No Country for Old Men
I was blown away by this one. When it was over, I felt a lot like I did when the credits started rolling the first time I watched Blood Simple. Everything you’ve come to expect from the Coen Brothers. A sort of cross between Blood Simple and Miller’s Crossing. Intense action, superb cinematography, a story that unfolds like a carefully constructed work of art. Javier Bardem deserved his accolades.
Charlie Wilson’s War
The dialogue was fantastic and the chemistry between Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman crackled. Both continue to outdo themselves time and again, just when I start to think it isn’t possible. The direction and editing were adequate, and while I don’t necessarily agree with the conclusion drawn at the end in its entirety, the movie was certainly a vessel for a point well made.
3:10 to Yuma
One of the most interesting westerns I’ve seen since Once Upon a Time in the West. The script is carefully crafted, the characters well fleshed out and complicated. The development of the various themes is complex and complete, the story and character arcs unique and interesting. The play on the perceptions of good and evil, normalcy and lawlessness, between the two main characters, played by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, reminds me of similar themes examined in Heat. Bale is great as always, while Crowe returns to a performance that makes me remember why I was so struck by him in L.A. Confidential and Gladiator. Ben Foster as Charlie Prince is a stand-out.
Michael Clayton
A psychological legal thriller more reminiscent of The Verdict than the more recent offerings of John Grisham origination. You can’t help but get pulled in by the story, and the acting is top-notch. George Clooney will soon have a collection of movies based around the theme of corporate greed, political conspiracy and corruption, but as with Charlie Wilson’s War, the point is well made. The script is well crafted and this one scores big points for entertainment value.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
I said 3:10 to Yuma was one of the most interesting westerns I’d seen in a long time – well, this film gets similar accolades, if you can call it a western. A slow thought-piece, starring a stellar Casey Affleck as Bob Ford, who seems more the star of the show, than Brad Pitt’s eerie Jesse James. The film leaves you feeling, about the famous outlaw, much as reading up on the subject does. Was he a hero or a villain? Certainly this film seems to portray the latter, through an outlaw bordering on mania. Robert Ford was the central character of examination, and that is where the main interest lies. The exploration of Jesse James was decidedly lackluster – though it leaves a lot to talk about.
Zodiac
Superb direction and acting, with Robert Downey Jr. escaping his patterned shell and giving a top-notch performance. Jake Ghyllenhaal once again proved he has acting chops, though it is where the two stories separate, and do no mesh, where I started to lose interest. Also, invariably knowing what the outcome of the hunt for the true Zodiac Killer was, diminished some interest in a main focus of the film. David Fincher continues to create mesmerizing works of art, and I can’t complain about this one.
Black Snake Moan
Having become an instant Craig Brewer fan after Hustle & Flow I had high expectations for his first fully-backed outing. Would he fall pray to the usual pitfalls of larger budget and greater creative freedom, or would he rise above? I think at the end of the day I was satisfied where I might have been elated. The central struggle of the film was not enough to really draw me in, and the ending just didn’t finish it off as it might have. Christina Ricci is good as usual, if you can stomach the concept behind her character, and Samuel L. Jackson shines a little more than he has in other, recent offerings. Definitively worth seeing, though whether it rose above Brewer’s previous efforts, I’m still undecided.
Gone Baby Gone
Though receiving decent critical praise, yet no attention from the Academy, I quite enjoyed this one. A definite success for Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. Casey Affleck’s performance cemented his mainstream talents, where Jesse James did his artistic. A good year for the younger brother all around. A much more satisfying adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel than another director who I won’t mention, lest the windows shatter and the gods weep from on high. The stance of the all important ending is where I think Affleck went in the right direction. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see what Scorsese does with Shutter Island, based on another Lehane novel, which just so happens to be shooting not too far away in Taunton, MA as I write.
Juno
I enjoyed this one. It was funny and witty, though not so much as some would like you to believe. I saw this as a carefully crafted copy of the work of filmmakers like Wes Anderson. Ellen Page and Michael Cera were good, as were Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons. I give Hollywood, and stripper turned writer Diablo Cody, the biggest credit for the end stance on teenage pregnancy and abortion, though I would have liked to see a little more conservative thought. It was certainly better than Showtime’s Weeds, which while amusing, is unforgivably deplorable in outlook.
We Own the Night
One brother’s a cop, and the other an up and coming criminal – caught between family, violence and conflicting morals. You’ve seen all this before, right? Well, don’t be so quick to judge this one. It brought a lot more to the table than you might think; this, almost entirely through the portrayal and examination of the main characters by Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Pheonix. What starts out as seeming predictably, quickly takes a unique direction in the aftermath of tragedy on the parts of the two brothers. Right through to completion, I was pleasantly surprised in the path that was taken. Even the father, played by Robert Duvall, brought something new to the table.
TOP 10 FILMS THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE TOP 10
Or the runner’s up for the year – definitely worth checking out.
Hot Fuzz
Grindhouse
Knocked Up
Superbad
Atonement
Live Free or Die Hard
Spiderman 3
Transformers
Simpsons Movie
National Treasure 2
MOST OVERRATED FILM OF THE YEAR
300 - That’s right, I said it.
TOP 10 FILMS I DIDN’T SEE
Or those that might have made the top 10, if I had any more time to watch movies.
American Gangster
The Darjeeling Limited
The Namesake
Walk Hard
Shoot ‘Em Up
In the Valley of Elah
The Dark is Rising
Last Legion
The Hoax
Dan in Real Life
TOP 10 FILMS FROM PRIOR YEARS
Or the best movies that I should have seen before, but didn’t get to watch until this year.
The Good German
Blood Diamond
Patton
Doctor Zhivago
Hotel Rwanda
The Salton Sea
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Squid and the Whale
States of Grace: God’s Army 2
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
TOP FILMS REVISTED THIS YEAR
Or the movies I watched again, and was still blown away with how powerful they are.
Little Big Man – if you’ve never seen this, check it out. It’s genius. All the super liberal, America is evil, filmmakers that want to realistically cover sensitive subjects can learn from this one.
Hard Boiled
Star Wars Trilogy (original)
Back to the Future Trilogy
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