The Best Movies of 2011: #40 – #21
Alright, running out of stuff to say on these intros, soooo…in case you missed it!:
Day 1: #94 – #81
Day 2: #80 – #61
Day 3: #60 – #41
And onto the good stuff.
40. The Guard
Not usually one for buddy cop movies, but this one was a keeper.
39. The Trip
It’s Sideways for foodies with dueling Michael Caine impressions. Someday Steve Coogan will get his due.
38. 13 Assassins
See, Takashi Miike? See what happens when you stop making kids movies?
Awesome stuff.
37. Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Gotta love Tribe.
36. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Insanely well-made and Mara’s my vote come Oscar night. Not sure I needed to hear this story three times though.
35. Trollhunter
One of those movies that keeps getting better the more you think about it.
34. Buck
Incredible story about learning from life and turning something terrible into something profound.
Always amazing to watch someone at the height of their craft.
33. Captain America: The First Avenger
Fun as hell and Tommy Lee Jones at the top of his game. Almost makes me excited for The Avengers.
32. X-Men: First Class
Just the boost this franchise needed…despite a complete and utter disregard for the source material.
31. Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Best surprise of the year, best Gosling of the year.
30. The Help
Better than the book and arguably the best cast of the year. Loving how much everyone liked this movie.
29. The Muppets
The Chris Cooper rap solo, “Travel By Map,” Rowlf’s flashback, I could go on. Suck it, Smurfs.
28. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Think I liked it more than most, but what a freaking blast. Like watching a Pixar movie in real life.
27. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
The Thin Blue Line for a new generation.
26. Drive
Cool defined, but still way too freaking violent.
25. 50/50
Don’t know how they pulled this off, but damn if I wasn’t tearing up and laughing along.
That Bryce Dallas Howard was quite the beotch this year, huh?
24. Terri
If only more coming-of-agers knew how to hit home and drop knowledge like this.
23. Point Blank
Didn’t know it was possible to hold your breath for 84 minutes.
22. The Tree of Life
A true achievement in film making and storytelling.
Would have been higher up if I didn’t have to talk about those fucking dinosaurs all year.
21. Bridesmaids
Wasn’t as hilarious the second time around, but that first go was something else.
Can ya’ smell it, folks? We’re almost there, so just keep calm and carry on until tomorrow for THE TOP 20 BEST MOVIES IN THE UNIVERSE THAT I SAW LAST YEAR WITHOUT LOSING MY MIND AND MURDERING MY SOCIAL LIFE! Raise the roof, yo!
The Best Movies of 2011: #60 – #41
34 down, 60 to go. And in case you missed it:
Day 1: #94 – #81
Day 2: #80 – 61
Onward!
60. Meek’s Cutoff
Weak ending, but can’t help but dig a movie that’s the essentially the real-life version of The Oregon Trail.
59. The Book of Eli
Surprisingly effective post-apocalypse ditty from two guys who haven’t done jack since Menace II Society.
58. Hanna
Lost steam after a while, but big points for getting The Chemical Brothers involved and for Joe Wright doing something totally out of his comfort zone.
57. Source Code
More good stuff from Zowie Bowie. Way better than its cow pie of a trailer.
56. Super 8
Wonky ending saved by a great cast of youngsters and a crap ton of nostalgic fun.
55. Shame
A round of applause for being the ballsiest movie in town and for Fassbender rocking the shit out of it, would have liked more of a connection to match, though.
54. The Ides of March
Really smart, really sharp, and a (unfortunately) dead-on critique. Just a little too much yelling for my taste.
53. The Skin I Live In
Some seriously crazy shit, even if it did take a bit to get going.
52. Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon
Outrageously comprehensive, unusually revealing look at a band I really used to dig and are easily written off as something their not.
51. Melancholia
Loved soaking it all in and it’s further proof that no one makes movies like Lars von Trier, just wish I’d connected more with Dunst’s character and hadn’t felt like offing myself when it was all over.
50. Hobo with a Shotgun
Totally off-putting and definitely not for everyone, but what a total madhouse of a movie. Boy, do I miss me some Rutger Hauer.
49. The Change-Up
Crude as all hell, totally unoriginal, and it seems like everyone hated it but my friends and I. We laughed our asses off, so I’m sticking by it.
48. Rango
Unreal character designs and art direction, a lot more fun than I was expecting, and how about that cameo from Timothy Olyphant!
47. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
James Franco as a genetic scientist? Whatever. Eat your heart out, Tim Burton.
46. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Incredibly thought-provoking look at the blurry line between right and wrong when the world’s at stake. Not sure why this got nominated over so many other killer docs though.
45. Fright Night
The last thing this world needs is another remake, but that’s how you do it right.
44. Pearl Jam Twenty
Seriously in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at an awesome band that hates the spotlight.
43. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
Should have come out a year earlier, but that Coco’s as funny as he is classy.
42. Margin Call
Hell of a cast and mighty pertinent. Still no Inside Job or Too Big To Fail though.
41. Hugo
Totally unexpected and totally delightful love letter to the past using technologies of the present.
Alright! We’re officially halfway done and getting into good the stuff, so check back tomorrow for the next 20, y’all!
The Best Movies of 2011: #80 – #61
Remember that time I single-handedly financed the film industry by seeing 94 movies in a year? Yeah, that was nuts. Anyway, for those who missed the first round of the countdown…
Now let’s keep this train a-movin’ as we break on through the realm of halfway decent! Huzzah!
80. Green Lantern
Thank God for Peter Sarsgaard.
79. Horrible Bosses
Thank God for Jamie Foxx.
78. The Last Circus
High marks for pure insanity.
77. The Green Hornet
Awfully forgettable and still not sure how Michel Gondry got involved, but at least it started out strong.
76. Red State
Had all the potential to be the best horror movie of the new Willennium, but damn if it wasn’t long-winded.
75. We Need to Talk About Kevin
Quite the point of discussion, but damn if it wasn’t a one-trick pony.
74. The Future
Lost me at the sweater dance, but sure gets points for being different.
73. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Way to go, Elizabeth Olsen, but still wondering what the freaking point of this thing was?
72. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Sticking with the book, but way to go Max von Sydow. Dude’s one of the greats.
71. The Way
Big heart, weak script.
70. Tower Heist
More fun than I could ever ask for from a Brett Ratner movie, and big ups to scene-stealin’ Matthew Broderick.
69. The Adjustment Bureau
Saw it on a plane, liked it for what it was.
68. Young Adult
Love me some Patton, love me some Charlize, love me some Reitman, hate me some Mavis Gary.
67. The Adventures of Tintin
Awfully pretty with some wild action scenes to boot, just didn’t have the script to back it up.
66. Puncture
Surprisingly eye-opening, one more reason to like Chris Evans, good enough movie as a whole.
65. Scream 4
Not being a huge fan of the series and not being one to endorse fourquels, liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
64. The Descendants
Had its moments, but didn’t do anything new for me and didn’t do anything old all that great either.
63. Warrior
Great cast, but it’s still The Fighter in an octagon.
62. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Pretty inspired as far as horror movies go, pretty funny as far as comedies go. Why isn’t Alan Tudyk a household name yet?
61. A Better Life
Important stuff backed by a boss performance from Demian Bichir.
Alright, homeys. Check back on the morrow for the next 20!
Can’t wait to see how many Descendants debates I get into today.
The Best Movies of 2011: #94 – #81
Aaand I’m back.
So here we are, knee-deep yet again in the worst two moviegoing months of the year. I figure what better time than now to look back at a time in my life where I somehow watched 94 new releases and still managed to see daylight. Some call it an accomplishment, but the verdict’s still out. I still haven’t reviewed all of ’em yet and still have some on the queue I need to check out, but 94 seems like a good, ludicrous number to start ranking them from top to bottom.
There were some serious highs and some serious lows, so whaddaya say we kick this sucker off already with the worst movie I saw all year (and, hell no, I did not see Jack & Jill):
94. Battle: Los Angeles
The downside: 13 bucks gone. The upside: if this movie can get made, it gives me hope in the reality that anyone can get a movie made in this world.
93. Sucker Punch
Worst soundtrack of the year, didn’t make a lick of sense, and probably could have cut back on all the chicks that got executed.
92. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Don’t worry, I’m not. ZING!
91. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
The hilarious qualities of penguin diarrhea. Somehow missed that in Happy Feet.
90. Something Borrowed
Chicks, man…
89. No Strings Attached
What a good husband I am.
88. Our Idiot Brother
T.J. Miller: the one saving grace of the year’s most forgettable movie.
87. Cowboys & Aliens
How do you screw this up?
86. Thor
I know I’m the minority on this one, but still can’t look past the most painfully formulaic, phoned-in script of the year.
85. Atlas Shrugged: Part I
Seen better acting on Skinemax. A book like that deserves better.
84. Trust
I know I should feel otherwise, but that girl drove me up the effing wall.
83. The Hangover: Part II
A carbon copy with even more Ken Jeong? F that S.
And does anyone else find it weird that they went with roman numerals?
82. Hesher
Can’t win ’em all, JGL.
81. Bad Teacher
Thank God for Jason Segel.
Well that’s it for the first 14! Tune in tomorrow for the next 20 and all this week for the whole shebang. I promise they get better.
And the Best Actor of 2011 is…
JEAN DUJARDIN!
That I can dig. I’d be an actor too if I had a mug like that.
But I gotta say, Michael Shannon got the shaft like whoa this year. Go see Take Shelter and get back to me. Best actor of the year by a mile and change, folks.
Anywho, swell voting regardless.
RESULTS:
– Jean Dujardin (The Artist): 11 votes
– Ryan Gosling (Drive): 9 votes
– Michael Shannon (Take Shelter): 4 votes
– Brad Pitt (Moneyball): 4 votes
– Michael Fassbender (Shame): 4 votes
– Leo DiCaprio (J. Edgar): 3 votes
– George Clooney (The Descendants): 3 votes
– JGL (50/50): 3 votes
– Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March): 1 vote
Five Reasons for the Lack of Reviews As of Late
1) Disillusioned/disappointed by how many painfully mediocre movies I paid to sit through these past two months. I am starting to lose faith, and January/February is a rough time for a moviegoer to hit that wall.
2) Another year has gone by, marking another year that I didn’t finish my screenplay. Currently devoting a whole lot of time to that front as a result, and the progress has been kickass. Will keep you posted.
3) Tying into that, I just can’t kick this nagging feeling that I should be making movies instead of reviewing movies. Don’t take that as a swan song or anything, but the monkey’s on my back and he’s only getting heavier.
4) Recently discovered Final Fantasy VI, 17 years after everyone else did. It is great, it is distracting.
5) I’m actually getting married in four days to the best gal in the Milky Way, so that’s been keeping me pretty preoccupied. With that being said, it might be a little while ’til I get back into the swing of things, but it’s for an awfully good cause.
Anyway, there ya’ have it. Sorry for being so incognito as of late, but life calls. Keep it real, folks.
– Aiden R.
And the best Michael Keaton movie is…
BEETLEJUICE!
When it comes to the reasons why the world needs more Keaton, Beetlejuice is case in point. When it come so the best movie Keaton’s ever been in, I might have to take issue. All the same, hell of a movie and swell voting to boot, folks.
RESULTS:
– Beetlejuice: 8 votes
– Batman: 4 votes
– Batman Returns: 4 votes
– Toy Story 3: 3 votes
– Jackie Brown: 3 votes
– Cars: 1 vote
– Multiplicity: 1 vote
– Porco Rosso: 1 vote
– Out of Sight: 0 votes (tragic…)
– Clean and Sober: 0 votes
– Pacific Heights: 0 votes
– Mr. Mom: 0 votes
– Night Shift: 0 votes
– Other: 1 vote for Jack Frost (interesting choice,) 1 vote for The Dream Team (never seen it,) and 1 vote for “ALL OF THEM!” (Amen to that.)
Bonus points for an awesome cartoon tie-in.
And the most effed-up booby trap from Home Alone is…
MARV STEPPING BAREFOOT ONTO A RUSTY NAIL!
If they weren’t out to murder a child, I’d feel pretty bad for what Harry and Marv had to go through. Then again, they should be thanking their lucky stars they made it into that house with their spines intact. What a bunch of Scrooges.
Swell voting, folks!
RESULTS:
– Rusty nail to the foot: 9 votes
– Blowtorch to the skull: 4 votes
– Tarantula on the face: 3 votes
– Door knob from Hell: 3 votes
– Paint cans to the face: 3 votes
– Iron to the forehead: 3 votes (easy pick for me, should have resulted in instant death)
– Ice stairs: 2 votes
And apologies for dropping off the face of the Earth these past 10 days. Had every intention of giving a heads up, but alas, vacation got the better of me. That and starting a file on Final Fantasy VI for the first time in my life. Curse all these hobbies…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
VERDICT:
8/10 Ladykillers
Quite the improvement on the original, but can’t quite top the book.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about a famed Swedish journalist who finds his reputation tarred and feathered when he loses a high-profile legal battle against a billionaire industrialist. After resigning from his up-and-coming publication, he receives an unexpected call from a Swedish business tycoon requesting his presence at once. He visits the old man and is promptly given a proposition despite having no prior experience as a criminal investigator or ever having watched a single episode of CSI: Stockholm: to find out which of his potential employer’s family members murdered his great-niece some 30 years prior. With time to kill and the promise of a big fat payday even if he comes up empty-handed, he takes the job. With the assistance of a right-hand woman who could hack her way into the Pentagon with the effort it takes me to remember my Facebook password, the unlikely crime-solving duo start unearthing a tomb of secrets that some close by are trying very hard to keep buried.
Before we begin, go read the book if you haven’t already. I know, I know, not the best way to kick things off and I can feel your eyes rolling from here. I promise this won’t be a “book vs. movie” review, but having read it myself and having seen the original Swedish adaptation, I’m glad I was in the know. For those who aren’t, get ready for a doozie. The first reason you should read the book is that it will result in a literary addiction similar to what crackheads feel when Santa brings them their very first rock and pipe for Christmas (because I’m totally an authority on the matter.) The second reason is that it’s roughly 600 pages long, it’s jam-packed with more characters, details, and information than you can shake a stick at, and since all of it is vital to the story and overall experience, there’s just no way to cram it all into a 158-minute span.
That was one of the problems with the Swedish movie: not having a firmer grasp on who to flesh out and what to spend time on. This is not one of the problems with the remake. Writer Steven Zaillian does a fine job of whittling the dialogue down to a bare minimum while adding a healthy dose of character in the process, but this movie belongs to David Fincher. As far as selective editing and intentional film making is concerned, Fincher’s a goddamn assembly line. Every last scene is here for a reason, and as soon as its purpose is fulfilled, it goes right along to the next one without skipping a beat or wasting a breath. Reading that back, this might sound like one big episode of The West Wing with the fast-forward button held down, but that’s far from the reality of it. As one of my friends put it (a Fincher fanboy of the highest order, not that I’m any different,) David Fincher is a director who knows exactly what he’s doing, and it won’t take long with this movie before you realize the truth of that statement.
The upsides of this approach are that it allows for a lot of information to be packed into a short frame of time, it moves things along at a breakneck pace which transforms it from a talking heads movie into a full-blown thriller, and it makes you pay attention. The downsides of this approach are that it gives you a lot of information in a short from of time, it conveys a lot of the clues and developments through inference and things unsaid, and it’s unforgiving if you bought a ticket just because you liked the booby poster. If I were going into this movie blind or with the same mindset that led me to Ghost Protocol, I think I’d be tearing my hair out. But that’s not the kind of book Stieg Larsson wrote, and that’s not the movie Fincher’s made. There’s an ass-kicker of a story to be told here, and if you can’t keep up, it’s kind of your own fault as cold as that may sound. Then again, that only seems fitting for the emotionally frigid movie that this is.
Although as incredibly effective as his direction is, I wish he had taken his time a bit more often. When he does, it makes for some scenes that’ll stall your lungs before knocking the wind out for good measure. There isn’t much room for baited tension in this movie, and that’s too bad considering this is David Fincher, a dude who knows some shit about baiting tension before we can realize there’s a hook through our cheek. But when it’s there, it’s fantastic, and it’s also worth mentioning that he’s given us the best opening credits sequence of the year that looks like something straight out of the gnarliest of Nine Inch Nails videos.
But Fincher aside, the biggest selling point of this movie is far and away the one role that every girl with daddy issues would have killed for and then some: Lisbeth Salander. When I saw Rooney Mara in The Social Network, I didn’t see a badass bitch with the scars and piercings to prove it. I don’t think anyone saw it, but here she is looking like the bastard love child of Mudvayne and Powder, and she freaking destroys. There’s a good reason this movie isn’t called The Man with the Libel Conviction, and it’s the same reason everyone but the Academy went so ape over Noomi Rapace these past couple years. Lisbeth is one tempest of a character, she’s beyond eccentric compared to the rest of the cast, and it’s always great to see tough female characters who run the show with gusto and take pleasure in putting the opposite sex in their place. Hard to say whether she trumps Rapace, but this is one seriously demanding role and she goes all out with it. Would be pretty darn shocked if she didn’t walk away with some wins come February, ’cause she earned ’em.
Even so, this movie isn’t about Lisbeth Salander, it’s actually about our disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, regardless of the title. My biggest complaint about the Swedish version is the way Blomkvist and all his complexities were so blatantly put on the back burner so as not to take the spotlight away from Lisbeth. From the outset, Blomkvist has the immediate appeal of wet clothes against the backdrop of Rooney Mara’s mohawk, but the truth of the matter is that Blomkvist is every bit as interesting as his punked-out partner. I mean, it takes a long time for Blomkvist and Salander to start working together, they’ve got a lot going on in their respective lives outside of the murder mystery, so it’s really nice to see that Zallian and Fincher gave each of them their due both before and after they team up. And while he never stood a chance at upstaging Mara, this is still Daniel Craig’s best role since Casino Royale.
Also bizarre seeing Yorick Van Wageningen go from a jolly Dutchman named Joost in The Way to Lisbeth’s scumbag mother-effer of a legal guardian. Talk about night and day, but the role suits him disturbingly well.
And lastly there’s the score from the almighty Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross which is as good as it already sounds. Currently undecided as to whether their involvement here works as well as it did in The Social Network, but it’s nevertheless a perfect complement to the tone of the movie. So many haunting, gorgeous tracks here, especially the few that sound like Trent slamming keys in the grand ballroom of an abandoned castle. You’ll get it when you hear it, or you could just be the man/woman and buy the three-disc soundtrack prontosaurus.
As much as I liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and as impressed as I am by how well Fincher handled it, I still can’t help but feel a bit lackluster about it all. This is the third time I’ve heard the story, and I don’t know if it was a story I needed to hear three times. Some of the story’s greatest strengths lie in its ruthless unpredictability and giving the reader an outrageously wide berth to put the pieces together, so when you know every road that the plot’s gonna take, you start hoping for the detours. Although I did appreciate some of the more subtle liberties that Zaillian took with the source material, like an unexpected turn of events towards the end, ignoring the prison sentence Blomkvist has to serve, and skipping over all the time he spends writing his book against the guy who put him there. Also nice to see more time spent on key players and less time spent on the two dozen family members who are all potential suspects, even if it might make the mystery a bit easier to unravel.
God, this is an easy movie to ramble about, time to wrap it up. If you’ve never taken the trip, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is as wild, rough, and memorable as they come. If you’ve been here before, it might be familiar, but by the same token, that might just be me. As a devoted worshiper at the church of Reznor and someone who’s been Fincher-crazy since I figured out what the fuck was in the fuckin’ box, it’s hard to deny this movie a recommendation with everything it does so well.
But do yourself a favor, read the book first.
The Artist (2011)
VERDICT:
9/10 Wordless Choruses
The best silent film I’ve seen all year.
Set in 1920s Hollywood, The Artist is about a silent film star at the top of his career who takes a charming girl under his wing as she tries to make a name for herself in Tinseltown. He’s riding high and loving life, that is until “talkies” make their debut and the actor finds his forte turning into yesterday’s news. As his protege jumps on the bandwagon and becomes the latest siren of the silver screen, the actor’s pride get the best of him as he risks everything to stick with the old and write off the new as a passing fad. Much to his chagrin, the plan doesn’t quite pan out. Before long, his marriage, livelihood, and dignity start to crumble while his protege watches on, doing whatever she can to help from the shadows.
So how is awesome is it that this movie is out right now and getting all these awards and whatnot? In this day and age, you go to a studio exec and you tell ’em you want to make a silent movie about silent movies, there’s a strong chance he’ll shoot you dead and get away with it. The general assumption when there’s money on the line is that backing a project like this would be a money pit, something only movie snobs and old farts would go see. If it was my money in question, I’d probably wouldn’t risk it either, but that’s the problem. Too many studios today equate bigger budgets with better movies and are more than happy to sacrifice the story if it makes for a sweeter payday, and that’s why these movies don’t get made. It’s been a really long time since we’ve had an option like The Artist to choose from, and now that it’s here, you’ll be wondering what took so long.
Although for a lot of folks, this is a pretty tough sell. It’s not in 3D, it’s not in color, it’s starring two French people you’ve probably never heard of, it’s not even in widescreen, and when you’re not reading subtitles, you’re trying to read lips. Who am I kidding, that’s more of a death sentence than it is a tough sell. But I guess I’m not a lot of folks, ’cause before I bought the ticket, before I took the ride, I was loving this movie. I have no idea what spurned writer/director Michel Hazanavicius to take this inspired trip back in time, but that seems to be the big theme this year, doesn’t it? Woody did it with Midnight in Paris, Marty did it with Hugo, and now that Hazanavicius is doing it, seems to me like film makers aren’t too keen on the 21st Century these days. Whatever the reason, I’m behind it 100% if it’s getting us movies like these.
And nothing against Woody or Marty, but what Hazanavicius does here is just plain brilliant. It’s such a surprisingly literal approach to telling this silent story that it takes a bit of getting used to since we’re so attuned to hearing voices when mouths start moving. I have no excuse for the tragic shortlist of silent movies that I’ve seen, so walking into this was like walking into Bizarro World. Everything is shown, very little is told, and intertitles are used at an absolute bare minimum. But before you know it, it feels natural, you get sucked in, and as you follow this plot that’s driven by body language, you’ll wonder why sound was such a big deal in the first place. It’s funny, I just watched Pulp Fiction for the first time in ages recently, and as much as I love the way Tarantino writes, his characters do not stop talking. It’s not a problem with every movie because some people, like Tarantino, just know how to write dialogue, but it seems to me that the art of subtlety a dying practice.
I feel like a broken record saying this, but one of the most aggravating qualities in a person, invented or real, is the impulse to talk for the sake of talking. Apparently Hazanavicius is on the level, and I can’t praise him enough for it. All too often, film makers and studios underestimate the audience’s ability to follow along if things aren’t spelled out, but this movie is living proof of what little dialogue you need to tell a story that speaks volumes. When his characters make key statements or when conversations are held, we’ll get the occasional intertitle to keep up, but most of the time Hazanavicius just lets his wonderful cast of mutes do the talking, and the system works like gangbusters.
So the story revolves around one George Valentin who’s played by one Jean Dujardin. The only other thing I know Dujardin from is OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, another Hazanavicius joint where he stole the show as the French, attractive version of Austin Powers. If he was magnetic then, he’s a freaking hadron collider now. God, when this guy smiles, you’ll want to get up dance; when he’s at the bottom of a bottle, you’ll want to crawl in there with him. He’s just so incredibly expressive in his physicality and it’s amazing how well he pulls it off without going overboard. Dude has one hell of a face to work with and, boy, does he know how to mug with it. Still partial to Michael Shannon in Take Shelter, but Dujardin is an awfully, awfully close second for best male performance of the year.
Dujardin’s real-life wife, Berenice Bejo, is also fantastic for all the same reasons as his on-screen sweetheart, Peppy Miller. As you can image, these two have a whole lot of chemistry going for ’em and they just light up the screen when they’re together. Again, what a face, and these two can cut some rug like you wouldn’t believe. Bonus points for Valentin’s totally awesome Jack Russell Terrier who makes that Hollywood hack Lassie look like a bow-legged mutt with canine scurvy.
And while I still have to hear what Reznor and Ross put together for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, they’re gonna have some stiff competition with this score in the running. Not only is it pitch-perfect throughout and easy on the ears, it’s so cool to watch the music guide the action and vice-versa as though it’s a supporting character. Only worry is that it might not be eligible come awards season since one of songs is “Pennies from Heaven,” and that’s the kind of hooey that’s gotten some of the best scores disqualified. Freakin’ Academy…
Anyway, it’s more than deserving of all the acclaim it’s continuing to garner even if it’s not my #1 for the year. I can see how some folks would take this is as a love letter to the silent era, but to me, that’s selling it short. Aside from its great little story about love, redemption, and the tides of change; aside from its phenomenal premise that had me sold from the start; aside from the achievement it is from both a technical and storytelling standpoint; and aside from having one of the best dream sequences I’ve ever seen, The Artist is just a magical, delightful, and truly unexpected experience that grabs hold of you right up until the last two words that’ll leave you smiling from ear-to-ear. This is how you take two steps forward by taking one step back, and it couldn’t have come at a better, or more pertinent, time.
Remember this when you see Titanic in 3D next year.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 