Technically, there are still movie theaters but yes, due to this global pandemic, the theaters have all gone dark and as of this writing, there is no telling of when they will return or when it will be safe to venture out publicly again, without adhering to social distancing concerns. So while we are all ensconced in our homes, it felt like the perfect time to dive into something I had been meaning to begin but simply did not have the ample time to do so.
When I began Savage Cinema, it was the year 2009 and at that time, I had been seeing film critics and film magazine compiling their favorite films of the decade between 2000-2009. And so, I followed suit. Now that ten years has elapsed, it is time to do it again and unlike last time, when I did venture quite broadly, I am going to limit myself to 50 films that I would place into my personal time capsule celebrating the very best of what the movies gave to me.
Additionally, and during this time of social distancing, it is obvious that we are watching a lot of material these days, from television shows to movies. Perhaps this list/series can offer suggestions of things to either introduce yourselves to or to see again.
If you wish to read a review in full, I have indicated exactly where you will find it at the end of each entry. So...let's get started, shall we?
Dave Grohl, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/former member of Nirvana and current leader of Foo Fighters delivered an exhilarating and supremely accomplished filmmaking debut with this outstanding documentary which chronicles the rise and fall of the titular recording studio which gave birth to now iconic albums by Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine, as well as Nirvana's "Nevermind" (released September 24, 1991).
That story all by itself would make for riveting filmmaking due to all of the archival footage and interviews Grohl has amassed throughout from the artists themselves, to the actual Sound City staff, showcasing how it was always a sense of community behind the now beloved works we cherish and finally, a sensational final third during which we witness Grohl and a variety of musicians, including Sir Paul McCartney himself collaborating and creating together. Yet what made this film soar was how Grohl extended his narrative far beyond past the studio and music itself to create an impassioned statement about our need for continued collective humanity and to not allow that to erode due to increasing technological advances. And to that end, it is also an ode to the diligence, discipline and determination of work itself in our instant gratification society.
Dave Grohl's "Sound City" is a testament to boyhood fantasies realized, valiant torch carrying and the warm, urgent need to keep the human touch alive and kicking.
(Originally reviewed March 22, 2013)
One of the strangest, more uncompromising, deeply unsettling films I saw during this past decade was this nightmarishly atmospheric, largely plot-less, mostly dialogue free science fiction thriller which starred Scarlett Johansson as a nameless alien who prowls the night time streets of Scotland to lure unsuspecting men with the promise of sex to her secret lair where she tricks them into being submerged into a dark pool, and finally, harvests their skins.
Director Jonathan Glazer, working brilliantly alongside Cinematographer Daniel Landin, Composer Mica Levi and an unforgettable performance from Johansson, who completely strips away any sense of her natural warmth, has created an extremely frigid film that more than effectively functions as a visual experience. Additionally, the film also contains the subtext of a cultural critique concerning the sexual attitudes of men and women, which then turns "Under The Skin" into a meditation about seduction, lust and possibly female driven revenge against male subjugation.
Poetic, impressionistic and designed to keep you at an arm's length, this film is a cinematic universe so foreign that returning to reality is deeply jarring.
(Originally reviewed April 18, 2014)
No, this film is nowhere near as riotously funny as either "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (2005) or "Knocked Up" (2007), but the difficult, uncomfortable honestly that is a crucial quality to all of Judd Apatow's films, as well as quite a number of his productions, plunges deeply within this perceptive film which nails the turbulent and ever shifting physical and psychological landscape of middle age.
Serving as a spin off to "Knocked Up," "This Is 40" follows that film's supporting characters Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), as we regard their often volatile marriage, which ebbs more than it flows, especially as each of them reach the age of 40. Apatow weaves a sprawling, episodic narrative during which he uses his main characters to explore the stress of mounting adult responsibilities, the quandary of experiencing fading youth and therefore, fading dreams and oncoming mortality plus the shocking realizations that they quite possibly are not terribly good parents or adult children to their own parents, most likely because they were badly parented themselves.
While Apatow clearly possesses great affection for his characters, he is highly and rightfully critical of them as he does not shy away from their often intense self-centeredness. Yet, he displays tremendous empathy as their journey is obviously his own, which also makes it our journey, thus making the experience more melancholy and thought provoking that the light romp at the movies audiences may have wanted. But, "This Is 40" afforded Judd Apatow to inject a greater sense of poeticism and existential pain into his work and the effect resulted in a bittersweet, truthful tapestry.
(Originally reviewed December 25, 2012)
An enormously entertaining comedy-drama where all of the family dynamics presented are executed richly, succinctly and in the raw and real rhythms of life as it is lived, Lisa Cholodenko's story of an upper middle class married couple (perfectly played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) with two teenaged children (played by Mia Wasiowska and Josh Hutcherson), whose lives are upended by the surprising arrival of the children's sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo).
Blissfully blending the aesthetics of the standard Hollywood film and independent films, "The Kids Are All Right" never becomes a film that falls into anything prefabricated or inauthentic as it is indeed a film about behavior and the dance of intimacy, whether between married partners, siblings or parents and children. It is also a terrific love story that depicts the tribulations of staying in love, especially once the passage of time and unexpected catalysts unearth past desires, long resentments, and entrenched disappointments.
Bening and Moore make for a wonderful pairing, completely presenting a relationship that feels lived in, firmly suggesting its history and particular credit belongs to them and Cholodenko for not making the central relationship in the film serve as a a poster board for LGBTQ issues, because the presentation of these people as people first and foremost is the grand statement to be made.
(Originally reviewed July 26, 2010)
46. "HANNA" DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT (2011)
Kinetic, hallucinogenic, brutal, surreal, scary and spectacular, Joe Wright's "Hanna" was a spectacular experience to witness early in this decade.
Where his tale of an isolated 16 year old (played by Saoirse Ronan) trained to be an assassin by her Father (Eric Bana), a former CIA operative, as is relentlessly pursued by a treacherous, maniacal CIA analyst (Cate Blanchett) more than delivered the good with breathless, gorgeously filmed action sequences and set pieces, and propelled ferociously by a propulsive score from The Chemical Brothers, what gave this film an extra edge was Wright merging of the action thriller with nothing less than the aesthetics and touchstones of fairy tales, making "Hanna" often feel like Jason Bourne falling into a Grimm Brothers acid trip.
I know it sounds crazy but if you haven't seen the film, and if you haven't not for an extended period, trust me. Ronan's Hanna is essentially the Sleeping Beauty/Alice/Goldilocks ingenue born and raised in the woods only to enter a dark, violent world that threatens to unearth her inner resolve where Bana is the Woodsman or The Big Bad Wolf, leaving the fiery haired Blanchett as, of course, The Wicked Witch. Somehow, through this twisted lens, it all feels so perfectly fitting...that is, for a film about a teenaged psychopath.
One of the very best action films of the decade.
(Originally reviewed April 10, 2011)
45. "THE PERKS OF BEING A WALFLOWER" DIRECTED BY STEPHEN CHBOSKY (2012)
While the teen film genre is all but non-existent these days, the promise of what the late John Hughes began during the 1980's with his affectionate, sensitive, and honest depiction of teenagers played out during this past decade with quite a number of excellent, artful films aimed at a teenage audience. This film was one of the very best.
Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of his own novel was a fragile, aching portrait of the titular "wallflower,"(played by Logan Lerman) an aspiring writer, recovering from a personal tragedy as he enters high school and gradually finds himself accepted into a small band of classmate outcasts, including Emma Watson, with whom he falls in love. Utilizing a "year in the life" structure, the film is a moodier, darker, more serious affair than most teen films as it honestly and tenderly tackles issues from child/parent/romantic relationship abuses, closet homosexuality, bullying, debilitating depression, potential suicide, and crippling bouts of grief, guilt and mourning.
Yet, first and foremost, the core of Chbosky's film is the nature of friendship itself, from its artfulness to its precariousness, and how for some, the act and need for connection is nothing less than a lifeline. This is a sad, autumnal film tailor made for a quiet rainy day for certain. It is unquestionably an exceedingly lovely ad heartfelt film.
(Originally reviewed October 15, 2012)
To that end, Will Gluck's high spirited comedy feels like a complete tribute to John Hughes, Cameron Crowe and all of the other filmmakers who created the movies which made up what I like to think of as "The Golden Age Of Teen Films," during the 1980's, and frankly, for me, this film was completely of the exact same class.
Emma Stone delivers a star making performance as Olive Penderghast, the intelligent, empathetic, wonderfully witty, charmingly loquacious, raven haired, feline eyed, smoky voiced high school student who finds herself unfortunately caught within the deeply tangled web of insinuation, hallway rumor and a simultaneously soaring and crushing campus reputation as the school sexpot.
Armed with a sensationally sharp, insightful and downright funny screenplay by Bert V. Royal, which is filled end to end with the type and style of crackling, verbose and literate dialogue that was a John Hughes trademark, Gluck's film is an unabashed joyride. Brisk and breezy certainly but at its core "Easy A" is an honest exploration and upending/satire of a teenage girl's emerging sexuality and the frenzy it causes a community (and how a girl's emerging sexuality is presented in films in general).
And watching Olive discover and recover her identity, which, and always, was hers to begin with and forever more, made me smile wider and brighter than most films I saw this past decade.
(Originally reviewed September 23, 2010)
It was one of the rare films released during this past decade that felt to arrive from the ether completely untainted by any sense of hackneyed screenwriting cliches and therefore, soared highly and freely upon its own creative wings.
Scripted wondrously by actress Zoe Kazan, Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Ruby Sparks" weaves the tale of a supremely introverted 29-year-old writer (the excellent Paul Dano), who experienced major literary success with his debut novel at the age of 19, but is now drowning in writer's block. He eventually finds inspiration after waking from a dream in which he meets a young woman in a park (played by Kazan). He begins to write feverishly but is surprised when the woman from his dream literally arrives inside of his apartment...in the flesh and as real as life, thus confounding him further as he falls in love with his creation.
Not only does this film succeed as an ode to the creative process itself, "Ruby Sparks" miraculously combines whimsy and uncomfortable emotional honestly regarding hard fought relationship issues, the crumbling male ego, and the intense pressures to create something new when the shadow of past achievements only grows more impenetrable, making what begins as a flight of fantasy slowly becomes a psychological thriller about a writer's mental breakdown.
Superbly acted, written and directed, "Ruby Sparks" was a true original.
(Originally reviewed August 12 2012)
Do not allow the presence of subtitles and the lack of CGI pyrotechnics keep you away from this cinematic wonder, which will reward you handsomely with enveloping charm, perceptive insights into human nature and inter-connectivity, healthy amounts of sincere, honest romance and melancholy and it is undoubtedly enliven your taste buds!
Ritesh Batra's debut feature about a young wife and Mother (Nimrat Kaur), feeling lonely and ignored by her husband, who decides to prepare intricate and specialized lunch meals which will then be delivered to him via Mumbai's lunch delivery system. One day, the lunch intended for her husband, mistakenly arrives at the desk of Saajan (the excellent Irrfan Khan), a lonely government accountant, who eats the meal after being quizzically tempted by the delicious scents emanating from the lunchbox. After realizing that her husband did not receive the lunch, she begins to continue creating special lunches, now augmented with written notes, and sends them back to Saajan, thus beginning a life altering correspondence.
Taking what could've existed as a contrived romantic comedy plot, Batra uses "The Lunchbox" to create an intimate drama about two lost souls who miraculously find each other and forge a connection--yet where the emotions are conveyed in words and, most importantly the emotions placed inside of the food. The film is a celebration of that tactile experience in an increasingly virtual world as the human touch that constitutes handwritten notes and food preparation are the means in which we bind ourselves to one another, and with each note and meal both participants are forced to ask of themselves difficult questions concerning life, love, mortality, failure, disappointment and marriage. And even then, the film affords us a view of modern day middle class and working class life in Mumbai, where both classes often travel within the same circles and yet are never truly together.
"The Lunchbox" is a sumptuous, delicious film.
(Originally reviewed April 13, 2014)
It amazes me that this film, which indeed (and as far as I am concerned, rightfully) won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, has been all but forgotten. Which is a shame as Michel Hazanavicius' elegantly filmed, black and white silent movie was, and remains, a luscious love letter to the art and artistry of the movies themselves!
Our story, which begins in 1927, details the rise and fall and rise again silent movie actor George Valetin (a sensational Jean Dujardin), his love affair with rising star actress Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) and his travails with the advent of sound technology to the movies. As promised, the film is advanced through the performances, visual cues, title cards and the terrific score by Composer Ludovic Bource, and presented with no audible dialogue or sound effects,...and trust me, you will not miss them whatsoever. In fact, Hazanavicius's film is so effective that he nearly tricks you into thinking that you are hearing sounds when there are actually none to be found.
"The Artist" is by no means a twee film experiment or stodgy film school lesson. The storytelling and execution is top of the line, emotionally resonant and absolutely euphoric in its enormously invigorating, thrilling, elegantly filmed vision. It is a tribute to the innocence and rapture that is found when making an unexpected and amazing discovery.
Precisely the reason why we go to the movies.
(Originally reviewed December 23, 2011)
COMING SOON...#40-31!!!
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