ONWARD!
#16 Never Let Me Go
This movie was so sad, I had to create a new adjective: "soul-crushingly depressing".
But it was also just gorgeous. The English countryside is on full display as we follow a trio of children from their early boarding school days until young adulthood. They are Kathy, Ruth and Tommy-- played by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and future spider man Andrew Garfield, respectively. There's something a little off-kilter about this world, and we come to find out that everyone who attends this seemingly normal but utterly creepy school has a pre-destined future. In this alternate reality Britain, the students from the school find themselves as part of a scientific initiative.
That's all I'll give away. As you watch the trio deal with and accept their fates, they simoltaneously confront their past. A weird love triangle is in effect from the beginning between the restrained Mulligan, the sexual Knightley and the confused and angry Garfield.
It's certainly not the feel-good film of the year, but it's well worth seeing to catch the layered performances from what may currently be the three hottest British actors under 30. The cinematography is outstanding, and the script based on Kazuo Ishiguro's bestselling novel (which I hear is twice as sad) by is very engaging, even if it does kind of crush your soul.
#15 The King's Speech
Look, anyone who tells you this movie is not Oscar bait is spewing untruths. Both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush had made this claim, that they "had no idea why" people would want to see a movie about the friendship between two middle-aged men. Well, when one of them is royalty, all of the history buffs come running, and when the buzz about Firth's brave portrayal of King George VI hit the papers, there was no stopping the Oscar-steam train.
I'm kind of reminded of ESPN talk show host Colin Cowherd and his comments on Aaron Rodgers. "I'm not saying Rodgers isn't great," he'll say. "I'm just saying he's not elite yet. He's not a Big Ben, he's not a Rivers, he's not a Tom Brady." Two things should be noted here: 1) Cowherd has the biggest man-crush in the world on Tom Brady, and 2) Since those comments, Rodgers does have a ring and one of the best all-time Super Bowl performances. That's kind of how I feel with the King's Speech--it's good, it's really good--but it's not in my top bunch this year. I'm sure that when it takes home best picture in less than 1 week (which I'm almost sure it will), I'll be feeling a little like Cowherd must have after the Super Bowl.
Yeah, it's exactly the type of movie Oscar goes for. Guy/Gal works at overcoming a problem or disability (see My Left Foot, Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind, Ray )and does so in an emotional and powerful way. The first thing I'll say is that Colin Firth did probably give the best male performance of the year, and the second thing I'll say is that I'm not anti-beat the odds by any means. It's just that it is definitely the kind of thing that all of the academy voters--young and especially old--can find common ground on.
Beyond Firth's show-stopping, there were other things I liked about the film. Geoffrey Rush was of course great in the role of the "you can do this" mentor, speech therapist Lionel Logue. His unorthodox nature made for a great story, and the way George VI finally started to let his guard down little by little (after starting as a completely pompous prick). The way it was shot was pretty unusual and I liked it--almost entirely in wide-angle lens. It's not meant to be flattering, and Firth knows this. Instead of running away, he uses it to his advantage, perhaps itself acting as a lens to how strange and alien he felt within his world.
I enjoyed all the historical aspects; before this movie I had never known that there was a British King who stuttered. Historically it felt very accurate, from the mise-en-scene to the costumes. It dragged a little bit, particularly in the scenes with his "usurping" brother.
All that it being ranked #15 means is that it has been a very strong year for movies. I find it a little overrated and more than a little Oscar-ish, but it's still very much worth seeing, even if it's just to see Firth completely lose himself in the role.
#14 Winter's Bone
This movie was dubbed a "backwoods-noir".
I wonder in the history of the world up until this point a film has ever been refered to as a "backwoods-noir.
I was extremely surprised to see this dark, quiet film make its way from Indie darling to best picture contender. To be fair—it’s really, really well done, but I didn’t think that anyone besides my mother and I actually saw it. We saw it in an empty Minneapolis theater; maybe five other people there.
A lot of the strength of this backwoods-noir (catchy, right?) lies in its two Oscar-nominated actors, Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes. They’re superb. Jennifer Lawrence was a relative unknown and at only 20, is poised for a lengthy career. John Hawkes is mostly a TV guy—Kenny Powers’ pushover brother in Eastbound and Down, and in Lost as a bit character in the last season. Before that, I really enjoyed him in Me, You and Everyone You Know as a hapless but sincere shoe-salesman romantic lead.
Jennifer Lawrence is Ree, and she's doing everything she can to keep her family's scraping existence from going kaput. She cooks, cleans, takes care of her siblings and her drugged-out mother, and shoots squirrels for dinner. All that has to take a backseat when people--police in particular--start asking questions about her father. See, he's been missing for weeks, and unless he comes back to sign the house deed and kick a little money into the property, they're cast out into the Ozarks.
Armed with a flashlight, a flannel and a pissed-off face, she goes out to bring him home. It's pretty obvious early on that nobody wants her to, nobody wants her snooping around. Including her uncle Teardrop (Hawkes), who wants to hide the truth away so bad that he slaps her at one point. Her father has been putting food on the table until this point by dealing with some pretty unsavory characters, and one by one they begin to show up to obstruct her ultimate goal.
The movie definitely has an aesthetic throughout--Dark, gray, dreary and cold. The scenes leading up to the final moments are eerie, and the resolution itself feels like a punch in the stomach. As Ree pushes her way through moonlit landscapes, her breath visible the whole time, you want her to succeed. But maybe-just maybe-we don't want her to know the whole truth. Jennifer Lawrence belongs in the same class as her four opponents, and she will for years to come.
#13 How to Train Your Dragon
Last week, when I was teaching the kindergartners all about the letter V, I decided to try and explain what a Viking was.
Tennyson: Excuse me, but isn’t it like a football player?
Me: Here in this state, yes. The Minnesota Vikings are the team mascot. Do you guys know what “mascot” means?
(They didn’t)
Me: Okay. How about warrior, or explorer? Do you know what either of those things are? An explorer is someone who explores land, someone who tries to find land first. Does that make sense? A Viking is an explorer—way before you and me, they built ships and went around the world, looking for new land.
Harry: You know how they have big ships? Some of them have swords on the top of their sails.
Me: Yes. Very good, guys. How many of you guys, then, have seen How to Train Your Dragon?
Everyone: OOOOHHH! MEEE!
Eli: You know how when Hiccup tries—he doesn’t have a sword. He just takes the wood and then he does the shield when he’s trying to get the dragon away and then his dad—
Me: Good, Eli. Next?
I should have known. What Eli was doing his best to re-hash (not a bad job either) was a painfully cute movie. I saw it in 3-D (my girl saw it twice) and the animation lends itself particularly well to the adaptation. I mean, you’re going to be more than all right if you have the plethora of flying objects that this one does.
Jay Baruchel voices Hiccup, the skinny, whiny, reluctant Viking. I tried as best to err on the side of the big guys with beards as an example. His father wants him to grow up to be the muslebound juicehead that he is, and Hiccup is not interested. He’s a peaceful kid in a society of testosterone.
One night, after dragons have raided the village and absconded with a gang of sheep, Hiccup does the unthinkable: he tries to take down the elusive Nightmare, a lightning-spitting badass who no one has been lucky enough to capture. His catapult connects and the beast goes down. In the morning, he tries to go find it and encounters him in the woods, looking peaked. When he goes to touch him, the Nightmare rears up and screams before flying off. From there on, it’s Hiccup’s mission to prove to everyone that he snagged a Nightmare.
They become fast friends after Hiccup supplies him with a bucket of fish. Seeing that he’s missing some chompers, Hiccup names him “Toothless”, and the name sticks. They begin to hang out more as Hiccup secretly nurses Toothless back to full strength. Meanwhile, he’s in dragon-fighting school and performing at the top without so much as touching the dragons; he’d rather slip them some of that contraband lutefisk. Around the dragons, he’s a Nordic Gandhi.
After all this transpires he begins to win the respect of the village. The problem is, he can’t hold out a whole lot longer without exposing his new pal.
Funny, heartfelt, and visually amazing, How to T Yr D does not disappoint. Toothless and Hiccup are an unlikely but workable duo, as Hiccup helps him transform from angry beast to cat-like dragon.
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