Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Films of Fall 2010 (Part 2)

Here's Part 2 of my look at the films I'm looking forward to the most this coming fall/winter.

5 - True Grit - Now, this is an odd one. The Coen Brothers are almost impossible to pigeonhole. They can make the best dark crime films tinged with black comedy (Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, No Country For Old Men), they can make bizarrely heightened comedies (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?), totally unique and obscure art films (Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There, A Serious Man) and attempts at more broad hi jinks that are interesting misfires (The Hudsucker Proxy, The Ladykillers, Burn After Reading). With this film they're making their first full-fledged western (though No Country...was close) and they're tackling a role that won John Wayne his sole Oscar. Granted it's Jeff Bridges, but still, that is daunting. I for one am really quite excited to see their take. It could fall into their misfire category, but the Coens are never boring. (Dec. 25)

4 - The Fighter - I'm of mixed feelings about David O. Russell. His films Flirting With Disaster and Three Kings are amazing. I Heart Huckabees has its fans, but I'm not one of them. His actions on-set border on the utterly reprehensible and unbalanced. He seems to have generated no shortage of ill will but he is still regarded (justifiably so) as talented. So, when you hear he's just made a boxing movie with frequent collaborator Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, maybe he's met two actors who either won't take or can handle his technique of mental cruelty. Wahlberg plays a welterweight fighter on the road to a comeback, who is helped by his recovering Crack Addict brother (Bale). If done well, you've got a lean, powerful and crowd-pleasing Oscar contender. (Dec. 10)

3 - Biutiful - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s latest film stars the incredible Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a lonely man involved in criminal enterprises and who, Bardem won Best Actor at Cannes, and Inarritu is getting praise for this film, which, like his previous films (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) is dark, but unlike them follows a more linear story. Bardem seems incapable of being anything other than captivating (he was even amazing in a terrible film like Love in the Time of Cholera), so at the very least, you'll be blown away by his performance. (Dec. 17)

2 - The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay. It's about the creation of Facebook and the subsequent legal battles, and friendships that ended, in the aftermath. The cast is full of young actors on their way to the top, and has David Fincher ever made a bad film (Okay, let's not count Alien3)? What more is there to say? (Oct. 1)

1 - Blue Valentine - The story of a married couple's life together, told in a non-linear style, this film directed by Derek Cianfrance took Sundance by storm this year, and apparently, both stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are amazing. I'm excited to see a grown-up look at the realities of a truly adult relationship. Both of the stars have shown real potential in the past, and could possibly mature in two of the best actors of their generation. One not to miss. (Dec. 31)

Honourable Mentions:

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - I love Woody Allen, but he can miss as often as he hits these days.

Hereafter - Clint Eastwood dives into the metaphysical and the supernatural? I'm intrigued, but as a film maker he's never been interested in the fantastic.

Howl - James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. Could be brilliant. Could be beyond irritating.

The American - George Clooney as an assassin is intriguing, but it otherwise looks familiar.

The Tree of Life - Brad Pitt and Sean Penn star in a film directed by the legendary Terrence Malick, which will certainly look beautiful, but could also be ponderous to the point of dullness.

Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Films of Fall 2010 (Part 1)

It's that time again, when the leaves turn, kids go back to school, and Hollywood attempts to prove they're capable of producing more quality films than All About Steve and The A-Team. Oddly enough, so far this year, I can't see any clear-cut Oscar-favourites coming down the pike. In fact,t here looks to be more than a few smaller, riskier films poised to step up to the plate, which is a welcome change from bloated prestige pictures that don't deliver.

Without further ado, here's part one of my list the ten films I'm most looking forward to this fall/winter, with a "honorable mention" section of films that might surprise me. Let's get the show on the road!


10 - Waiting For "Superman" - Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) directs this documentary that examines the American public school system, how it is broken, what opportunities are available for the average student, and what steps could be taken to fix the myriad problems faced by today's kids and educators. The film follows a selection of promising kids as they struggle to gain the best chance for a quality education. Should be powerful, engrossing, and most all, a great generator for serious discussion of reform. (Sept. 24)

9 - Miral - Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) directs this film about Hind Husseini's attempt to found an orphanage in Jerusalem following the creation of the state of Israel. The story is told through the eyes of Miral, a young women in the late 1970s who leaves the shelter of the orphanage and falls for a politically active Palestinian man, leading to her becoming embroiled in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Schnabel is major league film maker of singular vision, so this may not be two hours of fun, but it should be affecting and bold. (Dec. 3)

8 - Black Swan - Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder and Vincent Cassel star in this thriller about two young ballerinas (Portman & Kunis) who find themselves in competition for the lead role in Swan Lake. Portman's Nina is an innocent, devoted to dance, but Kunis' Lily is more sensual and dark. Their rivalry warps into a twisted friendship, and then into something darker. Darren Aronofsky has long been poised to become one of the most gifted film makers of our generation, with some critical successes (Pi, The Wrestler), and some divisive films (Requiem for A Dream, The Fountain) under his belt. Here's hoping Black Swan is the one that truly confirms his promise. (Dec. 1)

7 - The Town - Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Boston-set crime film as a local bank robber who finds himself increasingly frustrated by the life he's chosen and aware that it doesn't have many positive end points. He sees his opportunity to change in his growing attraction to a former hostage (Rebecca Hall) who may or may not be able to finger him to a relentless FBI agent (Jon Hamm), while their relationship puts him at odds with his partner in crime (Jeremy Renner) and may endanger his life. Affleck proved with Gone Baby, Gone that he was more than a beefy pretty-boy who fluked into writing an Oscar-winning film. He has a real eye for this kind of gritty crime film, the cast is exciting, and the trailer looks great. (Sept. 10)

6 - Tron: Legacy - The first Tron didn't set the world on fire at the time of its release, but has since become recognized as one of the innovators in computer generated images and has achieved a cult following. That was enough to get Disney to green light this update, which follows the son (Garret Hedlund) of the first film's protagonist (Jeff Bridges) into the computer world, where Bridges has been lost for years. The footage and trailers that have been released look absolutely spectacular, and the story is still intriguing, if a little goofy. Still, could be a blast. (Dec. 17)

See you soon for Part 2!

Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Summer 2010 Films (Pt. 2)

On with the list! Here are the top five summer schlockbusters I'm looking forward to.

5 - Robin Hood (May 14) - Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott are a hit and miss combination, literally. The first time they teamed up resulted in Gladiator. The second resulted in A Good Year. If you can't differentiate between the hit and the miss, you're on the wrong site. Still, this type of film looks like it's right in their collective wheelhouse, with a gritty realism evident in the trailers that is usually missing from Robin Hood films of the past. The only thing that makes me pause is the fact that we've seen this story before, many times. Will Scott and Crowe (not to mention Cate Blanchett) make it feel fresh enough?

4 - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (August 13) - Director Edgar Wright has been behind some of the most ingenious mash-up comedy of the last decade or so, with the cult TV show Spaced and the awesome features Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz under his belt. Star Michael Cera burst onto the comedy world with the legendary Arrested Development TV series, then cemented his buzz with his star-making turn in the sleeper hit Superbad. With all the action and high-concept stylistic touches, it might give Cera a chance to play around a little bit with his awkward nerd screen persona (something that he did in Youth in Revolt, creating the best parts of the film). The trailer looks great, being based on the cult comic about the trials of a young man who has to defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of the girl he loves. Could be really fun.

3 - Toy Story 3 (June 18) - It's been over a decade since Toy Story 2 (!), and it seems the latest installment takes that long stretch of time into account; Andy is gown up and leaving for college, prompting his mother to donate all his old toys. What happens to Woody and Buzz and the other toys; indeed, what happens to all toys, when their beloved kid owners no longer want to play with them? This story has always been about Woody and his devotion to Andy, so it'll be interesting to see how the film makers tackle the issue of letting go. Pixar, as I and others have marvelled, seems incapable of making a bad film, so I'm betting this one will be their customary mixture of heartfelt sentiment, smart humour and tight plotting.

2 - Iron Man 2 (May 7) - The first Iron Man film was not only a incredibly fun film powered by the outstanding free-form performance of Robert Downey Jr., it also heralded a bold attempt to replicate the shared Marvel comic book universe on-screen, an experiment that continues here. Aside from that, the upcoming film just looks plain fun. You've got Downey back in the role that seems to fit him like a glove. You have Don Cheadle stepping into the role of Rhodey and the War Machine suit. You've got Mickey Rourke chewing the scenery as a Russian Whiplash, aided and abetted by a rival of Tony Stark named Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell). You've got Samuel L. Jackson reprising his cameo as Nick Fury, and ScarJo sexing it up in a skintight suit as the Black Widow. What's not to like?

1- Inception (July 16) - I can't really tell you what this film is about except it seems to be about industrial espionage taking place in people's minds. It's directed by Christopher Nolan, and it looks like he's combining his big budget style of The Dark Knight and Batman Begins with the mindfuck small scale storytelling of Memento and The Prestige, all wrapped up in the neo noir approach he explored in Insomnia. The cast, which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy and Tom Berenger, may be the best assembled this year. The trailer is baffling, but somehow that only seems to make people want to see it all the more. I think this could be the most exhilarating experience I'll have at the movies this summer, a film that leaves you amazed at the possibilities of film itself. Then again, maybe my expectations are too high.



So, that's it. Could be a great summer at the movies!

Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Summer 2010 Films (Pt. 1)

Believe it or not, summer is fast approaching, which can mean only one thing; the blockbusters are coming! Usually, I look at the films released in the summer with a mixture of dread and excitement. There is always a hodgepodge of empty-headed schlock (hello, Transformers!), fun big-budget spectacle that remind us how much fun movies can be (cheers, Iron Man), supposedly simple entertainment that winds up surprising us with its depth (think The Dark Knight) and actual great movies (Up, The Hurt Locker).

So, it surprised me that this summer, I would feel much less ambivalent about the films coming out, and find much more of interest. So, without further ado, here's the first five of my top 10 most anticipated films of summer, 2010.

10 - The A-Team (June 11) - I'm in my mid-thirties, so it's fair to say that I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid. Every kid I knew watched this series, though like Knight Rider, it is almost laughably juvenile when you look at it now. Still, there's something relentlessly cool about the concept; a covert military black ops team wrongly convicted of a crime that goes underground as mercenaries helping underdog causes. It's pretty much designed to appeal to boys of all ages. The film version has been on the docket for some time, but it was only once Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin' Aces) became attached that it actually got made. This film would rank a lot higher, but the trailers made it look like everyone is trying a bit too hard to capture a madcap sense of adventure, creating an air of total ridiculousness. Still, I love it when a plan comes together, so let's hope this one works out.

9 - Salt (July 23) - She keeps trying, but I'm still not buying Angelina Jolie as an action star. It would help if she weighed more than 85 lbs. Remember Tomb Raider? Remember when she actually had some curves like a normal person and looked unbelievably, unreasonably sexy? That was a long time ago, my friends. I think she's still a solid actress, and she is unquestionably a presence on screen, but this whole movie hinges on whether we really buy her as a super-spy, and it's possible we may not. Still, there's a great supporting cast, and the material may be cliched, but it's still captivating. Once again, like The A-Team, the action looks borderline ridiculous, so that may hurt what is clearly trying for the "smart thriller" tag.

8 - Get Him to the Greek (June 4) - There's really not a whole lot of solid-looking comedies coming out this summer, and this one could really go either way. But there's something about the trailer that keeps me laughing, no matter how many times I see it. The two leads obviously have chemistry, and while Jonah Hill and Russell Brand pretty much do the same thing all the time, I like the idea of throwing them together. On the other hand, the trailer could just be all the funny bits.

7 - The Expendables (August 13) - Sylvester Stallone. Jason Statham. Jet Li. Dolph Lundgren. Eric Roberts. Mickey Rourke. Cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Up and comer action guys like Steve Austin, Randy Couture and Terry Crews. The film looks basically incoherent, yes, it's true, but the trailer effortlessly captures the fun, wise-ass, badass, over the top insanity that the one for The A-Team falls all over itself trying to manufacture. And, I've said it before, Stallone has talent. He falls back way too much on some pretty lazy qualities, but when he's cooking in things like Rocky, First Blood, Nighthawks, Copland; hell, even in cheese like Cobra or Tango and Cash he's a hoot to watch. Lately, with Rocky Balboa and Rambo providing him with a new comeback opportunity, he seems renewed and here's hoping he serves up one explosive slice of 80s action excess.

6 - Splice (June 4) - Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star in this creepy sci-fi film that has been well-received at a number of film festivals. It tells the tale of two renowned scientists who have successfully created a new creature that secretes profitable proteins for pharmaceutical purposes. Things spiral out of control when they secretly embark upon the next stage; creating a hybrid using human DNA. The cast is great, the direction looks stylish and the subject matter is certainly original. It could be a real thinking-person's sci-fi film.


Well, there's the first five, see you soon for the final five!

The 10 Best Films of 2009 - Part 2

I'm finally getting around to posting my top ten films of last year. Here's 10 - 6, and now below I present the top five!

5 - Up in the Air

You know that old chestnut about how it's never too late to change your life for the better? How, at any point, you can make a positive choice about changing the way you interact with others and it will vastly improve your life? Well, here's a film that, while on the surface it appears to be charming and breezy, presents a reality that we often don't want to acknowledge; sometimes, it is too late. There's a time limit to certain things in life. And George Clooney's disconnected Ryan Bingham is forced to consider that question in this incredibly enjoyable, impeccably crafted film. It got a bit of a backlash thrown at it after opening earlier in the year to great guns, but that's not really fair; it may seem light, but that's deceptive. One of the major problems facing us all in this technological age is the growing lack of actual, face-to-face, community. This film attacks that issue head-on, and it's surprisingly moving. Clooney has never been better.

4 - Up

There's something in the water over at Pixar. They just can't make a bad movie. Cars is the closest they came, in my opinion, but even that film wasn't bad, it just didn't quite live up to incredibly high standard set by the studio. Up is no exception, and it may even be their best film, joining the ranks of WALL-E and The Incredibles. The story is crafted perfectly, using an incredibly affecting silent montage to immediately draw the audience into the story and get them behind their main character, who takes a journey that is supposed to be the end of a life and turn it into a reason to revitalise himself. It's a very touching film, and one that, like the Disney classics of old, immediately gains a beloved place in our hearts.

3 - The Hurt Locker

The phrase "hurt locker" refers to being in a place of incredible pain or injury. All of the characters in the film are in different Hurt Lockers, but the most profound pain belongs to the film's troubled main character, Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner, in a star-making, Oscar nominated performance). He has become totally accustomed to the adrenalized, terrifying circumstances he lives in during his combat rotations. While this makes him an effective, if reckless, leader of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit, it also means that he really doesn't feel alive in any other situation. The scenes of his return home to his wife and family are heartbreaking, as he tries to assimilate, but finds that reality for him has become war. The things he is supposed to want to get back to hold no interest for him any longer. This is a common problem with soldiers, especially those whose tours have gotten longer and longer, and who have been "stop-lossed" back into active duty far past their original terms of service. This is the reason why there has been an increase in soldier suicides upon returning home. The Hurt Locker comments on the whole fucked-up mess that are the modern wars America has entered into, and all without overt speeches or melodrama. It is lean, powerful, and compelling.

2 - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

There were critics who saw Precious as nothing more than "victim porn", a film so dedicated to dragging the audience through an absolutely horrific experience as to traumatize them into feeling they have seen a great film. There were others that felt the film did a huge disservice to the perception of African-American life; that is was a con job that showed all the most awful stereotypes possible. I feel both those views miss the ultimate point of the film. Yes, the main character goes through some of the most horrible and hugely tragic hardships ever visited on a protagonist in American film, but what we are watching is not meant to be an exploitative experience in degradation, but rather a moving depiction of the reclamation of a human soul. Yes, the things that happen to Precious are almost too much to take, but do things that bad happen to kids in real life? Sadly, I think it must be said that they do. But these kids are not lost unless we let them be lost. Precious finds, through education, through exposure to people who love her and (more importantly) find value in her, a way to be more than what the circumstances of her life have given her. And as such, it is a film of rare power and truth.

1 - The White Ribbon

Michael Haneke, the director of this masterful film, is a polarizing figure. Some consider him more pedagogue than visionary, more lecturer than artist. But, no one can deny the power of his latest film, an attempt to examine how seemingly ordinary societies can produce things like the Nazi horrors, terrorism and brutal repressions of all stripes. Some have focused too strongly on the Nazi angle to the film, while this is the closest and most personal analogy for Haneke, the film can easily reflect any society that finds itself growing more and more cruel in the its need to be safe and secure. As the town in the film is best by seemingly random and completely mysterious acts of violence, its hierarchy becomes less and less humane, descending into repression and intolerance. The only redemption seems to comes from individuals. Haneke seems to have absolutely no faith in systems or authority, but he does present fleeting glimpses of beauty and kindness; in the sweet courtship of two characters, in the gentleness of a little boy, in the recognition of the stifling nature of her community by a mother. These moments seem incredibly fragile, and yet keep the film from total gloom. Perhaps the most out and out beautifully shot film of the year.

Hope you enjoyed this look back!

The 10 Best Films of 2009 - Part 1

It occurs to me that I didn't post my top ten films of the year in January like I planned to. I'm sure that my opinion doesn't mean all that much to you, but if a blog isn't an exercise in vanity, I'm not sure what is, so you'll all have to suffer my pontificating.

Enjoy!

10 - Star Trek

You can go back and read my posts to see how much antipathy I had for the Trek franchise before this film. But as we saw more and more of the film in the lead up to release, the more excited I got. Finally, when I saw it, I wasn't at all disappointed. In fact, I was blown away at how skillfully the film makers managed to create a brand new direction for Star Trek while still honoring what came before and retaining its familiar qualities. The film was well-cast and exceptionally shot (even if the lens flares became a little distracting). It had style and panache, a quality which many recent adventure films have been sorely lacking. It was certainly the most enjoyable, nakedly fun thrill ride of the year.

9 - Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino may be the boldest and brashest of American film makers working today. Still often unfairly criticized by some as nothing more than a mash-up artist, those detractors miss the pure cinematic joy that fills every frame of his films. Put simply, the guy has celluloid in his blood. Like Scorsese before him, he lives film, but unlike Scorsese, he seems to have more of a soft spot for the grimier aspects of film history. So what he does is create films that seem to be pop entertainments; mere pastiche. But what they actually are are exercises in applying the depth of a master film maker to styles that never had that kind of attention focused on them before. With this film, he takes the "men on a mission" film as a starting point, and then lets whatever mood that hits him dictate where the story goes. It is equal parts foreign film, war film, spectacle, comedy, thriller, and brutally indulgent wish fulfillment. In short, it's brilliant.

8 - A Serious Man

After winning critical and popular acclaim with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers dug deep and came up with this strange little film, a modern and challenging interpretation of the biblical story of Job. In this version, the Job character must suffer through a litany of humiliations and hardships while he struggles to maintain his principles. And, although this is a strangely heightened world, it does reflect one of the great struggles of the modern human being; how do we retain any sort of higher moral behaviour in world that seems to continually lower its standards? Michael Stuhlbarg is fantastic throughout, evoking sympathy while simultaneously playing a man who watches every aspect of his life fail him.

7 - Avatar

There's no denying that, like Titanic before it, Avatar has changed films forever. The completeness in how it depicts a totally alien world and society is achieved in a way that dazzles the eye and boggles the mind. Much criticism has been made of the unoriginality of the story, and it's fair for the most part, but it's a story that has powerful archetypes rooted deep in the viewer and that's why it works so well. Sometimes, critics often forget that audiences don't always want the bold and innovative; sometimes they want the equivalent of comfort food. Avatar is an almost perfect example of that. It's a film that is clearly a labour of love for director James Cameron, and its use of technology is certainly bold and beautiful, but its story is a classic tale, and that's what gives it its resonance with so many.

6 - (500) Days of Summer

A lot of reviewers talked about the similarities this film has to Annie Hall. There's the love story elements, the stylistic innovations in storytelling, the neuroses of the main characters. But while Annie Hall told the story of a love that wound up being unsuccessful, (500) Days of Summer is much more about how certain relationships can be uneven from the start, and how they wind up being important not necessarily because of the love involved, but because of what that relationship teaches us about ourselves. It's about that milestone relationship that is in everyone's past; the one that teaches us how to be in a relationship, and how to leave behind the silly expectations that society has filled us with and create a realistic idea of what love is.

Back soon with the final five!

The Top Ten Coolest American TV Themes - Part 2

And today we present my final five coolest TV themes in American TV.

5 - Taxi

Taxi was simply a great show. It was funny, it had tremendous heart and it was blessed with perhaps one of the greatest casts ever. Seriously, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi. Those are the three most absurdly talented sitcom casts of all time. And the theme played against comedy by going for pathos and a tender tone. Brilliant.

4 - Magnum, P.I.

The most over the top macho theme song ever. Look at the moustache to non-moustache ratio in that cast. You've got guns, a sweet sports car, a helicopter, a girl's ass and guys digging a hole. That's some sort of testosterone super-band.


3 - Mission: Impossible

Admit it; when you find yourself doing something a little sneaky, you find yourself humming this tune. It's one of the coolest songs ever put on the tube, and the design of the titles themselves, with the quick cuts of the night's episode, gets you ready for the ultra-cool adventures of the IMF.


2 - The Twilight Zone

That guitar riff is both simultaneously kind of cool and austere, and so creepy as to defy description. It, combined with the odd imagery and the distinctive monologue intoned by series genius Rod Serling, is truly one of the all time classic themes.


1 - Hawaii Five-O

The pounding drums, the surf rock and that hyper kinetic zoom into the balcony where tough guy Jack Lord whips around to deliver that classic McGarrett hard ass look, and all that follows combines into a pulse elevating sense of excitement at the night's case. Book 'em, Dano, indeed.

The Top Ten Coolest American TV Themes - Part 1

I'm feeling a little nostalgic these days, looking for a trip down memory lane. I was thinking the other day, while watching House, that it's one of the few American TV shows with an actual theme song anymore. That kind of sucks, actually, so let's return to those thrilling days of yesteryear and enjoy part one of my personal top ten old theme songs:

10 - Barney Miller

Barney Miller Opening Theme - The funniest home videos are here

Okay, first off, that bass line opening is super-cool. And there's something just ballsy about making a sitcom about the corruption-rife, totally broke, drowning in crime NYPD of the 1970s and NOT having it be too depressing for words.

9 - The Streets of San Francisco


And then there's this theme, which I think just kicks ass with its brassy horns and stern announcer. How is it possible Karl Malden used to be kind of badass?

8 - Three's Company (sort of)

Three's Company theme Reenactment

Yeah, yeah, this isn't the actual opening. I couldn't find it. It's bizarre. Still, this put you perfectly in the mood for this frankly ridiculous sitcom.

7 - Peter Gunn


Sorry, you'll have to wait til the end to get the theme, but it's worth it. The epitome of laid back cool from Henry Mancini.

6 - Knight Rider


And our first entry where the them song if infinitely more sophisticated, atmospheric and compelling than the show itself. The synth stuff is awesome, and makes the show (which if you watch it now seems to be written for the borderline retarded) so fucking cool.

See you soon for the final five!

The Films of the Aughts

So, the Aughts. Is that what we're going with? Because, technically, we're still in the 2000s, right? I prefer calling them the Double Zeroes, anyone with me on that? No? Sticking with the Aughts, I guess.

Anyway, /Film has a really well done montage (with perhaps some questionable music choices) overlooking the films of this past decade, and shit, there were some exceptional films. And some questionable ones. Still, really well done.

the films of the 2000s from Paul Proulx on Vimeo.

10 Sequels Better Than The Originals (Part 2)

And now, here's the top five of my list of the ten sequels that are better than the originals:

5 – The Road Warrior – Mad Max was a very good movie; a brutal, rough and ready action film that broke rules and introduced the world to an Aussie star named Mel Gibson. The first film mainly dealt with the breakdown of a society choking on crime and environmental decay, embodied by the plight and brutal revenge of a cop and family man forced to become more a force of nature in the face of anarchy. The Road Warrior is about the end of the world, where things become completely simplified to focus on pure survival and how, in such circumstances, community becomes precious. With its darker viewpoint and plot and characters stripped down to their absolute, archetypal essences, what you get is perhaps one of the purest action films ever made.

4- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a ponderous and glacial mess, rushed into release before fully completed. It tried to be 2001 in a post Star Wars era. Still, it made a lot of money, somehow. But with the second instalment, they realized that a long episode of the TV show wasn’t going to do. Underrated writer/director Nicolas Meyer worked with producer Harve Bennett to craft an amazingly tight, laser beam focused tale of revenge, obsession, aging and death. The plot, although it’s really only about one man trying to kill another, is expanded upon to reach almost epic dimensions. It’s propelled by the best acting Star Trek ever saw, notably by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban. Without this film, which is still the pinnacle of the franchise, the mighty Star Trek empire wouldn’t exist.

3 – The Empire Strikes Back – A lot of people will disagree with me on my choice, but I stand by it; Empire is a better movie than Star Wars. You see, Star Wars gets the accolades because it’s the one that changed movies forever. As a phenomenon, it’s second to no other film save perhaps Gone With the Wind. But looking at it as a film, Empire has the superior story, direction and in many cases, effects. It’s just better. The darker atmosphere and more sophisticated script help to generate a very adult feel to the series, one that it would never have ever again. The story opens with the Hoth sequence, which is unbelievably well done, and then splits into two plots, basically. The Luke Skywalker plot, telling the tale of his maturation from naïve farm boy into heroic but neurotic Jedi is wholly engrossing, but the other plot, following the crew aboard the Millennium Falcon and their eventual downfall, is filled with as many great moments, anchored by the romance of Han Solo and Leia. The performances were never better, the scripts were never better, the thrills were never more visceral and complete. It’s the best.

2 – The Dark Knight – Batman Begins was a much needed and exceptionally executed reboot of the Batman franchise, but at the end of the day, it was a great super-hero movie. It did have a thematic anchor exploring the nature of fear and how we deal with it, which elevated it slightly, but still, it was basically a great comic book film. The Dark Knight is great film, period. It’s a social commentary on how we, in the modern world, deal with forces of anarchy and points of view that are completely and utterly alien and in opposition to a civilized society. It looks at how we are tempted to abandon all of our better ideals for the illusion of safety and the restoration of normalcy. It looks at what we ask of the people who are called on to deal with the wolves at the gate, and how, too often, we don’t care how they get rid of them. And it does so all within the framework of an adventure story about a vigilante in a bat costume beating up a homicidal clown. Heath Ledger deserved his Oscar, posthumous or not, for a performance that is scary in its brilliance, and the rest of the cast also turn in memorable work. But it’s director Christopher Nolan and his team of writers who pull off the real magic.

1 – The Godfather Part 2 – This is another one that people may argue with me about, but give me the story of Michael Corleone’s moral dissolution over the story his absorption into the family business any day. Listen, The Godfather is the more legendary film because it was the first, but Part 2 is the more ambitious and ultimately the richer film in the saga. Pacino is simply stunning as he portrays a man who loses his soul completely in exchange for his twisted desire to keep his family “safe”. This is the film that truly raises The Godfather saga from drama to a Shakespearean commentary on the pursuit of the American dream and the corrosive qualities of ambition and immorality. It’s filled with so many great directorial moments, genius writing and superb performances that suffice to say, it’s one of the best American films ever made.

Hope you all enjoyed it. See here for Part 1.

10 Sequels Better Than The Originals (Part 1)

Sequels are a tricky thing. For every triumph there's an Exorcist II: The Heretic. In fact, there are a lot of sequels that come dangerously close to ruining the goodwill you had for the first film (I'm looking at you, Escape From L.A.). Far, far rarer are those films that somehow manage to surpass the original. I think we should celebrate those rare beasts a little more often, so I'm presenting my list of ten sequels that, in my opinion, top the first films in the series.

Here's a few rules, right off the bat; these are second films only, no third or fourth installments (so don't look for Goldfinger, or Casino Royale), and finally, there are no "pre-planned" sequels here (so don't look for Harry Potter movies, the Lord of the Rings films, or Superman II). I'm talking real, unadulterated sequels in the classic sense.

Ready? Let's start with numbers 10-6:

10 – Spider-Man 2 – A recurring point in this list is going to be the fact that all of these sequels take the original films and add a greater degree of complexity along with dialling up the more enjoyable aspects that made the first film a success. Spider-Man 2 is no exception, boasting a stronger and more emotionally charged story, a more tragic and captivating bad guy in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, and in Sam Raimi, a director at the absolute peak of his confidence and prowess. The operating room scene is vintage Evil Dead-type Raimi, while the elevated train action set piece is superbly constructed and executed.

9 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day – The first film was basically an ingenious riff on the stalker/slasher films that dominated the 1980s, spruced up with some really cool visual effects and an iconic performance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the first film contained some great action sequences and some nifty sci-fi concepts at its core, the sequel took all of that and ran with it. Linda Hamilton morphed from helpless victim into ripped paranoid hard ass, Arnie morphed from bad guy into good guy and Robert Patrick just plain morphed as the T-1000. Not only did its visual effects literally change film forever, but it also was way riskier with the implications of its time travel pretzel plot, and its examinations of fatalism and consequence.

8 – Bride of Frankenstein – After the first film was a hit for a depression-era Universal studios, director James Whale was given pretty much free reign to create a follow up, and he took that reign and went as far as he possibly could. The result is a film that is simultaneously weirder, scarier, more tragic and way funnier than its predecessor. Karloff continues to build on his legendary role but the creation of Dr. Pretorius, as played by Ernest Thesiger, is the film’s most genius move, providing the film with a villain that is both repellent and utterly fascinating.

7- Evil Dead 2 – Raimi and star Bruce Campbell went back into the woods to create a sequel that is so utterly unconcerned with the first film that it’s really more of a remake. Their desire was simply to make the first film scarier, gorier and strangely enough, funnier. And they succeed on all fronts, crafting a film that is basically a macabre, gory cartoon with an idiot for a hero tormented by demons that have watched a lot of Three Stooges shorts. It’s made all the more remarkable by the sheer brilliance of Campbell’s performance and by Raimi’s incredible skill at using the camera in a hyper kinetic way.

6 – The Bourne Supremacy – You know a spy film has really hit the mark when it becomes a major influence on the granddaddy of spy films, the James Bond franchise. Paul Greengrass took the Bourne series in a new direction, visually, as he put you inside fight scenes and car chases, forcing the viewer to experience them as a mad and vertiginous flurry of movement, much as the participants do. And, like many sequels, the subject matter was darker and more intense than the previous film, anchored by Matt Damon’s underrated portrayal of the tormented and irrevocably traumatized central character.

What’ll be in the top five? See you soon to find out.

Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Films of Fall 2009 (2)

Earlier, I posted five films that I'm eagerly looking forward to this fall/winter season. Now we come to the final five, along with some alternative choices for of ones that have definitely piqued my interest, but fall just short of being must-sees.

And on we go:

5 - The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11) - Any project that involves Peter Jackson is automatically anticipated. Here's the thing though; King Kong really hurt his reputation. Not that it was bad. Jack Black's miscasting aside, I actually think it was a pretty great movie. But it fell into the classic trap that many uber-successful directors fall into; it was monumentally excessive. There was simply too much. Too much story, too many huge set pieces, too much big-ness. It's really up to this film to see if Jackson can reign himself in or not. It's got a lot going for it, namely that it's based on a beloved novel, and appears to be an effective melding of his Lord of the Rings visual wizardry with a Heavenly Creatures-like small scale, but powerful, story. Here's hoping it all comes together, because if it does, it could be the best film of the year.

4 - The Informant! (Sept. 18) - Has anyone got a handle on Steven Soderbergh? It's like he's two people, almost. One person is a skilled craftsman of mainstream dramas and crowd-pleasers (Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight, Ocean's Eleven and its sequels). The other is the iconoclastic indie filmmaker (sex, lies and videotape, The Limey, Solaris, Bubble, Che, The Girlfriend Experience). The odd thing is that both of these guys can direct some great films, albeit of totally differing styles and for totally different tastes. The Informant! is one directed by the first guy, but it seems to have a little flavour of the second. Also, Matt Damon looks to put in a great performance. Is it me, or is he underrated as an actor? Not as a movie star, but as an actor.

3 - Where the Wild Things Are (Oct. 16) - God, has it been seven years since Spike Jonze directed a film?!? How is that possible? He's only directed two full-length films (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) but both were stunningly good. Still, everyone works at their own speed, and I'm just happy Jonze is back. He's chosen a worth comeback, too, using the beloved children's book as source material. With his skewed viewpoint, this could be the most delightful film, capable of reaching the child in us all, but never sacrificing the endearing weirdness of his vision.

2 - Shutter Island (Oct. 2) - I read the Dennis Lehane novel on which this film was based, and I recall thinking at the time what a great movie it would make. The story takes place in 1954, as a pair of US Marshalls come to an isolated insane asylum looking for a homicidal patient that has disappeared and uncovering some sinister goings on, all as a hurricane bears down on them. It's a sort of hybrid story, beginning as a hard boiled mystery and quickly descending into a dark psychological thriller and finally into a kind of Gothic horror tale. It's the type of film that Martin Scorsese has never directed before, the closest equivalent being Cape Fear. The story is enough to get you in the door, and Marty's presence amps the anticipation to a huge degree. When you add in the cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michele Williams and Jackie Earle Haley, and you've got what could turn out to be an unforgettable thriller.....or a godawful mess. Still, if you love film, you're waiting for this one.

1 - The White Ribbon (Dec. 25) - There's no doubt that Michael Haneke is one of the most controversial directors around, being either revered or reviled depending on whom you talk to. Personally, I like directors like this, it means they're at least bold and possessed of some sort of clear vision. As for his films, I've liked what I've seen (Cache, The Piano Teacher) an awful lot, but I'm a little scared to dive into his other films (Funny Games, Code Unknown) after hearing negative reviews from people I trust. Still, his latest film, which won the Palme D'or at Cannes this year, sounds like an amazing experience. It tells the tale of a small German community in 1914 that begins to experience ever escalating moments of violence and brutality perpetrated by unknown parties. As more is reveled, the audience is shown a community that seems bucolic but is in fact stern, cruel and unyielding. Is the community being punished for something? Many people have noticed that the children the story focuses on would grow to form the backbone of Nazi Germany, but Haneke has said that the film is actually about the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature. It looks absolutely mesmerizing.

So those are the ones I'm dying to see. But here's a selection of other films coming out that look pretty great in their own right: Pandorum, Bright Star, The Invention of Lying, A Serious Man, Zombieland, Amelia, Antichrist, The Men Who Stare at Goats, 9, Brothers.

Gonna be a big Fall!

Nerdlinger's Most Anticipated Films of Fall 2009 (1)

Last year, I listed the ten films of the fall that I was most excited to see. The fall is always a great time of year for filmgoers, as studios release their heavy hitters during this time in order to compete for award attention. So, like last year, I'm going to list the ones that I'm most anticipating. What's shocking to me is that one of the movies from last year didn't come out after all, and now appears on this year's list.

So, without further ado,

10 - The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Nov. 13) - Wes Anderson directs a stop motion animation version of Roald Dahl's classic book, starring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe. Instead of recording the voices in a conventional studio, Anderson took his cast on location to record their performances, with the cast actually doing the things their animated counterparts did. Meaning, if Mr. Fox was digging in the ground, Clooney dug in the ground; if the animals were eating, the cast ate. Cool. And yeah, The Darjeeling Limited was pretty awful, but the pairing of Anderson and Dahl could be a match made in heaven.

9 - Broken Embraces (Nov. 20) - Pedro Almodovar is quite simply one of the great filmmakers working in the world today, and when you pair him with Penelope Cruz, the result is one of the great actor/director collaborations in modern film. Centering on a tale of dangerous love, the film has the flavour of hard-boiled film noir. Though it got some mixed reviews at Cannes, I'll take a mixed film by almodovar over some director's successes.

8 - The Road (Oct.16) - The film was originally scheduled to be released in November of last year, but was pushed to this fall for reasons that still aren't entirely clear. Some say it was done after The Weinstein Company, the studio releasing the film, thought it could benefit from a less crowded release date and from more post-production. Others claim that the Weinsteins didn't want the film to distract Academy voters from the film they preferred, The Reader. Still, the film, based on a relentlessly bleak and sublimely brilliant Cormac McCarthy novel, recieved a blindlingly positive review from Esquire, which read in part: It is a brilliantly directed adaptation of a beloved novel, a delicate and anachronistically loving look at the immodest and brutish end of us all. You want them to get there, you want them to get there, you want them to get there — and yet you do not want it, any of it, to end.

I still can't wait to see it.



7 - Nine (Nov. 25) - 8 1/2 is one of the best movies ever made. It's certainly the best movie about making movies that has ever been made. It's perhaps the masterpiece of Federico Fellini, and that was a guy who had a few absolutely brilliant films under his belt. Nine is the musical version of that film. Before you get all snooty about remaking a classic, you should know the musical debuted on Broadway in 1982, when it ran for over 700 performances and won five Tonys, including best musical. Now Rob Marshall, who, it must be said, knows a thing or two about musicals, takes it to the big screen. What really makes this cool is who takes on the main role of Guido; Daniel Day Lewis (otherwise known as The Fucking Man).



6 - Precious (Nov. 6) - Lee Daniels directs this adaptation of Push, an autobiographical novel by Sapphire. It tells the harrowing and yet still elating story of Precious Jones, an overweight teenager growing up in Harlem and trying to survive being impregnated twice by her father and a hateful relationship with her mother. It won awards at Sundance and was screened in competition at Cannes. Receiving great reviews from papers like Variety, this could be the little film that blows everyone away this year.

See you soon for the final five!