There's no reason anyone should be interested in my favorite DVDs of 2009, so it must be perfect for a blog post! Here's an alphabetical listing of stuff I enjoyed.
Bolt, Up, Kung Fu Panda, Sita Sings the Blues--Delightful animations. You can stream SITA free from the artist's website. This is a beautiful use of music in film (sometimes comparable to YELLOW SUBMARINE), including music by Annette Hanshaw, Todd Michaelsen and others.
Capitalism: Child Labor--Amazing short film included as a bonus on a movie called MOMMA'S MAN. The main feature is about a nebbish who doesn't leave his parents' NY loft packed with fascinating stuff, and you wouldn't want to leave either, but the movie is sluggish. Ken Jacobs' short is a mesmerizing treatment of an old stereoscopic photo of a thread factory. Music: Rick Reed.
Crank 2 High Voltage --Sadistic, tasteless hitman movie with Jason Statham also happens to be an inventive and witty chunk of radical style. It knows it's trash, doesn't pretend otherwise, and throws a nonstop barrage of jokes and flourishes at its own absurdity. A wretched overdose of video games, comics and commercials--and sequels--looks like this. Be warned.
The Cremator--Stylish, bleak '60s Czech film with beautiful score by Zdenek Liska.
The Exiles--Long-neglected docudrama about American Indians in Los Angeles. Beautiful b&w snapshots of life.
Fiesta--In the box "Esther Williams Vol. 2." In this fascinating Technicolor wonder, she disguises herself as a toreador while brother Ricardo Montalban steals the show as an amazing dancer (paired with Cyd Charisse!) and plays an Aaron Copland piece on piano. Also music by Johnny Green.
Five--Atomic survivors in a Frank Lloyd Wright house. A '50s curio. Music Director: Henry Russell.
Forever--Heddy Honigmann's documentary about how we live with death has almost too many touching moments. It's about the famous and non-famous people buried in Père-Lachais cemetery in Paris, and the living people who visit their graves. Diverse excellent music.
Goodbye Solo--Ramin Bahrani's film combines visual beauty, suspense, and delicate character study. Music by M. Lo.
The Great Buck Howard--A comedy that's funny. John Malkovich is based on Amazing Kreskin. Best cameo by George Takei. Music: Blake Neely.
Julia--Tilda Swinton as an alcoholic disaster turned kidnapper who does everything possible to make her life worse while cranking up the suspense. Song mix includes Sam Moore, Otis Redding, Calexico.
Let the Right One In--Creepy, tender, horrific juvenile vampire tale. Music: Johan Söderqvist.
Man Hunt--Fritz Lang's classic WWII suspenser finally on video, sharp as a bayonet. Walter Pidgeon tries to shoot Hitler. Music: Alfred Newman.
Munyurangabo--Elliptical story of the aftermath of Rwandan genocide and how things are left unsaid; a film to watch after reading Akpan's "Say You're One of Them." Music: Claire Wibabara.
Nikkatsu Noir--Five Japanese crime films of 50s/60s, leading up to the brilliant A COLT IS MY PASSPORT, which brings the spaghetti western influence (triggered by YOJIMBO) full circle. Music: Harumi Ibe.
One Step Beyond--Season One of spooky 1959 TV anthology. "True" anecdotes, well told. Music: Harry Lubin.
Our Man in Havana--Half-serious spy spoof from writer Graham Greene, director Carol Reed, and star Alec Guinness. Music by street musicians.
Pigs Pimps & Prostitutes--Three sprawling, messy, noisy visions of 60s Japan by Shohei Imamura. He's the anti-Ozu b/c he makes the same observations about changing postwar life but his characters aren't politely suffering in silence, and the women are resourceful survivors. Music: Toshiro Mayuzumi.
Poil de Carotte, Au Bonheur des Dames--Major rediscoveries from the silent era directed by Julien Duvivier. Enthralling style and emotional subtlety. New music: Gabriel Thibaudeau.
Private Century--Czech TV series on the home movies of citizens who lived through turbulent times.
Samuel Fuller Collection--Box mixes wheat and chaff. Best include THE CRIMSON KIMONO with non-stereotypical Japanese-American characters, amazing newspaper thriller SCANDAL SHEET about reporter who doesn't realize a murder story is leading to his own editor (compare with THE BIG CLOCK, where the hero's investigation seems to lead to himself), and another eerie newspaper story, THE POWER OF THE PRESS, about political-industrial propaganda during WWII. "Freedom of the press means freedom to tell the truth, not freedom to manipulate the truth" is declared with pertinent stridency.
Science Is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé--Salute to the pioneer of nature documentaries includes a TV series and scores by Yo La Tengo, in addition to various original scores. These sometimes resemble musical abstractions.
Slumdog Millionaire--Applies the energetic style of commercials and music videos to the melodrama of Charles Dickens and Bollywood. (For what it's worth, did anyone notice this is the first Oscar Best Picture about a Muslim? Gandhi was Hindu, and Lawrence of Arabia doesn't count.) Music: A.R. Rahman.
Synecdoche New York--Charlie Kaufman's unbearably sad, depressing story masquerades as surreal comedy. Feels like art, and a surprisingly sour meditation on creating art. Music: Jon Brion.
Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu--Wonderful early 30s gentle movies about the sadness of life. Music: Keizo Horiuchi, Senji Ito.
Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film 1947-1986, Avant Garde 3: Experimental Cinema 1922-1954--Often amazing samplers of experimental filmmakers. Also, NOTES ON MARIE MENKEN profiles a remarkable artist.
Waltz with Bashir--Memory, fantasy, documentary and animation meld in this unique movie about a soldier who tries to distance himself from his participation in a crime. Music: Max Richter.
Zabriskie Point--Restored to widescreen beauty after 40 years, Antonioni's film shimmers. Try it on a double feature with Jacques Demy's MODEL SHOP, which is about driving around LA in 1970.
Also enjoyed: M Squad (50s TV series with Lee Marvin), The City (1939 doc with Copland music), Wanted (Angelina Jolie in Oedipal hitman movie), Chocolate (Thai kickfighter action with Rain-Man heroine), Tell No One (French thriller), Late Bloomer (handicapped serial killer in Japan), Miss Mend (silent Soviet serial), Moon, Summer Storm, The Lost Films of John Gilbert, Made in USA
Also finally on DVD: A Matter of life and Death (in box The Films of Michael Powell), Luis Bunuel's Death in the Garden, Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics I, Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 3 ("Midnight Mary" is esp notable), Icons of Screwball Comedy ("Theodora Goes Wild" and "The Doctor Takes a Wife" are notable), Last Year at Marienbad, Jeanne Dielman, Magnificent Obsession, Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection
