Thursday, December 22, 2005

Top 10 Movies of 2005

Well this was certainly an interesting year at the theater. Overall ticket sales took a big hit this year as DVD and home theater sales soared to new heights, while studio executives continued to bury their heads in the sand from an evolving industry and assume that the product simply wasn’t up to snuff. Well I’m here to present a list of ten films that pose a pretty big argument against that sentiment. Without further ado, I give to you my top 10 movies of the year.

10 Walk the Line
I’ve never really been that into Johnny Cash’s music, and biopics do not usually top my must-see list, so although I was interested to see the reportedly phenomenal performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, I did not expect to like Walk the Line as much as last year’s Ray. What the promotion didn’t tell me was that this film forgoes the usual “greatest hits” approach to biopics and is instead a love story. Few on-screen romances feel as earned as the one presented here, and I felt genuinely happy when Johnny and June finally work things out.

9 Jarhead
Despite what you may have heard, this movie is not anti-war or pro-war, and it takes no overt political stances. It’s simply one man’s account of his experiences during the first Gulf War. What you bring away from it depends entirely on what you bring with you into the theater in the first place. Myself, I saw a very eye-opening discussion on what happens when a person is trained to be a killer and how that affects them when they have nothing to kill. It’s also one hell of a beautifully shot film. Who knew there was so much to see in the middle of the desert?

8 Elizabethtown
The most critically lambasted film on my list. I’ll be the first to admit that Elizabethtown is self-indulgent and completely unrealistic, but it’s also the most honest and personal film I saw this year. This one tanked at the box office, but I’m willing to bet that anyone who watches this movie with un-jaded eyes will fall as hopelessly in love with it as director Cameron Crowe is with his record collection.

7 War of the Worlds
Somewhere in the past few months it became fashionable to trash this film even though it was widely praised by critics and scored the summer’s second highest box office take. It might not hold up quite as well outside of the visceral theater experience, and yeah the ending sucks, but this is classic Spielberg here, which even on an off day tops pretty much every other blockbuster filmmaker ever. I see this one becoming for kids today what Jurassic Park was for my generation.

6 Sin City
If you took a quick look at all the films on this list, you’ll notice that I have a predilection towards movies that are visually stimulating. If I was making the list solely on that criteria, there’s a good chance this one would top it. Put simply, this is the coolest movie I’ve seen in a long time, and while it might not have the depth of say Schindler’s List, I’ll bet you find yourself revisiting it quite a bit more. For anyone with a love of classic cinema and a strong stomach.

5 The Constant Gardener
By far the best of this year’s smart, political films, The Constant Gardener is much more than your run of the mill Oscar-baiting Hollywood “liberal porn”. It’s equal parts murder mystery, love story, and scathing criticism of the world’s military industrial complex (in this case focusing on the prescription drug industry), which if I’ve done my math right should provide something of interest for just about everyone. While other recent films mining similar material had me checking the time and fidgeting in my seat, this one kept my eyes glued to the screen the entire time and offered incentive for me to keep up with it.

4 Oldboy
The first of two cheats on my list. It opened in the US in 2005, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s eligible. This movie is a hand grenade. It goes off without warning leaving death and devastation in its wake. The less you know about it going in, the better. Just know that you are not prepared for this movie (which is what makes for such a great experience). Imagine David Fincher’s Korean counterpart directing a revenge movie that would make the Bride’s roaring rampage of revenge from Kill Bill look about as vicious as a housecat. I’ll say no more, just trust me on this one. (note: The DVD default is dubbed English audio. I highly recommend switching to Korean audio with English subtitles).

3 Batman Begins
Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a huge comic book fan. Well, in this fan’s opinion, this is about as perfect a superhero movie as you can make. First forget everything you remember from the last two Batman movies. Then forget everything you remember from the first two. This one trumps them all. I still love the operatic take on Batman from Tim Burton’s 1989 film, but Begins does a much better job of capturing the character and the world of the comic. Anyone who’s getting sick of the comic movies, but liked the Spider-man and X-Men movies should definitely put this on their list to see.

2 Layer Cake
If you like Guy Ritchie’s gangster films (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch), chances are you’ll like the directorial debut of his producer, Matthew Vaughn. What I did not see coming was how much better I’d like Layer Cake than those films. Since Reservoir Dogs, there have been more Tarantino clones than you can shake a severed ear at. Vaughn is the first follower I’ve seen who actually approaches QT’s flash and style without overtly ripping him off. Before seeing Layer Cake I was disappointed that Vaughn left the production of the third X-Men movie. After seeing it, I was downright devastated. On the bright side, my favorite movie mutants are not going to be needed to have me eagerly awaiting this young director’s next effort.

1 Corpse Bride
When I reviewed this in September, I called it the best movie I had seen all year, but to be perfectly honest I did not expect it to top this list. Admittedly Corpse Bride probably has the most narrow appeal of any film on this list, so as far as recommendations go, I’d feel more comfortable steering people towards the other movies on here. In all honesty I don’t even remember the film that well, but I do know that there was no other movie this year that I walked away from as head-over-heels in love with. After watching The Nightmare Before Christmas again this past Halloween and enjoying it every bit as much as I did the first time, I have little doubt that Tim Burton’s latest masterpiece will see the inside of my DVD player just as much. What can I say? I’m just a sucker for dead girls constructed out of clay dancing to Danny Elfman music.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2006

So now that you know what my favorite movies were this year, what am I looking forward to for next year? You might want to grab a pen, because these are 10 films you are not going to want to miss (Angry Talkbacker takes no responsibility for movies that should be cool and end up sucking).

10 The Da Vinci Code
As of right now I know nothing about this movie beyond the basic premise and the fantastic team they have working on it (director: Ron Howard, stars: Tom Hanks, Amelie Tautou, Ian McKellan). I also know that it’s based on the most popular book of the century not starring a boy wizard, but I’m hoping to find out as little else as I can before it hits theaters in May.

9 Sin City 2
It’s not often you see a sequel released the year after the original, but if anyone can do it, it’s the fastest man in Hollywood: Robert Rodriguez (with 2 films in between no less). Like the first one, I know pretty much the whole thing going in, but hopefully there are still a few surprises in store. If nothing else, I just want to see another beautiful picture in glorious black and white with splashes of red in all the right (and wrong) places.

8 300
300 is another Frank Miller adaptation (like the aforementioned Sin City), this time set in ancient Greece. The film is being directed by Dawn of the Dead helmer, Zack Snyder and is being shot in a style similar to that other Frank Miller movie. I doubt it will top Sin City, but I’m intrigued to see how they use the techniques developed there, as I think there will be quite a future with filmmaking of this type. Plus it’s got a great story to work from.

7 The Departed
Martin Scorcese’s latest marks his return to the gangster genre with a cast that just screams all-star (Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson among others). Over the past year I’ve become a big Scorcese fan, and I’m hoping that this one finally gets him that statue he’s more than earned.

6 V for Vendetta
I was skeptical about this one at first since past adaptations of Alan Moore’s work has been beyond abysmal (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell), but the early word on V has been ecstatic. By all accounts, first time director James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers (officially listed as producers, but rumored to be taking a very active part in production) hit this one out of the park. This is going to be a political firebomb when it’s released, and will be the topic of endless debate, and I for one can’t wait.

5 Grind House
This is actually 2 short horror films directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez (think Four Rooms meets From Dusk Till Dawn) with several fake trailers in between. What the final product is gonna look like is anyone’s guess, but any new material from QT (not counting that “presented by” crap) always has me excited.

4 Southland Tales
This is the second film from Donnie Darko director, Richard Kelly. I have no idea what it’s about (despite my best efforts to find out), and it seems that no one else does either. That shouldn’t sound too surprising to anyone who’s seen Donnie Darko though as Kelly’s work defies any description. It seems that Kelly has gone out of his way to cast actors against type in this film (The Rock, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, the list goes on), so I expect a lot of people will dismiss this one outright when they see who’s in it. From what I’ve heard from people who read the script however, this will be one of the most revolutionary films to come out of Hollywood in years. Or it could just be a big mess, I’ll be eager to find out either way.

3 Zodiac
Director David Fincher’s first film since Panic Room sees him return to the subject of serial killers. Fincher’s last foray into that subject matter, Se7en is one of my favorite films ever, and supposedly this one makes that movie look like a bucket of sunshine and kisses, which makes my head spin just thinking about it. It also sports a great cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo.

2 X3
OK, so the buzz on this one has not been the greatest, but it’s X-Men dammit. Of course it’s gonna be high on my list. Despite reservations regarding the director and script, we already know we’re starting out with a dead-on perfect cast, and I for one thought the trailer that was recently released looked awesome. Besides, we’re getting Beast and Dark Phoenix. How cool is that?

1 Superman Returns
A quick tally shows that 5 of this top 10 represent adaptations of comic books, so was it any surprise that this would top the list? Watchmen aside, this represents the holy grail of super-hero movies. Sure we’ve already had 4 Superman movies (including 2 great ones), but this is the first movie in the era of modern blockbuster filmmaking to star the greatest pop culture icon of all time. Not only that, but we have the director of arguably the best super-hero movie ever at the helm in Bryan Singer. Add that to the fact that they seemingly read the collective fandom’s minds with the casting of an unknown in the role of Clark and Kevin Spacey as criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor, and you have a recipe for a film that seems destined to make the list of all-time top grossing movies.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

King Kong Review

First things first, I’d like to apologize for not coming through with a Narnia review. My life became considerably busier the week it opened and I simply didn’t have time to write one up. In any case, it is a wonderful adaptation and I would highly recommend it to any fan of the book, especially those who read it as a child. As for the subject of this review, I’m starting to wonder if the gods of cinema heard my mocking of this seemingly imaginary box-office slump in my Harry Potter review and answered with King Kong. Before Kong had even been released media outlets were proclaiming it the savior of the film industry. If the initial figures are any indication however, those proclamations were a bit premature. As I type this, film industry analysts and studio executives are waiting for the final weekend tally to see if it’s a modest disappointment or an out and out flop. The sad thing is that this wouldn’t even be such a big deal if the picture wasn’t so damn good. Don’t act so surprised. It’s true, remakes usually suck. A good general rule is the better the original movie, the worse the remake will be, and the 1933 King Kong was and is one of the greatest films of all time. Well forget all you know about remakes, because Peter (Lord of the Rings) Jackson’s Kong is a more than worthy re-imagining even if it falls short of the film-nirvana of the original Kong and the Lord of the Rings series.

Right now analysts are scrambling everywhere to figure out the reason for the shockingly low opening, and like most I’m going to throw my own two cents in. For whatever reason, Kong is drawing awful audiences. I’ve seen the film twice now and both times the theater was filled (though it was far from full) with loud, obnoxious theater-goers that would seem more at home watching 2 Fast 2 Furious or whatever terrible teen-horror movie was out that week. I had such a bad time opening night that I had to wait until I had seen it a second time to write a review, because I knew that I couldn’t honestly rate the movie based on that experience. If this has anything to do with why more and more people are skipping the theater and waiting for DVD, then I can totally understand. The thing is, the film really does demand to be seen on the big screen, so if you’re like me and get annoyed by people who can’t keep their mouths shut (no, I most certainly do not expect a silent theater), go to a mid-week matinee or see it three weeks from now when the crowds have died down, but do not blow the film off. But enough about that stuff, let’s get into some specifics. The thing most people seem to be hung up on is the length. At 187 minutes, Kong 2005 is about twice the length of Kong 1933, but in this critic’s opinion the film does not drag and keeps a brisk pace throughout. Sure there’s plenty I would cut (Mr. Hayes and Jimmy’s storyline in particular adds nothing to the movie and pretty much goes nowhere), but I never found myself getting bored, even during the long voyage to Skull Island. I’d be lying though if I didn’t say that the film really gets going once they do get to the island. While the first act is certainly entertaining, the rest of the film is just non-stop excitement straight through to the closing credits. I remember thinking that they showed a little more than I wanted to see in the promotional clips they give to talk shows, but the truth is no matter how much you see in the trailers and clips, you’ve only scratched the surface. Still not convinced? Oh, I get it. Yeah, I was a little taken aback when they cast Jack Black as film producer, Carl Denham too. This isn’t manic funny-man Jack Black though, this is the less seen dramatic actor Jack Black, and he honestly does a damn good job. However, the character didn’t quite land with me the way I wanted him to (through no fault of Jack’s). This problem lies with Jackson and his script-writers, who made Denham a little campy at times and ultimately unlikable when his true colors are revealed. Now I’ve heard both sides on this issue, but when you get down to it, the Denham in the original was just a driven showman. Jack Black’s Denham is a complete and utter bastard, which effectively robs his final line of any resonance since you loathe the source so much (the line was scripted for the original Anne Darrow, Fay Wray before her death). If Denham was a bit of a step down from the ’33 version, Adrien Brody’s Jack Driscoll is a huge upgrade. While the original Driscoll was a chauvinist pig and a cardboard cutout of a character (who even gets the girl in the end), the character we get here is much more sympathetic and heroic. If you’ve seen The Pianist, you already know how great an actor Brody is, so I won’t dwell too much, except to say he’s as good here as you’d expect. The real revelation is Naomi Watts. She’s been deservedly gaining more and more notoriety in recent years, but with this performance, we’ll be seeing her take off into the stratosphere. Like the two previously mentioned, Watts’ Darrow is a bit of a departure from the original character. In this case I wouldn’t call the tack they take better or worse, simply different. Whereas the original Anne Darrow saw Kong as a monster to the very end, Watts’ Darrow develops a symbiotic relationship with him over the course of the film. This choice changes the whole dynamic of the film’s conclusion, and though I can’t say that it tops the original, it certainly works here. And I can’t go through the major characters without hitting upon the star of the show. I am of course talking about the titular character, the 3000 pound gorilla, King Kong. Gollum may have held the trophy for “most lifelike special effect” for a few years now, but I can say without a doubt, that title now belongs to Kong. There is not a second that Kong is on screen where you don’t 100 percent believe he is there, and there are a couple scenes where if you don’t feel sorry for that monkey, you’re reading the wrong blog. Kong isn’t the only fantastic special effect in this film though (just the best one). The dinosaurs (particularly the V-Rexes) look as good or better than the ones in the Jurassic Park series, and the Kong/V-Rex battle is one of the best action sequences ever put to film. I might also let anyone who has bug-issues know that there are going to be some scenes in there that you absolutely hate. While the effects may not be perfect 100% of the time (the humans aren’t blended in so well in a few scenes), they are certainly among the best I’ve seen in a film so far. One visual I wasn’t as taken with was the slow motion “Jackson-cam” shots, which show up at least once too often. I’m all for directors bringing their own style to a film, but in this case I feel it works against the movie and takes the viewer out of the moment. There’s one scene in particular where we get a slow-mo montage of the characters accompanied by a voice-over that not-so-subtly mirrors them, where I could’ve sworn we were listening to Gandalf talking about elves and hobbits. Thankfully none of these complaints touched the finale in New York. If the film takes off when it gets to Skull Island, New York is where it finally touches the greatness I was waiting for. I really can’t describe what it was about the New York sequence that hit me just right. It’s simply a great payoff for a long ride (though the Empire State Building scene runs a tad long). So there you have it. Is it a perfect film? No, far from it, but it’s easily worth $9 and 187 minutes of your life.