Chicago Tribune 31.12.04
movies
TOP 10 SMALL VENUE FILMS
Looking back at films that made buffs' hearts race
Michael Wilmington, Tribune movie critic
Since 1993, in every year but one, I've published two "10 Best Movies" lists. The first--which this year had "The Aviator," "Sideways," "House of Flying Daggers" and several others--ran in the Arts & Entertainment section Dec. 19.
The second, perhaps more precious, is my "Small Venue Top 10". This list covers movies that premiered either at one of Chicago's numerous film festivals or at the smaller, more independent venues such as Facets Cinematheque, the Gene Sis-kel Film Center, Chicago Filmmakers and others that are in many ways the lifeblood for some of the city's truest movie buffs.
These are more unusual and lesser-known films. Most are only briefly on view, before perhaps being rescued on DVD. Sometimes--be-cause they win a regular theatrical run after their festival appearances--they manage to appear in the following year on the "regular" list. But they're often just as important, always just as artistically valuable and definitely well worth the extra effort it takes to seek them out.
Here are the 10 best 2004 small-venue films and where they premiered.
1. "Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow" (Greece; director Theo Angelopoulos) Chicago International Film Festival. [...]
2. "The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Pts. 2-3": "Vaux to the Sea," "From Sark to Finish (a.k.a. Antwerp)" (Britain; Peter Greenaway) Facets Cinematheque. [...]
3. "Notre Musique" (France; Jean-Luc Godard) CIFF. [...]
4. "Springtime in a Small Town" (China; Tian Zhuangzhuang) Gene Siskel Film Center. [...]
5. "Good Morning, Night" (Italy; Marco Bellocchio)
European Union Film Festival, Siskel Film Center.
From one of the notable radical Italian cineastes of the '60s, Bellocchio ("China is Near," "Fists in the Pocket"), comes an anguished look at the fruits of political radicalism in the '70s: the chilling reality and consequences of a Red Brigade faction's kidnapping of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. Done with somber clarity and humanism, "Night" becomes a tragedy of warped ideals and brutal misunderstandings.
6. "A Talking Picture" (Portugal; Manoel de Oliveira) Facets. [...]
7. "Henri Langlois: the Phantom of the Cinematheque" (France; Jacques Richard) CIFF. [...]
8. "Haute Tension" (France; Alexandre Aja) EUFF, Siskel Film Center. [...]
9. "Macbeth" (Hungary; Bela Tarr, 1982) Facets. [...]
10. (Tie) "Alila" (Israel; Amos Gitai) Facets. [...]
"Gozu" (Japan; Takashi Miike) Facets. [...]
anche Scotland On Sunday di ieri ha incluso nella sua graduatoria di Top Tens del 2004:
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/thereview.cfm?id=842005
Top ten films
1 THE AVIATOR (PG) Martin Scorsese’s swashbuckling biography of eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett.
2 HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (15) Romance and betrayal in a 9th-century Chinese Robin Hood-style organisation from Hero director Zhang Yimou.
3 NATIONAL TREASURE (PG) Popcorn cinema at its finest with Nicolas Cage (above) in an Indiana Jones-style caper.
4 LEMONY SNICKET (PG) Jim Carrey heads an all-star cast as the evil Count Olaf trying to deprive three orphans of their inheritance.
5 ELLA ENCHANTED (PG) Americans don’t do pantomime - but that didn’t stop Hollywood turning Cinderella into a California teen movie, Prince Charmont and all.
6 WHEN THE LAST SWORD IS DRAWN (15) Samurai tale of honour in 19th-century Japan, starring Kiichi Nakai.
7 GOOD MORNING, NIGHT (15) Veteran director Marco Bellocchio revisits Italy during the 1970s, when the activities of the Red Brigades - culminating in the kidnap and murder of politician Aldo Moro - created a climate of fear and loathing.
8 THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (PG) Lloyd Webber musical hits the big screen with Gerard Butler in the title role.
9 GARDEN STATE (15) Zach Braff writes, directs and stars in this tale of a deadbeat actor whose world is turned upside down by the free-spirited Sam (Natalie Portman).
10 MONDOVINO (PG) Worthy documentary as Jonathan Nossiter assesses the impact of globalisation on the world’s wine regions.
