The Best...so far

The Holiday movie season is upon us and whether you think awards are pretentiousness or it turns your stomach to think of a movie being called "Oscar bait," you have to admit it's the best time of the year for movies. Here is a preliminary list of the best films I've seen SO FAR this year, and not to be contradictory, but the best one is from the summer!


1. Inception
2. Casino Jack
3. The Social Network
4. Daniel and Abraham (Look it up)
5. The Ghost Writer
6. Rabbit Hole

Mentions: The Town, Blue Valentine

Here is a list of contenders I have yet to see:

True Grit (probable #1)
Black Swan
The Fighter
127 Hours
Winter’s Bone
The King’s Speech

What The Social Network Can Teach Us About Social Networking and Ourselves

Warning: spoiler alert!

Social networking has become the culture. It’s the norm. It’s how friends communicate how business gets done, and how we connect to the world. David Fincher’s The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how he created Facebook and destroyed friendships with greed, corruption, and jealousy.

Ideas can not be stolen, legally speaking. Of course in the moral side of things ideas can be taken, enhanced, and made into multi-billion dollar corporations that change the way the world socializes. Which, in short, is exactly what Zuckerberg did by taking the idea of “The Harvard Connection” from twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played brilliantly by Armie Hammer). He enlists his best (and only) friend, Eduardo Saverin, as CFO to provide the financial backing to start the site. Along the way he meets up with Sean Parker (the guy behind Napster) who cynically kicks Eduardo out of the company and writes himself in.

The story of the development of the website is crosscut with the depositions of the cases (yes, there are two) that the twins and Eduardo take against Zuckerberg. Fincher’s dark and subtle mood helps keep the tension of the story alive amongst the amazingly witty and fast-past dialogued penned by Aaron Sorkin.

But the reason this film is great is not the mood or the great dialogue. No, it’s the amazing characterization of those involved in the story, and how it teaches us so much about ourselves. Over 500 million people have signed up for Facebook. There is a generation of kids out there that will grow up on social networks and know nothing else. Facebook and the other social networks have become the way we mingle; it has changed the world as we know it. The irony of it all is that it was created by a guy that in all accounts is socially retarded. So much so that we leave him in the final shot, sitting alone in a conference room, refreshing a Facebook page over and over again, waiting for a friend to “accept” him in cyberspace because they could not connect in reality. That haunting image of the man that connected us all by severing all his connections is the amazingly ironic last shot of the film, juxtaposed with seemingly satisfying subtitles and “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” by Paul McCartney.

 This image of the youngest billionaire in the world sitting alone, refreshing his screen over and over and over again stuck with me and made me think about the way we socialize online. We see ourselves becoming that zombie in front of the computer, unable to deal with humans, afraid of speaking and listening out loud and face-to-face, or looking into the eyes of our friends while they speak to us, or listening because we want to, and being able to look and feel and touch each other and know that there is a human behind that voice, that smile, and that friend. The disappearance of the organic relationships and the rise of the artificial connections between us due to technology is a major theme of the film, and one that reflects the great novel Fahrenheit 451.

Social networking is very much a part of the world, but the question is: will you become all consumed?

Shutter Island

Four trailers were attached to Shutter Island. Two remakes (Death at a Funeral and Clash of the Titans) and two sequels (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Iron Man 2). I was at the end of my rope. I hadn’t seen a good movie in weeks and it seems as if Hollywood didn’t have an original thought left in its empty head. Then a gallant knight arrived in the form of Martin Scorsese. For some two hours and eighteen minutes I was taken on a cerebral trip that was mysterious, scary, clever, emotional, and surreal.


Set in 1954, the film follows U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they try to unweave a mystery on ominous Shutter Island, which houses criminally insane patients. They are trying to find a patient that escaped from her room by impossible means. “We don't know how she got out of her room. It's as if she evaporated, straight through the walls," says Dr. John Cawley, played with a sort of terrifying charm by Sir Ben Kingsley. Everyone on the island seems suspicious and acts as if they are hiding something, and it seems as if Daniels and Aule will not make it off the island intact. To top it off, Daniels is haunted frequently by past memories of the death of his wife and Nazi concentration camps he saw during the war.

Scorsese’s first psychological horror film is a classic. It raises so many questions, messes with your head, and scares the crap out of you all in one. Many viewers will feel cheated by the end, which answers all the questions to the plot in an often misused Hollywood fashion. But the movie isn’t about finding the answers to the plot, but more about the questions raised by the fantastic story. Scorsese saved the best question for last, so stick around for the final scene, it is a good one. And it sums up the theme of the film: how we consciously feed our subconscious lies to suppress bad memories, and how those lies can become reality if we let them. All in all, Scorsese has woven a horrifyingly terrific classic that is entertaining, thought provoking, and cinematically pleasing.

District 9

District 9 is a slum-like housing for aliens in South Africa. The aliens are being evicted from their slums and moved, until a kind-spirited man who is undergoing a metamorphosis begins to suspect that the humans may not be the good guys in the situation.
Produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Neill Blomkamp, the movie is told in a documentary style, complete with interviews and shaky cameras.

Sounds like an original idea, huh? Well it is, and handled correctly it could be something special in the sci-fi universe, but this film was not handled correctly. This unique and original idea turns into too much of a splatter-fest. The film has an overreliance on visual effects and gore. Visual-guts flying around may excite the “fanboys,” but to me, it’s cheap thrills and quite silly. The characters are flat and undeveloped. What could have been a unique sci-fi film is simply an utterly typical and forgettable action movie. The best picture nod it received is, quite simply, a joke.

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker begins with a quote that includes the line “war is a drug.” That theme is embedded in the film and most notably with its main character, Staff Sergeant Will James. Sergeant James feeds off the energy of war, and his job requires that he does; he is in charge of an elite squad of soldiers who dismantle bombs in Iraq. James acts more like a cowboy than a soldier during missions, much to the chagrin of his teammates Sgt. Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge. Sanborn and Eldridge are not addicted to the drug like James, and just want to serve the rest of their tour and get out of Iraq.

I have read a few reviews that have called this film one of the most defining of the decade, or one of the all-time great war films. I think they are right about it being a film defining its time, but to think that this film can stand up against the like of Apocalypse Now or The Bridge on the River Kwai seems a little over-insinuating. These films stand the test of time because of their timeless stories and characters.

No one can argue with the great intensity brought on by the powerful camera work displayed in the film. Director Kathryn Bigelow accomplishes this by using the increasingly popular docu-style technique of jittery cameras and fast cutting. The film does not at all lack suspense. The film also does an excellent job of defining its characters, although they stay relatively flat for the length of movie. Sgt. Sanborn is the only character that really arcs. Overall, this is a pretty fantastic war movie, one that truly embraces the soldiers who fight, and the time it defines.

The Bicycle Thief

The story of The Bicycle Thief is a simple one: a man needs a job to feed his family. He gets one hanging posters because he owns a bicycle. The first day on the job his bike is stolen, flushing away any dreams of returning for a second day of pay. The man spends an entire day trying to track down the stolen bicycle with his young son, Bruno, at his side. The father and son share a journey that ends in one of the most beautifully startling climaxes in cinema history.

A simple plot for a movie that is so complex. Many talk of the film’s place as an important asset in the Italian Neorealist movement, but above all that, Vittorio De Sica’s film is simply a great character piece. The interaction between father and son, husband and wife, and man and society are all explored. The hero is broken down and driven to investigate the very depths of human indecency; and it is a dramatic, funny, thrilling, and altogether human experience along the way. A great picture.

The Bicycle Thief on IMDB.

The Best of the Aughts..the 00's...the zeros...

10. The Dark Knight

The blockbuster of the decade. Christopher Nolan perfectly blended intelligence and entertainment. Powerhouse performance from Heath Ledger.


9. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The most quoted film of the decade. Beautifully shot by Roger Deakins (a film where every shot involved a visual effect), and full of the Coen’s usual quirky characters. George Clooney found a wonderful home at the helm of the Coen Brothers' tales.

8. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

What a grand-sweeping trilogy. No other epic is quite as complete as Peter Jackson’s trifecta-feature.



7. The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Anderson created some of the best character-driven pieces of the decade, and none better than this tale of a man trying to reconcile with his family.


6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Another imaginative screenplay from Charlie Kaufman; inventively brought to life by the direction of Michel Gondry.








5. There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance was the second best of the decade; right behind Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York. Beautifully shot and featuring the best score of the decade. Paul Thomas Anderson paced this gem perfectly, and made it entirely worthwhile to stick around for the monumental ending.

4. City of God


The best foreign film of the decade. Fast-paced and relentlessly intriguing.




3. Children of Men


The most brilliantly choreographed film ever made. Realism at its absolute best.



2. No Country for Old Men

The Coens achieved perfection in this ideal blend of suspense and humor. Fantastic performances from Oscar winner Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and all the secondary parts and extras, as well as my favorite performance of the movie: Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom. This wonderfully thematic film had a tenuous hold on its audience from Deakin’s opening shots that were blended with Jones’ biting narration. The result was one of the greatest films of all time about America, violence, and man’s relationship with the two.



1. Memento


Quite simply the most original, taunt, and splendid screenplay of the decade.Christopher Nolan didn’t use his jumbled narrative style as a worn device, but instead as a way to drop his audience into the mind of his main character. The most original film idea of the decade, establishing Nolan as a directing force in Hollywood and the most prolific director of the decade.


Honorable Mentions:

Sideways, The Departed, Mystic River, Talk to Her, Minority Report, Little Miss Sunshine, Snatch, Where the Wild Things Are, Michael Clayton, The Incredibles, Chicago, Munich, Gladiator, Traffic, The Darjeeling Limited.

Facts about the List:

Only two of the films won Oscars for best picture. In fact, only three were nominated.

Two Chris Nolan films appear on the list, as well as two Coen Brothers’ films.

Roger Deakins (the best cinematographer around) shot two films on the list.

Youth In Revolt

Youth in Revolt tells the story of Nick Twisp, played brilliantly by Michael Cera, and his quest to remain with the girl of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). After a short summer fling with Sheeni, Nick must return to his hometown, once again a girlfriendless virgin. In order to get back to the girl that rules all his obsessions, Nick plans to commit unruly deeds and get kicked out of his mother’s house so that he can move in with his father whom landed a job near Sheeni. He plans to do so by employing the help of a supplementary personality named Francios Dilinger, played once again brilliantly by Cera. With his mischief, Nick sets off a series of seriously funny events that seem to complicate his situation at every turn.

Sounds like your typical teen flick, right? Well this certainly is not your typical teen flick. It is a finely crafted, original film. The scenes with Twisp’s alternate ego are wonderfully staged, not making any excuses or explanations. It’s just plainly presented and the audience has no choice but to accept it. The cinematography is subtly brilliant. All-in-all the film is frequently funny, and the story moves with twists and turns and ends with a great character arc.

Youth In Revolt in theaters tomorrow.

Best Movies of 2009

After what I refer to as a “down year” in 2008 (and a fantastic prelude to that in ’07), 2009 sported some of the finest cinema of the dwindling decade. Without further ado, here is my list of the top five films of 2009:

5. The Informant!

Steven Soderbergh continues to search for different and inventive ways to present cinema to the masses, shooting this film entirely in digital. Cinematography matters, but in this film it takes a big backseat to humor, storytelling, and the powerhouse performances lead by the fantastic Matt Damon. Damon was utterly human and hilarious as Mark Whitacre, an agir-business VP turned government informant. Nothing in the film world was funnier this year than Whitacre’s fast-paced, sporadic inner-monologues that Damon zipped through in rat-a-tat-tat fashion. Damn funny. Damn smart. Damn Good.

4. A Serious Man


You do not have to be Jewish to enjoy this film, which is yet another cinematic treasure from the Coen Brothers. The story of Larry Gopnik’s search for answers was such a poignant black comedy, a genre the Coen’s are true virtuosos. Gopnik searches for answers to questions we’ve all asked: “Why do bad things happen to good people? What does it all mean?” Amongst Jefferson Airplane, stagnant rabbis, and the amazing storytelling of the Coens, Gopnik searches, and finds little. The point is, well, what’s the point? Because in the end, I think it was Rabbi Marshak or maybe it was Grace Slick that said: “When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies…then what?” Well, at least we’ll always have the Coen brothers.

3. The Road


(See Previous Review)

2. Inglourious Basterds


I did not have more fun at the movies all year than while viewing Quentin Taratino’s glourious return to great cinema. Basterds was pure entertainment: funny, exciting, and spine-shatteringly intense. This film simply had some of the most memorable scenes of the year (the opening to the film, introduction of the “Bear Jew”, another Mexican standoff from Tarantino but this time in a basement, and let’s not forget the image of Shosanna Dreyfus being projected onto smoke from beyond the dead over some ill-fated Nazis). Those are simply a few of the images that make this film memorable, and QT’s best movie since Pulp Fiction. The humor and Leone-esque suspense more than make up for Tarantino’s usual long windedness. Since Pulp, most of his dialogue has seemed trite and forced, but in Basterds, the dialogue is interesting and moves the story along at a suspense-filled pace.

1. Where the Wild Things Are


Anyone who grew up skimming Maurice Sendak’s book about the imagination in all of us can agree with me here. No other film captured the childhood spirit that we all long for after the age of about thirteen than Spike Jonze’s masterpiece. And who other than Jonze could have directed such a radiant picture? Mixing his realist style with one of the most imaginative and beloved stories ever, Jonze created the dark and emotional world of the wild things. This kid’s movie for adults taught us so much about life, including what’s inside all of us: that wild thing from childhood, just itching to get out and roar its terrible roar.

Honorable Mentions:

Up in the Air- A great film about needing people.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox- As one of the finest directors around, and certainly the most underrated, Wes Anderson crafted this masterpiece in stop-motion animation, infusing his signature quirk and fantastic humor into a timeless Roal Dahl story.

Contenders yet to see: Nine, A Single Man, Precious, The Hurt Locker.