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| A scene from Enter the Void. |
By John Esther
The Angel -- Writer-director Margreth Olin's unmasking of motivations behind one woman's heroin addiction is a beautifully crafted film with formidable performances -- including one very well trained kitten. Lea (Maria Bonnevie) has had a rough life. After her father dies at an early age, Lea's mother, Madeline (Gunilla Röör), gets involve in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic, Ole (Benjamin Helstad). Since booze and abuse are aplenty, Lea begins to intoxicate her life, searching for a continuity continually obstructed by her mother. When Lea herself becomes a mother, she continues the family tradition of child abandonment. Moving back and forth in time with constrained spaces, Olin punctuates Lea's despair as an omniscient narrator and Lea's inner thoughts.
Casino Jack -- Staunch big Republicans living large by the creed, stinking with greed, Jack "I Work Out Everyday" Abramoff (Kevin Spacey) and Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) kindled and swindled sweet deals with seemingly no end in sight. Political power brokers, they had brains, bank and the backdoor to some very influential people and nothing so small as integrity, ethics or friends would get in their way. Hilarious and unabashed, more than any fictionalized film in recent memory, the riveting, rolling Casino Jack magnificently exposes our corrupt era of lobbyists, special interests, the politicians for sale and the American people who not only refuse to change the system, but actually vote and campaign against their own interests (i.e. Teabaggers) while lobbyists and corporations continually seize more power against the people. Thanks to late director George Hickenlooper's direction, a brilliant script by Norman Snider and stellar performances by Spacey and others -- notably Spencer Garrett as Delay and Christian Campbell as "Christian" Ralph Reed -- Casino Jack is one of the more original, angriest, comical, satiric, and best films of 2010.
Enter the Void -- A groundbreaking “psychedelic melodrama” about a young man (Nathaniel Brown) hovering around to and fro many moments of his short-termed life, if you think last year’s Avatar broke cinematic boundaries, for every breakthrough James Cameron’s film offers technologically, Noé’s film does artistically. Any discussion about the best directed film of year excluding Noé's cinematic tour-de-force is highly suspect if not downright irresponsible (at least if you saw the entire film). Rich, dense, hallucinatory, mesmerizing and offering a unique film going experience, Enter the Void was the true film event of the year.
Exit the Gift Shop -- Perceptions and demarcations of the boundaries of art – from the street to the cinema house – swell to the bursting point in British artist Banksy's genius deconstruction of artistic endeavors as he chronicles one man's unlikely but really reel rise from artistic obscurity to renowned artist. Was it really a documentary or stage fiction? Would the former be more authentic than the latter in terms of depicting reality? Hardly. A thrilling satire on numerous levels, this is art as art consumption as art criticism as art.
Even the Rain -- Director Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal), producer Costa (Luis Tosa) and their Spanish crew have just arrived in Cochamba, Bolivia, to make a film about Columbus' arrival in the Americas during the late 15th century. An examination in racism, religious hypocrisy and resistance, the film within the film of director Iciar Bollain's Even the Rain takes an unflattering view of the Spanish crown's gold crush in the 16th century. While on location, the local "Indians," many of whom are involved with the film at significantly lower pay than their Spanish counterparts, are involved in a struggle with powerful forces over the local water supply. The film about a film or films (someone is shooting a documentary on the making of the film) thoroughly analysis the limitations and possibilities about making films to address (adjust?) social injustices, whether they are past or present, and that film is never the same as reality, regardless of accuracy, yet this is being illustrated in a film.
Four Lions -- Uneasily and uneasy the funniest film of the year, from the opening moments Four Lions gets off to a hilarious start. The actors have great timing and the script by director Chis Morris, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain rips a laughter hole into a type of mentality that wishes most of us dead. "Joking is a sign of weakness." Yet as the movie propels itself forward, the farce takes on a sense of tragedy as the cell become violent threats. To be clear, this movie is not an attack on Muslims, rather is an attack on violent extremists who happen to be Muslim (these guys seem to know nothing about the Koran). And they are not the only ones who take a hit in the film. Everybody, from crusader to cop, negotiator to next door nut (Julia Davis), takes a licking while the time is ticking off. This is one hilarious, smart, touching and brave film.
Howl -- When I first saw this at Sundance Film Festival 2010 I suspected I had already seen one of my top ten and when I saw it again at Outfest Opening Night I was sure. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Howl looks at American poet Allen Ginsberg, circa age 29, and the influence his magnum opus and first published poem, Howl, had on America during the mid-1950s. While the poem Howl said so many things about America and Howl the film says so much about America then and now, the greatness in this film lies in the fact that the filmmakers managed to capture both Ginsberg and Howl at its vital essence: the voice of desire and fulfillment of communication and acknowledgement by and for those who have been ignored by society at large through malice, ignorance or indifference.
I Love You Philip Morris -- In his best performance hitherto, Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a brilliant real life con artist who was able to fake friend and foe alike to such a degree that "fucking Texas" made sure he received an unprecedented 144-year prison sentence. Possessing a strong cast, smart script, and outrageous humor/history, there is very little to dislike about the film. Although I did find the film funnier the first time I saw it at Sundance 2009, amongst films released last year, perhaps only Four Lions was funnier than I Love You Phillip Morris?
Lebanon -- Bookmarked by an image that would make Federico Fellini proud, first-time writer-director Samuel Maoz feature film occurs almost entirely inside a tank with four IDF soldiers on the first day of the Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Similar to Das Boot in its claustrophobia hell hole, this film adds another dimension by constantly reminding the privileged viewpoint of violence for some – whether they view it through the lense of a huge tank or an American movie theater. Not for the squeamish, this is a worthy companion to Waltz with Bashir, a top ten selection of mine from 2008.
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| Pat Tillman (left) and Kevin Tillman in The Pat Tillman Story. |
The Pat Tillman Story -- When Pat Tillman gave up his multimillion-dollar career as a professional defensive end with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers with his brother, Kevin, in 2002, he became a poster child of self-sacrifice for the alleged national good. But when Pat was killed on April 22, 2004, at the age of 27, under less than courageous circumstances, another story had to be told. A riveting story about real sacrifice, courage and the best of American (human) values, director Amir Bar-Lev’s documentary champions the Tillman family's defiance against the U.S. Army and demanded the truth be told surrounding Pat’s death. Engaging, enraging, edifying and essential, this documentary attempts as much as it can to face the facts and set the record straight. If there are any shortcomings in its truth it is because the powers that be continue to lie in the way.
The Two Escobars -- Back in the early 1990s, Columbia was in the midst of a huge drug war. With notorious kingpin Pablo Escobar at the helm, the country was working its way to the highest murder rate in the world. They were tough times for Columbians, but there was hope for a nation tattered and tarnished by organized crime: the Columbia national soccer team. Lead by Andres Escobar, and backed by considerable bloody money, the team rose to the ranking of fourth in the world when they entered the World Cup games in Los Angeles, 1994. Rather than see victory on or off the field, both Escobars met with violent endings. Directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, this is one really riveting documentary about a nation strapped under crime.
