Director Michael Moore in Capitalism: A Love Story.
Picking the political
By Ed Rampell
I like to be entertained as much as anyone does –- probably more, considering the time I spend in the dark watching movies. But in addition to entertainment, I look for meaningful content that comments on the human condition, as well as for artistry, which, in terms of film form primarily means being cinematic. In terms of social/political/cultural content, 2009 continued the trend of progressive pictures, which are, as ever, my favorite type of films.
I like to be entertained as much as anyone does –- probably more, considering the time I spend in the dark watching movies. But in addition to entertainment, I look for meaningful content that comments on the human condition, as well as for artistry, which, in terms of film form primarily means being cinematic. In terms of social/political/cultural content, 2009 continued the trend of progressive pictures, which are, as ever, my favorite type of films.
More or less in order, my Top 10 2009 choices for best pictures are:
Capitalism: A Love Story -- Last year's best film, Michael Moore is a cinematic saint who gives voice to the downtrodden, the down and out, the common man and woman more than any other American filmmaker. With his usual motion picture panache, wit and compassion, Moore deftly takes aim at our societal ills like a dead eye Dick documentarian, scoring bull’s eye after bull’s eye, exposing the bullshit of world's biggest problem: an economic system based on greed and the exploitation of man by man.
Invictus -- A film about change and reconciliation, what an evolution actor-director Clint Eastwood has made from the racist cop in 1971’s Dirty Harry who urges a Black perp to go ahead and make his day (by giving the detective an excuse to extra-judiciously blow his head off) to this film about overcoming South African apartheid. The film’s first half is the best example of “socialist realism” since the heyday of that Soviet cinematic trend. Morgan Freeman’s Nelson Mandela may be in the “Dear Leader” or “Great Helmsman” mode, but he humanizes the political prisoner-turned-president as an aging man with health and family problems who is a mere mortal after all. Eastwood has given us one of the screen’s greatest sports dramas and morality tales.
Me and Orson Welles -- Last year’s most enjoyable film. I loved it because I, too, met Orson Welles in Paris when I was even younger than Zac Efron’s character and because the movie provides glimpses into the Mercury Theatre’s fabled production of a modern dress Julius Caesar. This was one of the highlights of the Depression era “Proletarian Theatre," and Welles’ 1937 spin was to make Shakespeare’s political tragedy a commentary on then-contemporary fascism. This thoroughly entertaining movie is also an ode to the joys of young love and the artistic life. Although Christian McKay looks older than a 22-year-old Welles, he is otherwise uncanny in the title role. When I saw this film it made me so giddily delirious I thought: “Damn, I’m glad movies were invented!”
In the Loop -- A biting political satire shot in a faux cinema verite style about the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. Real life peace activist Mimi Kennedy is “typecast” as an antiwar diplomat who tries to forestall the coming debacle. In the end she’s ballsier than James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini’s Lt. General and the loopy U.K. and U.S. male politicians who acquiesce to military madness. Let’s hope that the real life British commission currently investigating the prelude to the Iraq mess see this film.
Inglourious Basterds -- A great anti-fascist and World War II movie in the tradition of The Dirty Dozen. But this time, the military misfits are Jewish soldiers and their partisan allies, who pull no punches as they fight the Nazis. Writer-director Quentin Tarantino's film also has super dialogue and an in-the-know film culture sensibility.
Julie & Julia -- Not only was this film witty and good fun, but it also had a progressive subplot. Based on fact, Paul (Stanley Tucci) and Julia Child (Meryl Streep) resist McCarthyism. Who knew that the French chef cooked up a soufflé of defiance to the anti-communist witch-hunts? The movie also has a 9/11 subplot and commentary regarding relationships and feminism.
The Messenger -- A powerful antiwar drama about casualty notification officers (Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster) and the families they notify about the deaths of servicemen and women fighting Washington’s far-flung imperial escapades. Some scenes are among the most gripping since the beginning of the current round of Afghanistan and Iraq adventures, showing how America’s endless wars impact ordinary people in and out of uniform.
Burma VJ -- A stirring documentary about an uprising led by Buddhist monks against the Burmese junta’s Rangoon goons. The use of alternative media methods to bypass the generals’ gatekeepers, along with the underground’s commitment to journalism and getting the story out to Burma and the world at large, is extremely inspirational.
Flame and Citron -- An exciting, well-directed, well-acted fact-based anti-fascist film about the Danish resistance during the Nazi occupation.
The End of Poverty? -- This Cinema Libre documentary directed by Philippe Diaz shows how the economic system Michael Moore excoriates in Capitalism: A Love Story operates abroad, looting the Third World. Call it the shock doctrine of disaster imperialism.
Capitalism: A Love Story -- Last year's best film, Michael Moore is a cinematic saint who gives voice to the downtrodden, the down and out, the common man and woman more than any other American filmmaker. With his usual motion picture panache, wit and compassion, Moore deftly takes aim at our societal ills like a dead eye Dick documentarian, scoring bull’s eye after bull’s eye, exposing the bullshit of world's biggest problem: an economic system based on greed and the exploitation of man by man.
Invictus -- A film about change and reconciliation, what an evolution actor-director Clint Eastwood has made from the racist cop in 1971’s Dirty Harry who urges a Black perp to go ahead and make his day (by giving the detective an excuse to extra-judiciously blow his head off) to this film about overcoming South African apartheid. The film’s first half is the best example of “socialist realism” since the heyday of that Soviet cinematic trend. Morgan Freeman’s Nelson Mandela may be in the “Dear Leader” or “Great Helmsman” mode, but he humanizes the political prisoner-turned-president as an aging man with health and family problems who is a mere mortal after all. Eastwood has given us one of the screen’s greatest sports dramas and morality tales.
Me and Orson Welles -- Last year’s most enjoyable film. I loved it because I, too, met Orson Welles in Paris when I was even younger than Zac Efron’s character and because the movie provides glimpses into the Mercury Theatre’s fabled production of a modern dress Julius Caesar. This was one of the highlights of the Depression era “Proletarian Theatre," and Welles’ 1937 spin was to make Shakespeare’s political tragedy a commentary on then-contemporary fascism. This thoroughly entertaining movie is also an ode to the joys of young love and the artistic life. Although Christian McKay looks older than a 22-year-old Welles, he is otherwise uncanny in the title role. When I saw this film it made me so giddily delirious I thought: “Damn, I’m glad movies were invented!”
In the Loop -- A biting political satire shot in a faux cinema verite style about the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. Real life peace activist Mimi Kennedy is “typecast” as an antiwar diplomat who tries to forestall the coming debacle. In the end she’s ballsier than James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini’s Lt. General and the loopy U.K. and U.S. male politicians who acquiesce to military madness. Let’s hope that the real life British commission currently investigating the prelude to the Iraq mess see this film.
Inglourious Basterds -- A great anti-fascist and World War II movie in the tradition of The Dirty Dozen. But this time, the military misfits are Jewish soldiers and their partisan allies, who pull no punches as they fight the Nazis. Writer-director Quentin Tarantino's film also has super dialogue and an in-the-know film culture sensibility.
Julie & Julia -- Not only was this film witty and good fun, but it also had a progressive subplot. Based on fact, Paul (Stanley Tucci) and Julia Child (Meryl Streep) resist McCarthyism. Who knew that the French chef cooked up a soufflé of defiance to the anti-communist witch-hunts? The movie also has a 9/11 subplot and commentary regarding relationships and feminism.
The Messenger -- A powerful antiwar drama about casualty notification officers (Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster) and the families they notify about the deaths of servicemen and women fighting Washington’s far-flung imperial escapades. Some scenes are among the most gripping since the beginning of the current round of Afghanistan and Iraq adventures, showing how America’s endless wars impact ordinary people in and out of uniform.
Burma VJ -- A stirring documentary about an uprising led by Buddhist monks against the Burmese junta’s Rangoon goons. The use of alternative media methods to bypass the generals’ gatekeepers, along with the underground’s commitment to journalism and getting the story out to Burma and the world at large, is extremely inspirational.
Flame and Citron -- An exciting, well-directed, well-acted fact-based anti-fascist film about the Danish resistance during the Nazi occupation.
The End of Poverty? -- This Cinema Libre documentary directed by Philippe Diaz shows how the economic system Michael Moore excoriates in Capitalism: A Love Story operates abroad, looting the Third World. Call it the shock doctrine of disaster imperialism.
