Jan 13 2011
2010 has been an exceptionally great year for movies, so great that I’m going to make this a top 20 list. There are plenty of outstanding movies that couldn’t crack this list, even though I’ve seen them many times and recommended them to others. Plus, I haven’t even had a chance to see several films that I think probably belong on this list (Somewhere, Another Year, Tiny Furniture, Mother and many others). It’s very rare to see two great movie years in a row; I think the last really great year before 2010 was 2007, the year of There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. So, as we move forward with trepidation into 2011, let’s look back fondly on the year that was: 2010 at the movies.
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Jan 12 2011
The films of Agnès Varda share a deceptive quality. Her stories are based on the simplest of premises (young woman awaits results of a cancer test, homeless girl wanders from town to town, Varda tells the story of her own life), and I always find myself questioning whether or not the experience will be worth it. I should stop worrying. Not one to put much value in first impressions, Varda focuses instead on relationships that develop naturally over the course of the film, slowly revealing not only the depths of her characters but also her intentions as a filmmaker with something on her mind.
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Jan 11 2011
When I saw the trailer for Gaspar Noé’s latest film and read some of the advance word, I began hoping that Enter the Void might be this year’s Antichrist, a film that challenges viewers with a unique visual style and captivating thematic material. To my great surprise, Noé’s film actually makes Antichrist look like an exercise in classical Hollywood style. Lars Von Trier’s traditional narrative progression and character construction seem almost antiquated when compared to Noé’s bold third-person POVs and hallucinatory transitions. Enter the Void is definitely challenging, but audiences up to that challenge will be rewarded with a rich exploration of sexual desire and the ultimate fantasy of life after death.
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Jan 10 2011
People spend a lot of time talking about Nicolas Cage’s strange career choices. I think the term “choices” gives Cage too much credit, as if he is actually considering a number of options before going with the script that most intrigues him. Based on his work in the past several years, it seems more appropriate to assume that he is simply taking the first check that falls through his mail slot.
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Dec 16 2010
When Pan’s Labyrinth came out in 2006, I remember one critic suggesting that, in hindsight, The Devil’s Backbone could be seen as Guillermo del Toro’s “warm-up film.” Now that I’ve seen them both, I have to say that this statement is right on the money. Backbone confronts many of the same issues, from many of the same angles, as Pan’s Labyrinth, but with only a fraction of the emotional heft.
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Dec 15 2010
Paul Haggis has been involved in two films that I enjoyed, both times as a screenwriter only. The characters he wrote (adapted) for Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby felt like genuine human beings, and I ultimately found myself caring a great deal for them and the outcome of their desperate situation. The plot he helped create for Martin Campbell’s James Bond revitalization Casino Royale took a tired character to new places and made Bond a joy to watch again. For his latest effort as writer-director, The Next Three Days, Haggis has basically attempted to combine these elements into one movie: real people caught up in a suspenseful thriller. For the third time as a multi-hyphenate, he hasn’t succeeded.
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Dec 14 2010
Consider me confused by the R-rated cut of porn director Carter Stevens’ 1977 skin flick Punk Rock. After recognizing the potential to cash in on the burgeoning punk rock craze, Stevens went back to the drawing board to add in some punk rock concert scenes and, supposedly, remove all the naughty bits. However, there are still plenty of vibrators, women asking men to “pick a hole, any hole,” and a whole mess of genitals, male and female. I can’t imagine where this “clean” version could’ve played other than the same porn theaters it had already frequented. But, I’m no expert on 1970s grindhouse cinema.
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Dec 05 2010
When I was making plans to see this penultimate Harry Potter film, I briefly considered the IMAX experience at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. I thoroughly enjoyed a recent screening of Inception at the IMAX theatre, with its six-story-high anti-gravity fights and rumbling soundtrack. However, the Harry Potter franchise has become increasingly less IMAX-friendly over the course of its seven films, which is, in my opinion, to its great credit.
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Sep 06 2010
Dir. Daniel Stamm
Regal Gateway, 9/01/10, 8:00pm
If I may add a cliche of my own, The Last Exorcism leaves no stone unturned in its attempts to cobble together as many successful horror film styles and stereotypes as it can. The remarkable thing is that the film makes something fairly interesting out of these tired old tropes, resulting in one of the more original and sure-to-be-underseen horror films to hit theaters in some time. The concept of the film and the performances that carry it out are so intriguing that the most disappointing moments may be the ones that try to scare us, but more on that later.
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Aug 03 2010
Once more, we here at AustinCinephile are arrogant enough to try to categorize this ever-expansive amalgam of cinematic achievements into finite lists. For this posting we’re taking it straight to the heart as we identify some of our favorite flicks from different genres. The rules are simple: pick any ten genres and identify the film most deserving of that genre’s top spot. Whether the film chosen is the most representative of that genre, a film that turned the genre completely on its head, or simply a personal favorite of the phylum is up to the individual contributor. Take a look at our selections and post your love or hate messages via comments at the end of the post. Enjoy. Read more ›
Filed In: Lists
Tags: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Aguirre the Wrath of God, Almost Famous, Batman, Batman Begins, Daniel Metz, Desperate Living, Die Hard, Full Metal Jacket, Goodfellas, Horse Feathers, Mean Girls, Michael Thielvoldt, Once Upon a Time in the West, Open Range, Seven Samurai, Singin' in the Rain, Spiderman 2, Star Wars: A New Hope, Stephen Jannise, Superman: The Movie, Take the Money and Run, The Aviator, The Dark Knight, The Exorcist, The Girl Can't Help It, The Godfather, The Image, The Jazz Singer, The Maltese Falcon, The Omen, The Proposition, The Public Enemy, The Punishment of Anne, The Shining, The Squid and the Whale, The Terminator, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Thin Man, Unforgiven, X-Men 2, Yojimbo
