We're plunging into red carpet season, and we're onto our Top 10 favorite movies of the year. Below, our reviews (via haiku):
10. Downfall
What We Liked: The hyper-casual way the Nazis shot themselves (and others) during the final days of Hitler's reign; the insane calm of a mother as she murdered her children in Hitler's bunker; the story's tight focus; Hitler, as played by Bruno Ganz.
What We Didn't: How the film made us view Hitler as a human being. It's a credit to the film-makers, yes, but it is also a little sickening.
Haiku Tribute:
Hitler's Germany fell
The Nazis died in chaos
Go straight to hell, boys
9. Murderball
What We Liked: The haunting stories; their competitive spirit; how quickly and easily clichés about the paraplegics are shattered.
What We Didn't: We didn't really understand the rules of the game. To us, anyway, it difficult to track what was happening on the "court."
Haiku Tribute:
Wheelchair-bound athletes
Try to win Olympic gold
Fierce competitors
8. Brokeback Mountain
What We Liked: Jake; Heath; the stunning landscape; cowboys; the wives' stories; their forbidden love; the differences between the each cowboy, especially how they approached their love for each other, their homosexuality and the possibilities for their future.
What We Didn't: They could have aged our boys a little more convincingly.
Haiku Tribute:
Cowboys don't talk much
Even when they are in love
They hide their feelings
7. Mysterious Skin
What We Liked: The complex and imaginative take on child sexual abuse; the easy charm/smarm of the abuser; the way the boys grapple with their abuse; the opening credits.
What We Didn't: The subject matter is really disturbing. Fortunately, we were prepared, but unsuspecting viewers may be traumatized.
Haiku Tribute:
Two boys are messed with
By a man they both admire
They are ruined by it
6. King Kong
What We Liked: The over-the-top approach; the thrill-ride feeling; the adventure; the story (which we never seen before); Naomi Watts; Adrian Brody; the shots of Manhattan and the Empire State Building; the classic movie feel.
What We Didn't: The timing. This is so clearly a summer popcorn movie - in the style of Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park - that a holiday release (when we expect smarter movies) does it a real disservice.
Haiku Tribute:
Kong rules the jungle
And he's huge in New York City
We heart the big ape
[Ed. Note: Agree? Disagree? Feel free to sound off with or without your own Haiku Review in the Comments section.]
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