Rock and Reel

Alien 3 (David Fincher, 1992)

The third Alien lacks the fresh thrills of the first two, but Fincher does the best he can with a lifeless, obvious script. At its best, the film is visually mesmerizing, understandably the slickly shot and edited work of a director then best known for music videos. The threat of sexual violence hangs over the entire film, and the climactic set piece delivers the suspense absent from the film’s first hour.

Nostalgia Goes Digital: Turning Back Time in the Films of David Fincher »

Digital cinema and nostalgia go hand in hand in David Fincher films. The director has used these powerful tools to recreate the past, but nostalgia has historically refused to surrender in his work.

Top 10 Movies of 1999

1. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)

2. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)

3. Fight Club (David Fincher)

4. Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter)

5. The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola)

6. Office Space (Mike Judge)

7. Election (Alexander Payne)

8. Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese)

9. Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton)

10. The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers)

Updated: December 29, 2011

Top 10 Movies of 2007

1. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen)

2. Zodiac (David Fincher)

3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)

4. Sicko (Michael Moore)

5. Ratatouille (Brad Bird)

6. Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright)

7. The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman)

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates)

9. Juno (Jason Reitman)

10. The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson)

Updated: December 31, 2011

Top 10 Movies of 2008

1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu)

2. The Dark Night (Christopher Nolan)

3. Milk (Gus Van Sant)

4. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)

5. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin)

6. My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin)

7. Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood)

8. Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry)

9. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)

10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher)

Honorable Mention: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Alex Gibney), Iron Man (Jon Favreau), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen)

Updated: December 29, 2011

Top 10 Movies of 2010

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine, perhaps my favorite film critic, has this incredible ongoing project in which he updates his top 10 films for each year from 1920 to the present. I am in the process of doing this myself. I actually have lists for every year, but there are unfortunately some years I have only seen a movie or two. As a result, I’m going year by year in reverse chronological order and posting lists only if I’ve seen 10 movies I truly like. This means that I have to have given it an 8/10 or higher on IMDb. I’ve already posted a list for 2010, but I’m doing it again for the sake of this project and also because my list has changed quite a bit. I’m going by Ed’s rules: Everything is based off the IMDb year except for 21st century films, which are categorized according to U.S. theatrical release. These lists are always subject to change. I will include links to any reviews I’ve written.

1. Let Me In (Matt Reeves)

2. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard)

3. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola)

4. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy)

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright)

6. The Social Network (David Fincher)

7. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)

8. 127 Hours (Danny Boyle)

9. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance)

10. True Grit (Joel and Ethan Coen)

Updated: December 29, 2011

World Series of Cinema: 1939 vs. 1999 »

Our culture is obsessed with round numbers and Hollywood has no problem exploiting this strange phenomenon. Every five or 10 years, we expect an “Ultimate Edition” DVD commemorating a movie’s anniversary with special features and a new transfer. This marketing scheme has become so common, Disney even took the initiative to release its 70th anniversary DVD for Pinocchio a year early.

This year, many great movies have cause to celebrate. It has been 70 years since 1939 and 10 since 1999, marking milestone anniversaries for two years considered to be the greatest in movie history. Look no further than 1939 for the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Michael Giltz of The Huffington Postwrites, “Films buffs have declared 1939 as the greatest year for movies so many times that it’s seen as historical fact.” A prime example of exploitation: Warner Home Video pulled all the stops for a The Wizard of Oz deluxe DVD set, selling it at a list price of $84.99.

Then there is 1999, a year that prepared us for a new millennium with a variety of cult favorites. MTV News has spent this past year honoring the films released in 1999 that have made an impact on the world of contemporary movies. There was everything from Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling Magnolia to the infinitely quotable Office Space, celebrated earlier this year with a special screening and cast reunion.

So which year was truly the best? Let’s break it down in a best-of-five series.