Here we are firmly entrenched in awards season, as we careen towards the Oscars, through the Golden Globes, the SAG awards, the DGA awards, the (insert metropolitan city here) Critics Choice awards, the PGA awards, and whatever else you can think of. I figured it was time to drop my top ten list of the year.
First a warning; this list is not reflective of anything other than the films that spoke to me this year. That affected me in some way. What was most interesting about this year in film, aside from how totally crappy most of it was, is that all the films on my list stuck with me well after the fact, something many movies don’t do for me.
And looking over my list I get another striking thing, a lot of these movies, all deal with similar themes, fears, and obsessions. For me, 2009 in film dealt primarily with how we humans connect with, or don’t connect with other people. Beware of spoilers.
Enough of my preamble here it is my top ten of 2009:
10.) Watchmen – I’m still flummoxed as to how this totally anti-commercial, totally anti Hollywood movie made it onto movie screens funded by a major studio. Zach Snyder made a dark, disturbing movie looking at how it may not be a good thing to have super heroes. A somewhat flawed but extremely ambitious film. And the opening five minutes possibly are the best five minutes on film this year.
9.) Up – Does Pixar even have a bad movie in them? I mean seriously. Here’s a sweet, fun tale about an old man, a boy and a house. Another movie with an opening so incredible it makes the list simply for that.
8.) Avatar – It’s really no secret that I loved this movie. Yes, the story and characters are simple, but on the whole I found it to be a well-told story, and I was totally engaged from minute one. Yes the special effects are spectacular but the heart and soul really belongs to Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. James Cameron has made the Star Wars of our generation.
7.) Star Trek/The Hangover - J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek takes what made the original Trek work(the characters) and then adds a serious layer of fun to the proceedings. What makes it best film worthy though is that the characters are so well realized and acted that these characters, this ship feels fresh and new again. Todd Philips The Hangover takes the Apatow style comedy we’ve grown all too used to, and adds something unexpected, a mystery. A brilliant hilarious character study.
6.) District 9 – An extremely effective allegory; about, racism and trust, oh, and it has kickass action to boot! Sharlito Copely is amazing in Neil Blomkamps fully realized alternate history that will have you; disgusted, laughing, and on the edge of your seat.
5.) Zombieland/Adventureland – An impossibly well structured coming of age story involving zombies. Add a hilarious and heartbreaking turn from Woody Harrelson and Zombieland makes the list! Adventureland is another coming of age story but more realistic. What makes the script work is how complex its characters are, a totally unexpected touching movie.
4.) 500 Days of Summer – A movie about being in love with someone who is not exactly on the same page. A brilliant, clever, modern take on relationships. Zoey Deschenal and Joseph Gordon Levitt are brilliant as the two lovers in question. The script by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber jumps backwards and forwards through time, making the movie surprising, and Marc Webb’s direction is grounded with a hint of whimsy.
3.) Inglourious Basterds – In Quentin Tarantino’s bloody World War II fantasy cinema is a weapon both literally and figuratively. Possibly Tarantino’s most mature film, with some of the tensest scenes ever. It makes World War II surprising, and interestingly enough, fun. With a breakthrough performance by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz you’ve got a sucker punch of a movie.
2.) The Hurt Locker – Speaking of sucker punches. Kathryn Bigelow’s story about an IED bomb squad in Iraq is possibly the tensest movie I’ve seen. Bigelow imploys Hitchcockian levels of suspense to make a story of why people go to war. Jeremey Renner is fantastic as the warrior addicted to the drug of war. Possibly the manliest movie ever made, and the best Iraq war film, mainly because it is always first and foremost a thriller. For my money this movie should win the best picture Oscar.
1.) Up in the Air – However, for me this movie just hit home. Jason Reitman’s film about how much of life is becoming impersonal and the man who changes his heart and suddenly wants to connect, with the backdrop of the anxiety of recession and losing your job. Make this a funny and bittersweet movie, which feels like a modern Preston Sturges movie.
Runners up:
Black Dynamite – I don’t think I laughed that hard in a movie theater.
Away We Go – A sweet, funny, charming movie.
Drag Me to Hell – Sam Raimi’s return to horror is hilarious scary and totally awesome.
Moon – Featuring an amazing performance by Sam Rockwell, this sci fi flick in the vein of 2001 is weird, loopy, and pretty darn cool.
Me and Orson Welles – I was totally charmed by this movie.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox – Another utterly charming movie.
Now, there are a couple movies I have not seen: Invictus, Precious, The Lovely Bones, The Messenger, or A Serious Man, An Education. And while I expect to like or seriously love these movies, I don’t think it will change my list one way or another.
Showing posts with label watchmen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watchmen. Show all posts
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Monday, March 9, 2009
Watchmen
Imagine a 130 million dollar superhero studio film that has:
1. No superheroics.
2. Three different first person narrations.
3. Flashbacks within flashbacks.
4. A male character who is nude throughout the entire film.
5. A story that covers 40 years of history.
6. No pat answers to anything
7. OH and no happy ending.
Now, imagine you’ve just walked out of “Batman and Robin” in 1997, and you’ve just said to yourself “Wow, that movie was a piece of dog feces”. Then up comes some random time traveler from the year 2009 and says to you “In twelve years the studio that produced this movie, will produce the movie I just described”. You’d laugh in their face, and possibly hit them.
I first read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel Watchmen my freshman year of high school this would be 1999-2000. I think I picked it up because I was reading on the internet that it was finally going to be made into a movie, or it was because Terry Gilliam had been involved in the project, and Gilliam is one of my favorite filmmakers so I decided I’d pick up the book. I hated it the first time through. I found it, long, overblown, ultimately rudderless, and I also found it boring. I got what it was trying to do, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. I mean, yeah Miller’s work deconstructed the superhero myth, but he at least had superhero fights in it! Was what I thought at the time. About two years later, for one reason or another I picked up Watchmen again. And I loved it. I suddenly GOT it, I understood the deconstruction of the superhero, I understood WHY the heroes in the novel never did anything particularly heroic, why there were no super villains, I was supremely affected by Dr. Manhattan’s existential musings on the nature of human beings. I got all the little jokes in there. Isn’t it funny how a work of art can completely change because of life experiences?
When I heard that Zach Snyder was going to direct Watchmen, I was quite terrified. I found his first film, the remake of Dawn of the Dead quite good, but his second film 300, was quite possibly one of the worst movies of the past ten years. I was scared that the adaptation of Watchmen would fall apart in a merge of hyper stylized CGI, and random gratuitous violence. I was positive he would get the material visually, but the one thing Snyder lacks as a director, was subtlety.
For those not in the know, Watchmen is a twelve issue comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, published in 1985 it is a deconstruction of superheroes. The question it ultimately poses is this: “If superheroes existed in the real world, what would have happened?” The graphic novel spans 40 years of this alternate history, it flashes back, has flashbacks within flashbacks, extra text material appended to the back of each issue. The novel has a comic book within the comic book that a character is reading. It has a ton of minor characters, acting as the Greek chorus to the apocalyptic superhero nightmare going on around them. If you are a screenwriter and you are tasked to not only adapt Watchmen to the screen, but also conform it to studio standards, I think I would have a minor heart attack. Which is why the screen adaptation has been in development hell for so long. In actuality it would be an interesting piece to have seen adapted to the stage.
Now here we are…it’s 2009 and the director of 300 has made Watchmen. All I can really say is…WOW. From the opening frames of the film where the superhero Comedian is brutally murdered to the strains of Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable”. I was drawn right in. Then the opening credits began, I can’t talk about these opening titles enough, hands down it is one of the best sequences ever put to film. It is a montage of images starting in 1939 and leading to the alternate 1985 of the film, iconic images from our actual history, the World War II V day Kiss, the Kennedy Assassination, the moon landing, Studio 54, Andy Warhol, with the question behind it “What if superheroes existed during this time”. Set to the strains a very iconic song. The montage is stirring, moving, and funny.
Quick rundown of the plot: It is 1985 superheroes have existed since 1939, but recently they have been banned, except for two heroes who work within the government The Comedian a kind of mercenary soldier(think Nick Fury or Captain America), and Dr. Manhattan, the only superhero who has any super powers created in an atomic lab accident he is a blue glowing naked god-like being. And because the U.S. has this being on their side it allowed the U.S. to win the war in Vietnam, which in turn allowed Nixon to be president for three consecutive terms in office. Even so, the U.S. and Russia are still in an arms race and are more than likely going to nuclear war with each other. And the doomsday clock is inching ever closer to midnight. Amidst this someone is killing off the former superheroes, starting with the Comedian. Who is the murderer? Is there a bigger conspiracy? And what does it mean for the fate of the world.
I loved Watchmen. The film is powerful, affecting, funny, campy, and ultimately human. It worked as a film, not just an adaptation, but as a film. Yes there have been some changes, and cuts; some obvious (cutting the comic within a comic would be the first thing to go), and some not so obvious the specifics of the MacGuffin have changed, but thematically it’s all the same, and that’s all that really matters.
Across the board, the cast just nails it. Patrick Wilson brings the schlubby good natured, fighting paunchiness of Nite Owl II brilliantly to life. Malin Ackerman makes Silk Spectre II interesting, which she’s really not in the novel, let’s face it she’s really annoying in the book. Matthew Goode as Ozymandias is the actor who has been getting the most flack for his performance. I think the actor is too young for the role, but that being said he brings a dark sense of tragedy to the film, that the character had in the novel, but it’s not exactly the forefront of his character. Watch as he delivers the line “I feel every single life…” it’s heartbreaking and pompous in the right ways.
But there are three huge standouts in the cast, that just bring everything they have to their roles; Jackie Earle Haley as the vigilante known as Rorschach is terrifyingly brilliant, he keeps you on your toes and watch his delivery on “I’m not imprisoned here with you, you’re trapped in here with me” it’s chilling. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian makes an extremely unlikable character, human. Here is a man who has done terrible things in the name of his country, and just as a person, he sees the dark underbelly of humanity, he is Kurtz from Heart of Darkness. It’s an amazing performance, and to be fair if his performance did not work the film would fall completely apart. Billy Crudup’s shy meditative voice is perfect for Dr. Manhattan the blue naked god, underneath the digital effects and motion capture, comes a sad haunting performance. When Dr. Manhattan finds himself tired of humanity and goes to Mars, Crudup brings the world weary sense of Hamlet to the role, “I have of late, but wherefore not know have lost all my mirth…”.
Okay, so I’ve just gushed all over this movie, but it’s not perfect. While on the whole the film looks absolutely stunning, some of the aging makeup really doesn’t work, and the guy playing Nixon, looks very cartoony, which I think was done on purpose, but it doesn’t exactly work.
All that being said, the movie is very good. I say see it, see it in the movie theater don’t wait for this one on DVD, see it. This is an important film and the things that it has to say about the use and abuse of power, do the ends justify the means, and human nature are important. Don’t forget this is coming from a 130 million dollar studio superhero film, and that my friends, is an amazing achievement.
1. No superheroics.
2. Three different first person narrations.
3. Flashbacks within flashbacks.
4. A male character who is nude throughout the entire film.
5. A story that covers 40 years of history.
6. No pat answers to anything
7. OH and no happy ending.
Now, imagine you’ve just walked out of “Batman and Robin” in 1997, and you’ve just said to yourself “Wow, that movie was a piece of dog feces”. Then up comes some random time traveler from the year 2009 and says to you “In twelve years the studio that produced this movie, will produce the movie I just described”. You’d laugh in their face, and possibly hit them.
I first read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel Watchmen my freshman year of high school this would be 1999-2000. I think I picked it up because I was reading on the internet that it was finally going to be made into a movie, or it was because Terry Gilliam had been involved in the project, and Gilliam is one of my favorite filmmakers so I decided I’d pick up the book. I hated it the first time through. I found it, long, overblown, ultimately rudderless, and I also found it boring. I got what it was trying to do, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. I mean, yeah Miller’s work deconstructed the superhero myth, but he at least had superhero fights in it! Was what I thought at the time. About two years later, for one reason or another I picked up Watchmen again. And I loved it. I suddenly GOT it, I understood the deconstruction of the superhero, I understood WHY the heroes in the novel never did anything particularly heroic, why there were no super villains, I was supremely affected by Dr. Manhattan’s existential musings on the nature of human beings. I got all the little jokes in there. Isn’t it funny how a work of art can completely change because of life experiences?
When I heard that Zach Snyder was going to direct Watchmen, I was quite terrified. I found his first film, the remake of Dawn of the Dead quite good, but his second film 300, was quite possibly one of the worst movies of the past ten years. I was scared that the adaptation of Watchmen would fall apart in a merge of hyper stylized CGI, and random gratuitous violence. I was positive he would get the material visually, but the one thing Snyder lacks as a director, was subtlety.
For those not in the know, Watchmen is a twelve issue comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, published in 1985 it is a deconstruction of superheroes. The question it ultimately poses is this: “If superheroes existed in the real world, what would have happened?” The graphic novel spans 40 years of this alternate history, it flashes back, has flashbacks within flashbacks, extra text material appended to the back of each issue. The novel has a comic book within the comic book that a character is reading. It has a ton of minor characters, acting as the Greek chorus to the apocalyptic superhero nightmare going on around them. If you are a screenwriter and you are tasked to not only adapt Watchmen to the screen, but also conform it to studio standards, I think I would have a minor heart attack. Which is why the screen adaptation has been in development hell for so long. In actuality it would be an interesting piece to have seen adapted to the stage.
Now here we are…it’s 2009 and the director of 300 has made Watchmen. All I can really say is…WOW. From the opening frames of the film where the superhero Comedian is brutally murdered to the strains of Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable”. I was drawn right in. Then the opening credits began, I can’t talk about these opening titles enough, hands down it is one of the best sequences ever put to film. It is a montage of images starting in 1939 and leading to the alternate 1985 of the film, iconic images from our actual history, the World War II V day Kiss, the Kennedy Assassination, the moon landing, Studio 54, Andy Warhol, with the question behind it “What if superheroes existed during this time”. Set to the strains a very iconic song. The montage is stirring, moving, and funny.
Quick rundown of the plot: It is 1985 superheroes have existed since 1939, but recently they have been banned, except for two heroes who work within the government The Comedian a kind of mercenary soldier(think Nick Fury or Captain America), and Dr. Manhattan, the only superhero who has any super powers created in an atomic lab accident he is a blue glowing naked god-like being. And because the U.S. has this being on their side it allowed the U.S. to win the war in Vietnam, which in turn allowed Nixon to be president for three consecutive terms in office. Even so, the U.S. and Russia are still in an arms race and are more than likely going to nuclear war with each other. And the doomsday clock is inching ever closer to midnight. Amidst this someone is killing off the former superheroes, starting with the Comedian. Who is the murderer? Is there a bigger conspiracy? And what does it mean for the fate of the world.
I loved Watchmen. The film is powerful, affecting, funny, campy, and ultimately human. It worked as a film, not just an adaptation, but as a film. Yes there have been some changes, and cuts; some obvious (cutting the comic within a comic would be the first thing to go), and some not so obvious the specifics of the MacGuffin have changed, but thematically it’s all the same, and that’s all that really matters.
Across the board, the cast just nails it. Patrick Wilson brings the schlubby good natured, fighting paunchiness of Nite Owl II brilliantly to life. Malin Ackerman makes Silk Spectre II interesting, which she’s really not in the novel, let’s face it she’s really annoying in the book. Matthew Goode as Ozymandias is the actor who has been getting the most flack for his performance. I think the actor is too young for the role, but that being said he brings a dark sense of tragedy to the film, that the character had in the novel, but it’s not exactly the forefront of his character. Watch as he delivers the line “I feel every single life…” it’s heartbreaking and pompous in the right ways.
But there are three huge standouts in the cast, that just bring everything they have to their roles; Jackie Earle Haley as the vigilante known as Rorschach is terrifyingly brilliant, he keeps you on your toes and watch his delivery on “I’m not imprisoned here with you, you’re trapped in here with me” it’s chilling. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian makes an extremely unlikable character, human. Here is a man who has done terrible things in the name of his country, and just as a person, he sees the dark underbelly of humanity, he is Kurtz from Heart of Darkness. It’s an amazing performance, and to be fair if his performance did not work the film would fall completely apart. Billy Crudup’s shy meditative voice is perfect for Dr. Manhattan the blue naked god, underneath the digital effects and motion capture, comes a sad haunting performance. When Dr. Manhattan finds himself tired of humanity and goes to Mars, Crudup brings the world weary sense of Hamlet to the role, “I have of late, but wherefore not know have lost all my mirth…”.
Okay, so I’ve just gushed all over this movie, but it’s not perfect. While on the whole the film looks absolutely stunning, some of the aging makeup really doesn’t work, and the guy playing Nixon, looks very cartoony, which I think was done on purpose, but it doesn’t exactly work.
All that being said, the movie is very good. I say see it, see it in the movie theater don’t wait for this one on DVD, see it. This is an important film and the things that it has to say about the use and abuse of power, do the ends justify the means, and human nature are important. Don’t forget this is coming from a 130 million dollar studio superhero film, and that my friends, is an amazing achievement.
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