#97 of 2010: Paper Moon

Maybe it's the fact that the biological relationship between the characters Addie and Moses is tenuous that allowed Tatum O'Neal to so totally break out of the shadow of being the male lead's daughter in real life. After all, this wasn't just a case of an actor parent supplying their own child to play their character's child. This isn't an easy case of "just act like i'm your dad, but in a different setting, and call me a different name". This is a real role, a lead role, really. But calling her a "supporting actress" allowed Ms. O'Neal to become the youngest person even to win an Oscar (she beat out her co-star Madeline Kahn's comedic performance for it). "Historical Awards Wins" and "Incredibly Young" aside, the younger O'Neal's gravelly voice and locked scowl, her androgynous grit and youth and supposed poverty of "sentiment", smoking in bed, scheming for affection, smarts, everything she is, down to how her hair is cut and how she walks (even in the dress she wanted but won't change for, she'll wear but won't inhabit, because her clothes don't make her), contributes to the beautifully filmed steely grey edge on everything. It's an edge made of a lot of dust but it's still reeeeal hard looking, which might be the only way to ensure the preservation of soft, old-fashioned fondness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Moon_(film)

#79 of 2010: Hunger

i'm tempted not to say a whole lot about this. one reason is that i still can't be absolutely sure that it streamed correctly. but i'm fairly certain it did, so what i do say will be based on what i saw/heard (and didn't hear). most of the movie i saw was silent. if not silent, it was muffled except for the choice mic-ing of wood being shattered and water being splashed, etc. this may be what one critic meant by complaining about the film coming off as "scrubbed of political dialogue" or something to that effect. but the visuals were so audible, and the near-absence of "civilized sounds" like talking or music makes the minute or so of violin (beginning at minute 28:49) the most expressive audio possible at that moment in the film. also, any kind of vague politics or selectively-contextualized fault gets quickly re-embodied in individuals when nothing about those individuals is conveniently explained.

another reason that i don't want to say a whole lot is that this guy- http://www.donalforeman.com/blog/?cat=2 - already has, and i think you should read it. you should also see "Hunger" for yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_(2008_film)

#74 of 2010: The Spirit of the Beehive

everything about this film- from the lighting, to the editing, to the dialog between sisters, to the fade-as-small-scale-time-lapse technique, to the loose narrative (almost without plot, as the word is conventionally defined)- combines to create the effect that we are travelling back into our own childhood minds as we watch. "The Spirit of the Beehive" is not so much a story about a single fictional child as it is a reminder that children, living in the same disturbing world as adults without any guarantee of shelter from loss or grief or disillusionment, have the ability to cope in incredible ways. it's hard to say much about this movie except that it was transporting, filled with the awe and discovery of being young without any condescension, and without forgetting that there is pain and confusion (right alongside joy and beauty) in living, from day one on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_the_Beehive

#54 of 2010: Leon: The Professional

Sure, it's an action flick, plus a kid-in-trouble-saved-by-reluctant-loner storyline. that hybrid in itself is not what makes this film incredible. what DOES, is, well, it's frenchness: this is the international version of what was released in america as "the professional", and is, intact, much more emotionally rewarding than the puritanized iteration. yes, it is disturbing to watch a reedy preteen girl participate in contract killings. yes, it is somewhat uncomfortable to hear this young girl engage in a conversation with her older, male guardian which amounts to her asking him to sleep with her. but this movie is not an example of the creepy oversexualization of young girls that takes place in american media and retail. this is a 12-yr-old girl character in a crazy situation acting like a 12-yr-old girl in a crazy situation (p.s. i would be in love with Leon, too). that the movie had to be cleansed of this character's chance to demonstrate her inner thoughts (and learn from the response she gets) for the american release is a perfect example of the hypocrisy and oversimplification that have always allowed good, accessible, human art to take a backseat to low-brow feel-goodism in this country. thank you, The French, for being so ok with puberty, and for being willing to present uncomfortable images so that all the bad we bring to the table as viewers may be swept aside by the excruciating (and redemptive) depth of your characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Léon_(film)