Let me know what you thought of any of these, especially the ones I never saw.
Great Films
Upon reflection, since posting this blog, I've taken King Kong out of the 'Great Films' section, and put it below. While I think most of it is excellent, there are quite a few flaws to really call it a great film, perhaps.
Good/Decent Films
King Kong - Peter Jackson apes the 1933 classic with horror and comedy, and masterful action sequences, although the chase through the valley of the dinosaurs is one of several sequences which could have been cut for time. Shouldn't Andy Serkis get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for both his CG performance-capture turns as both Kong and Gollum? Stunning acting from Serkis and also, surprisingly, from Jack Black.
The Constant Gardener - Always-wonderful Ralph Fiennes and entrancing-in-this Rachel Weisz star in an adaptation of John Le Carré's conspiracy story of big business screwing up Africa.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang - Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black directs a not-as-good-as-critics-said but still-somewhat-charming murder mystery. My favourite lines:
Val Kilmer: You're an idiot. You know that. You know if you looked in the dictionary next to the word "idiot" you know what you'll find?The Libertine - Johnny Depp film about the hard-drinking, bed-hopping, poetry-writing 17th-century Earl of Rochester finally came off the shelf for a cinematic release. Amanda and I maintained our disparate attractions to Johnny Depp through the STDs, but the stellar performance from his muse Samantha Morton wasn't enough to raise this film as a whole.
Downey Jr (resignedly): A picture of me?
Kilmer: No. The definition of the word "idiot". Which you are.
The Chronicles of Narnia - If you remember it's a children's book and children's film, it succeeds admirably. The kids all perform well. Dodgy lion CGI, though.
March Of The Penguins - Enormously successful documentary charting the Emperor Penguins of the Antarctic. The filmmakers made the Penguins the stars of the show, of course, but there could have been a little less reverence from Morgan Freeman's voiceover.
Merry Christmas (Joyeux Noel) - World War 1 drama about German, French and Scottish soldiers who made a festive truce to play footie in no man's land. As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm a sucker for this story.
Where The Truth Lies - Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth are a TV double-act destroyed by a mysterious murder in Atom Egoyan's drama. I saw an interview where Colin Firth was asked how many degrees of Kevin Bacon he ranked before making this film. He said, 'I don't know, but those who have seen this film know that my new ranking is less than one'. Think about it . . .
Average/Poor Films
Mrs Henderson Presents - Judi Dench is a naughty theatre impresario who opens a nude review show in pre World War II London. Give me a break, Judi, from your aristocrat-says-outrageous-yet-charming-things shtick.
Flightplan - Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard star in a thriller about the disappearance of a girl on board a plane to Berlin. First half taut and gripping, second half banal, then cringe-inducing.
Waste-of-Time Films
I been lucky, it seems. Or maybe I just don't go to see films that my fav critics tell me I won't like.
Films I meant to see in Nov and Dec, but didn't (still might)
Mad Hot Ballroom - Spellbound on the dancefloor, this documentary charts a group of New York schoolkids competing in a ballroom dancing tournament.
Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling book comes to the big screen. Elijah Wood stars as a young man who travels to the Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather during WWII. Interesting to watch Elijah carve out life after Frodo.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose - Horror starring Laura Linney as a lawyer who defends Tom Wilkinson's priest when an exorcism goes horribly wrong. Based on true events.
Stoned - The life - and death - of Rolling Stones member Brian Jones is given the film treatment in this Brit pic. I want to see the contrast between the glamour of rock and roll, and the mundaneity of 60's Britain.
Factotum - Matt Dillon is a hard-drinking, womanising drifter in the big-screen version of Charles Bukowski's novel. Don't know much about this writer several of my friends talk about.
Hustle & Flow - A down-and-out Memphis hustler aims for rap stardom in a Southern version of 8 Mile. The actor who was so good in Crash - what's next?
Murderball - Inspiring doc about a group of American quadraplegic atheletes and their bone-crunching sport of full-contact wheelchair rugby.
The Brothers Grimm - Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are two charlatan wizards who find themselves battling Monica Bellucci's real witch in Terry Gilliam's gorgeous-looking fantasy. Apparently this film fails because the studios wouldn't let Gilliam be Gilliam. There must be enough touches of his, though, to make it worthwhile.
Rize - Documentary about the craze of krumping, a dance created on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles.
Just Like Heaven - Mark Ruffalo gets the hots for Reese Witherspoon whose spirit happens to be haunting his house. I like Mark Ruffalo and John Heder, and am happy to see any genre including rom-com, as long as it’s well-executed. Don’t know if it is.
The Producers - Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick bring the musical of Mel Brooks' 1968 film to the big screen playing two producers who decide to create a show in the worst possible taste. Trailer looks good enough to overcome my antipathy to musicals.
4 comments:
from Maria: Just Like Heaven makes me want to kill myself. And I haven't even seen it - I've just been forced to see the preview one too many times. And I even like Mark Ruffalo.
I'm about to see Kong (mostly on your recomendation, I certainly have my doubts), so I'll tell you what i think. My top-three this year are: Grizzly Man, Broken Flowers and History of Violence. Seen any of them? Grizzly Man is (as the AVclub pointed out) the anti-march of the penguins, completely disintigrates any anthropomorphized version of nature, I highly recommend.
See Mad Hot Ballroom if you can. We enjoyed it, thank the Dominicans for keeping Astaire alive.
Also liked Junebug, Howl's Moving Castle, and Broken Flowers.
If you've been able to avoid Dominoe, count yourself lucky. I know you like to support UK talent on principle, but this one is unwatchable.
Hooray for Mad Hot Ballroom, if only because it's so rare that my parents and I can both be enthusiastic about the same movie (case in point: I gave them the DVD for The Torture of the Christ for Christmas and my gorge rose a little at it. Best movie of all time, according to Mom.
The Brothers Grimm, I thought, wasn't a complete waste of time, though I seem to be alone in that.
Having waited for The Libertine for three years now, I'm a little saddened that it didn't come to the cinemas of Wisconsin's Fox River Valley. Not surprised, but saddened. Good god, I hope I get this job in New York.
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