(My) Best of 2011: Picture

10. Meek's Cutoff

Kelly Reichardt's revisionist Western was the greatest political movie of 2011. Combining post-feminist theories with a clear questioning of the Obama administration, the film used a historical event to sketch a very accurate portrait of the current state of America. Bruce Greenwood gives a brilliant performance as the charming Stephen Meek, a pioneering explorer leading three families to new territories, who refuses to acknowledge the fact that he has lost his way and is dragging them along to perdition. The film's ambiguous finale, made all the more fascinating because it happened due to budget problems, actually works as an unintentional but poignant reflection of a world economy that is making freedom of expression a luxury.

9. The Tree of Life

For decades, Terrence Malick has been one of the very few working artists who has proved to be in utter and complete awe of our planet and its creation. Instead of following the path of other filmmakers who more and more try to conceal their characters from nature or others who altogether decide to move their stories to different planets, Malick preserves an utmost spirit of wonderment. He is fascinated with the process of "creation" which usually gives his movies a Christian feel. However, in The Tree of Life he reminds us that atonement has little to do with organized religion and more with unity, at-one-ment. His movie might seem like a dream comprised of dinosaurs, abusive parents and traumas, but judging from the way in which one reacts to it, it's more similar to mystical ecstasy than facile psychology.

8. Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn's neon-noir work of art was a refreshing take on the mythical figure of the American cowboy, who has now moved to the city and remains as mysterious and unbreakable as ever. The visionary director makes his hero, a questionable figure who has to deal with common things like working for a living but it still happens to be ruled by a strict moral code that separates him from other mortals. As portrayed by Ryan Gosling, the nameless Driver is a figure we can admire, fear and lust after. If Refn was trying to make a point about the way we project our desires onto others, he does it while stimulating both our intellect and injecting us with adrenaline. The action sequences in the film have a strange beauty that might not send us flying off our seats with thrills, but stir thoughts within us, similar to what modern art does. Like Mulholland Dr. the film was also a critique to the Hollywood way of life, with Refn both reveling in the artifice of Los Angeles and reveling its polished decay. With its spare dialogues and bright colors, it's as if someone loaded Tarantino on Xanax and asked him to make a 70s Clint Eastwood vehicle using Michael Mann's aesthetic sensibilities.  

7. Certified Copy

Nowadays, it's rarely a joy to encounter a movie that foregoes all notions of traditional plot in order to explore the world of ideas. Most movies that try to do this end up confusing intellectualism with bullshitting and rely on facile tricks to convince us about their intelligence. Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy ought to change that because it finds unbearably touching humanity in a fascinating intellectual essay. Wondering what makes something a "copy" he explores the notions of creation and recreation by using people. Kiarostami could've easily turned his characters into puppets used to channel a message, but like a generous god he provides them with a soul. If only all philosophy was this richly realized...

6. Shame

It's strange to think of it, but the one thing the characters in this movie never seem to feel is actual shame. Michael Fassbender plays a man with a destructive sexual addiction and Carey Mulligan plays his alcoholic and equally chaotic sister. The siblings live in NYC and seem to have carved a personal playground of pain under the city's stars. Other directors could've shamed their characters and reduce them to morally acceptable examples, but Steve McQueen merely observes them and lets them be. The film is filled with scenes of utmost loss and despair but they are treated with such delicate bluntness that we have no choice but to try and empathize with these people. The film's most poignant scene has the siblings watch a cartoon on TV and for a moment it seems like they've found peace. Even if it alludes to the origin of all our problems in our childhood, it also achieves a mystical connection that resembles time travel.

5. Martha Marcy May Marlene

The year's most astonishing debut had Sean Durkin revisit the dreamlike aesthetics of 70s movies while giving Elizabeth Olsen the richest female role of 2011. The film deals with the trappings of a cult and the consequences their practices have on believers. But besides pointing out the perils of submitting yourself to the will of others, the film draws a fascinating parallel line that studies fact and fiction, the way in which we are our own creators and how we can build entire worlds to fit our needs. The title protagonist isn't merely complex because she can become so many different people, she's fascinating because she evokes the never ending process of creation; we are never sure how many people she has been and how many people she will be. The film's technical achievements were unusually inventive and helped the director transmit paranoia in open spaces, making nature both a witness of our distress and an eternal perpetrator of evil.

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Who would've guessed that director David Fincher would craft his most personal movie to date from a pulpy bestseller? The way in which he grabbed the story of hacker Lisbeth Salander and ruined journalist Mikael Blomkvist and turned it into an exhilarating conversation with god, was a perfect reminder that art was invented to connect us to what we couldn't explain. Sure, the film succeeds as a fantastic, exciting thriller (something its Swedish predecessor did with just as much efficiency but without the aesthetic grace) but it works at its best when Fincher leads us past the plot twists and points out the fact that we all hide skeletons in our closets, our collection of personal experiences becoming a cabinet of horrors and wonders alike.
That he allowed Lisbeth to dream of love speaks highly of the director's humanistic side, that just as easily he  takes illusion away from her, speaks of his ruthlessness as a creator.

3. Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris was a surprise because it proved for once and for all, that its maker is one of the few artists blessed with the ability to rejuvenate himself when least expected. How can he keep on finding beauty in subjects he's dealt with constantly for more than four decades? How is it that his movies always seem to be about the same things and each time we find ourselves enthralled by their deep wisdom? His love song to Paris and some of his heroes is a remarkably enjoyable piece that pretty much fulfilled whoever saw it. Like enjoying a rich, perfect dessert, the film pleased and delighted without overwhelming the palate, every time it left you wanting more.

2. Melancholia

The end of the world has never been treated with the delicacy Lars von Trier presents it with in Melancholia. Coming from the ode to chaos that was Antichrist it would've been easy to assume that the director had definitely entered a period of complete darkness, for how does once descend into such hell and come back unscathed? Like mythical heroes, von Trier not only emerged from the underworld alive, he came out with a new sense of appreciation for the beauty in life. His movie about the end of the world is tragic yes, but within the deep pain portrayed by his actors and the precision of his almost operatic conduction (he finds a beauty in chaos that people like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich only dream of  achieving) there is something breathtakingly beautiful. He does not relish in making others suffer this time, instead he seems to be for the first time looking at death right in the eyes and embracing the sense of peace found in its irreversible finality.

1. Weekend

There are romances with repercussions that resonate for as long as we live. Said romances usually end before we are ready to give them up. Without us being aware of the fact that we are living something that will establish a "before and after" in our existence, we then discover we revisit these moments forever and they most likely will accompany us to our deathbed. Then, there are movies that deal with these romances. Movies like Casablanca, Lost in Translation, The Way We Were, Brief Encounter...all of which talk of love that was, love that is and love that will forever be. Like said romances, we also find ourselves revisiting these movies in our dreams more often than we'd like to. Can it be that we all harbor a secretly masochist hopeless romantic within? Or is it that real life never fulfills what art promised? Both could be answers that come to mind while watching Andrew Haigh's Weekend, this miniature masterpiece is a lovely exercise in style, execution and transcendence. The way in which the director enters the lives of two men who fall in love over a weekend, is nothing if not exceptional. Haigh has such eye for detail that we have to ask ourselves if this wasn't taken straight from one of his memories, watch how lived in the spaces feel, how effortlessly the actors live within these characters...the magic in Weekend is that it doesn't really feel like a movie, it feels like we're witnessing real life, things happening right in front of us. Where it could've been political, the film forgoes the dynamics of homosexuality and instead focuses on the complexities of humanity. Instead of concentrating on representing specific concepts and conceptions, the film aims to address our hearts without forgetting our minds. If you find yourself thinking about Weekend long after you've seen it, you will understand what the characters felt. The movie sometimes becomes too painful to watch, its simplicity bordering dangerously on docudrama without reducing itself to the tackiness of reality shows. However like a failed romance, there is much more to gain from the movie, than the idea of not having it in your life. To watch this movie is to witness love itself being invented. The precision of its storytelling, a reminder that like everything else, love too must fade. The dreamlike quality of its urban spaces an invitation for us to pursue it no matter what.

Sheet-y Saturday

Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.

Whoever is behind the marketing campaign for Shame most certainly knows what he's doing. Each of the film's posters have been more brilliant than the previous and they all sum up the film's concept without recurring to using Michael Fassbender's face. Take this Hungarian poster for example, the way the title is spelled gives it an instantly erotic level, that's mostly marked because it feels so revolting at the same time. It's sensual and exhibitionist, but it also puts into perspective the character of whoever spewed the title out. Can you help but feel deep empathy for his sorrow? The poster was banned upon its release.

Sheet-y Saturday.

Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.

You mean Madge means serious business when her name isn't mentioned in huge, glittery letters anywhere in the poster for W.E. Gotta love the tasteful Tiffany blue and the beautiful still of Andrea and James (who knew the king was so buff?). However the tagline sounds so forced and almost catastrophic, gotta give kudos of sorts to the designer who decided that people would be too stupid to get the title and highlighted the W and E in the characters' names. Really people, most of the ad campaign for this movie has worried about the title and what it means. Wouldn't it have been easier to change it?

The look on Fassy's face! The hand going to his Fassboner! The other hand showing the emptiness next to him! This poster fulfills on the promise made by every other wonderful piece of advertising done for this movie. It's truly breathtaking!

Sheet-y Saturday.

Japanese people have a strange sense of humor and very different aesthetics from us Westerners but I really can't guess what they were trying to go for with this poster for Young Adult. Between the Hello Kitty shirt and the disheveled hair there's really no big contrast. Were they trying to show that Char is up to no good but has potential? Because so far look like lazy Sunday outfits.

The looks on CaMu and Fassy in this poster say it all. They didn't even need to bother saying the name of the movie. What a superb work this is. I am dying to see this one...

Sheet-y Saturday.

Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.

Oh the French, while silly Americans worry about the notion of sex onscreen and Michael Fassbender's cock, the French not only dare to put a male figure on the suggestive poster, but the moving hand implies it's heading to somewhere a bit more risqué. Despite the weird proportions of the body (the too smooth sides make it look like a woman in serious need of Nair) applause to the European distributor for reminding us that we all want to see this movie for the same kinky reasons.

More and more, this movie reminds me of a reverse Mrs. Doubtfire. Also, the drastic change from the original, perfect teaser, to this more common one-sheet makes it seem like the studio is worried it'll only attract nerdy arthousers (which it will...). With that said, Aaron Johnson should be in much more movies. Still wonder what they see in Wasikowska though...

What's your own take on all the knobs in this week's posters?

Sheet-y Saturday.

Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.

This teaser might be the best poster I've seen all year long. Simple but interesting, with a superb use of color (blue takes the eroticism out of the unmade bed) and a spectacularly subdued font, it encompasses everything that makes Shame such a fascinating project. You want to dive into this bed, in the same way you're repulsed by its filthiness. I am dying to see how the larger American audiences, who are historically conservative, receive this movie about sex addiction! 

Ready to get in bed with Fassy and CaMu?

While Watching "The Towering Inferno"...

...and wondering if movies like this (star studded-actual A-listers-multimillion dollar, disaster flicks) could get made nowadays, I also learned a few things.

Fires can get started all of a sudden and have their own will power, it didn't just happen in "Silly Symphonies".

Faye Dunaway and Paul Newman might have inspired "Afternoon Delight"

The taller you build them, the harder they fall. What's G-d's issue with downsizing human achievements in movies? This one makes a point out of having every character point out how indestructible the building is ("Titanic" much?).

Faye Dunaway was HOT!

Jennifer Jones could've played Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

Faye Dunaway in distress was equally hot.

Nobody exuded raw, macho, sexiness and charm like these two.

Damn were they blue.

If a phallic object gets increasingly hotter for a certain amount of time it will end up releasing fluid.

Hunger ****

Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham
Stuart Graham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon

The human body becomes the ultimate weapon for the defense of personal beliefs in Steve McQueen's politically charged, crude masterpiece about the 1981 hunger strike in Belfast's Maze Prison.
The film begins as more and more IRA members are sent to prison, demanding that the British government treats them as political prisoners and gives them different care.
But "there is no such thing as political bombings" commands Margaret Thatcher over the radio, giving the prisoners no choice but to protest in any way they can.
Forms of protest included spreading their feces all over the wall, refusing to wear prison uniforms and eventually the title strike which lasted for more than six months and cost the lives of ten prisoners and just as much prison guards.
It is here where the film centers its attention on Bobby Sands (Fassbender) as he leads the strike and even becomes elected for Parliament as the prisoners battle the British government.
But even if the second half of the plot seems to be biopic material, McQueen's approach to it is so unsentimental that Sands' identity might as well have remained anonymous, without lessening the impact of the film.
As political films go, "Hunger" is by far one of the most complex examples released recently, in terms of how it never chooses sides, but somehow evades being tagged as lazily ambiguous.
When the film starts we meet Davey (Milligan) who has just been taken to Maze and proudly remains true to what his beliefs demand of him.
As we see the treatment he receives from the guards and the complete loss of human dignity he goes through we're led to identify with him.
But by doing this aren't we identifying with someone who has certainly committed a crime and is there for a reason?
The camera also follows guard Raymond Lohan (Graham) as he prepares to go to work and must check his car for bombs and later move in some sort of trance knowing that this might be the day when he dies at work.
We also identify with him, because regardless of what he's made to do, he is after all a man performing tasks his job demands. Later on, during one of the film's most brutal moments we see the naked prisoners take a beating in order to search them for smuggled items (which a previous, fantastically choreographed, scene confirmed as truth), one of the guards, not more than a boy, sneaks to the back where a single tear falls down his cheek amidst hellish noise and screams.
By portraying two sides of a completely unequal battle with documentary like techniques, the film gets to the core of what politics are supposed to be about and beyond those matters it grasps at humanity. Nobody watching this film will be able to just pick who was right or wrong.
In terms of cinematic qualities, "Hunger" also comes as a force to behold. When it starts we somehow expect it to be either the story of the first characters we meet or a quasi-documentary about IRA prisoners.
At first most scenes unfold around the relationship of Davey and Gerry (McMahon) who become cell mates and must deal with the precarious living conditions they're given.
The plot seems to move nowhere during the start, making our imagination plot if this is going to be an escape film or something like "The Green Mile" considering the guards aren't portrayed as villains either.
Then during the first time the camera takes us out of the cells to the visitors hall we see Sands and only then the film begins to focus on him.
As if the camera was being held under the same rules as the prisoners, especially those under the "Five Demands" they requested of the British government, involving free association with other inmates.
Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt's work is magnificent, because every camera movement is key to the action and the underlying meaning of what's occurring.
In what will become the film's trademark moment, and one of the most daring scenes ever filmed, the camera stays still for almost twenty minutes (roughly one quarter of the film's entire running time, brave considering the first quarter is almost completely devoid of dialogue as well).
Bobby has requested a visit from a priest (Cunningham who is splendid) and they discuss the moral, social, political and religious implications of the upcoming hunger strike.
"The Brits have been fucking up everything for centuries" goes the priest as the scene is handled with an informality that makes it both comfortable to see, but uneasy to deal with.
After this, the plot will take a dark turn giving Fassbender a chance to push his thespian skills to the limit. His eventual physical change is almost impossible to watch as his body deteriorates, but his fervent spirit remains the same.
"If God doesn't punish you for suicide he will for stupidity" says the priest, to which a serene Sands replies "and you for arrogance".
Nobody leaves "Hunger" unscathed, not even those who are just being witnesses.