Hunger Games
We'd Have Forgotten About Battle Royale If You Had Delivered A Single Decent Action Sequence, 2012
The opening Coal Miner's Running Man scenes are pretty solid, but it all boils down to this: they re-use the Saving Private Ryan D-Day stuff for a sequence where a stone-faced girl blows up a bunch of coolers. This movie's a stinker.
The Raid: Redemption
I Hate Your Chest, I'm Gonna Stab You In It, 2012
Lives up to the "John Carpenter makes martial arts" idea in freakishly wonderful fashion. Watching it a second time, I was completely taken with how cheap the sets are, the bargain store props, the terrible paint job...labors of love are rarely as good as this one.
Undefeated
Basically The Sixth Season Of Friday Night Lights, 2012
Pretty much designed to emotionally pummel the American male as much as possible, one can only imagine the impact it would have had if it wasn't for every dude's favorite post 9/11 hobby, which is crying all the time for no reason whatsoever. A solid, somewhat aimless documentary that shies away from trying to figure anything out, punctuated brilliantly by the moment midway through when a stressed, clearly ignored wife acknowledges her second place status with a tight-lipped "sometimes we have to remind him that he already has a family".
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I Forget Who, But Somebody Called It Bela Tarr's Bourne Identity, 2011
Making the case for understated performances better than any text ever will, this thing's critical success will hopefully usher in a new kind of period piece: one not based in the days of Downton Abbey, but instead those communist-dreading Cold War nights. Such hideous clothing, worn with intensity.
Carlos
Ah, That's A Lot of Post-Punk, 2010
There's worse ways to spend six hours, even if this globetrotting terror fiesta happens to be so heavily front-loaded. So many wonderful performances in this, none more so than the lead, who makes cold blooded murder seem like the next, obvious step if one wishes to be a classy, contemporary gentleman.
The Losers
Making Joe Carnahan Look Like Terence Malick Over Here, 2010
Technically shouldn't be included on this list, as this viewer was incapable of staying awake throughout the duration of the film, but that could be treated as a statement of quality in and of itself. One of those rare films that would be drastically improved if it starred 50 Cent and were straight-to-streaming.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
The Bees Is Yours, 2010
A magnificent technical achievement from start to finish that is, at times, about as engaging as the memory of a hairbrush. This is a very demanding film, and yet it's absolutely worth whatever struggle watching it requires.
Vengeance
Plastic Surgery On Old Dudes Will Never Not Look Weird, 2009
The most direct thriller in Johnnie To's recent run of perfection sees an old gunslinger with memory problems going after the killers of his grandchildren, with all the requisite bloodshed delivered in a series of setpieces, each more surreal than the last. The show is nearly stolen at times by its brilliant collection of character actors, but in the end, this is the Johnny Hallyday show.
The Winning Season
The Shoe Salesman Loves That Dragon Tattoo Girl, 2009
While it can't decide between being Half-Nelson or The Bad News Bears and ends up being less than both, the scene where Sam Rockwell physically shuts down Rooney Mara's pervy boyfriend only to admit that he probably isn't much different himself is note perfect, and a great example of well-played scumbaggery. This movie doesn't work, but that doesn't impact its watchability in the slightest.
Gomorrah
Not The Best Beach Vacation Ever, 2008
Hyper-violent, exaggerated realism, occasionally overwrought: this is one of those crime flicks that leans a little too heavily on the desire to be labeled "epic", but there's worse ambitions in the world. It's probably the most accurately costumed Mafia film since the losers of Ghost Dog though, so some of the cockiness is earned.
Until The Light Takes Us
Oh, Shut The Fuck Up, 2008
There's definitely worse documentaries, but those are theoretical examples, and this is an actual movie that I actually watched. Constructed in a way that points to filmmakers irritated that their audience might include people who have never heard of the music or musicians they're obsessed with, this study of metal and murder should include an opening credit that says "point your browser to Wikipedia now", because that's the only way you'll be able to keep up with what the hell anyone is talking about.
Mad Detective
Get In That Suitcase, Get In It Immediately, 2007
More than just evidence that the Masters of Cinema series was outcooling Criterion from the jump, this Johnnie To crime thriller makes for a great partner to The Killer, replacing that film's bravura throwdown sequences with bizarre psycho-nightmare while hanging on to the basic "partners make it better" framework long enough to make all the late-film twists that much more exhilarating. There's also a great bathroom fight, so hopefully somebody is brewing a Youtube reel.
Stander
Hey, It's The Punisher, 2003
One of those great true stories that the brevity of film can chop too finely, there's enough crazy here to please but too little character development to cheer on. He was a cop, a bank robber, and a somewhat nihilistic fugitive: there's also a couple of sex scenes.
-Tucker Stone, 2012
I liked how long they waited in The Raid to show any actual martial arts action; it really faked me out. I was starting to get antsy, like aw man this isn't just going to be dudes shooting at other dudes is it and then BANG! Non-stop punching and kicking henceforth.
The last 12 months have been great, at least going by Australian release dates: The Raid, Tinker Tailor etc., Turin Horse (speaking of "demanding"!), 13 Assassins, Drive, A Separation...
Posted by: Jones, one of the Jones boys | 2012.05.05 at 05:36
the best part of Until the Light Takes Us was a screening i went to with the directors in attendance -- when they started talking about the aesthetics and cultural context of black metal, some dude got up and screamed "FUCK THAT, THAT'S NOT WHAT IT'S ABOUT"
Posted by: ltz | 2012.05.06 at 20:13
Jones: Turin Horse! I still haven't stepped up to the plate, I'm ashamed to admit.
Itz: that's fucking awesome. How'd they react to that?
I don't know anything about black metal or the scene the movie is dealing with, and I was really surprised at how poorly prepared the film was for an audience member like me-somebody who is ignorant, but curious. I'm willing to pay attention to just about anything, but they really don't even try to meet you even remotely halfway.
Posted by: tucker stone | 2012.05.07 at 21:14
Man, The Raid is at the top of my must-see list ever since I heard about it. Who knows when I'll get to it, but I really want to.
Have you seen BKO: Bangkok Knockout? It's another crazy martial arts thing, about a bunch of kids who get captured and forced to fight for their lives while rich people bet on them. It's got that Thai exuberance, and while it's pretty silly, I really dug it.
Posted by: Matthew J. Brady | 2012.05.08 at 09:28
The Raid totally lives up to the hype, you'll dig the hell out of it.
BKO: no, but I'll remedy that, maybe in the next 48 hours. I have no idea how long this obsession I've got going with these types of movies is going to last, but for now, I'm giving a fuck about almost nothing else.
Posted by: tucker stone | 2012.05.08 at 09:40
Belatedly: the filmmakers just kind of huffed and ignored it. I think there's room to say something intelligent about black metal beyond lurid Lords of Chaos style true crime, church arson, Hellhammer or whoever saying it's music only for whites... But Until the Light was just too meandering and devoid of, like, anythin to say about its subject matter (followinf that dude walking by all of Oslo's convenience stores)--even from an inside baseball perspective it cut like plasticware. I wished it was trashier, just to give us something to hook into.
Posted by: LTZ | 2012.05.12 at 20:31