In an effort to stretch my critical muscles, I thought I'd pick a random year and write up my top ten. Check here for my top 25 performances of 2009
Film of the Year: Up in the Air-The opening montage of borrowed
aerial shots lets us know that this is going to be an apologetically modern
story for our modern times. Jason Reitman’s third film is a spiritual successor
of sorts to his debut, “Thank You For Smoking”, in looking at grandiose themes
with cutting satire. This time Reitman looks at the glitzy but ultimately
unfulfilling life of corporate travel as well as the soullessness of human resources. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) travels
around the country firing people with dignity. His social needs are taken care
of by the occasional rendezvous and the familiar faces of gate attendants and airport lounges are the closest thing he has to a home. Through Bingham,
Reitman looks at modern detachment from the inherent contradictions of the firing of employees with dignity, and a telescope view of at the loneliness such a job would entail.
Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick both compliment in roles that deservedly won
accolades.
2. Inglourious Basterds-Quentin Tarantino’s gleeful take on
the World War II film is less beholden to history than having a good time. The
film is marked by Mexican shoot-outs, explosions, and memorable characters of
both the good and evil variety. From the polyglot colonel played with
theatricality by Christophe Waltz to the egotistical sniper with a voyeuristic
streak played by Daniel Bruehl to the larger-than-life German actress played by
Dianne Kruger, this is a movie where the action isn’t second to performances.
3. The Soloist-This film, about the relationship between a
human interest reporter and a homeless cellist with Julliard training, came and
went without making much of a dent but there’s a lot to recommend about this
film. Being a human interest reporter for seven years and having a fascination
with what makes classical musicians tick certainly helps enjoy this film, yes,
but it’s also a more universal story of two people symbiotically rediscovering
themselves with Robert Downey Jr’s stoical performance keeping the film from
dripping out any excess sap. Lisa Gay Hamilton, Catherine Keener and Tom
Hollander all provide great supporting roles.
4. Star Trek-My cynical attitude towards franchise reboots
quickly dissipated from “why?” to “why not” within a few scenes. J.J. Abrams’s
sleek visuals and fully-realized action scenes are complimented by one of the
most perfectly selected casts I’ve ever seen. Sure they all look
unrealistically pretty compared to their predecessors but I’m willing to let
that slide.
5. In the Loop-Armando Iannucci’s political satire is
populated with fast-talking characters straining to be taken seriously who
ultimately have little clue what they’re talking about. If you’ve seen “Veep”,
the pace of dialogue and humor won’t surprise you (and I can’t say I’m
qualified in any comparative analysis having only seen a couple episodes of "Veep") but it’s a joy to see this type of energy in cinematic terms. It might
even be said that the one-off nature of the plot makes a sharper point about
the directionless bureaucracy that guides politics considering that serialized
television has to take a direction sooner or later.
6. Up-While not Pixar’s most ambitious movie concept,
there’s a lot to be said for the execution. Ed Asner gives, for my money, the
best voice over performance in history, the film rightfully gains recognition
for its emotional punch of an opening montage, and a balloon trip to South
America lends itself to visuals that dazzle in a whole new light. More than
that, it’s a story with a sense of non-stop adventure backed by a pair of
characters one gets easily invested in.
7. Sin Nombre-Cary Fukunaga explores the bleak life
choices of people in the middle triangle of Central America whether they decide
to risk their lives emigrating northward or live under a lawless void that’s
pervaded by the lure of gang life. The story finds its heart in a gang member
who makes a decision to do something decent (stop a brutal rape) and follows
his impending doom.
8. 500 Days of Summer-Tonally, this love story is wispy
fairy tale but it’s also an unflinching look at unhealthy romantic
expectations. Wide-eyed Joseph Gordon-Levitt (matched in charm and cuddliness
by a flighty Zooey Deschanel) is a man with a wide-open heart but is doomed by
his unwillingness to face the reality of what his partner wants.
9. The Blind Side-The true story about a homeless teenager who
gets adopted by an affluent white family in Tennessee is a classic sports film
with unusually quiet and somber notes and a focus that takes place mostly off
the field. It’s not the post-racial declaration of coexistence people might be
looking for but it’s told with nuance and anchored by strong performances.
10. District 9-Neil Blomkamp’s regionally specific version of
dystopia is so gritty and visceral, one can feel its otherworldly landscape.
The film plays with P.O.V. and format to maximum effect. Set in a future
version of South Africa, the film
parallels the struggles of apartheid without hitting the allegory angle too hard.
Runners-up:
Stephen Soderbergh’s The Informant isn’t particularly coherent
on a first viewing but it’s a very clever playing out of the “unreliable
narrator” trope and has some curious casting.
The Invention of Lying is a classic man-environment mismatch
comedy: In this case it’s lying man vs. honest society, an inversion of 1997’s
Liar Liar. It doesn’t deliver on Ricky Gervais’s trademark cringe humor but it
gets maximum comic mileage out of its premise and has a surprising amount of
heart.
Extract is an underappreciated Mike Judge film that once
again takes on his familiar themes of working class frustration but delivers
its “the right workplace for you is waiting out there somewhere” parable with a
bit more conviction and heart than his previous films. The film deftly juggles
a pair of intersecting hair-brained schemes while leaving room to fill out the
quirks of its auxiliary characters with a strong sense of place.
Funny People is the only Judd Apatow (or
Judd-Apatow-by-association) film I’ve seen that seems like a genuine attempt to
move people with humor than a quest to inject moviedom with as many dick jokes
as possible.
The Hangover created a sizeable dent in the pop culture sphere
due to its lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry between and the gut punch value of
its reveals as three friends try to piece together what happened the night
before. With a naked Ken Joeng popping out of a car and Mike Tyson’s (with pet
tiger in tow) extremely random cameo, the film kept audiences in an
anything-can-happen trance that still holds up today.
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