Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley
Director: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA
Genre: Thriller-ish.
At Shutter Island nothing is as it seems.
In his fourth collaboration with DiCaprio, Scorsese has pulled out one of his best performance, and crafted perhaps one of his most interesting films. Sure to infuriate some and delight others, Shutter Island is all about evoking a response out of the audience – participation. It’s a detective story about a detective, but the investigation isn’t the investigation that the detective is investigating. Or is it? It raises a lot of questions, and doesn’t take the audience for granted in finding the answers for themselves. Also, in a departure from his usual visual style, Scorsese has created one of his more luscious looking, albeit foreign feeling, films to date.
Tags: Adaptation, Crime, Detectives, Drama, Dysfunction, Ensemble, Horror, Mystery, Neo Noir, Period Piece, Suspense, Thriller, Violent, War
2010 Films | this guy over here February 25, 2010 | 
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Christophe Waltz, Mélanie Laurent
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Country: USA
Genre: War
The master of homage is back in his homagiest homage yet!
It took two viewings of this film to fully appreciate it. The first time I was looking for the nuance of its brilliance, but it’s quite blatant and I think I took that as arrogance. Maybe it is. This is by far Tarantino’s most patient and deliberate film to date. For being two and a half hours, it’s only filled with a small number of incredibly long scenes. As it’s been said by many more articulate people than I, it’s his use of dialogue to build the suspense of the scenes, particularly the opening. Plus, his dialogue, though completely fantastical as it may be, is just so fun to listen to. Performance wise, Christophe Waltz almost doesn’t need mention as his talent is beyond obvious. However, many harp on Pitt for his lame accent. I, however, found it to be obvious that he knew he was doing a cartoon version of his character… because it is after all a fairy tale film. Once upon a time, and happily ever after.
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
Director: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA
Genre: Crime
X marks the spot.
And down the rabbit hole we go. The Departed is one of the bleakest films I can remember, even counting Taxi Driver. Scorsese’s lament on personal descent is practically maddening and completely immersive. Even upon multiple viewings it’s as potent as it ever was. The complex story follows parallel lives of a criminal posing as a cop and a cop undercover as a criminal, both making choices that they cannot turn back from. Scorsese is above all else a lover of films and keeps it entertaining (in a car wreck on-looker sort of way.) The pacing is brisk, it speeds by despite its running time and never feels slow. Top it off with an ensemble of amazing actors, (yes even Walberg,) and you’ve got yourself one hell of a film.
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, J.K. Simmons, William H. Macy
Director: Jason Reitman
Country: USA
Genre: Independent, Comedy
It’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington starring Joe Camel.
Satire is not an easy game. While The Daily Show and South Park make it look easy, there is such a tricky balancing act for it to work. If it gets pushed in either direction of comedy or drama too far then it makes it hard to be taken seriously. Reitman in his directorial debut could be mistaken for a seasoned vet. The film follows a tobacco lobbyist and the different aspects of his job. Thank You For Smoking isn’t plot driven. It restricts itself to the various duties of its main character, and the circumstances of his scrupulous occupation. For a film that deals with such a weighty subject, it’s delivered very light and airy. Reitman’s style brings out every ounce of the humorous and humanistic characteristics of story. Relentlessly.
Starring: Daniel Brühl, Diane Kruger, Guillaume Canet
Director: Christian Carion
Country: UK, Germany, France
Genre: Foreign, Holiday
French. German. Scots. Christmas!
Wow. If you’re all Scroogeish over the Holidays becoming commercialized, this could be the drop of elixir you’re looking for. While most Holiday films, even the best of them, have a commendable underlying message to them, they are so wrapped up in cookie frosting that it’s hard not to get a cavity swallowing all of the sugar. Joyeux Noël is the greatest example of what the Holidays should represent: a respect and love for your fellow man. It’s set on the front lines of World War I during Christmas Eve where German, Scottish and French forces are pitted against each other. I realize that It’s a Wonderful Life is a bold comparison, but Joyeux Noel is definitely one of the best Holiday films I’ve ever seen.
Starring: (voices) George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Wes Anderson
Country: USA
Genre: Animation, Adventure
The wonderfully amazing Fantastic Mr. Fox is an awesomely brilliant dose of excitement.
2009 seems to be the year that a lot of directors are answering to their inner child as they delve into more childlike films, and thank goodness, (though let’s be honest and admit that neither this nor Where The Wild Things Are are children films.) Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animation flick is anything but conventional. It’s so inventive in fact, that I often felt awestruck watching it, in a way that I really hadn’t since I was a young’n and saw the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, (does that date me?) Anderson uses his specific theatrical directorial style to its full extent, squeezing out every minutia of humor, adventure, and even drama. I’m beginning to realize that calling a film like this “brave” for not hiding elements of real life from kids, (like cussing, pregnancy, death, and even *gasp* smoking!) is silly. It’s just common sense. Fantastic Mr. Fox is just so much fun, and fulfills that gap in adventure films that will unlock creativity in children as they plot out their own schematics in their playtime.
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana
Director: J.J. Abrams
Country: USA
Genre: Science Fiction
I don’t know… I think this Star Trek thing might be big someday.
Confession time: I’d never seen a Star Trek film before, (save for The Voyage Home when I was a young lad… so it doesn’t really count.) That being said, it’s almost more of a credit to Abrams and his crew that he was able to draw me into the world of iconic characters without feeling like I was missing something. If you stirp away the fact that it’s a Star Trek film, it would still be as appealing. It’s a tour de force in action directing, something that other directors can take a cue from. It’s stylistic for sure, but never does that get in the way of the fun time-travelling story and adrenaline inducing excitement. The cast is almost too perfect to take over for the roles, yet they all bring something new to make the characters their own. I don’t even need to say that Star Trek is one of the best science fiction movies to come out this decade.
