Blu-ray visions

I bought a Blu-ray player this month. The image quality is so much sharper and fuller than standard DVDs. Here is some of what I have seen. Some movies I catch myself just looking at the image rather than watching the story. But having worked in film preservation this is not such a bad thing. There are some great looking films out there.

Godards Socialism

A teaser to Godard's new film.

Hot Chip Statue

The art on the new Hot Chip CD cover reminds me of a scene from the movie Ulysses' Gaze as well as Landscapes in the Mist both by Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos. In both movies there is a scene where a large statue is being moved by a crane and later a ship.

Similar posters

One of these posters is sort of like the other.

Oscar noms

Which of these do not belong?

1. “An Education”
2. “Avatar”
3. “The Blind Side”
4. “District 9”
5. “The Hurt Locker”
6. “Inglourious Basterds”
7. “Precious”
8. “A Serious Man”
9. “Up”
10. “Up in the Air”

Or which ones do?
If you look at the five films for best director you get a better idea of what the five would be if there were only five.

1. Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
2. James Cameron (“Avatar”)
3. Lee Daniels (“Precious”)
4. Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
5. Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)

Miller on Hoffman

Arthur Miller gave a lecture on politics and the art of acting back in 2001. He had this to say about running into Dustin Hoffman on the street in 1966.

- I remember running into Dustin Hoffman on a rainy New York street some years ago; he had only a month earlier played the part of the Lomans' pale and nervous next door neighbor Bernard in a recording session with Lee Cobb of Death of Salesman. Now as he approached, counting the cracks in the sidewalk, hatless, his wet hair dripping, a worn coat collar turned up, I prepared to greet him thinking that with his bad skin, hawkish nose and adenoidal voice some brave friend really ought to tell him to go into another line, of work. As compassionately as possible I asked what he was doing now, and with a rather apologetic sigh he said, after several sniffles, "Well they want me for a movie." "Oh?" I felt relieved that he was not to collapse in front of me in a fit of depression, "what's the movie?"

"It's called 'The Graduate,' he said.

"Good part?"

"Well, yeah, I guess it's the lead."

In no time at all this half-drowned puppy would have millions of people at his feet all over the world. And once having ascended to power, so to speak, it became hard even for me to remember him when he was real. Not that he wasn't real, just that he was real plus. And the plus is the mystery of the patina, the glow that power paints on the human being.

Best films of the Decade

Best films of the Decade lists:

AV Club
Time Out London
Time Out New York
Glenn Kenney's top 70
TIFF Cinematheque [and here]
Michael Atkinson
Filmmaker Top 25
Reverse Shot Decade list
Flicks top 50
IndieWire Best of the Decade Poll
Sydney Film Happenings
The Guardian 100 best
Cinema Becomes Her
Tim Robey [The Guardian] Top 100
Dusty Somers
Michael Hawley
Jon Bowman Fin de Cinema
Ty Burr's 33 best
Scott Foundas
Mike D'Angelo
Shooting Down Pictures
Radiator Heaven
Wonders in the Dark Top 50
Sight & Sound 30 Key Films
Filmicability 101 Best

This is an ongoing post that I'll add to as more film lists come along.

Toad

Toad - 1971

Cotton Wood Hill
A Life That Ain't Worth Living
Tank
They Say I'm Mad
Life Goes On [10 min of the song]
Pig's Walk
The One I Mean

Lost Island of VHS...

Deep End - Jerzy Skolimowski - 1971

This is one of the better 1970's cult films that remains unreleased on DVD. It is a darkly humorous, disturbing and ultimately tragic coming-of-age tale [sort of] about a teen-aged boy (John Moulder Brown) who gets a job in a gritty London bathhouse where he meets and falls in love with one of his female co-workers (Jane Asher). What starts as merely flirtatious becomes a bit more obsessive for the boy who seems too young and naive to understand the nature of such affairs.
What's striking about the film is the natural way the actors respond to one another and the unique setting. The direction, on the other hand, is actually quite tightly controlled showing the training director Jerzy Skolimowski received from the Lódz Film School, which in the 1960's was considered stylistically one of the most disciplined film schools in the world.*

Unique scenes - full of funny and interesting conflicts - arise again and again throughout the film making for a very entertaining story until its very strong ending.

The film gives the viewer a different view of 'swinging' London [complete with porn theatres and dark rainy streets] as well as one with a non-formulaic view or the that world.

VHS is super rare on this one but DVD-R's can be found on some web sites.

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*[And tough to get into. It took Krystof Kieslowski three tries].

Older Film Discoveries 2009

Here are eleven great films I finally caught up with in 2009.

Day of the Outlaw [Andre de Toth, 1959] - Good drama and tough as nails characters that reside somewhere between Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah.
Mr Thank You [Hiroshi Shimizu, 1936] - A delightful almost plotless Japanese film that captures a moment in pre-war Japan.
The Misfits [John Huston, 1961] - Dated drama but somehow still powerful; especially considering the fate of the three leads.
Odd Man Out [Carol Reed, 1947] - Bleak and beautiful fate of a man no one wants to help - this film is perfect.
Pigs and Battleships [Shohei Imamura, 1961] - The mad post-war world of lowlifes and gangsters in Japan all running around together in a most entertaining film.
The Rabbit is Me [Kurt Maetzig, 1965] - East German film about a young woman who falls in love with a judge who is unwittingly handling her case.

Sopyonje [Kwon-taek Im, 1993] - A man's mad obsession with the purity of art leads to tragedy.
Il Sorpasso [Dino Risi, 1962] - A comedy that somehow manages to transcend humor and hit the viewer in the heart.
Two English Girls [Francois Truffaut, 1971] - Jules and Jim set in the Victorian era with two women and one guy.
Variety Lights [Frederico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada, 1950] - Early Fellini comedy with a cast of crazies - plenty of signs of the wild films to come.
Wichita [Jacques Tourneur, 1955] - Mythical western that unfolds beautifully.

Rohmer

Eric Rohmer 1920 - 2010

Man, I love Eric Rohmer films. His style is unmistakable. Talky but not preachy, humorous but not reaching for laughs, dramatic but not overly so. He presents people as relatively close to regular people with thoughts about relationships, ethical and moral behavior verbalized. In some ways he was the least celebrated of the French New Wave directors and yet his style is among the most unique and recognizable of any French filmmaker other than Jean Luc Godard.

Sixteen of his films fit neatly into three categories over five decades.
Six Moral Tales [60's and 70's] in which men almost leave the women they love for another but then come back.
Comedies and Proverbs [80's] in which [younger] women characters come of age and men are there to witness and talk with them about it.
Tales of the Four Seasons [90's] - Characters find their inner peace.

In between and after these series of films Rohmer often made films that had nothing much in common stylistically with his films including some that were unique historical narratives, such as Perceval, The Lady and The Duke and [his final film] Romance of Astrea and Celadon.

My favorites are:
My Night At Mauds
Claire's Knee
The Green Ray [aka Summer]
Full Moon in Paris
A Tale of Autumn.

But, really, I like all of his films to some degree or another. I have always savored each one of his films slowly because I didn't want to run our of new ones to watch. But, alas, there will be no more new ones to add to the list. However, there are a few I still have yet to see. Plus, it is a pleasure to go back and see the older films too.

The Auteurs has many links to articles on Rohmer and his films.

Police, Adjective

Conscience
Moral
Law
Police

Cinema 2009 Lexicon

Moments in movies 2009.
In the tradition of these guys I present some memorable moments in 2009 films.

Falling ash from the forest fire that seems to sprinkle down on the audience in Avatar.

Nicolas Cage and Val Kilmer in Bad Lieutenant stand looking on and time seems to freeze as an iguana standing on an office desk takes over the scene.

The loneliness of the future designer in Coco Before Chanel as she wanders down each night in the mansion looking to fit in only to escape back to her room.

Carrey Mulligan looking through the glove compartment of her 'fiance's' car in An Education coming to the harsh realization that things are not what they seem.

Paul Schneider sympathetically looks out the window into the winter yard at Abie Cornish in Bright Star recalling a similarly framed scene in Citizen Kane as he is about to reveal to her that the love of her life has died.

Using saliva to clean bullets covered in blood in The Hurt Locker.

Peter Capaldi in In The Loop: "Sorry, sorry, I know you disapprove of swearing so I'll sort that out. You are a boring F, star, star, CUNT!"

The violence and meditation of chopping wood in Revanche.

The two rice cooker gifts in 35 Shots of Rum that tie the film's beginning and end.

Isabelle Huppert scratches the back and belly of her daughter and son in Home as they sit in a field under a tree enjoying the one moment of peace they have had since the traffic took over the neighborhood.

A rabbi spouting lines from Jefferson Airplane in A Serious Man.

The cardboard cutout couple that George Clooney takes with him in Up In The Air to photograph in various locations representing the only favor he can tolerate to do for his family.

Arta Dobroshi's irrational and impulsive striptease in Lorna's Silence that leads to her making love to a man she has seemingly hated up to that point.

The night shootout in the forest in Public Enemies as light flickers off of trees and bodies fall.

Liam Neesen in Taken: "I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

The lovers in Jerichow - tragically - getting exactly what they wished for.

Hellen Mirren's explosively, dramatic, dinning room plate crashing scene in The Last Station that quickly turns from serious to humorous after she falls down and reveals that she is lying on a fork.

The explosive properties of nitrate film in Inglourious Basterds.

The fate of the family's art nouveau furniture in Summer Hours.

Penelope Cruz in Broken Embraces entering the room, looking at the video footage of herself, lip synching what she said when the scene was filmed - before turning and leaving the room.

Best Music of the Year

So what about the best music of the year?
Ummm, look, I won't pretend to make a 'best of' music list for 2009. One is because I am not a music critic. Two is because I don't buy near enough music in any given release year to make my opinions on the year worthy. You want that go to music review sites such as Cokemachineglow, Pitchfork or Tiny Mix Tapes.
However, I do buy a good amount of music from previous years to be able to make a list of music I really liked and 'discovered' this year.
So here goes. I'll start with six I liked from 2009. After that each album and artist listed will have the year of release next to it.

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Exploding Boy After Glow - Great Swedish rock album that has yet to get a release in the US. Enjoyable while driving.
Healamonster & Tarsier Cupcake Cave - Catchy electronica pop.
Memory Tapes Seek Magic - More catchy electronica pop.
Odawas The Blue Depths - Quiet and beautiful this album would probably qualify as one of the unsung bands on this list.
White Lies (self titled) -Majestic Brit-rock, at once heady and catchy.
The XX (self titled) - Mummblecore rock at it's best and despite a pretty straight forward style they create a unique sound.


Catherine Ribiero + Alpes Paix [1972] - This one sort of snuck up on me. Ribiero is sort of a French Patti Smith.
ZZ Top Tres Hombres [1973] - Yeah, yeah you've heard them before. But most likely you have only heard their late 80's stuff. This one is their first album and it is great blues-rock.
Thin Lizzy Jail Break [1976] Theatrical heavy metal from the 70's. A band I sort of ignored for years.
The Rosebuds Life Like [2008] This would qualify as the second most unsung band on this list.
Moscow Olympics Cut the World [2008] - Think a Filipino New Order. Beautiful shoegazer sound. Tough to find.
Il Mucchio (self titled) [1970] No list is complete without 70's Italian psyche prog rock. I found a used copy on Amazon.
Tear Gas (self titled) [1971]- Early 70's hard blues rock band that time has forgotten. I found this on a hard rock 70's music blog.

Good unreleased films 2000 to 2009

Here are the some of the better films I saw this decade that did not get regular distribution in the US. By regular distribution I mean films that did not get a week long theatrical play date in New York and/or Los Angeles.
All of these films could have been seen at festivals and some had a two day run at places like the Anthology Film Archive in New York - and most all are available on DVD.

Of course, there are many, many more films that could make this list. But this is a list of what I managed to see [and like] over the last decade.


Battle Royale [2000]
Be With Me [2005]
La Captive [2000]
In The City of Sylvia [2007]
Johanna [2005]
Mysterious Object at Noon [2000]
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich [2000]
Photos to Send [2002]
Secret Sunshine [2007]
The Silence Before Bach [2007]
Turning Gate [2002]

Best films 2008 & 2009

This decade flew by and the films kept coming. But here we are at the end. Will these films hold up in ten years? Perhaps. I enjoyed them at the time.
>2008
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days...
Alexandra
The Edge of Heaven
Man on Wire
Red Belt
Tell No One
Time Crimes
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Waltz with Bashir
Woman on the Beach
Yella


>2009*
Avatar
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Beeswax
Il Divo
In The Loop
Flame & Citron
Jerichow
The Last Station
Lemon Tree
Revanche
Soul Power

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*Subject to change a bit...

Best films 2006 & 2007

Just past half way with the decade in full swing plenty of good titles were being released.
>2006
Army of Shadows*
Children of Men
The Departed
Half Nelson
Miami Vice
Mountain Patrol: Kekexili
La Moustache
Notes on a Scandal
The Prestige
Thank You For Smoking
This Film Not Yet Rated
Tzameti
* a 1969 film finally released in the US.


>2007
After The Wedding
Atonement
Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Eastern Promises
Juno
The Lives of Others
Michael Clayton
Offside
Once
Planet Terror [full version]
There Will Be Blood

Best films 2004 & 2005

Mid-decade had plenty of good films. In fact, maybe too many. It is tough narrowing it all down to only 10. So I'll just include as many as I feel are necessary.
>2004
Blind Shaft
Bright Leaves
Collateral
The Corporation
Distant
Dogville
Enduring Love
Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hero
Moolaade
Notre musique
Reconstruction
Secret Things


>2005
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
The Best of Youth
Campfire
Capote
The Devil's Miner
The Edukators
Forty Shades of Blue
Head-On
A History of Violence
Kontrol
Munich
The New World
Tropical Malady

Best films 2002 & 2003

Early in the 2000's the films were going strong.
>2002
The Fast Runner
Femme Fatale
I'm Going Home
Intacto
Late Marriage
Read My Lips
Sex and Lucia
The Sleepy Time Gal
Spirited Away
Talk to Her
War Photographer
Y Tu Mama Tambien


>2003
demonlover
Divine Intervention
The Fog of War
Japon
Lilya 4-Ever
Lost in Translation
The Man Without a Past
The Man on the Train
The Mother
Rivers & Tides
The Son
The Station Agent
Veronica Guerin

Best films 2000 & 2001

The only way to consider what the best films of the decade were is to make a list of the top ten [or so] year by year.
It was a heck of a good decade. I'll do one post each day this week.
>2000
Aimee & Jaquire
Beau travail
Croupier
The Girl on The Bridge
Humanite
Human Resources
The Idiots
It All Starts Today
Pollock
Ratcatcher
Traffic
Yi Yi
Wonder Boys
You Can Count on Me


>2001
Amelie
Amores Perros
La Cienaga
Chunhyang
Code Unknown
The Gleaners and I
In The Mood For Love
Last Resort
The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
Memento
Mulholland Drive
Under The Sand
Wisconsin Death Trip

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I will try to be consistent with one rule and that is the film needs to have been released for a regular run in either NY or LA the year it is listed. If it played at a festival or was released in another country in an earlier year then it does not count until the year it gets an actual release in the US.