Friday, January 05, 2007

Okay. What?

I feel cheated. Like, lied to. I don't know where I got this impression, but Children of Men was supposed to be, like, disappointing, right? And this is supposed to be a lackluster year for movies, right?

My Best of 2006 list? Move everything down one spot, we have a new number one. Children of Men just blew me the fuck away.

I'm keeping this brief because I'm actually really worked up and embarrassingly excited right now. I was not expecting to love - FUCKING LOVE - this movie like this. The boyfriend and I went on a whim after work tonight. I had a shitty day, and was exhausted, and wasn't really looking forward to it but wanted to shut my brain off. And wham, this thing hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel crazy invigorated right now, due to this movie.

Best Movie of the year. Cuaron just went to a whole new level with me. The class of filmmaking - the extended shots! those shots! my god! - here is astonishing.

And I say this with deep love for Pan's Labyrinth and The Fountain, my #2 and #3 now, which raises the question, to me at least - I'm sorry, but with three movies I love as much as those three having been released this year, and the next several spots being filled with movies I adore as well, I call bullshit on this being a weak year for movies. Bull Shit.
.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you - 2006 is fantastic

Joe R. said...

Okay, I read the first paragraph and then I skipped the rest. I'm seeing it this weekend or Monday, and I am petrified of getting my hopes up too high. But I'm also psyched to see it's getting such raves.

Glenn Dunks said...

I agree on your call of bullshit. I thought there was plenty of great stuff. 2006 was no 2001 or 2004, but as movie years go, there were quite a few titles that I will be remembering for a while.

And, well, you already know my thoughts on Children of Men. Do you get what I meant when I said "WTF?" about Julianne Moore. It was a very "WTF?" moment.

Reel Fanatic said...

Children of Men was indeed astounding, just the kind of smart sci-fi you never get to see anymore .. I liked it so much that I'm going to see it again today!

Jason Adams said...

visitor - seriously! there are more movies that i love this year than last year. or in the few past individual years actually. i wasn't making lists til this year, though.

Joe - I do feel lucky, actually, in retrospect, that I went in with relatively tame expectations, so yeah, do that!

KC - I do remember your WTF moment in regards to Julianne, and yeah, I had it too. That entire riot sequence, in one long shot, was when my head spun around and it never stopped spinning til the end. I mean, that chase sequence with a stalled car? BRILLIANT. And I could go on and on about how Cuaron took staples of this genre and twisted them just a bit and made everything down to the tiniest details his own and special and wonderful. I think I'm digging the movie even more this morning having slept on it. Goddamn brilliant.

reel fanatic - I'm jealous; as soon as I walked out of the theater last night I wanted to watch the movie again immediately. I may have to go again this week.

qta said...

I also am with you on the call of Bullshit on 06 being a bad year. There are several films I love from 2006.

Anonymous said...

I am going to agree with you, as 2006 was a far better year than some would lead you to believe. It had the right mix of mindless entertainment ("popcorn movies" like Pirates of the Caribbean), intelligent little indies (Little Miss Sunshine, Perfume) and sensational thought provoking films like Children of Men, or even the off-the-cuff brilliance of a Pan's Labyrinth.

'06 was not the most amazing year of film, but it was certainly a step in the right direction. Personally, it makes me excited for '07...

StinkyLulu said...

I'm not sure if I'm agreed that 2006 was good/great.

But I absolutely agree about the surprise of Children of Men -- rocked me & MrStinky both. Amazing.