Children of Men - 7

In this dystopian story, loosely adapted from the novel by P.D. James and directed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu mama tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), the world in 2027 has seen the loss of all human fertility. The most recent news is that the youngest person on the planet, an 18-year-old “Baby Diego” has just been killed, and Great Britian is a police state, with many refugee camps. Into this situation, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) soon finds himself caught up with a rebel group that is run by his former wife, Julian (Julianne Moore). At first he is unsure of their motivations, but it seems important and serious. Eventually Theo is let in on the secret; the group is trying to protect, Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a refugee woman who has become pregnant. Theo soon becomes the sole protector who can possibly get Kee to The Human Project. Theo’s friend, Jasper (Michael Caine), is the spiritual advisor of the film, talking about how faith, hope, and love are connected in this drive to save Kee, and possibly be the only hope for humanity.
The weight of the story is intense- it is a picture of the future with very little hope. The intensity it intentional, but it is lightened by some humorous dialogue. Politically this film has many parallels to films like V for Vendetta and Blood Diamond, both of which make a critique of contemporary culture in America.
The film focuses on the tension between the masses that have lost hope in a future and the apathy and violence that has escalated because of this and the hope that Theo and those that see Kee as a possibility of a different future. Throughout the film it is this “miracle” alone that can awaken the value of life and hope (the parallels to the gospel are pretty apparent). The film ask the important question: Is life possible without hope?

Little Children - 7

This film is part satire about suburbia and part drama. Adapted from the novel (2004) by its author, Tom Perrotta (Election), and directed by Todd Field (In the Bedroom), they have made a film that is an intense look at the dynamics of human relationships. At times it is poking fun at the absurdity of mechanical relationships, while also showing the tenderness and need for authentic relationships.
The story revolves around a small community, with its outward social norms, governed mostly by the stay at home mom's as they get out by taking their children to the local park and swimming pool. These norms are put to the test as a stay at home dad changes the dynamics, as well as the pedophile who has finished his sentence. What starts a funny film with hilarious voice overs about the absurdity of the characters, soon turns into a heart wrenching drama, when you realize that sympathy for the characters are possible. These are not cardboard cut outs, they are complex people, who in there attempt to make sense of life begin to act more and more like...well, little children. This film is great at making you laugh at yourself, as well as reflect on the deeper parts of what makes us human: those things that we all too often turn away from, and deceive ourselves.
Great performances by Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Phyllis Somerville, Jackie Earle Haley, Noah Emmerich, and Jennifer Connelly.

I Confess - 7

This is an amazing film. Not only is it directed by Hitchcock, but the story is subtle and intriguing. A murder is confessed to, Michael Logan (Montgomery Clift),a catholic priest. Logan then must keep the man confidence, even as he becomes the prime suspect, the only way to clear his name casts more suspicion and doubt, as his alibi is a former love (Anne Baxter- a great performance), from before his days as a priest. The only way for the truth to come to light is if the real murder will confess. Like most of Hitchcock's films, I Confess hovers between genre's using elements from noir, suspense, and drama to tell this intricate story, that keeps you guessing. This is a must-see.

The History Boys - 6

While this film is going to get some references to being Dead Poet's Society II, it is in fact not. It does take place at a school, and is about a group of smart students...but the comparisons end about there. The film is much more a comedy (with seriousness just under the surface in the early scenes in the film) and developing into a drama as the characters develop from kids into maturing adults. This is a very British film, it has that sort of humor, wit, and sincerity. The story develops as a boys prep school allows its smartest students to have its own classes as they prepare for the testing and interviewing needed to get into Oxford and Cambridge, the most reputable universities in England. They have an old professor who is interested in them learning a broad spectrum of the humanities, with a new, young teacher who is suppose to teach them the politics of "getting in." The tension between these two approaches challenge the boys, as they try to answer the fundamental question: "what is the relationship between learning and life?" This film does a perfect job of being funny and serious about both the mundane and the esoteric. It never comes off as preachy or over-dramatic, while still intelligently engaging important questions for conversations about the purposes of education.
This is the film version of the popular play that has been playing in the UK since 2004 by Alan Bennett.

Wonder Boys - 6

Adapted from the novel by Michael Chabon (an adaptation of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh comes out later this year) and set and filmed in Pittsburgh, this film tells the simple and complicated story of an English professor, Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas), who has just gotten divorced and whose life seems in shambles as he is still working on a book that seems to never have an ending. Amidst all this, a flirtatious student (Katie Holmes) is renting out a room, his gay editor (Robert Downey Jr.) shows up with a transvestite friend, and his best student (Tobey Maguire) needs his help. While mostly a character study of the story is full of funny situations and deep conversations about writing and life. Ultimately the theme of making choices emerges and each character comes to realize that the consequences of their choices are important and need to be made decisively if they are to be happy. In the end, Grady decides to write his own life- committing to the mother (Frances McDormand) of his child and abandoning his addictions.

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.