My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (Werner Herzog, 2009)

8.5/10
Produced by David Lynch, directed by Werner Herzog, starring Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Udo Kier and Brad Dourif, at first blush it's hard to figure why this one never got any kind of release...then as you watch it and realize it's absolutely insane, it sort of makes sense. For what's seemingly a mainstream film, it must be one of the most unmarketable ones made in recent history. Inspired by true events, Shannon plays Brad, a young man who goes insane after a trip to Peru (a land where Herzog spent a considerable amount of time) and kills his mother. The film opens with her death and tells itself in flashbacks, as told to Dafoe's detective by his fiancee (Sevigny) and friend (Kier). The movie confounds expectations at every turn, and it treads a fine line between genius and self indulgence, or being weird for the sake of it. As a huge Herzog fan I leaned towards the former, but I can't fault anyone for believing the latter true. What really makes the movie is Michael Shannon's over the top, desperately serious portrayal of a man insane. I'd compare this movie to Herzog's Bad Lieutenant, shot around the same time, but with the weirdness turned up to 11 (which is what I felt lacked with that film). A lot of fun.

It's Complicated (Nancy Meyers, 2009)

5/10
Even though I'm not this movie's target audience, I like the three main actors involved and thought it could turn out funny enough. I laughed a couple of times but that was about it. I dunno, it was decent enough entertainment. Though the movie courts it only semi-seriously, it's tough to sympathize with Streep's character - torn between two handsome, successful, charming men, living in a gorgeous house, owning a successful business, three Stepford children...it's a bit much and you find it hard to really care, but I guess that's part of the fun.

Lake of the Dead (Kare Bergstrom, 1958)

7/10
1958 Norwegian "horror" movie, apparently counted among the best Norwegian movies ever. It's a story that still shows up in films today (I'm assuming the makers of Dead Snow were big fans) - a group of friends head up to an isolated cabin for some R&R, an urban legend about a jilted dead lover still haunting the area is told, one of the friends displays a seemingly supernatural connection with the lake, mysterious happenings occur. The film is sharply shot in black and white and contains a lot of beautiful, haunting gothic imagery, but (somewhat disappointingly) this is more of a whodunnit suspense/thriller than the creepy horror I was hoping for. A lot of time (and unnecessary plot exposition) is spent with the characters sitting around the cabin. In any event there was still a lot of interest here, and running not even an hour and a half in length, it's never a bore.

Dersu Uzala (Akira Kurosawa, 1975)

7.5/10
I missed most of the "classic" Kurosawa during the local repertory cinema's centennial tribute but I was at least able to catch Dersu Uzala last night (and hopefully Kagemusha on Sunday). The film tells the story of a Russian soldier named Arseniev and his friendship with mountain man Dersu Uzala, whom he meets while mapping the Russian forests and mountains. Essentially an odd couple road/journey movie, there isn't a whole lot new from a narrative perspective, but the film succeeds because of the chemistry between the two leads, and the movie's stunning cinematography and direction. At 144 minutes, the premise feels slightly stretched (much of Dersu and Arseniev's second meeting is just a restaging of events that occured in their first trek together) but it's such a beautiful film to look at, it's hard to really care too much.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010)

9/10
Probably the best comedy I've seen in years...I was laughing pretty much non-stop. The story, the dialogue, the editing, the effects, everything is bang on and done with such earnestness and commitment, you'd have to have a heart of stone to not be won over. So good to see an American (Canadian?) made comedy that doesn't have to rely on swearing or dick and fart jokes to get a laugh. Just incredibly clever, incredibly aware, incredibly honest...and really fun. If you're having second thoughts because you don't like Michael Cera or the trailer looked stupid or whatever - don't. Just go.

Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)

9.5/10
Wow, this was so good. It left me with the same enraptured feeling (both while watching it and long afterwards) as two of my other favorite movies: Aguirre The Wrath of God and Stalker. The cinematography in this movie is so good I thought my heart was going to explode, and I'm a sucker for a good coming-of-age tale, as I've said before here. Basically this movie had everything I love in a movie. I'm being a dick by docking it 0.5 points since I thought the end was a liiiittle shaky but it's pretty damn close to a 10. If anyone can recommend something in line with this and the two other movies I mentioned (slow-paced, beautifully photographed "journey" films, in broadest terms), I'm all ears.

Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

8/10
Pretty outrageous, silly, but ultimately very innovative Godard movie that surely must contain his most overt, vicious attacks on the bourgeoisie. It almost feels "too" Godardian in that respect, too over the top, but maybe that's the point. Hilarious, frustrating, endlessly self-referential, I thought it was great fun.