Films of 2011 Part 4: 70-61
This should hopefully be the first of two posts I put up today, it being the day of staying at home and cleaning up all your loose ends post-Christmas. Unless, of course, the cricket is too captivating... But haha, no seriously, the cricket won't be captivating at all.
I kind of wish I had caught this film in a cinema instead of on a totally legitimate online streaming site, as the languid pace and intense camera techniques would surely be more effective when you're forced to pay attention, whereas sitting on a computer makes it easy to be distracted. That said, this is a very tight, suspenseful thriller, with a creepily catatonic lead performance from Ryan Gosling. If it is up for any Oscars, I'm hoping Albert Brooks will get the nod; not just because he's playing so far against type but because he's just such a delightful villain here.
I may incur some wrath here, but I was surprised at how high up this is. I think it's probably being towed along by an unfair advantage of being part of the Pixar family that I love without reservations (I will incur more wrath in about nine films' time I'm sure). But if truth be told, apart from the fun and the magic and a couple of really fine voice performances - above all one of my favourite Twitter boys Patton Oswalt in the lead - I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I'd thought. A couple of the contrivances really irked me, particularly the love sub-plot which I didn't know even existed until suddenly the two characters are kissing in the middle of an argument ("What the...?" would neatly sum up my immediate reaction). It was undeniable fun though, and was always going to be.
So again I have major problems with this film. I get that there's supposed to be this major hard-boiled film noir aspect to it where you can't trust most of the corrupt police force, but am I really supposed to believe that Eliot Ness finds it appropriate to use a team of five...oops, four, oh, no, now there's only two... people to bring down arguably the biggest crime syndicate of the twentieth century? Again, contrived plotting aside, the mood and wash of this film is gorgeous, and a couple of sequences - not least the famous pram-down-the-stairs slow-mo - save it and make it well worth watching.
Another of this year's potential Oscar nods, I'm now thinking it less likely this will be up for anything. It would be a little disappointing if Hardy, Edgerton and Nolte are all ignored, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised. The film on paper is so unlikable, dealing with what I can only see as a fad of MMA cage fighting in a way that is really just stock-standard cliches from Rocky to Raging Bull and up to last year's The Fighter. Yet the acting is so solid, with Hardy as a monster of on-screen charisma, that one can even forgive the sometimes laughably absurd plot - that is, if one wants to.
A lot of 2011 films in this block, eh? This is an odd film in the midst of Allen's work in that it works mostly as a besotted love note to Paris from Mr. Manhattan himself. It's amusingly plotted and well-paced and does include a lot of those enjoyable Woody Allen hallmarks that keep you entertained. I'm not sure that Owen Wilson fully worked for me in the lead, but the standout moments are the cameos as Paris-based luminaries of the 1920s who lend the film the Bohemian aesthetic of which Allen seems so enamoured. They are really the heart of this piece as well as the internal mechanics.
I don't think I've incurred enough wrath in this post yet, so let me just say I don't like most of Miyazaki's films. Whoever decided for the world that Spirited Away was some kind of masterpiece just because it made no sense was an idiot. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised at this film. The whole fantastical element seemed far less laboured and more organic with the story, which in turn was well-worked. I unfortunately could only find this in a dubbed version, but it didn't detract too much. It's a very entertaining adventure.
I went on a major Richard Linklater spree earlier this year, owing to the fact that I had seen a full zero of his films. This high-school graduation coming-of-age what-do-we-do-with-the-rest-of-our-lives-who-gives-a-shit-let's-get-drunk story is one of the best of the genre, and I'm not even sure why. The plotting is haphazard and most of the humour fairly juvenile, but there just seems to be more of an intellect behind the hijinks, and the cast of characters come across as more than just stock cliches. It ultimately left me a little hollow (in a 'what was the point?' kind of way) but still entertained.
I have been trying to get my hands on something by Preston Sturges by years. It seems that no distribution company outside the US is interested, and I can't for the life of me understand why. This is not only an interesting movie historically as it seems to be one of the earliest films about the film industry, but it's a jolly good romp as well *puffs on cigar*. Essentially just a screwball comedy in which the famous film director of what we would now call 'popcorn entertainment' tries to make a movie about the real America - misery, hardship, poverty - and keeps getting foiled. There's a bit of dating to it, particularly the ending, but it's well worth a look. I encourage everybody to ask for more Preston Sturges at their local film distribution company's head office.
What was that about Richard Linklater? This follow-up to his 1995 Before Sunrise (spoiler alert: it's coming up later in the list) reunites the American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and the French Celine (Julie Delpy) after their one evening of romance nine years ago. As they rekindle the old chemistry, there is the heart-aching tension as we know that, again, the clock on their time together is ticking down. Like its predecessor, this is a film about two people walking and talking together, so if you're into big explosions and spectacular CGI, you should definitely, definitely check out this film. I guarantee you'll like it. Totally. Just do it. I'm going to stop talking now.
It's hard to enjoy this film without really enjoying the clash between Pacino and De Niro (I must say I was surprised to find out that so much of the publicity behind this film revolved around it). But of course, I was sucked in. The two of them, detective vs. thief, sitting across a table from each other trying to 'negotiate' the terms of their showdown, is electric. Add in the rest of this ensemble class and the great Michael Mann, plus - let's face it - a rollicking heist plot and it's a unmistakable winner. With so much effusive praise, why is this down at #61? Well, I'm not really that much into long, tense, high-stakes crime capers, even though this is one of genuine quality.
And with that we come to the end of another harrowing block of ten. Tune in probably later today as I round out the bottom half of this list, and then we get into the really interesting bits.
posted by Sean's Beard at 3:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home