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So many movies, so little time. How true. Unless you're a professional cinephile, there's no hope of seeing even a fraction of what looks interesting in any given year. We actually tallied up the numbers and between theatrical releases, film festival screenings, and DVDs we've seen 175 movies this year — barely any at all. And with the industry's practice of backloading releases, a veritable midyear drought suddenly giving way to an avalanche of multiple releases at year's end, it's harder than ever to keep up.
All we can say is hooray for the DVD. On Monday we'll present a list of the ten best movies we saw this year, but for now here's ten that we wished we'd seen.
1. Away From Her
Julie Christie (and perhaps even first-time director Sarah Polley) could be up for some Oscar noms. This meditative story of aging and loss is already queued up on greencine.
2. Broken English
Parker Posey in a rare lead role, with Gena Rowlands playing her mom! Why the hell did we miss this?
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Just opened at the Landmark Century. You bet your boots we'll be seeing it. We've liked every Julian Schnabel film thus far, and this looks like a stunner.
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Taking top prizes at CIFF and elsewhere, this Romanian abortion drama should be as sinus-cleearing as Bella was sinus-clogging.
5. Manda Bala
Did this supposedly-stunning Brazilian documentary even make it to Chicago this year? We can't remember. But several friends in NYC have raved about it. We hope it gets some kind of distribution.
6. Michael Clayton
In our eyes George Clooney can do no wrong these days. So why didn't we see it? Well, between CIFF and the gazillion other movies released since October this one slipped through the cracks.
7. The Savages
Again, just opened. On our to-see list.
8. Southland Tales
A big fan of Donnie Darko, we were quite disappointed that Richard Kelly's truly perverse-sounding followup came and went so quickly. Sure, it looks like a mess; but an interesting mess is more fun to watch than a safe success.
9. Sunshine
Danny Boyle's metaphysical sci-fi picture about a voyage to the sun must've looked great on a big screen. Ah well. When it comes out on DVD in a few weeks, it'll be time to tap that friend of ours with the awesome home theater.
10. Year of the Dog
Mike White, one of our favorite screenwriters, makes his directoral debut, with Molly Shannon in the lead no less. Perfect DVD rental this winter.
How about you? Which missed flicks will you try to catch up with next year?
image via allposters.com
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I saw #1 and #4. You're not missing all that much in #1, except for Julie Christie's phenomenal performance.
4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days is extraordinary!
Sunshine isn't all that great. It starts out smart and quickly becomes "How many ways can we kill someone in space?". The answer, by the way, is ALOT. Which would be fun but it's executed with all the joy of a snuff film.
Year of the Dog is one of the strangest character studies ever committed to film. Molly Shannon is simply beautiful, strange and breaks your heart about a dozen times in her loneliness. That said, it's actually really uplifting.
But Southland Tales is just 2.5 hours of Wank.
I want to see "No Country for Old Men", as I hear it is fantastic. My boss keeps telling me I should see it.
Ditto on Sunshine. I fell asleep watching it. Of course I started watching it 8 hours into a combined 17 hour flight...
No, Away from Her is great - phenomenal story and acting! I also highly recommend Year of the Dog. One of my faves. But you asked for OUR lists. For me, the top ten that got away:
Lust, Caution
Time
Into the Wild
No End in Sight
Syndromes and a Century
After the Wedding
Colossal Youth
Gone Baby Gone
Goya's Ghosts (I know, bad reviews, but I still want to)
Redacted (ditto)
I've seen Broken English, Michael Clayton, Year of the Dog, and Sunshine... enjoyed all of them for different reasons. I think of those, Michael Clayton was my *least* favorite... it was just a bit overdone, the whole corrupt industry trying to cover something up thing, blah blah blah...
I'm hoping to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as well as Into the Wild before 2008 hits.
I'm a bit late to the party, but "The Year of the Dog" was really bad. The first 30 minutes showed some promise, but it degenerated quickly from there.