The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Romance
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.
Thirst (2009)
Aug 13th
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-sook Kim
Director: Chan-wook Park
Country: South Korea
Genre: Foreign, Horror
Jury Prize – Cannes Film Festival
The popularity in vampire films in the last few years isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s just a resurgence of a fascination of a myth that goes back hundreds of years. But when we compare the different facets of vampirism in films today, it’s rather astounding the amount of differential nuances that can be found.
Chan-wook Park (Oldboy) directs this dark and twisted vampire tale that balances the romanticism of vampires with the remorse (or perhaps pleasure) derived from the constant sin that must be committed in order to survive. What better way to poise this balance than centering the film around a main character who is a man of the cloth. Sang-hyeon (played by the brilliant Kang-ho Song) is out to sacrifice himself to save lives by infecting himself with a disease to determine whether he has the immune system that could procure a remedy. Unfortunately it has some negative side-effects – simply put, it turns him into a vampire. While he tries to come to terms with his new ‘affliction’, Tae-ju, a stir-crazy housewife desires his powers and will stop and nothing to obtain them.
Park slowly develops the conflict in this film. It’s not immediately apparent what the obstacles are going to be. They seem to come like divine gifts with unexpected circumstances. After the halfway point, the film hurtles toward a climax that only Chan-wook Park could conceive, (and execute.) Utilizing his luscious cinematography and terrifically cringe-worthy sound effects, this might be Park’s best film to date.
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
Aug 9th
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago
Director: Juan José Campanella
Country: Argentina
Genre: Foreign, Mystery
Best Foreign Language Film – Academy Awards
This Argentinian film certainly knows its way around a script. Eduardo Sacheri adapts his own novel for the screen (with the help of director Campanella,) which follows an attorney haunted by the one unsolved case of his career. It’s told in two perspectives: in present day the retired attorney revisits the case to scrounge up material to turn it into a novel, and the same attorney twenty-five years in the past as he first takes on the case.
What’s refreshing about this mystery is that it doesn’t try to manipulate the audience. The flow of the story is entirely natural, the suspense isn’t artificially generated – particularly the ending which avoids the pitfall of ‘shock and awe’ that so many mysteries fall into. It’s an inherent conclusion that provides fulfillment and satisfaction because it’s innate. Sacheri’s ability to develop three-dimensional characters is quite profound. Every character is not without his or her flaws and strengths, culminating in a group of people that’s impossible not to care about.
Campanella’s technical prowess shapes this film into kind of brilliant. For the most part, his cinematography is imbued with a sense of reality (albeit slightly romanticized,) developing an atmosphere that is at once nostalgic and immediate. Only once does Campanella really boast his talents with an insanely complex long-take that encompasses an entire chase scene. But for the most part he uses his talents for good, creating a funny, touching, surprising and romantic story of closure.
Chocolat (2000)
Jul 11th
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Johnny Depp
Director: Lasse Hallström
Country: USA
Genre: Romance, Drama
One of the most delightful films of the 2000s.
It might be the butt of many jokes, but Chocolat is quite the delightful film. It’s a look at what might happen if you let go of inhibitions and indulge once in awhile. Lasse Hallström has had an interesting career as a director with a number of memorable dramas (and forgettable ones too,) and he brings along his expertise in telling a compelling story. Juliette Binoche stars as a woman who opens up a chocolate shop in a very religious town amidst Lent. Binoche’s strong independence and sexuality are perfectly suited for the role in which she was nominated for an Oscar. The rest of the cast including Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Peter Stormare and Johnny Depp are perfect. What’s best about Chocolat is that, while it’s certainly very rich, doesn’t overstay its welcome – leaving the audience haunted by its delicious flavors. And if you don’t want a hot chocolate after this movie, you might want to get your taste buds checked.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Jun 14th
Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Country: USA
Genre: Romance
An art-house Adam Sandler film.
Punch-Drunk Love seems to be the single movie that students in film schools cling to as their mecca. Perhaps it’s because it’s a great transition piece from mainstream films into the experimental independent world. Sandler puts in his best, albeit strangest, performance of his career as the pudding-obsessed Barry Egan who falls in love with the equally bizarre Lena, played earnestly by Emily Watson. Thomas explores a lot of strange, but extraordinary technical things in this film from intentional use of lens flares, distorted sound, and the famous kaleidoscope effect. Most notably, Jon Brion‘s score is brilliantly pieced together with random sounds of percussion and some of the sweetest melodies ever recorded. Punch-Drunk Love is one of the most off-beat films in history, but it pays off in ways unimaginable.
1001 Movie Club: Gone with the Wind (1939)
May 28th
Adjusted for inflation, Gone with the Wind is easily the biggest movie of all time bringing in over three billion dollars. This is no coincidence as Gone with the Wind is one massive production – the sets, the story, the acting – everything is epic. It’s so big that it required 2,400 extras, 50 speaking parts, and even two directors, (three if you count David O. Selznick’s meticulous producing.)
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.
