Seven Months

Project is cruising along nicely. In fact, I finished way early this month. Top five films, in no particular order (which is the way I should have been doing it all along):

The Wages of Fear
Persona
A Serious Man
Broken Embraces
Paris, je t'aime

(Honorable Mention: Bright Star, Sleuth, Brief Encounter, and Dr. No)

On Another Note:
It was actually a hard decision between Dr. No and Paris, je t'aime. But I feel starved for short films, and the first bond film is a little wobbly out the gate, lacking the sure footing I'm sure to find with the next couple incarnations (From Russia with Love, Goldfinger)

The Wages of Fear

The Wages of Fear (1953)
IMDB #173 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046268/]

The Gist:
Former grand prize winner at the Cannes film festival, Wages of Fear is a taut film full of desperation, the grit of survival, the evils of poverty, the corruption of man... Okay the film is about of lot shit, which is probably why it has a pretty slow build up to the film's incredibly tense situation: driving trucks full of unstable nitroglycerin through 300 miles of dirt roads. It's also probably why the director, who is French of course, goes with the "the world is shit, and even when you think it's okay it turns out you were wrong because the world is shit my friend" sort of ironic ending. The ending actually diminishes the film a little, mostly because it's predictable and ignores the contrast of highs and lows in life just to make a point. But the rest of the film is so good it hardly matters.

Dr. No

Dr. No (1962)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055928/]

The Gist:
The awesome thing about a James Bond film is that I don't have to give you the gist. It's a James Bond film, it operates on its own conventions. And while I was watching this film/researching Bond films for my paper I came to a realization: even though I have never seen an old Bond film, have never seen any complete bond film save the last two with Daniel Craig, I know exactly what to expect. I have been inculcated through modern media to love James Bond films, that's how pervasive the shit is. I even don't care about the blatant racism and sexism, James Bond is just too badass to let those little things hang me up. I mean come on, he kicked some guys ass without even taking off his fedora. I don't care who you are, that's cool.

Pick Up on South Street

Pick Up on South Street (1953)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046187/]

The Gist:
B movie noir with communist paranoia and the most bullshit chauvinistic romance I have ever seen in classical Hollywood (and that takes a lot). Seriously, it's ridiculous, it ruined the whole movie for me. The guy slaps her around, they kiss, he throws her out the door and she's in love with him. By the end of the film he's defending her honor. Bah, you could have been a cool film Pick Up on South Street, you had a couple really engaging characters going and heightened style very uncharacteristic of your typical low end film. However, your ending is shit (like a lot of B movie endings that just sort of wrap things up quickly without art or tact) and your "male gaze" is nauseating. And yes it hurts my soul to use that phrase. See what you did movie? You turned me into a feminist.

Thirst

Thirst (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762073/]

The Gist:
I actually watched this film around the same time as Antichirst, when I was trying a mad dash to catch up on 2009 films. I bring this up, because I had an oddly similar impression, namely: first half close to genius, second half mediocre. Park Chan-wook is a fascinating director, but uneven at times. Nowhere is that more evident than in this movie, which has an amazing build up but stalls and gets stuck near the middle of the film. It's still worth watching, and the ending is actually very good as well, in fact pretty great. I won't say anything else about it other than that it's a weird Korean semi-art house vampire flick that is nowhere near as good as the other foreign semi-art house vampire flick you might be thinking of (*cough* Let the Right One In *cough, cough*)

Week Twenty-Eight

I'm going to be watching a lot of early bond films for a paper I'm writing. Dr. No is the beginning. (Side Note: would you believe I've never seen a Bond film that didn't have Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan? I don't even think I've finished a Pierce Brosnan bond film. Crazy.)

The queue:

Thirst (2009) - check
Pick Up on South Street (1953) - check
Dr. No (1962) - check
The Wages of Fear (1953) - check

Sleuth

Sleuth (1972)
IMDB #202 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069281/]

The Gist:
A film of opposing stratagems, that unfold in a unique way but are for the most part very predictable. Also there is a very awkward red herring in the middle of the film, having Michael Caine's car buried in weeds in the man's yard (that won't make sense unless you see it I guess, but I don't feel like explaining the whole thing). Anyway, it's very enjoyable in a cheap sort of oneupsmanship way (one-upsmanship?), and I like that there is a genuine pathos behind each character's machinations. And it still manages to be very unexpected and original at the right moments. Michael Caine returning as the inspector was particularly fascinating.

Broken Embraces

Broken Embraces (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0913425/]

The Gist:
I don't quite get the reception of this film, because I honestly think that this is one of Almodovar's more interesting entries. Instead, critics seem to be a bit hum drum about its release, saying rather that isn't his "finest work". Why is every film an autuer puts out instantly held to the best of their work (see also: Shutter Island)? It's just stupid, just newspaper men needing a way to critically dog a good film. Is the film as good as All About My Mother or Talk to Her? Probably not. And sure, he's not delving much into the fringe sexuality that we're used to seeing him push. However, what the film does is take a simple approach to the process of an artist and their muse. The whole film feels very personal, and I personally loved it.

Out of the Past

Out of the Past (1947)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/]

The Gist:
Strong little noir film. Robert Mitchum is playing a private detective who is sent to track down the girl, ends up falling for the girl, ends up that the girl is straight up femme fatale crazy, lots of double crossing and low key lighting and flashbacks, everyone gets killed, roll credits. I liked it, but it didn't stand out in the genre, I didn't have a strong emotional attachment to anyone, and it was hard for me to shake the feeling of the last and only other Robert Mitchum performance I've seen: the psychotic killer in Night of the Hunter. Still, it's a strong entry stylistically, and the writing is sharp.

Persona

Persona (1966)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060827/]

The Gist:
Ingmar Bergman goes Avant-Garde, creating a subtle piece of shifting identity. I've never been a huge fan of the avant-garde experimental genre, but when it's done right I can appreciate it. I can even like it, and perhaps I like this film so much because it still has a narrative thread. You don't get lost in the abstract meaning of it all, instead you're grounded by a simple reality. Here, that reality is an actress who has a breakdown, who isn't speaking, and the nurse who looks after her. After this is established you can start exploring whether or not they are the same person.

Week Twenty-Seven

Bah, I'm lagging behind in my posts. New queue, almost finished:

Persona (1966) - check
Broken Embraces (2009) - check
Out of the Past (1947) - check
Sleuth (1972) - check

Bright Star

Bright Star (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810784/]

The Gist:
I have to say that I'm generally not one for period piece films. With a few minor exceptions, I find them all intolerably boring. However (and I'm sure you probably sensed a however coming), I will say that Bright Star is an amazing film. I great deal of this has to do with its case study, the poet John Keats. The film is imbued with the man's poetry, and is further enhanced by focusing on a character on the fringes of typical antiquated British society. The rote rituals of the period piece are subverted, and it creates a nuanced complexity in an otherwise simple love story. The performances are also worth noting, as both leads are excellent.

Antichrist

Antichrist (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870984/]

The Gist:
The first half of the film is bordering on genius: dark, brooding, filled with an acute sense of grief and foreboding. The second half is unaffecting, shock value torture porn. Oddly enough, I still recommend it. For one thing, it has an astonishing performance by Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Cannes Film Festival got it right to give her the acting nod even when they slammed the film (note: other critical circuits aren't quite as wise to separate a great performance from a flawed film). Also the visual look, cinematography, editing, is excellent. The worst thing I can say is that with all the shit that goes down in the last thirty minutes I should have been severely disturbed, unable to sleep, and so on. I slept like a rock.

A Serious Man

A Serious Man (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019452/]

The Gist:
Let me see if I can sum this film up: a darkly comic, overtly jewish, morbid fable about a man's life spiraling out of control. Or in a broader sense a film about a man's existence in relation to a God that demands a great deal without offering much elucidation in return. Based on those descriptions, you should already know whether or not you want to see it. For me, it was the surprise film of the year. I was very unprepared for how much I would love the film, and halfway through I had that glorious thought: "Wait a second, this is kind of genius".

In the Loop

In the Loop (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226774/]

The Gist:
In the Loop is like a British Robert Altman film with political commentary. Honestly, I could probably leave my summation at that sentence alone, it so succinctly covers it. The characters talk constantly, the writing is very clever in that delightfully dry British way, and the plots collide with each other haphazardly. My only issue is that so few of the characters are actually redeemable, but that fits the general mood of the piece (ie that politics are filled with self-serving, vapid personalities). I will say that I loved James Gandolfini's character, he was the only one I had any true empathy for.

Week Twenty-Six

In the Loop (2009) - check
A Serious Man (2009) - check
Antichrist (2009) - check
Bright Star (2009) - check

On Another Note:
I'm doing all recent films this week, in an attempt to try and catch up all the films of the past year that I missed.

Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter (1945)
IMDB #207 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/]

The Gist:
What a tight little film, only an hour and twenty minutes and it accomplishes so much. I loved the noir set up at the train station in contrast to the pleasant country side surroundings during the day. David Lean also manages to create a very tender portrait of his actress through a voice over of her confessing her affair to her husband. Thankfully she doesn't actually confess to him, because that would remove us from the microcosm the film has set up around its two leads.

Precious

Precious (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929632/]

The Gist:
I'm not calling it by it's actual name because frankly, having a title that long just plug the book is retarded. As far as the actual movie goes, I'm a little amazed that I liked it so much. It's not even close to as melodramatic as you would think it would be given its trailer and its support from the likes of Tyler Perry and Oprah. Instead, the film intelligently blends a sense of stark realism with hints of escapism that help both the character and the audience alike. Also, there are powerhouse performances from nearly everyone.

The Magnificent Ambersons

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035015/]

The Gist:
Orson Welles' follow up to Citizen Kane. It has a more subtle beauty to it, is less of a force of nature, but it many ways is far more of a provocative film. This is because the film spirals even further into chaos and darkness than its predecessor, and has broad ramifications to our way of life in the coming industrialization of World War II. Of course, that's what can be gleaned from the film, because it was stolen away from Wells and re-edited by worried studio execs who ruined it. Meanwhile, Welles was off getting drunk in Mexico.

Paris, je t'aime

Paris, je t'aime (2006)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401711/]

The Gist:
Man, why don't people make more films that are shorts compilations? I love shorts, absolutely adore them. It's so much easier to make a brilliant short film than it is to make a brilliant feature too. This is, as any compilation, a bit of a mixed bag but mostly very good. They all have the common theme of the evocative presence of Paris, but it's expressed in some truly unique ways. My favorites:

Faubourg Saint-Denis by Tom Tyker
Quais de Seine by Gurinder Chadha
Quartier Latin by Frederic Auburtin and Gerard Depardie
14th Arrondisement by Alexander Payne
Place des Victories by Nobuhiro Suwa
Pere Lachaise by Wes Craven (I know, weird his short would be one of my favorites)
Montmarte by Bruno Podalydes

Week Twenty-Five

Alright, moving on with a new queue:

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - check
Precious (2009) - check
Brief Encounters (1945) - check
Paris, je t'aime (2006) - check

Halfway Point!

As already mentioned, this project is now half complete. As such I would like to list the twenty best films I've seen so far, as well as make adjustments to my previous rankings.

Top Twenty of First Half (in no particular order):

La Dolce Vita
All That Jazz
Wild Strawberries
Das Boot
8 1/2
The Cove
The Bicycle Thief
Sullivan's Travels
Swing Time
Nights of Cabiria
La Notte
Cache
Swordsman 2
Au Revoir Les Enfants
The Lady Vanishes
Tokyo!
Paths of Glory
Footlight Parade
All About My Mother
2001: A Space Odyssey

The following films, upon reflection, deserved ranking (or at least honorable mention): Cache, Talk to Her, 2001, Double Indemnity, Tokyo!, The Conversation

Six Months

Hey, six months! Halfway through my year objective. Very exciting. Here's the top five of the month:

1. Swing Time
2. Footlight Parade
3. Ballast
4. The Sweet Smell of Success
5. The White Ribbon

Honorable Mention: The Awful Truth, The Last Picture Show, Life is Beautiful, The Lady Eve