For Your Consideration...

The best part of the new year for me, is the fact that the award season is just around the corner (though sadly, I won't be able to enjoy it for the next two years). Critics Choice, Golden Globes, and the Oscars, oh my!

While 2009 is over and done with, the past year offered a great selection of films. Below are a few (non-blockbuster; unlike some good films out there: Avatar, Julie & Julia, Inglourious Basterds) films that are up for consideration and that I think you should really check out!

A Single Man (Directed by Tom Ford)
I will go on record as saying that this was, by far, my favorite movie of 2009.
Sure, the story of the marginalized outsider has been done before but never like this. Ford's attention to aesthetics pours over the audience so delicately that one does not mind the languid pace at which the story is moving (a pace reminiscent of time in Japanese and Chinese poetry), but instead one willingly accepts it.

A Single Man revolves around George Falconer (Colin Firth), an English professor recently widowed by the untimely death of his longtime partner (Mathew Goode), and his desire to escape a world that not only refuses to accept his true self, but has left him nothing but empty sentiments.

From the reverse fade to black at the beginning to the fade to white at the film's conclusion along with Ford's beautifully established relationship between color saturation and emotion within the story, I resigned myself, body and soul, to Ford's vision.

In short, this film was nothing short of inspiring.

An Education (Directed by Lone Scherfig)
A beautiful coming of age story about a cultured sixteen year old girl, Jenny (Carey Mulligan), living in suburban London during the 1960s and her struggle to follow her chosen (and more than capable) path of studying English in Oxford or discovering the joys the world around her has to offer.

While Jenny already preferred to intertwine French into her daily speech, rather than the Latin taught at school, and listened to Juliette Greco albums, as opposed to practicing her cello, her immersion in this new way of life comes when David (Peter Sarsgaard), an attractive and suave dark horse, swoops in to 'help'.

With the script set in the sixties, Jenny's character shows a feminist awakening which begins with a naive girl following her father's chosen path who then evolves into the poster child of the time period: knowledgeable and strong woman who realizes that one's life is not made or destroyed by a man's influence.

Bright Star (Directed by Jane Campion)
Based on the three-year romance between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) that was cut short by Keats' untimely death.

Jane Campion (one of my favorite directors, just fyi) again proves that she can unravel the heart's strongest emotions with her decadent character development and mise-en-scene. I felt like I was par taking in a smorgasbord of beauty and discovery which held Nature on a pedestal and humanity in a delicate lock of emotions, which is typical of Campion's style.

Each line that was uttered was said with meaning and seemed to reveal some fragility.

Honorable Mentions:


Up in the Air
The fact that this film started with interviews of recently fired employees amazes me. It is a lovable comedy which has the audience sympathizing with Clooney's 'victims' at first, but end up feeling sorry for Clooney's character as the story progresses.

Precious
The story was compelling and the acting from new actor, Gabby Sidibe, was heroic. Although I found the script rather complicated because it seemed like we were 'looking' at an issue rather than diving deep into it, Sidibe saved the film for me. Oh and can whoever was in charge of the awkward zooms during the tense moments of the film be fired. It definitely removed me from what was going on in the film.

The Lovely Bones
This is the Peter Jackson I knew with Heavenly Creatures. Vivid colors encapsulate the beautiful scenery and a time past while minute details give way towards weighty chracter development. If you haven't read the book, I hope this leads you to flip through the beautiful text. There is so much that wasn't included, but this is one time I can say that the film adaptation stays true to the novel.

The Hurt Locker
How would you feel if you woke up for work every morning not knowing whether you would live or die before your day was over? Unlike you or I, who shudder at the idea of disarming bombs in wartime for a living, there are people who are made for this. Katheryn Bigelow's film is an adrenaline rush wrapped in an action thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat until the very end.

Feel free to skip:

It's Complicated
If you've seen Something's Gotta Give, you will probably feel a deja vu coming on. In three words: It's been done. Sure it was funny and heartwarming at times, but the only thing that kept me watching was Meryl Streep. Watch it, but don't expect anything novel.


Nine
Maybe I expecting an adaptation of Fellini's 8 1/2 that spoke to a modern audience, but Rob Marshall seemed to deliver a skin deep musical that only seemed to dazzle the audience with Penelope Cruz gyrating on objects and fellow actors. Along with somewhat mediocre songs (which I will blame on the broadway musical), Kate Hudson seemed to be a part of the film for a total of five minutes only to be a part of a musical number where she speaks the words rather than sing. While some redeemable qualities include the staging/mise-en-scene and Marion Cotillard, I felt a little betrayed coming out of that theatre.

Have you seen any good movies lately?