2009-2010 Season's Best Films (Personally-Ongoing)

Oh, I wish there were words capable enough to describe this film - to describe how it made me feel. But maybe there aren't. So, we'll make do with those we have.

I saw this movie at the 50th International Film Festival of Thessaloniki - a festival I've been going to for about 8 years, give-or-take. And this is the best movie I've seen in all those years, through all those movies. It's so intense it rips you apart, full of the most sublime poetry, simplicity raging and screaming. The direction is so meticulously studied - nothing left to chance - every single take and scene offering gravity to the characters. Even now, that I see the poster of the film, it's so brilliant is ridiculous how much. It has this sad-looking child on it, when in the film, we only see a child for seconds, and it is a happy-looking child in those seconds.

After the second half I was constantly crying. I can bet that I'm from the few people who have cried in this film - if not the only one. Because there really isn't something in it that can prompt tears. But it is one of the most intense, most human, most real films I've watched in my life. I wanted to explode, to stand up and shout. I kept switching positions in my seat, I shook my head and laughed and wanted it to end because I couldn't take anymore. And when it was over, I wanted to watch it again.

It's so far my favorite movie of this year. No, scratch that. It's my favorite movie of the last few years. If not my favorite movie amongst the few I hold so dear.

I wish Xavier Dolan can be funded to create more, more, more films in the future. Even though, I already think he has created his chef-d'oeuvre.

In the screening of this movie, there was a recorded message from Michael Moore in which he said that "I made this film like it were my last one. I thought to myself,'if I had to make one last film, what would I include in it?'"
If it was destined to be his last film, it surely wasn't his most memorable one. He will just never return to his Bowling for Columbine days - which literally made him who he is.

But frankly speaking, this is another fire-breathing Michael Moore specimen of great cinematic and political significance. Unlike his previous works, your eyes will not brim with tears, but you will definitely laugh. Its humor resonates, is caustic, and mostly impromptu. You will find yourself shaking your head left and right in disbelief in many scenes, doubting human nature and how deep into the bone corruption and the thirst for profit can reach.

A grand vision of the future in a nightmarish and gripping animated film. A battle of what human is left in the world against the oppressive power of the machines. Sad, unexpected, heart-breaking yet ultimately offers atonement. 9 could just as well have been any of us: curious, rebellious, kind, human -experiences love and friendship and death the best way he can understand.

Great direction by Shane Acker, but having seen the short (and greater) version of this film, I was slightly disappointed; both by the repetition and the duration. But the suspense it creates into you is unbelievable; how deeply you want the otherwise nine cloth dolls to overpower the gigantic and metal machines.

A film that may not be too far in its vision from the reality of our future.

Absolutely marvelous. Action movies are my least favorite kind, but this one is radically different than all the cliche crap we've seen in the past. I haven't read the book, but the movie is just fantastic. It's 2-and-a-half-hours long and yet it literally flies by. Sorry for the expression, but Swedish cinema has balls. There can never be a Hollywood remake out of this movie, and even if there will be, half of the material will be edited out. Because in Man Som Hatar Kvinnor there are no embellishments, no efforts to make it harmless. You just dive into it and are swept by it. I do sincerely hope there shall not be a Hollywood remake, because let's face it - the Swedish near-masterpiece will be butchered. Noomi Rapace gives a stellar performance and deserves most of the credit of why this movie is so splendid.

Not many documentaries manage to be this highly entertaining. I absolutely adored every minute of it, and by the end I was left with wanting more.

Definitely offers a thorough insight into the behind-the-scenes making-of Vogue Magazine's most important issue: the September one. Frenzied running-around, fights, arguments, difficult decisions, photo shoots, conflicts, demand for fresh ideas, and above all else - high fashion, is what pretty much sums up this delightful and engaging documentary. The attempt to humanize Anna Wintour is almost successful as she seems to practically own this documentary, but at the end, your heart has completely gone to Grece Coddington.

I would suggest it to every fashion admirer like myself...but then again...even if you are not interested in fashion, this documentary might have you reconsider.

Not as brilliant as Puenzo's previous film, but the quality is excellent, the concept original, the acting flawless and it's overall a great film from a highly promising Argentinian cinema.

The story is quite disheveled and loses track of sense, but at the end you are left with nothing but a feeling of fulfillment. No sappy Hollywood over-doings, no tearjerkers. Maybe it was too ambitious and far-stretched, but otherwise a very beautiful film that everyone should watch.

This movie is just extraordinarily tremendous. No sappy storytelling, no happy endings, no unusual situations, no unbelievable individuals. It's so real and so de facto, I would have no problem believing in it. A tale of unrequited love, of hearts breaking and mending and all over again, of desire, of time and of coincidences. Breathing of all that makes our lives worthy.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an actor who needs no introductions - he is splendid in whatever he does, may it be Tom Hansen, a romantic fool who believes in Fate and everlasting love, to Neil, a gay hustler, to Paul Ryder, an up-tight Mormon, to just about everything. Zooey Deschanel may be gorgeous and sweet, but her acting seems to be flat wherever she stars. She's just lacking the "wow" factor for me. Marc Webb's direction showed me that he's capable enough to do everything, not just video-clips for MTV. As for the soundtrack, it's one I always wish films had.

Maybe it leaves you with a bittersweet taste, but for once, here is a real story instead of all the happily-ever-after crap. It reminded me a bit of another film I watched recently, Gigantic, which might have been one of the reasons I didn't rate it even higher. See it, enjoy it, get invested.

Movies with animals and nature rarely appeal to me, except if they are of an extraordinary nature. But this film, as one will come to realize, hardly has anything to do with that. It's just a fragment - the most tragic and painful fragment - in the life of Charles Darwin. His struggles, his illusions, his fears - all come alive in what is Paul Bettany's greatest performance to date - the transformation he went through is truly staggering. The true trial of a man breaking into pieces in front of us after his daughter's death. Poignant and most tragic. The best US film I watched at the 50th Thessaloniki Film Festival. Poetic and earthborn.

The December 6, 1989 Montreal massacre is one I've studied the deepest close to the Columbine one. It was amazing to me how precise a portrayal there was. Wonderful acting, sublime soundtrack, but what matters the most to me when it comes to this movie is its direction - Denis Villeneuve does something not even the most experienced directors ever would: he takes risk, goes beyond what we see and think is right.

The one thing that didn't appeal to me was the emotional distance it puts between the viewer and the victims. The choice of black-and-white, the non-linear storytelling, the lack of mentioning anything about the killer's name and the parents of the victims is exactly aiming towards the creation of distance between the movie's subject and the audience. Which wasn't entirely right in a subject matter like this one.

And yet all the while, this is a near-masterpiece, and one that people should consider first when studying the nature of school/college violence.

Better than expected and a movie that I had never taken under consideration before.

Jesse McCartney movies are generally not of my taste, but he's actually good in this movie -even though his role wasn't a challenging one. His chemistry with Elisabeth Harnois makes sparks fly off the screen. The story is well-paced, even though a bit unrealistic. The characters and circumstances are fully engaging and it offers a gamma of emotions.

A film I'd watch again, but not a film I would consider something especially great. Easily bearable with a quirky and smart script. Maybe overly tragic, but who doesn't need that once in a while?

I doubt I've ever seen a film from Norway before, but this one surely made me want to watch more. I loved the idea of the Nazi zombies, and they were actually presented as no zombie films ever has before: almost human-like in behavior and movement -not just brainless (no pun intended!) slow-walking dummies eating spilled guts.

Agreeably diverting and amusing, a smart low-budget horror film that made it all the way around the globe. The characters are likable enough and the performances as good as they can be in a zombie film. The soundtrack is great and really adds to the movie and offers it a certain tone and spin. I loved the Shaun of the Dead twist in it, even though it could never be as good, but it surely exceeded most zombie films I've seen in the last few years. Of course it's not a masterpiece, but it sets out to entertain and do solely that, and it succeeds every step of the way

This is the study of an unlikely hero, who has suffered through all kinds of torments and trials, and yet somehow manages to keep on going, to keep on hoping when most of us would have quit.

It's not an easy movie to watch - I can say that much. Mo'Nique is absolutely stunning in the role of the abusive mother (something I would never expect to say), and Gabourey Sidibe is breathtaking as Precious. Lee Daniels' direction may defy what has been establish when it comes to the standards of US directional methods, but in his case, this only elevates his portraits and does not undermine them.

We've seen quite a few movies like this in the past, which is why I'm rating it this much. It reminded me many other movies, and it was too slow and rotary. I wasn't blown away, but I'd recommend it because you can never have enough movies that are containers of such humanity.

I watched this movie at the 50th International Film Festival of Thessaloniki, where Waris Dirie was present, and at the end of the movie there was a two-minute standing ovation.

Maybe a directing chaos, maybe too ambitious, maybe too distacted, maybe not really a good movie. But, coming to look at it from the side of humanity in all of us, it is a raging masterpiece. The evil, the ignorance, the misfortune in this world is more than one could ever estimate. But so is the kindness, the acceptance, the love. And that is what this movie taught me.

Heart-breaking, endlessly torturous, but liberating and refreshing all the while.

I'm slightly disappointed in Up. Well, not slightly -quite a lot. Pixar almost never fails, but this is actually the first Pixar film I'm rating as low as 3 stars.

Of course it's highly entertaining with a couple of especially funny moments, and a perfect expression and portrayal of our inner child and the longing for adventure that is uprooted from inside of us by the reality of living. But, more than anything, this movie shows that it's never too late to set out for the adventures you once longed for and open your heart to realize that the greatest adventure is the life you're leading.

However, even though satisfying, it's nothing more than that. The talking dogs is definitely one of the elements that spoiled it so intensely for me; I found their existence completely unnecessary. By the end, I found all my expectations not having been met, and Pixar's attempt to show its appreciation and acceptance of the elderly is just an embellished cherry on top of a bitter cake. Too little, too late in my opinion.

More than anything else, this movie about love and the struggles that people face and rise above them - time travelling is the last thing concerning it.

Eric Bana is not an actor I ever appreciated, and his performance here doesn't help change that. Rachel McAdams is typically pleasing, while the two McCann sisters are endearing. Bearable direction, forgettable soundtrack.

I won't dwell on the technicalities of the film, neither on whether it was accurately portraying time travelling or not. I wasn't greatly impressed with the book, and the same happened with the film. It's sweet, makes time fly by, worth a watch, but it wasn't made nor does it escape mediocrity.

Watch it, like it, cry a little, and then forget about it.

I'm happy to say that the sixth Saw isn't actually THAT bad. Besides the first one, I practically hated the four rest, but this one has a plot, suspense and isn't just mindless gore. Of course I wish they had stopped at the first one, but since they continued, this isn't as bad as its predecessors. The ending is great, the death traps set up by Jigsaw to be carried out are brilliant (in a twisted way) and you are actually actively engaged. Of course the movie is still pretty bad and I pray to God there isn't a seventh one, but it's not AS bad as the previous four.

The second part of the Millennium Trilogy wasn't as nearly as successful as the first part, but of course it's still highly enticing and keeps the quality levels where they should be.

A lot less daring, a lot less extreme and much more affected by what one might see in a Hollywood action thriller - the reasons for which The Girl Who Played With Fire isn't as interesting as its predecessor. Of course, Noomi Rapace is as phenomenal as always - and in the second part we learn a lot more about her character's past and many questions of the first part are answered. The ending is a bit melodramatic, has too many cliches, and reminds a Greek tragedy, but I still liked it enough. Because despite all its flaws, its deliverance is pragmatic and it does not compromise.

This probably isn't one of Herzog's proudest creations, but it's obsessive and mad enough to know that it's his - even though it's a movie created for wider audiences, and for which in order to like you don't need to have seen Herzog again. The humor in it is so twisted and wicked as you don't often get to see in a movie that's practically a drama. Michael Shannon is absolutely terrific - I'm glad he had the leading role, because I can think of no other actor who can portray an increasingly unbalanced man with a fascination for flamingos doing a better job than Shannon. A highly enjoyable (not in the sense you imagine though) film, even though it's too "easy" for Herzog. Not a masterpiece, but wacky enough to be worthy of mentioning.