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This year we've seen approximately 205 movies -- which is to say, not nearly enough. Trying to keep up with new releases is a Sisyphean task, albeit one that's oh so much fun. In 2008 there were, alas, a gazillion movies that slipped through the cracks. Here are ten we hope to catch up with in 2009:
1. A Christmas Tale
Catherine Deneuve in a dysfunctional Christmas movie? Count us in! This is on our to-see short list. Perhaps we'll even be really twisted and see it in the dead of summer.
2. Happy-Go-Lucky
Everyone is putting this on their best-of lists for the year, and we've yet to see a Mike Leigh movie we didn't like (Vera Drake and Topsy-Turvy are both particularly good). We expect this to be up for some Oscar noms, so hopefully it'll be in circulation for awhile.
3. La France
This French anti-war comedy of the absurd/musical with only one song had a run at the Siskel back in August but we didn't make it. Described by Variety as "Bresson meets the Beatles," we sure hope the Siskel brings it back next year.
4. Let the Right One In
A movie we desperately wanted to see at CIFF. And at the Century. But there just aren't enough hours in the day. A moody Swedish teen vampire flick, this'll wash Twilight right out of your mind.
5. Man on Wire
We heard great things about this documentary, which chronicles French highwire artist Philippe Petit's daring walk between the tops of the World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974. We also have acrophobia. So, yeah, small-screen viewing for us (with hands over our eyes maybe).
6. Milk
Yes, we know. We should have seen this already. We still believe that there's a special place reserved in hell for Gus Van Sant because of Psycho, but we'll give it a shot. Promise. We like Sean Penn and James Franco too much.
7. Savage Grace
Talk about savage. Most reviewers savaged Swoon director Tom Kalin's nasty dramatization of the Barbara Daly Baekeland murder case. The incest angle makes us a little woozy but Julianne Moore is always worth watching.
8. Standard Operating Procedure
Errol Morris's last film The Fog of War was brilliant. We just haven't been in the right headspace to see him take on the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. Arguably this is a film that every adult American ought to see. We sure hope that Obama sees it.
9. Surveillance
Jennifer Lynch's new film played twice at CIFF and on both occasions we were simply too exhausted to make it to the theatre. We sure hope this ends up on DVD soon at least. Now that we know more about the personal hell that Lynch has been through in the past few years, from reading the new biography of her dad, we're especially curious to see how she's translated that to film.
10. WALL-E
Are we alone in not having seen this yet? Frankly we're not all that keen on Disney/Pixar, but the fact that it's been compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey and features the song "Hello, Dolly!" has got our interest piqued. And it does look truly beautiful.
How about you: what movies do you regret missing this year?
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While I do in fact love Pixar movies in general (come on, the second layer of humor in Toy Story 1 & 2 is brilliant), even if you don't, you should absolutely see Wall-E. It is wonderful. I don't know a single person who didn't love it. (oh, and it features the film Hello Dolly, not so much that particular song.)
For myself, I too have not yet seen Milk; also on my list is a probably hard-to-find German-language (Plautsdeutch, actually) movie filmed in Mexico called Silent Light (Stille Licht).
I'd skip most of those (maybe not Man on Wire) and stay home and watch my Murnau and Borzage at Fox box set.
So That Girl, if it's set in Mexico and it's in platdeutsch, is it about Mennonites?
Mike, how did you guess? :) Yes, it's about adultery in a Russian Mennonite community in Mexico... which is part of why it appeals to me, admittedly, being vaguely Mennonite myself.
Loved Savage Grace, and of course it's all the more fascinating because it's based on a true story. This mother truly mind-fucked her son right into insanity (another good movie with the same theme of 'mother mind-fucking her son is "Spanking The Monkey")
Did not care for A Christmas Tale. I didn't even finish it. I usually love slow-moving- fly-on-the-wall-dysfunctional-family-foreign-movies, but this one just went nowhere for me, although you just can't complain about Catherine Deneuve!
Haven't see Milk, but it's on my top-priority list.
I also can't wait to rent Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express.
From Israel "Nina's Tragedies" is on my list as well.
I don't really enjoy the whole movie theatre experience, so I regret not seeing a LOT of movies when they come out. I usually wait til they're on dvd or On Demand, so I actually have a pretty long list of movies to be seen.
"Let The Right One In" and "Savage Grace" were just amazing. "Benjamin Button" was the best film of the year for me, but those two are right up there.
Looks like "Savage Grace" is going in my rental queue!
"let the right one in" is pretty good. funny, even, at some points.
"milk" is a must see.