It's back solely because no one will ever want to hear me repeat this list verbally 40 times.
1) Well, I still love my movies. 2) By my count I sat through over 220 films this year (some even in English). 3) I dragged some of you to these films so here's your chance to bitch me out.
This year's list brings to mind two strange points: The death of the American Independent film. Hollywood is taking more chances than it did several years ago but has it destroyed small filmaking in the process? Also, the normally solid Boston French Film Festival was amazingly weak this year which only produced one film on this list (Late August, Early September). The MFA seemed to spend more time bringing us popular drivel such as "The Dinner Game" which was due for full release a week later anyway. Better luck next year.
To be technical, some of these films were released in foreign markets in 1998 but not in the U.S. until 1999 which makes them eligible for this year's list. My number one film (Rushmore) was released in N.Y. and L.A. late in 98 for Oscar contention but not in Boston until January 1999.
Ladies and gentlemen here are the top ten:
1. Rushmore(U.S.)/dir: Wes Anderson
Easily the best coming-of -age
film ever created. Wes Anderson proved that his 1996 off-beat crime
caper film "Bottle Rocket" was no fluke with this perfectly casted comedy.
Bill Murray will never have a part more custom catered to his persona and
the performances of non-professional actors(including the lead) adds to
the charm. What could Wes do for an encore.
2. La Vie Revee des Anges(The
Dreamlife of Angels) (Fr)/dir: Erick Zonca
Brilliantly acted story of two
destitute friends(Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier) who house-sit in
the apartment of a young girl who is in a coma after a car accident.
Amazing debut by director Zonca shows the unspoken responsibility people
have for the one's around them.
3. Wandafuru Raifu (Afterlife)
(Japan)/dir: Hirokazu Koreeda
What happens after death is simple;
you are brought to a film studio where you need to select only one moment
of your life which will then be filmed and then carried with you into the
next life. The emotions of the filmmakers and the group of the dead
that is brought to them are all interwoven brilliantly. A great film
of introspection.
4. Rosetta (Fr)/dir: Jean Pierre
and Luc Dardenne
Emilie Dequenne is Rosetta a young
girl growing up in a trailer park who struggles every day to have something
of a normal existence. The turbulent hand-held camera work along
with Emilie's tragic portrayal gives a feeling of desperation unlike any
film I've seen this decade. This is a worthy follow-up to the Dardenne
brothers film "La Promesse" which made my list in 1997.
5. Fin Aout Debut Septembre (Late
August Early Septembre)(Fr)/dir:Olivier Assayas
Assayas (Irma Vep) has done for
emsemble acting in the 90s what Altman did for it in the 70s-He has redefined
it. A group of Parisians are brought together by the illness and
death of a writer friend and their lives and relationships are reevaluated
and challenged. Mattieu Alamaric(My Sex Life) puts in another complex
performance and leads a cast of some of the finest young actors in the
world.
6. Being John Malkovich(U.S.)/dir:
Spike Jonze
One of the most unique films of
the decade. Amazing performances all around and an exciting script
sustain a film of want. A film usually this quirky loses steam mid-way
through but this one keeps it going almost to the very end. Ever
wanted to be someone else? Maybe not any more. Director Jonze best
known for music videos(Sabotage) pulls out a gem.
7. The Following (U.K.)/dir:
Christopher Nolan
This 70 minute long black and white
film noir amazed me with it's plot twists and characterizations. Who is
cheating whom and who and when someone will be killed is brought out as
smartly and as cleverly as any noir film in history. This movie is
proof that there is no such thing as a dead genre.
8. The Limey (U.S.) /dir: Steven
Soderbergh.
Soderbergh follows up his ultra
slick 1998 "Out Of Sight" with another crime drama and scores big.
Veteran British actor Terence Stamp plays Wilson, a father who goes to
Los Angeles to find out the real story of what happened to his daughter
who has been killed. Wilson and the person he is looking for are
oddly/smartly drawn together.
9. My Son The Fanatic (U.K.)/dir:
Udayan Prasad
From a script by the great Hanif
Kureishi(Sammy and Rosie Get Laid) comes the story of Parvez, a Pakistani
taxi-driver who is estranged by his son who embraces Islamic Fundamentalism.
Parvez's pimp-like friendship with a prostitute becomes the symbol of his
acclamation to the west.Though the film doesn't go deeply into fundamentalism
it is an important and sometimes touching story.
10. Crna Macka, Beli Macor (Black
Cat, White Cat) (Fr/Ger)/dir: Emir Kusterica
After the brilliant but disturbing
"Underground" Emir Kusterica has sweetly and hilariously created the allegory
for a modern Croatia. With all of Kusterica's films you feel as though
you are being swept away by a flood of charging musicians and this is no
different. Young people in love, gun play, greed and history all
take place in rapid succession. I wish I could say more than "you
have to see it yourself to believe it".
Oddly/Closely Missing The List:
Besieged (U.S./ Italy)
Easily the best Bertoulcci film
this decade (Stealing Beauty and Little Buddha being pretty unimpressive).
Shandurai(Thandie Newton) has escaped her native country after her husband's
political imprisonment. She now keeps house in Rome for a eccentric pianist(David
Thewlis) who adores her. A genuinely romantic film without the silliness.
It's distance from the main characters keeps it off the top ten but the
film's use of music and minimal dialogue makes it one to remember and an
great ending always helps.
Existenz(Canada)
David Cronenberg's latest film
was slammed by critics who didn't seem to get the idea. Unlike Hollywood
virual-reality films such as "The Matrix" which live and die by their special
effects to create a virtual existence, Existenz game-face story takes place
totally in the woods. The actors play a video role-playing game which
is made from animal parts that must be inserted into your spinal cord -proving
that people will stop at nothing to achieve the ultimate virtual reality
. The usual Cronenberg gross-outs(The Fly, Dead Ringers) may keep
some away from a very clever film.
Twin Falls Idaho(U.S)
Michael and Mark Polish wrote and
star as Siamese twins that hide in a dreary New York apartment until they
meet Penny,( brilliantly played by Michele Hicks) a prostitue that takes
an unusual curiosity and role in there lives. Great visuals, acting
and a very unpredicatble plot are what sets this film apart. Better
dialogue in early scenes would have improved the film, otherwise a fine
film.
Jeanne Et La Garcon Formidable(Jeanne
and The Perfect Guy) (Fr)
This very uncomfortable AIDS
musical plays like a modern "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" telling the story
of Jeanne who enjoys random sexual encounters until she meets Olivier who
is HIV positive. Virginie Ledoyen puts in another great performance
this year(Late August Early September) in the lead and Matthieu Demy(son
of Cherbourg's Jacques) does a great job as Olivier. No easy answers
and no sappy ending keep the film in it's orbit.
Election (U.S)
Reese Witherspoon puts in the best
performance of her career as Tracy Flick a high school student who will
do anything to be elected school president and Matthew Broderick as the
teacher who will do anything to stop her. Revenge and how the system
champions mediocrity are the motivations here but too many plot devices
keep it from being in the top ten.
Three Kings (U.S)
Revisionist war film that pulls
no punches but is still too clean and compact for the list. Sympathetic
Iraqis and the real reasons as to why the U.S. was involvled in the Gulf
War are what sets this film apart but everything comes together way too
nicely in the end. Another solid performance by Mark Wahlberg.
Biggest Disappointments By Far:
Eyes Wide Shut (U.S.)
Kubrick was one of the greatest
filmmakers the world has ever seen but why he spent over ten years making
this overlong and dry film is beyond me. Now, with the knowledge
that the screenwriter was in the process of suing Kubrick who poorly edited
his work including making the leads non-Jewish adds to the mystery.
With the second half of "Full Metal Jacket" being bland and this film one
would think Kubrick should have stopped after "The Shining"to have stayed
perfect.
Breakfast Of Champions (U.S)
I have always been a huge Alan
Rudolph fan(Choose Me, Trouble In Mind) so when I heard he was about to
direct a film version of Vonnegut's Breakfast Of Champions I was ecstatic.
Sadly, this film fails worse than any film in memory of trying to entertain
an audience while wasting solid acting talent(Nick Nolte, Albert Finney)
in the process. Maybe just like Burroughs "Naked Lunch" this novel
was never supposed to be made visual.
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