Stitch on 5/12/2009 at 00:41
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
I mean, if we're going to get critical, there's a big difference between breaking down your own negative experiences with the film and throwing around terms like "lazy writing."
Except my negative experience with the film was due to it being a piece of shit with lazy writing. The cinematography was delightful, however!
I don't know, you have a point that this isn't really the place. I just fondly remember the days when quirky indie tragi-comedies (or whatever you want to call them) had remotely believable characters.
Scots Taffer on 5/12/2009 at 00:59
I can only express my near-complete hatred for everything Wes Anderson did from The Royal Tenenbaums on as it exemplifies what is totally wrong with the navel-gaze narrative, especially when populated by not terribly likeable or compelling characters whose only real development is their quirk factor.
The more I see the more I realise Rushmore was a perfect mistake.
Angel Dust on 5/12/2009 at 01:56
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
11.
Spirited Away: A somewhat Disneyfied dub aside, I still feel (against all arguements to the contrary) that this is a marvelous family film in the true sense of the word. It manages to have a lot of content/ideas that are really weird to Western audiences (all the Shinto spirits etc.) yet remains accessible. As with all Miyazaki films, the artwork is beautiful. Bonus points for the soot balls.
Bah! I can't believe I forgot this! I adore Miyazaki's work and this sweeping, whimsical epic might just be his masterpiece. It was my first Miyazaki film and I was just stunned at how such an outlandishly imaginative world and menagerie of characters could be seamlessly married to a poignant coming of age story. Miyazaki understands the way children think and view the world better than any film maker I've seen and more importantly can instill that into the most cynical of audiences. Throw it in my top ten and pop
No Country For Old Men off the list! :p
On the subject of Wes Anderson: I find that while I get caught up in the dead-pan whimsy of films and the cinematography is undoubtedly lovely, they are so very very
slight that I promptly forget about them 10 minutes after seeing them. I'm quite interested in seeing
Fantastic Mr. Fox as I'm hoping that since it's based on someone else's material, and a great story-teller like Roald Dahl no less, it might not be so deficient in the areas of plot and character.
Scots Taffer on 5/12/2009 at 02:11
This is a tough list for me to write but I'm getting more comfortable with it by the minute, though as always it's subject to change according to my mood.
Top Three
1. Memento
This isn't just a movie that uses a brilliant narrative structure for a contemporary noir that's perfectly acted (and even if it was, it'd still deserve to be in the top five), but it also speaks to me in many ways about the passage of time, love, pain, the ways in which we deceive ourselves about the truth and the lengths at which we go to maintain those truths.
And those who argue that the narrative mechanic is a gimmick miss the way in which it reveals the truth to us frame by frame, keeping us hooked on the slow story of Sammy Jenkis as we piece together the puzzle, and they also overlook the way it set-up some genuinely amazing moments: the pen scene, the I don't feel drunk scene, the no, he's chasing me scene.
2. Adaptation
This movie is perfect on so many levels. It has a career peak performance from not one but TWO Nicholas Cages in a decade where he's typified by chewing more scenery than Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino combined. On one level it's a deeply funny movie about a successful but neurotic schlub screenwriter who's struggling with a very personal project while his idiot brother goes to one screenwriting course and pumps out a by-the-numbers thriller that takes Hollywood by storm. On another level it's the satire present in a screenwriter in Hollywood trying to convert a quiet beautiful story about flowers into a movie which is a problematic adaptation because it just doesn't have any of the traditional Hollywood elements that people continually remind him that are part and parcel of life and movies.
But the best part of the movie is the third act, it takes everything that the protagonist has learned and realised (I don't want him learning any profound life lessons or changing in any way!) and combines it into twisting the story on a Hollywood car-chase guns-sex-and-drugs thriller, where: if you wow them in the end, you've got a winner.
3. Hot Fuzz
What people making Scary Movie and countless uninspired shit films that have followed don't get, it's that parodies are supposed to love and appreciate their source material for what makes it work and what makes it popular. Airplane got this. Spaceballs got this. Shit, even Scream got it.
Hot Fuzz takes it to another level. Like Shaun of the Dead before it, it brilliantly blends homage, parody, references, observational humour on quiet British towns and British culture and absurdity, then wraps it around an honest to god buddy cop thriller about a series of murders that culminates in an explosive setpiece of action. When a film is making you laugh purely by its choice of musical cue to an already funny backstory of how the protagonist always wanted to be a policeman, you know you've got a winner.
The Top Ten Continued:
4. No Country For Old Men - at its core, a chase movie, but in the hands of Coens it becomes something more. So adept at painting America in a broad quirky comic strokes, they flip their sensibilities on their head and create a real world steeped in dread, and featuring one of cinema's greatest boogeymen.
5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - the movie opens to the most balls-kickingly awesome action sequence of recent memory and then continues to up the stakes until the climax of the movie leaves you feeling as weary as our protagonist on their endless, hopeless quest. Redefined the term Epic.
6. There Will Be Blood - a powerhouse performance wrapped around an enigmatic tale of a man who wanted to the world, got it and crumbled apart once he had it. Despite the tale dealing primarily with his rise and only showing his (presumably) lengthy fall in a short burst of intense scenes, this is as powerful a anti-capitalist screed that anyone could think of.
7. Sideways - A weekend wine tour cum batchelor party for a struggling curmudgeonly writer and his erstwhile philanderer acting friend provides hilarity and heartfelt drama. I love the performances, the direction, the lazy jazz soundtrack and the quiet moments of emotion. And of course, I love wine.
8. The Incredibles - The best superhero movie made and the best all-round Pixar movie in my opinion, as appealing to adults and kids with its solid story, excellent pace, vibrant art design, fun characters and peppered with truly great moments.
9. Master and Commander: Far Side of the World - fresh off Oscar glory with Gladiator, Russell Crowe gives the better performance bringing Captain Jack Sparrow Aubrey to life in a maritime tale of heroism and egotism brought to the big screen in brutal, convincing detail.
10. King of Kong - take two men, a champion and a wannabe, the makings of an epic struggle and battle of egos... set in the arena of arcade games. The drama is high and sometimes highschoolish but these are not characters, they are real people and their achievements define their lives. Utterly compelling and hilarious.
And some more:
11. The Dark Knight
12. City of God
13. Casino Royale
14. Grizzly Man
15. Infernal Affairs
16. Children of Men
17. The Fountain
18. Requiem for a Dream
19. Donnie Darko
20. Closer
Some honourable mentions:
* The Tailor of Panama
* A Scanner Darkly
* Batman Begins
* The Mist
* The 25th Hour
* Eastern Promises
* Zodiac
* Something's Gotta Give
* Pan's Labyrinth
* Ratatouille
* High Fidelity
* Gladiator
* Munich
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
* Oldboy
* Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
* Wall-E
* The Devil's Backbone
* The Weather Man
* The Man Who Wasn't There
* Primer
* Before Sunset
There are some movies I have not yet seen over the years that could undoubtedly end up on this list in a few more, but I'm happy enough with this for now.
SubJeff on 5/12/2009 at 10:43
Aw crap now my post looks so inadequate. Many of the films you've mentioned are up there in my mind Scots. Forgot Infernal Affairs and City of God, but LotR were a resounding disappointment for me but only because they got so close.
Shakey-Lo on 5/12/2009 at 11:14
20. The Wrestler (2008)
19. Memento (2000)
18. The Prestige (2006)
17. The Dark Knight (2008)
16. Talk to Her (Hable con ella) (2002)
15. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
14. In This World (2002)
13. Facing the Truth (At kende sandheden) (2002)
12. 24 Hour Party People (2002)
11. No Country for Old Men (2007)
10. Take My Eyes (Te doy mis ojos) (2003)
9. The King of Kong (2007)
8. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
7. The Machinist (2004)
6. Children of Men (2006)
5. Up (2009)
4. Grizzly Man (2005)
3. Control (2007)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
1. Dolls (2002)
Aerothorn on 5/12/2009 at 11:44
The Machinist has been on my list for a while, though it seems to be the kind of thing one can only get on Netflix, and my account has been inactive for a year due to various time issues and/or supplies of free DVDs from the school library. Sounds interesting, if extremely bleak.
Mostly this topic reminds me of just how much I have left to see. I haven't become a real "film buff" until recently, and catching up on this stuff takes a long fucking time (read: probably longer than my lifespan). I have some 480 DVDs on my netflix queue alone.
Dolls I've never heard of (or if I had, I forgot about that), so I'll add it to the list.
Also:
Quote Posted by Angel Dust
I'm quite interested in seeing
Fantastic Mr. Fox as I'm hoping that since it's based on someone else's material, and a great story-teller like Roald Dahl no less, it might not be so deficient in the areas of plot and character.
I'd advise against that attitude. It's weird in a number of ways, so I can't say "If you don't like Wes Anderson, you won't like this" - after all, it's gotten very good reviews from a lot of critics who haven't liked any of his other work this decade. That said, not sure Roald Dahl is really relevant here. To my surprise, I found a complete (illustrations and all!) copy of the book in a cereal box, and proceeded to re-read it. And what one might forget it that it's very slight. The plot is threadbare, the character development pretty much non-existent. And I say this not as a diss on the book; it's just a side effect of it being an intentionally simple fable that is very, very short. So, by comparison, the film has much stronger plot and characterization simply because it's so much longer; but being based on this particular story was a hindrance, not a help.
quinch on 5/12/2009 at 14:55
I thought that 'Munich' was nearly the greatest film ever made but in the end it was just another above average thriller based on a true story. I find a lot of his films follow this pattern.
Looking back on 'No Country for Old Men', I don't think it's as good as 'Fargo'. Probably because it was lacking in any humour and the characters were not nearly as interesting on the whole.
I need to watch Grizzly Man because I loved 'Encounters the End of the World'.
Looking at these lists, there are so many great films I have missed this decade. Lets get to work!
Aerothorn on 5/12/2009 at 15:27
I've actually put off watching Encounters at the End of the World. My best friend was at the base in Antarctica when Herzog was there (he deferred going to college for a year for the sole purpose of working in Antarctica) and was actually interviewed by him, but for reasons unknownst to me opted to not do it on-camera. I want to watch the film with him because I figure he can tell me all sorts of nifty behind-the-scenes stories.
He took quite a lot of cool pictures, one set can be found (
http://acmts.livejournal.com/10230.html#cutid1) here.
Sulphur on 5/12/2009 at 16:21
I know that some people may have found it somewhat excessive and over-dramatic, but I'm pretty disappointed that Scots is the only person who has Requiem for a Dream figuring anywhere on the list so far.
