As a result, three Hollywood favorites – Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law, respectively – will be stepping up to fill in the blanks. Producers insist that no aspect of Ledger’s performance will be modified through digital technology.

“Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing”, says director Terry Gilliam, who continued filming with the support of Ledger’s family.

While unique, this is not the first time an actor has been called upon to fill the shoes of another; in the 1994 goth favorite The Crow, doubles and a variety of special effects were required to complete the film after the death of Brandon Lee.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising: Bruce Robinson reteams with Richard E. Grant after their cult hit Withnail & I for this blistering portrait of a corporate go-getter who gets advice from the strangest place.

Putney Swope: Robert Downey Sr.’s scathing satire of both advertising and race relations skewers every subject it takes on, and also shows where many of the stranger bits of business in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights came from.

Crazy People: Dudley Moore, Daryl Hannah, and a bunch of mental patients create a bunch of successful advertising campaigns by having the audacity to speak the truth.

Nothing In Common: The dramatic sections of Garry Marshall’s film are nothing new, but the sections that show how Tom Hanks‘ smartass ad exec creates a new series of spots for an airline are well-observed and incredibly funny.

Face in the Crowd: Easily the most serious film on this list, Elia Kazan’s wicked examination of television’s inherent capacity to help dangerous people control minds stands as both the first and the finest film work in Andy Griffith’s career.

Sundance Film Festival:

Broken: This paranoid tale of doppelgangers from the UK played as part of the Midnight lineup at Sundance, and sounds like it could be a nice little head trip for those who like their thrillers served up nice and spooky.

Choke – I checked the book out from the library a year or so back and stalled out around the twenty-page mark, so maybe Chuck Palahniuk just isn’t my thing; but the cast is interesting, I like Fight Club, and who can resist a flick about a sex-addict meeting junkie who moonlights as a restaurant choking victim in order to leech off of his Heimlich-maneuvering saviors?

Donkey Punch – A group of vacationing nightclubbers decide to party from the dance floor to somewhere more intimate, and it isn’t too long before everything starts to go wrong. This tense cross between Dead Calm and Sheitan sounds like a promising little thriller.

Downloading Nancy – Just the kind of movie I love – one that sends half the audience running from the theater completely outraged and the other half praising it as genius. This tale of an emotionally-bent housewife who leaves her husband to be with a man who promises to abuse and eventually kill her may not be an easy watch, but I still can’t wait to find out what all the controversy is about firsthand. I’m beginning to think that Maria Bello is one of the most fearless actresses around, and with a cast that also includes Jason Patrick and Rufus Sewell this could get interesting. Click for trailer.

Fear(s) of the Dark (also at Rotterdam) – A monochromatic collection of animated shorts, each of which attempts to capture the tone and dread of an actual nightmare, this horror omnibus could be a ghoulish – and visually striking - good time. Click for trailer.

Funny Games U.S. – This one should be interesting… the original Funny Games is perhaps one of the most gruelingly intense movies I’ve ever had the displeasure to watch. Michael Haneke has a reputation for making movies that challenge the viewer, and while many may question the motives behind remaking one of his older films virtually “scene by scene,” odds are he’s not planning on softening any of the brutal blows that made the original so chilling. It’ll certainly be great to see Tim Roth back up on the big screen, and I’m growing to like Naomi Watts more and more. Click for trailer.

Diary of the Dead (Also at Rotterdam) – I’ve already written a bit about this on one the blog, so I’ll keep it short. New Romero flick = me camping out at the box office three days early. Click for trailer.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson – Since the man is long gone and all we have are the memories, I’ll take them wherever I can get them.

Good Dick – Emerging writer/director/star Marianna Palka’s quirky debut feature sounds like just the thing to satisfy moviegoers in search of the next Juno.

In Bruges – Call me a big fat sucker, but the hyper-stylish trailer for this gleefully foul gangster flick hooked me. One of the most commercial films on this list to be sure, but it’s got a great cast and it looks like loads of fun. Click for trailer.

Otto: or, Up with Dead People – Any movie featuring an emo zombie and a film within a film about a gay zombie revolt against consumerist society sounds like fun to me. Seems as if director Bruce LaBruce is keeping the Romero tradition of blending gut-munching and social commentary, which is always a good sign in my book. Click for teaser.

Perro Come Perro – Black magic blending with underworld crime sounds a bit like Perdita Durango – a flick I liked quite a bit. Click for trailer.

Quentin Tarantino Presents Hell Ride – A throwback biker flick directed by Larry Bishop and starring Dennis Hopper, Vinnie Jones, and David Carradine – where are my Harley boots?!

Red – Who the hell knows what happened during the production of the film that was supposed to be May director Lucky McKee’s third feature film, but being such a big fan of the brutally intense book – not to mention actor Brian Cox - I’m holding out hope that they’ve somehow managed to pull off a fitting feature translation. I’ll certainly be interesting to see if the story behind this troubled production gets out some day, because it sounds like it sounds like a mess of Gilliam-esque proportions (sorry Terry - best of luck with the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus!).

Towelhead – Alan Ball blends American Beauty-style satire with Desert Storm-era social commentary. Advance word on this one seems fairly split, which always gets me curious.

Transsiberian – I’m always interested in seeing what Brad Anderson has cooked up, and this tale of an American couple experiencing tension on the Trans-Siberian railway sounds like it might offer some decent chills. With a cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, and Eduardo Noriega he’s definitely piqued my curiosity! I still get a bit unsettled thinking about Christian Bale and old crab hands in The Machinist.

Slamdance Film Festival:

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer – A pissed off janitor does battle with man-eating monsters – nice! What else can I say? …this one just looks like lots of fun. Click for trailer.

Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story – William Castle was the undisputed master of the movie gimmick, and any chance I have to learn more about this man is time well spent. Click for trailer.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father – Damned if I didn’t nearly break into tears while synopsizing this one. A documentary about a father who was gunned down by his jealous ex-girlfriend shortly before their child was born and the deplorable tragedy that followed (yup folks, sadly that awful homicide was only the beginning), Dear Zachary sounds like a true heart-breaker, and a story that’s much too strange and sad to be fiction. Click for official website.

Paranormal Activity – More Blair Witch-style antics, this time with a married couple who moves into a haunted house and set up a video camera in hopes of getting a clear shot of the things that go bump in the night. Some may be tired of this style of filmmaking by now, but I think it can still be effective if executed with some care. Still, as I’ve stated before, I think these particular kinds of flicks work better in your living room late at night than in a crowded theater. Thanks to stuff like Cops and America’s Funniest Videos we’ve been trained to buy what we see on television as reality, and somewhere between standing in line to purchase a ticket, walking to the counter to load up on concessions and then navigating a crowded theater to find a seat, that illusion of reality gets shattered. Click for trailer.

Real Time – I love me some Randy Quaid, and Jay Baruchel was great in Undeclared. This quirky take on the conflicted hit-man storyline could easily go both ways, but with a little luck this crew will pull off something fun and fresh.

Wesley Willis’ Joyrides – I’ll be the first to admit that listening to any more than two of Wesley Willis’ songs in a row is something akin to cleaning out your ears with sandpaper Q-tips, but I still think he’s a damned interesting character and this look at the last few years in the life of a famed “outsider artist” could be really fascinating. Click for trailer.

Rotterdam Film Festival:

Dai-Nipponjin – The advance word on this Japanese loser-versus-giant monster flick has been pretty great, making this one of my most anticipated titles of all the fests. Click for official Japanese website (Japanese-language trailer is the fifth gray button from the left)

Glory to the Filmmaker! – I’m a sucker for Takeshi Kitano flicks, so despite the fact that some may feel his shtick has grown tired I’m still geeked to see this self-referential satire. Click for Japanese-language trailer.

Junk Films: The Collected Short Shockumentaries of Tsurisaki – In the tradition of such revered shockumentaries as Mondo Cane, this grisly look at the work of a photographer who specializes in death scenes and other unsavory subjects won’t appeal to everyone, though it could be an interesting view for those with strong stomachs and nerves of steel. Click for teaser (but beware of graphic images!)

Let the Right One In – Here’s an interesting vampire tale with a twist: A bullied schoolboy befriends a little girl who just so happens to be a centuries-old vampire, and by the time he discovers the truth about his new friend he enjoys her company so much that he somehow manages to keep his cool about this curious development. Based on the novel “Let Me In” by author John Avjide Lindqvist (who also penned the screenplay). Click for trailer.

Lynch – I’ve always been fascinated by David Lynch – both the man and his movies – so this documentary shot during the production of Inland Empire could be a genuinely interesting watch – the filmmakers certainly have a fascinating subject! Click for Lynch iPhone ad (brief NSFW language).

REC – Anyone who knows me realizes that I’m a big fan of Spanish filmmaker Juame Balagueró (who co-directed REC with Paco Plaza, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this story about a TV reporter and a cameraman who venture into out with a crew of firemen to cover what seems to be a typical call, and suddenly find themselves right in the middle of a true-life nightmare. Advance word on this one has been great, so consider me hyped! Click for teaser.

The Reinactors – Take a walk down Hollywood Boulevard to spend a year in the life of folks who dress up like famous movie icons and make their living by taking pictures with tourists. The concept makes me recall Trekkies, a documentary I could seriously put on a loop and watch ad nauseam. Click for trailer.

Take a look at the trailer below, and when you’re done why not head on over to the official website for the film to find out more. Judging by the looks of things, Nails has really outdone himself in crafting a comprehensive retrospective on the man who frightened generations of horror fans into seeing the world from a unique, and truly thought-provoking vantage point.

Most Intimidating Hair in a Motion Picture: Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises
(Mark my words: Film theory students will be studying Mortensen’s Eastern Promises coiffure for decades, I felt like I’d have a hit put out on me for just staring at it as long as I did)
 
 
 
 
 

Best Actor:
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
(Mortensen and Cronenberg may be the best actor/director duo since Hitchcock and Stewart, and I for one am really interested in seeing this pair continue their remarkable collaboration. Whether he’s portraying a mild-mannered, former mob heavy for the director in A History of Violence or a stoic mob wheelman for him in Eastern Promises, Mortensen is always believable, and unfailingly compelling to watch.)

Best Re-Release: The Holy Mountain
(Perhaps the most highly sought-after bootleg on the grey-market video circuit, Alejandro Jodorowski’s psychedelic masterpiece finally received a long overdue stateside release after a disagreement between the director and producer Allen Klein kept the rights to the film tied up for decades. It was truly amazing to see this movie on the big screen, and the indescribable energy at the sold-out midnight show made for one of the most memorable movie-going experiences this movie fanatic has ever had.

Best Horror Film: The Abandoned/The Orphanage (Tie)
(Richard Stanley’s mind-meltingly circular screenplay for The Abandoned was perfectly complimented by Nacho Cerda’s arrestingly ominous direction, and The Orphanage proved just how beautiful and heartbreaking horror can really be when handled with equal measures of style and finesse)

Best Unexpected Exploding Head: Grindhouse: Planet Terror
(“Hey guys, I’m just gonna take a peek around this corner to see if the coast is cl”BLAAAAM!)

 
Best Intro: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
(I stand firm in my belief that theaters across the country should dispense with those lame “No Smoking”/”Please Turn off Your Cell Phone” and instead replace it with this hilarious, Mastodon-powered parody. It gets the point across with irreverence and humor, and provided one of the biggest laughs I had in a theater all year.)

Worst Horror Film: The Hills Have Eyes 2
(The most memorable thing about this steaming pile of cinematic excrement was the fact that it sent a theater full of children screaming from their seats when it was mistakenly threaded into the projector at a screening of the children’s fantasy flick The Last Mimzy. As awful as the original sequel to the original Hills Have Eyes was, at least that one had a Doberman pinscher flashback. The final verdict: Completely useless.)

Worst Remake: Halloween
(Coming off of The Devil’s Rejects I was beginning to thing that Rob Zombie may be on the road to cinematic redemption, little did I know that I was in for a particularly rude awakening. What a total and complete joke – rarely has a remake been so utterly misguided. I’m not generally the type to yell at the screen, but by the time Michael Myers attacked a house with a two-by-four I was so angry I couldn’t contain myself.)

Best Throwback Horror Flick: Hatchet
(Here’s a fun little horror treat; a throwback that actually tries to emulate the most entertaining aspects of an 80s-era slasher without lazily resorting to remaking one. Fast paced, gory, and over before you know what’s hit you, this one is a surefire hit for horror hounds with a healthy sense of humor.)

Biggest Disappointment: Shoot ‘Em Up/30 Days of Night (Tie)
(Who knew ninety-minutes of non-stop action could be so unrelentingly dull? Despite having endless rounds of ammo and loads of talent to drive the action, Shoot ’Em Up turned out being one of the least exciting action films in recent memory. Likewise, 30 Days of Night proved that it takes more than a killer concept, an innovative creature design, and a few eye-popping decapitations to make a truly memorable vampire flick.)

Dullest Comedy: Blades of Glory
(I fell asleep. I never fall asleep.)

Best Use of CG: Zodiac
(By subtly using CG to create a truly remarkable period setting, Zodiac director David Fincher proved that you can do much more with the art that creating corny giant monsters. The most remarkable thing about the use of CG in Zodiac is that the viewer doesn’t notice it at all.)

Best Giant Monster Attacks Movie: The Host
(Speaking of giant monsters, this South Korean genre-bender recalled the original Gojira in highlighting how a movie about a slimy, rampaging beast can be more than just a movie about a… uhhh… slimy rampaging beast. Equal measures funny, sad, and scary, this compelling monster flick with a difference is sure to appeal to viewers from all across the spectrum)

Best Cinematography: The Abandoned/Zoo (Tie)
(As a photographer/videographer I’m always drawn to compelling images, and these films both had them in spades. From Xavi Giminéz’s atmospheric visuals in The Abandoned to Sean Kirby’s mesmerizing shots in Zoo, these were two films that kept my eyes unblinkingly locked on the screen from opening frame to credit crawl.

Best Sequel: Hostel Part II
(Who knows why this smart and stylish sequel performed so poorly at the box office, but whether it was the fact that it leaked onto the internet or the public’s growing distaste for so-called “torture-porn” it appeared as if viewers had just about enough of Eli Roth’s gruesome exploits the first time around. It’s a bit of a shame, too, because this wicked little flick proved without a doubt that his horror skills are sharpening considerably.)

Best DTV Sequel: Wrong Turn II
(You’ve got your Henry Rollins, you’ve got your murderous inbred mutants… what more could you ask for?)

Lamest Sequel: Live Free or Die Hard
(A decade too late and an MPAA rating short, this bombastic cartoon left me colder than a tarmac traffic director at Dulles Airport in January.)

Best Movie No One Saw: Once
(Such a memorable little film thanks to the genuine, soulful performances and a great soundtrack; I’m ashamed to say that I put off watching this one for as long as I did. Perry likes to say that Once could easily suffer from too much hype, and while I agree wholeheartedly I’d still highly recommend it to anyone seeking out a romantic alternative to all of the sickly-sweet, tear-jerking Hollywood sap.)

Best Surprise Revelation: Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn
(Who knew that the goofball from Saving Silverman would be capable of delivering such an affecting, harrowing performance as a hollow-eyed prisoner of war? Apparently Werner Herzog for one. While Christian Bale’s performance in the film was indeed memorable, it was Zahn who really gave more than ever before here.)

Best Debut: Thomas Turgoose in This is England/Sam Riley in Control (Tie)
(While This is England ultimately proved a bit uneven for this particular viewer, there was no denying that young star Thomas Turgoose may have a particularly bright future on the silver screen. Likewise, Sam Riley truly conveyed the tortured soul of ill-fated Joy Division front-man Ian Curtis in a way that wasn’t simply one-note moribund, but vividly textured and even, at times, humorous.)

 
Best Train Wreck: I Know Who Killed Me
(Any film that has Art Bell walk out to explain the plot mid-movie is ok in my book, and even if it was an unmitigated mess, this overindulgent snapshot of self-destruction wasn’t any more convoluted that your typical giallo. With all due respect to amputees, the scene where Lindsey Lohan’s battery-powered foot ran out of juice was one of the funniest film moments all year – comedy or otherwise.)

Best Comedy: Superbad/Knocked-Up (Tie)
(Yup, Judd Apatow and company cornered the comedy market for me this year. What more can I say, I’ve been a fan since the Freaks and Geeks days and it’s good to see this crew finally getting the attention that eluded them on the small screen.)

Best Revenge Flick: Death Sentence
(Sure, The Brave One was a thoughtful meditation on the nature of revenge and Reservation Road took a classy approach to exploring how we all process profound loss, but give me a shaved head, shotgun-toting Kevin Bacon gunning down punks Vigilante-style any day of the week and I’ll be happy to the (in this case at least) sappy final scene.

Best True Crime: The Girl Next Door
(Reading Jack Ketchum’s account of the Sylvia Likens case a few years back, I wanted to throw the book across the room more than a few times. I wanted to do the same thing to the DVD while watching this unrelenting screen translation, thought the fact remains that I think it’s an important reminder of suburban malevolence. Regardless, this is one flick I won’t be going back to anytime soon – if ever.

Best 3D: Beowulf
(Had I not seen this flick in IMAX 3D I would have likely been far less forgiving, but by the time Beowulf slashed his way out of a sea serpent’s eyeball and the proceeded to slice down it’s cloud-tickling length with sword blade unzipping the best like a warm winter jacket, I couldn’t help but marvel at the pure spectacle of this overlong CG epic. I’ll probably revisit this one on the small screen, but I had a hell of a good time watching it on 3D IMAX.)

Grimmest Ending: Stephen King’s The Mist
(Kudos to Frank Darabont for squashing any measure of hope the audience may have had with those soul-shredding final frames. The less said about this ending the better, but lets just say that there’s no Happily-Ever-After in foggyland. Some may call Darabont a sadist, but I call him a true horror hero for sending his audience out in a virtual state of shock. While it was a close call between The Mist and The Girl Next Door for the win in this category, I’m going with fiction because, well, it’s my list damnit!)

1. Ratatouille – At long bitter last this film pulled off what Disney had been glumly attempting for decades: it presented an animated feature that successfully bridged the gap between adult and young audiences by coupling profound themes with what is arguably the most dazzling example of Hollywood-produced animation to date. Aesthetically, Pixar’s CG effects are extraordinary, with sumptuous layer upon layer of detail; virtually every shot could be frozen, captured and hung on the wall as a painting. That’s how beautiful it is. The premise (about a gourmand rodent who devises a clever way to function as a chef in a flagging Parisian bistro) may initially sound like a retread of the kitchen scenes from The Muppets Take Manhattan, but nothing could be further from the truth. What the scriptwriters do with their premise is utterly original and unique and raises the picture to the level of brilliance. Don’t miss this one.

2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – One of America’s most gifted but least prolific directors, Julian Schnabel of Basquiat and Before Night Falls fame, launched his career as a painter, and it shows in this heart-rendingly beautiful adaptation of the late Paris Vogue editor Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir. Bauby – once a high-flying playboy and the toast of the City of Lights – suffered from an instantaneous stroke that left him with an inactive brain stem, rendering him completely paraplegic and mute. In what evolved into one of the most astonishing news stories in memory, Bauby then communicated an entire autobiographical manuscript via his ocular movement, which served as the basis of this film. Schnabel ingeniously spends much of the film plumbing Bauby’s fantasies and memories – opening up undreamt-of possibilities for the visual landscape of film. Among other assets, the motion picture also sports brilliant performances by Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Max von Sydow. This is one to savor.

3. No Country for Old Men – Joel and Ethan Coen’s darkest picture to date (surpassing even Fargo in that department) begins with a markedly simple premise: in 1980, a Vietnam vet named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) happens upon several dead bodies, a stash of heroin, and $2 million in cash in the desert – and decides to pilfer the money. In so doing, he essentially raises from the pit of hell a conscienceless, unstoppable predator (Javier Bardem) roaming through the wastelands of Texas with a tank of compressed air, murdering with a cattle stun-gun those unfortunate enough to fall into his path, and determined to ultimately Hunt down and execute Moss and reclaim the money. The elegance lies wholly in the execution – in the pitch-perfect dialogue, the eye for setting, the four-barreled, star-making performance by Bardem, and the Coens’ willingness to deconstruct the clichés and formulae of the crime genre – even down to a thoroughly pessimistic and bitter ending. Bravo for revisionism. After the disappointing Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, this one returned the Coens to the forefront of America’s most gifted and exciting filmmakers. It’s good to have them back.

4. Waitress – Multihyphenate Adrienne Shelly’s homicide in late 2006 marked one of the most significant losses to American independent film in recent years. Shelly did, however, end her career on a graceful note, by directing, authoring and co-starring opposite Cheryl Hines and Keri Russell in this sweet-natured and low-key southern fable about a beleaguered young housewife (Russell) with a gift for pie-baking, who finds her life irrevocably changed when confronted with an unplanned pregnancy. Shelly manages to create one of the most authentic and finely-realized small town southern environments onscreen, and coaxes a multilayered performance from Russell that finds her character grappling with, and exhibiting, many conflicting emotions that tumble over one another haphazardly – much as they would in an actual situation. The late writer-director also exhibits courage by interweaving a broad array of overtones and thus bringing the film that much closer to real experience. The film is small-scale but refreshing and rewarding.

5. The Brave One – A scriptwriter and director who originally trained as a poet, Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) qualifies as one of the most consistently fascinating of all contemporary filmmakers, as well as one of the most gleefully provocative. A year after dazzling audiences with the picaresque fairy-tale transvestism of Breakfast on Pluto, Jordan returns with this revenge-themed psychodrama – the tale of an embittered woman named Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) whose fiance is assaulted and wiped out by thugs, and who turns to vigilante justice. Lest this sound like a brazen retread of the territory covered by Death Wish, Ms. 45 and Lipstick, one need only consider the fact that Jordan plumbs miles deeper than those earlier outings with a character-driven story that looks unabashedly at the consequences – emotional, psychological and otherwise – of Erica’s actions. The director thus emerges with a film of rare depth, insight and courage.

6. Paris, je t’aime – If nothing else, this film deserves credit for smoothly resurrecting the format of the omnibus film for mainstream American audiences. (Admittedly, the episode film isn’t a concept to which many automatically warm, but I have a personal weakness for it, as an invigorating break from the status quo). Almost by default, efforts with this approach wax uneven, and Paris is no exception, but the highlights here are truly glorious and distinguished. My suggestion: if you’re short on time, rent the DVD and skip forward to the most compelling 5-7 minute episodes, among them: Nobuhiro Suwa’s heartbreaking, fantasy-tinged psychodrama with Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe, The Coen Brothers’ scatologically profane farce about a dimwitted tourist (Steve Buscemi) beaten senseless by a jealous French boyfriend, Olivier Assayas’s dreamlike reverie on an immigrant’s deathbed meeting with the unsung love of his life, animator Sylvain Chomet’s surrealistic, live-action rendering of two goofy mimes who fall in love, and above all else, the closing segment: Alexander Payne’s comical filtration of Paris through the eyes of an unsophisticated Midwestern mailwoman. That short is a show-stopper (no pun intended) and outshines nearly everything that has preceded it in ingenuity and bittersweet, droll humanism, anchored by a wonderful performance by Margo Martindale.

7. I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With

Jeff Garlin wrote, directed and stars in this low, low-key farce. It’s a very loose update of Paddy Chayefsky’s Marty (even declaring its sources a handful of times), about an excessively overweight comic from Chicago’s Second City stage troupe, who lives with his mother and spends the majority of his time pigging out on junk food outside of Wrigley Field. Garlin populates the picture with a host of onetime Second City members in finely-wrought minor characterizations; the supporting cast includes such legends as Paul Mazursky, Richard Kind, Amy Sedaris, Dan Castellaneta, and – best of all, Bonnie Hunt, who scores with one of the most touching and appealing romantic leads I’ve seen in quite some time; she won me over instantly. Some critics complained that this film might be better suited for television. Maybe, but there is something to be said for small-scale and underplayed, even if one is talking about a theatrical release – it marks an refreshing change of pace. I admittedly felt a slight surge of disappointment with the final scene, but can’t fault Garlin for striving for realism – nor could the resolution damper the pleasure of everything that preceded it. *Footnote: Sedaris virtually walks away with the film with a hilarious one-scene portrayal so original and offbeat that it teeters on the bizarre [blink blink, wink wink].*

8. Michael Clayton – Tony Gilroy’s deliberately observant character piece - a revisionist thriller about a “fixer” for a high-end Manhattan legal firm (George Clooney) – soars because of the writer-director’s ability to establish an ensemble of three-dimensional characters and revel in truly fascinating behavioral – observation, with surface details that speak volumes about the subjects’ inner lives. Gilroy also bravely deconstructs certain stylistic conventions of the film’s genre (pace, camera angles, music, lighting) and, tonally, somehow manages to keep his fingers on the audience’s very pulse while bringing each of his characters to a credible resolution. The filmmaker deserves high praise for coaxing four-barreled performances from Clooney, Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and others and for ushering in a meticulously constructed script. Three cheers for that long-held closing shot.

9. Venus – Officially, it wasn’t a 2007 release, but (forgive my technicalities) this picture went wide early this year, which is when I caught it – so I feel compelled to include it. A compelling character study about an age disparity romance between a deathbed octogenarian (Peter O’Toole) and a cockney working-class girl decades his junior (Jodie Whittaker), the central performances and observations in this film far, far outstrip the occasional clumsiness of Roger Michell’s direction. The script, by the brilliant Hanif Kureishi (Intimacy), is rife with great wit, sparkling observation and a profound, running commentary on the notions of identity and self-mythmaking. O’Toole clearly deserved an Oscar for his work here, but lost to Forrest Whitaker.
 
 
10. Margot at the Wedding – It failed to live up to the hearty praise heaped onto director Noah Baumbach’s 2005 The Squid and the Whale, but in retrospect, this ensemble picture – Baumbach’s sad-eyed tragicomedy starring Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh – aims higher and plumbs deeper into the recesses of familial dysfunction than that earlier effort, while eviscerating the awful behavior of its bohemian characters. The observation is extremely rich, and the performances top-notch. Baumbach is apparently trying to break Cassavetes’ record for working the most embarrassing and uncomfortable scenes into one film, but that’s his strategy – going for the jugular – and I can’t fault it for lack of courage or realism. Did I mention that Margot is also screamingly funny?

Featuring enforcers who were often as flawed and violent as the criminals they pursued and bad guys whose hatred of the law knew no boundaries, Poliziotteschi films painted a grim portrait of urban moral decay while questioning the role that police play in modern society and delivering some of the most exciting action around. Though many of these films have long been unavailable in their original form to viewers outside of Italy, international fans can now toss out those well-worn bootlegs thanks to the efforts of such companies as Blue Underground and No Shame in getting these violent classics released in the United States. So fans of weird and wild world cinema rejoice, because the time has finally come to hit the beat with some of the toughest cops on the street and dish out some serious two-fisted justice — Italian style!

If you think you might be ready to take a trip to The Boot to see how justice was served overseas in the 1970s, why not start with these offerings that truly deliver….

Street Law:

When the police cannot prosecute heinous crimes effectively, sometimes all it takes is one brave citizen to do their jobs for them. In a kinetic poliziotteschi from prolific genre director Enzo Castellari, an average businessman is forced to fend for himself after being kidnapped and brutally assaulted by a trio of sadistic bank robbers. With law enforcement turning a blind eye and no other means of getting revenge, the shirt of this white-collar worker runs red with blood as he takes a violent ride straight into the heart of Genoa’s criminal underworld.

Heroin Busters:

An undercover cop deeply entrenched in an international drug syndicate (Fabio Testi) and a hair-trigger Interpol agent (David Hemmings) attempt to survive on the streets long enough to bring the men behind a lucritive international heroin ring to their knees in director Enzo Castellari’s explosive poliziotteschi. A killer Goblin soundtrack, a strong performance by Testi, and a swank international vibe make this one a favorite amongst fans.

Big Racket:

A by-the-books cop struggling to bust a brutal protection racket in Rome is forced to throw the rules out the window when the vicious gang attempts to cement their status by moving into the drug trade in another tough-talking poliziotteschi from Italian director Enzo G. Castellari. A jaw-dropping attack on an undercover cop car, stylish direction by director Castellari, and an all-around sleazy vibe set The Big Racket apart from the pack.

Emergency Squad:

This entry in the Italian crime film cycle of the ’70s directed by Stelvio Massi and starring the great Thomas Milan presents an interesting take on the format by offering an unusually postmodern revenge tale that spends equal time exploring the violent motivations of the ruthless criminal and the cop who’s determined to bring him down. The bad guys just don’t stand a chance when Milan is on the beat.

A Man Called Magnum:

This late-period entry into the cycle of Italian crime films, directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini and starring Luc Merenda, is a prototypical example of the form. A fun vibe, a fast pace, and plenty of action make A Man Called Magnum a perfect introduction to poliziotteschi films for the uninitiated.

Beretta 70:

…and for movie soundtrack lovers who might be looking to cruise the streets to the tune of some of the hottest Poliziotteschi flcks ever to hit the silver screen, look no further than the fantastic
Beretta 70 compilation featuring songs from the above titles and tracks by Luis Babalov, Stelvio Cipriani, and, of course, Goblin.