Original Review Here
Miss Representation is a documentary that analyses the ways that women are portrayed in films. It contains an array of brilliant interviews with people in government, authors, directors, actresses, activists etc etc etc. It even talks (too briefly) about how sexism affects men and how men aren't allowed to be emotional. If at all interested in discussing gender an any fashion I would start with this movie. It has so much amazing information in it (I left the theater with about 5 pages of notes. I would have had more if I could write faster) It is a beautiful film that opens up your eyes to how these images impact future generations. I also love that this is a movie that doesn't just die. You can tell that Jennifer Siebel Newsom was trying to make a film that would further impact discussions of sexism. Oh, and I loved the score. I only have two (small) issues with this movie. One I felt that because of the variety of people who were interviewed a slightly more full discussion of race could have happened. Two, I disliked Jim Steyer's idea that images were better in "the forties and fifties" because supposedly, that was a time women could have more roles on screen. I think that, that assumption leaves a lot of women who weren't (in any way) represented in that time (non-white, non-heterosexual). He goes on to talk about how censoring violent images is important. I totally understand that. I also feel that this statement should have been expanded on, when you consider the history that the MPAA and censoring groups have with homophobia and sexism.
This documentary impacted the way I looked at gender issues this year. From the role of black women in The Help to the discussion director Jason Rietman and writer Diablo Cody had about sexist images affect on women in Young Adult, to the "fighting fuck toy" image in Mission Impossible. The quote "You can't be what you cant see" is what sticks with me. What have I seen this year? What do these movie say I can be? As a black woman Hollywood seems to say I can be nothing but a sex object for a (married!) white man (Thanks Mission Impossible) while my history is whitewashed (Oh, The Help). Luckily there has been some hope. An emergence of black female directors conscious of the problem like, Ava Duverny (who is a pleasure to meet) or Dee Reese(whose movie Pariah is out at select cities).
Another positive theme this year is how gay rights is inching into the public mind. Young Adult and Red State show that you don't have to be gay to be effected by the violence of homophobia. There are gay characters in movies (just because) like the Sherlock Holmes' brother or a cop in The Guard. For better or worse it says something about what people are thinking.
This is a year of hiding, of disguises, of looking a little deeper and I was able to see some pretty interesting films.
Miss Representation was an easy pick for number one. The rest of these movies were not. I tried to base this off of what movie was better, not what movie has the most entertainment value (which is very difficult). If you disagree with the order I apologize. I put all the movies I saw this year, if there is one I didn’t see that you love please let me know by commenting.
2.We Were Here
This is a documentary that looks at how the community in San Francisco handled the AIDS epidemic. The film is a combination of 5 interviews and photos from the time. You will cry and you won't care who sees you. This film will tear at your heart. If you learn nothing else from it learn this: the seemingly small actions of people can spark a community that can do almost anything. There were places that allowed infected artist in the community to get art supplies and there were places that took care of pets of the sick. I took a class where we watched many documentaries about AIDS in the US, unlike those this movie highlighted the contribution of the lesbian community on the epidemic.
I will say this movie had one possible flaw. It is framed so that it ends in an uplifting manor (for obvious reasons) that could be read by an uninformed audience as saying that HIV/AIDS isn't "that bad" anymore. If you look at the way HIV is affecting the deaf and black communities in the US (the two I myself have studied) you will see that that there are still a lot of work to be done in this country and globally. This films main strength is that it focuses on one particular communities actions so discussing others and going into global issues isn't necessary but I think it could have been helpful to include a list of organizations that deal with the disease currently.
3. The Wonder Year.
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Original Review Here
This documentary about hip-hop producer/professor 9th Wonder was pretty amazing. I can't express what if feels like to watch a movie about a black man (1) from my home town (2) that talks about rap music (3). I feel everyone who left the theater gained a higher understanding of music and what a musician can do. Director Kenneth Price did a fantastic job, it was both beautiful and smart. One of my biggest pet peeves is documentaries where the director includes themselves for no reason. Price let 9th Wonder tell his own story while also showing us what we needed to see.
4. Sherlock Holmes
Guy Richie comes back with another Sherlock Holmes sequel. This one more action packed, and funnier than the first. I personally liked it, thought Richie needed to redo some of his slow motion effects. I think I liked it because I haven't read the original stories and don't have such a fond connection to them (I also never expect a movie to be true to the book it's adapting in any way). Two I have been reading queer theory and the ways movies hint at a characters queerness. So all the "bro-mancing" between Holmes and Watson, was pretty hiliarous to me. I mean how can you look at Holmes' sad face when he sees Watson get married with out going "awwwww"? Like Holmes said, "It's so overt it's covert."
(Other) Favorite Quotes: "Unlike you I repress nothing."
“Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?"
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Review Coming.
This is an American and English-speaking adaptation of a 2009 Swedish Film of the same title. These movies are based off of a book by Steig Larsson called which in English translates in to "Men who Hate Women." The is a movie about the one and only bad ass named Lisbeth Salander, who helps out recently disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist solve a case about a woman who has been missing for 40 years.
If you take out Trent Reznor's score and the lighting you are left with a watered down Hollywood remake that is held up by Rooney Mara's performance. While it still manages to slightly open eyes to sexism director David Fincher didn't give me the movie I was promised. It wasn't "The Feel Bad Move of Christmas" it was a movie that lets people walk out the theater unaware that the issues shown isn't just some mystery it's the world we live in. I highly suggest people watch the 2009 before seeing this version. I hope to pick up a copy of the original novel, if I can find one that doesn't say anything about David Fincher's remake on the cover.
6. I Will Follow
I Will Follow is about woman in the process of packing up and leaving her aunts house. She stayed with Aunt while she had cancer and now her aunt has died. We find out a lot about this woman in the course of this day. I really respect how no one in this movie is represented like a villain. There are even times when we don't like our protagonist. Also it was made with only $50,000 which is amazing: It looks beautiful, the music is great, it was written pretty well. However, I'm not a big fan of day-in -the-life movies/stories. They feel overly sentimental to me, even though the day you move away can be very traumatic. I think this movie could be loved by someone who is a little less shallow about those things than I am.
7. Beginners
[BTW this movie came out in Canada in 2010 but almost everywhere else in 2011]
This is a movie about a man (Ewan McGregor) whose parents have died [his father who was gay died most recently] and he is still trying to get over that. In the process of healing he meets a woman (Melanie Laurent) who helps him feel better and they fall in love. I liked the way they talk about gay rights and antisemitism. The way the movie used images and voice over to create this story was really phenomenal. However I will say that the one gay character [other than the father] is represented as being paranoid about homophobia which is unfortunate. This movie has also been criticized because Melanie Laurents character is basically a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Meaning her entire role in the movie is about making this guy feel better about his life. My other issue with this movie is that it's very slow at time and I don't see watching it again.
8. Mission Impossible
Ok so...Mission Impossible shouldn't be that high on the list. It's a very guilty pleasure of mine.If I had to guess I would say that this movie was about 98% percent action. Even things that you wouldn't even consider remotely suspenseful if I told you about them are made to made to increase you heart rate. I love it. However the other 2% of this action fest feels like boring romantic nonsense. No one cares about Paula Patton's (I can't remember her character's name) dead boyfriend. No one cares (even remotely) about Ethan's (Tom Cruise) wife. And when the movie tried to slow itself down that's when little different racist/sexist things started happening. Patton's character becomes a "Fighting Fuck Toy" Meaning despite any fights she gets into her role in this movie is to be looked at. Oh and within the middle of the movie she shares a wonderful cat fight with the only other woman in the movie. Still, I feel this Mission Impossible is probably one of my favorites. It was like an action sandwich.The main reason to watch Mission impossible to see things blow up and see Ethan run on a the side of a building. And in that sense this movie does not disappoint. Get some pop corn, have some soda. Lets have fun.
Oh and if you are looking for some kind of drinking game play "Find the product placement in Mission Impossible."
9. The Guard
"I Can't Tell If You're Really Mother F*cking Dumb or Really Mother F*cking Smart" - Don Cheadle's character
This movie is about a very unorthodox Irish cop and an FBI agent (Don Cheadle) who despite their differences (casual racist comments) end up solving a crime. We have an idea in our head of what a good cop is supposed to be and I don't think he is supposed to spend the day with prostitutes instead of work or pick up drugs off of a crime scene. This movie is slightly meta at times, certain lines make me feel like they are trying to comment on the normal cop films. (Metacinema is always a positive.) While I enjoyed this film I can't see myself watching it again or buying. I'm not sure why. It's also possible the casual racist jokes irked me a little bit. (Dear people in the theatre, I don't think they were meant to be that funny.)
10. J Edgar
"A society unwilling to learn from the past is doomed. We must never forget our history."
Clint Eastwood's biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, a man we come to find out of many names and faces, was a 137 minute epic. The movie intercuts Hoover when he starts the FBI and then when he is older in age. I have a serious problem with movies that feel slow especially movies like J Edgar that start out so promising. There is an explosion within the first 10 minutes! Also the script and the direction were brilliant. I have two problems with this movie. One the representation of homosexuality. I know many people don't know that about Hoover's homosexuality but do you really need to explain this by having him talk about a woman's since of fashion? My second issue with the film is that it doesn't thoroughly show what he and the FBI did. There is no real mention his war on the black panther party. (hit up wikipedia for more info) I wouldn't have minded that if the entire point of this film was to show how this man hid documents and represented himself better than he was. This movie was supposed to show us everything but it was way too scared to do so.
11. Young Adult
This was a pretty decent film that felt like it would work better either as a short story or a short film. I could see cutting this hour and thirty minute movie into, say, 40 minutes. It follows fiction writer named Mavis Gray who has a lot of problems. She is recently divorced and trying to get with her old high school flame buddy Slade. It doesn't matter that he is married with a kid. We also meet Matt (Patton Oswald) who in high school was beaten by a group of jocks with a baseball bat because they thought hew as gay.
Despite the length, this movie has a lot of genius in it. It was obviously written by someone who understands how different images and novels affect young women. Some who also understand the rates at which kids are gay bashed and the rates that young girls harm themselves. A lot of people who watch the movie think of Mavis as horrible person. She may be hard to like, but not because of some intrinsic meanness we find in the course of the movie how much she has been through.Deep at the core of this movie is also the moral that you can't go back. Everybody in the movie makes a least one mistake to that effect. They either ignore the problems that Mavis has, or fall prey to wanting to reminisce. For example her parents still keep the picture of Mavis's wedding despite her divorce. Matt shows an interest in talking to Mavis at all, showing a need to go back to when you were a kid and the old flames people keep in their minds. Songs aren't as wonderful the second time and neither are people.
Quotes: "There is no healing without someone getting hurt"
"Guys like me are born in love with women like you."
12. Beats Rhymes and Life
This is a documentary about the legendary rap group "A Tribe Called Quest." it was director by Micheal Rapaport. While this movie was entertaining it should have been the second documentary about this group. It doesn't do them justice. It's more of a VH1 Behind the Music-style piece that focuses on a fight that this group had instead of focusing on the music and the influence of the group. I think that it was lazy directing. It is probably the worst edited documentary I have ever seen. There is literally a scene where we see Rapaport hugging rapper Q-Tip in the movie. We hear him asking them questions which could have easily been edited out. Then the movie is made so you feel like Q-Tip and Phife are fighting even though it's obvious that they are talking at two very different times. Rapaport didn't seem to understand that this documentary isn't about him. Unfortunately because I feel it's important to know about this group I can't say you shouldn't watch it but you should definitely take it with a grain of salt.
13. To.Get.Her
This is about a group of girls from different places who meet online and they come to hang with each other on a nice beach. Or so we think. Each girl has her own story and you find out (too late) that their lives aren't what you think they will be. Despite the traumatic end of this movie, I felt that it started of unnecessarily slow. If you stay with it you are in the middle of one of the most interesting psychological thrillers you have seen. Instead of allowing us to ignore issues of teen suicide this movie gives us five different girls and five different stories all at one time. We can't look away anymore. What is even better about this movie is that despite what I just told you, I gave nothing away.
14. 50/50
This is an incredibly sad film, partly because of my love for Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor. In this movie Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with cancer though this is awful his disease prompts positive things to happen in his life. Like I said, depressing, but Seth Rogen's character Kyle saves this film. There is one great scene where Kyle sees Adam's girlfriend out with another guy so he takes a picture and shows Adam. It's probably the best scene in the film. I was laughing so hard.
15. Limitless
This movie was on netflix. I honestly didn't pay that much attention to it. My ultimate problem with the movie is that it sells out. It starts off with a guy(Bradly Cooper) who is a writer who is unable to get anything done, has a messy apartment, and a horrible love life. (It was like made a movie about me.) He then gets a pill that makes him more organized and able to call things from his memory. He becomes able to make millions of dollars and become a politician. Where did the writing go? It may not be that important but I felt the movie was a little classist. It creates this idea that the people who are in power are in power because they are smarter than us. He's not using his new found intellect to concur bigger issues(or rather they don't show that is even an option for him). (Prepare for corny joke.) Instead he's limited to corporate people. This drug as basically like intellectual steroids but it's all okay as long as you end up rich.
16. Red State
"People just do the strangest things when they believe they're entitled. But they do even stranger things when they just plain believe."
Red State (dir by Keven Smith) starts off being about three teenage boys who are going to try to have sex with a woman they met on the internet but that woman turns out to be from a homophobic church that wants to kill them. This movie stops being about these boys and becomes a battle between the government and this church (an obvious metaphor). This horror movie-esq film has some pretty cool camera work but plays with it's audience too much. Just when we find someone to identify with they die. Over and over and over and over again. It happens so often we stop caring about the movie at all. Seeing people protest gay pride parades and reading about people protesting funerals was enough to make me begin to like this film. Unfortunately bad writing ultimately ruins Smith's good intentions.
[Like I mentioned at the beginning creating a order based mostly on quality is very difficult especially with many films that felt similar to me in quality and in enjoyment value. Luckily for me the last two films were so terrible I didn't have to do much work. The sad thing is these two films will probably win an Oscar. ]
17. Tree of Life
Tree of Life is about a man still dealing with the death of his brother. For most of the time we see this man as a boy dealing with his super submissive mother, his violent father, and random issues around town. I wonder why I had such a problem with this movie. I thought maybe it was because I don't know that much about religion or if I was stupid. I realized it was because this film tries to universalize through a white male from the fifties who is very hard to like. I think it probably shares less with religion and more with Freudian psychology. Unfortunately I didn't have an Oedipal complex so... I was done with this movie from the beginning. When we heard the voice over say "The nuns taught us there were two ways through life - the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow. Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things. " Feel free to tell me I am miss understanding the quote here but I don't feel that I live in a world that is "shinning" in any way possible.Then director Terrance Malik includes a beautiful but ultimately unnecessary sequence of the world beginning again. It ends with the dinosaurs. (Yes there are dinosaurs in this film.) Which made me feel as though Malik believes everything in this movie is so universal even the dinosaurs understand it. I also want to speak a little on sexism. While the father in this film (who is played wonderfully by Brad Pitt) has a whole back story to explain his actions we learn nothing of the mother. Also in the film when the boy is a kid we see him staring a little girl in his class and watching her has she walks down the street. Literally the creepiest positive I've been in assuming I'm supposed to identify with this character.
I felt really bad about not liking this film after reading many glowing reviews that expressed the idea that only smart people were capable of understanding this. Then I read that Malik also directed another whitewashed version of Pocohantas' life. I stopped feeling bad.
18. The Help
This was easily the worst movie this year. I have nothing to say about it, if you were lucky enough to survive this year without knowing what this movie was about I won't bother explaining it. I'll let Public Enemy handle this...
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