Quentin Tarantino's Top Ten

No, no not mine. Not Nathaniel's. my top ten list is coming. Patience. I was waiting for the new site to be available but it's still coming and going. It apparently fancies itself an online Brigadoon but on a much speedier rotation. But since we love it when people within the movie industry actually reveal their favorites, let's share Quentin Tarantino's.

QT's Top Ten of '10Links go to blogposts about those films.

1. Toy Story 3
2. The Social Network
3. Animal Kingdom
4. I Am Love
5. Tangled
6. True Grit
7. The Town
8. Greenberg
9. Cyrus
10. Enter the Void

He also likes (in descending order): Kick-Ass, Knight and Day, Get Him to the Greek, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Kids Are All Right, How to Train Your Dragon, Robin Hood, Amer and Jack-Ass 3D.

It's an eclectic mix (toons, gleeful violence, melodrama, indie comedies, Hollywood hits) as one should expect from a filmmaker who is a total original despite also being one of the Great Appropriators of modern pop culture. How close will that top ten list above be to his Oscar ballot? I always wonder if AMPAS members actually put their ten favs on their ballots, or if they just vote for their favorites among those they think have a shot?

Hitfix notes that Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which took the Venice prize that Tarantino juried, does not appear in his top 20. Having served on a few juries myself, I can assure you this isn't odd. You always have a very limited pool to vote on at festivals. Maybe Somewhere is his 21st favorite of the year, you know?

But what I REALLY want to know, and I'm sure you do too, is who goes on his director's ballot? Looking at the list above can we guess it's something like

• Lee Unkrich (or does he share the reservations about animation directors competing with live action directors that many voters must feel given that no animation director has ever been nominated?)
• David Fincher
• The Coen Bros or Ben Affleck?
• Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) or David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) for overseas breakthroughs?

Can I buy a movie ticket to see that ballot?

more articles on Quentin Tarantino

By: Unknown On 07.00

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Anticipation... The Year in Film Promotion

Year in Review

NATHANIEL: Hey kids. So some time ago I was introduced to Mark Blankenship who writes The Critical Condition. I've been reading that blog ever since. Mark writes about everything pop culture -- I love his music posts especially -- and he's now officially a "talking head" having done a couple of Joy Behar Show gigs. We decided to have a little year in review convo. Part one is here at The Film Experience and tomorrow Critical Condition will run Part two. Got it?

MARK: Hi Nathaniel!

NATHANIEL: Hey you.

MARK: With Hurricane Award Season upon us and year-end lists popping up everywhere, I thought it would be fun to look back at the year in movie promotion. In 2010, which trailers, posters, and campaigns were the best? Which ones were the worst?

In the category of Worst Promotion of a Good Movie, I'll nominate Despicable Me. I mean... seriously. I've seen a billion previews for that film, and I still don't know what it's about. Yellow tic-tacs in overalls? Steve Carell learning a life lesson from the Orphaned Triplets of Belleville? Who can say? Apparently, though, Despicable Me is really good. It certainly connected with ticket buyers, and New York's David Edelstein put it in his year-end top ten. Yet because of my weeks-long irritation with the previews, I'm still dubious.

On the other hand, the promotion for Sofia Coppola's Somewhere gets my vote for Worst Promotion of a Good Movie. Because, really... Somewhere is a dense, rewarding experience that's being marketed as a pretentious suck-a-thon about a rich dude's problems. Coppola's previous film, Marie Antoinette, was so boring it actually made me angry, yet it got a sexy, energetic campaign. Why couldn't someone do the same for a movie that actually has some sexiness and energy?

Alright... that's my opening salvo. Which campaigns are you thinking about?

Minions! (a.k.a. "Millions" ...in merchandising)

NATHANIEL: How can I even get to the campaigns that I might be thinking about when you have already given me so much to lob back at you?

I can one up you on Despicable Me; I've SEEN the movie and I still couldn't tell you what it was about. It's fun to watch and it's funny but it evaporates in your head within a week's time. The only thing I do remember now is the ad campaign. I think we have to consider this a strange case where a bewildering ad campaign actually does truth tell. As I recall, the movie is disjointed and slapsticky and it does feature plenty of scenes involving yellow tic-tacs. I suppose the main narrative thrust is Steve Carell learning life lessons. Which lessons those were I can't recall but I remember there was much cuteness. And not just by way of yellow breath fresheners.

As for the Coppola Now: Redux... I shall refrain from answering until you tell me what your position is on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1. (speaking of suck-a-thons about rich dude's problems)

MARK: It's interesting you should ask about HP7: The Hallownator. I promised my family that I'd wait to see it until I went home for the holidays, so for the time being, my opinion is entirely based on the promotional campaign. And as someone who hasn't really liked any of these movies---I've found them all to be ploddingly literal adaptations of exquisitely imaginative books---I've found a couple of reasons to hope. For one, I was heartened by the story that the movie wouldn't be released in 3-D. To me, it suggested that quality was being chosen over extra revenue. Also, the trailer (and especially the music in the trailer) has a grandness that matches the weight of the story.

That said, the posters I've seen plastered all over New York are just... zzzz. The dimly list cast photos may tell me the movie is coming out, but they don't tell me anything about it. Really, though, I don't guess that matters, because it's not like this movie needs that much help to get butts in the seats.

NATHANIEL:  EVERYONE's opinion of Harry Potter is entirely based on the promotional campaign, not just yours! You've stated the truth of it. In fact, you have already seen the movie if you've read the books or seen the commercials or plan to see the final movie next year. Nothing happens. Or, rather, if something happens it's the same thing that's already happened. It used to be the same film every year with minor changes in window dressing. Now, they're not even bothering to make a film anymore. Warner Bros has made the world's first 145 minute bookmark/commercial and they're making hundreds of millions for their evil con job. They've robbed the public blind and the public loves it.

Marketing is the new Stockholm Syndrome.

I love Sofia Coppola's movies (even and especially Marie Antoinette -- so there!) but they're their own repetitive franchise. Sofia is a better wizard because mise en scene trumps CGI every time.

Sofia Coppola and the Virgin's Suicide
Sofia Coppola and the Suntory Times Adventure
Sofia Coppola and the Cake-Eating Queen
Sofia Coppola and the Deadly Chateau Doldrums Pt. 1

poor little world famous rich boys

Somewhere and Hallows Pt 1 are essentially the same story: Famous Mopey Rich Boy (wizard Harry Potter / movie star Stephen Dorff) has a big problem (Voldemort/Ennui). Watch him wander aimlessly through foreign places not knowing exactly what he's looking for (Godrick's Hollow /Italy) whenever he's not resting aimlessly in his comfortable quarters (Magic Tent / Celebrity Hotel) with his loved one (Hermione / Elle Fanning). All the while he's worrying about that overarching problem that he really doesn't know how to solve. In the end he sort of decides to move forward towards his goal. Maybe. It's vague.

My longwinded point -- I promise to be much briefer moving forward-- is that I'm going to mentally slap the next Harry Potter fan who calls any "arthouse" movie boring because "nothing happens."

MARK: I think you've cracked the Da Vinci Code with your Harry Potter/Somewhere comparison. Some addendums: Famous Mopey Rich Boy relies on souped-up transportation (Firebolt Broomstick/sports car) and has a dopey friend whose relationship with a young woman provides a convenient dramaturgical contrast to his relationship with her (Ron/Chris Pontius.) Also, a set of twins tries to amuse Rich Boy with tricks that only end up distracting him from his quest (those Weasley boys with the magic shop/those strippers with the portable pole.)

Strippers with port-a-poles. Best scene in Somewhere!

Meanwhile, I can tell you that I'm seethingly jealous about your recent interaction with Barbara Hershey. (But also happy for you!) What did you think about the lead up to Black Swan: Revenge of the Back Feather?

NATHANIEL: Ah, Black Swan. The topic of the month. This is a rare case where I'd believe that the marketing campaign was directed by the filmmaker (I'm sure it wasn't) because the commercials are of the same exact tenor of the product: outre, mysterious, sick, sexy, highbrow clothing but lowbrow soul (note how thrilled the trailer is by its big campy gotcha moment (that feather yanked from Natalie's back!). The commercials are so cinematic you can taste popcorn. In short: ticket sold!

Even the posters are using truth in advertising. The first one, with Natalie's Black Swan ballet makeup is full frontal confrontrational as introduction. That art deco/Erte-ish series that followed are true enough about the movie's love of artifice and theatrical design. The ugly one with Natalie's badly photoshopped red arm reveals real commercial instincts - it's not exactly a subtle movie. Finally, the latest one with Natalie's cracked face, is yet again underlining that this girl is beautiful but cracked.

...She bonkers!

Black Swan's Truth in Advertising.

Part 2 of this convo ~
Now Playing at The Critical Condition

...for more on favorite promotions and movie posters. Read it.

By: Unknown On 07.00

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7 Word Reviews: True Grit, The Illusionist. Somewhere

Because this week is about trying to keep up with screenings, interviews and endless precursor announcements, here are some very very short reviews.

The Illusionist
A magician in the twilight of his career, finds companionship in a young woman.
7WR: Slow but just sublimely rendered. Devastating finale. B+/A-?


All Good Things
Unsolved mystery from the 80s about a wealthy heir and his missing wife.
7WR: Nightmarishly uneven, convoluted. But Kirsten hurts authentically C-

True Grit
The Coens adapt a western about a young girl seeking to avenge her father's murder
7WR: Even the horses act with meticulous predetermination. B-

And in conclusion a highly narcissistic double feature. Both films are rendered with visual aplomb and quite in tune with their own unique frequencies but you should steer wide and clear if you're allergic to wealthy people hosting their own pity parties and expecting you to bring gifts.

Tiny Furniture
A college graduate returns to her artist mothers home; regresses, refuses to leave it.
7WR: Navel-gazing finds funny highly specific lint. B+

Somewhere
A famous actor, lost to himself, kills time with his daughter.
7WR: Director/Protagonist treads water but what form! B

By: Unknown On 15.20

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Linktivia

An endless series of links. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm seriously going to go cold turkey. But let's start with "Boba Fett's Invoice" designed by Brock Davis because it's just making me giggle. [Discovered via]

Self Styled Siren great piece on being drawn to older movies and why it's incorrect to reductively label that "nostalgia."
Guardian Snarky (but funny) "Can Nicole Kidman pull an Oscar out of a Rabbit Hole?"
Serious Film writes up five overlooked horror film scenes worth remembering. Zoinks I love that moment in The Host.
OMG Blog absolutely destroys the new D&G / Matthew McConaughey advertisement. Ha.
TOH the European Film Academy nominates three documentaries for its Prix Arte prize. One of those is the Finnish Oscar submission "Steam of Life"
In Contention Guy Lodge thinks Sofia Coppola's Somewhere is a familial beauty, more than a Hollywood retread.
CHUD "Hollywood Needs a Handjob" Aubrey Plaza (who is hilarious) and an unproduced screenplay causing some buzz

/Film Noomi Rapace top choice for Alien prequel. I think this is SUCH a terrible idea (I don't think you cast a tough older-reading brunette to compete with memories of the tough older-reading brunette. I think, if you're smart, you try to carve out a new identity for the franchise to breathe new life into it. Sigourney Weaver cannot be replaced.
All Things Fangirl has an AMAZING idea for a Halloween costume although I wouldn't call it a "last minute costume" as she does. Seems like the prep work would be intense but it's still a great idea.
The Big Picture doesn't like the idea of James Cameron 'reducing himself' to a sequel maker (via Avatar). Uhhhh... Terminator 2 and Aliens suggest that if anyone in Hollywood should waste their time with sequels, it's Jimmy C.
24 Frames Avatar 2 arriving in less than three years. Yeah, right. I'll believe that when I see it. Why does everyone believe these things just because filmmakers say them? I'm guessing 2016... or ...never.
Scanners fine piece on Mad Men in case you've been missing it "The Ladies and the Boxes"
Flick Filosopher has a new series called "The Female Gaze" and her latest subject to ogle is Rupert Graves. Having once worked worked on a not published article about him, I can assure you that she is correct that there aren't many great photos of him online. This dearth of images happened to a lot of 80s and 90s beauties. I blame it on their chronological positioning between "classic thus nostalgic i.e. 70s and earlier" and "became hot after the internet was hi-res image friendly i.e. late 90s and the Aughts"

Finally, if you don't mind a little corporate ranting, I must complain about Dannon's "Cups of Hope." I start each morning with a cup of Activia yogurt. I had no choice. "The power of Curtis compels you!"  Yes, celebrity endorsements do work on we, the feeble minded. I was having a cup each morning for awhile before I realized that I actually had to enter codes on line to donate to the breast cancer charity I saw on the package. See, I had seen the advertisement on the package and I'm all, 'I'm a good person. I'm maintaining Jamie Lee Curtis's lifetstyle AND I'm donating money to women's health." Only to find out I wasn't! Many dimes I spent were not forked over to this charity. Now, I don't object to going online to enter codes per se if it's something for myself like a sweepstakes; if we want to be greedy, we should have to do a little work. But in this case, I highly doubt anyone is doing it even though they would be happy to see some of the proceeds go to charity. Consider that you have to remember to lick off the yogurt from the seal once you open each cannister (that'd be gross except you are meant to eat the yogurt so whatever). But then you have to hold up the messy seal  to read the code and then type it in online in order for this 10¢ to be donated. If you're not already logged into the computer while spooning out your yogurt are you really going to do this? And what if your fingers touch the yogurt on the seal while you're typing? And worse yet: if you have an overdeveloped sense of guilt, like uh, my friend, you're going to have to find a way to save up the gooey lids until you remember to enter all the codes once a week or something. YUCK. Just give 10¢ for every yogurt sold to charity, Dannon. Don't be misleading and cheap!

By: Unknown On 07.20

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LFF 2010: five final festival films to wrap up with...

Craig here from Dark Eye Socket with my LFF wrap-up.

As of tonight the BFI London Film Festival is done for another year. It's been a stellar year all told, if the surplus of reports are to be believed. And I'd willingly add a further approving nod to the list. I didn't manage to see everything I wanted (juggling festival times and dates with travel arrangements is an art – one that's open to fateful intervention...and multiple tube delays), but what I saw was on the whole a bumper crop. Roll on next year, I say. Here are five previous reviews, selected from the films I saw:  Uncle Boonmee, A Screaming Man, Winter Vacation, Rare Exports and What I Love the Most. And below are five final mini reviews of a few festival highlights.

Thomas Vinterberg introduced his new film, Submarino, in a cheeky fashion: “if all goes well, you’ll be depressed at the end of the film. Enjoy yourselves!” It was no happy time sure, but it was an enthralling film, despite its determinedly grim subject matter. It follows two brothers’ hard, poverty-stricken lives in contemporary Copenhagen; a family tragedy as kids has left them scarred and emotionally unable to cope with adult existence. Hope is hard to grasp, but not too far away; redemption comes at a cost but may just stop dead the cycle of despair plaguing one or both of the brothers. The characters' direness isn’t forced or over baked and sympathy is well-earned. Lead actors Jakob Cedergren and Peter Plaugborg are excellent as, respectively, the older and younger siblings. Vinterberg’s humanistic approach is thoroughly rewarding and the tautness of the script ensures we become embroiled in the brothers’ plights. It’s strangely an easy film to like, but not always pleasant to watch. B-

 Submarino

Abel, the second directorial effort by actor Diego Luna, was a complete contrast to Submarino (I saw them consecutively). The story of a boy, the titular Abel, who returns home from a stay at a psychiatric hospital to resume living with his mother and siblings – only to assume the role of patriarch of the house, brought on by his father’s disappearance years earlier. The family go along with the ruse in the hope that it aids the boy’s recovery. It’s an amusing, sweet-natured look at how families are truly peculiar to themselves more so than to others. It also questions the role of the father in modern Mexican life and makes more than a few choice and aptly conveyed criticisms of male-dominated hierarchies.





Though it plays all this with pleasant abandon, Luna handles the few slightly troubling darker moments with able care. If the ending seemed a bit easily arrived at, it was made up for by the wonderful photography and easygoing performances, not least a cracking turn by young Christopher Ruiz-Esparza as Abel. C

Abel

Two excellent documentaries at the LFF this year were, for my money, two of the fest's best. The first, Journey’s End (La Belle visite) from French-Canadian director Jean-François Caissy, looks at the day-to-day lives of the residents of a Quebec retirement home for the elderly – the L'Auberge des Caps – over five seasons. Situated between a frosty ocean view and a busy Highway, the home, refurbished from an abandoned motel, is a building once made for passing visitors, but now houses folks in the later stages of their lives. Caissy unobtrusively documents random events with warm assurance: dear old gals getting their hair done, the comings and goings of deliverymen, birthday celebrations, personal prayer time and even the home’s resident dog, who frequently scarpers the vast, long corridors. All the community is shown with great thoughtfulness, and interest in their lives is duly maintained through Caissy’s sure-handed control of his material. The inherent tranquillity of it all is thrown into sharp relief by the inevitable idea of finality aroused by the title. It was a joy to spend time with these people. B

Journey's End

The second documentary to wow me was Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym, now playing in US theaters. Wiseman is as much a film artist as any fiction filmmaker, and is often (rightly) held up as such alongside many a fellow documentarian (Chris Marker and the Maysles bros, for instance), especially for his no talking heads, no descriptive onscreen captions and, ultimately, no fuss approach. As ever, his mastery of the form is present and apparent. The titular gym in Austin, Texas is the focus of Wiseman’s elegant and measured gaze: its owner Richard Lord and various members – including lawyers, students, young mothers, doctors, soldiers – train, chat and generally box happily away whenever their often busy lives permit. All the while Wiseman, with his signature visual dexterity, acutely captures key moments and exchanges which reach far beyond the activity at hand to reveal insights into contemporary America. The sounds and aural rhytms of the gym are particularly notable: the noise of fast punches to speed bags, the constant buzz from the training timer chart, the white noise of friendly banter in the background. It’s a visually splendid film, too: light falling on the gym floor, frenetic, dance-like close-ups of nimble-footed boxers and still shots of the city in bright daylight all display Wiseman’s skill with crisp composition. But the telling snapshots of individual gym members resonate most. I was interested in each person’s history, the fleeting ins and outs of their lives, and could’ve happily spent many more hours with them at Lord's gym. Wiseman gets every aspect spot on. A

Boxing Gym

Finally, Sofia Coppola’s new film Somewhere was, at once, a pleasant surprise and a film seemingly set on autopilot. It’s lovely to look at but it feels rather too much like happy stasis. The first half hour is largely a series of beautifully photographed scenes simply woven together, featuring a strung-out Hollywood actor played by Stephen Dorff frittering his time away lounging with pole dancers and film world flakes in between routine appointments. That’s all well and good until he has to take charge of his estranged daughter (Elle Fanning) and attempt to emotionally re-engage with his real self.

Dazed, cool-around-the-edges drifters are common currency for Coppola, and the film doesnt tread anywhere fresh. It’s fairly easy to predict where Somewhere will end up. The film meanders nicely enough – Sofia does love those lazy days – but it loses some of its early finesse on later scenes which don’t go anywhere or say anything particularly interesting. Coppola is obviously criticising the Hollywood machine here, but she’s also clearly enamoured with it. Is she maybe too close to really have something coruscating to say. She’s a direct product of it, which makes several of her soft attacks come off as slightly too precious. It’s not ivanssxtc (though I’m actually quite glad about that), but it does effectively pinpoint some of the less glamorous actorish tasks with effective wit and clarity. (An 'old-man make-up' test sitting is both deliberately dull and languorously creepy, and my favourite moment in the whole film – it subtly speaks volumes about the sometimes tedious nature of stardom in one acute slow zoom.)

Somewhere

Somewhere has the most relaxed, laid back atmosphere of any film I’ve seen in 2010 so far, save for perhaps Greenberg, and is a refreshing and escapist diversion for a globe still in economic crisis (though is an indulgent tale about a privileged, self-examining A-lister quite what the world desperately needs right now?). Dorff and Fanning are very good and Harris Savides’ photography (more L.A. kinship with Greenberg) is some of the year’s best. But, to be honest, Coppola is coasting, however blissful the ride. C-

My personal top five from the LFF were: 1. Boxing Gym, 2. A Screaming Man, 3. Journey's End, 4. Submarino, 5. Our Life

By: Unknown On 11.11

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