Some fantastic sequences from movies that for a reason or another didn’t end up on my favourites’ list:
The Christmas party. Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYuMUFv1HIM
The horse riding through the no man’s land. War Horse.
Michael Fassbender sitting in the tube and staring. Shame.
George Clooney running to his friends house. The Descendants.
The sequence in the woods. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
Any sequence with Kate Winslet. Contagion.
… and of course this:
Finally a poster that set the tone right for this fantastic thriller/horror.
Straight from aintitcoolnews:
It didn’t make the list of my favourites of 2011 because it is technically a 2010 movie but it does deserve all the possible praises.
Of course I’m talking of…
A masterclass in visual storytelling.
PS
And probably best poster of the year 2000whatever.
And no! They are not listed in order of preference. They are not all perfect but they all gave me something worth it and they will all be part of my life forever… Damn, I love movies!
They fight,They bite,They bite and fight and bite,bite, bite,bite,fight, fight, fight,
…. and I cry!
A western, set in Ireland with a fat guarda olympic champion of swimming cop, an FBI agent and a bunch of existentialist crooks.
Sold!
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Yes, it is not perfect, and yes the monkeys are CGI puppets yet it’s a great spectacle and that screamed “NO!” still resounds in my conscience.
Cesar/Serkis rules.
No spaceships, no guns, no vfx, no stars, no CGI monkeys… just pure, tense, thrilling, upsetting, sublime drama. Simply perfect.
Maybe it’s because I saw it in the same cinema shown at the beginning of the movie, maybe it’s because I was in Paris, maybe It’s because I’m in love, but wow, I really do loved this little film.
Speechless… just listen this and re-watch the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8
Yes it is as good as they told you.
The Wire series 4 for real.
Statistic, numbers and human beings. A movie about baseball without baseball. Brilliant.
And Jonah Hill deserves an Oscar for this stunning understated performance.
One hour of character set up to present the most despicable archenemy ever and one hour of restless brutal fightings to get rid of him.
13 man against a world and a herd of cows.
A distillation of samurai aweso-mess. Unmissable.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL
Take the most tired and less convincing blockbuster franchise and turn it into the most expensive and successful slapstick comedy ever. Directed by the director of PIXAR’s best movies.
Before this movie I never thought that I would have ever put together in a sentence the words comedy, Seth Rogen and cancer… There’s always a first time.
A sincere, well performed and written comedy with Seth Rogen, about cancer.
A bunch of very talented female filmmakers for the raunchiest comedy of the year.
And when I say raunchy… i mean it. It portraits the best wedding dress rehearsal scene ever.
Sergio Leone + John Ford + Sam Peckinpah + …Chuck Jones!
Irresistible!
A technological breakthrough. Best and most intelligent use of 3D ever.
Plus the re-imagined sequence of Melies making his films are simply unmissable.
A post-mumblecore, sincere and heartwarming treat by the guy who was a journalist in the 5th series of The Wire…
Best real horror/comedy/chilling afterthought about having kids ever and Tilda Swinton transcend acting.
A lesson in how to make a gazillion of moolah and scare a huge audience with a bed sheet and a fan.
John C. Reilly’s rendition of R2D2, drunk in the swimmingpool watching his friends groping is priceless.
And there is Isiah “shiiiiitz” Whitlock jr making a rendition of Omar from The Wire.
PS
Yes I like The Wire and if You haven’t watch it do not loose more time reading this blog but go and watch one of the best thing ever put together by human beings.
PPS
2011 Movies I haven’t watch yet but I need to: The Descendants, the Muppets, Pina, Weekend, Tomboy, Le Havre, Hell and Back Again, Knuckle, Rapt, Being Elmo, Corman’s World, Take Shelter, My week with Marylyn, Another Earth, Jane Eyre, Marta Marcy Marlene, A Better Life, Wuthering Heights.
PPPS
Senna is not here cause it is technically a film of 2010.
I’ve been quite busy in the last few weeks developing Monolith and didn’t get a moment to update the blog.
But I discovered some precious gems that made my Christmas holidays even more special and that I’d like to share with you:
COMIC BOOKS
The Walking Dead (by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard)
Forget the TV series, the comic book is the real deal and Robert Kirkman one of the best writer ever. Fantastic characters, great story-lines, great artworks, perfect storytelling… nuff said. I was pretty tired of zombies but this comic book just resuscitate and insane crave for fresh flesh.
Invincible (by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker)
Do you remember discovering superhero comic book at the age of 12? If you have no clue of what I’m talking about just skip this post but if you remember the amazement, the surprise, the thrill, the innocence and the loss of it… Invincible really brought me back there. A real time travelling treat and another terrific ongoing series from Robert Kirkman. Man, this guy is talented!
Uncanny X-Force (by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena)
Do you miss Grant Morrison on X-Men? Miss no more! Soothe yourself!
Rick Remender and Jerome Opena are terrific and making something out of Age of Apocalypse they also make feel the 90s suddenly quite poignant.
Marzi a memoir (by Marzena Sowa and Sylvain Savoia)
This was a present for my wife who is not a geek and who luckily loved it.
If Poland for you is a big drawing on a map or not much more than Wojtyla and Walesa but you want to know more about how it was leaving there in the 80s… then this is a book for you. If you just want to read one of the best biopic ever… then this is a book for you. If you are curious… this is a book for you.
Two years ago. London. Forbidden planet. The first massive volume of Elephantmen lays on the shelf of Forbidden Planet. The cover is a bit clunky and remembers me of cheap stuff from the 90s. Inside the other covers by Jose Ladronn are stunningly beautiful but the still green interior illustrations by Moritat do not match that quality. I smell smoke and mirrors. I remain there, as I usually do, thinking about the price and the other twenty comic books I “need” to read… buy or not to buy? I option for the second one. Elephantmen remains there.
Three weeks ago, a sale on Comixology…. three volume of Elephantmen an humungous number of pages at the price of a single issue of the latest bad 16-pages comic-book. It’s now or never. 100 minutes later and dozen of triple checks on Amazon I once again realise that the stuff on sale on comixology is unbeatable. The three volumes are safely downloaded on my computer and they do not occupy any physical space: my bookshelf and my wife will be happy.
Three weeks later. Nowadays. Elephantmen is thrilling, moving, epic, funny. The writer Richard Starkings is a genius and the universe he created with Moritat and Ladronn is beautiful, real and alive. Moritat arts improves massively issue by issue and amalgamate brilliantly with the other artists involved, and as usually happens with the best comic book artists it just beautifully serves the story. It is one of the best sci-fi ever. Go, buy and read it
Some Links:
If you missed this:
check it out, and if you like it go and watch this:
You don’t need to watch the previous two.
Lovely little brilliant finnish film.
Two blogs that are real gold for aspiring writers, directors, producers and consequentially for partners of the previous lot to understand the frantic journey they are into:
