December 12, 2009

Top 10 Films of 2009

1. "The Hurt Locker" (Kathryn Bigelow, USA)

2. "Inglourious Basterds" (Quentin Tarantino, USA)

3. "About Elly" (Asghar Farhadi, Iran)

4. "An Education" (Lone Scherfig, UK)

5. "Los Canallas" (Ana Cristina Franco, Ecuador)

6. "Antichrist" (Lars von Trier, Denmark)

7. "Broken Embraces" (Pedro Almodovar, Spain)

8. "Mikres eleftheries" (Costas Zapas, Greece)

9. "Avatar" (James Cameron, USA)

10. "3 Idiots" (Rajkumar Hirani, India)


Other great films:

1981 (Canada)
2012
Demain (Canada)
Derrière-moi (Canada)
Devil's Town (Serbia)
Dirty Diaries (Sweden)
Face (Taiwan)
The Fish Child (Argentina)
Galerianki (Poland)
Kinatay (Philippines)
Lost Song (Canada)
Martyrs (France)
Mary And Max (Australia)
Mein (Germany)
La Nana (Chile)
Polytechnique (Canada)
Ponyo (Japan)
Un Prophète (France)
Rapt (France)
Rewers (Poland)
Slovenka (Slovenia)
Thirst (South Korea)
The Timekeeper (Canada)
El Traspatio (Mexico)


Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 2009:

1. "Morphia" (Aleksey Balabanov, Russia)

2. "Lebanon" (Samuel Maoz, Israel)

3. "Castillos de carton" (Salvador García Ruiz, Spain)

4. "Crepuscule" (Victor Nieuwenhuijs, Maartje Seyferth, Holland)

5. "Cadavres" (Erik Canuel, Canada)

6. "My Bloody Valentine 3D" (Patrick Lussier, USA)

7. "Faithless" (Paul Thomas, USA)

8. "Daniel And Ana" (Michel Franco, Mexico)

9. "Hadewijch" (Bruno Dumont, France)

10. "The Girlfriend Experience" (Steven Soderbergh, USA)


Short Top 3:

1. "La Fonte des neiges" (Jean-Julien Chervier, France)

2. "The New Tenants" (Joachim Back, USA)

3. "Danse macabre" (Pedro Pires, Canada)


Other great shorts:

The Cat In The Pan (Canada)
Ça va mine de rien (Canada)
Fantasme (Canada)
Nue (France)
Le Technicien (Canada)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Bad Romance" (Francis Lawrence, Lady Gaga)

2. "Wrong" (Patrick Daughters, Depeche Mode)

3. "Paparazzi" (Jonas Akerlund, Lady Gaga)


Other great music videos:

LoveGame
Pussy
We Made You

Top Commercial:

"Walk In Fridge" (Bart Timmer, Heineken)


TV Top 5:


2. "Mad Men: Season 3" (AMC)

3. "Breaking Bad: Season 2" (AMC)

4. "Dexter: Season 4" (Showtime)

5. "Weeds: Season 5" (Showtime)


Other great TV shows:

Californication: Season 3 
Lost: Season 5

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Never Drive A Car When You're Dead" (Gregor Dashuber, Germany)

2. "Logorama" (François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, Ludovic Houplain, France)

3. "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" (Nicky Phelan, Ireland)


Other great cartoons:

Attached To You (Sweden)
La Dama y la muerte (Spain)
French Roast (France)
Passages (Canada)
Le Tiroir et le corbeau (Canada)
Vive la rose (Canada)

Weak films of 2009:

3 saisons (Canada)
(500) Days of Summer
5150 rue des Ormes (Canada)
9
Adoration (Canada)
Ajami (Israel)
Detour (Canada)
Distanz (Germany)
District 9
Les Doigts croches (Canada)
La Donation (Canada)
Drag Me to Hell
Drzazgi (Poland)
Dukot (Philippines)
Duplicity
Enen (Poland)
The Faceless Dead (Japan)
Je l'aimais (France)
Je me souviens (Canada)
Serveuses demandées (Canada)
The Seventh Circle (Hungary)
Sherlock Holmes
Sicak (Turkey)
Silence on vaccine
Suzie (Canada)
Taken
Une Tente sur Mars (Canada)
La Teta asustada (Peru)
Three Houses (Georgia)
Transit (Canada)
Tricheuse (France)
Ulzhan (Kazakhstan)
Under the Sea 3D
Villa Amalia (France)
Welcome (France)
Well Done Abba (India)
Where The Wild Things Are
Winter Silence (Holland)

Weak shorts:

À mon frère (France)
Un Après-midi au parc (Canada)
As Maltratadas (Portugal)
La Belle au verre de lait (Canada)
Chambre d'à côté (Canada)
La Chute (Canada)
The Delian Mode (Canada)
Emma Fire (Canada)
First Frost (Germany)
Gilles (Canada)
L'Homme et la bête (Canada)
Hove
In Cold Love (Canada)
Jardin Dead End (Canada)
Jour sans joie (Canada)
Un Juego absurdo (Argentina)
King Chicken (Canada)
Le Lit près de la fênetre (France)
Mon cher Robert (Canada)
Les Mots (Canada)
M'ouvrir (Canada)
Naissances (Canada)
La Neige cache l'ombre des figuiers (Canada)
La Nuit finira (Canada)
One Last Dance (Canada)
Parking Space (Canada)
Le Revenant (Canada)
Surmenage (Canada)
Tête blanche (Canada)
Toute la vie (Canada)
La Vie commence (Canada)
You Belong With Me

Weak cartoons:

Épinette noire (Canada)
M (Canada)
A Matter Of Loaf and Death (UK)
Patience Of The Memory (Germany)
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Top Musical of 2009

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November 11, 2009

The Hurt Locker (2009) *****

Written by Mark Boal, who was embedded with a bomb squad in Baghdad, this is a tense, suspensful and very realistic Iraq war movie that completely eschews both the patriotic speeches about fighting for democracy, and the leftist propaganda about American imperialism. Here, war isn't hell. War is a drug. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" is a perfect anti-"Avatar" (directed by her ex-husband James Cameron) - presenting the US military as apolitical, professional and profoundly decent, and the Iraqi "resistance" as ruthless, fanatical and evil. But it's all done so subtly, few liberals are likely to notice just how pro-American this film really is, especially since some war vetarans have pathetically complained (in articles like this and this) that the film presents them as reckless cowboys.
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Inglourious Basterds (2009) *****

Quentin Tarantino's take on World War II, the Nazis and the Holocaust isn't exactly historically accurate (the ending will come as a huge surprise to those who actually paid attention in history class), but as a work of cinematic art it is absolutely flawless. Part spaghetti western, part '"Dirty Dozen" and part "Valkyrie" upside down, it's a stylistic tour-de-force with priceless dialogue, terrific action scenes and outstanding performances (Christopher Waltz is mesmerizing).
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October 10, 2009

About Elly (2009) ****

Excellent Iranian drama about a mysterious disappearance of a young woman.
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Cadavres (2009) ****

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An Education (2009) ****

A wonderfully witty, stupendously well-acted British black comedy of manners about a bright 16-year-old schoolgirl (Carey Mulligan) falling in love with a handsome cad in his late 30's (Peter Sarsgaard). Set in London in 1961, the film deftly dances around its nabokovian theme with a graceful sophistication worthy of Oscar Wilde. It's sublime in its subtlety. Directed by Lone Scherfig ("Wilbur", "Italian For Beginners"). The sole drawback of this otherwise perfect gem - its needlessly excessive modesty in sexual matters. It's British, after all.
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Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009) ****

Even better than the previous instalment ("Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix"), though nowhere near as good as "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban", which it superficially resembles by its dark tone and somber mood. The real star of this, sixth, episode is the Hogwarts College itself, with its dark, empty corridors whose art designs have been inspired by Gothic interiors of the most beautiful churches and monasteries in England.
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Martyrs (2009) ****

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Panique au village (2009) ****

An insane animated feature from Belgium. Hilarious, innovative and totally unpredictable.
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Morphia (2009) ****

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Rewers (2009) ****

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Watchmen (2009) ****

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Avatar (2009) ****

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Mikres eleftheries (2009) ****

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Broken Embraces (2009) ****


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Antichrist (2009) ****

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Los Canallas (2009) ****


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September 9, 2009

Ponyo (2009) ***

Another wonderful animated film from Hayao Miyazaki. Like "My Neighbor Totoro", it's a gentle fairy tale for children, but it also explores many important ecological themes (just like several of Miyazaki's more serious films, such as "Nausicaä" or "Princess Mononoke").
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Whatever Works (2009) ***

Woody Allen's well-known fetish for sexy young women is very much in evidence in this entertaining comedy about a 62-year-old misantropic old fart (Larry David) marrying a nubile young nymphet (Evan Rachel Wood), who is 40 years younger than him. Witty and very intelligent, but also a bit creepy.
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Star Trek (2009) ***


Plenty of action in this dynamic prequel to the "Star Trek" saga. With sexy Zoe Saldana (first photo) as Uhura (who unfortunately only strips to her bra) and Rachel Nichols (last photo).
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