Wednesday 28 December 2011

2011's hidden cinematic gems

Posted on 23:26 by Maria Scott

Every year there are movies that slip through the cracks -- say, the documentary that appears only briefly at a festival or the art film that quickly flashes across the marquee before it's pushed off by the latest Michael Bay monster. So, here's a little holiday break homework for you while you bask in the seasonal glow: a list of little gems from the past year that are too good to miss. Hope your local video store is well-stocked and your popcorn maker at the ready.

Another Earth

Another Earth is a sci-fi film where the idea is the biggest special effect. An accident stands between a young woman and a grieving composer, but the discovery of a parallel existence opens a world of possibilities.

Attack the Block

There's a reason this British import is making many of 2011's best-of lists. A first-time filmmaker serves up a manic romp that does justice to the action flicks of the '80s, without any of Super 8's audacious effects. A monster with glowing teeth meets ghetto gang-bangers: really, what else do you need to know?

Beginners

Much more than Christopher Plummer playing a gay man, Beginners is a touching, whimsical ode to love, life, healing -- and it has a talking dog.

Bill Cunningham New York

A documentary with a deft touch, Bill Cunningham New York is about a man who changed the way New Yorkers see themselves. Cunningham is the photographer behind the long-running New York Times fashion column On the Street. An urban sociologist of sorts, he has spent decades documenting how we dress. This is a movie about fashion, fads and the complicated man behind the camera.

Four Lions

Fearless and funny filmmaking at its best, Four Lions follows a terror cell of British Jihadists planning an attack in London -- that is, if they don't blow themselves up first. It's The Three Stooges-meets-suicide bombers, and no target is safe.

The Guard

Don Cheadle and Brendan Gleeson star in this most unusual of buddy movies. When a drug-smuggling ring makes inroads into rural Ireland, a FBI liaison is forced to work with a cantankerous county cop. Though it might sound conventional, The Guard -- just like Gleeson's character -- is never what it seems.

A Separation

From Iran comes a film that is utterly real and tragic. A husband and wife seek a divorce. An elderly parent's decline requires daily care. A caregiver, with a daughter, is hired. These are just the strands of the tale, but the way director Asghar Farhadi ties them into knots would do Anton Chekov proud. A Separation demonstrates heartbreaking, but unfussy, filmmaking that speaks to the claustrophobia of his country.

Pina

Filmmaker Wim Wenders has created a moving memorial to his friend, the late choreographer Pina Bausch, that will change the way you think about dance and 3D movies. The film is dance reduced to its basic elements: raw and vital, but also playful. As Bausch herself says: "Dance, dance...or else we are lost."

The Trip

A semi-improvised road movie about an actor and a comedian partaking in fine dining across North Britain, The Trip is my pick for funniest film of the year. Though silly, it also offers a shockingly bitter undercurrent that's easy to miss when you're crying with laughter.


The Whistleblower

Forgive the painful set-up and awkward exposition at the beginning of this film. Wait, because there are moments to come that will take your breath away. Based on Kathryn Bolkovac's true story, The Whistleblower sees Rachel Weisz play a U.N. peacekeeper who discovers a sex-trafficking ring in Bosnia. A typical film might have the heroine crash in, guns blazing -- The Whistleblower isn't that kind of film. Instead, director Larysa Kondracki explores what happens when a woman discovers something horrifying and is powerless to prevent it.

Rare Exports (A Christmas bonus)

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