Heffie's Top Ten Films of 2007!!!
Jan. 1st, 2008 04:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerSo after a lot of buzz and several appearances on "top ten of 2007" lists, I went to see JUNO. I fucking hated the first thirty minutes, just because I am sincerely sick of "indie quirk" as a genre, and every other word out of Ellen Page's adorable mouth was either realistic teenager (which I am already predisposed to hate), or it was oh-so-cool in that glib Whedony sorta way, or it felt like the screenwriter talking instead of the character. You're espousing Iggy and Argento? I'm sorry, that's not the character talking anymore, that's you. Even if such sixteen-year-old girls actually do exist, I'm not buying it.
After that, and with some exceptions throughout, I ended up digging JUNO quite a bit. It was like dealing with real-life Junos in a sense; you have to endure a good deal of wannabe posturing and superficial wiseass cracks disguised as actual wit, but given time and patience, you'll discover there's a real heart and humanity underneath the indie bullcrap.
Still, it ain't cracking my top ten, I'll tell you that. Of course, then that leads me to wonder... what is in my top ten?
It's always humbling to discover at the end of each year just how many new movies--not to mention great films--I've missed. Just this year alone, here are the critically-celebrated-by-critics-I-about-whom-I-give-a-thrupenny-fuck films that I still have yet to see:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Lives of Others, Knocked Up, Gone Baby Gone, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I'm Not There, Into The Wild, Zodiac, The TV Set, Atonement, Rescue Dawn, The King of Kong, This is England, Persepolis, Perfume: A Story of a Murderer, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, 3:10 to Yuma, The Bourne Ultimatum, Lake of Fire, Curse of the Golden Flower, The Mist, Charlie Wilson's War, There Will Be Blood, and the first half of I Am Legend.
Bad movie geek. Bad. And I am dying to see some of these, while others I know I really need to see (I don't think I'll ever be like, "Hey, let's kick back, grab some popcorn, and watch LAKE OF FIRE!).
So with all that aside, here, of the films I have seen, is the list for which you've all been waiting...
*drumroll*
10.)
When I saw this, my first thought was, "This is going to win Best Picture." Not because it's brilliant, mind you, but because it's a damn solid movie that is safe and unthreatening to mainstream audiences while still being a damn solid movie. It's this year's THE DEPARTED.
That said, another critic referred to it as the UNFORGIVEN of the gangster genre, and he has a point. While not nearly as powerful or damning as UNFORGIVEN, AMERICAN GANGSTER has a very nice undercurrent that glorifies and celebrates the gangster lifestyle--as virtually every other gangster film does, however unintentionally--before pulling the rug out from right under you, turning Frank Lucas from King Of The World to just another punk right before our eyes, all in the last few seconds.
Now it seems the film's all but forgotten, and indeed, it wasn't a thoroughly memorable, life-changing film (then again, how many actual Best Picture winners are?), but it was still a damn good one. And it's always great seeing Denzel and Russell back in top form.
9.)
Fun big o' trivia: Cronenberg recently said that he's received compliments from actual Russian mobsters for this film.
Whereas AMERICAN GANGSTER had just the right touch of anti-gangster commentary to give that mainstream epic a little spice, EASTERN PROMISES manages to evoke a world of organized crime that's somehow more romantic and less appealing. The always-great Naomi Watts pulls off what is the film's hardest role: having to play straight woman to the mobsters, her racist-with-a-heart-of-gold Uncle, and of course, Viggo.
After seeing Viggo's performance, I was almost ashamed at how surprised I was. I mean, I knew intellectually that he was an excellent actor, but somehow I'd just never really seen him rock the house like this before. If he were far more picky with his film roles and a bit more insane, there's a good chance that people could--at some point--talk about him the way they do Daniel Day-Lewis.
(I compare the two keeping in mind that DDL was originally up for Aragorn, but turned it down. The game of "what if?" compared to the known excellence of "what was" has kept these two truly gifted and unusual actors intertwined in my thoughts ever since)
A damn good film, with one of the single greatest fights I've ever seen.
8.)
This film really walked a tightrope for me on several levels. It could easily have been too creepy, too sappy, too cloying, too uncomfortable, too cruel, too cynical, and/or too "look at me, I'm a quirky indie film." Not to mention Ryan Gosling, who--two performances in--has a series of mannerisms and ticks that can really annoy the fuck out of me in the wrong film. All the way up to the very last second, I was waiting for something to happen, something that would totally derail this delicate balance and ruin the film.
As much, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is a little miracle.
Aside from having one great big huge glaring fucking flaw early on*, this funny, sweet, moving, and properly senstimental-and-unsentimental-in-all-the-right-places film has joined the few, proud ranks of other such anti-date Date Movies in my collection as L.A. STORY and MY FIRST MISTER.
* There's no way, no way in hell, that Margot could possibly have a crush on Lars, much less one that lasts for months. Not unless Margot has serious mental or emotional problems, which--if she did--I'd have liked to have seen explored more.
7.)
Most of you haven't heard of this, which was a huge smash hit in its native South Korea. When I say that this is one of the greatest monster movies of all time and in the GODZILLA vein, I hope you'll know that I mean to say, "this is a hilarious and scathing satire exceedingly well-disguised as a scary monster action movie."
Even my cantankerous stepfather, Gordon, loved this film after having supremely low expectations. Like many a great monster (or zombie) film, the monster is actually secondary, hardly the focus at all. It's really about how people and society in general react to this faceless terror, and the results are as chillingly believable as they are absurdly surreal and funny.
Tons of fun with a nice dose of brains, I wish the US' big-budget escapist entertainment could be a little less TRANSFORMERS and a little more THE HOST. Word is they're planning an American remake, and much like the idea of remaking that other great Korean modern masterpiece, OLDBOY, that can only end in idiocy and fucktardery.
It also featured a great cameo by Scott "IN COLD BLOOD/NINTH CONFIGURATION" Wilson, who also pops up in the next film on this list...
6.)
Okay, so this was technically a 2006 picture, but it just hit wide release DVD just a few months ago, which is when I finally saw it, so I'm counting it here. It well deserves its place on this list.
Everyone's favorite joyless-but-entertaining bastard Devin Faraci summed up his thoughts better than I can in the time and space allotted, but I will say that this film deserves to be on the same shelf with SHAUN OF THE DEAD, even though it's a different beast. Both are fueled by filmmaker's genuine love of their respective horror films, (warts and all) and both stay firmly grounded in reality enough to keep from being parody. The marked difference is in deconstruction, and in that sense, BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON blows SCREAM out of the water in terms of brains, heart, and guts.
Imagine if Christopher Guest made a slasher film. No, wait, imagine MAN BITES DOG with a wannabe Jason Voorhees. Shit, that's not quite right either. It's so hard to sum up the magic of this mocku-horror-mentary.
This is a film that actually made me stop and think, "Man, I wish I could have been involved in the making of this." Honestly, the only things that were missing were better gore and kills. Sounds sick to say, but trust me, it actually would only have added to the wonderful stew of discordance.
If you're even in the slightest bit intrigued, read Devin's review up above. He's the one who really sold me on it, and for that, I'm grateful. A grand little film, and a true love letter to 70's-80's horror.
5.)
After a whole summer's worth of brutal browncoating, and after my serious distaste toward THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, not to mention my general dislike to teenagers, I was shocked to discover how much I adored SUPERBAD. I don't think I've loved a teenage comedy this much since the days of John Hughes, and that's really saying something. A grand, grand time.
Now after seeing JUNO, I look forward to seeing Michael Cera play something other than an awkward dork with a deer-in-the-headlights charm.
4.)
I just saw this last week, having missed it completely in theaters. I don't know why exactly; maybe I was still bitter over CARS (I didn't see it, but the fact that it exists bugs me to no end), or maybe I just thought, "Of course it'll be brilliant; Pixar and Brad Bird working together, it's such a forgone conclusion that I don't even have to see it."
What a fool I was. This might well have surpassed TOY STORY 1 and 2 (overrated, IMO), and perhaps even FINDING NEMO, to right underneath THE INCREDIBLES as my favorite Pixar film.
If only more live-action "adult" movies could be as consistently rich in every conceivable cinematic aspect as Pixar on even it's B-game day. Even CARS probably is better than NATIONAL TREASURE 2. Pixar keeps raising the bar, and with WALL*E coming out, here's hoping we'll get to see them branch out even further.
(Word is there might be a Pixar JOHN CARTER OF MARS movie? Oh please oh please)
3.)
When I first saw this with Mom, we both agreed that it... was good. Fun. Not SHAUN OF THE DEAD by any stretch, but it was good. A good time. Then, a couple months later, we saw it again.
Trust me on this, friends... if you've only seen HOT FUZZ once, you haven't seen HOT FUZZ. It actually greatly improves upon second viewing.
In a subtle way, this is the film that really proved to me what talents Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are. Wright is an actual bona fide filmmaker and artist, capably and intelligently putting together layers upon layers into a film that, even on surface level, is mightily entertaining. And Pegg, meanwhile, plays a character that's about as far removed from Shaun as I can possibly imagine, transforming so completely that I don't think I would have recognized him.
It's one thing for a couple geeks with big hearts to get together and make films. It's another thing altogether when those geeks have serious talent to back it up, and a vision that rises above their own personal sense of "won't this be awesome?!"
These guys are going somewhere, and fast. Keep an eye on them.
2.)
While being 98% faithful to a book I loathed, and just by tweaking a teeny bit here and there, and adjusting a wee bit else, and you get a goddamn fucking masterpiece. This is the Coen's second greatest film, under just BLOOD SIMPLE, which is sheer cinematic perfection to my mind.
1.)
Even if I hadn't seen this movie at the most traumatic and painful point of the most traumatic and painful time in my life, and even if this weren't the one single thing to break through my dead numbness and finally crack me open to feel something again... it'd still be number one on this list.
Even now, I keep wondering if it should, though. The film is hardly epic. If I'd read the script alone, I'd have been like, "meh?" at best. Even the music, the absolute heart of the film, is hardly the same when listened to on its own. Oh it's good, but would I have gotten goosebumps? Chills? Would my jaw have dropped and would tears have flooded my eyes as Glen Hansard began to roar as it did in the film? I doubt it.
This film cannot, must not become overblown the way, say, LOST IN TRANSLATION has. I know I'd have liked that film far more had it not been absolutely ruined by people trying to pump it up to be more than it was. ONCE is a tiny, fragile little film with a heart so huge it threatens to crack at any moment, but it somehow endures.
This film could easily have become a pointless "A Star is Born" type claptrap, or sappy romance, or too sentimental, or a hundred other pitfalls that could easily have befallen this bloody story. Instead, what resulted was something of utter grace and beauty, of realistic human relationships and comedy, and heart-stopping music. Glen's music is so layered that it just builds and builds in subtle ways until finally he just lets it rip, looking like he's about to have an aneurysm right there, and the result is just stunning.
Then you combine that with the utterly natural acting of Glen (who has minimal acting experience with THE COMMITMENTS) and young first-timer Marketa, and the chemistry between them... you're seeing soul mates right there on the screen. And the fact that they finally have started dating after years of working together in real life only speaks to that further. They truly complement each other gloriously, even if it's only when they sing together.
I hope to god they are at least nominated for best song. They deserve it.
A little gem I shall treasure for the rest of my life. And remember, that's what it is... a little gem. Even though it's number one, don't ever forget that it's a precious little thing, and not some huge overwhelming ass-kicking life-changing epic. It doesn't have to be.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
These are two of my very favorite films of 2007, but they cannot be properly counted on this list for one sad, depressing reason: I will never be able to see them again, and if you missed them the first time, you've missed out completely. You will never see the films I saw, and nor shall I ever again.
Take BEOWULF, for example...
Chances are, you may have avoided it because the animation looked too unsettling, or perhaps the movie just looked like a stupid 300-wannabe idiot flick. If you only saw it in 2D, chances are you thought it was fun, but plenty MST3K-worthy in parts.
If you saw it in 3D... you probably shat your pants from the sheer mind-blowing awesomeness right then and there.
The script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary was smart, much smarter than your usual action fare, and it really raised some great issues on the nature of legend and heroism. The characters were, by and large, well written and fleshed out, and it was a rich film altogether.
But it was made for the big screen, and for 3D. If ever there was an argument for the cinema as an art form that could not be replicated in the home, BEOWULF 3D is it. If you missed it, well, you'll only have my word to take for it, or not.
And then there was GRINDHOUSE:
I haven't seen the DVDs of either film yet. I keep hearing how the expanded DEATH PROOF* is inferior to the cut-down-past-bone version I saw, and I already can imagine how PLANET TERROR is just... well, it'd be fun, sure, but why bother? Why bother without the fake trailers and ads? Why bother without the one-two punch of two very different but deeply complimentary films?
And really... why bother if it's not in a theatre, as God intended, packed to the gills with a receptive audience?
Without all that, the films of GRINDHOUSE may still be good... but much like an excellent play, you had to have been there. Oh sure, you can try to recreate the experience as best as you can, but it'll never be the same. It cannot be replicated.
Allow me to repeat how![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spacechild so beautifully compared PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF:
Planet Terror is less of a commitment to pop in the dvd player, as it
is nonstop landmines being thrown at your face, but the landmines are
hidden inside banana cream pies covered in whipped cream that Asia
Argento whipped up by hand in the nude.
whereas Death Proof is a slow build commitment, like wearing a
blindfold for 45 minutes while someone tickles your taint with the
dull side of that big-ass knife Rambo had, and it could easily be
Betty White's older, less hot sister doing it... but then she whips
the blindfold off you and its actually Natalie Portman but with bigger
boobs, and she says "and you never thought i'd be this kinky, huh?" as
she pulls out the Orgazmo gun and shoots you in the ass with it.
GRINDHOUSE was the single greatest cinematic experience I have ever had, in that it summed up everything I already loved about the communal aspect of theater and the passion for B-movies, the good the bad and the ugly alike. And if you missed it, well, all I can say is I wish you were there.
*DEATH PROOF got a lot of shit, but I think it was hated for all the right reasons, if that makes any sense. This was a downright brilliant film for what it set out to do, one of Tarantino's greatest works of art (not simply entertainment). It plays with audience expectations, toys with them to the point of losing them completely, then twists it around and... well, look at what Danny said above.
Tarantino made an actual grind house film here, and what's more, he made a real work of art, even if it won't be appreciated as such by the masses.
Also, Kurt Russell gives one of his greatest performances ever here. Rich and nuanced, and I notice more layers each time I see it.
And finally
OVERRATED CLAPTRAP
1408 and TRANSFORMERS
These bullshit movies don't deserve the dignity of me cutting and pasting the links of their respective posters.
Seriously how did critics seriously think 1408 was one of the better Stephen King adaptations? The story itself was hardly one of King's best (an evil hotel room! ooooooo!), and the movie just read like SHINING-wannabe bullcrap. It could really have used a major infusion of disturbing cinematic techniques like those of Lynch, Cronengerg, or Miike, to really push the unsettling and horrifying surreal aspects. As it was... well, it was better than the work of Mick Garris, I'll agree with that. Yes, it was one of the better Stephen King adaptations in that respect, but remember, the vast majority of Stephen King adaptations are utter dripping shit. I understand THE MIST (by Frank Darabont, King's most gifted living collaborator) is quite good, which I sincerely hope.
TRANSFORMERS... well, it was fun to watch, but the second I stopped to think about it, I kept coming right back to this. Really, that sums it all up right there, doesn't it?
After that, and with some exceptions throughout, I ended up digging JUNO quite a bit. It was like dealing with real-life Junos in a sense; you have to endure a good deal of wannabe posturing and superficial wiseass cracks disguised as actual wit, but given time and patience, you'll discover there's a real heart and humanity underneath the indie bullcrap.
Still, it ain't cracking my top ten, I'll tell you that. Of course, then that leads me to wonder... what is in my top ten?
It's always humbling to discover at the end of each year just how many new movies--not to mention great films--I've missed. Just this year alone, here are the critically-celebrated-by-critics-I-about-whom-I-give-a-thrupenny-fuck films that I still have yet to see:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Lives of Others, Knocked Up, Gone Baby Gone, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I'm Not There, Into The Wild, Zodiac, The TV Set, Atonement, Rescue Dawn, The King of Kong, This is England, Persepolis, Perfume: A Story of a Murderer, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, 3:10 to Yuma, The Bourne Ultimatum, Lake of Fire, Curse of the Golden Flower, The Mist, Charlie Wilson's War, There Will Be Blood, and the first half of I Am Legend.
Bad movie geek. Bad. And I am dying to see some of these, while others I know I really need to see (I don't think I'll ever be like, "Hey, let's kick back, grab some popcorn, and watch LAKE OF FIRE!).
So with all that aside, here, of the films I have seen, is the list for which you've all been waiting...
*drumroll*
10.)
When I saw this, my first thought was, "This is going to win Best Picture." Not because it's brilliant, mind you, but because it's a damn solid movie that is safe and unthreatening to mainstream audiences while still being a damn solid movie. It's this year's THE DEPARTED.
That said, another critic referred to it as the UNFORGIVEN of the gangster genre, and he has a point. While not nearly as powerful or damning as UNFORGIVEN, AMERICAN GANGSTER has a very nice undercurrent that glorifies and celebrates the gangster lifestyle--as virtually every other gangster film does, however unintentionally--before pulling the rug out from right under you, turning Frank Lucas from King Of The World to just another punk right before our eyes, all in the last few seconds.
Now it seems the film's all but forgotten, and indeed, it wasn't a thoroughly memorable, life-changing film (then again, how many actual Best Picture winners are?), but it was still a damn good one. And it's always great seeing Denzel and Russell back in top form.
9.)
Fun big o' trivia: Cronenberg recently said that he's received compliments from actual Russian mobsters for this film.
Whereas AMERICAN GANGSTER had just the right touch of anti-gangster commentary to give that mainstream epic a little spice, EASTERN PROMISES manages to evoke a world of organized crime that's somehow more romantic and less appealing. The always-great Naomi Watts pulls off what is the film's hardest role: having to play straight woman to the mobsters, her racist-with-a-heart-of-gold Uncle, and of course, Viggo.
After seeing Viggo's performance, I was almost ashamed at how surprised I was. I mean, I knew intellectually that he was an excellent actor, but somehow I'd just never really seen him rock the house like this before. If he were far more picky with his film roles and a bit more insane, there's a good chance that people could--at some point--talk about him the way they do Daniel Day-Lewis.
(I compare the two keeping in mind that DDL was originally up for Aragorn, but turned it down. The game of "what if?" compared to the known excellence of "what was" has kept these two truly gifted and unusual actors intertwined in my thoughts ever since)
A damn good film, with one of the single greatest fights I've ever seen.
8.)
This film really walked a tightrope for me on several levels. It could easily have been too creepy, too sappy, too cloying, too uncomfortable, too cruel, too cynical, and/or too "look at me, I'm a quirky indie film." Not to mention Ryan Gosling, who--two performances in--has a series of mannerisms and ticks that can really annoy the fuck out of me in the wrong film. All the way up to the very last second, I was waiting for something to happen, something that would totally derail this delicate balance and ruin the film.
As much, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is a little miracle.
Aside from having one great big huge glaring fucking flaw early on*, this funny, sweet, moving, and properly senstimental-and-unsentimental-in-all-the-right-places film has joined the few, proud ranks of other such anti-date Date Movies in my collection as L.A. STORY and MY FIRST MISTER.
* There's no way, no way in hell, that Margot could possibly have a crush on Lars, much less one that lasts for months. Not unless Margot has serious mental or emotional problems, which--if she did--I'd have liked to have seen explored more.
7.)
Most of you haven't heard of this, which was a huge smash hit in its native South Korea. When I say that this is one of the greatest monster movies of all time and in the GODZILLA vein, I hope you'll know that I mean to say, "this is a hilarious and scathing satire exceedingly well-disguised as a scary monster action movie."
Even my cantankerous stepfather, Gordon, loved this film after having supremely low expectations. Like many a great monster (or zombie) film, the monster is actually secondary, hardly the focus at all. It's really about how people and society in general react to this faceless terror, and the results are as chillingly believable as they are absurdly surreal and funny.
Tons of fun with a nice dose of brains, I wish the US' big-budget escapist entertainment could be a little less TRANSFORMERS and a little more THE HOST. Word is they're planning an American remake, and much like the idea of remaking that other great Korean modern masterpiece, OLDBOY, that can only end in idiocy and fucktardery.
It also featured a great cameo by Scott "IN COLD BLOOD/NINTH CONFIGURATION" Wilson, who also pops up in the next film on this list...
6.)
Okay, so this was technically a 2006 picture, but it just hit wide release DVD just a few months ago, which is when I finally saw it, so I'm counting it here. It well deserves its place on this list.
Everyone's favorite joyless-but-entertaining bastard Devin Faraci summed up his thoughts better than I can in the time and space allotted, but I will say that this film deserves to be on the same shelf with SHAUN OF THE DEAD, even though it's a different beast. Both are fueled by filmmaker's genuine love of their respective horror films, (warts and all) and both stay firmly grounded in reality enough to keep from being parody. The marked difference is in deconstruction, and in that sense, BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON blows SCREAM out of the water in terms of brains, heart, and guts.
Imagine if Christopher Guest made a slasher film. No, wait, imagine MAN BITES DOG with a wannabe Jason Voorhees. Shit, that's not quite right either. It's so hard to sum up the magic of this mocku-horror-mentary.
This is a film that actually made me stop and think, "Man, I wish I could have been involved in the making of this." Honestly, the only things that were missing were better gore and kills. Sounds sick to say, but trust me, it actually would only have added to the wonderful stew of discordance.
If you're even in the slightest bit intrigued, read Devin's review up above. He's the one who really sold me on it, and for that, I'm grateful. A grand little film, and a true love letter to 70's-80's horror.
5.)
After a whole summer's worth of brutal browncoating, and after my serious distaste toward THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, not to mention my general dislike to teenagers, I was shocked to discover how much I adored SUPERBAD. I don't think I've loved a teenage comedy this much since the days of John Hughes, and that's really saying something. A grand, grand time.
Now after seeing JUNO, I look forward to seeing Michael Cera play something other than an awkward dork with a deer-in-the-headlights charm.
4.)
I just saw this last week, having missed it completely in theaters. I don't know why exactly; maybe I was still bitter over CARS (I didn't see it, but the fact that it exists bugs me to no end), or maybe I just thought, "Of course it'll be brilliant; Pixar and Brad Bird working together, it's such a forgone conclusion that I don't even have to see it."
What a fool I was. This might well have surpassed TOY STORY 1 and 2 (overrated, IMO), and perhaps even FINDING NEMO, to right underneath THE INCREDIBLES as my favorite Pixar film.
If only more live-action "adult" movies could be as consistently rich in every conceivable cinematic aspect as Pixar on even it's B-game day. Even CARS probably is better than NATIONAL TREASURE 2. Pixar keeps raising the bar, and with WALL*E coming out, here's hoping we'll get to see them branch out even further.
(Word is there might be a Pixar JOHN CARTER OF MARS movie? Oh please oh please)
3.)
When I first saw this with Mom, we both agreed that it... was good. Fun. Not SHAUN OF THE DEAD by any stretch, but it was good. A good time. Then, a couple months later, we saw it again.
Trust me on this, friends... if you've only seen HOT FUZZ once, you haven't seen HOT FUZZ. It actually greatly improves upon second viewing.
In a subtle way, this is the film that really proved to me what talents Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are. Wright is an actual bona fide filmmaker and artist, capably and intelligently putting together layers upon layers into a film that, even on surface level, is mightily entertaining. And Pegg, meanwhile, plays a character that's about as far removed from Shaun as I can possibly imagine, transforming so completely that I don't think I would have recognized him.
It's one thing for a couple geeks with big hearts to get together and make films. It's another thing altogether when those geeks have serious talent to back it up, and a vision that rises above their own personal sense of "won't this be awesome?!"
These guys are going somewhere, and fast. Keep an eye on them.
2.)
While being 98% faithful to a book I loathed, and just by tweaking a teeny bit here and there, and adjusting a wee bit else, and you get a goddamn fucking masterpiece. This is the Coen's second greatest film, under just BLOOD SIMPLE, which is sheer cinematic perfection to my mind.
1.)
Even if I hadn't seen this movie at the most traumatic and painful point of the most traumatic and painful time in my life, and even if this weren't the one single thing to break through my dead numbness and finally crack me open to feel something again... it'd still be number one on this list.
Even now, I keep wondering if it should, though. The film is hardly epic. If I'd read the script alone, I'd have been like, "meh?" at best. Even the music, the absolute heart of the film, is hardly the same when listened to on its own. Oh it's good, but would I have gotten goosebumps? Chills? Would my jaw have dropped and would tears have flooded my eyes as Glen Hansard began to roar as it did in the film? I doubt it.
This film cannot, must not become overblown the way, say, LOST IN TRANSLATION has. I know I'd have liked that film far more had it not been absolutely ruined by people trying to pump it up to be more than it was. ONCE is a tiny, fragile little film with a heart so huge it threatens to crack at any moment, but it somehow endures.
This film could easily have become a pointless "A Star is Born" type claptrap, or sappy romance, or too sentimental, or a hundred other pitfalls that could easily have befallen this bloody story. Instead, what resulted was something of utter grace and beauty, of realistic human relationships and comedy, and heart-stopping music. Glen's music is so layered that it just builds and builds in subtle ways until finally he just lets it rip, looking like he's about to have an aneurysm right there, and the result is just stunning.
Then you combine that with the utterly natural acting of Glen (who has minimal acting experience with THE COMMITMENTS) and young first-timer Marketa, and the chemistry between them... you're seeing soul mates right there on the screen. And the fact that they finally have started dating after years of working together in real life only speaks to that further. They truly complement each other gloriously, even if it's only when they sing together.
I hope to god they are at least nominated for best song. They deserve it.
A little gem I shall treasure for the rest of my life. And remember, that's what it is... a little gem. Even though it's number one, don't ever forget that it's a precious little thing, and not some huge overwhelming ass-kicking life-changing epic. It doesn't have to be.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
These are two of my very favorite films of 2007, but they cannot be properly counted on this list for one sad, depressing reason: I will never be able to see them again, and if you missed them the first time, you've missed out completely. You will never see the films I saw, and nor shall I ever again.
Take BEOWULF, for example...
Chances are, you may have avoided it because the animation looked too unsettling, or perhaps the movie just looked like a stupid 300-wannabe idiot flick. If you only saw it in 2D, chances are you thought it was fun, but plenty MST3K-worthy in parts.
If you saw it in 3D... you probably shat your pants from the sheer mind-blowing awesomeness right then and there.
The script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary was smart, much smarter than your usual action fare, and it really raised some great issues on the nature of legend and heroism. The characters were, by and large, well written and fleshed out, and it was a rich film altogether.
But it was made for the big screen, and for 3D. If ever there was an argument for the cinema as an art form that could not be replicated in the home, BEOWULF 3D is it. If you missed it, well, you'll only have my word to take for it, or not.
And then there was GRINDHOUSE:
I haven't seen the DVDs of either film yet. I keep hearing how the expanded DEATH PROOF* is inferior to the cut-down-past-bone version I saw, and I already can imagine how PLANET TERROR is just... well, it'd be fun, sure, but why bother? Why bother without the fake trailers and ads? Why bother without the one-two punch of two very different but deeply complimentary films?
And really... why bother if it's not in a theatre, as God intended, packed to the gills with a receptive audience?
Without all that, the films of GRINDHOUSE may still be good... but much like an excellent play, you had to have been there. Oh sure, you can try to recreate the experience as best as you can, but it'll never be the same. It cannot be replicated.
Allow me to repeat how
spacechild so beautifully compared PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF:Planet Terror is less of a commitment to pop in the dvd player, as it
is nonstop landmines being thrown at your face, but the landmines are
hidden inside banana cream pies covered in whipped cream that Asia
Argento whipped up by hand in the nude.
whereas Death Proof is a slow build commitment, like wearing a
blindfold for 45 minutes while someone tickles your taint with the
dull side of that big-ass knife Rambo had, and it could easily be
Betty White's older, less hot sister doing it... but then she whips
the blindfold off you and its actually Natalie Portman but with bigger
boobs, and she says "and you never thought i'd be this kinky, huh?" as
she pulls out the Orgazmo gun and shoots you in the ass with it.
GRINDHOUSE was the single greatest cinematic experience I have ever had, in that it summed up everything I already loved about the communal aspect of theater and the passion for B-movies, the good the bad and the ugly alike. And if you missed it, well, all I can say is I wish you were there.
*DEATH PROOF got a lot of shit, but I think it was hated for all the right reasons, if that makes any sense. This was a downright brilliant film for what it set out to do, one of Tarantino's greatest works of art (not simply entertainment). It plays with audience expectations, toys with them to the point of losing them completely, then twists it around and... well, look at what Danny said above.
Tarantino made an actual grind house film here, and what's more, he made a real work of art, even if it won't be appreciated as such by the masses.
Also, Kurt Russell gives one of his greatest performances ever here. Rich and nuanced, and I notice more layers each time I see it.
And finally
OVERRATED CLAPTRAP
1408 and TRANSFORMERS
These bullshit movies don't deserve the dignity of me cutting and pasting the links of their respective posters.
Seriously how did critics seriously think 1408 was one of the better Stephen King adaptations? The story itself was hardly one of King's best (an evil hotel room! ooooooo!), and the movie just read like SHINING-wannabe bullcrap. It could really have used a major infusion of disturbing cinematic techniques like those of Lynch, Cronengerg, or Miike, to really push the unsettling and horrifying surreal aspects. As it was... well, it was better than the work of Mick Garris, I'll agree with that. Yes, it was one of the better Stephen King adaptations in that respect, but remember, the vast majority of Stephen King adaptations are utter dripping shit. I understand THE MIST (by Frank Darabont, King's most gifted living collaborator) is quite good, which I sincerely hope.
TRANSFORMERS... well, it was fun to watch, but the second I stopped to think about it, I kept coming right back to this. Really, that sums it all up right there, doesn't it?
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Date: 2008-01-02 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 02:33 pm (UTC)So yeah, I think between you and the critics, there's a kinda slidey chart of comparison.
Buuuuuuut if any of the films I mentioned here sound intriguing, you might could perhaps make a rental maybe? I live to pimp, after all, although some films need the love less than others.