Happy Thanksgiving

Some new reviews can be found below on films that just made DVD (my favorite being Ratatouille), but really the thing that tops the cake is No Country for Old Men, which is as of now probably the single best thing I have seen all year. A review for Todd Haynes' new film, I'm Not There, will soon be up, but in the mean time, happy Thanksgiving!

The Best of Cin-o-Matic: No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men: 9.1

Well, there's no getting around it: No Country for Old Men is the most critically appraised film of the year, getting a 9.0 on cin-o-matic - higher than last year's Pan's Labyrinth; but less than Army of Shadows (9.5) and Killer of Sheep (9.8!). The former, never before released in the U.S, was my top pick for the best film of last year, and the latter, never thearatically released since 1977, is, as of now, my top pick for the best film of the year as well. Nevertheless, I approach No Country with great excitement - a review will be posted soon, as well as my ultimate thoughts on Ridley Scott's overrated American Gangster.

Cheers To The New Radiohead Album

A salutation to the new Radiohead album -- which is definitely the best thing I've heard all year, partly because I am a huge fan but also because of the songs' transcendence; this may be a new path for Radiohead, at the same time, however, retracing precious roads. I am curious, though, to see if there'll be any music videos for any of the songs. Anyhow, below, from Youtube, is one of the songs (15 Step):

Redacted; A. O. Scott Article: An Analysis

An official selection at this year's New York Film Festival, Brian De Palma's Redacted (which I look forward to with great admiration) has been claimed as quite controversial. The film is De Palma's own self-meditative project on the war in Iraq and the way it has been told through the news, though it seems to bare a lot of consequentiality to the real. Hence, its title - “redact”: to select or adapt (as by obscuring or removing sensitive information) for publication or release.” It also seems very violent, as it ends with the rape and killing of an Iraqi girl. (It shows the faces of real people, ultimately giving the film its quasi-faux-doc aesthetic.) De Palma, who has an excellent oeuvre (my favorite being The Fury), has found himself in trouble with Magnolia Pictures – the people who will release his film – because of this aspect. A. O. Scott, who wrote the article linked below, then references the aesthetic and ethical qualities to this film; it seems as critics who mis-understand this paroxysm will easily nail it. He then analyzes the films that arise – from trash like The Kingdom to the honest In The Valley of Elah. Simply put, films about the war seem to be subconsciously infiltrating the cinema. “When filmmakers leave such touchy, serious political issues alone they tend to be scolded for complacency or cowardice. But to describe even a movie as angry and confrontational as Redacted as an exercise in finger-wagging or sloganeering is to miss the point. What is notable about this new crop of war movies is not their earnestness or their didacticism — traits many of them undoubtedly display — but rather their determination to embrace confusion, complexity and ambiguity.”, he specifies. In balancing aesthetic and ontological components, filmmakers often find themselves quite desperate, and a film who is able to do that is quite a rarity. The only one I can think of is Terrence Malick's 1999 masterpiece The Thin Red Line. He then zooms in on Rendition, a film in theaters now. He continues to mention how, ironically, while the films may have anti-Bush agenda, the do not name any particular person in office. Documentaries, such as Charles Furguson's powerful No End In Sight are actually what keenly serve as the “muckrackers” - an example can be said: Michael Moore. Scott then talks about symbolizations in film. These images – what do they mean? And so, as it comes to a close, he continues to suggest more films – such as Platoon, the excellent Vietnam film directed by Oliver Stone – and then zooms in on the futility of The Kingdom. It is simply there to entertain – there is no meaning behind it. “And this may be the lesson that filmmakers need to absorb as they think about how to deal with the current war. It’s not a melodrama or a whodunit or even a lavish epic. It’s a franchise.” Indeed.

Original Article: A War On Screen
("Redacted" image courtesy of Slant Magazine.)

Vive Le Cinéma de Robert Bresson

A tribute - ironically for my French Class - to one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: Robert Bresson.

Rated R

Not even a week of blogging and already an "R" Rating. I think I might have said hell too many times; or was it death? -- oh well. Screw you, justsayhi.

In other news, Below, a film also rated R, you'll find a review for In the Valley of Elah, Paul Haggis' newest film.

Review Overload/Cin-o-matic

Given that you can already see the same logo on one of the bars on the left, I think it's no longer necessary to share my opinion: that it is the best damn movie site on the web. (Better than Yahoo, Metacritic and etc...) As an editor of the site, I simply just like to pass it around and have people, at the very least, just give it a look; people often underrate it via the fact that "it only started in 2004" or other similarly idiotic reasonings. Anyway, enjoy!


(And below you'll find somewhat of a review overload of both films just on DVD and films still somewhat in theaters.)