The Savages

Alternatingly depressing and uncomfortably funny, The Savages is a well-written showcase for two of our finest actors. Three, actually. I've thought Laura Linney is one of our finest actresses since Tales of the City and Truman Show. Philip Seymour Hoffman also gets better and better in every role. Their work together in The Savages is nothing short of genius.

Director and Writer Tamara Jenkins has given us a film of great complexity. Wendy and Jon Savage are suddenly forced to care for their father, Lenny (also played with great complexity and sensitivity by Philip Bosco), as he slips into dementia. Two grown children, neglected by their father (and mother, for that matter) for many years suddenly become his primary caregivers. Forced to deal with their strained relationship with their father and their strained relationship with each other,

It's not pretty. This history has left both Wendy and Jon damaged. Wendy has been having a longterm affair with a married man in her building, and Jon can't connect with his Polish girlfriend. Both struggle in their jobs.

But there's a real beauty in the way the relationship unfolds. The writing, the acting, the complexity and the subtlety make for a fine film that leaves you a little sad, a little drained, and grateful for having seen it.

Best of the Year: Film

As we move into the last weeks of January it is time to finally settle on the best film of 2007-plus. I've seen some excellent 2007 films in 2008, though I suspect there are a few more to come this way. And the winner is...

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Two masters come together to make the year's most potent film. Sweeney is the film that should get the critical response people are heaping on Atonement. It's the amazing blend of story, art direction, musical direction all on a grand scale. Just much, much darker. Director Tim Burton takes the already amazing work by Stephen Sondheim and adds his deft touch. And the result is a new Sweeney Todd, different than its other almost perfect incarnations, but also almost perfect nonetheless.

The film is different in large part because Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter bring new, darker interpretations to the roles of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett. The supporting cast, especially Alan Rickman, is strong. I've commented before on how the age-appropriate casting makes the film even more unsettling, something I see as a great strength of the film and a great achievement as well.

And now, on to 2008.

Holiday Films: The Reviews

Time to catch up on the films I checked out over the holiday break. The films were a varied lot, so let's dive right in:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was my Christmas Day film this year. It's a masterpiece. The perfect mix of all that is great about Tim Burton and the masterwork of the master Stephen Sondheim. The film strips the stage version, which I've seen in multiple forms, of most of its humor. The result is a dark, stirring horror film that often feels hyperreal.

I think part of the the strength and power of the film is that it's cast with age-appropriate actors. The stage version usually has a Tobias of 25, not 12, and Antonys and Johannas of at least that age, not 16. This change struck me as an essential change in the film. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter give performances unlike any Todd or Lovett I've seen, but their interpretations are legitimate with great integrity.

The cinematography and art direction are phenomenal, but one would expect nothing less from a Tim Burton film.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets doesn't totally suck. It sucks a little, but not totally. I saw two films over the last year that I ended up seeing simply out of boredom. Live Free or Die Hard was the first, and it far exceeded my expectations. National Treasure met my expectations, but those expectations were pretty low. It's a decent divertissement. And Helen Mirren will elevate anything.

Juno totally charms. Ellen Page gives one of the finest performances of the year, and Michael Cera one of the most charmingly understated (and a major improvement over Superbad, though he was the best thing about that film). Jason Bateman and, particularly, Jennifer Garner give great performances, as well.

The script by Diablo Cody has gotten most of the attention here, and it's really fine. But it is the deft hand of director Jason Reitman and a phenomenal cast that makes it work. It's also really great to have a strong feminist voice in a major film.

One week later I'm still not sure what to make of No Country for Old Men. It is without a doubt the most intense film I've seen all year. In fact, Sweeney Todd is a pale second. The script is always intriguing and the performances are all incredible. Javier Bardem is still terrifying me.

Joel and Ethan Coen make films that unsettle me. I expect that. But No Country for Old Men confused me as much as it unsettled me. I'm not sure it's ultimately successful in its execution. I say that knowing it has received more critics awards than every other film combined.

I like Atonement more this morning that I did last night right after I saw it. It's certainly beautiful and of great pedigree. The structure disoriented me more than engaged me. It shouts "isn't this the most ingenious film you've ever seen" a little too much for me. Is that a whiff of pretension I smell?

Two performances stand out. James McAvoy is amazing, and really makes this his film. The accent, the body movement, the style is so different from anything he's done to this point and yet seems so natural and organic. Vanessa Redgrave does more in her just under 7 minutes of screen time than anyone else in the cast accomplishes. I think its her performance at the end of the film that is making me appreciate more today.

That's it for the moment. I think it means I'm ready to give me thoughts on the best film of the year. Stay tuned.

Best of the Year: Film (Part 1)

Living out here in the boonies, the choice for best film of the year always poses some perplexing issues. Our film selection is generally limited and the films that do get here take weeks, if not months. Last year, I waited a couple of weeks after the new year to choose my top films. So, I had a chance to see Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth before making my choices. Children of Men was easily my top film last year.

So, this year we have yet to see I'm Not There or There Will Be Blood. Of the top ten films on Modern Fabulousity, for example, five have yet to arrive within an hour of here. No Country for Old Men opened this week, as did Juno. My reviews of those two films will be posted in the next couple of days.

I've decided to wait one more week to post my best film entry. Rumor has it we'll be getting a few new films this week that have made it to a number of 10-best lists. In the meantime, I'll be posting my reviews of the films I have seen over the last week and a half. Stay tuned