The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Survival
Animal Kingdom (2010)
Aug 30th
Starring: James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Jacki Weaver
Director: David Michôd
Country: Australia
Genre: Crime
This isn’t exactly the safe Disney ride that the title alludes to, but rather a dangerous safari into the wilderness. In a growing line of independent and foreign gangster films, Animal Kingdom demands some attention. It not only looks at human nature, but basic human instinct. Survival instinct.
It’s told primarily through the perspective of young J Cody who is taken under his grandmother’s care after his mother dies from an overdose of heroin. His four uncles are notorious bank robbers and wanted by the law. It’s not exactly the ideal circumstances for an impressionable teen to grow up in. But as J says early on in the film, kids don’t question their circumstances, just accept them. With that in mind, the question of whether or not J ever had the chance to do something else with his life or if he was destined to fall into the life of crime? Can a cub choose whether or not to become a lion? It’s all part of nature it seems.
David Michôd’s film is an interesting addition to a genre that never ceases to be surprising. Michôd opts for substance over style, choosing his symbolism carefully. This might be the antithesis to Guy Ritchie’s gangster world. Animal Kingdom is about character psychology. Its slow-burn story isn’t about planning the next heist or some grandiose escape from the law, it’s about surviving the circumstances of actions.
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.
Winter’s Bone (2010)
Aug 2nd
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey
Director: Debra Granik
Country: USA
Genre: Drama, Thriller
The quiet chaos that is Winter’s Bone…
There might not be a better breakout performance in 2010 than that of Jennifer Lawrence in this matter-of-fact thriller. Debra Granik’s thriller takes place in the backwoods, observing a community of people seemingly shut off from the outside world, but not unaffected by its economic turmoil. Lawrence stars as the 17-year-old Ree who must find her father who has put their house up for his bond – the same house that shelters her, her young brother and sister, and mentally sick mother. This Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner stirs up some subdued fears as it’s delicately crafted suspense begins to chill the bones like it’s title suggests. As Ree pushes through her journey to find her father, she’s driven purely by the need to protect and survive – a trait that alone gives her the strength to endure all too much. Veteran supporting actors John Hawkes and Dale Dickey also shine unlike they ever have before. This is one film that is sure to slowly work its way into the public consciousness.
City of God (2002)
Jun 22nd
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Country: Brazil
Genre: Foreign, Crime
Best foreign drug war film of the decade.
There is a certain connotation that comes along with the word “foreign film”. The subtitles are a given, but I think generally thoughts of slow moving films about people and topics that American audiences can’t connect with. But City of God is the perfect example of a foreign film that transcends a specific audience. This tale of the rise of the drug wars in Cidade de Deus in the seventies has so much style that takes inspiration from all sorts of international films – from Tarantino-style storytelling to Guy Ritchie-style editing to a soundtrack straight out of seventies exploitation films. It has the same harrowing ping of a Scorsese film with the same flavor of Brazil’s other huge cinematic hit, Black Orpheus. Meirelles’ decision to use non-actors was a brilliant choice, rooting it in a similar realm as the best of international cinema. It’s incredibly stylish and super entertaining.
Final Destination 2 (2003)
May 27th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Jimmy Olsen
Director: David R. Ellis
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
Yeah, that’s right, Final Destination 2.
Final Destination 2 isn’t a good movie by any means, but it makes good on a promise of a great concept, and in most cases even improves upon it from the first film as it doesn’t get bogged down (all that much) with the “what” and the “why” of things, but rather cuts to the chase showing the audience exactly what they paid for: awful, gruesome, well thought out, inventive, laughable, (dare I say “enjoyable”?) death scenes, which really sets it apart from other generic Hollywood horror. It’s rare for a horror film to take pleasure in its own cleverness. The filmmakers play a game with the audience unlike any other film in the genre, and for the most part it’s incredibly fun and will forever be underestimated – which perhaps adds to its charm.
Feast (2006)
May 18th
HORROR PICK:
Starring: Henry Rollins, Judah Friedlander, Navi Rawat
Director: John Gulager
Country: USA
Genre: Horror
The ‘characters-stranded-in-a-house-while-being-attacked-by-creatures’ subgenre never gets old.
This Project Greenlight film definitely fills a void in this decade’s lack of decent creature features. Feast is hyperaware of the stereotypes that tend to bog down other horror films, (whiny female characters, children, unrealistic heroism,) and remedies it with gooey splattery fun. This film’s audacity to hold nothing sacred is its biggest weapon. The unexpected can and does happen creating a complete sense of chaos. Are there loop holes in the plot? Sure. But over analyzing it is missing the point entirely. It’s a barrage of unadulterated grimy tongue-in-cheek horror that Hollywood almost never releases.
Cloverfield (2008)
Apr 29th
SCIENCE FICTION PICK:
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman
Director: Matt Reeves
Country: USA
Genre: Science Fiction
The Blair Witch Project + Godzilla = The most secretive movie ever released.
There once was a time when giant creature movies were alive and thriving, but at some point people grew tired of zippered suits and miniature cities. Then CGI came into play and Jurassic Park set a new standard for the colossal beasts. Since then, we’ve only had a handful of mayhem causing mammoths terrorizing our way of life. Cloverfield fills in a small part of that void with its unique handi-cam style. The first person perspective creates a sense of being in the moment and filters the monster flick through a lens usually ignored by the genre: the consequences of destruction. And like Spielberg, (and Hitchcock before him if we’re citing influences,) the threat is only seen in small doses, allowing our imagination to connect the dots and create the monster in our own minds, (for the most part.) But the secret to its success is the nonstop action and tension. It moves quickly, remains exciting, so it’s easy to overlook its faults.
