Oh Official 2007...

This is my "official" lists as if the end of the year was a deadline for a list or whatever.
2007 YEAR IN FILM: THE YEAR OF THE ROCK AND THE POSEY
Top 10
1. Fay Grim(dir. Hal Hartley)
Hal Hartley takes his crowning achievement, Henry Fool, and demolishes all the thematic depth that it once had to create an incredibly entertaining work. Out of all the films that deal with our current political climate, this proves to be the most insightful, displaying political allegiances as essentially complex spiderwebs waiting to be broken. It contains a signature Hartley ending, where the film ends, leaving the viewer hanging, but ultimately satisfied. It is easily the best film of the year.
2. Offside(dir. Jafar Panahi)
It could be dubbed a political film, but it is more a humanistic portrait of an issue, codes of conduct preventing individuals from achieving personal happiness, that needs to be addressed not in just Iran but essentially everywhere. The ending is deeply moving and takes it's message to profoundly beautiful heights.
3. Death Proof(dir. Quentin Tarantino)
An artistic step forward for Tarantino that essentially alienated his whole fan base because of it's lack of obvious thrills and dialogue that everybody will be quoting for years to come. Instead, he made a film marked by a profound sense of quietude and spirituality? The split nature of the film makes it strangely invigorating even if it's not totally successful. This is easily the most subtly playful film he's ever made.
4. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters(dir. Dave Willis and Matt Maillero)
The surrealist experience of the year? If we're not including INLAND EMPIRE, hell yes. The humor from the show is missing, but the craziness of it all is most definitely intact. It's incomprehensible yet brilliantly crafted in it's own strange way. It is, indeed, #1 in the hood, G.
5. Red Road(dir. Andrea Arnold)
Atmosphere, oh atmosphere. It devolves in it's final 15 minutes, but the sense of atmosphere and mood this film has created beforehand is simply impeccable. It's also easily one of the tensest "thrillers" I've seen this year and has one of the most nerve-wracking sex scenes I've ever seen.
6. 28 Weeks Later...(dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadilo)
In a year filled with dark and nihilistic dramas, it's funny to find the most appealingly pessimistic film to belong to a long neglected genre where pessimism and cynicism has been brewing for years and years now. The film's allegorical connotations aren't especially profound and maybe a little too damning when viewed through the lens of Iraq, but the emotions of a world essentially falling apart are as honest and timely as they could possibly be. It's essentially a quick succession of great set-pieces and will leave many breathless, but it's still easily the best horror film of the year.
7. Broken English(dir. Zoe Cassavetes)
Easily the best "chick flick" of the year. It's a film so hopelessly romantic that when it has an idiotic moment, it's easy to forgive it. The ending is about as perfect in it's crowd-pleasing nature as you can get. Even if it does utilize some hackneyed plot devices in order to prolong it's narrative, it's still one of the most charming and endearing films of the year.
8. Gone Baby Gone(dir. Ben Affleck)
Without it's atrociously ridiculous last third, I could have pictured labeling this as a great film. The elegiac feeling of loss that permeates the picture in it's second third is simply astounding and makes it even more frustrating when the film falls back on ridiculous plot twists to "sooth" it's audiences soon after. It also contains one of the most haunting scenes in all of cinema this year set in a "drug house." I can't wait to see what he directs next.
9. The Darjeeling Limited(dir. Wes Anderson)
A step forward for him as a director and a step backward for him as a writer. It's the writing that really sinks this one especially with it's ridiculously literal take on "getting rid of old baggage" in it's finale. It also couldn't decide on when to stop with it's narrative and ends up sort of fizzling out instead of concluding on a good note, but these issues still don't take anything away from a funeral sequence that might possibly be the peak of Anderson's still relatively young artistic career.
10. Southland Tales(dir. Richard Kelly)
Richard Kelly's film is growing on me more and more even though I understand all the negative criticism it has received. It's not as outwardly intelligently crafted as say a No Country for Old Men, but it still makes for an unusual and memorable experience.

Honorable mentions
The Wayward Cloud(dir. Tsai Ming-liang)
After Tsai's wonderfully evocative and elusive Goodbye, Dragon Inn, this comes as an almost unpleasant surprise. It's not as shocking as many will lead you to believe, but the misogynistic nature of it's finale will be extremely off-putting to pretty much everyone. It's still one of the most fascinating movies of the year since it seems to have been specifically designed for interpretation.
Redacted(dir. Brian De Palma)
I have dubbed this as The Fountain of this year, which will probably avert potential viewers from seeing it, but much like that film, it's passion and conviction is what makes it an enjoyable experience even if the film stumbles and becomes a little brain-dead from time to time. It contains one of the most shockingly abrupt deaths I've ever seen. While I don't entirely agree with how it goes about delivering it's antiwar message, it's so earnest that it's hard not to stand up and take notice.
Live Free or Die Hard[Unrated Cut](dir. Len Wiseman)
Wonderfully over-the-top and a whole lot of fun. There are some questionable moments like Kevin Smith's cameo and John McClane being particularly misogynistic with some of his dialogue, but it's still the straight-up action movie of the year.
I Am Legend(dir. Francis Lawrence)
I usually can't stand Will Smith so it was a surprise to find him giving an incredibly affective performance here even if the film is unable to match it in quality. The CGI is noticeably bad along with some of the writing in it's final third or so, but it still doesn't deter Smith's performance and the amount of sympathy he has created with it. I'd label this as my surprise of the year.
We Own the Night(dir. James Gray)
I might have jumped the gun by calling this film a masterpiece and I feel I need to revisit it once it hits DVD, but it still has some of the best set-pieces of the year with it's rain-drenched car chase and standoff in a field of tall grass. While feeling sort of indifferent to it now, it might be possible that I was, in fact, correct when I labeled it a masterpiece.

Bottom 10
Not even going to bother to order or write a blurb about these films.
300(dir. Zack Snyder)
TMNT(dir. Kevin Munroe)
Premonition(dir. Mennan Yapo)
License to Wed(dir. Ken Kwapis)
The Bourne Ultimatum(dir. Paul Greengrass)
1408(dir. Mikael Håfström)
A Mighty Heart(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead(dir. Sidney Lumet)
I'm Not There(dir. Todd Haynes)
Wild Hogs(dir. Walt Becker)

Best Performances
1. Michael Cera, Juno
This performance is essentially the same performance he gives in everything he's been in, but he's so damn lovable in this that it's almost nauseating. His character telling Juno that she's beautiful in such an awkwardly honest way is easily one of the most charmingly beautiful moments this year. Too bad, Ellen Page wasn't able to create anything as mildly affecting with her performance. They should have called the movie Paulie instead.
2. Will Smith, I Am Legend
He really made this film what is was and it's easily his best performance yet.
3. Parker Posey, Broken English
Fay Grim is most definitely a better film, but since I consider Hartley as pretty much Robert Bresson with a comedic sensibility, mentioning her performance in that would just seem false. Her performance in this film is easily the reason why I liked it so much and is the reason for me forgiving most of it's flaws. It's also the reason why the ending is so perfect in all it's loveliness.
4. Tony Curran, Red Road
He's so sleazily charming that once that sex scene comes into play, it's at once intoxicating and horrifying. Kate Dickie's performance was a little too cold at first to conjure up some emotional engagement so once he entered the picture, he brought some much needed warmth to the film.
5. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, The Game Plan
My contrarian choice in this category? You bet. It's essentially a good-bad performance and truly made the film as entertaining as it was. He has spent his whole career developing a "bad ass" image and with this movie, he essentially demolishes it for our enjoyment. While people would usually say this about actors who take on more challenging roles, he has taken some risks with his career with this and Southland Tales and I strangely have a lot of respect for him because of it. I can't say he's exactly a great actor or anything, but he still remains an amusing one and ultimately one to watch.

Worst Performances
1. Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
J. Hoberman's review of A Mighty Heart is possibly my favorite piece of film criticism I have read all year. He spends most of his time dismantling Jolie's current image as a "great humanitarian" with good reason since the film was obviously made to uphold and support that image. There's nothing resembling a human being in her portrayal, it's just her with a fake accent, fake pregnant belly, and fake curly hair. When she starts to wail like a wounded animal, the thought that this whole damn movie is an attempt to get people to love her and not the character she is playing is made abundantly clear. It's both nauseating, infuriating, but most of all, offensive to anyone that would have actually liked this film to focus on this woman's story instead of spending 2 hours being knocked over the head with how bitching and sensitive of a human being Angelina Jolie is.
2. John Travolta, Wild Hogs
Bitchiest performance of the year. It's almost funny because his character is supposed to be all macho and he ends up coming across as such a little bitch, but when an actor starts to make Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen look like Al Pacino and Marlon Brando in comparison, you know there's a problem. It's a train wreck that at first is amusing then becomes embarrassingly depressing.
3. Sandra Bullock, Premonition
It's almost a good-bad performance, but since the film is so straight-faced, it's hard to look at it without cringing. Her schizophrenic performance filled with soft-spoken whispering and outlandishly intense deliveries is essentially a performance by Kiefer Sutherland set in a woefully mundane story filled with moments of ridiculous intensity that it's no wonder why I can't stand this movie.
4. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this, but I just find watching him in this to be intolerable. I have to say he has guts to take on this extremely unlikeable character and that's all the positive remarks he's going to get out of me. While his performance is more varied than his co-stars, it's hard to say that is a good thing since he weeps hysterically in a car, does a lot of screaming, and "tragically" pours some rocks on a table. It's the stuff of All My Children.
5. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
It was a toss-up between Laura Linney's performance in The Nanny Diaries, Ellen Page's in Juno, and this. Laura Linney's performance is not bad per se and would have been more of a response to all the positive notices she's received for it, and Ellen Page's performance wasn't entirely her fault since her dialogue was obviously overwritten. This performance isn't entirely bad, it's just hard to really call it a performance and all the buzz she's been receiving is simply perplexing. If it wasn't for Blanchett's reputation as an actress and the whole gender-bending aspect of the role, I can't imagine she would have gotten as much attention as she has. It's just basically an imitation of Bob Dylan with no nuance or depth, but you could basically say that about the film as a whole.

Best Director
Jafar Panahi, Offside
I mainly picked him over Hartley because he got splendid performances out of his inexperienced cast, while Hartley was mainly working with actors that he's worked with before so the results aren't at all surprising.

Worst Director
Mennan Kapo, Premonition

Best Screenplay
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Screenplay
Bill Kelly, Premonition
I just singled this out because I thought the plot overall was ridiculous especially when it came to it's conclusion.

Best Editing
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Editing
William Hoy, 300

Best Cinematography
Robert Yeoman, The Darjeeling Limited

Worst Cinematography
Larry Fong, 300

Best Score
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Score
Klaus Badett, Premonition
I don't even remember the score, but I just felt like continuing my bashing of it.

Need to see: There Will Be Blood, Syndromes and a Century, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Triad Election, Exiled, 2 Days in Paris, Michael Clayton, Into the Wild, In the Valley of Elah, Rendition, American Gangster, Sunshine, 3:10 to Yuma, The Host, The King of Kong, Away from Her, I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Atonement, The Boss of It All, Golden Door, Persepolis, Into Great Silence, 12:08 East of Bucharest, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Margot at the Wedding, The Savages, This Is England, Youth Without Youth, Smiley Face, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, La Vie en Rose, Private Fears in Public Places, Control, Regular Lovers, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Breach, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and Lust, Caution

MUSIC
1. Rise Above by Dirty Projectors
Taking one of the most angst-ridden albums ever made, Black Flag's Damaged, and making it sound soulful and strangely optimistic and be totally successful at it just has masterpiece written all over it. And it is. Too bad they didn't cover TV Party, but how could they improve on essentially the greatest punk song of all time?
Highlights: What I See, Depression, Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie, Rise Above
2. The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf
The album this most reminds me of is Jens Lekman's album that came out this year, but it's not obnoxiously cloying in it's popiness like that album. Pop album of the year.
Highlights: Overture, The Magic Position, Bluebells, Get Lost, The Stars
3. Untrue by Burial
The album is fairly one-note, but when it's a note as excellent as this, does it really matter?
Highlights: Archangel, Ghost Hardware, Etched Headplate, Shell of Light

Oh Commies & Watermelons...

Stop Loss Trailer

The use of The Drowning Pool song in the beginning is flat-out retarded, but once the trailer stops with that song and the war footage, it gets better. It seems like a standard Oscar-bait movie, but there's something about it that actually makes me want to see it. Some of the dialogue is sort of sketchy, but it looks like it's going to be earnest, sincere, and not annoyingly preachy unlike other movies of it's kind. I'll probably check it out when it comes out.
*** out of ****
Charlie Wilson's War(dir. Mike Nichols)
This film thinks dressing up it's Congressman protagonist's lifestyle as rock star-ish makes for cutting satire. It doesn't have anything to say about our current political climate or about the one that the film takes place in. The film is a little too comfortable and proud of itself for it's own good given it's gung-ho let's kill some commie bastards attitude. It's similar to the The Kingdom except less offensive because it takes place during the Cold War instead of the current situation we're in right now. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is easily the best out of the principal actors, but Ned Beatty is the true standout in the picture mainly because he's one of the few actors along with Amy Adams to not deliver the lines in the smug "aren't I witty?" sort of way that the rest of the cast does. The only mildly thought-provoking aspect of the film is it's final title card before the credits roll. It's almost the equivalent of a decent punchline after a long drawn-out set-up. There are some laughs here and there, but overall, it was merely average.
** out of ****
The Wayward Cloud(dir. Tsai Ming-liang)
If I were to pick my favorite semi-recent director working today, I'd probably say Tsai or Hal Hartley so this review might not make for a great recommendation if you're not a fan of Tsai or even if you're just a mild one. It's easy to see how this film alienated audiences and critics alike especially with it's controversial finale and in a way, I sort of agree with them. Tsai is obviously not a big fan of pornography and if you read that finale as just a critique of porn's influence on individuals' conceptions of an erotic display of love, it starts to become too obvious, simplistic, and clunky, but I feel there's more at work here. This is probably the first Tsai film I've seen that seems specifically designed for interpretation since it's watermelons are used in such a way that they must mean something given the events in the narrative and how they almost have an influence on the flow of the film. Sure, Tsai used clocks in a similar way in What Time is It There?, but none of the clocks were utilized in such a way to hint that there was some underlining meaning to them outside of constantly reminding Hsiao-kang of his "love" that is spending time in Paris and maybe the time that he missed out on with her and his deceased father. Once Chen's watermelon falls to the ground and breaks, the tone of the film and Chen and Hsiao's relationship seems to change. My interpretation of the use of watermelons and the ending is fairly Catholic-minded, which might not make sense with a film directed by a Taiwanese Buddhist, but whatever. The watermelons are used in a similar way as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. When Chen gives Hsiao watermelon juice, he decides not to drink it, hinting that he wants to stay pure and not corrupted. Also, when Chen's watermelon falls and breaks on the ground, it's as if her innocence is shattering with it since after this event, she decides to watch one of the pornos that Hsiao "stars" in. These events lead to the finale that in my mind is simultaneously a sacrifice and washing away of one's sins. Hsiao's final act is thus an extremely perverse form of communion. I enjoy the film a lot because it provides food for thought, but it's disdain for pornography, while understandable, is sometimes too clumsy or obvious in it's totally unerotic sex scenes and especially with it's finale to make for an insightful argument against porn. The editing in this film is also some of the "fastest" I've ever seen in any of his films and it disrupts the beauty and rhythm in some of his better shots in this, making it especially frustrating and then there's the musical portions of the film that serve no purpose at all. I had similar feelings while watching The Hole, but once the ending rolled around in that film, they became absolutely necessary because they were used to set up for that wonderful ending, while the musical interludes in this are just there for what I assume is entertainment/amusement value and they don't deliver in that regard as well. One could easily call this film an artistic misstep, but it's still easily one of the most fascinating movies released this year.
*** out of ****

Oh Year Lists(music)...

Oh 2007...

Oh Genre Lists(videogames)...

Oh Fighting Games...
Oh Beat 'Em Ups...

Oh Videogame Lists...

Years
Decades
Genres
Overall
Systems

Oh Music Lists...

Years
2008

Decades
1980's - Songs
1990's - Songs

Musicians
Oh Bjork...
Oh Cat Power...
Oh PJ Harvey...
Oh Smog/Bill Callahan...
Oh The Breeders...
Oh Pixies...
Oh Sonic Youth...
Oh Broken Social Scene...
Oh Ani DiFranco...
Oh Wire...
Oh Shellac...
Oh Elliot Smith...
Oh Fugazi...

Genres
Overall

Oh Movie Lists...

Years
Oh 1959...
Oh 1964...
Oh 1966...
Oh 1967...
Oh 1974...
Oh 1976...
Oh 1990...
Oh 1991...
Oh 1992...
Oh 1993...
Oh 1994...
Oh 1995...
Oh 1996...
Oh 1997...
Oh 1998...
Oh 1999...
Oh 2000...
Oh 2001...
Oh 2002...
Oh 2003...
Oh 2004...
Oh 2005...
Oh 2006...
Oh 2007...
Oh 2008...

Upcoming
Oh Upcoming 2008...
Oh Upcoming 2009...
Oh Upcoming 2010...

Decades
Genres
Overall
Directors
DVD/Poster Art
Viewing Tally
Performances

Oh System Lists...

Top 10 lists for each console I have played.

PC
Single-player-esque
1. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
2. Half-Life(+Opposing Force)
3. Half-Life 2(+Episode 1)
4. Call of Duty
5.

NES
1. Bionic Commando
2. Ninja Gaiden
3. Megaman 2
4. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
5. Super C
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Zanac
8. Life Force
9. Kirby's Adventure
10. Blades of Steel

PS1
1. Twisted Metal 2
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Final Fantasy Tactics
4. Final Fantasy VII
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
6. Grind Session
7. Jet Moto
8. Wipeout XL
9. Tekken 3
10. Jet Moto 2: Championship Edition

PS2
1. Twisted Metal: Black
2. Ratchet & Clank
3. Devil May Cry 3
4. Devil May Cry
5. War of the Monsters
6. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
7. R-Type Final
8. NBA Street Vol. 2
9. Guitar Hero
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Nintendo DS
1. Contra 4
2. Elite Beat Agents
3. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
4. Brain Age 2

Oh Nazis & Street Musicians & Six Bob Dylans...

Black Book(dir. Paul Verhoeven)
I've seen it described as Showgirls meets Schindler's List and if you go into it expecting that's what it's going to be, you'll definitely be disappointed. It has some perverse qualities like one memorable moment where a man raises a gun under the covers, making it look like an erection, but it's just not pulpy enough to really come across as anything resembling what that description seems to suggest. It's actually pretty dry and is a little too prestige-y for it's own good. The film goes kind of crazy with the double crosses in the events after the war and doesn't quite deliver on the promise of a Paul Verhoeven directed movie about a Jewish woman that sleeps with Nazi(s) to help the resistance effort. I slightly recommend
**1/2 out of ****
Once(dir. John Carney)
Musical montage after musical montage, it somehow remains blandly charming up until the end, which secured it's current notch in the recommendation scale because of it's heartwarming nature. It's definitely a musical film and like musical films, if the songs don't do much for you emotionally, you're not going to be all that emotionally involved. I was relatively indifferent until the ending rolled around. I slightly recommend.
**1/2 out of ****
I'm not there.(dir. Todd Haynes)
I should get this out of the way: I don't know jack shit about Bob Dylan. I just know loose details, but even without a proper knowledge of Dylan, it's hard to resist calling this film a superficial look at a life. All the film really has going for it is it's central gimmick of six actors portraying six different Dylans. There's the whole "reinventing himself" aspect of his life that makes this narrative technique seem viable, but given that the film doesn't have a profound sense of time in correlation to each of the separate Dylans, it's hard to really take this idea and run with it in an intellectual way. Interestingly, the film that this reminds me most of was Emilio Estevez's atrocious Bobby, but instead of being cringe-inducingly sappy, it's dully pretentious and much like that film, it's look at the 60's is merely a superficial history lesson and one of it's most affective moments is a brief glimpse at it's central figure in documentary footage. Another affective moment in the film happens to be a bizarre funeral/concert set in Richard Gere's storyline that contains an emotional sincerity and serenity that is truly lacking in the rest of the picture. Outside of Marcus Carl Franklin and Richard Gere, all the actors portraying a "persona" of Dylan simply employ a stylized impersonation and call it a performance. You never grow to care about any of these "personas" so the film is practically devoid of emotional engagement. This would be fine if it was intellectually stimulating since the film's construction is obviously heady, but it's not. You never get a sense of Dylan as a person by watching this outside of the brief glimpse of the actual Dylan at the end that truly shows that a documentary would have probably been a better option for Haynes, but you know, there's nothing really "genius" or "artistic" about that. As an examination of an artist, it fails and as simply an enjoyable piece of cinema, it fails as well.
*1/2 out of ****

Oh "Zombies" & Suicide Bombers

28 Weeks Later...(dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
Letting this film settle in proved to be detrimental to what level of recommendation I would have given this film most likely due to it's last bit of celluloid feeling utterly tacked-on and obviously designed to set up for a sequel. If it ended on a more satisfying note, it would have been as or maybe even more memorable than 28 Days Later..., but as it is, it's not. It could have also been because the characters were not quite as fleshed out as the ones found in 28 Days. The film's almost breakneck speed with it's quick succession of brilliant set-piece after brilliant set-piece is still certainly commendable, but it's starting to escape my memory and I'm feeling sort of indifferent to it. However, I still recommend.
*** out of ****
Day Night Day Night(dir. Julia Loktev)
The film verges on parody with it's "indie arthouse" aesthetics. There's a scene or more like a moment where it just shows the protagonist licking her fingers after eating a candy apple and the notion that this moment is supposed to be profound in it's "mundane audacity" is unshakable. There's a lot of moments like this in this film, but the film never truly grows wearisome outside of it's lack of insight on it's particular situation. The film is about a suicide bomber that happens to be what I assume is American and the "organization" that backs her is composed of members of various different backgrounds, which is probably supposed to lend an intellectually engaging vagueness, but ends up being frustratingly evasive along with it's portrayal of it's protagonist, who is simply an enigma at best. The film is similar to films like Elephant and United 93, where it's mainly an exercise in extreme empathy except it never delivers with it's central and inevitable event. The last shot is up to interpretation since it "might" be a POV shot and the film ends with a cut to black, suggesting that the bomb went off, but this interpretative quality doesn't salvage the film from being absolutely inconsequential. It's not bad, it's just utterly pointless.
** out of ****

Oh Christmas Eve...

The Kingdom(dir. Peter Berg)
More like The King-dumb. I'd imagine this film would be more offensive to individuals who easily get worked up by the war in Iraq, so I only found it to be mildly offensive. It exploits our current political climate to create action-movie thrills. It reaches it's apex of offensiveness in the beginning with some crazy jihad Muslims killing random American bystanders in Saudi Arabia. That doesn't sound all that offensive, but the tone employed to display these proceedings created a level of excitement that was simply inexcusable. I almost wanted to laugh at the horribly mismatched nature of the tone and what was happening onscreen. It, however, eventually settles on a more sober and less ridiculous tone. There's also the ending that tries to equate our American "bad ass" protagonists to the crazy Muslim zealots that we were supposed to be rooting for to die in probably the most obvious and clumsiest way possible, but you know, it shows that it's fair and balanced and stuff. It was vaguely involving at given moments and it didn't offend me too much with it's pro-American, kill all the Muslims attitude. It was also not as boring of a slog as the next film I'm reviewing. It was mediocre.
** out of ****
The Bourne Ultimatum(dir. Peter Greengrass)
The film above and this film have a lot in common in terms of aesthetics with their shaky camerawork and intense amount of editing. Both films shoot their action scenes in such a way that you can't make out what is happening and the audience is expected to get excited because of this lack of clarity. It's dumb. Dumb dumb dumb. The film above at least had a little humor, while this is just humorless and numbing. There was some vaguely affecting moments in the film above, while this film is just cold and so serious that it's impossible to have any fun or be emotionally involved with it in any way. The level of seriousness in the film above was at least a little bit understandable given that it was striving to be an action movie stripped from today's headlines, while this is just an action movie with a story that might be described as Mission: Impossible or James Bond with amnesia. I have never seen the previous two films in the series, but it's hard to imagine that seeing both beforehand would have made this a more enjoyable experience. People have also said that this could be the best film in the series so I can't imagine diving into the others anytime soon. If any critics think this is a fun little action movie, then it's pretty obvious that these critics must confuse excitement with boredom. The film is so serious that it's basically the equivalent of a comedian that would stop a gig if anybody dare laugh at one of his/her jokes. The film tries to be tense the whole time and fails miserably at trying to generate any suspense or audience involvement whatsoever. This is the future of action cinema? Fuck that. Take me back to the late 80's and early 90's immediately if that is true. It was bad. Bad bad bad.
*1/2 out of ****

Oh I Want to Be An American...

Rush Hour 3(dir. Brett Ratner)[rewatch]
I was amazed at how much I remembered from my first viewing since it really has little semblance of a plot and I've watched a ton of movies in between that viewing and this one. I guess it's true that the classics just stick with you. It wasn't quite as beautiful this time around with it's bad-goodness and I might have to dub The Game Plan as my guilty pleasure of the year now. The performance weren't as intricate and nuanced as I once remembered them to be. It's decent in a bad-good way. I slightly recommend.
**1/2 out of ****
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead(dir. Sidney Lumet)
Had to watch the Miami Vice ending on Youtube for the 50th time afterwards just to make sure that I wasn't in a shitty mood. I don't know what to say about this. It's pretty much an (over)acting showcase so it wasn't engaging in any sort of profound way and the performances ended up being all over the place. Marisa Tomei, while getting some points for being naked in practically every scene, is simply awful in her "big" scene. The whole goddamn movie is basically a string of "big" scenes, where all the actors overact their asses off and don't resemble anything remotely human. There's nothing wrong with the notion of actors overacting if they're still able to create something that resembles a human being, but in this film, they just basically move around and be as dramatic as possible at given moments. Sidney Lumet in some interview on Variety's website talked about how he basically just let the actors work and didn't give much direction in terms of performances. This could easily be just the director being modest, but after watching the film, what he said is most likely true. He basically let his actors run amok with no sense of control or direction. There's also scenes within the film that are supposed to ring tragic but end up falling flat like Andy pouring rocks on his table and the conclusion to the film due to being unable to connect with it because of the performances. The only actor that came out of the film with any respect from me was Michael Shannon, who almost gleefully plays the burglar's sleazy brother-in-law. There's a brief patch towards the end, where the intensity of the film's activities almost matches the actors' and I would probably say this is easily the best portion of the film and then the ending quickly follows and back to feeling indifferent as ever again. The film's character problem is not a matter of them just being merely unlikeable, it's a matter of not being able to detect any sense of humanity in any of them in order to recognize them in an emotional way. I haven't even touched upon how stupid the structure of the narrative is. The film is told in a non-linear format much like a film like Reservoir Dogs. It serves no purpose and I don't understand why Lumet decided to direct this script outside of probably trying to prove that he's still hip with these crazy kids like Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. The film as a whole basically registered with a long and drawn-out thud. It was bad.
*1/2 out of ****

Oh Iran Riddling You With Goals...

Offside(dir. Jafar Panahi)
It's amazing how seamless this film is in it's construction. Jafar Panahi discusses on the interview with him on the disc how he presents the material in a real-time manner and how some people actually thought he shot the whole film in one day. Since I watched the interview before viewing the film, I thought it was just people trying to flatter the director with these comments, but once I saw the film, it becomes understandable how one could think that. It's also amazing how compelling this film is given that it's mainly just a bunch of conversations with little variety in terms of setting. Richard Linklater should seriously take some notes while watching this film because this easily trumps anything I've seen directed by him. It's strange that I always end up becoming really fond of politically-tinged films since I'm pretty ambivalent when it comes to politics and I hate the notion that cinema, at least American cinema, can be viewed as "important" to society. Maybe, it's because most of the films that are labeled as "important" are usually Oscar-baiting pieces of shit. The reason I think I enjoy films like this, Battle of Algiers, and so on is most likely due to the filmmakers being passionate about what they're filming. There's a reason why shit like TMNT is shit because why would anybody give a shit about that shit? The film truly glows when it shows the celebration of the detainees along with their fellow countrymen after Iran's victory over Bahrain and perfectly drives it's message home. Why can't people just be able to celebrate together without restrictions that deny them their rights to expression and happiness? It's a masterpiece.
**** out of ****
Paprika(dir. Satoshi Kon)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force > this. It's hard not to compare the two since they're both animated mind trips, but where ATHF is bizarrely charming and engaging, this is just dull and pretentious. I don't hate anime craziness. I remember catching an episode of FLCL (pronounced Fooly Cooly to all those folks out of the loop) and being mesmerized by it's insanity. This, however, has no sense of spontaneity to it's craziness to mesmerize the viewer in any sort of way. It's much like Stardust in how the film expected the spectacle of it all to do all the work. I liked the music and it's kind of cool to look at, but in terms of containing anything remotely engaging, it falls flat. It equating film to a dream shared between a collective is interesting, but overall, it is mediocre.
** out of ****

Oh 28 Days Later...

28 Days Later...(dir. Danny Boyle)
I should preface this by saying I hate fast zombies. They're the lamest trend in recent undead cinema. Yes, it makes perfect sense that when the dead rise and walk the Earth that they'd be as fast as fucking Michael Johnson, but since this film concerns itself with humans that get infected by a virus that makes them super pissed off instead of true zombies, it's much more believable and not nearly as ridiculous. The film actually doesn't really focus on the whole virus and the individuals infected by it all that much in comparison to how much it focuses on the survivors, which makes the film very engaging as a whole. It's one of the most emotionally satisfying "zombie" films I've seen and it's definitely one of the best. It's not flawless, however, especially with it's portrayal of the majority of the military characters in the film as stereotypical savages. There would be nothing particularly wrong with this if it was more fair and balanced in it's display of savagery like Day of the Dead, where it displayed most of it's scientist/civilian characters and military characters in an equally disdainful manner. Other than that, it's a near-masterpiece. I highly recommend.
***1/2 out of ****
The Simpsons Movie(dir. David Silverman)
It's a decent enough diversion, but it's particularly frustrating that it hits an emotional chord so successfully and then doesn't really follow through with anything nearly as poignant afterwards. That particular emotional chord hitting moment would be Marge's videotape, which was surprisingly incredibly affective for a movie based on The Simpsons, but you'd expect there to be some sort of change in Homer's character afterwards. I've actually changed my mind on giving it just a mere "decent" label and give it the full blown good treatment. It's probably the best animated film of the year outside of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters and almost makes me want to start watching the show regularly again. I recommend.
*** out of ****
Stardust(dir. Matthew Vaughn)
I would like to start this review with a quote.
"The stars, yeah, the stars. One shining star in the night shining brighter than all the other ones and I'm talking light years away, yeah." - Macho Man Randy Savage
What does this have to do with the movie at hand? Well, this movie is about a star that comes in the form of Claire Danes so when the opportunity strikes, you know... The best part is easily Robert De Niro playing a cross-dressing pirate. It's almost the equivalent of Ving Rhames's role in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and almost as funny just because of De Niro's stature as an actor in comparison to Rhames's, but due to a lack of screen time and being in a movie that isn't nearly as fun, it's not quite the same. The film's dependence on visual effects to create spectacle and audience engagement is easily it's biggest detriment. It doesn't really care about creating true emotional engagement through a human story, it just cares about creating overly fake images that are designed to make people go "awe" and it's not even successful at that. It should have focused more on creating flesh and blood characters instead of computer-generated images. Do yourself a favor and just rent The Princess Bride instead if you're looking for a light-hearted and whimsical fantasy film. It was merely average.
** out of ****

Oh Man Dick...

Superbad[Unrated Cut](dir. Greg Mottola)
Still feel about the same as I did when I saw it the first time, which means that I still don't buy Seth changing over night. You could make a point that he was always like that and was just being basically an obnoxious sleazeball for show, but really? He acts that way pretty much throughout the whole film even when he's with his best friend, who he should feel most comfortable around. I'll say now that I prefer this over Knocked Up because that film examined unplanned pregnancy in a too light and breezy way probably due to being told mainly from a male perspective, but this film has similar problems with it's portrayal of female characters because of it being told from a male perspective as well. This film is definitely funny, but it's hard not to feel that Seth is a sleaze and wish that Evan would find someone a little bit more decent as a friend. It's not a comedy classic like Rush Hour 3, but what is?
*** out of ****
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters(dir. Dave Willis and Matt Maillero)
As a comedy, it's not particularly good. As an avant-garde WTF-fest in a similar vein to Inland Empire, it works surprisingly well, almost too well. The plot is rather simple, it's just the trying to describe individual moments and trying to make sense of them on a narrative level that proves difficult. A movie that is filled with killer gigantic exercise equipment and cannons that make kittens explode is bound to be a little incomprehensible and the film almost achieves a sense of grace with it's insanity. It is, indeed, #1 in the hood, G.
***1/2 out of ****
Drama/Mex(dir. Gerardo Naranjo)
Raw and honest. It's almost something Cassavetes would have made if he was Mexican and into this current trend of intertwining storylines with several characters. It's essentially two movies in one and really good ones at that. It never ends up trying to unify both stories together. The characters simply visit some of the same locales and end up seeing and running into each other several times, but they never converse with each other outside of Tigrillo asking Gonzalo for a ride. The stories are rather bleak, but the film consistently looks on the bright side, which is actually sort of refreshing especially after recent bleak films like No Country for Old Men that are needlessly pessimistic. I highly recommend.
***1/2 out of ****
We Own the Night(dir. James Gray)
I don't understand this film's average rating on Metacritic. Maybe, I'm just out of touch with the critics and regular film watchers, but I think this film is impeccable. I would label it as great and I'm definitely going to. Critics have compared this film to The Departed and I personally think this film makes that film look like dog shit in comparison. It's understandable why the critics compared the two since this film's marketing and trailers used a similar font to the one used by that film's marketing and Mark Wahlberg appears in both, but that film wishes it had this film's sense of Catholic guilt and spirituality. In a similar vein(my phrase of this forum post) to Michael Mann and Jean-Pierre Melville, James Gray uses criminality as a way to examine the soul. When Bobby's brother(Mark Wahlberg) is almost killed, he feels a profound sense of guilt that is seriously lacking in a film like The Departed that revels in death. In this film, death has much more weight and isn't something to be used for mere entertainment value. Bobby's path to redemption is never as easy as it is in a film like Black Snake Moan, he actually makes sacrifices. It easily contains the car chase of the year despite me not having seen The Bourne Ultimatum yet, but I can't imagine that film's car chase(s) being as emotionally charged and transcendental as the one found here. It's a masterpiece.
**** out of ****

Oh Fighting Games...

Gonna do the same thing as my beat 'em up list. I'll do blurbs maybe later.

1. Samurai Shodown II(dev. SNK)
2. Street Fighter II: Turbo(dev. Capcom)
3. The Last Blade 2(dev. SNK)
4. Street Fighter III: Third Strike(dev. Capcom)
5. Garou: Mark of the Wolves(dev. SNK)
6. Samurai Shodown IV(dev. SNK)
7. Vampie Savior: Lord of Vampire aka Darkstalkers 3(dev. Capcom)
8. Street Fighter Alpha 3(dev. Capcom)
9. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution(dev. Sega)
10. World Heroes 2 Jet(dev. SNK)

Oh Beat 'Em Ups...

Going to make a top 10 list of beat 'em ups since I've played a fair share of them. It's definitely one of the most repetitive genres in videogames, but it would be nice if there were more of them nowadays in 2D.
Top 10(in order)
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time(dev. Konami)[Arcade]
It's not exactly deep, but it's still one of the most immediate and fun games in the genre. It might be the nostalgia talking, but I doubt anybody wouldn't include this on his/her list.
2. Alien vs. Predator(dev. Capcom)[Arcade]
I just discovered this game recently, but man, it's a great one. Thank God, they made special not take any of your life away, which just seemed lazy and made things unnecessarily hard in their other beat 'em ups.
3. Comix Zone(dev. Sega)[Sega Genesis]
While I'm not sure if it's technically a beat 'em up since it's only on one plane, it pretty much has everything else found in the genre like screens where you can't progress unless all the enemies are taken care of. It's one of the most difficult games for the Genesis especially in it's original state with no save system, but it's one of the most rewarding.
4. Captain Commando(dev. Capcom)[Arcade]
Capcom is the king when it comes to beat 'em ups and fighting games so it's not exactly a surprise to find them on my list more than once. Babies, mummies, ninjas, and robots... what's not to love?
5. Streets of Rage(dev. Sega)[Sega Genesis]
Lots of people say Streets of Rage 2 is the best, but I'm not a huge fan of the whole special move taking up life and I enjoyed the screen clearing special in this. It's unquestionable that Street of Rage 2 has better graphics, but this one has a better and more memorable soundtrack. It's fairly standard in terms of beat 'em ups, but it's still one of the best.
6. Battletoads(dev. Rare)
The other beat 'em up with amphibians. It's considered one of the hardest games on the NES and it's also one of the best.
7. Rollergames(dev. Ultra aka Konami)[NES]
It might not be a beat 'em up because of the ability to move up and down, but if the whole game revolves on beating the shit out of other people with your fists and feet then I would classify it as a beat 'em up. Sort of a guilty pleasure just because it's a damn beat 'em up on rollerskates, but I still enjoy it immensely.
8. Vendetta(dev. Konami)[Arcade]
It essentially has recreations of Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Enough said.
9. Golden Axe(dev. Sega)[Sega Genesis]
It's sort of required to put this on a beat 'em up list especially considering it's one of the more original games in the genre. Sure, there were other medieval-themed beat 'em ups, but this remains the most well-known with good reason. It's kind of murky territory whether this should be classified as hack n slash instead of beat 'em up, but whatever.
10. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs(dev. Capcom)[Arcade]
It has possibly one of the coolest titles ever. It's pretty bizarre and awesome at the same time since you fight a lot of dinosaurs along with people and even dinosaur people. Also when you continue, you start out with a bazooka. It's definitely not in the league of an Alien vs. Predator, but it still remains enjoyable.

Yes, I didn't put Final Fight on the list because it's dated and there's simply better beat 'em ups that came after it. If this was a list about historical importance, it'd probably be on the top of it, but it's not so it's not even on it.

Oh 2007(music)...

Ran out of ideas for lists for movies so I'm doing music now. YIPPY! I might do videogame lists as well, but I haven't played much games from this year so don't really expect a 2007 list anytime soon. I might start doing music reviews, but I find it particularly hard to talk about music since it's usually just I either dig it or I don't.

2007(no order for now)
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

It's probably their most consistent album yet and "For Reverend Green" is an amazing song.

Feist - The Reminder

There's nothing on this record as profoundly beautiful as her cover of "Lover's Spit" on Broken Social Scene's Bee Hives, but it has it's moments("I Feel It All", "My Moon Man", "1234", and "Past in Present").
St. Vincent - Marry Me

"Now Now" is a great opener and while the album doesn't necessarily maintain that level of quality, it's still pretty bitching.
Burial - Untrue

Probably my favorite album of the year, but it's hard not to feel that it gets kind of repetitive.
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

"The Opposite of Hallelujah" just puts a smile on my face. It's ridiculous.
Kanye West - Graduation
Probably the best rap album of the year.
Grizzly Bear - Friend LP
Their self-covers are great and that CSS cover of "Knife" is simply mind-blowing.
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I personally think it's better than Funeral.

Honorable mentions:
Tegan and Sara - The Con
It's not great by any means, but the amount of times I listened to this is almost embarrassing. There are some songs that are just flat-out Hilary Duff bad, but it has it's fair share of good ones as well.
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Need to listen to it more before I can give a real opinion, but all I know is that I dig it.
Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Don't really have anything to say. I haven't listened to it that much, but I know it's definitely good.
Battles - Mirrored
It's slightly overrated, but "Atlas" is an awesome song and they definitely have an original sound.
M.I.A. - Kala
I find most of her music annoying, but "Paper Planes" is simply irresistible.
Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
"Campfire" is great even if the rest of the album isn't.

Overrated mentions:
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
It's fine, but I fail to see what's so great about it. The amount of critical acclaim it has received makes it seem like the greatest album ever.
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
His songs start out fine, but they ultimately feel overlong and stretched.
Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
If it wasn't for "Killa Lipstick" and "Slow Down", this would have been merely mediocre.

Wrap-up:
Nothing this year was as great as say The Woods by Sleater-Kinney, but yeah, not much is. I also need to listen to more metal and punk albums from this year.

Oh Vegas...

Redacted(dir. Brian De Palma)
Reminiscent of The Fountain, it's a film that remains compelling because of it's conviction even when it goes sort of braindead every now and then. Telling it's story through different types of media isn't really all that involving since De Palma uses it in such a nice and neat way in order to progress his narrative where all the media being shown focus on the characters or events in the story so it never truly widens the scope to any real degree, which would have made much more sense. Like many reviews have stated, the acting isn't so hot especially the actor who essentially plays the "hero," but he was forced to act in a criminal investigation scene that was absolutely ridiculous and an extremely melodramatic scene near the end where Brian De Palma's voice asks him to tell him some war stories in a bar and he ends up having an emotional meltdown so he shouldn't get all the flak. The bar scene in particular is probably the best example of how shitty the acting could get since it could have been emotionally involving, but it was sort of cringe-inducing since De Palma's voice almost seems like he's trying to parody all those "patriotic" Americans that think anybody that was involved in a war is a hero and that actor wasn't convincing at all. There's also other touches that seemed a little ridiculous as well like the faux-photograph of the rape victim in the film following images of real victims of the war. What the hell was he trying to do with that? It's almost as bad as Emilio Estevez trying to garner audience sympathy for his fictional characters with the RFK assassination in Bobby. There's also some borderline manipulative stuff found in most anti-war films like a shooting of an innocent that just happened to be pregnant. I don't entirely disagree with what the film is trying to say, but it could have went about it in a more subtle and intelligent way. In a lot of ways, it was much like a supped-up and engrossing TV movie, which might sound like a bad thing, but it remains engaging all the way through except for those specific scenes mentioned above and maybe a few more. I recommend.
*** out of ****
The Nanny Diaries(dir. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini)
After you get past the first 20 insufferable minutes or so, it's not so bad. There's really no denying that this is essentially fluff and I'll soon forget it, but it was still a good time-waster I guess. This might possibly be her best performance yet, but that's not saying very much. There are some moments like her yelling at the "nanny cam" that show her weaknesses as an actress, but there's no moment as cringe-inducing as some of her more dramatic scenes in Match Point. It's "skewering" of the upper class is about as unoriginal as you can get, portraying them as so self-centered and unaware of other people's feelings that they almost don't appear human. Laura Linney gives a relatively cliched performance as the "bitch" in the picture while Paul Giamatti seems almost too comfortable playing her scuzzy "dick of a husband." The biggest problem that makes this all lightweight is the lack of conflict and narrative drive. It doesn't necessarily get boring, but it's "conflict" is resolved in such a easy way that it shouldn't be considered a conflict at least in comparison to other films. Characters are capable of changing so easily that it's a surprise that this lasts for a whopping 100 minutes. I slightly recommend.
**1/2 out of ****
Flanders(dir. Bruno Dumont)
It's similar to Redacted in terms of narrative, but totally different in tone. Dumont's direction is sometimes clumsy much like De Palma's, but he never gets as passionate or "in your face" as De Palma since that's not really his style. That doesn't mean that nothing horrific happens in this film. On the contrary, it contains a lot more violence in comparison to Redacted, but since it's rather detached and it's difficult to get emotionally involved with the film, it's not really that effective. Redacted implied more than showed and was effective while this film showed more than implied. How they deal with their respective characters and emotions are the opposite, however. Everybody's emotions are essentially externalized in De Palma's film while everybody's emotions in this film are pretty much internalized, which makes it more intellectually stimulating but less so emotionally. I'd go out and say that this is probably his worst so far, but it's definitely not bad. It's just hard film to warm up to. Maybe a rewatch in the future is in order. I slightly recommend.
**1/2 out of ****

Oh West Philadelphia...

The Dark Knight Trailer

I'm not totally sure about Heath Ledger's Joker. I've never seen(or I don't remember) the original Batman movie by Tim Burton so I don't know how he compares to Jack Nicholson, but it seems like he's trying a little bit too hard. I still want to see this since Batman is, you know, the coolest superhero ever and Batman Begins was really good, but I don't know how it'll turn out.
**1/2 out of ****
*SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER*
I Am Legend(dir. Francis Lawrence)
Surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting to like this much especially after seeing Will Smith's last movie, which I found to be particularly terrible. He really does carry the movie even if his performance is a little overly emotional. The biggest problems lie with the script, which forces him to have a long monologue about why Bob Marley is such a bitching human being. He describes how Bob wanted to "light up the darkness" with his music and the mental image of Bob Marley lighting up a joint in a dark room quickly follows. There's also the CGI, which was particularly bad. The film would have been much better if it suggested these "dark seekers"'s presence instead of actually showing them. The film also relied on "jump" scares a little too much, but they remained effective to my friend, who sat next to me, even after the sixth or seventh time. It was also much more emotionally engaging before other people entered the picture since the dialogue wasn't so hot. It's interesting to say that since one would expect it to be the other way around and it truly exposed how shitty the script actually was. There was actually a moment that I thought I was going to cry because, you know, killing a dog is possibly the saddest thing a movie could do. Manipulative factors prevented any tears from flowing, however, with an overly sentimental score and Smith's character revealing that the dog was, in fact, a female, which seemed like a cheap tactic to garner some audience sympathy. I still don't understand how these mindless fucking things were able to devise such a complicated booby trap, which leads to the dog's death, but whatever. It's post-apocalyptic world was also quite impressive. It's probably the best sci-fi film of the year, but I still haven't seen Southland Tales so it might not be. I recommend.
*** out of ****

Oh Puppeteers...

Double Suicide(dir. Masahiro Shinoda)
Japanese melodrama at it's finest? I'm not quite sure if you would label it that, but yeah, the overacting, which could be annoying to some, was simply astounding and lent a melodramatic tone to the film. I guess the acting could be viewed as theatrical since this film is supposed to be puppet theater, but the film is too cinematic to be labeled as theatrical. This film was pretty incredible. It's experimental tendencies were quite audacious, but it's whole puppeteer "gimmick" became a little overused. It's amusing and ingenious at first, but it ends up hindering the finale, at least for me. I'd imagine the conclusion would be more emotionally engaging if there was not as much of it beforehand. The puppeteer aspect did add a fatalistic layer to the proceedings, however. I'd imagine down the line, when the film has settled in my mind and stomach, labeling it a masterpiece, but for now, I'm labeling it a near-masterpiece. I'm definitely going to need to check out some more of his stuff.
***1/2 out of ****

Oh DVD/Poster Art...

I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to lists, but yeah, I don't care. These covers are probably going to be of movies that I like so it's not going to be all that unpredictable. I'm not even going to do an order or anything. I'm just gonna post these covers and give maybe a sentence blurb on why I like it so much.
DVD:

It's not an exactly complicated cover, but I just adore the image of Henry and Fay on top. I also really like the picture of Fay in her wedding veil on the back as well. Hal Hartley 4 Life, broz.


The cover is so good that it's almost tempting to get the UK DVD, which is what the cover is of, even though the image and audio quality is supposed to be horrible. It's hauntingly beautiful with Sarah Polley's character staring at Ian Holm's character. I also dig the haze and light.

Posters:


While the one up above has better font and using her wallpaper as background for the font is sort of neat, it's really the image itself that makes the whole thing. It's just so devastatingly beautiful and encapsulates everything that is so beautiful and horrific about the movie. Her beaten face is absolutely depressing, but her expression shows that she's still alive and kicking in the inside, which is uplifting. It's pretty much how I feel about the film as a whole, it's somehow simultaneously depressing and uplifting. It just utterly overwhelms me emotionally and it's the reason why it's my favorite film.


And Neil Patrick Harris as... Neil Patrick Harris.

Oh 2008...

Upcoming
Log

2008's not done yet...

...but I'll make a most anticipating list anyways.

Most Anticipated Movies of 2008
1. Tree of Life(dir. Terrence Malick)
If this gets off the ground and actually makes a 2008 release, you bet your ass that this year is going to rock.
2. Jack and Diane(dir. Bradley Rust Gray)
A lesbian werewolf movie with chicks around my age that are attractive (Ellen Page and that other chick in Juno) makes this probably my ultimate male fantasy movie since probably ever. Too bad, it hasn't gone into production yet so it might not make 2008.
3. The Road(dir. John Hillcoat)
I'm not exactly a fan of McCarthy's work just from the hundred or so pages I read of Blood Meridian and the film adaptation of No Country for Old Men, but The Proposition is easily probably the western of this decade and the whole post-apocalyptic world stuff makes me want to see what Hillcoat does with it.
4. Speed Racer(dir. The Wachowski Siblings?)
I don't know what compels me to see this movie. Maybe it's the fact that it could possibly be the biggest debacle of the year or that it might be the most ridiculously fun movie of the year.
5. Two Lovers(dir. James Gray)
A chick flick by the dude that did We Own the Night? Sounds good to me.
6. Diary of the Dead(dir. George A. Romero)
This film looks really... uhh... ahhh.... AHHH... BRAINS!!!
7. Untitled Todd Field Project(dir. Todd Field, duh!)
I highly doubt this will even make this year because it's not even titled yet, but Todd Field can do no wrong in my eyes(for now).
8. The Box(dir. Richard Kelly)
Even though it essentially sounds like a feature-length episode of The Twilight Zone, I simply have to see how this turns out after seeing that epic and fascinating mess that is called Southland Tales.
9. Stop Loss(dir. Kimberly Pierce)
This is another one of those films that I have no idea why I want to see it. I usually try to steer clear of these Oscar-bait sort of films and I haven't seen Boys Don't Cry so I'm not sure how good of a director she is. Maybe there's just a certain endearing quality to that trailer that struck a chord with me. I don't know...
10. Mammoth(dir. Lukas Moodysson)
I didn't bother to watch his two films after Lilya and I'm not so certain he's that great of a director despite getting some amazing performances on his two films that I've seen, but the fact that he's not doing some avant-garde experiment that pretty much no one wants to see(at least so far I know) is enough to get me excited about this film.

Oh SF...

Sink or Swim(dir. Su Friedrich)
Her films are intensely personal but are capable of sucking you in in an empathetic reverie. I've probably used this description before, but they really do play out like an intimate diary or journal entry that would be difficult to reveal to anybody due to how exposed emotionally they are. Much like some of her films, this film is her trying to come to terms with some aspect in her life and in this film, that would be her relationship with her largely absent father. Even though her films are intensely personal, she hardly ever presents the "story" as if it were her own. It could be anybody's story and she strives for a universality by focusing on the emotions instead of the details. The voice-over is detailed about certain events and memories about her father, but the main appeal is the emotions the voice-over conveys to the audience. It's almost cold and detached yet it's actually fiercely alive and emotional. Her poetic sensibility is immensely appealing to me so me labeling this as a masterpiece isn't that big of a surprise. It's a masterpiece.
**** out of ****
Cool Hands, Warm Heart(dir. Su Friedrich)
Images of women in the street protesting against the patriarchal society we live in by shaving their legs and armpits in public, cutting their hair, and skinning apples? The skinning apples didn't make all that much sense. Maybe it's supposed to represent how that particular woman feels being on a tiny stage, essentially exposing herself in public in an emotional sense. A woman eventually grabs her hand and takes her an arcade to have some fun(no, not sexual fun, get your mind out of the gutter). What does all this mean? This seems to be one of her more outspoken "message" films even though there's nothing didactic at all about it in the traditional sense with her evocative imagery and "storytelling." I feel what it's trying to convey is that feminism, especially of the lesbian sort, aims to create an environment where individuals can freely love without traditional gender rules, but the individuals trying to achieve this goal are also unable to love given the amount of time and energy they put into their effort. As the central woman is taken away by this unknown woman, there's a sense of liberation. As they have fun in the arcade, you can see that this is the protesters' vision of paradise and their ultimate goal. While my description probably makes it sound shittier than it really is, it's actually profoundly moving and thought-provoking unlike pseudo-feminist trash like The Vagina Monologues. It's another masterpiece.
**** out of ****
Scar Tissue(dir. Su Friedrich)
Another one of her more "message"-driven films and a little more heavy-handed or at least stretched compared to her other films of this type. Thankfully, it's not as bad as Lesbian Avengers Eat Fire, Too(I blame her co-director for everything that was wrong with that film). While it's duration is only 6 minutes, it's hard not to say that it feels a tad overlong even if it took me about half that time to figure out what she was trying to convey. The film is composed of images of men and woman in dress attire and the editing is much like a flicker film(or at least my understanding of them from what I've read). She conveys to the audience the unfairness of "acceptable" dress attire for men and woman. Men are able to wear suits and pants while woman must wear uncomfortable high-heels and skirts. While this thought is sound, it's not a particularly insightful one. It's probably the most subtle protest I've ever seen and I do agree with what she's saying, it just doesn't make all that great cinema. I still recommend.
*** out of ****

Oh Your Gun...

Decision at Sundown(dir. Budd Boetticher)
It was a rather standard and bland western. Randolph Scott is an actor who really needs to have good actors supporting him and since this film didn't really have any, it's easy to see why it's not so hot. The film ran at a sluggish pace due to spending most of it's time in a stable and a bar and a lack of narrative drive. There's only one memorable moment and that was when his partner hooks a dude's arm. Outside of that moment, the film was pretty much a bore. Valerie French gave a solid performance, but it wasn't good enough to salvage the thing. It was merely mediocre.
** out of ****

Oh Bubonic Plague Carrying Bastards...

Ratatouille(dir. Brad Bird)
I liked it quite a bit, but for a movie about cooking, it's surprising to find it focusing on cooking very little during a majority of it's running time. The film, however, makes up for it by providing a scene of an army of rats working together to make gourmet cuisine. It's at this point when the film becomes quite lively and if it's development in creating a crowd-pleasing finale wasn't so apparent, I would have probably liked it even more. It's not a revolution in animated cinema or anything, but I still wholeheartedly recommend.
*** out of ****

Oh Who's Your Daddy?!...

Deck the Halls(dir. John Whitesell)
It was awful. Awfully good. I usually find unintentional comedy funnier than intentional comedy, but since it's goal isn't to make me laugh in at least the way I do, it's hard to really give a glowing recommendation for any movie with that sort of humor unless the movie is called Rush Hour 3, which almost appears to be intentional because it seemed like nobody really gave a shit. This movie almost approaches that level of ungraceful grace, but some people were actually not inept in terms of acting in this so it's hard to really look at it as a resounding failure-success. Matthew Broderick almost makes up for the lack of inept acting with his abomination of a performance. Thankfully, his performance isn't as overly cringe-inducing as John Travolta's in Wild Hogs, which was almost unbearably embarrassing, and the bizarre overabundance of repetitive line readings found in this film only helped to underline it's badness. It's almost the equivalent of taking a bad music cue and pressing rewind and playing it again. The awesome badness of the repetitive shitty line readings reaches it's apex with his character unknowingly ogles his daughter with Danny DeVito's character and constantly repeating, "Who's your daddy?!" Maeby is going to need some serious therapy down the road because of that. It's incestuous undertones are disturbing, but it was oddly funny because of Broderick's horrendous line readings. He might as well have repeated, "Yes, I'm a shitty actor!" It's strange to say a bad performance makes a movie, but his definitely makes this one worth watching along with the film's cheesy ending with the neighborhood trying to help DeVito's character with his quest to make his house visible from space by turning on their cell phones and waving them around to the sounds of some Christmas song. The ending wears out it's welcome, but it's hard not to say that it's probably one of the most lamest and hilarious things I've ever seen. I've changed my mind about slightly recommending it. I fully recommend this train wreck of a movie.
*** out of ****
Shrek the Halls(dir. Gary Trousdale)[TV]
Like I said above, I usually find unintentional comedy funnier than intentional comedy probably due to the fact that when a joke doesn't go off well, it's almost painful. A lot of the returning characters like the gingerbread man and Pinocchio are obnoxious and the humor has grown repetitive and stale. It's Christmasness, however, saves it from totally falling flat on it's face. It's pretty entertaining to see that this film has essentially the same message as the one above and presents it in almost the same exact manner. I slightly recommend.
**1/2 out of ****

Oh Wong Kar-Wai...

Best to Worst
1. Chungking Express
2. 2046
3. Days of Being Wild
4. Fallen Angels
5. In the Mood for Love(need to rewatch)

Oh Hou Hsiao-Hsien...

Best to Worst
1. Millenium Mambo
2. Goodbye, South Goodbye
3. The Flowers of Shanghai
4. Cafe Lumeire
5. Three Times

Oh Tsai Ming-Liang...

Best to Worst
1. The Hole
2. The Rebels of the Neon God
3. Vive L'Amour
4. Goodbye, Dragon Inn
5. What Time is It There?
6. The River
7. The Skywalk is Gone
8. The Wayward Cloud