Favorite Movies 2009

1. Tyson

2. The Hangover

3. Inglorious Basterds

4. Where The Wild Things Are

5. Avatar

6. Up In The Air

7. Watchmen

Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino

In Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist history of World War II, he shows that while the Allied Forces were unable to exact a revenge on the Nazis that matched their crimes, it is well within his power as writer and director to do so now. He imagines a brutal revenge fueled by a wrath that the Allied Forces could or would not muster. As with all of Tarantino’s films, Basterds is a meditation on violence, particularly violence in cinema. And while the violence is graphic, what is more unsettling is the nagging suspicion that he selected the Nazis as antagonists primarily to make such brutality “acceptable.” In fact, the more brutal the fate of each Nazi, the more we self-consciously cheer. But the violence issue aside, the film is masterfully crafted. Several of the scenes are among the most riveting in recent memory, and the whole film has that other Tarantino trademark—it is incredibly entertaining.

Public Enemies by Michael Mann

When I saw Heat, another Michael Mann film, in the theater back in college, I was by myself and it was probably one of the best movie-going experiences I can remember. The theater was mostly empty, and the gunshots seemed to ricochet off the stadium seats around me. This time, I was in Chicago, where much of Public Enemies takes place, and again I was alone.

Is it fair to compare Public Enemies to Heat? They're both Michael Mann films about bank robbers, and they both make the case for the good in the bad guys and the bad in the good guys and how relationships are affected when men become obsessed with what they do.

So there, I guess I am comparing. But Heat, with its extra thirty minutes, is able to develop the characters much more fully. We get to see the home lives of the three main characters. In Public Enemies the relationships are a little more flat. Johnny Depp, who plays John Dillinger, and Christian Bale who plays Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent chasing him, both do a great job, as usual. But Dillinger's relationship with his girl isn't fully developed, and we don't know what Purvis is like at home. As such, this movie relies more on the shootouts and bank robberies to pull us through. And while nobody shoots bank robberies as well as Mann, and while I walked out of the theater thinking, "Man, I should get a tommy gun," I didn't care as much for the characters as I did in Heat.

As the plot goes, there are some good moments, most carried by Depp's ability show his inner conflict. My favorite was, toward the end, when he walks into the police department's "John Dillinger Unit" while all the cops are sitting around the radio listening to the Cubs-Yankees game. He strolls casually around the office, examining all the photos of him and the evidence from his case on the walls, realizing that of his gang, he's the last one left. Then, at the height of his bravado, he asks what the score of the game is. Aside from these moments, there are few surprises. After all, it's a true story and the end was known 80 years ago.

The Hangover by Todd Phillips

My one worry about this movie wasn't that it wouldn't be funny, but that I would have seen all the funny stuff in the trailers. And although I think it would have been more surprising if they hadn't given so much away in the trailers, it's still one of the funniest movies I've seen in awhile.

The premise is pretty simple: four buddies (actually three buddies and a brother-in-law) head to Vegas for a bachelor party. The next morning, they wake up to find the room trashed, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, one of them missing a tooth and the groom missing altogether. Oh, and none of them can remember a thing about what happened the previous night. So they spend the next two days trying to locate the groom and reconstruct their evening from the contents of their pockets and various other clues.

What makes The Hangover smarter and funnier than most other lewd Animal House-style party comedy is the plot construction. Since none of the participants can remember the night (until the very end, when, in a nice touch, one of them finds his digital camera and we're treated to a roll of hilarious snapshots), we're taken along for the ride as they try to sleuth it out. And as bizarre the assortment of clues in their room is, it only gets more bizarre and more random as it starts to come together.

Props to Ed Helms (Andy from The Office) for his hilarious performance, and to Zach Galifianakis, who plays the off-kilter brother-in-law.

TYSON a James Toback film

Many people thing Mike Tyson is a psychopath, hands down. After all, this is a man who was convicted of and served three years for rape, then came back and bit Evander Hollyfield's ear off in a fight, and now sports a Maori facial tattoo. But what you see from this documentary is that there's a surprising amount of depth and, not as surprising, much conflict in Tyson's character.

Aside from interview and fight clips and archival footage, the only voice in the movie is Tyson's. He's telling his story, his side of things. The movie covers his coming of age in his rough Brooklyn neighborhood, his time in and out of juvenile detention centers, and then his relationship with trainer Cus D'Amato, who got Tyson off the streets, recognized the potential, and made Tyson a believer in himself. D'Amato is one of the few people who actually looked out for Tyson's best interests. Tyson tears up when he recalls that D'Amato was the one who told him, who actually bet him, that Tyson would become champion if he listened and did everything D'Amato told him to do.

Tyson's knockouts are stunning on the big screen, and the movie artfully brings them to life as it tells the story of his early career. Tyson talks about his rape conviction (which he still denies), why he bit Hollyfield's ear off, and the later, ugly days of his career.

But the best part of the movie is just listening to the man talk. The bizarre poetry of Mike Tyson's stream-of-consciousness is fascinating. His vocabulary is surprising, and his take on things is always unique. Tyson comes across as just laying it all out there. He's been judged his entire life. He has nothing to hide from anyone. He takes responsibility for everything he's ever done, and talks about how big a role fear has played in his life.

The film is not a defense of Tyson. It's an honest profile. A peek inside his complicated mind. For all those who have written Tyson off as a lunatic, they will find this film surprising. And they might be surprised to find themselves feeling some sympathy for Iron Mike.