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COMING IN November/December 2004:
Pedro Almodóvar interviewed about his new film Bad Education
Video games and cinema by Graham Leggat
Howard Hampton on Date Movies
The political documentaries of Robert Greenwald by Alice Lovejoy
A special 18-page Korean film section
Mid Festivals: Venice
Toronto
New York
New Fiction by Theordore Roszak, author of the cult novel Flicker
COMING IN January/February 2005:
The current state of cinephilia by Chuck Stephens
Jean Rouch, France's great ethnographic filmmaker by Sam DiIorio
Jean-Luc Godard by Richard Combs
Plus, Godard interviewed by Frederic Bonnaud And much more
FILM COMMENT
March / April 2004
Above: Mystic River
FILM COMMENT'S READERS' POLL: TOP FILMS OF 2003
Going to the Movies
"Not even Lost In Translation was as offensive to moviegoers in 03 as were those officious anti-piracy commercials featuring Hollywood artisans. With predictable Tinseltown pomposity, these "technicians" - including a wild-eyed set painter who to all appearances accidentally dunked his chin-whiskers in purple paint while genuflecting to some showbiz pasha - rattled off lists of the pabulum they helped to create, strongly implying that internet parasites must be stopped before their antics prevent the creation of another masterpiece such as Enemy of the State or Dick Tracy. If online pirates really possess such power, all the more reason to download, say, Along Came Polly or The Punisher rather than suffer through them in the multiplex at painfully inflated cost. To the purveyors of commercial tripe (which includes so-called "indie" travesties like Lost In Translation and The Secret Lives of Dentists), the American moviegoing audience's ignorance and gullibilty are bottomless, so H'wood perpetrates, with each new fatuous release, a bottomless insult. Most moviegoers, while desirous of distraction, prefer to be insulted in the privacy of their own homes, and so more and more of them download movies and burn illegal DVDs. Let the Tupperware parties continue, I say, until that set painter's neck is drenched with dye-tinged sweat. To address that tagline, yes, movies are "worth it," but their worth can't be measured solely in money. Whatever threat pirates pose to Hollywood coffers pales in comparison to the offenses to basic human values that the film industry perpetrates on an almost weekly basis." - Benjamin Kessler, Brooklyn NY
Memorable Moments from the New York Film Festival
- Hearing a packed audience of Americans cheer the bloody massacre at the end of Dogville.
- Seeing a security guard push aside Naomi Watts to make way for Susan Sarandon at the screening of Mystic River.
- Tsai Ming Liang's awkward post-screening exhortation for people to buy shares or sell tickets for Goodbye Dragon Inn. With his shaved head and characteristically charismatic, tranquil demeanor, was he parodying a Buddhist sage stumping for temple donations? I sure hope it was just that..." - Kevin Lee, Astoria, NY
"I am appalled at the current trend to show commercials at theatres. It's bad enough to see trailers that reveal practically the entire film, but 10 minutes of loud commercials at theatres charging $9 is obscene. Anyway, it has been a great year in film, and thanks again." - Ross Nickow, Highland Park, IL
The "Year of the Documentary"
"2003 was remarkable for the prominence of documentary films among the best work of the year. Five of the titles in my top twenty list are non-fiction films, and my favorite film of the year used documentary methods to explore an urgent contemporary reality in fictional form. I can only hope that this signals a trend towards relevancy - to more movies, fictional or not, that deal with the actual issues and events of our lives. There will always be a place for escapist entertainment in film, but a complete dominance of sensation over sense, market research over personal vision, and formula over thought, impoverishes the cinematic art, and leads to a spiritual dead end." - Chris Dashiell
"It was the year of the documentary. Even Battle of Algiers, not a documentary, but rereleased, restored, reevaluated and documenting our current horror, underscored this. So did Elephant . Documentary filmmakers captured the complexity of the human condition: how can we still hate Robert McNamara? a father who may have been a pedophile? an architect who wasn't there enough for his son but who profoundly influenced him? - Margaret Bates, New York NY
"For the first time that I can remember I saw more than 1 documentary that was in the running for my year-end top ten list, and not because there weren't 10 other films that were not worthy of being on my top 10, but because i saw 3 documentaries that were not only well made, but were a source of not only entertainment, but also challenged me as a viewer. Hopefully I will be seeing more documentaries of such high quality in the future." - Daniel J. Pilger, Philadelphia PA
"Even if there weren't any films that I outright loved in quite the same way that I loved Spirited Away or Far From Heaven last year, 2003 at least offered quite a few films that really merit discussions of where the medium is headed. The spate of high-profile documentaries, to choose just one example, is nearly impossible to separate, in a broad social context, from the successes of "reality TV" programming. And was it really a weak year for foreign titles, or is that perception just a function of America's continuing self-involvement and xenophobia after Gulf War Part Deux?" - Jonathan Keefe, Lexington KY
"Documentaries (and mockumentaries) were a lot more attractive than any major studio effort that didn't have a hobbit. But excellent work by Coppola, Frears and Eastwood offer hope for a bright future long after we've left the shire." - Frank Diller, Chapel Hill NC
Lost In Translation (#1)
"Every once in a while there comes a filmmaker whose sensuality as expressed on screen matches his or her intelligence. Sofia Coppola emerged as such a filmmaker when Virgin Suicides first came out. Lost In Translation proves it." - Michael Niemcewicz, Jersey City, NJ
"Lost In Translation made the list simply for the way it made me feel. It had a near-perfect blend of melancholy and humor that I tried not to analyze too closely for fear that the feeling would go away." - Jeff Jewell, Ann Arbor MI
"Lost In Translation makes a strong case for cinematic talent being genetic. An impossible romance that is equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious. A smart, funny, and romantic crowd-pleaser and the best movie of 2003." - Rob Morton, New York, NY
"Lost In Translation is essentially just Wong Kar-wai lite; the Coldplay to Wong's Radiohead, if you will. It's easily the year's most wildly overpraised film, yet I can't say it's popularity and acclaim surprise me in the least: It's an ooey-gooey love-letter to priviliged hipsters and jaded boomers; the hyperbole it inspired is the squishy sound of its target market making out with itself." - Josh Timmerman
"Sublime, light as Air filmmaking with a catharsis that just kills. The best film by a Coppola in 25 years." - Daniel Wible, Glen Mills PA
Has there been a sweeter, sexier movie moment this year than Bill Murray tentatively reaching over to touch Scarlett Johansson's bare foot? Sofia Coppola's exquisite second feature is filled with these kinds of small, beautifully acted scenes that, when taken together, paint a rich portrait of two like-minded souls who take solace in each other when the rest of their lives seem to be spinning out of control. I still don't understand the people who accuse the film of being demeaning or racist in its depiction of Japan. For one thing, Coppola isn't depicting the entire country - her focus is solely on Tokyo, which is a very different environment than the rest of Japan." - Ethan Alter, Brooklyn NY
"When critics began falling over themselves to praise the mediocre mood piece Lost In Translation this fall, I momentarily wondered if somehow the rest of the world forgot about Claire Denis's doubly impressive Friday Night. Twice as insular yet twice as warm as Coppola's feature-length posturing session, Denis's film mines genuine suspense from its serendipitous intimate encounter. Like Translation, Friday Night creates an astringent atmosphere where the creation of its characters' bond becomes an attempt to reclaim human connection for themselves. Denis doesn't need to douse her protagonists in apathy to do that, however, and as a result, she creates an intensely subjective experience that is capable of appealing to more than the most cynical of moviegoers." - Jeremy Heilman
"The Far From Heaven award for most overrated film of the year goes to Lost In Translation. If this were a satire on ignorant, narcissistic Americans abroad who are too wrapped up in themselves to appreciate a foreign culture it might have worked, but it's far too obvious that Coppola is no more clued in than her characters. If ex-hubby Spike Jonze taught her one thing, it's how to rip off the ending to a Wong Kar Wai film to, unfortunately, much lesser effect." - Rob Ruzic, Toronto, ON
"Bill Murray had the greaest role of the best screen comedian of the last 40 years." - Jesse Trussell, Austin TX
"Is it just me or was Lost In Translation not a comedy? Between the way it has been advertised, the Golden Globes, and the amount of people laughing in the theater I am beginning to believe that I don't have a sense of humor." - Travis Jay Hill, Bellingham WA
"I find it interesting that both Sofia and Roman Coppola are now making the films that Francis Coppola and George Lucas once said they would be making many years ago." - Robert Merk, Fair Oaks, CA
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (#2)
"My choice for number one has to be Return of the King, the mightiest, meatiest epic ever filmed. Despite an overabundance of CG images, it represents everything I started loving movies for in the first place. A film this exciting and moving and that doesn't treat the audience like they're idiots cannot be ignored." - Jeff Jewell, Ann Arbor MI
"An Overrated 'epic' and the most insipid, mind-numbingly pompous movie I've seen in years." - Mitch Metcalf, Stamford CT
"Who knew "hobbit" meant "gay"? Sauron's angry, red vagina can't stop the soft-focus nuzzlings of J.R.R. Tolkien's horny hobbits. The world can't wait for the extended cut DVD with its X-rated reunion scene in Frodo's boudoir at Elrond's House. All those hobbits bouncing on the bed with Viggo Mortensen! Gimli licking his lips and quipping, 'Dwarves excel at exploring dark tunnels!'" - Grady Hendrix
"I don't know what agressive love scene made me more uneasy, beautiful doe eyed Audrey Tautou in Dirty Pretty Things or sweaty Sam and Flushed Frodo climbing the mountain to the big one eye, but never saying what they really mean." - Jason Quinton
Mystic River (#3)
"Praise JC that Blood Work has been quietly swept under a rug somewhere and Mr. Eastwood has made a film that reminds us why a good script, good cast, and good director can make a damn fine dramatic movie without trying to be a show off, or emotionally manipulative. This is classic filmmaking, and should be noticed." - Bossi Baker, Fayetteville AR
"The one film that critics desperately wanted to be a classic (Mystic River) was one of the most overrated films of the past decade. It's a shame that Sean Penn will probably win an Oscar this year for a performance that he practically dialed-in (Penn, an Irish gangster...I'd of never thunk it!) instead of winning for any of his fine performances in his previous films (Dead Man Walking, Hurlyburly, etc.). The slight of the year: Ralph Fiennes getting just a murmur of praise for his monumental turn as a schitzophrenic in Spider." - Chris Quay, Arlington, VA
Lost In America
"Once again, it's difficult being a flim buff when you don't live in a major metropolitan area. It's hard to believe that the sixth-week revenues from Dumb and Dumber or Haunted Mansion couldn't be bested by one or two weeks of not-too-out-there movies like Thirteen or Secret Lives of Dentists. When you don't live in a big city, timing is everything - we just couldn't get to Philly when Elephant was playing. demonlover and Guy Maddin's Dracula had just left when we vacationed in Chicago. It's hard to make up lost viewings on DVD when you're trying to build The Catalog -Yi Yi or Band of Outsiders? The Wind Will Carry Us or Singin' in the Rain? So here in the boondocks it was a piss-poor year even by megaplex standards. But, in the end of course, years don't mean anything. If you look at 1953 alone, it might look like the early 50s were pretty medicore-subpar Hitchcock, Kurosawa, and Ford [ok, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but . . .]--but look at 1954, a great "year." It may not have been the best year (although Ten was truly great), but I think it's part of a larger, gradual upswing in international movies - why last year I saw a Godard movie without having to drive to NYC and I saw it in a commercial theater! Now, it only played two weeks and didn't do too well critically or financially (although I'm sure it will seem better in retrospect) - but then again it didn't have nude inserts of Bardot either. Last year we also saw Kandahar in Harrisburg PA, again at a (packed) commercial theater!" - John Svatek, Lancaster, PA
Put simply, I don't know what I'd do without FILM COMMENT. As both a cineaste and a filmmaker, I anxiously await the coming of FCin the mail, and I'm never disappointed. Moreover, I know I'm in for a treat with whatever's in store - even if this includes some hearty content I know I'm going to have to wait a long time to experience for myself. (Elephant still hasn't come to town). It might sound silly, but i'm guessing that there's more out there like me, who get off on everything in the mag, even though we're hard pressed to catch a great deal of the films mentioned until some time later, if at all. On a specific note, all praise to Vidi Vidi Vidi; if there's one thing I look forward to most, it's getting a glimpse at what films I can see, and what to put on this year's Xmas list." - Ward Howarth, Richmond, VA
