Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)

The film centers on the last days in the life of its title character; Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar). Together with his loved ones – including the spirit of his dead wife (Natthakarn Aphaiwong) and his lost son (Jeerasak Kulhong) who has returned in a non-human form – Boonmee explores his past lives as he contemplates the reasons for his illness.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World



Scott Pilgrim vs. the World(Edgar Wright, 2010)

Adapted from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels Scott Pilgrim, this Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)  piece of cinematic extravagance has a certain appeal to the Y generation in its obvious use of sounds of classic Nintendo and Sega Genesis games.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is 22 years old and plays bass in a band called Sex-Bob-Omb and he has a new girlfriend the 17 years old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) that all his friends disapprove of. Not really long after his new relationship has debuted he meets another mysterious girl that he dreams about and rapidly fall in love with. She is Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and looks like a gothic hipster girl with coloured hairs. She seems fragile and Scott is torn between the two girls until he decides to go with Ramona he soon discovers that he’ll have to defeat her seven evil exes to get to go out with her.

The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010)

Winner of three of the most important Oscars in 2011, Best Picture, Best director (Tom Hooper), and Best Leading Performance by an Actor (Colin Firth) The King’s Speech sure cracked its way into the History of Cinema. Having not seen this movie before the Ceremony of the Academy Awards and loved Black Swan and The Social Network to a degree of including them in my favourite films, I was mostly shocked by the Best Picture and Best Director recognition given to Hooper’s film. It took me almost a year and a half to get to it and judge by myself if once again the Academy didn’t cherished the best film of the year. Just like they did in 2012, this year, with The Artist, a very good film but far from being as great as, let’s say The Tree of Life just to name one. So, I entered into The King’s Speech with apprehension of not liking it or to find that it didn’t deserved the recognition received by the voters of the Academy.

The Duke of York or Bertie (Colin Firth) must talk in public during presences he has to be to represent the Royal family of England. He has a problem of being a stammerer since his childhood. Being the second son of the family always have been his relief because he wouldn’t have to make the famous King speeches. Like the annual one of Christmas among many others. Having tried every specialist and doctor around to stop the stammering, Bertie’s wife (Helena Bonham Carter) approaches a self-taught ex-actor Australian named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to help him. Reluctant at first, Bertie finally accepts Lionel’s help to surpass his tic. The story recalls the birth of this lifetime friendship that united a King and a common man. The chemistry between both actors is extraordinary and the Oscar given to Firth is more than well earned. As for Rush’s nomination it was more than relevant that he earned it. Besides the fact that the plot issue, stammering is less important than the growing of the Second World War that surrounds the King’s speech about the Declaration of War of England to Hitler’s Germany, the convincing performances of the actors elevate this film amongst the great actor’s films like All About Eve.

 

On the visual form of the film, the cinematography is outstanding and the fog filled frames of the exteriors are as beautiful as the framing of the scenes set in Longue’s office. This is a visually stunning film but also very conventional in its structure and storytelling. Hooper clearly decided to let the actors do the job and let the facts of History entertain instead of taking some liberties and tie up a tighter intrigue like a David Fincher did with The Social Network for example.

However, Tom Hooper attains his goal of picturing this inspiring story of an almost incredible friendship of a common man and a man of grandeur. The relationship that crossed the limits of social classes reminds us that it doesn’t matter how great we are we’ll always have our friends and family to help us if we treat them correctly.

The main criticism towards The King’s Speech would be the lack of depth behind its surface mastery. It felt short as a multi-layered script that could bring us a little step forward in the movie experience just like this year’s The Artist. Nonetheless, both films are enjoyable and entertaining at a high point and they fully endorse the reason why people get into dark theaters, watch a story and have a good time.

The King’s Speech is in fact a very good film and I was extremely surprised how much I liked it. To get back to my questioning if it deserved its Best Picture and Best Director Oscars is a tricky question. Far from being an impostor, it is also far from being the best film of 2010, looking back at the other films nominated: The Social Network, Black Swan, Toy Story 3, The Fighter, Inception, and The Kids Are Alright are equally and in many cases better films overall. It would be interesting to get a ten to fifteen years back and re-watch all these movies to see which ones did past the test of time and stayed strong.

Due Date

Due Date (Todd Phillips, 2010)

Even if this blog is mostly about Classic Films and the completion of lists of Great films and Great directors, I still keep in mind two things much needed for a movie buff. To watch contemporary films and to dig into his favorite genre.

Due Date is a comedy directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover & The Hangover Part II) starring Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man I & II, The Avengers) and Zack Galifianakis (The Hangover & The Hangover Part II). Needless to say that it is a very capable team that was running between the successes of the two Hangover films. Phillips and Galifianakis were still on the good vibe of their reinvigorated breath to the guy movie. They embarked on Due Date a Road movie exploiting the odd couple terrain.

Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) needs to get to Los Angeles by the end of the week departing from Atlanta because his wife is scheduled to deliver their first born child. Getting in the way, Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis) a lunatic television actor wannabe who just lost his father get him banished from flying. They have to get to LA by car together because Peter lost his baggage and his wallet in the airplane while getting expelled. They’ll have to tolerate each other and get over their natural temper to get in time in LA.

While being another turn on the buddy flick à la Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and The Odd Couple, the dynamic of Downey Jr. and Galifianakis is interesting. Even if, at first it is not that convincing, the two actors looked like they actually really appreciate working together.

The plot also has interesting twists and without being completely stupid or absurd, the characters have a humanity that most lesser comedies don’t have and that makes them too one-dimensional and unnatural in the story. The presence of Robert Downey Jr. also brings quality in the acting on the screen and elevates the part of Peter. The straight face and high temper role is well suited for him and it gives the most hilarious moments of the movie.

Far from being the best movie of 2010, Due Date is an efficient and quite enjoyable comedy that demonstrates another facet of Todd Phillips’ filmaking. The fan of comedy that I am was satisfied and even if it is not at the level of The Hangover, it is still better than the average comedy out there.

Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love (Ryan Murphy, 2010)

Adapted from the best-seller written by Elizabeth Gilbert, this feel-good movie is exactly the kind of film that gives the crave to go on a trip with only the bare necessities and live like the residents of the country you are visiting. It also gives you a crave for food and terrific landscapes.

Eat Pray Love depicts the story of Liz (Julia Roberts) a young married woman, probably in her thirties, struggling with her marital status, feeling trapped in a meaningless existence as a writer and not fulfilling her life as she may have wanted. She wants to escape everything, her marriage, her house, her life. Liz decides that it is enough after quitting her husband and divorcing him she encounters a young actor (James Franco) with whom she gets initiated with meditation. But still, this relationship won’t be enough for her and she follows her instinct and goes on a trip with three distinct destinations in mind and in an order: Italy to eat, India to pray, and Bali to, well you guessed, but you’ll understand thorough the film it is not that simple.

Having not read the novel, this review is simply based on the motion picture and the value of it. Definitely, structured like a novel, Eat Pray Love doesn’t push the story too fast or too Hollywoodian on us. The rhythm of the story flows well and nothing is thrown in your face or took from a magicians hat and surprise us with an expected twist. This is one of the most interesting facet of this low-key drama/comedy. It also delivers well in the basic duty of entertainment/Cinema to take us from our common lives, current issues and take us on an escape trip or an evasion into a story or a country that isn’t related to our personal issues and problems. The effective and quite capable cinematography of Robert Richardson (most notably known for his work with Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino) captures the essence of each part of the world visited without falling into the cliché of the American perception of Italy or India. 

One of the downside of this movie is the presence of Julia Roberts who can’t make us forget that she is Julia Roberts. Her performance is not bad but as usual average. She seems to have not changed since Pretty Woman in the 1980’s, no aging or whatsoever and the same kind of performance. A belle that plays on the same notes for a long time.

This review may seem a little out there since this blog is mostly dedicated to Classic film, directors, foreign and indie movies. However, it is always interesting to catch-up on movies that bring another light in cinephilia. And overall, Eat Pray Love makes you want to escape your routine life of 9 to 5 and experience how people live and think in the other parts of the world.

Going the Distance

Going the Distance (Nanette Burstein, 2010)

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long are around 30 years old and they both have had hard times at relationships. She, is finishing school and is an understudy in New York for the summer while in Autumn she’ll return to her big sister’s house to complete school. He, is a New York guy working for a record label he hates. His relationships always fell in the same pattern with every girl. But together they’re like the perfect couple. As Fall comes Drew returns to San Francisco to finish her grad. Their relationship will have to pass through the test of distance.


This light rom-com aims at the Y generation. Filled with a superb soundtrack of bands like Weezer, The Cure, and The Airborne Toxic Event. Going the Distance has modest goals and probably hits the target for what it’s supposed to be. A light but not life changing comedy. The denouement is predictable but like every Colombo, we how it’s gonna end, it’s how it gets there that is interesting. Well, even if passing by the clichés Going the Distance has this breezy light hearted spirit and a funny feeling. Not as good as (500) Days of Summer, Going the Distance fells into that category of films that are not too stupid or not overly melodramatic either so it can please the boys and the girls. The weakest points are the supporting roles that aren’t stiff enough and that could have some sort of Easy Aing. The stereotyped supporting cast just get onto your nerves and slows the whole story and its evolution. Far from being a study of characters it still has this hook that makes you want to finish the film even if you guessed the ending right. It is a movie worth a look with your girlfriend.

The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, 2010)

Of the many films I’ve seen this year, few haven’t been reviewed on LMdC. With the LAMB’s upcoming Director’s Chair on Roman Polanski on July 22 it inspired me to finally put into words my impressions and appreciations of Polanski’s latest film.

Hired as a ghost writer to write the memoirs of the former Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) of Great Britain The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), discovers that his predecessor has strangely died falling from the ferry that brings him to the island where the former Prime Minister and his entourage is staying. This death slowly puts a doubt into The Ghost's mind and he wants to know more about what happened because it seems like he is on the same path. He also wants to bring the light on some blank spots of the autobiography. He will try to meet people who helped the candidature and the rise to the power of the Prime Minister. Those people won’t tell much to the investigator. Slowly, as strong and as subtle as Polanski’s Chinatown the story will unravel itself until its unexpected denouement.

Polanski’s direction is firm and sober, the dark tones and natural colors give to this thriller a realistic angle and the right mood for its strong script. This is also Polanski’s ability to tell a story with few artifices and just few camera angles. His visual language is clear sober and intelligent. This is clearly the work of a master. The influence of the famously recognized director is more palpable than many would consider. Sadly, the name of Roman Polanski has been thrown in the mud with the terrible death of his wife Sharon Tate but also by the case of pedophilia that planned over his head for many decades. In the first case this is the clear complex of North Americans where we see the victim as the one who covers the guilt. In the second case well I wouldn’t advance myself on it because I don’t know all the details and it’s been such a malaise that I don’t even know what to think about it.

All I know is that I love Roman Polanski’s films and I can clearly make a difference between the work of the man and his behaviour outside his oeuvre. While watching The Ghost Writer we finally see what is filmmaking. It doesn’t need CGI effects or implausible twists to entertain a public, you just need a strong script, a great director, and then the rest is printed on the film. A Polanski film is what Cinema is all about, like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.

Easy A

Easy A (Will Gluck, 2010)

This intelligent teen comedy, wait did I really wrote that? Yes, it is an intelligent teen comedy that describes best this Emma Stone (Zombieland) movie where the main character, Olive, pretends to have lost her virginity to get rid of her annoying friend. Beginning as a little lie, this declaration of her faked sexual exploits snowballs into the great story of Easy A. First, she’ll pretend to sleep with guys who have problems to replace their popularity in school. Shortly after, her reputation will catch her up and the helpful girl will have to deal with the consequences of her declarations.

The supporting cast is large and looks like if everybody (Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, Amanda Bynes, Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell, Fred Armisen, Thomas Haden Church, Penn Badgley) wanted to appear in this fresh good hearted comedy. Olive’s family is funny, present, supportive and finally the parents (Patrica Clarcson and Staley Tucci) aren’t strict stubborn or stupid useless characters. What’s putting apart Easy A is how it falls into the cliché then uses it and turn it upside down to analyzes the whole thing with Olive’s podcast. Easy A wants to be in the 2010’s what John Hugues teenager comedies were, intelligent, thoughtful, and moments that the teenagers of its time could rely to and understand the feelings of its characters. The many references to Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueler’s Day Off, Breakfast Club, etc., aren’t put there just for nostalgia, they refer to great teen flicks and a standard that’s haven’t been achieved for a long time. This is the perfect example of a modest but brilliant film that doesn’t take people for idiots and ignorant.

Moreover, this is a fun film to watch and the story is as original as you may have hoped it to be. It doesn’t fall into the easy penis jokes that the teen comedies like American Pie and Seth Rogen have set as standards and that seemed like the only way to make laugh the younger generations. Even if those comedies where the fat laughter is permitted, sometimes you need meat around the bone... (sorry this one was too easy)

If you want a fun movie with intelligent lines and an original screenplay describing with exactitude the high school life we all lived with the chit-chat, the rumours, the attitude, the gangs, etc. For once, a movie that speaks to you, that makes you think in the same time that you have a load of entertainment. Watch this film it’s for your own good.

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010)

Michael Winterbottom’s film is a raw yet beautifully vicious film. Starring soon to become superstar Casey Affleck as a mild-mannered cop of the 1950’s, the beautiful Jessica Alba as a prostitute, and Kate Hudson as the main character’s girlfriend. From the first ten minutes to the end of the film us, the viewer, is completely immerged as a participant of the story. We are the witness of Lou Ford’s (Affleck) crimes, shenanigans and his perversions.


As conventional as the film would open, the first encounter of Joyce Lakeland (Alba), the prostitute, is vile and vicious, what seems like a cruel beating turns out to be a passionate session of sex. Some moments of The Killer Inside Me are unsupportable while others show deep intense, yet strange, love moments. The contrast of those moments is utterly disturbing for the viewer who is forced to be the partner of Ford’s evil plan. The structure of the film is modern and some elements and characters seem like if they are out of a David Lynch picture, see Bill Pullman’s unsettling performance, or from a David Cronenberg, see Elias Koteas’ intentionally cliché presence.

As you might think, The Killer Inside Me is a heavy film full of sexual games and violent pleasures. Set in Texas and in the 1950’s the themes of the film are a contrast to the conventional way of American life in those little towns where the suburbs and the giant house of Lou’s late father are a subtext of peace and common space. Lou Ford is an intriguing character filled with subtleties of Casey Affleck’s extraordinary performance. He seems like someone who never had to prove something and he just didn’t fit with the other people of the little town.

It was my first encounter with a film by Michael Winterbottom and I must admit that I am positively surprised by the freshness of the discourse and the quality of the images. Some frames reminded me of the mastered hand of Stanley Kubrick always inventing alternate ways to shot a dialogue scene or something commonly shot with textbook reaction shots. Aspects of Lynch and Cronenberg also occurs to me especially when we take part in Ford’s perversions and crimes. But the Winterbottom touch is how the psychology of the characters plays strong in the balance of this mastered mise-en-scène. It’s the human/horrible side of the character that keeps us watching but also loathes us to idolize the violence and acts of him. The use of music is important and some sequences are cinematic bliss in the juxtaposition of the music and the images. The Killer Inside Me will change the order of my Top 10 of the best films of 2010.

Personal Top 10 of 2010

Top 10 of 2010


With a three delay I've decided to publish this work in progress of last year. Even if I haven't seen that many films of 2010 amongst the 221 films I watched this year, I put down the top of the best films of the year. The ones I prefered for many reasons, but especially their directing. I've seen some particular Top 10s but I think that the disparity is a good sign because it proves that there is still good filmmaking for everyone.

Some of my choices are personal preferences over other films but tastes can't be discussed. Analyzed yes.



1. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
2. The Social Network (David Fincher)
3. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese)
4. The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom)
5. Inception (Christopher Nolan)6. The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko)7. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)
8. Greenberg (Noah Baumbach)
9. Incendies (Denis Villeneuve)
10. The Fighter (David O. Russell)







* I'll try to update this list with the new films I'll be watching in the next weeks.Runners-up: The American (Anton Corbjin) Alice In Wonderland (Tim Burton) for its visual achievment, Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich).Films I haven't seen so far that can change this Top: True Grit, The Town, I Am Love, Hadewijch, Blue Valentine, Winter's Bone, Enter The Void, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,  Carlos, Easy A, Certified Copy, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Machete, Kick-Ass.

I invite you to put a link to your Top 10 or if you don't have a blog to write your favorite films of the year!

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)

Toy Story 3 is the family movie of the year from Pixar studios aka Disney in 3D and believe me it diserves this subtitle. Being old-fashion in my movie tastes it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy a good animation flick. I always liked cartoons and for almost a decade The Simpsons was my favorite TV show. I also love the classic Disney films lake Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, and my all-time favorite: The Jungle Book. In my different quests to see films they often (sadly) are relegated to second class movies...

In 2010, there were so many animation films that I wouldn't list them all here. But of the two major that came out Shrek; The Final Chapter and Toy Story 3. The latter one diserves the gold. And on every level. The story is original, the graphics are amazing and the spirit of the first films in there.The time lapse between the second and the third offering was much profitable for the public and the creators.

The thing I liked the most about this film is that instead of referencing and copying all of its predecessors it's mostly an original picture. Mostly because, yes, it has some elements of the film grammar you'll recognize, but still, it doesn't feel like a total pastiche of popular films.

Toy Story 3 is a great finale to the films that put Pixar on the map of major studios and moreover, it started the revolution of the animated feature film in mainstream Cinema.