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Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:16 pm
by bizarre
Exploring the potential of stillness does not intrinsically bring down a film's quality... Ozu for example had no camera movement in any of his colour films. I haven't seen the film, maybe you have a point, but I refuse to believe that a still camera makes a film bad simply because it is a still camera?

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:28 am
by ksrymy
Sabin wrote:So you really are asking about the shooting scheme and not the narrative, ksrymy?
It's just so unmoving. I feel like so much opportunity was wasted. I understand the narrative and all but it seemed too jumpy and stale. Line jumpcuttopersonnowtalking line jumpcuttopersonnowtalking, repeat. It got annoying.

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:01 am
by Sabin
So you really are asking about the shooting scheme and not the narrative, ksrymy? I'm not making fun, I just thought you were making a larger point. Because I think it's fantastically shot.

Bruce Greenwood is awesome in the [awesome] film.

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:39 pm
by ksrymy
bizarre wrote:
ksrymy wrote:
Sabin wrote:***1/2
6. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)
How could you possibly give 3 1/2 stars to a film made of still shots where the camera only moved three times?
Lol, I don't know why this should be a problem?
It takes a lot away from the film. I guess it distracted me to the point where I didn't enjoy it. Also, it was hard to hear what the characters were saying.

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:20 pm
by bizarre
ksrymy wrote:
Sabin wrote:***1/2
6. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)
How could you possibly give 3 1/2 stars to a film made of still shots where the camera only moved three times?
Lol, I don't know why this should be a problem?

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:59 pm
by ksrymy
The only thing I found somewhat great about the film was Bruce Greenwood whom I think is a very underrated actor.

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:39 pm
by Sabin
ksrymy
How could you possibly give 3 1/2 stars to a film made of still shots where the camera only moved three times?
I mean, when you ask me like that, how can I refuse? :)

I guess you're essentially asking why I wasn't bored to tears. I really enjoyed how they shot the film. 1.33 can be used to very strong effect and there is a long history of isolating characters within static frames to strong effect. It creates a feeling of a window opening up into a different era.

I like Kelly Reichardt, I should start by saying that. Not Wendy and Lucy, but River of Grass, Old Joy, and especially Meek's Cutoff. I do want to watch it again to see if it deepens even further, but I am entranced by minutiae and so is Reichardt. This is a movie truly seeks to implant us in the journey of its characters, and it was a journey I was pretty fascinated with. It's an incredibly unique Western that builds in dread and uncertainty as it goes along until it builds to a pretty devastating finale. I can be forgiving of films like this and The Loneliest Planet that seek to convey something miniature on landscape scale, and this one incredibly impressed me.

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:04 pm
by ksrymy
Sabin wrote:***1/2
6. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)
How could you possibly give 3 1/2 stars to a film made of still shots where the camera only moved three times?

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:34 pm
by criddic3
I haven't actually formulated a Top Ten list yet, but this is my ratings list for 2011 so far.

Abduction **
Adjustment Bureau, The ***
Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, The ***½
Albert Nobbs ***
Arthur **
Arthur Christmas ***½
Artist, The ****
Attack the Block **½
Bad Teacher **
Beastly **
Beaver, The ***
Beginners **½
Brighton Rock ***
Captain America: First Avenger ***½
Carnage **½
Cars 2 ***
Conspirator, The **
Cowboys & Aliens **½
Dangerous Method, A **½
Descendants, The ***
Devil’s Double, The ***
Drive ****
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night *½
Eagle, The **½
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close **
50/50 ***
Fright Night ***
Green Hornet, The **
Green Lantern, The **
Gnomeo & Juliet **½
Guard, The ***
Hanna **½
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part II ****
Help, The ***
Henry’s Crime **½
Hesher **½
Hugo ****
I Am Number Four **
Ides of March, The ***
Immortals **
Iron Lady, The **½
J. Edgar **½
Jane Eyre ***½
Kung Fu Panda 2 ***
Like Crazy **½
Limitless **
Martha Marcy May Marlene ***
Mechanic, The *½
Midnight in Paris ****
Moneyball ****
Muppets, The ***
My Week with Marilyn ***
No Strings Attached **
Paul **
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides **½
Rampart ***
Rango ***½
Real Steel ***
Red Riding Hood *½
Rise of the Planet of the Apes ***
Rite, The **½
Scream 4 **
Season of the Witch **
Shame ***½
Source Code ***
Stake Land **½
Sucker Punch *
Super 8 ***½
Take Shelter ****
Thor ***
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ***½
Transformers: Dark of the Moon *½
Tree of Life, The **½
Trollhunter **½
Unknown **
War Horse ***½
Warrior ****
We Need to Talk About Kevin ***
Young Adult **½
X-Men: First Class ***

Total So Far = 80

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:45 am
by Sabin
I'd love to read what you think of Hugo sometime, Daniel.

****
1. Nader and Simin, A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
2. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami)
3. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin)
4. Beginners (Mike Mills)
5. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)

***1/2
6. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt)
7. 13 Assassins (Takeshi Miike)
8. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
9. Miss Bala (Gerando Naranjo)
10. Hanna (Joe Wright)
11. Attack of the Block (Joe Cornish)
12. The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev)
13. Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
14. Drive (Nicholas Winding Refn)
15. Kaboom (Greg Araki)
16. Heartbeats (Xavier Dolan)
17. Terri (Azazel Jacobs)

***
18. Fright Night (Craig Guillespie)
19. Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog)
20. Rango (Gore Verbinski)
21. The Ides of March (George Clooney)

**1/2
22. Hugo (Martin Scorsese)
23. Warrior (Gavin O’Connor)
24. Win Win (Tom McCarthy)
25. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
26. Crazy, Stupid Love. (Glenn Ficarra & John Requa)
27. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig)
28. The Help (Tate Taylor)
29. Source Code (Duncan Jones)
30. 50/50 (Jonathan Levine)
31. Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)
32. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier)
33. J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood)

**
34. X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn)
35. Melancholia (Lars von Trier)
36. The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
37. Thor (Kenneth Branagh)

Re: Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 11:55 pm
by dws1982
Still plenty left to see, but lots to like about 2011, as far as I'm concerned.

****
Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami)
City of Life and Death (Lu Chuan)
Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois)
A Separation (Asghar Farahadi)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Thomas Alfredson)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

*** ½
Beginners (Mike Mills)
Hadewijch (Bruno Dumont)
Hugo (Martin Scorsese)
Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
The Princess of Montpensier (Bertrand Tavernier)
Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)

***
Beautiful Boy (Shawn Ku)
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Glenn Ficarra, John Requa)
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve)
Jane Eyre (Cary Fukanaga)
J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood)
The Myth of the American Sleepover (David Robert Mitchell)
Sleep Furiously (Gideon Koppel)
The Trip (Michael Winterbottom)
War Horse (Steven Spielberg)
Warrior (Gavin O'Connor)
X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn)

** ½
The Artist (Michael Hazanavicius)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Stephen Daldry)
Heartbeats (Xavier Dolan)
The Help (Tate Taylor)
The Ides of March (George Clooney)
Insidious (James Wan)
Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reicherdt)
Rio (some hack)
Weekend (Andrew Haigh)
Winnie the Pooh (Stephen J. Anderson/Don Hall)

**
Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
Gnomeo and Juliet (some hack)
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
One Day (Lone Scherfig)
Rango (Gore Verbinski)
Super 8 (JJ Abrams)
Twelve Thirty (Jeff Lipsky)
Uncle Kenny (Joe Swanberg)

* ½
The Conspirator (Robert Redford)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
In a Better World (Susanne Bier)
My Week With Marilyn (Simon Curtis)
Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham)

Our Top 10 lists of 2011

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 11:20 pm
by anonymous1980
A posters have begun doing this in the Official Review Thread. I thought we should all do it in a separate thread.


01. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick) - A
02. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi) - A
03. Hugo (Martin Scorsese) - A
04. Pina (Wim Wenders) - A
05. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami) - A
06. 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike) - A
07. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius) - A-
08. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn) - A-
09. Rango (Gore Verbinski) - A-
10. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen) - A-
=========================================================================
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates) - A-
Super 8 (J.J. Abrams) - A-
Poetry (Lee Chang-dong) - A-
Mysteries of Lisbon (Raoul Ruiz) - A-
Chico & Rita (Fernando Trueba/Tono Errando/Javier Mariscal) - B+
Moneyball (Bennett Miller) - B+
The Muppets (James Bobin) - B+
Jane Eyre (Cary Fukunaga) - B+
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethkathul) - B+
Warrior (Gavin O'Connor) - B+
The Descendants (Alexander Payne) - B+
Winnie The Pooh (Stephen J. Anderson/Don Hall) - B+
Melancholia (Lars Von Trier) - B+
This Is Not A Film (Jafar Panahi/Mojtaba Mirtahmasb) - B+
I Saw The Devil (Kim Jee-woo) - B+
Hanna (Joe Wright) - B+
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird) - B+
Amigo (John Sayles) - B+
Arthur Christmas (Sarah Smith) - B+
The Woman in the Septic Tank (Marlon Rivera) - B
Captain America: The First Avenger (Joe Johnston) - B
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt) - B
Limitless (Neil Burger) – B
Source Code (Duncan Jones) – B
The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg) – B
Kung Fu Panda 2 (Jennifer Yuh) - B
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) – B
X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn) - B
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (Rodman Fleder) - B
Contagion (Steven Soderbergh) - B
Bridesmaids (Paul Feig) – B
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher) - B
Crazy, Stupid, Love (Glenn Ficarra/John Requa) – B
Thor (Kenneth Branagh) – B
Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes) - B
War Horse (Steven Spielberg) - B-
Fright Night (Craig Gillespie) - B-
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - B-
30 Minutes or Less (Ruben Fleischer) - B-
Puss in Boots (Chris Miller) - B-
Red State (Kevin Smith) - B-
Scream 4 (Wes Craven) - B-
My Week With Marilyn (Simon Curtis) - C+
The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi) - C+
Rio (Carlos Saldanha) - C+
We Bought a Zoo (Cameron Crowe) - C+
Paranormal Activity 3 (Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman) - C+
Cars 2 (John Lasseter) - C+
Horrible Bosses (Seth Gordon) - C+
Tower Heist (Bret Ratner) - C+
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (Joann Sfar) - C+
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Stephen Daldry) - C
J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood) - C
The Help (Tate Taylor) - C
Bellflower (Evan Glodell) - C
Paul (Greg Mottola) - C
The Thing (Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.) – C
Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau) - C
Don't Be Afraid of The Dark (Troy Nixey) – C
Unknown (Jaume Collet-Serra) - C
Friends With Benefits (Will Gluck) - C
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Rob Marshall) - C-
Fast Five (Justin Lin) - C-
Battle: Los Angeles (Jonathan Liebesman) - D+
The Hangover Part II (Todd Phillips) - D