Festival de Cannes
I am slightly ashamed to admit that many of 2009's more lauded pictures have passed me by. Whether by circumstance or design I shirked away from such heavyweights as "A Serious Man," "The Hurt Locker" and "District 9." Upping my game, I took in almost 30 films in October at the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival in what was truly a joyous month.Both festivals were brimming with gems, although sadly 99 percent of what I saw is not scheduled for release until 2010, which by the way looks like it's shaping up to be a vintage year.
So back to 2009, which for me personally was a far from classic cinematic year; it's particularly telling that of my top 10, the two standouts were documentaries and that four were comedies. So I bid farewell to a limp(ish) 2009 and welcome 2010 with open arms. It should be a standout year, but for now here's the best I bore witness to in 2009:
Continue reading “Reality Rain Check” »
Here Media/Regent Releasing
The past decade marked a remarkable transformation in the way we experience movies. It was the decade of the iPod after all. In an attempt to compete with the convenience of home entertainment systems and combat piracy, Hollywood once again embraced the 3-D format. Meanwhile, independent distributors utilized video on demand to reach a broader audience while cutting distribution costs.
Gone is the Miramax business model, and along with it boutique distribution arms such as Fine Line Features, Fox Atomic, Paramount Classics, Paramount Vantage, Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures. Miramax itself, once untouchable, is now on life-support. Several smaller outfits that did not jump on the VoD bandwagon also failed to make it: Cowboy Pictures, New Yorker Films, the Shooting Gallery, THINKFilm and Wellspring.
Continue reading “The Doomed Generation” »
Francois Duhamel/The Weinstein Company
This list must be prefaced with the following: Each of these films should be happy (if cinema could actually emote, that is) that Martin Scorcese's "Shutter Island" got pushed back to February 2010. Something tells me that I'm going to adore that one like none other, and that something hopefully isn't the fact that the same-titled, original Dennis Lehane novel is a personal favorite. The point being here that "Shutter Island" could have easily knocked one of the following flicks off this rundown had it made its once-scheduled October release date.
Missed opportunities aside, cinema in 2009 was all over the place, in a good way. Combing through the year's list of eligible films, I found it difficult to select a dime's worth of standouts. Really, these kinds of lists are hopeless endeavors; the second you submit or post your own, a good five or six films tap your shoulder and whisper, "You forgot about me, sir. I thought you loved me?" Like a neglected lady friend, only less affectionate. The forgotten films go on to torment your thoughts, remind you of your now-sealed 2009-filled time capsule. Sadly, there's no Wite-Out available here.
Continue reading “Fear the Best” »
Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics
The year 2009 has been an unusual one at the movies. Enormous blockbusters and children's animated series have held their usual sway at the box office, but they have done so while actually being good — and some of them have even been British. Women have been more visible in movies, as actresses and also behind the camera. I am so happy that women directed three of the movies on my list. What unexpected feminist joy! Things are also changing when a movie such as "The Hangover" — on the surface a totally macho film — is really about men failing miserably at taking a quick break from the women in their lives. The fact that two on my list are animated is also a surprise — when Hollywood seems determined to devise totally separate films for every possible marketing niche, it's wonderful to see that quality family films will always have a market.
Continue reading “Getting So Tired and Emotional, Baby” »
MOVIE REVIEW
An Education (2009)
Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics
The tenderness of Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” is positively overpowering, to a degree that even underage-cavorting is easy to forgive — thematically, of course. For her 17th birthday, wise-beyond-her-years schoolgirl Jenny (played magnificently by newcomer Carey Mulligan) is taken to Paris by the much older David (Peter Saarsgard at his best). Full of worldly charm and sophistication, David represents all that Jenny strives for. Thus, resisting his persistent courtship is all the more difficult. In Paris, she succumbs to his gentleman's flirtation, and the scene — set in a small yet plush hotel room — is sublime. So sweet, that when the narrative butterflies cease to fly and reality sets in, the sight of what’s essentially uncomfortable cradle-rocking achieves the desirability of an enviable romance. By this point into the film, the simplistic beauty of “An Education” has reached the point of no return. An irresistible one-way ticket, it is.
Continue reading “Love Is a Many-Spoiled Thing” »