With the end of the year approaching (and the last paper of the semester here), it’s that time of year-the time to thank the gods and Hollywood for some fantastic films released over the year.
Here to discuss their favorite flicks, theater critic Gabe Smith and DVD critic Jed Pressgrove take on the enormous amounts of releases this year, weeding out the lame and each selecting their top three favorites.
Theaters
3. “Spider-Man 2”
God bless Sam Raimi, who delivered a superhero sequel that surpassed its predecessor in every department. The action is bigger, the effects more dazzling, the stakes more cataclysmic, and yet Raimi finds wonderfully small character moments deep inside the latest adventure of the world’s favorite web-slinging everyman, giving audience members something to really think about between screen-shaking battles with Dr. Octopus.
The resulting mix of broad-canvas fun and intimate human drama make for one of the year’s most entertaining and satisfying films, a blockbuster that actually deserves to bust blocks.
2. “Before Sunset”
You don’t need to have seen writer-director Richard Linklater’s 1995 romantic gem “Before Sunrise” to enjoy its equally sparkling sequel “Before Sunset,” but I’m sure it couldn’t hurt. Nine years after their fateful one-night affair in Vienna, star-crossed bohemians Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reunite in Paris for another few hours of walking, talking and perhaps falling in love. If you’ve seen “Sunrise,” then “Sunset” is more of the same: intelligent characters speaking intelligently and passionately about topis as diverse as travel, politics, family, and the ennui of growing older.
No explosions or special effects here. Just great writing, directing and especially acting from a never-better Hawke and a positively luminous Delpy. Curb your cynicism, take a chance and fall head over heels for this wonderful modern romance.
1. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
Far and away the best film of the year so far, “Sunshine” is a head trip, a valentine, a breath of fresh air. Wunderkind screenwriter Charlie Kaufman offers up another brainy dark comedy, this time about dejected Jim Carrey having his memory surgically erased after his flighty ex, Kate Winslet, has him erased first, but the scribe’s goofball existentialism has never displayed this much heart.
Carrey digs deep inside a shy unremarkable man ripped apart by love, and Kate Winslet astounds again as the free spirit who falls apart without an audience or a place to hang her hat. The pair have a tender, playful, sometimes volatile chemistry that makes the central romance more affecting than even Kaufman could have mustered on the page.
Director Michael Gondry creates one vivid visual after another as Carrey races through his own diminishing memory, and the supporting cast (notably Mark Ruffalo and a splendidly fragile Kirsten Dunst) ice the cake with a seamless tightrope act between probing pathos and screwball hilarity. Impossible to sum up in only a handful of sentences, “Sunshine” is an energetic, innovative, near-seamless wonder of a movie, one impossible to forget, even if you tried your hardest.
DVD
3. “Dawn of the Dead”
Everyone needs a disgusting DVD in their collection, and “Dawn of the Dead” meets all the gory, repulsive standards. This remake is a sickening rollercoaster of incessant flesh eating, wicked humor and genuine frights. Frenetic munching has never looked better on the small screen, and the sprinting zombie soldiers only look more crazed in your living room.
The commentary track featuring young director Zack Snyder is absolutely fantastic. Snyder never takes himself or his work too seriously, and his comments and attitude are that of an excited fanboy. The attention should be on “Splitting Headaches,” possibly the greatest extra of the year. In this innovative feature, we learn how to make disfigured zombie heads explode into a shower of brain, skull and blood. Watch this nauseatingly superb extra and start your Thanksgiving dinner.
2. “Badder Santa”
Billy Bob Thornton transforms into an alcoholic, dirty-mouthed, sex-craving and generally destructive Santa Claus. His character will undoubtedly go down as one of the most depraved in film history, and unless you’re a fan of Christmas commercialization, the performance will make you rip stitches. Of course, Lauren Graham is a load of fun with her fetish for Santa hats, and Brett Kelly is perfect as the goofy kid (every Christmas movie has its own ignorant child).
As if “Bad Santa” wasn’t “bad” enough, “Badder Santa” flexes some crude muscle with extra vulgarity, profanity and other essential Christmas elements. With over 150 “F” bombs and about 70 “S” words, not only does “Badder Santa” commemorate the spirit of Christmas, but it shows that certain words can be deftly used as nouns, verbs, adjectives and the occasional adverb. Singing a carol as Billy Bob gulps down another fifth of liquor and remembering watching Thornton punch a kid in the face juxtaposes nicely against your Operation Christmas Child project.
1. “Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2”
Now you can watch Quentin Tarantino’s multi-genre centrifuge in its entirety before the New Year with these two DVDs. Although these two films tie together, they rest on different poles. “Vol. 1” will satisfy all your action taste buds with its violent homage to Kung Fu cult favorites, samurai classics and the strange anime genre. Check out the fight between “The Bride” (Uma Thurman) and the schoolgirl bodyguard, Gogo.
“Vol. 2” takes a more personal route, bursting with dramatic close-ups like a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western. When David Carradine finally shows his face as Bill, one can only wonder why the actor has been underused, but Carradine shares the show with other revived performers like Daryl Hannah and Sonny Chiba. Sure, dialogue takes over in “Vol. 2,” but it’s Tarantino-flavored dialogue, and the best fight of both movies happens between Thurman and Hannah in a rundown trailer.
Make sure to spin the extras. Although the making-of features leave you wanting more, whatever happens, don’t miss the deleted scene from “Vol. 2” with Carradine taking down ninjas “Kung Fu” style. Any way you cut it, you’ll get more amusement on New Year’s Eve from this revenge/redemption saga than the boring, routine get-together with friends and family.