2012 Viewing Journal #1

"The Descendants" I really thought I liked Alexander Payne. My kneejerk, upon seeing the trailer to his new film, was: 'looks like another winner'. My tenuous memories of his films included great performances and grand themes embedded in 'a man against...' narratives. I wasn't sure what George Clooney was facing in this one, but I had faith in Payne, based on my memory of his oeuvre.

I only just now realized his oeuvre is: 'Citizen Ruth', 'Election', 'About Schmidt' and 'Sideways'. 'Citizen Ruth', I've never seen. 'About Schmidt', I kind of hated. And 'Sideways', I liked enough, but thought overrated. 'Election' was the neuron that kept firing in my brain when I considered Payne's work. I really, really like 'Election'. It's a terrific film. And I realized that my admiration of Payne was based on this, his theatrical debut. It still is.

'The Descendants' lives in the same world as 'Little Miss Sunshine', and though a fine movie, it's one too filled with quirk (irascible old father-in-law, tag along stoner, adorable little scamp), faux-pathos and melodrama.

"I Saw the Devil" Jee-woon Kim's revenge fantasy / crime drama is a fairly audacious piece of filmmaking. The plot follows a cop playing a sick game of cat and mouse with the serial killer who murdered his fiance. The lengths to which the cop 'tortures' his prey defies both story logic and character sanity, but it's great fun to watch the players squirm and fall deeper and deeper into each others psychoses. Graphic and brutal, to be sure.

"The Skin I Live In" Almodovar is an odd filmmaker, one whose narratives plunge deep into oddball behaviors/themes/character, but whose style remains a bit pedestrian. He's not unlike David Lynch, though considerably more sympathetic to his audience when it comes to explaining things. His latest is certainly oddball, but ultimately a satisfying narrative on the theme of beauty and gender, with a little revenge and horror thrown in the works. I dug it.

"Attack the Block" Not unlike 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' in terms of overall 'fun', 'Attack the Block' is a breezy British import by some of the same filmmakers (though, not the principal creators). I'd say it probably exists somewhere in my Top 10 for 2011.