The Best Movies I Have Never Seen Before: In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

Friday, January 18, 2013

The Best Movies I Have Never Seen Before: In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
Directed by: Nagisa Ôshima.
Written by: Nagisa Ôshima.
Starring: Tatsuya Fuji (Kichizo Ishida), Eiko Matsuda (Sada Abe), Aoi Nakajima (Toku), Kyôji Kokonoe (Teacher Ômiya).

The list of non-pornographic films that contain as much sex and nudity as Nagida Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses is very short. The list of films that contain that much sex and nudity are also effective is even shorter – perhaps as few of three films with Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris, David Cronenberg’s Crash and John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus. And yet, what In the Realm of the Senses shares with those other three films – as wildly different as they are – is that it uses sex and nudity to make a broader point. On the surface, the movie is about a dark, sexual obsession that ends up destroying Ishida (Tatsua Fuji) and his mistress Sada (Eiko Matsuda). But Oshima saw this as a profoundly political film. Set in 1936, with the rise of fascism is Japan; perhaps the only way to rebel – to assert themselves as individuals – was to fuck.

Sada Abe is a former prostitute who comes to work at a more legitimate inn run by Ishida and his wife. It is not long before the beautiful Sada has caught her boss’s eye, and the two begin a torrid affair. This doesn’t seem new to Ishida, but something is different about Sada. He cannot get enough of her – and she cannot get enough of him. Soon, they have their own place together, and he is neglecting his duties and his wife, and the two stay in bed all day together, much to the chagrin of the servants who want to come in a clean the room because it’s starting to smell. The sex starts off as more or less normal, but the more time they spend with each other, the farther out it gets, until it threatens to consume them.

That is the basic plot of the movie, and while it seems simple, it really isn’t. Oshima spends almost the entire movie in various rooms with these two characters as the make love and talk, and yet the movie has a strange beauty to it. It is expertly crafted, and doesn’t fall into the trap of porn films in going for the money shot. While the movie will show all sorts of graphic nudity, and it is erotic, not cold, the film is not porn. Porn requires the point of it to be sexual arousal, and that isn’t what the point of the movie is. The point is these two characters, who are in love, and how society keeps them to the outside. They are not normal, so they are wicked and evil. They are apart from society – as seen in a scene where Ishida daring walks against the tide of the Imperial soldiers.

I was drawn into In the Realm of the Senses almost from the beginning. There is an awkwardness to some of the scenes at the beginning of their relationship – as they are still circling each other – but once the relationship starts, it is intrisicately fascinating. The performances by the two leads are brave – not just because of all the nudity, but also because of the emotional turmoil these characters go through. This is not a film for vain actors, and they lay themselves bare onscreen. There does come a point however, near the end of the movie, where all the nudity grows tiring. The final scene is masterfully shot and acted, but it does tend to drag on quite a bit. It wears a little thin by the end of the film.

 
And yet, it total, I admired In the Realm of the Senses. This is a mature, thoughtful film that uses sex – lots and lots of sex – but does so in an intelligent way that looks at the larger implications. If you look at this film and see porn, you aren’t looking very hard.

Returning Feature: The Best Films I Have Never Seen Before

Returning Feature: The Best Films I Have Never Seen Before

I'm not sure how many people remember, but I used to do a fairly regular feature of reviewing some classic films that I had never seen before. Everyone has gaps in their cinematic knowledge, and I am no exception, so I constantly watch older movies - both ones I have seen and ones I haven't. I enjoy it.

But in December 2011, I stopped publishing these reviews. The reasons were multiple reasons - none of them being that I didn't think it was worth my time or that people were complaining. Basically, it was because December and January are always my busiest months - both at my day job and on the blog - and at the beginning of February 2012, I went on paternity leave for six months, and just kind of stopped posting the reviews. I always meant to get back to it, so I'm starting again. I already have 31 reviews of older films that I wrote BEFORE December 2011, so some of the films that I post reviews on are ones that I may have mentioned in other posts this year as my having seen them. Trust me, I did. I have no problem admitting I haven't seen something.

I was simply looking for a chance to start posting, and with the death of Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima recently, and the fact that one of the movies I had already written about (but not posted) was his, In the Realm of the Senses, I figured I'd start there.

Movie Review: Detropia

Movie Review: Detropia

Detropia
Directed by: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady.

Detroit was once a thriving manufacturing city for the entire United States. Slowly but surely over the years, as one car company after after closed it factories or moved them overseas, Detroit became a poorer and poorer city, with high employment and a falling population. It is now estimated that the population is half of what it was during the boom times – and unemployment reaches over 30%. Even the auto bailout hasn’t helped very much. The city is broke and has no way of making more money. Once a great city, Detroit is now a mere shadow of its former self.

The excellent documentary Detropia doesn’t have any solutions to the problems. Nor is it really about how Detroit sunk down to the place where it’s at now. Instead, it is a portrait of what the city is now like – what the residents go through on a day to day basis, the struggles the city government has. To offset these scenes of quiet desperation, the directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady flash to the Detroit opera – which is still going, mainly because of payouts by the auto companies to try and make themselves look good. But if the city is emptying, who the hell cares if they still have “culture”?

The most memorable character in the movie is probably Mike Stevens – a retired teacher who now owns a blues bar. He is outspoken in his criticism for everyone who has helped to destroy Detroit, but also optimistic that it can – and will recover. He is convinced that sooner or later, his bar will start making money again – and he’ll be able to hire a cook (he does it himself now). He goes to the car show, and is in disbelief that an electric car in China costs $20,000 than the Chevy Volt. Yes, but, the Volt has many more features than that car – a Chevy representative tells him. Americans won’t want to drive that car, they assure him. But Stevens seems to remember the recent past better than the Chevy guys do – and when he mentions that is precisely what they used to say about Honda, they don’t have much to say, and quickly end the conversation.

We see Detroit’s Mayor Dave Bing trying to do the best job he can – in a job no sane person would want. He has no good choices in front of him. His city has no money, and he needs to cut services. But if he cuts bus service for example, than many of the residents who still live in town would no longer be able to get to work. He comes up with a novel idea – move people in sparsely populated neighbourhoods into the more crowded ones – perhaps only half the city will be full, but at least than the city could concentrate all their money there – and the businesses in those areas might have more customers. Unsurprisingly, none of the people who are to be “relocated” are very happy about the plan.

We also meet an artist couple, who considered many places before deciding on moving to Detroit. What made them pick the Motor City? They could live cheaper there than anywhere else – and Detroit has more empty buildings and warehouses where they can practice their art.

The film is strangely beautiful. There is something haunting about the shots that Grady and Ewing of an abandoned Detroit. The often just let the images of the empty streets, empty lots, abandoned buildings, closed factories. I have come to think of Detroit of a broken, dirty city – and while Detropia shows that, it also has a sadly beautiful quality.

Detropia is a rather obvious title for the movie – and is not the title I would have chosen. That makes it sound like a more simple minded film – one that probably tries to advocate  a solution or tries to advance some sort of political agenda. That isn’t the case with Detropia. This is a film that looks at a once proud city, that is now probably destroyed forever. What are the solutions? Perhaps, as Detropia shows, there isn’t one.

Movie Review: 5 Broken Cameras

Movie Review: 5 Broken Cameras

5 Broken Cameras
Directed by: Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi.

Emad Burnat is a Palestinian villager who has spent his whole life in his small village of Bil’in. He gets a camera on the occasion of his fourth son’s birth so he can document his son’s life. Emad, and seemingly everyone else is Bil’in, isn’t really political. They live a simple life, and are happy. All they really want is for things to stay the same. But when the Israeli government decides that they need to build a barrier – to separate villagers like Bil’in from the Israeli settlement near by, the people of Bil’in are not happy – and they start to protest. Their protests are non-violent – basically just the entire village going to the construction site of the barrier every Friday with signs and chanting at the workers and Israeli army member there. The Israeli response is not non-violent – he sees his friends and family arrested or beaten, and throughout the course of his movie, he will have five different cameras that he has used to document the protests destroyed.

The story that 5 Broken Cameras tells is undeniably powerful and important. The film is narrated by Burnat, who tells his story over the images his cameras caught. Professional filmmaker – and Israeli – Guy Davidi co-directed the film, one assumes to help give it a professional polish that Burnat, who says he knew nothing about filmmaking, would be incapable of giving. Had the two simply let the images speak for themselves, and cut back on the cloying narration, this could have been a great documentary. As it stands, I could not help but think that I was being manipulated throughout the entire running time of the documentary. The sad thing is, the filmmakers didn’t need to do that. In this case, it is hard to defend Israel’s actions – but I still don’t like the filmmakers bashing me over the head over and over again with their rather obvious point.

Take for instance a scene in which Burnat’s youngest son, Gibreel, who must be at most 3 at the time, goes up to an Israeli soldier and literally hands him an olive branch (olives being  the main crop of the area). The film shows this, without narration, as if it was a natural, spur of the moment gesture by the wide eyed innocent Gibreel. But the whole scene reeks of a setup – I wonder just how long Gibreel needed to be coached before he did that?

The same sort of manipulation can be seen throughout the movie. Burnat and Davidi never tire of showing us wide eyed, innocent children to go along with their cloying narration that never really shares any real insight into what is happening, but is there to pull at the audience’s heartstrings.

Which is sad, because the story of the Bil’in protests is an important one. We hear stories of violent clashes between Israel and Palestine – and more often, Israel and its neighbors – far too often. The villagers in Bil’in are not trying to wipe Israel off the map, they just want to be left alone in their village, so they can raise their own families in peace. Their protests are peaceful, and what Israel does in response is overkill.

But 5 Broken Cameras remains a film that isn’t really interested in presenting a fair and balance picture of what happened. Instead, they insist on beating its point into your head over and over again, in the most broadly sentimental way imaginable. It’s too bad. The filmmakers didn’t need to go this route to make a good film. In fact, they would have been much better served if they hadn’t. This is a sad enough story that the filmmakers needn’t have tried so hard to pull at your heartstrings.

Movie Review: Gangster Squad

Movie Review: Gangster Squad

Gangster Squad
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer.
Written by: Will Beall based on the book by Paul Lieberman.
Starring: Josh Brolin (Sgt. John O'Mara), Ryan Gosling (Sgt. Jerry Wooters), Emma Stone (Grace Faraday), Sean Penn (Mickey Cohen), Nick Nolte (Chief Parker), Anthony Mackie (Officer Coleman Harris), Robert Patrick (Officer Max Kennard), Michael Peña (Officer Navidad Ramirez), Giovanni Ribisi (Officer Conway Keeler), Sullivan Stapleton (Jack Whalen), Mireille Enos (Connie O'Mara), Troy Garity (Wrevock), James Carpinello (Johnny Stomp), John Aylward (Judge Carter), Jon Polito (Dragna).

Sometimes when I get bored watching a movie, I start to wonder about the actors in the film. Did they know they were making a bad movie? Are they doing things to amuse themselves? I bring this up because as I watched Gangster Squad, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps Ryan Gosling knew what a bad movie this was going to turn out to be, and the ridiculous clipped, nasal voice  he uses throughout the film was his way of keeping things interesting for himself. I’m probably completely wrong about that – but no matter what the reason is behind Gosling’s strange vocal tics in the movie, I’m glad he employed them. Because there really is very little in Gangster Squad that held my interest in the least.

The film takes place in 1949 Los Angeles. This is the world that James Ellroy has so vividly captured throughout his career as a novelist – especially in his masterpiece L.A. Confidential (turned into a great movie by Curtis Hanson in 1997). Ellroy’s book crackle with violence and sex, and have perfect, hard boiled dialogue in them. The screenplay for Gangster Squad by Will Beall tries very hard to ape this dialogue, but pretty much gets it all wrong. No one in the movie says anything remotely interesting.

Anyway, it’s L.A. in 1949. Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) a boxer turned mobster has come to L.A. and pretty much runs the town’s criminal enterprise. He even has the gangsters back home in Chicago scared of him. He does what he wants because he has money enough to buy everyone he needs to stay out of his way, and is ruthless enough to kill those who don’t. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) is a veteran back from WWII, who fought for “freedom” over there, and hates what he sees becoming of his beloved town. He is seemingly the only honest cop in town. After he roughes up some of Cohen’s men, he is called into the office of the Chief of Police (Nick Nolte) and told to assemble a squad. The Chief wants O’Mara to go to war with Cohen – not to kill him – but drive him out of town with his tail between his legs to serve as a message to everyone else – L.A. is not a mob town.

This is when O’Mara finds out he isn’t the only honest cop in town – there’s at least five others. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) is a player who watches out only for himself, but has twin reasons to want to fight Cohen – one being Grace (Emma Stone), Cohen’s “etiquette” coach who he seduces. Harris (Anthony Mackie) is tired of seeing the blacks in L.A. hooked on heroin – and given the chance to help take down the main supplier, he jumps at it. Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) was in army intelligence and is a tech wizard, and wants to tell his kids he fought against the bad men. Kennard (Robert Patrick) seems to have wandered in from a John Ford movie with his six shooter and dialogue. He is trailed around by Navidad Ramirez (Adam Beach), who is a Mexican, and that’s about all you learn about him. Together, these men wage war on Cohen – taking down his business, costing him money, and making him fume the whole time.

The film was directed by Ruben Flesicher, who made the excellent zombie comedy Zombieland a few years ago, and the less than excellent comedy 30 Minutes of Less after that. The style of Gangster Squad is pretty good – this isn’t supposed to be a realistic 1949 LA, but a stylized one. Many critics have compared to the movie (unfavorably) to The Untouchables, and that’s a decent comparison. But I thought more of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990), a formative movie for me (I was nine when it came out, and completely blown away). Both movies value style over substance, but at least Beatty’s film was immensely entertaining, with great comic book dialogue, and a cast who knew not to take the whole thing seriously. Gosling gets that to a certain extent here, and his performance is by far the most interesting. It isn’t exactly a good performance, but it’s far from boring. The rest of the cast though is dull. Normally, I like the no-nonsense approach of Josh Brolin. But as O’Mara, he is simply dull. Sean Penn goes wildly over the top as Mickey Cohen – not always a bad thing (see Al Pacino in Dick Tracy), but he’s also a killjoy. When you go that far over the top, you damn well better be fun to watch – and Penn isn’t. I did enjoy Nick Nolte’s performance - mainly because I’m enjoying all the recent Nolte performances, where he spits out one word at a time as if at any moment, he may just keep over and die. Unfortunately, he isn’t in the film very much.

Gangster Squad isn’t a horrible film. Fleischer tries to make it look good, and there are several good shootouts throughout the film. But it does feel like a film that is simply going through the motions. It is devoid of passion – or really any reason to exist. If you’ve seen a lot of gangster movies – and I have – you’ve seen this type of film countless times before, done a whole hell of a lot better.

2012 Year End: The Most Disappointing and Worst Films of 2012

2012 Year End: The Most Disappointing and Worst Films of 2012

I don’t like to dwell too long on the films of the year  I didn’t really like, but as much as I try to cut out the films I know I won’t like, I still see a lot of bad movies. And not just bad movies, but ones that I walk out of the theater disappointed in. So I will quickly go over the films that disappointed me, and then the ones I just down right didn’t like before getting into the 10 worst films of the year.

Most Disappointing Films

Not all of the following films were bad – some were even good – but all left me wanting more – which can be an even worse experience than simply hating a film.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Timur Bekmambetov) should have been a wonderful guilty pleasure, but never quite finds the right tone. Arbitrage (Nicholas Jarecki) was praised by many, but what I saw was an average thriller, with not much to get outraged by, and a fine performance by Richard Gere, but was still forgettable. Antiviral (Brandon Cronenberg) had such a great premise, that even though it was Cronenberg Jr.’s first film, I left me feeling let down. Battleship (Peter Berg) is probably better than it had any right to be, but considering how good Peter Berg can be – and how good Rihanna looks in an army uniform, I couldn’t help but think it was a missed opportunity.Being Flynn (Paul Weitz) has two great actors in Paul Dano and Robert DeNiro, and a fine story, but never quite hits you in the gut like it should. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (John Madden) was senior wish fulfillment that wasted a fine cast. Chernobyl Diaries (Bradley Parker) had a great premise, but the most unimaginative execution possible. Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman) was Whit Stillman’s long awaited return to filmmaking, and it wasn’t worth the wait. Hitchcock (Sacha Gervasi) doesn’t do the Master justice, with its ridiculous inventions, and ho-hum casting. Hope Springs (David Frankel) was one of the few films to seriously tackle sexual issues in a long term relationship – but other than a great Tommy Lee Jones, has nothing to recommend it (not even Meryl Streep, who was thoroughly unconvincing as his meek wife). John Carter (Andrew Stanton) was Pixar genius Andrew Stanton’s live action debut – and while it’s never boring, it’s never all that involving either. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik) contains some great performances, and perhaps the best final scene/line of the year, but is so over directed and pretentious, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Lawless (John Hillcoat) is really quite entertaining – especially when Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce are involved, but it’s becoming clear than John Hillcoat may never come close to matching The Proposition again. The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev) was a beautiful film, but didn’t give me a reason to care about what was going on. Mirror Mirror (Tarsem) once again proves Tarsem is a gifted visual director, with no idea how to tell a story. The Moth Diaries (Mary Harron) tried hard to be the anti-Twilight, but ended up being just as lifeless. The Paperboy (Lee Daniels) started as a fine guilty pleasure, and does contain a great Nicole Kidman performance, but goes too far, even by its own standards, in the third act. Perfect Sense (David McKenzie) has an interesting premise, and a good Ewan McGregor performance, but has no idea what to do with either. Red Hook Summer (Spike Lee) has a raw intensity that I admired, and a great performance by Clarke Peters, but never really comes together, and flies off the rails in the third act. Trishna (Michael Winterbottom) takes Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles and places it in modern India – but has a blank Freida Pinto and a schizophrenic Riz Ahmed as the leads, so it’s doomed from the start.Total Recall (Len Wiseman) is further proof that Paul Verhoeven is a sorely underrated director, and needs to make more films. Tabu (Miguel Gomes) is beautiful to look, but to me anyway, never comes together in a meaningful way. 360 (Fernardo Meirelles) is yet more proof that when it comes to Meirelles, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect.

Bad Films

The following films were bad – not bad enough for the 10 worst list, but that’s about all you can say for them.

Act of Valor (Mike McCoy & Scott Waugh) proves why most all non-professional actors should never make a movie. Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster (Nathan Morlando) has a good premise, but is quite simply the dullest bank robbery story imaginable. The Five Year Engagement (Nicholas Stoller) can never decide if it’s a comedy or a drama, and fails at both. 4:44: Last Night on Earth (Abel Ferrara) is an end of the world saga that does nothing new with the tired concept. Get the Gringo (Adrian Grunburg) was supposed to be a comeback for Mel Gibson, but there is a reason it went straight to video in North America.Hello, I Must Be Going (Todd Louiso) has some nice performances, but doesn’t really know what exactly it’s trying to do. The Intouchables (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano) was an offensively simplistic French film. Man on a Ledge (Asger Leth) was a ridiculous heist film with the ever so bland Sam Worthington in the lead. Pitch Perfect (Jason Moore) was like a bad episode of Glee – and considering I don’t like good episodes of Glee, you know my feelings on this one. Project X (Nima Nourizadeh) was a celebration of everything that is wrong with American culture. The Raven (James McTeague) has the interesting idea of making Edgar Allan Poe into a detective, and then does nothing with it. Red Tails (Anthony Hemingway) has some great aerial scenes, but the dramatic scenes were awful. Rock of Ages (Adam Shankman) was the dullest musical in (sorry for this) ages. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Lasse Hallstrom) was a bland, forgettable would-be romance. The Samaritan (David Weaver) was the dullest con game imaginable, with a sleepwalking Samuel L. Jackson. Seeking Justice (Roger Donaldson) was a barely released, awful thriller with a boring Nicolas Cage, a comatose January Jones and directed by a guy who should have known better. The Three Stooges (Peter & Bobby Farrelly) proves why I am not a fan of the Stooges. Underworld Awakening (Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein) may be the best Underworld film in a while but that’s not saying much. Wanderlust (David Wain) has an interesting premise, but takes the easy way out too often. Womb (Benedek Fliegauf) had some striking visuals in the service of a forgettable story. Wrath of the Titans (Jonathan Liebsman) was an unnecessary sequel to an unnecessary remake.

The Bottom Ten

10. Klown (Mikkel Norgaard)
If Klown proves nothing else, it’s that there are reasons why some lines are not crossed. Some loved this Danish comedy, because it crosses all the lines of good taste – even those that even the sickest gross out comedies in America never do. But the general rule of comedy is nothing is offensive as long as it’s funny – and I sat there stone-faced throughout this movie about two idiots who take a young boy on a canoe trip and expose him to all sorts of inappropriate, lewd sex acts. Most of this is just not funny, and I was bored throughout most of the film. But it’s the film’s final scene that truly crosses all lines of taste that crosses the line between simply not funny and downright offensive and wrong. There are reasons some lines are not crossed – and Klown doesn’t seem to realize that.

9. The Comedy (Rick Alverson)

The Comedy is a film by hipsters, for hipsters that pretends criticizes hipsters, before trying to make us realize that hipsters are people too. Now, had the film been more honest with itself, and the audience, it could have been a very good movie. Instead, the movie subjects the audience to scene after scene of its main character (actually played very well by Tim Hedecker) being a complete asshole, and mocking anyone who has a job or actually cares about anything, and scene after scene of him seducing dumb women with his patented pickup lines of being “hilariously” inappropriate and ironic (“I’m not saying Hitler was right, but…”).  All this bludgeoning over the audiences head would be bad enough, but then the movie tries to convince us that this little sociopath is actually a real guy, with real feelings, and it’s just too painful for him to face them head on. What a crock of shit.

8. Dark Horse (Todd Solondz)

I have been a longtime supporter of Todd Solondz – from the days he was a critics darling with films like Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness to his days when he wasn’t with Storytelling, Palindromes and Life During Wartime. But his latest film, Dark Horse, is quite simply awful. It is about a 30 something year old man who lives in his parents’ house, works at his dead’s company (doing nothing) and driving around in a bright yellow hummer – all the while insisting that he is the “dark horse” and will eventually make something of himself. He starts dating an equally damaged woman (Selma Blair, possibly a reincarnation of sorts of her character in Storytelling), but unlike a Judd Apatow comedy, the love of a good woman doesn’t cure this arrested development case, in part because she isn’t a good woman, and in part because he’s hopeless. The film’s bizarre left turn into surrealism in the final act simply doesn’t work at all. I love Todd Solondz – think he’s one of the most daring filmmakers in the world right now. But when you risk big, and Solondz always does, you risk losing big. And this time, Solondz lost big.

7. To Rome with Love (Woody Allen)

Perhaps it was silly of me to think that last year’s Midnight in Paris represented a true return to form for Woody Allen – ushering in a new golden age of the master’s work. He followed up one of his best films ever with quite possibly his worst film ever. To Rome with Love feels like four half baked, discarded ideas thrown together into one movie in the hopes that some of it will work – none of it does. Not even a rare appearance by Woody himself – playing his typical neurotic self – or the presence of Jessie Eisenberg, who should be one of the best Woody surrogates available, can save this dud. Part of the reason it doesn’t work is bizarre casting choices (Alec Baldwin as the voice of reason? Ellen Page as a sexy seductress?) but mostly it fails because Woody didn’t seem to put too much thought into any of it. Let’s hope we get more Woody films like Midnight in Paris, and less like this dud.

6. Hyde Park on the Hudson (Roger Michell)

Bill Murray struggles valiantly but ultimately in vain to try and save this horrible movie about FDR meeting with the King and Queen of England on the eve of WWII. That sounds like an interesting story, and had the movie actually been about that, it may well have been good. Instead, the movie uses this important event as a mere backdrop to the dullest, creepiest would-be romance between FDR and his plain Jane cousin (Laura Linney) who is so passive she’s practically not there at all. Roger Michell is usually a fine director, but somehow he completely misses on this one – not only is the movie poorly written, poorly acted (other than Murray), but Michell makes some extremely awkward editing decisions. The film is supposed to be funny, but isn’t, is supposed to be romantic, but isn’t, and overall, I’m having trouble figuring out why it was made at all.

5. Taken 2 (Olivier Megaton)

I didn’t really like the first Taken – it seem so obvious, blunt, silly and stupid to me, and Maggie Grace delivered the most annoying performance in recent memory. But Taken 2 makes it look like a masterpiece by comparison – at least the first film moved! This one spends a half hour setting everything up, at a painfully slow pace, and when the action does kick in, it’s even more ridiculous than before (seriously, no one seems to care that Grace is lobbing grenades all over a crowded city). The villains are ridiculously one note, Grace is as annoying as ever, and Famke Janssen is even worse. There is only so much the manliness of Liam Neeson can do – and while he may be able to save his family, again, he cannot save this movie.

4. 2 Days in New York (Julie Delphy)

Julie Delphy’s 2 Days in New York feels like being stuck in a small apartment with the most obnoxious, annoying people on the planet. I may not have liked her 2 Days in Paris all that much, but I don’t remember it being this shrill or annoying. There are two things that make this movie even quasi-bearable – Chris Rock, who is the only normal guy in the movie, and a great scene between Delphy’s character and the real Vincent Gallo, who has just bought her soul. Everything else in the movie plays like a writer/director/actress aping Woody Allen circa 1977, and doing a horrible job of it. Delphy, who can be quite charming, is insufferable here – but not nearly as insufferable as her family. This movie moves from one shrill, disagreeable scene to the next until I wanted to run screaming from the theater.

3. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor)

The directing duo of Neveldine and Taylor are perhaps the worst thing to American movies in years. They somehow fooled a lot of people into liking their vile, racist, sexist and incoherent Crank movies, but at least most seem to have ignored their last two films – Gamer and this unnecessary sequel. Nicolas Cage once again makes it hard to be a fan, but this film has the opposite problem as Seeking Justice. If Cage toned himself down in that film to match it’s boring, dull pace, than he cranks it up full bore here and goes wildly over the top. There is very little connecting this to the previous Ghost Rider film – and they were obviously trying to save on costs, which explains the low rent no-name, supporting cast, and Eastern European location. This film is just loud, overlong and incoherent and will hopefully put in the nail in the coffin of Neveldine and Taylor’s career.

2. 2016: Obama’s America (Dinesh D'Souza & John Sullivan)

Let me be very clear about something – I think there is a very real case to be made about the failures of the Obama Administrations first term. Yes, I was glad he won re-election, but no, the last four years have been far from perfect. But Dinesh D`Souza`s documentary isn’t an intelligent, reasoned critique of Obama, but the kind of insane ranting’s you would expect to hear from some crazy guy on the subway. D`Souza`s main thesis is not that Obama is a failed President, but that his entire purpose as President is to destroy America because of his anti-colonist views – that he has no proof of, but feels that is true because some people Obama knew – including the father he met twice – had some radical ideas. Liberals should be offended by this movie, as it is nothing more than a hit job on Obama – and Conservatives should be offended because it makes them look insane.

1. That's My Boy (Sean Anders)

Adam Sandler can be a fine actor when he wants to be. In films like Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me and Funny People, he has shown range and sensitivity. Unfortunately, more often than not he makes films like That’s My Boy – an offensive, unfunny comedy where Sandler once again dons one of his silly voices, and thinks he doesn’t have to do anything else to be funny. The worst part about That’s My Boy is that it could have made a fine dark comedy had the filmmakers taken the concept – about the child that was the result of a teacher-student relationship – seriously. Instead, the film makes one silly, stupid sex joke after another – and wow, raping a 13 year old boy sure is funny. And so is incest! And Vanilla Ice! I`m actually kind of proud of the movie going public, who can usually be counted to lap up whatever crap Sandler slaps his name on, pretty roundly rejected this one. Easily the worst film of the year.

2012 Year End: My Personal Oscar Ballot (If I Had One)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

2012 Year End: My Personal Oscar Ballot (If I Had One)

Best Picture
1.       The Master
2.       Amour
3.       Zero Dark Thirty
4.       Django Unchained
5.       Lincoln
6.       Compliance
7.       Holy Motors
8.       Moonrise Kingdom
9.       Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Why? I’ve already gone over the why in my top 10 list (sadly, the Academy only nominated 9, so Skyfall missed the cut). What I will says is I think this one of the most ecceletic Best Picture lists I have ever had – from well establiashed masters to newcomers, to three films from Europe, and the rest looking at many facets of life in America from past to present. A fascinating list, to me (of course).

Director

1.     Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
2.     Michael Haneke, Amour
3.     Katheryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
4.     Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
5.     Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Why? A nearly impossibly strong lineup this year with five masters doing completely different work – from Anderson going further down the Kubrick rabbit hole to Haneke’s icy distance, to Tarantino’s exuberance, to Bigelow’s ambiguity to Spielberg’s intimacy, this is a strong, strong lineup – and had a lot of competitors to boot.

 

Best Actor

1.     Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
2.     Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
3.     Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
4.     Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
5.     Denzel Washington, Flight

Why? This is the strongest this category has been in years. You could make a case for any of the top 4 deserving to win, and there are four other performances that I would have been satisfied with taking the fifth spot. Still, Phoenix towers over the rest of them for me.

Best Actress

1.     Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
2.     Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
3.     Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
4.     Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz
5.     Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Why? Jessica Chastain’s work in Zero Dark Thirty is tough as nails, humane, relatable and at times even funny – but above all is a wonderful portrait of obsession. Emmanuelle Riva is heartbreaking as the stroke victim in Amour. Jennifer Lawrence really elevates the entirety of Silver Linings Playbook with her hilarious performance. Michelle Williams once again shows why she is the most sympathetic actress of her generation. And young Quvenzhane Wallis delivered one of the strongest child performances I have ever seen.

Best Supporting Actor

1.     Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
2.     Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
3.     Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained
4.     Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
5.     Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty

Why? Philip Seymour Hoffman’s brilliant, controlled performance makes Lancaster Dodd into one of the year’s most fascinating characters – and a necessary flip side to Freddie. The Django pair (not to menion DiCaprio) were brilliant in different ways – Waltz as the mentor with a way with words, and Jackson with his cold icy stare, and his over-the-top laugh. Tommy Lee Jones added some much needed humor to Lincoln – and also a heart. And Jason Clarke is the most terrifyingly real portrait of an American agent torturing that you will likely see.

Supporting Actor

1.     Ann Dowd, Compliance
2.     Amy Adams, The Master
3.     Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
4.     Judi Dench, Skyfall
5.     Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Why? Not a strong category this year, but I still love all five of these performances. Ann Dowd was the best – she did so much with little movement, and created one of the most fascinating characters of the year.Anne Hathawat is here for her showstopping I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables – one of the great moments of the year. Amy Adams elevated her quiet role, Judi Dench adde depth to a character that never had much before, and Kidman makes a ridiculous, over-the-top Southern Gothic, exploitation flick into something to behold with her brilliant, off-kilter performance.

Best Original Screenplay

1.     The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson
2.     Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino
3.     Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
4.     Amour – Michael Haneke
5.     Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola

Why? The Master was the year’s most fascinating enigma, and it started here. Django was the most quotable film of the year. Zero Dark Thirty the most intricately constructed. Amour the most heartbreakingly simple. And Moonrise Kingdom the most absurd. An insanely good year for this category that easily could have several other nominees.

Best Adapted Screenplay

1.     Lincoln – Tony Kushner
2.     Bernie – Richard Linklater & Skip Hollingsworth
3.     Killer Joe – Tracy Letts
4.     The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
5.     Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell

Why? Not a strong category year for adaptations this year, but these five deserve love. Tony Kushner’s screenplay towers over the rest of them – such a large, complex script with so many moving parts. Bernie took a small article and made it one of the most fascinating crime movies of the year. Letts adapted his own play for Killer Joe – and the transition is seamless. Chbosky adapted his own book, and did so wonderfully. And finally David O. Russell’s screenplay is much better, wittier, funnier and faster paced than the novel.

Best Documentary

1.    Stories We Tell
2.    This is Not a Film
3.    Searching for Sugar Man
4.    Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
5.    Side by Side

Why? The two top films were extremely personal docs – made by the filmmakers about their own lives did an amazing job of it. Searching For Sugar Man was the most inspiring documentary of the year. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry was a great movie about an artist. And Siide by Side was the most fascinating look at the film to digital transformation you could ask for.

Best Animated Film

1.     Frankenweenie
2.     Brave
3.     Wreck it Ralph
4.     ParaNorman
5.     It’s Such a Beautiful Day

Why? While none of these films came close to my top 10 list this year, all five are excellent – in fact, you could easily make a case for any of them being the best. Perhaps it was the use of black and white that put Frankenweenie over the top for me. Brave may not be Pixar’s best film, but it is a superb technical achievement. Wreck-It Ralph was the most fun I had at an animated film this year. ParaNorman took archetypes and made them something more – and had a wonderful look. And It’s Such a Beautiful Day is a hand made film with passion.

Best Foreign Language Film

1.     Amour - Austria
2.     Holy Motors - France
3.     Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - Turkey
4.     The Kid with the Bike - Belgium
5.     Barbara - Germany

Why? A very strong year for films outside of North America. Amour towers over them all, but Holy Motors and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia were masterpieces as well. The Dardenne brothers The Kid with a Bike may not reach the heights of The Son or L’Enfant, but is still deserving of this award. And Barbara took elements of the thriller and the melodrama and made it seem real.

Best Cinematography

1.     The Master - Mihai Malaimare Jr.
2.     Skyfall – Roger Deakins
3.     Django Unchained – Robert Richardson
4.     Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - Gökhan Tiryaki
5.     Cloud Atlas – Frank Griebe & John Toll

Why? This was a nearly impossible category for me to get down to five this year. Still, Mihail Malamare’s brilliant work in 70 MM for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master was my clear favorite. On the complete opposite end, Roger Deakins makes as good as case as possible for why the switch to digital doesn’t mean cinematography will necessarily suffer. Robert Richardson always does great work, as does so again for Tarantino with Django. Gokhan Tiryaki’s work on Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is quietly stunning. And finally the duo behind Cloud Atlas does remarkable work. But there were lots of other choices here – Janusz Kaminski using natural light brilliantly in Lincoln, Claudio Miranda’s beautiful work on Life of Pi (the only reason he’s not in the top five is so much of his work is aided by visual effects, it becomes impossible to tell what he’s responsible for), Greg Frazier’s gritty work on Zero Dark Thirty, Wally Pfister working in the light this time on The Dark Knight Rises, Robert Yeoman’s precise work on Moonrise Kingdom and Masanobu Takayanagi’s wonderful work on The Grey are just some of the others I considered for my top five. This was not only a great years for movies – but a great year for great looking movies.

Editing

1.     Zero Dark Thirty – William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor
2.     Cloud Atlas – Alexander Berner & Claus Wehlish
3.     The Master – Leslie Jones & Peter McNutty
4.     Skyfall – Stuart Baird
5.     Holy Motors – Nelly Quettier

Why? The editing in Zero Dark Thirty is impeccable, and builds suspense brilliantly throughout a two and half hour movie. The work by the Cloud Atlas pair is pretty much miraculous. The pair who did The Master helped with the dreamlike feel of the movie. Skyfall had expert action movie cutting. The work on Holy Motors, combining the different “appointments” into a coherent narrative was excellent.

Score

1.     The Master – Jonny Greenwood
2.     Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dan Rohmer & Benh Zeitlin
3.     Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat
4.     Cloud Atlas – Reinhold Heil & Tom Tykwer & Johnny Klimek
5.     Skyfall – Thomas Newman
 
Why? Jonny Greenwood’s score for The Master is a brilliant assault on the ears – the best score of the year by far, and further proof as to why he should work in this medium more often. The most memorable score of the year was Dan Rohmer & Benh Zeitlin’s work on Beasts of the Southern Wild, which helped the strange tone of the film. Alexandre Desplat’s brilliant work in Moonrise Kingdom is not eligible for the Oscars because it used exisiting music, but what Desplat does with that music, and his own, was brilliant. The trio who composed the score for Cloud Atlas elevated the movie, underlined the emotions without becoming overbearing. And finally, Thomas Newman brilliantly twists the classic Bond score for Skyfall.

Song

1.     Skyfall - Skyfall
2.     Holy Motors – Who We Were
3.     Django Unchained – Who Did That To You
4.     Django Unchained - Ancora Qui
5.     This is 40 – Dull Tool

Why? I cannot think of a stronger year this for this category – I didn’t even have room for Suddenly, a song that fits in wonderfully in Les Miserables - or the work of Mumford and Sons from Brave or Karen O from Frankenweenie - normally have a trouble coming up with five, this year I had trouble limiting it to five.. Adele’s Skyfall theme may just be the best Bond song ever. Holy Motors Who We Were provided one of the best scenes of the year. John Legend’s Who Did That to You was an utterly perfect song for Django Unchained and the wonderful Ennio Morricone composed a brilliant song for Tarantino’s spaghetti Western as well (and for the record, I could have easily chosen Freedom or 100 Black Coffins from Django as well). Fiona Apple’s Dull Tool is a terrific song, but could have been used better in the movie.

Art Direction

1.     Moonrise Kingdom
2.     The Master
3.     Beasts of the Southern Wild
4.     Cloud Atlas
5.     Prometheus

Why? No one obsesses over Art Direction like Wes Anderson – and that is why his films are often the best and most memorable of the year in this category, and Moonrise Kingdom is no exception. The art direction in The Master is precise and perfect. The strange, low budget work on Beasts of the Southern Wild elevates the entire movie. The work on Cloud Atlas had to cover a lot of time periods – and does it all brilliantly. The enviroments created for Prometehus may just be the best thing about the film.

Costume Design

1.     Cloud Atlas
2.     Moonrise Kingdom
3.     The Master
4.     Django Unchained
5.     Holy Motors

Why? The crew behind the costumes doe Cloud Altas had to hit a lot of different notes and time period, and is clearly the best of the year. Moonrise Kingdom had such precise, memorable work – from bird costumes, to scout uniforms to whatever the hell Tilda Swinton was wearing, and makes it all seem real. The Master perfectly captures the costumes of the period. Django Unchained uses costume design as a kind of character development. And finally Holy Motors costumes were pivotal to the overall success of the film.

Make-Up

1.     Cloud Atlas
2.     Holy Motors
3.     Lincoln

Why? Was there a harder working makeup team than that of Cloud Atlas, who had to makeup actors to look completely different from period to period – I think not. Holy Motors does brilliant work transforming Denis Levant a dozen times. The work on Lincoln helped to capture the time period brilliantly.

Sound Mixing

1.     The Master
2.     Les Miserables
3.     Zero Dark Thirty
4.     Django Unchained
5.     Skyfall

Why? The Master had one of the most complex, intricate sound designs of the year for those who didn’t notice (seemingly everyone). Whether you loved or hated Hooper’s choice to capture the singing live, it took immense skill from the sound people to get it to work at all. Zero Dark Thirty uses sound in surprising ways. Django Unchained mixed music and bullets to great effect. And finally Skyfall had tons of great work – like we expect from an action film.

Sound Effects Editing

1.     Django Unchained
2.     Prometheus
3.     Zero Dark Thirty
4.     Skyfall
5.     The Dark Knight Rises

Why? Tarantino’s films always sound great, and he always adds in those odd touches that make a film like Django the easy choice here. Say what you want about it, but Prometheus’s sound work was impeccable. Zero Dark Thirty uses sound – especially in that final sequence – brilliantly. Skyfall was the best pure action movie of the year – and the sound effects helped. And finally, The Dark Knight Rises has a lot of great work here.

Visual Effects

1.     Life of Pi
2.     Prometheus
3.     The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4.     Cloud Atlas
5.     The Avengers

Why? The work on Life of Pi is seamless and brilliant – and helps to overcome the films narrative problems by always giving you something to marvel at. The work on Prometehus was typically excellent work from Ridley Scott’s team. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey didn’t simply rest on their Lord of the Rings laurels, but pushed forward. The work on Cloud Atlas – particularly in future Korea – was the type of brilliant work we expect from the Wachowskis. And finally, The Avengers did excellent work throughout.