2006's 5

Usually, this little personal exercise is a little fun. But the year prior prior and this past year, I have attended a lot less screenings. It seems total superfluous and self-serving, whereas in the past, it was only mostly so. So maybe the enthusiasm ain't all there.

That's not exactly true. There was a lot of fun last year. Rivette is quite a subversive joyride. And Jia Zhangke represents a lot of vitality and possibility for new stuff coming out. Anyway, here is only my top five favorites (because of my reduced movie watching schedule) for 06.

1

Va savoir, France 2001, Jacques Rivette – The question marks might spring from why this movie ahead of sublime and masterful Celine et Julie. These may be meager reasons but (1) at least in time, Va savoir is more recent and (2) the lighter touches (in depth and breadth) radiate a more direct playfulness and openness. Otherwise, I could look at Hélène de Fougerolles, like, forever and ever. And J.R. is, like, totally awesome.

The Rules of the Game, France 1939, Jean Renoir – Defies superlatives. Yeah, superficially a farce; but also everything else and with perfect balance.

Unknown Pleasures, China 2002, Jia Zhangke – I wrote this earlier to my number one gal:

"i want to make time on sunday to catch either one of the french films at walter reade (whichever one you might have a preference for) or jia zhangke's PLATFORM (at 8:00).

yesterday i saw his UNKNOWN PLEASURES, fairly good and engaging. not quite the startling cinematic force that everyone claims jia zhangke to be. my frame of reference is mainly the french new wave, and UNKNOWN PLEASURES is his working through some of the early godard stuff, especially BAND OF OUTSIDER.

god, i meant to be complimenting the movie. with jia zhangke hyped as a genius and i don't think UNKNOWN PLEASURES was genius (or maybe not the genius that i expected), it might sound like i didn't think the movie was good. but referring to godard and BAND OF OUTSIDER, and not suffering much by way of comparison, i do think it's good.

on a side note, i can understand that everyone wants to find the influence of hou hsiao hsien in this or that asian director because it's just the easy thing to do. but the fact that jia zhangke moves his camera and with extend pans and tracking shots, that pretty much signals not hou hsiao hsien.

anyway, everyone says PLATFORM is his best movie to date.

any time/interest?"

Yet in my final, revised analysis, I guess Unknown Pleasures' relevance earns it higher marks than my first reaction. Maybe I'm a victim to hype after all.

2

Stranger Than Fiction, USA 2006, Marc Forster – This pick may surprise some folks who feel familiarity with my movie habits, Stranger being mainstream, Hollywood trash and all, but 1) Forster though not close to being a master is an eager/sincere auteur; 2) sincerity counts for a lot, for me; 3) Will Ferrell is a titanic talent; 4) the rest of the cast is strong; and 5) it's simply more successful (more sensitive/vulnerable/human) than most of the rest of the meta movie class.

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, Japan 1939, Kenji Mizoguchi – Lustrous, innovative, and graceful roving camera. This and Rules came out the same year, which already makes 1939 one fantastic movie making/releasing years ever, and there was also Only Angels Have Wings (a personal favorite) and Gone With the Wind (a controversial but still a touchstone movie). Otherwise, someone wrote "there is a time in every film critic's life when he thinks... nastiness is more profound than nobility." Last Chrysanthemum has nobility.

Army of Shadows, France 1969, Jean-Pierre Melville – No resisting this French resistance movie!

Celine and Julie Go Boating, France 1974, Jacques Rivette – Okay, so I put Va savoir ahead of this. I'm not justifying nothing. This is a fucking masterpiece.

Linda Linda Linda, Japan 2005, Nobuhiro Yamashita – Whee, Asian riot grrrls. Ba Du Nae forever too!

Cache, France 2005, Michael Haneke – Challenging and fun, and exciting, and boring, and really, really good.

Peacock, China 2005, Changwei Gu – One thing I can say about this movie is that it ain't the typical 5th Generation exercise in Chinese depression/oppression. A little lighter and more compassionate. My favorite scene is early on when sometimes cute and sometimes not (which somehow makes her cuter) Weihong takes terrible care of the infants.

3

Inland Empire, USA 2006, David Lynch – Lynch's scary and confusing failure. God, why was this movie made. But still brimming with glorious and weird ideas and tensions.

Double Life of Veronique, Poland/France 1991, Krzysztof Kieslowski – As soon as I complained about the lack of DVD, it pops up - from Criterion no less (same with Ozu's Late Spring). Still, I caught this at a shadowy and lustrous big screen screening. Tasty. Abstract/artful, romantic, and quite thrilling.

4

One or Two Things I Know About Her, France 1967, Jean-Luc Godard – I'm not sure if it's good or bad fortunate but I've pretty much been able to catch a Godard flick every single year, it seems. This one he moves even harder toward his essay stylings and places more distance away from narrative and character, both of which he wasn't much tethered to anyway. Difficult but fun moments aplenty.

Triad Election, HK 2006, Johnnie To – There is sublimity in an efficiently and exquisitely crafted movie. Johnnie To can really turn his magnifying lens to a small piece of drama and drench and stretch it with strong acting, deft camera work/music, a bizarre kind of historic and cinematic nostalgia, and kick ass atmosphere, and somewhere in the process, flip certain things upside their head and show them in surprising, new ways.

5

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, USA 2005, Andrew Adamson – Straightforward Hollywood trash/pop. I'll admit that I love the Lewis literary source enough to grant this movie version more credit than it deserves. It is good fantasy though.

Kekexili, China 2004, Chuan Lu – This is fun enough and alien enough to get it probably more credit than it deserves. In some ways, it reminds me of Atanarjuat, though less overtly great.

Inside Man, USA 2006, Spike Lee – Spike Lee is way underrated. Sure, he gots his agenda and his polemic, but he does not mind bringing some thoughtfulness to his shit. And this being more or less a commercial joint, he's a splendid craftsperson.

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, Canada 2006, Norman Cohn and Zacharias Kunuk – Speaking of Atanarjuat, this sophomore effort from the identical creative team in some ways is not as good (not as expansive nor "fresh"), but in that it tackles some more solid issues of gender and culture, and allows the audience to take these issues home, it's provocative.

Honorable mention (in no order of preference)

Letters of Iwo Jima, Eastwood – Serviceable, which at a minimal is what Eastwood is, and that's meant to be a compliment.
Casino Royale, Campbell – The action piece in the beginning was exceptional.
The New World, Malick – If Lynch's Inland Empire was a mess at least, it have the good sense not to cast the unbearable Colin fucking Farrell.
Red Desert, Antonioni – Michelangelo is always a favorite, unfortunately, I'm not as down with this as his other stuff.
The Host, Bong – A pleasant surprise with Ba Du Nae in a supporting role. What Godzilla (the American version) should have been.
Loft, Kurusawa – Kurusawa has been getting a free pass, essentially since the exquisite Kairo. Entertaining and sometimes excitement.

Dishonorable mention (in no order of non preference)

The Last King of Scotland, Macdonald – A waste of a good Whitaker, and I otherwise despise this movie.
A Bittersweet Life,Kim – Some Korean gangster revenge melodrama of some sort. Forgettable, and eh.