A Random Cinematic Year In Review
Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.
2011
I’m writing
this as I coincidentally watch LeBron James take the Cleveland Cavaliers to his
8th consecutive NBA Finals appearance. 2011 was actually his 2nd appearance
overall, he had previously lost with Cleveland to the San Antonio Spurs in
2007. A few years later he “took his talents to South Beach” and began a personal
streak (with Miami then back to Cleveland) that has even his haters admitting
his accomplishments. The 2011 appearance wasn’t a good showing however,
specifically for James. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 and it was apparent
that James was struggling, especially in the 4th quarters. That Miami
team was stacked, flashy and heavily favored. So when they lost and lost badly,
critics were quick to put the blame on LeBron. Even members of his own team
said that he had quit on them. The jury was still out on his legacy back then.
But absolutely no one would have predicted his subsequent dominance over the
entire Eastern Conference for the next 8 years.
Now, I usually like to steer clear of the GOAT debate that forces fans of the game to compare Jordan’s numbers in the 90’s to James’ current career accomplishments. I guess I don’t really even believe in GOATs, I think more in terms of a GOHT (greatest of his/her time). Both Jordan and LeBron fit this category. Anything more comparative requires you to ignore far too many constantly fluctuating variables. The way that the game is played as well as how it is called has been constantly evolving. I truly believe that what we see right now in the NBA is the greatest collection of athleticism ever compiled. This means that when you look at how much better Jordan’s career numbers were compared to James’ and how much more successful he was in the playoffs, you have to understand that Jordan was simply not in the same league that LeBron is right now. Jordan was the most dominant player of his time. Not even Bird or Magic really compared with his abilities. James is also the most dominant player of the current NBA, but not by nearly as wide of a margin that Jordan enjoyed. In conclusion, Jordan was amazing and there will never be another like him. But LeBron’s inevitable legacy shouldn’t be tarnished just because he has stiffer competition.
Now, I usually like to steer clear of the GOAT debate that forces fans of the game to compare Jordan’s numbers in the 90’s to James’ current career accomplishments. I guess I don’t really even believe in GOATs, I think more in terms of a GOHT (greatest of his/her time). Both Jordan and LeBron fit this category. Anything more comparative requires you to ignore far too many constantly fluctuating variables. The way that the game is played as well as how it is called has been constantly evolving. I truly believe that what we see right now in the NBA is the greatest collection of athleticism ever compiled. This means that when you look at how much better Jordan’s career numbers were compared to James’ and how much more successful he was in the playoffs, you have to understand that Jordan was simply not in the same league that LeBron is right now. Jordan was the most dominant player of his time. Not even Bird or Magic really compared with his abilities. James is also the most dominant player of the current NBA, but not by nearly as wide of a margin that Jordan enjoyed. In conclusion, Jordan was amazing and there will never be another like him. But LeBron’s inevitable legacy shouldn’t be tarnished just because he has stiffer competition.
There was
also an entire world of stuff going on in 2011 involving people that probably
didn’t care anything at all about the NBA. On May 2nd, Seal Team Six
shot and killed the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. His death
was a strategic and moral victory for the U.S. His direction had led to the
deaths of almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon ten years prior and it
appears that even until his dying day, he was continuously in contact with his
terrorist network. His lifeless body was then unceremoniously dumped into the
ocean somewhere. This and the investigation that led to the strike were
immortalized in Katheryn Bigelow’s ZERO DARK THIRTY the following year.
Elsewhere in
the world, 2011 was the year of the “Arab Spring”. Starting with protests in
Tunisia in late 2010, this movement would send a shockwave of change throughout
the oppressed Arab world. This movement carried throughout the Middle East and
Northern Africa with a wide variety of causes sited for the uprising. Its true
connecting theme was the inspired recognition by an oppressed public that they
in fact, possess the power to hold their elected officials accountable. Modern
technologies have been making the world smaller for decades. It is now far more
difficult for a corrupt government to keep its people in the dark. The same
social media tech that has been proven the capability to inspire these uprising
also proved useful to facilitate some of the actions taken as we found out when NATO admitted to using
information and coordinates it gleaned from Twitter to identify targets for air
strikes in Libya.
By the end
of 2011, the governments of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt had been overthrown. Yemen
would be soon to follow as well as a whole host of concessions, resignations
and other governmental changes in Jordan, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait and several other
countries. Years later, the collective aftermaths are still extremely real.
Syria, Yemen and Libya are still in the midst of violent civil wars. The
instability is currently serving ISIL more than its intended purpose. And
wherever the U.S. pulls back from intervention, Russia sees as opportunities to
build bridges for trade and commerce with whichever government ends up
prevailing, human rights violations notwithstanding.
I don’t
pretend to know how this all is going to be resolved. As of right now, I really
don’t think that the public here in Western “civilization” has the stomach for the
boots-on-the-ground type of intervention that may actually be necessary to
fight this. But we’re miles away from that anyway and we’re getting further and
further. We get further away from peace in the region when we refuse to
implement meaningful sanctions against a country that props up dictators in the
region like Syria’s Assad or Turkey’s Erdoğan. We do so when we move our Israeli
Embassy into a territory disputed by 4.5 million Palestinians and ask nothing
of Israel in return. And we do so all while significantly lowering the number
of refugees we take in from these torn up countries. Our current and resounding message to
the region is that we simply don’t care.
As it seems,
2011 was an important and impactful year. Many of its historical chapters
remain open today. This is was makes the art produced of this or any time so
important to study, consume and empathize with….
NOTABLE FILMS
10 – MARGARET (Directed by Kenneth Lonergan)
Kenneth
Lonergan seems to have a knack at setting up very emotional conflicts and
writing dialogue to exploit and explore this conflict. Guilt and remorse are
held together by a glue made of teenage angst. Anna Paquin’s performance is
close to flawless. She’s not exactly likeable but yet still invoking an empathy
that all great storytelling has.
9 – ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
This is a
slow-burning, nourish mood piece from Turkey. The first half or so takes place
at night in the windy rolling hills of the rural villages outside of Kırıkkale.
Its setting, cinematography and sounds all carry its characters through their
deliberate and tedious night, searching for the body of a murder victim. Slow,
melodic, monotonous and beautiful, this is the film that cemented Ceylan in the
international cinefiles community. I’d really like to see Turkey’s filmmaking
industry catapult into a stronger position in the world. Since this film, we’ve
seen Ceylan’s 2014 follow up, WINTER SLEEP, Diniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar
nominated MUSTANG (2015) and 2014’s absolutely insane horror film BASKIN. This
isn’t quite enough to constitute a ‘new wave’ but it’s still a strong
possibility for the very near future.
8 – SAMSARA (Directed by Ron Fricke)
Just because
a film doesn’t have a story, doesn’t mean that there is no narrative. This is
Fricke’s follow up to his critically acclaimed BARAKA (’92). The filmmakers
traveled far and wide searching for and capturing some of the world’s most
beautiful imagery on 70mm. These images are cut together into a 102 minute
montage about humankind’s connection to nature and our cyclical evolution away
from and back to it…. I think. This film could probably be understood to have
many reasonable meanings. The important thing is that you will be moved by the
beauty of the images on screen.
7 – THE SKIN I LIVE IN (Directed by Pedro
Almodóvar)
I was so
excited when this film came out. I had been a fan of Almodóvar’s work since
2002’s TALK TO HER and had already fully immersed myself in his filmography. And
although I liked his previous two films VOLVER and BROKEN EMBRACES, I missed
his older and much darker work. This one felt like somewhat of a return to form
for me. It had a darker subject matter reminiscent of 80’s Almodóvar like TIE
ME UP, TIE ME DOWN (’89) or MATADOR (’86) mixed in with a body horror element that
reminded me of Georges Franju’s EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960). It mixed all of
this up to tell the story in a fairy tale like manner that holds up with the
best of Guillermo Del Toro… well almost.
6 – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (Directed by Lynn Ramsay)
Hell yeah we
need to talk about Kevin!!!... There’s a lot of brilliance about this film but
for me, I see it as a great performance piece first and foremost. I know, I
know… it’s a prescient and disturbing cautionary tale that seems more and more relevant
every week this year. I can’t take anything away from its message. I guess I
just found myself a lot more sensitive to its subject matter when it came out
in 2011. So instead, I cling to Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly’s work here as
the young parents, flawed and distraught, desperately hoping that their problem
will grow out of it… Fun fact: This was actually the working title for Home
Alone.
5 – ATTACK THE BLOCK (Directed by Joe Cornish)
It’s truly a
testament of how strongly a film’s characters are written when you find
yourself in the third act, cheering for the clear antagonists of the first act.
In a lot alien/monster invasion flick, the poor people of color in the slums
only serve as fodder until the military, team of scientists or rag-tag group of
suburban kids save the world. I actually wasn’t too keen on this one when it
was first released. But after multiple rewatches, I can’t even remember what it
was I didn’t like about it.
4 – THE RAID (Directed By Gareth Evans)
It’s almost
as though the simplicity of the plot gave room for the overwhelming complexity
of its cinematography and choreography. I’ve always been into martial arts films.
They are the first movies I ever fell in love with. Apparently, I still haven’t
grown out of them. The eighties and nineties were full of JCVD, Jackie Chan and
Chuck Norris flicks on the UHF dial. I spent a lot of Saturday afternoons
watching these guys defeat armies of various oppressors and saving the girl.
But I never saw a movie like this one back then. This film, maybe more than any
other is a testament to the value of the technological advances we’ve made in
cameras. There’s just no way that this could have been shot just a few years
prior. But what is really special is how the camerawork is choreographed into
the fight scenes. It’s creative and kinetic and frantic, all while somehow
avoiding the discombobulated shaky-cam feel that confuses and violates your
sense of space.
3 – FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS (Directed by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi)
This
documentary actually has a lot in common with 2016’s infamous ‘Access
Hollywood’ tape. They are both harrowing evidences of things that certain
people have assured us don’t actually happen and they both should have made
more of a difference. This is not what you would typically consider a
‘well-made film’, even by documentary standards. But there is a certain poetry
to its narration, especially when considering the entire metatextuality. This
is not the boisterous cries of an activist. It’s a collection of documents
gathered by an olive farmer who wanted nothing more than to just be an olive
farmer.
2 – ANOTHER EARTH (Directed by Mike Cahill)
This is a
quiet little sci-fi film that’s actually about regret more than anything else.
What if a place existed that occupied a carbon copy version of you. The only
difference is that the other you may or may not have made the same decisions
and mistakes that you have. Would you be terrified at the prospect of finding
out or would you even be able to help yourself from seeking the answers to all
of those ‘what if’ questions that conquer so much of our attention?
1 – TAKE SHELTER (Directed by Jeff Nichols)
Well I’ve
found myself talking about this one yet again. I just wrote about it here. So, rather than copy and paste what
I’ve already written, I’ll just reiterate. This is absolutely one of my
favorite films of the 21st century. And although it is championed by
cinefiles, I would love to see it get more attention from the everyday film
goer.
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