MY FAVORITE FILMS OF THE DECADE (2000-09)
inspired by Michael Kelleher
Action: Prachya Pinkaew’s “Ong Bak.” This movie not only restored my faith in contemporary action/martial arts flicks, but in motor vehicle chase scenes--a faith I never even had! See the tuk-tuk chase here, but turn the sound down: some yahoo overlayed it with the Benny Hill theme song. (Not that there's anything wrong with that ... but ...)
Agit-prop: Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Love him or hate him, Michael Moore is doing more than most artists of any stripe in this country have or ever will do to change the world, albeit not systemically. This film should have helped tip the 2004 election. I'm embarrassed, but not ashamed, to say that I honestly thought it would.
Animation: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s “Persepolis.” Oh, okay; technically, “Spirited Away” is a far better film than this, and the filmed version of Satrapi's story has been said to demonize the Irani people in a way that the comic book version doesn't. But it haunted my memory in a way few films have, not even Miyazaki's best. Too, I'm sure it led a lot of people to the comic who'd not have read it otherwise.
Arty: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Mysterious Object at Noon.” The single most influential film of the decade (on me, anyway). I had no idea where it was going at any point--and I mean that in the best way possible. Mind-altering and bedrock rooted in a real time and place in a way that I wish more poetry would aspire to.
Autobio: Jonathan Caouette’s “Tarnation.” The exploitative nature of this movie would have creeped me out were it not for the fact that the filmmaker here is exploiting his own horrific (and infinitely fascinating) life. Also, Film needs more autobio. What up, Film?
Biopic: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s “American Splendor.” I liked the Harvey Milk and Edith Piaf biopics very much, but they both suffered from biopicitis: Protagonist = puppet being pulled from one Major Life Event to the Next. This movie solved that problem in spades. Pekar fans tend to pooh-pooh it, arguing that it pitches a nicer, more well-adjusted Pekar than the comic books. I have all of the comics, going back to issue #1 (1976), and although I have only seen the film once, I thought it really captured the spirit of Pekar's work.
Chick flick: Jae-eun Jeong’s “Take Care of My Cat.” Let's face it: Korean film owned the first decade of the 21st century. And it wasn't even close. This quiet but amazing film is, I'll argue, as good--certainly as memorable--as anything from Ozu. (And I love Ozu.)
Collage: Brandon Downing’s “Dark Brandon: the Filmi.” Brandon's a friend and fellow flarflist mate. So color me biased. It doesn't make this double-DVD set rawq any less, though. I've seen a fair amount of collage film for someone who is neither a filmmaker himself nor so much as an Anthology Film Archives or Millennium Film Workshop member, and this is my favorite work of them all.
Comedy: Nikhil Advani’s “Chandni Chowk to China.” I saw this at the ill-fated Eagle Theater in Jackson Heights with Nada and Brandon (see above); we were laughing so hard throughout the first half that I began to wonder if we were all still on Planet Earth. There was a point during the film when I worried that I had broken something inside me; I couldn't breathe and was starting to feel like I might be losing consciousness. Granted, the second half of the film lags some as the plot gets worked out. (The fate of most film comedies.) But the first half may have been the most I've laughed as an adult, period.
Cop drama: Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s “Infernal Affairs” 1, 2 & 3. I've seen the whole trilogy--all 5-1/2 hours or so--three times now, and it just keeps getting better. Imagine if Philip K. Dick wrote the screenplay for "The Godfather."
Documentary: Agnès Varda’s “The Gleaners and I.” I can't remember much about this film other than I absolutely loved it when I saw it, and have been dying to see it again. I do remember it being rather life-affirming in a way that most documentary isn't. (And I love documentaries.)
Drama: Lee Chang-dong’s “Secret Sunshine.” I don't even know where to begin with this one. One of the most emotionally devastating films I've ever seen. A widow moves to her departed husband's home town, where her son is soon kidnapped and killed. Most of the film deals with the emotional aftermath of this, as one of the men from the town who falls in love with the widow tries--unsuccessfully--to console her after she loses her son. Lee also directed two other films that are among the decade's best: "Peppermint Candy" and "Oasis."
Experimental: Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth’s “The Five Obstructions.” I'm not sure if I liked the movie as much as the conversations it inspired later, but what great conversations!
Family drama: Sion Sono’s “Noriko’s Dinner Table.” I just watched this with Nada a night or two ago. The follow-up film to "Suicide Club" (see Horror). But not really. A chilling deconstruction of roles that put me in mind of Donna Hathaway.
Gangster: Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Omkara.” If gangster films ought to be stylized and cool, with plots swiped from Shakespeare plots, then this here film is a pretty good argument.
Historical drama: Lajos Koltai’s “Fateless.” I didn't think I would ever get anything out of yet another Holocaust movie. Apparently, I was wrong. Much of the film's power stems from the way Koltai addresses not just the Holocaust, but its emotional/psychic aftermath.
Horror: Sion Sono’s “Suicide Club.” Scary on multiple levels, while you're watching it, and much later, as it continues to gnaw at your imagination. The fact that so much of the film is unresolved, and that there is no one locus "of" horror, is a great part of its strength.
Low budget: Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop.” It was this or his first film, "Man Push Cart," and I think "Chop Shop" won only because I saw it in a theater as opposed to on DVD. I think Bahrani lives down the street from us off Coney Island Avenue. He is my new local hero.
Monster movie: Bong Joon-ho’s “The Host.” Admittedly, I haven't seen all that many monster movies from the decade, just this one and "Kong." I liked it well enough.
Music documentary: Ondi Timoner’s “DiG!” I hated everyone involved in this film, passionately. I hated the music. Everyone struck me as either a horrible poser, just plain talentless dumb-ass, self-destructive whack-job, or PR creep. (The American music industry, basically.) But, god, what a great dramatic story that unfolds!
Musical: Guy Maddin’s “The Saddest Music in the World.” My favorite Guy Maddin movie.
Novel-to-film: Mira Nair’s “Vanity Fair.” I loved how filthy and exotic everything was. Except for India. Heh, heh.
Police procedural: Bong Joon-Ho’s “Memories of Murder.” I've lost count of how many times I've watched this thing.
Political documentary: Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” I never want to see this film again, and can't imagine any reason why I'd need to. But I appreciated how relevant it was, and more so that it, point-by-point, laid out some solutions.
Queer: Li Yu’s “Fish and Elephant.” Just the fact that it was made in mainland China makes me in awe of this film.
Re-release: K. Asif’s “Mughal-E-Azam” (colorized with remixed sound and music). Jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
Revenge: Park Chan-wook’s “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.” The best of Park Chan-wook's revenge trilogy. And that's saying a lot. Lee Young-ae is great in this.
Romantic comedy: Jong-kwan Kwon’s “Sad Movie.” The premise of this film is just about everything: Want to break up with someone? Hire someone to deliver the bad news.
Romantic drama: Akihiko Shiota’s “Moonlight Whispers.” Incredibly well-acted and paced film about two teens' slow descent or awakening, take your pick, into S&M.
Science fiction: Byung-chun Min’s “Natural City.” A Korean remake of sorts of "Bladerunner."
Social realism: Tsai Ming-Liang’s “I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone.” Cinema verite at its slowest (and most rewarding).
Splatter: Miike Takashi’s “Ichi the Killer.” I should hate myself for loving this film, it is so horrificly violent without a trace of socially redeeming value. But ... I don't. And I'm pretty sure I'll be watching it for the fifth time within the next month or two.
Surreal: Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, and Shunichiro Miki’s “Funky Forest.” While this film didn't hold up for me on second viewing, the first viewing was like seeing God.
Suspense: Hong-jin Na’s “The Chaser.” The most suspenseful film I've seen since that French flick about the guys driving explosives up twisty, bumpy mountain roads in rickety trucks.
Tear-jerker: Hae-sung Song’s “Failan.” I cried for a full 15 minutes after this thing ended. It starts out seeming like it's a gangster flick. It isn't, really.
War: Park Chan-wook’s “Joint Security Area.” Okay, can you tell I'm flagging a bit. This isn't a war movie so much as a cold war movie. It's great. Trust me.
Western: Kim Jee-woon’s “The Good, the Bad, the Weird.” Korean cinema's answer to "Sholay."
Violence: Pou-Soi Cheang’s “Dog Bite Dog.” Most visceral film of recent memory.
Zombie: Su-chang Kong’s “G.P. 506.” I don't especially have an interest in zombie movies. I liked this one quite a bit, though.
posted by Gary @ 5:12 AM
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