I love every character in this movie so much, but The Dog is the real hero. No?
And it goes without saying that Snowy is a major hero in The Adventures of Tintin. Totally badass doggery.
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8. Hugo Cabret – Hugo
As a young boy struggling to find the truth, to understand his place in the world, and to discover a family, he is a hero for many of us struggling to do the same thing.
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9. Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre
I guess when you are adapting one of the most famous pieces of literature in history, it’s hard to make it one of 2011’s great characters. So, I suppose this is largely in praise of Mia Wasikowska’s performance as the young woman who had just about everything possible go against her, and yet remained strong, self-possessed, and loved well in spite of her life’s difficulties.
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10. Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Maybe I shouldn’t include another violent character as a heroine. I will anyway, because there is a part of me, deep inside, that is just so tired of the realities of this world. I want there to be an avenging angel who violently preys on the monsters and villains who prey on the weak and unheard. Maybe it isn’t one better part of me, but it is a part of me I’m not ashamed of either.
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11. Everyone – Beginners
I absolutely loved this film and the characters that inhabited it. So much of it resonated with me, and the faults, courage and beauty of these characters stay with me still. You should see this movie.
People must know me well, because multiple friends have been checking in to make sure I watched the trailer for Moonrise Kingdom. Thanks, friends. It looks like Wes Anderson will be cranking the quirk switch up to 11. Rejoice!
This five things is movies I’ve seen lately that I think you should see, too. I haven’t had much chance to write lately, but I wanted all of my friends out there in the internets to have some recommendations from me. Here are movies that have a whole-hearted seal of approval because they enchanted, inspired, moved, and entertained me recently.
1. The Adventures of Tintin
This is the best adventure film I’ve seen in years. I loved every second of it. The motion-capture pushed past the uncanny valley and into truly compelling, beautiful visuals, with great performances by the actors being captured. If you’re in the mood for a detective adventure, skip Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and go see this instead.
Granted, there was a speech in the movie that felt like it was written in response to a conversation I had with Emily four or five days earlier, making the film deeply personal, but I was enjoying the hell out of it long before then.
I can’t believe that fucking Chipmunks 3 is making tons of money while this is floundering and failing. This is why we can’t have nice things America, this is why we can’t have nice things.
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2. Another Earth
A new planet appears in the sky on the same night that a young girl makes a life-shattering mistake. The rest of the film carries on from there in a slow, emotionally suspenseful film that kept me on the edge of my seat far more than thrillers and horror movies do.
I always think it’s funny when people praise some piece of SciFi, most often Battlestar Galactica, by saying “It’s not like most SciFi, it’s more about people and politics and life than anything else.” Those people clearly know absolutely nothing about real SciFi. Classic (read ‘good’) Science Fiction is always using aliens, or robots, or spaceships to talk about something else. Asimov, Bradbury, Dick, Vonnegut, etc. etc. etc. It’s always about people, relationships, politics, the human condition. This film is a story that uses the big, exciting premise that another earth appears in our sky to tell a small, painfully human story about a girl who just wants another chance.
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3. The Secret of Kells
This movie is available on Netflix Instant, so most of you can watch it whenever you want. Please do. It’s a remarkably beautiful movie. The animation, which is rooted entirely in the aesthetic of Celtic spirituality and mythology, is reason enough to watch the film. Every frame is carefully crafted to illuminate a story which is itself about illumination.
It’s a wonderful film, which at times is dark and tragic. Yet, it has to be, because it is a story of the power of beauty, art, and faith to be a light in the darkness. This film genuinely was a light in my darkness over these last few weeks. I’m pretty sure it became another of my ‘once a year-ish’ movies.
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4. The Artist
Sweet Lord. This film is pure, unadulterated cinematic joy. Almost entirely silent, and when it isn’t silent it is very intentionally and carefully done. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus is: “A crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare.” I couldn’t agree more.
I was already in love with Jean Dujardin from his turn as OSS 117, but this seals the deal. If I ever meet him I will kiss him right on his french lips. That’s right folks, you read it here first. I want to kiss Jean Dujardin on the mouth. And Bernice Bejo, who was also delightful in the OSS 117 film Cairo: Nest of Spies, isn’t too shabby either… wee-ow!
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5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The other films on the list were inspiring. This was just well-crafted bad-assery. It was simply flat out cool. I wasn’t as big a fan of the books as many, but watching this film I think I got it and felt what I’d been missing. For many, I think this story connected because deep down we wish there were violent champions for the weak against the villains and monsters.
This year, I broke it down by month to make it easier to read, and also to see how the trends went. I started off really strong, but then Java Bean happened. Three movies in September… THREE!!
**The Key, which I forgot to add when I first published this.
(#) Movie I saw in the theater. [#] Movie I saw for the first time. E# Movies I watched with Emily. B# Movies I watched with Brian.
Every year, I post the movies I should have watched, but didn’t. For one reason or another, I just missed these ones. It’s really just my way of making a list of movies I missed so that I remember to check them out soon. This year, I helped myself out by checking out a bunch of ‘Best of 2011’ lists to find some gems I missed altogether.
Here are 20 movies I should have watched this year. As always, in no particular order. Please add to the list, or tell me what you thought of movies I put on the list that you’ve already seen. Please. Pretty please. Someone comment!!
Here they are, all 200 movies I watched this year.
Here’s the key, in case anyone cares. I promise it’s not as complicated as it looks.
(#) Movies I watched in the theater.
[#] Movies I’d never seen before.
E# – Movies Emily watched with me
B# – Movies Brian watched with me. Movies I watched more than once this year. Favorites (These underlined films cannot be movies I saw this year for the first time, or movies I have only seen once, they have to be movies that have been able to stand up viewing after viewing, and still keep me coming back for more.)
*Best movies I’d never seen before. (It doesn’t matter when these movies came out, I saw them for the first time this year, and they were awesome.)
Another Day, Another Movie: Time Travel, Westerns, Halloween Moviefest
*1. Into the Wild [1] E1 2. Time Bandits [2] B1 3. (500) Days of Summer – E2 B2 *4. The Fountain [3] E3 B3 *5. Timecrimes [4] B4
6. Planet of the Apes (1968) [5] B5 7. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure [6] B6 E4
8. Back to the Future II – B7 E5
9. Primer – B8 E6 10. Donnie Darko – B9 E7
11. Gone Baby Gone [7] E8
*12. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [8] E9 13. The Bourne Identity – E10
*14. All The Real Girls [9] B10
*15. The Hurt Locker [10] B11 E11
16. The Quick and the Dead [11] 17. No Country for Old Men – B12
18. Wordplay [12]
19. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus [13] (1) E12 20. The Bourne Supremacy – B13 E13
*21. Moon [14] B14 22. Inglourious Basterds – B15
23. The Bourne Ultimatum – B16
*24. Junebug [15] E14 25. Up – B17 E15
26. Defiance [16] B18 E16
27. Run Lola Run [17] B19
28. The Invention of Lying [18] B20
29. Paranormal Activity [19] B21
30. Whip It [20] E17 *31. Shutter Island [21] (2) E18
32. Equilibrium [22] 33. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
*34. Blood Simple [23] B22
35. The Informant [24] B23 E19
36. Raising Arizona
37. Gentlemen Broncos [25] B24
38. Alice in Wonderland [26] (3) E20 39. Magnolia – B25
40. Good Hair [27] E21 41. The Departed – E22 B26
42. Big Fan [28] B27
*43. Mad Hot Ballroom [29] E23
44. Cape Fear (1991) [30]
45. Man in the Chair [31] E24
46. O’Horten [32] B28
47. More Than a Game [33] E25
48. A Serious Man [34] E26 B29
49. Confessions of a Superhero [35] B30
50. Roman Holiday [36]
51. W. [37] E27 *52. How to Train Your Dragon, 3D (4) E28
53. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
54. Adam [38] E29 *55. Kick-Ass [39] (5) E30 B31
56. Iron Man – E31
57. The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights [40] E32 58. Rushmore – E33 B32
*59. MirrorMask [41] 60. Kick-Ass (6) B33 W1
61. Desperado – B34 62. Fantastic Mr. Fox – B35 E34
63. Iron Man 2 (7) [42] E35
64. Zombieland – E36 B36
65. An Education [43] E37 B37
66. Sherlock Holmes – E38 B38
67. Cold Souls [44] E39 *68. Yojimbo [45] B39
*69. A Fistful of Dollars [46] B40
70. Stagecoach – B41
71. Sanjuro [47] B42
72. For a Few Dollars More [48] B43
73. The Searchers
*74. About Schmidt [49] *75. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [50] B44
*76. Seven Samurai [51] B45
77. The Magnificent Seven [52] B46
78. The Professionals [53] B47 79. Unforgiven – B48 E40
*80. Shane [54]
81. True Grit [55]
82. Hang ‘em High [56]
83. Hombre [57] *84. Toy Story 3 (8) [58] E41 85. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – E42
*86. Dead Man [59]
87. Blazing Saddles
88. Knight and Day (9) [60] E43 *89. Rashomon [61] B49
90. The Outrage [62] *91. Once Upon a Time in the West [63] 92. High Noon – B50 93. The Wild Bunch – B51 94. 3:10 to Yuma – B52 95. Duck, You Sucker [64] B53 *96. The Outlaw Josey Wales [65] B54 *97. High Plains Drifter [66] B55 98. Pale Rider [67] B56 99. Serenity 100. Shutter Island – E44 B57 101. Hot Fuzz – B58
102. We Are Wizards [68] E45
*103. Half Nelson [69] E46 B59
104. Crazy Heart [70] E47
105. Black Dynamite [71] B60
106. Art & Copy [72] E48
*107. Mystery Team [73] B61
108. Quantum of Solace – E49
109. The Thing [74] B62
110. Youth in Revolt [75] E50 B63
*111. The Road [76] B64
112. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [77] *113. Inception [78](10) E51
114. Book of Eli [79]
115. Pirate Radio [80] E52 B65
*116. Delicatessen [81] B66
*117. My Neighbor Totoro [82] 118. Inception (11) B67 E53
119. Metropolis [83]
120. Green Zone [84] E54 B68
121. The Crazies [85] B69
122. The Prestige – B70 E55
123. MST3K: Diabolik – B71
124. Rudo y Cursi [86] E56 B72
*125. Ran [87] B73
126. M [88] B74 *127. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [89] (12) E57 B75
128. The Last Station [90] E58 B76
129. It Might Get Loud [91] E59 B77
130. Mulholland Drive [92] B78
131. The Hidden Fortress [93] B79
*132. The Good The Bad The Weird [94] B80 E60
133. Greenberg [95] B81 E61
*134. The Band’s Visit [96] B82 E62
*135. The Young Victoria [97] B83 E63 136. The Godfather – B84 E64
*137. Ikiru [98] B85
138. The Hobart Shakespeareans [99] E65
*139. Humpday [100] B86
*140. High and Low [101] B87
141. Date Night [102] E66 B88
*142. The Town [103] (13) E67 B89 143. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 144. The Godfather: Part II – E68 B90 145. Where The Wild Things Are – E69 B91
146. Predator [104] B92
*147. Brazil [105]
148. MacGruber [106] B93 149. Let The Right One In – B94 *150. [REC] [107] B95 151. Brotherhood of the Wolf [108] 152. Slither [109] B96 153. An American Werewolf in London [110] B97
154. The Girlfriend Experience [111] E70 155. Dawn of the Dead (1978) [112] B98 156. Pontypool – B99
*157. The Social Network [113] (14) E71
*158. The Devil’s Backbone [114] 159. Bram Stoker’s Dracula [115] B100
160. Comedian – B101 161. Monster House [116] E72 B103 162. Nosferatu [117] E73 163. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – E74 *164. The Fly [118] 165. Shaun of the Dead – E75 B104 166. Dead Snow – B105
167. Babies [119] E76
168. RED [120] (15) E77
*169. Dark City [121]
170. Splice [122] B106
171. Due Date [123] (16) E78
172. Get Him to the Greek [124] B107 173. How To Train Your Dragon – B108 174. Toy Story 3 – E79 B109
175. OSS 117 – Cairo: Nest of Spies *176. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One [125] (17) E80
*177. Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal [126]
178. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One (18) E81
*179. Tangled [127] (19) E82
180. Avatar
181. A Christmas Carol (2009) [128] E83
*182. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai [129]
*183. Manhattan [130] E84 B111
*184. I’m Still Here [131] E85 B112 *185. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – B113
*186. Tron: Legacy [132] (20) E86
187. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – B114
*188. True Grit (2010) [133] (21) B115
189. Love Actually – E87
190. Man on the Train [134]
191. Salt [135] E88
192. Easy A [136] E89
*193. Cronos [137]
*194. The Jerk [138]
195. The Great Escape [139]
196. Spies Like Us
*197. The Big Sleep [140] B116
*198. Black Swan [141] (22) E90
199. Rumble Fish [142]
200. The Other Guys [143] B117
Emily and I just watched How To Train Your Dragon for the second time. Upon first viewing, I was really surprised with how much I loved this movie, as I’m usually not one for non-Pixar animated fare. I was wondering if I’d enjoy the film as much the second time around. I was quite pleased that I most certainly did. I’m pretty sure it’s one of my five favorite animated films ever.
As far as the general filmmaking goes, HTTYD is tight, with better pacing and development than most movies offer. The voice talent is strong, with some extra quirk thrown, since all these Nordic adult vikings speak with a Scottish accent, while all the viking teens speak with non-regional American accents (it’s awesome, because it doesn’t make any sense). Visually, the film is beautiful in all ways possible.
Plus, no nerdboy with an overactive imagination grows up without fantasies of riding a dragon… who the hell wouldn’t want to fly on the back of a beast called a nightfury?
Yet, while all that certainly ensures my enjoyment, it’s the fact that this movie can be read in such wonderful ways that secures it a place in my animated film canon. I was moved by messages in the film of learning to embrace who we are, even when our families and communities make that difficult, of challenging our cultural biases and prejudices, as well as the film’s treatment of the importance of community and intimacy.
If you haven’t seen the film, this is about to get a bit spoiler-heavy, so be warned.
Our young hero, Hiccup, has so much trouble finding his place. As the scrawny, sensitive, wildly intelligent son of the gruff, strong, fearless viking leader, he doesn’t fit into any of the normal viking categories. Yet, his inability to fit in results in his ability to question the values and assumptions of his world, changing everything for the better.
His sensitivity, which keeps him from killing the dragon he traps, makes room for an unlikely friendship which helps him learn that everything the vikings assume about their mysterious dragon enemies is wrong. Everything is read through the assumption that vikings are dangerous killing machines, while the defensiveness of the dragons is used as confirmation that this is true. Hiccup is the only one who looks beneath his worldview, to see that even the predatory habits of the dragons aren’t what they appear to be.
Things certainly get more difficult along the way, but eventually everyone comes to see the world more clearly because Hiccup insists on asking inconvenient questions no one else will ask.
Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless, a dragon who belongs to the most feared dragon species of all, the mysterious nightfuries, is one of my favorite onscreen relationships in recent memory. What begins as fear, uncertainty, and a lack of understanding eventually develops into a fiercely loyal friendship in which each is willing to risk everything for each other. The honesty of how real trust and intimacy develop was really beautiful for me to see in glorious 3-D.
Most beautifully of all is what Hiccup and Toothless mean for each other by the final scene. The events of the story leave both scarred, each is missing a part of themselves. Yet, in relationship they become more than they are alone. By the end of the film, they are only truly whole when they are flying together. I literally teared up both times when we see that the metal peg that has replaced Hiccup’s foot is made to connect with the saddle contraption that allows Toothless to be able to fly.
Maybe it’s just me, we always respond to stories in ways that are unique to us, and sometimes a story comes along that connects with us in a way we can’t necessarily articulate or understand. Whether it’s just me or not, How To Train Your Dragon struck me on both viewings as touching and insightful; reminding me to settle into who I am, as awkward and odd as I may seem, even to myself, and that intimacy truly costs us something, yet life in genuine community with others offers us more than we could ever hope to discover on our own.
Folks, you need to watch this movie right now. Tonight, or tomorrow at the latest.
I’m serious.
It’s a gem of popular Korean cinema. The film is insanely fun from start to finish. It’s entirely possible that I could watch this movie on repeat for an entire afternoon without getting bored.
As the name suggests, it’s a humorous homage to the western genre, in similar fashion to how Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg treated zombie movies with Shaun of the Dead andaction movies with Hot Fuzz. Like those films, The Good, The Bad, The Weird is good enough in its own right to be enjoyed by someone who has never seen a western before (like my wife, who loved the hell out of it), but that enjoyment grows deeper the more familiar you are with the genre. So, for Brian and I, after watching 30 westerns in 30 days, the film was riddled with easter eggs just waiting to be spotted by attentive viewers, namely us.
Yet, while the influence of the western genre was plain for all to see, Ji-woon Kim was masterful in making sure that he tilted every scene he used from classic westerns so that he was always telling his own story. He never just copied a scene or moment, he always shifted it just to the left, making a movie that is an homage to some of his favorite movies, as opposed to making a movie which is merely a collage of other people’s work.
Kim’s directing was fantastic, as was the cinematography. As we were watching, we consistently exclaimed in wonder at the high degree of difficulty of so many of the shots. There were many long, audacious tracking shots filled with so many moving parts that they were literally jaw dropping, some of which were extended helicopter shots that must have been a bitch to reset when something went wrong. There are still some shots, especially those with large explosives next to living people, which I have no idea how they did. That’s impressive in this day and age.
The action scenes were the perfect cocktail of thrilling and hilarious. That’s a tough combo to get right without losing one or the other, but this should be used as a case study in how to get it right… or perfect.
Yet, with all that action and technical wizardry, they didn’t skimp on the characters. The writing was strong and the acting was pitch perfect by all involved. All three of the main characters are on the short list of the most enjoyable characters I’ve seen in my young movie-viewing life.
It was a tall order for the primary actors, each was filling a prototypical role that could have easily bogged them down in convention, or else their performance could have gone so far off the deep end that there is no longer a connection to the archetype. Yet, each character incarnated their role with the right amount of continuity to the past, tempered by a heaping portion of their own swagger and attitude to keep things fresh. The performances were so impeccable, it makes me wonder if the aforementioned swagger and attitude was perhaps Ji-woon Kim’s, bleeding through from the other side of the camera.
So seriously, go watch this movie now!
Pretty soon, I’m going to have to write a post all about the actor who played ‘The Weird,’ Kang-ho Song, whose dominance in the world of remarkable Korean cinema is nothing short of amazing. I believe he is this generation’s Toshirô Mifune, and sadly, like Mifune, most folks outside of their native country (Japan for Mifune and Korea for Song) will live and die without learning their name. Bullshit!
Hmm, how do I share my thoughts on this movie without giving anything away?
How’s this:
Masterpiece. Magnum Opus. Piece de resistance. Masterstroke. Tour de force. A brilliant, near-perfect event in cinematic storytelling.
It was the movie I was most excited for this year, and it exceeded every single one of my expectations. I’ll need a few more viewings to know for sure, but it’s possible I just watched my new favorite movie.
