list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Synecdoche, New York on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Synecdoche_New_York/316766/default.aspx Title: Synecdoche, New York
Year: 2008
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Plot: A wild-eyed theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) attempts to build a life-sized replica of New York City in preparation for an ambitious play in the feature directorial debut of notoriously quirky screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, and Emily Watson co-star in a tale of one man's quest to stage the ultimate love letter to the Big Apple. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 63
Number of Lists: 21
Number of blog posts: 25
Number of discussion threads: 2
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:33:51 GMTSynecdoche, New York2008Charlie KaufmanA wild-eyed theater director (<a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____32716/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Philip Seymour Hoffman</a>) attempts to build a life-sized replica of New York City in preparation for an ambitious play in the feature directorial debut of notoriously quirky screenwriter <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___271315/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Charlie Kaufman</a> (<a href="http://www.spout.com/films/135033/detail.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Being John Malkovich</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/films/219767/detail.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</a>). <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____37341/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Catherine Keener</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___198320/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Michelle Williams</a>, and <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___221329/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Emily Watson</a> co-star in a tale of one man's quest to stage the ultimate love letter to the Big Apple. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide63Tag Target (>10)212524http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s316766.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Synecdoche_New_York/316766/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/leeroy711/archive/2009/6/29/42849.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: leeroy711 Blog
Post Date: 6/29/2009 3:33:51 PM
Body: I’m writing this to take a moment and reflect on my past 6 months in film viewing. At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of watching 200 films I haven’t previously seen in 2009. Today, I am relieved to report that with the 6th month of the year ending, I have just finished watching my 100th film. I decided to create a list of the films I’ve seen so I could better keep track of them. Also, because this is an attempt to expand my film knowledge as a whole, I like to be able to sort them by release year, my rating, and the country the originated. This way I can more clearly see any gaping holes in my choices of films. So with all of that in mind, let’s take a look. The oldest film I’ve seen this year was 1947’s Out of the Past. I have to say, I’m kind of disappointed in myself. I think I generally gravitate towards older films but to see that this is the oldest I’ve seen this year is somewhat shocking. I've only seen 2 films from the 40s this year. By Decade:1940s - 2 films 1950s - 10 films 1960s - 12 films 1970s - 12 films 1980s - 7 films 1990s - 1 film 2000s - 56 films So, as you can see, over half of the movies I've watched this year have been released in the within the past 9 years. I would chalk some of that up to availability plus a general attempt to stay current and up to date. I did find it pretty odd that I have only seen one film this year from the 90s. (To Live 1994) I grew up in the 90s, I fell in love with film in the 90s. Maybe that well is simply drying up. So in summary, the rest of my year needs to include more films from the 40s and prior and a few more from the 90s. By Country: Australia - 1 film Belgium - 1 film China - 3 films Czechoslovakia - 1 film France - 4 films Germany - 1 film Italy - 4 films Japan - 11 films Mexico - 2 films Romania - 1 film South Korea - 3 films Spain - 3 film Sweden - 1 film United Kingdom - 3 films United States - 61 films. Okay, so again it seems that the majority of films I've seen are some of the most readily available (domestic). Interestingly also, the 11 Japanese films I've seen this year are from only 3 directors (Miike, Suzuki and Kurosawa) 6 of the 11 are Seijun Suzuki movies. I love his films and I'm not going to stop watching them. I discovered Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowski films this year (Mexico), thanks to Mycomplex. The Holy Mountain was good but I loved El Topo. Of the 4 Italian films I watched, 3 were from Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, Amarcord and La Strada) My favorite of the 3 and of all Fellini films is now La Strada. I watched the other 2 films in Park Chan-Wook's vengeance trilogy and I actually think Lady Vengeance may be the best of the 3. Last year, I devoted much more time to European film without much of an affinity for Asian cinema. This has changed this year. I am much more interested in Korean films lately. I think it just took me a little while to assimilate myself to thier style. I have also been able to scratch a few films off my "Classics I have no excuse for not having seen" list. I am now very happy to report that I have seen and enjoyed Vertigo, Sunset Boulevard and 12 Angry Men. Wow, that's embarrassing. Especially with the 12 Angry Men, but let me explain.... (excuse alert) I was always pretty convinced I would love this film. But when I am already that familiar with an iconic film that I've never actually seen, it takes a lot to want to actually put it on and sit through it. That being said, upon finally watching it, I immediately felt pretty stupid for letting such an incredible film slip by for that long. Notable 5: I'm going to conclude this post with a list of 5 films that I probably had the best time with so far this year. 1. La Strada - This is my most recent viewing. I've liked other Fellini films but none of his had such an enjoyable character as Gelsomina. I think she gave this film an entry point that I haven't previously experienced with his films. 2. Synecdoche, New York - I can't really describe how much I loved this film. It hit all the right notes for me and I probably only understood about half of it the first time. Monty (Mycomplex) told me that Charlie Kaufman may be the best American screenwriter alive today and I would have to second that. I would add that as much as I loved his work portrayed by Jonze and Gondry, I think this is his best film. He never over-exaggerated the outrageous things that happen, he just let them play out. Never even asking you if you were on board. 3. Let The Right One In - You know, the teenage vampire movie.... No, not that one, the good one. I don't have a lot to say about this one. It really is as good as you've heard. If you haven't yet, watch it. 4. Detective Bureau 2-3: Go Hell Bastards - By far, the best title of a movie I've seen in a long time. This is one of Seijun Suzuki's lesser known movies and I had one hell of a good time with it. If you liked Branded to Kill or Tokyo Drifter, this is a great watch along those same lines. 5. Lady Vengeance - As I said before, this is probably my favorite of the Vengeance Trilogy. It was just as aesthetically brilliant as Oldboy but I think it's 3rd act gave this film the heart that was missing in the previous 2. Well, that should just about do it. I now have just about 186 days to watch another 100 films. In case your not to good with the numbers, that works out to an average of 1 film every 1.86 days. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it but it shall be done. Recommendations are more than welcome...... Peace & Love Emery.
]]>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:33:51 GMTleeroy711leeroy711 Blog6/29/2009 3:33:51 PM I&rsquo;m writing this to take a moment and reflect on my past 6 months in film viewing. At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of watching 200 films I haven&rsquo;t previously seen in 2009. Today, I am relieved to report that with the 6th month of the year ending, I have just finished watching my 100th film. I decided to create a list of the films I&rsquo;ve seen so I could better keep track of them. Also, because this is an attempt to expand my film knowledge as a whole, I like to be able to sort them by release year, my rating, and the country the originated. This way I can more clearly see any gaping holes in my choices of films. So with all of that in mind, let&rsquo;s take a look. The oldest film I&rsquo;ve seen this year was 1947&rsquo;s Out of the Past. I have to say, I&rsquo;m kind of disappointed in myself. I think I generally gravitate towards older films but to see that this is the oldest I&rsquo;ve seen this year is somewhat shocking. I've only seen 2 films from the 40s this year. By Decade:1940s - 2 films 1950s - 10 films 1960s - 12 films 1970s - 12 films 1980s - 7 films 1990s - 1 film 2000s - 56 films So, as you can see, over half of the movies I've watched this year have been released in the within the past 9 years. I would chalk some of that up to availability plus a general attempt to stay current and up to date. I did find it pretty odd that I have only seen one film this year from the 90s. (To Live 1994) I grew up in the 90s, I fell in love with film in the 90s. Maybe that well is simply drying up. So in summary, the rest of my year needs to include more films from the 40s and prior and a few more from the 90s. By Country: Australia - 1 film Belgium - 1 film China - 3 films Czechoslovakia - 1 film France - 4 films Germany - 1 film Italy - 4 films Japan - 11 films Mexico - 2 films Romania - 1 film South Korea - 3 films Spain - 3 film Sweden - 1 film United Kingdom - 3 films United States - 61 films. Okay, so again it seems that the majority of films I've seen are some of the most readily available (domestic). Interestingly also, the 11 Japanese films I've seen this year are from only 3 directors (Miike, Suzuki and Kurosawa) 6 of the 11 are Seijun Suzuki movies. I love his films and I'm not going to stop watching them. I discovered Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowski films this year (Mexico), thanks to Mycomplex. The Holy Mountain was good but I loved El Topo. Of the 4 Italian films I watched, 3 were from Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, Amarcord and La Strada) My favorite of the 3 and of all Fellini films is now La Strada. I watched the other 2 films in Park Chan-Wook's vengeance trilogy and I actually think Lady Vengeance may be the best of the 3. Last year, I devoted much more time to European film without much of an affinity for Asian cinema. This has changed this year. I am much more interested in Korean films lately. I think it just took me a little while to assimilate myself to thier style. I have also been able to scratch a few films off my "Classics I have no excuse for not having seen" list. I am now very happy to report that I have seen and enjoyed Vertigo, Sunset Boulevard and 12 Angry Men. Wow, that's embarrassing. Especially with the 12 Angry Men, but let me explain.... (excuse alert) I was always pretty convinced I would love this film. But when I am already that familiar with an iconic film that I've never actually seen, it takes a lot to want to actually put it on and sit through it. That being said, upon finally watching it, I immediately felt pretty stupid for letting such an incredible film slip by for that long. Notable 5: I'm going to conclude this post with a list of 5 films that I probably had the best time with so far this year. 1. La Strada - This is my most recent viewing. I've liked other Fellini films but none of his had such an enjoyable character as Gelsomina. I think she gave this film an entry point that I haven't previously experienced with his films. 2. Synecdoche, New York - I can't really describe how much I loved this film. It hit all the right notes for me and I probably only understood about half of it the first time. Monty (Mycomplex) told me that Charlie Kaufman may be the best American screenwriter alive today and I would have to second that. I would add that as much as I loved his work portrayed by Jonze and Gondry, I think this is his best film. He never over-exaggerated the outrageous things that happen, he just let them play out. Never even asking you if you were on board. 3. Let The Right One In - You know, the teenage vampire movie.... No, not that one, the good one. I don't have a lot to say about this one. It really is as good as you've heard. If you haven't yet, watch it. 4. Detective Bureau 2-3: Go Hell Bastards - By far, the best title of a movie I've seen in a long time. This is one of Seijun Suzuki's lesser known movies and I had one hell of a good time with it. If you liked Branded to Kill or Tokyo Drifter, this is a great watch along those same lines. 5. Lady Vengeance - As I said before, this is probably my favorite of the Vengeance Trilogy. It was just as aesthetically brilliant as Oldboy but I think it's 3rd act gave this film the heart that was missing in the previous 2. Well, that should just about do it. I now have just about 186 days to watch another 100 films. In case your not to good with the numbers, that works out to an average of 1 film every 1.86 days. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it but it shall be done. Recommendations are more than welcome...... Peace &amp; Love Emery. http://www.spout.com/blogs/gerosimov/archive/2009/4/13/41578.aspx Post By: Gerosimov
Post To: Gerosimov Blog
Post Date: 4/13/2009 12:47:35 PM
Body: Synecdoche, New York is a surreal trip trough a mans life. I love how it plays around with time, dream and reality. Charlie Kaufman is one of the best writers of all time, and I guess it was just a matter of time when he started directing himself. I thought he did a brilliant job with this movie, but I can´t help but wonder if the script was directed by Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry, would it then have been perfect?
]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:47:35 GMTGerosimovGerosimov Blog4/13/2009 12:47:35 PMSynecdoche, New York is a surreal trip trough a mans life. I love how it plays around with time, dream and reality. Charlie Kaufman is one of the best writers of all time, and I guess it was just a matter of time when he started directing himself. I thought he did a brilliant job with this movie, but I can&acute;t help but wonder if the script was directed by Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry, would it then have been perfect? http://www.spout.com/blogs/bloomsday/archive/2009/4/13/41571.aspx Post By: bloomsday
Post To: The Bloomsday Device
Post Date: 4/13/2009 12:08:12 AM
Body: I often defend my secular education this way: We read Waiting for Godot and Camus' The Stranger. I wrote a term paper on Woody Allen. For Godsake, we wrote journals. My wife doesn't buy it. She thinks her Catholic education imbued her with special powers of observation and perception, and closeness to God. At any rate, I know my existential and absurd. As Magnolia was the best last movie of the twentieth century, Synechdocheny, New York is the best first movie of the twenty-first. It is a work of art and loving montage to film and theater and acting and women. Err, I mean homage. When you realize that Emily Watson portrays an actress portraying a younger version of the character played by Samantha Morton, who's character ages throughout the film along with Hoffman, you know you're in a movie like no other. Along the way you'll find pognancy and nihilism and sex and death bickering with one another. Look out for Adele's NeighborLady, portrayed by an old, familar face. She was also in Doubt. Diane Weist gets Denschier by the day. Another important moment is the priest in the play, harkening to Donald Sutherland's priest in Little Murders. There is plenty of reference reverence and cinematic and theatrical worship. All of it quite Godless and magnificent. Did I mention Keener as a Lucian Frued miniaturist, traipsing off to Berlin with Jennifer Jason-Leigh? Kaufman has created a movie that will alter your views of filmmaking and acting while it also makes us all accomplices in its sweet story. See it and discuss. Like I wanted to discuss Doubt, but I couldn't because my wife didn't know what the fuck she was talking about when she talked about the ending, as in, "Did we just see the same movie?" Which brings me back to my secular education. Perhaps the infidel has a point, after all, My Love.
]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:08:12 GMTbloomsdayThe Bloomsday Device4/13/2009 12:08:12 AMI often defend my secular education this way: We read Waiting for Godot and Camus' The Stranger. I wrote a term paper on Woody Allen. For Godsake, we wrote journals. My wife doesn't buy it. She thinks her Catholic education imbued her with special powers of observation and perception, and closeness to God. At any rate, I know my existential and absurd. As Magnolia was the best last movie of the twentieth century, Synechdocheny, New York is the best first movie of the twenty-first. It is a work of art and loving montage to film and theater and acting and women. Err, I mean homage. When you realize that Emily Watson portrays an actress portraying a younger version of the character played by Samantha Morton, who's character ages throughout the film along with Hoffman, you know you're in a movie like no other. Along the way you'll find pognancy and nihilism and sex and death bickering with one another. Look out for Adele's NeighborLady, portrayed by an old, familar face. She was also in Doubt. Diane Weist gets Denschier by the day. Another important moment is the priest in the play, harkening to Donald Sutherland's priest in Little Murders. There is plenty of reference reverence and cinematic and theatrical worship. All of it quite Godless and magnificent. Did I mention Keener as a Lucian Frued miniaturist, traipsing off to Berlin with Jennifer Jason-Leigh? Kaufman has created a movie that will alter your views of filmmaking and acting while it also makes us all accomplices in its sweet story. See it and discuss. Like I wanted to discuss Doubt, but I couldn't because my wife didn't know what the fuck she was talking about when she talked about the ending, as in, "Did we just see the same movie?" Which brings me back to my secular education. Perhaps the infidel has a point, after all, My Love. http://www.spout.com/blogs/scswngr/archive/2009/3/13/41006.aspx Post By: scswngr
Post To: Film Obsessed
Post Date: 3/13/2009 2:32:22 AM
Body: I don't feel I am capable of a just expository of this film. It is both difficult and brilliant. At the same moment I found myself asking what the heck just happened, I found myself longing to watch this movie again and again. There are simple truths harbored within this work and complexities that will have you searching and interpreting much like you would a classic painting. Synedoche New York is art in its highest and most challenging form. It is not a film for the casual movie renter, but a revelation for the film connoisseur.
]]>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:32:22 GMTscswngrFilm Obsessed3/13/2009 2:32:22 AMI don't feel I am capable of a just expository of this film. It is both difficult and brilliant. At the same moment I found myself asking what the heck just happened, I found myself longing to watch this movie again and again. There are simple truths harbored within this work and complexities that will have you searching and interpreting much like you would a classic painting. Synedoche New York is art in its highest and most challenging form. It is not a film for the casual movie renter, but a revelation for the film connoisseur. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/1/9/39313.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/9/2009 1:00:40 PM
Body: We’re less than two weeks away from receiving this year’s Oscar nominations, and though none of the major categories are completely predictable just yet, each has at least three or four certain favorites. Meanwhile, the final slots for Best Picture, Best Director and the acting and screenwriting categories may be simply a random grab from small handfuls of rotating contenders. As of now, it doesn’t appear we’ll be seeing any huge surprises come the morning of January 22nd, when the Academy announces the nominees. The Dark Knight is sure to become the first comic book film up for Best Picture, and it won’t even be a shocker if animated feature Wall-E is listed alongside it in the same category. But the ballots don’t need to be mailed out until Monday, so I’m taking one last chance to reach out to the procrastinators within the Academy membership. If you still don’t know who and what to write in, and you’re unwilling to go the safe route and nominate the expected bunch of films and talent, then consider some of these underdogs, under-appreciated and pretty much unlikely possibilities: Best Picture: Rachel Getting Married There was a time when Jonathan Demme’s “Altmanesque” family drama was thought a frontrunner for the Academy’s top prize, but now it looks like it may not even garner a much-deserved Original Screenplay nod for Jenny Lumet, let alone Best Picture. Anne Hathaway is still a good bet in the Best Actress category, though she’s perhaps the least worthy element of the film. Demme deserves his first Best Director nomination in 17 years for reinventing and revitalizing his career with such a rich ensemble piece, while editor Tim Squyres needs to be recognized for piecing together the ingredients so perfectly. I could go on and on about more individual achievements that need be honored (I’ve already spotlighted Robyn Hitchcock’s worth), so let’s just sum it all up and say Rachel Getting Married is highly worthy of being nominated for Best Picture. Best Director: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky Like Jonathan Demme, Mike Leigh is one of the finest living directors in terms of working with actors. They both constantly get Oscar-worthy (if not Academy-recognized) performances from otherwise serviceable thespians, yet Leigh is typically more regarded for his screenwriting, for which he’s received three Oscar nominations against two directorial nominations. With Happy-Go-Lucky, it’s more his directing skill that shines through, and if the Academy can’t find room to honor either Sally Hawkins or Eddie Marsan (respectively for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor) they might want to nominate Leigh, since neither would have been so remarkable without his leadership. Best Actress: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy For the minimalist kind of films that Kelly Reichardt makes, most filmmakers would rather go with an unknown lead than with a familiar, gossip magazine-friendly actress, even one as talented as Michelle Williams. Yet the former Oscar nominee disappears into the role of Wendy in Wendy and Lucy, so much that it’s easy to forget that she’s a famous movie star. She seems as fresh and unknown as any actor in a De Sica or, more currently, a Ramin Bahrani film. The Academy will likely overlook Williams this year, not so much because the film was barely distributed, but because she doesn’t give a particularly flashy performance. Plus, although the actress appears relatively unfamiliar on screen, it isn’t the kind of “unrecognizable” transformation that Oscar prefers with beautiful young starlets. Best Supporting Actress: Bette Midler, Then She Found Me If a performance is great and nobody sees it, is it still Oscar-worthy? Of course, but it’s not likely to be nominated. I don’t foresee any Academy members scrambling to rent Helen Hunt’s terrific directorial debut, Then She Found Me, this weekend, which is too bad. Bette was back this past year and just as good as, if not better than, before. She was lively yet somewhat reserved compared to what we expect from her. The two-time Best Actress nominee will hopefully receive her due win one day, probably in the supporting category and as a career-honoring nod, but it may not be as deserving as this. Best Actor: Josh Brolin, W. I’ve already written a whole column about why Brolin should receive a Best Actor nomination for W., so I needn’t devote too much more space here. Apparently he’s gained more heat for his supporting role in Milk, though, and while that should be plenty recognition for him this year, I continue to hope for a double nomination. His two performances this year are equally amazing, and they couldn’t be more different, despite how they may both be deemed villainous roles. Best Supporting Actor: Mark Walton, Bolt Let me first acknowledge that I got this idea from Bolt’s biggest fan, Kristopher Tapley of In Contention, who called Mark Walton’s voice acting, “the closest I’ve ever come to considering a vocal performance Oscar-worthy since Ellen Degeneres in ‘Finding Nemo.’” I don’t necessarily agree with Tapley’s decision to put Bolt at #2 on his Best of 2008 list, but I would love to see a non-actor like Walton be recognized non-traditionally for vocal work, a form of acting that doesn’t garner enough consideration. Who needs big name casting in an animated film when a storyboard artist gives a more hilarious vocal performance than even Jack Black? Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York Kaufman may need some fine-tuning in the directorial department (though he did a pretty good job for a first-timer), but his latest screenplay, for Synecdoche, New York, is every bit as brilliant as his three Oscar-nominated scripts (one of which, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, was a winner). There’s not much originality in the attempt to put everything into a screenplay — in fact, it’s a common mistake for narcissistic novices — but Kaufman is quite original for having been the first to be successful at it. Best Adapted Screenplay: James Marsh and Philippe Petit, Man on Wire There is no screenwriter credited for Man on Wire, but there had to have been some sort of adaptation involved, even if it was simply a single-page treatment and some notes about how to turn Petit’s unexceptional (though fairly enjoyable) book To Reach the Clouds into one of the most riveting documentaries of all time. Unfortunately, the lack of credit means that the Academy will certainly overlook this, the greatest cinematic storytelling of the year. And now, some extra-long shots in two of the non-major categories: Best Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky, Martin Rosenberg, Danielle Feinberg, Roger Deakins, Wall-E I almost chose Wall-E, which I don’t think should be given a Best Picture nod, for the Best Director slot, for Andrew Stanton. But if any animation filmmaker is going to break such ground, I’d rather first see Brad Bird recognized in that category. Besides, much of the innovative camera work in Wall-E is courtesy of new concepts in cinematographic technique for animation. Even if the Academy blew our minds and nominated Wall-E for Best Cinematography, Deakins, whom Pixar hired for some uncredited consultation, wouldn’t be named as one of the nominees. But since the guy is so deserving of an Oscar, why not just name him in some additional slots this year (a repeat of his double duty from 2007, he’s expected to receive two nods, for Doubt and Revolutionary Road)? Best Foreign Language Film: Tony Manero Pablo Larrain’s Tony Manero, which is Chile’s official submission to the foreign language category, is currently without a distributor in the U.S. How might that change? An Oscar nomination. Sure, not every Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film is guaranteed distribution, but it could help a film as highly praised as this one — recently it placed third on indieWIRE’s Critic’s Poll of the best undistributed films of the year. Currently, it’s a strong contender, though it may be just on the outside of the Academy’s top choices (it’s up against either Sweden’s Everlasting Moments or Germany’s The Baader Meinhof Complex for that last spot). Personally, I haven’t actually seen Tony Manero, but I’d really like to, and that is why I wish for it to be recognized. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:00:40 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com1/9/2009 1:00:40 PMWe’re less than two weeks away from receiving this year’s Oscar nominations, and though none of the major categories are completely predictable just yet, each has at least three or four certain favorites. Meanwhile, the final slots for Best Picture, Best Director and the acting and screenwriting categories may be simply a random grab from small handfuls of rotating contenders. As of now, it doesn’t appear we’ll be seeing any huge surprises come the morning of January 22nd, when the Academy announces the nominees. The Dark Knight is sure to become the first comic book film up for Best Picture, and it won’t even be a shocker if animated feature Wall-E is listed alongside it in the same category. But the ballots don’t need to be mailed out until Monday, so I’m taking one last chance to reach out to the procrastinators within the Academy membership. If you still don’t know who and what to write in, and you’re unwilling to go the safe route and nominate the expected bunch of films and talent, then consider some of these underdogs, under-appreciated and pretty much unlikely possibilities: Best Picture: Rachel Getting Married There was a time when Jonathan Demme’s “Altmanesque” family drama was thought a frontrunner for the Academy’s top prize, but now it looks like it may not even garner a much-deserved Original Screenplay nod for Jenny Lumet, let alone Best Picture. Anne Hathaway is still a good bet in the Best Actress category, though she’s perhaps the least worthy element of the film. Demme deserves his first Best Director nomination in 17 years for reinventing and revitalizing his career with such a rich ensemble piece, while editor Tim Squyres needs to be recognized for piecing together the ingredients so perfectly. I could go on and on about more individual achievements that need be honored (I’ve already spotlighted Robyn Hitchcock’s worth), so let’s just sum it all up and say Rachel Getting Married is highly worthy of being nominated for Best Picture. Best Director: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky Like Jonathan Demme, Mike Leigh is one of the finest living directors in terms of working with actors. They both constantly get Oscar-worthy (if not Academy-recognized) performances from otherwise serviceable thespians, yet Leigh is typically more regarded for his screenwriting, for which he’s received three Oscar nominations against two directorial nominations. With Happy-Go-Lucky, it’s more his directing skill that shines through, and if the Academy can’t find room to honor either Sally Hawkins or Eddie Marsan (respectively for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor) they might want to nominate Leigh, since neither would have been so remarkable without his leadership. Best Actress: Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy For the minimalist kind of films that Kelly Reichardt makes, most filmmakers would rather go with an unknown lead than with a familiar, gossip magazine-friendly actress, even one as talented as Michelle Williams. Yet the former Oscar nominee disappears into the role of Wendy in Wendy and Lucy, so much that it’s easy to forget that she’s a famous movie star. She seems as fresh and unknown as any actor in a De Sica or, more currently, a Ramin Bahrani film. The Academy will likely overlook Williams this year, not so much because the film was barely distributed, but because she doesn’t give a particularly flashy performance. Plus, although the actress appears relatively unfamiliar on screen, it isn’t the kind of “unrecognizable” transformation that Oscar prefers with beautiful young starlets. Best Supporting Actress: Bette Midler, Then She Found Me If a performance is great and nobody sees it, is it still Oscar-worthy? Of course, but it’s not likely to be nominated. I don’t foresee any Academy members scrambling to rent Helen Hunt’s terrific directorial debut, Then She Found Me, this weekend, which is too bad. Bette was back this past year and just as good as, if not better than, before. She was lively yet somewhat reserved compared to what we expect from her. The two-time Best Actress nominee will hopefully receive her due win one day, probably in the supporting category and as a career-honoring nod, but it may not be as deserving as this. Best Actor: Josh Brolin, W. I’ve already written a whole column about why Brolin should receive a Best Actor nomination for W., so I needn’t devote too much more space here. Apparently he’s gained more heat for his supporting role in Milk, though, and while that should be plenty recognition for him this year, I continue to hope for a double nomination. His two performances this year are equally amazing, and they couldn’t be more different, despite how they may both be deemed villainous roles. Best Supporting Actor: Mark Walton, Bolt Let me first acknowledge that I got this idea from Bolt’s biggest fan, Kristopher Tapley of In Contention, who called Mark Walton’s voice acting, “the closest I’ve ever come to considering a vocal performance Oscar-worthy since Ellen Degeneres in ‘Finding Nemo.’” I don’t necessarily agree with Tapley’s decision to put Bolt at #2 on his Best of 2008 list, but I would love to see a non-actor like Walton be recognized non-traditionally for vocal work, a form of acting that doesn’t garner enough consideration. Who needs big name casting in an animated film when a storyboard artist gives a more hilarious vocal performance than even Jack Black? Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York Kaufman may need some fine-tuning in the directorial department (though he did a pretty good job for a first-timer), but his latest screenplay, for Synecdoche, New York, is every bit as brilliant as his three Oscar-nominated scripts (one of which, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, was a winner). There’s not much originality in the attempt to put everything into a screenplay — in fact, it’s a common mistake for narcissistic novices — but Kaufman is quite original for having been the first to be successful at it. Best Adapted Screenplay: James Marsh and Philippe Petit, Man on Wire There is no screenwriter credited for Man on Wire, but there had to have been some sort of adaptation involved, even if it was simply a single-page treatment and some notes about how to turn Petit’s unexceptional (though fairly enjoyable) book To Reach the Clouds into one of the most riveting documentaries of all time. Unfortunately, the lack of credit means that the Academy will certainly overlook this, the greatest cinematic storytelling of the year. And now, some extra-long shots in two of the non-major categories: Best Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky, Martin Rosenberg, Danielle Feinberg, Roger Deakins, Wall-E I almost chose Wall-E, which I don’t think should be given a Best Picture nod, for the Best Director slot, for Andrew Stanton. But if any animation filmmaker is going to break such ground, I’d rather first see Brad Bird recognized in that category. Besides, much of the innovative camera work in Wall-E is courtesy of new concepts in cinematographic technique for animation. Even if the Academy blew our minds and nominated Wall-E for Best Cinematography, Deakins, whom Pixar hired for some uncredited consultation, wouldn’t be named as one of the nominees. But since the guy is so deserving of an Oscar, why not just name him in some additional slots this year (a repeat of his double duty from 2007, he’s expected to receive two nods, for Doubt and Revolutionary Road)? Best Foreign Language Film: Tony Manero Pablo Larrain’s Tony Manero, which is Chile’s official submission to the foreign language category, is currently without a distributor in the U.S. How might that change? An Oscar nomination. Sure, not every Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film is guaranteed distribution, but it could help a film as highly praised as this one — recently it placed third on indieWIRE’s Critic’s Poll of the best undistributed films of the year. Currently, it’s a strong contender, though it may be just on the outside of the Academy’s top choices (it’s up against either Sweden’s Everlasting Moments or Germany’s The Baader Meinhof Complex for that last spot). Personally, I haven’t actually seen Tony Manero, but I’d really like to, and that is why I wish for it to be recognized. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/17/38496.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/17/2008 4:00:32 PM
Body: After making a big splash at Sundance several years ago with his hysterical short Windowbreaker, the incredibly prolific and versatile Tze Chun, who in the five years since graduating from Columbia’s undergrad Film Studies program in 02′ has made a whopping 12 low budget short films, will be back in Park City this year with his debut feature, Children of Invention. A feature length version of Windowbreaker, it follows two young Asian children living illegally in a model apartment who are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother disappears. We caught up with Tze (pronounced “Z”) to discuss his adoration for inappropriately long Charlie Kaufman interviews, his desire to adapt portions of Virginia Woolf and in what capacity Richard Kern and Britney Spear might become friends. What films and TV shows have you watched recently? Milk, Synecdoche, New York, Quantum of Solace, Revolutionary Road, Dawn of the Dead, Something Like Happiness, The Wire, Little Britain, Slumdog Millionaire. Which ones, if any, had any lasting significance for you? Why? I loved Synecdoche, New York.  I didn’t want it to end.  I think the film’s critics are mistaking unexpected construction and idiosyncrasy for messiness.  As a double feature, watch the film and then listen to Kaufman’s two-and-a-half hour interview with WIRED Magazine, in which Air’s “Sexy Boy” plays in the background for a surprising amount of those two-and-a-half hours. The Wire.  Self-explanatory. Dawn of the Dead.  The acting is bad, the zombies look fake, but it doesn’t matter.  It’s as true a commentary on our culture as anything I’ve seen. I watch it once a month.  Also, zombies in a mall, are you fucking kidding me?  How can you not love this movie? How do your viewing habits effect your work as a film director? Hard to tell.  I watch a lot of movies, so hopefully it helps?  When I go into production, though, I usually take a little movies break. What have you been reading lately? Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig A Free Life by Ha Jin The Emperor and the Wolf by Stuart Galbraith Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman What would be your ideal literary adaptation? Why? The Iliad/Odyssey, but with the Gods involved.  Or, the Bible, without God involved.  Also, To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf.  I just want to film the “Time Passes” section to see if I could pull it off. What are some books you’ve always wanted to read that you haven’t gotten around to? War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, all the big Russian books. What’s been coming out of your stereo recently? Q Tip, Cat Power, Black 47 Is music an essential part of your process for conceiving and writing films? Not as much as other filmmakers.  I do listen to music while I write, but a lot of times it’s just to have something in the background.  For me it’s more an essential part of editing. What would be your ideal pairing for director and musician for a concern film? Why? Richard Kern and Britney Spears.  Kern practically invented Trangressive Cinema, where dangerous, psycho-sexual emotions bubbled quickly to the surface and become violence.  Need I say more? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:00:32 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/17/2008 4:00:32 PM After making a big splash at Sundance several years ago with his hysterical short Windowbreaker, the incredibly prolific and versatile Tze Chun, who in the five years since graduating from Columbia’s undergrad Film Studies program in 02′ has made a whopping 12 low budget short films, will be back in Park City this year with his debut feature, Children of Invention. A feature length version of Windowbreaker, it follows two young Asian children living illegally in a model apartment who are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother disappears. We caught up with Tze (pronounced “Z”) to discuss his adoration for inappropriately long Charlie Kaufman interviews, his desire to adapt portions of Virginia Woolf and in what capacity Richard Kern and Britney Spear might become friends. What films and TV shows have you watched recently? Milk, Synecdoche, New York, Quantum of Solace, Revolutionary Road, Dawn of the Dead, Something Like Happiness, The Wire, Little Britain, Slumdog Millionaire. Which ones, if any, had any lasting significance for you? Why? I loved Synecdoche, New York.  I didn’t want it to end.  I think the film’s critics are mistaking unexpected construction and idiosyncrasy for messiness.  As a double feature, watch the film and then listen to Kaufman’s two-and-a-half hour interview with WIRED Magazine, in which Air’s “Sexy Boy” plays in the background for a surprising amount of those two-and-a-half hours. The Wire.  Self-explanatory. Dawn of the Dead.  The acting is bad, the zombies look fake, but it doesn’t matter.  It’s as true a commentary on our culture as anything I’ve seen. I watch it once a month.  Also, zombies in a mall, are you fucking kidding me?  How can you not love this movie? How do your viewing habits effect your work as a film director? Hard to tell.  I watch a lot of movies, so hopefully it helps?  When I go into production, though, I usually take a little movies break. What have you been reading lately? Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig A Free Life by Ha Jin The Emperor and the Wolf by Stuart Galbraith Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman What would be your ideal literary adaptation? Why? The Iliad/Odyssey, but with the Gods involved.  Or, the Bible, without God involved.  Also, To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf.  I just want to film the “Time Passes” section to see if I could pull it off. What are some books you’ve always wanted to read that you haven’t gotten around to? War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, all the big Russian books. What’s been coming out of your stereo recently? Q Tip, Cat Power, Black 47 Is music an essential part of your process for conceiving and writing films? Not as much as other filmmakers.  I do listen to music while I write, but a lot of times it’s just to have something in the background.  For me it’s more an essential part of editing. What would be your ideal pairing for director and musician for a concern film? Why? Richard Kern and Britney Spears.  Kern practically invented Trangressive Cinema, where dangerous, psycho-sexual emotions bubbled quickly to the surface and become violence.  Need I say more? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/12/17/38486.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 12/17/2008 12:01:43 PM
Body: As I hinted at a bit yesterday when I posted about some of the best undistributed films of the year, I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of movie ranking. The idea that any of us––critic, blogger, professional, amateur…to the extent that any of those words mean anything anymore––could be indisputably “correct” in our individual execution of such an activity is insane; and of course, any attempt to draw each of our subjective takes on The Year in Movies into a consensus waters down everything that makes an individual list idiosyncratic and thus interesting. But in the end, I do believe that what’s valuable about these activities is valuable enough to outweigh what’s annoying: if you read this blog regularly and have come to draw a bead on my tastes in relation to your own, maybe seeing a list of my favorite New York theatrical releases of 2008 will help jog your memory about films you meant to see (or avoid), and now that many of these are available on DVD, maybe you’ll make it happen (or not). My full ballot is posted at indieWIRE now. I chose not to rank the titles from 1-10, but they did reel out of my brain in a particular order, and that has to mean something. Below the jump, my theatrical favorites, with links back to previous coverage, and notes on where/how each film can currently be seen. A Christmas Tale Reviewed on November 11, 2008: “A Christmas Tale reunites [Emanuelle] Devos and [Mathieu] Amalric as an oil and water romantic unit, as if giving their doomed lovers from Kings the last chance that narrative logic wouldn’t previously let them have.  Devos is a sideline character in Christmas, but an important one: her unfathomably calm tolerance of Henri’s uncontrollable impulse for destruction is an emblem of Desplechin’s unique humanism.” Where can you see it? It’s currently in limited release, and on IFC On Demand. Synecdoche, NY Reviewed on October 23, 2008: “[It's] about the fear of death, the impossibility of romance in the absence of longing, the instinct to project our desires on to others and to seek answers about ourselves in mirror images. In other words, as theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says of his own life’s work, ‘It’s about everything.’” Where can you see it? Currently on about 100 screens nationwide, it should be out on DVD in the spring. Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness Reviewed briefly on February 7, 2008: “Laurin Federlein’s highly-improvised, Hi8-sourced, sorta-doc/sorta-musical…is the kind of balls-out, so independent it’s essentially handmade work of art that’s notably missing from festivals like Sundance.” I also discussed it on this episode of FIlmCouch. Where can you see it? Good question. It screened for one week in New York almost a year ago. Now, Netflix has a page for it…which says its DVD release date is unknown. My Winnipeg Reviewed on June 13, 2008: “One could be generous, and praise [Guy] Maddin for effectively tapping into the muddied logic of the small town in endless winter, where physical numbness from the inhuman external elements often leads to a kind of booze-aided intellectual numbness. There, so many frigid anti-socials rock a kind of mutual indifference that, when it gets really bad, borders on inhumane (I’ve never been to Winnipeg, but I did spend three winters in Chicago). One could also recalibrate that as a pejorative: you could just say that Maddin directs like a drunk.” Where can you see it? A UK DVD is already out; Amazon suggests that a US version is on its way. Woman on the Beach I never reviewed Hong Sang Soo’s release, which opened at the very beginning of 2008 after the indieWIRE Critics’ Poll declared it the best undistributed film of 2007. But Manohla Dargis did: “As usual in Mr. Hong’s films, everyone will consume too much alcohol, insults will be exchanged, and confessions will be made. A man and a woman will have fumbling, embarrassed and terribly sad sex, the memory of which will haunt them and the story and probably you. Only the rooms will be shabby, never the sentiment.” Where can you see it? New Yorker will release a new DVD on December 30. Rachel Getting Married Reviewed on October 3, 2008: “[Anne] Hathaway’s vulnerability in this tricky role is stunning, but slyly so: as a viewer you can loathe her presence, as some of the personalities in the film speace seem to, and then with a single cut realize that she’s gone from a scene and not only miss her, but actually, actively worry about where she is and what she’s up to.” See also notes on The Liberal Guilt Thing. Where can you see it? On 150 screens after nearly three months in release, if Hathaway gets her expected Best Actress nomination the release will likely expand. La France Reviewed on July 9, 2008: “It’s a musical with just one song, performed by non-performers in a handful of mutations throughout the film. And it’s a love story, soaked in romantic delusion but ultimately fatalist in regards to the actual odds that love can overcome existential crisis….Is this France––or was it? An empty space on which the lonely and lost draw their own impossibly romantic fantasies, only to wander towards inevitable disappointments with heads and hearts infected by the deceptively simple beauty of pop?” Where can you see it: There is a French DVD. Again, Netflix has a page, but it’s unclear when there will be a US release for them to do something with it. Mister Lonely Reviewed on March 16, 2008: “Making movies just seems to be an extension of [Harmony Korine's] primary goal of slipping in and out of identities, of nailing us before we can nail him. I know this, and yet I throw up my hands and give in to it, because with Mister Lonely, the process and the product seem to fuse. Consider me suckered. Where can I see it? It’s available on DVD. Flight of the Red Balloon I saw Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s dreamy take-off on the children’s short The Red Balloon once in 2007 and once in 2008, but somehow I’ve never written about it. That’s okay, because Andrew O’Hehir has: Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Encounters at the End of the World I caught Werner Herzog’s travelogue some time after Paul reviewed it at its Telluride premiere, so I didn’t publish my own review, but over the months I’ve become convinced that, in producing a not-very-thinly-veiled work of autobiography about insanity and the human instinct to conquer unknown worlds and make them their own, Herzog has wittingly or not made a companion film to his friend Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. More on that theory in 2009, perhaps. Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:01:43 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog12/17/2008 12:01:43 PMAs I hinted at a bit yesterday when I posted about some of the best undistributed films of the year, I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of movie ranking. The idea that any of us––critic, blogger, professional, amateur…to the extent that any of those words mean anything anymore––could be indisputably “correct” in our individual execution of such an activity is insane; and of course, any attempt to draw each of our subjective takes on The Year in Movies into a consensus waters down everything that makes an individual list idiosyncratic and thus interesting. But in the end, I do believe that what’s valuable about these activities is valuable enough to outweigh what’s annoying: if you read this blog regularly and have come to draw a bead on my tastes in relation to your own, maybe seeing a list of my favorite New York theatrical releases of 2008 will help jog your memory about films you meant to see (or avoid), and now that many of these are available on DVD, maybe you’ll make it happen (or not). My full ballot is posted at indieWIRE now. I chose not to rank the titles from 1-10, but they did reel out of my brain in a particular order, and that has to mean something. Below the jump, my theatrical favorites, with links back to previous coverage, and notes on where/how each film can currently be seen. A Christmas Tale Reviewed on November 11, 2008: “A Christmas Tale reunites [Emanuelle] Devos and [Mathieu] Amalric as an oil and water romantic unit, as if giving their doomed lovers from Kings the last chance that narrative logic wouldn’t previously let them have.  Devos is a sideline character in Christmas, but an important one: her unfathomably calm tolerance of Henri’s uncontrollable impulse for destruction is an emblem of Desplechin’s unique humanism.” Where can you see it? It’s currently in limited release, and on IFC On Demand. Synecdoche, NY Reviewed on October 23, 2008: “[It's] about the fear of death, the impossibility of romance in the absence of longing, the instinct to project our desires on to others and to seek answers about ourselves in mirror images. In other words, as theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says of his own life’s work, ‘It’s about everything.’” Where can you see it? Currently on about 100 screens nationwide, it should be out on DVD in the spring. Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness Reviewed briefly on February 7, 2008: “Laurin Federlein’s highly-improvised, Hi8-sourced, sorta-doc/sorta-musical…is the kind of balls-out, so independent it’s essentially handmade work of art that’s notably missing from festivals like Sundance.” I also discussed it on this episode of FIlmCouch. Where can you see it? Good question. It screened for one week in New York almost a year ago. Now, Netflix has a page for it…which says its DVD release date is unknown. My Winnipeg Reviewed on June 13, 2008: “One could be generous, and praise [Guy] Maddin for effectively tapping into the muddied logic of the small town in endless winter, where physical numbness from the inhuman external elements often leads to a kind of booze-aided intellectual numbness. There, so many frigid anti-socials rock a kind of mutual indifference that, when it gets really bad, borders on inhumane (I’ve never been to Winnipeg, but I did spend three winters in Chicago). One could also recalibrate that as a pejorative: you could just say that Maddin directs like a drunk.” Where can you see it? A UK DVD is already out; Amazon suggests that a US version is on its way. Woman on the Beach I never reviewed Hong Sang Soo’s release, which opened at the very beginning of 2008 after the indieWIRE Critics’ Poll declared it the best undistributed film of 2007. But Manohla Dargis did: “As usual in Mr. Hong’s films, everyone will consume too much alcohol, insults will be exchanged, and confessions will be made. A man and a woman will have fumbling, embarrassed and terribly sad sex, the memory of which will haunt them and the story and probably you. Only the rooms will be shabby, never the sentiment.” Where can you see it? New Yorker will release a new DVD on December 30. Rachel Getting Married Reviewed on October 3, 2008: “[Anne] Hathaway’s vulnerability in this tricky role is stunning, but slyly so: as a viewer you can loathe her presence, as some of the personalities in the film speace seem to, and then with a single cut realize that she’s gone from a scene and not only miss her, but actually, actively worry about where she is and what she’s up to.” See also notes on The Liberal Guilt Thing. Where can you see it? On 150 screens after nearly three months in release, if Hathaway gets her expected Best Actress nomination the release will likely expand. La France Reviewed on July 9, 2008: “It’s a musical with just one song, performed by non-performers in a handful of mutations throughout the film. And it’s a love story, soaked in romantic delusion but ultimately fatalist in regards to the actual odds that love can overcome existential crisis….Is this France––or was it? An empty space on which the lonely and lost draw their own impossibly romantic fantasies, only to wander towards inevitable disappointments with heads and hearts infected by the deceptively simple beauty of pop?” Where can you see it: There is a French DVD. Again, Netflix has a page, but it’s unclear when there will be a US release for them to do something with it. Mister Lonely Reviewed on March 16, 2008: “Making movies just seems to be an extension of [Harmony Korine's] primary goal of slipping in and out of identities, of nailing us before we can nail him. I know this, and yet I throw up my hands and give in to it, because with Mister Lonely, the process and the product seem to fuse. Consider me suckered. Where can I see it? It’s available on DVD. Flight of the Red Balloon I saw Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s dreamy take-off on the children’s short The Red Balloon once in 2007 and once in 2008, but somehow I’ve never written about it. That’s okay, because Andrew O’Hehir has: Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Encounters at the End of the World I caught Werner Herzog’s travelogue some time after Paul reviewed it at its Telluride premiere, so I didn’t publish my own review, but over the months I’ve become convinced that, in producing a not-very-thinly-veiled work of autobiography about insanity and the human instinct to conquer unknown worlds and make them their own, Herzog has wittingly or not made a companion film to his friend Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. More on that theory in 2009, perhaps. Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/17/38485.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/17/2008 12:01:26 PM
Body: As I hinted at a bit yesterday when I posted about some of the best undistributed films of the year, I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of movie ranking. The idea that any of us––critic, blogger, professional, amateur…to the extent that any of those words mean anything anymore––could be indisputably “correct” in our individual execution of such an activity is insane; and of course, any attempt to draw each of our subjective takes on The Year in Movies into a consensus waters down everything that makes an individual list idiosyncratic and thus interesting. But in the end, I do believe that what’s valuable about these activities is valuable enough to outweigh what’s annoying: if you read this blog regularly and have come to draw a bead on my tastes in relation to your own, maybe seeing a list of my favorite New York theatrical releases of 2008 will help jog your memory about films you meant to see (or avoid), and now that many of these are available on DVD, maybe you’ll make it happen (or not). My full ballot is posted at indieWIRE now. I chose not to rank the titles from 1-10, but they did reel out of my brain in a particular order, and that has to mean something. Below the jump, my theatrical favorites, with links back to previous coverage, and notes on where/how each film can currently be seen. A Christmas Tale Reviewed on November 11, 2008: “A Christmas Tale reunites [Emanuelle] Devos and [Mathieu] Amalric as an oil and water romantic unit, as if giving their doomed lovers from Kings the last chance that narrative logic wouldn’t previously let them have.  Devos is a sideline character in Christmas, but an important one: her unfathomably calm tolerance of Henri’s uncontrollable impulse for destruction is an emblem of Desplechin’s unique humanism.” Where can you see it? It’s currently in limited release, and on IFC On Demand. Synecdoche, NY Reviewed on October 23, 2008: “[It's] about the fear of death, the impossibility of romance in the absence of longing, the instinct to project our desires on to others and to seek answers about ourselves in mirror images. In other words, as theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says of his own life’s work, ‘It’s about everything.’” Where can you see it? Currently on about 100 screens nationwide, it should be out on DVD in the spring. Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness Reviewed briefly on February 7, 2008: “Laurin Federlein’s highly-improvised, Hi8-sourced, sorta-doc/sorta-musical…is the kind of balls-out, so independent it’s essentially handmade work of art that’s notably missing from festivals like Sundance.” I also discussed it on this episode of FIlmCouch. Where can you see it? Good question. It screened for one week in New York almost a year ago. Now, Netflix has a page for it…which says its DVD release date is unknown. My Winnipeg Reviewed on June 13, 2008: “One could be generous, and praise [Guy] Maddin for effectively tapping into the muddied logic of the small town in endless winter, where physical numbness from the inhuman external elements often leads to a kind of booze-aided intellectual numbness. There, so many frigid anti-socials rock a kind of mutual indifference that, when it gets really bad, borders on inhumane (I’ve never been to Winnipeg, but I did spend three winters in Chicago). One could also recalibrate that as a pejorative: you could just say that Maddin directs like a drunk.” Where can you see it? A UK DVD is already out; Amazon suggests that a US version is on its way. Woman on the Beach I never reviewed Hong Sang Soo’s release, which opened at the very beginning of 2008 after the indieWIRE Critics’ Poll declared it the best undistributed film of 2007. But Manohla Dargis did: “As usual in Mr. Hong’s films, everyone will consume too much alcohol, insults will be exchanged, and confessions will be made. A man and a woman will have fumbling, embarrassed and terribly sad sex, the memory of which will haunt them and the story and probably you. Only the rooms will be shabby, never the sentiment.” Where can you see it? New Yorker will release a new DVD on December 30. Rachel Getting Married Reviewed on October 3, 2008: “[Anne] Hathaway’s vulnerability in this tricky role is stunning, but slyly so: as a viewer you can loathe her presence, as some of the personalities in the film speace seem to, and then with a single cut realize that she’s gone from a scene and not only miss her, but actually, actively worry about where she is and what she’s up to.” See also notes on The Liberal Guilt Thing. Where can you see it? On 150 screens after nearly three months in release, if Hathaway gets her expected Best Actress nomination the release will likely expand. La France Reviewed on July 9, 2008: “It’s a musical with just one song, performed by non-performers in a handful of mutations throughout the film. And it’s a love story, soaked in romantic delusion but ultimately fatalist in regards to the actual odds that love can overcome existential crisis….Is this France––or was it? An empty space on which the lonely and lost draw their own impossibly romantic fantasies, only to wander towards inevitable disappointments with heads and hearts infected by the deceptively simple beauty of pop?” Where can you see it: There is a French DVD. Again, Netflix has a page, but it’s unclear when there will be a US release for them to do something with it. Mister Lonely Reviewed on March 16, 2008: “Making movies just seems to be an extension of [Harmony Korine's] primary goal of slipping in and out of identities, of nailing us before we can nail him. I know this, and yet I throw up my hands and give in to it, because with Mister Lonely, the process and the product seem to fuse. Consider me suckered. Where can I see it? It’s available on DVD. Flight of the Red Balloon I saw Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s dreamy take-off on the children’s short The Red Balloon once in 2007 and once in 2008, but somehow I’ve never written about it. That’s okay, because Andrew O’Hehir has: Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Encounters at the End of the World I caught Werner Herzog’s travelogue some time after Paul reviewed it at its Telluride premiere, so I didn’t publish my own review, but over the months I’ve become convinced that, in producing a not-very-thinly-veiled work of autobiography about insanity and the human instinct to conquer unknown worlds and make them their own, Herzog has wittingly or not made a companion film to his friend Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. More on that theory in 2009, perhaps. Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:01:26 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/17/2008 12:01:26 PMAs I hinted at a bit yesterday when I posted about some of the best undistributed films of the year, I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of movie ranking. The idea that any of us––critic, blogger, professional, amateur…to the extent that any of those words mean anything anymore––could be indisputably “correct” in our individual execution of such an activity is insane; and of course, any attempt to draw each of our subjective takes on The Year in Movies into a consensus waters down everything that makes an individual list idiosyncratic and thus interesting. But in the end, I do believe that what’s valuable about these activities is valuable enough to outweigh what’s annoying: if you read this blog regularly and have come to draw a bead on my tastes in relation to your own, maybe seeing a list of my favorite New York theatrical releases of 2008 will help jog your memory about films you meant to see (or avoid), and now that many of these are available on DVD, maybe you’ll make it happen (or not). My full ballot is posted at indieWIRE now. I chose not to rank the titles from 1-10, but they did reel out of my brain in a particular order, and that has to mean something. Below the jump, my theatrical favorites, with links back to previous coverage, and notes on where/how each film can currently be seen. A Christmas Tale Reviewed on November 11, 2008: “A Christmas Tale reunites [Emanuelle] Devos and [Mathieu] Amalric as an oil and water romantic unit, as if giving their doomed lovers from Kings the last chance that narrative logic wouldn’t previously let them have.  Devos is a sideline character in Christmas, but an important one: her unfathomably calm tolerance of Henri’s uncontrollable impulse for destruction is an emblem of Desplechin’s unique humanism.” Where can you see it? It’s currently in limited release, and on IFC On Demand. Synecdoche, NY Reviewed on October 23, 2008: “[It's] about the fear of death, the impossibility of romance in the absence of longing, the instinct to project our desires on to others and to seek answers about ourselves in mirror images. In other words, as theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says of his own life’s work, ‘It’s about everything.’” Where can you see it? Currently on about 100 screens nationwide, it should be out on DVD in the spring. Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness Reviewed briefly on February 7, 2008: “Laurin Federlein’s highly-improvised, Hi8-sourced, sorta-doc/sorta-musical…is the kind of balls-out, so independent it’s essentially handmade work of art that’s notably missing from festivals like Sundance.” I also discussed it on this episode of FIlmCouch. Where can you see it? Good question. It screened for one week in New York almost a year ago. Now, Netflix has a page for it…which says its DVD release date is unknown. My Winnipeg Reviewed on June 13, 2008: “One could be generous, and praise [Guy] Maddin for effectively tapping into the muddied logic of the small town in endless winter, where physical numbness from the inhuman external elements often leads to a kind of booze-aided intellectual numbness. There, so many frigid anti-socials rock a kind of mutual indifference that, when it gets really bad, borders on inhumane (I’ve never been to Winnipeg, but I did spend three winters in Chicago). One could also recalibrate that as a pejorative: you could just say that Maddin directs like a drunk.” Where can you see it? A UK DVD is already out; Amazon suggests that a US version is on its way. Woman on the Beach I never reviewed Hong Sang Soo’s release, which opened at the very beginning of 2008 after the indieWIRE Critics’ Poll declared it the best undistributed film of 2007. But Manohla Dargis did: “As usual in Mr. Hong’s films, everyone will consume too much alcohol, insults will be exchanged, and confessions will be made. A man and a woman will have fumbling, embarrassed and terribly sad sex, the memory of which will haunt them and the story and probably you. Only the rooms will be shabby, never the sentiment.” Where can you see it? New Yorker will release a new DVD on December 30. Rachel Getting Married Reviewed on October 3, 2008: “[Anne] Hathaway’s vulnerability in this tricky role is stunning, but slyly so: as a viewer you can loathe her presence, as some of the personalities in the film speace seem to, and then with a single cut realize that she’s gone from a scene and not only miss her, but actually, actively worry about where she is and what she’s up to.” See also notes on The Liberal Guilt Thing. Where can you see it? On 150 screens after nearly three months in release, if Hathaway gets her expected Best Actress nomination the release will likely expand. La France Reviewed on July 9, 2008: “It’s a musical with just one song, performed by non-performers in a handful of mutations throughout the film. And it’s a love story, soaked in romantic delusion but ultimately fatalist in regards to the actual odds that love can overcome existential crisis….Is this France––or was it? An empty space on which the lonely and lost draw their own impossibly romantic fantasies, only to wander towards inevitable disappointments with heads and hearts infected by the deceptively simple beauty of pop?” Where can you see it: There is a French DVD. Again, Netflix has a page, but it’s unclear when there will be a US release for them to do something with it. Mister Lonely Reviewed on March 16, 2008: “Making movies just seems to be an extension of [Harmony Korine's] primary goal of slipping in and out of identities, of nailing us before we can nail him. I know this, and yet I throw up my hands and give in to it, because with Mister Lonely, the process and the product seem to fuse. Consider me suckered. Where can I see it? It’s available on DVD. Flight of the Red Balloon I saw Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s dreamy take-off on the children’s short The Red Balloon once in 2007 and once in 2008, but somehow I’ve never written about it. That’s okay, because Andrew O’Hehir has: Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Encounters at the End of the World I caught Werner Herzog’s travelogue some time after Paul reviewed it at its Telluride premiere, so I didn’t publish my own review, but over the months I’ve become convinced that, in producing a not-very-thinly-veiled work of autobiography about insanity and the human instinct to conquer unknown worlds and make them their own, Herzog has wittingly or not made a companion film to his friend Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. More on that theory in 2009, perhaps. Where can I see it? It’s on DVD. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/17/38479.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/17/2008 10:00:43 AM
Body: Beyonce’s video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” may have already garnered nearly 20 million views on YouTube, but it’s not the best of the many great music videos of 2008. Here are five that are better –– and none of them rip off Bob Fosse. You can see my picks for the 5th through 10th best videos of 2008 (yes, including Beyonce) at my blog, alsolikelife.com/shooting. 5. Killer Mike featuring Ice Cube, “Pressure” Directed by Giovanni Hidalgo One can only imagine how many hours director Hidalgo spent ripping and mixing clips off the internet, cable news, and who knows where else, but watching the result is like a long night’s cram session for a Black liberation theory class in the space of a song. The sheer breadth of footage is breathtaking, flashing everything from archival newsreel to Hollywood clips to graphic crime videos. The shock-and-awe montage makes it hard to arrive at a coherent thesis for grappling with the laundry list of social ills laid out by both the lyrics and visuals, full of jarring juxtapositions that radically recontextualize familiar images and figures into an alternative universe of hip-hop resistance. Even Barack Obama doesn’t come away unscathed: his “Yes We Can” iconography is eventually followed by a clip of him dancing with Ellen Degeneres that’s as ingratiating as Stepin Fetchit. The lasting effect is a purposeful distancing from the daily stream of images that spoon-feed us into complacency, something that viewers of any race or background can take to heart. As Ice Cube says, “I’m here to deprogram you.” A machine gun spray of media-fueled dissonance, “Pressure” accomplishes in six minutes what took Oliver Stone’s JFK three hours. Zoom in on: 2:46. The juxtaposition of Saddam Hussein and O.J. Simpson at their respective trails exemplifies the mad method of this video: a knee-jerk provocation, an inspired association, or both. Compare to: Terry Lynn, ”The System” O’Death - New Music - More Music Videos 4. O’Death, “Lowtide” Directed by Benh Zeitlin The perfect marriage of Jean Cocteau and hillbilly folk rock, the video for “Lowtide” starts on the most polluted shoreline imaginable, littered with thousands of bottles, from which a redneck Orpheus plucks one bottle cast from the other end of the world. The message of despair contained within propels him to bore deep into the earth to find his own Eurydice of the Orient. This live action equivalent of a claymation video literally spills over with dirt in its headlong rush towards love and resurrection. It’s a stunningly lo-fi vision of a journey to the center of the earth whose inventiveness is worth a thousand Brendan Fraser paychecks. Zoom in on: 0:28. Ask not how they did that (though really, how?) but how they captured that feeling of giddy love at first sight that suspends you in air. Compare to: Passion Pit: “Sleepyhead” Kanye West - New Music - More Music Videos 3. Kanye West, “Love Lockdown” Directed by Simon Henwood Kanye certainly was no slouch in the music video department this year, issuing no less than six clips, each with their own distinctive look. “Flashing Lights” got a ton of attention on the blogosphere (SpoutBlog not excluded), but the Takashi Murakami-helmed “Good Morning,” Hype Williams’ “Heartless” and especially the exultant “Good Life,” by Jonas & Francois with animation by So Me, are exquisite in their own right. But sufficient praise has not been lavished on the first video off the 808s and Heartbreak album. “Love Lockdown” is a perfect harmony of tension between elegance and rawness, the futuristic and the primitive, virtual fantasy and real pain. In many ways it’s an apotheosis of what the best of Kanye is about: a searching scrutiny of his best friend and worst enemy, his ego. Its lustful striving to realize its wildest fantasies renders him a prisoner within his own desire, unable to privilege anything or anyone else, redeemed only by its honesty in facing this state. It’s Synecdoche, New York, only told with a refreshing lack of self-pity and a ton more cinematic in setting psychic demons to space and time. I’ll probably get laughed out of the room for comparing this to the brooding masterpieces of Andrei Tarkovsky, but this video deserves comparison with Solaris: not for the suggestively symbolic telescope prominently placed in his crib, but for the stream of illusory objects of desire that demonize the mind, floating within the stark isolation of a sterile utopia. Zoom in on: The guy leaping out of the 16:9 frame at 1:02 is one of those moments that has you wondering why no one had ever thought of doing that before. But 2:35 is the moment that gets me, with Kanye cornered by his primal counterpart, his internal, eternal entourage. Compare to: Kanye West, “Flashing Lights” Yeasayer - New Music - More Music Videos 2. Yeasayer, “Wait for the Summer” Directed by Mixtape Club Another video involving dirt and decay, video animation trio Mixtape Club takes Yeasayer’s thematic variation on The Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” to set in motion one of the most morbidly beautiful meditations on nature you’re bound to find anywhere. It’s 60s rock psychedelia done with 21st century CGI, flowing in a free-associational ballet dancing along the ABCs of life: apples, beetles, crabs, death, earth. And if you’ve ever wondered if the universe is rotten to the core, the last image might serve the answer. Zoom in on: It’s hard not to give props to those hovering Jedi Knight beetles at 0:56, but an iPod commercial can only dream of using silhouettes as majestically as what you see at 2:42. Compare to: Goldfrapp, “A&E” More Videos 1. MGMT, “Time to Pretend” Directed by Ray Tintori An OC beach party-meets–Lord of the Flies-meets-Lord of the Rings-meets-Second Life-meets-God knows what else. MGMT and Tintori took the song’s campus org t-shirt lyric “We’ve got the vision; now let’s have some fun” and used it as a rallying cry to dive headfirst into a maelstrom of ill-advised pagan hipster imagery executed with cheeseball CGI. The result is not something as simple as laughably endearing kitsch, but something brave and audacious. Ostensibly it lampoons any number of expensive, computerized blockbuster fantasy sagas, but gradually it suggests a realm that is infinitely more exciting than Middle Earth or Narnia, where crab monsters explode into dolphins and bare-chested warriors ride tabby cats to victory. (And with the final glimpse of Andrew VanWyngarden surfing through a cresting wave of shark’s teeth, we might have found the year’s quintessential image for the independent artist.) A vision emerges of Hollywood collapsing under its own market-tested, terminally safe weight, only to have its cindered ruins paved over by a horde of low-budget, low-tech pastiches along the lines of this one. Maybe it amounts to another kind of hell, but at least it has prettier colors. Zoom in on: 2:34. This was the moment that I was convinced that what I was watching wasn’t something merely clever, goofy, self-deprecating, but could achieve original lyric beauty, and had just done so. Compare to: Vampire Weekend: “Oxford Comma” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:00:43 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/17/2008 10:00:43 AMBeyonce’s video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” may have already garnered nearly 20 million views on YouTube, but it’s not the best of the many great music videos of 2008. Here are five that are better –– and none of them rip off Bob Fosse. You can see my picks for the 5th through 10th best videos of 2008 (yes, including Beyonce) at my blog, alsolikelife.com/shooting. 5. Killer Mike featuring Ice Cube, “Pressure” Directed by Giovanni Hidalgo One can only imagine how many hours director Hidalgo spent ripping and mixing clips off the internet, cable news, and who knows where else, but watching the result is like a long night’s cram session for a Black liberation theory class in the space of a song. The sheer breadth of footage is breathtaking, flashing everything from archival newsreel to Hollywood clips to graphic crime videos. The shock-and-awe montage makes it hard to arrive at a coherent thesis for grappling with the laundry list of social ills laid out by both the lyrics and visuals, full of jarring juxtapositions that radically recontextualize familiar images and figures into an alternative universe of hip-hop resistance. Even Barack Obama doesn’t come away unscathed: his “Yes We Can” iconography is eventually followed by a clip of him dancing with Ellen Degeneres that’s as ingratiating as Stepin Fetchit. The lasting effect is a purposeful distancing from the daily stream of images that spoon-feed us into complacency, something that viewers of any race or background can take to heart. As Ice Cube says, “I’m here to deprogram you.” A machine gun spray of media-fueled dissonance, “Pressure” accomplishes in six minutes what took Oliver Stone’s JFK three hours. Zoom in on: 2:46. The juxtaposition of Saddam Hussein and O.J. Simpson at their respective trails exemplifies the mad method of this video: a knee-jerk provocation, an inspired association, or both. Compare to: Terry Lynn, ”The System” O’Death - New Music - More Music Videos 4. O’Death, “Lowtide” Directed by Benh Zeitlin The perfect marriage of Jean Cocteau and hillbilly folk rock, the video for “Lowtide” starts on the most polluted shoreline imaginable, littered with thousands of bottles, from which a redneck Orpheus plucks one bottle cast from the other end of the world. The message of despair contained within propels him to bore deep into the earth to find his own Eurydice of the Orient. This live action equivalent of a claymation video literally spills over with dirt in its headlong rush towards love and resurrection. It’s a stunningly lo-fi vision of a journey to the center of the earth whose inventiveness is worth a thousand Brendan Fraser paychecks. Zoom in on: 0:28. Ask not how they did that (though really, how?) but how they captured that feeling of giddy love at first sight that suspends you in air. Compare to: Passion Pit: “Sleepyhead” Kanye West - New Music - More Music Videos 3. Kanye West, “Love Lockdown” Directed by Simon Henwood Kanye certainly was no slouch in the music video department this year, issuing no less than six clips, each with their own distinctive look. “Flashing Lights” got a ton of attention on the blogosphere (SpoutBlog not excluded), but the Takashi Murakami-helmed “Good Morning,” Hype Williams’ “Heartless” and especially the exultant “Good Life,” by Jonas & Francois with animation by So Me, are exquisite in their own right. But sufficient praise has not been lavished on the first video off the 808s and Heartbreak album. “Love Lockdown” is a perfect harmony of tension between elegance and rawness, the futuristic and the primitive, virtual fantasy and real pain. In many ways it’s an apotheosis of what the best of Kanye is about: a searching scrutiny of his best friend and worst enemy, his ego. Its lustful striving to realize its wildest fantasies renders him a prisoner within his own desire, unable to privilege anything or anyone else, redeemed only by its honesty in facing this state. It’s Synecdoche, New York, only told with a refreshing lack of self-pity and a ton more cinematic in setting psychic demons to space and time. I’ll probably get laughed out of the room for comparing this to the brooding masterpieces of Andrei Tarkovsky, but this video deserves comparison with Solaris: not for the suggestively symbolic telescope prominently placed in his crib, but for the stream of illusory objects of desire that demonize the mind, floating within the stark isolation of a sterile utopia. Zoom in on: The guy leaping out of the 16:9 frame at 1:02 is one of those moments that has you wondering why no one had ever thought of doing that before. But 2:35 is the moment that gets me, with Kanye cornered by his primal counterpart, his internal, eternal entourage. Compare to: Kanye West, “Flashing Lights” Yeasayer - New Music - More Music Videos 2. Yeasayer, “Wait for the Summer” Directed by Mixtape Club Another video involving dirt and decay, video animation trio Mixtape Club takes Yeasayer’s thematic variation on The Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” to set in motion one of the most morbidly beautiful meditations on nature you’re bound to find anywhere. It’s 60s rock psychedelia done with 21st century CGI, flowing in a free-associational ballet dancing along the ABCs of life: apples, beetles, crabs, death, earth. And if you’ve ever wondered if the universe is rotten to the core, the last image might serve the answer. Zoom in on: It’s hard not to give props to those hovering Jedi Knight beetles at 0:56, but an iPod commercial can only dream of using silhouettes as majestically as what you see at 2:42. Compare to: Goldfrapp, “A&E” More Videos 1. MGMT, “Time to Pretend” Directed by Ray Tintori An OC beach party-meets–Lord of the Flies-meets-Lord of the Rings-meets-Second Life-meets-God knows what else. MGMT and Tintori took the song’s campus org t-shirt lyric “We’ve got the vision; now let’s have some fun” and used it as a rallying cry to dive headfirst into a maelstrom of ill-advised pagan hipster imagery executed with cheeseball CGI. The result is not something as simple as laughably endearing kitsch, but something brave and audacious. Ostensibly it lampoons any number of expensive, computerized blockbuster fantasy sagas, but gradually it suggests a realm that is infinitely more exciting than Middle Earth or Narnia, where crab monsters explode into dolphins and bare-chested warriors ride tabby cats to victory. (And with the final glimpse of Andrew VanWyngarden surfing through a cresting wave of shark’s teeth, we might have found the year’s quintessential image for the independent artist.) A vision emerges of Hollywood collapsing under its own market-tested, terminally safe weight, only to have its cindered ruins paved over by a horde of low-budget, low-tech pastiches along the lines of this one. Maybe it amounts to another kind of hell, but at least it has prettier colors. Zoom in on: 2:34. This was the moment that I was convinced that what I was watching wasn’t something merely clever, goofy, self-deprecating, but could achieve original lyric beauty, and had just done so. Compare to: Vampire Weekend: “Oxford Comma” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2008/643/38152/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/9/2008 6:30:49 PM
Body: Liked these (in no particular order): Cloverfield Incredible theatrical experience. Might be hampered watching at home. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Cutesy teen flick. Had a great 80's feel to it. Hamlet 2 Perverse and just plain hilarious throughout. Great original music. House Bunny I'm a sucker for Anna Faris and she plays a ditzy Playmate perfectly. The Dark Knight A comic geek's wet dream. My Winnipeg Immensely creative, original film. A flurry of emotions in a bizarre little package. WALL-E Heartbreakingly sentimental love story; action packed galactic adventure. Iron Man Another comic geek's wet dream. And Robert Downey Jr. Nuff said. The Fall Just insanely wondrous film. Deserves the comparisons to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Speed Racer Seizure inducing fanboy fun. Savage Grace Frightening 'Based on a True Story' film. Amazing performances. The Strangers Nothing new, but executed perfectly. Dark, abysmal terror. My Blueberry Nights Subtle, nuanced performances and beautiful direction. Packed with emotion. Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day Carefree, fanciful period flick. Amy Adams and Frances McDormand are a perfect slapstick duo on screen. Jumper Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes. Watching the Detectives Made for cinephiles about cinephiles. Hokey fun. Movies that might be on my list that I haven't seen yet: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Spirit Doubt The Wrestler The Brothers Bloom Revolutionary Road Repo! The Genetic Opera Humboldt County Just Buried Milk Australia Rachel Getting Married W. Fear(s) of the Dark Synecdoche, New York Zack and Miri Make a Porno Towelhead Vicky Cristina Barcelona The Wackness Brideshead Revisited Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts
]]>Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:30:49 GMTmercurialCommunity Recommendations12/9/2008 6:30:49 PMLiked these (in no particular order): Cloverfield Incredible theatrical experience. Might be hampered watching at home. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Cutesy teen flick. Had a great 80's feel to it. Hamlet 2 Perverse and just plain hilarious throughout. Great original music. House Bunny I'm a sucker for Anna Faris and she plays a ditzy Playmate perfectly. The Dark Knight A comic geek's wet dream. My Winnipeg Immensely creative, original film. A flurry of emotions in a bizarre little package. WALL-E Heartbreakingly sentimental love story; action packed galactic adventure. Iron Man Another comic geek's wet dream. And Robert Downey Jr. Nuff said. The Fall Just insanely wondrous film. Deserves the comparisons to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Speed Racer Seizure inducing fanboy fun. Savage Grace Frightening 'Based on a True Story' film. Amazing performances. The Strangers Nothing new, but executed perfectly. Dark, abysmal terror. My Blueberry Nights Subtle, nuanced performances and beautiful direction. Packed with emotion. Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day Carefree, fanciful period flick. Amy Adams and Frances McDormand are a perfect slapstick duo on screen. Jumper Big budget Sci-Fi blockbuster without all the annoying garnishes. Watching the Detectives Made for cinephiles about cinephiles. Hokey fun. Movies that might be on my list that I haven't seen yet: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Spirit Doubt The Wrestler The Brothers Bloom Revolutionary Road Repo! The Genetic Opera Humboldt County Just Buried Milk Australia Rachel Getting Married W. Fear(s) of the Dark Synecdoche, New York Zack and Miri Make a Porno Towelhead Vicky Cristina Barcelona The Wackness Brideshead Revisited Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sex/MemberTagFilms.aspxsex
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