48 - Thursday, January 31, 2008 k The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
FILM: The best of the year
"The Namesake" is a pick for best adaptation.
Other bests:
alternative i
Individual movies that made an impr
but didn't make the list
From Page 1B
6. "ONCE" (JOHN CARNEY)
Not too many movies on this list
can really be considered "heart-
warming." An oil tycoon, a hit-
man, a doomed romance - not
exactly a good pick-me-up. "Once"
is unique in that regard, and it's
the most uplifting film of the year,
if not the last few years. The story
of an Irish street guitarist and his
female musical counterpart, their
whirlwind week spent playing,
recording and almost, almost fall-
ing in love.
PAUL TASSI
FOX SEARCHIGHT 7. "MICHAEL CLAYTON"
(TONY GILROY)
Quiet, disturbing and yet per-
haps the most riveting film of
the year, "Michael Clayton" isn't
always easy to follow. Symbols,
gestures and seemingly nonsensi-
cal asides form the engine driv-
ing an energetic, forceful plot to
a natural (if predictable) climax.
F ' Unlikely dark performances by
1 George Clooney, Tilda Swinton
and Tom Wilkinson power a film
at once more and less than it first
appears to be.
cession IMRANSYED
8.-"BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS
YOU'RE DEAD" (SIDNEY
LUMET)
remise into Some people call this a Sidney
top smiling Lumet masterpiece, some call it
justhorribly, fatalistically depress-
IMRAN SYED ing. Can't it be both? Lumet's story
of a jewelry-store robbery gone
aby: terribly wrong features raw per-
formances from Phillip Seymour
sweet as the Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in
gonist (Keri service of a vicious screenplay
es, "Wait- that spares no one. However you
ickly over- respond, you definitely won't for-
y the more get it.
I
0
oURTESY OF PARAMOUNTvANTAGE
Nicole Kidman in Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding."
Better-than-expected:
"American Gangster"
Ridley Scott's mob epic "Ameri-
can Gangster" was the most talked
about movie of the
year back in early
fall, but it's
largely been
forgotten
since. A bit
preachy,;
overly long -
and over-
acted, the film
is still a jarring,
ambitious and
intriguing foray into the
life of a crime boss who was a little
too perfect, even for Denzel Wash-
ington to pull off.
IMRAN SYED
Niftiest movie:
"Disturbia"
An air-light thriller that appropri-
ates the technology of the YouTube
generation, "Disturbia" fashions
one of the year's swiftest and most
economic narratives based on the
classic there's-something-wrong-
next-door template. While on
house arrest for the summer, Kael
(an expertly cast Shia LaBeouf),
joined by the resident hot blonde
and his best friend, is out to expose
his next-door neighbor as a killer.
JEFFREY BLOOMER
Coolest monster movie:
"The Host"
The brilliance of the Korean
monster film "The Host" is
that it doesn't really seem
like a monster movie.
Detailing a quirky clan's
desperation to save their
young daughter from the
clutches of a - what else?
- chemically-spawned
mutant, the film's focus
on familial relationships
and honest-to-God human
emotions gives it far more
impact than had it been
just another escape-from-
the-city-before-the-mon-
ster-eats-us action fest.
BRANDON CONRADIS
Not just for the kids:
"Enchanted"
Light-hearted, hilari-
ous and as obliviously
charming as its star, Amy
Adams, "Enchanted" is
easily the most fun Disney
film in years. Implausible
plot aside, the real magic
here is in the film's abil-
ity to morph a tired pr
something you can't s
about,
Best unwanted be
"Waitress"
A movie as
pies its prota
Russell) bak
ress" was qu
oshadowed b
10. "THE WIND THAT SHAKES
THE BARLEY" (KEN LOACH)
Ken Loach's Palme D'Or winner
was criminally under-seen follow-
ing its U.S. debut. It's unusual to
call a film about guerilla revolu-
tionaries somber and atmospheric,
but Loach is more interested in
the mood of the IRA resistance
against the British than the horrif-
ic violence that pervaded it (though
that's here, too). Intelligent and lei-
surely paced, the film offers a truly
singular perspective on an oft-
revisited history.
BLAKE GOBLE
11. "HOT FUZZ" (EDGAR
12. "RATATOUILLE" (BRAD
BIRD)
It's not that the computer-gen-
erated animation is astonishingly
good - though it is. And it's not
that "Ratatouille" is perfectly
sweet, perfectly funny and per-
fectly charming - though, yes,
it's that too. It's because this film
is smart and it challenges institu-
tional.wisdom. Remy is a gifted
chef. He's also a rat. If a movie
can make the audience hungry
for food cooked by vermin, then
Disney-Pixar has clearly crafted
another extraordinary experi-
Sence.R
SARAH SCHWARTZ
mainstream "Knocked Up"
and "Juno." But Russell's
smile lights up the screen as
she deftly plays Jenna, a wait-
ress who unhappily gets pregnant
with her abusive husband's baby.
See it for the delicious pie ideas,
the hot doctor and writer/direc-
tor/co-star Adrienne Shelly, who, in
an ironic twist, was tragically mur-
dered before the film's release.
SARAH SCHWARTZ
Overlooked adaptation:
"The Namesake"
Beautiful, evocative and breath-
takingly genuine in both narrative
and aesthetics, Mira Nair's "The
Namesake" is a stellar adaptation
of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel. An immi-
grant's story in a time when immi-
gration has become commonplace,
the film stays true to the signature
unsettling oddities of Lahiri's novel.
IMRAN SYED
9. "ZODIAC" (DAVIT
A film based on ast
real ending is no easyI
makes its lack of a con
evant by putting the
center of the mystery
in favor of a single of
time the case is opene
examined and re-ex
film gets more intric
engrossing. Added bo
solvingJake Gyllenha
ANA
NOTEBOOK
From Page 1B
out of Hollywood
sought to ensure th
has only caused the:
surface damage, th
term security of th(
the forthcoming ye
But with a virtual c
lock in the past se
and the chilly rece
movies that premier.
dance Film Festiva
month, it seems p
urgent, to solidify
so right this year a
went astray. Aheadr
observations, becaus
insistently eclectic a
impossible (believer
extol all of the trium
trations in one essay
THE NEW BLOC
In a blockbuster s
ous for its week-aft
of sequels to movie
require them, man
in spectacle filmn
dominant (the painf
admirably persisten
PAUL TASSI WRIGHT)
Just as "Shaun ofthe Dead"skew-
D FINCHER) ered the zombie genre, "Hot Fuzz"
ory without a takes on the American actionblock-
feat. "Zodiac" buster: blown-up cars and shoot-
nclusion irrel- outs galore. In truth, with its hefty
viewer in the running time and bizarre eccen-
'and arguing tricities, the movie really shouldn't
utcome. Each work. It's a British action movie.
d and closed, But the film has more wit and more
camined, the energy than any of the films it sends
ate and more up, and let's face it: High-pitched
nus: a crime- squeals by grown men sound better
al. with a British accent.
NIE LEVENE SARAH SCHWARTZ
by directors who started as part of
distinct subcultures outside of the
Hollywood mainstream but have
begun to carve a new niche in the
major-budget market.
studios have I'm talking about David Yates
at the strike ("State of Play"), whom produc-
most obvious ers hired out of nowhere to direct
at the long- "Harry Potter of the Order of the
e industry in Phoenix" and who proceeded to
ars is sound. make the only film in the series
reative dead- effective both aesthetically and
veral months emotionally. Or Paul Green-
ption to the grass, the director of movies like
ed at the Sun- "Bloody Sunday" and "United
1 earlier this 93," who solidified his talent for
rudent, even action with "The Bourne Ultima-
what went tum," the second in the series he
nd also what directed and by far the most suc-
are just a few cessful. A series like "Bourne,"
e in a year as with no real hook to distinguish
s this one, it's it, has benefited enormously from
me, I tried) to his microscopic touch, and has
phs and frus- also generated serious discussion
outside popcorn circles. (Manoh-
la Dargis of The New York Times
KBUSTER even suggested it for a best pic-
eason notori- ture nomination.) By the time
er-week slate Christopher Nolan's "The Dark
s that didn't Knight" opens in July, no Holly-
y old names wood studio will be able to argue
naking were the benefits of snagging a former
ully inane but independent maverick for its next
t clanking of triple-digit movie.
13. "JUNO" (JASON REITMAN)
Once "Juno" went from quirky
comedy to mega-success and
Oscar nominee, it was only a mat-
ter of time before it was labeled as
overrated. Look closer and you'll
find a film more than deserving of
the praise it's received. Anchored
by an exceptional and mature per-
formance from Ellen Page ("Hard
Candy"), along with that fantas-
tic screenplay by Diablo Cody, no
other film in this year's crop of
Oscar contenders will leave you
television hero has become a suc-
cess that major studios are will-
ing to finance. He and his creative
class, which includes the writers
of "Superbad," have the ability to
crush the crass, hopelessly repeti-
tive frat-pack movies that have
long dominated this genre on pure
good will alone. His movies strike
a chord not just because they're
funny, though they really are, but
because they're not (just) about
making fun of their characters.
No, he's not flawless. If you
saw "Walk Hard" last month, you
probably understand why most
people didn't. But the honesty
he imbued in the last two mov-
ies he helmed, "The 40-Year-
Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up,"
helped turn two modest, partially
improvised comedies into instant
contemporary touchstones. He's
attached as either a writer or pro-
ducer to four movies scheduled
for 2008 - including "The Pine-
apple Express," already famous
for a brief preview that blazed the
Web late last year - and there's
every reason to be hopeful that
his brand becomes a new conven-
tion.
feeling quite so joyous.
SHERIJANKELOVITZ
14. "CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR"
(MIKE NICHOLS)
A film about war that isn't dark
or dreadful (at least not on the sur-
face), "Charlie Wilson's War" is
sharpsatire thatstrikes asmoother
rhythm than we thought possible
for a "war comedy." An absurdist
romp on one face, a dire premoni-
tion on another, the film asks ques-
tions and gives answers that we've
heard before, butnframes it all in an
addictively enjoyable narrative.
IMRAN SYED
15. "MARGOT AT THE WED-
DING" (NOAH BAUMBACH)
Director Noah Baumbach ("The
Squid and the Whale") pens an
incendiary exploration of two sis-
ters (Nicole Kidman and Jennifer
Jason Leigh, the best we've seen
them) reunited at their childhood
home and the stunningly cruel
interplay between them. Laced
with Baumbach's asphalt-black
comedy and generational insight,
it's a surprising, often inexplicable
masterpiece of the mind.
JEFFREYBLOOMER
The answer is not easy to pin
down. There's big talk out of most
of the major film festivals about
how liberating the international
scene has been lately - Romania
is apparently a very good place to
be a filmmaker these days - but
the movies in question have often
opened in NewYork and Los Ange-
les to earn praise inthose elite cir-
cles only to disappear before they
expandto other markets. (The few
people who have seen "4 Months,
3 Weeks and 2 Days" have her-
alded it as a modern masterpiece;
a few days ago I discovered its dis-
tributor cut a contract to make it
available on Comcast OnDemand
so people will actually have the
opportunity to see it)
There is also the conundrum
of the studio specialty division,
labels like Paramount Vantage,
Focus and Fox Searchlight, which
have released some of the very
best movies of recent years but
increasingly look to ostensibly
viable product (think "Revolu-
tionary Road") rather than truly
independent work ("The Wind
That Shakes the Barley"), even
as they occupy an increasing per-
centage of the art-house business.
Whatever it is, these movies are
out there, and the recent glut will
hopefully inspire distributors to
use whatever media necessary to
fill the appetite for them.
THE ENIGMA
Up to the end of the year, there
was a huge question mark on
every filmgoer's map of the year,
the movie no one had seen but
everyone wanted to. Paul Thom-
as Anderson's "There Will Be
Blood" is an absolutely stunning
movie, arresting in every aspect
and yet deeply difficult to watch.
There has been a definite shift in
recent years away from this sort
of grandstanding, challenging
and brazenly enigmatic filmmak-
ing, and watching it recalled the
great auteurs - the ones who led
to that title being coined - doing
work that invigorated audiences
by taking their trained-eyed feet
out from under them. There were
many great movies this year, but
none that so boldly ripped into us
as this one. It's Anderson's first
film that hasn't ended on a note
of awkward whimsy, and the only
one in which he has activelytried
to interrogate his audience. It's
an electric experience, one which
his generation of filmmakers will
see and, I suspect, revive.
l/'
0
WHERE ARE THE MOVIES?
MichaelBay's "Transformers"still For every new American suc-
echoes somewhere in my subcon- THE APATOW REVOLUTION cess there was this year, there
scious). More interesting were the There has been no shortage of was an equal puzzlement why
names no one expected to ever be ink spilled about Judd Apatow, the the independent and foreign film
attached to a movie that cost more new mythic figure to emerge from markets have been so stagnant.
than $10 million to make. The the Hollywood comedy machine, The movies have been made just
most accomplished blockbusters and I'm not about to interject. It's as before, and American films are
- or at least the ones that earned difficult to understate how big of earning bigger returns than ever
the best reviews - were the ones a deal it is that the former folk overseas, so what gives?
0