Dogs Bark

Duke’s Top Ten Movies Reviewed In 2010 - - 31 December 2010

I’ve always been impressed that Jesus timed his birth to be exactly a week before New Year’s. When you’re the boss’s son you can play all styles of self-indulgent street theater. The cool thing was that he left this beat week at the end of the year, punked at both ends by holidays, crypt-like at work, with plenty time to stare up the tile, diddle your pencil . . . and make daft lists.

So here we go in no particular order. It’s interesting to me that two of these came out in the last month and six actually are new releases. That kind of crap makes me almost . . . happy.

The Taqwacores (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/10/thetaqwacores_2010.html

A Prophet (2009)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/10/a_prophet_2009.html

True Grit (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/12/truegrit2010.html

Winter’s Bone (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/07/rocking-the-cradle-ruing-the-world-----winters-bone-2010-----28-july-2010.html

The Curse Of The Cat People (1944)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/07/chiiilll-dren-----the-curse-of-the-cat-people-1944-----14-july-2010.html

Inception (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/07/living-the-dream-inception-2010-16-july-2010.html

The Ghost Writer (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/03/a-poisoned-pen-----the-ghost-writer-2010-----20-march-2010.html

Black Swan (2010)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/12/blackswan2010.html

An Education (2008)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/02/kitty-and-jane-go-to-paris-----an-education-2008-----15-february-2010.html

Forty Guns (1957)

http://dukekona.typepad.com/dogs_bark/2010/01/high-ridin-woman-----forty-guns-1957-----22-january-2010.html

 

 

She Never Asked Me To - - El Secreto De Sus Ojos [The Secret In Their Eyes] (2009) - - 30 December 2010

Recommended. There was surprise last year when Juan José Campanella’s Argentinian thriller, The Secret In Their Eyes, bested an artsy-fartsy The White Ribbon for the foreign-film Oscar.  I thought A Prophet or Ajami beat both of them but this is still a fine picture.  The story interweaves an old murder case with the unspoken affair between an investigator, (Ricardo Darín) and his DA (Soledad Villamil).  The horrifying poignancy of the crime moves Darín to crime-solving obsession and his motivation is forcefully transferred by great acting and strong initial visuals at the murder scene - - all this, perhaps from Campanella’s television training (Law and Order).  What stumbles a bit is the motivation behind the romance. Perhaps we’re too jaded by Hollywood wet dreams to appreciate the subtle film grammar of sexual longing (c.f. The Age Of Innocence).  Whatever . . . it’s usually a bad idea to date the boss, even the lush Ms. Villamil.    

That One-Eyed, Fat Man Rides Again! - - True Grit (2010) - - 23 December 2010

Strongly recommended. Is this a turning point for the Coen Brothers, sometimes criticized as cold blooded and ironic? There’s none of that in their latest triumph, True Grit. This is a perfectly crafted, totally sincere labor of movie love. It should be by now, with long-time Coen Bros. regulars Roger Deakins as D.P., Carter Burwell (score), and the other usual suspects. And what a cast! Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin and Matt Damon, we know and see here what they can do, but it’s young Hailee Steinfeld that really glows. Her perfection as Matty Ross is essential to the movie and she is as mature and self possessed as Bridges or Damon. She’s 14 and this is her first feature.  The story follows the book and 1969 John Wayne film closely, in fact paying a small homage that I’ll let you find (Clue: There’s no failure to communicate here.) A splendid thing to watch.

Did Someone Notice You Missing? - - I’m Still Here (2010) - - 21 December 2010

Not recommended.  It may be unfair to review I’m Still Here now simply because there’s no ambiguity anymore about its origin; however, maybe this allows us a better chance to judge the movie on its own merits . . . maybe like skipping the 3-D glasses during Avatar. Truth is, I simply have no idea how anyone could have been fooled in the first place. Of course, celebrities do sometimes act as insanely stupid as Joaquim Phoenix does in this movie - - his acting’s not the problem. The thing that gives it away is: IT’S BEING FILMED! The idea that cameraman Casey Afflick could allow his own brother-in-law to act so bizarre and never drop the camera is just not credible.  Sean Combs and Ben Stiller also give it away.  Although I support Afflick and Phoenix’s desire to mock celebrity reality shows, this movie just isn’t really that interesting. 

There Will be Dead Toenails - - Black Swan (2010) - - 19 December 2010

Strongly recommended. Whenever I watch Natalie Portman's face, and I do that as often as possible, my first reaction is “What's that girl thinking about?” This is testimony to her expressive intelligence.  But never has the question been as important as in Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar-tracking, hypnotic ballet fable. Portman plays a fragile, neurotic ballerina reaching for her dark side in time to open Swan Lake. Given Aronofsky’s filmographic mania for obsession and bad drugs (Requiem For a Dream, The Fountain), the juice is obviously coming. Natalie’s dark side appeared in Closer, and the impending mutual climax of actress and director creates a fully absorbing tension.  My disbelief was suspended pretty damn high. Of the rest of the cast, Mila Kunis (That 70’s Show) as a slutty, alt-dancer provided the biggest surprise. Black Swan isn’t perfect but never boring and Portman’s Academy Award is at the will-call window.

To The Break Of Dawn, Baby! - - The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009) - - 17 December 2010

Strongly recommended. 'Tis the season for black comedies! The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans is one of the all-time worst-named great movies. Apparently director Werner Herzog wanted to evoke, yet distinguish his movie from, the 1992, Harvey Keitel film. The plot concerns a very corrupt, yet ultimately moral, Louisiana cop - - manically coked up, half-crippled, with a hooker girlfriend and markers to the mob all over town. Did I mention the comedy? Nic Cage blows a second Katrina through the Big Easy, narcissistically stealing from Matchstick Men, Bringing Out The Dead, and several other Caged loons but way over-the-topping them all. Who else could pull off, “Shoot him again! His soul’s still dancing!” Eva Mendes irradiates as his girlfriend, with an neat walk-on from devil-girl, Fairuza Balk (The Craft) and delectable character acting by Jennifer Coolidge (Best In Show), Brad Dourif (Lord Of The Rings), and a splendidly pudgy Val Kilmer.

Stayin’ Alive . . . After A Fashion - - Tony Manero (2009) - - 16 December 2010

Recommended. Tony Manero is an extremely angry, very cynical, incredibly brutal and completely original movie. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like it.  The plot concerns a petty criminal (Alfredo Castro) living in the underbelly of Santiago under the Pinochet regime who becomes obsessed with imitating John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.  As his madness increases, his cold-blooded nastiness similarly escalates, savaging people who accidentally block his ambition and oblivious to the surrounding political horror as people are 'disappeared' right before his eyes. This is another Tony, Scarface, but refracted through Steve Carell. Because, despite the graphic violence and sex, Tony Manero, may be the blackest comedy of this century, making a very grim joke on American complicity in Pinochet's Chile. Obviously, without Castro’s brilliant, minimalist performance, all is for naught. But Chilean director, Pablo Larraín, his strong cast (Paola Lattus, Ampero Noguera), and his rage, take this to higher ground.

 

Anne . . . Sister Anne, Is Anyone Coming? - - Barbe Bleue [Bluebeard] (2009) - - 11 December 2010

Not recommended. Maybe I just don’t get Catherine Breillat (Romance, Fat Girl), the director of Bluebeard. I really don’t seem to like her movies. Take this one. The story is the classic Perrault fairy tale about a guy that’s killing each of his wives, one by one and hanging them in the closet.  Breillat decides to split the narrative between the story and two little sisters, one named Catherine who is reading the story out loud. OK cool, she’s using her childhood memories. However, then Breillat proceeds to . . . change the story!  Not OK. She gives it a meandering beginning with a convent and parents. She invents a courtship between Bluebeard and his bride. And she eviscerates the ending, the best remembered part of Perrault’s tale, substituting a conclusion that’s bizarrely incongruent.  Bluebeard is one of the least Disney, terrifyingly remembered villains. This is not a dude to be messed with.

The Name Is Salander, Lisbeth Salander - - The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009) - - 8 December 2010

Recommended. What’s that blather about life imitating art? This adaptation of the second book of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, is hitting the RedBox machines just as Julian Assange is getting popped - - by the Swedes, no less. Details at eleven, however in The Girl Who Played With Fire, superhacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), is also being pursued by Swedish police while her reporter-lover, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) e-defends her.  Not that little Betsy needs much defending. With either bites or bytes, she’s a pistol, only put off by a massive, pain-resistant, grunt (Micke Spreitz) who has something called ‘congenital analgesia.’ A stun gun to the groin only pisses him off. Yeah . . . stupid. Actually the whole story is stupidly conventional, much like the first. I only recommend it for Ms Rapace’s wonderful reprise of Salander, who, Sean Connery-like, should never be re-cast.

Ship Of Ghouls - - Triangle (2009) - - 3 December 2010

Recommended. This Anglo-Aussie production, despite decent reviews over there, was only lethargically released in the US. Few reviewers wrote anything about it, except for the horror crew. That may be one of the problems. Although the movie was billed as a slasher flic, Triangle is really more of a psychological mystery movie, admittedly including scary elements of The Shining and Death Ship. Enough said, without spoiling the twists. Suffice it that cutie pie Melissa George (Dark City) nicely plays a very confused single mom, caught in a hematically profligate time loop. George gives the character just enough depth to capture us. Writer/director Chris Smith (Creep) starts the movie in a unclear place and fuzzy time, respectfully expecting his audience to knit it together as Ms. George unravels. Several plot elements make little sense but the tight, tense action distracted me and kept my attention throughout. A fun, stylish little yarn.