"Precious. . ." Movie Review

With our best-of-the-decade list concluded we are now going to concentrate on potential Oscar hopefuls. First up is the dramatic film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire ( R). In the film an impoverished pregnant teenage girl (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe) seeks a way out of her dead end existence of living with her hateful mother (Mo'Nique) in Harlem in the late '80's. Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz co-star in the film. Lee Daniels directs.

Ryan: On the heels of being nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture for a Drama and the fact that ten movies will be nominated for Best Picture, I feel that it is a safe bet that Precious will be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It's the kind of intense indie drama that voters like going for. From the performances to the authenticity of the film it's definitely an Oscar worthy picture. I wasn't taken away with it completely (like a lot of critics have been) but I do recognize that it is an excellent movie.

Andy: Precious is a misnamed, or at least ironically named film. The book upon which it is based is called Push, which is a more accurate representation of what the film does. It grabs hold of you and shoves you into situations you’d rather not see, but somehow know you must acknowledge. This movie unapologetically pushes its audience to confront some of the ugliest issues humans confront (incest, abuse, blind selfishness, and basic failings of our society). What’s remarkable is how magnetic the victimized hero, Clarisse Precious Jones, remains throughout all the hardship we see her endure.

Ryan: All the performances in Precious are top notch including those by relative acting newbies like Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. But there's no question that the two leads in the movie, Sidibe and Mo'Nique completely dominate the film. Mo'Nique has the flashier role but both she and Sidibe give seminal performances. I'm inclined to think that Mo'Nique has a better chance at scoring an Oscar nod simply because her performance is so intensely dramatic. But it is also an effective (and haunting) performance and one that audiences will not soon forget.
Andy: At the heart of what makes Precious work so well is across the board great performances. Gabby Sidibe is an absolute revelation as the title character. In her acting debut she has embodied a character that is complex, mysterious, tragic, and a beautiful ray of humanity in a mostly horrible situation. As her mother and foil, Mo’Nique gives one of the most emotive and threatening performances I’ve ever seen. Both seem likely to get Oscar nominations, and I’d be surprised if Mo’Nique doesn’t end up with the Best Supporting Actress statue. Also giving impressive turns in support are Paula Patton and Mariah Carey.
Ryan: Lee Daniels, the director, does a masterful job in framing the story in a manner that conveys the weighty emotional themes of the movie. His accomplishment is even more remarkable considering how uneasy it is in watching several of the scenes in the movie. But it's also that passion of the story that almost goes too far. Needless so say the trials and tribulations of the lead character, Precious, are almost too much to buy. The unfathomable nature of her burden, while providing the hope of the film, teeters on the edge of absurdity. Nevertheless the film endures this minor shortcoming as one of the year's best.

Andy: Perhaps the biggest flaw with Precious is that it is so intense, from the very first minute until the last, that it is exhausting to watch. That is certainly what director Lee Daniels was attempting, and he achieved it soundly. The problem is that it is very difficult to watch. The fact that it does give an uplifting look at a character that should be completely lost scarcely makes up for the harsh action and implications of the story. However, it is easily one of the most well executed and important movies of the year, and a movie that I strongly recommend.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire resonates long after viewing. Final grade: A-.

Best of the Decade, Part V

This week we conclude our look at the top films of the decade.

Andy: Number two on my list may come as a surprise to some people. 2003’s Lost in Translation (R) stars Bill Murray as an American actor filming a commercial in Japan. He meets a young American woman (Scarlett Johansson) who is experiencing similar emptiness and isolation. What really makes Lost in Translation stand up after repeated viewings is the way the director Sophia Coppola beautifully shoots the Tokyo landscape. Several of the scenes play out with the haunting soundtrack playing over the electric cityscape as the characters wrestle with their loneliness.

Murray gives what is likely the most powerful performance of his storied career. He brings disillusionment and mendacity to his performance that is still tempered with the decades of humor that are lying just underneath his every word, gesture, and look. For her part, Johansson also gives a performance that she’s spent the last seven years unsuccessfully trying to match. Her outward youthful innocence is betrayed by a much deeper restlessness that makes for a very complex performance. But the real star here is Coppola, who coaxes these amazing performances out while making the setting a crucial character in the story.

Ryan: Rounding in at number two on my list is Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2000). The movie came in at number three on Andy's list and when he profiled the film he made several key points. One There Will Be Blood is a beautiful film. It's certainly a terrifying beauty but there's no doubt that from a purely aesthetic standpoint There Will Be Blood is one of the most artistically shot films of the decade. Anderson constructs every scene like it's the film's most important scene and that attention to detail sets his movie's apart. Anderson's body of work is top notch but There Will Be Blood clearly shows him at the top of his game.

A second point that Andy alluded to is that There Will Be Blood “does not have much fun about it.” It's not that it's a difficult to film to watch or grasp. But it's a movie with a stark view of human nature. It's not a good-guy versus a bad- guy type film. It's more of a bad guy versus an even worse guy. Paul Dano's character, Eli Sunday is a religious hypocrite and Daniel Day Lewis character, Daniel Plainview, has been seduced by greed. When these two characters interact the results are far from pleasant. Let's just say that the title of the movie is aptly put.

It's impossible to talk about this movie without paying due respect to Daniel Day Lewis. He justifiably earned an Oscar for his performance and I would go even further and argue that it's the best performance of the decade. The power of the performance is that one is still captivated with his character even though he's clearly on a downward spiral into an emotional emptiness. One can't take his eyes off of him. It's a transcendent performance that makes There Will Be Blood a truly memorable film.

Andy: My number one movie of the decade is 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R). One thing that propels this movie to the top of my list is the fact that I have probably seen this movie four times in the past six years, and it continues to get better with each viewing. The complex plot structure, written by Charlie Kaufman, the best screenwriter of the decade, is a key element of the movie’s success. A couple (Jim Cary and Kate Winslet) who have their memories erased after a bad break up. We see the love story in reverse, as the two try to piece together the shadow of memories that exist.

Part of what makes it work is the superb supporting cast that includes Tom Wilkenson, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, and Elijah Wood. All put in great performances, but the real stars here are the leads. Jim Cary has always been vastly underrated as a serious actor, and this is the best performance he’s ever given. Not to be outdone, the best actress of the decade, Kate Winslet, absolutely owns her performance. Director Michael Gondry pieces it all together in a movie that is entertaining, uplifting, tragic, and interesting all at once. For my money, it’s the closest this decade came to movie perfection.

Ryan: In this modern media age when one is a movie lover one can't help but to get geared up for new releases. It's almost always the case that one goes into just about every movie with a certain set of expectations. Unfortunately more times than not those expectations are not entirely met. But every so often a movie meets those expectations and sometimes--in those rare instances--a film will even surpass those conceptualized notions. And when that happens one knows that they have a true gem on their hands. With that said, my number one film of the decade is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008).

This revelation might not surprise some people. Being a life-long Batman fan certainly does call into question my objectivity. But I feel confident--as a fan and as a critic--to label The Dark Knight as the film of the decade. Nolan's take on Batman (and that includes Batman Begins as well) is the definitive cinematic take of the Caped Crusader. As a Batman aficionado I can positively say that those movies brought to life in the most authentic manner the Batman mythos.

But I can also take a step back from fandom and see why The Dark Knight became such a cultural phenomenon. Not only is it an extremely well made film that is highlighted by the iconic performance of Heath Ledger (as the Joker) but it captured the zeitgeist of the nation upon it's release in the summer of 2008. The themes in The Dark Knight of good versus evil is as timeless as it gets but there was something so contemporary with it's manifestation of the battle that it instinctively struck the right chord with moviegoers. In an uncertain time while facing an unexplainable evil, an incorruptible yet ruthless hero was needed. Batman personified the type of hero that audiences were looking for. In this decade comic book movies dominated cineplexes but the relevant escapism of The Dark Knight propelled it to top of my list.

Now that our lists are complete, we will begin to look at this year’s Oscar hopefuls starting next week.

Best of the Decade, part IV

This week we move one step closer to our top films of the decade as we check in with our numbers four and three movies.

Ryan: Coming in at number four on my list is Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000) (It was number seven on Andy's list). The semi-autobiographical tale details a young rock journalist profiling (the fictitious) band Stillwater in the 1970's. The film stars Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Cruddup and Jason Lee.

For me the success or failure of most movies depend on this simple maxim—does the film work? In my view Almost Famous is a prime textbook example of when all areas of the filmmaking process work to create a memorable film. From the direction, to the screenwriting, to the acting, to the tone of the film Almost Famous is simply a movie that works. While it's a film of technical brilliance it's also one of those movies that is pure joy to watch over-and-over as well. It's a movie that never gets old watching and every repeated viewing reveals a new wrinkle to the coming-of-age story.

Almost Famous also resonates as a memorable movie for those moviegoers that are music lovers as well. Not only does it document the mid 70's music scene but it parallels the growth and maturity of a rock band with that of a teenage music reporter all the while set to memorable musically inspired scenes. Even the songs that were strictly written for the film (by Peter Frampton, Crowe and his wife, Nancy Wilson) help to solidify the credibility of the movie. There definitely was a concerted effort by Crowe and his company to make an authentic film—not just from a narrative standpoint—but from an emotional standpoint as well.

Andy: My number four is the John Cusack hipster rom-com High Fidelity (Ryan’s number eight). Released back in 2000 just three months into the decade, High Fidelity tapped an indie-mainstream crossover audience that would help carry many films in the subsequent years.

Two things really make this film work. One is the amazing soundtrack, which adequately bounces between cool and comfortable in a way that is a must for a movie that takes place largely inside an independent record store. The other is the superb performance from an ensemble cast that includes great turns by Jack Black, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joan Cusack, and Tim Robbins among others. Heading the list of performances is John Cusack, giving the best in his well documented career. His self-referential, speaking into the camera narration could have ruined the movie. Instead, it carries the audience along through an ugly break-up that is somehow funny and awkward at the same time. It is not flashy, and it is not grand, but High Fidelity is as near to flawless as date movies got in the past ten years.

Ryan: Number three on my list is another film that Andy included on his list (at number six). Up (2009) tells the fantastic story of an amazing journey involving two polar opposite individuals—78-year-old widow Carl Frederickson and Russel an 8 year-old aspiring Wilderness Explorer.
Initially Up looked like the film that might derail Pixar's wildly successful (both critically and commercially) ascending track record. The simplicity of the title and of the initial look of the movie just didn't spark my interest. But sometimes it's those simple concepts that are executed in beautiful manner that make for the most lasting impact. Up is a wonderful film that's emotionally rich both from a comedic and dramatic standpoint. In fact the montage scene at the beginning of the movie is the most emotionally textured scene of the decade and it's executed in a flawless manner.

I feel very comfortable having Up as three on my list and it resides there on it's own merit but I would be remiss if I didn't find myself looking at that high ranking as a symbol for Pixar's dominance of the decade. Pixar's movies have always been good but in this decade they progressively became great (Finding Nemo and The Incredibles) to artistic works of art (Ratatouille, WALL-E and Up). I only had one Pixar film on my list but there's no question that Ratatouille and WALL-E were knocking at the door. I don't think there's any grand secret to Pixar's success. There will always be a market for great storytelling and Pixar does it better than anyone else in the business.

Andy: Coming in at number three on my list is 2008’s There Will Be Blood. I remember being overwhelmed at the intensity of the movie when I first saw it, with the violent twists, jarring score, and flash-forward ending leaving me almost as unsettled as I was impressed. But upon a second viewing, There Will Be Blood proves to be complex, terrifying, and beautiful. Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of the performances of the decade as Daniel Plainview, a California oil man who will stop at nothing in order to succeed. With each success we see Plainview grow a little more evil. And to watch Day-Lewis make those leaps is to watch an actor at the peak of his craft.
There Will Be Blood is essentially a character study, but it does so much more than follow the life of one man. It can be read as an allegory foreshadowing the darkest side of capitalism in the 20th century, particularly in the field of fossil fuels. It is also technically appealing, with some of the most beautifully crafted shots of the decade, made all the more intriguing by the menacing story they are telling. Much credit goes to P.T. Anderson, whose only other movie of the decade, Punch Drunk Love, is widely underappreciated. There Will Be Blood does not have much fun about it, but it is movie making at just about the highest level that anyone reached this decade, and it is easy to imagine that time will only make it more poignant.



Next week we will finish off our decade review with our number two and number one movies.