A+ = Don’t Miss It, Life-Changing, Classic
A = Very Solid Recommendation, Very Well Made
B+ = Solid Recommendation
B = Recommended
B- = Alright, still worth a watch
C = Watch at your own risk
D = Avoid
F = Waste of Film, Time and Money
Previously, this list was pretty accurate, but now with Netflix I watch so many movies I’m losing track of these things. I’ve tried to build this out to be as accurate as possible, which accounts for the extreme dip in total movies seen compared to previous years. Also, lots of TV this year.
Like I mentioned in the full list of movies I saw in 2011 post, with Netflix I saw the # of movies (at least in part) skyrocket, and though I did my best to keep track of it. But in 2011 I saw less films in other years… due to overall more TV consumption (I caught up on a lot of CBC programming this sumer), and frankly, not interesting or good looking movies in the theatre. I’d say 2011 had way more better “entertaining” movies than most years (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was spectacular), and maybe less “great” films (“Martha Marcy May Marlene” was haunting and shocking and beautiful, “Bellflower” was a tour de force of no-budget auteur filmmaking and “Drive” was downright awesome and reminded me of all the awesome parts of “To Live and Die in LA“).
As an aside, I saw Martin Scorcese’s “Hugo” last night — which turned out to be the perfect movie to see at the close of 2011 — and I nearly put it as my favourite film of the year. Go see it as soon as you can, without knowing any more about it than you already do. It’s going to be all over the place once Oscar season gets into full swing, and by knowing about what the movie is “really” about might take away some of the magic I know I experienced going into it cold.
With that said, it was really easy to pick my favourite film of 2011: “The Tree of Life.” It’s a really tough film by Terrence Malick, who wrote and directed the film about a small family in Texas, going through the regular trials that life throws in their way. A father struggles in his career, he struggles to raise his boys, yet finds solace in music, playing the piano at home and at the organ in church. Up against their father’s strictness, the mother brings beauty and gentleness into her children’s lives, loving them more than anything else on earth. Finally, there’s the boys. One is a gentle soul who connects with his father on a musical level, but is tragically taken away from the family. One is a boy that goes through what many boys do in adolescence; discovering the potential for destruction and violence in their own nature, sexual desire in blossoming girls, and fitting in less and less beside his father at the family dinner table.
That may sound as a pretty straight-forward setup for a drama — one that reflects Malick’s own childhood transparently enough that anyone could place themselves in his shoes (especially someone like myself, who only had brothers, and grew up in a small town). But then the story is framed around one of the brothers in “present day,” as a successful businessman who works downtown in a skyscraper, and slowly mourns his brother.
And yet that may sound like a standard framing narrative for a drama too — but here’s where it gets a little nuts. In the middle of all of this, Malick incorporates a massive deviation from the family storyline that explores the origin of life on earth, from the big bang to dinosaurs. Yes… there are dinosaurs in “Tree of Life.” The amazing galaxy creation images come from a variety of sources, one major source being Douglas Trumbull, who Malick asked to make visuals for “Tree of Life.” Trumbull hasn’t made visual effects since “Blade Runner,” and is best known for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Together Malick and Trumbull used paints and milks and chemicals and all sorts of techniques to build the galaxy-building sequences, and they are truly unlike any other seen on screen. But they weren’t just guys playing with colours; in preparation for the film, Malick met with evolutionary scientists from Harvard to get the most information possible.
Because of the “emergence of life” scenes, viewers of “Tree of Life” need to challenge themselves to see the family’s story in a bigger way… and I think Malick wants his audience to see this as a very theistic story, that blends science and religion and everything into a big question: How much of what we are simply “is,” and how much of it do we choose to be? This movie is about majesty, the majesty of creation, the majesty of love, and the majesty of pain. The following quote comes from the first line spoken in the film, and also comes from a paraphrased verse from the book of Job, where God is speaking to the man who has lost everything.
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation… while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
A+ = Don’t Miss It, Life-Changing, Classic
A = Very Solid Recommendation, Very Well Made
B+ = Solid Recommendation
B = Recommended
B- = Alright, still worth a watch
C = Watch at your own risk
D = Avoid
F = Waste of Film, Time and Money
Previously, this list was pretty accurate, but now with Netflix I watch so many movies I’m losing track of these things. I’ve tried to build this out to be as accurate as possible, which accounts for the extreme dip in total movies seen compared to previous years. Also, lots of TV this year.
For the last three years, I’ve been taking pretty meticulous notes on what movies I’ve been watching each year, and deciding a “favourite” for the year.In 2010, I watched 99 movies on Blu Ray, DVD, movie theatres, Netflix, and my first visit to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Last year my favourite film was the spooky, strange thriller “The Box,” a sci-fi thriller that looked at the ethics of personal wants and needs, wrapped up in a strange 70′s period piece that incorporated mystery and the anxieties of space travel. Yeah, all that is in the movie, which is why Richard Kelly is indeed one of our most important contemporary filmmakers, for all his faults and excesses, there’s nobody else like him.
This year, there were a few mainstream movies that were close to becoming my favourite; “Shutter Island” was dark and intense, despite revealing the film’s twist in the trailer, ”Scott Pilgrim” realized the graphic novel perfectly and showed off the city of Toronto I know and love, and “The King’s Speech,” despite being Oscar bait, was that rare breed of film that was uplifting without being manipulative and schlocky.
So my choice for favourite movie of the year is “The Wild Hunt.” It’s a Canadian film about live action role players (LARPers), who gather together at a camp in the woods, where they live out their viking fantasies. The film follows one character’s trip up to the camp to reconnect and rescue his girlfriend, despite his reluctance to join in the game. And like you’d expect, the story gets more complicated as the LARPers lose themselves in the game, and the stakes become far more real than anyone anticipates.
The film is also so classically Canadian, as it tackles one of those traditional themes in our cinema: that of identity and heritage, and who are we apart from our parent’s traditions. It looks at the power of escapism, at how we perceive ourselves and how we wish to be. On top of all that, there’s a stark medieval visual style at work, mixing corpse-paint and Scandinavian imagery that in some ways feels uniquely Canadian in it’s synthesis. The actors are all tremendous, and the photography is beautiful and stark.
This is an amazing movie that’s fallen under the radar, but I urge you to give this a look when you can, it’s not to be missed!
In my opinion, the 1984 film adaptation of “Dune” by director David Lynch is a pretty messy failure. Even though it speeds by in two hours, it still feels like it needs another two hours to explain everything properly (and supposedly there was an original 4-hour assembly).
My favourite part of the film turned out to be Virginia Madsen’s portrayal of Princess Irulan, and her neverending monologue at the beginning of the film, which provides a decent “Dune for Dummies” explanation of the background and the plot. It should fail epically, but there’s something about her enrapturing gaze that grabbed me, and brought me much deeper into the film than I had any business in being. I wish she’d do a reading of the entire book like this.
The 2000 miniseries featuring William Hurt does a better job of portraying the expansive plot, but the film has way better sandworm special effects. But of course, you should just go ahead and read the book in the first place.
And with one question from the audience during the Q&A following the world premiere of “Our House” at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, someone popped the bubble.
The question in particular explicitly revealed that the anarchist Christians running their own illegal homeless shelter in Williamsburg had complicit permission in using their building from the owner: not exactly the definition of “squatting” like the description of “Our House” promised, and not very “anarchistic” either. Christian? Sure.
But I’m getting ahead of myself: “Our House” is a short documentary about a few young men who decide to operate their own homeless outreach community in an abandoned Williamsburg warehouse. They’re vegan, Christians, dread-locked punk rockers with plugs in their ears and pray inside a heated “love tent.” (I’m sure they are inspired by Shane Claiborne’s “The Irresistible Revolution,” but that’s never expressed in the film).
For non-religious types, they probably saw this film as a sad period piece about (barely) pre-gentrification W-burg, and the relationship communities have with their physical homes. As a Christian, I found the film to be extremely inspiring, watching these guys attempt to live alongside the suffering street people stuck in endless cycles of anger, drugs and crime. They prayed openly and intimately inside their “love tent,” often embracing afterwards: I wish I had that kind of spiritual connection to others when I finished praying alongside them. Maybe Grace Toronto should erect it’s own “love tent” for prayer meetings.
I don’t know if anybody is shocked by the dread-locked punk rocker aspect of the Christians in the movies: Christian punk is fairly mainstream, and while these guys looked pretty edgy on screen, they really don’t look much different than the kids who come home from Christian wakeboarding camps at the end of the summer.
I could also be desensitized to the image of weirdo hardcore Christians: I’ll admit to being one myself (both a Christian and a weirdo), as I have attended late night punk shows at the Bohemian Penguin in Belleville shouting along to a hardcore version of “Our God is an Awesome God” and have paid witness to Belleville’s own dreadlocked baptist rastafarian, Jah Pickney.
As for the Christian Anarchy angle of the movie, I’m afraid that it’s under-represented in the documentary as well. I was disappointed with that because I do have a few “Christian Anarchy” books on my shelf, and was looking for an interesting portrayal of this fringe denomination on screen. Maybe I’ll save it for my own documentary someday.
I’m currently in the middle of a press junket here in Hollywood/Beverly Hills, and I have to say that Los Angeles is quite a trip. I’ve never quite seen a city like it, and I haven’t come to a verdict on what I think about it yet either. I keep going back and forth between being in awe, and thinking that the city is just seven Mississaugas just jammed altogether.
A+ = Don’t Miss It, Life-Changing, Classic
A = Very Solid Recommendation, Very Well Made
B+ = Solid Recommendation
B = Recommended
B- = Alright, still worth a watch
C = Watch at your own risk
D = Avoid
F = Waste of Film, Time and Money
This includes every film I watched in 2009, including films previously screened, and rated as per that individual viewing. It also combines film screenings with DVD rentals. However, they are not listed in any order beyond the general grade rating.
Favourite film of 2009: "The Box," followed by "The Hurt Locker" and guilty-pleasure, "Law Abiding Citizen."
Rating System:
A+ = Don’t Miss It, Life-Changing, Classic
A = Very Solid Recommendation, Very Well Made
B+ = Solid Recommendation
B = Recommended
B- = Alright, still worth a watch
C = Watch at your own risk
D = Avoid
F = Waste of Film, Time and Money
This includes every film I watched in 2009, including films previously screened, and rated as per that individual viewing. It also combines film screenings with DVD rentals. However, they are not listed in any order beyond the general grade rating.
I began 2009 by making copious use of my Phillips DVD player with USB port, which meant lots of movies not acquired by above-the-board methods… however, I have seen the errors of my ways and have since removed all BitTorrent software from my computers. I can’t endorse pirating any more; despite the errors that the industry has made in terms of DRM and copyright issues. Unless the product is given away freely (under say, a “Creative Commons” license or otherwise), my conscience knows that it’s still theft.
Movie theatre tickets may be too expensive, DVD/Blu-rays maybe ugly and overpriced, but that doesn’t give me the right to steal that content. Maybe it’s because I’m a content producer myself (both as a writer and musician), but when that content is taken from me (or my employer) without recognition, I know that it’s wrong.
I do see the value in freely giving away content: Keith Green did this in the 1980s for the sake of spreading the Gospel, and today writers like Cory Doctorow share their books online, entirely for free, in the fight for publicity — I myself participate in a blend of these approaches to a certain extent with my own Christmas recordings.
So instead of downloading, I’ve started watching more matinee movies, more movies “solo,” and I’ve even signed up for a DVD rental service, Zip.ca (let me know if you want to sign up and I can “refer” you). I expect that next year the number of movies I’ll have see will be lower, and will have a higher number of “old” films, thanks to the weird rental structure of online rental services.
The is what the snowman looks like in "Jack Frost" (1998) starring Michael Keaton. Would you want to see this movie more if I told you Henry Rollins was in it?
I have few holiday traditions, but I’m so far working on a few that I hope will last the run of my lifetime, and the various Christmas seasons I’m able to celebrate. Christmas mix CDs have been ageless (and now morphed into podcasts!). Decorating the plastic Christmas tree has been going for five. Recording a Christmas EP has been running for three. I started doing the Christmas card mail-out this year (yes, offline e-cards). Adding clove spices to the coffee grounds is another. Church on Christmas eve. Buying presents. And one of my most favourite: the Christmas movie.
My tastes seem to change year to year, from sentimental oldies to whacked out oddities, but there’s a few usuals that seem to stick around… you’re likely to agree with me on all of these. Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without them. Without further ado, here’s my top Christmas movies for 2009.
Die Hard. I need to watch Bruce Willis kill some terrorists to really get that holiday spirit. Kidding.
Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All. It’s satirical and sincere all at the same time. You can tell Colbert actually believes in Christmas, but still has fun with the spirit of it. Not just that phony, entertainer-y kind of Chrismas special like Carrie Underwood or someone like that would give you. Plus! Music you actually want to listen to… I would even go so far as to call this a modern classic.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Loved watching this on my old black-and-white television with rabbit ears, and now I love watching it even more with a rowdy group of friends at the Bloor Cinema.
Ernest Saves Christmas. I’m not sure if I actually like Ernest, but I do remember watching all his stupid movies without understanding all the in-jokes. He’s just greasy and weird, but also genuine. It’s a shame that we have comedians like Larry the Cable Guy standing in for him these days.
Gremlins. Because there’s nothing scarier than a Christmas gift you didn’t want.
Home Alone. I love this because I actually love spending time all by myself in the house, just hanging out, doing things. Without the burglars of course
Scrooged. I’ve only seen this once, but it became an instant classic. Who doesn’t love Bill Murray?
Jingle All the Way. Set in the twin cities, this is one of those overlooked “commercialism is bad” Christmas movies, although I’m not totally sure if the film actually makes that point. And in the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger punches a deer in the face. Then gives it beer.
Batman Returns. The final Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie is actually a “goth” Christmas movie in disguise. Bascially, that’s all Tim Burton movies though.
Jack Frost. Brand new addition for 2009! I caught this on TV the other day, and while I didn’t necessarily love it at first, I just couldn’t get over how bizarre this movie is. Juvenile humour. Henry Rollins. And according to the S.O., Keaton’s Frosty always has a “murderous look on his face.” Added to the top ten.
Notable mentions: The Ref (Denis Leary), Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn), the “I-can’t-actually-suggest-this-to-anyone-but-I-liked-it” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Christmas Special,” I’ll Be Home for Christmas (starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas), He-Man and She-Ra: Christmas Special, Pee-Wee Herman’s Christmas Special.
