The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Music
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.
Control (2007)
Jun 7th
Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton
Director: Anton Corbijn
Country: UK
Genre: Drama, Biopic
Best use of black and white photography of the decade.
Rock photographer Anton Corbijn once photographed Joy Division in the late seventies. This fact is of the utmost importance in experiencing the biopic of lead singer Ian Curtis as it’s directed by Corbijn some thirty years after the singer met his tragic fate. Corbijn certainly has a knack for composition as every single frame of this film could be printed and framed. But what’s more is that he has helped shape one of the best actor-playing-a-real-person performances of the decade from Sam Riley, and proved himself a master storyteller bringing Matt Greenhalgh’s script to life. The end result is a film that captures the same feeling as listening to a Joy Division album: it’s poignant, it’s hypnotizing, and it’s sweeping. This is a great counter piece to the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which follows Curtis, Joy Division and their label Factory Records.
A Mighty Wind (2003)
May 17th
Starring: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Michael Higgins
Director: Christopher Guest
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy
Folk music has never been so… folktastic.
It’s hard to really pinpoint what makes A Mighty Wind so spectacular. Part of the reason lies in the Guestian ensemble being at their peak. Each actor fills out their characters so well, like they have in the past, giving each a rich backstory. Secondly, the music in this film plays more of a role than just for laughs. There’s a certain authenticity to it, while sometimes tacky, that makes it feel incredibly genuine. While this is a brilliant ensemble, there are few performances that really stick out, particularly Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy who together bring all the heart of the film, and Fred Willard who squeezes every laugh he can out of every scene he’s in. The film isn’t always laugh out loud funny, but there’s a kinetic synergy in every moment of this film that makes it so exciting to watch.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Mar 24th
Starring: Björk, Peter Stormare, Catherine Deneuve
Director: Lars von Trier
Country: Various
Genre: Draaaaammmmaaaaaaaaa, Musical
WARNING: Do not watch this movie on a date.
There are a lot of tragic tales told on the screen these days, but more times than not the characters deserve what’s coming to them in the end. That’s not so much the case for Dancer in the Dark where tragedy is bestowed upon a disadvantaged and well-to-do character by outside forces, (who I might also add is played by the incredibly adorable Björk.) This film merges the insightful looks into the human soul that characterizes independent film with such beautiful and inspiring musical numbers, all shot with digital cameras. It’s straddles a line between being the most elegant film to watch, and the toughest as it moves into its second half. But it’s rewarding, in a way. Rewarding in that it’s wholly affective and isn’t likely to leave your memories for a long time.
Once (2007)
Jan 30th
Starring: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Director: John Carney
Country: Ireland
Genre: Musical
Everything works together in perfect harmony.
It’s hard to classify this as a musical when thinking of the genre as a whole. The term springs to mind images of corsets and top hats, so there’s an inclination to say this film is about music more than it is a musical. However, each song progresses the story and characters further down their path, and without them there would be no movie. Musicians Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Markéta Irglová head up this wonderful tale of, well, musicians who find each other by chance and inspire each others work. What is striking about this film is its candor. It’s almost like seeing the chunk of events that happen that inspire an album to be written. And the music is some of the most beautiful ever put on screen. Everything works together in perfect harmony to create a very special film.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Jan 5th
Starring: John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Country: USA
Genre: Music
It’s not so much a performance as it is a genesis.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch serves up a bizarre viewing experience that’s half train wreck, half raw emotion, and half heart attack. The result is one and a half times the exploits of a normal film. The character is a bit paradoxical in that on the surface most of the audience shouldn’t be able to connect with a transgender lead singer of a punk rock band from East Berlin… but for whatever unabashed reason, it’s almost impossible not to. It feels outlandish saying it, but Hedwig and the Angry Inch wears its heart on its sleeve, and that opens up an emotional link with the audience that’s unavoidable. Did I mention it’s a rock opera? A performance piece? A pseudo-documentary? The character of Hedwig has so much depth, that John Cameron Mitchell doesn’t create so much of a performance as he does a genesis. I’d been putting this film off for far too long, after too many recommendations, and am finally glad to be recommending it to others.
American Psycho (2000)
Oct 23rd
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Defoe, Reese Witherspoon
Director: Mary Harron
Country: USA
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Corporate America has been slowly killing people for years. At least Patrick Bateman is honest about it.
Mary Harron translates Bret Easton Ellis’s sterile and deeply disturbing novel into a quiet masterpiece of cinema. At first glance, American Psycho doesn’t necessarily feel like a horror film; it’s surface is plastic and shiny, but once you peel away the mineral face mask, a violent and truly disgusting beast is revealed. Most of the film feels artificial, meticulous, and staged, but there are these piercing moments of insanity that are incredibly perturbing. It’s part Taxi Driver, and part an expensive Italian silk suit. Social status has never been so savagely explored.
