Sunday, February 7, 2010

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: The Wrestler

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





The Wrestler (2008) Perhaps no role in the past 10 years can come close to matching the perfection between character and actor as that of Randy ‘the Ram’ Robinson, portrayed by true life train wreck and possible redemption story Mickey Rourke in the Darin Aronofsky film The Wrestler. Unable to afford rent on his trailer or impress the sexy aging stripper at the local dive (Marissa Tomei) he falsely believes could be his chance at happiness, the Ram takes weekends off from his demeaning job at the local store to hurl himself around makeshift wrestling rings in the local gymnasiums, grasping at the remnants of a once top-of-the-mountain career in the world of professional wrestling.

Any money he once had is long gone, but his pride and desire are as strong as ever. Unfortunately for the Ram, his health is not cooperating. For a man who spends his Saturday nights having his face pressed into plate glass shrapnel and having his chest pierced with staples, a heart-condition is a little more serious than just taking a few pills. Having to make some difficult choices might seem appropriate, but for the Ram there is no choice, and this film ends just how we always expected that it would, with a final curtain call.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: There Will Be Blood

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





There Will Be Blood (2007) Very few films can actually be called epic, but take Daniel Day-Lewis and throw him into the role of a turn of the century oil prospector (Daniel Plainview) who makes us question so much about our own nature that we are not sure which side we are on anymore, and you have yourself one of the most exciting movies in a long time. Wide, sweeping shots of the plains leave you breathless as the cinematography stars throughout this film. Long periods of time are filled with your own thoughts as you contemplate the existence of these men and their desires, and ultimately we come to struggle with aspects of greed and religion and, most importantly, human nature as this one man completely controls the screen for 158 minutes.

The film becomes a struggle of wills between Daniel and his thirst for greed and power and that of Eli, the young evangelical who wants to work with Daniel (well, he wants his help financially) to aid in the building of his flock. These two men are different in many ways, but as the story will tell, all too similar in others, and as we watch Plainview tumble into madness we feel a slight smirk come across our faces at the final scene, as if there could be any other way for this film to end.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Synecdoche, NY

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Synecdoche, New York (2008) Philip Seymour Hoffman became one of my favorite actors of all time during the 2000s. His roles were key in so many good films: Almost Famous, Punch-Drunk Love, Red Dragon, 25th Hour, Capote, The Savages, Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt as well as roles in a few others I didn’t see – and that is just the past 10 years! Other roles in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Magnolia, The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, and as a younger actor he has a scene in Scent of a Woman, alongside Al Pacino, as a perfectly pitched trust-fund student. I mean, this guy is my hero as far as acting goes.

Now let’s pair him with the eccentric Charlie Kaufman as writer and director and, before we watch the film, just throw out anything and everything we know or think we know about watching a movie. Maybe, just maybe, you will enjoy what you see. I’m not going to say you will like this film because I have no idea who the audience is for this one, but I am one of them, and if you find yourself intrigued by the types of movies Kaufman and Hoffman would do together, then this is your jackpot. A re-telling of the plot would do no justice, but generally speaking be prepared for non-linear and non-traditional story-telling, both with a means to an end that will have you thinking for days.

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Sideways

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Sideways (2004) Paul Giamatti has always been one of my favorite character actors. By the time this film came out he had been almost 40 films, yet you could never really name any of them. His parts were usually smaller, supporting roles in which he excelled, but here he carries the movie on his shoulders. As a failing writer, Miles wants to take his buddy Jack (in a great role by Thomas Hayden Church (from Wings!)) on a scenic trip of the Napa valley wine country before Jack’s upcoming marriage. For Miles this trip represents a chance to get out of his life and explore some fine wines while pondering life with his friend. For Jack, this trip is his chance to get laid one more time before taking the plunge.

As a bit-part actor who may or may not have a better than average life, Jack is struggling like Miles with who he is, but in very different ways. It is Giamatti’s great performance as a neurotic guy who just can’t figure things out that makes this film so special. When the two guys meet up with two women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh) as the saying goes – hilarity ensues. In the best remembered scene of the film Miles, upon learning that his book will not be published, completely freaks out and pours the entire bucket of wine-spit from a tasting over his head declaring his rage and inadequacy all in one motion. It is one of the best scenes ever.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: The Royal Tenenbaums

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) I am actually going to cop-out on this write-up, because I just don’t think any words can do justice to this film in the form of a re-telling. I mean, what is there to tell? This is an awesome family portrait in the strangest sense. See this if you like Wes Anderson films. See this movie if you like Bill Murray in Wes Anderson directed roles. See this movie if you like a cast that includes Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, and Alec Baldwin. If you haven’t seen this yet, then you don’t need the plot – it’s awesome dead-pan humor. If you have seen it then you already know what happens, and I hope you feel the same way I do about it. No words can describe it. None at all.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Road to Perdition

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Road to Perdition (2002) Tom Hanks is certainly versatile. Even though he has proven himself in many films and many types of roles, there seems to be a stigma attached to him, that he is an average actor who only does Oscar-type films. I’m not going to argue the acting ability of Hanks, but I am going to defend his wonderful portrayal of Michael Sullivan, an depression-era mob member who has the job of an ‘enforcer’ – someone to make people do what needs to be done. As a company man most of his life he takes orders and does his job, then goes home to his wife and two children.

When one of his sons accidentally witnesses a murder by another mob member a chain of events is started that cannot be stopped. The murder of his wife and other son is the catalyst to the rest of the film which finds the man and his surviving boy on the run and looking to get a form of revenge. On their way to Perdition (a Michigan city) their bond as family is tightened and when the film ends we feel a real connection with these characters – thanks in large part to director Sam Mendes and his ability to allow the characters to bloom before our eyes. I love a movie that actually gives us character depth in the first part that leads to and offers more information at a later part. Paul Newman and Jude Law give very good supporting roles in this gangster film with a twist.



Thursday, February 4, 2010

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: No Country For Old Men

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





No Country for Old Men (2007) The lack of a traditional score (just 16 minutes of muted sounds throughout) is one of the great directorial decisions that the Cohen brothers ultimately went with in this amazingly well adapted film from the novel by Cormac Mccarthy. The tension that builds throughout does not require an outside source to heighten our senses – we only need the knowledge that Chigurh is out there, somewhere, everywhere. Desolate areas of Texas serve as the background as we are brought into the world of drug deals gone bad, moral and ethical decisions contemplated, and evil as sure as evil can be lurking.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is the focal point of the story, holding everything together as he struggles to understand the nature of the world around him, and though his screen time is limited, we understand that this story is about him, and others like him, not just about who gets the money. Josh Brolin is very good as Llewelyn Moss, a pretty simple guy who, once he makes a decision, finds himself caught up in something larger than himself, and no bargaining will get him out of this jam.

Ultimately it is Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh who raises the level of this film to one of the top thrillers ever made. Whether he is flipping a coin to decide your fate, blowing your brains out with an animal killing air gun, or simply staying quiet, off-screen and silent, we know he is present, and that he always has been and always will be.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Mean Girls

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Mean Girls (2004) I’ll concede this is my guilty pleasure on my list of 20 favorites. This is no cinematic masterpiece and it has no life changing conclusions, but this film is a hell of a lot of fun and I never turn it off if I come across it on TV. In 2004 Lindsay Lohan actually had a career in progress – she was popular and hot at least – and playing a high school girl named Cady who was home-schooled most of her life while living in Africa with her parents is her defining role. This is a more modern-day Clueless and I absolutely love the supporting cast: Rachel McAdams as Regina, the queen of the ‘plastics’ clique; Lacey Chabert as the follower and heiress to the guy who invented toaster-stroodle; Amanda Seyfried as the girl who can sort of tell the weather by touching her breasts; And even Tina Fey who I normally don’t like and Tim Meadows put on funny performances as school staff. The premise of teen angst and peer pressure is put to comedic excellence and this film will always be a winner to me.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Lost In Translation

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:






Lost in Translation (2003) There is a lot of buzz in Hollywood about Kathryn Bigelow and her chance to be the first female to win an Oscar for Best Director, but had it not been for a little film by Peter Jackson known as The Return of the King I like to think that Sophia Coppola would have already won that award for her wonderful 2003 film Lost In Translation. Subdued and under-stated, the plot of the film is not really the point so much as the interaction of two characters both at a crossroads of life who happen to meet in the perfect setting of a far-away country, in this case Japan.

Bill Murray as an aging and seemingly indifferent actor (Bob Harris) is in a stale marriage and a stale career (he is in Japan for the two million dollars he will be paid to shoot a whiskey commercial) meets a young and disillusioned Scarlett Johansson (Charlotte) while having a drink in at the hotel bar. Newly married to a budding star photographer, Charlotte is already having a very young mid-life crisis, as she struggles to understand who she is and what she wants. She likes photography, sort of as a pet-project, but she doesn’t really know much else. While her husband is off living a rock-star life she concedes she doesn’t even know who she married. The meeting of these two lost souls in a foreign country under circumstances that are both beautiful and harsh is what makes this film a masterpiece.



Tuesday, February 2, 2010

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: The Lord of the Rings trilogy

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:














The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

It was said that a film based on the J.R.R Tolkien novel series could never be accomplished, at least not in a way that could capture the epic feel of the story that has captured the minds of the generations of fans who love the story in a true cultish manner. In fact is could not be done in one film – it took three. Hobbits, men, orcs, dwarves, elves, ring-wraiths, wizards and much more are the chess players on this massive board called middle-earth. Director Peter Jackson was able to accomplish the impossible by not only piecing together a workable and watchable series, but by creating a worthy adaptation filled with wonderful shots of scenery, strong acting, and an incredible team of costume and make-up artists.

When put together, the 3 films create one epic re-telling of a hobbit’s journey to destroy the ultimate tool of a dark lord. Along the way he is aided by his friend and fellow warriors from all walks of life in their universal purpose to defend against evil. There are many decent performances in this masterpiece but my personal favorites are Viggo Mortensen as the ranger Aragorn and Ian McKellan as the wizard Gandalf - both roles are central to the films and each holds his own throughout.

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Director Wes Anderson has received much acclaim for some of his other works, but I will defend to my death that this is his best work. Ok, maybe I’m being dramatic, but ever since I saw this film on opening weekend in a theater filled with about 15 people I have come to love every shot. I watch the dvd every so often and don’t always finish it, I just browse through scenes. Something is very captivating to me about the overall arch of the story (believable, yet completely never going to happen) and the way that Bill Murray completely owns the role of Steve Zissou, a Jacques Cousteau –like figure who leads team Zissou on aquatic expeditions around the globe making documentaries.

Unfortunately Zissou is past his prime, and his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) has had enough of paying for the projects – she is leaving him and shacking up with Zissou’s arch-rival, Alistair Hennessey, in a role suited perfectly for an arrogant Jeff Goldblum. Filled with typical Anderson humor which is very subdued and definitely not for everyone, it is a film where the supporting cast means everything and the directorial decisions made throughout make this one of my favorite comedy/dramas of all time.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: In The Valley Of Elah

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





In the Valley of Elah (2007) Tommy Lee Jones delivers another must-see performance in this film that deal with the aftermath and on-going investigation of a soldier’s death during the Iraq war. Seen by many as just another in a long line of anti-war films, I found something much deeper. This is the story of a man (like so many others in his situation) who is willing to go to great lengths to discover the truth of what happened to a loved one, in this case his son, during a terrible time in our nation’s history.

In a variation, his son’s body is found burned just outside the military base he was stationed at on US grounds. A very good supporting role by Charlize Theron as a cop who becomes deeply involved in the investigation and by Susan Sarandon as the mother of the dead soldier help aid the film, but this is ultimately a Tommy Lee Jones film, and he is a master at conveying his emotions through facial features and body language. I don’[t like to compare this film to any other in the war genre, as I feel it cheapens it for what it is, which to me, is just a very personal story of a man trying to figure out the truth of his son’s death, and why so many other people just seem not to care.



Monday, February 1, 2010

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: In Bruges

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





In Bruges (2008) In a widely over-looked film when it was released we are given a gem of a movie that brilliantly weaves noir-comedy and ultra-serious issues seamlessly. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson complement each other perfectly as hit-men who are heading in different life directions, each thrown together for an indeterminate amount of time in the postcard-picturesque city of Bruges as their employer (Ralph Fiennes) decides how to handle the delicate decision (both professional and moral) that a bundled hit has put them all in. With side-busting humor on the darkest level it may not be a film for everyone, but it certainly captures a different feel for how to tell a movie about a not-too-uncommon Hollywood theme of hit-men and the difficult situations they always seem to find themselves. Witty dialogue keeps the slow-ish pace of the film on track and the comical ending turned tragedy leaves you with a deep appreciation for the people who worked on the entire production.



My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Grizzly Man

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:





Grizzly Man (2005) Timothy Treadwell had the kind of life that only unabomber-types can relate too, for the most part, although I’m sure there are plenty of people who secretly wish they could just leave society and live a solitary existence among nature. I’m not so sure that many people would choose to spend all that free time with wild grizzly bears.

Director Werner Herzog pieces together footage taken by Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie over the course of 13 summers in the Alaskan wilderness as they live amongst the animals and, in some sort of personal crusade, vow to protect them. Throughout the film we are given a look into the mind of Treadwell, who appears most of the time in close proximity to the bears, and we come to truly believe that he actually believes what he is telling us, that the bears are not out to harm him, that they understand his approach and they appreciate it. Not meant to be, however, as most sane people could tell you, for grizzly bears are not full of human emotion, they are full of survival instincts, and in the end it is one of Treadwell’s ‘friends’ who devours he and Amie in the wilderness, the audio of the attack available only to Herzog who decided not to include it in the film (we have a powerful shot of the director listening to the sound of them being torn to pieces on large headphones and declaring that it should be destroyed.)

What you take from this film may be personal to you, but for me it is simply another story of how crazy humans can be when they obsess over something, but also how it is not our rite to tell them not to do something, even if it means they may become bear food.

My favorite 20 films of the 2000s: Frost/Nixon

These are my 20 personal favorite films of the 2000s and they are not being ranked according to any criteria, other than I love them. So here they are, in alphabetical order:






Frost/Nixon (2008) It is almost laughable to think that a movie built entirely around a face-to-face interview covering a subject that everybody already knows could be filled with the perfect amount of tension, anticipation and intrigue, but that is exactly what we get from Ron Howard and his re-telling of the David Frost interviews with ousted President Richard Nixon in the 1970s.

What really separates this film from what would be an ordinary affair is the grab you by the throat portrayal of Nixon by Frank Langella, a man who commands the screen every time he is shown, whether it be as the statesman-like President awaiting a question or as the man at his home viewing the garden.

Michael Sheen as David Frost puts on a wonderful performance to complement Langella and we really come to know this man and the toils he went through to pull off one of the biggest stories of his time. That Nixon would ultimately admit to his illegal activities is the climax of the film, but it is the suspense and background leading up to that moment that make this film truly one of the greats.