The Nominations are in...

- WALK THE LINE snubbed.
- MUNICH for Best Pic.
- No Herzog for Best Director.
- Kiera Knightley for Best Actress.

These hardly qualify as shockers.

No alarms. And, no surprises.
Please.



THE FULL MONTY

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
78th Annual Academy Awards Nominations

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman - CAPOTE
Terrence Howard - HUSTLE & FLOW
Heath Ledger - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Joaquin Phoenix - WALK THE LINE
David Strathairn - GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney - SYRIANA
Matt Dillon - CRASH
Paul Giamatti - CINDERELLA MAN
Jake Gyllenhaal - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
William Hurt - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench - MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS
Felicity Huffman - TRANSAMERICA
Keira Knightley - PRIDE & PREJUDICE
Charlize Theron - NORTH COUNTRY
Reese Witherspoon - WALK THE LINE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - JUNEBUG
Catherine Keener - CAPOTE
Frances McDormand - NORTH COUNTRY
Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Michelle Williams - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE
WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
PRIDE & PREJUDICE

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
BATMAN BEGINS
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
THE NEW WORLD

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTSPRIDE & PREJUDICE
WALK THE LINE

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MUNICH

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
MURDERBALL
STREET FIGHT

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER: CASUALTY OF THE BANG BANG CLUB
GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA
THE MUSHROOM CLUB
A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
CINDERELLA MAN
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
CRASH
MUNICH
WALK THE LINE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
DON'T TELL
JOYEUX NOèL
PARADISE NOW
SOPHIE SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS
TSOTSI

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
CINDERELLA MAN
STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SCORE)
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
MUNICH
PRIDE & PREJUDICE

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SONG)
"In the Deep" - CRASH
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - HUSTLE & FLOW
"Travelin' Thru" - TRANSAMERICA

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MUNICH

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
BADGERED
THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION
THE MYSTERIOUS GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS OF JASPER MORELLO
9
ONE MAN BAND

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
AUSREISSER (THE RUNAWAY)
CASHBACK
THE LAST FARM
OUR TIME IS UP
SIX SHOOTER

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WAR OF THE WORLDS

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WALK THE LINE
WAR OF THE WORLDS

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
KING KONG
WAR OF THE WORLDS

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
MUNICH

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MATCH POINT
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
SYRIANA

Predicting the OSCAR Nominees: 2005 Edition.

A time honored tradition amongst film buffs and award show whores, where we try to call the Oscar nominees a whopping 12 hours before they're announced! In the distinguished words of Damon Albarn -- WooHoo!

Firstly, if you missed any of the films I'm about to mention you may want to check out some synopses of 25 films in contention.

While 2005 was certainly a strong year for film, the awards season has actually been rather cut and dry. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN has just steamrolled through picking up Globes of Gold and a Director Guild Award for Ang Lee. It's not just the only sure thing. George Clooney's GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. sealed its fate shortly after premiering to enormous crowds at the Venice Film Festival. There has been nary a naysayer in the pack on the Edward R. Murrow pic; the movie's timeliness as well as entertainment value makes it (along with BROKEBACK) a worthy candidate.

I'll attempt to sift through the other worthy (and unworthy) candidates by going through the Top 8 awards.



BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Paul Giamatti, CINDERELLA MAN
- Matt Dillon, CRASH
- William Hurt, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
- George Clooney, SYRIANA
- Frank Langella, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

Paulie G gets the nod for the two oversights in a row for SIDEWAYS and AMERICAN SPLENDOR. Matt Dillon's racist cop in CRASH was probably the film's best performance, and he easily gets the film's best scene -- he'll be nominated for the rest of the cast. William Hurt's surprise cameo in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is a critic's favorite, as well as a juicy role for the character actor where he sinks his teeth and makes the type of impression that gets remembered in spite of his brief screentime (see also Judi Dench for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE). George Clooney's non-movie star turn in SYRIANA, complete with beard and weight gain, is the stuff the Oscar's love to reward. Frank Langella's performance reminded audiences who he was, much like Martin Landau's ED WOOD performance, and may help to make up for a possible David Straitharn oversight (a la Thomas Hayden Church for SIDEWAYS). Expect the BROKEBACK Express to derail here (briefly) as Jake Gyllenhaal will not get nominated for a Supporting Actor award.

**In a more just world, the following actors would also be recognized for their supporting work this year: Jeffery Wright (BROKEN FLOWERS, SYRIANA), Paddy Consendine (MY SUMMER OF LOVE), Ciaran Hinds (MUNICH), Jesse Eisenberg (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) and Christian Bale (THE NEW WORLD).


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

- Amy Adams, JUNEBUG
- Maria Bello, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
- Rachel Weisz, THE CONSTANT GARDENER
- Catherine Keener, CAPOTE
- Michelle Williams, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Perhaps the most competetive category this year, due to two studios conning the Academy into recognizing LEAD Actresses in the SUPPORTING category. Maria Bello and Rachel Weisz had two of my favorite performances this year, but were their films' LEAD actress!! As in, the MAIN female performer in the film!! Whatever. Thanks to the move here, it'll be easier to distinguish their work in the ghetto of fine supporting players. Catherine Keener's Harper Lee in CAPOTE is a true supporting role, as she appears in very little of the film, but is a suitable anchor/reality check for the larger than life Truman Capote. Amy Adams stole every critic and viewer's heart and mind in JUNEBUG -- the REAL little-film-that-could this year. In a less-crowded year, JUNEBUG might've had a shot at some bigger categories (not that I saw it). Michelle Williams' dramatic revelation in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is one of the best things in the film, and she'll again be spotlighted for it. Other potential nominees include Frances McDormand (NORTH COUNTRY) and Laura Linney (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE). But, the potential spoiler is Hollywood royalty/Warren Beatty's sister -- Miss Shirley MacLaine for IN HER SHOES.

BEST ACTOR
- Terrence Howard, HUSTLE & FLOW
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, CAPOTE
- Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
- Joaquin Pheonix, WALK THE LINE
- Jeff Daniels, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

I even surprised myself by snubbing the more-than-deserving David Straitharn for his turn as Edward R. Murrow in GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. He is this year's Paul Giamatti, I'm sorry!!! Joaquin has the impersonation of the year, which worked for Jaime Foxx. Heath's BROKEBACK performance is well-deserving. Jeff Daniels' THE SQUID AND THE WHALE performance has been a favorite of many, including myself. His matter-of-fact turn as the overbearing academic father was a tour-de-force of subtlety. However, the real race is between Terrence Howard and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Howard's incredible turn in HUSTLE & FLOW is the most remarkable Brando-esque transformation any actor made this year -- except for Philip Seymour Hoffman who transforms into the real CAPOTE.

BEST ACTRESS
- Resse Witherspoon, WALK THE LINE
- Q'Orianka Kilcher, THE NEW WORLD
- Charlize Theron, NORTH COUNTRY
- Felicity Huffman, TRANSAMERICA
- Kiera Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Screen Actor's Guild-winner Resse Witherspoon is a shoe-in for her Rosanne Carter Cash performance in WALK THE LINE. The promise she made many years ago in ELECTION seems to have been confirmed with this role fit for Hollywood royalty. Q'Orianka Kilcher's debut performance as the mythic Pocohantas in Terrence Malick's unparalleled masterpiece THE NEW WORLD will be rewarded for its maturity, especially since she was only 14 when the film was shot. MONSTER-winner Charlize Theron will get another deserving nomination in this year's NORMA RAE, NORTH COUNTRY. TV star of the moment/Bill Macy's wife, Felicity Huffman won a Golden Globe for her uncanny performance as a transexual man; men have been winning Oscars for cross-dressing for years, now it's the ladies' turn. Judi Dench's terrific performance in the little-seen MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS will be overlooked this year in favor of what I think may be the youngest batch of Best Actress noms in ages (possibly ever?). The Weinsteins' just don't have the pull that they used to -- and that FOCUS FEATURES has this year! Expect the Focus love to extend to Keira Knightley's star-confirming performance in PRIDE & PREJUDICE. But, don't count out Joan Allen (UPSIDE OF ANGER)!! The Law of Averages states that she and/or Terrence Howard MUST be nominated this year! We shall see.

BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED.
- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Larry McMurtry and Diana Osana
- CAPOTE, Dan Futterman
- A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, Josh Olson
- THE CONSTANT GARDENER, Jeffery Caine
- PRIDE & PREJUDICE, Deborah Moggach

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a shoe-in here. Annie Proulx's short story gave birth to the year's most honored film. Dan Futterman's CAPOTE screenplay is as terrific as Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance. Expect the year's second best film to get its highest nod in this category with Josh Olson's superb screenplay for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (here's to also hoping Amy Taubin's prophetic claim that the script may one day unseat CHINATOWN as the film school screenplay model!). THE CONSTANT GARDENER's politically-charged paranoid-thriller script was also as great love story from the novel by espionage scribe John le Carre. Again, expect it's highest honor here in this category. The same could easily be said for PRIDE & PREJUDICE, a very worthy film that in a less crowded year would be a Best Picture contender. The Academy also loves a good period pic -- especially a Jane Austen one!

BEST SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL.
- Paul Haggis, CRASH
- Noah Baumbach, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
- Grant Heslov and George Clooney, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
- Stephen Gaghan, SYRIANA
- Steve Carrell and Judd Apatow, THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN

Last year's Adapted Screenplay nominee Paul Haggis will lead the pack here with his CRASH screenplay. Grant Heslov and George Clooney's air-tight GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. screenplay deserves its mention too. Indie favorite THE SQUID AND THE WHALE will recieve a nomination for Noah Baumbach's excellent autobiographical script. Another socially relevant drama will get a mention here thanks to previous Adapted Screenplay winner Stephen Gaghan's screenplay for SYRIANA. However, there is a bit of confusion as to whether this is an original work or an adapted work -- the confusion may lead to the film not getting any mention at all. The surprise nominee of the category will be the WGA nominated 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. Also, don't forget CINDERELLA MAN. However, once again, unless UNIVERAL bought off the Academy -- I expect it to be all but forgotten.


BEST DIRECTOR
- Ang Lee, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
- George Clooney, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.
- Bennett Miller, CAPOTE
- Paul Haggis, CRASH
- Werner Herzog, GRIZZLY MAN

Lee and Clooney are sure shots. Lee has been nominated many times over and won the DGA award -- no surprise for him tomorrow morning. Clooney will join the ranks of Robert Redford, Waren Beatty, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson as former People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive" recipient-turned-Best Director nominee. The Academy also loves rookies, remember CHICAGO auteur Rob Marshall bested Martin Scorsese in 2002. (FACT: Roman Polanski prevented the CHICAGO sweep that night by winning the award for THE PIANIST) Bennett Miller and Paul Haggis both had well-recieved debut films that are getting handfuls of awards come tomorrow morning -- this is just another one of them. Now, that last one has not been mentioned by a single soul as far as I know. I've been kicking around the possible nomination of Werner Herzog for quite a while, was thinking of discrediting it, but his DGA win last night solidified my choice. Herzog's brilliant found-footage documentary was kept off the Academy's Short List of Docs this fall, but was a huge critical and crowd favorite. It found itself on a number of Top Ten lists at the end of the year. Also, the world renowned Herzog has NEVER been nominated for an Oscar! Now, due to the Academy's years of short sight, Herzog will get his first nod and be the first documentary filmmaker to be nominated for a Best Director statue over Steven Speilberg (MUNICH), David Cronenberg (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE), and James Mangold (WALK THE LINE).

BEST PICTURE
- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
- GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
- CAPOTE
- WALK THE LINE
- CRASH

It pains me to no end to write that last film in there. CRASH is offensive knee-jerk liberal tripe that reinforces every stereotype it claims to go against. HOWEVER, it is about something. It is well acted. It's the little-film-that-could -- budgeted for less than $10 million, released in the height of the summer, a number of respected critics loved it. Hollywood will pat itself on the back and give this SAG-award winner a Best Picture nominee, besting the more deserving close-but-no-cigar candidates A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, MUNICH and CINDERELLA MAN. Speaking of those three films, the first two in that list--besides being too violent--are much too off-beat for Hollywood to reward. MUNICH is too political, while A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE may seem too pulpy/generic. CINDERELLA MAN gets the raw deal here. The Ron Howard Oscar-bait film MAY score this nod, but it will only be because UNIVERSAL bought it the nomination after too few people showed up for it this summer (expect CRASH, then, to be without its slot). The Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE has the acting noms locked and is the only film in contention to cross the $100 million mark at the box office. The Academy loves a good crowd pleaser as well as a musical-based story (see last year's RAY) -- it's a no brainer. CAPOTE, the OTHER biopic, has become the championed critics' favorite, winning the National Film Critic Society's award for Best Picture. It's a small picture that sounds like an actor's film on paper, but is a much more complicated portrait of a deeply-conflicted artist. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN has won nearly every Best Picture award that GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. or CAPOTE hasn't won. Expect BROKEBACK and GOOD NIGHT to rule the awards show.

R.I.P. Chris Penn

I couldn't NOT post something here about the untimely passing of actor Chris Penn.

Actor Chris Penn died in his home at age 40 this past Tuesday, January 24th 2006. The recognizable character actor starred in FOOTLOOSE, PALE RIDER, AT CLOSE RANGE and TRUE ROMANCE, but perhaps is best remembered as Nice Guy Eddie from Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS. Penn was an actor of great distinction who was perhaps overshadowed by the fame of his brother, Sean Penn. But, Chris Penn carved a niche as a perennial heavy in numerous films demonstrating equal talent in both comedic and villainous roles.

His most singular performance came in the underrated Abel Ferrara crime family drama THE FUNERAL. In the 1996 film, Penn played Chez Tempio, one of two brothers (the other being Christopher Walken) dealing with the grief and anger of the murder of their youngest brother (Vincent Gallo). Now, with this cast as a family it would be easy to dismiss each performer as intense. However, Penn crafted a tormented character with a conflicted humanity who attempts to handle a moral dilemma in the midst of grappling with his brother's death. Ferrara's bleak film is one of his strongest works with the auteur's Catholic guilt portrayed perhaps more succinctly than in his unforgettable BAD LIEUTENANT thanks to many of the very gifted performers in the cast -- especially Chris Penn. His character's on-screen death still lingers in my mind today. It is as shocking and devastating remembering it today as it was seeing the movie for the first time six years ago.

His untimely passing is said to have been a "natural death." Rest in Peace, Chris Penn.

(a much better eulogy, at a much better blog)

Soderbergh's New Film, A Cock and Bull Story.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE JANUARY SLUMP?!?!

January is typically the month where movie studios drop crap off to the theaters. Movies like FIRST DAUGHTER, WHITE NOISE, WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON and GLORY ROAD usually come and go while we're busy catching up on credit card debt and the congestion of Oscar offerings from December. Nobody remembers these movies.

But, 2006 is off to what might be a solid start with two films of interest hitting theaters today alone -- and believe it or not, BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2 is not one of them!

Steven Soderbergh's BUBBLE premiered in October at the New York Film Festival to mixed audiences. THE LIMEY filmmaker's high-def non-professionally casted feature set in an Ohio doll factory film seemed too experimental to others (see also Soderbergh's Schitzopolis), but to some seemed to be a revolutionary work. The film's non-professional cast is far from qualifying it as revolutionary, but BUBBLE's distribution pattern is. Foresaking the traditional 3-to-6 month theatrical-to-video window, which has been shrinking for years, the high-def feature will be released simulataneously on TV, DVD, and in movie theaters. By Tuesday January 31st, anybody in the country who wants to see Soderbergh's film will have the availbility usually offered only in New York and Los Angeles. The unimpressive 34 screen count for the film will certainly be made up for in DVD sales and rentals, as well as from On-Demand services. It certainly helps to keep the costs low with Soderbergh working on the fly, shooting on video with a small crew, and using a non-professional cast. BUBBLE was even scored by Ohio's second favorite son, the very definition of the word 'prolific,' Robert "My Brother Plays Guitar Better than Joan Jett" Pollard of Guided By Voices. Priveleged filmgoers in NY and LA will now be seeing a more level playing field of cinephiles/moviegoers if this latest "experiment" takes off. While I would love to see the movie on the big screen, it's limited offering in New York City (one screen!!) during the dead of winter, when there is at least one more film I'd rather throw $10 down for opening this weekend-- I will opt for renting the DVD. I, for one, am just excited to see a new Soderbergh offering. After his incredibly underwhelming sequel OCEAN'S 12, it'll be fascinating to see him work on a shoestring budget with non-professionals.

Best Trailer of the Year?

Now, if postmodern-metafilms are more your game perhaps you ought to check out TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY. Directed by the "British Bob Pollard of Filmmaking" Michael Winterbottom (CODE 46, 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, 9 SONGS, and many films without numbers in the title), TRISTRAM SHANDY is about the making of a film of the ultra obscure novel THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF TRISTRAM SHANDY, GENTLEMAN starring Steve Coogan. If you're puzzled as to why Winterbottom chose this approach, then check out the book (not that I have, but I will). Often described as "postmodern before there was modern," the 1759 Laurence Stern book is the anecdotal, nonlinear and digression-rife faux-memoir of the titular English gentleman. That's meta, baby! Staying true to the book's rambling essence, Winterbottom playfully distorts the narrative's focus by interupting scenes from the book by focusing on the film's production. While Winterbottom can be as wickedly inconsistent as Ridley Scott, he excells in these ventures where his authorial energy comes alive via the self-reflexive nature of the film (see also the aforementioned 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE).
A rather apt website, if I do say. And I just did.

"If you're going to start the killing, you best start it right here."

2005: The Year in Film.

The glut of Top Tens infecting the blog-o-sphere-o-diarama-rama can now add my own self-serving list to it annals. I will maintain that it was indeed a strong year for the moving pictures (or "talkies" as I've started calling them). However, it was indeed a slow snail-like start beginning with guilty pleasures like SIN CITY, FEVER PITCH, and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. It wasn't until the June release of MY SUMMER OF LOVE that we began seeing serious films of serious quality. In the fall, it picked up by continuing to offer remarkably different pictures that could be broadly described as "political," or found themselves apart of the "revenge" sub-genre. Films like A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, MUNICH, and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, as varied as they were in their approach, were essential mediations on how violence effects people. But, that wasn't all the fun we had in the dark this year! Head-crushing high-art genre films, intensely relevant docudramas and biopics, blockbuster nature documentaries, two timely zombie flicks, the sweetest raunchy comedy ever made, Hollywood begins to evoke 9/11, a voice of a new generation emerges from the indie film world, the ending of the Star Wars saga, gay cowboys ate pudding on-screen AND people came to see it, and KING fucking KONG!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

MILLIONS

Danny Boyle's latest highly imaginative effort is the heartwarming story of two brothers who find a bag of pounds during England's switch to the Euro. An innocent tale of world awareness suitable for children of all ages.

WAR OF THE WORLDS/LAND OF THE DEAD

Steven Speilberg's menacing post-9/11 re-telling of H.G. Wells' classic is a nightmare. While George A. Romero's newest zombie film is a downright Swiftian satire/horror film of class warfare and terrorism in America today.

CACHE

Michael Henke's perplexing drama disguised as a mystery is a complex investigation into the French conscience of guilt surrounding treatment of Algerians in the 1960's. Most brilliantly, though, is the Austrian filmmakers' inversion of his usual audience torture by way of his characters. What effects will this repressed guilt have on future generations? Henke's suggested answer frighteningly came to life this summer as riots infected inner-city Paris.

THE WEATHER MAN
Steven Conrad's screenplay is one of the year's finest in this melancholic look at the dissatisfaction of "success" in today's world. Also, Nicolas Cage's most subdued performance in ages.
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
Noah Baumbach's best feature is his most personal. An alternately funny and heartbreaking look at a Brooklyn bourgeouise family's divorce in the 1980's.


OTHER FILMS OF NOTE...
The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Constant Gardener, Broken Flowers, The Devil's Rejects, Gus Van Sant's Last Days, The Aristocrats, Brokeback Mountain, Batman Begins, Pride & Prejudice, Munich.

Keep in mind I didn't see...
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the WereRabbit, Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, Homecoming, Capote, Syriana, TransAmerica, Howl's Moving Castle, The Ice Harvest.

TOP TEN

10. NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN
Martin Scorsese's four-hour documentary on Bob Dylan is an impressive portrait of the seminal American artist. Primarily comprised of found-footage, the genius of the film lies in its design by focusing specifically on the year's 1963 and 1966. Perhaps deconstructing the myth of Dylan as "the voice of a generation," but in its wake re-writes Dylan as a true rebel. Together, Scorsese and Dylan create more than a companion piece to the singer's memoir CHRONICLES. NO DIRECTION HOME is at once a snapshot of a songwriter, a poet, a singer, a celebrity, a subculture, and America.

9. MEMORIES OF MURDER
South Korean cinema offered the world one masterwork this year, but it was not Chan-Wook Park's Fincher-esque and slightly contrived OLDBOY. It was the intimate and humane docudrama focusing on the investigation of the nation's very first serial killer in the year 1986. Bong Joon-Ho's MEMORIES OF MURDER masterfully focuses on the two men assigned to the grim case of a serial killer, never losing track of their dilemma being in a situation without precedent. Their guesswork and follies in investigation are tragically grim, but the film never descends into torture or exploitation. Expertly photographed, stunningly acted, and paced like a gritty 70's Hollywood films, MEMORIES OF MURDER joins the ranks of SEVEN and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as one of the truly transcendent serial killer films.

8. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
George Clooney's dramatization of Edward R. Murrow's defeat of Sen. Joseph McCarthy on live television without a face-to-face showdown is a small film. Sparse in its mise-en-scene and in its narrative, though not minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, Clooney's direction seems most assured. David Strahairn delivers a Murrow that is not mimickry, but a sculpted character that is stiff and bookish on and off air. Without wasting a single frame, Clooney and company (including a marvelous Frank Langella) make a simple film about a complex time. However, do not be misinformed -- this film is not a parable of today. The genius of Grant Heslov's screenplay is that GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. is a film that is only about itself, where viewers make the parallels to the present in their own mind. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK may not be a film of its time, but is certainly a film for its time.

7. MY SUMMER OF LOVE
Pawel Pawilowski's gorgeously photographed love letter to the laziness of lost youth and the exhilaration of first love. Set on the vastly empty English countryside, we meet Mona who lives above a pub with her recently released from prison brother, Phil, who has been born again. Phil's born again Christianity is uncharacteristic and seems to phony to Mona, and she seeks escape from the stifling relgious environment in her new friend Tamsin. Tamsin is a privelged, upper class girl whose family has left her unattended for the summer. The two girls forge a unique bond that naturally leads to love. Never exploitative and oddly innocent, yet undeniably sexy, Mona and Tamsin's affair turns tragic just as quickly as it begins. Each character reveals their true nature in a devastating final act that makes MY SUMMER OF LOVE one of the year's best film.

6. KING KONG
Peter Jackson takes the ape-meets-girl story of KING KONG to new heights, turning a once creepy attraction between primate and femme to the most doomed romance this side of Brokeback Mountain. Naomi Watts' and Andy Serkis' chemistry is undeniable; both deserve accolades for making such demanding roles look so easy. Serkis' Kong, particularly, is the main event. Without a single line of dialogue or human face-time (as Kong, that is) Serkis creates an entirely human character from a CGI gorilla. Kong has emotions, is aged, and yet acts as an animal would -- merely misunderstood by the human world. It is only with Anne that he is able to communicate, something his human foil, Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, is unable to put into words. Set pieces are developed and carried out with such delicate precision and pretention that it is not simply a wonder to behold, but a delight to be a part of such an experience. I now know what it was like to see the original KING KONG in all of its glory in the midst of the Depression in 1933. Behold, KING KONG -- the 8th wonder of the world.

5. FUNNY HA HA/MUTUAL APPRECIATION

Once in a while a small film comes along that you champion and want all of your friends to see. Andrew Bujalski's debut and sophomore films are just those films -- startlingly original films with a fresh perspective. Taking his cues from early Cassavettes and Linklater, Bujalski re-creates perfectly the aimless life of being in your twenties. In FUNNY HA HA, Kate Dollenmayer's Marnie is a girl looking for focus in her post- graduate life. Dollenmayer gives an understated and real performance here as someone everybody knows. Instantly, we are drawn to her and understand exactly why every guy that crosses her path loves her -- except for the guy she secretly loves. MUTUAL APPRECIATION, on the other hand, is one of the most inventive romantic comedies in ages. By focusing on a realistic love-triangle, Bujalski once again allows his characters to exist within our own world. Justin Rice's seemingly autiobiographical performance as a struggling musician in Brooklyn makes for a most charming lead. Both films have such a ridiculous sense of what it's like to be in every situation it presents. It seems that there are still plenty of fresh ways to tell a new story with a minimal budget, and the 16mm shot FUNNY HA HA and black-and-white MUTUAL APPRECIATION are just the beginning of what looks to be a promising career. Andrew Bujalski's astonishingly wise films doesn't so much end as the just stop. His characters live on, but our privelege is over. FUNNY HA HA and MUTUAL APPRECIATION may just be the films of my 20's and there's nothing funny about it.

4. GRIZZLY MAN/THE WHITE DIAMOND
Werner Hezog's 2005 two-fer provided two distinct portraits -- one of himself and one of the world. However, on the surface his documentaries are about two extraordinary (and possibly insane) men. In GRIZZLY MAN, the German auteur has a beautiful conversation with Timothy Treadwell's found footage of his life among the Alaskan Grizzly bears that eventually claimed his life. Herzog, at first, sees a man consumed with madness that is assocaited with long-time collaborator Klaus Kinski. After further thought, it is not Kinski he sees in Treadwell, but himself. A most thoughtful work of art that respects its certifiably insane protagonist, GRIZZLY MAN ranks as one of Werner Herzog's finest films. THE WHITE DIAMOND, by contrast, is more a film entranced with the mysteries of the world. The filmmaker follows a small crew to Guyana where engineer Graham Dorrington attempts to fly the world's smallest airship. Dorrington is another one of Herzog's captivatingly odd subjects, a man with a nervous energy who is haunted by a past tragedy. Herzog digresses occassionally in asides that reinforce the importance of real world myths today, proving that his collaboration with the Amazon may be just a fertile as his own with the late-Kinski. Please, don't call it a comeback.

3. 2046

Wong Kar-Wai's long-delayed follow-up to the much-loved IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is an anti-romance that is not cynical nor linear. Attempting to relive the playful romance from Kar-Wai's previous film, Tony Leung's Mr. Chow moves from woman to woman in an effort to achieve the same dizzying sense of love he had only temporarily felt. "In love, you can't bring on a substitute," he utters at one point. Leung's haunted performance is heartachingly real yet emotionally naked. As one of his romantic conquests, Zhang Ziyi delivers her sexiest performance as Mr. Chow's female equal -- a stoic, (un)romantic and sexually free woman who both arouses and frightens him. By shifting temporal elements and interjecting an allegorical sci-fi story, 2046 creates a hypnotic ode to the dark beauty and frustration of memory and romantic desire. Perhaps a summation of his own career, Wong Kar-Wai evokes a style that is his own but flourishes with Kubrickian touches and the glamour of old Hollywood. "Maybe one day you'll escape your past. If you do, look for me."

2. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
David Cronenberg's masterpiece may seem like a small Hollywood genre film that marries noir narrative elements with echoes of Western iconography on its surface. However, as it unreels Cronenberg's metaflick becomes a thick, compelling film boasting a stellar yet subtle lead performance from star Viggo Mortensen. Maria Bello's raw sexuality engulfs every frame she inhabits. Both stars' interactions make for what is one of the more believable married couples in a Hollywood film, and their two sex scenes are easily the most erotic of the year. Supporting roles from Ed Harris and William Hurt add another layer of menace. An increasingly complex film experience that much like Sam Peckinpah's notorious STRAW DOGS indicts the viewer as it challenges their perceptions of movie violence, as well as the effects of real world violence. But, where Peckinpah's film culminates in masculine celebration, Cronenberg questions the celebration. Is violence ever an acceptable solution? In A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, we don't like what we see -- both in ourselves and on screen -- yet we are still compelled, drawn in, and attracted. It is no stretch to call David Cronenberg the smartest filmmaker in the world today.


1. THE NEW WORLD
Terrence Malick's rapturous re-telling of Pocohantas' life is a luciously photographed work of beauty. THE NEW WORLD washes over you, and lingers in your conciousness becoming not just a film but a memory. Underneath the elegance is an elegiac work that not just counters the existing allegorical romance of John Smith and Pocohantas, but creates a new founding myth for America. Virginia's untouched land comes to such life as Malick transports us to the very same frame of mind that greeted both the Natives and English settlers as they first met in Jamestown. Q'Orianka Kilcher's majestic debut turn as Pocohantas serves as Malick's center point and metaphor, even if he initially misleads us. Colin Ferrel makes his John Smith a gentle rebel who is seduced by the Natives' lifestyle, and in turn seduces Pocohantas. Her innocence is corrupted not by the settlers, but by love. However, it is not her love of John Smith that proves tragic. Her belief that the two cultures can exist together and integrate is what ultimately leads to her downfall. But, when Smith desserts her Englishness is indoctrinated to the excommunicated Pocohantas. Culture is something to be learned. A film this rich is destined to be written off and ignored, but THE NEW WORLD is a triumphant work of art that is both orchestral and literary. From its bookended montages of American vistas set to Wagner, to its vivid costumes, and organic camera movements Terrence Malick's fourth masterpiece is as pure as cinema gets. The best film of 2005.

Robert Altman's A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION

Bonjour!

I enter the blog-o-sphere-o-rama with my review of Robert Altman's latest film. You Know, For Film will primarily be dedicated to movie reviews and movie-related material from yours truly, but of course occasional digressions are always possible. I wish to engage in an earnest and open dialogue with all who read here with the hopes of building a better conversation amongst moviegoers. So, as they say, on with the show...

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.
Robert Altman's potential final film (re)imagines the final live-broadcast of Garrison Keillor's public radio staple "A Prairie Home Companion" as a down-home musical variety show complete with gospel and country-western acts. An assorted cast of eccentric characters populate the Minnesota-based station that has just been sold to a media conglomerate.

There is the luminous tag-team of Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep, who comprise the family duo of the Johnson Sisters, aged sisters who remember their younger years with equal doses of bitterness and fondness. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are a jokey yet vulgar outlaw country duo who steal scenes as if their jobs depend on it. Keillor (who also wrote the film's screenplay) plays himself as the loquacious, soft-spoken host of the proceedings whose verbal antics bring the wackiness together. Altman, whose style has always been loose, plays it even looser this time around, having fun because the 80-year-old auteur maybe assumes it could be his last. Dialogue overlaps as it always has in Altman's films before the show takes center stage. When the show begins, songs play out in a beautifully framed cinemascope wide shot where the actors sing and perform their own songs, much like in the over appreciated NASHVILLE. Cowboys like the Harrelson and Reilly duo are no stranger to Altman's early work (BUFFALO BILL, MCCABE & MRS MILLER). Hell, the film is even narrated by a Raymond Chandler-esque fast-talker named Mr. Noir (Kevin Kline) that could have been played by Elliot Gould in his day.

Perhaps, then, this musical romp is best described as a celebration of not just the Americana where live radio and diners still exist, but as a celebration of Altman himself. "It's not a tragedy when an old man dies."

And, too appropriately, like Altman's oeuvre, it only works to a varying degree. Kevin Kline's comedic delivery is flawless, yet his character seems woefully unnecessary and out of place in this film. It makes matter worse that Lindsey Lohan's character might be the most false character Altman has ever allowed into one of his films. Her performance is passable, but ultimately her arch feels like one from the anonymous Hollywood films she surely passed up to take this role. A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION even attempts to deal with more spiritual issues, but ultimately that acts as a buzzkill (and thankfully doesn't really develop much throughout the film). Garrison Kealor's verbal wit translates well to the actors, but not across the entire screenplay.

In a film where the theme of looming death dominates, it is almost too easy to read it as Altman eulogizing himself. However, as the Altman-surrogate, Garrison Kealor dismisses the very notion. "I don't do eulogies. If I did them at this age, it'd be all I'd do," he eloquently declares. However, when A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION ends with the icons of Americana assembled in a diner talking about the good 'ol days and suddenly an angel appears, it is a fond farewell and send off to a time not-so-long-ago-but-easily-forgotten. Americana will have its own quiet death soon, but let us not mourn it -- let us revel in it! Altman's A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION has a home-spun charm like Kealor's own stories, and that familiar, friendly quality extends throughout this far from perfect film. A most fitting send off to one of America's most stalwart and individualistic auteurs -- and, perhaps, one of its last.