This year seems to be off to a slow start but here's what I'd choose as the best of the year thus far. I've excluded films that are still waiting for their proper release like Andrew Haigh's finely tuned miniature gay drama Weekend (which has been collecting festival trophies and which I loved) and Paddy Considine's discomfiting abuse drama Tyrannosaur which I did not love but which boasts impressive acting.
TOP TEN PICTURES (alpha order)
The Arbor, Beginners, Bridesmaids, Certified Copy, Jane Eyre, Midnight in Paris, Poetry, Rango, The Tree of Life and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. You can see a complete list of what I've seen here.
[Notable films that I did plan to see but will have to catch on DVD include: Hanna, The Housemaid and Win Win]
DIRECTOR
Clio Barnard - THE ARBOR
Lee Chang-dong - POETRY
Abbas Kiarostami -CERTIFIED COPY
Terrence Malick -THE TREE OF LIFE
Mike Mills -BEGINNERS
notes: I gave Barnard the slight edge over Apichatpong Weerathesakul mostly because I far prefer "Joe's" earlier effort Tropical Malady to Boonmee. But not without some hesitation. I appreciated the bold experimentation of The Arbor, a documentary/narrative hybrid about the life and work of playwright and screenwriter Andrea Dunbar (Rita, Sue and Bob, Too). I just wish the film had been tighter and less relentless in its last 45 minutes. It had already done so much surgical socioeconomic surveillance damage by that point that rather than feeling devastating it started to feel exhausting. But it's definitely worth a look.
ACTRESS
Juliette Binoche - CERTIFIED COPY
Yun Jeong-Hie -POETRY
Mia Wasikowska - JANE EYRE
Kristen Wiig - BRIDESMAIDS
Michelle Williams -MEEKS CUTOFF
actors and the supporting crop and even a few technicals if you just...
Monia Chokri in Xavier Dolan's "Heartbeats"notes: The two runner ups are both french language performances: Monia Chokri's thorny awkward vintage queen in Heartbeats was a real keeper and Catherine Deneuve's sassy late bloomer in Potiche a great deal of fun. Ironically just as I was finally understanding Nick's complaint about Michelle Williams sometimes being 'closed off' (I think that's how he put it) he went and finally fell for her. Still, I'd gladly trade Williams out for the mesmerizing work of Olivia Colman as an abused religious wife in Tyrannosaur... but I can't keep track of whether or not that has received or is going to get a release.
ACTOR
Joel Courtney -SUPER 8
Michael Fassbender - X-MEN FIRST CLASS
Michael Fassbender - JANE EYRE
Ewan McGregor - BEGINNERS
Owen Wilson - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
notes: Fassbender is the new acting god. Lead actor hasn't offered up many valid competitors yet this year but Courtney, McGregor and Wilson all did beautifully understated work where a lesser actor might have pushed too hard upsetting the delicate needs of these "soft" reactive roles or pictures. Meanwhile, not in regular release, Peter Mullen (Tyrannosaur) pushes so hard he demolishes buildings and animals unfortunate enough to cross his path but it's a different type of role with different requirements.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rose Byrne - BRIDESMAIDS
Marion Cotillard -MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Sally Hawkins - SUBMARINE
Melissa McCarthy - BRIDESMAIDS
Karin Víard -POTICHE
notes: Runners up Elle Fanning in Super 8 and Melanie Laurent in Beginners both held the camera very well but I give Cotillard the slight edge in this year's crop of the often underchallenging and overpopulated Romantic Muse Type. Cotillard had the advantage of complicating her motion picture towards its climax as we discussed on the podcast. As for Byrne in Bridesmaids... I'm more surprised than anyone, trust, but she just aced her brittle nose up comedic turn.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hiddleston -THOR
Hunter McCracken - THE TREE OF LIFE
Chris O'Dowd - BRIDESMAIDS
Brad Pitt - THE TREE OF LIFE
Christopher Plummer -BEGINNERS
notes: This was a difficult group to decide on. I finally went with Hiddleson and O'Dowd because they had confusingly written and potentially generic parts respectively and both actors sold them with real personality and conviction. McCracken's beautiful naturalism was a gift but with child actors it's always difficult to know how much credit to give the director. As for Pitt and Plummer, they're the only two who one could see getting Oscar traction though I suspect it might be tougher going than it should be in both cases on account of the size of the pictures; Tree of Life's grandeur will result in all the focus going to its auteur and the miniature personal nature of Beginners may make it too small an affair for year end awards hunting.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEGINNERS Kasper Tuxen, HEARTBEATS Stéphanie Weber-Biron, JANE EYRE Adriana Goldman, THE TREE OF LIFE Emmanuel Lubezki and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Rodrigo Prieto
COSTUME DESIGN
HEARTBEATS Xavier Dolan, JANE EYRE Michael O'Connor, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Sonia Grande, POTICHE Pascaline Chavanne, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Jacqueline West
ART DIRECTION
JANE EYRE Wil Hughes-Jones, SUBMARINE Gary Williamson, SUPER 8 Martin Whist, TREE OF LIFE Jack Fisk and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Jack Fisk
[Trivia: Jack Fisk, pictured left at the 77 Oscars, works infrequently but has several classics under his belt (it helps when your bosses are people named Lynch, Anderson, Malick). Strangely he's only been nominated for one Oscar (There Will Be Blood). He has been married to Sissy Spacek for 37 years. They were married shortly after they both worked on Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973).]
I'd love to hear your halfway lists or comments on this one. Plus Original Score since I always like opinions there (music is unfortunately the last thing I notice in movies). Have at it!