Best Of 2007, Filmleaf Members' Lists

[Chris Knipp]

(Draft version.)

BEST U.S.
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
No Country for Old Men (Joel, Ethan Coen)
Zodiac (David Fincher)
Into the Wild (Sean Penn)
I'm Not There (Todd Haynes)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel)
Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy)
The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson)
The Namesake (Mira Nair)
The Savages (Tamara Jenkins)
Lars and the Real Girl (Craig Gillespie)
The Lookout (Scott Frank)

BEST FOREIGN
Once (John Carney)
Regular Lovers (Philippe Garrel)
Lady Chatterley (Pascale Ferran)
The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako)
Flanders (Bruno Dumont)
Offside (Jafar Panahi)
Control (Anton Corbijn)
Dans Paris (Christophe Honor�)
This Is England (David MacDonald)
La Vie en Rose (La Mome) (Olivier Dahan)

SHORTLISTED
Away from Her (Sarah Polley)
The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass)
Juno (Jason Reitman)
Superbad (Greg Mottola)
Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi)
Grindhouse (Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez)
Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck)
Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES
Sicko (Michael Moore)
No End in Sight (Charles Ferguson)
Nanking (Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman)
Into Great Silence (Philip Gr�ning)
An Unreasonable Man (Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan)
Billy the Kid (Jennifer Venditti)
Kurt Cobain About a Son (AJ Schnack)
Murch (Edie, David Ichioka)
UNRELEASED:
Trumbo (Peter Askin)
NOT SEEN:
This Film Is Not Yet Ratedd (Kirby Dick)
51 Birch Street (Doug Block)
Lake of Fire (Tony Kaye)

BEST UNRELEASED
Still Life (Jia Zhan-0ke)
Along the Ridge (Anche libero va bene, Kim Rossi Stewart)
Daratt (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)

OVERRATED (BUT STILL GOOD)
Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
Black Book (Paul Verhoeven)
Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2008 release) (Cristian Mungiu.)
Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sidney Lumet)

[oscar jubis]

Perhaps some of this is helpful:
FLANDERS was officially released (5/18/07) whereas PARANOID PARK and 4 MONTHS will be released in the US in January and March of 2008. Other documentaries you might include under "Documentaries Not Seen" if indeed you haven't seen them are: LAKE OF FIRE, WEST OF THE TRACKS and MY KID COULD PAINT THAT.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. So I should just put Flanders in Best Foreign and hold Paranoid Park for 2008.

I have not seen those other documentaries. Lake of Fire has been mentioned a lot, but I don't know about the others. My Kid Could Paint That didn't sound like something that would interest me, but you never know.

[mouton]

Hey Chris ... nice lists ... none too surprising given your great taste ... although calling Ratatouille overrated made me cringe a little. That said, it didn't make me wanna puke as much as Into the Wild did but hey, to each his own.

Sorry folks but I'm going to make you go elsewhere to catch my year end lists ... I've announced my annual Mouton d'Or nominations on my site and I really want you to check em out there simply because I have an actual gold sheep to show off!

www.blacksheepreviews.com

[Chris Knipp]

Mouton,

Thanks for complimenting my taste.. And I did go right to your site (which isn't the first time by any means) to look at your selections. NOw. . .If you consider Into the Wild cringe-worthy, how come Vedder's music is in your best music list? You have a lot of categories there, but for me, that would be too limiting, too tricky to fill them in logically when there are so many different kinds of movies and pigeonholing can be destructive or misleading For instance, is The Darjeeling Limited really a "popcorn flick"? Is the enormously ambitious I'm Not There a "Little Movie That Could" like the small Once or Lars and the Real Girl? I'm glad to see your rating Lars highly as I have, though.

"Worst Movie" for me is a tough category--I couldn't do that, and my only equivalent in negativity is "Most Overrated.". That to me is what comes to seem worst, because I see a lot of movies, lately more every year, but still always avoid anything I think will be tasteless, boring, or inept--i.e., "bad." "Most disliked" would make some sense, but who wants to know? I can only come to dislike (somewhat, sometimes) films that everybody raves about when I think others are better. Hence my negative category is "Most Overrated." I know some think it trashy or a mess, but I find Across the Universe enjoyable and full of imagination and I think a lot of other people do; it's far above the trash level necessary (to my mind) to justify inclusion in the category "Worst." I'll grant you Alpha Dog is a bit of a mess. It still has some interesting young actors and colorful sequences, far above the category of trash. Besides, I like Joe Carnahan too much to want to embarrass him with such a designation. Didn't see the others.

Now Best Supporting Actor--to me, some category problems here too. (I can't comment on the cinematography and music categories, offhand). Definitely Wilkinson in Michael Clayton and Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild (again, if that made you "want to puke," why even talk about it, let alone find a best actor in it? not logical). But I cannot possibly consider Casey Affleck in Jesse James or Javier Bardem in No Country "supporting actors," nor is Hoffman, who most people think walks away with Charlie Wilson, a "supporting actor" in that either. Maybe that's just me; I abhor over-categorization. However there are cases when an actor is clearly supporting. George Clooney absolutely dominates Michael Clayton, so Tom Wilkinson is secondary, but important and excellent (ditto Swinton). Now I guess Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone and Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton (these being two of the most admired and high profile performances by a woman of the year) qualify as supporting actresses, but then who are the main actresses in those movies? There are no actresses in either of them that seem more primary. Swinton and Ryan are both key players in those films. I don't have as much of a problem with your Best Actress and Best Screenplay choices; I might not agree 100% but they fit the category. I'm glad you didn't pick Before the Devil Knows You're Dead for a Best Screenplay candidate. If anything pulls down that now overrated movie, it' certainly s the screenplay.

I'm pretty down with your Best Director choices, except as you know I'm not an admirer of Atonement so I could think of a number of directors who could hold down Joe Wright's spot more convincingly.

[Chris Knipp]

I've reposted my lists with some alterations and the directors' names added, above.

Hope to see more lists as time goes on.

[mouton]

Where does the time go? I have wanted to reply to this for some time but was unable to until now. Anyway, no more waiting ...

Let's start with INTO THE WILD. I did find it cringe-worthy on the whole. My stomach actually turned when the audience at TIFF stood to applaud Penn at the end of the premiere. People were leaving throughout the screening and the vibe was not a positive one during but because he was there, people felt the need to gush. With some time behind me, I'm sure now that there probably were a lot of people in that theatre who loved the movie as I have come across many people who didn't just like it but LOVED it. I just felt it was pretentious and overwrought with Penn's ego in it's entire construction. Still, there were elements that I enjoyed and identified with. I thought Emile Hirsch was very promising. I thoroughly enjoyed Catherine Keener and Hal Holbrook. I also felt Eddie Vedder's music leveled the film's skewed perspective. So, while I didn't like the film on the whole, it is still possible to highlight certain elements that are fantastic.

The same can be said for THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES ... Here's a film that I felt dragged but was so gorgeous, thanks to Roger Deakins. There were times where I couldn't believe how rich the texture of the film was. Now, as to why Casey Affleck finds himself in a supporting category, well that's just placating to Hollywood convention. Affleck was being recognized by most other critic groups as a supporting player so I decided to go along with that. That said, I do feel he is supporting regardless as the film plays like an ensemble more than anything else. Even Brad Pitt does not stand out. Mind you, I think the film would have been better if they allowed Affleck to take the lead and drive the story forward.

The Little Movie That Could category is always hard for me. I do believe that I'M NOT THERE deserves to be among titles like LARS AND THE REAL GIRL and ONCE simply because the effort I'm rewarding is ambition and intention. Essentially, I felt that I'M NOT THERE embodied a true spirit of independence, as I believe all the others do as well. I wanted to include THE DARJEELING LIMITED in this category but it simply cost too much too make to really compare.

Unlike you, I have no problems with the Worst Movie category because I call it The Worst Movie I Saw All Year. I can only see so many movies and those are certainly the worst I saw. I think that's fair.

You do certainly have a point about over-categorization. I've always been a BIG Oscar geek so I'm following suit with a lot of standards. Supporting Actor categories are fairly standard. P.S. Hoffman may walk away with CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR but his character is still supporting in terms of the story. After all, it isn't Gust Avrakotos' War. You are also correct about Tilda Swinton and Amy Ryan in MICHAEL CLAYTON and GONE, BABY, GONE (respectively). There are no more prominent actresses in those flms but ultimately, their characters are secondary and therefore find themselves in the supporting categories. Perhaps it is the division of acting performance by sex that is more problematic than anything else. As if performance is dictated by gender - but then Hollywood wouldn't be able to honour so many each year and build so many new careers and bankable futures.

Thanks for the debate ... I hope I didn't forget anything. If anyone wants to see my full list of year end kudos, you can go to:

http://blacksheepreviews.blogspot.com/2008/01/mouton-dor-awards-black-sheeps-best-of.html

[Chris Knipp]

I wish you could put a short summary form of your lists here so we don't have go go back and forth to your website, lovely though it is.

I don't see much disagreement here except for the fact that I simply cannot understand what made you "cringe" at Into the Wild. Once again I would point to the book. Though the movie embroiders and adds to the book in iimportant ways, this is fundamentally a factual account and the film seeks to follow the facts in important details too. I guess you think somehow Sean Penn made the filming of the non-fiction book too operatic, but I like the movie. Emile Hirsch is more than promising. He has always been promising in various films including The Mudge Boy (a daring offbeat role) The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Lords of Dogtown, and several significant others. The fact that he is enthusiastic but somewhat jejune in some ways helps because the movie isn't meant to be hagiography and the young man was unformed and mistaken despite his idealism and we didn't need too impressive an actor or too powerful a personality..

It seems far-fetched to call I'm NOt There a "little movie that could," because as I've said it's wildly ambitious. That doesn't make a little movie. Agreed Darjeeling would not fit either. It's kind of a silly category, too cutesy. If you mean a small budget movie that either became very successful or achieved greatness, then you need a different title.

But we pretty much agree on the supporting actor/actress issues.

The Oscars are not my obsession really. All I can ever say is that sometimes with luck some of the good things get NOMINATED. IT is too much to hope for them to be given the actual OSCAR. It's hard to get over the fact that Crash beat Brokeback, especially when we now know Heath Ledger will never get an Oscar.

It's kind of like the democratic presidential candidates. One by one the best are dropping out, leaving only the most popular or the most well-connected, who are not the best.

The Crash win over Brokeback was a classic example of what a travesty the Oscars can be. But all the fussing over the celebrities and the clothes, however essential to Hollywood's profits, is irrelevant to movies or films or cinema, but the advantage is that at least even if for the wrong reasons, the Academy Awards make people get excited about movies and think they ought to go out and see some. Lots of people at least try to see the Best Picture nominated films in theaters before the awards. If there are any. And that sense of urgency to see films simply because they're supposed to be good regardless of who's in them or what they're about it s the best moment of the Academy Awards.

[mouton]

As per your request ... from Black Sheep Reviews:

This time last year I was trudging through garbage in search of a half-eaten cheese sandwich I could dust off and pass off as one of the better films of the year. 2006 was certainly no country for an old man like myself. I’m happy to say though that this year, I was able to keep my hands clean as 2007 was the year even the rats were allowed in the kitchen to make themselves a real snack before settling in for a flick. 2007, you can rest easy for you have sufficiently atoned for the sins of 2006. I assure you there will be no blood shed here, just some love and recognition in the form of an award or two. No, Canada, this ain’t the Juno’s – it’s the 2007 BLACK SHEEP REVIEWS’ MOUTON D’OR AWARDS!

Before December and the onslaught of critic’s list announcements, 2007’s award race was wide open. It was exhilarating to know that any number of films could become the front-runner for the Best Picture crown. All too often, the hype machine has already solidified certain titles as sure bets but this year, all the bets were off. While this made the wide variety of possibility exciting in my MOUTON D’OR nominations, whittling the selections down to five in each category was almost exhausting … even after I added new categories to honour as many films as possible. Joining the regular categories from last year are three more technical categories – Cinematography, Editing and Original Music. Also, another year means another change for an award title that I just can’t get right … It is meant to embody the spirit of independent film but the idea of what is independent is so blurred that the best I could come up with as an award title is Best Little Movie That Could: An award for genuine intention, artistry and heart. Let’s not waste another moment … Here are the nominations for Black Sheep Reviews’ 2007 Mouton d’Or Awards:


BEST POPCORN FLICK

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
DEATH PROOF
I AM LEGEND
RATATOUILLE


BEST LITTLE MOVIE THAT COULD:
An award for genuine intention, artistry and heart

I’M NOT THERE
JUNO
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
ONCE
WAITRESS


THE WORST MOVIE I SAW ALL YEAR

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ALPHA DOG
BLACK SNAKE MOAN
L’AGE DES TENEBRES (DAYS OF DARKNESS)
TRANSFORMERS


THE TREVOR ADAMS ANIMATED FEATURE AWARD

PERSEPOLIS
RATATOUILLE
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (Roger Deakins, cinematographer)
ATONEMENT (Seamus McGarvey)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Roger Deakins)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Janusz Kaminski)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Roger Elswit)


BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

ATONEMENT (Dario Marianelli, composer)
INTO THE WILD (Eddie Vedder)
ONCE (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
RATATOUILLE (Michael Giacchino)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Jonny Greenwood)


BEST EDITING

ATONEMENT (Paul Tothill, film editor)
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, Christopher Rouse)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Roderick Jaynes)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Juliette Welfling)
ZODIAC (Angus Wall)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

CASEY AFFLECK
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
JAVIER BARDEM
No Country for Old Men
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN
Charlie Wilson’s War
HAL HOLBROOK
Into the Wild
TOM WILKINSON
Michael Clayton


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

CATE BLANCHETT
I’m Not There
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH
Margot at the Wedding
SAOIRSE RONAN
Atonement
AMY RYAN
Gone Baby Gone
TILDA SWINTON
Michael Clayton


BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

JOSH BROLIN
No Country for Old Men
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
There Will Be Blood
RYAN GOSLING
Lars and the Real Girl
TOMMY LEE JONES
In the Valley of Elah
VIGGO MORTENSEN
Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

JULIE CHRISTIE
Away From Her
MARION COTILLARD
La Vie en Rose
ANGELINA JOLIE
A Mighty Heart
NICOLE KIDMAN
Margot at the Wedding
ELLEN PAGE
Juno


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

EASTERN PROMISES (Steven Knight, screenwriter)
JUNO (Diablo Cody)
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (Nancy Oliver)
RATATOUILLE (Brad Bird)
THE SAVAGES (Tamara Jenkins)


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

ATONEMENT (Christopher Hampton, screenwriter)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Joel and Ethan Coen)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Ronald Harwood)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Paul Thomas Anderson)
ZODIAC (James Vanderbilt)


BEST DIRECTOR

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
There Will Be Blood
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN
No Country for Old Men
TODD HAYNES
I’m Not There
JULIAN SCHNABEL
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
JOE WRIGHT
Atonement


BEST PICTURE

ATONEMENT
JUNO
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

[Chris Knipp]

Thank you. I hope to see more lists in the weeks to come from other members.

[oscar jubis]

All the films listed are spoken in a language other than English and all of them received distribution in the US. Increasingly what that means is: brief commercial run in a couple of big city theaters in preparation for dvd release (where the distributors make their money). So even those curious about cinema from around the world might not have heard of most of these titles. However, most already are and all will eventually be available on region 1 dvd. My hope in sharing these year-end lists is that the reader will research the titles and watch the ones that seem interesting and potentially enjoyable. Name of director and country of production provided to facilitate process. Movies in Runners-up and Honorable Mention categories are also listed roughly in order of personal preference but order should be of little consequence to the reader, whose taste is likely to differ from mine. English-language, Documentary and Undistributed lists coming soon.

TOP 10

1. OFFSIDE (Jafar Panahi/Iran)
2. I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE (Tsai Ming-liang/Malaysia-Taiwan)
** LOS MUERTOS (Lisandro Alonso/Arg)
4. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (Julian Schnabel/Fra-US)
** MADEINUSA (Claudia Llosa/Peru)
6. BELLE TOJOURS (Manoel de Oliveira/Port-Fra)
** GLUE: ADOLESCENT STORY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (Dos Santos/ Argentina)
** LADY CHATTERLEY (Pascale Ferran/Fra)
** PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (Alain Resnais/Fra)
** REGULAR LOVERS (Philippe Garrel/Fra)

RUNNERS-UP

LUST, CAUTION (Ang Lee/US-China)
PERSEPOLIS (Paronnaud-Satrapi/Fra)
SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (Weerasethakul/Thailand)
HONOR DE CAVALLERIA (Serra/Spain)
PAPRIKA (Kon/Japan)
EXILED (To/Hong Kong)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (von Donnersmark/Germany)
THE VIOLIN (Vargas/Mexico)
LIVE-IN MAID (Gaggero/Arg)
THE EXTERMINATING ANGELS (Brisseau/Fra)
KLIMT (Ruiz/Aus-Fra-Ger)

HONORABLE MENTION
Grbavica (Serb), After the Wedding (Den), Blame it on Fidel (Fra), In Between Days (Can-Korea), Dreams of Dust (Burkina Faso), Black Book (Neth-Ger-Fra), 12:08 East of Bucharest (Rom), DarkBlueAlmostBlack (Spa), The Taste of Tea (Jap), Mother of Mine (Finland).

Not Seen Yet:Time (S. Korea.)

[Johann]

I'm reading the latest issue of Film Comment and I'm pondering the lists from that great magazine.

I haven't seen enough films this year...

[Chris Knipp]

I listed "Los Muertos" as one of the "best unreleased" that I'd seen for 2005. Then I didn't know or probably just forgot that it was released somewhere in the US last year (just on DVD?). We have discussed it at some length on this sight and it is a splendid film.

I've seen a lot but not all of your choices. Of those I've seen that you list I think most are excellent. There are only one or two that I wouldn't put in this kind of list, and some I rate very highly as you can see by cross-referencing your lists with mine.

Of the ones you think you should have seen before making this list, maybe "Dans Paris" is more my kind of thing than yours, we'll see. "Bamako" I think you would rate highly and so do I.

I'm looking at all my annual lists that I have on the hard drive of my computer. Eleven years' worth, 1997 through 2007. I want to put them all in a compact unified format so I can post them I may actually have some lists in a notebook from earlier too. I kind of like the first list of 1997, which has only 11 films. I would stand by most of the choices and don't need more. The trouble is that now I see so many more than I did then, that it seems like I have to list more. Maybe I just need to be more selective. It's so hard.

Here is the 1997 list. The good old days when life was simpler. You probably won't remember "Kiss or Kill." An Australian neo-noir. I like those--neo-noirs I mean.



C H R I S... K N I P P

TEN BEST OF 1997 ( U. S. )
BOOGIE NIGHTS (P.T. ANDERSON)
THE ICE STORM (ANG LEE)
LOST HIGHWAY (DAVID LYNCH)
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (CURTIS HANSON)
TITANIC (JAMES CAMERON)


TEN BEST FOREIGN
HAPPY TOGETHER (WONG KAR-WAI)
LA PROMESSE (DARDENNE BROTHERS)
A SELF-MADE HERO (UN HERO TRÈS DISCRET, JACQUES AUDIARD)
KISS OR KILL (BILL BENNETT)
LES VOLEURS (ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ)


BEST DOCUMENTARY
WHEN WE WERE KINGS (LEON GAST)

[Chris Knipp]

Johann--Don't forget the VILLAGE VOICE/LA WEEKLY poll list, (http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/winners.php?category=1) which is very extensive. The FILM COMMENT lists tend to favor heavily films shown at Lincoln Center series such as the NYFF etc.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I listed "Los Muertos" as one of the "best unreleased" that I'd seen for 2005. Then I didn't know or probably just forgot that it was released somewhere in the US last year (just on DVD?).
I opened a thread to celebrate the theatrical distribution of Los Muertos (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=2003). I included a quote from your review. It is now available on dvd, three years after we watched it.

There are only one or two that I wouldn't put in this kind of list, and some I rate very highly as you can see by cross-referencing your lists with mine.
I noticed. I expect something similar to happen with our documentary lists. It's the English-language fiction films where we had our marked differences in 2007.

Of the ones you think you should have seen before making this list, maybe "Dans Paris" is more my kind of thing than yours, we'll see.
Maybe so. But I still wish I had seen it when it played here. Especially after learning that the dvd release date would be moved from January to March.

"Bamako", I think you would rate highly and so do I.
African films are barely shown in theaters. Bamako didn't play/hasn't played here, as far as I know. And I don't get to see Moolade until tonight, as it finally came out on dvd this week.

I kind of like the first list of 1997, which has only 11 films. I would stand by most of the choices and don't need more. The trouble is that now I see so many more than I did then, that it seems like I have to list more.
There are more films made available because of the outrageous popularity of the dvd format (and how easy it is for distributors to make a profit via dvd). Films that would be appropiately labeled "festival films" a decade ago now become "dvd films" (often after the briefest, most limited type of theatrical release). There are simply more good-to-great films available. It's just very hard to catch them all in theaters, even if you live in NYC. But there has to be a limit. Mine is at 30, 10 per category. Still, I do "feel bad" not to have room to list these quite enjoyable 2007 foreign-language films: La Vie en Rose, The Namesake, The Method, The Golden Door, The Most Beautiful And My Very Best Years, and The Host.

Here is the 1997 list. The good old days when life was simpler. You probably won't remember "Kiss or Kill." An Australian neo-noir. I like those--neo-noirs I mean.

I remember enjoying Kiss or Kill but couldn't tell you what it's about or who's in it.
Here's my 1997 list (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1748). Scroll down to find the foreign-language counterpart. I'm sure you've seen more of those 1997 films in subsequent years. Did you mentioned liking Ming-liang's The River, for instance?

[Chris Knipp]

LISTS AND QUALITY Now as for the size of lists, I really wish I had the ability to give just ten films or even fewer for a year and say these are going to matter in future to me, and to other people. I think my 1997 list above has very little fat in it. There are different ways to look at your annual list. You can see it as just your favorites. You can see it as what you think are the best of what you've seen, the best of what came out that year. For the latter kind of list maybe the Voice/LA Weekly poll list has more validity than mine or yours. Over a hundred critics may have a better sense of what's going to be remembered than we do. On the other hand I think there's a certain herd mentality among critics in general (except for the absolute contrarians--but they can be just like the wayward boy who only does what his father tells him not to do, and so is still ruled by his father).

JUST GETTING TO SEE THE STUFF IS A PROBLEM TOO FOR EVERYBODY. The whole DVD thing is a mixed blessing. It's good, but DVD viewing is no substitute for a good theatrical screening. I know a 50-inch home screen is nice, but it's still not the same. It's nice to have some experience of a film, and a tape or DVD is a good study tool (or form of home entertainment) but it's like a reproduction of the Mona Lisa or Guernica vs. the actual paintings. I just keep getting confused about releases and all that stuff more now that I see more movies pre-release in various ways. And I sometimes remember there's been a discussion here of something, like Los Muertos (I think I learned from that discussion) but forget the release facts. I had two opportunities to see Dans Paris, due to annually spending time in Paris and New York, but I miss Spanish language films you get to see, Oscar, due to being in Florida.

ETC. For your 1997 list, I'm glad to see you listed Titanic, and didn't scorn it for being a big mainstream popular movie. Maybe your kids helped prompt you. I'm also kind of glad that you too forgot to list a movie you'd meant to--Boogie Nights.

The actors in Kiss or Kill you don't remember because they are complete unknowns.

Yes, I liked Tsai Ming-Liang's River. I have recently watched his new one, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, but I have to say that on a small screen at home it just was too hard to evaluate. Certainly there were beautiful images. I couldn't give it the attention I could have in a theater. I'm sure I prefer it to Wayward Clouds. But the last three ones don't quite have the human warmth of What Time Is It There?

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp There are different ways to look at your annual list. You can see it as just your favorites. You can see it as what you think are the best of what you've seen, the best of what came out that year.
Sorry if I'm repeat myself, Chris. As I've said before, and we've discussed: my list reflects what I think it's best but since I consider that process highly subjective (no matter who's doing the listing), I use "favorites" instead of "best". It's a personal list and it doesn't reflect the opinion of anyone else but mine. If most of my favorites appear on collective lists like Metacritic, Voice/LA Times or whatever, there's no shame in that. Same goes if that's not the case.

Over a hundred critics may have a better sense of what's going to be remembered than we do. On the other hand I think there's a certain herd mentality among critics in general
Many of the movies now considered great were ignored, little-seen or underappreciated at the time of release. I agree with the comment about the herd mentality. One important factor though is that some movies are more conspicuous than others. I'm convinced, for instance, that if more critics had seen the outstanding Aussie film Ten Canoes, said film would appear in many more critics' lists.

The whole DVD thing is a mixed blessing. It's good, but DVD viewing is no substitute for a good theatrical screening.
Absolutely. But take into account that some of what gets released on dvd nowadays would only be viewable at film festivals if it wasn't for the popular dvd format.
It is a mixed blessing. Take Asian films. So few get released in the US in relation to the number of high quality Asian productions. I've learned over the years in discussion with distributors and Asian film buffs that Asian-Americans (a potentially huge market if these films were released here) watch new Asian release on import dvd. Their quality has improved, they are cheap, and they are released within weeks of theatrical premieres in Asia. I've learned to do the same. To offer an example, the last film entry into my 2007 undistributed list, a South Korean film, opened in Seoul theaters on October 3rd, 2007!

For your 1997 list, I'm glad to see you listed Titanic, and didn't scorn it for being a big mainstream popular movie. Maybe your kids helped prompt you.
No, I felt bad they were too young in 1997 to go with me when I took in a repeat theatrical screening of Titanic. No scorn for big mainstream popular movies. But if I don't think they're truly great and I have nothing mainstream to list, so be it. Absolutely loved King Kong and all three Lord of the Rings movies too. There are others. Ratatouille is pretty good.

[Chris Knipp]

I forgot Ten Canoes.

Where is your 2007 Undistributed list and what South Korean film are you talking about? Is that given above? I don't see it.

Your recent lists favor fewer mainstream favorites than you did in the past, I'd say, perhaps more due to your viewing patterns than any change in taste. Same with me I guess.

[oscar jubis]

My bad. I failed to explain undistributed list has yet to be posted. I was referring to Jin-ho Hur's Happiness. So you watched Ten Canoes, but you didn't review it, right? English list and a list of performances I won't soon forget to be posted today.

[Chris Knipp]

Okay, here is my review of Ten Canoes:

http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=845&

I may have forgotten to post it on Filmleaf. I saw it at either Cinema Village or Quad Cinema in NY last summer. Howard Schumann also reviewed it on Cinescene:

http://www.cinescene.com/howard/tencanoes.html

I figured you hadn't posted the unreleased list yet.

[oscar jubis]

LEAD PERFORMANCE

JULIE CHRISTIE (Away From Her)
NICOLE KIDMAN (Margot at the Wedding)
MARION COTILLARD (La Vie en Rose)
NAOMI WATTS (Eastern Promises)
WEI TANG (Lust, Caution)

^^^^^

BENICIO DEL TORO (Things We Lost in the Fire)
GORDON PINSET (Away From Her)
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS (There Will Be Blood)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (The Savages)
DANNY GLOVER (Honeydripper)

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

MARISA TOMEI (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH (Margot at the Wedding)
AMY RYAN (Gone Baby Gone)
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS (Away From Her)
SAMANTHA MORTON (Control)

^^^^^

CASEY AFFLECK (The Assassination of Jesse James...)
VINCENT CASSEL (Eastern Promises)
TOM WILKINSON (Michael Clayton)
ARMIN MUELLER-STAHL (Eastern Promises)
MAX VON SYDOW (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

[oscar jubis]

Yes Chris, you hadn't posted it until now. Thanks. Curious as to what prompted you to also post a link to Howard's. I recently came across his 2007 Best list at sensesofcinema. Rocket Science, his choice for best movie of the year, was quite excrutiating for me to watch (the central performance about the only redeeming factor, I felt).

[Chris Knipp]

I know I hadn't posted my Ten Canooes review-don't know why I forgot. I write for Cinescene and generally like Howard's reviews. My review of Rocket Science http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=797 I guess in Howard's case it's just one of what you call his "favorites". I sometimes find your favorites "excruciating for me to watch." He wrote very favorably and well about No Country for Old Men--also for Cinescene.

[oscar jubis]

Makes sense. I didn't know you still contributed to CineScene. I also generally like Howard's reviews. I didn't like No Country but I certainly didn't find it (or any film you listed) excrutiating to watch. I don't remember another movie he liked this much that I thought was this weak. It's such a marked contrast of opinion. I thought the use of the omniscent narrator in Rocket Science was offputing and purposeless. I relate when you identify some plot developments in it as "far fetched". But "the whole movie is a string of ornate whimsy" just about summarizes my opinion.

[Chris Knipp]

I am very much a contnributor to Cinescene. I suppose Howard responded to the sensitivity to a handicapped but talented young man. Why he picked this as his top film of the year is anybody's guess.

I'm in New York now and I'm going to begin the French film seriesso tune in to the Festival Coverage or the thread here on them.

[oscar jubis]

TOP 10

1. AWAY FROM HER (Sarah Polley)
2. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (Dominik)
** I'M NOT THERE (Todd Haynes)
** MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (Noah Baumbach)
** TEN CANOES (Rolf de Heer)
6. ATONEMENT (Joe Wright)
** BLADE RUNNER 2007 Ed. (Ridley Scott)
** INTO THE WILD (Sean Penn)
9. EASTERN PROMISES (David Cronenberg)
** THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Paul Thomas Anderson)

RUNNERS UP

RED ROAD (Andrea Arnold)
HONEYDRIPPER (John Sayles)
STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING (Andrew Wagner)
MY BROTHER'S WEDDING (Charles Burnett)
ONCE (John Carney)
THE SAVAGES (Tamara Jenkins)
THIS IS ENGLAND (Shane Meadows)
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (Ken Loach)
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Julie Taymor)
SOUTHLAND TALES (Richard Kelly)

HONORABLE MENTION
Ratatouille (Bird)The Hawk is Dying (Goldberger), 2 Days in Paris (Delpy), Things We Lost in the Fire (Bier), In the Valley of Elah (Haggis), Sweeney Todd (Burton), Rescue Dawn (Herzog), A Mighty Heart (Winterbottom), The Bourne Ultimatum (Greengrass), Beowulf 3D (Zemeckis), The Simpsons Movie (Silverman).

Not Seen Yet: Brand Upon the Brain.

[Chris Knipp]

I have missed Red Road and Things That Were Lost in the Fire.

Odd, or ironic anyway, that you inclcude Ten Canoes here since it is billed as the first film in an Australian aboriginal language. Of course it has English narration. I commented that I hoped next time they'd make one all in the aboriginal language without the cover of English.

I don't know The Hawk Is Dying. Haven't seen the new even more final Blade Runner, which you could not omit. I almost did but needed to rest up for my current trip and the rigors of daily multiple New York review writing.

I wonder why you don't mention Michael Clayton. I think it's a very well-made, well0-acted film with important contents. I had forgotten about The Simpsons Movie, but the series meant nothing to me so it woulod be odd for me to list it. Id forgotten about Beowulf in 3D, which I was surprised I rather liked, though not really enough to list it. I can't find it on the Voice/LA Weekly poll. The Simposon's Movie is 94. But then again, In the Valley of Elah is 79. Your Red Road tied with my The Lookout at 73. We have our special pets.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I have missed Red Road
It won the top prize at the Miami Film Festival, where I first watched it. Some people were upset at their failure to comprehend the Scottish accents. It should have been released with subs like a Ken Loach film I can't quite remember. I was so surprised by the way the conclusion impacted me emotionally. I didn't see it coming. Superb performances by the whole cast.

and Things That Were Lost in the Fire.
A much more satisfying treatment of drug addiction than the more oblique point of view of Assayas' Clean. Benicio del Toro gives one of the best performances of the year and nobody noticed. Or maybe they forgot about it?

Odd, or ironic anyway, that you inclcude Ten Canoes here since it is billed as the first film in an Australian aboriginal language. Of course it has English narration.
Good point. It's been a while since I watched it and wrote the title down in the English-language page in preparation for the day I would make the list. Maybe I felt there's more English narration than aboriginal language in it...

I don't know The Hawk Is Dying.
I don't know if you're familiar with Georgia-born, Florida-based novelist Harry Crews. Perhaps he is only a regional figure. The film is a faithful adaptation of his titular novel, set in his college town of Gainsville, FLA (the unofficial border between Old Florida, the part of the State that belongs to the Old South, and the newer, more diverse rest of the State). The book was adapted and directed by another regional figure, Julian Goldberger, whom I've admired since his 1998 debut Trans (a coming-of-age set in SW Florida). The new film is not as good as Trans but it depicts its environs and community with great authenticity. And I love Paul Giamatti's performance.

I wonder why you don't mention Michael Clayton. I think it's a very well-made, well0-acted film with important contents.
It didn't impress me enough to beat the competition. Good film though.

I'd forgotten about Beowulf in 3D, which I was surprised I rather liked, though not really enough to list it.
I was apprehensive about listing it because I'm afraid I wouldn't like it nearly as much in 2D, but I can't ignore how fascinated I was by the experience of watching it in a properly equipped theater.

The Simposon's Movie is 94.
Are you sure? Metacritic score of 94? Seems too high.

[Chris Knipp]

Maybe I felt there's more English narration than aboriginal language in it...

I doubt that in actual number of words but I could be wrong. Anyway it's a shame to call it an English language film

I did not say The Simpson's was a Metacritic rating of 94; I was giving the rankings of several movies on the Voice/LA Weekly poll.

I think Things That Were Lost in the Fire was a blip on the screen--it disappeared before I could get to it. So people would forget it, and Del Toro has been nominated before.

I'm not familiar with Harry Crews and was confusing him with a retired English professor at UC Berkeley, Frederick Crews.

I cannot agree with the idea that Michael Clayton isn't as good as "the competition," and think maybe you select against it because it is mainstream, and big budget, but it isn't exactly a popular movie. I would do that myself but it is just so well made and well acted and interesting that I can't. But it isn't popular, though being nominated it will now be seen. That is where that Time guy Corliss is wrong, because people go out and see movies because they've been nominated or won. As they should. Anyway Michael Clayton only did half as well as Beowulf which in turn was way below Superbad or Juno, which are close to each other in box office take.

Voice poll rankings again (you have to click on the box on this page--it's messed up):

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0801,hoberman,78739,20.html

[oscar jubis]

I have no prejudice against mainstream, big budget movies. I recognize MC is highly regarded and I think of it as a good movie. I did find it awfully familiar in both content and execution. I guess what I'm saying is that I didn't find it distinctive enough. I personally felt more conflicted about leaving Zodiac and Juno out of the list.
Good comment about Corliss and awards serving the purpose of encouraging audiences to check out good films they haven't seen.

[Chris Knipp]

Though it's against modern thinking, much great art actually looks "awefully familiar." It's just better than anything else in the same style. Some of your choices don't impress me, so that would have left room for Michael Clayton. However, many of your choices seem like excellent ones.

[oscar jubis]

My impressions about Michael Clayton (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18731&highlight=michael+clayton#post18731) . Perusing reviews, I realize this is a film I would list as "overrated", if I had such a category.
The review that comes closest to matching my opinion was Variety's:
" it zeroes in on this relatively simple premise -- one that will be highly familiar to anybody raised on "Don't trust big corporation" thrillers from the 1970s"
"Still, the stakes in those earlier films felt considerably higher, and the only uncertainty here is not how far the U/North folks will go to protect their interests, but what a cynical soul like Michael will do under the circumstances."
"On the downside, some of the peripheral threads -- especially Michael's relationship with his family, both as an irritated brother and a single dad -- occupy time at the outset but really don't lead anywhere, and the conclusion leaves a few key questions conspicuously unanswered."
The high Metacritic score indicates this is a minority opinion.

[Chris Knipp]

Metacritic says


92 There Will Be Blood
85 Atonement
83 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
82 Michael Clayton
81 Juno

(wide releases currently in theaters)

Yeah, they are all overrated. But you know what? Revivals of older films are even more overrated than the current critical faves. (I'm speaking in general.)

[oscar jubis]

The list below excludes certain films I watched in 2007 that have just been released or will be released in the US during 2008. Among them, the magnificent Chinese film Still Life and the accomplished Argentine film The Custodian. I will use each film's English title and provide the name of the director and country of production to facilitate any research. Runner-Ups are roughly in order of preference but difference in ranking among these films is of no great significance.

TOP 10

1. FICTION (Cesc Gay/Spain)
2. COLOSSAL YOUTH (Pedro Costa/Portugal)
3. BEAUTY IN TROUBLE (Jan Hrebejk/Czech Rep)
4. PARAGUAYAN HAMMOCK (Paz Encina/Paraguay)
5. THE NIGHT OF THE SUNFLOWERS (Sanchez-Cabezudo/Spain)
6. BOG OF BEASTS (Claudio Assis/Brazil)
7. FORBIDDEN TO FORBID (Jorge Duran/Brazil)
** HAPPINESS (Jin-ho Hur/South Korea)
** PEACOCK (Gu Changwei/China)
** A WONDERFUL WORLD (Luis Estrada/Mexico)

RUNNERS UP

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (Mamoru Hosoda/Japan)
TUYA'S MARRIAGE (Quanan Wang/China)
A LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Jinglei Xu/China)
MEANWHILE (Lerman/Argentina)
GEMINIS (Carri/Argentina)
LIFE CAN BE SO WONDERFUL (Minorikawa/Japan)
HOLE (Martin Ferrara/Spain)
THE OLD GARDEN (Im Sang-soo/S. Korea)
DRAINED (Heitor Dhalia/Brazil)
GOD WILLING (Sweden)

Honorable Mention
Little Red Flowers (China), Fish Dreams (Brazil/Russia), More Than Anything In the World (Mexico), The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (Canada), Satanas (Colombia).

[Chris Knipp]

I can'T say much since most of these I have not seen. I don't know how you saw them, which is always a helpful thing to tell people when they are obscure or hard to find films. As you know I did not like Collossal Youth. On the other hand I am impressed by Im Sang-soo and found The Old Garden quite involving (a selection of the NYFF). I also admire Still Life nad was very impressed by it when I saw it in Paris last fall at an MK2 theater. It would help to know the director's previous work, though, as I did and you did; coming to it cold one might not get it. I am also an admirer of the team that made THE JOURNALS OF KNUD RASMUSSEN (also in the NYFF) and ATANARJUAT and I am participating a little in a new website they have set up for indigenous filmmaking where you can view videos. It is ISUMA.TV. They liked what I wrote about THE JOURNALS, said I got what they were tryihg to do better than most of the print reviewers. It's always nice to hear that.

[oscar jubis]

15 of the 26 films listed were shown at The Miami International FF, 2 at the Sarasota FF, three of the four!! Brazilian films at the Miami Brazilian FF, Tuya's Marriage (Golden Bear Berlin '07) at the Fort Lauderdale FF, Geminis at the Ciclo de Cine Argentino, and 4 I watched on import dvd: Peacock, Happiness, Girl Who Leapt, and A Letter from an Unknown Woman.

You also watched Forbidden to Forbid and Fish Dreams, I believe?

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the thorough answer. Indeed I did watch Proibido proibir; sometimes I remember the original language titles better than the English translations. No I did not watch Fish Dreams ("Brazil/Russia/USA") at the SFIFF; I did watch How Is Your Fish Today ("China/England") however.

[Chris Knipp]

I can't find these:

FICTION (Cesc Gay/Spain)

HOLE (Martin Ferrara/Spain)

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (Mamoru/Japan)

The name was wrong. It's Mamoru Hosoda. Mamoru is the first name.

PARAGUAYAN HAMMOCK (Encina Paz
Listed as "Paz Encina." Paz is the first name.

LITTLE RED FLOWERS' director is Yuan Zhang or Zhang Yuan in the Chinese form.

Evidently MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD is directed by Andrés León Becker and Javier Solar

And I guess SATANAS is by Andi Baiz. Sometimes if they're unreleased here they might to be hard to find with only the English translation and the country.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp I can't find these:
FICTION (Cesc Gay/Spain)
HOLE (Martin Ferrara/Spain)
Fiction (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480680/)
Hole (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0791270/)

It's Mamoru Hosoda. Mamoru is the first name. Encina Paz
Listed as "Paz Encina." Paz is the first name.
Thanks, Chris. Corrections made.

LITTLE RED FLOWERS' director is Yuan Zhang or Zhang Yuan in the Chinese form.
Evidently MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD is directed by Andrés León Becker and Javier Solar.
And I guess SATANAS is by Andi Baiz.
That's right.

[oscar jubis]

I have included five undistributed documentaries including the top 2, Serambi, Septembers, and Mississippi Chicken. Top film is a controversial BBC production not released in US because of cost of obtaining music rights but shown at many festivals. If no production country specified, assume film is American. Films tied at #5 are listed in alphabetical order. Note that the "Not Seen Yet" list is significantly longer than counterparts in fiction lists (list is not truly final because of titles pending viewing).

TOP 10

1. THE TRAP: WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR DREAM OF FREEDOM (Adam Curtis/UK)
2. THE PERVERT'S GUIDE TO CINEMA (Sophie Fiennes/UK)
3. THE WAR (Ken Burns)
4. INTO GREAT SILENCE (Philip Groning/Germany)
5. THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI (Linda Hattendorf)
** IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (David Sington/UK-USA)
** LAKE OF FIRE (Tony Kaye/US)
** MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (Jennifer Baichwal/Canada)
** NO END IN SIGHT (Charles Ferguson)
** SICKO (Michael Moore)

RUNNERS UP

NANKING (Guttentag-Sturman)
BEYOND HATRED (Olivier Meyrou/France)
TERROR'S ADVOCATE (France-Germany)
FIVE (LONG TAKES DEDICATED TO OZU) (Iran)
BRANDO
THE RAPE OF EUROPA
PROTAGONIST
VAL LEWTON: THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS
RALPH NADER: AN UNREASONABLE MAN
THE BALANDA AND THE BARK CANOES (Australia)
SERAMBI (Indonesia)
CRAZY LOVE

HONORABLE MENTION
Septembers (Spain),THe King of Kong, Mississippi Chicken, Sacco & Vanzetti, Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore, Made in Los Angeles, My Kid Could Paint That, Zoo, Revolution '67, Steal a Pencil For Me.

Not Seen Yet
State Legislature, West of the Tracks, Joe Strummer:The Future is Unwritten, Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains, Billy the Kid.

[Chris Knipp]

As you know I liked Kurt Cobain About a Son and Nanking. Some few of the ones you mention I like and some I think uninteresting. Many I never saw and never even heard of. This reminds me I want to see Terror's Advicate, obvously an important political film.

You ought to see Billy the Kid. Also take a look at my review yesterday of the sandrine Bonnaire documentary about her sister ELLE S'APPELLE SABINE the last of the Rendez-Vous press screenings for this year.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
As you know I liked Kurt Cobain About a Son and Nanking.
I'll be watching the Cobain doc immediately after the fest ends, and also the widely praised LAKE OF FIRE.

Some few of the ones you mention I like and some I think uninteresting.
Some could surprise you if you give them a chance. I mean, The King of Kong is not about video games. It's about obsession, vanity, and self-validation.

Many I never saw and never even heard of.
Look into them. Obviously I think the top 2 are particularly unique, accomplished, and important. PERVERT'S GUIDE is an absolute must for anyone who really loves cinema and wants to appreciate it from a distinctly novel p.o.v. Mr. Curtis has been called "the BBC's agent provocateur" on Variety and his socio-political-cultural essays are the most radical and thought-provoking films of its kind. I don't know if you got a chance to watch his previous THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES and THE CENTURY OF THE SELF. I think all three are essential viewing.

You ought to see Billy the Kid.
Absolutely. I'll make every possible effort to catch up with all the films "not yet seen".

Also take a look at my review yesterday of the sandrine Bonnaire documentary about her sister ELLE S'APPELLE SABINE
I've been a fan of Bonnaire since Vagabond. Wouldn't dare to miss a chance to watch this doc.

[Chris Knipp]

Unfortunately The King of Kong is one of my main points. I have seen it. A documentary that did not convince me of the worthwhileness of its topic. I do not want to know about the people who play those games, even after watching the movie. A waste of time about time-wasters.

[oscar jubis]

I thought so. That's why I used it as an example. I don't care about video games either but it's my 14th favorite doc of 2007 (not as high as some critics would; only 5 other docs placed higher in the Voice/La Times poll of over 100 critics) because it's really about "obsession, vanity and self validation". You seem to disagree.

[Chris Knipp]

I do disagree. I think it's overrated.

[oscar jubis]

Well, I've seen Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, 2007's film maudit par excellence. A movie that made only a quarter million dollars at the box office but has generated reams of commentary at the IMDb message boards. It's a cult movie despised by most critics and audiences and loved fiercely by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Amy Taubin, and Nathan Lee, among others. I listed the film as "Not Seen Yet" in my Favorite English-Language Films of 2007 (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19390#post19390). Southland Tales is a brilliant, campy, sprawling and often very funny, sci-fi political satire but it's also sometimes silly and incoherent (but isn't Lynch sometimes silly and incoherent?). It's probably too original and distinctive not to give it at least an "honorable mention". I've decided to watch it again in a couple of weeks and see what happens rather than decide its merits based on a single viewing.

[Chris Knipp]

but it's also sometimes silly and incoherent (but isn't Lynch sometimes silly and incoherent?). No, not at all in the same way. Lynch's incoherent, but not what I'd call silly. Because he gets closer to scary parts of his unconscious. I thought I started a thread on Southland Tales when I saw it in NY. but maybe not. Anyway if you want to see what I had to say it's here. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=946) Definitely Richard Kelly is an original and if you like watching Southland Tales it will probably improve on successive viewings as all cult-type films do. However I don't enjoy watching it very much myself. Somebody would have to push me to go and see it again, and then I'd see. I find it somewhat tedious, just not fun for me to watch. But I respect his insanity. I noticed he is one of those given a boost at the indie cinema haven in NYC, the Two Boots Pioneer theater. An autographed poster for Donny Darko is enshrined on its very special wall there. The main weakness for me of Southland Tales compared to Donny Darko is the lack of a character one can really care about. But the political parts may make it interesting to go back and look at in a few years. I hope he doesn't waste a year or two going back and doing a revision of this too, though.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I hope he doesn't waste a year or two going back and doing a revision of this too, though.

The original, longer cut shown at Cannes will likely make it to dvd in the future. Kelly has already shot his next film, The Box, based on a Richard Matheson story that has already been adapted for The Twilight Zone TV series.

[oscar jubis]

Second viewing of Southland Tales reveals added pleasures in minutiae like what's shown on TV or internet screens. There's a news program in which voice-over about the extended version of the Patriot Act passed by the legislature is accompanied by footage of two elephants humping. Jokes and asides like that. I listed the film as the last of the "runner-ups" which means Ratatouille got bumped down to "honorable mention". The partial incoherence of Kelly's film, particularly on first viewing, dilutes or obstructs some of the political and cultural points he wants make, but Southland Tales is still a brave, original piece of work with a lot to say about the USA. Some of which might be incomprehensible to those living elsewhere.

[Chris Knipp]

The little background details in Southland Tales are great. In my review I said, " every scene has so much going on in it, so many farcical brilliant props scattered around, you can feel the strips of cult film forming as you watch. " As I said before, this is a perfect cult movie, and this is just what people need--minutiae cult fanciers can pour over in repeated viewings and compare notes on.

[oscar jubis]

I watched a few of the documentaries I originally listed under "Not Seen Yet" on my Favorite Documentaries list.

I didn't like Kurt Cobain : About A Son. I lost interest in the visuals very quickly and the interviews reveal little I didn't know. There's no music by Nirvana, no confrontation of the often contradictory statements made by Cobain, and no respite from his characteristic cynicism.

I liked Nanking, about the 1936-1937 massacre perpetrated by the Imperial Japan army after they invaded China. I found the reading of actual texts by famous actors who impersonate historical characters quite effective. Film includes archival footage and interviews with Chinese survivors. Compelling material is not always integrated and organized to best effect but Nanking is undeniably powerful.

The 17-years-in-the-making, 152 minutes long, self-financed abortion documentary Lake of Fire is among the best dealing with America's cultural war (Fundamentalists would call it a religious war). Most definitely not for the squeamish as it includes gory pictures of assassinations of medical personnel targeted by "pro-life" fundamentalists and actual abortions being performed for the camera. This b&w film benefits formally from being shot almost entirely on 35 mm and the eye for visual composition of director Tony Kaye (American History X). The content benefits from the impression given by his treatment of the copious material that he has not quite decided where he stands on the issue.

Nanking and Lake of Fire are now included on my Favorite Documentaries 2007 list (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=19502#post19502)

[oscar jubis]

Today I watched another very good documentary exhibited theatrically in 2007 and recently released on dvd. It's called THE RAPE OF EUROPA. It concerns World War II from the point of view of the cultural artifacts (art objects, buildings, etc) that were destroyed, stolen, or hidden by Nazi Germany and the Allies during the fighting. It's a totally fresh perspective on the war. The efforts to restore what was destroyed and return what was stolen to their rightful owners (something that's often ambiguous) makes for extremely interesting documentary material. I watched this in class and the reception to the film was uniformly enthusiastic. It's hard to keep up with all the excellent documentaries released every year. I still haven't seen a bunch of docs from last year but I will comment briefly in this space as I get to them.