It's that time of year again when film critics, bloggers and movie fans pick their favorite films
of the year. I'm no exception. The films I've chosen are on my list for a very simple reason: I loved them and would be happy to sit thru them a second time. They either touched me emotionally and made my cry or hit my funny bone and made me laugh and smile. Some even did both.
All in all, it was an OK year for movies. There were far too many sequels and big studio wannabe blockbusters and far too many adaptations from comic books. Enough already. Fortunately, enough foreign films and character driven independent films to satisfy my appetite were released.
The list is totally subjective. Some films I saw were well made and featured excellent performances but lacked that intangible something or other that makes a film (for me) special.
Here's my list of special films from this past calendar year:
10. THE ARTIST ---- A valentine from France about the American film industry in the late
1920s when sound was making silent films obsolete and in this
story - done without any sound or dialogue until the end - threatening
the career of one of the era's popular stars who refuses to accept the
fact that silent films are history. The film borrows from A Star is
Born and Singing in the Rain and features 2 terrific performances by
the leads - Jean Dujardin and Berenice Beio. Plus an adorable terrier
dog who all but steals the film. Truthfully, the novelty of no sound
started to wear thin about half way thru, but I stuck with it
and glad I did because the last 10 minutes are fabulous. You will
leave the theatre with a smile on your face.
9. SARA'S KEY ---- Also from France but in both French and English, based on the best
selling novel by Titiana de Rosnay and starring the always terrific
Kristin Scott Thomas who plays an American journalist living in Paris
in 2002 who sets out to discover what happened to one of the survivors
of the 13,000 Jews who were rounded up by French officials in Paris
on July 16, 1942 and sent to German concentration camps. The story
meanders back and forth between the present (the least compelling
moments in the film) and 1942 (brilliantly rendered and incredibly
moving). I didn't read the book but my sister did and she said the
film adaptation was actually more involving than the novel.
8. 50/50 ---- One of the few American films on my list, a delight from beginning to
end, starring one of my favorite actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and one
of my least favorite (Seth Rogen, who is terrific playing Gordon-
Levitt's best friend). Written by Will Riser and based on his battle to
overcome a diagnosis of Cancer and subsequent surgeries. Also
terrific turns by Anna Kendrick as his therapist and Angelica Huston
as his mother. I loved this film. Another one to leave a smile on your
face.
7. BEGINNERS ---- written and directed by Mike Mills and featuring an Oscar worthy
performance by Christopher Plummer who comes out of the closet to
lead an openly gay lifestyle in his 70s after his wife has died. Ewan
McGregor, vastly underrated and always good, plays his son who tries
to overcome his inability to have a successful relationship with his
girlfriend while coming to terms with his father's lifestyle, terminal
illness and boyfriend. You will laugh...you will cry (ouch).
6. WE WERE ---- This wonderful documentary by David Weissman is about the AIDS
THERE epidemic in San Francisco in the late 1980s and is mainly accomplished
by interviewing 5 people who were intimately involved in the care of
many of the more than 15,000 who died in hospitals and hospice care in
the city. There are moments of great tenderness and humor and it
made me proud to be a member of the gay community that rose to the
occasion and met adversity with courage and love.
5. WAR HORSE ---- Yes, it is overproduced a la The Color Purple and features an awful
score by John Williams, but Steven Spielberg knows how to involve us
in a BIG film and I am a sucker for any movie about a horse. I started
tearing up 10 minutes into the film and by the end I was sobbing (tears
of happiness, kana hora). Just like the ads say, it is MAJESTIC,
GORGEOUS, POWERFUL and HEARTFELT. In lieu of seeing the
Tony award winning play on Broadway, this will do.
4. THE TRIP ---- A road comedy about an actor (Steve Coogan) who is asked by The
Observer (London newspaper) to tour the country's finest inns and
restaurants and takes along his 'best friend', fellow actor Rob Brydon.
As the 2 travel around, sampling fine cuisine and getting on each
other's nerves while doing competing impressions (Michael Caine and
Al Pacino among others), they also learn in the end the real nature of
friendship and fame. Coogan and Bryon are brilliant and fucking
funny. I loved this movie.
3. EVEN THE
RAIN ---- From Spain, a great film (I think) starring one of my favorite actors,
Gael Garcia Bernal. A film within a film concept about a film company
that travels to Bolivia to make a movie about Christopher Columbus
and his exploitation of native Indian populations during his journeys to
the New World. Meanwhile, a multinational corporation is attempting
to privatize the town's water supply and several of the locals who have
been cast in Bernal's film (He plays the director) get involved in the
increasingly violent demonstrations against the corporate intruders.
IF it is Spain's entry in this year's race for best foreign film, it deserves
to win the Oscar.
2. HEDGEHOG ---- based on the French novel (The Elegance of the Hedgehog), I saw this
film twice in one week so what does that tell you. About a concierge (a
stunning performance by Josiane Balasko, one of France's leading
actresses) in a pricey apartment building who befriends a precocious
11-year old girl who lives there and has announced (to the audience)
that she intends to commit suicide at the end of her current school year
and is herself befriended by a wealthy, retired Japanese businessman,
a new occupant in the building. Cynical and sentimental, I was sobbing
at the end of the film. To say I was 'vaklempted' would be an
understatement. I read the book after seeing the film and was still moved
to tears at the end. I loved this movie.
NOW A LITTLE DRUM ROLL, PLEASE AS I ANNOUNCE MY FAVORITE FILM OF 2011:
1. NOSTALGIA
FOR
THE
LIGHT ------ This brilliant documentary from Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzman
blew me away. It takes place in the Atacama Desert where atop mountains
astronomers gather to observe the stars and the boundaries of the universe
thru gigantic telescopes while below on the ground surviving relatives,
mostly women, search for the remains of bodies that were
dumped and buried there by the Chilean army after the military coup of
September, 1973 (yup, we supported the anti-Communist ruthless regime
responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men and women).
Beautiful, meaningful and deeply moving, NOSTALGIA FOR THE
LIGHT remains fresh in my memory many months after seeing it and
was my favorite film of the year.
Honorable mention movies include: MARGAIN CALL, A DANGEROUS METHOD, HUGO,
THE DESCENDANTS, BRIDESMAIDS, LE HAVRE, WE BOUGHT A
ZOO, MOZART'S SISTER, INCENDIES, MONEYBALL and the first
15 and last 15 minutes of MELANCHOLIA.
The worst America film I saw last year was without a doubt, hands down: TREE OF LIFE
The worst foreign film I saw last year was UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS
PAST LIVES (Thailand)
The 2 worst films that I didn't see last year were LARRY CROWE and NEW YEAR'S EVE.
That's all folks. It's a wrap. See ya at the movies.
The 3 worst films that I saw last year without explanation
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