Encore Awards: Auspicious Cinema

I’ll get around to listing my official list of favourite films some time soon, but I was thinking recently – and for some months now – how treacherous the act of grading films can be at times. No, this is not that long-awaited article explaining my sometimes strange grades, but it’s something that occurred to me most notably when Nicholas (one of my writing idols) made this note on his website. Sometimes when I review a film that I don’t like, I’ll include an aside saying it’s a laudable effort. It’s not evidence of me being apologetic – sometimes films have importance beyond how good a film it is; and Nick’s words strike a chord when I look over the films that are my favourite– and the ones that aren’t.  Value, originality and risk is what he looks at and this list of films below  are those I consider to be propitious contributions to cinema. Not the films I remember most fondly (although, some turn up there) but the films that are important – those films that are worth your time, even if you don’t love them. (Come on; just check the dictionary to see what auspicious means.) If you will, this is the list of ten films that you shouldn’t have missed last year.

    

(click on the photos for reviews)

THE NOMINEES 

Agora (A-) Director: Alejandro Amenábar; originally written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, inspired by true events

Amenbar was interested in the idea of Hypatia, a feminist before her time – before feminists even. It’s more than plot that makes this a notable one, though. Amenbar and company recreate the world of the era through few special effects, but mostly from built-from-scratch production design. Perhaps I’m alone on this, but the persistent presence of objectivity in it is something to take note of. It’s not a sword and sandal epic of yore that has a specific agenda – sure it contorts historical facts to its advantages, but Agora is a bit like its heroine in being interested in examining all aspects of everything. And perhaps, that makes the transition from the first to the second half a bit splotchy – but it’s still laudable.

The Ghost Writer (B+) Director: Roman Polanski; adapted by Roman Polanski and Robert Harris from the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris

I feel a bit silly, because in my natural state of knowing nothing before I saw The Ghost Writer it wasn’t until the second attempt that I was able to glean the potential parallels between Tony Blair – and only after it was pointed out to me (I can be especially clueless about current affairs at times). Not that Polanski’s latest only has importance on that front only. What’s most noticeable about Polanski’s work here is how audacious his directing style still is. He’s still one of the most important cinematic entities alive, and he crafts a film about a man we have no idea about but keeps it finely tuned along with the excellent script. The Ghost Writer won’t top my list of favourite films, but the work put it into it marks it as the most prominent film of 2010 (including, but not relegated to its technical achievements).

             

Inception (B-/C+) Director: Chris Nolan; originally written by Christopher Nolan

I was not the biggest fan of Inception when it came out, and if anything my feelings have lessened but that doesn’t prevent me from admiring Nolan’s vision. No, my disliking Inception was not an example of me being deliberately subversive. Nolan is responsible for a significant portion of the actually story and he deserves credit for the scope of the film. I don’t think he succeeds as well as he might in the creation of completely lucid film, but Inception is the sort of achievement that’s important as a valid example of cinema moving forward – and getting more audacious. For that, I applaud him.

            

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (B+) Director: Edgar Wright; adapted by Edgar Wright and Mark Baccall from a graphic novel by Brian Lee O'Malley

There are a number of reasons that I’ve been miffed about the lukewarm reception Scott Pilgrim vs the World seems to have gotten this past year, and I’ll take solace in it becoming a potential cult classic. It’s not because I happen to like it, I might opine that this is probably the most significant comic to screen adaptation of the last decade. Strong words? Bear with me. Scott Pilgrim’s steadfast devotion to the things that define its generation (Nathan gives a thoughtful review on just that) AND its ability to satisfy the niche without making persons not in that niche audience balk is a significant asset that many films of the type don’t have. It seems as if it sets itself up for a box, but the overwhelming youthfulness of it all is not a crutch but one of its strong suits – one of many.

         

The Social Network (A) Director: David Fincher; adapted by Aaron Sorkin from the novel The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich and inspired by true events

To an extent I feel as if The Social Network is being celebrated for the wrong things. It doesn’t end up on my list because it reinvents the wheel, it’s here because Sorkin’s script wilily presents us with the most basic of human entities (friendship and jealousy) and Fincher, so astutely, takes up the mantle to helm the piece ensuring that it’s more than about Zuckerberg or facebook. I feel a bit lofty claiming that it’s some sort of social parable for civilisation today and to an extent it’s just a bit too serious for its own good. It’s possible that misrepresentation on this front has attracted claims of its misogynistic ways. In assessing The Social Network, though, it’s better to understand its importance through smaller lenses like human emotion than larger entities like internet addiction (not that human emotion is a “small” entity, but on a curve its less voluble – and more in tune with The Social Network’s inherently smaller – but  not necessarily lesser – standards).

             

FINALISTS: Fish Tank (C+) doesn’t thrill me half as much as it does most, but Arnold’s debut is still admirable. Narrative issues aside, she has a striking sense of interest in her protagonist that’s sorely lacking in many coming-of-age films. For Colored Girls (B-) is flawed, but it’s disingenuous not to note the superb attempts that Perry takes in adapting this VERY theatrical piece and trying to maintain that beating theatrical heart and reconciling it with the cinema. Howl (C+) is even more faulty than the former, and I sort of wish that Epstein would have had the guts to be a little less prosaic with how he paced the story – but, that aside, he does some original things with Ginsberg’s life and it makes me interested in seeing him tackling another biographical piece – he seems to have an unbridled enthusiasm for it. Night Catches Us (B/B-) is not a history lesson, and Hamilton is not interested in forwarding a cause shrouded in a pedestrian story. Sometimes she's too reticent for her own good, but the drama she creates is taut and gutsy and most importantly adeptly handled. And, Shutter Island (B) – this one is notable, in particular, for its technical achievements and Scorsese’s ability to utilise past genres while still managing to make the film his, despite that ending – which he can’t be blamed for.

          

SEMI-FINALISTS: The American; Blue Valentine; Greenberg; The Kids Are All Right

         

Do you get where I’m going here, or am I confusing? (Again, I say, read Nick’s post) Have you been in the same boat, a film worthy of your respect that you may not love? What’s the most IMPORTANT film of 2010 for you?