A Season of Faith’s Perfection
The title of this post isn’t an original. It’s taken from a fictional article written by a Salinger-esque character in Gus van Sant’s incredibly tepid and derivative “Finding Forrester”. In fact I think the name of the article is the best thing in the film. Hard to believe that the man who had made films like “To Die For” and “My Own Private Idaho” would make such hooey. It’s got cliches in abundance and even F Murray Abraham who played Salieri in “Amadeus” plays a similar character. Happily though van Sant got back into form with films like “Gerry” and “Elephant”. Dying to watch “Paranoid Park” as well when it gets released.
The article in question refers to a piece Sean Connery’s character wrote in the revered magazine “The New Yorker” about what he considered the perfect season of baseball. Likewise a lot of film critics and historians contend that 1939 was the greatest year for Hollywood because of the astounding number of great films released which included “Gone with the Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz” and “Ninotchka”.
IMHO however 1939 has been eclipsed by 2007 which by some quirk of fate has proved to be an absolute watershed year for both Hollywood as well as Independents. Leaving aside the box-office performance of films, the sheer magnitude of brilliance displayed has been truly inspiring.
These are the list of films which made me rethink my stance that Hollywood is an lumbering behemoth which will soon be eclipsed by countries like Brazil, Mexico, Korea in terms of sheer originality and vision.
Disclaimer – The list only comprises of films I have managed to watch till now and are limited to English language films with the majority of budget coming from American sources which qualifies them as Hollywood / Indie American.
Breach – Great follow up by Billy Ray to his debut scorcher “Shattered Glass”
Amazing Grace – Michael Apted has still got the touch and this tale of slavery abolition features a powerhouse cameo by the legendary Albert Finney which alone is worth the price of admission.
Zodiac - Change of pace for David Fincher and first studio film to be shot totally on the Viper
Reign over Me – Adam Sandler is seriously underrated as an actor. His darker films like this one and “Punch Drunk Love” are amazing
The Lookout – Joseph Gordon-Levitt might just turn out to be the greatest actor of his generation.
The Hoax – Great return to form for the much maligned Richard Gere.
Bug – Truly terrifying psychological horror
Knocked Up – One of the funniest films I have seen.
1408 – I generally don’t watch horror films but anything shot by Delhomme is a must see for me.
Ratatouille – It seems almost impossible that Pixar can ever top this masterpeice.
Sunshine – Except for the climax which was really cheesy this was a very engrossing film.
Rescue Dawn – I wish Herzog made features more regularly.
The Bourne Ultimatum – Hands down the best film of the year for me.
Stardust – Guilty pleasure I admit but I can’t resist De Niro hamming it up in drag.
Eastern Promises – Cronenberg has such a mastery of the cinematic medium that he can tell a brutally compelling and visceral tale without any directorial flourishes.
Across the Universe – Julie Taymor pushes the limits of filmmaking with each release of hers.
Into the Wild – Sean Penn’s absolutely mesmerizing adaptation of one of my favorite books.
The Assasination of Jesse James – Roger Deakins’ cinematography is just awe inspiring.
Trade – Very disturbing film about human trafficking held together by a solid performance by Kevin Kline.
Michael Clayton – 2007 is Tony Gilroy’s year. To write the scripts for the Bourne trilogy and direct an amazing film like this is an unbelievable accomplishment.
Lars and the Real Girl - Ryan Gosling is an absolute chameleon who just disappears into the characters he plays.
Gone Baby Gone – I would have never thought possible that the brothers Affleck would come up with something as powerful as this.
Things we lost in the Fire – Benicio del Toro giver another powerhouse performance as a heroin addict seeking redemption.
American Gangster – After the embarrassing “A Good Year” my man Ridley Scott is back in form.
No Country for Old Men – The Coen Brothers get better and better with each film they make.
The Hunting Party – Too bad this film wasn’t released wide coz it’s one of the best anti-war films of the year. Richard Gere really can act.
Iraq in Fragments – The best anti-war film of the year is not surprisingly a documentary which leaves you in a cold sweat after viewing it.
Manufactured Landscapes – The legacy of Reggio and Fricke lives on.
Superbad – Mclovin ???? LMAO
Redacted – I’m shocked that the American govt and military didn’t ban this film by Brian de Palma which is an horrifying indictment on the War in Iraq.
Films I have not seen yet which have gotten critical acclaim
Enchanted, The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, There will be Blood, Juno, Atonement, Sicko
Please add to the list so that I can catch up on what I’ve missed especially in foreign language and Indian regional cinema films.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
oh maaaan for someone who started off saying Forrester was tepid, look where u got to
–The Hunting Party – Too bad this film wasn
OH no ..not again.Toy story and Ice age were infinitely better than ratatouille….I know I might be the only one on earth saying this (critics have even convinced tribals of the andamans about ratatouille’s greatness) …Why Mithun why…’masterpiece’..It was just a good animation movie…thats it…THAT IS IT!
I guess you have to have been in Remy’s shoes at some point in your life when you were told what you could and couldn’t do just coz of what was expected of you.
For someone like me who thinks that the caste system is the biggest hindrance in our nation’s development, the film is a very powerful and poignant reminder of the power of the human spirit.
The son of a sweeper can dream of being a doctor and the son of a doctor can dream of being a filmmaker. If we let society categorize us on the basis of the circumstances of our birth then the world will be a very sorry place indeed.
my vote is still for diving bell and the butterfly. havent seen into the wild yet. other big ones r so overhyped. just saw there will be blood. still wondering what was the point of testing the patience by making it so looong.
1408…shit. was expecting that twist…so predictable…so many times. but ya it manages to engage u for somtime.
charlie wilsons war ? Death proof?
@Phoenix
it seems that there wil be blood is very engrossing for those 3 hours that you never get bored or thats what i was told
i personally liked planet terror much more than death proof.
i’ve not seen no country for old men, but i’ve read the mccarthy novel. it’s not surprising that the movie turned out to be a fine one.
@mithun
every time a new pixar movie releases, i always wonder how they will top this, but they have still been meeting the now god level expectations of the audience…..
Teen
Sau.
^:)^
Also, Atonement. Sat through the whole film thinking why the directors trying to be so damn stylo. Then came the end and everything fit in so niiiiiiiiiiiicely.
@Avijit
Ah I wanted to say a lot of things about Ratatouille to you… but… Mithun spared me the trouble…
Er sorry for hijacking the thread but I needed some help. Just realized that there are lot of software gurus on PFC so lemme be shameless. :d
I need to upload my reel, shorts and photography to a rudimentary site so that I can show prospective employers my work without having to send out a DVD every time.
Can anybody help me out with designing and uploading quicktime files on to this site. I want it to be pretty basic and hopefully other professionals will join and make it a collective thing.
I had something like this in mind but not as fancy obviously.
http://www.filmgym.net/
mithun…
at ur service.. mail me
no country for old man
villain is a cold blooded killer. who can not be brought down, because he don’t have any weakness. and that’s his weakness as a character.
every human being good or bad has some weak point. a man without any weakness is divine, no longer a human being.
villains too are human being. they have there own weak points. every Achilles has his heel somewhere. that’s what make them interesting. Hannibal fell for the fbi agent.
only god is pure he has nothing of evil in him.
the villain in ‘no country for old man’ is satan personified, in other words no longer a human being.
even terminator is vulnerable.
do you think a sequel to no country for old man will be able to keep your interest. i don’t think so. because all that can be shown is the different interactions of villain. of which i already have had enough of in just one movie.
a dead character. a robot. programed to kill. boring;):-?:w;
‘no country for old man’ is cynical, not intelligent.
:((
‘into the wild’
when an indian take sannyas and leave his home he is going on a search. he is leaving home for future. for search. his is an action. he is going on a journey. when the protagonist of into the wild leaves home, he is doing so because of the past.he is running away. his is a reaction.’a warrior acts, only a fool reacts.’ – peaceful warrior.
we know that we are not new. we have been here in this earth before. in many incarnations. in many birth. for millions of years. and we are going to be here. when a new born child cries, we say that he is remembering his past life. we accept that a child has his own long journey of life. and this birth is just one in the line.
in west family means father, mother, son, daughter. in india family means at least fifty people.
the combination of psychoanalysis and Christian belief of one life is behind, this widely accepted idea, that what ever is wrong in you, your mother is responsible for that.
into the wild is on this premise. it justifies the protagonists actions on this account. to connect with this film, you should be in the agreement with the above mentioned idea.
i am not.
by the end, protagonist is feeling lonley. anger is gone. his venture into the wild was out of anger.
into the wild is a escape of an errant boy. not a search.
:-&
once you know, how to be alone, you are never lonley.
< :-p
gone baby gone
every society has its moral code.
you know why, because if there is no moral code to follow, the human mind – such as it is – will lead humanity to oblivion.
this film shows that. full of dirt human mind abreast of any moral, social, ethical code.
this is endless dark tunnel. once you start showing the behaviour of a dirty mind let loose, where one will stop. scope is unlimited, you can show anything hitherto unimaginable.
this is most irresponsible cinema possible.
:((
zodiac
nice
special mention robert downy junior =d>
rescue dawn
what is different in this movie, except lead hero and trees around him. :-?
its not gone baby gone is ‘you are dead before the devil knows’
oooooooo :-j
american gangster
ok
i liked 3:10 to yuma
‘tommy was weak, tommy was stupid, tommy is dead.’ – russel crow
now a days rare to be seen intensity.
‘a good year’
i loved this movie, repeat watched is many times. lead actress, transcendental beauty.
8->