The characters are all broadly-drawn assholes with few redeeming qualities, making it nearly impossible to feel much sympathy for them, but the story more than makes up for their shortcomings. Match Point is tense and exciting and unpredictable enough to elicit a collective ‘Holy Shit’ gasp just a moment or two from the credits. Had I put off making my top ten list of 2005 a little longer, this might have made it; an Oscar nomination for screenplay wouldn’t surprise me.

I could not possibly hope to explain the plot of Syriana from start to finish: it is way too complex. This is, of course, intentional, because the real-life politics and events upon which the screenplay is loosely based are the same. The idea isn’t so much to understand what’s happening as why it’s happening. And the why is simple: there’s not enough oil for everybody on the planet.

I felt pretty horrible after seeing Syriana last night, because there really aren’t any good guys: everyone is acting in their own self-interest. The status quo wins. Power wins. Money wins. This, like Traffic is a great film because, even though it’s fiction, it’s true. It doesn’t pull any punches. It pisses me off.

And then I drive home in my car.

Thank you for making King Kong. You are awesome.

Love,
AJ Schuster

A History of Violence

Don’t be fooled by the title: there is a lot of violence in this movie. It’s one of the tensest movies I’ve ever seen, and that led Amanda to say afterward that she felt like she was going to throw up during most of it. It’s a very deliberately paced, brilliantly written character study with little flecks of grey matter around the edges. The violence will probably prevent it from getting a Best Picture nomination, but it’s on my shortlist (with Crash) for best film of the year.

The Corpse Bride

I was kind of let down after seeing this, because I was basically expecting A Nightmare Before Christmas. The story was cute and the approach to the material was perfect, but the songs fell short of the brilliance of Nightmare. Upon further reflection, I’ve come to terms with the fact that not everything can be an instant classic, and I think I can say that I liked this for what it was. I’d say this would be this year’s Best Animated Feature if I hadn’t later seen…

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

This is the kind of movie (along with Toy Story and Monsters Inc.) that I can’t wait to watch with our child(ren), should Amanda and I ever decide to procreate. This is a genuinely funny and original story with the best acting that I’ve ever seen by Plasticine. If Dreamworks really wants to compete with Pixar on quality, they should drop the Shrek-sequels and crappy knockoffs and just give Nick Park a huge pile of money. This was the second-most fun I’ve had at a movie this year, after…

Serenity

I never saw Firefly (though it’s on our Netflix queue as I write this), but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the hell out of Serenity. I had a big dumb grin on my face for the first third of this film, a puzzled-but-intrigued look for the second third, and a worried look of concern for the last third (then a big dumb grin again as the credits rolled). People in the theater clapped after it was over. The last time that happened was at the opening credits of Revenge of the Sith (but not at the end credits).

Serenity is the kind of movie that I’ll buy the day it comes out on DVD and then watch three times before the week is out: it’s that good, and that much fun.

Good Night, and Good Luck.

I became a big Murrow fan in my televison class during spring semester senior year, and watching the footage of him taking on McCarthy inspired my term paper on the Fairness Doctrine. There’s not a whole lot about the episode in the film that I didn’t already know, but there’s something about seeing it that makes it more real (score one for the television generation). David Strathairn gives an awesomely understated performance that really communicates the internal struggle Murrow had with deciding to go ahead with the McCarthy broadcast; I especially like the Don Hollenbeck subplot.

Amanda and I watched Network for the first time on Friday night and, as expected, we had a hard time seeing it as satire since it all came true. Seeing Good Night, and Good Luck only two days later was a sad reminder of just how far television has fallen in this country.

Revenge of the Sith did not disappoint in any significant way. Maybe it’s a result of reduced expectations over the past six years, but I really enjoyed myself at the theater last night. That is to say, I almost cried a few times, but I walked out smiling.

Revenge of the Sith is really, really sad. There’s something to be said for the fact that the story was told backwards: there’s a feeling of inevitability to the whole thing, but we know it’s going to turn out OK in the end. Darth Vader, we now know for certain, is not pure evil, and he does not take joy in the destruction of life. He’s a pathetic character now, consumed by his love for Padmé and his twisted quest for “peace” in the galaxy. The true villain is not Vader: it is Palpatine/Sidious, whom I grew to hate more and more with his every word and action.

And ROTS is sad because of the failures of the characters to which we feel such a great attachment. Obi-Wan, Anakin, even Yoda fail in ways that scar them so deeply that we cannot help but be scarred as well. For all the talk of Anakin Skywalker as an annoying, whiny teenager, he shows real humanity here, and seeing him turn to the Dark Side is genuinely upsetting. We know there is good in him, but still he becomes a murderer and a monster. In seeing the suffering that he endures and causes, his ultimate redemption becomes even more poignant and meaningful. Revenge of the Sith not only stands on its own as awesome cinema, it makes the entire Star Wars series better.

• Rewatched The Original Trilogy
• Rewatched Episodes I and II on DVD
• Watched The Clone Wars DVD
• Purchased several wookiees and constructed the Millennium Falcon

We’ve got our tickets for 12:01 AM tonight. It’s gonna rawk.

Million Dollar Baby is a great film, and the first Clint Eastwood-directed film I’ve ever seen. I’ll be seeing some more in short order, I think; Unforgiven and Mystic River have been on my list for awhile, but I think I’ll probably skip Space Cowboys.

I’m going to refrain from discussing plot, because I went into the film knowing only “It’s about boxing,” and I think that’s the best frame of mind with which to start. Being that it is, officially, a 2004 film, I’m going to go ahead and revise my list: Million Dollar Baby takes the 5 slot, ranking just ahead of Ray and just behind Sideways.

Last night was also notable for events inside the movie theater. I asked a couple of fellow moviegoers to kindly stop talking about 2/3 through the film. They suggested Amanda and I move.

“I wanna listen to the goddamn Cubs game. Is there a law? Show me a law that says I can’t listen to the Cubs game and I’ll stop.”

Honorable Mention

• Hellboy
  Note that this film, not the other superhero film is on my list. I dug Spider-Man 2 in its own way, but Hellboy was cooler and more original.
• Jersey Girl
  Unfortunately overshadowed by the Bennifer phenomenon. It’s sappy, and it knows it, but it’s good anyway.
• Fahrenheit 9/11
  Whatever you think of Michael Moore, this was arguably the most important film of the year.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  2004 will be remembered as the year when Harry Potter cast off the yoke of Chris Columbus and finally got awesome. I don’t even like watching the first two anymore.
• Shaun of the Dead
  “A romantic comedy. With Zombies.” What’s not to like?

Top 8 Films of 2004

8. Maria Full of Grace
Soul-crushing realism. I waited for months to see this film until it was playing in Washington Township and almost skipped it once it arrived because I didn’t want to see such a ‘downer’ of a movie, but I was glad I got the opportunity.
7. Hero
Plenty has been written about the questionable message of the film, but just try watching it as a story unto itself, without judging. Absolutely stunning in every way. House of Flying Daggers was awesome too.
6. Ray
Complex film about a complex man. I still think that Jamie Foxx deserves the Best Actor Oscar (though perhaps not as forcefully as I originally said). Bonus points for actually introducing me to most of Ray Charles’ catalog.
5. Million Dollar Baby
Added 2005-01-21.
4. Sideways
Paul Giamatti and Jamie Foxx in a battle to the death for Best Actor. The fact that I even liked this film means I’m a grown-up; the fact that it’s one of my favorites of the year means something I’d rather not contemplate. And I am NOT drinking any fucking merlot!
3. The Incredibles
Would you believe I still haven’t seen The Iron Giant? Forget all the Ayn Rand-hype (the way you forget the jingoistic Chinese-hype during Hero) and just enjoy yourself when you watch this.
2. Garden State
The film (well, trailer, actually) that propelled Frou Frou into my “Favorite Songs of 2004” list. Yay Zack Braff! Yay Natalie Portman! Yay Peter Sarsgaard! Yay Ian Holm! Yay least-meaningful film blurb ever!
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
After much internal debate, I decided I love the message of this film. I’m a big fan of Jim Carrey The Serious Actor, and Charlie Kaufman continues to write some of the coolest/weirdest movies ever.

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I knew next to nothing about Ray Charles or his music before tonight. I never had any real exposure to his music, so I never knew what I was missing. I was missing a lot. Now I understand why he was almost universally called a genius, and I’ll spend the next weeks and months catching up on music that was ahead of its own time and laid the groundwork for much of today’s popular music.

As for the film, I’m still not sure if I’ve wrapped my brain around Jamie Foxx’ performance. Salon ran a piece about method acting today:

For instance, a man walks into a room from outside. A Method actor would ask, Where is the man coming from? How did he get here? Did he drive? Was there traffic? Did he walk? How far? Is it cold or hot out? Is this his home? Who else is in the room? Is the man glad to see those people or not? Is he alone? Is he expecting someone? All of those things affect how we would walk into a room in real life. The Method argues they should be no less considered when playing a character. In the most simplistic terms, it’s building a character from the inside out, finding an internal logic for external action.

Jamie Foxx absolutely built his portrayal of Ray Charles from the inside out. By necessity, the film is episodic, and it risks letting a Ray Charles neophyte (like myself) slip through the cracks. But Jamie Foxx fills in the gaps effortlessly, and I felt like I understood the breadth and depth of Ray Charles after spending less than three hours with him. There’s going to be stiff competiton for the Oscar for Best Actor in the next month, but I’d doubt if Paul Giamatti, Liam Neeson, or Johnny Depp have turned in performances like this one.

In the past year, I read both books comprising the Bridget Jones saga. I liked both of them, but preferred the latter. It was like Toy Story 2 in that the characters had already been developed and were familiar, so the entire story could be dedicated to plot and just meant more.

The film adaptation of The Edge of Reason is, compared both to the book and the original film, garbage. Liberties are taken with characters that make no sense given what we know about them, plot points are twisted beyond recognition, and the direction is pedestrian. I liked The Edge of Reason less than Love, Actually, and that’s saying a lot.

15 minutes later: That review was way too serious for a movie as frivolous as this one. Let’s just say, “It was pretty crappy,” and leave it at that.