(no subject)
1. The New World - Terrence Malick (USA)
The first 40 minutes of this film are the best 40 minutes Terrence Malick has ever put on film (and that is saying something). This movie is so gorgeous in some parts that it is almost impossible not to cry. Q'Orianka Kilcher's performance is absolutely the best of the year. From the moment she entered the screen we are entranced by her. I hesitate to even call it a performance because it is so natural it feels like she isn’t even acting at all. The new world mostly focuses on Pocahontas’ transition from a “savage” to a more cultured life. It still has some political and philosophical elements to it, as you would expect from malick, but far less than the thin red line. It is somewhat of a more focused narrative. You all should watch this film as soon as you can and it is being released wide, so you have no excuses.
2. Izo - Miike Takashi (Japan)
DJ calls this movie "the most intelligent film I have ever seen", and that may just be true. It’s true partly because dj doesn’t watch very many films, but also because this film is absolutely brilliant. On the outside it is a crazy Japanese guy named Izo, running around, traveling through time, and killing random Japanese doods. But, if that’s all you get from it, you're an idiot. It basically goes through important social and political events in Japan's history and dissects them with Izo's sword of justice. This is probably my favorite Miike movie.
3. The Wayward Cloud - Ming-liang Tsai (Taiwan)
This is a brilliant film that not too many of you, if any, will see. One reason you won’t see it is because foreign film distribution in America sucks, the other reason is because it contains a decent amount of pornographic footage in it. It is a love story between two friends that haven’t seen each other in a long time. The guy, played by the amazing Kang-sheng Lee is a porn star, but doesn’t want the girl, Shiang-chyi Chen (also amazing), knowing about it. It’s really a hard movie to describe. There are full blown musical numbers, lots of watermelons (both in and out of sexual situations), one of the funniest scenes of the year involving a bunch of crabs, and one of the longest cumshots I have ever seen. In all seriousness, this is a really great movie and one of the most unique and best love stories I have seen in a movie.
4. Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog (USA)
The best documentary of the year. I've always loved Werner Herzog’s films and his documentary's in particular. Its so much more then just an account of timothy Treadwell's time spent with grizzly bears leading ultimately to his death. You never doubt his love for the grizzlies, that much is very clear, but you do sometimes wonder what his motives are. He meticulously sets up shots and does dozens of takes to get his wording right. His speeches about the importance of preserving the grizzlies read almost more like monologues one would recite at an audition than a plea for help. Treadwell is definitely one of the most interesting subjects ive seen in a documentary and this is one of the most interesting documentaries ive seen.
5. Tropical Malady - Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)
This movie is like two completely different short films played back to back. The first being a gay love story between a soldier and a young country boy. It is such an unusual romance, yet seems really natural and real. The country boy named tong, Sakda Kaewbuadee, is a naïve young man who finds a new friend in Keng, Banlop Lomnoi. Keng seems to be kind of a whore around town and at some points it appears he is taking advantage of a very ambiguous tong. Their love story develops over the first 50 minutes of the film and then stops somewhat abruptly. Thus beginning the second story. The second story is an old Thai fold legend about a shape-shifting shaman being hunted by Keng. Its somewhat confusing, especially being thrust into the story without warning, but is very captivating in the way it is shot. There is basically no dialogue and very little cutting. It is the two characters stalking each other throughout the jungle. Examining the film after it ends you notice all the parallels and connections between the first and second stories and it makes it that much better.
Last Days - Gus Van Sant
The Squid and The Whale - Noah Baumbach
Syriana - Stephen Gaghan
A History of Violence - David Cronenberg
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Tommy Lee Jones
Downfall - Oliver Hirschbiegel
Most fun movie that isn’t great but was still very fun to watch:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Shane Black
Best good bad movie:
Roll Bounce - Malcom D. Lee
Best Female Performance:
Q’Orianka Kilcher - The New World
Best Male Performance:
Michael Pitt - Last Days
Worst Movies of the Year:
Stars Wars Episode 3
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Ring 2
Hostel
Me and You and Everyone We Know (not the worst, but definitely not very good and very overrated)
Junebug (not terrible, but has one of the worst endings of the year)
Jarhead
Elizabethtown
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire