in reqiuem for 2003
2003 was in no way the best year for movies. We had a sequel that no one really wanted (2 fast, 2 furious) 2 sequels that no one expected to be so bad (The Matrix sequels) and a bunch of mish mash from studio execs. (Looney Toones: Back in Action, which not only was just running on a franchise name, but can someone tell me why we needed a nascar scene in the middle of that movie? AND The Missing a story about a 21st century feminist-I-can-do-it-myself-woman set in the Old West, and a ripoff of the Searchers, to boot. I mean, I am all for equality, but lets not rewrite history to make it didactic and PC. Lets work forward, not backward in time)
We did not have a movie that blew everyone away by it's technical/storytelling aspects, no Waking Life, no Fight Club, no Memento.
We did not have a great adult family drama (American Beauty, Kramer Vs. Kramer). In fact the only decent drama for mass audiences was Mystic River, and I thought that was (well thats another post).
There really wasn't much in the traditional sense as most years as you would think.
Elf and Old School were perhaps the only great comedies. We had X men 2 which was one of the top 3 comic book movies ever (Superman I and II being the others in the running) and the only good action movie of the summer. Pirates of the Carribean relied more on actors charm and witty but lowbrow lines that anything else, and it still seems like an anomaly to me.
But we were given 5 absolutely wonderful films.
I don't mean wonderful as a search for another synonym, but as an adjective for love, for wonderful, for films that just melted the hell out of me, and reminded me why I go to movies.
2003 won't be recalled as a banner year for cinema, but I can say that these five films will be remembered as long as any other for years to come.
First off. Lets get Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King out of the way. I think this is an amazing film, and I have gone over the list. I think it loses steam between the 2nd and the third act for a while, and it dredges the march to Mount doom a little much without any consequence, but between the battle of Peleonor Feilds, watching Sam become the most decent character in cinema history, watching Aragorn turn into what he was born to be, and the scene "My Friends, you bow to no one" as a film its amazing, but I'd probably put the Two Towers above it a tad (pretty much soley for Sam's speech about Why we fight) but as the final chapter, it just kind of floors you as everything seems to be perfect and rewards you in so many ways for living the experience.
Why it was wonderful: Aside from being everything we ever could have imagined and more from an adaptation, it is the finest example ever of why it is worth doing the right thing, doing something for the sake of being good. Heroism has never seemed so honorable, and courage has never seemed so right.
Bend it like Beckham. Starring the impossibly hot Keira Knightley pretty much qualifies as a classic in my book. I mean, she's blond, she is smart, she is fit as a fucking fiddle and SHE HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. Enough said.
Why it is wonderful: There are not one, but two redemption plots. There are two women coming of age and sticking up for what they believe in. It nails the difficulties of families during wedding times. And everyone gets what they truly have strived for. When anyone says their needs to be more ethnically diverse films, I say don't try to make them. Just let directors tell their stories, and we get the fullest spectrum imaginable. But all in all, this is what we love about Hollywood films. It follows the formula, but it is able to be so chraming where we want it to be and it gives us everything we want and more.
Lost In Translation: This is the first Gen X masterwork since Before Sunrise.
Why it is wonderful: It nails the whole mentality of travel relationships. It runs on fantasitc atmosphere. We are able to watch a star be born and another work off his charms and just be. It also doesn't go the way of typical affairs. Not only do they not sleep together, they don't complain about their others. They simply realize that they have met a person just like them in the right place at the right time. I don't consider this a romance movie. This is a movie about pure friendship, one that can only be made in the right times. It's not that Bob and Charlettoe fall in love as much as they fall into eachother.
School Of Rock: A movie that seems like it would be typical Disney flim flam about a man growing up turns into a heavenly combination of Dead Poets Socitey, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Bad News Bears.
Why it is wonderful: Rarely have you ever been able to watch on screen characters progress so gracefully and so honestly. We know that Jack Black is going to shape up. But what we don't expect is that we get to watch all the kids overcome social anxiety and life at 10. We watch a kid overcome his father's harsh discipline, we watch a typical straight A girl loosen up and live a little, we watch both a fat and and uncool kid learn to like themselves, and we get to watch it all to the backdrop of rock and roll. The Bonzo goes to bitzburg montage and the climax are two of the finest moments in kid movie history, because in one of the rare cases, it treats them not as kids, but as real people who can lead the way. Aside from being a great movie in the way it's told,. it just melts you because everything that transpires is done with this great love for what rock and roll represents. When they finally get to rock out onstage, it's like watching your favorite sports team win a big game, because you have become so wrapped up in their lives that it is all, well, simply wonderful
Finding Nemo: This is, bar none, the best animated film of all time. This is now the new gold standard to which everything should be judged against.
Why it is wonderful: If you want, simply grab a bottle of wine and watch it. It really makes you feel like a kid again watching the film. The structure is simple enough to just propell you through the film yet able to flesh out the characters without seeming like it's wasting your time. The structure also allows us to get to all of the places underwater that we wish we could be (a submarine, the coral reef, the EAC, inside a whale). It also is one of the best movies I have ever seen about coping with loss (Marlin and his wife) finding friends where you least expect it, and learning from those around you (Marlin from Nemo).
Many films can move anyone to tears.
From watching the tragedy of Sophies Choice, Bambi, Titanic, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca etc.
But among all those, and I am not going to lie, there are few films that move me as much as Finding Nemo and the rest of these five.
From:
My Friends. you bow to no one.
Watching Cricket Be played in Bend it like Beckham
Seeing Bob walk away smiling before he walks away from Charlotte
Dewey rocking with his kids
And finally, hearing Nemo just simply say Bye Dad at the end of Finding Nemo, all of these just moved me because they simply did everything right and they let us get what we wanted without making it seem cheap or contrived. These movies all have lessons that don't seem didactic. They all have speeches that don't seem preachy. And they all just make you feel wonderful.
It's like Watching Red and Andy reunite in Mexico. It's like watching Han save the day at the last second. It's Dumbo flying.
It's seeing proof that good things can happen in life.
It's wonderful.
(continued...)
We did not have a movie that blew everyone away by it's technical/storytelling aspects, no Waking Life, no Fight Club, no Memento.
We did not have a great adult family drama (American Beauty, Kramer Vs. Kramer). In fact the only decent drama for mass audiences was Mystic River, and I thought that was (well thats another post).
There really wasn't much in the traditional sense as most years as you would think.
Elf and Old School were perhaps the only great comedies. We had X men 2 which was one of the top 3 comic book movies ever (Superman I and II being the others in the running) and the only good action movie of the summer. Pirates of the Carribean relied more on actors charm and witty but lowbrow lines that anything else, and it still seems like an anomaly to me.
But we were given 5 absolutely wonderful films.
I don't mean wonderful as a search for another synonym, but as an adjective for love, for wonderful, for films that just melted the hell out of me, and reminded me why I go to movies.
2003 won't be recalled as a banner year for cinema, but I can say that these five films will be remembered as long as any other for years to come.
First off. Lets get Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King out of the way. I think this is an amazing film, and I have gone over the list. I think it loses steam between the 2nd and the third act for a while, and it dredges the march to Mount doom a little much without any consequence, but between the battle of Peleonor Feilds, watching Sam become the most decent character in cinema history, watching Aragorn turn into what he was born to be, and the scene "My Friends, you bow to no one" as a film its amazing, but I'd probably put the Two Towers above it a tad (pretty much soley for Sam's speech about Why we fight) but as the final chapter, it just kind of floors you as everything seems to be perfect and rewards you in so many ways for living the experience.
Why it was wonderful: Aside from being everything we ever could have imagined and more from an adaptation, it is the finest example ever of why it is worth doing the right thing, doing something for the sake of being good. Heroism has never seemed so honorable, and courage has never seemed so right.
Bend it like Beckham. Starring the impossibly hot Keira Knightley pretty much qualifies as a classic in my book. I mean, she's blond, she is smart, she is fit as a fucking fiddle and SHE HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. Enough said.
Why it is wonderful: There are not one, but two redemption plots. There are two women coming of age and sticking up for what they believe in. It nails the difficulties of families during wedding times. And everyone gets what they truly have strived for. When anyone says their needs to be more ethnically diverse films, I say don't try to make them. Just let directors tell their stories, and we get the fullest spectrum imaginable. But all in all, this is what we love about Hollywood films. It follows the formula, but it is able to be so chraming where we want it to be and it gives us everything we want and more.
Lost In Translation: This is the first Gen X masterwork since Before Sunrise.
Why it is wonderful: It nails the whole mentality of travel relationships. It runs on fantasitc atmosphere. We are able to watch a star be born and another work off his charms and just be. It also doesn't go the way of typical affairs. Not only do they not sleep together, they don't complain about their others. They simply realize that they have met a person just like them in the right place at the right time. I don't consider this a romance movie. This is a movie about pure friendship, one that can only be made in the right times. It's not that Bob and Charlettoe fall in love as much as they fall into eachother.
School Of Rock: A movie that seems like it would be typical Disney flim flam about a man growing up turns into a heavenly combination of Dead Poets Socitey, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Bad News Bears.
Why it is wonderful: Rarely have you ever been able to watch on screen characters progress so gracefully and so honestly. We know that Jack Black is going to shape up. But what we don't expect is that we get to watch all the kids overcome social anxiety and life at 10. We watch a kid overcome his father's harsh discipline, we watch a typical straight A girl loosen up and live a little, we watch both a fat and and uncool kid learn to like themselves, and we get to watch it all to the backdrop of rock and roll. The Bonzo goes to bitzburg montage and the climax are two of the finest moments in kid movie history, because in one of the rare cases, it treats them not as kids, but as real people who can lead the way. Aside from being a great movie in the way it's told,. it just melts you because everything that transpires is done with this great love for what rock and roll represents. When they finally get to rock out onstage, it's like watching your favorite sports team win a big game, because you have become so wrapped up in their lives that it is all, well, simply wonderful
Finding Nemo: This is, bar none, the best animated film of all time. This is now the new gold standard to which everything should be judged against.
Why it is wonderful: If you want, simply grab a bottle of wine and watch it. It really makes you feel like a kid again watching the film. The structure is simple enough to just propell you through the film yet able to flesh out the characters without seeming like it's wasting your time. The structure also allows us to get to all of the places underwater that we wish we could be (a submarine, the coral reef, the EAC, inside a whale). It also is one of the best movies I have ever seen about coping with loss (Marlin and his wife) finding friends where you least expect it, and learning from those around you (Marlin from Nemo).
Many films can move anyone to tears.
From watching the tragedy of Sophies Choice, Bambi, Titanic, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca etc.
But among all those, and I am not going to lie, there are few films that move me as much as Finding Nemo and the rest of these five.
From:
My Friends. you bow to no one.
Watching Cricket Be played in Bend it like Beckham
Seeing Bob walk away smiling before he walks away from Charlotte
Dewey rocking with his kids
And finally, hearing Nemo just simply say Bye Dad at the end of Finding Nemo, all of these just moved me because they simply did everything right and they let us get what we wanted without making it seem cheap or contrived. These movies all have lessons that don't seem didactic. They all have speeches that don't seem preachy. And they all just make you feel wonderful.
It's like Watching Red and Andy reunite in Mexico. It's like watching Han save the day at the last second. It's Dumbo flying.
It's seeing proof that good things can happen in life.
It's wonderful.
(continued...)
posted by Indiana at
3:12 AM
|
0 comments
