Back in the day, Blockbuster had a membership program that cost $10.00 a month and got you one free classic catalog movie with every new release you rented and one free new release for every five rentals. Needless to say I had a membership and made good use of it.
At the end of a year of membership, I got an envelope from Blockbuster in the mail. Enclosed was a honorary lifetime no fee membership. The reason for such a generous gift from Blockbuster: I had rented 387 movies of the course of that previous year. Again, I am a movie nerd.
For a brief time this past week, I relived those glory days and watched movies nonstop. So here's eight films from the past year (in no particular order) you should see right now.
Black Swan - I'm an Aronofsky (Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler) fan so I probably would have liked Black Swan either way but enough people can back me up in saying it's a great film. Weird, suspenseful, and sexy, once the film gets it's clutches in you, you only get pulled deeper in. Natalie Portman gives what may be one of her best performances and Aronofsky pulls off probably his tightest and most concise film. It's basically Polanski's Repulsion with ballet.
The Fighter - I honestly didn't have much interest in seeing this film. I'm not a fan of David O. Russel (I Heart Huckabess), Mark Wahlberg's acting as of late is closer to Andy Samberg's impression of him, and the movie doesn't cover Micky Ward's legendary fights against Arturo Gatti. My sister convinced me to go see the film and to my surprise, it was great. Christian Bale steals the show, but Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams give great performances as well. Less of a Rocky story and more of a family drama. If you like boxing, Boston, and underdog stories this film is for you.
Blue Valentine - A simple, devastating film. This is pure cinema. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams tell the story of one couples love affair, the beginnings and eventual ending - simultaneously. You fall in love with each of the characters, learn their individual shortcomings, and are heartbroken for both by the end of the film. A beautifully sad film and one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I could go on but it would be gushing.... I have a man crush on Ryan Gosling. There I said it. Deal with it.
Toy Story 3 - It's pretty rare that a sequel is better than it's predecessor but Toy Story 3 pulls it off. Hilarious for kids and adults.
Restrepo - It was about a week after seeing Restrepo that I was extremely disturbed by it. What upset me most is that I walked away feeling really nothing about the film. It wasn't until later that certain scenes would play back in my head: a nineteen year old soldier weeping and asking which comrade's body lay crumbled and lifeless under a tree, a squad leader informing his soldiers of a sister unit's nine casualty loss the previous night, two soldiers fist pumping and dancing to house music in a brief moment of release. News coverage of the Afghanistan war is nearly non existent these days, Restrepo reminds us our kids are still out there fighting and dying.
The Tillman Story - It's a shame that this film did not play to larger audiences, hopefully Netflix or On Demand will pick it up a more people will get a chance to view it. I left the theater enraged, saddened and numb. As the film argues, Tillman was not an American hero, just an American.
The Town - Ben Affleck's second directorial is a smart well paced crime thriller featuring a scene stealing Jeremy Renner, a spectacular car chase sequence, and an expectation defyingly good Blake Lively. Boston grit equal parts Mystic River and The Departed.
Many of these films have been reviewed at my friend Dustin Chang's Floating World. For reviews much more eloquent and insightful than my "it's awesome" accolades head over there and check his stuff out.
2 comments:
That's right. Blue Valentine for the win.
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