A Somewhat Premature Year in Review

Last month, New Zealand’s number one student magazine Salient put out the last issue of the year. Here is the column reviewing the year in film (despite the fact it was only October).

2009. It’s not over yet, but it might as well be considering this is the last issue (the ultimate issue, if you will) of Salient. Hells teeth, where do I begin. Has 2009 been a good year for film? Well, I would say yes. It was certainly a damn sight better than 2008 but still perhaps not as good as the No Country for Old Men-There Will be Blood-Zodiac trifecta that ruled my 2007. I always keep my movie stubs so the following is an attempt to try to make sense of the little torn up pieces of paper, which are the only physical reminders of the things I saw on the silver screen this year.

For starters, Hollywood was up to its worst tricks again. The big Blockbusters came in the stupidly long Transformers 2 and the just plain stupid GI Joe. Once again animated films like Up proved that Pixar is pissing all over everyone else when it comes to good storytelling. A little film called Bruno pulled no punches in making Americans look like fools (again), and managed to fill the screen with a giant talking penis. Michael Mann disappointed me greatly with his sub-par Public Enemies, while Tarantino divided critics with Inglourious Basterds.

At the Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire, a terrible picture that everybody seems to love won way too many awards. I’m sorry, but the ending was nonsense. Its main competition The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was rubbish too, a shame because Fincher’s Zodiac was so unbelievably good. Leonardo DiCaprio was at his best in Revolutionary Road but didn’t even get a nomination (nor did the very solid film for that matter). Instead Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk trumped Mickey Rourke’s stellar comeback in The Wrestler. Kate Winslet hoisted the Oscar for her role in The Reader and Heath Ledger became only the second actor to win posthumously for his superb turn as the Joker.

Some cool people died this year too. Patrick Swayze (above) lost his battle with cancer, as did Farrah Fawcett. English rose Miranda Richardson and old timers Henry Gibson, Dom Deluise and Karl Malden all said their last goodbyes. John Hughes left, taking with him part of my adolescence. David “Kill Bill” Carradine died in bizarre circumstances (Bound for Glory jokes aside). And of course they’re still talking about some small timer named Michael Jackson.

In July the festival came with swag of good pictures. Antichrist was not one of them—I hated it. Ponyo was Miyazaki in fine form. Che was a brave, often fascinating four-hour masterpiece. Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon was near perfect. Aussie classic Wake in Fright had the most beer and Kangaroo wrestling I’ve seen in any film. I still haven’t made heads or tales of Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, but Chris Doyles photography was beautiful. Moon was as good a sci-fi as I’ve seen in years.

Writing for Salient has been great because Uther was radical enough to let me scribble about stuff I really like, in the hope that maybe other people will like it too. Hence I blabbed on about my New Hollywood favourites like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and Two-Lane Blacktop, mainly because they both star Warren Oates. Go watch them, they are the best. I also got to write on the greatest television show of all time, The Wire, which even proved a hit in the Salient office. If you haven’t seen it yet, sheeeeeit, make sure you do.

So what does 2010 bring? Well, if Avatar lives up to its absurd hype, cinema might ‘never be the same again’. Frankly, I think this is nonsense. Even if the 3D experience is amazing the film looks like a ten-foot blue turkey. Expect Transformers III and GI Joe II. As long as people keep going to these movies, Hollywood will keep making them. Expect all the best movies to come in the festival and expect them to have subtitles. Expect Megan Fox to make her relationship with Nic Sando official. Expect there to be too many movies to watch, and not enough time in the day.

In proper Salient/High Fidelity tradition here are some top fives.

Top 5 films of 2009 (that I saw)

1. The White Ribbon
2. Che
3. The Wrestler
4. Revolutionary Road
5. Ponyo

Top 5 films I saw in 2009 (from any old year)

1. Happy Together
2. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
3. Opening Night
4. A Taste of Cherry
5. Being There

Top 5 films of 1971 (for my loyal readers)

1. Two-Lane Blacktop
2. The Last Picture Show
3. Harold and Maude
4. McCabe and Mrs Miller
5. The Hired Hand

Top 5 movie quotes

1. “If I’m not grounded pretty soon, I’m gonna go into orbit.”
2. “Get the meat.”
3. “If you keep looking at me you’ll see me kill you.”
4. “Pipe dreams Dad, I’m a barber’s son.”
5. “GARBAGE DAY!” or alternatively “CARPET DAY!”

Top 5 other things…

1. The video for ‘Welcome to Heartbreak’ by Kanye West.
2. The trailers for Must Love Jaws, Brokeback to the Future, and Shining.
3. Alexander Skarsgard (above).
4. HSX.com.
5. My blog! therushmorefilmsociety.wordpress.com.

“…I’m still here…” The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

The Wrestler follows Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a famous professional wrestler whose 80s golden days are well behind him. Inside the ring, he still holds on to the glory of his past, though his audiences have dwindled. Outside the ring, Randy is a mess. He can’t pay his rent, his estranged daughter doesn’t want to know him, and his love interest is a stripper who still considers him a ‘customer’.

Mickey Rourke’s turn in The Wrestler gives me a glimpse of where the wrestlers of my childhood may be. Not entirely washed up, but certainly struggling to live in the shadow of their former glory. The same can describe Rourke, an actor who never quite faded into obscurity, and like Randy still maintains devoted fans. I am one of those fans, who always hoped Rourke had a comeback performance like this in him. Rourke easily rises to the top turnbuckle in what is undoubtedly the role of his career.

The Wrestler is by far the most straightforward film Darren Aronofsky has made, opting for a pseudo documentary style, rather than the effects and hyper stylistic flurries that defined his previous work. There are still trademarks here, a long sequence of Randy walking to work as though he’s walking to the ring is one of the few stylistic scene breaks that disrupt the film’s realism. Conversely, Aronofsky has a field day with the most excruciating segment, a no holds barred match between The Ram and a staple-gun toting yokel. For a ‘fake’ sport, it is almost too real to watch.

At it’s heart, The Wrestler is about how people choose to escape the disappointment of real life in the excitement of an alternative. Randy can lose in reality but he can never lose in the ring. The only person not escaping in The Wrestler is Rourke himself, we are constantly watching him coming to terms with the reality of his own faded stardom. In the battle royal for the Oscar, my money was on The Ram, yet like wrestling I suspect it was a fixed match in Sean Penn’s favour. Regardless, just as Randy belongs in the ring, Mickey belongs on the screen, and its great to see him back better than ever