List: Top 30 Films of 2011 (#30-16)

17 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More than halfway through January, I give you my 30 favorite films of the year. The final 15 will be up on Thursday. These are my favorites; not a list of the ‘best’ of the year, although it goes without saying I believe these are all excellent films. The idea of a restricting Top 10 sort of irritates me; I’ve always been someone who likes to broaden the field and point out a variety of different films that stuck out to me. Margaret, Into the Abyss, Love Exposure and The Mysteries of Lisbon are examples of gaping holes in my film viewing for this year. But I did get to a total of 136 films seen from 2011 and I feel like I saw the vast majority of what I had meant to. I’m thrilled with the group of films that stuck out for me this year. The films that just missed out on a spot were Super 8, The Sleeping Beauty, Tabloid, Rango, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Descendants, Love Crime, Weekend, 50/50, 13 Assassins, Meek’s Cutoff and Crazy, Stupid, Love. I’d love to come up with an introduction to this list that covered the year in film but so much has already been written in ways that go far beyond what I would have been capable to coming up with. I took snippets from my reviews for the films I reviewed here at some point this year, with links provided for the full reviews if anyone is interested. Without further ado…30-16!


30. Bridesmaids (Feig)

It looks like Bridesmaids actually has a semblance of chance for a slot in the Best Picture race this year. Whether it happens or not is almost irrelevant; it is the mere chance that surprises. This notion brings with it much backlash. Between that and the constant references to the shitting in the sink scene (which at this point feels like it is the only scene in the film based on how often it gets brought up), it is easy to forget just how funny and surprisingly layered the film really is.

That the film is only ever put into the context of ‘see, women can be funny too’ proves just how sad the state of female-driven comedies is. Wiig and Annie Mumolo did not set out to prove anything here, but everyone acts as if they did. We should be past the point where an ensemble female comedy is a revelation, but based on the constant contextual discussions of Bridesmaids, it is clear we are not. It does not help that it was advertised using the idea of females doing comedy essentially as a gimmick.

After all is said and done though, it is about the flawed Annie (Kristen Wiig) who has reached a point in her life where nothing has worked out the way she planned. Her only stable focal point is her friendship with Lillian (Maya Rudolph). When Lillian’s wedding plans are taken over by Rose Byrne’s wealthy stylish woman who threatens to replace her as best friend (in Annie’s insecure eyes), she fights fire with fire by being petty and selfish, much to the amusement of the audience. But the film is about her realizing how she handles those situations, seeing her come to terms with that and being ready to rebuild her life. Annie’s character struck a chord with me;  this along with Wiig’s performance is why I was so impressed with Bridesmaids as a whole. Is it too long? Yes. Does every joke hit its mark? No. Yet this is one of my favorite comedies to come along in a good long while. Really truly good comedies are infrequent these days (case in point; only three comedies are on this list). This is one of the good ones.

29. Moneyball (Miller)

There are going to be several films on this list that really took me by surprise and the first is Moneyball. I had really no interest in seeing this; in fact it took about 3 months and a rerelease for me to drag myself to the theater to see it. Sports films are generally not a genre I gravitate towards. What is so striking about 2011 is that four sports films made my list of favorites this year; an unprecedented number. Moneyball is mostly a behind-the-scenes look at baseball and how one person tries to change the deeply embedded system using unheard of strategies. It is the classic underdog tale, told with soul, drive, and a spirit of infectious perseverance headlined by Brad Pitt’s performance, which highlights Beane’s hasty insistence and inner detachment when he seals himself off from others. We know how the story ends, but the film earns the audience’s reservations as to how triumph could possibly reign supreme. Moneyball lifted me up and left me feeling roused and inspired.

28. The Trip (Winterbottom)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/review-the-trip-winterbottom-2011-iffboston2011/

The Trip boasts an unusual combination of dialogue-heavy comedy, of scenic travelogue complete with a focus on high-end food and finally a somber self-reflexive experiment. While these are occasionally at odds with each other, The Trip is hilarious from start-to-finish and ultimately insightful because of the persistent and atypical way it goes about making its point.

Their conversations are thoroughly escapist, with a strong air of competition. They throw themselves into moments, songs, melodies and impressions. They are constantly trying to one-up each other, whether by seeing who does the better Michael Caine impression or by testing how many octaves each can sing in.  Steve may say to others on the phone that Rob is a ‘pain in the ass’, but he clearly gets something out of his hesitant friendship with Rob; the irreverence between the two and their conversations. Each knows what to expect from the other. Steve knows he can vent his frustrations by taking jabs at Rob’s career. He knows their friendship is based on nonsensical conversations. This allows a safety net of irreverence to form for Steve.

Underneath all of the improvised hilarity, The Trip is about understanding Steve and Rob’s friendship, where it comes from, how the film is using their repeatedly competitive conversations and what it all means. Some will see it as a film that goes nowhere. This is precisely the point; it is a story about fame and emptiness, which has been addressed in many recent films, but told in an uproarious, refreshing and unconventional way.

27. Win Win (McCarthy)

As I began watching Win Win on a plane destined for Korea (the TV’s reset themselves several times, forcing me to watch this over the course of four hours), at first I was not enjoying it. It felt like the kind of middle-of-the-road indie that tries really hard to garner some chuckles with some predictable music that evokes that delightfully amused small-town sound that so many films have. Once Alex Shaffer’s Kyle entered and got the story rolling, I found myself increasingly involved. By the last half hour I was glued to the screen, only several inches away from the small TV on the backseat. All of the characters feel dimensional by the end, and it sets up a complicated dilemma that has no easy answers. It is sweet and endearing without ever feeling slight. Tom McCarthy’s writing underlines the place that wrestling has in the characters’ lives, so that when it falls to the wayside for a domestically dramatic scenario to settle in, the sport always feels thematically front and center. Not to mention that Alex Shaffer’s real-life wrestling skills which make his sport-centered scenes a treat.

26. Warrior (O’Connor)
Short Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/short-review-warrior-2011-oconnor/

Sometimes it is the films that surprise us that become the most rewarding film experiences. They make us realize that so many films come with high expectations impossible to meet. What a breath of fresh air it is to go into a film with very low expectations, with no sign of the dreaded hype machine in tow, and to be completely won over to the point where my emotions were running as high as they could.

Steeped in the throes of Greek tragedy, Warrior takes chamber-piece family drama to the arena of MMA. Knowingly playing with clichés and being able to deliver on familiar grounds can be just as difficult to execute properly. It is no small task, but the film is able to deliver. The first hour is a lot of set-up. It is transparent where almost all of these scenes are going, but it conveys them with an unexpectedly quiet meditation. This gives the actors and the circumstances they have to play a refreshing amount of room to breathe. By the end, proportions of such raw physical intensity are reached that you can actually feel the decades of family dynamics being brought into the arena. The result is a well-earned cathartic finale as powerful as anything I have seen this year.

P.S – Make this a double bill with South Korea’s equally impressive 2005 boxing drama Crying Fist; you will not be sorry.

25. Jane Eyre (Fukunaga)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/review-jane-eyre-2011-fukunaga/

Jane Eyre succeeds because what it does take on is executed with memorable specificity as well as containing some of the best chemistry between two romantic leads in years. For those who are sick of the kinds of romance films that come put today, whether comedy, drama or fantasy, Jane Eyre provides an opportunity to revisit a classic.

Many period films, especially those depicting the Victorian era, unsurprisingly and understandably tend to have the same look and feel. Fukunaga and cinematographer Adriano Goldman create a very precise atmosphere, making full use of the many conventions of the Gothic romance. The film feels naturally lit throughout, creating an often dark and gloomy look with muted grey and brown tones. The barren landscapes, wind and rain and foreboding manors are just a few conventions employed here with stunning effect. Dario Marianelli’s score fills the soundtrack with emotive violins that express the suppressed passion that Jane and Rochester keep below the surface.

Mia Wasikowska, destined for an exciting lifetime of impressive performances, captures the essence of Jane Eyre. Her dignity, guardedness and centered unwavering morals are all perfectly portrayed. She is understated and powerful, conveying subtle transitions in her face at every turn. It might just be the perfect incarnation of the heroine.

It is a rare thing when the two romantic leads have the chemistry the story demands them to have; these two do. The film is most engaging when the two are onscreen together, not just from of the power their scenes have, but because of the way they portray the evolution of their relationship. Buffini makes sure that different circumstances surround each scene they have together, making every single interaction between the two unique.

The film may heavily dilute several themes from the book in a disappointing way, but Wasikowska infuses her performance with what is missing. Was yet another adaptation necessary? Probably not, but it is hard to imagine anyone complaining about it after seeing Fukunaga and Buffini’s splendid interpretation.

24. The Last Circus (Iglesia)

The most utterly berserk and unbridled film from this year, The Last Circus is a nutzoid accomplishment plagued with political undertones (and in-your-face purpose; hello opening credits) from the Franco regime of the 1970’s. A love triangle between two clowns and an acrobat (who is the definition of the self-destructive male fantasy woman), the film inhabits a heightened predicament where love, suffering, violence and insanity all inhabit the same space and become interchangeable. Most films have a set trajectory, where you have some sense of where it will go, even if you do not know how it will get there. The Last Circus reaches what I assumed would be its climactic scene before the halfway point and I realized I had absolutely no idea where it was headed next. It was an unfamiliar and exhilarating realization and I watched as the film darted off into entirely wacky and surreal territory. The last scene which gives off a feeling of finality, hopelessness and defeat is a singular moment in the film. The Last Circus is unforgettable.

23. Midnight in Paris (Allen)

Had it not been for Rachel McAdams’ increasingly shrill caricature, this would be even higher on my list. Considering how much love I have for this film, and seeing it in the 23 slot, it becomes clear just how necessary I feel it is to move beyond the idea of a Top 10. Indeed, this is one of my favorites from Allen, carrying that same magical air as The Purple Rose of Cairo (my absolute favorite from him). Leaving the theater with a giant gleaming smile on my face, Midnight in Paris wins people over for its literalized and fantastical look at the idea of nostalgia and yearning for a time past. And using 1920’s Paris for that is probably the most idealized time and place there is.  Owen Wilson proves to be the perfect Allen avatar, neurosis and rationalizing take precedence with him. To see him this enthralled with all the artistic figures of the past is contagious. The romantic and rational sides of Allen interact here and come to several different conclusions. It’s a vicarious dream come true.

22. Shame (McQueen)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/review-shame-2011-mcqueen/

McQueen has the confidence of a veteran; his vision is clear and he presents it with poise. Between this and Hunger, it is obvious that long takes are his strong suit. One more film from him and they will be a fully-fledged trademark. He risks distracting the audience but he does not; his lengthy observations make us more attentive, more aware of the physical space and of body language. They allow us to get a fuller sense of the performances and they enhance the notion of the audience observing Brandon through the glass-plate walls; he is a test subject. McQueen distances us with the sterile environment and cagey glass. He puts us up close when it counts, and when it becomes important to unsettle the audience. Fassbender and Mulligan are astounding.

McQueen uses Brandon as cornerstone representative for addiction with a sibling dynamic ripe for rich exploration. Brandon’s surprisingly conventional, but no less powerful, arc towards disintegration is tinted with more hope than one would expect. Shame is arresting cinema that loyally follows its self-loathing protagonist wherever he may go.

21. Senna (Kapadia)
Full Review Link: http://cinenthusiast.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/review-senna-2011-kapadia/

Senna plays more like a narrative feature than any documentary in recent memory. Gripping from the start and refusing to let go, this immersive story will enthrall the viewer regardless of their ignorance of Formula One racing and/or three time Grand Prix world champion, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. Entirely comprised of archival footage, Senna offers a rare privilege of access for a documentary, resulting in a wholly distinct experience. It does not feel like you are watching something that has already happened; instead it largely unfolds as if for the first time.

I was the only one in my theater when I saw Senna, and I was allowed to have an emotional reaction with a freedom rarely afforded within the theater-going experience. By the end, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss. Interestingly enough, the two documentaries on this list spurred a stronger emotive response than anything else I saw this year.


20. Poetry (Lee)

Lee Chang-dong has a knack for staying a couple of steps away from melodrama with his unadorned camera and plots that never feel like plots. In some ways, he is the opposite of melodrama, but he somehow always gives off a sense of it without it defining or even distracting from his pictures. On the one hand, the film is a gentle tale of an elderly woman creeping up on Alzheimer’s who strives to understand how poetry works, looking everywhere for inspiration in order to write a poem. If this sounds nauseating, do not make the mistake of judging Poetry; it has none of the sentiment or predictability the story suggests.On the other hand, there is the tale of a horrific family crime committed, how Mi-ja copes with it as she deals with the aftermath of forced interaction for all parties involved and their differing motivations.

Lee mixes plot elements in ways that are unfamiliar and new, without ever having it feel like something is conventionally unfolding. His two films made after his time as Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism heavily deal with coping, the unforeseen circumstances surrounding tragedy and the various ways people try to coexist with their personal tragedies. It is simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting.

19. Tyrannosaur (Considine)

Actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut sticks us with some pretty miserable folk. That Peter Mullan’s train-wreck of a protagonist, unable to keep himself contained for a moment, is the one that comes to be Hannah’s (Olivia Colman) only support system says it all. Tyrannosaur works because of the central relationship where mutually affectionate moments are able to burst through the defense mechanisms, secrets and stubbornness of the characters and the relentlessly bleak and violent nature of the film.

This is one of those ‘what do I do with myself now’ films that send one off into the world with a fuzzy haze of hopelessness. Some may not think it is worth it or that it does not justify being this depressing. But I appreciate Considine’s insistence on showing us two complicated people with no easy explanations to their predicaments or personalities. It is the matter-of-factness of it that I admire. Mullan has more rage than all the ‘angry young men’ characters of British cinema combined. He’s like the middle-aged present day result of those guys. Colman is in the most horrifically abusive marriage imaginable and has reached the point where excuses and suffering have seemingly buried escape.

18. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Durkin)

That Martha Marcy May Marlene held my spot at number 1 for a time after I saw it indicates that we have approached an even more intense level of appreciation for the films left on this list. Martha Marcy May Marlene disturbingly displays the susceptible nature of the mind and what mankind is capable of subverting through mutual groupthink. It is a complicated character study about a young woman unable to assimilate herself in any environment, and is left with heaps of traumas, sadly stubborn lingering ideologies and zero sense of self. She is a nearly broken being. Sean Durkin wrote and executed this story with staggering maturity. Some broad supporting characterization and some overstated dialogue only mildly hinder the experience. The complex characterization headlined by Olsen and the tension that instills the audience makes for a fearless film from a debut filmmaker.

17. Incendies (Villeneuve)

It has been many many months since I watched Incendies; almost a year. If I saw it again, it may even garner a higher spot on this list.  After Biutiful and In a Better World left me underwhelmed (and with the former, downright annoyed), this is the other foreign language film nominee from last year’s Oscars that left an impact on me (the other is Dogtooth, which was my third favorite film of 2010, only to become my favorite after a rewatch taking over from Black Swan). It seems redundant to say that Incendies is involving, especially since I have been describing a number of films on this list as such. However, where some films involve me so much because I did not expect them to, for its thematic content or for filmmaking aspects more than anything else visceral or otherwise, Incendies involved me on a level of pure storytelling. There is no other film that involved me more this year (although several match it) on a storytelling level.

Remarkably devastating, the film balances political strife with the intensely personal and wraps it up in a disturbing familial central mystery. Several sequences are riveting, led by the wonderful Lubna Azabal. The film never feels small, with all of its war-torn setting, the unstoppable presence of politics and war and the linking of past and present using a flashback structure. Incendies leaves an indelible and powerful mark.


16. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Bird)

This is the most fun I had at the movies this year; by far the most satisfying action film I have seen since 2006’s Casino Royale. Brad Bird’s live-action debut proves that he has a knack for creating increasingly complicated set-pieces, never losing the high levels of energy, fun and genuine excitement he sets up for himself. There is literally no depth to this film at all and we are all the better for it.

This is what escapist cinema is all about. Seeing Tom Cruise reliably bringing his irreplaceable screen presence to the non-character that is Ethan Hunt is all we need. His penchant for doing as much of his own stunts as he can culminates in the stunning sequence atop the tallest skyscraper in the world; Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. There are no green-screen effects here; the cameras are filming onsite and Cruise really is leaping around and climbing on the outside. It is indescribably thrilling and revitalizing to see an action film pull out all the stops and give us onsite set-pieces that are a much-needed antidote to the typical green-screen action scene. Filmed in IMAX, it feels like we are up there with him; and this is only one scene. Each sequence would be a memorable standout of any other film; Ghost Protocol just gives us one after the other, constantly matching itself. The entire film keeps up this level of entertainment. To put it simply; I did not want this film to end.

Complete List of Films Seen in 2011: 13 Assassins, 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, American Grindhouse, Another Earth, Attack the Block, Beastly, Beginners, Being Elmo, Bellflower, Bill Cunningham, New York, Biutiful, Black Death, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Bridesmaids, Buck, Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Captain America: The First Avenger, Carnage, Cars 2, Caterpillar, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cedar Rapids, Certified Copy, Cold Fish, Cold Weather, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Contagion,, Cracks, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dream Home, Drive, Edge of Dreaming, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hesher, Hobo with a Shotgun, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, I Saw the Devil, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, In a Better World, In Time, Incendies, Insidious, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Kung Fu Panda 2, Last Night, Le Quattro Volte, Love Crime, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meek’s Cutoff, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mildred Pierce, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Of Gods and Men, Outrage, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Passion Play, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Poetry, Project Nim, Rampart, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Red State, Redline, Retreat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rubber, Scream 4, Senna, Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Source Code, Submarine, Sucker Punch, Super, Super 8, Tabloid, Take Shelter, Terri, The Adventures of Tintin, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt,The Descendants, The Devil’s Double, The Double Hour, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Green Hornet, The Help, The Housemaid, The Ides of March, The Last Circus, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Mill and the Cross, The Muppets, The Rite, The Roommate, A Separation, The Skin I Live In, The Sleeping Beauty, The Thing, The Tree of Life, The Trip, The Ward, The Woman, Thor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, TrollHunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Tyrannosaur, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Unknown, War Horse, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men: First Class, Young Adult, Your Highness, Yves Saint-Laurent: L’Amour Fou

List: Top 25 Performances in 2011 Film

11 Jan 2012 3 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ll list 10-25 alphabetically and then list the top 10 alphabetically. It seems odd to rank performances to such the extreme degree of “I liked this performance better than this and I liked this better than those two”. What do you think were the most memorable performances of the year?

10-25 (in alphabetical order)


Carla Besnainou – Anastasia – The Sleeping Beauty

Catherine Breillat knows how to get some of the most natural, seemingly effortless performances out of children. Here, Besnainou entirely holds this film with her unyielding curiosity and determination. She is quick on her feet, priding herself on her independence. The film dovetails once she leaves the screen and most of the reason I found myself glued during Breillat’s latest was because of this precocious child. Talented as the child is, the director should get most credit for this kind of performance for finding her (not an actress), capturing her on film and being able to assemble together her performance.


Demian Bichir – Carlos Galindo - A Better Life

An earnest and heartbreaking performance of the first degree, Bichir is emotional and gripping as a man who just wants to do well by his son. He lifts the on-the-nose material with his nuanced and extremely involving work.


Asa Butterfield – Hugo Cabret – Hugo

It was more than a little surprising to see several complaints about Butterfield’s work as the title character in Scorsese’s ode to cinema. Additionally, Butterfield is simply not getting the credit he deserves even from those who found him delightful. This did not feel like acting; it felt like I was watching a child who really had spent months living inside of a Parisian train station. I never felt he was playing a character; he was Hugo Cabret. Unlike Besnainou where you get the sense her charisma was caught by the camera, there are no accidents with Butterfield. This is a fully realized performance where the adolescent knows exactly what he is doing and is fully committed to his character and his motivations and emotions.


Dominic Cooper – Latif Yahia/Uday Hussein – The Devil’s Double

The Devil’s Double has only one ‘see it for this card’ and it is Dominic Cooper. Being called upon to play two roles entirely outside anything I have seen him in, he undergoes a complete transformation as both Latif and Uday (not to mention Latif’s impersonations of Uday). The film itself is too obsessed with its own sleaze to rise above it or be compelling, but Cooper is electric having to act out scenes with himself (with Uday being the most depraved son-of-a-bitch to grace the screen all year). Between the dual roles and the extremity of Uday, it could have gone wrong, but Cooper’s capability and commitment enable him to soar.


Kirsten Dunst – Justine – Melancholia

Dunst, having first-hand experience with depression, makes painstaking connections with Justine that culminate in an uncompromising understanding and loyalty to her. She is unwilling to cater to standard cause-and-effect rules of characterization or to apologize for the frustration and lack of sympathy she can elicit.  For those of us who know what bouts of depression are like, this reveals it in all of its extreme truths and ugliness.


Michael Fassbender – Brandon – Shame

Watching Brandon dissolve right in front of us is quite the spectacle. This has been the year of Fassbender and we are all the better for it. He is an explosive force to be reckoned with, completely giving himself over to the camera for observational purposes.


Tom Hardy – Tommy Conlon – Warrior

This is another performance that never felt like acting to me. I could not take my eyes off of Hardy in Warrior; this is entirely due to his ability to fully transcend the hardened character type he is asked to play. It helps that the screenwriters stay refreshingly true to him, and thankfully do not give him any sort of arc that allows his basic emotional trajectory to change. This is who he is, and his more revealing moments of character shading feels real and honest; in no way forced.  He achieves a kind of introspective intensity that is something to behold. Decades of estrangement and past dynamics have been so clearly defined in his head, that his dialogue evokes a perspective of factual simplicity reminiscent of a child.


Woody Harrelson – Dave ‘Date Rape’ Brown – Rampart

Dave Brown is a ticking time bomb in vastly changing times. Harrelson plays him as a brute past his prime in the shifting cityscape. An outcast on all counts, his cruelty covers all possible ground whether he means it or not. He’s like a wild animal trying to feign the practice of civilization.


Viggo Mortensen – Sigmund Freud – A Dangerous Method

Unrecognizable with the ever-present cigar and unwavering dignity, Mortensen gets my vote for best in show in Cronenberg’s latest. He is methodical and precise in his words, always needing to balance maintaining the intellectual upper-hand without losing the insight of discourse. He needs discussion more to keep his own ideas going and to reassert his theoretical leanings. But at the same time, Mortensen’s Freud genuinely connects with others through discussion; seeing how he wades through his thoughts towards Jung throughout is something else.


Carey Mulligan – Sissy – Shame

Here is an unhinged and unpredictable performance that ignites the screen. Mulligan elicits unbridled frenzy as Sissy who is much farther along the path to futility than Brandon is, or rather, is farther along the path precisely because she is aware of it. She deserves as much praise as her costar, hurtling off the screen with abandon.


Nick Nolte – Paddy Conlon -Warrior

He is devastating as the haggard father trying to shake his previous actions that all but define him far too late in life. His eyes desperately cling onto his sons for any semblance of forgiveness.


Gary Oldman – George Smiley – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Seeing Oldman in a role like this is a rarity. He is a stoic centerpiece to the crumbling status quo around him. The frequently loud and bombastic actor (not a knock) goes to the opposite extreme here, with a quiet and largely observational iconic character. He is unwavering in his procedures, requests and investigation, speaking only when he has to.


Kseniya Rappaport – Sonya - The Double Hour

The only truly palpable reason to see The Double Hour, despite it being engaging enough to merit a look, is for Kseniya Rappoport’s performance. She makes the film almost single-handedly gripping. She is morose, racked with guilt, has hidden agendas and is appropriately vague in her emotions.


Ludivine Sagnier – Isabelle Guerin – Love Crime

There is a lot more complexity to Sagnier’s performance and character than she has been given credit for in the underrated Love Crime. She is headstrong in her work, extremely intelligent but also inexperienced, insecure, desperate and a bit of a weakling. The harsh unpleasantness and humiliation she is put through by Kristen Scott Thomas becomes too much and she hatches a complex plan to get away with the perfect crime. Watching Sagnier play all the facets of her character (the willingly seduced, the tantrums that come with heartbreak, the stool pigeon, the mastermind and the nervous criminal) is a fabulous display of range all within a layered character study that she more than follows through on.


Kristen Wiig – Annie Walker - Bridesmaids  

A comedic feat in the extreme, Wiig had me howling with laughter with her perfect timing and teased out awkwardness. At the same time, she creates a layered character who has to overcome her own selfishness and failings, starting with salvaging her cherished friendship with Maya Rudolph’s Lillian. One of the best comedic performances in years; she will be on my Oscar dream ballot without a doubt.

10-1 (in alphabetical order)


Carlos Areces – Javier – The Last Circus

The most fearless, reckless, no-holds barred performance of the year, there is nothing else in 2011 film quite like seeing Areces go from the bespectacled sad sack man to the maniacal gun-wielding clown along with an unhealthy detour into primal beast mid-film. Javier allows himself to be carried away by the unlikely fulfillment of love and the result is an unhinged courageous performance that holds immense confidence and skill. You will not forget Javier the Clown.


Juliette Binoche – She – Certified Copy

Can anybody hold the screen like the great Binoche? She is asked to display a wild but subtle range, always just out of reach but never out of intrigue. She moodily shifts in and out of various emotions, never overplaying and often extremely pleasant. Like the film, rich treasures are likely to be discovered from her work each time it is watched.

Olivia Colman – Hannah – Tyrannosaur

In a word, Colman is devastating. She bears all as a woman who has turned to faith to cover up her miserable existence that hinges on a torturous marriage. Her fragile connection with Peter Mullan’s Joseph becomes a welcome escape. It is the only performance this year that was painful for me to watch. She is an incomprehensible victim and she will stick with you indefinitely.


Ryan Gosling – The Driver – Drive

As much as Refn creates something evocative from a directorial point of view, I would argue that Gosling’s anchoring of the material provides an almost equally satisfying and necessary contribution. The Driver may belong to an archetype, but like many of his previous incarnations, Gosling (with the help of Refn and screenwriter Hossein Amini) makes his version singular. His ability to emote layers through silence is not only impressive but transfixing. Gone is the hard masculinity one expects to find with this type of role. Even when taking into account the brutal acts of violence he commits, in large part he is seen as a child.


Rooney Mara – Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I’ve thrown around the word transformative several time here so far and I’m going to use is again, because if ever there was one performance of that nature this year, it is this one. Mara is a revelation as the iconic Lisbeth Salander. She plays up the more sensitive aspects of the character, making her a fierce push and pull between hard and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it soft. It is impossible to take your eyes off her and it feels like Mara lived this part through and through while filming. She is incendiary and a force to be reckoned with.


Elisabeth Olsen – Martha – Martha Marcy May Marlene

Olsen carries this film into another realm. In her cult scenes she plays a woman eager to be a part of something, so much so that she discards common sense and allows herself to take part in some truly unsettling activities. Olsen shows layers of conviction, susceptibility and hesitancy through an additional heavy layer of necessary ambiguity. Post-cult Olsen displays societal disconnect beautifully with her bluntness, immaturity and more importantly her train wreck of a mental state. We are inside of her head and yet she remains distant from the audience. We feel her paranoia but cannot break through. It is a performance that has been rightly hailed across the board; simply put, she nails it.


Michael Shannon – Curtis LaForche – Take Shelter

Michael Shannon gets to be front and center in Take Shelter as a man who knows what is happening to him but cannot stop it. His paranoia initiates a series of poor decisions that damage everyone around him. Shannon makes us understand why he makes these decisions, and while we cannot stop him from doing so, we sure as hell wish we could.


Tilda Swinton – Eva – We Need to Talk About Kevin

The incomparable Tilda Swinton transfers the fear of apathetic motherhood to the screen through Lynne Ramsay’s abstract spell of a film. She has a difficult job. Her character is icy and disconnected from familial tendencies. She is a free-spirit, a travelogue writer who entertains the possibility of a happy family life even though in her gut she repels against it. Her fears materialize, projected onto the demonic Kevin. She tries so hard to care, to love, and to cherish but that forced effort just builds and builds onto Kevin until he is a monster. Swinton has to play indifference, forced enthusiasm, a woman barely holding herself together with rightfully increasing paranoia. She is so desperate to hold off the inevitable realization of her suspicions. Finally, our starting point sees her as a woman who has nothing left and is a zombie-like shell forced to go on. As you can imagine, Swinton kills it.


Charlize Theron – Mavis Gary – Young Adult

I’m not sure there is enough praise for me to heap onto Theron and her work in Young Adult. She plays a layered nasty piece of work, and it’s a role that is individualistic in film as Diablo Cody has given her unexplored character territory rich for innovation. As sterling as her line deliveries are, I am most enthralled with her as she listens to others and reacts to the situations around her. She is unhinged in her arrogance and delusions. Her best years are long past her and her clinging onto Buddy is a really wretched last-ditch effort to hold onto the popular glory of her teenage years. Her snarly stare when she turns against you would have any sane person running for the hills. It may just be the film performance of 2011 in my eyes.


Yun Jung-hee – Mi-ja – Poetry

Mi-ja is serenely open to life and what it has to offer in her golden years. She daintily goes about her business, wondering aloud why it is she cannot write poetry. She innocently asks others how they come up with the words to describe what they see. Her mind is slowly slipping away from her. She is becoming flighty and vague. Yun is restrained and full of complexity in Lee Chang-dong’s latest.

Complete List of Films Seen in 2011: 13 Assassins, 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, American Grindhouse, Another Earth, Attack the Block, Beastly, Beginners, Being Elmo, Bellflower, Bill Cunningham, New York, Biutiful, Black Death, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Bridesmaids, Buck, Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Captain America: The First Avenger, Carnage, Cars 2, Caterpillar, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cedar Rapids, Certified Copy, Cold Fish, Cold Weather, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Contagion,, Cracks, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dream Home, Drive, Edge of Dreaming, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hesher, Hobo with a Shotgun, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, I Saw the Devil, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, In a Better World, In Time, Incendies, Insidious, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Kung Fu Panda 2, Last Night, Le Quattro Volte, Love Crime, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meek’s Cutoff, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mildred Pierce, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Of Gods and Men, Outrage, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Passion Play, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Poetry, Project Nim, Rampart, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Red State, Redline, Retreat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rubber, Scream 4, Senna, Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Source Code, Submarine, Sucker Punch, Super, Super 8, Tabloid, Take Shelter, Terri, The Adventures of Tintin, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt,The Descendants, The Devil’s Double, The Double Hour, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Green Hornet, The Help, The Housemaid, The Ides of March, The Last Circus, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Mill and the Cross, The Muppets, The Rite, The Roommate, The Skin I Live In, The Sleeping Beauty, The Thing, The Tree of Life, The Trip, The Ward, The Woman, Thor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, TrollHunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Tyrannosaur, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Unknown, War Horse, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men: First Class, Young Adult, Your Highness, Yves Saint-Laurent: L’Amour Fou

List: Top 10 Song Usages in 2011 Film

07 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The criteria is that as long as the song was not composed and/or written specifically for the film, it was eligible.


Honorable Mention: “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” – Tiny Tim – Insidious

Tiny Tim is inherently creepy, but this isn’t a knock; it’s part of what makes him strangely compelling. He is a total oddity. Insidious teases out just how bizarre his rendition of ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ is by using it as a source of diegetic atmosphere not once but twice. The warbling of the song seamlessly illustrates the strange happenings going on in the house. By the time it is used twice, the film had already jumped the shark for me, but I love the idea of the song existing as a recurring staple of ‘The Further’. Inspired song choices like this are rewarding in so many ways.


Honorable Mention: “The Concept” – Teenage Fanclub – Young Adult (I could not find a picture of from the opening credits, so I used a picture from the scene featuring Nipple Confusion’s cover)

As we listen to ‘The Concept’ at the start of Young Adult, Mavis’ song of choice feels fitting; a trip back to 90’s nostalgia with a tune that clearly meant something to her and former flame Buddy when they were together way back when. Then the tape rewinds and the song starts again. And again. And again. Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody use the opening credits to start immediately peeling back the superficial layers of Mavis Gary. When we hear that obsessive repetition of Teenage Fanclub, we realize something is a little off with our protagonist. The song is used so the audience can start to sense those cracks right away; a hint of what is to come.


10. The Rainbow Connection – The Muppets - The Muppets

This year, my list is bookended with pieces of music that can guarantees my tears when I hear them. Going into The Muppets, I hadn’t really thought about the possibility of “The Rainbow Connection” being used. I just assumed it would use the original songs written for the film. When the song started, I immediately realized I was not emotionally prepared for the genius work of Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher; sure enough, within seconds my eyes were welling up. It is and always will be a perfect composition. The Muppets uses it, at first as a duet between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, and eventually as a rousingly sweet self-tribute with all of the gang.


9. “You and Whose Army?” – Radiohead - Incendies

The first scene that Denis Vellineuve wrote for Incendies was the opening,, with Radiohead’s lingering pull of a song in hopeful tow since day one.  It feels not unlike a memorable music video in that it fuses music and imagery in a way that burns itself into the brain. It works because as our introduction to the film, it is allows the singularity of the music video feel because there is no other story or context as of yet. Having the next two hours gives additional meaning to the image, as opposed to having something this individually powerful somewhere in the middle where it would only then distract. It is a hell of a way to start out your film, and thankfully Villenuve’s long-standing wish for Incendies’ initial moments were realized.


8. “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – Dean Martin – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol may have been the most unadulterated fun I had at the movies all year.  You know you’re in for a treat when the film starts out with an elaborately staged prison breakout with Dean Martin’s classic actually functioning as diegetic music in the scene! Yes my friends, the song acts as a timer so Ethan Hunt and his breakout crew know where they have to be by the time the song ends. Furthermore, by the time the song starts, all hell has already broken loose with Cruise rushing to bring a fellow inmate with him. We marvel while he makes his way through the chaotic brawl that has imploded within the prison walls as he dodges, punches, drags and runs his way through the halls. It is about as exciting as an action film gets and once it is over you think ‘Surely, this film has already peaked’. And then it has the confidence to rise up to the occasion to create set-piece after set-piece that exhilarates, all of them without the additional help of that legendary crooner Dean Martin.


7. “Nightcall” – Kavinsky – Drive

There were other song uses I could have chosen for Drive, but in all honesty I found myself much more attached to Kavinsky’s “Nightcall” than anything else (College’s ‘A Real Hero’ admittedly kind of grates on me) Being the opening title sequence whore that I am, this combination of the song’s sexy sleaze with hot pink lettering creates one of the most memorable opening credits in my recent cinematic memory.


6. “New York, New York” – Carey Mulligan - Shame

What hasn’t been said about this scene? Carey Mulligan wears her damaged heart on her sleeve here as Sissy in a haunting rendition that single-handedly makes the case for Shame’s ambiguity. What could be more intriguingly revealing than the way Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan use Sinatra’s song, the way Mulligan performs it, and the strategic cuts to Michael Fassbender’s tenderly subtle emotional response that he is so desperate to keep at bay? These are the kinds of scenes that radiate imaginative complexity, that get us thinking, interpreting and wondering.


5. “Prelude: Tristan und Isolde” – Richard Wagner – Melancholia

Melancholia opens with a greatest hits montage of what is to come. It shows us moments we will see, moments that are referred to but will not see, and moments that do not happen but are relevant character representations. They are slow moving paintings and are set to Wagner’s Prelude to :Tristan and Isolde”. From my review of the film; “It gives everything an appropriately pastoral quality and a peripheral imprint of something coming that cannot be pushed back. It is not overly present, but it is a quality in the music that is just enough for the pastoral purity to be ruffled.”


4. “About Today” – The National – Warrior

I’ll be talking a bit about Warrior in the week ahead, as it will pop up on my other year-end lists. Suffice it to say, if one film took me by surprise this year it was this. By the time Warrior reaches its showdown, we have seen each brother fight their way to the finals, interfamily drama has been milked for all its worth and the film has built itself up to epic proportions leading up to this moment. The catharsis that comes as a result is an emotional overflow, both for the characters and me as a viewer. I am still shocked that Warrior got me as passionately riled up as it did, and The National’s “About Today” anchors all of this, functioning as the perfect culmination of the hard worked payoff that Warrior unequivocally earns.


3. “Master of None” – Beach House – The Future

The Future is often frustrating but hit on something every once and a while that struck me in a way approaching profundity. Miranda July’s interpretative dance inside of her character’s childhood shirt was a moment that has stuck with me all year. It is clear this was a long-existing piece of performance art by July. It resonated because it entranced me, bringing me to a rare hypnotized place in my own mind. This is on no small part because of the song, my favorite by Beach House, has the power to lull me into a trance-like state, (driving with the song on is not an option for me). In a film about people emotionally stunted people unable to make the transformation from childhood into responsible adulthood, this scene demonstrates this literally. The way July performs the organic choreography makes it feel like we are looking in on an intimately personal moment, yet it still appears and feels appropriately like a performance.

2. “Marcy’s Song” – John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene

“Marcy’s Song” is used to show a disturbing dichotomy. First, we hear just how John Hawkes’ Patrick sees Martha (“just a picture hanging on my wall”). Second, it shows how Martha does not grasp this, taking his serenade as a devoted love letter, effectively sealing her commitment to him. The song itself, by Jackson C. Frank, is a stunner; exactly the kind of raw folk I tend to fall hard for. Hawkes supports the deceptive calm of the music with his ruggedly comforting but slightly unsettling vocals. It is the highlight of the film; a scene I want and plan to revisit time and time again.


1. “The Moldau” – Bedrich Smetana – The Tree of Life

I have a long history with “The Moldau”. It is my favorite piece of instrumental music. I first heard it back in 5th grade Music Class. I asked my Music Teacher for a copy of it so I could listen to it on my own time. She gave it to me on a cassette tape. For months I would lie up in my bunk bed while I was supposed to be sleeping, and would play the first three minutes on my tape player over and over right next to my ear as it lulled me to sleep.Years and years pass.

Then last year, Don Hertzfeldt used it in his 2006 masterpiece animated short Everything Will Be OK. My reaction was immediate, like greeting a long lost family member. When The Tree of Life trailer was released, and this song was played, it was like a dream come true. I hoped and hoped leading up to the film’s release that it would be played in the actual film. To my delight it was, and this piece of music about the Czech river is divinely used to depict emerging childhood, the innocence of it when wonders and fanciful merriment are all that matters; when everything is a discovery. It is an overwhelming few minutes of film, with so many memories and exuberance bursting from the screen. I honestly feel like this song has somehow become a part of me over the years, or at the very least has become so important to me that it feels that way. The way Malick has used “The Moldau” goes beyond my wildest expectations with the images further bringing the music to life and vice versa.

Lists: The Top Fives of 2011 Film

05 Jan 2012 6 Comments

by Catherine in List, 2011, 2011 List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Everyone has pretty much already posted their Top Ten’s for the year. I like to go list crazy in summing up the year in film and go beyond the standard 10 ‘best’. I go over this again and again, but it’s all about subjectivity for me and what I considered my favorites. And in going through the year in film, there are a lot of different facets I like to recognize. Everyone comes away with a new batch of films to hold near and dear to their hearts, myself certainly included. This particular post will recognize things like types of performances, characters, beginnings, endings, character dynamics and more. For my attempts at judging technical aspects of film, my eventual Dream Oscar Ballot will cover that particular ground. The two films I will be seeing before posting my final Top 30 of the year (yes, I do Top 30, not 10; I am in no way, shape or form a Top Ten purist) are A Separation and Love Exposure. By the time I see Mysteries of Lisbon, Margaret, Into the Abyss, The Interrupters and others, my lists will be posted.

Like last year, the upcoming posts that will get more time dedicated to them (and will be posted within the next week and a half) are:
Top 10 Worst Films of the Year (which will really be Least Favorite, but nobody will search for a ‘Least Favorite’ list, so I will conveniently name it ‘Worst’.
Top 10 Song Usages
Top 20 Scenes in 2011 Film
Top 20 Performances in 2011 Film
Top 30 Films of 2011

This first post is supposed to be pure harmless superficial fun. I have seen 133 films from 2011. I will list them at the bottom so readers will know what was considered. Beware of spoilers in the Top 5 Romances regarding Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for those who have not seen it. These preliminary posts will give some hints as to my favorite films of the year, a group that may not be particularly original, but that I am nonetheless proud of and happy with. The year in film has already been picked apart with collective themes of identity, nostalgia and more running deep. There are many who think this was a weak year for film. From an awards standpoint I would agree. But from an overall standpoint, I wholeheartedly disagree.

On to the 1st Annual Cinema Enthusiast Awards! Being a huge fan of The Film Experience’s Film Bitch Awards, I borrowed a few categories from there.


Top 5 Beginnings:
1. Melancholia
2. Incendies
3. Kung Fu Panda 2
4. Contagion
5. Drive (The Driver’s opening speech)


Top 5 Use of Title Card/Opening Credits
1. Drive (Title Card/Opening Credits)
2. Hanna (Title Card only)
3. Insidious (Title Card Only)
4. Outrage (Title Card Only)
5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Title Card/Opening Credits)
Honorable Mention: The Adventures of Tintin (Title Card/Opening Credits)


Top 5 Endings:
1. Hanna
2. Melancholia
3. Warrior
3. The Housemaid
4. Take Shelter
Honorable Mention: The Skin I Live In, Moneyball, The Trip, Of Gods and Men

Top 5 Ensembles:
1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
2. Midnight in Paris
3. Melancholia
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
5. Hugo
Honorable Mention: Margin Call


Top 5 Underrated Films in 2011:
1. The Sleeping Beauty (that other Sleeping Beauty film not directed by Julia Leigh, but by Catherine Breillat)
2. Bobby Fischer Against the World
3. Black Death
4. Terri
5. The Green Hornet
Note: Underrated could mean anything. But seeing what films get attention in the blogosphere, with critics, from a box office standpoint and from a year-end list perspective, these are the films I felt did not get enough attention from at least two of the aforementioned considerations.

Films That Started Strong But….
1. Source Code
2. Insidious
3. The Double Hour
4. Cold Fish
5. Crazy, Stupid, Love (Where the other films are on this for their final thirds, my last choice appears only for that final speech. It did not entirely dampen the experience and is still ranks among the better films I saw this year)

Top 5 Newcomers:
1. Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2. Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help, The Debt (the ones I’ve seen her in)
3. Elisabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
4. John Boyega – Attack the Block
5. Ezra Miller – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Honorable Mentions: Oscar Issac (Drive, Sucker Punch), Asa Butterfield (Hugo)
Note: I realize this is not the first year some of these actors have been in significant parts. But I’d call all of these actors newcomers this year relatively speaking.

Top 5 Underrated Performances
1. Ludivine Sagnier – Love Crime
2. Eva Green – Cracks
3. Melanie Lynskey – Win Win
4. John C. Reilly – Terri
5. Brie Larson – Rampart


Top 5 Film 2011 Limited Performances (characters with only a few scenes/a limited role)
1. Oscar Issac as Standard – Drive
2. Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway – Midnight in Paris
3. Michael Stuhlbarg as Rene Tabard – Hugo
4. Collette Wolfe as Sandra – Young Adult
5. Kathy Baker as Sarah – Take Shelter


Top 5 Worst Performances:
1. Lauren Petre as Miss Hindle – The Woman
2. Sean Bridgers as Chris Cleek – The Woman
3. January Jones as Emma Frost– X-Men: First Class
4. Mickey Rourke as Nate Poole– Passion Play
5. Vanessa Hudgens as Linda – Beastly

Top 5 2011 Film Scores:
1. Hanna – The Chemical Brothers
2. Senna – Antonio Pinto
3. The Skin I Live In – Alberto Iglesias
3. Jane Eyre – Dario Marianelli
5. Take Shelter – David Wingo
Honorable Mentions – Contagion, Moneyball, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Attack the Block


Top 5 Film 2011 Characters:
1. Charlize Theron – Mavis Gary – Young Adult
2. Kristen Wiig – Annie Walker – Bridesmaids
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman – Paul Zara – The Ides of March
4. Eva Green – Miss G – Cracks
5. Ryan Gosling – The Driver – Drive
Honorable Mention – Michael Shannon in Take Shelter and Jonah Hill in Moneyball


Top 5 Character Dynamics: (this could be any kind of dynamic between 2 or more characters whether adversarial, based in friendship, etc.)
1. Juliette Binoche and William Shimell – Certified Copy
2. Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender – Shame
3. Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman – Tyrannosaur
4. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon – The Trip
5. Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt – Young Adult
Honorable Mentions: Choi Min-sik and Lee Byung-hun – I Saw the Devil, Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph – Bridesmaids, William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen and Markus Rygaard – In a Better World


Top 5 2011 Film Villains:
1. Tom Hollander as Issacs – Hanna
2. Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose – Drive
3. Choi Min-sik as Kyung-chul – I Saw the Devil
4. Gary Oldman as Lord Shen – Kung Fu Panda 2
5. Ezra Miller as Kevin – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Honorable Mention – Ralph Fiennes – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2


Top 5 Film 2011 Romances:
1. Kristen Wiig and Chris Dowd – Bridesmaids
2. Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender – Jane Eyre
3. Tom Cullen and Chris New –Weekend
4. Ewan McGregor and Melanie Laurent – Beginners (less for the material the two are given and more for the chemistry between McGregor and Laurent which, for my money, was the strongest of perhaps the last few years)
5. Mark Strong and Colin Firth – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Honorable Mention: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone – Crazy, Stupid, Love

List of 2011 Films Seen: 13 Assassins, 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, American Grindhouse, Another Earth, Attack the Block, Beastly, Beginners, Being Elmo, Bellflower, Bill Cunningham, New York, Biutiful, Black Death, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Bridesmaids, Buck, Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Captain America: The First Avenger, Carnage, Cars 2, Caterpillar, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Cedar Rapids, Certified Copy, Cold Fish, Cold Weather, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Contagion,, Cracks, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dream Home, Drive, Edge of Dreaming, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hesher, Hobo with a Shotgun, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, I Saw the Devil, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, In a Better World, In Time, Incendies, Insidious, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Kung Fu Panda 2, Last Night, Le Quattro Volte, Love Crime, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meek’s Cutoff, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mildred Pierce, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, My Week with Marilyn, Of Gods and Men, Outrage, Page One: Inside the New York Times, Passion Play, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Poetry, Project Nim, Rampart, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Red State, Redline, Retreat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rubber, Scream 4, Senna, Shame, Sleeping Beauty, Source Code, Submarine, Sucker Punch, Super, Super 8, Tabloid, Take Shelter, Terri, The Adventures of Tintin, The Arbor, The Artist, The Debt,The Descendants, The Devil’s Double, The Double Hour, The Future, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Green Hornet, The Help, The Housemaid, The Ides of March, The Last Circus, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Mill and the Cross, The Muppets, The Rite, The Roommate, The Skin I Live In, The Sleeping Beauty, The Thing, The Tree of Life, The Trip, The Ward, The Woman, Thor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, TrollHunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Tyrannosaur, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Unknown, War Horse, Warrior, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men: First Class, Young Adult, Your Highness, Yves Saint-Laurent: L’Amour Fou

Screening Log: December 1st – December 16th

17 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

by Catherine in 2011, Weekly Screening Log Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

346. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011, Herzog): B

347. Warrior (2011, O’Connor): A-

348. Margin Call (2011, Chandor): B-

349. In Time (2011, Niccol): D-

350. The Artist (2011, Hazanavicius): B/B-

351. Le Quattro Volte (2011, Frammartino): B+

352. The Debt (2011, Madden): B-

353. The Devil’s Double (2011, Tamahori): C

354. The Arbor (2011, Barnard): A

355. Hesher (2011, Susser): C

356. Terri (2011, Jacobs): B

357. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, Johnston): B-

358. Moneyball (2011, Miller): A-

359. My Week with Marilyn (2011, Curtis): C-

360. Shame (2011, McQueen): A-

361. Another Earth (2011, Cahill): C-

362. The Thing (2011, Heijningen Jr.): C-

363. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011, Ramsay): A

364. Redline (2011, Koike): B

365. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011, Wyatt): B

366. Young Adult (2011, Reitman): A

367. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011, Yuh): B+

368. Nico Icon (1995, Ofterringer): B-

369. The Mill and the Cross (2011, Majewski): B

Review: Shame (2011, McQueen)

11 Dec 2011 2 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, Film Review Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This review contains an open discussion of the film; spoilers follow.

Summary taken from IMDB: In New York City, Brandon’s carefully cultivated private life — which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction — is disrupted when his sister Cissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

There is a shot in director Steve McQueen’s second feature film that rivals any other from this year. A long montage depicting a ménage à trois weaves through many a suffocating flesh-filled close-up, eventually landing on our protagonist’s face. Michael Fassbender looks transformed here; his face is hauntingly gaunt and primal. There is no pleasure to be found in his expression; all we see is someone making a desperate life-or-death climb to the finish line. The shot took me to another place entirely; it showed me who this man is and the result gutted me.

There are undeniably only so many layers to Shame, which depicts the life of an affluent sex addict living in New York City. But with a subject matter that has rarely been explored with any degree of seriousness, not much in this case is more than enough. Those basic points are made with the degree of lucidity that McQueen provides. Along with the two performances by Fassbender and Mulligan, it is hard to argue against its somewhat rudimentary vision.

Brandon’s fixes and the likely meaningless chunks of time in-between are experienced with an equal perfunctory indifference. His sexual encounters feel more like a rush to get his satisfaction as opposed to something he entirely revels in. Brandon’s sexual exploits come at him in a multitude of ways, and he has established a routine methodical means that include but are not limited to hookers, web cam models, print and online pornography, a “filthy hard drive” at work and casual hookups. The Internet age allows him a bevy of backup options.

There are a lot of scenes that establish expected territory. Brandon does not comprehend the idea of marriage. Climaxing with the one woman he may have feelings for becomes impossible once intimacy rears its ugly head. His boss, whom Brandon tolerates, spends all night trying to hook up with a woman, only for Brandon to be the one that scores. He does not have one sustainable human connection, and that seems to suit him as long as he has the temporary and empty connections that provide his fix.

Shame really starts to resonate when Brandon’s life begins to unravel due to the presence of his clinging dependent waif of a little sister. Sissy (Carey Mulligan in an unhinged and unpredictable performance that ignites the screen) is an unwelcome presence in his life, but after ignoring her calls only to find her showering in his apartment one night, it is clear she plans on staying a while.

A lot can be said about Brandon and Sissy based on the way they share physical space and interact with one another. Brandon’s desired dismissal of her goes beyond the energy it takes to care for her; the past, whatever that may be, looms over the two in every scene. Sissy wants to make due on the connection they have as siblings who have weathered through a lot together, but Brandon wants none of it. The two are damaged and evidently defined by their likely tumultuous past. Sissy seeks consolation, but Brandon seeks the opposite from her. Having Sissy in his life is unquestionably too hard for him.

Some are taking issue with the film’s lack of backstory, but the film supplies so much rich substance in the scenes between the two, that it never becomes a question to feel cheated by its lack of explanation. In fact, the pivotal line as said by Sissy, “We’re not bad people; we just come from a bad place” provides all the confirmation and backstory people are finding absent. It is an explicit statement of past trauma that discards any purported hesitation we have towards throwing the word abuse around when discussing the source of their behavior. Whatever else that piece of dialogue is, it is far from ambiguous. It provides an orthodox cause-and-effect answer, and I am still trying to decide if I feel the line should have been in the film. Because it is not just the line; its placement and Sissy’s emotional state in that moment of audio provide the climax (no pun intended) of the film. It says a lot that the line is heard on top of Brandon’s unsettling self-destructive excursion; perhaps too much.

Sissy’s arrival does two things; first, it takes Brandon’s mind back to a place in time he does not want to be. Secondly, it takes away his privacy and thus, his ability to get off in the comfort of his own home. The combination of the two is the catalyst for Brandon coming apart at the seams in the film’s latter half. Shame’s purpose as a character study lies in Brandon’s eventual realization of how badly he needs sex once it is gradually deprived of him.

Brandon’s journey is bookended by two segments that set his exploits to moody tormented cello complete with the tick-tock passage of time. The first sequence opens the film and introduces Brandon as a walking calamity. His routine of traveling from high to high has been long established by the time we meet him. All that self-loathing is there but its familiarity allows it to barely register as the score hovers around unbeknownst to him.

By the time the second sequence of orchestral gloom comes along, Brandon has a heightened awareness of how desperate he has become. He cannot masturbate or interact with his laptop at home because of Sissy’s presence. Her being in his apartment is problematic for any number of reasons. He is indirectly called out on his hard drive stash by his boss. He is impotent with Marianne (Nicole Beharie), a woman he is legitimately drawn towards, throwing his sense of self into disarray. The routine that masked his crippling addiction has fallen out from under him; those strings are ringing louder and louder in his ear. Thus begins his bender where the hunt for release becomes fraught with increasingly disconcerting encounters. The notes follow him as he almost gleefully walks into a confrontation with the boyfriend of a woman he tries to pick up using graphically descriptive means, not to mention his hands. His lack of options leads him into an underground gay nightclub; his search for an outlet wrenchingly complete.

Watching Michael Fassbender dissolve right in front of us is quite the spectacle. This has been the year of Fassbender and we are all the better for it. He and Steve McQueen have established a working collaborative relationship, producing results that heighten the material through their partnership. Brandon is gritting through life, only out for his own base needs. The people he interacts with are meaningless, especially including the ones he sleeps with. Fassbender is an explosive force to be reckoned with as he completely gives himself over to the camera for observational purposes.

Mulligan is no less impressive introducing unbridled frenzy as Sissy who is much farther along the path to futility than Brandon is, or rather, is farther along the path precisely because she is aware of it. She deserves as much praise as her costar, hurtling off the screen with abandon. She takes a character that is mainly a plot device (the only similarity to her turn in Drive), but makes so much more of this role than the former because her character in Shame moves beyond her functional purpose. Props must go to Nicole Beharie as well for her lovely supporting turn; I cared about her immediately and was frustrated by my inability to tell her to abandon ship.

Steve McQueen has the confidence of a veteran; his vision is clear and he presents it with poise. Between this and Hunger, it is obvious that long takes are his strong suit. One more film from him and they will be a fully-fledged trademark. He risks distracting the audience but he does not; his lengthy observations make us more attentive, more aware of the physical space and of body language. They allow us to get a fuller sense of the performances and they enhance the notion of the audience observing Brandon through the glass-plate walls; he is a test subject. McQueen distances us with the sterile environment and cagey glass. He puts us up close when it counts, and when it becomes important to unsettle the audience. His methods set the methodical pace of a representative case study.

McQueen and cowriter Abi Morgan use Brandon as a representative for sex addiction, which may be disappointing to some and it is understandable. The decision forces Brandon into a broadly stroked corner. But McQueen knows what he wants to do and he does it with aplomb using Fassbender as his riveting translator. The director balances Brandon as cornerstone example with a sibling dynamic ripe for rich exploration. Brandon’s surprisingly conventional, but no less powerful, arc towards disintegration is tinted with more hope than one would expect. Shame is arresting cinema that loyally follows its self-loathing protagonist wherever he may go.

List: Top 20 Film Posters of 2011

08 Dec 2011 11 Comments

by Catherine in 2011, 2011 List, List Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you have eyes, then I’m guessing you’re sick of seeing the same images again in again with different actors acting as various ciphers. There’s Photoshopping galore, some it truly sad. Each genre has its own set of expectations. They have all become tired; heaps of tragically unaware self-parodies plastered everywhere. Each year we can lament and question; where has the magic of movie posters gone?

Well, it’s not entirely gone. Hopefully my choices this year will emphasize that periodically something aesthetically worthy comes along. I cannot lie though; the countless mediocre/pitiful posters I had to go through to get to these is more than a little disheartening. I would go through 100 posters before anything stuck out.

The ‘Worst Posters’ list will soon follow. But I prefer this list this year. Why? Because there have been a few Worst Posters list to come out already and I must admit that after doing my own research, they hit the nail on the head for nearly all of them. Which means that my list and theirs will be very similar.

What were your personal favorite posters of the year? Here are the 20 film posters of 2011 that represent mine. The rule was only 1 poster per film. I do not claim these to be the best; just the ones that caught my eye the most and that I find myself most drawn to. I have seen 14/20 of the films here. A few of these films I’m not really a fan of but a great poster is a great poster regardless of the quality of the film it represents (and I won’t be getting into which films those are here). Off we go.


20. Shit Year
Here, we get Ellen Barkin, whose presence seems to be single-handedly melting the watercolors (Watercolors? Inked water? I suck). She looks like a clown, has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and the title indicates this was not a very good year for her. This poster makes me want to find out why.

As the list continues, you will see a lot of ‘it makes me want to know more’. That is what a poster should do. It is first and foremost an advertisement. If it can do this in a way that is not tired or a simple rehash of the ten stock images we get from posters these days, it is a success.


19. Hobo with a Shotgun

Last year I had a couple of posters on my list that evoked the exploitation era. Hobo with a Shotgun, coming from Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse trailer contest, follows suit in what has now become a welcome trend. Creases, lots of action overlapping with each other, a self-aware tagline; it’s all there.

You will see as we go through the list just how represented Magnet releases are (five total). They do some of the most consistent poster work out there and they deserve their due for presenting advertisements in a way that promotes creativity.


18. Drive Angry
Again with the Grindhouse inspired kind of look. This just works on every level for me from the font size to the artificial messiness of it. It is unfortunate that this poster was not the one mainly used, but such is the case; even the few great posters exist to be largely unused.


17. The Devil’s Double
An in-your-face concept that goes for the jugular as far as poster concepts go. It goes to an extreme to make its point and for that, it deserves major props. The only thing working against it is the oddly misrepresentative tagline; a minute irritation. I still say Dominic Cooper looks more like Michael C. Hall here than Dominic Cooper. I can’t be the only one that sees this; can I?


16. The Muppets
Out of all the imaginative send-ups for the return of the Muppets, I chose a sparse Kermit-centric one, the only reason being that I have a soft spot for Kermit the Frog. Any poster with his head on it earns a spot on this list. Just look at that smile; oh how it melts my heart.


15. The Future
It is hard to articulate what it is about this poster that I find so memorable. The centered upside-down photo with the font contained within has an unexpectedly long-lasting effect on the mind. There’s just something about it….


14. I Saw the Devil

I was so happy to be able to get this on here as it really stuck with me throughout the year. This is a haunting use of space with the victimized yellow car illuminating the shadowy figure just enough to get a sense his weapon but not his identity. Those who have seen the film will recognize this as a reference to the opening sequence.


13. We Need to Talk About Kevin
There is suspicion and paranoia afoot as Swinton’s temperament towards her child is shown with this image. I love posters that have this purple-brown hue to them. Just look at I Saw the Devil’s poster for further proof. I don’t know how else to describe it so there you go; purple-brown hue. My description skills are clearly tops.


12. Martha Marcy May Marlene
A case of the fuzzies. I can’t help it; I love out-of-focus images on posters. This really captures Jody Lee Lipes’ cinematography on the film which is still my personal favorite of the year. The poster provides a hook; why is she running away? Who from? Does she make it? Coincidentally, it is almost a reverse shot of the Margaret poster which was the last I cut for this list. And both have ‘M’ names. Weird.


11. 13 Assassins
A marvelous illustration for yet another Magnet release. Busy but not too busy, and positively engaging.


10. Black Death
I flat-out love this bleak and foreboding poster for a film that unfairly went under the radar. For those counting, this is the fourth Magnet release on the list. That endlessly hopeless feel the Middle Ages have (at least for me) is truly represented here. I think I caught the Plague just looking at it.


9. Gainsbourg
It goes without saying that Serge Gainsbourg equals suave. A poster for this biopic needs to be able to capture the personality we all think of when we hear the French lady killer’s name. This version adds the perfect touch in capturing his demeanor through the cool blue and lusty red. Just looking at this makes me want to listen to “Histoire de Melody Nelson” for the billionth time. In fact….


8. Rubber
….yeah, I put the album on; I couldn’t resist.

This graphic brings you front and center to the leering eye of a tire; a directly anthropomorphized illustration. It advertises its unconventionality, wearing it on its sleeve, begging onlookers to dig deeper into the unknown.


7. Certified Copy
I almost went with the equally impressive color-splatter poster for the film featuring the same image. The grey in this one allows Juliette Bincohe’s startling paleness to stick out as well as the ruby red of her lips and earrings in this important moment from the film.

6. Le Havre
In addition to having an irresistible illustration that is at once sparse and full of intrigue. I want to know more about what I am seeing. Who are the players and how do they relate to each other?


5. The Skin I Live In
What strikes me most about this poster is that it looks like a mid-twentieth century middle school textbook. Would it actually be found in a classroom? Who knows? But it gives off that kind of educational vibe with an artistic twist that really drew me in.


4. Shame
The poster for Shame evokes with its ruffled bed sheets an immediate context of the film’s title. It is slightly confrontational with its placement of the title smack dab in the middle; this film is not tiptoeing around its subject matter. Whether you have seen the film or not, the poster says a lot about the kind of experience it provides.  Well, that quote does not exactly scream subtlety as an allusion to the film’s content. Either way; we get the idea.


3. Cold Weather
There is an exquisite use of patterning going on and I love the placement of the actors. Even the font kills. It’s just perfect.


2. Sleeping Beauty
Emily Browning’s porcelain exterior blends right in with the beautiful embroidered couch behind her. The poster’s color palette is gorgeous. Her supposed vulnerability is being subverted just like in the film (although the film is questionably successful at this). What we would expect to be a pleading look is actually a stern stare-down daring us to pass judgment on her.


1. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
As soon as I saw this poster, I knew it would be likely impossible that another poster would take its place at the top of the pack. Designed by Chris Ware, best known for his visually complex graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, everything here is absolutely captivating. Ware also designed the equally impressive poster for 2007’s The Savages. The color scheme, the symmetry, the jellyfish-like middle, the water, trees; there is so much happening and it is all done through abstraction. So many aspects of the film are emphasized here, but you don’t have to know that to appreciate this masterful work on display.


Large Association of Movie Blogs
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,096 other followers