Our Best of the 2000s coverage returns with a list of some truly incredible film performances. The 2000s was ripe with great acting, and we present to you the cream of the crop. As always, we’d love to get your opinion on the matter in the comments.

25. Jeff Daniels – The Squid and the Whale
Jeff Daniels is a likable guy that usually plays likable characters. But his role as a angry, elitist father turns all of that on its head while showcasing Daniels’ superb acting chops. Daniels manages to make the character completely unlikable while somehow managing to keep the door open on possibility that he’s a good man inside, which makes the performance even more devastating. Daniels makes it very understandable how Jesse Eisenberg’s Walt could put so much faith in his father while constantly being let down. (M)

24. Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James
Playing one of the two title characters, Casey Affleck gives a haunting, multi-dimensional performance, capturing the many facets of a puzzling character. Robert Ford is an enigma – a potent cocktail of jealousy, disillusion, and regret – but Affleck never loses the humanity inside of a man whose actions would turn him into one of the most hated people in the country. (J)

23. Audrey Toutou Amelie
The simplest evaluation of Audrey Tautou’s performance is that she is Amelie. She so perfectly inhabits the character and anchors her naivete that you believe the character fully. Sure, the role is meant to be sweet, but it has to be sold to the audience, which Tautou does quite ably. Tautou has had a smattering of other roles since, yet it’s a testament to her performance that she’s still thought of as Amelie.(M)

22. Robert Downey Jr – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Robert Downey Jr. gave this same basic performance three times this decade, bookended by 2000’s hilarious turn in Wonder Boys and his work as Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man. But it is here, as the fast-talking, self-aware con artist at the center of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that Downey gives the definitive version of that role. Hilariously sardonic, Downey plays an updated, more offbeat version of pulpy detective heroes, and is the perfect center for Shane Black’s warped view of Hollywood. (J)

21. Adam Sandler – Punch Drunk Love
Who knew Billy Madison could act? If Sandler hadn’t been so likable before Punch Drunk Love, the film probably wouldn’t have worked. Revealing both the desire and ability to play dramatic roles, Sandler takes on such a depressing character without making him a mockery or overplaying it. Instead, he’s sympathetic and the audience can ignore his quirks and inadequacies to genuinely root for him in P.T. Anderson’s film. (M)

20. Helen Mirren – The Queen
The struggle between British monarchy and the government in charge was at the center of the plot of The Queen, but at the center of it all is Helen Mirren’s Academy Award winning portrayal of the title character. Playing someone currently in power is not an enviable task, yet Mirren does it with a respect and understanding that shine through in her performance. She so fully inhabits Queen Elizabeth, that at times your forget you’re who you’re actually watching.

19. Joeph Gordon-Levitt – Brick
If Joseph Gordon-Levitt hadn’t made Brick, there’s a good chance he’d only be remembered as the kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun. But investigating the murder of his girlfriend in the high school film noir, Gordon-Levitt unveiled a new side to his ability and set up a career that is beginning to take off. It’s a dark, emotional performance that manages to stay away from teenage angst while managing to play off it. Gordon-Levitt anchors the film, keeping it believable as it rumbles towards its fantastic conclusion. (M)

18. Clive Owen – Children of Men
How do you go on living when you know the world is ending, slowly, around you? If you’re Clive Owen in Children of Men, the answer is that you kind of don’t. Owen’s minimalistic, subtle work grounds the film in a humanity and becomes eerily relatable when you realize that, in 2009, he’d be 23 years old. (J)

17. Julianne Moore – Far From Heaven
Despite numerous nominations, Julianne Moore is one of the best actresses not to win an Academy Award (yet). Her role as suburban housewife faced with her husband’s homosexuality is one of her best, as she doesn’t oversell the plight of her character while managing to perfectly portray her anger and confusion. Moore brings a power to the screen few actresses possess, and without her, it’s hard to imagine the film without her in the lead. (M)

16. Christian Bale – American Psycho
Christian Bale’s manic, Tom Cruise inspired Patrick Bateman is so creepily empty, so vacant of anything resembling a human personality, that it would take someone with no knowledge of the movie or the book it was based on about 5 seconds to piece together that there’s something very wrong there. Mary Haddon’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ best book wouldn’t have had nearly the impact without such a fixating embodiment of its main character. (J)

15. Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
There are countless movies that show what “war does to a man,” but Jeremy Renner’s performance in The Hurt Locker stands out. With Renner’s portrayal as a bomb squad technician, you get the sense that it’s not the war that has made him crazy, but instead made him sane and feel actual emotions. In the end, it’s hard to what impression is to be made of him, as he borders between sympathetic, misguided, and obsessed.(M)

14. Paul Giamatti – American Splendo
Like many of the actors on this list, Paul Giamatti has become famous for basically playing this character over and over again. But that doesn’t take anything away from just how good his work is here. Playing a real person (what’s more in a movie where said real person appears) isn’t easy, but Giamatti brings Harvey Pekar to life with an empathetic sadness and anger that totally embodies what was on the page. (J)

13. Phillip Seymour Hoffman – Capote
It would have been easy for Phillip Seymour Hoffman to slip into the familiar caricature of Truman Capote, but instead, he captures a man that becomes obsessed with a brutal murderer, which ultimately changes him. Capote himself never recovered from his involvement in the murder case that lead to his work In Cold Blood, and Hoffman’s performance reveals much more than an impression, instead showing the cracks slowly forming in the facade of a man in the face of his work. (M)

12. Laura Linney – You Can Count on Me
Kenneth Lonergan is an actor’s playwright, so its no surprise that his first (and to-date only) film as a director gave us two of the best performances of this decade. But, while Mark Ruffalo is great, we’ve got to give the edge to Laura Linney for carrying the film with compassion and depth. (J)

11. Forrest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Forrest Whitaker always seemed to be striving for so much more as an actor, and with his portrayal of Idi Amin, he accomplished that. Any sense of the affable Whitaker is completely unrecognizable under the shell of the ruthless dictator he plays. But Whitaker does a more than capable job of showing that Amin wasn’t a Hitler, but more a misguided, self-obsessed ruler who’s early attempts at reform get buried under the trappings of absolute power. A stirring performance that hopefully will lead to bigger things for Whitaker. (M)

10. Adrian Brody – The Pianist
The Pianist very easily could have just been yet another film about the Holocaust. What sets it apart is Adrian Brody’s hypnotic portrayal of Szpilman. His search for dignity in the face of such inhumanity is filled with desperation and sorrow, and his transformation from a young, confident pianist to a hollowed-out shell shows the terrible impact of World War II on a personal scale. (J)

9. Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean
Among the more iconic portrayals on this list is Johnny Depp’s memorable turn in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Though the second two films declined in quality, Depp’s turn as Captain Jack Sparrow is a delight throughout the entire series, adding much need whimsy and comedy to films that prefer action set pieces to meaningful plot. Depp has made a career of bouncing between playing bizarre characters and tough guys, but he’ll almost assuredly always be remembered most as Jack Sparrow. (M)

8. Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
While Anne Hathaway seemed interested in moving beyond her Princess Diaries public image, it wasn’t until this movie than any of us realized she actually had the chops to do it. Fitting in perfectly with Jonathan Demme’s naturalistic, Hathaway doesn’t overplay her character or descend into junkie cliché. Instead, she finds Kym’s guilt and anxiety filled core and plays it spot-on. (J)

7. Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Already known for her gritty roles on The Wire, Amy Ryan ably took the role of the mother of a missing child in Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone. Ryan’s break-out role is a stirring supporting performance that outshines those of her higher profile co-stars. Ryan expertly plays a hardened mother accustomed to her life of scrapping by, but also crushed by the loss of her daughter. But she doesn’t play it that way. Instead, she wants her daughter back while excepting that she’s gone. It’s a heartbraking role that showcases the talents of an actress who’s bound for even better work.(M)

6. Naomi Watts – Mulholland Dr.
Mulholland Drive doesn’t make sense in any sort of conventional, narrative way. So it’s a good thing that the film has Naomi Watts around, to ensure that it makes emotional sense. Naomi Watts has to be a number of things in Mulholland Drive and she is convincing as all of them, embodying all the seedy, failed promises of Hollywood. (J)

5. Billy Murray – Lost in Translation
Many were quick to jump on Bill Murray’s performance as being a version of his own career, but that seems to be oversimplifying things. Sure, Murray is playing a washed up actor in Japan to film whiskey commercials, but he’s also playing a middle aged man who hasn’t reached a midlife crisis, but has forgotten how to find joy in life. Murry doesn’t oversell the character, and his chemistry with co-star Scarlet Johansson drive the movie, making it a pleasure to watch time and time again. (M)

4. Sean Penn – Mystic River
Obviously the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Sean Penn in Mystic River is his primal screaming when he comes upon the scene where his daughter had just been murdered. But throughout the course of the film, Penn rediscovers his character’s capability for doing things as hideous. And by the end, when he shrugs off Kevin Bacon’s final, ambiguous hand gesture, its clear that Penn has become comfortable with it. (J)

3. Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Perhaps the best villain of the decade, Javier Bardem stole the show in the Coen Brother’s grisly adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel. His performance as a sociopath killer sends chills down your spine every time he comes on screen. Credit goes to McCarthy and Joel and Ethan Coen for the way the character is written, but Bardem executes the role with startling perfection. There are few better performances of such villains. (M)

2. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger’s Joker isn’t so much a character as an idea. He shows up in the first scene, fully formed: anti-gravity to Batman’s notions of order and justice. But, like any comedian, the Joker makes us take a second look at our value system. Heath Ledger’s commitment to the role builds a psychopath who is all too believable and invest the film with a verisimilitude that is essential to Nolan’s vision of Gotham City. (J)

1. Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Aside from producing one of the most iconic lines of the decade, Daniel Day-Lewis’ stunning performance as oilman Daniel Plainview is the stuff legend is made of. Completely missing are any sense of the actor, left in his place a character, who, like Wells in Citizen Kane, completely inhabits a man who keeps no friends on his rise to wealth before becoming a wealthy, angry man in his old age, Day-Lewis delivers a performance that every aspiring actor should watch, admire, and study. (M)

In writing this, I’ve had a hard time separating Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance from the film itself. From his first appearance in the silent opening sequence to his now famous punctuation mark at the end of the film, Daniel Day-Lewis dominates all 158 minutes of There Will Be Blood. It is the perfect marriage of actor and material – a part so perfectly suited to what Daniel Day-Lewis can do that P.T. Anderson has said he wouldn’t have even made the movie without the star. Day-Lewis’ Daniel Plainview is driven so mad with greed that he willingly sells off his humanity, fueled with the desire to destroy anyone and anything in his way. (J)

One of my first posts on TECB was about how ill I think EarDrumZ is with the beats.  His Kill Bill remix project is fresh enough to pass any instrumental head’s standards, but, in my opinion, The RE:ssassination of Jesse James by the Coward EarDrumZ is his best project to date.  Of course, the excellence of said mix would have never been possible if it wasn’t for the unbelievable Assassination of Jesse James… score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Here’s the entire EarDrumZ remix…

…which is available for free download — with a slew of other freebies — at his blog.

Anyway, since I heard RE:ssassination, I’ve read a bunch about Nick Cave and his career, bought The Proposition, and caught a serious mulligan after I had found out he scored the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.  Essentially, I’ve become a fan over the last couple of years.  But that’s where my problem starts — the mans discography is gigantic and ever expanding (by the way, White Lunar, his latest release with Warren Ellis, hit stores today), and I’m clueless as to where my starting point should be.

Any suggestions?  Also — was The Assassination of Jesse James… ever released on vinyl, and, if so, where can I scoop it?

Thanks!

The Assassination of Jesse James… | Andrew Domninik, 2007

Set in the times when cowboys were all but legend, the The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (to use its full title) spins a well-practiced tale on its head by selecting paranoia and obsession as its two main themes: an outlaw’s paranoia concerning those he surrounds himself with and a young man’s obession with the tale of his idol. Casey Affleck plays Robert (Bob) Ford, a wannabe gunslinger whose impressionable attitude only unnerves his would-be employers, the legendary James brothers, who are looking for one last successful robbery before hanging up their wanted pistols for good. As the tale flares into life from this angle, one can be forgiven for thinking that Jesse James is much like many other such films that came before it – the story of a gang and their endeavours, as a certain skilled underdog works his way through the ranks. This common idea can be seen very often in cinema, though it will not be found here, for Dominik and co. are more concerned with the force that drives their underdog rather than the underdog himself. It is a driving force rooted in childhood fantasy: an ever-lingering lust that compels Bob not only to be near his idol but also to make a name for himself in the same way. The film also follows the plight of Mr. James himself, deep in life as an outlaw that is now slowly and fatally stealing away the air from his very lungs. He cannot look a man in the eye without becoming suspicious, and this paranoia makes Jesse James a volatile character: one that longs for a lost comradery yet will never allow anyone out of his sight. Both these characters are wonderfully portrayed by Affleck and Pitt respectively, though perhaps the real strength of Jesse James is in its supporting ensemble – the chameleon form of Sam Rockwell (as Ford’s older brother) impressing in particular.

The much-discussed and rather lengthy full title for Jesse James is not only a sly nod towards certain traditions in the Western genre but also, perhaps more importantly, a hint at the biased stance of the film itself. Of course, much credit should be given to the novel upon which this screenplay is based, though for a writer/director such as Dominik with one film under his belt to take on such an ambitious project and turn it into something so profound is a feat in itself. I’ve specifically left what’s harder to put into words for later in the review, simply because I find it difficult to do justice to something that is so visually compelling. Jesse James is quite beautifully shot, with master cinematographer Roger Deakins (Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, No Country for Old Men etc.) outdoing even his own high standards here. He brings so much life and beauty to such harsh and unforgiving backdrops that they frequently distract from the action itself. Then there is Nick Cave’s score: a haunting and unconventional music that complements Deakins’ sheer and jaw-dropping shots quite majestically. At 160 minutes long the film is still quite bloated, despite the rigorous editing that caused so many problems during post-production, and much of this is down to the film’s crucial, epilogue-like closing act – a wonderful sequence that is so important to the general feeling we are left with, and one that I’m glad wasn’t left behind on the cutting room floor. The Assassination of Jesse James… is exactly the type of film Hollywood should be financing. A film that upholds the cinematic tradition of a moralistic struggle yet does so with a certain uniqueness to ensure that while the themes may be similar, the end product is like nothing you will have seen before.

Our Rating:

Ok, I just can’t stand Casey Affleck. I don’t like the way he looks, I don’t like the way he talks, he just bugs me. I never much liked his older brother, either. So, you know, take that prejudice into account. And I will give him this: he seems to know he’s unlikeable, as he nearly always plays unlikeable characters, so at least he’s self-aware. The polar opposite of Casey Affleck is Brad Pitt; while it’s completely unnecessary to enthuse about his obvious attractiveness, it’s continually shocking to me. I mean, he’s just freakishly attractive, isn’t he? And seems to get more so every year he ages. It’s bizarre.*

So, given their respective consistencies, these two were very well cast. Brad Pitt is Jesse James, famous outlaw, charismatic and capable. Casey Affleck is Robert Ford, stubby and unimpressive, personally ambitious, socially retarded. You can see where this is going: it’s right there in the title. The movie is fine: it’s entertaining, but not amazing in any way. It could have ended about thirty minutes sooner than it did, but what movie couldn’t? The movie may have been trying to say something about infamy, or perhaps the interesting thing is that the villain is the man who killed the outlaw, rather than the criminal himself. Or whatever. The members of the James gang are every one far more interesting than either James or Ford. There’s lots of intrigue, and everyone’s wary and suspicious of each other, and above all of James, who’s ding-dong out of his mind.

It is chilling to watch a group of people who are ostensibly “friends,” but who are all terrified of each other, and particularly of their unpredictable and all-powerful leader. I wondered to myself, as I watched this movie, why anyone would put themselves in such a precarious social situation, and then I remembered seventh grade. At least James’s gang were in it for the money.

____
*Incidentally, speaking of casting, I think it’s an absolute insult to cast an actor of Mary-Louise Parker’s stature in a near-silent bit part. Perhaps she really wanted to be involved with the project for some reason, but I felt offended on her behalf. Use an unknown for that shit, bitches.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Dir. Andrew Dominick

A newer film for sure, one that many of you have likely seen (oh god, hopefully you have), and one that is slowly growing in importance.  It deserves every last bit of praise it is sure to gain over the years, more than some others I know (looking at you Darko.)  Andrew Dominick is certainly a director to watch, and I’m hoping his Cities Of the Plain adaptation goes through.  If anyone’s tailor-built to adapt Cormac McCarthy, he is. Let’s hope Roger Deakins comes in tow.

As a regular feature here at To Bathe in Filmic Waters we like to offer our readers a weekly serving of beautiful movie-oriented wallpapers. This week it is another 2007 film in Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford that gets the Wallpaper Wednesday treatment, a review of which can be expected in the near future. Enjoy, and simply Right click>Save as to download each wallpaper. Earlier Wallpaper Wednesdays can be found here.

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

Please feel free to request a particular size or image from the film by commenting below, or alternatively suggest a film to be featured on next week’s Wallpaper Wednesday! Thank you.

Other volumes can be found here. And don’t forget to click for larger images!

Image from: The Assassination of Jesse James… | Andrew Dominik, 2007

Few cinematographers can admit to a career as all-encompassing as that of Mr. Roger Deakins. The English-born director of photography is perhaps best known for his more recent work with twin filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, but began his career back in 1975 at the age of just 26. Since then he has cast his eye over some very important and successful films including the likes of The Shawshank Redemption, Sid and Nancy and Fargo. Yet strangely enough Deakins has never won an Oscar despite receiving 8 nominations, 2 of which came in 2007 for his work on the best-picture winning thriller No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James… For me, no film came close to touching the kind of majesty that Australian-born filmmaker Andrew Dominik conjured up with Jesse James, and much of this was down to the steady hand of Deakins behind the camera. Ignoring the film’s sparse and oft-criticised narration, Jesse James boasts a story that is unfurled through the visuals we witness, as opposed to the words the characters utter. It is a tender film, for all its brutality, and certainly one of the finest new additions to that breed of cinema they like to call “Western”.

Image from: Sleeping Beauty | Clyde Geronimi, 1959

We as a generation of Disney appreciators have been somewhat unlucky to witness the swift decline in quality and subsequent (brief) demise of Disney’s 2D animated features. It’s difficult to compare the likes of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin with earlier releases, but those three in particular ensured that as children we weren’t fed on re-releases alone. One thing we should be thankful for however is the standard of today’s Disney re-releases. Technology has pushed forward in such a way that we can now experience these older features in ways that might never have been imagined by those who conceived them so many years ago. Disney’s recent re-releasing of their popular 1959 film Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray allowed me an excuse for a revisit, and the film certainly hasn’t lost any of its charm. One particular aspect that bowled me over was the visuals created by Clyde Geronimi and his team of animators. Studying the above image, their bold and abstract approach to landscape design is so strong that it doesn’t even look like a Disney film. It’s something that I’d never noticed before and can now appreciate in its full glory.

Image from: The Fall | Tarsem Singh, 2007

Visionary director (yes, marketing departments, this is a man who actually deserves such a label) Tarsem Singh travelled to 18 different countries to shoot footage for his recent festival hit The Fall. It’s a shame that such a beautiful film was so strongly ignored when it came to Tarsem and his team securing financial backing, indeed the director had to reach out to friends David Fincher and Spike Jonze just to get the thing finished. Many have accused the film of a shallow story for all its visual prowess, but for me there is more than enough to go on. The story is born out of imagination and the colourful visuals and mind-defying landscape shots do well to support this idea. My favourite part of The Fall is its opening sequence. It’s a sequence that stitches the film’s narrative together before we’ve even experienced it, and is quite wonderfully crafted by Tarsem in black and white – set to Beethoven’s soaring Seventh Symphony. Tarsem used a similar approach (and the same music) for one of his Reebok television commercials shown in Britain many years ago, but here just seems so much more powerful. My only regret is that I didn’t get to see The Fall on the big screen.

Image from: The Searchers | John Ford, 1956

John Ford’s timeless Revisionist Western The Searchers is a film I’ve spoken about on this blog before, and even on that occasion I mentioned its impressive visual qualities. It’s a film that many study because of its sometimes controversial approach to dealing with the central themes of racism and miscegenation, so many tend to forget just how memorable the imagery and use of colour really is. The Searchers was shot in VistaVision – a favourite of influential British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock – just a few years after the formant was conceived by Paramount, and gives the film an intense vibrancy about the colours. It’s a shame that VistaVision was proved unprofitable and later scrapped in preference of the more economic Panavision approach, but we were lucky that the likes of Ford and Hitchcock were able to take full advantage of it if only for a brief period. The above shot is one of those masterful lingering scenes in The Searchers, used to capture the vast nature of that land and wistful nature of the people living upon it. It’s one of a couple of scenes that I adore, each shot over the shoulder of actress Vera Miles.

Image from: Sunset Blvd. | Billy Wilder, 1950

To round off this group of Evocative Images in Film, we stay in the fifties with Billy Wilder’s celebrated film noir Sunset Boulevard and its emphatic final scene. Gloria Swanson’s aged Hollywood star Norma Desmond is one of the most intriguing characters I’ve ever come across, and for the length of the film it is she who provides us with the element of mystery that Sunset Blvd. and Wilder so expertly exploit. Norma Desmond may not be the protagonist in Sunset Blvd. but she is certainly the film’s central figure, and Swanson’s fame-obsessed ex-diva drew more than a few raised eyebrows from the Hollyw00d elite at the time the film was released. Many people in the industry weren’t too pleased about how Wilder had portrayed it, and some ex-actresses spoke out about the exaggerated nature of the Desmond character. All of this is besides the point, of course, because Desmond is both alien and yet somehow crushingly human at the same time. The character has tasted fame once and deludes herself into thinking she can attain it once again, a feeling that boils to a head for the film’s explosive closing sequence.

Thank you very much for reading. Expect another volume of Evocative Images in Film very soon. Meanwhile, please feel free to list images that could be used in the next volume – I’m always open to suggestions!

 
Each new entry in the daily “Movie Midpoints” quiz will feature the middle frame of a different film. A link to the name of that film is provided with each day’s midpoint image (but try not to peek before you’ve made a guess).

Brad Pitt in "The Assassination of Jess James By The Coward Robert Ford"

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford” is a good two hour movie, stretched in to an average three hour film.  This movie needs some serious editing.  Do not get me wrong, a movie is as long as it needs to be.  If it needs to be three hours, then you will not hear a complaint from me.  But this movie has sections that really drag, mixed with scenes of true power and acting that will blow you away.  In fact if not for anything else, see this movie for its showcase of stellar performances.

Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as the outlaw Jesse James.  Here he shows that he is not just a star, but a real character actor.  He embodies this role and makes it larger than life.  Casey Affleck, giving yet another terrific performance, plays the coward, Robert Ford.  His transformation from an idolizing follower, to a killer is incredible. 

The story follows James in the twilight of his career.  The movie opens with one of his last train robberies.  This is where the story is strongest.  The men brutally take what they want, then go their separate ways, waiting for James to come calling again.  This is also Ford’s first robbery as part of the James gang.  After they split up, the movie descends in to an overly long plot involving double crosses, murder and revenge.  It becomes a rather mixed bag of scenes that are brilliant and scenes that are just flat. 

For my money, the strongest scene in the film involves Jesse James appearing at the Ford home unannounced.  Unknown to him, his cousin has just been murdered within these very walls.  Watch as everyone listens to James intently, knowing what they know, as he shares a story. Then watch Brad Pitt as Jesse begins to realize that something is up.  This takes a skilled director and very skilled actors to build this kind of tension. 

But then we get scenes where James needlessly beats a young boy for information that he does not have.  The scene becomes awkward, and could have been cut completely. 

In the end I think the film is worth seeing.  The acting is marvellous and the direction is good.  From a technical point of view, this is one of the best looking movies I have ever seen.  The locations and sets all build an eerie mood.  The cold, frozen lands are almost a character in themselves.  What was really needed most, was  tighter editing.

Even emcees I have once enjoyed are becoming hard to listen to, which is why I’ve started searching into instrumental albums and DJ projects.  One of the better finds I’ve had is this guy named EarDrumz.  Five of his mixes are available for free download through the CrateDiggers website.  Here’s a little description of the three I’ve been listening to the most:

Kill Bill Remixes: I’d say this one is my favorite.  All ten songs are carefully crafted from the Kill Bill OST and showcase the drum programming and sample weaving abilities of EarDrumz.

The RE:ssassination of Jesse James by the Coward EarDrumz: This one is along the same lines as the Kill Bill Remixes and equally as fresh.  Actually, I like this mix better.  EarDrumz uses samples from the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to recreate what he calls the “lush and beautifully haunting” compositions of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.  Don’t pass this one by, even if you haven’t seen the movie.  Believe me, it’s dope.

Back to Black Remixes: A thirty minute mix of Amy Winehouse’s soulful vocals and the funky horns of Mark Ronson being chopped-up by EarDrumz.  The samples, of course, come from The House’s multi-platinum record, Back to Black.

The kid is nice with it.  Top recommendation right here, folks.

Jordan’s Review: 8 stars

Open Range. 3:10 to Yuma. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. All movies that came to mind when I read the title “The Assassination of Jesse James.” This was going to be a western, and I was looking forward to it.

And yet this movie was almost completely unlike those others. It had all of the western conventions: the shootings, the robberies, the panoramic views of sunsets and barren landscapes.
But this movie was… it’s hard to say it, it’s a girly word, but it was beautiful.

That’s the best way to describe it. There wasn’t a single scene in the entire movie that wasn’t gorgeous to look at. The music was lush and tense and haunting, foreshadowing the inevitable death that gives the movie its title. The best part, however, was the acting. Brad Pitt brought his best face to the role of Jesse James (this isn’t the brooding brute from Troy or the blubbering husband in Babel), and he was fun to watch in every scene, but I was blown away by the performance of Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. His hoarse voice, his shifty eyes… he was the perfect character.

It’s really hard to write this review. There is really no way to understand the film without seeing it. It was long in parts, and I was confused in parts (some of the bad guys look pretty similar), but once the plot came together and the stage was set, I was hooked. Please, sit through the movie. By the time it’s over you’ll see what I mean.

Eli’s Review: 6.5 stars

I would have to agree with Jordan on this one. I was expecting a Clint Eastwood, shoot-until-the-gun-melts, thriller. But instead I got a history lesson. Which is fine with me, I love history, in fact it’s my major. So this whole movie was quite fascinating. However, the average western-film aficionado is middle aged men with a bag of Cheetos®, and he is going to fall asleep in the middle of this one. Brad Pitt did an excellent job portraying one of America’s most lauded villains, but the acting job, and the movie, follows the path he took in “Babel” instead of “Ocean’s 11”, more art than grit. If you want to learn about Jesse James, than this film is excellent, great music, great acting, dramatic and I highly recommend “the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”. If you are like the average middle-aged man, sitting on your couch, enjoying a brew, scratching your bulging belly through your wife-beater, and giddy about the latest issue of “Bass Pro Weekly”, than you won’t like that “Jesse James whatever movie”. If I was posting this on the stalls of the history department on the fifth floor of the GC I would give this 9 stars. But this is Flint. Flint. So I give it 6.5. Still, one of my favorite westerns, and I recommend it to anyone with sophisticated taste, and yes, that’s a challenge.

p.s. Did I mention the soundtrack is top 5 of all time in my book?

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2007, Rated R
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443680/

So most of you by now have seen the New Classics movie list at Entertainment Weekly. Needless to say, I have my own opinions on the matter. I’ve been mulling these over for some time now, and I can’t commit to anything past a 50-movie list. These are my 50 best films since 1983. Are they simply my favorites, or do I find them to be the highest quality films? It’s too difficult to separate the two– although I’m sure The Pianist is probably a “better film” than a Norm MacDonald comedy, but there must be some logical reason why I’m compelled to leave it off in favor of Norm. There’s no analysis here unfortunately, just my list. Agree, disagree, tell me how it compares to EW’s list, give me feedback.

50. Dirty Work
49. Purple Rain
48. School of Rock
47. High Fidelity
46. A Mighty Wind
45. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
44. Iron Man
43. Ratatouille
42. Return of the Jedi
41. Superbad
40. King Kong
39. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
38. This is Spinal Tap
37. Jackie Brown
36. The Big Lebowski
35. The Princess Bride
34. The Truman Show
33. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
32. There Will Be Blood
31. No Country For Old Men
30. Men In Black
29. Hoop Dreams
28. Finding Nemo
27. Full Metal Jacket
26. 25th Hour
25. Malcolm X
24. Wall-E
23. X2: X-Men United
22. Children of Men
21. Hannah and her Sisters
20. Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
19. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
18. Murderball
17. Barton Fink
16. The Incredibles
15. Waiting For Guffman
14. Being John Malkovich
13. Brazil
12. Rushmore
11. Jerry Maguire
10. Toy Story
9. Boogie Nights
8. Ran
7. Almost Famous
6. Die Hard
5. Back to the Future
4. Fargo
3. Groundhog Day
2. Goodfellas
1. Do the Right Thing

We went and saw the critically acclaimed movie Gone Baby Gone last weekend. It’s another crime thriller set in the hard parts of South Boston. The movie’s based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, and tells the story of a young girl who has been kidnapped. The girl’s aunt hires private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to use their local knowledge and connections to assist the police in the investigation.

This is done against the wishes of the police and against the advice of the husband. So the investigation continues, revealing fresh layers of corruption and wrongdoing at every turn. It’s a bleak film, that resonates around the opening thoughts of Kenzie’s narration, that it’s the things we can’t control (like where we’re born) that define us as people. A story this full of moral ambiguity and torturing personal losses at the hands of dearly held ideals should come as no surprise to viewers familiar with Lehane’s work. Indeed film audiences will remember the adaptation of his novel Mystic River into a feature film starring Sean Penn and directed by Clint Eastwood. Gritty crime drama is Lehane’s calling card and in addition to his body of novels he has contributed to HBO’s outstanding series The Wire.

While there is no surprise in the depth, detail and moral questioning of Lehane’s work, there is plenty in this movie to surprise and delight the cinema goer. Casey Affleck lives up to the promise and excitement generated by his turn in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. In fact, he naturally fills the position of leading man with a quiet confidence and assurance that has the viewer believing in his version of Kenzie from the start. Kenzie is a subtle and mostly subdued character, navigating a world of moral and legal ambiguity that would leave lesser people in pieces. He straddles the divide between the community and the law, and in doing so spends a great deal of his time associating with less than savoury characters. But there is no judgement in this. These are his people. His neighbours, his friends, his high-school rivals. He knows them and they him. It’s only in this way that he is able to get people to open up, to talk to him, to tell him things that they would otherwise leave unsaid.

The same is true of Monaghan’s Gennaro. She is Kenzie’s partner, professionally and privately. She grew up in the same world and now shares the same life. One of the most important and fascinating plotlines within this story is to see how the investigation impacts on their relationship. As they wrestle with the moral questions placed in front of them and struggle to cope with the consequences of their actions, the fundamental nature of their understanding of themselves and each other shifts.

The most surprising (and therefore, satisfying) thing, however, is the work of the older Affleck, Ben. He shows a subtle touch behind the camera, allowing the story to develop naturally and relying on his actors to communicate with engaged viewers, rather than signposting the whole thing for us. It’s refreshing to be treated as intelligent by almost any director, it’s impressive for a new director to have the confidence and skill to do the same.

All in all, Gone Baby Gone is a fantastic, although disturbing film. It’s not for everybody, but if you can handle crime drama so gritty that the sense of filth is all pervasive, then you’ll be ready for this.

Om man är på jakt efter en typisk vilda västern-rulle med pangpangdueller i O.K. Corral så är The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford fel film att välja. Känner man däremot att en långsamt växande historia om hjältedyrkan och förräderi kan vara något, då sitter den som en smäck.

Här möter vi en Jesse James som börjar närma sig slutet på sin banditkarriär. Tillsammans med brodern Frank och ett gäng hopsamlade dönickar (alla gamla kumpaner är fängslade eller döda) genomför han en sista kupp mot ett tåg. Inför denna stöt sällar sig nittonårige Robert Ford till gänget. Ford är en lika naiv som kaxig kille, som haft den legendariske Jesse James som idol hela sin uppväxttid och nu drömmer om att själv bli en berömd revolverman.

Ford får dock sina illusioner om det romantiska banditlivet isärplockade. Jesse James visar sig vara en allt mer paranoid sociopat som så sakteliga börjar inse att han kommit till vägs ände. James pratar om kupper som aldrig blir av, och samröret med den lynnige gamle rånaren får Robert och hans bror Charlie att frukta för sina liv. Sedan Robert sålt ut en av James gamla kumpaner i förhoppningen om att hamna i rampljuset som hjälte gör han en deal med guvernören om att även leverera Jesse James.

Det här är en film som kan te sig lite väl stillastående till en början men växer allteftersom. Mer än en traditionell westernhistoria ägnar den sig åt att undersöka och ifrågasätta såväl myten om Jesse James som effekterna av hjältedyrkan i vidare mening. I början ser vi Ford som en rövslickande streber och James som den coole banditen, men bilden av båda förändras successivt. Ford vann folkets förakt för mordet på James som istället blev en älskad ikon, ett slags amerikansk Robin Hood. Gjorde Ford rätt som satte stopp för en kallblodig och obotfärdig mördare? Var han bara en ynkrygg som sänkte sig till föraktligt förräderi? Det finns rentav ett stänk Jesus/Judas över berättelsen – även om verkligheten knappast var lika ödesmättat poetisk som denna filmversion.

Brad Pitt är alldeles utmärkt som en trött och alltmer isolerad gammal bandit som inte längre litar på någon. Casey Affleck som Robert Ford visar att det är han som är den verkliga skådisbegåvningen i familjen. Birollerna fylls av stabila aktörer som Sam Rockwell och Sam Shepard. Alltihopa är mycket vackert filmat, på en gång jordnära och lyriskt, av Roger Deakins (bröderna Coens husfotograf). Lägg därtill ett hypnotiskt knarrigt soundtrack med Nick Cave som en av kompositörerna och du har en i alla avseenden högklassig film.

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This is an incredibly well made and well acted movie. It could stand on its own visually and narrated in a way that makes you really pay attention when the narrator is talking. This is a pretty long movie (160 min), but it doesn’t leave anything out and makes you feel like your really there. Unlike most westerns, this movie is realistically told and doesn’t just throw a bunch of guns and action at you. This was a very interesting history lesson, but don’t get discouraged when I say history lesson because this is one lesson you don’t want to be texting during.  Grade: A