The most overlooked film of the 21st century

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

A beautiful film with a wonderful cadre of some of my favorite actors of the day- Brad Pitt in his best role since the days of working with David Fincher (fight club, Se7en). Casey Affleck steals the show as Robert in what has been called a career defining performance. (Apparently along with The Killer Inside Me- A film I own but have yet watched.) Along with the two impressive leads we also get the likes of Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider (Formerly of the wonderful show Parks and Rec) , Garrett Dillahunt (Who played dual roles in one of the finest series ever made- Deadwood), Mary Louise Parker(Who has been helming the mediocre Weeds for altogether too long), and even Jeremy Renner (before the deserved fame that has graced him following The Hurt Locker).

This mixture of Terrence Malick like visuals (Director Andrew Dominick lists one of Malick's masterpieces- Badlands- as one of his favorite films), and this more than capable cast puts this in my top 10 films of the 21st Century (and the one I'd argue is the least known- at least as far as the american films go).

A+

Videodrome

Long live the new flesh.

A

Milk

A+

When I first saw Sean Penn win the best actor award over Mickey Rourke I felt like he was robbed. Then I saw this. Sean Penn, Daniel Day Lewis, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the three greatest actors of this generation.

Punishment Park

A

As good a faux-doc as I've seen. This is some very serious business.

12 Angry Men

C+

The kid's guilty.

Jack Goes Boating

A-

Why didn't this movie get more love? Hoffman and Amy Ryan nail it and it's a genuinely funny movie. Def Top Ten 2010.

My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done?

B+

I have yet to see Michael Shannon be anything less than brilliant. Interesting film that wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Angst

C

I guess there is something here (the diner scenes were interestingly presented) but much like things like I spit on your grave and hostel, just not much fun to watch.

Dead Set

A-

A brilliant miniseries out of England that far surpasses (the still quite good) The Walking Dead. Clever concept, wonderfully executed. The leads are all good, especially the main girl(pictured). Particularly love the ending.

Solitary Man

B-

Funny stuff here and there. Douglas' best since Wonder Boys. In the end It just felt a bit shallow to me.

Evita

C+

I'm trying out for the play this afternoon so I watched the film for the first time. It's good except all the singing and dancing. (sighs, wonders how the hell i'm going to get through all the singing and dancing.)

update-got a chorus role, totally expected.

127 Hours

B-


good performance from Franco, danny boyle needs to chill a bit and not be quite so cliched. (ie- popular instrumental music during finale. lame foreshadowing in dialogue.)

Movie of the Year 2010

barring 127 Hours or Toy Story 3 blowing my mind over the next few days my movie of the year for 2010 is Enter The Void.

Gaspar Noe is a truly unique and challenging artist and I can only look forward to his further work.

Mississippi Burning

A

The King's Speech

A-

Welcome to the Dollhouse

B+

Midnight Cowboy

A+

Inception

A

Memento

A

Machete

B+

Broadcast News

B

The Social Network

A-

Small Time Crooks

C+

Fargo

A-

UP

B-

A Perfect World

A-

The Art of the Steal

B

Restrepo

A-

Exit Through the Gift Shop

B+

Best Worst Movie

B

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

B-

Spies Like Us

C+

Pretty standard, albeit fun, stuff.

Casino

A+

Classic all around. I hold out some hope for a third mob movie from marty, robert, and pesci.

Trash Humpers

B-

This is challenging, bizarre stuff. (or is it just trash- I'm truly uncertain.)

Bronson

A

Beautiful performance.

Ghost Dog

A-

Somewhere

D+

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

B

Black Swan

B+

True Grit

A-

Eastbound and Down: Season Two

A

Spanking The Monkey

C

Barton Fink

B-

Enter The Void

A

A Serbian Film

B

WARNING: Despite giving it a favorable grade, I'm afraid this can only be recommended to very hardened film viewers. This is along the lines of Salo in that it's got some of the most graphic scenes of all time. I can honestly say I'll never see this film again and I'm not entirely sure I'm glad to have seen it.

The Man Who Wasn't There

A+

MacGruber

A

Blindness

D-

Lost In America

B+

Papillion

C+