Everyone loves making lists for the new year. That's what new years are all about: lists. Nobody actually cares if you quit smoking, you just have to put it on your list...
All this end-of-the-decade listmaking makes me want to make lists. I don't know how many hours I've spent watching movies this decade, probably something in the region of "a fuck of a lot," so I guess that's as good a place to start as any. So, in no particular order, here we go.
TOP 10 FILMS OF THE DECADE
Waking Life- (Richard Linklater, 2001) When I saw this film I was 22, and I remember feeling as if all the meaningful conversations I'd ever had in my life had somehow made it into this one film. I haven't seen Waking Life in a long time... I wonder if, with all my newfound maturite, I'd feel differently about it now...
Nobody Knows- (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2004) I was introduced to Kore-eda through After Life, a film that posed a simple question in the most beautiful way. Nobody Knows is another incredible film... but it doesn't make me anyway near as happy.
The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)- I fell in love with these characters... so much so that in the last five minutes of the film I had a mild moment of anxiety because I really couldn't bear the thought of leaving them.
In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)-
The last great Wong Kar-Wai film, starring the only Asian man I'd ever want to bag and the only (other) Asian woman I'd ever want to be. This film captures the class and elegance of 1960s Hong Kong like no other...
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, 2004)- We all know Kaufman is a tortured soul, trapped between laughing at himself and the world.. and wanting to stab us with his corrosively bitter tears. Eternal... catches Kaufman in his middle phase, post-Malkovich chortle and pre-Synedoche self-loathing.
The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)- inspired a whole phase of my life governed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet logic- coincidence and happenstance = destiny.
Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)- Art film at its artiest. Zhang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle attack us with gorgeous colour and a pretty clever story too. Amazing cast.
Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)- I saw this film during TIFF at 9:30 in the morning. Not the most light-hearted way to start your day but anything that can make you feel that fucked up is a pretty brilliant piece of work.
Away We Go (Sam Mendes, 2009)- I'm not sure I will agree with this in years to come, but I loved this film. Maybe it's because it was made for my demographic, or maybe I've just gotten really soft and sappy since leaving my twenties but when the credits rolled, well... you know that raised eye look you have when you look at super cute kittens or puppies? Yeah. Like, for days.
TOP 10 DOCs OF THE DECADE
In the Realms of the Unreal (Jessica Yu, 2004)- A brilliantly realised and humanely painted portrait of the secret life of Henry Darger.
Dark Days (Marc Singer, 2000)- A doc capturing the lives of people living in the underground tunnels of New York City. Great premise, with some quirky characters that can lift you up, and heart wrenching stories that will slam you down into the dark dark dark...
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005)- It was a great decade for music docs, but this was the only one that made my big burly lumberjack friend cry until his beard was soppy.
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)- Oh Herzog...
Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002) - Super cute kids that know how to spell words I've never heard of. Prior to this film coming out, people used to make fun of me for watching spelling bees on TSN, but suddenly it became all the rage. Told you so.
Our Daily Bread (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2005)- I can't believe I watched this and didn't immediately convert to veganism. This film is a hauntingly silent condemnation of the food industry. There is no soundtrack and no dialogue, just a slow panning camera and crisp, beautifully staged shots of some of the most horrific things I've ever seen.
Bus 174 (Jose Padilha, 2002)- Another TIFF pick. A brilliantly staged documentary that takes a snapshot of a bus hijacking in Rio de Janeiro and examines the situation from all angles. Padhila cleverly pokes and prods at all our assumptions, and at every turn offers up another perspective that prevents us from ever drawing easy conclusions.
The Exhibited: A Lars von Trier project (Jesper Jargill, 2000) - I talk about this film so much that I feel like I've thunked it up myself.
OK.
So, there's a house in Copenhagen that Trier and his gang use as a theatre space, 50 actors and 100 rooms. Each room in the house has a set of lights- red, blue, green, yellow etc. Each of the actors are given a skeletal outline of a character. The actors are instructed that, when the lights change in the house, their character's mood will change - blue = angry, red = desperate etc. - but each character will respond differently to any given color.
Meanwhile...
There are these ants in New Mexico. There's a camera pointed on the ants and the feed is transmitted back to Copenhagen. von Trier and his team split his image of the ants into sections on the screen. When the majority of the ants hang out in the top left corner, for example, the lights in the house turn green. When they mosey on over to the centre right, the lights in the house turn yellow. And so it goes...
Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jareki, 2003)- A doc that proved that the best documentaries are the ones that directors never intend to make.
Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal, 2006)- Industrial waste never looked so gorgeous...
midnight fare of the decade
Dainipponjin (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2007)- You need about 20 minutes of patience but.... AWESoME AWESOME AWESOME (gushy gushertonawesome)
Undead (the Speirig brothers, 2003)- The very last film to screen at the Uptown Theatre, I watched this with the best zombie-loving crowd in Toronto. What better way to cap things off than with a deadpan Eastwood-esque hero and zombie fish?
Gozu (Takashi Miike, 2003) Quotes from my Gozu shirt: "Bloody fingernails yakuza dog pissing in public Nagoya dead end Can you incant the spirit? love hotel electric shock liquor shop mother's milk A friend in need is a friend indeed whip 2nd floor virgin The answer is "time"
... I think this was my last Miike film
Three Extremes trilogy: Dumplings (Fruit Chan, 2004)- The first installment of this horror trilogy explores the old Chinese tradition of fetuses as an elixer for everlasting beauty. The vanity and materilism of Hong Kong culture on display is almost as scary as the film's premise.
Naisu no mori aka Funky Forrest (Katsuhito Ishii, 2005)- You have to appreciate a movie so self-aware of its complete weirdo-ness that it includes a generous 2-minute intermission after an hour-and-a-half of viewing... right around the time your stoner high might need a little top-up.
Bubba Ho Tep (Don Coscarelli, 2002)- Elvis, a black JFK, mummies and a whole lotta awesome.
Dans Ma Peau (Marina de Van, 2002)- I have a bad reputation of taking the wrong friends to see films at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, a month-long orgy of horror, kung-fu and "extreme" cinema. One friend passed out. Another puked. This was the puker film. Despite this, I will defend this film to the death.
A story about a woman taking the final steps toward a picture perfect life- marriage, job, house- who goes on this shadowed journey of experimenting with self mutilation and auto-cannibalism. Those two points may not sound like they compute, but it made perfect sense to me- the "show" of the woman everyone wanted her to be, and the aching curiosity to- literally- dig into herself to see if that was really the stuff she was made of. The most clever thing about the film is that, despite its premise, we never actually see any of the mutilation- it's all implied by our imaginations. It all happens right below the bottom of the screen, which means you can't see it and can't bear to see it... but kind of want to see it. Brilliant, that is.
I'll throw a few shorts into the mix, here...
Egg (Benh Zeitlin, 2005)- My introduction to Benh Zeitlin and Court 13, for which I am eternally grateful. A twisted retelling of the Moby Dick myth, with pirates, chickens and an awesome soundtrack.
Fallen Art (Tomek Baginski, 2004)- I love this film. Read my rant about it and watch it here.
Death to the Tinman (Ray Tintori, 2007)- My second favourite offering from Court 13. Their bone dry brand of humour really makes me chortle. Watch it on youtube or click on the link for the whole shebang.
shorts also worth mentioning but I'm too lazy to think of 10...
Patterns trilogy- Jamie Travis
Never Like the First Time- Jonas Odell
La Regulateur- Philippe Grammatiopoulus
I met the walrus- Josh Raskin
Hardwood- Hubert Davis
Ryan- Chris Landreth
Avant Petalos Grillados- Velasco Broca
All this end-of-the-decade listmaking makes me want to make lists. I don't know how many hours I've spent watching movies this decade, probably something in the region of "a fuck of a lot," so I guess that's as good a place to start as any. So, in no particular order, here we go.
TOP 10 FILMS OF THE DECADE
Waking Life- (Richard Linklater, 2001) When I saw this film I was 22, and I remember feeling as if all the meaningful conversations I'd ever had in my life had somehow made it into this one film. I haven't seen Waking Life in a long time... I wonder if, with all my newfound maturite, I'd feel differently about it now...Nobody Knows- (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2004) I was introduced to Kore-eda through After Life, a film that posed a simple question in the most beautiful way. Nobody Knows is another incredible film... but it doesn't make me anyway near as happy.
The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)- I fell in love with these characters... so much so that in the last five minutes of the film I had a mild moment of anxiety because I really couldn't bear the thought of leaving them.
In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)-
The last great Wong Kar-Wai film, starring the only Asian man I'd ever want to bag and the only (other) Asian woman I'd ever want to be. This film captures the class and elegance of 1960s Hong Kong like no other...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, 2004)- We all know Kaufman is a tortured soul, trapped between laughing at himself and the world.. and wanting to stab us with his corrosively bitter tears. Eternal... catches Kaufman in his middle phase, post-Malkovich chortle and pre-Synedoche self-loathing.
The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)- inspired a whole phase of my life governed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet logic- coincidence and happenstance = destiny.
Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)- Art film at its artiest. Zhang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle attack us with gorgeous colour and a pretty clever story too. Amazing cast.
Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)- I saw this film during TIFF at 9:30 in the morning. Not the most light-hearted way to start your day but anything that can make you feel that fucked up is a pretty brilliant piece of work.Away We Go (Sam Mendes, 2009)- I'm not sure I will agree with this in years to come, but I loved this film. Maybe it's because it was made for my demographic, or maybe I've just gotten really soft and sappy since leaving my twenties but when the credits rolled, well... you know that raised eye look you have when you look at super cute kittens or puppies? Yeah. Like, for days.
TOP 10 DOCs OF THE DECADE
In the Realms of the Unreal (Jessica Yu, 2004)- A brilliantly realised and humanely painted portrait of the secret life of Henry Darger.Dark Days (Marc Singer, 2000)- A doc capturing the lives of people living in the underground tunnels of New York City. Great premise, with some quirky characters that can lift you up, and heart wrenching stories that will slam you down into the dark dark dark...
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005)- It was a great decade for music docs, but this was the only one that made my big burly lumberjack friend cry until his beard was soppy.
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)- Oh Herzog...
Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002) - Super cute kids that know how to spell words I've never heard of. Prior to this film coming out, people used to make fun of me for watching spelling bees on TSN, but suddenly it became all the rage. Told you so.
Our Daily Bread (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2005)- I can't believe I watched this and didn't immediately convert to veganism. This film is a hauntingly silent condemnation of the food industry. There is no soundtrack and no dialogue, just a slow panning camera and crisp, beautifully staged shots of some of the most horrific things I've ever seen.Bus 174 (Jose Padilha, 2002)- Another TIFF pick. A brilliantly staged documentary that takes a snapshot of a bus hijacking in Rio de Janeiro and examines the situation from all angles. Padhila cleverly pokes and prods at all our assumptions, and at every turn offers up another perspective that prevents us from ever drawing easy conclusions.
The Exhibited: A Lars von Trier project (Jesper Jargill, 2000) - I talk about this film so much that I feel like I've thunked it up myself.
OK.
So, there's a house in Copenhagen that Trier and his gang use as a theatre space, 50 actors and 100 rooms. Each room in the house has a set of lights- red, blue, green, yellow etc. Each of the actors are given a skeletal outline of a character. The actors are instructed that, when the lights change in the house, their character's mood will change - blue = angry, red = desperate etc. - but each character will respond differently to any given color.
Meanwhile...
There are these ants in New Mexico. There's a camera pointed on the ants and the feed is transmitted back to Copenhagen. von Trier and his team split his image of the ants into sections on the screen. When the majority of the ants hang out in the top left corner, for example, the lights in the house turn green. When they mosey on over to the centre right, the lights in the house turn yellow. And so it goes...
Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jareki, 2003)- A doc that proved that the best documentaries are the ones that directors never intend to make.
Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal, 2006)- Industrial waste never looked so gorgeous...midnight fare of the decade
Dainipponjin (Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2007)- You need about 20 minutes of patience but.... AWESoME AWESOME AWESOME (gushy gushertonawesome)Undead (the Speirig brothers, 2003)- The very last film to screen at the Uptown Theatre, I watched this with the best zombie-loving crowd in Toronto. What better way to cap things off than with a deadpan Eastwood-esque hero and zombie fish?
Gozu (Takashi Miike, 2003) Quotes from my Gozu shirt: "Bloody fingernails yakuza dog pissing in public Nagoya dead end Can you incant the spirit? love hotel electric shock liquor shop mother's milk A friend in need is a friend indeed whip 2nd floor virgin The answer is "time"
... I think this was my last Miike film
Three Extremes trilogy: Dumplings (Fruit Chan, 2004)- The first installment of this horror trilogy explores the old Chinese tradition of fetuses as an elixer for everlasting beauty. The vanity and materilism of Hong Kong culture on display is almost as scary as the film's premise.
Naisu no mori aka Funky Forrest (Katsuhito Ishii, 2005)- You have to appreciate a movie so self-aware of its complete weirdo-ness that it includes a generous 2-minute intermission after an hour-and-a-half of viewing... right around the time your stoner high might need a little top-up.
Bubba Ho Tep (Don Coscarelli, 2002)- Elvis, a black JFK, mummies and a whole lotta awesome.
Dans Ma Peau (Marina de Van, 2002)- I have a bad reputation of taking the wrong friends to see films at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, a month-long orgy of horror, kung-fu and "extreme" cinema. One friend passed out. Another puked. This was the puker film. Despite this, I will defend this film to the death.A story about a woman taking the final steps toward a picture perfect life- marriage, job, house- who goes on this shadowed journey of experimenting with self mutilation and auto-cannibalism. Those two points may not sound like they compute, but it made perfect sense to me- the "show" of the woman everyone wanted her to be, and the aching curiosity to- literally- dig into herself to see if that was really the stuff she was made of. The most clever thing about the film is that, despite its premise, we never actually see any of the mutilation- it's all implied by our imaginations. It all happens right below the bottom of the screen, which means you can't see it and can't bear to see it... but kind of want to see it. Brilliant, that is.
I'll throw a few shorts into the mix, here...
Egg (Benh Zeitlin, 2005)- My introduction to Benh Zeitlin and Court 13, for which I am eternally grateful. A twisted retelling of the Moby Dick myth, with pirates, chickens and an awesome soundtrack.
Fallen Art (Tomek Baginski, 2004)- I love this film. Read my rant about it and watch it here.
Death to the Tinman (Ray Tintori, 2007)- My second favourite offering from Court 13. Their bone dry brand of humour really makes me chortle. Watch it on youtube or click on the link for the whole shebang.
shorts also worth mentioning but I'm too lazy to think of 10...
Patterns trilogy- Jamie Travis
Never Like the First Time- Jonas Odell
La Regulateur- Philippe Grammatiopoulus
I met the walrus- Josh Raskin
Hardwood- Hubert Davis
Ryan- Chris Landreth
Avant Petalos Grillados- Velasco Broca
