Shotgun Stories. Two sets of half-brothers feud after their father dies. Similar themes of family, justice, resentment, forgiveness, etc. that you see in the v. good Winter’s Bone, which is also set in the same region. None of what happens will surprise you that much, but the way it’s handled is excellent. Great movie. Ebert agrees.
Kiss Me Deadly. Not recommended. But I have to say (spoiler coming), the final scene–where the lady opens the mystery box and accidentally self-immolates with nuclear material–was quite a shock, to say the least.
Diary (2010) by Tim Hetherington. Arresting.
The Social Network. No joke, this is a pretty amazing movie. Just like everyone says. Great tale, whether accurate or not. It’s refreshing to see a movie about this kind of creativity and this kind of business. Great editing. I didn’t like the soundtrack much when I listened through it as a stand-alone, but it’s just about perfect in context. Of the David Fincher films I’ve seen, I’d rank this one first or second, with Zodiac giving it stiff competition. Maybe Fight Club slightly edges Seven, but neither one is nearly as good as the other two.
Let Me In. I’m torn on this remake. I like the good suspense with a steady, chilling, creeping weirdness about it, but not so intense that I didn’t mind stopping the film a couple times to take a break. It’s crippled by a bad/ill-timed score, which drove me nuts. The young actors are very, very good and pretty much carry the whole thing when it goes off-course. The shots and locations are chosen and photographed really well. Love the contrast of warm/cold, damp/dry, bright/dark. But there’s some sketchy CGI and it seems like the director should have made stronger decisions about showing the violence on-screen vs. off. It kind of waffles. Interesting themes of power, safety, and dependency. I also loved the one perfect moment when the two leads are hanging out: She picks up his Romeo & Juliet book, which he dismisses as a boring class assignment; then he talks to her about Morse code. The premise of the whole film is good enough that I’d like to see the original.
Some Like It Hot. I have verified that this is one of the great comedies.
Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It’s like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it’s a whole different sex!
Winter’s Bone. This is fantastic. I got totally sucked in. Probably the best I’ve seen this year. Go watch it now if you’re an idiot like me who didn’t get around to it in 2010.
Pierrot le fou. Godard is so strange. This one is hyperactive and goofy like Une femme est une femme from earlier this month, but even more unconventional and maybe a bit more cynical. All kinds of references and meta-ish episodes. I think I like it. Ebert. Criterion essay.
Chinatown. This is a great movie that absolutely lives up to its reputation. Well worth the time. I wish that I hadn’t been so worn out the first three times I tried to watch.
High Noon. Great movie. Here are some very good reasons to watch it: 1. It takes place in real time – 85 lean, tense minutes. The deadline is firm. No dilly-dallying. 2. There’s plenty left unsaid/implied. I love when the backstory and mechanics aren’t fully clear and you end up guessing (often along with the characters themselves) and interpreting relationships based on a few clues here and there – a gesture, a look, a rhythm of conversation that suggests years. (And in this movie, given that the plot hinges on an event approaching at noon, there’s not much time for backstory, either.) 3. Gary Cooper is really good. I need to see more with him. 4. Grace Kelly. 5. It’s the first film appearance of Lee Van Cleef.
Une femme est une femme (A Woman Is a Woman). What a wacky movie. Anna Karina wants to get pregnant. Boyfriend Jean-Claude Brialy won’t help while buddy Jean-Paul Belmondo is all too willing. Lots of rich primary colors. Hints at the musical genre every so often, and sometimes it seems operatic, with bits of dialogue like recitative punctuated with responses or embellishments from the orchestra. It’s very self-aware, playing with the form, making no attempt to stay absolutely true-to-life, sometimes literally winking at the camera. It’s all good fun. I caught several references to other films, and it’s likely there are more clever ones that I didn’t notice. This is probably my favorite of the Godard movies I’ve seen so far.
Is this a tragedy or a comedy? With women you never know.
Restrepo. This is as depressing as you’d expect. It’s also some ballsy filming, tastefully done. I’m really glad the film kept its focus on the on-the-ground experience without straying into speechy political analyst territory. People who weren’t there don’t get to talk.
Force of Evil. Very, very good. Everyone tries to justify their minor (and major) wrongdoings, but living in the gray areas rarely turns out well. Touches on ideas of business, family, loyalty, with some biblical overtones. “What do you mean ‘gangsters’? It’s business.”
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Rivers is awesome. This movie is not. Two things I would have especially liked: 1) longer scenes from her stand-up acts and 2) more of a plot or wrapper. It’s a “scenes from a year in the life of”-type documentary–hey let’s film famous people and see if anything interesting happens! It doesn’t always work. This one ends up more like reality TV. Which is fine, I guess, but I expect more from a feature-length. What I need is mysterious brilliance on a deadline, a story of redemption, a look into a specialized world, an insane challenge, or old-fashioned good vs evil. All that said, I am super-impressed with Rivers as a person, still going, still feisty in an absolutely brutal industry.
Brazil. A daydreaming bureaucrat muddles through a dysfunctional future that seems crippled more by pervasive triplicate than any central evil. It’s not perfect, but it is absurd and entertaining. Jonathan Pryce is excellent.
Micmacs. This one falls victim to excess. It’s a goofy, goofy French film with some laughs and lots of spy-movie-type fun. But if it were my choice, I’d cut a bunch of shots here and there. Not many entire scenes, mostly the small asides that make the already improbable plot a little manic and over-stuffed. Good intentions, though. Bonus points for camerawork, sets, and working The Big Sleep into the opening scenes.
The Virgin Suicides. I liked this one. Quite a debut. Themes include boys obsessing over girls on their way to womanhood, the fascination with death, the penumbra of loss that affects a community, etc. I like the tie-in with the dying elms, leaving mute, immovable stumps in the yards. And while I often cringe at moments when films use popular song, I thought the inclusions of Heart’s Magic Man and Crazy On You were inspired. If there’s any complaint, some parts were too overt. You don’t need a narrator intoning, “And so we started to learn about their lives, coming to hold collective memories of times we hadn’t experienced” when that’s clearly suggested on the screen. Small quibble though. Worth watching. I wonder how the book compares.
I Am Love. Not sold on this one. Just like the film deals with genteel restraint and animal passions, there’s a strange balance in the film making where some things are left unsaid, only hinted at–and some parts of the film are maddeningly overt or silly. Good enough to finish, but…
Double Indemnity. This one is very good. Very cynical, not as nearly as complicated as some other noir, just a tight, direct story. You have to wonder why the characters let themselves get caught up like this. They might wonder the same thing. Good performances all around, but again I find myself especially impressed with Edward G. Robinson. The other time I saw him was in Key Largo.
Fight Club. This was kind of boring. (Zodiac is by far the best of the three David Fincher films I’ve seen. Seven was worthwhile, but hasn’t aged well. I wonder where The Social Network will rank when I see it.)
Mark Larson 