niiiice i've seen how to train your dragon and true grit. how to train your dragon was awesome even tho the story wasn't very original. but the whole movie was just gorgeous and those flying scenes are amazing.
true grit was cool too. its a bit different for my taste as far as western go. the dialogue was very.. poetic i guess. i read a review where someone compared it to shakespeare xD when you think about it, yeah its kinda like that! lol but still a cool movie. about the ending... what the hell is with the coen brothers and their endings? i mean no country for old men.. damn hahaa.

Uh oh, HtTYD wasn't original? Shit.. Guess I need to see that sober before going around and praising it so unabashedly, haha :P

Perhaps I went into True Grit with unfair expectations, but I was expecting more character development. I was expecting the girl to learn all sorts of harsh lessons about life, death, and ultimately lose her innocence. NOPE. The movie ended and everyone was exactly the same.

yeah the whole "zero to hero" "loser becomes popular" thing has been done alot. specially in disney movies like hercules, or even that chicken little movie. xD but i still loved httyd!

First one was downloaded, latter three in theaters. Though, as the Awards season grows closer there should be more and more screeners leaked to torrent sites and what not. Let me know what you think when you do catch 'em!

Oops, well I responded to the wrong comment. Sorry buddy :P

I haven't seen any of these >¦X
Definitely want to see Black Swan. Dragon, too... How'd you see that? Online?

First one was downloaded, latter three in theaters. Though, as the Awards season grows closer there should be more and more screeners leaked to torrent sites and what not. Let me know what you think when you do catch 'em!

i'm going to forget, you're going to have to remind me :C

My roommates got me HTTYD for Christmas and I was absolutely blown away. Graphics/voice acting/story/score everything about the film was absolutely astonishing. I loved how the film started as a kinda zero to hero theme and then evolved into a theme of understanding and tolerance. I heard they where going to use an alternate ending because they thought him losing his leg would be too depressing but I'm glad they kept the ending. In my opinion far and away Dreamworks best film.

I was also mislead about what to expect from True Grit. From the first trailer I was expecting a dramatic western but once I stared seeing the newer trailers and talking to my parents about the film (they saw the original) I learned it was basically a comedy. So I was pleased with the film. The dialogue was for me the most enjoyable part. I must say I am concerned though the Coen Bros. haven't released a truly great film since No Country For Old Men (Burn Before Reading and A Serious Man where mediocre at best)


Black Swan was an instant classic Natalie Portman has my vote (so far) for actress of the year. I know I told people if she makes a physical transformation into a black swan I would walk out of the theater but ironically her black swan dance was quite frankly one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever witnessed. Right when I got home I instantly put on Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue (not sure if it was an inspiration for the film but there are a large amount of similarities between the two films) and if I had The Piano Teacher I would of watched that too (very similar mother/daughter relationship)


I'm seeing Blue Valentine (along with Somewhere) tomorrow so I'm happy to hear that you highly recommend it.


I highly recommend Rabbit Hole it is a spectacular film but my only critic about the film is I didn't care much for Aaron Eckhart's performance. I also recommend The King's Speech if only to see Colin Firth's amazing portrayal of King George IV.
He created a speech impediment that is authentic, expressive and unique to the character without ruining the pace of the film or alienate the audience to the point where it is painful to watch.

OH YEAH! I seem to remember the music standing out especially. Damn, what a seriously unexpected gem. The lost leg definitely left a mark. Again, made the whole thing seem refreshingly less trite.

Woa, it didn't dawn on me this was their 3rd film since No Country! I'd swear it just came out last year! Yikes. A Serious Man had some heavy stuff in it, but you're right that it wasn't as rounded. I got excited to go to IMDB and see what their new project(s) is and was sorely disappointed to see nothing in production :(

"Black Swan was an instant classic Natalie Portman has my vote (so far) for actress of the year." - 100& AGREED. Until I saw Blue Valentine. I've only recently entered Satoshi Kon's work and have been dying to see Perfect Blue. I'm so happy you brought that up, I'm eagerly going to watch it now!

YES! I'm so envious of you catching these 2 movies! I can't wait to hear how your rankings for Awards will be adjusted after seeing them. I'm approaching Somewhere with trepidation because Sofia's movies are never as satisfying as I want them to be...

John Cameron Mitchell's one of the first directors I fell in love with so even though I despise the KIND of film Rabbit Hole is (tragedy...emotional porn for actors), I'm still eager to see it. Whoops, I did see the King's Speech! Time to update the posting

Yeah I put (so far) in specifically because I haven't seen Blue Valentine (I love Michelle Williams) Satoshi Kon is (or is it was now?) one of my favorite film makers and Perfect Blue is his best work (in my opinion) its slow to start but once it picks up your head will be spinning and you will have a hard time distinguishing what is real and what isn't.



Rabbit Hole was actually a lot less dramatic then I expected. It's more about human relationships and adjusting to life changes than it is about dealing with tragedy.

I place Somewhere on my list of worst films I have ever seen in my life. There is honestly NOTHING about the film I liked. There is basically no plot, no character development, almost no dialogue, no soundtrack it's just a waste of time. Someone needs to tell Sofia that just because a film is realistic doesn't make it beautiful. She has an amazing feel for atmosphere but when there is no story how can someone be interested? It's sad to say but it looks like Lost in Translation was the apex of her career.

Yeah...that pretty much summarizes how I feel after watching nearly all her movies. It's sad that the trailers are always SO good. But I guess that goes to show how much content she's actually working with...

Thanks for the honesty. I'm not surprised...but I had hoped maybe this one would be different...

RIGHT. BACK. AT. YOU.

All The Vermeers in New York by Jon Jost (1990)
A musing on genuineness in life and art. It's kind of rare, but it's pretty much the only movie by this filmmaker you're likely to find. :c

The Short And Curlies by Mike Leigh (1987)
A really cute subdued little short about the lives of several working-class British people attempting to find simple pleasures. It is also completely on youtube!
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD25nzIGnuY
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9TbGq9AxWM&feature=related

Lastly, a 1950s television show that only recently got a DVD release:
Johnny Staccato: Murdrer For Credit by John Cassavetes (1959)
A really great semi-noir detective show that often has a lot more emotional maturity and character-driven power than most detective stuff, especially the five episodes directed by Cassavetes himself (Best two being "Solomon" and "Evil") but this one is great too.
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78PXuXj-9TQ
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8drAQMSj28&feature=related
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD7Wf_LL1U&feature=related

(Black Swan looked SO SILLY but I have been told the trailers misrepresented the movie direly, so I guess I should check it out. King's Speech looks like it'd be cute and enjoyable but nothing really worth writing home about. And on HTTYD: A friend of mine watched it on a plane without headphones, without sound, and she saw everything that happened in advance (I did that too, but with sound, so it was less funny). )

DEFINITELY saving these for lonely evenings alone in solitude time. I seriously respect your recommendations and can't wait...

There's a raw pulpiness to Black Swan that you may take as silly, but I didn't have any preconceptions about what it should be and was really ok with it. I can't wait until you see Blue Valentine!

Holy shit speaking of Mike Leigh HOLY SHIT I just watched his TV-movie/filmed-play "Abigail's Party" (1977) and HOLY FUCKING SHIT GET THAT NOW. Even though it is in a quite conservative filmed-play format, it somehow manages to be much more daring and striking than the most expressionist camera and set and light and etc could muster. It is just 5 people at a party-- and it feels just like every party I have ever been to and while it is something of a social critique, it is amazingly human and empathetic toward everybody.

Someone told me that Black Swan was something like Polanski's Repulsion. And I'd like to see Repulsion. I'll probably just download it to see what the fuck.
And Blue Valentine is one of the only 2010 films I was at all interested in (even if just to see if it's actually "raw" or just hey-look-aren't-i-edgy manufactured "raw". But it looks like it could be neat!). The only other two are Uncle Boonmee and The Illusionist. http://www.listology.com/zacharyyy/list/must-see The other 992 might just be more important however.

Done and done! Gunna go do some hunting, that one sounds fascinating!

Glad to hear you have some interest in Blue Valentine. It was striking, watching it, realizing just how phony 99.9% of movie relationships are. Damn...

Downloaded Black Swan. Watched it. Felt that downloading it gave it as much credit as it should get.
It wasn't, like, painful. But it was still pretty much just... fluff. Just coffee-flavoured instead of just coloured sugar cotton-candy.
There were also some FEEL TENSE NOW moments that were really funny.

But yeah. Good dinner watching.

I was going to write a specific defense but had to scratch it because we just approach movies from two disparate planes. Looking at all the movies that get made, an average level of quality can be perceived. The vast majority of movies are well below that line. The few that get close; those deserve the description of 'enjoyable fluff.' Black Swan and most award-nominated films rise above the line (perhaps, just a bit) and deserve more credit. For what they are in regards to all other current, theatrical films.

I actually LIKE hearing your thoughts and how films stack up to your elevated standard. It's fascinating how it illuminates who you are. What I fear is when the extremely rare films good enough for awards aren't good enough. Then what reason do studios have to continue funding these artsy, money-losing, "risky" films? They need SOME love. They need to be recognized for what they are and the valued for what they have IN CONTEXT to all other current, theatrical movies.

It comes down to money. Studios need to see there's support for independent flicks like these. If all serious film fans had your standards, we wouldn't even have films at the quality of Black Swan because they'd be so lambasted or luke-warmly received. It'd be much wiser for them to spend money on a franchise like Transformers or the Twilight movies.

I'm not saying Black Swan is perfect. But, if you ranked every American movie theatrically released in 2010, would it not be near the top?

I can give that, if hamhanded, the visual design of the film was pretty good. IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? >o<

With that, I suppose, while the Hollywood bar is set pretty low, at least it's off the ground a bit. The Oscars, for one, always just felt idly corporate ass-patting. I guess it's an all right award for assigning "pretty good" movies but they very very rarely touch anything "great".

Well when it comes to the funding thing, many of the greatest films I've ever seen came from budgets less than 1/10 the budget of Black Swan in the first place. One of the greatest (and most visually interesting even) films I've ever seen cost about 3000 dollars. (Last Chants For A Slow Dance by Jon Jost. 1977).
And also I feel like, say, in 1990, it would just take some critics standing up for a movie like Sink or Swim or All The Vermeers in New York for them to have some kind of chance over pappy shit like Driving Miss Daisy or Dead Poets' Society. Rather than doing what critics normally do which is just bolster ad-campaigns. It seems like if every movie has a million-dollar marketing budget it could do gangbusters. Argh I don't feel like rambling/bitching anymore.

I have not seen very many American movies in the past year (or many movies made in the past year period (need to get on that solely for the sake of filling up my Film-Rankings-Of-2010s list (The Illusionist, Dogtooth, Uncle Boonmee, and Blue Valentine the only ones I'm actually looking forward to, but yeah, watch oscar nominees for sake of watching oscar nominees, I guess))) , but the single best 2010 film I've seen is actually a really touching little pornographic short film: http://www.catch-fire.com/2010/04/w.....ravis-mathews/ "I Want Your Love" by Travis Mathews.

(OH ALSO: this music video should have gotten a damn theatrical release as a short film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElhV8z7I60 the minimalist choreography is some of the most striking dance-on-film I've ever seen that ends up telling a pretty heartbreaking story.)

Dude, great points. That's true about really good movies not always being dependent on multi-million dollar studio budgets.

And fuck critics who shill their reviews for marketing $$$. I couldn't believe The Blind Side got what it did. So shameful...

Oh MAN! Did you see Uncle Boonmee? I'm immensely curious to hear your opinion!

That video was insanely entrancing. It was simple but I couldn't stop watching it.

I really want to try to challenge big-name-big-money directors to make a movie for less than one million dollars (was thinking less than 500,000 but LET'S MAKE THINGS EASY) because i am honestly really curious to see how these big dudes for whom budget has never been a major issue would cope with a smaller budget like that. I want to know what kind of thing Michael Bay would pull off. I can't think of any more off the top of my head but I think it'd be an interesting thing.-- Put them in a situation where prettiness and marketability cannot be bought as it mostly is done.

There are always at least a handful of "how the fuck did that get anywhere" things when it comes to oscarbait movies-- so either critics at large really are that milquetoast and boring, or it's really easy to buy off those people (I heard something to the effect of critics in major newspapers are discouraged from writing negative reviews for movies that could buy adspace in the paper).

I am going to see Uncle Boonmee tomorrow. That and a wacky-ass caribbean movie called "Eat For This Is My Body"... And also maybe the R Strauss opera Capriccio ( http://www.cineplex.com/Events/MetOpera/Home.aspx )

Did you watch the other video I linked too? XP

Ugh, didn't reply to YOUR comment. See below.

http://www.listology.com/zacharyyy/.....rankings-2010s
Thus far it is the only really worthwhile film I've seen from 2010.

Because I just got out of a fucking stupid dramatic filmmaking class just about everything I have to say about it is framed as an angry jab at the teacher of that course.
The film does everything that that teacher told his students not to do. Dilate time, minimize plot and conflict (to maximize theme and character and above all in this case, texture), avoid copious closeups, use minimal amounts of music... That teacher would say that the film would be better if it was 9 minutes long. FUCKER. Uncle Boonmee is a million times better as a film than his work for all the shit he says to avoid sfgknsdglknsdgsg. I am sorry I am still just a bit angry/unimpressed that he said his main concern was "to teach protocol" fsglnflgsgsdSDFGSDGSDG
It's about death and memory and stuff, as can be gleaned by the title, really. It's a really meditative film.

I can't really think of anything else to say, really. I'd just start bitching about more things that that teacher said (here is his hilariously mediocre showreel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcFg27janjU ).
Uncle Boonmee is just a perfect illustration of how/why he needs to be kicked in the teeth and stop being such a middle-of-the-road milquetoast dumbass.

and people fucking crowd around to suck that guy's cock because OOH, HE WORKS IN THE BUSINESS as if the second your main source of income is not directly related to film-production you've failed as a person.
(thinking about it, almost all my favourite filmmakers teach or do SOMETHING that is only has only tertiary relation to film as a main source of income so, uh, yeah...)

(Sorry to continue this but RANDOM BOUT OF FEELING SOULCRUSHINGLY ISOLATED AMONG PEERS and there's nowhere else I can get this off my chest (I'm sorry))

Woo! Glad to hear the film lives up to the buzz! That's pretty impressive such an unconventional flick got such universal acclaim (Cannes).
God, that's a tough place your teacher's at. I mean, it sounds like he's trying to teach marketability of films. Like, "Your shit won't get attention or be bought by studios if it doesn't adhere to x, y, and z." There's definitely truth to be found in that, as long as he's not suffocating talent and saying that's the ONLY WAY...EVER. I'm glad you stick it to him, though and provide a dissenting voice. Fucking stand up for that education you're paying for...

Cannes usually has pretty good taste.
He's teaching at an Art university, not a trade-school; what's more he's teaching what amounts to an art class, not a marketing one. Marketability shouldn't be something of high concern with any sort of self-expression; teaching to break convention and see something with your own eyes would be a better thing to teach; he was breeding un-individual mediocrity. He was pretty adamant that we do things to a very strict order, gave us a sheet that gave explicit "professional work" guidelines to how you need to make a movie; did a class exercise trying to film a scene after he gave us that list and he stopped us every 30 seconds going "you're breaking the order, start again" as if it was some deep religious ritual. I dunno, the whole thing seemed so unnecessary, especially within the current context-- as if as art students we're going to have 5 or so producers and executive producers and assistant directors and every possible job to make a 3 minute long film for a class.
(Also it's a senior level class so if he has to spend an hour explaining shot-reverse-shot and 180-degree-rule to most of the class then there's something wrong with the goddamn class too.) And yeah he was saying that's pretty much the only way to do things; he would make big spiels about the proper way to be marketable and then just end every sentence with a token "but you don't HAVE TO" just to make it sound like he wasn't a middle-of-the-road git.
Whenever I said "yeah, but no" to his you-need-to-make-hollywood-movies spiels, he often tried to use me as some kind of example of how naive and stupid and not-pretty-enough indie films and stuff are.

Yeah. Fuck that. That all sounds inexcusable. I mean, I GET where he's coming from. He wants you all to be successful, but that is WAY too regimented. As if people won't find their own organic way to convey what's in their heart and minds. Sometimes I find my greatest passion is driven by repression and people like him. I bet it's so thrilling to pipe up and counter his bullshit.

Anger can be a good way to get around to doing something; while I'd try to avoid being so negative, that at least works in some cases! I just wish I could actually say something back to him better than I did-- I usually can't think of quick retorts very well. So 99% of the time there's a lot of STAIRCASE WIT involved with my awful arguments. D: I'll think of the perfect thing to say 15 minutes after the exchange. I am also not a very fast talker, but he is, so that hampered my ability to open much debate. It ends up being depressing because of how many students buy into his bullshit. Made an appeal for more languidly paced movies in a facebook group and I got torn apart by people saying "this is the twitter generation, get with the times gramps!"

I often daydream about what it'd be like to have the mind I have now while going through school and certain periods of my life. How much more confident, well-rounded, and intelligent I'd be. YOU SHOULD MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT THAT!


Oh wait...*facepalm* Freak Friday 9_9

I noticed that no matter what I do I end up making things about interpersonal-connection-problems. So MAYBE?!


Good job.

In that regard, please tell me you appreciated Cyrus.

I haven't seen it but I've been meaning to pick up some Duplass brothers things for a while. Particularly The Puffy Chair. But Baghead looks kind of retarded.

That is a BRILLIANT idea! It reminds me of hearing Nicole Kidman talk about producing Rabbit Hole. They had such a small budget she was completely shocked trying to adjust. One of her stories was discovering, "We don't need trailers for everybody!" It was encouraging to see her slumming it for art she believed in. If slumming means a $10 million. Which is a big change considering she WAS the highest paid actress in Hollywood.

I demand a report of Boonmee! With no spoilers!

I want to see if James Cameron could cope with 0.42% the budget of Avatar!
Rabbit Hole is another one of the handful 2010 movies that didn't look like complete balls (No I take that back, that statement doesn't give enough credit to balls).

WILL DO. TOMORROW NIGHT. ALSO WATCHED ERNST LUBITSCH'S CLUNY BROWN TODAY. WAS FUCKING HILARIOUS.

ALSO do you want a less-pretentious David Lynch film with HOLLYWOOD HUNK ORIGIGNAL Rock Hudson in it?! John Frankenheimer's Seconds. It is one of the things that contributed to Brian Wilson's schizophrenic breakdown in 1966! IT'S FUCKED RIGHT UP.

I couldn't get past the cliches of 'Dragon' even if they were covered in visually creative ways.

For True Grit, I had about the same reaction as yourself.

Rabbit Hole was a surprising movie to me because the director's previous works (Shortbus and Hedwig And The Angry Inch) were edgier, yet it still worked as a good drama, even if I don't actually remember many details x.x Makes me question if I'd even seen it...

The fact I didn't live too far away from where Winter's Bone was shot at the time of its release (I'd been living in Springfield, Missouri and it was filmed in the Ozarks) definitely helped me feel more involved in an already fascinating and desolate film.

Recently saw Somewhere, and while it's not my favorite Sofia Coppola film, I don't regret having seen it for one minute. We watched it in my film class while discussing Mise-en-Scene and it was cool paying special attention to the surroundings.

Haven't seen anything else (except The Fighter though I don't remember much about that one either... must have been really out of it) but Blue Valentine is on my list considering my freshly acquired admiration for Ryan Gosling (after having seen him in Drive and Lars and the Real Girl :3 )

Dragons - to be honest I was kind of high out of my mind, so that may have unfairly influenced my opinions. That said...certain substances completely reinvigorate how you experience movies. If you're not completely put off by that idea, that is...

Rabbit Hole - yeah, just shows you how versatile and awesome that director is. I just rewatched Hedwig (AGAIN) recently and my god, I do not get tired of that flick. Soooo good <3

Also, look at you mining through my old journals. Haha, I don't mind of course but it makes me second guess how accurately they convey who I am now, ya know? This one I'm ok with ;)