Welcome once again to that wonderful post-Oscar tradition known as the Paulies. Unlike the Oscars, this top-10 list will not feature two over the hill movie stars spitting on the corpses of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, a nonsensical NPH musical production, or Ben Stiller in blue body makeup (though it will hopefully elicit more forced laughter). Also unlike the Oscars, the Paulies will be shorter this year. I am finishing up work on The Aughts Project (a list of the best movies of the decade as voted upon by my friends and family members) and I’d like to get it posted before the next decade ends. So, this year I am going with an illustrative quote from the movie and a couple of (hopefully) pithy lines instead of my usual rambling diatribe. Check back in the next day or so for the Aughts posts…or, better yet, sign up as a follower of The Paulies and get notified whenever there is a new post.
As always, my usual disclaimer applies: I am not a professional critic and I didn’t see everything this year (despite my best efforts). Some notable movies I missed are: Summer Hours, The Blind Side, Sin Nombre, Antichrist, The Road, Julia, The Last Station, Broken Embraces.
Best Film of 2009
1. The White Ribbon (Theater): “I wonder if the events of those days and our
silence about them, weren't the germ of the tragedy toward which we were heading. Didn’t we all know secretly what had happened in our midst? Hadn’t we, in a way, made it possible by closing our eyes?” In my opinion, 2009 was a fairly weak year for movies overall. There were some good ones but very few that screamed “classic.” The White Ribbon is the one movie I saw that I am certain will be regarded as a cinema treasure for years to come. Michael Haneke deftly explores the roots, not only of Nazism, but of the social evils that spring from any sort of overly oppressive social system. In the guise of a whodunit, he excoriates the moral authority derived from blind adherence to the edicts of repressive organized education, religion, and government. These are not new themes for Haneke but, in The White Ribbon, he brings them together in a more powerful and cohesive fashion than ever before.
2. The Hurt Locker (Theater): “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” Well, the Academy finally got one right. Kathryn Bigelow’s sly re-working of the warrior/hero archetype was one of the most intense and sneakily subversive movies of the year. The fact that it knocked off James Cameron’s bloated box office behemoth has to be seen as at least a small victory for cinema lovers everywhere.
3. Inglourious Basterds (Theater): “…I think you show great talent. And I pride myself on having an eye for that kind of talent. But your status as a Nazi killer is still amateur. We all come here to see if you wanna go pro.” History may be written by the victors but it is re-written by the directors. In Tarantino’s cinema tinted world, the evil acts of the Nazis were still committed but their perpetrators don’t get to slink away to Argentina
4. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans
5. Up (Home): “Adventure is out there!” At this point we should all just expect greatness from anything with the Pixar name attached to it. The studio has been riding a hot streak (with only a brief Cars related hiccup) for the entire decade and, in my opinion, Up is their crowning achievement. Not only is Up a great adventure story, it featured some the most well developed and relatable characters of any movie released in 2009…and the early framing montage packed an emotional punch that Jason Reitman only wishes he could pull off.
6. Moon (Home): “I hope life on earth is everything you remember it to be.” Sam Rockwell gives the performance of his career as a man nearing the end of a solitary three-year stint on an isolated lunar base. What would inspire someone to take on such an assignment and could anyone stay sane long enough to see it through? And why oh why is there a Kevin Spacey robot with an emoticon for a face on the base? You won’t get any spoilers from me.
7. Goodbye Solo (Home): “You want me to take you on top of some mountain where you no meeting nobody and you no coming back? Why d’you wanna do this?” An aging good old boy hires an African cab driver to take him to the top of a mountain and leave him there. So, its not your usual road trip buddy movie. Instead, you get a heartfelt look at the American experience through the eyes of one man who is just starting to integrate himself into the fabric of the country and another who has seen about as much of it as he can stand. Two terrific performances by Souleymane Sy Savane and Red West highlight the film (I’ll let you guess which one is the cab driver and which is the good old boy).
8. Sugar (Home): (Something in Spanish…sorry, I already returned the DVD and there are no good quotes posted online). A lot of Major League Baseball’s shady dealings (e.g. PEDs, competitive imbalance, Bud Selig) get a lot of press but the issues surrounding the signing of Latin American talent are rarely addressed. Sugar follows a Dominican pitching prospect as he tries to deal with the expectations and pressures of assimilating to life in the U.S.
9. In the Loop (Home): ”Don't get sarcastic with me, son. We burned this tight-arsed city to the ground in 1814. And I'm all for doing it again, starting with you, you frat fuck. You get sarcastic with me again and I will stuff so much cotton wool down your fucking throat it'll come out your arse like the tail on a Playboy bunny.” Who says all British wit has to be dry? In the Loop is a razor sharp, foul mouthed, political satire from across the pond with more insight into the democratic process than 100 hours of CNN political coverage. Its also the funniest movie of the year.
10. Gomorrah Gomorrah America …though I wonder if he would have been as eager to give it a wider audience if its young thugs were obsessed with Jimmy the Gent instead of Tony Montana.
Honorable Mentions: Police, Adjective, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Paranormal Activity, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Where the Wild Things Are, Avatar, Not Quite Hollywood
Best Director: Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon: Haneke is one of the best directors working today. His Cache, Time of the Wolf, and The Piano Teacher were among the most important films of the past decade. The White Ribbon is his opus.
HM: Quentin Tarrrantino, Inglourious Bastards; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker; Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are; Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rahmin Bahrani, Goodbye Solo.
Best Actor: Sam Rockwell, Moon: Sam Rockwell spent most of Moon talking to himself and a Kevin Spacey robot in a space station…and yet the movie was compelling enough to rank 6th on this year’s list. Even in a year full of strong performances, that extra degree of difficulty gives him the edge over the rest.
HM: Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: POCNO; Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker; Souleymane Sy Savane, Goodbye Solo.
Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: I almost put Precious on my “most overrated” list below…but I just couldn’t do it. While the movie itself was more Lifetime Movie of the Week than Best Picture Nominee, the performances of Sidibe and Mo’Nique elevated it to another level. Sidibe took a role that could have easily descended into melodrama and lent it a heart rending gravitas and that deserves recognition even if the movie itself was flawed.
HM: Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan; Maria Onetto, The Headless Woman; Sasha Grey, the Girlfriend Experience; Carey Mulligan, An Education.
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds: Just a fantastic performance. No one else was even close.
HM: Peter Capaldi, In the Loop ; Red West, Goodbye Solo; Kevin Spacey, The Men Who Stare at Goats
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious: See above. If anything, Mo’Nique’s role was more difficult than Sidibe since she had to play the ostensible cause of much of Sidibe’s pain. A tour de force.
HM: Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Bastards; Lorna Raver, Drag Me to Hell;
Most overrated Films (henceforth this award shall be known as the “Jason Reitman” in honor of the self important director of this year’s “award” winner Up in the Air and 2007 “honoree”, Juno).
1. Up in the Air: So, Reitman, we meet again…you have directed three movies and two have been heaping piles of overrated crap. Supposedly, this lackluster tale of personal disconnection and detachment amidst Middle American economic turmoil is a “tale for our time.” I really hope it isn’t. Because I’d like to think that “our time” is a lot more interesting than the mashup of corporate stereotypes that make up George Clooney’s character (and this isn’t a knock on Clooney…I loved him in both Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Men Who Stare at Goats this year). I’d also like to think that “our time” will find a third act that doesn’t fall flat on its ass…though in that regard, art probably does imitate life. Finally, the layoff interviews at the end of the movie were Academy pandering at its most blatant…and sadly, it worked. In sum, this is why the award is named after you now Jason.
2. A Serious Man: Joel, Ethan what did I do to you? All I have ever done is heap praise on your films (well, except The Ladykillers…and we are going to pretend that never happened) and yet, after I saw A Serious Man, I was convinced that you both hate me. I’m not a particularly sensitive movie goer (I keep giving Lars Von Trier chances after all) but watching your latest film was akin to being tied down and pissed on for two hours…and I’m just not into that. I get it if you needed to work through some issues with your upbringing, I get it if you wanted to retell the story of Job, I even get it if you wanted to eschew any notion of story or plot while doing so. What I don’t get is why anyone liked it. Don’t worry though…I’ll be back…I can’t stay mad at you for long.
(Dis) Honorable Mention: Crazy Heart
Baz Luhrman/Dogville Award for the Absolute Worst Film of the Year:
Jennifer’s Body: Ok, I’m a sucker for horror films and cult movies and the bad ones usually don’t make their way into this category (since I usually try to limit it to films that were shooting for some kind of artistic accomplishment) but Jennifer’s Body was just that bad. For some reason Diablo Cody decided to squander her Juno cachet to write a movie that centered around Megan Fox being turned into a demonic succubus via a botched ritual performed by a careerist Indie band. It might have had midnight movie potential had her characters even once shown some bit of self awareness and had the dialogue not reeked of the worst, quippiest parts of Juno. Not even Megan Fox (Worst…actress…ever) and Amanda Seyfried making out could save this from the bottom of the trash bin…and that’s saying something.
(Dis)honorable Mention: Cold Souls
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