Films Reviewed in 2010

Films we've seen in 2010 that were worth reviewing [Updated: 4.14.10] Baraka (1992) Devils On the Doorstep (2000), China, bw The Hurt Locker (2009) Junebug (2005) The Kite Runner (2007) The Namesake (2006) Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) The Promise (2005) China Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Australia Red Cliff (2008) China Rendition (2007) The Triplets of Belleville (2003) France-Belgium-Can.-UK Together (2002) China Under the Sun (1998), Sweden United 93 (2006) Up (2009) Up In the Air (2009) We of the Never Never (1982) Australia Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) Among those we chose not to review, The Hangover was the most disappointing; hardly a laugh, it's baffling to think that films like that can make so much money and thus perpetuate the trend. The best of these: Baraka, Devils on the Doorstep, Hurt Locker, The Namesake, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Together, Triplets of Belleville, Under the Sun, United 93

Oscar Snubbed Film Classics

Many of my favorite films and all-time classics got no Oscars®, such as Dr. Strangelove, Memento, Being John Malkovich, Gangs of New York (Scorsese’s most ambitious), and Pulp Fiction, still Tarantino's best. Most of these are much more daring and memorable than the winners, each is a classic. [Many of these are linked to my reviews at '1000 Dvds to See'] Dr. Strangelove - to me, possibly the best comedy of all time, and up there with 2001 for a Kubrick achievement; both are best of their genres, and Peter Sellers also deserved an Oscar® for this, playing three parts. Kubrick also wanted Sellers to play the bomber pilot, but he declined saying "I'll be onscreen for every scene, the audience will tire of me", so Slim Pickens made this role into a film classic (photo rt.), and a young James Earl Jones was the navigator, while a young George Scott was war hawk General Turgid. Now #27 on the IMDB top 250 (viewer rated). "Gentlemen, there's no fighting here, this is the war room!" Hero - the incredible Zhang Yimou film is the highest grossing in Chinese history and lost the Foreign Language Oscar® to Nowhere in Africa (also a great film) and got nothing at all. This is an all-time top ten film for me, and was even used by Bose in commercials for its surround sound system. Out of the Past - the quintessential film noir from director Jacques Tourneur, with superb acting from Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas (his 2nd film). 22-year old Jane Greer was the archetypal femme fatale (and Howard Hughes girlfriend to boot!) This was also an homage to cigarette smoking, as they lit up whenever things got tense. (photo left) "The view's no good unless you have someone to share it with." City of God - Fernando Meirelles received a deserved nomination for director of this Brazilian masterpiece, and the film got 3 other nominations (incl. cinemagotraphy and editing, but not one for Best Foreign Film, which it should have easily won. Now near the top of all major film lists. Pulp Fiction - Tarantino's crime classic, told in 3 parts jumbled up chronologically, was inspired by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai's films Chungking Express and the sequel Fallen Angels, which were supposed to be one film but were so long (four hours) that Wong released them as two films. Lost best picture to Forrest Gump, because sometimes you get a chocolate you don't like so much. Once Upon a Time in America - Leone’s finest achievement and a worthy successor to the two Godfather films, and even longer at nearly four hours. It received NO nominations! With De Niro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld. (photo rt.) Note: avoid the 2-hr US theatrical version! Minority Report - terrific Spielberg film about an anti-crime unit in the future that can predict a crime and arrest the criminal beforehand. Based on a Philip K. Dick story, same author whose novel was used for the film Blade Runner, though the title was bought from an unrelated book - the phrase was never used in Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Being John Malkovich - before winning an Oscar® for the screenplay Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, screenwriter Charles Kaufman penned this bizarre classic in which John Cusack discovers a portal in his half-floor sized office that leads entrants into the mind of actor John Malkovich for 15 minutes. Very unusual and interesting concept, at least got a screenplay nomination. Memento - winner of five Indie Spirit awards, including best picture and director, this breakthrough film from Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Dark Knight) goes chronologically backwards as Guy Pierce tries to solve a crime that left him with short-term memory loss, so he tattoos important clues on his body and takes photos of people in his life so he can remember them. (photo rt) The Color Purple - from Alice Walker's bestseller, this was Spielberg's first "serious" film, in his own words. The story involves the bond between sisters, and how one, played by Whoopi Goldberg, has to endure a masochistic, domineering husband (Danny Glover) in order to find her own self-worth and independence. Received a record 11 nominations without a single win. Gangs of New York - one of Scorsese's most ambitious films, about a violent period in New York history when the five points area was a battleground of immigrant gangs. Historically accurate, based on a history book, this was also the only time the U.S. military (both navy and army) was called on to fire on its own citizens. Staggering crowd scenes and in Daniel-Day Lewis' Bill the Butcher, my favorite screen villain. List of great movies that didn't win any Oscars® The Color Purple (Spielberg -11 nominations, a record for NO wins) Gangs of New York (Scorsese - 10 nominations, photo rt.) It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra - a flop when released, gained popularity when the copyright expired and tv stations showed it for free) Angels With Dirty Faces (38, Michael Curtiz) Blade Runner (Ridley Scott) The French Lieutenant's Woman (Karel Reisz) Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick) Auntie Mame (Morton Da Costa) 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet) The Maltese Falcon (John Huston's first) The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont) Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (38, David Hand, the first feature length animation film) The Caine Mutiny (54, Edward Dmytryk) My Man Godfrey (36, Gregory La Cava) Rebel Without A Cause (Nicholas Ray) Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder) The Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder) Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger) The Birdman Of Alcatraz (John Frankenheimer) Taxi Driver (Scorsese) photo left Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (58, Richard Brooks) Brief Encounter (David Lean, who did win two Oscars afterwards) Seabiscuit (remake) Das Bööt (Wolfgang Peterson, who originally wanted Paul Newman) Empire Of The Sun (Spielberg) Scarface: Scourge of the Nation (31, Hawks) Psycho (Hitchcock, who admitted using Hershey's chocolate syrup for blood!) The Remains of the Day (James Ivory) Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson) Lenny (Bob Fosse) City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Brazil, four nominations) Good films with NO nominations Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 28) Freaks (Tod Browning, 32) King Kong (33, Cooper and Schoedsack) Kind Hearts And Coronets (Robert Hamer) His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, who never won) Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur) The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, his only film as director, with Robert Mitchum as a fake, homicidal preacher with "Love" and "Hate" tattooed on his fingers) photo - note the church look implied by the lighting High Sierra (Raoul Walsh) The Searchers (John Ford, who did win three for directing, a record) The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 61) A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan) The Servant (Joseph Losey) The Life and Death Of Colonel Blimp (Powell/Pressburger) Repulsion (Roman Polanski) Touch Of Evil (Welles) Whistle Down the Wind (Bryan Forbes) photo left Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook) Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone, his most serious effort at nearly four hrs) Beautiful Girls (Ted Demme) Mean Streets (Scorsese) [Only Special Effects Oscars®, at least they got something] 2001: A Space Odyssey - epic science fiction story about the evolution of man into a spiritual being, was mostly done in silence to simulate the loneliness and quiet of space. Stanley Kubrick's best work forever changed the way SF films looked, as from then on they had to look realistic. This film made Star Wars and Close Encounters possible. #3 on the critics consensus top 1000. Babe - perhaps the finest family film and animal film both did win for Special Effects, but will remembered and watched long after the over-blown and dreary Braveheart; Babe had the real heart that year, and actually caused pork sales to plunge. For me, this was the absolute worst best picture ripoff of all time. Possible articles to follow: - Snubbed directors, who include Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday), Stanley Donen (Singin in the Rain), Ingmar Bergman, Frederico Fellini, Lena Wertmuller, George Lucas - Snubbed actors, like Peter O'Toole, Peter Sellers, Robert Mitchum, and Edward G. Robinson (photo rt), who was never even nominated! Would a supporting win for Double Indemnity or A Boy Ten Feet Tall have been too much to ask?

10 New Film Reviews

We recently reviewed these 10 films at both 1000 DVDs to See and 1000 Great Films The Memory Loss Tapes (2008) - terrific documentary Close-up (1990) - touching but propaganda In Bruges (2008) - inventive, entertaining killer thriller John Adams (2008) - historical epic tv mini-series, 13 Emmys Man On Wire (2008) - well-crafted, not so suspenseful, see the cover Milk (2008) - excellent mythic history of politician Harvey Milk Ugetsu (1953) Japan, bw - spooky Japanese medieval war fable Kinamind (2005) Denmark - touching immigrant romance story Shallow Grave (1994) - fun, twisty suspense from Danny Boyle Mrs. Miniver (1942) bw - Wyler's classic war story of England, winner of Best Picture; it's pro-war tone is a good bookend for the anti-war best picture The Best Years of Our Lives, released 4 years later. Caution ahead! Films to avoid: Doubt - much ado about nothing, good acting but not much else; Meryl Streep is a freaky minion of Satan, a self-righteous wrath of god dispenser that is too medieval for public safety - I say "burn the witch", that'll put the fear of god in her! The Exterminating Angel - Bunuel's farce about a bunch of Mexican aristocrats who come to a dinner party and can't seem to leave; it becomes claustrophobic and maddening over time - just burn the house down already! Targets - early Peter Bogdanovich psycho film about a man with a bunch of weapons and ammo who starts shooting people on an L.A. freeway; Boris Karloff is the only attraction here! You and Me and Dupree - terrible comedy with a wasted cast

Recently Viewed Films, July

A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957, bw) 5* (top rating) This is an overlooked masterpiece, simply jaw-dropping. It's about the misuse of television to influence the masses, to buy cheesy products, to vote for cheesy politicians, even to think the way of the charismatic "everyman" star, terrifically played by Andy Griffith in a rare dramatic performance. Patricia Neal turns in perhaps her best performance, and there's a young Walter Matthau (excellent), and a very young Lee Remick (eye-popping candy as a baton twirling teen). This film was way ahead of its time, and Kazan was unfairly shunned by Oscar and critics alike after the HUAC hearings. To Live (Zhang Yimou, China, 1994) 4.5* This is yet another undeniably classic Yimou epic, winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1995, and Best Actor for Ge You (he's awesome). This film spans about 40 years in the life of one family, from before the Maoist revolution up to the 80's. Gong Li is also superb as You's wife (her best performance to me), and all the supporting cast is perfect. This is filled with unforgettable scenes, some with thousands of extras. An American film this good would have won 6-8 Oscars. Goodnight Mister Tom (Jack Gold, Masterpiece Theater, 1999) 5* This television film is John Thaw's (Insp. Morse) finest achievement, a true work of art. One of the biggest hearted films I've seen, you'll shed tears of joy. A truly inspired work, it's a disarmingly simple story of an elderly village resident (a widower) being forced to take charge of a London child evacuee during WW2. One of the highest rated films at Netflix from viewers (4.2, anything above 4 is extremely rare). From the novel by Michelle Magorian, this is truly a film that everyone should see, a rare gift to mankind. Touching the Void (Kevin MacDonald, British, 2003) 3.5* Winner of a British academy award for Best British Film, a re-enacted pseudo-documentary of a mountaineering accident. Gripping and tense, hard to watch, and a nearly unbelievable story. The first half moves better than the last, my only criticism. Gorgeous Peruvian Andes scenery; not for the weak-hearted. Forbidden Games (Rene Clement, France, 1954, BW) 3.5* This anti-war film has an amazing performance by 5-8 yr old Brigitte Fossey (it began with a short film, was later expanded into full-length after Jacques Tati convinced Clement it was worthy). There are some disturbing images in the beginning, then the film settles into a pastoral story about childhood innocence in a rural setting. Not really the masterpiece some claim, but still worth watching. The excellent Criterion dvd includes alternate beginning/endings, as well as interviews with Clement, and two with Brigitte Fossey, one recent, one as a teenager, and she's beautiful at any age.