My Top Eleven of 2011

 

 

11.  Weekend
dir. Andrew Haigh

Weekend is an unsentimental story of two men meeting and spending a weekend getting to know each other over booze, drugs, sex and conversation.  The lead character is Russell (Tom Cullen), a barely out and very reserved gay man.  While it seems his friends know he is gay, they are all straight, and Russell keeps his gay life, consisting of one night stands, very separate from the rest of his life.  It is clear from the first scene that Russell is a deeply unhappy man and his quasi-out lifestyle is hindered mainly by his lack of self worth.  Luckily he meets Glen (Chris New) at a gay club and the one night stand turns into a crush that is able to develop over one weekend, before Glen leaves the UK for school.  I loved this movie for how realistic and relatable the two men's connection was.  The acting and script are realistic and sincere without any forced cuteness or cheap emotional manipulation.  The true heart of WEEKEND lies in the attraction the men have for each other, beyond sexually, and the ways in which their connection helps bring Russell out of his deep denial and toward finding a passion for an honest life.  A great addition to gay cinema, WEEKEND feels like you are witnessing a small slice of life that gets deeper into human connection and loneliness than do most love stories. (I suggest watching with subtitles because the thick accents are hard to follow at times.)  

10.  Meek's Cutoff
dir. Kelly Reichardt 

MEEK'S CUTOFF follows a group of settlers in 1845 who find themselves lost in harsh conditions in the middle of the Oregon desert.  The group has allowed a man named Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to be their guide, but as they wander for days with little water and no food, suspicions begin to arise from many in the group, which leads to a divide in trust.  This trust is tested to a larger degree when the group finds and takes hostage a Native American man they come across.  His treatment and fate is left to the group, most of whom fear he is a savage that will bring the rest of his people to kill them if they let him go. One of the women in the group, Emily (Michelle Williams) becomes very disturbed by the poor treatment of the Native, and begins to become increasingly untrusting of Meek.  Trust is a huge theme in MEEK'S CUTOFF, as well as the exploration of gender roles.  The women in the couples have next to no say in their fate, as all decisions are made by the men, and most important conversations happen out of ear shot of the females.  Director Kelly Reichardt captures the women's lack of voice by keeping the focus largely on them.  It also captures the brutality the families face out in the desert as they venture farther into starvation and dehydration, making them all the more paranoid. While very slow-paced--the opening shot is of a wagon crossing a river for almost five minutes-- the desperation and helplessness that build through the entire story stick with you long after the sudden ending and silent credits.  While the movie is not long, better to watch this one when wide awake.  

  

 9.   Jane Eyre

dir. Cary Fukunaga 

I read JANE EYRE when I was thirteen years old, and loved the gothic tone and strong main character.  Over the years I have seen several adaptations of the novel and always found them a bit dull.  Part of the problem with most of them is how much they feel like a movie version of a novel.  The trickiest part of adapting a successful movie from a classic novel is the ability for the screenplay and feature to have their own voice.  A book is long and full of details, and can never all be fit into a film, so choices must be made:  what to focus on and what to trim (or write out completely), and this version of JANE EYRE does a wonderful job of feeling complete and fresh.  The biggest difference this version has from its predecessor is the time it puts into the relationship Jane (perfectly played by Mia ) shares with the young pastor St. John (Jamie Bell) after leaving Thornfield Hall in heartbreak. This film spends more time on the latter part of the story and much less on her awful childhood, which most of the previous movies spend a great deal of time on, and it allows this movie to feel unique. Of course, I can't deny that one of the biggest draws for me with this movie was my introduction to Michael Fassbender, as Rochester.  Some critics feel he is much to good looking for the role, but I think he was perfect.  His smoldering good looks, only slightly hidden under the scruffy facial hair, kept me excited for the two lovers to connect, and his take on the character is spot on.  This version also plays down the somewhat disturbing sado-masochistic relationship between Jane and Rochester, making their love a more comfortable story to watch.  The locations are beautiful, the pacing is perfect and Dame Judi Dench plays the delightful Ms. Fairfax, rounding out the superb cast.  

8.  Martha Marcy May Marlene
dir. Sean Durkin  

This is a movie that got a lot of buzz at Sundance last year, and started a lot of hype for new actress (and younger sister of the Olsen twins) Elizabeth Olsen.  For some reason, after its theatrical release, although critics seemed to like it, its hype died down and talk of Olsen getting an Oscar nomination went away.  I, however, loved this movie.  The story is of a young woman (Olsen) who joins and escapes a cult, but becomes increasingly paranoid that people are coming for her.  It is not told chronologically, instead it is woven together, jumping around in time, floating between memory and present tense.  The bulk of the movie is Elizabeth Olsen who is terrific, her strong work defining Martha's emotional journey keeps the movie centered and focused, taking the audience with her into a deranged state of suspicion and fear. The scenes of the cult are creepy as hell. John Hawkes, skinny as a skeleton, plays the nasty cult leader creeping on all the young girls. However, the creepiest scenes in the film are of Martha after escaping, with her sister and brother-in-law.  She is damaged worse than they are willing to acknowledge, and her odd behavior seems to become more and more threatening.  MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE  is as engrossing as it is unsettling.  It has an ending that divides people. I thought it was perfect, and it kept me thinking about the movie for a long time.  And, yes, cults are real creepy.   

7.  Belle Epine

dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

This was my favorite film I saw at last year’s Seattle Film Festival.  It is French and the first feature from  the female director.   BELLE EPINE is sad and beautiful, with a killer score, lots of nudity, and a strong performance from young lead Lea Seydoux as Prudence, a 16 year old girl struggling with the sudden death of her mother and near abandonment by her father.  Prudence is a lost child; her inability to process the losses pushes her into wild and destructive behavior.  She meets Maryline, another girl her age, in a police station when both are stripped and searched on suspicion of shoplifting.  When released (evidence was hidden too far up for discovery) Prudence invites Maryline to her apartment, where she lives alone, and offers her a key in exchange for a social life. Prudence knows Maryline hangs with a group of bike racers and she wants in.  Soon wild parties are being thrown at Prudence's apartment and she begins dating a very cute biker named Franck.  Sadly, he seems only interested in sex, and she seems more interested in spending time with his mother (a heartbreaking scene with her trying to get affection from this women, who seems distracted and uninterested, is the most painful scene in the movie). I wouldn't call the ending happy by any stretch, but another death towards the end does seem to trigger something inside Prudence, and it ends with the suggestion that she might be ready to look into her own losses and begin to move forward.   

6.  A Separation
  dir. Asghar Farhadi

A SEPARATION takes place in present day Iran, and is a fascinating window into a country many of us know very little about.  It has strong characters, and most of them are female.  The movie develops all of the characters wonderfully, and is able to make them complex, fully realized people.  The main character is  Nadar (Peyman Moadi), a middle class, liberal man, who shares his home with his teenage daughter and father, who is very sick with Alzheimers.  His wife, Simin (Leila Hatami), has recently left him because of his refusal to leave the country with her and their daughter.  Raizeh (Sareh Bayat ) is hired as a maid, to take over the wife's former responsibilities.  She brings her young and adorable daughter with her to the apartment and both are nervous around the elderly father.  On her first day the father wets his bed and she struggles with the decision to wash him or not, in her religion is is wrong for her to touch a man that is not her husband, but the man is helpless.  Raizeh does wash him, and keeps the job because she has no choice, she is poor and her husband is unemployed.  Things get complicated and several bad decisions lead to a legal mess which leads to more problems and more misunderstandings.  In the end that is what A SEPARATION is about:  people who are struggling, are unable to listen to each other and see that life is not black and white, not guilty or not guilty and that religious convictions and pride can get in the way of healing.

5.  Hugo
dir. Martin Scorsese

HUGO is the story of a young orphan boy who is all alone.  Played by newcomer Asa Butterfield, Hugo spends his days living behind the clocks of a train station and spying on all the people around him.  He works on the clock, which he was taught to do by his drunk uncle, who has since abandoned him.  Good at fixing machines, Hugo is hard at work trying to fix a mechanical man found by his father shortly before his death.  Hugo hopes that when fixed this machine will be able to answer the question that haunts Hugo:  where is his place in the world?  Luckily Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), who befriends and helps him.  Together they are able to get the automaton working, which only raises more questions, mainly about her guardian, a grumpy toy store worker who made movies in the past, but wants never to remember them.  HUGO is one of two movies on my list shot in 3D, and it makes the world come to life.  Director Martin Scorsese uses the 3D to elevate the cinematography and story, never making it distracting or gimmicky.  I cried a lot in HUGO, and felt really excited afterwards, the way great cinema should make you feel.  

Martin Scorsese has said he made the movie for his twelve year old daughter, who loves the book it is based on, and I wonder if he realized how secondary her gender is in the story.  While Chloe is great, her character is there mainly to support Hugo through his journey and help him find a place in the world. The three other females in the cast are simply the love interests of men and their purpose is to support the men and help them with their feelings of loneliness and disappointment. I assume Scorsese sees his daughter as a fully realized person and wants her life to be more then a supporting role for her husband, but he didn't give her much to inspire that in HUGO.  

On a positive note, Sasha Baron Cohen, as the mean security guard, stole every scene he was in.  I greatly admire his physical work and was impressed by how well he managed to balance the cartoonish elements of his character with the honest emotional stuff going on inside.

4.  Pina
dir. Wim Wenders

PINA is a tribut to German choreographer Pina Bausch.  Director Wim Wenders discovered Pina when his girlfriend dragged him to one of her performances.  Within minutes he had tears running down bis face and was blown away by the emotions she was able to convey through her dance.  His desire to make a documentary for her was there, but Wenders was worried about how he could effectively portray the depth of dance on a 2D screen.  It wasn't until he saw a U2 concert movie in 3D that he realized how he could do it.  He began working with Pina on the film when she was diagnosed with cancer, and died three days later.  The production went on when he saw the passion in the dancers wanting to pay tribute to their late mentor and teacher.  The film is breathtaking. Filmed in and around Pina's home town, it has amazing locations that made me want to buy a plane ticket and see them all for myself. The locations are brilliant, and the choreography is inspirational.  It lives somewhere between dance and theater and as an artist I left wanting to put that much passion into my own work, which is what great work should do.  

3. Take Shelter
dir. Jeff Nichols 

TAKE SHELTER is an independent film that uses its limited budget to full effect and proves that small movies can be as tense and powerful as big budget flicks.  Michael Shannon stars as Curtis, a lower middle class family man, working on the pipeline in Ohio.  He is in a good marriage with his beautiful wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and they have a daughter they are both crazy about, who is deaf. When Curtis begins to have horrific nightmares, involving black rain, storms and his daughter in danger, he struggles with whether his fear is a mental illness or a warning that he must protect his family from an impending storm. While the dreams and paranoia play like a thriller and made me awfully tense, the real drama is the relationship between Curtis and Samantha.  His fear of a mental breakdown, which we find out his mother went through at the same age he is now, keeps him from telling his wife about his dreams or reason for insomnia, and his sudden distant behavior worries her.  The audience gets the sense these two have had a strong connection with good communication, and her loneliness as the man she trusts so much begins to change in behavior is heartbreaking.  The stakes are raised when his issues put his job in danger, therefore jeopardizing the healthcare plan that is about to allow their daughter to undergo surgery to repair her hearing.  While most of the tension is built around waiting to see if his dreams are a premonition or not, the heart lies in the couple’s connection and the real battle becomes their ability to get back on the same page and trust each other, even when each has strong reasons to doubt what the other is saying.  It has what is considered an open ending, although I found it fairly straight forward, mainly because I feel the ending clearly shows where they are with each other, and that is the story’s focus. Great acting by Michael Shannon, this movie made me a fan of his and I hope to see him in more great roles. 

2.  Poetry
dir. Chang-dong Lee

This is the beautiful story of sixty-something Mija, who lives in a city in Korea, and finds out she is in the early stages of Alzheimer's at the same time she has started taking a poetry class. POETRY doesn't have an easy hook for most people, including me, (I put off watching it for months), but it is an impressively capturing film that greatly moved me. Under Mija’s care is her aloof grandson, who is rude to her and still served by her.  When he becomes tied to a disturbing suicide of a female classmate, Mija's loyalty and beliefs are greatly tested. A fascinating character study, male dominance and patriarchal culture are shown as having very negative effects on women.  POETRY is about a woman finding herself amid horrible circumstances.  Throughout the film, Mija is searching for the beauty she is told will inspire her first poem.  It is humorous, sad and touching watching Mija staring at things like an apple, the sunlight between leaves, trees blowing in the wind, searching for her inspiration. It is hard to delve further into my thoughts on POETRY without giving away too much, but it had my favorite character in a 2011 film, one of my favorite performances (Jeong-hie Yun, as Mija) and the most beautiful script. 

1.  Drive
dir. Nicolas Winding Refn 

DRIVE is a moody, violent and really cool movie.  From the trailer, I thought it looked like a generic action/thriller movie full of car chases and females in danger.  Instead DRIVE was my favorite film of 2011.  Go figure.  There has been Ryan Gosling fever for some time now; he is the hot indie actor, and very talented (my favorite Gosling film, up till now, was HALF NELSON) but before DRIVE I was only half-way infected, after DRIVE I have full on Gosling phnemonia.  Many people hated DRIVE, and most critics adored it.  I was in love from the start: sitting in the theater with some popcorn, and Kavinsky's Nightcall starts playing over hot pink cursive font,  flashing DRIVE across the screen . . . I was hooked.  The entire film is mood.  It is a call back to films from the late 60's, 70's and early 80's, but also very much a Western in theme.  Gosling plays the man with no name, he is referred to as "Kid" or "Driver.”  He has a very Clint Eastwood in UNFORGIVEN feel.  He lives outside of the law, working as both a stunt car driver and get-a-way driver. He seems to have a past, but we hardly hear him speak and know nothing of his life.  Driver meets his lovely new neighbor (played by the adorable Carey Mulligan) and her son.  They live alone, (her husband is in prison), and immediately Driver begins to take care of them.  But this movie has no sex scene.  Their love scenes are long scenes of them staring at each other while the killer soundtrack plays.  Things do become violent, and there are some nasty scenes that are a great pay-off to the tension that builds throughout DRIVE, but it is a movie with very few car chases, and not too many women in danger.  DRIVE sucked me in and stayed with me for a long time, as any really cool movie should. 

 

 

There we go. Now that it is March of 2012, I feel ready to pick my favorite films of 2011. I went  with eleven because, why not? Overall, not the most exciting year in film, but I was pleasantly surprised, when sitting down to make this list, by how many films I considered.

Two that almost made the list are THE ARTIST and CORIOLANUS. Both impressed me and took me into their world, but over time THE ARTIST faded from my memory a little and began to seem a bit too charming and cute, perhaps how over-hyped also, but I did love the look and heart of THE ARTIST and I am obsessed with that dog. CORIOLANUS creates a world halfway modern, halfway ancient, and is full of great performances and some really strong homoerotic undertones, The only things that kept it off my list were the fuzzy politics and its machismo.

2011 also had great comedies that almost made my list, like, 50/50 (almost a drama, with a surprisingly touching script and performances) , YOUNG ADULT (dark, twisted and a career high for Charlize Theron), and THE MUPPETS (could have been such a let down, but was terrific!).

Both MELANCHOLIA and THE TREE OF LIFE were beautiful films, but both were uneven. TREE OF LIFE is Terrance Malick, who is cinema gold, and some of the images in TREE OF LIFE made up for some of the weaker points, but it is way too long and the family gets to feeling pretty boring after nearly 3 hours. MELANCHOLIA was very unique and packed a powerful punch with its beautiful cinematography and great performance from Kirsten Dunst (a bit surprising) but I don't think I would ever need to watch it again. While the first half was great, the second half dragged at times and made me more frustrated then entertained.

Other honorable mentions are HANNA, WITHOUT, SHAME, and THE WHISTLEBLOWER.

But only eleven get to make the cut and here they are, my favorite of the year that was, 2011.

MY OSCAR WISHES

IF I HAD SPECIAL POWERS....

The Oscar nominations would be very different. I was going to post my Top Picks of 2011 this week, but have decided to give myself one more week to try and see a couple movies from 2011 that I have read good things about. So this post is going to be my wish list for nominations and why. I will also include my predictions for the night.

BEST PICTURE NOMINATIONS: 
Are:  WAR HORSE (not interested), THE HELP (the only female focused movie nominated, want to see, have not but read the book) MONEYBALL (missed it,not that interested) HUGO (my favorite of the nominations I have seen, really good) THE ARTIST (also very good. My Prediction to WIN) MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (cute, but not amazing) THE DESCENDANTS (very good.) THE TREE OF LIFE (too long, I had problems with it, but also it is breathtaking) EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (not interested)

WHAT I WISH WAS NOMINATED:
TAKE SHELTER (great script, creepy and moving. Strong acting and an ending that sticks with you.) JANE EYRE (the best adaption of this great novel I have ever seen.  Also my first introduction to the smoldering Michael Fassbender) DRIVE (my favorite film of 2011) MELANCHOLIA (didn't work for me on every level, but a great film) 50/50 (one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, despite being slightly bothered by the bitchy girlfriend character, I thought this was a great comedy that also made me cry.)

BEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin (my prediction) 

BEST ACTRESS: Viola Davis (my prediction)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer (my prediction)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer (my prediction) 

BEST DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius (my prediction)

But my wishlist for people nominated for awards include:

Charlize Theron for YOUNG ADULT a great black comedy about a women in her thirties who is very unlikable and learns almost no life lessons in the course of the story.  Theron transforms herself into lead character Mavis Grey,without making herself ugly with weight gain and prosthetics.  She simply makes herself ugly by being a good actress playing a women who is ugly on the inside. THAT is good acting. 

Michael Fassbender for SHAME this was a breakout year for this sexy actor and he was great in all of his roles,but SHAME was his movie and he plays a sad, disturbed,sex addict who makes you NOT want to have sex. 

Ryan Gossling for DRIVE first of all, I just want to see this sexy man on the red carpet. Second, he also had a good year and got more attention for the weak IDES OF MARCH, but really DRIVE was where it is at. He is smoldering and complex despite having very few lines. 

Vanessa Redgrave for CORIOLANUS a great movie!  Very underrated. Redgrave plays the toxic mother in this Shakespeare adaptation set in a made up modern city.  This was one of my favorite films of the year, and she stole the show for me.  

ANY FEMALE DIRECTOR:  I suppose this sounds sexist,of course quality should come first, but I am sick and tired of women being left out of this category. Come on Hollywood,show the ladies some love and respect!!! It is 2012 for Gods sake!

Here we are, hours from the show.  I love it, yet almost never agree with any of it.But who am I kidding, I just watch it for the dresses anyway. 

AWARD SEASON IS HERE!

The Golden Globes have past and now we eagerly await Oscar Nomination announcements, which happen on January 24th.  The award season is meant to be a time of celebrating the best films of the year. Of course, most years my favorite films get very little recognition and, still, I enjoy the process.  I love the dresses, I love the spectacle, I love the predictions and how invested I get.
This is an exciting year mainly because many of Hollywood's Elite are getting nominations. Leonardo Dicaprio, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney are shoe-ins for noms, and THE ARTIST star Jean Dujardin is too.  The fifth slot could go to sexy Michael Fassbender, or sexy Ryan Gosling. I think Fassbender in SHAME deserves it, but I love me some Gosling as well.
In the Best Actress category we could have Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and Tilda Swinton, all amazing talents, and Michelle Williams is a big threat to win.  I really hope Charlize Theron gets a nod for YOUNG ADULT but I think Rooney Mara might beat her out for her role in GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.

This year the top runners are THE ARTIST and THE DESCENDANTS. Both will get nominated, and I am guessing one of them will win.  The third top contender is HUGO, my favorite of the three. Martin Scorcese won best director, so look for him in that category.

As for my list of ten favorite films of 2011, I am busy busy trying to see as much as possible (which is hard work) and will post my top ten list the week before the Oscars.

Below, just for fun, are my favorite Golden Globe red carpet looks this year.

Emma Stone had a great year.  I am ready to see her in a movie I like, but am still a fan.  She killed it on the carpet, I WANT THAT BELT!

Always nice to see a curvy women on the carpet, holding her own.  I was happy she won, there is a terrible lack of good roles for black women, and I think she was gorgeous in this gown.  

Clooney is a handsome man, and Stacy Keibler looked fantastic!  I am not a huge fan of red dresses, but she looks hot. I love the hair, the simplicity.  This couple should have babies!

I wanted Charlize to win for YOUNG ADULT, because she was amazing.  As for her dress, not many ladies can pull this off, but her height and breathtaking beauty allows her to wear the dress and not be overwhelmed.  (Unlike Natalie Portman, whom I thought looked like a toddler in her dress)

I love Tilda!  She is an amazing actress who consistently stars in films I love.  I have yet to see this years WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, which she was nominated for, but I am eagerly awaiting it.  Tilda has a unique personal style that gets put down often, but this year she pulled it off, looking lovely and original. 

At first I wasn't sure what I thought about this dress, but after seeing it several times I fell in love. This women is always stunning and has breasts to die for, and this is one of her best looks.  She is like a hot latin robot lady. 

YOUNG ADULT: this years darkest comedy.

YOUNG ADULT 

From the the writer and director of JUNO, comes a second movie, also starring a strong female character.  This time, however, the leading lady is strong in a vulgar, self destructive, hard-to-watch, kind of way.

Charlize Theron stars as Mavis Gary, a ghost writer for a shallow young adult series that is coming to an end.  Mavis lives in Minneapolis, is recently divoraced, has a drinking problem, and an icky nervous habit of pulling her hair out, leaving her with a bald spot, covered by removable fake hair. Mavis is the definition of Hot Mess, and Theron plays the part perfectly, avoiding cliches and caricatures an giving Mavis the believability that makes her such an uncomfortable heroin to follow for 90 minuets. I say that in the best way, because YOUNG ADULT is a movie about pathetic, unlikable people.  Similar to 1999's hilarious ELECTION, ADULT presents the mid-west in a less then flattering light. The best people in the movie are bland, boring, and settled. But healthy and happy, which is more then can be said for the majority of the characters. 

The story goes like this: Mavis, nearing rock bottom, decided to return to her small town to win back her high school sweetheart, who is married and the father of a newborn baby. Mavis shrugs off these facts by explaining that she has baggage too. She returns home feeling confident that her "big city" lifestyle and long legs will win him back no problem. After all, she was prom queen, and has maintained her looks well, although it is clear she will go down hill one day, since her self destructive habits seem to increase as the movie continues. Her delusions last several days, as she throws herself at her ex, insults his wife (and nearly everyone else she encounters) and drinks herself to sleep every night, waking up morning after morning looking like she was hit by a car, and aimlessly wanders the town, trying to seem important, despite being clearly lost. 

YOUNG ADULT is a comedy, but a very dark one.  Many of the scenes are simply hard to watch, because of how embarrassing Mavis is, and how clueless she is at how inappropriate she is. The best laughs come from her, like when she has trouble remembering a former classmate until she see's his crutches and realizes he is "that hate crime guy! Why didn't you just say that!" referring to the time he got beat up by a bunch of jocks for being gay (which he is not) and is now crippled. The fact that Mavis see's no reason to be sensative to his situation is an example of her delusional, self involved self, and this is who we spend the entire movie with. Considering how unlikable our heroin is, it is not surprising many people find YOUNG ADULT off-putting, especially since the movie offers no indication of Mavis seeing the error of her ways, or becoming a better person. 

So, what is the point of this movie?  I took it as an analysis of a large part of our culture.  When alone, Mavis always has the television on and she is always watching reality shows. To be specific she is watching The Kardashions and Hank and Kendra.  Both times the clips are of rich, beautiful women complaining about superficial problems, similar in shallowness to Mavis.  As a person Mavis has very few things going for her other then being beautiful and "cool", and drinking herself into a blackout every night is her coping mechanism for everything that is going wrong in her life. She lives in a delusional state that what she wants, she should have, and will have. It's the desire to live like a rich socialite that has run through so much of our pop culture in the last decade. Paris Hilton might be old news, but the Desperate Housewives are popular as ever, and I think writer Diablo Cody is basing Mavis around this mind set, that being rich and beautiful is more important than being conscientious of the people around you. Mavis wants to be pretty, desired, get everything she wants when she wants it, and not to worry about complicated issues. Just like she throws fake hair over her creepy bald spot without giving it another thought, she shrugs off any real responsibility with a shot and a cigarette.  She has the lap dog, but it lives forgotten in her hotel room with a pee pad and bowl of water. She spends more time fake texting to look busy, then she does making any type of real human connection.  Mavis is fake and beautiful, but her setting is small town Minneapolis,  and she is a very hot mess. 

FASSBENDER FEVER!

Two films starring Michael Fassbender coming very soon! I am excited for both of these. Love Cronenberg. Then comes SHAME which I have been reading about for months and eagerly waiting for.

Here are trailers for both the films. I'm thinking double feature!

Michael Fassbender plays Carl Jung in this David Cronenberg film, costarring Keira Knightley, as a kinky patient and Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. 

I love Carey Mulligan, who costars with Fassbender in SHAME. 

DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT: waiting to blow up

DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT is the story of 19 year old Leah, who is preparing to kill herself in a suicide bombing. The movie is shot like a documentary, staying on Leah from stat to finish, not a second passes without her being in front of the camera. We see the two days leading up to her planned suicide, but we learn very little about her past, or what has brought her to this place.

In the opening scene Leah is reciting an intense prayer, explaining she is doing all of this for "him".  All we learn about Leah (who has an nondescript American accent) is that she is 19, carries a photo of her younger brother, and she claims her parents are dead. Interestingly this last fact is questionable towards the end, when she makes a phone call to people it seems are her parents, although perhaps her birth parents are dead and these are the people who raised her? Personally I like films that leave unanswered questions, and clearly knowing so little about Leah is one of the strengths of the film, it keeps us unsettled, because we are never sure if we should view her with sympathy or horror. 

The first half of the film is Leah, passing time in her motel room, waiting for phone calls and visits from a group of masked men who come and go, preparing her and testing her for the deed ahead. Their faces are never revealed, but they too speak with American accents, and remain as mysterious as Leah. The first half is strong, even as we watch her do mundane acts (clipping her toenails, brushing her teeth, opening a curtain) it is very tense. Each of these daily activities form new meanings in the context of her situation. These are the last times she will do these things, and I felt that each activity was like an escape for her, a way to put off what was to come, and the completion of each one was a reminder that she was that much closer to death. 

The second half of the film is Leah wandering the streets of New York, headed for Times Square, wearing a yellow backpack stuffed full of over 50 pounds of explosives. She walks and walks and walks and buys a lot of food. Two gigantic pretzels with mustard, a candy apple, each giving her an activity to pass the time, but leaving her with only her anxiety. This half is weaker then the first, but still strong. The tension I felt, watching her holding her walkman detonator, had me bracing myself, wondering what we would see if she blew up. I always enjoy when a film can make me feel a degree of what the characters I am watching are feeling, and DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT did a great job of building the anxiety for the viewer, while we watch a girl experiencing immense fear and apprehension, about to commit an unimaginable act. 

This was the was the second feature directer Julia Loktev, who made a documentary in 1998 about a Russian immigrants. I heard about Loktev while I was reading about this years films and heard about her 2011 film, THE LONELIEST PLANET, which got attention at several festivals last spring, and stars hottie Gael Garcia Bernal.  I am very excited to see LONELIEST PLANET, a slow paced thriller about a couple hiking over a mountain, sounds interesting.  Seeing DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT upped my expectations

MICHAEL FASSBENDER: my new favorite actor

My current actor obsession is Mr. Fassbender. I first saw him in this years JANE EYRE as brooding, mysterious Rochester. That film was exquisite, and soon after I saw him in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS as Magneto, and my obsession began. In both films I found him captivating and completely committed to his characters. I quickly watched two of his break out indy roles, that I had missed in theaters. They were  FISH TANK and HUNGER.  Fassbender has the kind of masculine good looks that stand out after seeing him play such strong characters on film. He plays flaws,  humanity and evil with relatable and terrifying honesty. In FISHTANK Fassbender plays a man who befriends an angry teenage daughter, gains her trust and eventually betrays her in a moment of inappropriate passion. The role is most disturbing because of the wonderful performance Fassbender gives, making him real and flawed over simply perverted. It is Fassbender's ability to explore characters with such dark tendencies, and understand them, without judging them. He is also very sexy in a sort of threatening way. 

Later this year Fassbender has two films opening that I am confident will fulfill my appetite for him. First is A DANGEROUS METHOD directed by David Cronenberg and co-starring Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley. Fassbender plays Carl Jung to Mortensen's Freud and will certainly have some intense moments in a film I hear has some kinky sex scenes between he and Knightley. SHAME comes later in the year and is one of the films I have been looking forward to the most this winter. SHAME reunites Fassbender with director Steve McQueen,  whom directed 2008's HUNGER, an exceptional first film about a hunger strike in a Northern Ireland prison. It is hard to watch, and simply unforgettable. SHAME co-stars the adorable Carey Mulligan, playing the sister of Fassbender, a sex addicted business man in New York and the preview looks amazing. 

I predict that this is an actor who will soon be mentioned among the greatest actors, I would go as far as to say that soon this time of year will have him on constant oscar watch, and he will be offered the great roles out there. So, for now, I am able to be one of few whom is obsessed with this man, but I think the crowds will come soon.

Two fun facts about Michael:  He is a Natural Ginger! He also grew up in Kilarney, Ireland, where part of my family descends from! 

DRIVE: hot actors, hot music, cool as shit

Ryan Gosling plays a stunt driver for movies, but moonlights as a get away driver for robberies. His character is a man of few words, he likes to drive, and is very good at it, but seems pretty empty otherwise. He meets his attractive new neighbor (the adorable Carey Mulligan) and her young son. Soon he is smitten and begins to take care of them. When her husband gets out of prison,Gosling feels displaced, but soon finds purpose in saving the family from thugs who are threatening to kill them all if the husband doesn't do one last job for them. Needless to say, the body count is high and Gosling becomes an avenger with a penchant for unique weapons. 

Director Nocolas Winding Refn shows he is the real deal with this movie, that is getting rave reviews from critics. I hear it isn't as popular with audiences,and I am not surprised. It is not your usual action movie,as both the title and even trailer might have implied. It is ultra violent in parts,but these scenes are slow to come and often end quickly. The characters almost never say what they are thinking and the movie has long scenes of Mulligan and Gosling looking at each other,or away from each other, while the kick ass score plays underneath. But for me, DRIVE was a welcome relief from the shoot em up car chase movies that get made all the time. Like last years THE TOWN (a  deeply flawed film) the car chase scenes in DRIVE are done like old 70's and 80's car movies.They don't have a million jump cuts of cars crashing, rolling, blowing up that I always find greatly confusing (Michael Bay I am looking at you) and always seem more to serve the directors ego of big budget then add anything to plot. Instead, DRIVE, is much more into mood. Despite it taking place now, the clothes,music and graphics used are very early 80's. The movie is cool,it is slow and it is really really realy good.  I was already a big fan of Ryan Gosling, I am now obsessed.  Also, I can't stop listening to the soundtrack and have included the title song below.  AMAZING.

12 Movies I am looking forward to this Fall, 2011

 MARGARET 

dir. Kenneth Lonergan

Here is a movie I have been waiting for for six years, because it was filmed six years ago! It has been stuck in limbo, supposedly because director Lonergan couldn't cut it short enough for the studio to release it, but they must have worked it out because it comes out this month (3 hours long). Starring Anna Paquin, long before True Blood, with Matt Damon and, my main crush, Mark Ruffalo! This movie has so many exciting aspects for me, Lonergan wrote and directed one of my most loved films, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, which is also the film that introduced me to the ever swoon worthy Ruffalo, and inspired me to write a screenplay because that script has fucking brilliant dialog. Since YOU CAN COUNT ON ME came out over ten years ago I have seen nothing from Lonergan, and have just kept seeing mentions of MARGARET until I assumed it would never come out, but now it is! Delayed release is not usually a good sign, but I am hoping it will be another impressive script with stellar performances, from it's highly capable cast.

 CONTAGION 

dir. Steven Soderbergh 

Creepy infection movie, kinda like a zombie movie with no zombies. I think this movie looks good, and it has a great cast. Mainly Kate Winslet and Matt Damon, both of whom I always like. From what I have read it is pretty ruthless and everyone dies. I don't mean everyone on earth dies (though they might) I mean that the cast is very expendable, and watching movie stars die off is always entertaining. I am not a huge fan of Soderbergh, I find most his movies pretty pretentious and the only one of his I really like is KING OF THE HILL, but he's got me sold on this one. I love mass hysteria movies, and having it done with a high production level is always a bonus. 

 MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE 

dir. Sean Durkin

This movie has had good buzz all year, mainly about the lead performance by Elizabeth Olsen (the younger sister of the Olsen twins) who is getting oscar buzz. The movie looks to be a creepy drama/thriller about a girl who escapes a cult, led by the fantastic John Hawkes, and goes to live with her aunt. The preview looks good and cults are pretty fascinating (in a disturbing way of course) so I predict this will be one of my top picks for 2011. 

 MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

 dir. Simon Curtis 

 

Here is another movie I have been hearing about for years, although not six and all during pre-production. The casting of Marilyn was being gossiped about for some time. Scarlett Johansson was said to be the front runner, Michelle Williams simply one of the many other names mentioned as interested. I'm not surprised Williams got it. Her work has been very consistent and she has the vulnerability to pull of such an iconic and tragic role. But this movie has other famous characters in it too, Arthur Miller, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and I hear casting was tough with everyone. So this fall we can see how all the pieces fit together.  I am a fan of Marilyn Monroe. I am also a huge fan of Michelle Williams so it is an exciting combination. 

 SLEEPING BEAUTY 

dir. Julia Leigh

Here is a very interesting sounding movie by a first time female director based on a novel she wrote, that promises to be bold, if nothing more. It is the story of a law student who takes a part time job as a nude maid in an upscale club for old men which leads to a job being drugged like "Sleeping Beauty"and allowing the old men to do whatever they want to her. I hear there are many old man penises and a very hard to watch scene where a tube is put into her gut. Those are sure things to look forward too.  I am sure this movie will create a stir, unless it gets no distribution and hardly anyone sees it, and I have no idea how I will feel about it. But the cinematography looks very impressive, and Leigh's style has been compared to Hanake, which gets my attention. A movie can't be brilliant unless it takes some risks, perhaps Leigh will be a new great director, following in the footsteps of her mentor Jane Campion, or perhaps it will be an overstylized art house porn. It's bound to be memorable either way. 

 THE SKIN I LIVE IN 

dir. Pedro Almodovar 

I love Almodovar. His flamboyant style and mix of dark movies and fabulous comedies make him a director I am always excited for. Most recently I loved BAD EDUCATION and VOLVAR, and now this year THE SKIN I LIVE IN comes out starring Antonio Banderas, whom Almodovar worked with often early in their careers. It is the creepy story of a doctor who uses a women as a guinea pig to test a synthetic skin he is developing. Form there, I think, they enter some weird sort of relationship as captor and captive. The preview looks good and I love the music used in it. It sounds like the movie is pretty intense, so I am thinking there must be some pretty out their surgical stuff. I am excited how Almodovar will handle the creepy dark elements in this movie. 

 MELANCHOLIA 

dir. Lars van Trier 

MELANCHOLIA got a lot of attention at Cannes this year. Kirsten Dunst won best actress and director Van Trier made some off color jokes about Nazis in a press conference and upset a lot of people. Luckily, MELANCHOLIA has no Nazis in it, instead Dunst plays a wealthy women getting married (to super sexy Alexander Skarsgard) and discovering that a planet is headed towards earth and may collide. Van Trier makes very depressing films, BREAKING THE WAVES and DANCER IN THE DARK are beyond bleak, so I expect more of that, but you never know what to expect from him. Apparently the idea came to him in a therapy session when his therapist told him that depressed people handle disasters better then happy people.  He originally cast Penelope Cruz as the role played by Kirsten Dunst. 

 YOUNG ADULT 

dir. Jason Reitman 

I was a fan of JUNO, and now writer and director are together again. I haven't cared for anything Diablo Cody has done since JUNO, but this sounds good. I don't know very much about it but Charlize Theron plays a young adult novel writer who returns to her small town after getting divorced and tries to get back her married and fathered ex. The poster alone makes me want to see this movie, and I like Theron and want to see her in something good, because it has been awhile. 

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

dir. Lynne Ramsay 

I love love love Lynne Ramsay. Her only two films have been RATCATCHER and MORVERN CALLAR, both are beautiful.  Based on a novel, it is starring Tilda Swinton, always amazing, as the mother of a boy who commits some sort of Colombine massacre, and how she deals with the guilt. It has gotten some strong reactions at the festivals this year, some good, lots of negative, but so did her last film MORVERN CALLAR and I think that movie is pretty close to perfection, so my hopes are very high for this one. It is a difficult subject to tackle in film, the only time I have seen it done well was Gus Van Sant's ELEPHANT, which I highly suggest to patient film watchers. I am hoping that KEVIN can also do it well.

 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 

dir. David Fincher 

Of course I have to put this movie on here. I am a fan of Fincher, despite most of his films being very male. This movie has been getting buzz since it first got whispered about, and the books are pretty popular, so I assume lots of people will it. I was a fan of last years Swedish trilogy, mainly because of the amazing performance by Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth. I never read the books myself, but Lisbeth is an awesome character and at first I couldnt't imagine liking a hollywood version of her at all, espeicaly compared to Rapace, but I thin the casting of Rooney Mara is interesting and she has gone through a literal physical transformation (piercings, shaved her hair off, bleached her eyebrows) so I am excited just to see what Fincher's take on this unique character is. While I know this will be much more Americanized, I think Fincher can pull it off and make it a kick in the face movie. 

THE IRON LADY

dir. Phyllida Lloyd

What is there for me not to be excited about this movie? It is starring Meryle Streep, it is directed by a women and it is about Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of U.K. Since we know Streep will do a fantastic job (maybe an oscar?), the only question is how good of a bio-pic this is. I find them often rather flat, often done very straight forward and linear, I suppose thinking the persons life should take center stage, but I hope that IRON LADY is done with some energy and that Lloyd really uses her skills to impress us, with such an interesting figure, who has accomplished much, and pissed off lots of people. Of course I also expect there to be lots of sexist dialog about the woman and how the film portrays her, since our society typically has deep hatred for powerful "cold" women. 

SHAME 

dir. Steve Mcqueen 

Michael Fassbender is my current obsession. Having seen him in JANE EYRE and X-MEN FIRST CLASS earlier this year. Most recently I saw FISH TANK, which is superb, and that made clear Fassbender is the real deal.  SHAME is the second film from visual artist Mcqueen, whose first film, HUNGER (starring Michael Fassbender) got a great deal of praise when it came out, as is this one. Fassbender plays a successful business man who is a sex addict, stuck in a cycle of casual sex and deep feelings of shame about it. Carey Mulligan (another actor I am impressed with) plays his troubled sister who moves in with him. That is all I know, but from what I know, I feel very certain this movie will be good, and perhaps very depressing. Unfortunately this movie does not have a US release date, I don't think it has been picked up here, but it is coming out in the Europe this winter, but it might not come here until next year. Just have to wait and see...

FISH TANK: not so happy in the projects

FISH TANK is the story of Mia, a foul mouthed, tough 15 year old girl who lives in the projects in Essex with her drunk mother and equally fouled mouth little sister. Mia has no friends, and loves to dance. She spends her days trying to get booze and waiting to get sent off to some sort of correctional boarding school. Then her mother begins dating Connor, a friendly good looking Irish man, who plants himself into the family and gives all three females the sort of dependable male attention they have never known. He is able to bring out a nicer side of Mia, who still jumps back to her angry self and often snipes that she can't stand him, despite it being clear she is crazy about him. Unfortunatly things take a steer to the innappropriat and Connor ends up having sex with Mia on her sofa while her mother is passed out drunk and her sister spies on them. The morning after Connor breaks up with Mia's mother and leaves. Mia tracks him down, discovering secrets he was keeping and ends up creating a situation that turns more serious then she could forsee.
FISH TANK is a solid movie, directed by Andrea Arnold, who also directed RED ROAD and whose third film WUTHERING HEIGHTS is in production now.  She is a director to watch for.  The performances in FISH TANK  are seamless, seeming like you are watching people who really live the lives you are watching. First time actress Katie Jarvis was found in the projects arguing with her boyfriend and offered the role, and she is phenomanel. She captures Mia'a crippling loneliness masked in  anger and makes you root for her despite her foul nature. Also brilliant is Michael Fassbender, who is my current male actor obsession, as Connor. It can't be easy to play a man who befriends and then sleeps with a young girl desperate for companionship, but Fassbender manages to give Connor enough layers to keep from being a straight up creep. In no way am I saying the movie makes him sympathetic, but he makes Connor interesting.
In FISH TANK, Mia's only passion is for dance. She escapes to an empty apartment to play rap music on her tape player and dance, a sort of street style, more male in style then feminine. The scenes of her dancing are good, and the music even better. In fact, this movie has great music. From the rap to the reggae that her mother always has on, to Bobby Womack, whom Connor plays for Mia and that she later dances to for him.
The movie has very few scenes of happiness, the world these characters live in is harsh, the people are mean and the scenery is stark. In the first few minutes Mia breaks a girls nose and barley escapes being raped by a couple of teenage boys. Still, I think the movie is about Mia's humanity and how it survives despite how angry she is and how hurt by others she is. Her need to save a white horse, kept tied up in a junkyard, shows she has compassion, even if she often hides it from people. At the end of the movie, as Mia heads out into the world, she looks back, watching her little sister, and smiles. Her future is not promising, but she is resigned to escaping the projects, the trap of poverty, if she can. Weather or not she will be able to succeed in the world is unsure, but at 15 she has more strength then most of the adults in her world.