Search found 1 match: David Robert Mitchell

So here on Oscar day is my updated and (most likely) final 2011 list. I think I've seen all the important ones, save "Margaret", which could be a contender since I am a major fan of Lonergan's "You Can Count On Me".
First I thought I'll just post this list on Facebook for my friends, but then again these are the mini-reviews I shared with the Criticker community, so what the hell. That some of these pics don't fit the popular Zeitgeist of what is best is duly noted.

1. WAR HORSE (Steven Spielberg)
A sumptuous, bold and texturally strong movie, bursting at its seams with Spielberg’s magnificently fluid style, and told in such a rousing narrative that the 2 ½ hours just fly by. If anything, the man has grown more confident as a filmmaker by letting this story stand unapologetically as a religious fable while at the same time refining his decade-old stance that “war takes everything”. It’s a masterpiece.

2. THE TRIP (Michael Winterbottom)
A truly spirited film, and not just for the funny voices and the mad non-sequiturs that carry the conversations, but also for the lived life that is expressed throughout. It's a trip across the actors' home country at midlife point. What is these cultured people's place in all this vastness? There's an existential inquiry happening, and it's elevated by all the silliness.

3. HOW TO DIE IN OREGON (Peter Richardson)
In 1994 Oregon became the first US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This unsentimental and heart-wrenching documentary tells the stories of terminally ill Oregonians, their families, doctors, and friends. With much tact it looks deep into the abyss.

4. SHAME (Steve McQueen)
A methodical movie, yet full of empathy even in its austerity. Fassbender is able to convey a man who’s broken but not bad. Within the limits of his emotional range he tries to do the right thing, the rest is driven by his addiction to sex. Much of his progression is told by suggestion and it is to McQueen’s credit that he finds the right visual cues to guide our understanding.

5. THE FUTURE (Miranda July)
In which a couple in their mid-thirties realizes that none of their aspirations have been fulfilled – and the dread of aging like this makes their following decisions all the more unsettling. With awkward, metaphorical and surreal bits and (performance) pieces July tries to express how we live today. And because it’s so open and so true, its weirdness becomes the opposite of hipster poses.

6. CEDAR RAPIDS (Miguel Arteta)
The appeal here is what a school trip is to teenagers, namely the possibility of unlicensed drinking, flirting and lame dirty jokes. Adding this innocence to an insurance salesman conference in which supposedly grown men live out a momentary release from their boring old lives provides us with a giddy feeling of real companionship. It’s square from the goodness of its heart.

7. WIN WIN (Tom McCarthy)
People need some morale in their lives, especially when money and self-esteem are low. This is that rare indie film about the struggles of a contemporary family that, without having much of a theme, gets all the details right. Alex Shaffer as the troubled teenage wrestler is a marvel of authenticity.

8. COLD WEATHER (Aaron Katz)
After abandoning his studies of forensics a young man moves in with his sister in cloudy Portland and starts working at an ice factory. But soon someone disappears, and suddenly this study of aimless youth turns into an investigative mystery that is not so much concerned with a resolution but with the ties between siblings.

9. THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (David Robert Mitchell)
It's a myth, alright - an idealized piece of teenage romance that is as quiet, gentle and thoughtful as its characters. As the night moves on and these kids keep looking for love everything in this small town becomes a little strange and a little hypnotic, like a reverie out of time.

10. IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT (Marshall Curry)
Clearly maps out the steps in which a young man first becomes aware of the damage big industry is doing to our environment, then gets engaged and finally enraged. The E.L.F. has been branded the largest national terror organization in the US while none of their property attacks have resulted in a single death. In addition to being a suspenseful story this complicated doc is also a timely reminder to Wall Street protestors that the state will strike down hard.