The Year That Wasn't

Quickie Reviews from the Year I Was Away

Tideland – What the fuck was that? Tideland starts out pretty strong and remains interesting throughout, but never comes together as a cohesive whole. It does, however, invert Gilliam’s usual theme of exploring a person’s fantasy by almost never showing the fantasy world, but remaining firmly entrenched in reality as its characters experience fantasy within their own heads.

The Departed – Fan-freaking-tastic. This was Scorcese’s best picture in years and a movie that, for once, was truly deserving of Oscar. Great performances by everyone involved, especially, and surprisingly, Leonardo DiCaprio and Marky Mark. This one is a must see and another contender for eventual inclusion in the Top 100.

The Last King of Scotland – Come for Forrest Whitaker, sleep through the rest.

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny – Nowhere near as kick ass as it should have been, the big screen debut of JB and KG ends up stealing heavily from the superior HBO series and catering far too much to an apparently absent (if one looks at ticket sales) stoner audience. That said, the first ten minutes or so – which reflect exactly what I wish the whole movie had been – is an amazing musical sequence featuring a young JB, Meatloaf and Ronny James Dio.

Sweetland – This was a fine and really pretty period piece produced in northern Minnesota. I don’t know how much play it got outside the state, but its certainly worth your while. Plus, the gaffer’s a friend of mine. Way to go, Greg!

Stranger Than Fiction – A fun and interesting metafiction.

The Prestige – This is a really amazing bit of business, focusing on two competing Victorian magicians. There are plenty of twists and turns in a film by Christopher Nolan and much of the Batman Begins cast and crew. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are great as the magicians and Michael Caine and David Bowie (as Nicola Telsa!) turn in great supporting performances. Apart from The Departed, this was easily my favorite movie of the year I never talked about and a strong contender for eventual inclusion in the Top 100.

Night at the Museum – A light entertainment buoyed by fun supporting characters that, unfortunately, doesn’t hold up well to repeat viewings – that is except for the scenes involving a miniature Owen Wilson, which are terrific. That said, I’m not sure what is more surprising: that this kid-friendly picture has yet to spin-off a Saturday morning animated version or that it was written by two members of MTV’s The State.

Man of the Year – Completely forgettable, although mildly notable for not at all being the film advertised in its trailers. This is less the story of a comedian becoming president than of voter machine error allowing the wrong man to become president.

Hollywoodland – I can’t believe I’m saying, but Ben Affleck was great in this story of the mystery of George “Superman” Reeve’s death. The one question never addressed: why was Lex Luthor never questioned?

The Fountain – The Fountain’s trailers seemed to promise an immortal story of one man’s centuries long quest for the love of a woman. What we get instead is a boring, pretentious mess of a picture that desperately wants to be the new 2001.

For Your Consideration – For your consideration: a man who has made a trio of very funny films suddenly fails miserably. I’m not sure if Christopher Guest was fated to make a crappy movie sooner or later, but, if he was, at least I’m glad that it’s finally out of the way.

Flags of Our Fathers – one of Eastwood’s duller movies

Fearless – What could have been a really cool spectacle of kung fu vs other prominent fighting styles (boxing, fencing, etc) wastes a lot of time on back story and something called Wu Shu – which I’m sure means something to kung fu fans, but not to me.

Eragon – You see, the title is just ‘dragon’ with an ‘e’ instead of a ‘d.’ The rest of the movie is just as clever.

Pan’s Labyrinth – With this picture Guillermo Del Torro, robbed at last year’s Oscars, proves beyond any doubt that he is one of the most interesting filmmakers today and the most interesting director the horror/fantasy genre has seen in a good twenty years. Now, bring on Hellboy 2!

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – Funny and I’m glad Sasha Baron Cohen has decided to retire the character. Borat was on the brink of becoming the next Austin Powers: a once funny character diluted by overuse and all too repetitive catch phrases.

Casino Royale – The Bond franchise throws away Brosnan’s smirking hijinks for something far more brutal and worthwhile. Interestingly, the results are most similar to the oft despised Timothy Dalton films – strange that the aesthetic works so well with audiences now when it failed so miserably then (myself excluded – I happen to quite like Dalton’s Bond). All that said, I still say we need a different M than Judi Dench.

The Queen – While sadly, not about Freddy Mercury, this bio pic of Queen Elizabeth II really is terribly good. Helen Mirren is excellent and James Cromwell deserves a little more recognition for his portrayal of Prince Philip.

Children of Men – Really, really good. Go see it now.

Curse of the Golden Flower - Another disappointing kung fu picture, this one with much too little kung fu and entirely too much idiotic dialog, but, luckily, just enough cleavage.

Be sure to come back later this week first for my Oscar predictions and then for The 2007 Dudie Awards!

Remember, to be eligable for the coveted Burt Reynolds statuette, the movie has to have been released during 2007 and I have to have seen it in the theater. I did not, however, have to see it during 2007.

Speaking of all that, here are the films eligable for this year's Dudies: Ghost Rider, 300, The Last Mimzy, Blades of Glory, Grindhouse, The Host, Hot Fuzz, Spider-Man 3, The Bridge to Terrabithia, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Carribean 3: At World's End, Ratatouille, Knocked Up, 1408, Transformers, 28 Weeks Later, Meet the Robinsons, The Simpsons Movie, Live Free or Die Hard, The Ten, Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Sunshine, Stardust, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Balls of Fury, Resurrecting the Champ, The Nanny Diaries, Shoot 'Em Up, Superbad, Resident Evil Extinction, Eastern Promises, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 30 Days of Night, The Darjeeling Limited, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Beowulf, 3:10 to Yuma, The Mist, The Golden Compass, I am Legend, Juno, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Lars and the Real Girl, Gone, Baby, Gone, No Country for Old Men, Bee Movie, Attonement, Enchanted, and (should I have the time this week) Michael Clayton.