2009 In Film

Personally, I think it's been a damn good year for film. I know people go on about 2007, but frankly, the last couple years of movies have just been boring and heavy - technically stunning, visually perfect, but so reminiscent of other movies, and reeking of presumptuous aspirations that I really haven't found any favorites at all. And ok, I have yet to see No Country For Old Men, but I have seen There Will Be Blood, and sure, it can be a masterpiece and all that, but it simply doesn't excite me. There's something so non-compelling about its vindictive, savage atmosphere. It was just so....blandly great. Could I re-watch it endlessly in the future, show it to my children? Whatever. Only IMDB basement nerds got wet for it. 

This year hailed a return - and TRIMUPH - of personal storytelling. I found movies that I cried at, laughed at, sat thoughtfully through, sometimes enjoyed for the heck of it, and most of all, loved. There were less Oscar-baity movies this year (*upchuck* the Reader, Frost/Nixon and Benjamin Button) which is always a good sign. 

I  haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Precious or Nine yet, but I'm feeling tremendously satisfied - found my meat, mashed potatoes, side peas, and a nice stash of dessert. 

1) Bright Star

To call it merely ravishing would be condescending. It's slow and luxurious, like a poem itself, with Campion-esque characters and details, an extremely intimate film. (Don't expect Becoming Jane or Pride and Prejudice). This movie is about first love, but above all, it's about the sensation of beauty. I think Keats would have liked it. Equally ravishing is Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw (he deserves a couple of awards for making countless 2009 audiences, including mine, sit through the ending credits to listen to a freaking poetry recitation, true story). 

It's easy to assume that people just admire its visuals and careful construction. Nada. It's about the sensations it evokes. If you let yourself into it, you will surely feel as I did at the end of the movie -exhilarated, transcendent, with a stormy sense of loss and desire to live. A strange clearing of mind, the world around you fresh and colorful. In a way Bright Star would make you a hedonist, if blessing the things surrounding you for its beauty makes one a hedonist. I have never, never, never had anything make me feel like that. Which makes Bright Star not only my best of 2009, but best. ever. 

2) Inglourious Basterds

Great usual Tarantino shticks, including dialogue, twists, etc. - but I love it because it's not the clear-cut revenge film. Lines blur in this film, stemming from truly full-fleshed characters. We really feel for the characters, from our love for Hans Landa to our sorrow to see Melanie Laurent's Shoshanna vacillate between wistful wide-eyed girl to vindictive, Indian warpaint-administering Woman in Red. The young German soldier who woos Shoshanna - just as layered as his would-be lover and Hans Landa - that's what elevates Inglourious Basterds from pop-culture extravaganza to the kind of heartfelt psychological movie that Martin Scorsese might have approved. 

3) Up in the Air

There have been a lot of movies that tried to delve into the 21st century psyche, but Up in the Air succeeds where others have failed by being 1) not condescending and 2) not losing sight of the story itself, which is as intricate and believable as they come. Its main priorities are the characters, who are wonderful, fallible, sad and hilarious. Anna Kendrick deserves a nomination just for one of her last shots, also seen in the trailer, a parting shot of her back, slightly hunched, as she rolls through one of these flat-escalators. Not to sound snobby, but I had already had a similar philosophy to Jason Reitman before I saw the movie, but nevertheless was still surprised by this bittersweet, funny tale. 

4) Coraline

TIM BURTON, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? Ok, I loved the Corpse Bride to death - it has a beautifully heartwrenching ending, and I'm a sucker for these - but not gonna lie, it was a very lazy movie. I've seen Hayao Miyazaki, so I went into Coraline feeling like it was going to be recycled bits of Burton and Miyazaki - and fuck that, it truly was a wonderful little gem. Fright! Suspense! Magic! Again, haven't seen FMF or the Frog Princess yet, but in a year of truly kickass animated movies - probably the best of the decade - Coraline tops the list. 

* Someone said this on IMDB, and despite my recent assertion that most IMDB users are irrelevant losers - (who the fuck posts an entire thread on how they liked a movie, without any real points? Only a self-deluded sadsack who thinks that "I liked ____...it was pretty good" is somehow useful to the rest of the online populace) someone occasionally says something interesting, and that was Burton is not a good storyteller, as he thinks he is, but a great art director. Hmm. 

5) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Finally the one I was waiting for, though that may be perhaps that the 6th one was always my least favorite book. But I've actually grown to like it more since seeing the movie, who da thunk? Beautifully, beautifully treads the line between staying true to the book and staying good as a movie. It isn't just half assed sequences strung together as the other movies always seemed like, but OMG! actual running subplots! Coherency as a film! Color me crazy. And great acting from Michael Gambon for once, who always acted like Dumbledore on steroids in the other movies. Hilarious (Harry's "Sir!"), sad (yeah, Draco-as-Hamlet!), I actually got invested in the characters again. 

6) The Hurt Locker

Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure why everyone is literally shitting themselves over this movie. Even the online cinephile Nick, who gives most movies a C+ (including half these movies in this list), gave this an A-. I thought there were a few parts too clunky for my taste, but aside from the baffling buzz, I really, really enjoyed this movie, including Jeremy Renner's oddly endearing Sgt. Will James (what a dreadful character name). I also am baffled by people on IMDB exclaiming, "oh my god, don't you GET it! He's addicted to the job!" No shit, we might  have gotten that from the opening line, "War is a drug". Wth? Still, stellar movie. 

7) Ponyo

Miyazaki can do no wrong, and Ponyo, though a simple story, has all the usual Miyazaki hijinks, of scenes of such visual beauty and exhilarating joy that they bring tears to the eyes, especially of above astonishing scene when Ponyo runs across the waves. 

8) Drag Me to Hell

Fantastic popcorn movie - full nine yards here, as the audience alternately shrieked and giggled. I left thoroughly excited and shaken. Though again, I have no idea why critics are literally raving about this movie - would they if it wasn't Sam Raimi? Besides, I don't think it would be quite as effective a second time, though The Ring scares the shit out of me every time I see it. 

That's it - I'm no film buff, so this is literally half the movies I saw this year. But trust me, this is phenomenal, I didn't even have a list last year. I enjoyed Vicky Christina Barcelona (one of the few films that didn't want to make me off myself), The Dark Knight, and yeah, that's about it. 

*Overrated of 2009 - Up (the opening sequence is destined to be a classic, but the rest feels somewhat forced and desperate - strained laughter from the audience, all the while wondering, "okayyy, what happens NOW?" They clearly haven't seen Coraline or even Ponyo. Fuck, it makes me so mad that so many Americans raved about Up, but they will never be exposed to the full magic of Miyazaki). 

*Disappointing - Public Enemies and I Love You, Man - (Michael Mann, FUCK YOU for ruining such a glorious opportunity. I nearly fell asleep during the bank robberies, for god's sake!) though Paul Rudd and Jason Segel were priceless, I must admit. 

Edit: Favorite Scenes of the Year - George and Vera dancing, Fanny walking the woods in the dusk, the Nazi bar shoot-up, "That's a Bingo!", Jeremy Renner's Sgt. James walking into his own fairytale sunset, the firing montage set to the sound of "Goin' Home" with dark shots of empty offices and piled-up chairs, Draco watching as the beloved Great Hall is blasted to smithereens, Ponyo running on the waves, the "taming of the banshees", Neryeti seeing Jake's human body for the first time. 

NOW NOW NOW

Mother has offered to pay for S and I to take a trip abroad (with a reputable, chaperoned program, of course) as a graduation gift. She flourished the National Geographic Students Expedition Brochure in my face, and I nearly rolled off the bed. Not to sound ungrateful, but I've had more of my share of breaking my back as I hiked up cliffs and narrow pathways of various places. I've appreciated these family trips, truly I have, but I've found out that on-the-road travel is not for me. I'm a city girl through and through, with an occasional sojourn in the breezy countryside. But I like to stay in one place, I like to dig out the strange and beautiful spots, make it into a home, and take time to create a connection. 

I don't like to feel like a tourist, walking slowly along a large crowd of fellow fanny-packed, behatted tourists. I've always been kind of a lone explorer, whisking off from spot to spot, loitering for however long or short I please. On family vacations, my family would often tease/yell at me for wandering off. How can you know a place - really, really know a place - if you're always with other people? When I sit down, watch the crowd or landscape, and feel the respective energy of the place flow through me,  the marvelous feeling that comes is like no other. 

 At first we wanted Oxford or Cambridge - indulging our Anglophilic tendencies, fulfilling our girlish dreams of attending going to Oxford for college - it always sounded so glamorous and classic. Of course, I've grown more practical with age, and after a brief visit to Oxford a few years ago, realized that it probably didn't suit me very much. 

S loved Cambridge, because it offered a course on International Espionage (!). It also had an optional post-week in Paris, and S and I were scheming about how to pay for this extra week by ourselves - when I suggested that we look at the Oxbridge branch in Paris. 

OK, so I visited Paris a few years ago with family. I was the only one who liked it - mother was bored, sister had a rude experience with a Parisian and left with a indefatigable hatred of Frenchmen (she even swore off all French labels). They'd take hiking through Costa Rica any day over Paris. 

 I loved it. It was simply irresistible to my inner Romantic. Rambling cobbled streets, low stuccoed buildings, dressy Parisians, crepes and endless outdoor cafes - and just like that, I fell under the enchantment of the City of Lights, just like millions before me. 

My post-Paris years only increased my fondness for things French. My discovery of Sofia Coppola (both the director and her movies) as the quintessential Francophile, Jane Birkin, French hair, macarons, Amelie, "Julie and Julia", Edith Piaf - lo, sophistication! Whimsicality! 

(I think I already posted this, but why the hell not!)

Of course, I was careful not to glamorize it too much. I know that like in any place, I probably won't be whisked off by a charming, wealthy French boy the moment I leave the Charles de Gaulle airport. S and I have already decided to try and keep our expectations below parachuting heights. After all, it's better always to be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed. We haven't even informed our parents of the plan yet. 

But goddamn it, I haven't even touched my homework. I want to go to Paris NOW, and ride through the city on a bike, stroll along the Seine, and taste macarons at Laduree. I want to take a plane ride without adult chaperones for the first time in my life. I want to study "Paris and the Avant-Garde" (one of the courses offered at L'Academie de Paris, doesn't that sound epic?), learn to make Tarte Tatin properly, and speak French. I want to go to college and go to Brooklyn loft parties. I want to...ok, getting carried off here. Breathe. Relax. Oh, why do I always look towards the future with such unnecessary eagerness and fail to take advantage of the present? Maybe because my school is a hellhole. Ok, Ok. Not. But the people here are just....not my crowd. They love academics, but they also like rural campuses and small communities. They shrink from a deviled egg, falafel, or any kind of unfamiliar foods. Most of them would not even consider going to college in New York City, watch French cinema or Broadway plays. 

I want to be in the midst of it all, now and forever, caught up in the whirl. I want to be a composite of Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller, taking risks (though not living on the edge, exactly. My cautious side still reins me in). I've always had a bizarre wish to be "that girl", the one who dates her college professor, summers with him in Europe, and gets involved in a literary circle. But if I want to do that, I should probably get back to work, eh?