Remember almost exactly a year ago when I did that impossible list of Favorite Film Characters of All Time? At the time I excluded anybody from the Aughts on account of they were still so new and we'd get to them later. Well, it's later. Here's a quick rundown which I may expand for another project later. These are the newish characters from the last decade in film that are (arguably) the ones I think about the most. I cherish them... it's not a list of best written or best performances or best whatever. It's a list of characters that frequently hop into my brain. They've bought condos in my brain real estate. Though obviously if you asked me on a different day...
Not that you asked me today.
10 Favorite(ish) Movie Characters of the Aughts
Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain "Jack, I swear"
Lalit Verma in Monsoon Wedding (Loving dads in cinema really get to me. I'm sure armchair therapists will love that)
Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind "I'mjust a fucked up girl trying to find some peace of mind"
Eleanor Fine in Far From Heaven "Cathy... I'm your best friend"
Tom Stall in A History of Violence (I've brought pompoms to this post...just in case)
Satine in Moulin Rouge! "wilting flower, bright and bubbly or smoldering temptress?"
Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (my hero!)
Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream (At least once a week I find myself thinking about Sara thinking about that red dress. And that's no exaggeration)
Vivian and Brad Markowski inI ♥Huckabees "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Elle Driver (aka California Mountain Snake) in Kill Bill, Vol. I and Kill Bill, Vol. 2
Mr Chow in In the Mood For Love and 2046 (who leaves behind a cloud of cigarette smoke to punctuate this list)
Oops. That's 12.
Tony Leung Chiu Wai in In the Mood For Love
Did these characters sink way down deep into your soul? Or are the newish fictional men/women/creatures that are never far from your thoughts quite a different dozen? *
For this next group installment of the countdown we start in beautiful France and have a lot of trouble leaving it! It even pulls us back in the end.
30 Beau Travail dir. Claire Denis (1999, released in 2000) It's okay that I haven't seen it in so long that it feels like a dream now. It always did. And that "Rhythm of the Night" ending. My oh my oh my. Denis has cast her unique spell many times since, but never quite like this.
29 Caché (Hidden) dir Michael Haneke (2005) A boon to patient moviegoers... and a bane. But who tortures audiences with as much control, mystery and depth of meaning? It's easy to make an audience jump with loud jarring sound cues and shock cuts. But I've never seen anyone make an audience leap and gasp as loudly, like one collective frightened hive, without the aid of music or editing. Haneke is a master.
28 Marie Antoinette dir. Sofia Coppola (2006) My most controversial "favorite" all decade long. So many people were outright angered by Sofia Coppola's third dream of a movie. Imagine making a historical epic about a frivolous young woman from her point of view. And without the violence! "How DARE she!?! Only men (of any age and temperament) deserve historical epics from their own points of view!" [/sarcasm] Coppola is three for three now, making her one of the most important cinematic voices of our time. Picture number four is on its way. Can't wait.
27 Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) &Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) Some people think Tarantino's most purely cinematic double (DP Robert Richardson sure is gifted behind a camera, isn't he?) is disposable entertainment, all style no substance. But it might well be my favorite from his filmography, give or take Pulp Fiction. And though I found/find Vol. 2 a more traditionally talky Tarantino effort and therefore a slight letdown after the surprisingly visceral visual punch of Vol. 1... there's no beating its amazon vs. amazon showdown in a crowded trailer. "Bitch, you don't have a future."
26 Dogville dir. Lars von Trier (2003, released in 2004) Lars von Trier's audacious parable was 178 gripping minutes of cinema... despite and also because it takes place on a bare stage. One of the most violent pictures I've ever seen. And there's not a drop of blood.
25 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring dir. Kim Ki Duk (2003, released in 2004) Simplicity and wonder... a peaceful profound tonic dropped in an ocean of violent pictures.
24 I ♥ Huckabees dir. David O. Russell (2004) My favorite existential comedy of the decade. Unless you count Eternal Sunshineof the Spotless Mind. So... yes, maybe the rebirth of the musical isn't the story of the movie decade but the creation of the existential comedy? Or has that been around since The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Or am I stretching the definition? 'The interconnection thing is definitely for real!'
23 The Wrestler dir. Darren Aronofsky (2008) He made three pictures this decade and they're all on the list. Does that make him my favorite? It puts him up there at any rate. Even when people think he's down for the count (The Fountain) he gets back up for more. Rather like "Randy the Ram" albeit without the pathos. Aronofsky is only 40 years old. Many filmmakers start strong and fade. I hope he's just warming up.
22 Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola (2003) There is so much inside the movie worth loving: the pink panties, the karaoke, the rare star chemistry, the Cameron Diaz mimicry, the soulful ennui... but what I remember most vividly six years later, on that first encounter, was the afterglow. It was a cool evening and we'd missed the rain. Walking away from the theater, the streets were wet and reflective and I just kept looking around, absorbing the shimmering color and the skyscrapers. It wasn't Tokyo obviously but it felt rather like seeing New York again for the first time, like the movie had recharged my senses: Lance Acord was walking beside me as personal DP, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray were whispering something profound in my ears.
21 No Country For Old Men dir. Coen Bros (2007) The Coen Bros inexorable death march was thrillingly rendered and beautifully acted with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin all at the peak of their powers. Bonus points for that audience confounding but pitch perfect black out ending. You really can't stop what's coming.
20 Volver dir. Pedro Almodóvar (2006) I once started counting the kisses in this underappreciated wonder because I loved the loud smacking so much. I abandoned the kiss count after 15 minutes and 47 smooches but no matter. For no amount of P.D.A. can properly show my love for Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her loud sister and their ghostly mother. I could kiss them thousands of times and you still wouldn't know how dear they are to me.
19 Before Sunset dir. Richard Linklater (2004) "Baby, you're gonna miss that plane"
18 WALL•E dir. Andrew Stanton (2008) Calling it the best animated film of the decade is a compliment of high order. There were abundant cartoon treasures all throughout the Aughts... including many that didn't make this list. Maybe that's the cinema story of the decade? I keep looking for one but there are hundreds of stories. I'll take them all. I don't understand people who always want their movies prepackaged in one or two genres. Give me ALL KINDS.
17 Y Tu Mamá También dir. Alfonso Cuarón (2001, released in 2002) One of the greatest road trip movies. One of the greatest romantic triangles. One of the greatest sex comedies. One of the greatest coming of age dramas. One of the greatest. It's as magical as Boca del Cielo "Heaven's Mouth".
16 Entre Les Murs(The Class) dir. Laurent Cantet (2008) The closest we come to a documentary on the list (I didn't include them for purity reasons -- all of these being regular feature films) since this film, reenacted/transferred/adapted (however you want to describe it) by many of its subjects from a book of the same name, feels so damn authentic. Hollywood loves to make films about teachers fighting to reach their students. I've never seen one this good before. It earns its hard won light by allowing for the shadows.
Moving on to 2004. What follows is my original top ten list, based on films released in NYC in 2004. If I have anything new to say that'll be in red after the original text.
Top Ten Runners Up (in descending order): Aviator, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Mean Girls, Maria Full of Grace, The Five Obstructions, Collateral, Goodbye Lenin!, Birth and CloserYes, I'm absolutely horrified by the rankings now. Nothing about that ranking feels right now. I am most ashamed thatBirth was only at number [cough] 19 in its year. In my self-flattering memory I "almost" put it in the top ten despite the then brutal reviews. I was ahead of my time! Oh well... at least I did actually name it the #1 most underappreciated film of the year. At the time I said...
Jonathan Glazer made a significant splash four years ago when his brilliantly acted heist film Sexy Beast debuted to much acclaim and some arthouse success. That film's success was attributed largely to its magnetic star Ben Kingsley. Glazer's sophomore effort is also built around a brilliant performance, Nicole Kidman's this time. The reaction has been decidedly different. It's far closer to hate than love. Birth is a confounding and unsettling movie and it's meant to be. Nevermind that it's on many worst lists. It's worth seeing because Glazer is going to be an important filmmaker. Despite an ending that feels like a fumble, there is much in Birth that's superbly handled, haunting, daring, and evocative. Stay tuned to Glazer's career.
That big career I was hoping for hasn't materialized (there's still no Birth follow-up) but the film has aged beautifully. But I still love everything on my top ten list so I don't know where exactly I'd put it now... or Mean Girls, which I've watched more than any of the films in the top ten list since. All of a sudden the dawning realization. Might 2004 be the best year of this decade rather than 2001? 10Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar)Pedro's films have a way of growing stronger on repeat views. You become more attuned to their beautifully executed imagery and storytelling structures. Even if you resist they eventually win you over (though I've yet to succumb to Matador). So, on principle, I knew better than to leave this twisty 'fag-noir' out of my list, even if I loved the also-rans just as much.
Bad Education has many immediate virtues; Gael Garcia Bernal's carnality and triple-whammy star turn, and the expected visual thrills and chills. Curiously though, this fascinating noir also has one virtue that seems to be playing a double role as vice; the layers of stories that are actually all one story. Therein, at least at this writing, lies my tiny seed of discontent and the film's 10th place rank (low for a Pedro). I'm not sure that Bad Education's many superb threads weave expertly into one superlative garment. I loved the stories. I understand them as one story. But I waited for the grand emotional fusion which never quite came. The disparate threads are tightly knit in my head but not my heart.
09 I ♥ Huckabees (David O Russell) A comedy of chaotic singularity. It's been a long time since we've seen rapid-fire sophisticated verbal joking alongside manic slapstick. It's been an even longer time since the last "existential detective comedy" (Wait --was there a last one?)
If the cultural zeitgeist in 2004 had been all about playful soul-searching rather than blindly choosing sides, Huckabees may have hit big. The film's climax, a scene between two existential detectives (Hoffman & Tomlin) and corporate climber Brad Stand (Jude Law) is formed around the question "How am I not myself?" This inquiry is first posed as a throwaway. Brad's more defensive than curious. He's annoyed that the detectives have questioned his basic internal honesty. He exasperatedly asks "How am I not myself?" as if swatting them away. (What a silly thing to question!) But the detectives begin to repeat the inquiry aloud, spinning it around their own tongues to taste its true meaning. The comedy often emerges from the way they engage and disengage from conversations becoming distracted by their own curiousity. They are both service providers and true believers. But laughs are not the only purpose of this movie. The sequence darkens. Going about his day Brad moves from exasperation to self-loathing to fear, the question haunting him all the while. It takes on a mantra feeling by the end. It's a good question to answer, if you're up for it.
Like Mean Girls this is ridiculously rewatchable. I adore it and I still wish there could be a movie serial that ran before all features following the further exploits of Bernard and Vivian, existential detectives. In fact I wish they could interrupt every bad movie and start "investigating" the director, actors or screenwriter's issues. Why are you making this movie?
08Dogville (Lars von Trier) Prologue) In which we are stunned by brilliant staging and an impressive huge cast. Chapter 1) In which Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives and Tom (Paul Bettany) the
obvious director-surrogate in this parable gives a 'moral lecture' and is immediately chastized by the narrator for "lashing out somewhat haphazardly in all directions." Chapter 2-5) "Happy Times" -The cast interacts lovingly... Chapter 6,7) until their love is exposed as shallow self-interest and their "true face" emerges and the film becomes totally shattering. Chapter 8,9) In which the director (Von Trier) lashes out somewhat haphazardly in all directions and the film ends.
Dogville is harrowing, excruciating in its inevitability, and unforgettable. While colder than the 'Golden Heart trilogy' (Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, Dancer in the Dark) which raised Von Trier's profile to an icon of divisiveness, Dogville is equally potent. Understandably misread as an Anti-American screed, it's closer to a condemnation of the entire human race. This town is "...not far from here."
07The Incredibles (Brad Bird) I saw The Incredibles three times within the month of its opening. And every time something else opened the following month that only looked half-appealing I thought to myself. "Now, self, you can always go and see The Incredibles again!" This great superhero film may be written off as comfort food, but it's not without nutritious value. I've never considered re-watchability to be the strongest indicator of quality but it counts as an obvious plus. The film's cheerful but serious inventiveness becomes more obvious upon repeat viewings.
Brad Bird, who also directed the last American 2-D animation classic The Iron Giant, deserves all the kudos he gets for this special toon. He also wrote the jam-packed, funny and relevant screenplay. He's not the first auteur to work in animation, but he's the genre's greatest superhero behind the scenes in quite some time. He may only be voicing Edna Mode ("I never look back! It distracts me from the 'now'.") but to me he's Mr. Incredible.
For more on Brad Bird, I suggest reading Robert's Directors of the Decade entry. I haven't seen this movie in too long. I'm totally watching it again as soon as this year's awards crush is over.
06Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki Duk) Gorgeously humane and intimately scaled, Spring... is the spiritual tonic that the cinemas most needed in this year of religious-fueled fury (The Passion) and human pettiness and ferocity (Dogville). Director Kim Ki Duk also moved from cruelty (see previous films) to peace and meditation here. spring, summer, fall, winter...and spring is structured with complete simplicity (the title is truthful), but what could have been a precious and obvious film is instead profoundly moving.
05Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) Making a sequel to a film as delicate and "moment in time"-ish as Before Sunrise seems like a fool's errand. But writer/director Linklater and his stars Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke are no fools. This re-meet is less cute (though still cuddly), deeper, and more resonant. It improbably improves the original, which is a pretty awesome trick. Celine and Jesse have aged well. Before Sunset's purity (it's told in real time) gives a beautiful ebb and flow to the chatty conversation and emotional reveals, and culminates in one of the great movie endings.
The last two movies just get to me. Man, do they get to me. Tears!
04Sideways (Alexander Payne) He's four for four now. Payne first made a mark in 1996 when Citizen Ruth won many cinephile hearts for its satirical know-how, poking fun (with gusto) at both sides in the eternal abortion rights battle. Next up came Election (my personal favorite) a hilarious high-school-as-macrocosm of politics movie. And finally, two years ago broader audiences finally discovered his work (with the help of a genuine legend Jack Nicholson) in About Schmidt. Apparently though, for a complete triumph with the sacred trinity of Audience|Critics|Oscar, the fourth time is the charm.
The current backlash-generated question is: Are critics wrong to have been so unanimous in declaring Sideways, a light angsty middle age buddy comedy, the best film of the year? Perhaps. Is that anything to hold against this funny, incisive, memorable, and superbly acted gem? Absolutely not. Drink up!
Though I still think the backlash was as suspect as it claimed the critical reaction was, I readily admit that I don't love this as much now. Before Sunset feels richer when it comes to romantic baggage and if the negatives of this and, say, Birth were on fire. I'd be trying to save Birth. You know? But it's a good movie. So there.
03Vera Drake (Mike Leigh) Leigh is most frequently thought of as an ensemble director. His now famous method of working involves months of rehearsal and improv with his team of actors before the movie has a real script and before any footage is shot. His films tend to have uniformly strong work from their entire teeming cast... even the bit roles are perfection. What is less often remarked upon is the way his film's are often built organically around one magical, lived-in and accomplished lead performance from a character actor. Add Imelda Staunton's Vera Drake to the list that includes Brenda Blethyn's teary Cynthia Purley (Secrets and Lies) and the great Jim Broadbent's towering, magnificent William Gilbert in Topsy Turvy.
I wish I had given Imelda Staunton my gold medal that year. I was too caught up in that silly Bening vs. Swank round two stuff. Argh! Done in by Oscar punditry and my own actressexual "issues".
02Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi) The first film in years to make me feel like a little kid again. Absolutely joyous from start to finish. My gratitude goes out to Tobey Macguire and Kirsten Dunst who continue to exhibit a rare chemistry. Kudos also to the team behind Doctor Octopus. Superheroes need a great rogues gallery and Doctor Octopus alone makes 2 a significant improvement on the original. I don't know if "there's a hero in all of us" but Sam Raimi is one in my book. He continues to show complete acceptance and love for that most maligned genre; the comic book film. This webslinging adventure is, quite simply, the greatest superhero movie ever. "Excelsior!"
When I first published my top ten list I never entered any text to explain my number one choice. For a movie that's at least partially about self-erasure, I suppose that's appropriate. The movie is utterly brilliant. Unlike Joel's memories, it will endure forever.
I know you love Eternal Sunshine, but what else made 2004 great for you? Oscar went crazy for Million Dollar Baby (I like it more now than I did back then), the public went crazy for Shrek 2 and The Passion of the Christ and The Bourne Supremacy.You? *
I dream of celebrity.I don't even know what day it is anymore. I was sick all weekend and sleeping erratically. When I woke up this morning (last night? yesterday afternoon?) I was convinced that I had just been interviewing Vera Farmiga. She looked exactly like Sarah Paulson.
Instead of asking Ms. Farmiga about the her new picture, the Oscar contender Up in the Air -- view trailer -- I kept asking her what I should have for lunch. Did she maybe have the pancake recipe that made Claudette Colbert wealthy in Imitation of Life? If so, could I borrow it? Vera/Sarah became very frustrated that I wasn't interested in her career (but I am. Even though I never write about it!)
"Order the damn BLT" she finally declared with exasperation.
I ignored her and ordered the tuna melt instead.
P.S. Fans of I Heart Huckabees will sadly note that I was not lucid dreaming and therefore could not work Shania Twain and Jude Law into the proceedings once the tuna sandwich came up. **
Directed byDavid O. Russell StarringJake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Biel, James Marsden, Catherine Keener, James Brolin. Synopsis Jessica Biel gets a nail shot into her brain. Yay! Oh, okay, so after that she starts acting all crazily and ends up going to Congress for some reason and runs across helpful Congressman Gyllenhaal. Brought to you by Whoever is crazy enough to partner up with David O. "Some F***ing C***" Russell (i.e. Red Wagon Entertainment) Expected release date Given this movie's checkered history, who knows?
Joe:Nailed's tumultuous (that's putting it lightly -- production stopped at least 2-3 times as they ran out of money) road to completion almost made me forget what an intriguing prospect it is creatively. Yeah, yeah, Jessica Biel -- but look at all that other talent. Plus: Paul Reubens! Jon Stewart! Kirstie Alley! Even if it's bad, it could be a total glorious car wreck. I am way excited to find out.
JA:Way excited doesn't even BEGIN to cover my expectations. Yes, David O. Russell's is by all accounts a terrific (as in size, not nature) prick. So is very nearly every director whose films I enjoy. I don't want to be his assistant, I want to watch the wonderful insanity that springs forth from his corrupt brain.
If I were the sort who was into making lists - wait, what are we doing here? - I Heart Huckabees would probably make my top 10 for the decade so far, and I didn't even like it that much the first time I saw it. But then I saw it again. And again. And again, and the fucker swallowed me whole.
And that cast! Yes give or take a Biel - although I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt as of right now - it's like Russell took an ice cream scooper to my skull and splatted my deepest fantasies out onto a marble surface and rolled them up into human form like some sort of brain-to-human version of Cold Stone Creamery.
Whitney: I think putting a nail in someone's head sounds funny. There was a dude that actually happened to. A spike went through his head in a mine and it changed his personality. While he was once friendly and sweet, he suddenly turned into a totally asshole. I learned all about it Psych. 101.
Fox: The premise for this film sounds amazing in it's absurdity. Huckabees was that way, too... I guess everything of Russell's is that way if you think about it.
And come, come now... you guys are being a bit harsh on Biel. True, she hasn't shown anything significant yet, but neither has Gyllenhaal (dudes, come on... he's completely overrated). I mean, if Jake gets a pass simply because he's a cutie, then so should Jessica.
Nathaniel: I'm generally okay with mediocre actors being in auteur films if the auteurs in question have shown a knack for pulling interesting or best of career stuff from their cast. Auteurs are like painters in that way. Red is red is red unless it's on Chagall or Almodóvar's palettes, you feel me?
i heart david o. russell
And I trust Russell. I'd just wear earplugs and protective gear were I to visit his set. He has such an original comedic voice and he doesn't just rest there, always wedging dramatic tension somewhere inside the laughs. Spanking the Monkey was an attention grabber as debuts go, but he's gotten consistently stronger as a filmmaker. Consider Three Kings, the genius of Huckabees and the still undervalued Flirting With Disaster. This is a goldmine filmography, isn't it?
Your turn. Are you excited for this movie? And even if you aren't, whose head would you like to see nailed?
In case you missed any entries they went like so... * We Can't Wait: #1Inglourious Basterds, #2Where the Wild Things Are,#3Fantastic Mr. Fox, #4Avatar, #5Bright Star, #6Shutter Island, #7Scott Pilgrim vs. The World #8Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9Nailed,#10Taking Woodstock, #11Watchmen, #12The Hurt Locker, #13The Road, #14The Tree of Life #15Away We Go, #16500 Days of Summer, #17Drag Me To Hell, #18 Whatever Works, #19Broken Embraces,#20Nine (the musical) intro (orphans -didn't make group list) *
Adam of Club Silencio here with a look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.
Good grief.
How better to describe Naomi Watts career? It's amazing how quickly she burst into into our cinematic lives and cemented such high esteem. It doesn't hurt that she's working with choice auteurs, but being told off by Lily Tomlin has to be a sign that you've arrived. But knowing Naomi she'll probably find some way to take it badly... Although it's understandable. She's gone through so much in so little time. And in that brief period she's taught us that there really is an exquisite process to grieving.
Probably never going to work out anyways... Naomi'd have to put him down easy - if he wasn't shot down with helicopters first. We feel her interspecies pain.
To save her own skin and that of her (irritating) child, Naomi decides to pass the videotaped death penalty onto her babysitter. Grief sometimes leads to poor choices -- like losing childcare living with that kid. You win some, you lose some, and for the sake of Naomi in action, we always hope for the loss.
You arrive in Hollywood with big dreams and you leave taking a hit out on your mean bisexual lover. Same sad Hollywood tale. Try as she might (and by god does Naomi try), she never can deal with her fatal farewell.
Naomi's got a lot on her plate. This time it's another dead family. Words can't describe the loss, but taking a hit out on the man responsible might just cover it. Apparently Naomi's still learning how to channel that rage.
Naomi finally learns to deal with griefs like a demeaning job and a sexless marriage by being both dirty and Amish. Grief does indeed take many forms.
Naomi says she's not oblivious to the high-wire state of her characters, "Everyone's experienced some degree of depression in their life and I definitely have, but not to the point where I didn't get out of bed or shower for days." Although in describing her stunning double-turn as buoyant Betty and dour Diane in Mulholland Drive, she equates the experience to her own form of counseling, "David (Lynch) saw me for myself and was OK with my self-doubts. And I give him the part of myself I felt I'd been hiding for so long, that didn't need to be hidden. But he's an artist and he knows that creativity, humor and sexuality all come out of a dark place."
Unlike her tragic lives on-screen, Naomi seems of the mindset that tomorrow is a new day. But then we all know where this kind of optimism has gotten her so far...
Tuesday Top Ten: For the List Maker in Me and the List Lover in You
With a special edition of Gattaca and the flop remake of Sleuth both out on DVD today, I thought we'd take a look back at the career of Jude Law. He's still a staple of the gossip set but his star seems to be flickering weirdly and not so very brightly these past two years. I hope there's a resurgence of respect for his talent and another impressive role soon. I can dream...
Ten Best Jude Law Performances
10. I've yet to rent Breaking & Entering (2006) which was barely and poorly distributed at the tail end of a busy film year (I hate when they do that) and the other major Law lead that I missed was Enemy at the Gates (2001). So this spot stays open for the time being.
09. Wilde (1997) He's played more than his share of callow pretty boys but this is where it essentially began as Oscar Wilde's unfaithful manipulative lover "Bosie" in the minor biopic. Stephen Fry played the witty playwright.
08.Closer (2004) All three of his co-stars (Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts) received more praise but in a film full of selfish players, he's the most unlikeable so even if his performance had been as mesmerizing as Clive's (it wasn't) as against-type as Julia's (definitely not) or as fresh as Natalie's (how could it be?) he would've been ignored. But it's still incisive character-serving work. Even if you do want Clive Owen to beat the crap out of him whenever they're both onscreen.
07.Road to Perdition(2002) Sam Mendes' follow up to the Oscar-winning American Beauty gave Jude one of his rare opportunities to de-glam. That's something usually reserved for actresses but since he's as pretty as any of them, he got to ugly down to play the sadistic photographer. It was a surprising character and an unnerving diversion in his star trajectory (and he probably needs to do something equally head turning again soon).
06.Alfie(2004) A remake that's much better than it gets credit for being (with a delicious parade of underused and talented actresses including TFE favorites Marisa Tomei and Jane Krakowski) probably because it's difficult for people to feel much sympathy for the devil when he looks like Jude Law and his playboy luck starts running out.
05.Cold Mountain(2003) His second Oscar nomination and without question the best performance in a crowded uneven film. Renée Zellweger serves her statue-seizing role with an entire ham, not just a side. Jude meanwhile merely acts the hell out of Inman but goes so internal that it's quietly devastating. Natalie Portman proves a worthy scene partner and they did right by each other the following year in Closer, too. Can we get a third pairing, please?
04. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Some cinephiles swear by this odd Spielberg/Kubrick mash-up but I think it's a botch --albeit a botch with several masterful elements. One of them is Jude Law as "Gigolo Joe" a robot built for pleasure. Spielberg isn't the sort of director who has a sure hand with erotic elements (consider the unintentionally funny sex stuff in Munich and that's just one example) or perhaps he just isn't that interested in them. He doesn't make as much of this witty committed supporting turn as an adult-driven auteur (like say Kubrick himself) might have but Jude still makes the very most of his material. He's in the mood for love(ing this role)
03. Gattaca (1997) This thinking person's sci-fi drama was my first exposure to the British beauty. He and Uma play genetically perfect human specimens. Good casting, right? He's mesmerizing and bitter, having lost his perfection in an accident, and completely steals the show from Ethan Hawke (flawed specimen). I haven't seen it in years but I'd love to hear from anyone who has recently. Does it hold up?
02. I Heart Huckabees (2004) He's my choice for Best Supporting Actor of 2004, just barely ahead of Mark Wahlberg in the same film, they're both superb in sneaky multi-layered comic roles. I'm sure this movie's fan base will only continue to grow as it ages. More Huckabees posts here, because I heart it.
01. The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr Ripley (1999) The title character may have been complex enough to require multiple adjectives but it was Jude Law (as Dickie Greenleaf) and not Matt Damon (as Mr Ripley) who owned the film. It could have been as accurately titled The Cocksure Selfish Sexual Mean Outgoing Carefree Seductive Musical Privileged Beautiful Glowing Amoral Temperamental Passionate Charismatic Mr Greenleaf. It was the film that rightly made Law a major star and delivered him his first Oscar nomination. "Dickie Greenleaf" was an indelible creation and will be forever fused to notions of who Jude Law is as a movie star and celebrity, for better and worse. He richly deserved the Oscar which would instead go to Michael Caine. In a bizarre twist worthy of Hollyweird, Jude has become a reinterpreter of Caine's work, recreating two of his roles already in Alfie (2004) and Sleuth (2007).
I'm ready for a comeback. Here's hoping Jude has got at least one more Dickie in him. *
Don't you think that all screen kisses involving Isabelle Huppert should begin with both actors getting utterly filthy?
Then again, perhaps they already do...
"human drama is inevitable. suffering cannot be diminished." "existence is a cruel joke that entices in a form of desire." "there are unique moments when two people share the deep sorrow of existence." "do not defile it with cliché. it is unnameable." -Caterine Vaubanisms
This post is a contribution to the Slapstick Blog-a-Thon hosted by Film of the Year
"Have you ever transcended space and time?" -Vivian Jaffe "Yes. No. Time, not space --no, I don't know what you're talking about" -Albert Markovski I Heart Huckabees (2004)
OK. Let's start with space. Cross this lawn.
It's a simple enough action for a filmmaker to choreography and capture: have your actor run across the screen. But for David O' Russell, the writer/director behind the brilliant I Heart Huckabees, there's nothing simple that can't be made hilariously unwieldy. Let's add the zig-zag spray of a sprinkler system for the antagonist. Lily Tomlin in a powder blue suit plays protagonist. She'll begin the scene all spy-like, hiding behind a tree with white gloves gesturing to her husband Bernard to follow close behind. Then she'll make a dash for it...
The camera has to jerk and dart a little to keep up with her awkward spray-dodging techniques. She crouches down. She adjusts her speed. She hops.
She does all of this in stilleto heels.
And she gets hit full spray. It's physical comedy - whaddya want?
One of Huckabees recurring visual motifs is a grid-like collapse of the screen, pieces fall off to reveal another image underneath. It's mostly used as a way to illustrate Bernard and Vivian's theories about everything being connected; everything different is the same. It's also a spot-on visual embodiment of the layering of comedy. Like all jokes in Huckabees this one has an extra layer or four. Sprinkler. Tomlin. Costuming. Physical Comedy. And for an extra giggle: this extremely verbose character suddenly has a monosyllabic potty mouth.
But we're still not quite finished. The laughs in this blissfully funny smart movie are never simple. Huckabees has an inimitable sense of humor and O'Russell and his game actors add new punchlines every time the jokes seem to have peaked. The gags build on each other, gathering momentum. For instance, Hoffman will now follow Tomlin across the lawn and try to step over the jet sprays instead. Even the purely physical gags get funnier after they're over; punctuated as they are with intellectual and physical exclamation points.
Vivian dives into a garbage can and empties its contents for the existential investigation.
"Look at this: Kafka! He's planting garbage for us" -Vivian "Kafka. That's so cliché" -Bernard Jaffe
Despite O'Russell's notorious onset tussles with cast members from George Clooney (Three Kings) to Lily Tomlin (previous post), he knows just how to cast actors and make the most of their specific gifts. Huckabees gets tremendous mileage from Wahlberg's man boy sensitivity, Jude Law's golden god status, and Naomi Watts's overemphatic intensity. And I'd argue that he gives Lily Tomlin her best role since Robert Altman immortalized her in Nashville during the "I'm Easy" musical number, presenting her in one of the cinema's greatest closeups. Even the slapstick classic All of Me with Steven Martin didn't make use of all of her gifts (Martin got most of the physical comedy in that one).
Tomlin's physical antics in Huckabees (she also dives into cars, lustfully makes out with her husband, crouches in hallways, and plays peeping tom several times over) are a hoot in and of themselves but they're made sillier because the actress and her character are so entirely... so purposefully conspicuous. Lily with her serious face flirtatiously delivering unsexy absurdities and Vivian's costuming choices (stilletos, cleavage cutaways) --well, this woman couldn't get lost in a crowd.
Why was she trying to cross that lawn with stealth, anyway? For her very next move she dives (loudly) into a garbage can and then she enters the house she's spying on and begins to snap photos of its residents in their full view. This knowingly absurd film is an extremely rare thing: a comedy with true staying power and after-giggles. It's one of the only comedies that's as funny to think about afterwards as is it to actually screen. I heart Huckabees and Lily Tomlin, too.
These videos from the set of I Heart Huckabees are sprouting like evil mushrooms around the net though YouTube keeps pulling them down. So watch while you can. The first is Lily Tomlin pissed off and frustrated at the shooting of a sequence (Dustin Hoffman & Isabelle Huppert are mostly mum). The second is the director himself absolutely losing his shit. NSFW and also NSFLTLBDORISIMTHITC hich translated is Not Safe For Lily Tomlin Lovers Because David O'Russell Is So Incredibly Mean To Her In This Clip.
I really love this movie so the end result was worthwhile but surely a great movie could've still emerged from a less volatile set. All I know is that I would have hated to be a Human Resources Manager on this production or be whoever fills that type of role on a film set.
LILY TOMLIN
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