The semester is winding down to a close, and over the next few days I'm actually going to be very busy getting things together for graduate school applications (for long, and honestly stupid, reasons on my part, I won't be going to Chicago for my masters. While I'm about as happy with this as I am with the GRE scores, it is what it is.). However, once all of that business is done, I reckon I'll have the better part of this week to devote to movies before the holidays hit, so I'd like to ask you folks for some input.
It doesn't matter who you are, if you read this blog and there's something you think I should see before the year is out, I want you to leave me a comment. It could be from 2009 or it could be any other movie. I always do a year-end recap, so if there's something I haven't covered that you think I'd like, please let me know.
Right now, I still have the following to catch before the end of the year: Public Enemies, Up, Inglorious Basterds, District 9, The Hangover, World's Greatest Dad, Duplicity, Adventureland, Sunshine Cleaning, (500) Days of Summer, The Taking of Pelham 123, Monsters vs Aliens, and The Brothers Bloom.
That's what I can think of that I'd like to see before 2009 ends. Surely I'm missing something and this is where you come in. The Cap'n doesn't pretend to be a complete cinephile, and I simply can't keep up with everything. Should I look into New York, I Love You? Is a trip in order to catch A Serious Man or Antichrist? You tell me. I want to know.
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As it is, allow me to present a brief list of movies I saw not from 2009 that would make their respective year's "Best of" List:
My Own Private Idaho - I have no idea why I never got around to watching Gus Van Sant's early defining film (long before Good Will Hunting, Psycho, or Milk), but I'm glad I finally did this year. From beginning to end, top to bottom, an excellent film, with an inspired visual style and clever use of William Shakespeare's Henry IV. My only regret is that I hadn't seen this during prior arguments where I'd periodically defend Keanu Reeves, and the death of River Phoenix was a serious loss for film.
The Hit - This film by Stephen Frears (The Grifters, High Fidelity, The Queen) actually made me rescind all the awful things I said about Terence Stamp in The Haunted Mansion - for a little while. It's a crime movie where much of the film is the anticipation of an actual "hit": in this case, of Mobster turned informant Willie Parker (Stamp). After going into hiding in Spain, Willie is found and captured by a hitman (John Hurt) and his driver (a very young Tim Roth), along with an unfortunate visitor (Laura del Sol). Frears plays these characters off of each other in ways you wouldn't expect, but Stamp anchors the film with the steely resolve of a man at peace with his mortality. I'd never heard of The Hit before this spring, but I'm glad I've seen it now.
The Foot Fist Way - Honestly, without The Foot Fist Way, I don't think I would have been ready for Observe and Report. As it is, Jody Hill's first film is a slice of awkwardness that kept me laughing from beginning to end, and it helped me appreciated Danny McBride's other work even more.
Martyrs - Since Martyrs technically came out in 2008, I can't really cover it in the year-end recap. While I still have quibbles about the mid-twist-torture sequence, I cannot begin to shake the final fifteen minutes from the film. The last image remains with me to this day, and to that end, however minor my issues with the movie are, it certainly belongs on this list.
Dog Soldiers - I'd seen The Descent. I'd seen Doomsday. But until this summer, I'd never watched Dog Soldiers, Neil Marshal's low budget debut film. While it's not perfect, I certainly had fun with this twist on werewolf films, and its sense of humor helped keep the budgetary limitations at bay. I don't know what Marshal is working on now, but I wouldn't be shocked to hear it started with "D".
Synechdoche, NY - The critical backlash against this film still puzzles me. I understand that it's not always fun to watch, and at times can be maddeningly esoteric (especially during the more confusing opening scenes), but once Charlie Kaufman's epic about a man realizing his life as performance really gets going, the convoluted eccentricities of the script step aside and you're left with some wonderful character work from everyone in the cast. I was very pleased to finally watch Synechdoche, NY this year, and I regret not watching it when it played in theatres, as its kind will not likely be seen again.
JCVD - A film that was not at all what I expected, but nevertheless a pleasant journey to take into self parody for Jean-Claude Van Damme. The trailers would lead you to believe that JCVD is more of a comedy, designed to embarrass Van Damme, but the truth is that it's a little more like Dog Day Afternoon meets Adaptation with the structure of Memento. While Van Damme is playing himself (or a version of himself), this is a deconstruction of the way audiences see him as an action star / has-been packed into a potboiler heist movie and punctuated with comedy. I wasn't as taken with the monologue as some seem to be (when Van Damme literally rises above the set and directly addresses the camera), but I certainly enjoyed JCVD and hoped it would mean more of its ilk for Van Damme and less Universal Soldier sequels.... sigh.
and finally:
Teenage Mother - What can I say? I can't un-watch Teenage Mother, and I saw it twice in the span of three weeks. It's an average movie with silly moments punctuated by a truly out-of-left-field five minute burst of childbirth, and then things are over. The wildly misleading trailer points you in the opposite direction of the actual story, down to including footage that's nowhere to be found in the film. Clinical footage and attempted rape aside, Teenage Mother is a pretty humdrum movie, made goofy by inexplicable story elements. It's 69 minutes I guarantee you won't forget, so it makes the list.
Boss, on the other hand, does not, for reasons apparent to anyone who saw it with the Cap'n.
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