Reviews

Monika Volsing 2009 Top Ten

Presented in no particular order I have for you; four horror films, two children’s tales, one action flick, one Tarantino, one obituary, one Zowie Bowie (and a partridge in a pear tree) – a good mix, even if I do say so myself…

Sherlock Holmes – Guy Ritchie
I’m mentioning this because I’ve not allowed myself Wolverine or Watchmen, both of which I really enjoyed, but I understand weren’t that brilliant. I’m also including this because I’ve loved Sherlock Holmes ever since I was about eight and maybe a bit because Robert Downey, Jr. looks so fit in it… Let me have my blockbuster! For the murder, mystery, mayhem and Masons elements, I love it, as well as for being so tongue in cheek. Or is it? This is director Guy Ritchie we’re talking about. Oh well, never mind. Just enjoy it for what it is. Damn good fun!

 

Where the Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze
I had been looking forward to this for what seemed like years. Predictably, it reduced me to tears. The overall feeling of the film is so sweet and whimsical, just like the book, that I just can’t imagine why you wouldn’t enjoy it if you chose to watch it. Another thank you to Spike Jonze for a slice of loveliness in bleak times. And I’m looking forward to keeping an eye on budding young actor Max Records, his lead namesake role as the little wolf boy Max being so promising.

 

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Terry Gilliam
I loved it, despite Heath Ledger’s accent being thoroughly questionable (are American accents easier for Australian actors than English accents?). I was dubious about Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law playing Ledger’s role to fill in for him post mortem. But it worked surprisingly well, thanks to the quirky storyline and Gilliam’s skill in bringing his crazy/beautiful conceptions to life visually.

 

Coraline – Henry Selick
A modern Alice in Wonderland and a dark treat indeed. Of course, I wasn’t going to be disappointed by a film by the Nightmare Before Christmas director, Henry Selick. It was also one of my first modern 3-D experiences, which I loved. The disquieting button eyes of ‘Other Mother’ stayed with me for days, or should I say nights, in my dreams. I hope to God this film disturbed a generation of children who went to see it. It’ll make them all the wiser.

 

Drag Me to Hell – Sam Raimi
The first of my horror films. I do love them you know, readers. This was classic Raimi and so reminiscent of the Evil Dead trilogy, how could I not love it? Forget about torture porn (for a minute anyway) and bring on a good curse: Sam Raimi mixes slapstick and suspense expertly. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously but neither is it a total joke. Drag Me to Hell still managed to leave me shaken and wanting to dust off my horror collection. I also appreciated the timeliness of the repossession/mortgage storyline. Topical horror = a new genre?

 

Moon – Duncan Jones
The marvelous actor Sam Rockwell and director Duncan Jones, aka Zowie Bowie, brought us this amazing sci-fi tale of isolation, alienation, insanity, consciousness and humanity. By turns tense and bleak, then inspiring and touching, I loved the question the film raised about what it is to be human, along the lines of A.I. and Blade Runner. With such a small budget, this was still one of the best sci-fi films of the last ten years. It left me profoundly touched and wistful for days.

 

Antichrist – Lars von Trier
My second horror of the year, I had to go and see this. And I loved it. It was hellishly violent, occasionally gory and very scary. Like Moon, it centred on themes of estrangement, segregation and mental illness. Director Lars von Trier left me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film. I was always waiting for the next thing to go wrong. With a storyline initially similar to Don’t Look Now (one of my favourite films ever) about a couple’s loss of their only child and the ensuing grief and madness, the couple ‘He’ and ‘She’ (Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg), whose names you never learn, set about destroying each other. Be warned, sex and mutilation are not mutually exclusive in this film. And there’s a talking fox. Chaos reigns.

 

Dead Snow – Tommy Wirkola
Horror no. 3! Nazi Zombies in the Norwegian mountains pick off a group of smug medical students on a skiing holiday. What a plot! I knew this film was always going to be a winner with me, as soon I read the tagline: “Ein, Zwei, Die!” With some brilliant nods to other violent movies (one of the characters is a film buff who wears a Braindead t-shirt and there’s also a great mini homage to Pulp Fiction), I enjoyed the gore, stupidity and hilarity, along with the brilliantly directed scares and glorious mountain scenery. Although it seemed to end abruptly (my only criticism), I couldn’t recommend it more. A genuinely funny and scary horror format is hard to beat but also hard to achieve. It either descends into complete idiocy or is never really funny in the first place. However, Dead Snow is a perfect equilibrium. Let’s just say the medical students have to be very resourceful – they practice their recently acquired surgery skills. On themselves.

 

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
I love Tarantino. Some of my friends said they thought the discourse in this film was boring. I found it amazing. I was so tense, I thought I was going to jump out of my seat at any given moment. The Basterds are very funny. There’s nothing like seeing a few Nazis scalped either. Daniel Bruhl, Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz (as well as Brad and his merry men) are so good and I was so shocked by the finale that my jaw was still scraping the floor as I walked out of the kino. A good balance of dialogue, gore, humour and Eli Roth (swoon for the Bear Jew). Two Nazi films in my top ten and me half German: what can it mean? That I like to see Nazis being slaughtered, of course!

 

Let the Right One In – Tomas Alfredson
Swedish director Tomas Alfredson entwines comradeship, rejection and fidelity into an unsettling and moody, yet lyrical and strangely gentle montage of youth, based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel. Probably my favourite film of 2009, I have pity for the American remake as there is no way it can compare. I loved the ‘80s setting and the beautiful scenery. The two leads, Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson, are such flawless young actors, so sweet and sympathetic, that I was stupefied by them and fell in love with both of them. They have an ethereal quality that is irresistible. The fact that it’s a vampire film, which embraces some seriously satisfying revenge sequences, makes it all the more my personal ideal. A mesmerizing, thought-provoking and heart-breaking film.

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