Slumdog Millionaire has its Crash Moment

Slumdog Millionaire has, of course, won Best Picture. No surprise at all, given how the Academy has a great knack for choosing undeserving films for the top spot.

From now on, I will refer to such new winners as finding the “…” Moment taking the last movie receiving the dishonor and inserting it in the phrase. For instance, Slumdog Millionaire just found the Crash Moment. Previously, Crash found the Titanic Moment, and so on.  And I use “moment” for the time unit, because that’s how long bad choices will be remembered. I’m serious. I’ve had a heluva lot more requests for No Country for Old Men after it won Best Picture than I had for Crash in its award aftermath.

So will next year’s winner be a good choice or will it find the Slumdog Millionaire Moment?

On Hollywood “Camp”, Crap and Guilty Dis-pleasures

Recently, Time Out Chicago published an article on the “guilty pleasures” of film and what can be considered camp and crap.  Being a connoisseur of the latter, I thought I’d give my thoughts on such things.

My response as posted by Time Out Chicago:

“There’s a major factor missing in discussing guilty pleasures: marketing. “Dude, Where’s My Car?” and “She Hate Me” were heavily promoted (I had to sit through the horrendous trailer for the latter over 6 times). Studios don’t put these movies in theaters unless they believe we’ll watch them. That makes us real suckers. Whether a feature has merit to each of us individually doesn’t make a dime’s difference. Your wallet is a little bit lighter–that’s all that matters to them.”

I do agree with the alluded premise that there probably is no longer any movie considered a guilty pleasure, since (with the advent of the internet) you can find someone out there who loves a horrible film for perhaps a legitimate reason.

I would argue that, instead, we could be discussing guilty displeasures: those films generally considered classics but are simply unbearable to watch. Such a category could have a great range–from Hollywood Oscar winners (Titanic and Crash come immediately to mind) to films unnervingly taught to high school and college students who have to suffer through them (Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Last Year at Marienbad).  I kid you not, I’ve actually had movie companions fall asleep during arthouse films I found as boring as watching a snail race and later have them tell me they liked the film. Uh, yeah.

While fans of Slumdog Millionaire try explaining to me how a cliche-ridden, exploitative eye-irritant should win the Best Picture Oscar, I’m busy seeking out entertainment that doesn’t get highly promoted but is nonetheless fantastic. Have you ever heard of La Leon? London to Brighton? Let the Right On In? Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa? Discovering films like these on the big screen is the great joy of moviegoing. And, of course, that’s not to mention the endless number of movies released on VHS and DVD yet to be discovered.  Head to a good independent video rental store and you could be quite satiated without Blockbuster, Hollywood and Netflix.

So if you’re idea of a great guilty pleasure is She Hate Me or Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, then, yes, you are a sucker.

Planet Earth Takes a Purging Enema on January 20

Holy good Fucking Christ, you mean to say only a few more days and the war criminals get the boot in the ass out of DC? FUCKING FINALLY!!

While Bush’s pathetic attempt at revisionist history will certainly go on, Keith Olbermann puts it straight with this great overview of the disasters (that may not be the strongest word) of his administration. I swear, instead of giving Bush his own library–he doesn’t read anyway, what are they going to fill the shelves with, coloring books?–just get an IMAX sized monitor and run this video on a loop 24/7 for eternity:

India toasts success of ‘Slumdog’ after awards by torturing Danny Boyle

Wait–that’s what happens in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, doesn’t it? A poor Indian guy wins on India’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and is hauled into a police station and tortured because they can’t have a national hero without the Gitmo treatment.

This is just one of the many absurdities this movie gets away with. So many critics are heading out to the suburban cineplexes to watch mostly mainstream dogshit posing as entertainment that when a laughably cliched film gets a positive word-of-mouth campaign, it catches on with people who think they’re actually intelligent because they’ve picked a crowd-pleasing “art house” movie for awards. Yes, this movie which uses the plot-thudding idea of placing an actual TV quiz show within the plot. A movie that actually exploits children for cheap emotions, because it can’t earn truly heartfelt ones. A movie that pulls the Oliver Twist subplot out of its ass, because it lacks originality. A movie that has the same old plot device of “finding the girl you once loved at all costs” despite the fact that she’s deep in the clutches of organized crime. Groaners all.

I’m having a feeling this movie is going to be this year’s Crash–a movie that will will the top Oscars undeservedly and be promptly forgotten soon afterward. Critics are getting pretty lazy in really searching out what the truly best film of the year is if this is the best they can come up with. It’s amazing that with affordable technology expanding the amount of films produced every year, the roster of films chosen by “top critics” seems so narrow.

New and Worse

The A.V. Club at the Onion posted a great article about 14 “New & Improved” items that never should have happened.

Big Screen Version of “Shazam!” Aborted

This may be good or bad news, but a big screen version of the famous comic is not going to be made anytime soon. Here’s an interesting post from its screenwriter John August on the rocky road his script had.

Worst Films of 2008

And now to purge the demons.

I’m beginning to enjoy this time of year. Everyone’s settling back down from the holidays. My (sometimes) relieved friends are returning from visiting family. Christmas chocolates are 75% off! And I get to give one final verbal ass-kicking to the films that were a complete waste of celluloid and time.  Let’s pull back the welcome mat and shove these losers out the door with a final “fuck you!” as I list my choices for…

The Worst Films of 2008.

10. Married Life

Harry (Chris Cooper) is bed thumpin’ with Kay (Rachel McAdams) while his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) stays home. Meanwhile, Harry’s best friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) finds out Harry would like a divorce but can’t put Pat through the strain. Richard meets Kay and guess what? He brings Kay to the unhappy couple and starts fucking her. Distraught Harry decides to poison his wife and then changes his mind. That’s it. That’s the whole film! One critic praised Married Life’s “understated” performances, but it’s just a cover for the fact that this was the most boring and pointless film I’ve seen all year. You’ll need toothpicks jammed in your eyelids and an open flame on your balls to stay awake for this one.  Someone will also have to tell me why it was necessary to have this film set in 1949. Different mores? Sexual undertones? Nostalgia? Perhaps Jay Leno was able to loan his classic cars at a cut-rate price?

9. Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!

I know I probably shouldn’t pick on small films, but I chose this feature (the sequel to Another Gay Movie) to make a point. As a member of the gay community I want to give a clarion call to all future gay filmmakers out there: stop copying bad straight movie ideas! With films like Save Me, Le Leon and Milk being produced, you shouldn’t need to rehash bad movie formulas just to be able to say, “Me too.” The four young queers from the first movie head down to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break for a contest of who can fuck or get fucked the most when the only ones getting fucked are you out of your hard-earned ten bucks. There are so many logistical problems with this film, it’s tough to know where to start. First, the gays get the beach all to themselves during Spring Break. Second, this wild party filled with hot bodies only attracts about thirty or so guys from across the country. Lastly, there’s not a single scene of anyone doing ecstacy.  I mean, what is this, a parallel universe with an Earthly appearance?  The sole laugh in this entire film was from a three-minute vomiting scene occurring when one of the young hunks accidentally ends up porking his dad, and that laugh only came because I’m perverted enough to enjoy projectile vomiting in movies. Oh and speaking of wretched vile substances, Perez Hilton should not have to been seen or heard in any movie–ever. That demand should be contractual.

8. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who

Hey, here’s an idea: let’s make an animated feature with the metaphor of a possible apocalypse or holocaust and make the main character an insufferably cheery elephant voiced by Jim “I-just-can’t-take-large-doses-of-this-guy” Carrey.  Another of Dr. Seuss’ great tales is ruined by someone’s decision to change the tone of the story to presumably maintain the interest of easily distracted children. There’s no improvement whatsoever from Chuck Jones’ great short animated TV version of this story about an elephant who hears an entire world existing on a speck of dust. In fact, none of the main characters are memorable and some of the secondary characters (for instance, the jungle creatures Horton tutors) are just downright irritating. The animation I think is ugly and I ended up not caring at all if Whoville survived. That ain’t good, folks. Ironically, it was one of the most depressing movie viewing experiences of the year. This is the third Dr. Seuss catastrophe his widow helped give the green light to (after The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas), prompting me to call for the ghost of the genius doctor to haunt his widow until she agrees to no longer let a Hollywood studio touch another of his classics.

7. Run Fatboy Run

Here’s an example of a comedy that simply doesn’t work on a conceptual level. Simon Pegg stars as Dennis,  a one-time groom who jilts his pregnant bride Libby (Thandie Newton) at the altar and decides five years later to run a marathon against her new fiancee Whit (Hank Azaria) to prove his love for her. This despite the fact that he’s become a pudgy security guard who can’t catch simple thieves. The opening scenes of Dennis ditching the wedding add a huge ball-and-chain on this comedy that has to be dragged around while we’re supposed to root for him. Newton’s character is reduced to choosing between Dennis and Whit with the latter being the better guy (that is, if you really want to invest enough emotional attachment in this movie to even make a choice).  However, the film takes leaps through flaming hoops to make the new fiancee look like an asshole during the last third of the film when he’s quite the nice guy during the first two-thirds. The excuse given:  Dennis’ young son still loves his biological father even after his father practically abandoned him and his mother. Either that kid has already gone through years of therapy or he’s dumber than dog shit.  Another stupid mistake this comedy makes is that there’s no real knowledge shared about marathon preparations. Instead, we’re given cliches like the running-to-exhaustion-while-an-out-of-shape-coach-urges-him-on sequence. The final “inspiring” scene which shows an irresponsible, ill-prepared and injured Dennis trying to finish the marathon is the definition of phony.  Such an ending befits this horrid comedy.

6.  Speed Racer

My eyes! My eyes!! The Wachowski Brothers unnecessarily update a 1960’s cartoon and prove they think any static shot lasting longer than two seconds belongs in a Bela Tarr film. Emile Hirsch (who’s probably thankful he’s getting more attention for a supporting role in Milk) plays the title role, a race car driver determined to win The Crucible championship after that contest took the life of his older brother Rex some years before. This movie’s candy-coated graphic design is so ostentatious that the live actors look goofy in costumes and make-up trying to match the style. Watch Susan Sarandon and John Goodman playing Speed’s parents and if they don’t look embarrassed, I’ll kiss your ass. The visual style of this film is so overwhelming and distracting, you’ll need the concentration of a Zen master to be able to follow what lackluster plot there is. It’s obvious, the filmmakers didn’t think there was much of one. That explains why scenes of the little irritating bastard Spritle Racer and Chim Chim the chimp stealing candy and other showstoppers are included. Too bad they forgot the scene where they both are run over by a bus. I can always hope for it in the sequel.

5. 88 Minutes

Think about this for a minute: Al Pacino decides he’s going to star in a crime thriller. Do you think A-List actors would not have wanted to see this script for a chance to be on screen opposite the Oscar-winner? I just have to think a number of them read this god-awful script, and when they turned it down, Pacino should have taken the hint to run away as fast as he could. Alas, he stuck himself by playing a successful forensic psychiatrist and college professor who’s given 88 minutes to live by a serial killer who enjoys offing victims by stabbing them and hoisting the carcasses upside-down on block & tackle pulley systems assembled in what has to be world-record time. Your own fetishes are definitely not this weird. I actually watched this film on 2X fast-forward with subtitles and was still able to figure out who the killer was less than half-way through. And guess what? It’s a lesbian. Golly gee, that’s original.  Because we have a recession going on and your money and time are valuable, I’m going to save you both and tell you that in the picture accompanying this review, you’ll see Al Pacino and a vicious lesbian serial killer. Guess which is which?

4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I have to admit Judd Apatow is probably the best huckster of comedies working today. Last year, he convinced a shitload of you that Knocked Up was worth your time and this year he put up the money for this movie. Jason Segel writes and stars as Peter Bretter, a musician who provides the incidental music soundtracks for a successful TV series. He gets dumped by his girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), who’s become the beloved star of the series. Let’s get one thing clear right now: you don’t get to the positions these two are in without buying into the Hollywood lifestyle and work system. Once you are there, you are outside any normal form of life. Thus, when Peter and Sarah are supposed to be acting like down-to-earth people, it struck me as so phony and insulting I couldn’t take more than about 40 minutes of this horseshit. Peter’s spiral into depression doesn’t lend itself well to comedy, either. It’s clear from this movie he’s clinically depressed. What’s next, Judd Apatow’s goofy movie about cancer? While he’s working on that messterpiece, Apatow was also busy this year lending his unfunny words to this next craptacular…

3. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

Adam Sandler stars as a super-powerful Israeli Special Forces Soldier who wants to give up his dangerous life fighting Palestinians and become a hairdresser. He fakes his death and heads to New York City to live his dream, bedding old women in the process and eventually faces his arch nemesis The Phantom (John Turturro–oh, how I remember when he was a great actor). Even if this idea for a movie were to work, it could not be properly cast with Sandler in the lead. He’s not buffed up enough to be a fierce fighter and his Israeli accent sucks. The only true competition he has in the category “Year’s Worst Foreign Accent” has to be Chris Rock, appearing in a cameo as a cab driver and providing the worst Jamaican accent in movie history. Listening to the two of them talk to each other will make you take the pledge.  It’s amazing to me that Sandler, who had a surprise hit last year with the incredibly shitty I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (my choice for the worst film of 2007), would follow up with a movie that uses hummus as a running gag at least half a dozen times within the first thirty minutes. Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and Will Ferrell should all take a cue from another SNL alumnus, Bill Murray: stop trying to make films that seem like bad SNL ideas and expand your horizons a bit.

2. What Happens in Vegas

One of my co-workers had it right. Don’t ever trust a movie whose title sounds like it came from a tourism board.  Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz decide to drop trou and lift skirt to take steaming dumps on their careers in this jaw-droppingly unfunny comedy. They both play complete strangers who head down to Las Vegas to forget their troubles and end up married after a night of drunken debauchery. When they sober up and want out, they win a fortune in the slots and head to court to settle the dispute where they are forced to remain married (pleasing Prop 8 proponents, no doubt).  Ever live in an apartment building next to a couple arguing loudly day and night? That’s what watching this movie is like.  This romantic comedy is a case study of how you can achieve zero chemistry between leads, since both Kutcher and Diaz look dazed and confused, probably wondering how the fuck they ever agreed to appear in this garbage.  Here’s a helpful hint: if you say no to these films, they probably won’t be made and you won’t look stupid and desperate to millions of people. You can make out the check for the consultant’s fee courtesy of this blog.

1. Blindness

A great many terrible films are true underachievers, as the expectations for them are so low, but this movie truly shocked me in the worst way. I attended a free screening of this movie and twenty minutes in, I wanted to run away screaming. I hoped the award-winning and Oscar-nominated director of such films as City of God and The Constant Gardener would come up with an interesting story about the havoc created when a blind illness suddenly grips a city’s residents.  One by one, each of the citizens are blinded, as Julianne Moore’s character remains the only person unaffected. She joins the others as a whole group of them are interred into a prison with absolutely no supervision. Cue the Lord of the Flies analogy as a vicious set of guys, lead by the embarrassingly hammy Gael Garcia Bernal, make whores out of the women in the camp in what was the most unpleasant, horrendous sequence of any movie in years–and I’ve seen and enjoyed more than my share of sleazy sexploitation. Director Fernando Meirelles tries to combine an eco-thriller with shades of very dark comedy, horror,  socio-political commentary and elements of avant garde theater and fails at all of them. It’s my understanding that the American release version of this movie removed a constant voice-over by Danny Glover’s character that was irritating Cannes viewers. It’s too bad the entire soundtrack and all visuals didn’t go as well. The National Federation of the Blind condemned how blind people were portrayed in this film and they actually have it half right. It treats all people horribly.

Heading for Cult Camp Status: The Mother of Tears

Dishonorable Mentions:

A Christmas Tale

Get Smart

The Grand

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Miss Pettigre Lives for a Day

The Other Boleyn Girl

Penelope

Postal

Rambo

Redbelt

Semi-Pro

Sex and Death 101

Sex Drive

Slumdog Millionaire (yes, it’s a shitbag)

Then She Found Me

The Tracey Fragments

Transsiberian

Best Films of 2008

Before you read my list, I should let you know that 2008 wasn’t the best year for my checking out movies in theaters.  By the end of June, I had only seen a handful of movies on the big screen. This was, in parts, due to laziness, lack of time or preoccupations with moving to a new apartment and an incredibly important election. Those reasons were certainly my doing, but I also have to say in my defense that I had seen a lot of shitty trailers this year, so hopefully you can forgive me for lacking the excitement of viewing films that didn’t do a great job of convincing me to see them.

This poor theater attendance, of course, left me playing catch-up with films once they had been released on video. Among the films I really wanted to watch but couldn’t were Tell No One and Dear Zachary.

With that said, I was able to watch 80 films*

(* The criteria for watching films–because I do have a life to live outside movies–was to watch a film for at least 20 minutes. If a film was too mediocre to make either the best or worst list, I went to the next video. Films watched in theaters were seen in their entirety, sometimes unfortunately.)

Here’s my list of The Best of 2008:

10. Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa

The best documentary of 2008 will not win an Oscar this year, and that’s really a shame as it sheds light on a part of America completely unknown to many people. An uninhabitable region of New Mexico stretching several hundred square miles is home to about 300 or so people who, for various reasons, want to live there. Some are Vietnam Vets with PTSD unwilling or unable to get medical treatment, some have extreme political views eschewing the American government (whether left-wing or right-wing),  some have financial difficulties and so on. This amazing documentary by Jeremy and Randy Stulberg looks at the lives of about a dozen or so of these residents. Despite the difficulties of retaining fresh water, obtaining food and seeking medical attention, they seem to enjoy the freedom. That is, until these extreme individualists–living without a functional government nor even a police force– need to band together during a crisis. A surprisingly heartwarming film at times, the movie takes an unusually positive view (for the most part) of people who rough it out for their idea of an idyllic life.

9. Frost/Nixon

I generally don’t care much for Ron Howard’s superficial approach to important topics, but thanks to his astute direction, Peter Morgan’s great screenplay (based on his own play), and Frank Langella’s astounding performance as the former President, this film really did work on me.  The film is not so much about whether Nixon answers questions the nation needs to hear about Watergate. Quite honestly, you can get those from YouTube or the original David Frost interviews. This movie, instead, is about the intense preparation between two men each with a great deal at stake. Nixon is disgraced into making tacky speaking engagements and in need of money. Frost feels the need to prove himself beyond the endless fluffy celebrity interviews making him famous on British television but unheard of in the U.S. It’s a boxing match of psychology, tension and sheer hutzpah.  Langella, despite being heavier and seemingly taller than Richard Nixon, is utterly convincing, even more so than the Oscar-nominated Anthony Hopkins in Oliver Stone’s disastrous film Nixon.

8. Save Me

2008 has turned out to be a pretty good year for gay-themed movies.  It’s too bad that, aside from Milk, you probably won’t be able to see them until they get released on DVD. Among the best were Le Leon from Argentina and this terrific low-budget film from director Robert Cary.  Chad Allen stars as a young gay man, completely out of control with his drug and sex addictions. After he nearly overdoses one wild night, his exasperated strict Christian brother sends him to dry out at a ranch ministry specializing in “saving” homosexuals. The conflict between religious intolerance and gays has been covered before in such narrative films as But I’m A Cheerleader and Latter Days, but this is the first film in recent years that has handled this issue seriously with intelligence and a careful evenhandedness.  Cary’s direction is well-paced and Judith Light (yes, that Judith Light of TV’s Who’s the Boss) playing one of the co-founders of the ranch gives the best performance of any actress I’ve seen on screen this year. I’m not kidding.

7. The Visitor

Here’s an example of a film released with perfect timing. During an election year in which the issue of immigration played a part, this wonderful film reflects on how small incidents can turn worlds upside-down for citizens and immigrants alike. Richard Jenkins, in a superb Oscar-level performance, plays Professor Walter Vale, an embittered widower stuck in a mundane existence and barely caring about his work. When forced to attend a conference in New York City, he discovers an immigrant squatter couple (Haas Sleiman and Danai Jekesai Gurira) living in his practically abandoned apartment. Allowing the couple to share the living space, he becomes involved in their lives, opening a new chapter in his life and inviting further complications. Thomas McCarthy wrote and directed this great examination into injustice and the rejuvenation of one’s life. I’m glad this became a hit in Chicago, running on the big screen here for months.

6. Dante’s Inferno

For all the (worthy) praise given to major animated features like Wall-E, I was much more impressed by this low-tech animated feature. Have you seen Dante’s Inferno? Probably not, but luckily this incredible movie, using hand-painted paper cutout puppets, has been released on DVD.  Director Sean Meredith combines a graphic novel sensibility with a Victorian toy stage setting for a retelling of Dante Alighieri’s classic novel. Dermot Mulroney provides the voice of Dante, presented here as a young Brooklyn guy waking on a city street after a night of carousing and taken by Homer (James Cromwell) into the underworld to shake him to the core.  Writers Meredith, Sandow Birk and Paul Zaloom update the story with modern day figures suffering ingenious and hilarious eternal torments. Not only was this a tour-de-force for DYI animators and a true inspiration for low-tech future artists, but it was also one of the funniest films of the year. Rent this now!

5. London to Brighton

Anyone, I mean anyone, who wants to try his or her hand at making a crime thriller involving pimps and prostitutes had better damn well watch this film from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams.  Kelly (the excellent Lorraine Stanley) is an aging prostitute battered and bruised with a black eye.  She, along with the 12-year old  Joanne (Georgia Groome), are on the run from a pimp they’ve double-crossed. As the movie progresses, we learn in piecemeal the details as to why they’ve dashed from London to Brighton. This is a story tailor-made for great low-budget filmmaking with incredibly taut storytelling and fantastic acting, including Sam Spruell who plays Stuart Allen, the man behind a flesh transaction and probably the most frightening character in a movie this year. Shocking, brutal and riveting from beginning to end.

4. Boy A

Harkening back to the days of England’s “kitchen sink” dramas, this intense story, based on the novel by Jonathan Trigell, is evocatively realized by writer Mark O’Rowe and director John Crowley. It tells the story of Jack, a young man (Andrew Garfield in a heartbreaking performance) returning to society after being in prison for 14 years for a murder he committed as child. With a new identity and people generally supporting this shy, introverted ex-con, things seem to go pretty well until an unexpected event brings about a major change in attitudes. This is one of the most insightful films I’ve seen lately examining the subject of criminal punishment and how much right society has in forgiving or not forgiving wrongdoers. Along with Garfield, Peter Mullan deserves some award attention for his portrayal of a social worker and parole contact helping Jack.

3. Milk

I heard a gay rights activist once say that after many years of ignoring serious homosexual stories, Hollywood will come up with a positive one catering to all viewers and will congratulate itself for coming up with it. I have a feeling Milk is that film, but any Oscars it wins will be well deserved. There are no adequate words to describe Sean Penn’s portrayal of the slain gay civil rights leader. He effortlessly inhabits the man’s soul. But this movie is much more than the life of this great individual. It’s a testament to the monumental force of organizing ordinary citizens who have no real institutional backing and even those who may not seem like your allies, and starting a movement that radiates far beyond what one could imagine. Director Gus Van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black were right in creating a film bio with an epic scope. It all works, especially with the fine supporting help of Emile Hirsch and James Franco.  By the way, did you know that the original idea (conceived more than a decade ago) of filming a biopic of Harvey Milk had the possibility of Oliver Stone directing and Robin Williams portraying the lead? I think we got lucky.

2. The Fall

Years from now, I think a lot of people will wonder just what it was that turned critics off to this astonishing feature from Tarsem. I just don’t get it: praise for a film like Slumdog Millionaire which I think exploits children for cheap emotions and relies on cliches like the Oliver Twist-type flashback sequence and the search for a lost love. The Fall, on the other hand, gets criticized for being pretentious when, in fact, it’s much more honest in dealing with a child and eventually becomes the most genuinely positive film of the year. Critics, get your heads out of your asses! This film tells the story of two patients who become friends in a Los Angeles hospital during the 1920’s. One is a stunt man named Roy Walker (Lee Pace) who ends up there after an accident and the other is Alexandria, a little girl recuperating from a broken arm. To pass the time, Roy relays an epic adventure to the fascinated little girl and wins her trust. However, he misuses that trust for his own pernicious means as both use the tall tale as metaphors for their own lives. Colin Watkinson’s cinematography is quite simply the best this year and the remarkable acting debut of 11-year old Catinca Untaru deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She is that good.

1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

No crime thriller, no horror film and no explosive actioner put my ass on the edge of my seat and kept it there for an entire 113 minutes like this masterpiece from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu.  Set in Romania 1987, the film opens with a young woman trying to help out her college roommate with a problem. Eventually, we realize exactly what the problem is–she needs a late-term abortion in a country where all abortions and contraceptions were illegal at the time. What transpires in the following two hours is a harrowing, nail-biter of a film that shows the bravery and sometimes callous wrecklessness of these two frightened young women and the extent in which they must immerse themselves in a society steeped in black market corruption. Like Save Me, this film handles both sides of a controversial issue in an even-handed way and without judgment. The startling images and great performances alone speak volumes.  Absolutely R-O-B-B-E-D of an Oscar nomination last year for Best Foreign Language Film.

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)

Beauty in Trouble

Body of War

Burn After Reading

Encounters at the End of the World

Full Battle Rattle

In Bruges

Le Leon

Let the Right One In

Man on Wire

OSS-117:  Cairo, Nest of Spies

Snow Angels

Standard Operating Procedure

Synecdoche, New York

The Tiger’s Tail

Vantage Point

Wall-E

Zebraman

The Year’s Most Underrated Film: The Fall

The Year’s Most Overrated Film: Slumdog Millionaire

Your New Year’s Resolution: Change Your Password

That is, if you have one of these 500 worst passwords ever.

RIP Eartha Kitt

She sang songs in multiple languages, became one of the first African-American female sex symbols, took the Vietnam War protest directly into the White House (and seriously threatened her career–LBJ ordered that she be blacklisted from TV) and became a gay icon for her support of the gay community for years. No one could compare to her, and sorry Julie Newmar, Eartha for my money was the better Catwoman.

Here she is tearing up the audience during a performance of Cole Porter’s Love for Sale. I sincerely hope she’s surrounded in heaven by heavenly bodies like these!