Year end review of notable and favorite movies seen:
Already discussed here: Bobby, Eastern Promises, The Lives of Other People, Away From Her.
Other favorites (and recommended) available on dvd: A Mighty Heart, Once, Red Road, The Dead Girl, Ellie Parker, The Lookout and Zodiac.
I also enjoyed After The Wedding, Assassination of A President, Brothers, Lilya 4-Ever, The Host and the recently released director’s cut of Blade Runner.
I saw two movies by a very quirky independent director named Andrew Bujalski – Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation – both of which I liked a lot though they’re both droll to the Nth.
Documentaries: No End in Sight, Sicko, You’re Going to Miss Me (about the front man for The 13th Floor Elevator), The John Lennon documentary discussed here previously and another with a name that escapes me about the bass player in the old New York Dolls and who’s now a Mormon.
Of pre-dvd films, the ones I’d like to see but haven’t yet are I’m Not There, Juno, There Will Be Blood and We Own The Night as well as that whole spate of films about Iraq that came out during the Fall (though I did see The Kingdom and hated it).
I saw and liked Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead though it’s a tad on the depressing side. By coincidence I had read the books before I saw both Atonement and No Country for Old Men, and while both are very good movies, I’d suggest you read the books. The first half of Atonement is some of the most enthralling fiction I’ve ever read, and although the Coen Brothers stay very faithful to the Cormac McCarthy text, the ending No Country is far less confusing in the book than in the movie, which does, however, beautifully depict the West Texas landscape..
Favorite drama: The Dead Girl, incredible script and acting.
Favorite comedy: Ellie Parker, in which Naomi Watts shows off her considerable comedic talents.
Ratatouille bored me. I just can’t get into any of the recent animated films, even if they have such uplifting messages that if you just try hard and stick with it, you can be anything you want to be, even if you’re a sewer rat and you want to be a chef.
Other highlights of the year: I turned 60, I went to Denmark to visit my daughter and I met my two grandsons for the first time, I lived the year in Albuquerque which I enjoyed, and I did a lot of traveling, though most of it to NYC. The market? The market!? Slowly I turned . . . why I ought to . . . don’t get me started about the market. |
