agentorange [Celluloid 12.31.11]



I've heard that people are complaining that 2011 wasn't a stellar year for movies. All I can say to that is WTF are those people talking about? Anyone saying that is clearly out of the loop, because 2011 saw a slew of films that set a whole new direction for cinema as a whole.

Just look at Tree of Life, Another Earth, Melancholia or Take Shelter. These films among many others tell me that there's a cosmic new kind of story-telling brewing that is trying to grapple with our place in the universe and all things. Heaving f#*king stuff indeed.


Quiet Earth Picks:

#1.
To call this film a rom-com or a drama is a travesty. It defies conventional film structure through the use of flashbacks, poetic cinematic framing, and voiceovers, all with an arthouse bent. An experiential and intimate character driven must-see.


#2.
An emotional oscillation of dualism, this isn't for everyone but it will hit home for those on a spiritual journey. Just get rid of those damn CGI dinosaurs.


#3.
Michael Shannon is one of the top actors working today and he makes this enigmatic thriller, which is both an exploration of paranoia and enthousiasmos. This is apocalyptica at its finest. Now if only we could get this team to make VALIS.


#4.
A subdued gritty revenge thriller starring a disciplined but savage southern gentleman and those douchebag hipster 30-somethings we all know.


#5.
A juvenile apocalyptic fetish "immatures" into an apocalyptic love story. Homemade flame throwers. Need I say more?

Honourable Mentions: Sleeping Beauty


Agent Orange picks:

#1.
This is truly an epic of horror filmmaking and in so many ways unlike anything I've seen before. On the surface a revenge movie, it also turns the revenge genre on its ears as cat becomes mouse and hunter becomes hunted again and again. And the action beats are as awesome as the protagonist's coats. Korea is officially on the map with this one.


#2.
Easily one of the most pretentious films ever made, Beyond the Black Rainbow is also an ungodly nightmare that will haunt you forever. It lures you in with black magic and tries to eat your soul. Like a terrifying out of body experience you'll be clamoring to feel alive once the credits role. I didn't know what to think after I screened it, but I've decided that all that emptiness is a good thing.


#3.
Sometimes a movie just gets it right. The images, the soundtrack, the swagger all just skip to a rhythm that seems at once modern and timeless. Drive was called "cool" and it's certainly that if not ice cold.


#4.
What Monsters lacks in, well monsters, it makes up for in filmmaking ingenuity and true indie spirit. Gareth Edwards took two actors and no script to Mexico and brought home a science fiction romance that feels like a travel documentary.


#5.
I've never been a "Kevin Smith fan." I mean, I've seen almost all his good films, but I never worshiped him like some do. So the fact that the Kevin Smith made Red State doesn't concern me. The artistic departure is not why I love this movie. I love Red State because it's a nasty little movie that seems to revel in defying all expectations. It shows evil in all the places you least expect and heart in the hands of mad men. It's possibly the most honest depiction of modern America if only that its the most insane. And why do I get the sense that in some corners this is all fairly accurate.

Honourable mentions: Stake Land, Source Code, Melancholia, Hell & 13 Assassins.


Marina Picks:

#1.
Someone recently made the comment that the plot and story of Malick's new offering is confusing. It's certainly not linear and even after half a dozen viewings, some of it is a bit murky, but it doesn't detract from the fact that every time I see it, I'm left with a feeling of profundity, of being connected to the world around me in a way few other films have managed to do. I watch Tree of Live and it leaves me thinking about how I fit into the larger scheme of the universe. I can?t think of any other film that does that and I have a gut feeling that in five or even ten year?s time, it will still have that effect on me.


#2.
As with Dogtooth, Lynn Ramsay's new film is a disguised horror film. It?s been well publicized that the film stars Tilda Swinton, in another brilliant performance, as the mother of a boy involved in a school shooting, but what?s unexpected is the personal hell that Eva suffers on a daily basis as she struggles with the fact that she brought a monster into the world. It?s a staggering performance in an unconventionally told story that had me squirming with each passing scene.


#3.
Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon re-team for this quasi-apocalyptic tale of a man who foresees the end of the world? or maybe he's just crazy. Part family drama and partly a look at a man who may be suffering from psychosis, Nichol's film kept me guessing at every turn.


#4.
Anne Émond's feature film debut is a marvel of the intimate drama. Set almost exclusively in an apartment, Clara and Nikolaï's one night stand evolves, over the course of a single night, to encompass all of the emotions one experiences in a long term relationship. Not only does the film feature an insightful, often painfully spot on, script, the performances from Catherine de Léan and Dimitri Storoge are unforgettable.


#5.
If last year you'd told me that I?d have a movie led by Bradley Cooper on my top 10, never mind top 5 list, I would have laughed in your face. Well, I take it back. Cooper is very good as the washed out author turned overnight genius in this sci-fi thriller about a little drug that will make you a genius but the real win is the concept and story itself which explores, some more fully than others, the implications and cost of being ten steps ahead of the game.

Honourable Mentions: Shame, Drive, Incendies, Jane Eyre, Target

Umberto (4 months ago) Reply

Innazitutto ragazzi buon 2012 dalla citta eterna! (Roma) per me che sono un'appassionato di fantascienza MONSTERS mi ha veramente impressionato... una bellissima storia d'amore girata come un documentario, veramente un gran bel film!

missphitts (4 months ago) Reply

No Attack the Block?? Weird. Was my #1.

NIOMADA (4 months ago) Reply

You better be trolling.

PS: LILI.

jawshoeah (4 months ago) Reply

didn't Monsters come out in 2010? It's a great flick, as is the rest of the videos on this list!

agentorange (4 months ago) Reply

Monsters came out on DVD and blu-ray in 2011. Very small theatrical window in 2010 (fests mostly), so I think it totally counts.

cyclops76 (4 months ago) Reply

I think Agent Orange's list is the one I agree the most with. Nice selection. I consider Drive the best movie of 2011, loved Red State and thoroughly enjoyed Monsters. Nice to see those movies getting some well deserved love.

Leave a comment

Your Comment

Related articles