The Movie Rat

Best Horror Films of 2013

Posted on January 11, 2014 by bernardovillela

While my total for viewed films overall was up in 2013 the new horror that I saw was down. Due to that I decided that a top 10 would be more prudent and meaningful. That does not mean, however, that these are the only horror films I liked. I have created a Letterboxd list that ranks the horror I saw from 1-38. About half that list are films I liked and would recommend viewing.

But these are the best of that faction.

10. Warm Bodies

Making a genre-specific list can be a tough thing, especially when you deal with horror. There are a few reasons for this: first, almost everyone and anyone has their own picks that they peg as horror that are debatable. For example, a few years ago I chose Take Shelter. I stand by that and get arguments against it. Similarly, though one of my favorite films of the year, I don’t see Stoker as a horror film, but I get it.

Which brings us to Warm Bodies. Yes, it’s comedic and romantic and there are zonbies. I can even get it if you don’t want to see zombies this way at all. However, I think it does what it does in a fun and creative way. It’s not perfect, of course, and the balancing act to an extent puts a ceiling on it but I did enjoy it quite a bit, aside from the makeup work.

9. Stitches

This is perhaps the darkest dark horse to crack my list for a few reasons. First, yes, when balancing horror and another genre things get tricky and this movie keeps the laughs and gore working hand-in-hand rather well. Moreover, it not only deals with a hard motif to sell me on, but it incorporates a folklore of the craft of clowning such that it creates a marvelous horror mythology out of it, and most definitely puts its own unique spin on the scary clown motif.

8. Maniac

This is the latest-viewed in the year selection that I included. As noted before I didn’t get to finish viewing the original Maniac, and I don’t really mind that now. This one features a memorable score, a great use of POV with some great sleight-of-hand behind the camera and in the editing room. It’s also further testament to how a great performance can elevate a horror film and Elijah Wood is a testament to that here.

7. The Purge

I do wish some things in The Purge, say the decision to have the antagonists in animal masks, hardly a unique one at that; had been handled differently. However, despite that pet peeve and and overly-short act one that was rather shaky. This definitely worked for me in the end. To the point of my post about it, it sets up as a film whose sequel may surpass it. I do think this is a good first step and that that film functions as a home invasion tale with an added twist.

6. Haunter

I wrote about this film specifically during 61 Days of Halloween and addressed the way it uniquely combines a few tropes that are old hat by now. It’s an engaging low-key horror tale that revels in slight variation, nuance of character takes its slow-burn to a near blaze by the end.

5. The Condemned

It’s a little surprising to even myself that this is the only horror film shot in a language other than English on this list. However, it does bear mentioning that if you limit yourself to American horror only, even with a healthy dose of indies, you’re doing yourself a disservice as you’ll find some really cool stuff globally. This one is not even coming from that far away as it was produced in Puerto Rico. Because it’s likely the least-seen of all of these here’s my review from April:

This can be a tough film to discuss without putting too fine a point on things and giving away several key elements, but like the film I will try to be subtle. There has been much talk in recent years, as it’s been more in vogue as of late than in years past, of the slow burn, particularly as it applies to the horror genre. A slow burning tale, as I’ve likely stated before, is not one that’s in and of itself problematic. Usually, the key to success for these films is either of two things: first, incremental and consistent, even if slight, escalation of stakes, and second, a sufficiently impressive and resonant pay-off to the wait.

The Condemned does not build quickly, even for a slow burn, but it excels tremendously in the pay-off department. What’s interesting is that it dabbles with many known tropes: haunting, children, secrets and the like, but with the way things play out it even toys with the very notion it even being a horror film, in a similar way to how last year’s The Hidden Face did, but ultimately remains one for all else it is.

There are subtleties throughout, things you are advised to recall though you may not think it crucial at the time. The Condemned is a wonderfully rendered tale that does sufficient visual exposition and elaboration on its turning points such that most, if not all, loose ends are tied up and the whole piece is elevated by, and not subjugated to, its trickery.

Its surely for horror fans, and I’d say art house fans too as it is an intelligent, well-acted and crafted film that does linger. It seems like the horror crop of 2013 may be a brainier bunch than ones in the past few years.

4. The Awakening

This is another one that inspired me to write a piece. Not quite a review but it was the very strong performances in this well-crafted old school ghost story that re-emphasized in my mind the foundation of drama in all other genres, especially horror. Because the performances are so good, the characters so well-drawn and story so conducive to building them the scares (fairly fundamentally employed though they may be) really work.

3. Byzantium

Yes, this is a vampire love story. This was a dismissed film on Peter Travers summer “skip list” based on vampires alone. But this is Neil Jordan, this is not run of the mill, and most definitely not twilight. And make no mistake this film unlike Warm Bodies definitely emphasizes the horror aspect. It also tells a tale in two time periods, and has the narrative intertwine, has great production design and cinematography and is well worth looking for if you want an escape from the ordinary.

2. The Conjuring

Welcome to the top of the list or as you could call in 2013 James Wan country. Even though I was a huge Insidious fan, and I saw trailers for The Conjuring coming, I didn’t realize ahead of time that he’d have two horror releases so close to one another. Much less did I realize that Wan would throw down the gauntlet before at least taking a hiatus from the genre. The fascinating thing, and I will expound on this below, is that when all is said and down there were really two somewhat different approaches to the genre taken. Many would’ve expected his two films to be two-sides of the same coin, but they’re really not. Not quite.

The Conjuring is old-school scary that gets huge near its finale for better or worse all the chips go to the middle of the table. And notably, publicity stunt or not, genre-necessity for a studio or not, its R-rating can only be intellectually argued based on how effectively made it is, and not based on any MPAA guideline it violates.

1. Insidious: Chapter 2

Landing in the top ten, especially up at number one, is ostensibly about two things in most cases: doing something a little bit different and doing it very well. Yes, Insidious: Chapter 2 is a sequel. However, its status as such gives it even more leeway; heck, it’s almost expected to be a variation on the original. As a testament to Leigh Whannell, James Wan and Blumhouse, they did not play it safe. They took a chance and took this second installment where pretty much no one else expected, and I for one loved it.

Best Films of 2013: 10-1

Posted on January 10, 2014 by bernardovillela

The easy question to ask is: “why do a list at all when you already have an awards slate on your site?” It’s a good question and I finally may have formulated the best response to it yet. Basically, it’s a less comparative discussion on each film that you feel marked the year for you. In writing a list you discuss each film and a only every few numbers or so get bogged down in discussing placement.

I will try my best to avoid redundancy and will link and self-quote where I deem necessary but it was in re-watching something that I came upon that truth. Awards with their winners and fellow nominees and then snub-ees can be read as a slight, thought that is never the intent. A list as celebratory, if not more so because of the insularity of conversation. So let us begin to the first five.

Now 30 is a high number and I could’ve increased it. I saw the most eligible titles ever this year, but I wanted to further honor these films by having the percentile they represent be a smaller fraction than prior lists.

Let us conclude with 10 to 1…

10. It’s All So Quiet

As you’ve noted both by my quoting and hyperlinking a vast majority of the films in the top 30 have been written about. However, this title was one one that garnered not one but two write-ups immediately. It did so, in part, because I did want to analyze it some, but split because that part was spoilery and I thought it best for those who haven’t seen it to read a spoiler-free review. Here’s that one:

It’s All So Quiet is a film that sets you up from its pace virtually from the start. The opening titles roll for two-and-a-half minutes on a shot of wheat, with farmland and sunlight behind it. From this you should be prepared for a fairly deliberately paced film. If you’re not you’ll surely get the hint from the next few scenes where the protagonist Helmer (Jeroen Willems) first moves his bedridden father and then sets him up upstairs with a new bed in the living room.

However, as deliberate as the pace is the subtext of the film is fairly clear throughout and thanks to the actors most of their thought processes communicate their sentiments where words do not.

Helmer’s deciding to move his father upstairs is just the first upheaval in this film. The next that will occur is that a new, young farmhand Henk (Martijn Lakemeier) comes to work and live there and throws things into further disarray.

The cinematography in this film is magnificent. The cast proves time and again that so little of film acting is about the spoken word but rather playing the frame and physicality; dialogue-free Willems and Lakemeier share one of the most poignant and moving scenes I’ve watched this year.

As the story progresses, despite its lack of blunt commentary on the fact you soon will see what the film is about and the tale of repressed desire and unrequited love woven so skillfully by Nanouk Leopold here is one of the best of its rare breed that I’ve seen.

9. Class Enemy

I’d love it if there was an Academy Award submitted film every year that I can champion vehemently until I’m blue in the face, however, I know how fortunate I’ve been to have one two years running. Here are two excerpts from my review:

Class Enemy, which is Slovenia’s official selection for Best Foreign Language film, tells a tale of a high school class that singles out its new German teacher (Played by Igor Samobor) as the party responsible for their classmate’s suicide (Sabina played by Dasa Cupevski). The film picks up right as their favorite teacher, whom Robert (Samobor) is replacing, is going out on maternity leave and follows the back-and-forth struggle between the three main factions (teacher, students and administration) throughout the school year consistently adding layers to the characters, and conflicts.

Class Enemy, when all is said and done, is basically everything you want out of a dramatic piece. It tackles difficult dramatic questions and does not shy away from exploration without concrete answers, but instead knows that better films usually take the journey well; exploring and changing their characters along the way, and more importantly, it understands that the best dramas aren’t about victors or where they audience sides, but how much we enjoy watching them engage in battle.

8. Frozen

From the moment Frozen begins where you could construe it as visual allusions either to Dumbo or Snow White I knew it was going to be something special. And, as I cited at the BAM Awards:

“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” induces chills and nearly brought me to tears something less than five minutes into the film, which is a nearly impossible task, and part of what makes it so memorable.

The animation is incredibly dynamic and the tale have some truly great turns. Most of the songs do work at progressing the story and are incredibly catchy, but perhaps what works best is the New Age approach to the story where it’s really more about sisters than finding a savior-husband. Disney really hit on something here, especially when you add to that the Olaf factor. It’s great, great stuff.

7. The Giants

My review really says it all here, it’s one of my better ones this past year. This film I believe still streams on Netflix and is available on DVD.

If there’s a trope, or worse yet a cliché, you can name in a coming-of-age film it’s very likely that The Giants sets you up to expect it and then subverts it. That is not to say you should approach this film with a checklist, but there are many times wherein either salvation or damnation threatens these characters, but what you see instead is maturation and survival. Brothers, Zak and Seth, along with their friend Danny are isolated both by circumstance and by choice. The adult world is an invasive burden on their existence but one they are ultimately forced to cope with by themselves.

The film has opportunities to embrace conventions either of dystopian coming-of-age stories, like Kids, or more utopian ones where despite all the travails the characters go through there’s a classical Hollywood ending. This film takes the road less traveled as often as possible when faced with a plot point that can be seen as fairly common and that choices pays off over and over again.

With parents that are perpetually absent without true explanation, it’s a tale essentially of individuation rather than any of the other pitfalls of growing up. There’s definitely no love interest in the tale, and, without station too much, if there is even any true commentary on sexuality is left ambiguous.

The restraint and certainty that the film has in the handling of its plot, edit and musical selections is matched by the young cast. This especially applies to Zacherie Chasseriaud shows the poise and control of a veteran from first scene when he deals with his mother’s absence and nearly cries, but doesn’t, through to the end.

Bouli Lanners does not seem to be going for either extreme of the emotional spectrum with this tale, but rather and accurate portrayal of kids in circumstances out of the ordinary forced to grow up. They are neither idealized through nostalgia or auteristic proclivity nor are they “gritty” just for the sake of it. Elements that could be used for shock value in less-skilled hands here are what they are, meaning part of their existence and are there without commentary. The Giants is a highly effective, well-crafted tale deserving of a larger audience.

6. Time of My Life

This was definitely the tear-jerker of the year for me and seemingly a staple pre-requisite of being on this list. It was well-represented and discussed at the BAM Awards. My initial reaction can be found below:

This is the kind of film that faces and overcomes the danger of falling into an issue-film trap of being overly-involved in stump-speeching, soap-boxing and campaigning. When your film purports to highlight seminal case in the instituting of euthanasia laws in a country both that, and an eventual death, become inevitable.

However, what Time of My Life does so well is tell the personal narrative first and foremost and then fold in the issue film as the tale progresses. Yes, there are many issue films that will have circumstances dictate their cause, but what you also get here is a film whose emotional impact is withheld until later.

That is not to say this film doesn’t pack an emotional wallop, it most certainly does, and quite a big one. What it does do is postpone the big hit. The story travels through time and each of the early, fairly short sequences have their own tenor and know when they should end. What it builds is a more rounded, bittersweet emotion not overly-concerned in melancholy, not consciously pulling at heartstrings until the very end. When it does attempt to play them it does so very successfully.

Time of My Life features brilliant performances throughout, and some really smart, great writing; especially as it draws towards its conclusion and a crushingly beautiful emotional climax. If you know what you’re signing up for, it’s a tremendously moving and rewarding experience.

5. Stoker

This film came as a great surprise please check it out:

This is one of those films that grabs you from the first frame and scarcely ceases long enough to let go. It’s the kind of film that peels back layers of mystery and intrigue, slowly at first, but, then it escalates them until you find yourself in a delirious whirl of rapt tension and drama. All the while, as it slowly sets the foundation of the most basic facts, it’s setting up reveals of more precisely sinister revelations of motivation and past incidents.

The film is technically constructed to match this narrative drive employing montages, cross-cutting sequences, frames and L-cuts (cuts where audio lingers after a scene, or starts before an accompanying visual) to link what are at first seemingly disconnected events.

Stoker builds mystery regarding enough elements of its story, while keeping things simple, such that it easily achieves misdirection from one unanswered riddle to another. Thus, answers you had half-formed are forgotten briefly as you puzzle something else and when you’re confronted with confirmation of a fact it lands with the desired impact, whether you intuited the information or not.

Practically everything regarding Stoker is precise and stylized to the utmost for impact, yet scarcely ever feels forced when you consider all the pieces in the whole. It’s a mesmerizing portrait that is sure to rank among the best of the year.

4. Disconnect

Disconnect got lost in the shuffle I believe, even in terms of indie releases, and in terms of this site. I didn’t write about it after I had seen it because it was a theatrical release I saw and I had gotten sidetracked. I barely had a chance to mention it during the BAMs though it did have some nominations and was close to a few more.

Disconnect rather clearly examines the influence of technology, and being connected on our daily lives. It tells three stories all of which dovetail into one another, but because the characters have issues connecting, so do the tales completely by design. This is very tense dramatic tale with a great climax, in a rarity it also employs effective use of slow motion. The cast which was honored with a nomination is great, and since they divide so much time among themselves that’s a good thing. This film tells a tragic tale, which while it does build-in suspense mechanisms towards the end avoids simple resolutions to it fundamental conflicts, and is well worth seeing.

3. Broken

I’ve been banging the drum for this film all year. See it. It’s already on DVD. Do yourself a favor.

It’s an intricately told and layered tale that with many narrative threads, characters crossing paths, that could get trite, but is instead invigorating and riveting.

There are frames within the film and excellent persistent use of cross-cutting that acutely accesses the proper emotional tenor that is sought, which finds the commonality in these characters so frequently at odds. In certain ways, it’s like an externalized version of We Need to Talk About Kevin, in terms of the way it’s cut together and how the actors have to truly use the edit to great affect.

It’s what I like to term a “collision course narrative,” which is a tale wherein there’s a suspenseful foreboding to the meeting of certain events that you feel, and it’s perhaps the best example of such I’ve seen. It’s also a film that starts strong and never really lets go.

Membership in the Film Club means I’m watching it a few months ahead of most people, therefore you have ample time to heed my advice: watch Broken, it is an absolutely exquisite piece of cinema.

2. Blue Jasmine

I liked Midnight in Paris and all, but I loved Blue Jasmine. It made Woody Allen the easy choice for Best Original Screenplay and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

For a filmmaker such as Woody Allen who on many occasions has been accused of using his films as therapy and being un-cinematic this film is a rebuttal. For myself, as a long-time devotee, it’s wondrous not only to see him work a story that again employs a wonderful editorial language that is quickly-learned and never off; but also such a non-judgmental character study. It’s a film of revelation rather than reparation. It has its humor, too, but is perhaps the most searing, honest drama he’s committed to the screen since Husbands and Wives. The casting, as well as the cast, is flawless; but it’s really Cate Blanchett who makes this film work. She’s as powerful, if not more so, in her character’s detached, pained moments as she is in the “big” ones, which is what makes her turn so immaculate. It’s a performance that towers not only due to the sparsity of great roles afforded women in the American cinema lately, but because of how titanic an effort it is on its own.

Engaging and enthralling from the first frame this film of a life shattered, whether by design or not, may be his most Bergmanesque, and is truly one of the year’s best.

1. Ender’s Game

In my writings on this film so far I have talked about the book a bit. I really only tried to mention in it in terms of giving my frame of reference, and discussing interpretations of character and vision. Make no mistake about it, I chose Ender’s Game as my favorite movie of the year because it’s my favorite movie of the year and not just because it’s based on a book I enjoyed. It was the cinematic elements put in place to tell a story I knew well that made it work. Below are some movie-only comments from it’s many BAM wins:

On the film as Best Picture:

So overwhelmed was I that even if I didn’t want to see it again, it was almost mandatory due to the fact that I had to see if it stood up. A second viewing brought very little degradation to my opinion of it- minimal in fact. Sure, the IMAX experience is better, but that was always a given. I ended up seeing it a third time, and was actually a bit disappointed it was out of local theaters before having a chance to see it yet again; so that really sealed it.

The bottom line is: the temptation always exists to place a spectacle atop a Best Of List. However, this is the rare spectacle with brains, a conscience where not only stratagems but ethics are debated (and well-debated on both sides of the arguments in question), it’s unafraid to get in a protagonist’s head-space in such a way that’s less than the high concept hook. The acting is great all around. The film pulls you into a world quickly and builds upon it as things progress; further and further entrenching you. It’s always a gamble, especially now, to bankroll something that aims at something a bit more than spaceships, action sequences and explosions; it’s a bit risky but the gamble paid of here big time.

On Gavin Hood, Best Director:

and this rendition of Ender’s Game immediately ends those worries by throwing me directly into the film. It’s funny that when I was trying to think of an angle for this write-up I naturally thought that this foreword may prove useful but I had no idea how accurately his connection would be conveyed and how well I believe it played out onscreen.

On Asa Butterfield, Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role:

I didn’t believe there was someone who could play Ender. I don’t think there was an actor in the landscape at the time that could’ve captured the aggressive nature (which was a bit of a revelation coming from Butterfield) and the empathy required to play him and do so equally well. In short, it was kind of like the role of David in A.I. had there not been a Haley Joel Osment Spielberg likely would’ve waited to make it, and if there had not been an Asa Butterfield Ender’s Game was better off waiting also.

On the Art Direction:

The world that took the most building, and was also the most well-built, is that of Ender’s Game. There’s the fairly mundane, though a bit futuristic start followed by the space station and later and alien planet and a few more intermediary locales in each which take a bit of a different approach each. There’s not just one world but a few worlds in need of creating in this film, and all come to life equally well.

On the Score:

The deciding factor was that during my first viewing of Ender’s Game I thought to myself three or four times “Wow, this score is amazing” and even before the awards announcement I had to download it from iTunes. All of these scores, however, do have a different quality to them and are still searchable on Spotify if you’re so inclined.

2013 Robert Downey, Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award

Posted on January 9, 2014 by bernardovillela

2013 Robert Downey, Jr. Entertainer of the Year

James Franco

In what ended up being a prescient post I was assigned James Franco in a Facebook Actor Game. Basically I was assigned him by a friend and asked to categorize movies he’d been in. Here were my observations, both general and on one of his films of this year. In general:

In my first time playing I was assigned James Franco, which is a pretty interesting choice, and not just because he’s already in the running for Entertainer of the Year this year. So I figured I’d share my thoughts in something slightly larger than a Facebook post here. Also, if you’re so inclined you can like The Movie Rat’s Facebook page here.

And on the specific film from this year, This is the End:

It’s too early to tell if this film really is a game-changer, however, what can be said is that it’s a fantastically executed concept and uproariously funny. Crass and immature, yes, but funny too.

As it turns out it was a bit of a game-changer for James Franco, as opposed to a comedy trend (as of yet), because I saw a few other titles with him since then that sealed the deal.

Oz the Great and Powerful is no great shakes, but it wasn’t in my estimation a poor or disconnected Franco but rather a fairly flat film that he made a little more interesting and a less-than-admirable character.

As for more specifics about his participation in This is the End, if it was the last film I’d seen him in this past year, I’m likely picking someone else as a winner. However, the fact that in the middle of the performances of his I saw is a hilarious send-up of how he’s perceived (being perhaps overly-intellectual and perhaps pretentious) while shouting down Danny McBride’s masturbatory habits is the jewel in the crown, for lack of a more humorous term.

Following that I saw Homefront. In Homefront he plays a character named Gator in what is essentially one of the more ideal Jason Statham vehicles yet devised. And while I’d fall short of calling his antagonistic turn there multi-faceted it is a bit more dimensional than most characters of that ilk are given the leeway to be. Franco’s handling of the character and the way he operates surely make Gator stand out more than he likely wold have in the hands of most other actors.

Lastly, at least based on what I saw, there was Spring Breakers, now you’ll note I didn’t particularly care for that film. However, make no mistake about it that there are things about it that I appreciated, and had it not been for Franco as Alien I may not have even have had the desire to complete it because after a certain point he was all that tethered me to the narrative.

That just takes into account what I could see. Many other things Franco was involved in hit Netflix later in the year, or didn’t even get there by year’s end, and they are things I do want to see, like: Interior. Leather Bar., Lovelace, As I Lay Dying, Palo Alto and Child of God.

And that’s just film work. With Franco going to adapt classic works of literature like The Sound and the Fury, I’m more than a little curious about his fiction. All that and he’ll be back perhaps a bit more inspired of all this for the continuation of the Apes prequels. One way in which this award can be viewed as in a career-path altering one, at least in terms of perception. My first selection, the namesake, was a comeback; next a multiple hat-wearer; next a breakout star; next an established star with a varied year; here it’s more an established name elevating his standing in my eyes based on an incredible run, may it keep going.

2013 Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on January 9, 2014 by bernardovillela

2013 Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award

“Me sitting down for dinner with Ingmar Bergman felt like a house painter sitting down with Picasso.”

-Woody Allen, interview with Esquire Magazine 6/4/2013

Woody Allen

I saw a tweet over the summer, leading up to the release of Blue Jasmine, that asked something to the effect of: I wonder why now is the time that many publications have chosen to do a career retrospective on Woody Allen? Logically speaking, I can’t answer that. He hasn’t necessarily slowed down and like all of us he’s not getting any younger. My theory though is that it took the film-loving community by surprise that shortly after Midnight in Paris he returned with another widely acclaimed film so soon. Due to that fact it caused many to want to start looking back over his career.

I must say it hit me the same way. I caught Blue Jasmine a little later than many but I was quite blown away by it, and even with his recent triumph surprised by it. Woody Allen was one of the earliest writer/directors I gravitated to by name. He’s also one I came back around to, at least once, after I became obsessed by Bergman, seeing as how Allen is a fellow disciple.

It’s a virtual prerequisite that I’ve seen most of the works if not all of the works of the winning director. However, I know there are some of his I’ve not yet checked out (many recent) and I also have a volume of his short stories to check out. It’s a retrospective I’d be glad to take in.

Especially considering that one of the most overlooked aspects of Allen’s repertoire is his ease of going back and forth between comedy and drama, and even mixing them. In my family Allen’s name has long been synonymous with greatness, in writing especially, if not also directing; and I’ve certainly taken the ball and run with it in terms of tracking down his works.

While Allen has had his share of off-screen production-related drama lately he seems to have found a new home at Sony Pictures Classics and has adopted a late-career globetrotting aesthetic that is making returns to New York, even for a scene, a breath of fresh air as well. And, as always, these awards are a recognition of onscreen accomplishment, and Allen’s works have been with me a long time already and I hope to many more years of enjoying his films.

2013 Neutron Star Award

Posted on January 9, 2014 by bernardovillela

Introduction

OK, so what is the Neutron Star Award? As I watched older selections through the year, I was frequently compelled to pick a film based on the fact that Vincent Price was in it. When I was younger I was very actor-oriented, more so than with directors. The fact that an actor had that kind of draw, and was one who is sadly no longer with us, made me think there had to be some kind of way I could honor them.

So I thought literally about stars, and being a nerd I confirmed that a neutron star fits the definition of a star that has gone out but glows more brightly after its passing.

2013 Cadidates

Below you will find a list of the candidates that made their presence known for this award this year:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Coy Watson, Jr.
Louise Fazenda
Jackie Searl

The Runners-Up

While I found more Jackie Searl titles this year than I was previously familiar with, I already knew of him. Furthermore, the fact that my above-linked post introduced some to his other works, or his works in general, was reward enough. So a mere mention of him here suffices.

Coy Watson, Jr., as I alluded to in my review of his book, provided the invaluable service of giving me the incentive to seek out other actors, filmmakers and their works, but I saw few of his works.

Louise Fazenda was an actress whom I knew next to nothing about before 2013, so I was hard-pressed not to pick her after watching some of her shorts and a feature for a blogathon. In the end her impact was not the greatest…

2013 Honoree

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The award was created last year to recognize an actor, but this year’s winning selection is a slight fudge. However, I don’t feel I’ll be likely to re-define or expand the award any time soon so I’m going to go with it.

Basically, the winner did act in films and did even play leading roles, however, to be completely honest, Rainer Werner Fassbinder is winning this award for his work as a writer and director. Now a bit like Jackie Searl I did have some familiarity with Fassbinder in the past. He made appearances on both my 2011 and 2012 Favorite Older Movies list.

However, 2013 was much more viewing many more appearances and was topped off by my getting both the Region 2 box sets of his films. Granted even those aren’t all his works.

When you see a few things by a director you are responding to individual titles, when you see quite a few you start responding to a voice and Fassbinder’s was a voice I sought to hear speaking repeatedly through 2013, and I’m sure that will continue into the new year. In tandem with this award you should look out for this year’s favorites list, which will include his titles; and I may create a subsequent series designed to reflect the year’s winner as I have with other body-of-work awards in the past.

Fassbinder had a knack, in standard feature-length dramas, making the first forty minutes impossibly gripping over and over, of also creating approachable density and magnetic melancholy, and it’s why I sought to come back to his works many times over last year and why he is the recipient of this award.

2013 BAM Awards

Posted on January 9, 2014 by bernardovillela

Prelude

The only critical “statement” that is at all meaningful is the argument made by a single voice.
-A.O. Scott, Twitter 12/4/13

Introduction

For more history and information on the BAM Awards please go here.

Below you will find the nominees in each category followed by which film is the honoree; I’ve decided this year to implement my own politically correct language to avoid distinguishing “winners” and “losers.” I do so because I do take so much care in selecting my nominees so much so that it is the nominees that really matter the most.

If you’re visiting during the day of January 9th, 2014 the list you see may be shorter than the nominees list. I will be updating this post in a LIVE BLOG method, meaning category-by-category. When it is complete you will see COMPLETED at the footer of the page. Without further ado, the awards…

Awards

Best Picture

Blue Jasmine
Broken
Class Enemy
Disconnect
Ender’s Game
Frozen
The Giants
It’s All So Quiet
Time of My Life  
Stoker

Honoree

Ender’s Game

Allow me to address the white elephant in the room first before moving on to more pertinent matters, I will also do so in a far more succinct way than in my prior Op-Ed piece: I do not like Orson Scott Card’s (the author of the novel upon which this film is based) politics, it does not please me that he is a board member of the National Organization for Marriage. His views personally offend and exclude me. He’s not one of the people I’d want to have dinner with. That goes for quite a few people actually. However, any feelings about him, what he stands for, and rails against, do not color my view of his works (of fiction) or adaptations thereof.

Much like Gavin Hood, as described below, I thought that Ender’s Game would make an excellent movie. When I read it, and even leading up to it impending release, I thought it would be one of those Herculean tasks that could never possibly live up to what it “ought to” and “should be.” I anticipated the film, I do grant that, but I tempered those expectations as the release neared.

My reaction was quite nearly wordless awe. It was almost like a line from the MST3K: The Movie: “I never expected…” “This!” So overwhelmed was I that even if I didn’t want to see it again, it was almost mandatory due to the fact that I had to see if it stood up. A second viewing brought very little degradation to my opinion of it- minimal in fact. Sure, the IMAX experience is better, but that was always a given. I ended up seeing it a third time, and was actually a bit disappointed it was out of local theaters before having a chance to see it yet again; so that really sealed it.

The bottom line is: the temptation always exists to place a spectacle atop a Best Of List. However, this is the rare spectacle with brains, a conscience where not only stratagems but ethics are debated (and well-debated on both sides of the arguments in question), it’s unafraid to get in a protagonist’s head-space in such a way that’s less than the high concept hook. The acting is great all around. The film pulls you into a world quickly and builds upon it as things progress; further and further entrenching you. It’s always a gamble, especially now, to bankroll something that aims at something a bit more than spaceships, action sequences and explosions; it’s a bit risky but the gamble paid of here big time.

Best Foreign Film

The Broken Circle Breakdown
Class Enemy
The Giants
The Hunt
It’s All So Quiet
Museum Hours
The Old Man
Three Worlds
Time of My Life
V8- Start Your Engines

Honoree

Time of My Life

One thing I simply won’t do, something I desperately try to avoid in these write-ups explaining my choices is to talk-up one film and then talk-down another via comparison. If I fall into a pattern in my own awards of downplaying things based on my choice its time to take stock and maybe shut it down.

The reason I say that in such dramatic fashion is to set-up this intro. Time of My Life is about a Belgian politician who was stricken with cancer and fought for the right to legalize euthanasia. So while there is that crushing story-line there’s also a soap-boxing, biopic, issue-film angle, as well as moments in his personal life. It does not offer the unique dichotomy of tones present in say The Broken Circle Breakdown. However, what sets this apart is just that it got to me more. They really only share the fact that they deal with cancer and are tear-jerkers. Other than that they do things differently. However, I wanted it clear that I was not putting one down, but rather explaining why I chose one over another despite obvious superficial similarities. For more specifically about this film, here’s my full mini-review:

This is the kind of film that faces and overcomes the danger of falling into an issue-film trap of being overly-involved in stump-speeching, soap-boxing and campaigning. When your film purports to highlight seminal case in the instituting of euthanasia laws in a country both that, and an eventual death, become inevitable.

However, what Time of My Life does so well is tell the personal narrative first and foremost and then fold in the issue film as the tale progresses. Yes, there are many issue films that will have circumstances dictate their cause, but what you also get here is a film whose emotional impact is withheld until later.

That is not to say this film doesn’t pack an emotional wallop, it most certainly does, and quite a big one. What it does do is postpone the big hit. The story travels through time and each of the early, fairly short sequences have their own tenor and know when they should end. What it builds is a more rounded, bittersweet emotion not overly-concerned in melancholy, not consciously pulling at heartstrings until the very end. When it does attempt to play them it does so very successfully.

Time of My Life features brilliant performances throughout, and some really smart, great writing; especially as it draws towards its conclusion and a crushingly beautiful emotional climax. If you know what you’re signing up for, it’s a tremendously moving and rewarding experience.

Most Overlooked Film

 Allez, Eddy!
Blind Spot
Broken
Class Enemy
The Color of the Chameleon
Deep Dark Canyon
It’s All So Quiet
Mother, I Love You
The Old Man
V8 – Start Your Engines!

Honoree

Class Enemy

In the last couple of years, and this year it became official, I have taken this category in a new direction. As has previously been mentioned, this category used to be Most Underrated Picture. However, with the elimination of Most Overrated and Worst Picture along with a shift in how I was selecting this award it was time for a name change.

Fortunately, circumstances conspired to allow me to fully embrace the “overlooked” aspect inasmuch as eight of these films have yet to see DVD distribution in the US. Broken and Deep Dark Canyon are available, and I anticipate It’s All So Quiet will also.

Four of the films (Mother, I Love You; The Color of the Chameleon; Blind Spot and Class Enemy) are official Oscar submissions that are as of yet unrepresented in the US. Allez, Eddy! you can likely get as an import, the same will be true of V8 soon if no international version emerges. Both are foreign “genre” films mainly geared at younger audiences.

As for the winner itself: I won’t spend much time why the Oscars selected the shortlist it did, not here. In part because I have seen half of those films and I get it. What I will say is merely an echo of my review is that this film has shades or now-classic American generational dramedies like The Breakfast Club with a modern spin and a lack of ease in resolution that makes it ring true. It’s very much worth seeing if you get the chance.

Best Documentary

Brooklyn Castle
The Diplomat
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
A Place at the Table
The Short Game

Honoree

With Best Documentary I again has a re-adjustment as award time started to roll around. I wanted to avoid redundancy in the topics as much as I could and really focus on the crafting on the film more so than any greater message or social purpose. Issue-based documentaries are great to rally behind and can incur real change, and they can also be great films, but you can have one without the other.

There is an issue film here (A Place at the Table) which deals with the many contributing factors to hunger in America. There’s the enigmatic tale of Morton Downey, Jr. and his long, winding road to overnight stardom as one of the first shocking talk show hosts on the air, which is an even better crafted film. Yes, there’s a school-based tale here, too, but this one is more about the kids and a dynastic after-school program that highlights the importance of funding extra-curricular activities almost by chance in Brooklyn Castle. ESPN Films’ lone entry here, The Diplomat, where they could have had many; is the intriguing tale of Katarina Witt’s celebrity, status and perception leading up to and following the fall of the Eastern Bloc. Then there’s a funny, dramatic and insightful look at golfing prodigies in one of the world’s premiere junior golf events in The Short Game. All these films tackle rather different topics, some have a cause, some don’t, all are very well made films; one is more well-made in my estimation than others that may have had equally or more important messages to convey.

So some of the ESPN crowd came more to the fore than initial first impressions, and a few dealt with more enigmatic subject matter (like The Diplomat did and Évocateur did). However, the film out of these with the most narrative drive, thrilling conclusion and removed, inspired and great filmmaking is The Short Game:

Perhaps what’s most important in a sports documentary centered on prodigious young athletes is having an interesting cross-section of personalities. Even if one is not familiar with, or a big fan of, a sport (golf, in this case) narrative and cinematic conventions and approaches should keep you engaged. The editing and scoring of this film, as well as the structural approach to the tournament that serves as the climax, is great. What keeps you interested and involved in the build-up is that while they all have golf in common they’re still kids at the core of it and quite different: Jed (A Filipino boy with autism), Alexa (a wunderkind who lives with her dad), Amari (A girl emulating Tiger Woods), Kuang (a Chinese boy who happened on the game by chance as an infant), Allan (A whiz kid who’s Anna Kournikova’s younger brother), Augustin (An intellectual French player of literary pedigree) Zama (A South African boy growing up in a different world than his father seeking a breakthrough) Sky (A Texan girl with a large stuffed bunny collection).

Combining all that, the unexpected twists and turns golf can take, and the volatility of a child’s emotions makes it an engaging, funny, suspenseful and at time even moving film.

Best Director

Woody Allen Blue Jasmine
Gavin Hood Ender’s Game
Rufus Norris Broken
Chan-wook Park Stoker
Henry Alex Rubin  Disconnect

Honoree

Gavin Hood Ender’s Game

In the companion book to the film Gavin Hood writes the forward and in it encapsulates his connection to the story told in this film:

From the moment I read Ender’s Game I knew I wanted to make it a s a film, and that it would be a very personal project for me.

I grew up in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s during a time of intense political turmoil. I was drafted into the military at the age of seventeen. I experienced firsthand the abuse of authority by the men who outranked me, and I saw how easily young lives could be ruined – even ended – by the decisions of leaders. Eventually, I left the military and went on to law school, but those early experiences opened my eyes to a new way of thinking.

What struck me most about my time in the military and my experiences as a law student was the realization that, as a species, we human beings are capable of both violence and compassion. This duality exists within all of us, and our lives are defined in large measure by whether we choose to engage the world with aggression or empathy. When I read Ender’s Game it was this idea that most struck me.

And it was that idea that most struck me as well. So much so that my initial reaction upon first seeing the film is that Hood pretty much nailed my interpretation of the book, and amped it up. It probably wasn’t everyone’s but it was a far better, more immediately resonant, and true distillation of what I gleaned off the page than I expected.

With any adaptation there’s any myriad of worries I have tried to coach myself, and others out of, and this rendition of Ender’s Game immediately ends those worries by throwing me directly into the film. It’s funny that when I was trying to think of an angle for this write-up I naturally thought that this foreword may prove useful but I had no idea how accurately his connection would be conveyed and how well I believe it played out onscreen.

Best Actress

Veerle Baetens The Broken Circle Breakdown
Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine
Judi Dench Philomena
Mary Margaret O’Hara Museum Hours
Barbara Sukowa Hannah Arendt

Honoree

Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine

Best Actress was second only to Best Supporting Actress in terms of categories I worried about having sufficiently populated with quality candidates through the years. Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role was third but it was shored up with great candidates early. Essentially, there’s a sparsity of quality roles for women and sometimes getting to see the touted ones can prove difficult. Anyway, Best Actress shaped up beautifully in the very end. However, as wonderful as all these women are, and in many years any one of them would win easily, none of them quite touches Cate Blanchett because of the following statement I made after first seeing Blue Jasmine:

…it’s really Cate Blanchett who makes this film work. She’s as powerful, if not more so, in her character’s detached, pained moments as she is in the “big” ones, which is what makes her turn so immaculate. It’s a performance that towers not only due to the sparsity of great roles afforded women in the American cinema lately, but because of how titanic an effort it is on its own.

And that’s what really really seals it. All too often award shows focus on the big moments, or so it seems, and its the totality that really what merits the honors.

Best Actor

Spencer Treat Clark Deep Dark Canyon
Nick Eversman Deep Dark Canyon
Koen De Graeve Time of My Life
Johan Heldenbergh The Broken Circle Breakdown
Igor Samobor Class Enemy

Honoree

Johan Heldenbergh The Broken Circle Breakdown

This one was, as I tweeted, the hardest of them all. Therefore, I would like to give a little individual attention to each nominee. Firstly, it’s rare when you can consider two men to both be leads in a film. However, the nature of Deep Dark Canyon is such that the characters are handcuffed to one another for a great deal of it. Therefore, Clark and Eversman are almost always onscreen at the same time. Each of them are brilliant and quite raw throughout. Both being nominated is tough trick and it makes it impossible to pick just one.

Much in the way being an antagonistic supporting character and engendering sympathy is tough, it’s even more so in a leading role. Igor Samobor manages that tough ask brilliantly.

Ultimately, as a few categories have been, this was a battle between two Belgians. For the longest time I couldn’t break the deadlock between Koen De Graeve and Johan Heldenberg. If only I saw these each in the year of their domestic release instead of both in 2013 in the US maybe I wouldn’t have had the decision to make and I could honor both.

Ultimately, between the musical aspect, virtually identical dramatic asks, and also delivering a bilingual performance that tipped the scales for Johan Heldenbergh. I’d recommend you see both films, just not back-to-back you’ll be quite sad for about a week.

Best Supporting Actress

Doroteja Nadrah Class Enemy
Sally Hawkins Blue Jasmine
Isabelle Huppert Amour
Imelda Staunton The Awakening
Liv Ullmann Two Lives

Honoree

Imelda Staunton The Awakening

There were any number of ways to go with this selection and all equally valid trains of thought. However, similar to what is mentioned with Kingsley there are paths taken by Staunton in this film that aren’t often rewarded. First, an most obviously The Awakening is a horror film and they don’t get respected and treated as films on equal footing by award shows very often. Next, The Awakening is a film that prompted me, due to the caliber of the acting, to write a piece about how crucial drama is to have as a foundation of any genre.

It’s a film with performances so strong that Isaac Hempstead-Wright also got a nomination and Rebecca Hall was shortlisted as Best Actress. However, it’s not a “spreading the wealth” move. What Imelda Staunton does is in this film is very difficult. She plays a stubborn antagonistic woman who has a breakdown scene that’s so wonderfully played that it fills you with heartbreaking empathy. It’s rare to find moments like that, much less whole scenes.

There are moments of sympathy like that for all these ladies who are wonderfully played, but it’s Staunton’s task that’s most daunting.

Best Supporting Actor

Voranc Boh Class Enemy
Harrison Ford Ender’s Game
Ben Kingsley Iron Man 3
Matthew McConaughey Mud
Sam Rockwell The Way, Way Back

Honoree

Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3

It’s redundant to continue to say it, but this one was also difficult. What it ultimately came down to so far as decision-making was modulation and how often the character/performance veered from its go-to note. Or to put a finer point on it when referring to the honoree: how drastic a change from perception of the character to reality of the character is.

Ben Kingsley in a rather discordant way, at least at the beginning and at face value, is rather creepy as the Mandarin. Theatrical, yes, but not outside the purview of what a terrorist in a video would be. Now this is a film that’s grossed a billion dollars so I could completely spoil it, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that there’s a change in Kingsley’s turn that is equally funny, and brilliant, as it is creepy in the beginning. It’s this duality, combined with the fact that I believe comedy should be rewarded that leads me to select him. All these turns are great ones, and not all dramatic, however, Kingsley’s offers the best of both worlds.

Best Cast

Igor Samobor, Natasa Barbara Gracner, Tjasa Zeleznik, Masa Derganc, Robert Prebil, Voranc Boh, Jan Zupancic, Dasa Cupevski, Doroeja Nadrah, Spela Novak, Pia Korbar, Dan David Mrevlje Natlacen, Jan Vrhonik, Kangjing Qiu, Estera Dvornik, Peter Techmeister, etc. in Class Enemy
Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård, Colin Ford, Jonah Bobo, Haley Ramm, Aviad Bernstein, etc. in Disconnect
Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak, Nonso Anozie, Conor Carroll, Caleb J, Thaggard, Brandon Soo Hoo, etc. in Ender’s Game
Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baertens, Nell Cattrysse, Geert Van Rampelberg, Nils De Caster, Robbie Cleiren, Bert Huysentruyt, Jan Bijvoet, etc. The Broken Circle Breakdown
Koen De Graeve, Geert Van Rampelberg, Lotte Pinoy, Michel van Dousselaere, Viviane de Muynck, Iwein Segers, Felix Maesschalck, Eva van der Gucht, An Miller, Ben Segers, Lucas Vandervost, Leo Achten, Sam Bogaerts, Vincenzo De Jonghe, Kevin Van Doorslaer and Senn Van Eeckelen in Time of My Life

Honorees

Koen De Graeve, Geert Van Rampelberg, Lotte Pinoy, Michel van Dousselaere, Viviane de Muynck, Iwein Segers, Felix Maesschalck, Eva van der Gucht, An Miller, Ben Segers, Lucas Vandervost, Leo Achten, Sam Bogaerts, Vincenzo De Jonghe, Kevin Van Doorslaer and Senn Van Eeckelen in Time of My Life

This one’s was tough because usually breaking the ties in Best Cast comes down to how deep they are and seeing whose “weakest link” is strongest. I’ve yet had a chance to discuss Disconnect so I will state definitively that it was very close to nominations in the Youth Categories and it is worth seeking out. It will get further mention in the Top 10 list.

There were two Belgian films, another theme this year, in the running; both with superficial plot similarities and a common cast member. One was among the last two. In totting up number of cast members cited it was a dead heat so ultimately it came down to how many of the cast members had real significant impacting moments in the course of the film, that one would be the deeper cast.

As I refreshed my memory it became clear that that cast was that of Time of My Life. There’s a journey-through-a-life element to the film that allows characters to be there and have their big moments that make up the fabric of the lead’s existence and it’s impressive how deep those moments run and lasting the images the cast help create are.

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role

Lika Babulani In Bloom
Elle Fanning Ginger & Rosa

Eloise Laurence Broken
Maya Lauterbach V8- Start Your Engines
Sophie Nélisse The Book Thief
Ryan Simpkins Arcadia

Honoree

Lika Babulani In Bloom

A pattern you’ll note through the youth categories is that I repeatedly state how deep each field is. Truly the talent, direction and material that young actors are being afforded the opportunity to work with only seems to be getting better. Men and boys still have more opportunities, but the fact that there were fewer options to choose from doesn’t diminish the quality here. In fact, this field is stronger than its male counterpart this year; brilliant, layered work throughout the performances by these ladies.

If you read my reaction to In Bloom carefully you’ll see I couldn’t quite pass it, but I balk at warning people to stay away. It’s one of those where I think you should watch it and form your own opinion. One thing that is not really open to interpretation is that these girls are great, natural talents. Talents that in my review make them seem like they’ve acted forever and they should. I also alluded to the fact that Georgia is a new postcolonial cinema. I do not know much about the state of the industry there, but I have to imagine its struggling, at least to some extent. I worry about that because I really do want to see these two actresses grow and progress from this because the sky is truly the limit for them (Lika and Mariam Bokeria) and I hope they find more showcases for their talent. However, the beauty of film is that these performances will remain regardless.

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role

Asa Butterfield Ender’s Game
Zacherie Chasseriaud The Giants
Gage Munroe I Declare War
Tye Sheridan Mud
Ty Simpkins Arcadia
Georg Sulzer V8- Start Your Engines

Honoree

Asa Butterfield Ender’s Game

All of these performances are simply tremendous and are worth seeing. I especially urge you to seek out The Giants if you enjoyed Mud, there’s a talented trio there but Chasseriaud does carry it. Sulzer and Munroe, in very different stories standout as leads ahead of very talented ensembles.

Tye Sheridan is fantastic and he’s getting even more kick-butt work coming his way. His rise to stardom proves true a theory I formulated when I heard how long The Tree of Life took to make: a production like that can really test if you’re both willing and able to work on film. I didn’t peg him right away though, it was his screen brother that got the solo nomination, while he was nominated in the ensemble. However, that was a tough year. Asa Butterfield could’ve easily been the choice that year for Hugo, but wasn’t. These decisions aren’t usually easy or decisive. Here’s why Asa edges Tye this year:

In theatre there are those standout roles in shows that have been performed scads of times through the decades and even centuries. Film, being a younger art and less inclined by its nature to repetition, has fewer of these desired parts that call out just by character name. Usually the coveted role is in an adaptation of a work in another medium coming to film for the first time. I believe Ender Wiggin should be amongst that company of a desirous characters to play along with the likes of (insert character name you think I’m ridiculous for mentioning in the same breath here).

The second thought I had about the book filmically upon reading it was that at the time I didn’t believe there was someone who could play Ender. I don’t think there was an actor in the landscape at the time that could’ve captured the aggressive nature (which was a bit of a revelation coming from Butterfield) and the empathy required to play him and do so equally well. In short, it was kind of like the role of David in A.I. had there not been a Haley Joel Osment Spielberg likely would’ve waited to make it, and if there had not been an Asa Butterfield Ender’s Game was better off waiting also.

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role

Mariam Bokeria In Bloom
Annie Rose Buckley Saving Mr. Banks
Nell Cattrysse The Broken Circle Breakdown
Coline Leempoel Allez, Eddy!
Klara Merkel V8- Start Your Engines

Honree

Mariam Bokeria In Bloom

The youth categories are always difficult. This year it came back, as it did in one of these categories last year, to recalling what it is I wrote:

Lika Babluani as Eka and Mariam Bokeria as Natia really are tremendous. I see many impressive performances by young actors. However, it’s very rare to see two performances in one film from neophytes that are not only exceptional, which these are, but also read as if they are veterans; and furthermore should continue acting for a very long time to come. Babluani and Bokeria certainly achieve that and make this film as watchable as it.

Much like I did with Sophie Nélisse last year there was a statement I made, and an overall impression, that I could just not ignore. Mariam makes up one half of the reason you should give this movie a shot and her frequent scene partner is the other. While the choice was clear that is not to say there is not a tremendous deal of merit in the other nominated performances. If not for In Bloom we may well be discussing Coline Lepooel or Klara Merkel instead.

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role

Isaac Hempstead-Wright The Awakening
Samuel Jakob V8- Start Your Engines
Nico Liersch The Book Thief
Kodi Smit-McPhee Romeo and Juliet
Ty Simpkins Iron Man 3
Nick Romeo Reimann V8 – Start Your Engines

Honoree

Kodi Smit-McPhee Romeo and Juliet

Echoing sentiments from the below category, and amplifying them this was the most nightmarish category to come up with nominees in. Part of the difficulty with the youth supporting categories is at times the youth will be a secondary support character, like say Ty Simpkins who has much less screen time than Ben Kingsley, the same would go for Jacob Lofland and Matthew McConaughey, and other times they will be a primary supporting player. The balance that needed to be struck then became not ignoring those who were secondary and picking who I felt had the best performances and the most notes to hit; as well as carrying out responsibilities as assigned by their part. Thus, ending up with these six I could’ve easily, easily gone with any one of them, which is why I above explained why I got rid of the word “winner.” Ultimately, I did have to make one choice, and here’s why I went the way I did:

This is another case of a very important and desirable part being absolutely crushed. In my reading of Romeo and Juliet Benvolio was always a character that stood out as one of my favorites. When I heard about this film’s casting I knew the role was in good hands. Again this is a case of expectations being far exceeded. I had a sense that most of the cast would be up to the challenge of Shakespearean acting, but this performance is not only effortless (or so it seems) but my favorite film rendition so far. He was a large part of why this version got so much emotion out of me.

Best Youth Ensemble

Eloise Laurence, Faye Daveney, Martha Bryant, Bill Milner, Rosalie Kosky, and George Sargeant in Broken
Jelte Blommaert, Mathias Vergels, Coline Leempoel, Jelle Cleymans, Julian Borsani, Jelle Florizoone, Ben Van den Heuvel, etc. in Allez, Eddy!
Georg Sulzer, Maya Lauterbach, Samuek Jakob, Klara Merkel, Emilio Moutaoakkil, Tom Hoßbach, Nick Romeo Reimann, Heiner Lauterbach, Janina Fautz, etc. in V8- Start Your Engines
Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak, Conor Carroll, Caleb J, Thaggard, Brandon Soo Hoo, etc. in Ender’s Game
Siam Yu, Colton Stewart, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munro, Alex Cardillo, Dyson Fyke, Spencer Howes, Andy Reid, Richard Nguyen, Eric Hanson, and Alex Wall in I Declare War

Honorees

Siam Yu, Colton Stewart, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munro, Alex Cardillo, Dyson Fyke, Spencer Howes, Andy Reid, Richard Nguyen, Eric Hanson, and Alex Wall in I Declare War

I’ll begin with a mini-spoiler here inasmuch as there is a split between this winner and the Best Cast winner. When I first started this award it took me a while to rationalize a split between a Best Cast and a Best Youth Ensemble. Essentially I felt the sports analogy was the best way to look at it: a cast is a whole team, the youth ensemble is a segment of said team (say the defense on an American Football team); one award is for a whole rather than a segment.

While this year’s winner is the whole cast of the film there is little crossover in the awards (meaning young actors up for the major awards due to parity in the categories), however, I do not do this to diminish the young actors. One of my recent changes was to stop using the term “Child Actor” because the connotation is so negative. Essentially the split not is for fairness and equality of opportunity.

The acting categories were some of the toughest selections that had to be made especially this subset. Quite a few of the casts featured extraordinary depth and boasted previous youth nominees and honorees.

I Declare War stands out not just because the film relies entirely on its young cast; not only because the film entrusts them with a drama about kids their age that doesn’t condescend; but in large part because many of the actors in it were unknown to me prior and their performances are revelatory. I had seen a few only in small roles and was left wondering “Who are these kids?” in the best way possible because they’re that good. They also share screen time such that it was hard to peg a lead and are an ensemble in the truest sense of the word, which is why they are most deserving of this honor among these great choices.

Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen Blue Jasmine
Elise Ancion, Bouli Lanners, and Matthieu Reynaert The Giants
Nejc Gazvoda, Rok Bicek and Janez Lapajne Class Enemy
Wentworth Miller Stoker
Andrew Stern Disconnect

Honoree

Woody Allen Blue Jasmine

In much the way that last year’s Lifetime Achievement winner was also an honoree in an annual competitive category so, too, is Woody Allen. What you have in this film is not only Woody Allen once again creating characters clashing based on class and different personality types but also his most mesmerizing mostly-dramatic tale since Husbands and Wives. It’s an unapologetic character study that also dabbles in breaking its chronological continuity and goes back-and-forth in time making it one of his more memorable and different films in recent years. The dialogue, as always, is in his usual style, but it’s also poignant, insightful and often times funny, which is needed when this film does go to very dark places. Without discussing it too much it also takes a chance that works perfectly fine by me.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Gavin Hood based on a novel by Orson Scott Card Ender’s Game
Jennifer Lee, Story Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and Shane Morris, based on “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen; Frozen
Nanouk Leopold based on the novel The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker; It’s All So Quiet
Mark O’Rowe based on a novel by Daniel Clay Broken
Ermek Tursunov based on The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway; The Old Man

Honoree

Mark O’Rowe based on a novel by Daniel Clay Broken

The best adapted screenplay decision ultimately came down to two films wherein I had both seen the cinematic version on multiple occasions and read the version of the tale in prose. While I think Ender’s Game is a rather deft truncation, sketching exactly all that was necessary to include to give the narrative the onscreen impact needed; what Broken does is create a rather different version of the tale that externalizes events more, and offers a different sequence and endgame. However, it still feels like a true representation of the intent of the narrative.

Also very much worth drawing attention to is the fact that transplanting a narrative to another culture is not easy and The Old Man does very well with that. I hope it sees distribution soon that will show it to a wider audience. The wish of wider exposure also extends to It’s All So Quiet.

Best Cinematography 

Murat Aliyev The Old Man
Hans Bruch Jr. The Fifth Season
Chun-hoon Chung Stoker
Larry Smith Only God Forgives
Alexis Zabe Post Tenebras Lux

Honoree

Murat Aliyev The Old Man

All these nominees are so because they did something out of the ordinary, or in some cases innovative; it looked great and aided the storytelling. Post Tenebras Lux may have had the most inventive cinematography of all the nominees but for as much as the unusual visuals were a boon to the film there were others where they proved somewhat of a distraction. With The Fifth Season much of the triumph is about the framing and how that works in conjunction with the edit of this story. Stoker has marvelous composition, some gorgeous shots of terrible things both static and dynamic, while The Old Man captures its environs gloriously with tremendous artfulness rendering it the character it needs to be.

Ultimately the idea with the Best Cinematography category, or any category really, usually tends to pick candidates such that you feel there is no wrong choice. It’d be easy to buckle to a title more people have seen. However, if and when The Old Man is viewable by a wider audience if you see the Kazakh steppes with its blue-gray fog-clad nighttime vistas, its glowing orange fires, expanses of white snow, the prowling of wolves and the variety of wonders this film captures on 35mm I don’t think there’d be much of an argument. The bottom line is that I was taken aback by the imagery in this film more powerfully and more often than any other film this year.

Best Editing

Victoria Boydell Broken
Shane Carruth and David Lowery Upstream Color
Nicholas De Toth Stoker
Nico Leunen The Broken Circle Breakdown
Lee Percy and Kevin Tent Disconnect

Honoree

Victoria Boydell Broken

There’s not always an intent to what it is specifically in a given category I’m highlighting in a given year, but at times one emerges. Editing would be an example. Things like pacing and creative edits separate some films from the pack. However, as it gets down to the nitty-gritty things get less tricksy and more artsy. Meaning which films had edits that were not only a bit outside the norm, but also edits that created artistically structural choices that elevated the work and the quality of the story told.

All these films feature at least one, if not more, of the following devices: crosscutting, flashbacks, frames, narrative ellipses and flash-forwards and in certain ways a fractured chronology. However, through all these devices the films gain clarity rather than losing it, thus making the edits impressive and necessary and rendering the films mentioned more cinematic.

So far as the honoree Broken is concerned, where it stands apart is that it takes a rather literary, multi-character tale and based on its visual juxtaposition the way it moves, the way in which it creates spatial and personal relations and boils down what may seem and over-wrought story to tell on film into a simpler, engaging one based on the order and progression of its whipping between the characters as their paths cross.

Best Visual Effects

Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Elysium
Gravity
Ender’s Game

Honoree

Gravity

While my overall impression of Gravity was favorable, you may notice it did not land in my Top 30. Essentially, while I believe Cuaron did a fine job it had a very definite ceiling with me as an overall film. The choreography and cinematography of events is great. It almost feels like a ride, and it may have been better left that way because the attempts at character building are clunky, clumsy, contrived and obvious. It would’ve been better left pure spectacle in my book.

This is where the effects come in, and even I can’t find fault in this film in that department. Granted logic should’ve told the reporter that asked Cuaron what it was like filming in space that it was a silly notion, but I almost, almost can’t blame him for it. It looks incredibly realistic.

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

Berberian Sound Studio
Ender’s Game
Imaginaerum
Leviathan
V8- Start Your Engines

Honoree

Leviathan

With a category such as this, at big award shows, dealing with films that have extended action sequences because there are lots of effects and getting them right on set then fine tuning and/or replacing them and mixing them right matters that much more. Don’t get me wrong there are some cue-heavy titles on this list too. I could’ve easily included Iron Man 3. However, not only did the sound design have to be great and stick out in my mind, but I also chose to go with nominees that has sound design play a key role in the functioning of the narrative.

By that measure there were but two in competition for the honor, and it turns out the documentary of the two did much better at it. I even cited it in my review:

…first, the sound design, which more so than the images most of the time, drive home the uneasy balance between monotony and danger of the job.

Not only is it mentioned but it’s what I start with and it’s really where the impact of the film comes from.

Best Makeup

The Depraved
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Two Lives
Warm Bodies
V8- Start Your Engines

Honoree

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with it, but there are a few philosophies that one can use when selecting which particular entrant in an award category: they usually fall into two categories showy or seamless. Neither is better than the other, it’s just a matter of which feels the most effective.

So far as make-up is concerned I’ve tended to go with showier choices in the past. However, even the showy selections can have their seamless natural aspects. So while beauty or prosthetic, horror or fantasy, all these choices have their merits; but in a film with higher clarity of image than most and more frames per second than it competitors the only thing that never once stuck out as unnatural not once was the make-up work. There were moments where I missed contrast in the image, where the CG lacked some and where the set stuck out as, well, sets. However, the make-up always worked in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and that’s to be highly commended.

Best Costume Design

Byzantium
Ender’s Game
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Romeo and Juliet
V8- Start Your Engines!

Honoree

V8- Start Your Engines!

As I discuss in sound editing/mixing there is usually a school of thought at the Oscars and elsewhere about what kind of films can win this award. With Costumes it’s usually all about period pieces. Here I usually seek out films doing multiple costume styles. Sometimes its multiple periods, others it’s something a little different.

With Byzantium there’s present day and a period as well as the element of vampirism that adds some intrigue; in Ender’s Game there is the mundane clothing and the many uniforms that he wears through the ranks; in Mortal Instruments there is the regular everyday wear of the Mundanes as well as the more stylized garb of the Shadowhunters and demons. Romeo and Juliet only plays one period but it plays it so gorgeously and lushly I felt it had to be included.

Then we come to V8. While there’s a sort of subculture element to it also, there’s not really an alternate reality but each character has their own distinctive look. There are racing teams with given uniforms, some are accessorized, all say something about the characters in question and all have a certain individualized flair. Yes, costuming is a part of characterization in a visual medium and this film realizes and accentuates that better than any of the other films. I didn’t want to over-stuff this or any section with too many photos, so for more examples of the variety in this film’s costuming you can view the Facebook photo gallery.

Best Art Direction

Ender’s Game
Imaginaerum
 The Magic Flute
Only God Forgives
V8- Start Your Engines!

Honoree

Ender’s Game

Art Direction, or Production Design (Depending on how you decide to phrase it), is all about world-building. How does the Art Department build the world of the story that the camera is going to capture and later convey to the audience.

Each of the nominated films has its own unique challenge: with V8 there’s a seemingly normal world with some myth, magic, mystery and sport beneath the surface that slowly has to be unveiled; with Only God Forgives it’s a neon criminal underworld of Bangkok; in The Magic Flute Mozart’s whimsical romance is transformed to a tale set against the backdrop of World War I with a quasi-stagebound approach; with Imaginaerum regular bedrooms give way to lands of imagination.

Typically, those films with a few tasks at hand have an edge. The world that took the most building, and was also the most well-built, is that of Ender’s Game. There’s the fairly mundane, though a bit futuristic start followed by the space station and later and alien planet and a few more intermediary locales in each which take a bit of a different approach each. There’s not just one world but a few worlds in need of creating in this film, and all come to life equally well.

Best Score

Petri Alanko and Nightwish Imaginaerum
Steve Jablonski Ender’s Game
Clint Mansell Stoker
Daniel Pemberton The Awakening
Fernando Velázquez Mama

Honoree

Steve Jablonski Ender’s Game

Best Score perhaps more than any other category is one wherein I rely heavily on my gut instinct. It’s one of the categories where I want to quickly jot down its noteworthiness lest I forget. However, as I ran down the full list of considerations it turned out that most of the nominees were ones I found myself having looked up and listened to a few times on Spotify through the year.

The deciding factor was that during my first viewing of Ender’s Game I thought to myself three or four times “Wow, this score is amazing” and even before the awards announcement I had to download it from iTunes. All of these scores, however, do have a different quality to them and are still searchable on Spotify if you’re so inclined.

Best (Original) Song 

“For the First Time in Forever” Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel Frozen
“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn, Katie Lopez Frozen
“If I Needed You” The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band The Broken Circle Breakdown
“Shine Supernova” Cody Simpson Escape from Planet Earth
“Let it Go” Idina Menzel Frozen

Honoree

“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn, Katie Lopez Frozen

Whenever possible I do like to “spread the wealth,” which is to say that when things are virtually deadlocked I may err on being more inclusive. An example would be: if I can include an actor as a nominee in Best Cast or Youth Ensemble that may not get an individual nomination. How that applies here is that I was very nearly ready to propose a slate of nominees that included songs from five different films. However, when I looked at it I was a little dissatisfied. It felt like settling. So then I decided to add the songs from Frozen I was denying.

The emphasis, as it has been for a year or two, is on songs within the body of the film and that have an impact on the storytelling. There is a song or two in Frozen that doesn’t fit that criteria, good though they may be. There were comedic considerations that didn’t quite make the cut.

All the Frozen songs that were nominated are well-written, beautifully sung and moving; however, aside from the intangible of just being better “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” induces chills and nearly brought me to tears something less than five minutes into the film, which is a nearly impossible task, and part of what makes it so memorable. That and it strings together a montage that progresses the narrative.

One conciliatory note: if I tracked soundtracks this year I likely would’ve picked The Broken Circle Breakdown. Every song is great and works. Listen to it now.

The Robert Downey, Jr., Award for Entertainer of the Year Award

James Franco

The Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award

Woody Allen

Neutron Star Award

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Completed

Best Films of 2013: 15-11

Posted on January 8, 2014 by bernardovillela

I will try my best to avoid redundancy and will link and self-quote where I deem necessary but it was in re-watching something that I came upon the aforementioned truth. Awards with their winners and fellow nominees and then snub-ees can be read as a slight, though that is never the intent. A list as celebratory, if not more so because of the insularity of conversation.

Now 30 is a high number and I could’ve increased it. I saw the most eligible titles ever this year, but I wanted to further honor these films by having the percentile they represent be a smaller fraction than prior lists.

Let us continue with 15 to 11…

15. Museum Hours

One of my most vivid childhood memories was seeing a man in the American Museum of Natural History sketching from a diorama, I believe of an Native American village. It was a sight that so marked with fascination that I even included it in my first “About the Author” that I wrote for a book made in a Writer’s Workshop class. I say this by way of introduction to the notion that museums and how people behave within them have always fascinated me.

This is a tale that is very much about both of those things.

This is a film that is most effective in how it examines its two characters in passing glances, much like museum exhibits themselves. That may sound as if it’s sophistry but I think if you were to apply that thesis to the whole of the way the film is constructed, the tales that are being told, you’ll see it holds.

The film is ostensibly about a woman (Mary Margaret O’Hara) who heads to Vienna at her cousin’s side while she is sick. With much time to herself to wander a strange city she spends much time at the art museum and befriends one of the guards there (Bobby Sommer). After he helps her, they become friendly. In the film you see: snatches of their conversations where they talk about their lives, shots of paintings and other exhibits and there’s one extended scene of a tour guide (Ela Piplits) espousing her theories on the works of Bruegel. Her dialogue is key to reading the film, in my estimation.

This is not to say that the film is a difficult one to follow. It’s quite a straightforward one. However, it’s connecting these disparate threads through that notion that give it a greater significance and unity. Leaving those pieces apart it can seem a fine, albeit disjointed effort. When one considers that we look at art and try to interpret the artists, that we speak to others and try to interpret them and that we tell our tales and try to interpret ourselves; but can only so in small strokes, in passing glances, within the short amount of time that “museum hours” encompass, then the whole of this work comes together much more strongly. It’s not a film about Bobby, who is Austrian, or Anne, who is Canadian, or Pieter Bruegel who was a Dutch master, but rather about all of us and our journey to understand and be understood, to empathize and to have empathy shown toward us.

14. Three Worlds

Great dramas usually a born of great situations and very often great situations are created much the same way the road to hell is paved.

What you get in Three Worlds is a very compelling situation (a witness to a hit-and-run unwittingly becomes a liaison between the victim’s wife and the culprit) handled in a fairly unconventional way. What this film could turn into is one of histrionics that quickly spirals into things hard to believe or identify with. What instead it chooses to do is be a morality play. As it examines how the incident affects three characters, the push-and-pull, the ebb and flow of each turn of events puts the characters in places they did not expect to be. It’s not as if each decision in the film does not lead to a domino effect, it’s the path that the dominoes take that makes it most enjoyable to watch.

No character in this film is simplistic or one-dimensional, neither entirely altruistic or calculated. This allows for, and requires, much greatness from each of the principal actors and they do bring that. Raphaël Personnaz make me think of what a young Jean-Pierre Leaud would have brought to this film in a different time. Clotilde Hesme’s performance as a woman whose desire to help people, and her inclination to see the good in them, gets the best of her is pitch perfect. Arta Dobroshi, who has perhaps the most demanding tasks assigned her plays conflicting emotions and philosophies such that you always understand her and sympathize with her position.

Three Worlds reveals its characters throughout while still telling a very compelling tale and is worth looking out for.

13. The Broken Circle Breakdown

There are a few instances of films growing a bit in hindsight one this list. This film didn’t have a great leap to make to land here but it did. Just recently I found myself citing an incident from it. This means it may be one two films this year to definitely have an element of it becoming part of my personal vernacular, that and I’ve already listened to the soundtrack a few times.

There has been the occasional resurgence of bluegrass music into popular culture via cinema over the past decade or so. Many of those instances, while they are films where I’ve heard the music, they are movies I did not happen to see.

Perhaps what’s most interesting here is that The Broken Circle Breakdown is a film that’s not even ostensibly about the music. The music is there, it plays a role, it functions as a part of the characters, it underscores the emotions of the story (usually counter-intuitively) but it’s only a musical quantitatively. The film is a fractured chronology of a couple’s relationship. It begins in a present where their six-year-old is battling cancer. The film then backtracks, and goes back and forth to tell the story of these two and where they head as new challenges face them.

The toe-tapping heart of the film is its pair portrayed by Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh. Through their earnest performances, and the music, you’re left on a tightrope walking through the end of this sad tail without spinning completely into despair yet completely absorbed within it.

12. The Hunt

This was a film that was a long time coming in terms of my being able to view it. I knew of it last year and didn’t really get a chance to see it near year’s end. Following A Royal Affair Mad Mikkelsen’s name being involved in a project started to mean a great deal more to me. However, I was also drawn to this film by its conflict.

Mad Mikkelsen plays a kindergarten teach who has been falsely accused via misunderstanding (when you watch you’ll quickly see how) of molesting a student. That’s established early on. There’s not cat-and-mouse mystery about that much because that’s not the point. The film’s really about the snowball effect of a misunderstood notion being repeated, how assumptions are made, hysteria spreads and a witch-hunt begins, and how it affects all those involved.

Mikkelsen turns in a marvelous performance (not that he’s alone in that regard) and the film ends on the right note, as opposed to one that might feel untrue. It’s chillingly, unnervingly realistic portrait of how such a thing can escalate, even without any basis in fact, and takes a naturalistic progression.

11. Iron Man 3

Yes, this is the most divisive Iron Man of the series, and sure, one can say it’s easy to put one of the top grossing films of all-time on your list, but if you’re lobbing that complaint you’re really not reading this list very carefully.

There are a number of things this Iron Man does amazingly well not the least of which is that it’s a showcase of Marvel bringing in writers and directors, in this case writer/director Shane Black, and allowing them their spin on the characters and story. Sure, there is a universe-building roadmap but there is room for voices here just as there are in the books.

If you went in vaguely familiar with the name Shane Black and then were to find out he was one of the writers of Monster Squad certainly you’d think to yourself “Duh,” much as I did. The humor, the ability to write a young supporting character like Harley so well and cast him properly (Ty Simpkins), the ability to take icons and see them in a new light are all things he demonstrated an ability to do back then.

It was a hard decision to keep this film out of the Adapted Screenplay nominees for all those reasons, regardless from the opening credits this one of the most fun viewing experiences I had all year, and also one of the funniest- and one I revisited frequently. It’s another risk-taking sequel that was not bereft of commentary either.

The list concludes with the top 10 tomorrow, after the announcement of the BAM Award Winners. See the nominees here.

Best Films of 2013: 20-16

Posted on January 7, 2014 by bernardovillela

The easy question to ask is: “why do a list at all when you already have an awards slate on your site?” It’s a good question and I finally may have formulated the best response to it yet. Basically, it’s a less comparative discussion on each film that you feel marked the year fro you. In writing a list you discuss each film and a only every few numbers or so get bogged down in discussing placement.

Let us continue with 20 to 16…

20. Philomena

This year, perhaps more than others, had some great surprises in it. I think that always has to play a role. And by surprises I don’t just mean exceeding expectations but really I mean coming out of nowhere unexpectedly. This film did that for me.

Based on the commercials you knew the basic premise: an elderly woman seeks to discover the fate of the child she put up for adoption 50 years prior. It plays it up like it’s going to be all giggles and a heartwarming “human interest story” as Steve Coogan’s character would’ve derisively put it at the beginning of the film. But much like that journalist we are treated to, yes, some laughs, quite a few surprises (both good an bad) and some tears. The film has some touches to it like its montages of home video that foreshadow the child’s life being learned about and the weaving through time Philomena’s memory occasionally does. Judi Dench is positively marvelous, as is Steve Coogan who plays against type and wore many hats to help make this film happen.

19. Mud

Every so often I seem to with no great pre-meditation happen upon a double-feature, one entirely of my and my viewing partner’s own devising, that really stands out. This year it was viewing Mud and Disconnect back-to-back at Philly Landmark Theatres.

Here Jeff Nichols strikes again with another great film. The scary thing is that he really makes it look fairly easy when we all know it’s not. There’s a lot more to Mud than meets the eye such as coming-of-age, a classic tale of unrequited love, a southern Gothic tale of river-life with just an allusion to recent realities treated in nearly a magical realist way. It’s a film that just may grow over time both with myself and in the public consciousness.

18. The Counselor

If there was one prediction I had going into Awards season, and “List Season”, it was that I’d see The Counselor on a Best and a Worst list. I did. This is one of those films where I get the arguments against it. It’s one of those films where you either go along for the ride and appreciate it or you can just never get into it for any number of reasons. It certainly settles itself into the world its building eschewing getting over-concerned with the intricacies of the illegal activities being planned, and also builds a world prior to more firmly entrenching its characters. It’s got a unique brand of dialogue you’ll love or loath; all that and more are things I too as part of why enjoyed this film. Aside from the stories within the story that matter and the introspective, philosophizing criminals.

I’ve seen quite a few of Ridley Scott’s films and he never tried anything like this and it’s worth looking in to for that fact alone.

17. The Way, Way Back

I like to send out a one tweet reaction to almost all the films I see. Part of why that is, is that I’m attempting to succinctly encapsulate my thoughts and preserve them for later reference.

Here’s what I said with regards to The Way, Way Back:

“The Way, Way Back” is quite exceptional. It’s hilarious, heartfelt, dramatic and full of wonderful performances by a spot-on cast.

In many ways this is a film that’s traveling well-trod ground, not that most of it isn’t at this date and time. However, there is a freshness and a truth to it. You have at the center of it Duncan (Liam James) who faces many familiar influences a first love, Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb); a mother (Toni Collette); an over-bearing new pseudo-stepfather, Trent (Steve Carell); and an adoptive father figure, Owen (Sam Rockwell). It’s the way these things blend, how the film achieves the aforementioned superlatives that make it stand out.

16. The Old Man

This film is a testament to quite a few things: seeing films on the big screen (which I didn’t get a chance to), the power of cultural specificity and transliterating a story and the universality that can be found in such specificity. It’s a Kazakh version of the Old Man and the Sea that works brilliantly well.

This film is called Shal, when transliterated from its native language. In English it’s just referred to as The Old Man. In short, the sea does not apply to this tale instead the film is landlocked and tells the tale of an old shepherd. The wilderness he battles is the Eurasian steppe rather than the sea, which brings wolves into play. Thus, aside from the source material it brought to mind the recent film The Grey. However, I feel this film excels far more than that one did in its man versus nature elements because it’s defenestrated to a greater degree. There are fewer affectations of traditional action films and more human drama, more philosophy, more searingly gorgeous imagery and even further respect for the beasts of prey as there is the added element of the old man protecting his herd.

This is also a generational tale wherein quietly the Old Man’s grandson who he tongue-in-cheekily calls Sheitan-bek, translated as “dickens,” comes to a newfound maturity and shows his respect for his grandfather, and thus his elders. The setup of the generational divide is well-executed and though very steeped in indigenous culture and religious mores does have a universal quality to it. One example of it would be that though in rural Kazakhstan the grandfather’s passion for football knows no borders and he struggles with poor television reception to watch Barça and names all his sheep after members of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team.

2013 BAM Award Eligible Titles

Posted on January 6, 2014 by bernardovillela

As promised in the BAM Award Nominations, this is a list of all the titles that were eligible. Below that you will see a total and a breakdown of what the top x films represent percentage-wise.

Eligible Titles

Gangster Squad
 Mama 
Texas Chainsaw 3D
 Insight
 Broken
 Movie 43
 A Haunted House 
Sweet Love (Special Awards Only)
Warm Bodies 
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
 Night Across the Street
 Be My Valentine
 A Good Day to Die Hard 
Escape From Planet Earth
 Arcadia
 Nicky’s Family
 Identity Thief 
Dark Skies
Jack the Giant Slayer
 Bestiaire
 The Awakening
 Sleep Tight 
Straight A’s 
The Last Exorcism 2 
Leviathan
 A Dark Truth 
Storage 24
 The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Time of My Life 
Survive and Advance
 John Dies at the End
 Evil Dead 
Admission 
Crush 
California Solo
 The Sorcerer and the White Snake 
4some 
Olympus Has Fallen
 G.I. Joe: Retaliation
 At the Gate of the Ghost
 Allez, Eddy!
 Renoir 
Disconnect 
Leonie 
Oz the Great and Powerful
 The Croods
Deep Dark Canyon 
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
 Iron Man 3 
Mud
 Jacob 
In Their Skin 
Star Trek Into Darkness
 2 + 2 
Yossi
 The Great Gatsby 
ABCs of Death 
This Girl is Badass
 After Earth
 Dracula
 Epic
 Space Warriors
Deadfall
 Brooklyn Castle 
The Ghastly Love of Johnny X
 Room 514 
Upstream Color 
The Giants 
The Magic Flute
 Kai Po Che!
 This is The End 
Imaginaerum 
Man of Steel
Fast & Furious 6
World War Z
 Upside Down 
Hanson Re Made in America: The Making of Anthem 
23:59 
Monsters University 
Into the White
 The Heat
A Place at the Table 
The Iran Job 
The Brass Teapot
 Despicable Me 2
 The Lone Ranger 
Grown Ups 2
 Bad Kids Go To Hell 
Pacific Rim 
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
 Red 2 
The Conjuring 
Venus and Serena
 La Sirga 
Teen Beach Movie
 Paradise: Love 
Post Tenebras Lux
 Stoker 
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia 
Hayride
 The Depraved
 Byzantium 
Ginger & Rosa 
Safe Haven 
Let Them Wear Towels
 The Deflowering of Eva Van End 
The Wolverine 
Come Out and Play
 56 Up 
No Limits
 The Way, Way Back
Under the Bed 
Funeral Kings 
Swoopes 
Pat XO
 Cherry Tree Lane 
The Diplomat
 Elysium 
We’re The Millers
 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
 Shadow People 
Kick-Ass 2 
Twixt Blue
Jasmine
 Amour
 Runner 
The 99ers
 Kiss of the Damned 
Branded
 Museum Hours
 A Haunting at Silver Falls 
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
You’re Next 
Beyond the Walls 
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
 The Iceman 
House of Bodies 
Riddick
 The Grandmaster 
Shadow Dancer 
Fruitvale Station 
Branca’s Pitch 
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
 Insidious: Chapter 2 
Aliyah 
Three Worlds 
V8- Start Your Engines!
 To the Wonder
 V/H/S 2 
In the Name Of 
Hammer of the Gods 
Breakout 
Standing Up 
Don Jon 
Cody the Robosapien
The Book of Manning
 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 
Metallica: Through the Never
 The Almost Man
 Romeo and Juliet 
Machete Kills 
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis 
Captain Phillips 
Big Shot
 No Más 
Free Spirits 
Gravity 
The Stream 
Carrie
 Escape Plan 
Paradise: Faith 
Jug Face
 Haunter 
Bad Grandpa 
The Counselor
 Stitches 
Mother, I Love You 
This is What They Want 
Enough Said
Blind Spot
In Bloom
Ender’s Game
The Notebook
Watchtower
Class Enemy
La Playa DC
It’s All So Quiet
Once Upon a Time Veronica
About Time
The Green Wave
Schooled: The Price of College Sports
Two Lives
The Old Man
Great Expectations
Thor: The Dark World
Pete’s Christmas
In the Fog
You and the Night
Bernie & Ernie
The Fifth Season
The Christmas Ornament
The Color of the Chameleon
Hannah Arendt
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Contest
La Jaula de Oro
I Declare War
Philomena
The Book Thief
Frozen
The World’s End
The Wall
Maniac
Only God Forgives
Extraction
Blackfish
The Kings of Summer
In the House
Berberian Sound Studio
Spring Breakers
Homefront
The Playroom
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Out of the Furnace
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Electrick Children
Frances Ha
Europa Report
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
I Killed My Mother
The Short Game
The Hunt
Saving Mr.Banks
Stuck in Love
Justin Bieber’s Believe
A Vienna Boys’ Choir Christmas: Songs for Mary
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Headlong (Special Awards Only)

Total Films
238

Percentiles

Top 10 = 4.2%
Top 25 = 10.5%
Top 30= 12.6%