LIFE AS FICTION > for the love of film / a dequinix.com externality

Moon

2009 / Duncan Jones > When it comes to modern science-fiction, there’s nothing worse than predictability. Problematically, science-fiction, in itself, is a derivative art. It takes into effect what’s already around us and extrapolates those objects and ideas into the future. Unfortunately, cinematic conventions are often one of those things. You can argue that much of the last decade’s laziness can be attributed to the endings of The Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense. Their success pigeonholed lesser-known directors into formulas that were known to work. This has led to a barrage of films, including many in the science-fiction genre, to become innocuous, even lame.

Once upon a time, someone told me the reason they loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was because it infused everything that Chinese cinema had been built on for the last half-century and refined it into one final product. And so enters Duncan Jones, mimicking that approach of Ang Lee and creating Moon as a appreciative hurrah for the genre. In the process, he does one thing very, very well: Playing with expectations. Everytime I thought I knew what was going on, one of two things happened: It didn’t, or it happened immediately instead of at the end as a final twist. Without going into plot details, Sam Rockwell has a run-in with another Sam Rockwell early in the film. Who is the second Sam Rockwell? Even if you think you know, you don’t. And that’s the beauty of it.

Aside from Jones, Rockwell stands out as one of the best performances of the year. He won’t get an Oscar nod, but cultists will appreciate this work for a long time to come. Add in Clint Mansell’s techno-tragic soundtrack and newcomer Gary Shaw's awesome cinematography, and you have the recipe for one of the best films of 2009.

The Damned United

2009 / Tom Hooper > Contrary to most expectations, this isn’t about Manchester United. It’s about the United that used to be the talk of the show before Alex Ferguson paid off the referees: Leeds. Starring Michael Sheen, whose performances in The Queen and Frost/Nixon has made me believe he’s one of the most under-appreciated actors of today (even after discounting Underworld), The Damned United tells the story of Brian Clough, a cocky, hot-headed manager who takes Derby County and Nottingham Forest to the highest levels of football. The whole show is completely and utterly enjoyable, especially if you’re appreciate the competitiveness present in professional sports. The interplay between Sheen and his fellow actors, including an especially swell performance by Timothy Spall (of Wormtail in Harry Potter/ fame) is especially touching. Walking away, it does feel a bit too neat at the end. Hard to fault Hooper for his choice of time period to portray, but some things (like Clough leading Nottingham Forest to back to back Champions League wins) feel too important to leave out at the same time.

Blood: The Last Vampire

2009 / Chris Nahon > Tragically boring. When you’ve got the confluence of vampires, live-action anime and Korean megastar Jeon Ji-Hyun’s English-language debut, you expect at least something. Not necessarily storytelling or character development, but at least lots of awesome fights and maybe some skin. But there too, Blood fails. What a terrible intro to Gianna Jun (as she’ll be known stateside), who gained much of her fame through her hard-knock, lovable lead in the rom-com sensation My Sassy Girl. The lack of adequate roles for well-known Asian actresses continue to leapfrog their abilities, and unless you count Gong Li’s serviceable turn as a half-Chinese, half-Cuban drug-mama in Miami Vice, the category continues to remain empty and shameful.

Mammoth

2009 / Lukas Moodysson > Did Inarritu ghost-direct this? It's got Babel-lite all over it. The whole thing is so predictable, so messy, so amateur, I'm frankly a bit troubled. Maybe Moodysson just wanted to try his angle at the liberal apology for globalization, but this is too shallow and too simplified. As much as I hated A Hole in My Heart, I'd prefer see more risky endeavours than this kind of mediocrity.

La Dolce Vita

1960 / Federico Fellini > Movies about one's own person, as to say how a person matures, even in older age, how one adjusts to aging itself, how to basically understand life and one's position in that life, these are notions that have been tackled over and over in cinema. Such a view of humanity is usually inspected in a smaller scope, observing the nuances and tackling singular topics. But more often than not, this lack of scope leaves too many gaps from the palette of life's emotions.

Fellini, though, captures everything in La Dolce Vita. There are no other ways to describe this than with the kind of love and admiration one has for the medium itself, and how glad I am to have finally witnessed the kind of work that makes watching cinema a necessary part of life. It's as if Holden Caulfield grew up and just happened to be Italian. From head to toe, the superficial glitter slides off to always reveal a piece of the puzzle. The world around him seems to be a joke, but at the end, nobody's laughing. When you're not laughing, is it because the joke wasn't funny? Or is it because the joke's on you?

Life of Brian

1979 / Terry Jones > There are a lot of renowned comic troupes in the world, and often they exist in variety because different audiences clamor for different styles of humor. Well, count me out of the Monty Python crowd. This isn't my cup of tea. Life of Brian definitely had moments of ingenuity, but far too often it missed and felt repetitious. Moreover, when the joke's on someone who's made into a punching bag (as these characters are), the intended satire can lose a lot of its charm.

Gomorra

2008 / Matteo Garrone > Gomorra is a deeply rich film that lacks the sensationalist touches we often see in mafia dramas. Remember how Heat was a poetic version of cops & robbers? Well, this is what you get when you strip out the loud violence and criminal glamour. The multiple storylines seem a bit daunting initially, but they end up really impressing on the basis of their meticulousness. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, Garrone's adaptation really works to stress the capitalist reaches of the modern Camorra, the Naples-based organization on which the works are founded upon. From the typical youngster wannabes to the world of waste disposal, the film is a nuanced treat into the daily ongoings. It's so real that Saviano himself has been forced into exile due to fear of death. This is impressive stuff for the patient viewer, and almost honorable because it doesn't build up the lifestyle, but rather puts it in perspective from both local and global viewpoints.

Chaplin

1992 / Richard Attenborough > Considering the spotlight on Robert Downey, Jr. post-Iron Man, it's shocking that more people haven't brought up his magnificent performance in Chaplin. Even now, watching Charlie's flicks, I can't help but substitute in Downey's face without a worry. At age 27, he mimicked the lives of one of the most magnetic performers in cinematic history yet it feels as if no one remembers. Some of this blame arguably goes to Attenborough for taking an unorthodox approach to a biopic by focusing on Chaplin's love affairs to progress the storyline, which led to slightly uneven pacing and treatment of his work as almost secondary. While this may have resulted in mixed critical response, there's no denying that his life did indeed revolve around women, and that the longing for his first love led to multiple marriages to younger and younger women. Furthermore, there was at least 12 minutes cut from the director's version and almost two hours left on the cutting floor altogether. Who knows how much better this would have made it, but even as it stands, it's an incredibly enjoyable piece about a fascinating icon of culture and is worth viewing to get a glimpse into him and his works as well as the ridiculousness of the McCarthy era.

State of Play

2009 / Kevin Macdonald > Frankly, there was no way this film could make me happy. The original 2003 BBC miniseries on which this is based is one of my single favorite pieces of television ever. It's clever, thrilling and intelligent. John Simm in the lead is downright brilliant and the rest of the cast is near perfect. But in the process of cramming six fantastic hours into two for the global mainstream audience, quite a bit of detail and charm has been lost. While it remains a rather well-made film, the last third seems rushed and increasingly trite. The pacing of the movie kills the appreciation of the character motivations and starts insulting the viewer's intelligence. Incidentally, the same storyline in the miniseries successfully orchestrates these emotions. Thus, I can't stress enough that everyone should give the original a chance. Avoid a couple of clunkers this summer and spent those extra four hours diving into this riveting Brit drama and come out much more satisfied.

Taken

2008 / Pierre Morel > The story of a retired Jason Bourne-type going after sex traffickers who've kidnapped his daughter. How could I resist? Liam Neeson is nothing short of a bad ass in the follow-up to Morel's parkour-actioner District B13. No punches are pulled, and lots of disbelief are suspended. The man's on a mission, okay? It doesn't matter that he's taking out 13,216 baddies in a foreign country. He can do it, and you can't stop him. It's his daughter! In a sex slave trade! It's just not right! But seriously, it's a fantastic adrenaline ride that gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to plausibility. Jason Bourne would be proud.

Kind Hearts and Coronets

1949 / Robert Hamer > As a pleasantly told story of lineage-based revenge, Kind Hearts and Coronets is chockful of smile-enducing comedic moments that point towards the brilliant, charismatic performance of star Dennis Price and the multiple personas of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Wait, what? To be specific, Alec Guinness plays eight different roles in the Ascoyne family tree that's the target of Price's ascension to dukeship, and each is played with hilarious aplomb. It's a well-made dark comedy, though I can't help but think that the straightforward manner of its storytelling holds it back from being a far better film. The story is purposefully predictable (as the many hints would indicate), but I find that a bit of a cop-out. Had Hamer insisted on a more novel approach to the film's progression, it wouldn't simply be an issue of "Who's next?"

Let the Right One In

2008 / Tomas Alfredson > Ever since I first saw this by happenstance at the Tribeca Film Festival almost a year ago, it's been stuck in my mind. Coming of age stories tend to hold a constant place in my heart, but the choicest of these only float around once in while. Each has its own little niche: Rushmore channeled the quirkiness of overachievement and Wes Anderson, Hana and Alice dove into the teenage dramatics of Shunji Iwai and Let the Right One In somehow molds youth, alienation and things that go bump in the night into one cohesive jolt. Alfredson has created a film rooted in a dark loneliness and an even darker elegance. Every scene and detail is necessary, and even those that come across borderline-kitschy end up making sense in context.

But let's get the whole vampire bit cleared: This isn't one of those bloodsucking genre films that go by-the-book in their treatment of the Draculan descendants. Just like Cloverfield was an episode of The O.C. with a monster in it, Let the Right One In is a coming-of-age love story that happens to include someone with a penchant for blood. It's a surprisingly tactful method of curving an otherwise generic story into one of the year's best films. Rarely does the script take the viewer's intelligence for granted: myths are mostly hinted at, the gory visuals kept minimal and the camera angles respect our ability to extrapolate. The last sequence at the pool? It includes arguably the best scene in film from 2008. When Oskar's eyes open up, it's almost perfect.

The Reader

2008 / Stephen Daldry > In a guest appearance on the Ricky Gervais/BBC sitcom Extras, Kate Winslet joked around about how she may finally win an Oscar by playing a role in a Holocaust film. As fate would have it, the Academy somehow overlooked her incredible turn in Revolutionary Road for her portrayal of Hanna Schmitz in The Reader, an ex-Auschwitz prison guard with a couple of mystifying secrets. When you think about it, this was made for a nomination, but the tragedy may be that she'll actually win for a mediocre film whose sole purpose, it seems, is to apologize on behalf of all the no-holds-barred anti-Nazi sentiments apparent in our world today.

This is where it gets tricky: It's understandable to humanize those who have committed heinous acts against humanity. There's always another side to the story, and that side should always be heard. We are a society that depends on a fair trial, so it's almost necessary that we should extend that courtesy to even those who have sided with the Third Reich. At the same time, it's downright laughable how The Reader approaches this process. As the film unfolds, it becomes infuriating to see the opportunities that could further enhance our understanding of Hanna's character ignored in order to slap our faces with the literal meaning of the title. We are not children, and if you want us to give into our conscience and empathize with those who have caused the world so much grief, you have to give us a better reason than illiteracy.

The Edge of Heaven

2007 / Fatih Akin > For a while, I thought this was going to be Babel-lite. But Akin, having shown his ability to mesmerize and churn the human heart in the fantastic Head-On, tempered his storytelling technique so that it doesn't reek of emotional manipulation. Sure, it's got some points where he heavily tests Murphy's Law, but eventually you can see a mechanism for him to examine how we grieve, how we find solace in a world of tragedies and how there's always hope. There's an emotional intelligence to the whole show that sticks. The icing on the cake may be the performance of Turkish beauty Nurgul Yesilcay, who comes off raw yet tender and steals every scene she's in.

Babylon A.D.

2008 / Matthieu Kassovitz > I should have guessed when Kassovitz himself denounced the final product, but I figured it was worth a shot. I'm generally a sucker for apocalyptic near-futures, and this one seemed to have a lot of the typical plot points—military black markets, religious fanatics, a savior or two. But Fox's interference during the filming process looks more than obvious. Considering what Kassovitz was capable of in La Haine, arguably a better version of Boyz n the Hood, this is a mess beyond belief. The story jumps, becomes incoherent, then suddenly has a wonderfully poignant (at least in its own, deluded mind) finale. Supposedly there's a longer cut out there somewhere, but the director himself has said that he didn't even get to film his vision. So, in effect, any alternative cut out there ought to be rendered useless.

Quantum of Solace

2008 / Marc Forster > This is what we get after Casino Royale? Having seen all but the Timothy Dalton adventures of Bond, I felt that Casino Royale was arguably the best in the series, even if it significantly veered from the style of the first 20. But Forster's vision in Quantum of Solace failed to catch the slipstream of its successor. The whole show feels anti-climactic: Too much goes on without any kind of concreteness, and the scope is so minuscule that we find it tough to care for Bond when the final fight vs. the bad guy comes. Aren't Bond films supposed to be about global domination? Aren't there supposed to incredibly powerful henchmen who protect the super-villains, who themselves are maddeningly intelligent and devious? This felt more like a take on Bond as if he were Jason Bourne. The film's enjoyable, sure, but the satisfaction doesn't last. I can't help but stress the weakness of scope, and how it reminded me of the terrible storyline from Diamonds are Forever. The stories of James Bond are supposed to be grand in every essence of the word, but this that was not. Here's hoping they take heed of Daniel Craig's latest comments in saying that Bond's initiation has ended. It's time, finally, for the real villains to come onstage.

Rambo

2008 / Sylvester Stallone > Exactly what it should be: Thin but acceptable plot, lots of bloody action and gore, and a running time that keeps the babies from crying. I haven't seen the original ones since I was a wee little lad, so maybe I need a refresher, but Stallone's smug look in Rambo does get pretty tiring after a while. Has John Rambo always been such a bitter man like this? I want some Tango!

Donkey Punch

2008 / Oliver Blackburn > Wikipedia describes a donkey punch as "a slang term for an apocryphal and potentially lethal sexual practice supposedly performed during anal sex or doggy-style sex." And that, my friends, is the central catalyst for the story. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, cookies for originality there. The problem is the manner in which a hedonistic boat ride turns into a tour of humanity's descent into hell. It's a bit crazy, sure, but when you don't care about any of the characters (because they're all annoying, selfish brats) and you've already witnessed the aforementioned act of sexual bravado, what else is there to be shocked by? The show becomes limp halfway through, even with its spunky premise.

Slumdog Millionaire

2008 / Danny Boyle > Boyle's really hit me from left field on this one: Boasting one of the most impressive and varied filmographies in cinema today, I imagined this to simply be a heart-warming tale of rags-to-riches and romance. Well, that it is, and so much more. Slumdog Millionaire is conscious of the modern-day India, crisscrossing from the slums to India's upper class while still approaching the shady underground gangsters and their counterparts (and every American's favorite) the call center operator. Stylistically, it borrows as much from Boyle's own Trainspotting as it does from City of God. The vibrant colors and sharp editing energize the film's pacing so that the viewer's journey is a non-stop feast of entertainment. And a soundtrack cutting M.I.A.'s beats and vocals only support that foundation. There are a couple of things to be understood, though: The story is fairly conventional, the "plot twist" happens in the beginning, so the viewer isn't being suckered on, and it's a bit predictable. But none of that keeps it from being arguably the most incredible, enjoyable film of the year. The whole experience is a crescendo that culminates with the kind of gritty satisfaction that no straight-edged family film can offer.

Stargate

1994 / Roland Emmerich > It's always a bit sad to re-visit a film only to find it a shade of its former self. Such is the case with Stargate, something that I had fondly remembered as a great science-fiction experience upon its release. But time has not been so kind to Emmerich and his creation. The CGI effects are awkward and often unforgiving, some of the the acting is downright wooden (such as Jaye Davidson, who sucked the last bit out of his fame from The Crying Game here) and the story is a bit too shallow to be memorable. (Come to think of it, this and Independence Day are basically the same plot, but on different home fields!) But all of this aside, it's hard not to give the film credit for climbing us up the imagination tree and fusing ancient Egyptian mythology with a good dose of futurism. This is no classic, not anymore, but it's still worth a viewing for its sense of nostalgia.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

2008 / Guillermo del Toro > Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a fun romp through the world of Dark Horse Comics that often gets bogged down by the "too much" theory which commonly plagues sequels: If it worked once, do it again and throw more of it in, right? Well, no, not really. That's what kills franchises (see Batman & Robin). The story's fairly generic and a lot of the jokes are barely on the right side of slapstick, though thankfully, del Toro's considerably more tactful than most others in his profession. But after the serious foray that was Pan's Labyrinth, I really can't blame him for having a bit too much fun.

The Golden Compass

2007 / Chris Weitz > Boring and bloated though undeniably gorgeous, it's no surprise that The Golden Compass failed miserably with both critics and audiences. Once you get past the eye candy, the film lacks the charisma to stay afloat, which is too bad, because now we'll probably never get to see the story finish. This also marks a serious misstep for Weitz, whose About a Boy was full of heart and wonder.

Paris, je t'aime

2006 / Tristan Carné > Paris, je t'aime is a mixed bag of short films, no doubt, with a couple of head-scratching entries by Christopher Doyle (which seems to be an extension of his appreciation of Asian women) and Olivier Assayas (where Maggie Gyllenhaal does something, we're just not sure what). Balancing those are a comfy, introverted short by Alexander Payne in which an American tourist falls in love with Paris and solitude all at once, and arguably the finest piece in the compendium, about a mime who finds love in the most incredulous of places, directed by Sylvain Chomet of The Triplets of Belleville. And though in between is everything from marriage to racism and vampires, the total package's cohesiveness is rarely lost. It's tricky, however, when you only have five minutes to get your point across—Symbolism becomes a heavy element but since the viewer's forced to jump into the next short, there's not much time to contemplate what the aforementioned symbolism could have meant.

Wanted

2008 / Timur Bekmambetov > It's usually a terrible idea when 70% of a film's plot is told over narration within five minutes, but Russian blockbuster director Bekmambetov brings his Night Watch fame this side of the Pacific with an action-packed extravaganza that's short on plot and long, very long on intensity. In fact, Wanted may have some of the best action sequences ever seen on film. Suspending disbelief is a priority in this adaptation of a comic grounded on prophetic assassins—This is also partially because we know Angelina Jolie has the potential to blow stuff up, but James McAvoy? Not your likeliest action star, but the special effects make it all work in spades.

Transsiberian

2008 / Brad Anderson > Transsiberian is an unique film in the midst of Hollywood's barrage of inarticulate torture porn: It's filled with a level of palpable tension that never truly shows its face in the way you would expect (which in itself is quite an achievement). Founded on a stellar performance by Emily Mortimer, the film tests the audience's stereotypes and then tries to defy many movie conventions. While it doesn't always succeed, Anderson's script and his technical expertise work together to entertain the viewer throughout. There are a couple of plot points that are irksome, but because the final product feels so complete, it's hard to not give them the benefit of the doubt.

Doomsday

2008 / Neil Marshall > You have to give Marshall credit for trying to create an intelligent mixture of The Road Warrior and 28 Days Later, but somewhere along the way, the focus shifted away from the storyline into chases, beheadings and twists seen from a mile away. Rhona Mitra, the original Tomb Raider, fitfully shows that she had the right to star in the films of her former alter ego, and Craig Conway is superb as a chilling vision of humanity gone awry. Though generally exciting, Doomsday's premise of de-evolution in modern society never really develops into anything fresh to deserve the kind of cult status it could have achieved.

The Oxford Murders

2008 / Alex de la Iglesia > The Oxford Murders is a mostly forgettable, unimaginative thriller that tries to dumb down The Da Vinci Code into a mathematical trick. Elijah Wood is woefully miscast and Leonor Watling's there for mostly her naked body behind a lonely kitchen apron. The twists and turns are ludicrous on the back of a surprisingly bad effort for de la Iglesia's follow-up to the enjoyable The Perfect Crime.

Son of Rambow

2008 / Garth Jennings > The great thing about Son of Rambow is that it feels less like a kid's movie and more like the movie you want to watch at an older age that makes you feel like a kid again. It's got a lot of subtle storytelling tactics that give you a layer on top of what you see, often catalyzed by personal experiences of family and growing up. All the performances are great, though newcomer Will Poulter definitely needs some additional praise for his portrayal of the bad boy with a big heart—and it seems like he'll be getting some more attention with rumors that he's been cast in the upcoming Narnia sequels. For Jennings, this is quite a departure from his first feature film attempt in A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it definitely seems to be his area of comfort, and I definitely look forward to whatever he brings us next.

In Bruges

2008 / Martin McDonagh > For all the awesomeness that In Bruges has going for it (and by awesomeness, I'm inclined to say the absolute barrage of political incorrectness), it does make me wonder why McDonagh takes such a sensationalist and overdone method of resolution. However, cheers to him for taking the Colin Farrell out of Colin Farrell and for making Ralph Fiennes one of those guys you love to hate to love to hate. All in all, it's a good time but sadly not the cult classic it could have become with a couple of tweaks. But the film does the city of Bruges quite a good service by making sure viewers such as myself check out hotel pricing on a whim for the so-called "most medieval" city in the world. (Trust me, even for a small city, the current exchange rates for the dollar does none of us any favors.)

4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days

2007 / Cristian Mungiu > There's something that's in the minds of the Cannes juries, year after year, that I just can't figure out. It's as if their choice for the Palm d'Or has to be this significant social statement that future filmgoers will always appreciate and respect. (After all, who, in retrospect, is not ashamed that Fahrenheit 9/11 walked away with the top prize in 2004?) 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days is a good film, but it's also filled with one egregious flaw that arguably discounts the whole statement of the film. While I can't give it away, I can imagine the scene being a sticking point for almost everyone who watches it.

Technically, this so-called Romanian New Wave seems to follow works of the Brothers Dardenne with its claustrophic camerawork and frantic pacing as if to give a sense of realism that's supposedly gone missing from cinema. Here, however, one could argue that the reason realism has become modified in film is because film is an escapist medium, not one to transport us back to the moment of truth in which we already live.

But such philosophies aside, I simply can't enjoy a film that fails to give the viewer a sliver of hope. There are hints at it, but ultimately, it's all a mirage. There is no heart. There's nothing emotional that we'd want to grip onto, but rather lots that we'd like to run away from. There is, however, an incredible performance by Anamaria Marinca, who had the unfortunate luck of going up against the incomparable Jeon Do-yeon at Cannes last year. For that and to understand the infatuation with the Romanian realist movement, , the film is worth watching—though how much you enjoy it is completely up to you.

Atonement

2007 / Joe Wright > A couple of things in which Atonement surpasses almost every film this year: Dario Marianelli's glowing score that anchors itself around the effectively used typewriter clicks, and Seamus McGarvey's magnificent cinematography, including a three minute long shot that captures the beauty and despair of the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II. Also memorable is the simmering performance by 12-year-old newcomer Saoirse Ronan (now nominated for an Oscar) as a character of genuine human fault whose covetous nature sets the wheels of the story into motion. But it's ultimately too hard to digest. The prettiness aside, there's something incalculably dishonest about how the film interacts with the viewer, manipulating our emotions to prove a point that renders itself ineffective soon after. You can't particularly blame anyone, since it's based on Ian McEwan's novel, so it becomes an issue of unlucky circumstance. Wright, nonetheless, should be commended for such an exacting, exciting effort.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007 / Tim Burton > I very much enjoy Burton's work, but am generally not a fan of musicals. This puts me into a sort of dilemma where I find myself only half-appreciating the meticulously crafted Sweeney Todd. Musicals generally tend to have fairly simple stories that are buffered by lyricism and melody, but when those aren't high on one's priority list, the foundation of the film falls off. Now, I can only hope that his forthcoming Alice in Wonderland is not a sing-along.

Once

2007 / John Carney > It's nearly impossible not to like Once, but mileage will vary in how much it'll be appreciated. As a musical, it works on levels not typical in film: The honest folk/rock of star Glen Hansard is always heartfelt, always fresh. It lacks the silly glamour that tends to persist in the genre and instead fills it with the kind of realism that many can identify with. Carney takes into account the awkwardness of loneliness and spins it into a sort of underhanded morality tale about where love ends and begins. It is, however, a little esoteric in its approach and fails to give me the kind of foothold I was looking for. Either way, the chemistry between Hansard and Marketa Irglova is so natural and charming, it becomes an easy watch.

Persepolis

2007 / Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi > Part-history lesson, part-coming of age, Persepolis is a fresh and exciting cinematic event for the masses. What becomes problematic, however, is the idea that Satrapi's journey is neither unique nor over. At the conclusion, there's a nagging feeling that there must be more than this, yet we are forced to walk away. The film's most important contribution, ironically, becomes its brief history of Iran, an often misunderstood nation whose political ties have been close to the Western world since the discovery of oil. The parts of the film where Satrapi is in Iran are countlessly more interesting than when she's in Vienna, diddling away into an awkwardly written episode of Felicity. Still, the whole show is a nice change of pace in a year of weak independent filmmaking.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2007 / Julian Schnabel > When I first heard this was going to be made into a film, I was filled with both worry and wonder. A film about a man who communicates by blinking? How interesting could that be on the screen? In amazement and awe, however, Schnabel and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (who ought to be a lock for an Oscar nod) have adapted The Diving Bell and the Butterfly into celluloid with a level of imagination that even Jean-Dominique Bauby may not have had in his writing process. The scenes where Bauby (played immaculately by Mathieu Amalric) and his father (played by an appropriately aging Max von Sydow) communicate before and after the stroke are mesmerizing and heartbreaking. All the women in the film shine in reflection to Bauby's "butterfly," each adding an extra layer of emotion and character to a life not to be pitied. No doubt one of the year's very best, the film is an epic of human creativity and strength.

Resident Evil: Extinction

2007 / Russell Mulcahy > The worst thing a Resident Evil-like movie can be is boring. And this one is boring. It's not really exciting. Nothing really happens. Okay, some things happen but they're mostly boring. So, nothing might as well happen at all. Though, Milla Jovovich sure can kick some ass. And there are a few explosions to wake you up.

A Mighty Heart

2007 / Michael Winterbottom > There are two significant breakthroughs in A Mighty Heart: We learn that it is possible for Winterbottom to produce an apolitical film. Unlike The Road to Guantanamo, which plays the West as the villain from the get go, the film doesn't utilize the people in the story to prove anything—As a bastard child of 9/11, A Mighty Heart rivals only Reign on Me in its appreciation of the event's after-effects from a non-agenda viewpoint. It is tactful and intelligent, though not necessarily forgiving or hopeful of the strife and confusion that surrounds our current society.

We also get to enjoy Angelina Jolie in a role that brings her back down to earth, finds us focusing on her character and not the Hollywood megastar that she is. This is a joint accomplishment on both Winterbottom and Jolie's part that I find impressive, to take the celebrity out of a film and put in its place the strong-willed but broken hearted Marianne Pearl. Combined with an always impressive Irfan Khan, the cast of both professional and non-professional actors deliver an emotionally engrossing picture not to be taken lightly.

Stardust

2007 / Matthew Vaughn > On the back of the success of Layer Cake, Vaughn's decision to take upon a tale of such fantastic proportions is both admirable and a little suspect. Gone are the calculated plotlines that made his previous venture such a joy to watch, and in their place is a messy, underachieving fantasy that's all gloss.

The film starts strong by setting up a potentially epic story of lost love and the search for the rightful ruler of a mystical kingdom, but then succumbs halfway to a mildly droning last hour where it becomes predictable and often just downright silly. In fact, most of De Niro's character is a distraction and seems as if he's given more screentime because of his big name. Claire Daines is lifeless as usual—hasn't anyone figured out that the reason she was so good in My So-Called Life was because her character was supposed to be lifeless? Throw in another pointless cameo by Ricky Gervais, and we have the recipe for a bloated project that nearly crumbles on its own weight. There was enough here to enjoy (especially some of the campy jokes), but what could have been a memorable experience instead remains something momentary.

Trade

2007 / Marco Kreuzpaintner > Trade may just be this year's biggest missed opportunity, overshooting any chance of credibility with its amateur, aggrandized screenplay. Because the subject of sex trafficking is misunderstood in both its scope and prevalence, Kreuzpaintner and screenwriter Jose Rivera's attempt to bring it onto the mainstream is admirable, but ends up being frustrating in its execution. While the cinematography and score are superb, the writing that surrounds it is vapid and cliche. (This worries me terribly since Rivera is in charge of scripting the American remake of the superb Korean drama Failan.) The excess in the storytelling particularly disappoints, taking away the focus from the true horror of the industry while emphasizing the superfluous. Ultimately, I wanted to like it but couldn't; I found myself too angry at its silliness and disrespect for the subject matter.

Eastern Promises

2007 / David Cronenberg > If there's one thing that Cronenberg's always done and deserves the most praise for, it's the respect and intelligence with which he treats his audience. Hints are dropped, arcs are drawn but most of the dots are ultimately connected by the viewer. More often than not, this technique works wonders (e.g., Crash and eXistenZ). In Eastern Promises, this technique is further refined to the point where it actually backfires a little: Considering the strength of Viggo Mortensen's character and the underlying tension/mystery that develops throughout, the finale is anticlimactic and disappointingly flaccid. The credits brought forth no emotions in me, a fact I found disheartening after 100 minutes of stellar filmmaking. In The History of Violence, there was an emotional purge at the end that left me at peace, but here that was absent. It's simply too clever, and I can only wish that he had added a few more minutes to extrapolate the ongoings—not for the purposes of holding my hand, but in order to find a foundation to rest the violence and stereotypes by which the film operates.

Tell No One

2006 / Guillaume Canet > Gripping from the get go, the manner in which Tell No One unravels is both exhausting and exciting. Canet's complex plotline is a gem that's further enhanced by a simply terrific performance from Francois Cluzet, stunning, ambient cinematography and the inclusion of sporadic English music that adds to the mood while seamlessly fitting into the French setting. In short, it remains the type of murder mystery/thriller that we've seen again and again, but the veil on it is so thick with heart and intensity that we forget about past experiences and get sucked in without fail.

Intacto

2001 / Juan Carlos Fresnadillo > While luck transference is an interesting premise and the execution is sharp and solid, I found it hard to get over the film's conclusion. Filled with Hollywood-style simplification, the ending spirals downward into something sentimental and unsatisfying—so very disappointing after Intacto showed such great promise and freshness with its darkly calculated, brooding style/mood.

Sexy Beast

2000 / Jonathan Glazer > Sexy Beast is a British gangster drama that's three-quarters a character study and one-quarter the anatomy of a heist. In this separation is its uniqueness, with the verbal cuts of Ben Kingsley's neurotic Don Logan running deep into the viewer's mind as its best attribute. The overall dialogue is as crisp as it is biting, and music video director Glazer's first feature film parlays quite a bit of his past vocation's skillset with its quick cuts and rich colors. Pacing is far from conventional and somewhat uneven, and this may irk some while making others happy. In its own way, however, the film succeeds in being an exercise in realistic voyeurism while keeping the aura somewhat fantastical.

This is England

2007 / Shane Meadows > The biggest problem for This is England has to do with how often in the stateside it'll be compared to American History X. The latter was notoriously lacking in dimension, filled with more artificial punches and a biased tweak that did little to explain the foundation of supremacists groups. But Meadows' latest venture is far cleverer and reverent, utilizing the Falklands War as a backdrop to dissect the rationale behind the sort of fascism that Thatcher's term brought forth in England. Centralized around a 12 year-old (played brilliantly by newcomer Thomas Turgoose), the film rarely judges and generally lets emotions adjust to the social situations as they are seen fit.

Both character and subplot development are somewhat erratic, but once Stephen Graham enters the screen, much is forgotten. His portrayal of "Combo" is worthy of much praise, and shocks and awes the viewer into being glued to the cinema. In addition to that, This is England's multi-layered discussion of racial tensions, class relations and national identity drive the film into being a touching, memorable experience.

28 Weeks Later

2007 / Juan Carlos Fresnadillo > While it lacks the overt philosophical base of its predecessor, it overwhelmingly makes up for it in its incredible, adrenaline-based pacing. Guided by Boyle, Fresnadillo kicks it up a notch with a simpler plotline that becomes more hectic, flashing a surprise or two in the pan as time passes. Only after the film has ended does one realize that the plot was fairly thin, but that's fine because the experience is bafflingly good. Add to it a maddening score and you've got one of the finest, if slightly more intelligent, popcorn films of the year (at least for those who aren't so afraid of the dark).

The Last Legion

2007 / Doug Lefler > As a huge fan of anything related to Ancient Rome, I was very much anticipating The Last Legion and its take on the dying days of the empire. Not shockingly, of course, disappointment rose up and stamped its feet well within the film's first fifteen minutes. Now, it would be silly to expect an accurate depiction of a period of such mayhem and corruption, but what amazes me is the absolute lack of imagination put forth by the writers here. The only thing they could come up with was to somehow link Julius Caesar to King Arthur, but even that is a weak, fleeting piece of amusement amidst a barrage of cliches and a plot that's driven by a game of cat and mouse. Moreover, Aishwarya Rai says she's turned down Hollywood offers where the scripts did not suit her, but this? I imagine since she got a chance to play a hardened female warrior while being held tightly in Colin Firth's bosom is enough to make up for a forgettable experience.

Sunshine

2007 / Danny Boyle > Sunshine crescendos into its finale in a way no other film has this year: It breaks through expectations into something surreal, almost messy, yet dazzlingly calculated. Boyle etches into our memories fear, hope, excitement and despair within a span of two hours by showing us the end of the world and the ways in which our ingenuity tries to prevent it. It's intelligent and amusing, fusing genres and philosophies, and makes up for the arguable irrationality in the script with a thrill ride that's as reverent for the body as it is for the mind.

Cashback

2007 / Sean Ellis > I wanted to like this more than I did. It's got quite a few things going for it: An imaginative central character, heartbreak and attractive women (with insomnia thrown in for added flavor). But so much of the world that surrounds this central character lacks depth, enough so that it feels like plodding through a lot of mud to get to its basic foundation. Unfortunately, these basics, in the end, are a little too ideal and simple to be effective and memorable.

Starter for 10

2006 / Tom Vaughan > As a going-to-college-and-finding-myself story, Starter for 10 tries to be refreshing and original but ultimately falls back on stereotypes of girls, geeks and misunderstandings between best friends. That's not to say that it isn't arresting: It's got enough tricks up its sleeve to keep our interest, with buxom beauties to Trivial Pursuit-brand trivia helping James McAvoy's protagonist understand himself further. It's funny and pleasant, and even while it tries to stretch itself thin sometimes with inadequate life-affirming theories, most viewers will let it slide and simply enjoy the ride.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007 / David Yates > I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic by any stretch of the imagination (i.e., I haven't read the books), so I find watching these films an idle form of entertainment. In such, it's hard for me to get riled up over them without understanding their long, literate histories (unlike my child-like giddiness towards Transformers). With Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I do feel like I've missed out on a lot of the meat by not having read the books (and not refreshing my memories of the last four), but I did come out of the theatre feeling quite comfortable about Yates taking Harry into maturity.

The darkened atmosphere surrounding Harry is quite welcoming to the sense of the world's impending battle between good and evil. Dolores Umbridge as well as Luna Lovegood add some fresh spices to the character pool, an act that Cho Chang (and that sad, pathetic kiss) absolutely fails at. Fundamentally, it's not always even or even coherent to us non-readers, and admittedly I did feel by the end that not much had happened. Retrospectively, however, it can be noted that many of the simple events that occur during the film are indeed rather significant in the battle against He Who Must Not Be Named. For that, I would've actually liked the film to have been longer, with more depth.

1931 / Fritz Lang > Does M hold up to our current standards of what a film such as this ought to be? Strangely, yes. Unlike others in the genre which have lost their luster due to overused plot twists or simply a sense of age and awkwardness, M stands firm. Lang's filming is claustrophobic but not overdone; his storytelling is imaginative but coherent; and his treatment of the villain is respectful but not apologetic. In fact, not only does it hold up, it actually still outdoes its successors in terms of intelligence and overall composition.

Nowadays, tension in serial killer films seem necessary to be represented throughout the tenure. However, in M, the great beauty is in its objectivity. The serial killer himself—and his capture—is only part of the game. The cops and robbers, the bystanders and victims, they all play a part in the total landscape without overshadowing the other. Moreover, it's impossible not to see what it's influenced (most notably, in my mind, was Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). Increasingly, this is one of the few classics where a modern remake would be interesting just to see if 76 years of technology and know-how could actually trump the original.

The Patriots

1994 / Eric Rochant > Never saw this one coming: An intelligent spy film that takes the personal aspect of Munich and turns it up a notch. Les Patriotes is less about the methods of espionage but more about human after effects. The ruthlessness and selflessness it takes for one to produce in the field is displayed poignantly in a well-paced effort by Rochant. It has some hiccups, especially with somewhat weak and often stereotypical American acting, but generally stays on point in opening up the world of Mossad to the viewer. A worthy find for those who are fans of the genre, but it may also bore those looking for spy/action films.

The Lives of Others

2006 / Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck > Every year, there are a few films that have nearly flawless executions. In 2006, The Lives of Others just might have led that pack. While I couldn't find myself as emotionally attached to the story as those who are natives of Germany or have been in similar collectivist situations, interest in the film rarely waned once the plot started to roll. The story of the East German Stasi is not one I was previously familiar with, but the 1984-esque paranoia that rung around the film was thick, congestive and effective. Personally, I couldn't agree with some of the character development and emotional manipulation that occurs as the show goes on, but overall, I also can't be angry that this beat out Pan's Labyrinth at the Oscars for Best Foreign Film. There's much merit in its cold, calculated success.

A Hole in My Heart

2004 / Lukas Moodysson > Moodysson knows how make one feel miserable while watching a film. In Lilya 4-Ever, he did it in a way where the audience could find this misery justifiable to a point, but here, it's an absolute joke. Any issues of morality or relationships that are supposedly being explored is a cover for what is essentially a shock-piece, filled with unnerving moments that result in no enjoyment and leaves the audience feeling sick and even guilty for viewing this in the first place.

Venus

2006 / Roger Michell > A performance worthy of an Oscar in most years, but just not this year. Unfortunately, that's the luck that Peter O'Toole has had to deal with in his lifetime, having lost the golden statuette seven times (and an eighth maybe a week away). In Venus, he gives it all in a bittersweet performance where he undoubtedly reaches into his own experiences as an aging actor of great caliber. Hanif Kureishi's stellar, understated script uplifts O'Toole and those around him, including a refreshing Jodie Whittaker as the young girl that turns the old actor's life upside down.

Whatever awkward moments there are in Venus, by the end we find ourselves thinking that these emotions are byproducts of the mental processes shaped by society. From the perspective of someone who looks into the future and wonders what old age will bring, the film reassures that there's no definite end to enjoyment and learning. Triggers are everywhere, and the soft and gentle presence of a young woman is enough to reinvigorate those at the end of the plank. It's memorable and sweet, tasteful and delicate. One of the year's best.

The Queen

2006 / Stephen Frears > In listing the most impressive components of The Queen, Helen Mirren's inevitable Oscar-winning performance comes in third. Instead, it's Michael Sheen's Tony Blair that compels you to keep watching while arguably the year's best script puts on its own show. (Personally, I would hope that Sheen gets the supporting actor nod that the Golden Globes snubbed him on.) By default, I didn't think the saga surrounding the death of Princess Diana would have kept my attention. However, Peter Morgan's screenplay put to rest any such concerns with its wit and bite. With this, Frears may have further perfected his craft and one only can imagine how much better it will get.

Flushed Away

2006 / David Bowers & Sam Fell > Coming from Aardman, this is a disappointment. The men who've brought us the glorious Wallace & Gromit flicks have paired up with Dreamworks for a mediocre if adequately satisfying venture into Ratropolis. There's little meat to the story, and the emotion is almost nonexistent. Thankfully the action is solid and ought to keep one's attention for much of the ninety minutes. The voice acting is some of the best in recent memory: Kate Winslet shines by providing her voice to the female lead, a strong-willed woman determined to take good care of her family. The animation is superb, and while done in CGI, still has a lot of the effects of claymation. It won't salvage a year of weak animated films, but it's a fun ride nonetheless.

Dead or Alive

2006 / Corey Yuen > I'm not sure if I should ever expect another Fong Sai-Yuk out of Yuen, but with The Transporter and now Dead or Alive, he's slowly building up a reputation for directing some of the best no-nonsense martial arts/action flicks that are just great fun. The girls wear little clothing (although with smaller busts than their video game counterparts would suggest), there's enough plot to advance the story and Eric Roberts is the bad guy. What more could you want? Oh: There's also beach volleyball. Just the ticket for attention deficit.

Romance

1999 / Catherine Breillat > Layers and layers of metaphors about love and sex, companionship and space, mixed in with explicit sexual sequences and pseudo-drama: Does it work? Maybe for some, but I found myself losing focus due to the sheer incredibleness of the story progression. There's something fascinating here, but I've had trouble constructing it into something coherent. It's a film that's worth watching again in a few years, possibly after having seen the rest of Breillat's works, but at this point, it's a social experiment at best.

Casino Royale

2006 / Martin Campbell > Casino Royale is the best Bond film since 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It has style, grit, heart and a story that actually works. All too often, I've found my attention fading by the 7th inning stretch. Chases and shootouts mean considerably less if there's no plausible reason behind them. And by plausible, it's not just how it affects the global power paradigm, of the good versus the bad, but rather how humane and reasonable the motivations are. And while I'm not a fan of Paul Haggis, maybe it was his screenwriting touch that made this happen. (One could probably argue that the subject matter kept his heavy-handedness in check, and if that's true, I do look forward to him working on the next Bond film.)

As for Daniel Craig, the man is not Sean Connery. And that is exactly why he works. While Clive Owen would have been my first choice for Brosnan's replacement, Craig has shown that he fits the bill, much like the tailored suit that Vesper Lynd prepares for him. His youth reflects appropriately in what is the beginning of 007. The screenplay supports him throughout, offering us more insight into his character than ever before. Eva Green is nearly perfect as Vesper Lynd, and arguably the best and most complex Bond girl since Jane Seymour's Solitaire in Live and Let Die. Her onscreen chemistry with Craig is one of the key reasons the film works so well.

Casino Royale has me more excited about the future of James Bond than I've ever been. The style seems to be going the right direction, Daniel Craig is an excellent fit and they've finally taken to writing a properly thought-out script. It would be wonderful to see an arch-nemesis of sorts, similar to Blofeld, as well as further background on Bond himself. Either way, the next Bond, rumored to be a loose continuation of Casino Royale, is now on my calendar for 2008.

Children of Men

2006 / Alfonso Cuaron > Visually apt, Children of Men has some great sequences that keeps its dystopian world interesting, but the details are amiss. It's unfortunate that Cuaron seems to have stripped away most of the novel's intricate storyline, leaving a mostly superficial journey filled with one-sided social commentary and a large empty hole where there could have been substance. It's especially shocking how weak the dialogue is, often spelling out the obvious to the viewer. Thankfully, Owen is solid, especially considering how little he had to work with.

The Last King of Scotland

2006 / Kevin Macdonald > Let's get the 800-pound gorilla out of the way: Forest Whitaker is masterful, true and full of credible passion as megalomaniac dictator Idi Amin. And yes, it's absolutely worthy of an Oscar nomination if not the Best Actor trophy itself. From the twitch in his bloodshot eyes to the insane, instantaneous smile, Whitaker arguably does more for Amin than Hoffman did for Capote. It's considerably less gimmick-based; we don't have a lisp or some sort of disability. It's just simple brilliance.

What Macdonald has done is also quite a wonder, fusing every type of emotion into an incredibly balanced and well-paced two hours. In portraying the Uganda of the 1970s through the eyes of James McAvoy's young, naive eyes, Macdonald somehow remains objective. In contrast to films such as Terry George's overly apologist Hotel Rwanda, there is little preaching or glorification. The deep emotional palette of the film is further enhanced by a deeply engrossing story, part truth, part fiction, that breaches genre expectations for a typical political biopic. It's not hard to find yourself smiling, laughing, shocked or becoming filled with lust for sex and power. It has the essence of a small but necessary epic.

Marie Antoinette

2006 / Sofia Coppola > After everything, there's just something, however minute, missing from Marie Antoinette for it to become the rich and evocative biopic that Coppola must have intended. It could have been a different ending, better pacing or simply the addition or deletion of a storyline. But as it stands, the film is far more memorable for its dresses of grandeur, the decadence of the Rococo and Kirsten Dunst's performance in a role that very much becomes her. (Which, effectively, makes up for her being atrociously cast in Elizabethtown.)

There is a scene early on in the film where Dunst first wakes up at Versailles only to find a troupe of women and men at her servitude. In the following minutes where she is dressed, Coppola somehow manages to define the reasoning behind the French Revolution. For me, it stands as the defining moment in the film where she so subtly argues for and justifies the revolution. But what if one asks, "What is this film trying to say?" Coppola's intention is unclear: Are we to understand the aristocratic idiocy of the period, or focus on the girl in the center and try to empathize with her as a person, not as the Queen of France?

But letting such lack of clarity slide, it's hard to imagine not enjoying the anachronistic usage of modern music (particularly Aphex Twin's "Jynweythek Ylow" and Bow Wow Wow's "Candy") and the sheer jubilance Dunst's smile evokes. Using all that is style, Coppola did succeed in making me feel for Marie-Antoinette's predicament. The fusion of style and substance is a little skewed toward the former, but this is ultimately a film for the heart, not the mind. It is as imperfect and naive as Marie-Antoinette herself.

13 (Tzameti)

2006 / Gela Babluani > A true testament of a great film is its replayability; however, with 13 (Tzameti), it feels like once you know the central plot twist (which has been widely given away in trailers and other promotional material), the film is an ultrapredictable romp through what is essentially a derivative, somewhat hollow script by first-time director Babluani. His filmmaking skills, however, are not in doubt. As a debut feature of a 26 year-old, the film is technically superb and warrants attention to be placed on his future projects.

The Illusionist

2006 / Neil Burger > One of the most refined films of the year, it's hard to find any technical flaws in The Illusionist. Most noticeable is its cinematography, crisp and decisive about its turn-of-the-century Vienna setting. The mood is further perfected by Philip Glass' elegant score. The acting is above par at worst, with Rufus Sewell's post-Dark City re-emergence being a pleasant welcome. But as the drama unfolds, we find ourselves within a rich love story that, unfortunately, feels like it's on shaky foundations. Thankfully, the mystery of the illusions drives the story forward. By the end, it is what it is: The unexpected is actually expected, but we not only only accept it, but actually enjoy it.

L'Enfant

2005 / Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne > The Brothers Dardenne were awarded with the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for their frank and heartbreaking portrayal of a young couple with a newborn in the streets of Belgium. How much they deserved such recognition, however, is the burning question: Was L'Enfant really the tour de force of emotion that one feels at the closing shot? Or was that a neat and effective clean-up hit for an otherwise pedestrian film?

Undoubtedly, this film will bring forth combatants on both sides of the trench. I give the Dardennes credit for effectively reusing their claustrophobic, slice-of-life filmmaking style to give us a sense of realism far exceeding most commercial films. However, the characters are by default made not to like: Yes, they are good-natured and warm-hearted, but they are also irresponsible to a degree where it's hard for us to empathize and hold back judgment. In The Son, the Dardennes showed that we are good by nature, with a level of depth far beyond what is present here. But while there are moments of absolute humanity present in the midst of this exercise, what is asked of us in the end of L'Enfant seems unfair and too simple, and for that it will be insoluble for many.

Tideland

2006 / Terry Gilliam > If your only defense for Tideland is the phrase, "It's Gilliam's purest film yet," chances are you'll have to do better than that to please the general audience. There's a lot here to love, but unfortunately there's also a lot here to bore. The idea that the whole story is told through the eyes of Jeliza-Rose, a young girl who becomes orphaned early on by her heroine-abusing parents (played superbly by Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Tilly), is by no means enough to validate the long, enduring passages of repetitive dialogue and uneventful actions. Were this to be a short(er) film instead of clocking in at almost exactly two hours, the tightness of the script would have held together the otherwise magical aspects of the film.

Star Jodelle Ferland is truly a sight to behold: She drives every scene with one of the most charismatic performances seen by a young actor in quite a long time. Co-star Brendan Fletcher, playing a mentally challenged boy/man, also shines, and the two balance each other well enough in the latter half of the film to make things a little more bearable. The cinematography is dark yet beautiful, and the overall feel of the film is almost an anti-Alice in Wonderland (although, there are no extensive travels into a rabbit hole here). For any Gilliam fan, this is a must-see, love or hate. For others, it's a crapshoot at best.

Fat Girl

2001 / Catherine Breillat > This is a flawed film, but one could argue that it is so by its own accord. Fat Girl is a frank dissection of adolescence, mental isolation and sex, a combination that puts the viewer in an awkward, even shameful position. The first third of the film does a tremendous job in setting up a girl's first encounter with a sheep in wolves' clothing where the dialogue, above all, is spot on. The middle third goes limp, and is driven simply by its predictability.

However, the finale remains the hotly debated topic, one that has made or broken the film for many. Typical of the French-speaking region, tension is built-up with an underlying sense that something will go wrong. And it is understandable that we believe in the world of circumstance, but circumstance is often an excuse for a cop-out. Was this a cop-out by Breillat? Unlike most films, here the answer doesn't matter. The ending is poignant, unforgettable and leaves you amazed at your own capacity to find warmth in such an absurd situation.

Silent Hill

2006 / Christophe Gans > At the hands of the director of Brotherhood of the Wolf, I expected more: At the very least, I imagine, a level of depth that gives meaning to the film outside of its video game universe. The tone of the film evolves from abject horror early on to a psychological metaphor of oppression and injustice. And while that may be a brilliant wavelength to follow, the underlying foundation doesn't satisfy. Once I got past the so-called conventions of a proper film, however, the perverse beauty of the villains and their inversely gorgeous surroundings, together with a polished shine on the overall product, combine into a relatively memorable experience for an otherwise mediocre event.

Fear and Trembling

2003 / Alain Corneau > Set in the Tokyo of 1990, it's hard to grasp exactly how accurately Fear and Trembling represents the typical Japanese office atmosphere. One can argue, however, if that's even the point of the film: Maybe we shouldn't notice the relative stereotypes presented here in this story about a Japan-born Belgian woman who comes back to her birthland to work in a conglomerate.

Her experiences are comic and tragic, and her pitfalls in misunderstanding the way to climb up the social ladder keeps us interested. Minus the somewhat illogical lull that occurs in the middle, much of the storyline is entertaining and curiously thought provoking. It might be harder to digest at face value (especially when we have companies like Sony being headed by a British-American), but with a grain of salt, one can find definite enjoyment in this little gem.

Sweet Sixteen

2002 / Ken Loach > Winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2002, Sweet Sixteen is short on style and all about substance. Set in the town of Grenock, Scotland, it primarily follows the path of Liam, a 15-year old played impeccably by local Martin Compston, as he tries to put together a future for his mum and sister.

Liam's character development is the strongest aspect, and it's easy to find ourselves anxious and cheering for him as he matures into a man. His psychological awareness and inadequacies are key, as there's always something flaky in his understanding of his relationship with his mum. This represents an Achilles' heal of an otherwise incredible teenager and is the motivation behind much of Liam's actions. It is a study, in the end, of what kind of will love gives and takes away.

One thing that definitely stands out is Loach's choice of music: Often contemporary and poppy, it gives the film—as well as the viewer—a foundation of exhuberant hope even in the bleakest of scenarios.

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

2006 / Michael Winterbottom > A film within a film based on an unfilmable novel: Thankfully, it's nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. The man of a thousand faces, Winterbottom has once again changed genres and done something rather spectacular in how he structures Tristram Shandy. The narrative is quite regressive, mimicking the nature in which the original novel—The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Esq. by Laurence Sterne—was written. Steve Coogan plays the lead as well as himself (as the lead) quite well, blending reality and fiction seamlessly. And the general crop of characters remain of interest throughout the film.

The idea, however, that a film requires prerequisite knowledge for complete enjoyment is one that generally turns me off. And while foundational knowledge is necessary for Tristram Shandy, Winterbottom's direction is generally spot on as to help the viewer get through without too much trouble. Still, it's probably worth reading up on the history of the novel, as that should improve the level of satisfaction one would yield from the film.

Funny Games

1997 / Michael Haneke > The controversial tale of two well-dressed boys who take a family of three hostage, it's hard not to be polar about Haneke's commentary on violence and the audience: From a technical perspective, the film is well-made, but it lacks the fundamental punch necessary to be blindly accoladed. From a dialectical perspective, one can go on and on about whether he flipped the boat into the land of arrogance and pretense.

The biggest problem by the end may seem that the whole setup of the film is contrived into a nice, neat package for him to manipulate the viewer as he wishes. This could either be looked at as skill or simply an easy way out. Either way, it's hard to recommend or advise against Funny Games, as it purely depends on one's tolerance of bullshit.

Kidulthood

2006 / Menhaj Huda > Flat-scripted and thick-footed, this loose London-based homage to Boyz n the Hood is ultimately cliched to the bone. While it's plastered with slick style, it falls through in making the viewer care. Aside from the opening sequence, the script is messy with sequences that don't fit with the overall schematic. Thrown in, they serve to distract the viewer and take up time that could otherwise be devoted to creating a better foundation for the core storyline. However, the shining star of the film is Aml Ameen, who plays the kid who "ought to know better." Thankfully, the mystery of his character holds Kidulthood together until the end, and helps ease any itchiness one may have to press the stop button.

District B13

2004 / Pierre Morel > Finally released in the United States, this Luc-Besson produced, parkour-driven action flick is short, sweet and packed with entertainment. The film stars parkour (commonly known as "freerunning") co-founder David Belle as a resident of District B13, a crime-ridden area of Paris where the film is set in the year 2010. Much of the film is watching him jump around in it (and that's a good thing). Those who can look past the blatantly shallow storyline and fairly two-dimensional characters will be rewarded with what is essentially an ADD-proof eighty minutes.

Lilya 4-Ever

2002 / Lukas Moodysson > Although the film kept my attention throughout, it's hard to say how much was that because I actually enjoyed the story vs. how much I wanted to see what bad thing would next happen to our protagonist, a 16 year-old girl from Estonia whose mother leaves her for greener pastures in America. The whole film has the "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" feel to it, which is fine and dandy as long as it's realistic. Unfortunately, in Lilya 4-Ever, it is realistic, and thus ends up creating a rather dark and depressing atmosphere for nearly two hours.

This is my first Moodysson film, and it delivers on quality. The storytelling isn't amazing, but by the end of the film we definitely feel for Lilya in her struggles, but at the same time wonder if she tried hard enough to make her life better. That questioning of the protagonist is the strongest point of the film, as usually we are quick to say that those who surround our protagonist are the culprits. Here, we are viewing a naive girl who lacks proper judgment, a flaw that is necessary for the poignancy the film tries to deliver.