Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I enjoyed this much more than expected, because/despite the fact that I got lost every now and then. This one shows a lot of sitting, reading, thinking, talking–a nice contrast to more action-packed spy movies. I’d gladly see it again, in the comfort of my own home.
I watched a lot of movies last year, 82 if my count is right. I re-watched some favorites (Out of the Past, Alien, Back to the Future), but I kept these monthly selections focused on new-to-me stuff. Out of all of them, I think Winter’s Bone and Apocalypto were really amazing movies that you’d be a fool to miss. All the links go to my tumblr, where you’ll find whatever brief or sometimes rambling commentary I had in mind after watching. Right now I’m too lazy to get images like I did for my favorite albums of 2011. So here’s the quick text-only run-down, mostly to give you an encouraging nudge if you get the chance to see them:
January
The American
February
Double Indemnity
The Virgin Suicides
Brazil
Force of Evil
March
High Noon
Chinatown
Winter’s Bone
April
Some Like It Hot
The Social Network
May
Shotgun Stories
ATL
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
June
127 Hours, by default.
July
Days of Heaven
August
3:10 to Yuma
The Last Days of Disco
September
Apocalypto
The Seventh Seal
Ivan’s Childhood
October
Drive
Mystic River
Scarface (1932)
November
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Badlands
December
D.O.A.
The Purple Rose of Cairo
The Artist
Hunger. Not sure how I feel about this one overall. I was glad Bobby Sands wasn’t really portrayed as martyr-hero or villain-fool, just a really committed guy. Much more about the choices of a life than the politics that motivate them. I wish the dreamy bits at the end had been chopped down a bit, maybe a better balance with the first two acts that way.
Wall Street. First movie I saw in 2012, because money never sleeps. Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen are really good. I like how Oliver Stone worked in a couple small moments of respite–the sunrise on the beach, the “Who am I?” on the balcony–and then gets right back to business. The only other Stone-directed films I’ve seen are Platoon (pretty good), The Doors (eh), and Natural Born Killers (ugh). I felt a little sad to realize I have little interest in anything else he’s done.
Dumb and Dumber. This one makes me wonder how today’s comedies will come across in 2030. This is the first time I finished this movie, though I’ve seen the beginning chunk a couple hundred times. Maybe the slowest-starting comedy I’ve ever seen. The road trip and early Aspen scenes in the middle are the best.
The Karate Kid (2010). I accurately predicted this would be bad. Everything is bigger than it needs to be. The actors are way too young to carry their extremes. The emotions, the violence are waaaaaayyy over-the-top for their age. The 1984 film hit the right tone with hormonal high-schoolers. These kids barely have all their teeth. Smith has little of Macchio’s likeability, and I think a large part of it is because he’s a tween. Weak soundtrack that has too many “We’re on a magical adventure!”-type swelling moments. I could pile on more, but I’ll just point you to these 11 criticisms.
The Karate Kid (1984). This one holds up! The opening scenes come along one-two-three and you’ve got all your plot pieces in place. Macchio has serious charisma. I didn’t remember how well-shot this movie was. There are some lovely scenes.
The Artist. It’s a fun, cute film that loves what it’s doing, but it’s not a must-see. A bit one-note. Filed under: silent film, movies about movies.
Update: I meant to mention the staircase scene, but I forgot somehow. I wish I could find a clip. It’s incredible.
Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater. Worth 5 bucks.
I Will Follow. Hmm. Promising beginning. There were moments when I really liked this one, but I couldn’t hang with it the whole way.
The Purple Rose of Cairo. This is a tremendous movie. If you love movies, I think it’ll stay with you. So good. Ebert agrees with me. As in Sherlock, Jr. the characters break the screen and go back and forth from the film world to reality (Allen is a science fiction filmmaker, you might recall) and wrestle with the rules and expectations on either side. There’s clever satire of movies, movie culture, movie-lovers. Much of it is bittersweet, but there’s almost always some jumping dixieland jazz playing in the background that keeps things from getting too sour. Thus, we have an escapist film about film escapism. After all, we need delusions to keep us going.
Since no one asked, here’s my ranking of Woody Allen films I’ve seen:
Definitely need to see some more. I’ve done similar, ongoing lists for Clint Eastwood and Alfred Hitchcock.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Not so hot on this one. It seems like too much of a message film. Greed is bad! Money corrupts! I do like seeing Bogart as a bad guy, though. The only other John Huston movies I’ve seen are Key Largo, which is pretty good, and The Maltese Falcon, which is superb. I’d like to see The Misfits at some point.
Mesrine: L’instinct de mort. I need to see more movies with Vincent Cassel. The guy is awesome. This one is the first of a two-parter about a real French gangster/bank robber and it’s great. No CGI silliness. No melodrama silliness. Just a magnetic, unhinged sort of guy going about his dirty business. Good stuff. Looking forward to the second part when it arrives.
D.O.A.. Oh, I quite like this one. This is not the drawing room intrigue of The Maltese Falcon; it’s more like the wholly despairing Blast of Silence. A man away from home, facing the void, asking “Why me?”. The Fisherman Jazz scene is great and there’s quite a few well-shot action scenes out and about in the city. It’s in the public domain and thus, you can watch it online. Filed under: film noir.
Elf. Overall: ugh. I like the physical comedy bits (e.g., the escalator scene) and the wink-wink references to other films (Bigfoot, LOTR, Back to the Future, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, etc.). Good premise, good opening, then goes stale. The last half-hour is a total waste. So mechanical. Disappointing.
The Nightmare Before Christmas. The best Christmas musical? Not sure, but probably a contender. This was the 5th or 6th time I’ve watched it and it’s not old yet. Great songs. 76 fun minutes and you’re done. And I’m not much for musicals.
The Fugitive. This has held up pretty well. The opening half-hour is A+, then holds a steady grade B through to the end. Caught it on TV and got my first exposure to Story Notes, to mixed results. “He was not actually missing an arm.”
Badlands. My second Malick. Like in Days of Heaven, which I really liked, we have another young female narrator, but this one, though older, seems more innocent and caught up in fairy tale language. Both of these characters are caught up in their own narrative, their own little world. Inspired by real people. Martin Sheen is really, really good here. Lots of eye candy and some great moments in the soundtrack. I’ve got to see The Thin Red Line soon.
Repulsion. My third by Polanski. As in Rosemary’s Baby–and The Shining, Psycho, Black Swan and others–here we have a largely housebound voyage into a disturbed mind. A common thread with these types of movies is that I find them mostly mediocre when they’re not boring. This one is decent, although (because?) it is pretty much completely absent of plot. You’re just watching this affectless woman fall apart. Great sound design from jazz in the streets to clocks and phones and alarms. And I will never complain about watching Catherine Deneuve for 90 minutes. Movies I’ve seen in recent years that also star a crazy woman: Suddenly, Last Summer, Sunset Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, Play Misty for Me, Monster, Mother, and Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Martha Marcy May Marlene. Wrenching. You just want to know, is she going to be okay? I’m not sure of other movies that deal with the dazed, overwhelmed confusion of self like this one. I also realized a while after movie started how refreshing it is to see a rural setting on film again. So many of our movies are urbanized, you don’t see a lot of love for those greens and browns. Elizabeth Olsen is impressive. John Hawkes, equally awesome (see: Winter’s Bone). This is absolutely worth seeing, but just know you probably won’t come out happy and refreshed.
Mark Larson 