So the Academy Award nominations have come and went. There were not too many surprises this year most of the nominees were pretty predictable, but for everyone of the nominees the academy got right, they got a handful wrong.
There are those films that cover such extreme emotional subject matter that you look past it's imperfections and just concentrate on the emotions presented. “Precious” is one of those many films that have come out to do this.
George Clooney stars in this delightful film about the downturn economy
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
There are those films that you see and you do not know what to think of it, once the credits roll. You want to give it a final judgment right there and then, but you know the film has not settled in right away. I have seen many films like this, but one has not left me as floored as Paul Thomas Anderson's “There Will Blood”.
Steven Soderbergh has tried new things witch each film and has earned the tite of Best Director of the Decade
Here is what everyone wants...a lengthy discussion about the top ten films of the decade.
Director: Fernando Meirelles
"City of God" tells the story of the slum gangs of Rio de Janeiro. It's a breathtaking adventure of the city and the citizens who inhabit it. In Roger Ebert's review he says "The film has been compared with Scorsese's "GoodFellas," and it deserves the comparison.
I've enjoyed plenty of actors performances over the last 10 years. Here are the best
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh is a director who is fearless. I without a doubt can respect the man for anything he does. His biggest success both mainstream and critical is the ensemble drama "Traffic". It is an ensemble piece that weaves together several stories about the drug trade and business.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
I remember I took a class at College of DuPage and it was a International Film Mavericks class. We watched films by international directors who helped change cinema. I asked if we were going to watch any Del Toro films. I was told that we were not and my teacher believed Del Toro's film "Pan's Labyrinth" was the most overrated film since 1990.
Over the last 10 years there has been some bad movies that we love.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan's second and break out feature "Memento" is a game changer. It has changed the way scripts are written, how a film is put together and the independent circuit. "Memento" tells the story of Leonard (Guy Pearce) an amnesiac who has short term memory loss and can't remember anything for more than a few minutes.
The Chicago Film Critics have made their nominees with "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Up in the Air" leading with 6 nominees.
The Golden Globe nominations are voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assoc. They are the biggest early indicator of the Academy Awards. The biggest gripe about the Golden Globes is that they nominate clearly for star power. But they are still something to see.
The Roosevelt University Film Society have listed their best films of the last decade.
Director: Andrew Stanton
Pixar comes out every year and just gets better and better with every film. How can a story about a trash compactor in love be a masterpiece? Director Andrew Stanton has brought a reality to this film (I know it’s animated) I felt like I was watching a live action film.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Some directors start to deteriorate as they get older. While others become greater and more skilled as they go on; Clint Eastwood is the latter. Eastwood has made his masterpiece with Million Dollar Baby. It's a careful, beautifully crafted film that could have easily been subjected to cliche's, but it avoids those wonderfully.
Director: David Fincher
David Fincher's "Zodiac" is a symphony of frustration and creates an atmosphere of dread with only a bit of violence. The film takes a look at the San Francisco Zodiac murders of the late 60's and 70's. We follow three main characters throughout the entire film Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhall), Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.
The Oscar season has officially begun as the National Board of Review names it's top 10 of the year, with "Up in the Air" being named film of the year.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg is a filmmaker who rarely get's the benefit of the doubt. Spielberg too often get's scolded for his uplifting, children themed film, but he is so much more than that. He is one of our best filmmakers, I don't care what anyone says. Spielberg has made his latest classic with a "Minority Report" a sci-fi action/adventure that brings up the topic of free will vs.
"The Hurt Locker" is an intelligent action film that has a emotional core.
Spike Jonze adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are" falls flat and can't find a direction.
Nicolas Cage runs rampant in Werner Herzogs re-imagining of "Bad Lieutenant"
The award season is starting with the announcement of the Spirit Award nominations
A few things that I am thankful for in the world of film.
Director: Andrew Domnik
This ain't your fathers western. "Assassination of Jesse James" is a careful, psychoanalytical historical epic that examines obsession, paranoia and insecurities of cowboys. We are shown the last year of the life of Jesse James (Brad Pitt). We are not shown his prosperous beginning, but his downfall of his career, life and psyche.
Although the story and dialogue is corny, "2012" is a enjoyable action picture about the end of the world.
Director: Michel Gondry
Although Michel Gondry directed this film and gives it a wonderful, stunning visual identity this is first and foremost a Charlie Kaufman film. The film opens with a shot of Joel (Jim Carrey) as he looks at a page in his journal is missing, "My journal," Joel observes oddly, "is .
Director: Todd Field
Todd Fields adaptation of the Tom Perrotta novel, is such a revelation, it's amazing to know that former actor directed it. The story is of Sarah (Kate Winslet) a college-feminist who has reluctantly become a homemaker. Sarah feels suffocated by this life and takes it out on her daughter, who she treats as a nuisance.
Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger in this sly, action packed flick
J.J. Abrams reincarnation of this dying franchise is a blast from both a critical and commercial perspective.
Director: Paul Greengrass
The first Bourne was good, the second was better and the third was the best. The Bourne films are the perfect type of action film. Anyone who goes to see them, will go home happy. The film has this amazing blend of intelligence and explosive thrills. Greengrasse's "United 93" was also on my list and they are both filmed very similarly.
Kids movies have started to evolve in depressing, dark films that are being helmed by quirtky directors
Director: David Lynch
David Lynch is a filmmaker who excels at playing with your mind. He is a smart and intelligent man, who knows what he is doing, but you have to think there is some sort of an adolescent attitude in him when he creates his films. From his previous pictures "Blue Velvet" "Wild at Heart" and "Eraserhead" you know he is setting up the audience for confusion.
Director: Peter Jackson
An adventure movie in every aspect. J.R.R. Tolkien's first in the Lord of the rings trilogy is probably the best. Although it is the beginning selection of the series it is probably the most complete. There is a healthy mix of both action, folklore, drama and fantasy.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson's fourth feature, "Punch-Drunk Love" is truly a gift. Anderson's other features like Magnolia and Boogie Nights are well written, directed and acted films, that have been some of the best films made. The pure joy, awkwardness and thrill of this film does not feel deserved.
Directors: The Coen Bros.
As crazy as this might sound, I think this is one of the Coen's most underrated films. I know it won best picture, but as with any best picture winner, there is always the backlash that happens. It is absolutly great, if not PERFECT Cormac McCarthy adaptation.
Director: Paul Greengrass
I was going back and fourth deciding whether or not this film should have been put on my list. I was afraid that people were going to think, that I merely put it on because it was a movie based on 9/11, but that is very far from the truth. I can say when this film came out I was petrified to see it.
Director: Mike Leigh
There are directors out there who tend to bring out the best in actors. They are hands off, but they still know how to craft a amazing film. Mike Leigh is one of those directors. His 2004 film, Vera Drake, tells the story of...Vera Drake. The film takes place in post-WW II London.
Director: Lars Von Trier
Every year there is always films that I think have so much potential, but just never lift off. I can't bring myself to rate them. Examples include, Southland Tales, A.I. and even Von Trier's other Film Antichrist. I would have to say Dancer in the Dark is one of these, but enough time has passed for me to make my final decsion.
A compilation of the 40 best films of the last decade
Richard Kelly's latest film is a mindbender that pulls you in so many directions you don't know what to think.
Capturing the peculiarity of the film, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is an odd title that reflects the strange personality of the dark comedy.
Quentin Tarantino's style of bending genre's and reinventing them is apparent in his seventh film "Inglorious Basterds" (yes that is how it's spelled). In "Jackie Brown" he did a take on exploitation films, in "Kill Bill" he worked on the kung fu genre and in "Inglourious Basterds" he tries his hand at an action film.
