It would be silly to ask what the highest grossing film of all time (U.S.) starting with the letter “D” was (assuming the title can start with “The”). So I’ll ask, what’s the second highest grossing D movie of all time and what’s the highest grossing D movie if it can’t start with “The”?
I’ll give you a hint; they’re two different movies.
So, when I predicted $207 million for Alice’s final take, I thought I was being generous. $200 million plus is, after all, an extraordinary haul for a non-blockbuster season release. Turns out, I’ll probably end up $100 million shy of it’s final tally given that highest grossing non-sequel weekend and all.
Oh, and I suck at predicting Oscars.
3/12
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
The Iraq Identity
WILL IT SUCK?
It’s Paul Greengrass. Come on. When has he ever sucked? And he’s reteaming with Matt Damon (and adding Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan and Brendan Gleeson). Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, LA Confidential) writes. Early buzz is mixed.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Will have the honor of coming in second to week two of Alice. $91mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Robert Pattinson in a romantic drama in which he is not undead.
WILL IT SUCK?
From the director of a lot of Sopranos and Sex in the City and one feature (Hollywoodland, which was pretty good). If Pattinson doesn’t do it for you, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Martha Plimpton, and Lena Olin are also up in here. Early buzz is not so good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
With She’s Out of My League and Our Family Wedding drawing on an only slightly different demo this week and The Bounty Hunter drawing the romcom crowd the next, this could have trouble, even with R-Patz front and center. $26mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
If you don’t get it from the title, I don’t know what to tell ya.
WILL IT SUCK?
From the writers of Sex Drive. That is all.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Sadly, I have a feeling this might be a bit of a breakout hit. $40mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
An African American family and a Latino family try to sort out their differences (well, the fathers mainly) as their son and daughter respectively get married.
WILL IT SUCK?
From the writer/director of The Wood and Brown Sugar, who also wrote the fantastic Talk to Me and co-wrote this…with the writer of King’s Ransom, and the trailer looks more like the latter. Cast is a mixed bag. Love Forest Whitaker and America Ferrara. Carlos Mencia, not so much.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Weekend is too crowded, especially for romcoms. $22mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Mother tries to clear her mentally challenged son’s name in a murder investigation.
WILL IT SUCK?
Maestro of the tonal mash-up Bong Joon-Ho (The Host) releases his best-received film since Memories of Murder. Early buzz is amazing. Hye-ja Kim, who plays the mother in question, is supposed to be incredible.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Even The Host didn’t do all that well over here. $1mil.
Next week: Just be thankful they didn’t actually reboot Midnight Run.
These posters were created by the lovely and talented Dr. Wife who, along with me, curses the Academy for requiring us to come up with ten menu items this year. Five is enough, people!
Yeah. That’s pretty awful. And that’s why I said it.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Will Win: Mo’Nique
Should Win: Mo’Nique
There is no question in any award-giving body’s mind as to who will win this, so let’s concentrate on how to properly spell her name. It’s Mo’Nique, with a capital “N,” as in the opposite of Less’Nique.
I have never actually seen a person win an Academy award in the last five minutes of a film before Mo’Nique did it in Precious. It’s a great film already, but her moment makes it unforgettable.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Cristoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Will Win: Christoph Waltz
Should Win: Christoph Waltz
Again, no question. So let’s be clear that it’s Christoph withou the “er” because someone bet him he couldn’t spell his name without an “e,” and it’s “Waltz” just like his brother, Blue Danube.
Just watch the first 20 minutes, then tell me he doesn’t deserve this.
BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Will Win: Sandra Bullock
Should Win: Carey Mulligan
There was a time when this was a going to be a fight between Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep. Then Sandra Bullock started winning things. Marginal things like BFCA (tying with Streep), then marginal-but-high-profile things like the Golden Globe (where she didn’t really have to go up against Streep), then relatively important things like the SAG award (where she flat out beat Streep). So while Streep may still have a shot, the smart money’s on Bullock.
I miss the days when Mulligan had a chance. Her performance in An Education is relevatory, and as good as everyone is in that film (where are the nods for Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, and Rosamund Pike, who takes on the most thankless role of all?) it’s the kind of movie that only works if the lead is amazing, and she is.
BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
Will Win: Jeff Bridges
Should Win: Jeff Bridges
This, too, used to be a very different race. Time was when George Clooney, Colin Firth, and Jeff Bridges all had a fair shot at the crown, with Clooney in the lead. But several awards shows and a SAG standing ovation later the clear front-runner is Bridges, as much for a body of work as an outstanding performance.
And it is an outstanding performance. Bridges creates a complete character. No less so than The Dude, which should have been his first Oscar.
BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow
Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow
I don’t think the Academy will blame Bigelow here for the sins of her producer. In fact, voters looking to reward Locker are more likely to do it here than anywhere else. It’s a way to acknowledge the film in a major way without giving it the farm. Plus, she’s already accumulated a ton of awards culminating in a something like 90 percent predictive DGA win.
Hurt Locker and Avatar are, more than the other three nominees, “director’s films.” I say that because I see Up in the Air and Basterds as writer/director films, which is to say the success of the film is as much about the writing as the direction, and Precious as a performance/director film, in that the performances are featured as much as the directorial style.
So looking at films that rely primarily on directorial vision for impact, Locker creates a more compelling experience for me than Avatar. And while you can see elements of that vision in Bigelow’s previous work (look at the visual rendering of the adrenaline junkie mentality in the camerawork of Point Break) it has never been more coherent.
Put another way, she directed the shit out of that film.
BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Up in the Air
Let me be clear. The whole Avatar/Hurt Locker race is closer than you think. And don’t think that any amount of ill advised e-mails is going to change that. David Poland has some choice words about that line of thinking that are worth digesting. If Hurt Locker loses a win this big, it’s because it was never going to win it.
The case for Hurt Locker is compelling. A PGA win when the smart money was on Avatar. A DGA win when the smart money was on Cameron. The (admittedly thin) lead in a pool of experts and a pool of amateurs. The seriousness of a real war versus the fantasy of a fake one. And the Academy likes Serious.
But here’s the thing. They also like money.
Poland points out in that article I just mentioned that it’s very hard to make a small amount of money and still win Best Picture.
“In the last 30 years, the lowest domestic theatrical gross for a Best Picture winner was about 3x the domestic gross of The Hurt Locker… $44 million for The Last Emperor.”
By the same token, granted you qualify as “Oscar material,” financial success really doesn’t hurt. Until recently (given that Avatar is now on top), the top two highest grossing films of all time internationally, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, were both Best Picture winners.
The technology angle also plays a role. This is about the future. There is no better-looking (if completely misunderstood) argument for the viability of 3D than Avatar. And don’t underestimate the fact that two of the ten nominees are 3D. A win for Avatar is a win for 3D is a win for the future of filmmaking.
Granted, this argument assumes that the Academy consists of marketers, which it doesn’t. Many of them are actors, some of whom are threatened by our new digital overlords. And they could be the best friends an actor-centered film like The Hurt Locker ever had.
The Academy voters are also not, necessarily, a bunch of people trying to resurrect the relevance of the event in the minds of the public by celebrating the movies the public embraces. Those would be the people actually putting on the Oscars and trying to sell it to sponsors. And, um, adding five Best Picture nominees. But I think those thoughts could plausibly influence a vote or two.
For all this back and forth, though, I keep coming back to the money. Put simply, I find it too hard to believe that the Academy will ignore the highest grossing film of all time in the middle of a recession.
This could very realistically go the other way, and I’d be happy to see it, but my gut tells me Locker gets Director, Avatar gets The Prize.
All of that having been said, I liked Up in the Air better than both of ‘em. Inglourious Basterds and Up, too.
How Hurt Locker fares in a bunch of these categories might tell us a lot about how it will fare in the final category. Or not.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Avatar
Seriously? Is there some suspicion that District 9 is gonna walk away with this one? The one thing that everyone can agree on with this flick is the visual effects. The boundary that has been pushed, the moment in film history that has been marked is all about visual effects. Honestly, it’s kind of mean to even nominate the other two.
I’ll drink the koolaid on this one. It really is an amazing film to look at, and the digital reality that Cameron has created, both on the faces of the actors and their surroundings is convincing (although Gollum is still the most impressive CG character creation/performance to date, imho).
ANIMATED FEATURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
Will Win: Up
Should Win: Up
We can pretend that Fantastic Mr. Fox is a spoiler, but critter, please.
One of the best films of the decade. There, I said it. Actually, there I said it.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: The Hurt Locker
Not an easy pick. You’ve got BAFTA, one of the few other major awards ceremonies giving out a cinematography award, giving theirs to Hurt Locker (along with a bunch of critics circles). You’ve got ASC (cinematographer’s union) going with The White Ribbon. And then you’ve got these random people thinking Avatar’s a slam dunk, and to their credit, this does more or less follow the “if it’s a technical award, it will go to Avatar” rule.
First off, I don’t think most of the Academy has seen The White Ribbon. Secondly, I get the sense that when people think of Avatar, they don’t think of cinematography, at least not in the traditional sense. I think they think of a bunch of guys sitting at computers. Not a guy with a camera. When they think of Hurt Locker, there’s a guy with a camera. Getting amazing shots.
That one image at the beginning of the film with the grains of sand. You know the one? If not, I’m not going to spoil it. But right there it won Best Cinematography in my heart.
FILM EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Again, a tough call. As often as not, the Best Picture favorite nabs this one. That’s easily Avatar here, though some might say Hurt Locker (more on that later). Hurt Locker, on the other hand, did nab the ACE Eddie award and the BAFTA for Best Editing. Ultimately, though, I feel like Hurt Locker is only going to be able to pull so many wins away from Avatar, and this won’t be one of them.
The tonal shifts in Precious are not easy, but the editing makes them seem that way. The fantasy sequences in particular are well-merged. Just as important, knowing when not to cut, as in Mo’Nique’s climactic monologue.
SCREENPLAY – ADAPTED
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Will Win: Up in the Air
Should Win: Up in the Air
All of the stars have lined up for this one. Globes, BFCA, BAFTA, WGA, and virtually every critics circle pointed at Up in the Air and said “yes.” Will probably be the only award it wins, but still.
My favorite movie of last year, and the screenplay is no small part of that. Oh, by the way, go see In the Loop. The only reason I didn’t pick it for “should” is that a lot of the (amazing) dialogue is improvised.
SCREENPLAY – ORIGINAL
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
Will Win: Inglourious Basterds
Should Win: Up
Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds are practically neck and neck on this one. Locker got the love from WGA and BAFTA while Basterds got BFCA and a ton of critics circles (basically everyone who didn’t vote for (500) Days of Summer, which inexplicably didn’t make the Oscar cut). Here is one of the places I think the unfortunate e-mail will come back to bite Hurt Locker in the ass, with the Academy giving the more familiar Tarantino his second win.
Hurt Locker specializes in character and action and Inglourious Basterds specializes in dialogue and theme, but Up doesn’t specialize. It masters every narrative skill set and makes it look effortless. That amazing dialogue-free opening sequence? Somebody wrote that. The hilarious dialogue? Same. The highly original action sequences? All on the page.
In our final installment: Real war vs. fake war.
While I will now predict an Oscar for Star Trek, it’s not the kind they’ll put on the box…
MAKEUP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
Will Win: Star Trek
Should Win: Star Trek
Although it doesn’t always go this way, the more obvious work is the surer winner. Here, Eric Bana is transformed and that green chick is, like, totally green.
Seriously, I didn’t recognize him. Or Winona Ryder. I have nothing to add except to say that you should totally go see Il Divo.
COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
Will Win: The Young Victoria
Should Win: The Young Victoria
First off, how bad would it be if Coco Before Chanel *didn’t* get nominated for Best Costume Design? Anyhoo, period pieces, especially the frilly ones, tend to have the edge here.
Having no costume preferences whatsoever this year, I’m just going to go with the flow.
ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Avatar
Kind of a technical award, right? Avatar.
Avatar won this award for me before they even left the base. Amazing.
ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
Will Win: Up
Should Win: Sherlock Holmes
BFCA, BAFTA, and the Globes, at least, agree on Up.
Granted, the Avatar score was strong (I even liked the way it called back the Aliens soundtrack from time to time), but I really liked how Hans Zimmer incorporated Irish folk elements into an otherwise straightforward action score on Holmes.
ORIGINAL SONG
The Princess and the Frog: “Almost There”
The Princess and the Frog: “Down in New Orleans”
Paris 36: “Loin de Paname”
Nine: “Take It All”
Crazy Heart: “The Weary Kind”
Will Win: “The Weary Kind”
Should Win: “The Weary Kind”
Golden Globes and BFCA agree, and I’m expecting a little of the Jeff Bridges love to rub off here as well.
I haven’t actually heard any of the other songs, but I like this one! Whole soundtrack’s actually pretty good.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami – Israel
The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
A Prophet – France
The Secret in Their Eyes – Argentina
The White Ribbon – Germany
Will Win: The White Ribbon
Should Win: Um…
If Sin Nombre or Summer Hours were in the running, it might be a tighter race, but the acclaim lavished on The White Ribbon so far is considerable, although you might want to consider A Prophet a spoiler.
Enough about me, what do you think should win for Foreign Language Film? (Yeah, I haven’t seen any of these.)
In our next installment: If only there were a clear front-runner for Best Visual Effects. I just don’t know.
As usual, I have no freakin’ clue about a lot of these traditionally difficult categories, but I’ve enlisted the help of the crowd (or, at least, this crowd) to get a few, admittedly arbitrary, clues.
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
Will Win: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Should Win: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Three of the four times Nick Park has been nominated for this award, he’s won.
And with good reason. Even though this probably ranks about third in my enjoyment of Wallace and Gromit shorts, it’s still very funny.
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
Will Win: Kavi
Should Win: The New Tenants
Here’s where I have to rely on the crowd. Given their affinity for this, I have to guess that the Slumdog Millionaire vibe is expected to play a role in the voting.
Again, relying on a third party, but this guy at least thought The New Tenants was the best of the bunch and, hey, it’s got Vincent D’Onofrio and Kevin Corrigan, so why not?
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
China’s Unnatural Disaster:The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governer Booth Gardener
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
Will Win: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Should Win: Rabbit a la Berlin
It’s apparently a close race between China and GM, but my guess is the American-ness and timeliness of the topic will win out.
I have no idea about should, but a doc about rabbits living in between East and West Berlin while the Wall was still up sounds pretty fascinating.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellserg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
Will Win: The Cove
Should Win: Food, Inc.
If Anvil! The Story of Anvil had made the short list, this might be more of a fight, but minus that, no other doc has received the acclaim lavished upon The Cove. Besides, how can you say no to dolphins?
Both The Cove and Food, Inc. are must-sees, but the issues brought to light in Food, Inc. are more systemic and alarming to me, personally, than the (truly horrifying) plight of dolphins (and people, for that matter) in The Cove. In fact, you could make an argument that the slaughter depicted in The Cove is a symptom of the larger philosophy examined in Food, Inc., which puts humans and animals alike at great risk.
SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: The Hurt Locker
Here’s the clearest answer I’ve ever heard about the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Enjoy.
If it’s a technical award, it’s going to go to Avatar. Just get used to that.
The Hurt Locker recorded a lot of ambient sound and it’s used to gut-crunching effect in the film. When you make a film about bombs, sound matters.
SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: The Hurt Locker
If it’s a technical award…
Seriously, I feel like I could hear the sweat in that film.
In our next installment: Admit it. You hadn’t even heard of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus until now.
Though the numbers may not sound that impressive, both Martin Scorsese and Kevin Smith are on their way to career-best box office with their respective films.
By the way, my review of Cop Out is here. Did not hate it nearly as much as most.
3/5
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Tim Burton sequel to the Lewis Carroll adventures. With Johnny Depp, of course.
WILL IT SUCK?
Tim Burton is a visionary in the best sense of the word. Screenwriter did Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Depp as the Mad Hatter seems a slam dunk, and he’s joined by Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, and Timothy Spall. Looks like the first bona fide event movie of 2010 worth checking out.
Early buzz is good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Green Zone the following week has a sliver of the same demo, but this will dominate the month. $207mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Three cops’ (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke) paths intertwine in an undisclosed New York borough.
WILL IT SUCK?
From the director of Training Day, and this is supposed to be better (according to IMDb). Also stars Wesley Snipes, Lili Taylor, Ellen Barkin, Will Patton, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Snagged w/in 24 hours of premiering at Sundance last year, so somebody thinks it has potential, enough to buy a Super Bowl spot and give it a wide release, two things that almost never happen with Sundance buys. Still, don’t know if that will translate into wide release money. $26mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Kid looks for a book. A really, really important book.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is crazy good. Good enough to launch it into a “The What of What?” Oscar nod for Best Animated ahead of some much heavier hitters.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Oscar nod will help. Alice in Wonderland will not. $5mil.
Next Week: Look out! Matt Damon’s got that, um, completely reasonable look in his eye!
Scorsese has his biggest open of all time. The Departed’s $132 million, his highest gross to date, seems attainable.
2/26
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
All toxin and no antidote makes the townsfolk something something. Go crazy? Don’t mind if they do!
WILL IT SUCK?
Wasn’t expecting this as the next project of the guy who directed Sahara. On the other hand, also didn’t expect him to remake Flash Gordon as his next project. This remake of a 1973 George Romero film comes from writers behind such remakes as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, and Pulse as well as the original (and thoroughly despised) Case 39, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
But at least the residents of Lenox, Iowa will be pleased.
Early buzz isn’t all that bad.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Shutter Island mildly counts as competition, but not really. The real problem is horror remakes not being nearly as safe a bet as they used to be. $21mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Kevin Smith does the buddy cop thing.
WILL IT SUCK?
Smith promises that in spite of an unfunny trailer and less-funny title (orig. was A Couple of Dicks) the movie is funny. I believe him, but I’m a Smith fan. I even listen to his podcast. And I refuse to believe he’d yell, “Cut!” until he was laughing his ass off. Especially given that he’s working, for the first time, with material not his own. Which is where I get nervous, since these writers really only have stuff like Las Vegas to their credit. Good cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott, Jason Lee, Adam Brody, Kevin Pollack.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
It’s not about Kevin Smith (his name hardly appears in the trailer) so much as Bruce Willis, who opens in the middle these days. $39mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Road trip! Ex-con (William Hurt) picks up two hitchhikers (Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne) on the way to see his estranged wife (Maria Bello).
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. Should add nicely to Stewart’s non-Twilight indie cred (Adventureland, Into the Wild).
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
While Stewart’s popularity probably aided in this years-old flick getting distribution, I don’t think that will translate into art house sales. $3mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
The Arab Godfather
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is sick. Has already accumulated a number of nods and wins (including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes) on the road to a Best Foreign nod – and perhaps a spoiler for The White Ribbon in that category.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
With its nod (and possible win), should do well. $6mil.
Next Week: Wait a minute. You’re telling me Tim Burton made a movie with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? Get the fuck outta here!
It really was an amazing decade for film, and many of my choices here reflect larger cinematic trends that I found encouraging at the beginning of a new millennium for movies.
20. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
This is a very “me” film. I don’t expect this to make a lot of, if any, other Best of the Decade lists because it idiosyncratically targets some of my favorite things for a film to be good at. Post-modernism, dialogue, action. But it has a lot more going for it than just that. You’ve got the return of Robert Downey Jr. before Iron Man made it official. You’ve got the first (to my knowledge) openly gay action hero. You’ve got the return (and we’re still waiting for the follow-up) of maestro screenwriter (and now director) Shane Black. Read my full review.
19. Serenity
While Firefly certainly deserves its rabid fan following, you certainly don’t need to be a member to enjoy its big screen adaptation. This is everything devotees of Joss Whedon hoped would happen when he finally wrote and directed a feature film: great dialogue, great action, great characters, great story. Based on this film alone (not to mention his other creative endeavors), he could become one of the greatest genre filmmakers of all time. I just hope he gets the chance to prove it.
18. No End in Sight
The Iraq War is probably the most contemporarily depicted war in film history (WWII may have it beat). Unfortunately, most of the fictionalized depictions were below the par of most, say, after-the-fact Vietnam films. This was not the case, however, with documentaries. Fahrenheit 9/11, The Ground Truth, The Road to Guantanamo, Taxi to the Dark Side, Gunner Palace, Standard Operating Procedure, and others created compelling pictures of the conflict. What makes No End in Sight stand out for me is its depoliticized clarity. I say depoliticized because at no point does it question whether or not it was a good idea to go into Iraq. It simply focuses on how we prosecuted the invasion and, more importantly, the occupation. And there, politics turns to tragedy.
17. Almost Famous
I probably wouldn’t care so much about this film if I weren’t a musician. Then again, given how beautifully Cameron Crowe crafts this paean to the bygone days of rock and his own not-so-misspent youth, I can’t be sure. All the wit and passion on display in his earlier work (Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire) combines with the love of music expressed in those films to create an unforgettable journey.
16. Up
Up is the cherry on top of the decade that belonged to Pixar. You’ll have trouble finding a film with more heart, humor, and storytelling kung fu in any medium, much less animated. And this isn’t even the best that they can do.
15. Amelie
When one of our loyal viewers asked me to make a list of first films for people unfamiliar with different genres, I picked Amelie for foreign because I knew it was impossible to have a bad experience watching it. Most of that success is the sheer creative force of writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but not a little of it belongs to the inspired performance of Audrey Tatou. Be sure to see their reunion in the amazing A Very Long Engagement.
14. Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino spent the better part of the 00’s proving that his success in the 90’s was no fluke. With Kill Bill Vol. I and II, he induldged his passion for the spaghetti western and kung fu epic. With Death Proof, he infused the exploitation genre with great dialogue and pure tension. Here, he takes a similarly B-movie inspired set-up and wrings something profound – seriously, Kubrick levels of subtext here – from blood, explosions and priceless dialogue. Even without all of that, you’ve still got one of the strongest opening scenes in movie history.
13. Hero
The 00’s were the decade that martial arts broke into mainstream action cinema. Part of that was due to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon proving that audiences would pay good money for good kung fu even if nobody spoke English. Hero proved they would do it even if the movie had been around for years, pirated to no end long before it hit U.S. theaters. We could argue all day as to which was more beautiful, and which had the better stories or fight choreography, but at the end of the day Hero goes a little bit further for me because it combines the great romance of Dragon with a compelling (even disturbing) political allegory that puts tyranny and terrorism in uncomfortably stark perspective.
12. Ocean’s Eleven
Really, was there a more fun film released in the 00’s? Sharp dialogue, crackerjack camerawork, and a cast to die for. This is what happens when you let indie directors handle mass market entertainment, another positive trend of the aughts.
11. Once
Every now and then a film comes along that defies categorization. But I’ll do it anyway. This is Lost in Translation, the Musical. Still not accurate, but about as close as you’ll get. Essentially a collection of amazing real time music videos tied together by a relationship more than a narrative, Once is one of those films that you can call “magical” with a straight face.
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
While it is damn near impossible to pick a representative or favorite Charlie Kaufman endeavor, Sunshine at least captures some of my favorite aspects of his work. There is, of course, the mindfuck, in this case an exploration of memory that literally takes you inside the noggin of the protagonist, a career-best Jim Carrey. But there is also the human relationship, or need for it, that drives all of Kaufman’s work, in this case one of the most beautiful, tragic, and ultimately redemptive he’s put to pen. Add to that the lo-fi imagination of director Michel Gondry, and you’ve got yourself what may be the best sci-fi romance of all time.
9. Memento
Chris Nolan would go on to be known for Best. Comic. Book. Movie. Ever. The Dark Knight, but his first masterpiece came out eight years earlier, when he took a shoulda-gotta-nod Guy Pierce through memory loss hell with this quiet, brilliantly constructed narrative that touches on questions of identity and reality while spinning a top-notch noir/futility-of-revenge morality tale. Also a perfect example of how to use story structure to enhance character: The reverse chronology forces us to experience the protagonist’s lack of short term memory.
8. Lost in Translation
This is the epitome of the type of movie that shouldn’t interest me. Two people talking, not even all that much, and wandering aimlessly around Japan. Where’s the plot? Where’s the explosions? The jive-talking robots? And yet, there is a potency to the images Sofia Coppola captures here, and a purity to the chemistry the leads share, and a depth to the loneliness they evoke, especially a shoulda-won-an-Oscar Bill Murray.
7. Up in the Air
The recession that defined the end of the decade gets its embodiment here, but more importantly, that sense of disconnect that can only be engendered by that especially 00’s brand of technology posing as humanity is rendered with painful accuracy in this tale of a man who discovers that finding his own humanity is as much of a tragedy as it is a triumph. The pinnacle of the rise of Jason Reitman, who in the 00’s rose out of the shadow of his father’s comedy legacy to produce a completely different kind, but just as effective, form of humor.
6. Slumdog Millionaire
Globalization permeated the economics of the 00’s, but also began to pop up in its films as well. Here we see the rise of India as the backdrop for a fairy tale told with the cruelest of strokes but through the lens of the most 00’s of game shows. This is also the tale of the rise of digital fimmaking, with the camcorder replacing the camera and the unkown actor (of color, it should be noted, as this tale in the 80’s or even the 90’s would probably have had a white narrator) replacing the familiar face. This is also the tale of the rise (and fall) of the independent studio, where all the guerrilla techniques and indie aesthetic funded by Warner Independent almost came to nothing when that company went under dooming a whole slate of films to an uncertain future, with this one miraculously (or just plain shrewdly) picked up by Fox Searchlight and groomed into a Best Picture. Finally this is the story of Danny Boyle, one of my favorite directors, who, after thanklessly churning out quality film after quality film finally got the recognition he deserved.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
All of the Lord of the Rings films are testaments to what it means to make an epic film in the 00’s. Lots of CG, but beautifully rendered, and in a way that supports, not detracts from, character and story. In no installment is this more apparent than Towers, which shows us Gollum as he attempts to break out of his treacherous ways and get back some of the humanity that the ring has taken from him. Andy Serkis’ performance in conjunction with the artisans pulling the digital strings create as compelling a depiction of addiction as any that has graced a screen without thousands of hours of rendering time. This is also the leanest and meanest of the three, if not in length then in pacing, without the long setup of the first or the long cool-down of the third. Oh, and one of the best action sequences of all time.
4. The Incredibles
Speaking of great action sequences, The Incredibles has them in droves. Maybe that’s why it’s my favorite Pixar flick. But besides being a great action film that happens to be a children’s movie, it’s also one of the best superhero satires, a subgenre difficult to innovate given its saturation in the ’00’s. As usual for Pixar, a focus on character and story with a dash of being clever as hell elevates the film. Did I mention kick-ass production design and a hilarious supporting performance by director Brad Bird?
3. Munich
By the end of the 90’s Steven Spielberg had already established himself as more than just a master of escapism. He could make Serious Drama. But he continued to challenge himself throughout the next decade, perhaps never so much as with this meditation on the murky politics of revenge and survival. This is Spielberg’s Godfather – with equally dark cinematography by Janusz Kaminski – a portrait of what men will do to defend their home, and what that violence does to their souls. Girded by an underrated, powerhouse performance by Eric Bana, Munich is Spielberg’s harshest indictment of the glory of killing, with no death providing satisfaction, only decay.
2. Donnie Darko
A near-perfect film, writer/director Richard Kelly’s sci-fi masterpiece appeared out of nowhere…and basically stayed there. Ultimately, only Gyllenhaals Jake and Maggie escaped its undeserved obscurity (we’re still waiting for Kelly to have his breakout moment). Gorgeous, tragic, political, creepy, mind-bending, with a kick-ass 80’s soundtrack and a career-winking turn by Patrick Swayze as a motivational speaker, Darko is the ultimate film you can’t wait to show your friends.
1. City of God
City of God is the gangster film of what Fareed Zakaria might call a post-American world. Shot with hyperkinetic intensity by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, the film boasts powerful, largely improvised performances by kids from favelas. The archetypal rise-and-fall of a crime lord tale gets an extra dose of brutality and perspective from the fact that it is not set in America. The protagonists of The Godfather and Goodfellas seek, to some degree, a sense of legitimacy, an American dream earned at the barrel of a gun. The criminals of City of God are not looking for a home in the suburbs. For some, the violence becomes its own end, and in that sense, City of God depicts the favela as a place for the id of crime to run rampant and, more shockingly, just keep getting younger.
As epic in scope as Godfather and Goodfellas, City of God is equally important to the genre, with the three forming, in my mind, a film trinity of fundamental crime cinema.