 1940s Romania, it’s your best bet. This is what I get for being a Michael Mann completist. The only ones I haven’t seen yet are Ali and The Insider. Here’s how I rank the rest:
Easy Rider. Two rebels made their compromise and try to live with it. Nicholson’s square tag-along is a nice addition. The cuts between scenes were so strange at first–I don’t think I’ve scene anything like it. Solid soundtrack, and you can laugh at hippies. A buddy and I are working through some notable road movies we haven’t seen. Previously: Two-Lane Blacktop (my favorite so far) and Thunder Road (second).
Lincoln. The best movie about the legislative process released this year! For real, historical biography isn’t my thing (Lawrence of Arabia excepted), so I liked that the condensed timeline here moved it more into political drama with horse-trading and cajoling and backroom negotiation. I have my complaints (over-teaching; soft-focus soap opera lighting; lens flare; tokenism; etc.), but still… DDL is the man. His storytelling, along with the other individual performances, make it worthwhile.
Hodejegerne (Headhunters). You can’t help but love an art thief. There’s some solid heist/chase fundamentals in here, as well as some whaaaa? gross-out moments and dark humor. I love how it plays with your assumptions about character and plot. Good stuff.
For foreign-language films, Certified Copy and Point Blank are still my favorites of the movies I’ve seen this year. 13 Assassins and Oldboy are next in the rankings.
Face/Off. It’s a late ‘90s action movie directed by John Woo, full of late ’90s action and Woo-isms. Preposterous and fun and too long.
Gone Baby Gone. I kinda wish the movie had stopped after the second voiceover. It would have been amazing (if maybe predictable in an ambiguous, artsy way). But it’s a genre film, so it kept going, and while the second, twisty act was a little mystery-novel page-turner-y, Ben Affleck does a great job with it. I assume he was being more or less faithful to the source. Great, great cast. The end offers an interesting tension between Monaghan’s ethic-of-care/consequentialist perspective and Casey Affleck’s ethic-of-justice/deontological take. I also like the sound in this one, working with the full range. I’m not sure whether it’s better or worse than The Town, which I mean as a compliment to both.
Other great movies that are heavy on the Boston:
The Town. I would have preferred less gunfire and more of everything else, but geez. Affleck. Dude can direct! I’m excited to see what else he comes up with. Gotta check out Gone Baby Gone and Argo soon. Also, I love Renner in this. What a nut.
Four Weddings and a Funeral. Andie MacDowell’s character is the worst. Don’t do it, Hugh! Great supporting characters. This had much more subtlety and color than I expected.
Dark Shadows. DNF. It’s terrible.
Mark Larson 