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The Best Time of Year
 From Chicago/Milwaukee, this is The Dope Sheet... I'm Sam Van Hallgren.
Happy New Year, everyone.
The radio was on the other night when I was going to bed and
David Edelstein had joined Terry Gross on Fresh Air to discuss his
top 10 films of the year [Dope Sheet editor Jeff Huston linked to
Edelstein's creatively compiled list in last week's email]. I
actually felt a jolt of excitement in my stomach. A top 10 list!
Is there anything better? What Dope Sheet reader doesn't turn
into some kind of smack addict this time of year, where the only fix
is more Best of 2006 lists, more nominations, more awards handed out
by big city critics societies [like the
Chicago Film Critics Association]
.
Like many of you, I've always been a junkie for this kind of
stuff. But we get so caught up in cataloguing the atrocities of
The Hollywood Foreign Press or
The National Board of Review or
the New York or
LA film critics that we sometimes
fail to acknowledge how much fun it all is. It's the one time of
year when everyone else seems to care about movies as much as we do.
A month ago our brethren [and sisteren?] in the sports talk
industry were all worked up about college football's bizarrely
structured Bowl Championship Series. And as the decision to name the
two teams that would compete for the National Championship got
closer, people only tangentially interested in college sports started
talking about it, too.
I'm pretty sure I had at least one conversation about whether
Michigan, Florida or USC should play Ohio State for the championship
-- and I don't think I've ever once sat through an entire college
football game.
Well, now it's our turn. Now everyone's trying to figure out
who's a better actor: Forest Whitaker or Ryan Gosling? Meryl Streep
of Penelope Cruz? What's a better film? "The Departed" or "United
93"? Of course, there is no correct answer. In fact, the whole
notion of comparing actors or movies as if there's some kind of
fair/objective playing field is, we all know, totally absurd. Which
is why everyone's opinion is valid.
You thought "Miami Vice" was the best movie of 2006? [I know
you're out there. I've seen you on
the Filmspotting message boards.
] Good for you! Welcome to the party! You're all alone and
seriously misguided, but welcome!
So here's to 2006 and here's to 2007. I'm looking forward to
spending another year disagreeing vehemently with you.
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Vote for Filmspotting!
It's not just a new month -- it's a new year! So ring it in by
voting for Filmspotting at PodcastAlley.
We appreciate your support!
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Overlooked DVD: L'Enfant
 I was at my in-laws over New Year's weekend. We stayed up late one
night talking and Carrie and I didn't get to bed until about 1 am.
As Carrie slept, I laid next to her with my laptop on my chest and
some iPod earbuds in my ears and watched as a young French couple put
their newborn baby into one perilous situation after another. Yes, as
the Filmspotting Best of 2006 show fast approaches, I was desperately
trying to catch up with some of the films from '06 that Adam and I
had overlooked.
In May 2005, brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne were awarded
the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for their film
"L'Enfant." [The
Dardennes also won the Palme d'Or in 1999 for "Rosetta."] When
"L'Enfant" made it to Chicago this past March, Adam and I managed to
delude ourselves into thinking that a conversation about Richard
Donner's "16 Blocks" was more important.
This decision had a lot to do with subject matter. As a father of
two, Adam doesn't really love spending time with irresponsible movie
parents. I can totally sympathize with that. But I think it's fair
to point out that it's Adam who named his daughter after the
eponymous heroine of William Styron's "Sophie's Choice." Just thought
it was worth noting.
Petty thief Bruno (Jeremie Renier) and his girlfriend Sonia
(Deborah Francois) are living a life of blissful urban squalor that
gets disrupted when Sonia gives birth to their baby. Without the
freedom to live in the moment like he was accustomed to, Bruno, in a
moment of blithe cruelty, sells the baby on the black market.
Without once stooping to base manipulation or turning the story into
a simplistic morality tale (or a horror story), the movie follows
Bruno to the awakening of his conscience and humanity.
I haven't read any reviews of "L'Enfant." I just know that, with
very few exceptions, it has received near unanimous praise. And now
that I've seen it, it makes complete sense. This movie is movie
critic bait. Harrowing subject matter, soberly executed.
Sophisticated, bravura filmmaking on the simplest scale.
I know Adam doesn't like it when I use food metaphors, but for me
it's the movie equivalent of going to a small-plate French
restaurant. I know it's good, and I even know why it's good, but I
never once groan with pleasure when I put the fork to my lips. [Yes,
I occasionally groan with pleasure when I eat good food. Like BBQ
ribs, for example, or a delicious slice of pizza.] Everything about
"L'Enfant" is subtle, and so is the pleasure.
I don't want to make it sound like I have anything against
"L'Enfant," or movies like it. I liked the movie a great deal. It's
honest, spontaneous, compelling, and well acted; but like no other
film I've seen this year, it so strenuously denied me even the
remotest kind of pleasure that I feel compelled to make my
recommendation with some reservation.
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Dope Links
Slate's 9th Annual Movie Club
Taking over from Slate alum David Edelstein, Dana Stevens leads
three other critics in an ongoing discussion about the year in film.
It began on January 2 and, since then, 14 more posts by the group
have been added. If you haven't been part of the conversation, now's
the time to join in. It's like an Algonquin Round Table for the Web.
The 10 Most Overlooked Films of the Past Decade
Or, well, from this decade. So far. While most current
lists are focusing on 2006, The Aspect Ratio offers up one that looks
back over the last several years with insightful defenses for ten
mostly-overlooked films. The Dope Sheet makes no apologies for
providing a link that so brazenly praises David Gordon Green.
For Your Consideration: David Lynch Style
'Tis the season for Oscar campaigning... with a twist. For his
latest bizarre epic "Inland Empire" (shot entirely on a PD-150 DV
camera), director David Lynch has concocted an awards campaign
strategy equal to his reputation. (WARNING: there are bad words, so
keep the volume low in your cubicle.)
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One Man Metacritic
In the spirit of year-end awards, I want to showcase the efforts of
Filmspotting listener Mark Trencher, who is really good at math.
You'll just have to trust me... his formula is very complicated. Here
are the results of his analysis of 25 critics' best of 2006 lists:
1. Letters From Iwo Jima
2. The Departed
3. United 93
4. The Queen
5. Borat
6 Little Miss Sunshine
7 Pan's Labyrinth
8 Army of Shadows
9 Babel
10 Half Nelson
The 25 critics that Mark used in his calculations: American Film
Institute, Boston Society of Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics
Association, Jonathan Rosenbaum [Chicago Reader], James Rocchi
[Cinematical], Entertainment Weekly's "Critical Mass" Average
Ratings, Lisa Schwarzbaum [Entertainment Weekly], Owen Gleiberman
[EW], Kenneth Turan [LA Times], Los Angeles Film Critics, Andrew
Sarris [ N.Y. Observer], National Board of Review, David Sterrit
[National Society Film Critics], New York Film Critics, David Ansen
[Newsweek], A.O. Scott [New York Times], Manohla Dargis [New York
Times], Stephen Holden [New York Times], James Berardinelli
[ReelViews], Peter Travers [Rolling Stone], Stephanie Zacharek
[Rolling Stone], Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel [Time], J.
Hoberman [Village Voice], Washington, DC Film Critics Joe Morgenstern
[Wall Street Journal]
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