You’ll all see it for yourselves, so I won’t go into details.
Where I’m coming from; I hate the previous live-action Batman films. All of them. When I was 12, Batman Forever was my favorite movie. It first got me into comics, which in turn made me realize the movie was terrible. I can’t stand the Tim Burton entries, and I’m one of the rare few who doesn’t enjoy the deeply flawed Batman Begins.
The Dark Knight is not The Godfather. Hell, it isn’t even Heat. But it is the greatest live-action superhero film to ever grace the screen. The problems with Begins (editing, pacing, screenplay) are gone, and there’s no big stupid goofy final battle gadget (Spider-Man 2, Iron Man, every other comic movie ever made). It’s very dark, very intense, and full of moral ambiguity. Bravo.
Does it top Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? Not sure yet . . . possibly. That’s a damn fine feat, seeing as how Mask totally rules.
And yes, Heath Ledger gives the performance of the year.
Every year there’s a much-beloved independent film that ends up on my ‘Worst of the Year’ list for turning quirky, by-the-numbers, emotionally empty dreck into the acceptable indie landscape. Little Miss Sunshine and Juno have been my picks of the past, and I thought for sure that The Wackness would take home the honor for 2008. But what I ended up seeing instead was a small, beautiful character piece that actually works.
With a fantastic era-specific soundtrack backing it up (Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.), The Wackness takes place in 1994 New York where Rudy Giuliani’s proposed clean-up of the city becomes an identity-questioning metaphor for the lives of drug dealer Josh Peck and frazzled psychiatrist Ben Kingsley. Their bond is the film’s strange centerpiece, holding together a traditional coming-of-age tale that’s the first of its kind in ages to not feel like a Rushmore rip-off. And it’s about damn time.
So despite its misfired marketing, The Wackness is truly something special - an earnest indie film with real characters that deserves the distinction of one of the year’s very best.
The Wackness is currently playing in Minneapolis at the Uptown Theatre.
China’s Three Gorges Dam, responsible for the displacement of four million people in order to provide much-needed energy, has quickly become a fascinating subject of cinema. First focused on in Manufactured Landscapes and Zhang Ke Jia’s Still Life, Chinese Canadian Yung Chang now brings us his award-winning Up the Yangtze.
This incredibly powerful, poetic documentary follows the lives of workers on tour boats that cruise along the Yangtze River in China to look at the abandoned ruins which will soon be flooded by the Dam. The main focus is the struggle of a poor village family being affected by the project, contrasting the surreal, gaudy ridiculousness of the tour boat and its customers. It’s a complex and moving look into collateral damage that never turns preachy, providing remarkable insight into modern Chinese life and its wavering, uncertain future.
Up the Yangtze is currently playing in Minneapolis at the Lagoon Cinema.
I’m not a huge fan of Guy Maddin. While it’s great that someone out there is still making films in the expressionistic silent film style, I’ve never felt his work has had much soul. But now Maddin’s turned completely inward for his self-described ‘docu-fantasia’ My Winnipeg, a blending of fact and fiction that’s both hilarious and heartbreaking.
The film is told through strung-together tangential thoughts as Maddin tries to leave his hometown of Winnipeg by train, haunted by the city and his past as he does so. In order to grasp a greater understanding of what’s led him to this point, Maddin hires a fake family to reenact pivotal moments of his childhood. Mixed in with these are stories of Winnipeg itself that range from truth to local myth to outright, whimsical lies.
This could easily be seen as a comedy of sorts, but the film’s deeper layers show when Maddin rants and raves about what has happened to the city he’s known all his life. Old buildings steeped in memory are closed and torn down, building up a new Winnipeg devoid of the personality now only faintly remembered through his tales. It’s a feeling all too familiar in this modern world where history means nothing to booming consumer culture, and Maddin attempts to grasp onto what was lost and what it all meant.
Now that the year’s half over, I thought I’d take a look back at the best films of 2008 that bypassed theaters and went straight to DVD. Because it’s unfair to not include these films on a ‘Best Of’ list just because they didn’t hit theaters, I count them in the year that they were available to first be seen as long as there’s only a one or two year difference from when it was originally made. Okay, here we go . . . 5 Centimeters Per Second
The best film I’ve seen all year. Makoto Shinkai strings together three connected short films about love, loss, and nostalgia in perhaps the most beautiful animated film I’ve ever seen.
Appleseed: Ex Machina
Another gorgeous anime, this time an intense sci-fi cop thriller. Far superior to the Appleseed movies preceding this, the insane action sequences are balanced well with a surprising amount of quiet character scenes.
Nightmare Detective
Legendary director Shinya Tsukamoto’s nihilistic horror film about a cop surrounded by brutal suicide cases who feels an outside force is at hand, and brings in a ‘nightmare detective’ who can walk in dreams to help. Tsukamoto’s most accessible film to date is also one of his best.
Ploy
This is even trickier to categorize . . . it hasn’t reached the U.S. in any form, and may not ever. In this case, if the film looks to not be reaching our shores, I count them in the year that the bootleg becomes available as long as it’s only a year or two difference between its foreign release.
This new film from the director of Last Life in the Universe that takes place in the early morning at an upscale hotel as a relationship slowly falls apart. A few scenes steal heavily from Lost in Translation, but the dreamy mood of the piece is quite unique. You can watch it HERE.
Summer Palace
The film that got its director banned from making films in China for five years due to the first full-frontal nudity in (mainstream) Chinese cinema and using real footage from the Tiananmen Square incident, this follows college students around that time in history dealing with love against a backdrop of political unrest.
I’ll keep this short, as spending too much energy on being furious about this just isn’t worth it. In case you haven’t heard, Entertainment Weekly’s been listing what they think are the New Classics . . . the 100 best of the last 25 years. The ridiculous music list, for instance, is HERE (congratulations Prince).
As I scrolled through their movie list, I assumed it was only meant for American films, as there wasn’t a foreign film in sight. That is, until #28, Wings of Desire. How many more films made the list that don’t feature the English language? Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (#49), The Lives of Others (#56), All About My Mother (#69), Y Tu Mama Tambien (#89), and In the Mood For Love (#95).
So. Out of the 100 greatest films of the last 25 years, only six came from non-English countries. And even those that made the list weren’t as good as Shrek or Casino Royale.
On behalf of the rest of the world, Entertainment Weekly, fuck off.
The legacy of Dreamworks’ Shrek is a mighty awful one . . . turning American animated films into a slew of crude pop-culture references, outside of Pixar and a rare few other bright spots. I’d long since written the company off, and the awful trailers for Kung-Fu Panda did nothing to change my mind. But when I heard it was a throwback to the old Shaw Bros. films, that was enough to earn a hesitant try.
And wow. Just . . . wow. No crude humor. No pop culture references. Nothing. Just damn fine storytelling that feels like an old, awesome Sammo Hung flick. Gorgeous CG backdrops, exciting fight sequences that hold up to the best of live-action martial arts, and a surprising amount of zen wisdom interjected throughout all come together to make this work.
I’m thrilled that Dreamworks has stepped up their game to this level, completely out of nowhere. I’m always concerned about the state of American animation, as it’s constantly in danger of sinking to less-than-desirable quality, but if Dreamworks continues on this level, we might finally have another animation studio worth watching. Kung-Fu Panda - Trailer That Does No Justice
Mamoru Oshii’s revolutionary anime Ghost in the Shell will soon be returning to the theaters under the title of Ghost in the Shell 2.0. Not to be confused with the actual sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, this re-release will include new visual effects, 3D, new dubbing, and a rerecorded 6.1 soundtrack.
No release information concerning America right now, and it would be a shame if this doesn’t end up here on the big screen.
UPDATE - See comparisons between the old and new versions HERE.
I’m finding myself on the defensive end of many films in 2008, from Speed Racer to My Blueberry Nights to Be Kind Rewind, and now The Fall. Critics seem to have amped up their cynicism, this time questioning director Tarsem’s intentions behind his incredible visual style. It’s strange to be in the corner of this filmmaker, as there are few films I hate more than his debut The Cell, but The Fall is a pure, genuine labor of love.
Self-funded, written alongside a five-year old, and filmed in 18 different countries over the course of almost as many years, The Fall is a dark, whimsical fairytale with breathtakingly vivid locales, colors, and framing. It ultimately boils down to the wonder of cinema as visual storytelling, something that Tarsem is in full understanding of.
While the substance of the film may seem small in comparison to the style, it does its job just as fine as classic fantasy films like Thief of Bagdad and the Sinbad series. Audience opinion will likely hinge upon the largely-improv performance of young Catinca Untaru, who is the best actress I’ve seen so far this year. Tarsem is just as in love with her and Lee Pace’s stuntman character as he is with his visuals, and their relationship keeps the film from being merely an overlong music video.
In a time when most fantasy films are Lord of the Ringsknock-offs, The Fall recalls the best of that cinematic genre’s past, when there was truly a sense of deep love and magic at play.
Every once in a while a film is released that, while not a cinematic classic, knows exactly the type of movie it’s trying to be and because of that understanding, excels at being the best. I call this the “Torque Phenomenon,” and it’s exactly what the Wachowskis accomplish with their quasi-live-action update of Speed Racer.
On first glance, the film is all about the visuals. Filmmaker Werner Herzog once said that we are surrounded by worn-out images, and that we must create new ones. Make no mistake, Speed Racer has those new images in spades, presenting a vibrant visual flair that’s never before graced a movie screen. Even though you might not be able to process what you’re seeing, it’s still always riveting, goofy excitement.
But that’s not all - the movie backs up its style with surprisingly well-done substance. While the plot is by-the-numbers, the Wachowskis know you’ve seen this all before and zip by what could have easily dragged the film down to instead focus on building character. Speed Racer’s message of family works so well because filled with characters worth caring about without ever feeling too dumbed down, a true rarity in this type of film these days.
Speed Racer probably wouldn’t survive well with nitpicking, but it never tries to be There Will Be Blood . . . it’s simply the best live-action kid’s film since Danny Boyle’s Millions, and that’s more than enough.
Opening this week in the Twin Cities, finally, is Wong Kar Wai’s English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights. What we have here is the most frustrating film of the year, a movie so flawed in so many areas that I hadn’t planned on writing something up for it as a Favorite New Film. And yet, I’ve just been unable to get it out of my head.
The biggest downfall of the film is the dialogue, which isn’t too surprising. The best parts of Wai’s past films have been the intricate, detailed language and observations, and with little command of this new language he’s working in, he’s had to resort to more obvious and glossed-over speeches and characterization.
Apart from the stellar New York cafe scenes between Norah Jones and Jude Law, the film lacks the necessary depth to its emotional core. While Jones’ adventures in Memphis with the always-amazing David Straithairn fit right into the feel of the film, Natalie Portman’s father-hating gambler storyline seems completely out-of-place.
Those aforementioned Law/Jones scenes, however, are classic Wong Kar Wai, with the couple talking throughout the night about the meaning of forgotten keys and blueberry pies. Straithairn’s storyline also never stops being engrossing, despite it speeding by a bit too fast (probably due to the 20 minutes cut from its original Cannes debut).
The highest reason for recommendation, with this being a Wong Kar Wai film, is that it’s more beautiful than anything you’ll likely to see for the rest of the year. While the absence of cinematographer Christopher Doyle is sadly noticeable, the film still utilizes strange camera angles, slow-mo, and neon lights to their fullest extent. Wai’s vision of America is uniquely his own, rich with melancholy and nostalgia, and a lot of the style feels like Fallen Angels‘ whimsical segments more than anything else.
My Blueberry Nights is certainly Wai’s fluff film, introducing audiences slowly to his unmistakable style, and that in itself makes it one of the weakest in his filmography. But the film is unforgettable regardless, and is one of the better American romances in recent memory.
Two films of note opened this weekend in Minneapolis, the first being Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to the wonderful Station Agent called The Visitor. By all accounts, this movie shouldn’t be half as good as it ends up being. The trailer plays up almost-wacky audience-friendly fare, and the deportation plot screams soapbox politics. But McCarthy being the confident director that he is, he manages to avoid all of the obvious pitfalls and makes one of the most nuanced films of the year. All of the performances are incredibly natural, especially Richard Jenkins in his subtle, award-worthy performance as bored, aimless Walter Vale.
A lot of exposition is left for the audience to decipher, usually with the scene cutting before what would be expected from a narrative film, or with the scene missing entirely. McCarthy doesn’t take his audience for idiots, and proves it also by avoiding (for the most part) heavy-handed preaching in regards to the post-9/11 treatment of immigrants.
The depiction of New York, however, it what sold the film for me. Rarely has the city been portrayed so dynamic and true, in both the beautiful urban settings and the intricate blending of multiculturalism which makes it so special. While the film certainly won’t be remembered first for this reason, dare I say it rivals the best of Woody Allen and Spike Lee in being a love letter to the city. The Visitor - Trailer
Planet B-Boy, Benson Lee’s documentary on b-boying’s place in (literally) the world of hip-hop, is quite remarkable for exceeding the bounds in which the documentary genre has pigeonholed itself into in recent years. Ever since the success of 2002’s Spellbound, an increasingly high number of docs have followed the formula of a particular subculture phenomenon that leads to a particular battle - which Planet B-Boy follows by the numbers. However, whereas most other films keep characters and events at surface-level that reduce the material to mere quirks, Planet B-Boy brings focus and humanity to everyone involved.
The film begins with a brief overview of the rise and fall of b-boying - started as part of the hip-hop movement and almost killed by 80s pop culture (deeming it ‘breakdancing’) - before delving into its diverse modern culture, with unique styles forming all over the world. The main focus becomes four teams vying for the top spot in the annual Battle of the Year: America, Japan, France, and South Korea. Through the awe-inspiring talent of these teams, b-boying is showcased as an ever-evolving and legitimate dance form of self-expression.
Planet B-Boy goes the extra mile when it manages to introduce every member of the teams, delving into their particular strengths, personalities, and lives in general. You come to care about these people and their dreams, and root for them every step of the way as they battle it out to be number one. And what a battle it is . . . Japan’s Ichigeki in particular puts on a show that”ll most likely be the most awe-inspiring cinema I’ll see all year.
While brisk and easy-to-digest (it’s no Standard Operating Procedure, to be sure), Planet B-Boy’s non-stop energy and endearing characters makes this rise far above the realm of superficial filmmaking.
Planet B-Boy is currently playing in Minneapolis at the Lagoon Cinema. Check HERE to see where else it’s playing.
If there’s anywhere to pinpoint as a major new force in world cinema, it’s Romania. Within the last three years, a ‘New Wave’ of sorts has hit the country, mastering natural performances and extremely long camera takes that have resulted most notably in The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and 12:08 East of Bucharest, some of the very best films in their respective years.
Another stunning achievement to add to the list, now, is 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2007 Cannes.
Here in the Twin Cities the film is currently playing at Landmark’s Edina Cinema.
