#106 of 2010: ...And God Created Woman

of all the movies i watched in 2010, this is the one from which i took the largest number of screen shots. the preponderance of camera setup/camera motion tics in ...And God Created Woman was unignorable. for instance, check out the "large dark visual metaphor for emotional distance hogging up a significant portion of the frame" trick:

zooming in and zooming out to indicate trouble for the sensitive young bro with a soulful nymph wife (who has not-so secret and not-so unfulfilled longings for older bro) is another common occurrence in the film, as seen here:

i don't have any shots of what was probably the most moving scene (fittingly the near-tragic violent climax). certainly i was too transfixed by Ms. Bardot's impassioned, solitary dancing to interrupt. instead of reading me ramble on about how refreshing it was to see a smoking hot young woman embrace her sensuality for the pure pleasure of it (rather than as a bargaining chip in the business of life), just watch this movie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_God_Created_Woman_(1956_film)

#101 of 2010: The Wrestler

"The Wrestler" is punishing on several levels. It wraps up all the down(est)sides of everything from hero worship to commercialized body image to absentee fatherhood to nostalgia for the eighties (and the list goes on), while still getting viewers to care about what is happening to the characters (a point where that other Aronofsky adaptation, "Requiem for a Dream", largely failed, in my opinion). Mickey Rourke: yes. Marisa Tomei: yea, alright. Evan Rachel Wood: maybe not. The daughter storyline is to be expected. Of course this torn up old beast of a man fathered a child twentysome years ago (right?). But I feel like this aspect of the plot gets severely boiled down and serves (a little too exclusively) as an excuse for Randy to get to know the "Pam" side of "Cassidy". Which, cool, "we both have kids and shit, we both work in entertainment industries but are real people, look at us, we're real, but one of us definitely feels more real when we're working". And it's the super tan bleach blonde one. . . the man, the legend, the Ram. Cut to final RAM JAM. The End. I may have been too hard on "The Wrestler"'s narrative oomph, because immediately after I saw it, I watched "Goodfellas" for the first time, and of the two the latter stands out a bit more prominently in my mind. I still recommend the former, especially if you are into "walking in ____'s shoes" downers.

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

#100 of 2010: Paris, Texas

The incredibly slow trickle of narrative disclosure made the first hour of "Paris, Texas" a little tough to get through, but after all is said and done, I think the pacing of the film can be considered one of its most notable achievements. It starts out a garble that we see through "the brother's" eyes, and the tension of what will happen if or when Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) comes back into the life of his son, Hunter, competently propels the garble on through the first forty minutes. By the time Hunter says "Goodnight, Dad" twice, I began to wonder if there was any story left to tell. Or rather, I knew there was story left to tell, but judging from the opening half of the movie, I had my doubts as to whether or not it would get told. At precisely 1:02:01, everything starts all over again, with the simple gesture of walking backwards on the other side of the street. From this point on, I was enamored. The remainder is speckled with little vignettes that keep you watching and listening- fully attentive to what is being shown and said- because your brain figured out early on that here, there's no reward for guesswork.

One of my favorite scenes was the one on the bridge. On first viewing, it seemed completely interruptive (i didn't mind), and now that I skim it again, I see the significance in showing Travis walking at night, then cutting to him walking (in the same direction) across a bridge over some highway in the low light of what could easily be taken for early morning: after learning that there might be a way for him to find his long-lost wife, he walks all night, quickly, without giving much notice to his environment. Still, it isn't the narrative implications that get me about this scene. It's the way the sound (an audio parfait of footsteps and traffic buzz and some echo-y orating within the scene, topped off with that bending and twanging guitar soundtrack) and the visual composition (tracking Travis, who's centered in the shot, as he glides over the bi-directional river of head- and tail-lights) combine and fluctuate and culminate in Travis slowing down as the shot overtakes the orator (who turns toward him without lowering his volume), and the guitar drops back while we listen (along with our main character) about how "none of that area will be called a safety zone. there will be no safety zone. i can guarantee you the safety zone will be eliminated. eradicated." The orator turns back towards the highway, Travis softly touches his back as he walks around him, and the camera let's our main character walk on without it.

ps, Hunter is great. Not like a "great kid actor", but a real kid who doesn't seem like he's on film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_Texas_(film)

#99 of 2010: Hara Kiri

In the tradition of non linear storytelling, "Hara Kiri" calls into question the efficacy of first impressions and, in the process, also casts doubt on the morality of strictly defining what kinds of behavior count as"honorable". Most of the film is fairly understated, but moments of tension (i.e. are they gonna make him stab himself with a bamboo blade?) are furiously anxious, and the quiet sadness of Tatsuya Nakadai's character is absolute.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harakiri_(1962_film)

#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)

#89 of 2010: Five Easy Pieces

jack nicholson as Bobby claims to not feel anything but what that actually means is he feels a lot of shit and it doesn't feel nice because he's a total Guy In The Seventies and doesn't know how to balance doing "hard work" plus "having a good time" with being a sensitive pianist and a scared little boy on the inside. his well-to-do family of musicians include people who he generally ignores, though his sister is an incredible sweetheart (smart and a tad awkward, but full of feeling and good humor). strained relationships with dad and bro, no surprise there, and depictions of troubled masculinity throughout the movie- from the physical ailments of dad (stroke) and bro (some neck thing, now he can't play his violin), to the law hauling away Bobby's dim, giggling pal (who seems to represent self-satisfied, "settled down" blue collar america, the authentic version of what Bobby pretends to be). as the film's most prevalent on-screen plot complications (the family issues are established as having arisen before the time period which is the subject of the film) are Bobby's relationships with two different women (an emotionally dependent, intellectually simple, gaudily feminine pregnant waitress who is Bobby's mental inferior but moral superior; and a softspokenly delicate, independent fellow musician (and soon to be sister-in-law) who is Bobby's emotional superior and intellectual equal), it is important to note (and commend) the depth and variety of gender depictions presented in "Five Easy Pieces". overall, it seems like the women (sister, pregnant girlfriend, short-term love affair) come off as more stable, thoughful, compassionate, and rational people, though there are certainly negative female counterpoints (the "pompous celibate" and the almost intolerable [but hilarious] hitchhiker). the most likable male character is probably the nurse, who is little more than a hulking, whitewashed mass of comic relief and a chance for the sweetheart sister to demonstrate her full personhood through sexuality. i'd like to go on about the visuals, but i've spent so much time on the gender bit that all i'll say is: that bit after Bobby gets on a moving truck and plays piano up the exit ramp, the next scene, he's walking around in what basically looks like a George Segal from the late 60's/early 70's, and it is evocative in the same way, with the same economy of image and lack of (need for) verbal explanations. also, T. Bak pointed out to me the expressionist use of the oil derricks in the aforementioned run-in-with-the-law scene, which is a praise-worthy utilization (and transformation, from eyesore to emotional barometer) of that machine.

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