11) Fantastic Mr. Fox

This is a match made in cinematic heaven. Not unlike the recent pairing of Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak, to mixed results, Wes Anderson’s wonderfully quirky sensibility seems as though it came into being in order to adapt Roald Dahl’s deliberately twisted words. Fantastic Mr. Fox is both an amalgamation of everything that Anderson has been examining and perfecting through his years as a writer as well as all of the visual excellence and pitch-perfect timing that he is known for in his direction. If there’s any person who should have attributed their style to animation earlier, it is Anderson, as his live action films play on a level of absurdly cartoonish characterization just as realistically as an animal puppet in an underground lair. The jump couldn’t be more natural, and I look forward to seeing him continue down the road he has built for himself here with future projects.

10) Sherlock Holmes

I know what you’re thinking. What’s with all the fisticuffs involving the world’s most famous detective in Guy Ritchie’s new Sherlock Holmes movie? Is this even a Sherlock Holmes movie, thinking, I guess, that such a film has to be boring and brain teasing as opposed to brawny and energetic? Since when does Watson not look like an overweight simpleton, pawing at Holmes’s coat and waiting for the sleuth to expertly deduce the next stage in the case? The answer to all these questions involves a creative team that knows what it takes to make a wonderfully fun an inventive piece of cinema, and a lot of that happens to do with sprucing up and, dare I say it, improving on the shadows of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes which have appeared in adaptation after adaptation over the years. Make no mistake, this is a Sherlock Holmes movie, and the modern sensibility may just be the thing that pushes this one into the status of the “Best Sherlock Holmes Movie” Hollywood has ever produced.

9) The Hurt Locker

This movie is everything Jarhead could have been but wasn’t. A story that has a plot, albeit a loosely structured one, characters that are worth audience sympathy instead of entitled it, and intense, gut-wrenching cinematography that brings the Iraq war more in focus than any film before it. It’s not flawless by any means, but it’s certainly a hell of a lot more powerful than Stop-Loss or Home of the Brave. Credit goes out to the brilliant screenwriting and arresting sound design that augment the handheld visuals and pull you in far more than you would ever want to be. This is not a creation designed for the casual moviegoer. This is not disposable entertainment. This may be the closest you ever get to going to war, and my respect for members of the armed forces has been elevated accordingly.

8 ) District 9

Neil Blomkamp has done the seemingly impossible. He has created an original, visceral, and engrossing science fiction universe that isn’t an adaptation of anything that has come before it. He’s done it with style, he’s done it with heart, and he’s made a believer out of me. From the opening documentary style montage to the emotional closing action beats, every part of the film carries a level of honesty and fidelity that is brutally refreshing. The film doesn’t go down easy either. At this level of intensity, it is understandable why some people may have found portions of the film hard to take. The style itself is very kinetic, and the handheld camera integrates the special effects at a base level, keeping the whole exercise very grounded. Sharlto Copley’s performance should get an Oscar nomination if there’s any sense to the way the world works, but he’ll inevitably get overlooked because of the genre of the film he’s acting in. This is one of the biggest breakthrough performances in years, and it’s hard to believe that only a week prior to shooting, he was just a television producer in South Africa with a childhood connection to Blomkamp.

7) The Hangover

What a ride. I honestly don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard in a movie theater. For Superbad I was mostly too shocked to do anything. This time it was hearty, painful, eye tearing laughter and I enjoyed every raunchy, off-color, ridiculous minute of it. Todd Philips has been waiting for his due for a long time, and after the success of Old School, we assumed he had made it big as a comedy director. Then the sequel never materialized, and Starsky and Hutch left a lot to be desired. I’m happy to report that he is back in fighting form here, and he’s got just the group he needed to make this an instant comedy classic. Who knew that combining Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis would result in the highest grossing rated R comedy of all time? This trio play off of each other so well that they could spend an entire 2 hours sitting at a bar watching people play pool, and I’d be completely entertained. Not to mention poor Justin Bartha who’s reduced to a cameo part because his disappearance is so important to the plot. I want to see these guys take a road trip somewhere else, like now, and I can’t even begin to describe my excitement for Hangover 2.

6) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

If you’ve ever seen a Terry Gilliam movie, you know that there’s something about his perspective on the world that sets him apart. His projects often suffer from thematic and visual excess, the kind of overzealous creativity that pushes far beyond the subject matter at hand and often overwhelms the story he’s trying to tell. Pretty much since his failed Don Quixote movie with Johnny Depp, Gilliam hasn’t been able to find his past success, in part because he hasn’t had the kind of story concept that can absorb his vision. Luckily for him, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is just the kind of story he was born to tell. It’s an epic yet subtle film, supportive of its subject matter while simultaneously relishing in the quiet character moments that had all but vanished from his recent work. The cast is uniformly wonderful, and the visuals, though occasionally cheesy, have an otherworldly brilliance to them that will make you forget that you’re watching a movie.

5) The Road

The Road is one of those films which you need to decide to watch when you’re already of a lighthearted disposition. The movie itself is so draining and so demoralizing that trying to watch it while depressed may lead to disastrous results. That isn’t a detriment to the film, but more an evaluation of its potency as a story and as an adaptation. Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, the movie stands above and beyond the scope of what the average post-apocalyptic drama can say about human behavior and the reconciliation of a world where society and culture is but a distant memory. It doesn’t re-invent the wheel, and borrows a little bit too heavily in its cinematography and color palette from the myriad of similar films that have emerged in recent years, but not unlike Children of Men, it invokes the kind of deeper thought and reflection which pushes the medium in a new direction.

4) Up

Pixar can do no wrong. Seriously, it’s getting out of hand. Their new film, Up, proves that these guys won’t settle for anything less than brilliant filmmaking, and I’m starting to believe that they never will. You’d think with a senior citizen for a main character, possibly the earliest animation cliché of talking dogs, a residence in flight due to large amounts of helium, and a roly-poly “Wilderness Explorer” who comments on almost anything, that they’d finally created a story that would be impossible to enjoy or resolve in a satisfactory manner. Wrong. Up is easily among Pixar’s best and follows a lot of the stylistic choices of its most recent predecessor, Wall-E, in its pacing and main story arc. Sure the characters talk more than they did in that film but there’s ample use of stillness and silence to calm even the most figgidy toddler. The movie takes its time, something of a lost art in Hollywood today, and it makes the experience feel even more inspired.

3) Star Trek

This film will make Star Trek cool, it’s true, but not through destroying anything that was great about it before, just by opening it up and telling a story that will emotionally affect a greater number of people. This is the movie that will validate all those years of fans saying, “No really, you should check it out, it’s really cool” and replace that with “Yeah, I’m a real fan, not one of you bandwagoners.” I think that alone is worth the price of admission. Hats off to Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman for doing the seemingly impossible and rebooting the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time in spectacular fashion. I figure they’ve got at least two more fantastic movies left in them, and then we’ll see what happens. Will these be the continuing voyages of a new generation of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy? Who knows? All we can say for sure is that as the U.S.S. Enterprise warps off on its next voyage into the unknown, the future of this franchise looks bright indeed.

2) Up In The Air

There are times in our lives when certain aspects of how we feel, who we are, and what we believe in, hinge implicitly on our emotional state. Days seem brighter when we feel alive and happy, and it always seems to rain when we’re particularly sad. In these moments, we are hyper sensitive to everything going on around us. A well-timed joke, a playful activity, an ingenious piece of storytelling can affect us in ways far and beyond what we’d expect from the medium in question. I’d like to think that the power that Up In The Air has stems from its impeccable filmmaking quality. But with a film this good, there is always a secondary reaction, a motivational lightning rod if you will, that will be defined within the mind of every person who makes the choice to view the film. When everything works together this well, from the screenplay, to the art direction, to the acting and the lighting, a certain intangible quality arises from the interaction, a product which rises far and beyond the scope of its individual parts. When a movie “feels” this right, for its entire runtime, you know you’re witnessing something truly special.

1) Avatar

I have never been the kind of person who is prone to use of hyperbole. Sure, something will be “awesome” or “fantastic” or “terrific” but I never think anything is so great as to be crowned “best ever”, “most innovative”, or “phenomenal.” Today I was proven wrong. Today I saw the future of cinema, and its name is Avatar. The kind of movie that defines not only the time period of its release, but an entire generation of moviegoers. An experience the likes of which I have never had before, with any movie, and I can only theoretically compare to what it must have been like to see the original Star Wars back in 1977. To walk out of a theater and know, as strongly as I do now, that there is an almost limitless possibility resting just beyond our grasp, is not something I can find words for. James Cameron has seized the curtain and thrown it wide, letting the light pour in upon the unsuspecting masses. My only regret is that it will be another 2-3 years before anyone else has the confidence to attempt to follow in his footsteps.

Honorable Mentions

Zombieland

The Messenger

The Boat That Rocked

Where the Wild Things Are

Inglourious Basterds

The Brothers Bloom

State of Play

]]> http://www.climbinghigherpictures.com/index.php/2010/01/07/uncategorized/that-was-one-for-the-record-books-a-look-back-at-2009-in-top-11-form/feed/ 0 http://www.climbinghigherpictures.com/index.php/2009/12/11/featured/the-future-of-cinema-as-we-know-it-exclusive-avatar-first-look/ http://www.climbinghigherpictures.com/index.php/2009/12/11/featured/the-future-of-cinema-as-we-know-it-exclusive-avatar-first-look/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:31:28 +0000 ghm101 http://www.climbinghigherpictures.com/?p=267 What does a director do after making the highest grossing film of all time? He takes a break for a while. It’s been a decade since the last time a feature film appeared in theaters with James Cameron‘s name listed as its director, though considering the last time it was attached to the end of Titanic, it’s no small wonder that his latest project has accumulated this level of hype. What do you do to follow up one of the most successful films ever released? Cameron seems to think the answer lies in state of the art digital technology and the application of such special effects to a sci-fi adventure on a truly epic scale. He also made it in 3D. Ambitious? Clearly. Does it pay off? Find out:

Avatar Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: A+

Robert Zemeckis, eat your heart out. I have never been the kind of person who is prone to the use of hyperbole. Sure, something will be “awesome” or “fantastic” or “terrific” but I never think anything is so great as to be crowned “best ever”, “most innovative”, or “phenomenal.” Today I was proven wrong. Today I saw the future of cinema, and its name is Avatar. The kind of movie that defines not only the time period of its release, but an entire generation of moviegoers. An experience the likes of which I have never had before, with any movie, and I can only theoretically compare to what it must have been like to see the original Star Wars back in 1977. To walk out of a theater and know, as strongly as I do now, that there is an almost limitless possibility resting just beyond our grasp, is not something I can find words for. James Cameron has seized the curtain and thrown it wide, letting the light pour in upon the unsuspecting masses. My only regret is that it will be another 2-3 years before anyone else has the confidence to attempt to follow in his footsteps.

For the first time, the concept of a 3D movie has a worthwhile reason to exist. The world that Cameron has created here is unparalleled by anything celluloid has presented before, from the dark recesses of the jungle to the blinding cloud cover in the mystical floating mountain ranges. It’s all beautiful, and completely realistic, despite your brain attempting to process that everything you are seeing was manufactured as a series of zeros and ones. The first few minutes are a bit of an adjustment period, and Cameron knows this, concentrating on grounded and emotional beats that bring the dimensionality of the 3D to an appropriately relevant level. As everything settles down, you feel yourself letting go of your own reality, sliding seamlessly into the universe in front of you.

And what an amazing place Pandora is. From the countless animals to the gorgeous plant life as far as the eye can see, this is a planet which could only exist in the mind of a true visionary. We are all guests to Cameron’s imagination, and I look forward to snatching as many tickets back as I can get my hands on. It’s a living and breathing world, and you cannot see where the lines meet. The virtual and the real have become forever blurred through a combination of incredibly detailed art design and a dedication to performance which puts all other “motion-capture” exercises to shame. I hate to hold this film up to something like A Christmas Carol because they’re not even playing the same sport at this point. If Spielberg intends to utilize these techniques for his Tintin film, that particular project will have jumped to the top of my Most Anticipated list.

The actors are all wonderful. Sam Worthington has officially earned his place as Hollywood’s newest powerhouse lead, and Zoe Saldana is a treat to watch, even if we never see her in the flesh. Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi have an incredible chemistry in their few scenes together, and there is no doubt in my mind that the film could never have worked to begin with were it not for the acting talent on hand. When so much detail is captured by a computer, it makes the animation team’s jobs undeniably easier, and you can tell from the results that every frame has been lovingly composed to recreate the original actor’s performance. The story works in much the same way, retaining a wholly classic framework with all the necessary narrative beats while rearranging and reorganizing the sequencing of those scenes so as to appear spontaneous and surprising at almost every turn. You won’t know what will happen next, but as soon as it does happen, it will feel perfectly right on every level and you’ll wonder how else anyone would have thought of writing it. The script is that good. After almost a decade in development, we’d rather hope it would be.

Avatar is the real deal, the kind of epic advancement in filmmaking that only happens when an amazing creative team is paired with an equally talented and driven group of researchers and technicians who work around the clock to bring the dream to life. As Cameron is fond of saying “we pushed the envelope, and the envelope pushed back.” The film is a testament to that final success, a wonder of storytelling and special effects wizardry that will leave you feeling transported, elated, and in love with movies all over again. It’s been a long time coming, but the next great movie masterpiece has finally arrived.

2012 Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: B+

Thank god. After the emotional rollercoaster that never made its way back to the station with The Box (I’ll get to that review in a bit), I was dreadfully worried that Roland Emmerich’s theme park ride of a film would disappoint in similar fashion. It’s not that I particularly hated The Day After Tomorrow (the less that is said about 10,000 B.C. the better), but the spark that brought the audience to its feet in Independence Day has managed to elude the maestro of disaster in the intervening years. Just having “Roland Emmerich” and “disaster” in the same sentence has gotten cliché, and I’m happy to say that with his grandest and most destructive film yet, he has reached the pinnacle of the scope and scale that you can fit into a 2-hour motion picture.

It doesn’t get any bigger than this, and I’d like to believe that the misfires since Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved the planet in terrifically entertaining fashion have been experiments on the part of Emmerich, looking at the genre from different perspectives, as preparation for this movie. Whatever you think 2012 is going to be when you enter the theater, this is a movie that manages to deliver the goods on virtually every level, even if the quality level of those goods isn’t enough to make it a “great” piece of filmmaking. It is perfectly happy with the type of film it sets out to be, and the fact that it knows its boundaries so well means that it wrings every last bit of action and emotion from each scene, flowing effortlessly from massive special effects to interpersonal drama. I was shocked at how personal the movie was at times, with a story painted on such a broad canvas that has more than enough heart to see the audience through the darkness.

Big props go to the casting people behind this behemoth, as they found literally the only people I can think of who could give us believable emotion when faced with overwhelming amounts of green screen and SFX laden material. I will believe John Cusack is staring at a volcano exploding as he runs for a plane in mid take-off, I will believe Amanda Peet as his estranged wife who is juggling responsibility for her family and a desire to reconcile what is happening to the world around her, I will believe Chiwetel Ejiofor as almost anything, especially a scientist who becomes a key part of the cabinet, and I will believe that America would elect Danny Glover as president of the United States over just about every actor who has played a president in the last 20 years. I save the best for last, as special recognition has to go to Oliver Platt’s terrific performance as senator turned advisor turned leader who imbues the other side of each debate with enough gravitas and charisma that you know he believes every line he’s delivering. Between Cusack and Platt, the audience is swept up on this journey and feels each horrific event through the cast, including a handful of wonderful cameos I won’t spoil here. I wasn’t expecting anything close to strong writing or strong character work from this one, and it elevated the whole movie well above my expectation level.

The effects are… well… you need to see this on as big a screen as humanly possible. I’m not sure if they’re offering any IMAX prints, but if they aren’t, they are wasting a phenomenal opportunity. The special effects work here is akin to a national geographic special about the end of the world, and to say that many of the sequences will have you holding onto the arms of you chair is a gigantic understatement. Part of me doesn’t ever want to see another disaster movie again, as this would be the perfect cap on a legacy that goes back to the original The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. This level of production and special effects research is the culmination of everything movies have been working towards since the first computer generated effect, and though I trust in James Cameron to bring things to a whole new level with Avatar, this is like the end of a generational era in blockbuster filmmaking. They don’t make movies like this anymore and they probably won’t try to again. If this is going to be the nail in the disaster genre’s coffin, I can’t think of a better swan song. Perfect it certainly is not, camp is always waiting in the wings, and it doesn’t try to be more than a B-movie because that would lose the charm that keeps us engaged. Bravo Mr. Emmerich, you may well have crafted your masterpiece.