2008 Best of

Charlie Kaufman is a contortionist of the mind. How this film didn't sweep the Oscars I don't understand. Wait, yes I do. It's relentlessly bleak, but it's also belly crunch hilarious. I had to stop and rewind a dozen times because I missed things, overcome by a wheezing laughter. There is not a feel good moment in the film and yet it left me strangely uplifted.

sitenoise at the movies: Synecdoche, New York

The weight of this film rests almost entirely on the shoulders of two twelve year old actors ... and they deliver the goods. There's nothing groundbreaking about the story but even in a story we've seen before it's a joy to spend it with these two characters, a testament to how delicately the film is directed. The cinematography is ice cold beautiful and adds to the isolation we feel from the teenage outcasts. This is a masterful production.

A debt collector offers Fumiya an opportunity to erase his debt: walk with him around Tokyo. What we get is a road movie, a very funny road movie, where the unlikely duo walk instead of drive. There's eventual male bonding, marvelous footage of Tokyo, and a smorgasbord of odd characters and situations along the way. Very enjoyable.

sitenoise at the movies: Adrift in Tokyo [2007]

Director Yibai Zhang's got a real knack for capturing a city on film. His previous work "Longest Night in Shanghai" showed the glamour of that city at night. This one captures the gray industrialism of Chongqing. There's a mystery brewing beneath this slice of life low-key indie that's never fully explained, only suggested. Solid performances from Karen Mok's beautiful legs and especially Wenli Jiang. It's great to see mature independent minded stuff like this coming from the mainland.

sitenoise at the movies: Lost, Indulgence (Mi Guo) (2008) China

A gripping thriller with a bewildered sense of humor made possible by the kick-ass performance of Yun-seok Kim. Highly recommended. There are a handful of groan out loud plot moves in The Chaser, but so what. There are also more than a handful of plot moves this film doesn't do, moves that most people will be guessing it will do, that it more than makes up for it. This is a film I know I'll watch again just for the performance of it. The plot won't matter. It's that good.

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sitenoise at the movies: The Chaser

Suffering Surrealism. It's Art-Horror. Not the gory kind, this is one of those "You-might-as-well-already-be-dead" nightmares with spooky feral children. The story's not remarkable but it's photographed extremely well. It's dirty beautiful creepy. Du Welz makes the screen drip atmosphere. Great performances build to magnificent climax. One of the best in recent memory. Yep, Great Ending.

Smart, fast, and funny. I might have played Malkovich's character a little less over the top but everyone else in this ensemble comedy is spot on. I think J.K. Simmons, in two short scenes, steals the show, and Tilda Swinton can never be denied. The Coen Bros know how to write stories and create worlds that unravel into absurdity.

Best American indie flick I've seen in a long time--not "shot on a cell phone" indie, it's got good production values and one of the best "guitar riffing with effects" soundtracks EVAR. When the boy and girl sit down to watch an Annie Sprinkle video together: Priceless. Good Dick is edgy, smart, and very funny. Written and directed by and starring Marianna Palka, it's one of those first babies by an obvious talent.

Thoughtful K-comedy, slightly risqué, wins with wit, good acting, and a good (award winning) screenplay filled with surprises. There is adult humor in the presence of a child so delicacy is warranted. Props to young actress Woo Seo for taking it all in stride, reminding us that kids are usually hip to the things adults think they should be protected from. Hyo-jin Kong, as the frumpy high school teacher is surprisingly accomplished in her comic timing. The director seems aware of all the cheap ways to make us laugh but instead of utilizing them he steps back and winks at them. This is smart and funny ... not a goof-ball comedy even though it plays like one on the surface. NY Asian FilmFest 2009.

This is an uncomfortably good film but wraps up too nicely in the end. Vera Farmiga is fantastic, hard to tell what she might do from one second to the next she's so edgy weird. And the world of paraplegic wannabes is a bizarre eye-opener. For the Cronenberg's Crash-challenged.