1. I haven’t seen Killer Joe, Restless and Tyrannosaur becuase they haven’t been released where I live. And I haven’t seen Oslo August 3, The Kid on the Bike, Paul Williams Still Alive, Natural Selection, Polisse and Little White Lies because – as far as I know – they haven’t yet been released in the US. You can read descriptions and watch trailers of these films as Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
2. Meek’s Cutoff is an unfortunate misfire by the excellent director Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy).
3. Le Quattro Volte is supposed to be a lyrical contemplation on the Circle of Life, but you’ll find yourself checking your watch during the interminable hacking of an aged goatherd. If the geezer had taken Robitussin DM, there would be no story at all.
4. The bewildering, pompous mess that is The Tree of Life . It does contain a fine 90-minute family drama about a boy growing up in 1950s Waco (a superb Hunter McCracken) and the friction with his caring but brutishly domineering father (Brad Pitt). Unfortunately, there is another 60 minutes in the movie.
That additional 60 minutes is a self-important muddle that tries to lift the story to an exploration of life itself – from creation through afterlife. There are beautiful shots of clouds and waterfalls, with unintelligible whisperings from cast members. There are Bible verses, the Big Bang and dinosaurs (yes, dinosaurs). And, in case you don’t get how seriously the movie takes itself, there is an overbearingly pretentious score.
5. The Hangover Part II. I really enjoyed The Hangover, but the sequel was just lame.
6. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is by no means a bad film, but I expected more from the winner of the Palm d’Or.
7. David Gordon Green, director of All the Real Girls, Undertow, Snow Angels and Pineapple Express, showed up this year with The Sitter. Say it ain’t so, Dave.
8. HBO’s take on the financial meltdown, Too Big To Fail, failed in spite of an excellent cast. It wasn’t nearly as good as last year’s great documentary Inside Job or this year’s fictional Margin Call.
9. James Franco co-hosting the Academy Awards. Lay off the weed, Jimmy!
10. After watching the jaw droppingly awful trailer, I was hoping that Nicholas Cage’s Season of the Witch would be deliciously and entertainingly laugh out loud bad. But it was just bad.