oldernow

Okay, so I mentioned that Id be doing a best of the year movie blog and here, in March, it is! Now I watch a lot of movies, and in any other context besides here Id be reluctant to lay out the full range of my palate. It also happens that my life-partner, being many years younger than me (which isnt hard to to) didnt grow up with the same films I did, so some of our watching was an introduction for her and a re-visitation for me. While we watched many old movies including nearly everything made by Hitchcock, or starring Marilyn, Myrna, Ginger&Fred, Bogi&Bacall. and African Queen. Besides the usual standouts, a few bear special mention:

Sophie's Choice well, because Hellooo Meryl! Our first real introduction to a woman that I thinkat her bestis the Gold Standard of modern acting. Bar none. Sometimes a film is for the story, or the images, and sometimes for the character, and sometimes for the acting. This is for the latter. And its a damnfine story.

Hopscotch If you dont know this, get it. Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, being a very smooth old odd couple who put it to the man while celebrating a lifelong romance. Just sweet and satisfying and Matthau at his peak.

Some Like It Hot Well, nobodys Perfect except in many ways this movie is. Poignant too, on many levels, but too damn funny not to celebrate.

All About Eve a very brave and raw performance by one of Hollywoods most challenging and challenged bitches. Not a nice person to know on or off the stage, and she knew it, lived it, and shows it here.

American Graffiti that prank with the cop car? I did that with my friends somewhere between the A&W at one end of town and the sketchy bar at the other end. This catches the edge of America before Viet Nam really slammed us. Fandango shows us what happened a few years later, and of course Apocalypse Now Redux shows us a bit of the in-country madness.

Salome's Last Dance Ken Russells extraordinary presentation of Wildes play. Salome herself is a gift to the screen a gift that sadly didnt appear again. I dont like the frame of the play, but the play itself as good as it gets for showing a film of a play. Except for Prosperos Books, perhaps, but I didnt watch that this year.

The Girl With/who had a Dragon Tattoo and Kicked over a Fire okay the story is straight from Ken Follett and other 70s Nazi conspiracy novels, but the acting made me buy the set. I cannot fathom what made anyone think it needed remaking, any more than Let the Right One In did. geez people, learn some languages or learn to read!

Destiny a very old silent film from Germany about a woman who has three chances to reclaim her lover from Death. Shows us a world and world views we dont see now. Sort of a Seventh Seal without all the fancy angst. Clearly the production values are nil, but let it tell its story, and its a good thing to see.

Two versions of Alice in Wonderland. SO MUCH BETTER than any of the very recent tellings. Johnny, really! meh.

Malice in Wonderland set in a British seaside community, with Tim Curry playing a Red Queen. well done and highlights some of the undercurrents in the story. (and yes Ive read the book, have a 2nd edition, (with the Tenniel illustrations)).

Alice the Czech stop motion version starring a taxidermy rabbit leaking sawdust, a little girl speaking directly into the camera, and animated cow tongues and then some weird stuff. Hard to watch for me, actually, but still Im glad I did.

that led me to Lunacy, also by Jan Svankmajer. also hard to watch on many levels, especially as a lifelong vegetarian but the stark consideration of insanity and the necessity of being insane to treat insanity meaningfully if fatally, makes a powerful film.
and that led me to The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes if Rene Magritte was a film (not a film maker, but a film) this is him. visually perfect, something that cannot be done in any other media. a simple strange story which illumines and condemns human character.

Jar City a bleak little film from Iceland, very suspenseful, and the title explains itself in a disturbing way. Somewhere around Smillas Sense of Snow and Tideland (well not really but I thought Id mention that fine film anyway).

Water Lilies not one for coming of age at my age, but I really liked this one! It is so. very. French. Seeing those young girls slide into the water you see a millennia of careful dance training juxtaposed to the awkward courage of the outcast and the plain girls.

Service -- Excellent film all set in a multi-story theater where a family shows porn and rent boys troll for pickups; a difficult day in the life of a screwed up and struggling family in Manila or somewhere in the Phillipines. The set alone!

Leap Year (Ano bisiesto) a lonely film about a plain girl seeking love in the big citydark, bondage lovewhich she gets, and then puts to use. all filmed in her flat, mostly in her pajamas, her flannel pajamas. this is true cinema verite for me; sometimes it was sexy, but always potent.

Wayward Cloud & Goodbye Dragon Inn, and Ill never sleep alone. too beautiful or weird to miss. throw in Kamikaze Girls for a palate cleanser! if you like pomegranate syrup on your caramel popcorn with edible flowers, that is.

Don't Look Back a French suspense film sort of surreal that makes use of surrealism to tell a story of a woman discovering herself to be other than her self-image in mid-life. I liked the story and the way it was told, and the actress(es)

All the rest of my faves for the year are Anime Usually part of the mix, but a strong part this year:
The Book of the Dead an exquisite puppet film about a princess seeking a vision of Amida Buddha. Watch it.
Claymore a fascinating all-female cadre of cursed knights. I liked this for the story line and because the women, while mildly sexy looking were appropriately asexual given their story and their task.
Mezzo Forte -- dark girls and geeks against the government. outrageous hyperviolence and whatnot.
Mushi-Shi a lyrical, bittersweet collection of water-color anime telling folk tales, not all with happy endings, but all beautiful.
Moriboto another strong heroine story with a wonderful dilemma at the core of the story line: kill a child to save a kingdom? what to do and why? this was well plotted and deserved its length.
Xxxholic: A Midsummer Night's Dream -- not what I thought it was going to be. really a trippy night locked in a haunted mansion (think Harry and Malfoy having to team up in service to a dark Hermione). The photomontages is just fine.
Negima Magic fun soft lolicon stuff reminds me of Bleach 7 for some reason.
Queen's Blade a good plot in spite of aiming for the largest collection of oversized boobs ever to flash the screen, including at the AVN awards but I liked it!
Elfen Lied if only she had been on Serenity very well told arc, that ties up all its loose ends, sadly, in one season.

Finally, for TV I really liked the first season of the Fades dont see much mention of it anywhere

Thats it!