Jeff Martin's tops in 2009

Jeff Martin lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the author of two books which are available for purchase online or at your local bookstore of choice: The Dog Ate My Nobel Prize and The Customer Is Always Wrong. He prefers to sit close to the screen and in the middle when watching a film in a theatre. He loves oatmeal and studying the architecture of bridges, such as the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan.

1. The Hurt Locker--usa--In the post-9/11 world there have been a number of decent films about the issues we are facing today.  But there was always something missing.  The message was usually strong, we knew what the filmmakers were trying to “say”.  But we weren’t having any fun.  And I don’t mean fun in the traditional sense.  Just fun in a cinematic sense, the kind of fun that makes time disappear.  Then along comes this film that manages to not only say more than any of its predecessors in this sub-genre, but it’s entertaining as hell. I saw this months ago and it’s still with me.  That says a lot.

2. Two Lovers--usa--I keep trying to spread the gospel of James Gray, but I don’t feel that the message is getting across.  This writer/director, responsible for what I consider four great films over the past 15+ years (Little Odessa, The Yards, We Own the Night, Two Lovers), just seems to be getting better and better.  At a mere 40 years of age, I am excited about what is to come.  His next is an adaptation of one of my favorite books of 2009, The Lost City of Z. This film, filled with quietly brilliant performances, wasn’t around for long in theaters. But do yourself a favor and rent it.  If you are a fan of the 1970’s golden age of American cinema, James Gray is one of the few carrying that torch. 

3. Fantastic Mr. Fox--usa--I get sucked in frequently by great trailers.  They get me excited and raise my expectations to what might be unrealistic levels.  I end up disappointed fairly often.  This was the case with Where the Wild Things Are.  I had a small bout of depression following that misfire.  The reason I get excited is because I crave a joyful experience that takes me somewhere for a couple of hours and leaves a smile on my face or a thought in my head.  No film did this better than Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009.  Pure joy.

4. The Tiger in the Snow--italy--This is the only film on my list not released in 2009 and arguably the biggest wtf pick on my list.  Not for me, but you’ve probably never heard of it, saw and hated it, or wouldn’t watch it in the first place.  The reason?  Roberto Begnini.  That crazy Italian of Life is Beautiful fame wrote, directed and stars in this little gem.  I didn’t plan to see this.  But one night, while flipping around, I caught the start of the film with the great Tom Waits singing his great tune “You Can Never Hold Back Spring”.  I was instantly intrigued.  The film just got better from there and touched me in a way I still can‘t explain. 

5. A Single Man--usa--I’ve heard the praise (Colin Firth is amazing) and the criticism (too flashy, over stylized). And both are correct.  Where Brokeback Mountain told a story of two men never able to break through the chains of society and be together, this film tells the tale from a new perspective.  And in the pain and loss displayed through Firth’s performance, enhanced by the best score of the year, this film is my pick for the best love story of 2009.  The grief felt real.  What more can you ask from such a film?

6. The Cove--usa--There’s no real way of explaining why this is such an important film.  If it doesn’t win the Oscar for best documentary, I won’t be shocked.  The Academy has a long and embarrassing history of overlooking the best in this category.  Crumb? Four Little Girls? Roger & Me? No, I won’t be surprised.  But few documentaries in recent years have deserved it as much.

7. Inglorious Basterds--usa--Personally, Quentin Tarantino annoys the hell out of me. He comes off a bit prick-ish and I get a little sick of the constant never-ending homage to something.  But I’ll be damned if he doesn’t write some of the best dialogue and interesting characters out there.  I like it in spite of myself.  Plus that opening scene on the farm, wow. 

8. A Serious Man--usa--The kind of film you can only make if it’s the follow-up project to a masterpiece like No Country for Old Men.  Blatantly un-commercial.  One character drains his neck throughout the film for goodness sake.  Thank God (the old testament one) for the Coens. 

9.  Moon--usa--The always-great Sam Rockwell + Silent Running/2001-style sci-fi = GOOD

10. Zombieland--usa--You can keep your Shaun of the Dead, I’ll keep Woody, Bill Murray and the eternal search for Twinkies.

UTW review of Police, Adjective

Go here if you want to read my review of the Romanian film Police, Adjective in Urban Tulsa. I'd long looked forward to seeing this film and it did not disappoint as it may have made my top ten for 2009 if I'd seen it before I'd published my list recently.

Stephanie Huettner's tops in 2009

Stephanie Huettner (AKA Rumblefish on CineRobot) is from Tulsa, Okla. but has lived in Austin, tx since 2002. She has produced a number of independent shorts, including I Am Nick Robinson, The Peacemaker, Harvest Home (which played at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner), and Mighty Mutant Mollusks. She is currently learning how to be a projectionist (at the Alamo Drafthouse) just so that she can have a specialized skill.

Career highlights relating to film include: Being cast in a speaking role in the Duplass Brothers' Baghead only to have her lines cut before its Sundance premiere; driving Keith Carradine to set in Lockhart, tx (we talked about how Tulsa is a better city than OKC); being a double/stand-in for Blake Lively one day while her regular stand-in was ill (I'm 1/4 inch shorter than Gossip Girl); hosting a sold-out presentation of a Lifetime movie at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse Downtown; attending the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and being in the same theater as Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton and Harvey Weinstein (so intimidating in person, even from 20 feet away) to watch the first-ever screening of the restored print of The Red Shoes.

She is very excited to be a guest blogger for CineRobot. Thanks to Joshua Peck and Vern Snackwell.

12. Moon - This may be all the way at position 12 because I just watched it. I hunted around Austin to find it (3 of our fine independent video stores were fresh out of copies) and enjoyed it about as much as I predicted. It hasn't had much time to sink in, but the visuals alone are enough to earn it a spot here. Sam Rockwell, as many have said before me, is incredible. It would give away a plot point to say much about his performance, but it's the best I've seen him since...the last time I saw him (anyone else pissed off that he wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?) The film explores loneliness, longing and the moral consequences of technological advancements. Again, to write too much would give away too much. Comparisons with 2001: A Space Odyssey were inevitable upon its release. However, this film does not share much with Kubrick's masterpiece other than the setting. On a side note, Sam Rockwell attended the SXSW screening of Moon and a woman in the audience asked him if he thought that he was best in movies about space. She clarified this by saying the only other movie of his she'd seen was Galaxy Quest. That is a prime example of why generalizations (and Q and As) are so pointless. A person can sit through a movie like this, with stunning visuals, an amazing performance, and thought-provoking questions and come up with "I see, it was about space." In this film, the setting serves the story. It is more about the internal world of humanity than the external world of space oddities.

11. Where the Wild Things Are - This movie is not only one of my favorites of the year, but Vern Snackwell and I both agree that it had by far the best trailer of the year. The flawless mix of suit actors, CGI and lively voice performances gave all of the creatures an immediately realistic and empathetic quality. Throw in the boundless imagination of Spike Jonze and an unaffected, not-cute-for-a-second performance by the wonderful Max Records (also great this year in The Brothers Bloom) and you've got some magic, baby.

10. Up - I wish that I could say that I saw this movie premier at Cannes this year. However, due to a mix-up with a power converter and no wireless, I could not order my ticket and missed out. I later saw a preview screening at a fairly crappy multiplex in Austin with a baby flicking water on me for 20 minutes. So, about on par with the experience I would've had in the Theatre Lumiere. Like everyone else with a heart and tear ducts, I wept throughout the first 15 minutes of this film. We are introduced to Carl and Ellie, and immediately fall in love with both of them. We are rushed through their life together and dropped on Carl's lonely doorstep as he spends his remaining years alone, waiting for the mail and being crotchety to the construction workers tearing up his neighborhood. For the next hour or so, we love pretty much every character on screen. A chubby wilderness explorer named Russell, a talking dog named Dug and a chocolate-loving bird named Kevin. I think I liked everything about this movie that everyone else did, so just pick out your favorite parts and those are what I liked, too.

9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - I didn't expect this movie to be here, either. Then, I had the pleasure of seeing it at Movies 8 with a five-year-old on my lap. While she giggled throughout the film and was fully engaged by it (on her second viewing), I'm pretty sure that I was having a better time. The plot centers around a small island town called Swallow Falls, which is facing economic hardship due to the fact that its one and only industry was a sardine factory. As our protagonist, Flint Lockwood (voiced by Tulsan Bill Hader), explains, this was bad "because sardines are totally gross." Everyone in the isolated town is thus forced to live off of a diet of the nasty little fish during these hard times. Flint has been an oddball inventor in this small town for his entire life and thinks that he has come up with a way to solve this pescatarian problem: a machine which turns water in to food. Let me stop with the plot description and just list a few reasons why I like Meatballs so much. 1) This film is beautiful. Even the crappy, dollar theater print which I saw looked great. 2) The voice acting is expressive and hilarious in a way that feels honest. I feel like they would all give the same vocal performance in a live action film, which is a refreshing thing. 3) It has Mr. T. Perhaps some of you knew this, but I did not and thus was pleasantly surprised when he popped up as the local cop. He's the same Mr. T we all know and love, strange vocal inflections and all. 4) There's a scene in which a man does the Charleston in the middle of the street as pizza rains down around him. If that last reason isn't enough for you then I don't think we need to meet.

8. Star Trek - Sadly, I saw this film only once in theaters. I was very sick and thus could not laugh at all of the funny parts (it hurt to laugh). However, I remember thinking "That's funny!" or "How creative!" a number of different times in my altered state of illness. I'm a fan of Alias seasons 1, 2, 3, 5 and of J.J. Abrams in general. The casting was spot-on for all the roles (even little Jacob Kogan as "Young Spock"), the pace was fast but not rushed, Leonard Nimoy was used in a touching, non-gimmicky way...To tell you the truth, I can't remember disliking anything about this movie, so I'll just leave it there.

7. District 9 - I agree with pretty much all the hype you've heard about this film. It's immediately engaging, wildly creative and has some of the most impressive CG you've seen in a long time. It also has the added bonus of having a heart. Yes, I know this would baffle Michael Bay, but it is possible to have explosions and emotion in the same film, even in the same scene! Sharlto Copley gives one of the very best performances of 2009 as Wikus van der Merwe, who is one of the most intriguing characters on screen this year. The mental, physical and emotional arc which we witness in this man is something rarely seen in the best-reviewed, awards-laden films. It's all the more impressive to watch knowing that Copley had never acted professionally before and improvised every line of dialogue. We have a new great director and a brand-new movie star all in one badass sci-fi film.

6. The Hurt Locker -- This film is by far the most critically-acclaimed of the year. While it's not my favorite (thus the position at numero seis) there is a lot to love. As others have noted, it's the first film about our country's most recent war which drops all attempts at the hard sell of any agenda and simply tells a story. The Hurt Locker follows an EOD unit stationed in Iraq. Jeremy Renner plays SFC William James, a loose cannon who also happens to be brilliant at dismantling explosives of all kinds. He is assigned to a unit who has just lost a man, and he does not quite clique with the group. That's the bare bones of the plot and pretty much all you need to know. The rest of the film is about moments and characters. Kathryn Bigelow has been directing action-packed films for quite some time now (Point Break, Near Dark) and manages to find just the right balance of explosions and humanity to keep the audience totally enthralled. A particular gem is a long segment involving a sniper shootout in a remote location. It is one of the most well-directed, intense pieces of any film this year. Renner and Anthony Mackie play incredibly well off one another in this scene (and in the film as a whole). Their characters do not see eye to eye on much, and screenwriter Mark Boal thankfully spares us the learn-to-love-one-another storyline. There have been some who have come out against the film with accusations of embellishment. Questions of realism should, in my opinion, be left at the door on this one. There will always be naysayers when a film about a war still in progress comes out. What is not realistic in Locker is included for a reason. The film does not contain one single extraneous scene. Every frame brings the characters (and the audience) not to a resolute end, but to one that is true to the story and does not presume to have all the answers.

5. Sin Nombre - This is one of those films that seems like it has roughly 0% chance of being made. A first-time filmmaker (Cary Fukunaga) directing a movie in a language he has just recently learned with a cast of young, first-time actors and a tiny budget. Oh, and most of the action takes place on top of a moving train. This film was gorgeously shot. Not letting the small budget and an unforgiving environment be an excuse for crappy-looking, shaky digital is wonderful to see. It is a gritty, violent, moving story and I can't wait to see what Fukunaga does next (apparently an adaptation of Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender).

4. Fantastic Mr. Fox - Basically, I love all of Wes Anderson's movies. Bottle Rocket is subtly funny, creative and full of heart. The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore are so clearly masterpieces that I don't need to discuss them. Up to this point, I think I have a lot of company. His next few films are where some people fall off the wagon. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou flat-out confused some people who were expecting the wild humor of the first three films. I found it to be a serious film full of strange characters and some moments of oddball humor. I found The Darjeeling Limited to have the same brand of Anderson humor and charm, with some intense emotion thrown in. So, with Fantastic Mr. Fox, I was not surprised to find an animated film which felt so much at home at that place in my heart where all of Anderson's films live. It's beautiful, full of fun characters and impeccable visuals, has an impromptu jam session led by Jarvis Cocker and, (another signature Anderson move), creative use of music. Only he would use "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones in a Roald Dahl adaptation. Anyone up for a game of whackbat?

3. The Road - A bleak adaptation of an unceasingly bleak Pulitzer Prize-winning novel had 1200 people on the edge of their seats all at once at this year's Austin Film Festival. The film, as with the novel, puts the reader/viewer in a constant state of suspense, only to release them in the final paragraph/frame. Perhaps I'm partial to this film because they've cast a slew of my favorite actors in supporting roles (Garrett Dillahunt, Robert Duvall and Michael K. Williams) and have not compromised the content of the novel to make it more appealing to a wide audience. Director John Hillcoat has shown that he isn't afraid to throw intense and disturbing images at an audience (The Proposition) and he does not hold back in this outing. Viggo Mortensen and the amazing Kodi Smit-Mcphee are heart-wrenching as a devoted father and a child unspeakably damaged by growing up after the apocalypse. The exceptional visuals tell a story of their own. One could easily watch this film on mute and still understand the heart of the story. I'm smitten.

2. Inglourious Basterds - We all know that Christoph Waltz is going to win that Oscar. We all love Eli Roth beating Nazis to death with a baseball bat. We all smiled wryly at Brad Pitt's retarded yet brilliant southern accent. I want to talk about my other favorite things in Basterds. Well, the casting was genius. Two of my favorite German actors, August Diehl and Daniel Bruhl are both wickedly good; Melanie Laurent gives a breathtaking, kickass performance as Shoshanna; and pretty much every extra was intriguing to me. The setting was used to maximum effect. Parisian cafes, isolated country cottages, and old film palaces all serve their purposes brilliantly. Tarantino's dialogue-heavy writing is back in top form and is used as a tool of supsense rather than simply an outlet for his endless knowledge of film. Also, like every film-lover out there, the choice to use film as a literal weapon made me smile from ear to ear. Basterds pulled me along for a ride like no other this year.

1. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Two words: Gator cam. To quote my friend, Melissa, after our first viewing of this masterpiece: "Bad Lieutenant, port of call my heart!" Nicolas Cage finds the perfect vessel for his edge-of-madness tendencies and is surrounded by a stellar supporting cast (Shea Wigham gives an Oscar-worthy performance in two scenes). This is a film that grabs you by the neck, pulls you in, spins you around for more than an hour and then gently places you back where it found you, bewildered and mystified by what you have experienced. Please, just go see it.

Note: I still haven't seen A Single Man. There are probably some others that I haven't seen. Like Joshua, I keep track of these things. I saw 303 feature films this year and 128 short films. Still, I'm sure I missed some good stuff.

New poll question

Thanks to Vern Snackwell for the latest poll question. I am going to have to ponder this question as there are some really good car chases to choose from.

Which movie had the best car chase of all time?

Bullitt
Death Proof
The French Connection
Ronin
Vanishing Point
Other

Go to the home page to vote.

January movies

Twenty three films kicking off 2010 with style although, as I posted earlier in January, the year got off to a rough start in terms of quality films. The whole month actually is an assortment of scores in the 2 1/2 stars or below range. Nine of them. That's a lot for one month. I did watch North By Northwest for the umpteenth time thanks to a bluray disc loan from Vern. I love that movie so much. And I saw 400 Blows for at least the fifth time. That's another one I love. Two classics back to back.

The Blind Side--2009--usa   **
The Open Road--2009--usa  *1/2
Hell Ride--2008--usa  *1/2
He's Just Not That Into You--2009--usa  **
High and Dizzy--1920--usa  ****
Dogtown and Z Boys--2003--usa  ****
Leap Year--2009--usa  *1/2
Fantastic Mr. Fox--2009--usa  ****
Mad Detective--2007--hong kong   ***
Lady Terminator--1988--indonesia   **1/2
A Single Man--2009--usa   ****
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee--2009--usa  **1/2
Burn After Reading--2008--usa  ***1/2
The House Bunny--2008--usa  **
Big Fan--2009--usa  ***
Tokyo Drifter--1966--japan  **1/2
The Baader Meinhof Complex--2008--germany  ***1/2
Youth In Revolt--2009--usa  ***
Sherman's March--1986--usa  ****
The Band's Visit--2007--israel  ***
North By Northwest--1959--usa  *****!
400 Blows--1959--france  *****!
Police, Adjective--2009--romania  ****

Worst film in 2009

The worst film I saw in 2009 feels sort of like deja vu for me. If you go back to the December 2006 archives you'll see a post on all the films I really loathed during that year. Lo and behold the first film on the list is the Pink Panther! Three years later, the remake that has Peter Sellers spinning in his grave strikes again!

Putrid is the one word that best describes this horrible cash-grab that actually stars some people who have talent: Steve Martin, Emily Mortimer, John Cleese, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia and Jean Reno. I hope they enjoy their boats, apartments, beach front property and whatever else they bought from unleashing this sewer on the unfortunate who had to watch it.

Sarah Jesse's tops in 2009

Sarah Jesse lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma by way of Detroit, Michigan. She loves documentaries, beards and sweltering summer days. These are her ten favorite films from 2009.

1. The Hurt Locker---usa
2. The Cove---usa
3. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans---usa
4. (500) Days of Summer---usa
5. Fish Tank---england
6. Up in the Air---usa
7. Valentino: The Last Emperor---usa
8. Fantastic Mr. Fox---usa
9. Good Hair---usa
10. Precious---usa

Larry Terry's tops/worsts in 2009

Larry Terry lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and loves movies, bocce ball and has an intense fondness for all things relating to The Dude. These are his favorites and not so favorites from 2009. 

Top ten 

1.      The Hurt Locker

2.      An Education

3.      Everlasting Moments

4.      A Serious Man

5.      Harvard Beats Yale 29-29

6.      Bright Star

7.      Tell No One

8.      I’ve Loved You So Long

9.      Gomorra

10.     Doubt

Just missing the cut (in no particular order)

Valentino: The Last Emperor, Objectified, The Gates, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Vicky Christina Barcelona

The Worst

1.      Sin Nombre

2.      Happy Go Lucky

3.      Public Enemies

4.      Pirate Radio

Good movies discovered as a result of CineRobot (with a tip of the hat to Replicant aka JBP)

1.      Metropolitan

2.      Barcelona

3.      The Last Days of Disco

Dylan Skolnick's tops in 2009

Dylan Skolnick is the Co-Director of the Cinema Arts Centre, Long Island's leading venue for alternative Cinema in Huntington, New York (cinemaartscentre.org). The following are his favorite films from 2009 with some thoughts he had on each one:

Film critic Peter Wollen once wrote that Ten-Best Lists are more of a reflection of a critic’s values than an objective list of the year’s best movies. I’m not sure what this list says about my values, but here in no particular order are my choices for the best films of 2009.

A Town Called Panic: When Horse, Cowboy and Indian attempt to build a barbecue, they inadvertently propel themselves on a non-stop adventure that features mischievous scientists, mean sea monsters, music lessons and a snowball-throwing robot penguin. No film in recent memory packs more energy and imagination into every second on-screen as this animated adventure comedy from Belgium.

Precious: Lee Daniels’ powerful adaptation of the novel Push by Sapphire is an arrow straight at your heart. Without a false or sentimental note, Daniels tells the truly heartwarming story of a young African-American woman who uses the power of education to pull herself out of her own private hell.

Antichrist: A couple torn apart by the tragic death of their son start literally tearing each other apart in Lars von Trier’s disturbing art horror film. Fantastic performances by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Defoe keep von Trier’s mad masterpiece from tipping over into absurdity.

A Serious Man: Set in the 1960s Minnesota of their childhood, this hilarious yet devastating tale of the Job-like suffering brought upon the head of a Jewish professor is the Coen Brothers’ most personal work.

Hunger: Steve McQueen’s stunning drama about Bobby Sands and Irish hunger strikers is without a doubt the most scorching cinematic experience of the year. Noted visual artist McQueen’s film is an absolutely beautiful vision of an almost unbearably painful story.

Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino’s alternate version of World War II about a band of Jewish-American soldiers and a French Jewish woman fighting the Nazis is both the ultimate Jewish revenge fantasy and a deliriously entertaining celebration of the power of movies.

Coraline: Henry Selick’s lovely stop-motion animation perfectly captures the dark magic of author Roald Dahl in this bewitching tale of a dissatisfied young girl who discovers a door to a seemingly perfect world.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus: Terry Gilliam is back at the top of his game in this ambitious fantasy about a magical showman trying to win a bet with the Devil. Excellent performances by Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits and Heath Ledger (in his final performance) highlight this madly colorful tale.

The White Ribbon: Michael Haneke’s work (Cache, The Piano Teacher, Funny Games) is always uncompromising in its cold, harsh vision of humanity and his latest is no exception. When authorities in a small village in pre-war Austria try to investigate a series of inexplicable crimes, they uncover a corrupt heart of darkness that is too shocking for them to contemplate.

District 9: Neill Blomkamp’s thrilling saga of aliens from another planet who land on Earth and get treated like illegal immigrants was a fantastic reminder that science fiction films can still be intelligent, thought-provoking AND edge-of-your-seat exciting.

UTW review of A Single Man + The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Go here if you want to read my reviews for A Single Man and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee in Urban Tulsa. One of them I liked. The other? Not so much.