Comments on: 2008: Looking Closer’s Favorite Films

By: Brian D

Brian D — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:09:53 +0000

Jeffrey,
I’m finallly getting around to all the movies that inhabited the margins on everyone’s ten best lists from ’08. I just saw The Band’s Visit. I’m glad you highlighted the silent comedy at one point in your discussion of that film, because one of the most special things about this movie for me was the way it achieved deep laughs through its visuals. I found that many of the biggest laughs came from either the faces of the actors themselves or the shot compositions. I also thought the movie made masterful use of music throughout, most often to evoke sadness. Both the use of visuals and the use of music in this film are what, I think, will make this an enduring film for those who don’t forget about it in the coming years. Thanks for highlighting it! (By the way, how about a double bill with Munich for great films from the past decade about Arab-Israeli relations.)

By: Brian D

Brian D — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:34:02 +0000

Just saw Shotgun Stories. I have an increasing appetite for reading (and lately, writing) short stories on the printed page. How elegant they can be in their capacity to capture big things in small frames! The thing I really loved about Shotgun Stories is that it’s a classic short story with the elegance of the best short fiction…but it has the added grace of pictures and music that amplify what would have already been powerful on the page. Thanks, Jeffrey, for dialing up the urgency-level on this one so that I didn’t wait 2 years to see it.

By: Cab

Cab — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:39:50 +0000

I don’t wish to come off as some one trying to knock you off a high horse as I myself am on one. It’s just that so many people I’ve met and known are not necessarily looking forward to ‘Paul Blart.’ It is more that they are looking forward to an escapism from their lives that can come out in a “Hey, that’s the guy who made me laugh on TV for five years, I need to get out of the house and laugh so lets go” way. I just say this as someone who has always enjoyed and defended certain escapism with a pedigree. Most film buffs will give you ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘The Road Warrior’ unless you’re talking to a Jonathan Rosenbaum disciple. But I lately have tried to understand why most of my family members desire to see what I would call flat out garbage; Larry the Cable Guy-type efforts. It’s easy for me to take the high ground until I have a plumbing or electricity problem then suddenly I’m the one who is humbled. Obviously it’s very different but for some reason I feel like I judge them for not meeting my “art” standards while I never for a minute feel like they judge me for not knowing basic plumbing. Which is totally easy to learn as oppossed to the years it takes to come up with an art aesthetic you ascribe to. Like I said, I love lists and I think personal quirks and backgrounds make reviewers worth while. I just don’t think you have to call the general populous to task for not liking the same films you do. They never will.

By: closerlooker

closerlooker — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:24:37 +0000

Cab,

I’m assuming these are the comments you have in mind:

But in spite of the popularity of American Idol, I no longer care what “America has chosen.” By the time I was 17, I’d discovered Siskel and Ebert. Their enthusiastic debates convinced me that Americans were missing the most interesting movies. I learned that audiences prefer the flash and dazzle of disposable entertainment while shying away from resilient, resonant art.

I’m sorry if i sounded like I was “putting the boot” to anybody. I’m not judging anyone for their tastes. I’m just saying that I’ve learned that box office rankings and popularity will not necessarily steer me toward anything that I would find worth seeing. And it is true that most moviegoers go where the flash and dazzle is… for whatever reasons. I would like to see everyone pursuing more artful filmmaking, but I’m not belittling or condemning anyone who can’t wait to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. You’re right: Education and experience play a part in what we like. My comments were about my own journey, and not intended in any way to be a put-down.

Heck, I ran out and bought Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on DVD as soon as it came out, like the rest of America.

I do appreciate your sensitivity on this issue though, and thank you for bringing it up. Perhaps I’ll revisit my introductory text to avoid offense.

By: Cab

Cab — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:17:29 +0000

Much like you I love lists. They are a personalized inventory of what affected someone during a time period. Best of the year, decade and such. Your list is informative and personal but I do have one qualm. In your introduction you talk about film fans who’s only desire is to see non-challenging entertainment instead of transforming art. To create a list for film enthusiasts is one thing but to do it while putting the boot to those who you feel are masticating the wrong cinema is unfairly classist. It should be assumed that people who don’t have the education background or work background you have might want to, after a long week of hard and dehumanizing labor, see fantasy films about a hero righting wrongs instead of meditations on dysfunctional families and should not be derided because of this escapism. There are much worse things to escape into.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:25:49 +0000

I Just watched Shotgun Stories. I really wasn’t prepared for another movie this year to have as strong an impact on me as Wall-E or 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but I think you were right to put it at #1. (I’ll keep thinking about that, though.) The reviews that call it depressing and slow completely miss the point; it does have depressing parts, but unlike a lot of revenge movies, it doesn’t stop there.

By the way, IMDB has a listing for another Jeff Nichols movie due in 2010: “Goat”, co-written by Nichols and David Gordon Green.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:28:26 +0000

Have you seen “Milk”?

By: Ryan H.

Ryan H. — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:31:25 +0000

Thanks for the list. I’m certainly interested to check some of those out, particularly STELLET LICHT (SILENT LIGHT).

It seems that you, like many critics, have a real appreciation for WALL-E. I feel like I’m part of a rather grouchy minority on that film. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed WALL-E, but I don’t think it’s one of the best Pixar outings. I think the film loses its way significantly once the story enters outer space. WALL-E not only loses its sense of visual creativity, but falls into a very predictable narrative formula that betrays the riskier and more imaginative first half. I know WALL-E is, ultimately, a children’s film, but I can’t help but feel that the whole section with humanity could have been far more interesting than it was.

On another note, I just caught DOUBT today. I found it engrossing, though marred by some heavy-handed symbolism. I think more highly of Streep’s performance than you do (I think that it’s Streep’s performance which makes the film as compelling as it is), but at least we can agree on Viola Davis, whose magnificent contribution cannot be overrated.

By: J.P.

J.P. — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:39:16 +0000

thanks for the list, I still have to see some of these

Even though it started out in late 2007, the best thing of the year I’ve seen was Season Five of The Wire. It was a powerful conclusion to masterpiece (although Season 4 was the best & most heart-wrenching). I tried to put together a Christian review of the entire series here since I couldn’t find any Christian reviews of the show anywhere else -

http://persiflagethis.blogspot.com/2008/09/tv-show-review-wire-seasons-1-5.html

I’d also have to put the film Pride and Glory on my top 10 list of ’08. I can’t remember reading whether you liked that one or not.