(In no particular order.)
Argo
Ben Affleck (has anybody been able to explain why he wasn't nominated for Best Director?) succeeds at easily blending genres and styles in this movie. Its opening is reminiscent of the intensity of "Saving Private Ryan," and from the beginning one gets the sense that Affleck and his team went to great lengths to get the details right. It's actually this point--details--that hurt the movie, because eventually the movie strays from them. Towards the end, "Argo" seems to evolve from a smart thriller to a dumbed-down action flick, simply because the filmmakers underestimated their audience. But it's still quite a good film.
Undoubtedly, this movie will win the Best Picture Award. Voters will feel bad for not nominating him for Best Director, so they'll compensate by giving him this award (and to fellow nominees George Clooney and the white guy in this clip).
Django Unchained
Just as Affleck was robbed of a nomination for "Argo," so too were Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson for Best Supporting Actor nominations for Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained." Tarantino's style may be overly inspired by various different sources, as expected, but his screenplay is superb, particularly the sequences at Candy Land, as Django (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) attempt to rescue Django's bride (Kerry Washington). DiCaprio is brilliant as Calvin Candy, a horrible slave owner with no empathy or remorse (or soul), and equally entertaining to watch is Jackson as Stephen, the Uncle Tom slave supervisor. While it's a shame that neither of them were nominated, Waltz is considered a favorite for Best Supporting Actor, though it's a peculiar nomination for him as he has the majority of lines in the film. DiCaprio, Washington, Foxx, Waltz, Jackson and the others who show up along the way all have different styles of acting, but Tarantino does a commendable job in directing them all.
Amour
Michael Heneke's "Amour" is a love story filmed as a horror movie. Just like last year's "A Separation," it's so suspenseful and intense without the use of music or the usual gimmicks. By the end of the movie, with a uniquely quiet climax, I was on the edge of my seat, and thought to myself that I rarely, if ever, have a reaction like that to movies when so little is happening on the screen. Heneke figures out how to establish an emotional connection without playing the usual notes; we feel for these characters, and there's no score to tell us to do so.
The Woman in Black
Just when haunted house movies seemed to be too dull, "The Woman in Black" brings us that rich tradition of Hammer Films horror. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes this movie as foregoing "gores for chills." But this movie is so much more than that. Yes, it's atmospheric, but it's also terrifying. (And it's also underrated; I couldn't find any other list where this made the top ten.) Hammer is back.
Monsiuer Lazhar
My bias towards this film is that I am a teacher, and so many memories (good and bad) were constantly coming back to me as I watched this movie. The role of the teacher, and the delicate balance one plays, is demonstrated well here, especially with Mohamed Fellaq's performance as an immigrant from Algeria teaching an elementary class in Quebec. So many elements were running through my head: fragile students, even picked on by teachers; favorite students and least favorite students (but of course equality toward all of them), East versus West in teaching styles, and young students' search for their identities. This is close to being the best film of the year.
But that goes to...
Moonrise Kingdom
This is not only the best film of the year but also Wes Anderson's best film. Just as I have a bias towards "Monsiuer Lazhar" because I'm a teacher, I have a bias towards "Moonrise Kingdom" because I am a former Boy Scout and Eagle Scout. While watching the movie, I picked up all the bizarre eccentricities of what it's like to be a Boy Scout, but even if one has never been a member of the Scouts, it's still immensely entertaining. There are wonderful characters here: Edward Norton as a hapless Boy Scout leader, Bruce Willis as the town's police chief, and Bill Murray and Frances McDormand as the parents of a young, rebellious girl. But the real stars here are young actors Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, playing two loners who run away for self-discovery in a far more humorous way than we usually see. I hope to see many more fantastic movies with them.
The Oscars await...
Turbo-tastic!
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