Chris Knipp's 2009 movie best lists
MY 2009 BEST MOVIE LISTS
(Not ranked.)
FILMS IN ENGLISH
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog 2009) R
Bright Star (Jane Campion 2009)
Disgrace (Steve Jacobs 2009) C-S
Goodbye, Solo (Ramin Bahrani 2009) C-S
Hurt Locker, The (Kathryn Bigelow 2009) R
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino 2009) R
Limits of Control, The (Jim Jarmusch 2009) R
Road, The (John Hillcoat 2009) R
Serious Man, A (Ethan, Joel Coen 2009) C-S
Somers Town (Shane Meadows 2008) R
Two Lovers (James Gray 2009) C-S
BEST FOREIGN
35 Shots of Rum (35 rhums, Claire Denis 2008) R-V
Anichrist (Lars von Trier 2009) NYFF
Divo, Il (Paolo Sorrentino 2008) R
I'm Gonna Explode (Gerardo Naranjo)
Lake Tahoe (Fernando Eimbcke 2008) FCS
Lorna's Silence (Jean-Pierre, Luc Dardenne 2009) R
Sun, The (Alexandr Sokurov 2005) R
Tulpan (Sergei Dvortsevoy 2008) NYFF 2008
Revanche (Götz Spielmann 2008) FCS
White Ribbon, The (Michael Haneke 2009) NYFF
SHORTLISTED
Adoration (Atopm Egoyan 2009) R
Adventureland (Greg Mottola 2009) C-S
Education, An (Lone Scherfig 2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson 2009)
Humpday (Lynn Shelton 2009) R
Moon, (Duncan Jones 2009) R
Precious (Lee Daniels 2009)
Séraphine (Martin Provost 2008) R-V
Single Man, A (Tom Ford 2009) R
Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola 2009) R
Tokyo! (Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-ho 2008) C-S
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman 2009) R
Vanished Empire, The (Karen Shakhnazarov 2008) R
BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Beaches of Agnes, The (Les plages d’Agnès 2008) R-V
Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore 2009)
Collapse (Chris Smith 2009)
Cove, The (Louie Psihoyos 2009) R
English Surgeon, The (Geoffrey Smith 2009) R
Food, Inc. (Robert Kenner 2008) R
Garbage Dreams (Mai Iskander) R
Herb and Dorothy (Megumi Sasaki 2008) R
Tyson (James Toback 2009) C-S
Valentino: The Last Emperor (Matt Tyrnauer 2009) R
BEST UNRELEASED IN US
Belle Personne, La (Christophe Honoré 2008) BAM-Cinematek
Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold 2009) London Coming January 16, 2010
Frontier of Dawn, The (La Frontière de l’aube, Philippe Garrel 2008) FCS
Hadewijch (Bruno Dumont 2009) NYFF
Life During Wartime (Todd Solondz 2009) NYFF
Mesrine, Part 1: L’Instinct de Mort (Jean-Francois Richet 2008) R-V
Mesrine, Part 2: L’ennemi public No 1 (Jean-Francois Richet 2008) R-V
Ne Change Rien (Pedro Costa 2009) NYFF
Prophet, A/Un prophète (Jacques Audiard 2009) Paris (coming Feb. 2010)
Stella (Sylvie Verheyde 2008) R-V
Trash Humpers (Harmony Korine 2009)
___________________________________
Instead of linking to my comments or reviews I put a code to show where I saw it,
NY Film Festival, R-V=Rendez-Vous with French Cinema (Lincoln Center), FCS=Film
Comment Selects (Lincoln Center); R just means I wrote a review of it and C-S just
means I have a review of it on www.cinescene.com.
Everything I've seen on the big screen and a few others are listed with links to my
comments or reviews on my website here.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/vi...php?f=1&t=1407
I may revise these lists but I'm putting them out there for people to think about and comment on if they like.
I thought Lake Tahoe was in California
I would like to see Lake Tahoe very much. This is the first that I've heard of it but fortunately it is available for rent here in the best video rental store in North America, Videomatica so I will see it. I cannot see how this could be considered a 2009 film. It played at 18 film festivals in 2008 and did not have a general release in 2009.
Before I see it, however, I first want to finish my Shakespeare project. I am presently watching the Scofield/Johnson 1974 version of Antony and Cleopatra and have three more left after that to complete the cycle of seeing all 37 plays on film and stage. These films are quite long and will take up most of the rest of the week and probably part of next since I can only view films on DVD one half hour at a time because of my ear condition.
You have seen my review of Bright Star which was on Cinescene but you probably haven't seen my review of A Serious Man, so read it and weep (or not).
http://english.ohmynews.com/articlev...85806&rel_no=1
A Jewish friend with a difference
Quote:
Your
Serious Man review: I read and wept. Your opinion on
Bright Star is not unusual, as I said. I guess you read and recall
my Cinescene review -- of A Serious Man? Rather than evaluating the film as a dismissal of life's questions and answers, I take it to be both an embracing of life's mysteries, and a wry account of the Coens' experience with rabbis growing up, which gibes with the experience of some of my Jewish friends who saw the film, they told me.
Well, this Jewish friend considers it demeaning to the tribe.
By the way, I am dying to be able to see the newest film by Argentine director Juan Jose Campanella called "The Secret of Their Eyes" (El Secreto de sus Ojos) but it has no DVD release as yet. I loved his earlier film from 2001 I believe "Son of the Bride". Have you seen either of those films?