The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Comedy
Tokyo Sonata (2008)
Aug 29th
Starring: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyôko Koizumi, Yû Koyanagi
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Country: Japan
Genre: Foreign, Drama
If there’s one thing that can’t be said about a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, it’s that it’s predictable. He put together a number of unforgettable horror films, most notably the truly chilling and bizarre Pulse, and here he applies his unique storytelling sensibilities to use in a family drama. One may expect more conventional methods of storytelling in a more traditional realm of characters… one would be wrong to expect as much.
The Sasaki family is a rather typical family, functioning at levels to sustain everyday living with one another. But the each member of the family tends to keep aspects of their lives secret from one another: the father loses his job, one son joins the army, another starts up piano lessons, and the mother is the victim of a robbery and develops a quick case of Stockholm Syndrome.
This film is a slow disintegration of the family unit. It’s a great commentary on how when family communication fails, everyone becomes self-involved. While most families might not suffer quite the same consequences as the Sasaki’s, it’s nonetheless gripping entertainment. There’s a lesson to be learned somewhere in the extremities this film finds itself. Perhaps it’s the importance of family, perhaps it’s that no matter how alone or distant we feel there’s always someone we can fall back on, perhaps it’s simply ‘don’t lie.’ Whatever it is, it resonates.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Aug 23rd
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong
Director: Edgar Wright
Country: USA
Genre: Action, Romance
“Michael Cera and Jason Schwartzman engage in an epic kung-fu sword battle” must not have been the most convincing pitch to get this film green lit. But compared to most of the action movies released in the last half decade, Scott Pilgrim‘s “alternative” cast provides some of the most cohesive and exciting fight scenes years. This is no doubt due to the immense talent of Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz.)
Scott Pilgrim is a young man with some typical girl problems in a less than typical world where video game noises and comic book exclamations make the mundane extraordinary. When Scott falls in love with the new girl in town, Ramona, he quickly learns (the hard way) that in order to date her he must defeat her seven evil exes.
It’s so rare that it’s just to call a film ‘refreshingly original’. Only a person that is truly in love with movies and, in this case, their subject matter can create something as kinetic and satisfying a film like this. This is absolutely a film meant to please as anyone interested in it knows, (to some extent) what they’re in store for. Happily, Wright delivers the goods plus more. The comedy is fierce, the action is amped, and the entertainment is off the charts. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World might go down as the most criminally unseen film of the summer.
The Maid (2009)
Aug 22nd
Starring: Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola
Director: Sebastián Silva
Country: Chile, Mexico
Genre: Foreign, Drama, Comedy
The Maid is a film about the struggles between different social classes, about the vague lines that are sometimes drawn working relationships, and a great look at humanity. These issues are ever present in everyday life whether its a relationship with the local coffee shop employee or the live-in maid that cleans your house and knows all of your secrets.
Raquel has been working for the same family for over twenty years. She’s watched the kids grow up, hell, it could be argued that she raised them. She’s spent the better part of her life developing a routine, and in her mind, and to some truth, a bond with the family that employs her. But a strain starts to show on the relationship as tensions start to rise between Raquel and the eldest daughter, which leads the family to hire extra help. Jealousy overtakes Raquel who has a tendency to act out, usually locking the new maids out of the house.
This is one of the best character studies of the last decade. It’s sharply written and relentless in its examination of its subject. So often in films like this the filmmakers would be prone to show the self-destruction of a character, but Silva seems to know better keeping the film light and surprising. Perhaps the greatest thing about the film is Saavedra’s performance as Raquel. It’s absolutely fearless and penetrating. As an actress that has been around for nearly two decades, it’s impossible to think she’s spent her time anywhere else but working as a maid. With a biting commentary on working relationships and the concept of family, The Maid is a great film.
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Aug 17th
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy, Drama
There have been a lot of strides made in incorporating gay culture into mainstream cinema over the last decade. Films like Milk and Brokeback Mountain have dealt with the issue head-on, but The Kids Are All Right tends to take a different direction. As brilliant as the aforementioned films might be, they still depict homosexuality as outside the norm. This film might be the first to depict homosexuality within the context of a working family unit.
This film is about bigger issues than the fact that it centers around a lesbian couple. In fact, Cholodenko seems adamant about getting the distracting stuff out of the way quickly, (Moore and Bening kissing, calling each other honey, holding hands,) out of the way early so that it doesn’t hinder the material being presented. Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg have a message larger than the “we’re gay and we’re here to stay” motto. Instead they seem to want to show that gay or straight, it’s damn hard to keep a working family unit.
Bening and Moore are absolutely winning in their respective roles. Both have had their ups and downs this decade, but in this film they simultaneously show why they’ve been household names for so long. Ruffalo also puts in another compelling performance that will hopefully garner the attention he finally deserves.
Appropriately named after the famous glam-rocking gender-bender David Bowie’s song, The Kids Are All Right is a wonderful depiction of the New American Family.
Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
Aug 7th
Starring: Jiang Wen, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yuan Ding
Director: Jiang Wen
Country: China
Genre: Foreign, Drama
“… a film that once you see it, it makes all other films feel small.”
- Steven Soderbergh
This WWII film from writer, director, and star Jiang Wen is positively one of the most disarming and disquieting films of the last decade. Shot in luscious black and white, it makes it indistinguishable from cinema from the post-war era. And like those films, it tells an unconventional story of bystanders forced to deal with the consequences of war. In Japanese Occupied China, a village man (Wen) is bombarded by a stranger who drops off two Japanese prisoners and is told to keep them alive otherwise it would mean his life. The problem being with the Japanese Forces in the area, if he gets caught with the prisoners it would also mean his life.
The first two-thirds of Devils on the Doorstep is a beguiling comedy. Humor is derived from every situation and the eclectic roster of characters keep the film lively. It’s in the last third that the film takes a sharp turn and lifts the veil on its intentions. To call the conclusion of this film ‘shocking’ would be wholly underselling it, but to speak about it is to spoil it. Wen’s direction is about as perfect as it can be. His compositions are intriguing, the script is tight and clever, and the cast is spot on. It’s no easy task to direct and act without sacrificing a sense of vision, but Wen is the end all example of how it’s done.
Devils on the Doorstep isn’t an easy film, and should not be watched on a whim. It demands unrequited attention (though it’s not hard to give.) However those who seek it out are sure to have an overwhelming experience.
A Town Called Panic (2009)
Jul 28th
Director: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Country: Belgium
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Absolutely wonderful.
If there’s one characteristic of animated films over the last decade it’s that they are consistently surprising. This feature-length (short though it may be) is an extension of a four minute short from 2000, by the same name. The animation mirrors that of Robot Chicken, though creates characters all its own. The film follows Cowboy, Indian and Horse in their outrageous escapade to retrieve their home from crazy sea dwellers. What’s most striking about this whimsical stream-of-consciousness adventure is that it has the same mentality as a story written by a child. It’s almost as if the filmmakers adapted a one-page story written when they were seven – it really accentuates the naive imagination. This film is sure to rack up the laughs and plaster smiles on the faces of everyone who watches it.
Have You Seen This? (Scandinavian Edition)
Jul 23rd
International films have always played an interesting role in the American film market. They aren’t usually embraced by the majority of the nation, unless under the most extreme word of mouth or marketing. While I can only speak for my own time on this planet, I don’t feel like this was always the case. During the height of huge international directors like Truffaut, Kurosawa, Bergman, or countless other names, it seems like even if most American’s weren’t familiar with the films, they were familiar with the names. But most foreign and international films have always been subjected to art house releases, particularly in New York and Los Angeles with only select few making it to markets in each state’s Big City.
Understandably, subtitles are a bit laborious for viewers who are just looking for escapism. AMC Theaters provide a plethora of options for each week’s new releases, so why bother seeking out a film that will put you to work? Well, the independent and foreign market have some amazing pieces of art that should absolutely be seen at some point in your life. You can find any number of top 10, 100, or 1000 lists on the internet for suggestions. But a foreign market that greatly gets overlooked is Scandinavian cinema.
Outside of it’s one great master, Ingmar Bergman (and perhaps the master of all things cinema), most people might not know much about this territory’s films. Firstly, Scandinavia is kind of an amorphous location for most American’s. “It’s that one part of Europe that has those countries in it, right? It IS part of Europe, right? Is the Swiss part of it?” So it’s no real surprise that the films of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland (and Iceland) elude the general population of America.
But! There are a number of directors like Susanne Bier (who directed the 2004 film Brothers which the 2009 Jim Sheridan version was based on,) Lasse Halström (Academy Award winning director of Chocolat and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?), and the controversial Lars von Trier (Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark) who have been making films in both countries for years. And with the popularity of the Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,) 2008′s Let the Right One In, and the novelty of the Nazi zombie film Dead Snow, Scandinavian films seem to be rising in popularity.
