Psycho - 6

This is a great and classic film. The ranking is in comparison with Hitchcock's films. I didn't enjoy this one as much as some of his other films. It is a much more complex film than its reputation give it credit for. It is also a true horror film in that it focuses more on the psychology of killing and fear, than on blood, guts, and death. The story starts as a love story, turns into a crime drama, and then horror as the Bates motel turns into a death trap. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals some money from her work at a real estate office, and is on the run to escape with her lover, when bad weather means stopping for a night at a motel, run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). The rest of the film is the search for the money, and by default Marion. By the time the truth is revealed, it is weirder than anyone suspected.

Top 26 (+1) of 2006

I guess it's time to make a list. I'm afraid I'll have to be "that guy that likes obscure films that keep him on the level with those 'film types,' and cast out as even thinking of putting Over the Hedge on this list." Let the ridicule begin:-)
note: remember there are films that are still in my Netflix queue that I haven't seen yet (that count as 2006 films even though only 10 film critics got to see them in 2006).
Babel
A Scanner Darkly
Thank You for Smoking
The Departed
The Queen
L’Enfant
The Devil Wears Prada
Little Miss Sunshine
United 93
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Cache
The Squid and the Whale
Casino Royale
Blood Diamond
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
A Prairie Home Companion
Inside Man
The Science of Sleep
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Stranger than Fiction
World Trade Center
The Last Kiss
Clerks II
Superman Returns
The Prestige
Cars
(+1)And an old film (new to me this year) that still hovers in my memory:
Paris, Texas
Also, watching Hithcock's films this year has been a highlight (especially- Vertigo, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Notorious, The Birds)

Scotland, PA - 6

This is a very funny re-telling of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Writer/director Billy Morrissette tells it best in the Special Features: the inspiration for the film came to him when he was in high school reading the play and working at a fast food joint-where he had thoughts of killing his boss. Its a good thing he took it out on the written page instead. He also talks about how those that love Shakespeare and fight for it purity were not impressed, but high schooler's and stoners loved it.
In the small town of Scotland, PA Duncan's is the only fast food place (it's the 70's and Bad Company is the only music that exists in the town apparently) and a mutiny (revolution, overthrow) is soon to take place by Joe "Mac" Macbeth (James LeGros) and his girlfriend Pat Macbeth (Maura Tierney). This film is mostly a comedy, while also ending in the true Shakespearean tragedy that it is. Christopher Walken plays Lieutenant McDuff, who investigates the crime, and is the funniest character in the film.

Whisper of the Heart - 6

Hayao Miyazaki (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds) wrote the screen play for this anime, which is a growing up story of a girl who is discovering her love and gift for imagination, reading, and writing. She soon meets the boy of her dre..., well OK, not "of her dreams" but a friend who is also trying to pursue his love of handcrafting violins. True love takes time to develop, when you're not even in high school yet. It is an interesting tale, and won of Miyazaki's most down to earth work (literally:-), but not his best.

A Scanner Darkly - 7

Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick (more famous for the adaptations of his work made in films like Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck, and Open Your Eyes- which eventually became Vanilla Sky), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Waking Life, Tape, School of Rock, Before Sunset, Bad News Bears, Fast Food Nation) writes this screenplay about a narcotics agent on the search for the source of a highly addictive drug called Substance D. As he soon gets addicted himself it leaves him wondering what reality actually is, and the possibility of losing him"self." It raises questions of surveillance, addiction, truth, and the human condition. I don't want to give too much of the film away other than to say see it- the film is both comic and tragic and does both well. It is in Linklater's famous animation-over-live-action-filming (later: in layman terms that's rotoscoping, yeah, I guessed that too) technique that he used in Waking Life. It also features great performances by Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, and Rory Cochrane. In my top ten for 2006.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - 5

Unfortunately this film was not as funny as I thought it would be (darn expectations, and all the media hype). On the other hand, it seems to raise plenty of intelligent conversation, so I guess I like it. While parts of it were hilarious, I didn't find the biting critique of America so many claimed this film was. I already new that there were idiots out there, and I wasn't surprised. What I did find interesting is that they weren't as dumb or taken by Borat as I had imagined. He says most of the offensive stuff, and people are either pissed off, unresponsive, or just bored. In the end, it was a good laugh, especially the "wrestling scene" (:-). The best thing about the film is that it does raise questions about making films, and in this respect it probably stands alone with little competition (the Jackass films don't count). While I think Sasha Baron Cohen is intelligent, this film is just not quite there yet. In the end, I think the audience is laughing more at the third world and Kazakhstan than at themselves, which I think misses the point and is a shame.

Chocolat - 6

A very slow moving, but good story about a small town in France that is changes and is changed by a Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), that open a chocolate boutique. The film does not try to be subtle in its set up of this entrance as anything but a challenge to the small town's morality, which is tightly controlled by the town founder Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). There is a minor love story, and the film gives you the moral before ending. Good supporting performances by Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Once you decide to stick through the slow developments of the plot a pretty good film (I tried watching this film a few years back, and only made it about 15 minutes in). This film just made a whole lot of sense now that I looked up the director Lasse Hallstrom- who also did What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (an excellent film), The Cider House Rules, The Shipping News, An Unfinished Life, and Casanova.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 2

This film had no plot. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration...or not. Basically it is a bunch of pirates and undead running around trying to almost kill each other (nobody can actually die- its rated PG-13 after all). I'm very glad this was someone else's Christmas gift and not mine! Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley are usually worth seeing in a film, and Bill Nighy knows what he is doing (although its pretty much just his voice with all the visual effects for a face). All that being said hopefully they will start being in other movies soon (that looks to be the case with Nighy in Notes on a Scandal, and Knightley in Ian McEwan's Atonement). This film may be beyond mindless entertainment, I felt dirty and like I had wasted valuable time...well I got a blog post out of it, if that's any consolation. Yeah, the ranking just took another hit (it was at 4 when I started this post, 3 when I mentioned that it was just people running around, and now it is at a dismal 2- for a waste of time). Any reason for it to get a 1? Anyone?

My nephew's movies: Shrek I (7) and II (5), Monster's Inc. (6)

So I am visiting family over here in California, mostly my sister, her husband and their son, Seth. He is currently a big fan of the Shrek films (I blogged about Shrek 2 two years ago around this time- and yeah, a third one does come out this coming summer) and more recently watched Monsters, Inc. I like the original Shrek, mostly because of its originality and its constant dig on the usual Disney manipulation that they seem to feed to kids (OK, so I'm a little jaded), although Shrek probably also contributes its fair share. The second one is ok, but not as good as the first, and I think that Monsters, Inc. may have a more interesting story and some of the jokes for the adults watching with the kids are pretty hilarious. Overall I don't mind these films, although they are starting to get on my nerves as I have seen bits of them incessantly for almost a week. These films are much better in small doses.

west coast travels...

I'm blogging from the west coast these days, as I am visiting family over the holidays here (I even saw the Hollywood sign from the plane). Thought I would mention two music artists to check out (I listened to them on the plane ride). The Hold Steady have a great album called Boys and Girls in America, and Muse has come out with Black Holes and Revelations. Both are pop influence indie rock artists.

Lady in the Water - 5

I'll agree with the "haters" that this is not up to the quality of film
that M. Night is capable, but it doesn't suck either. It does what his other films have done on some level, that is both critique and use genre to make the viewer conscious of their own viewing (I think this is Shyamalan doing his own version of Tolkien and Narnia). In this film, the fault is that it comes off as more didactic than his previous films. Having a film critic get eaten while describing what should happen in a film of this sort, is more resonant with the Scary Movie series, than with an intelligent film. But it lives up to its children's bedtime story theme, which I think our culture has an aversion for, which explains the massive criticisms. The plot is easy to follow, and the characters are believable and fallible, which makes the film make more sense.

The Queen - 7

In August of 1997, the former Princess of Wales, Diana was killed in a car crash while being chased by photographers. Unless you were in a cave that isn't news to you. What this film does is tell the story from the perspective of the British royal family (it is about them, not put out by them), specifically Queen Elizabeth II's restrained initial response, and Prime Minister Tony Blair's persuasive stance for changing times. While this is a fictional account (made weirder by the fact that most of the people in the film are still alive and well), it is a well made character study of how different people respond to traumatic events, and the context that precedes and follows them. It is a complex film that is engaging and human (not trying to forward a conspiracy theory or make anyone out to be pure evil). By the end of the film you are both sympathetic to the royal family as well as wonder what their role should be in the 21st century. Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen give great performances in this Peter Morgan (The Last King of Scotland) script.

Strangers on a Train - 7

Alfred Hitchcock is a genius at directing and making films. I've said it before, and I'm sticking to it (This film makes it 8, with about that many more to see). This film uses the double-sided-ness of the human condition to tell a story of murder and guilt (or lack there of). The main character is the somewhat crazy Bruno, who can't quite draw the line between fantasy and reality. He draws an unsuspecting tennis star, Guy, into a conversation about his recent divorce and the possibility of remarriage. He asks what seems like an innocent and funny question: wouldn't murder solve the problem? Well, yes it would, but it would also be wrong. By the end of the conversation, they suddenly aren't just strangers on a train anymore. Well...I guess that depends on who you ask. The characters are great, the suspense is tangible, and the mystery remains after the last frame. If you don't understand yourself and the human condition better after seeing this film, you weren't paying attention. This film is excellent and truly one of the greatest films ever made. If I made a top 100 list (I doubt this is really possible without a lot of explanation and essay's on each choice), Hitchcock would be on it a lot.

For Your Consideration - 5

While I love most of Christopher Guest's films (especially Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind) this film does not live up to the level of humor that he is capable of. Don't be confused, this is a better film than most that try to poke fun of Hollywood (better than his previous attempt at the subject in The Big Picture). But not as subtle or harsh as Robert Altman's The Player. Collecting a familiar cast including: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Harry Shearer, and Jane Lynch.
It is a biting critique of the cult of the Oscar buzz and the control it can have over people in the film business. Some of the film seems over the top, but then again, TV entertainment shows are usually over the top. The film critics are hilarious. And not to try to play into the plot of the film, but Parker Posey is great in this film and most others too (Oscar worthy?- probably not). Not a bad film, I just thought I would have liked it more (I should keep my expectations in check).

The Conformist - 7

More famous for his Americanized films like Stealing Beauty with Liv Tyler, Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris) is one of the great Italian filmmakers. I'm going to step out on a limb here and say this is probably his best film. This film is about a man whose job it is to kill of people who might be subversives against the fascist regime in Italy during the 1930's. He is the ultimate conformist, doing what others say is the proper course of action. Slow moving at first, it turns into a beautiful commentary on the uncritical choices we make and how the consequences of such choices have an effect on us and our relationships (despite our own denial). It is also beautifully shot, many of the scenes will be in my head for a long time.

An Inconvenient Truth - 5

Pretty simple really. This film is about Al Gore over the course of a year when he travelled the world giving a presentation on global warming. Most of the film is the actual presentation, with some smaller (very small) parts that reflect on Gore's life and family. As documentaries go, it isn't bad, but I think it focuses too much on the presentation at the expense of actually documenting Al Gore, or doing justice to the facts and insights about global warming. It should have choose to either be a film about global warming, or about Al Gore. It seemed like a bit of a stretch to do both. The nice thing about the film is that if flows nicely from scene to scene, maintaining a relatively coherent narrative. The audience gets a picture of what Gore has been doing since winning (uh, I mean losing) the presidential election in 2000. I would have also liked to see the film deal with Michael Crichton's book State of Fear, which makes a counter-argument (complexifies and problematizes) about global warming.

Apocalypto - 5

Or should I say, Mel Gibson's Apocaplyto? The marketing of this film was just weird...Mel Gibson is the only big name, and the previews make this film seem like an action film, which it is...sorta. Granted the marketer's probably had there hands full, with all of Gibson's antics and that the entire film is in the Yukatek Maya language (Another problem associated with this is that I think it makes the audience less suspicious of the fact that this is a fictional account- some of the dialogue is definitely contemporary English translated back into this ancient language). What made this film better than I thought was that the plot is actually (believe it or not) more complex than I thought it would be. It has all the usual film elements; gore, action, a man driven to save his family, an oracle, and other homage's to many previous films. But is it also does give a picture of what the times and historical period might have looked like. An interesting film, but not a great one.
Apparently I'm not the only one conflicted about this film. Here is a quote that somewhat sums it up for me:

"The difference between a great movie and a merely acceptable one often isn’t a matter of what you put in, but what you leave out. "Apocalypto" could have done more with less."

If the film had ended five minutes earlier, I think it would have been a better film.