Thursday, December 30

Professor Mac-thing-a-ma-jig's triumphant return to the world of Scientifery!

Last year there were so many great movies I had to make a top twelve list, but this year after a heart to heart with Matt, wherein I basically confided that I didn't think there were enough good movies released this year for me to make a year end top ten, I have reconsidered. There are barely enough, and so here they are:

10) A Dirty Shame, by John Waters

Another directorial high point, it's gleeful depravity so infectious I feel sorry for the critics too stodgy to get the joke. Ought to be shown as part of a sex ed class in every high school in the land.

9) Team America: World Police, by Matt and Trey

Scattershot politics aside, this does what comedies are supposed to; made me laugh until my sides hurt. Just fuckin' hilarious from start to finish, I laughed as loud and as hard as I have at anything since, well, since the last Trey and Matt movie, South Park:B,L&U. God it's nice to be adding my second comedy to this list.

8) Lila Dit Ca, by Ziad Doueiri

A perfect, beautiful coming of age, almost the female 400 blows with its frank sexual energy and incredibly compelling performances. Seek it out.

7) Collateral, by Michael Mann

A genre thriller that is Hitchcockian in the actual sense of the word, with organic story and brilliant characterization that had me on the literal edge of my seat. The real deal in spades, muchacho. Never mind cinematography that will prove so influential that night shooting on video can never be the same again. Destined to be aped ad infinitum.

6) Old Boy, by Chan Wook-Park

South Korea is definitely the new Hong Kong, and it was ground zero for two of the most astonishingly different crime films I've ever seen. Old Boy is the flashier of the two, a revenge tale that had me guessing to the final frame and yet never stopped giving exactly what was needed to ground the story and knock your socks off with visuals and pacing. The other was....

5) 3-Iron, by Kim Ki-Duk

A hypnotic and brilliantly cinematic study in isolation that blew my mind in so many ways. Just a treat to see something so totally in command of the form that watching it i needed to remind myself to breathe occasionally.

4) The Incredibles, by Brad Bird

What can be said that hasn't been already? the Pixar movie for grown-ups plays better when you don't bring the kids along, and can fully geek out at the awesome sets, furniture, costumes, architecture, cars, etc. Not to mention the out James Bonding James Bond, and throw in the best super-hero group dynamic ever.

3) The Alzheimer Case, by Erik Van Looy

The flat out most entertaining film I saw this year. An aging hitman (Karakter's Jan Declair) is slowly losing his memory, and fighting against time to right a wrong he almost committed himself. Memory and loss of memory play out as overarching themes that inform every scene, but never intrude on what can simply be enjoyed on the level of a crackerjack thriller. Think Point Blank, except you care deeply about the characters and the outcome.

2) A Very Long Engagement, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

World War I has never been on screen like this before. Never mind that it's the best mystery in a movie this year, or in any of the past five, for that matter. Jeunet slows down to hit all his targets with the same deliciousness that a marksman takes in nailing a perfect score. This is what it's like to watch a master of both art and craft. Bravo.

1) Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside), by Alejandro Amenabar

The toughest thing is to take a hackneyed, overwrought "issue film" (euthanasia) and actually make it as riveting as if it was happening to us. Mar Adentro delivers an emotional wallop that I have rarely been privy to, and my deep connection to it on a purely emotional level trumps all the rest to make it my best film of the year. It's playing soon, so make sure you just go and buy a ticket. Take a friend. Make a night of it. Bring some kleenex.

Honorable mentions: Childstar, Kill Bill vol 2, Hellboy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sideways, Ferpect Crime, Bad Education, Primer, Breaking News, A Very Long Engagment

Most disappointing movies of the year (remember, this doesn't necessarily mean the worst)

The Life Aquatic, Being Julia, Mean Girls, Spiderman 2, Van Helsing (okay in this case it means the worst), The Village, Open Water, Shaun of the Dead

Movies seen that were theatrically released this year: 30 in theatres, another 45 at the festival

Again, I can't see everything:

(These might have made the list if I had had the werewithal to get off my ass and see them in time)

Lemony Snicket
Closer
Hotel Rwanda
Kinsey
Ray
Red Lights

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Listed on BlogShares Site Meter