Sujet: American film institute AWARDS 2009 Jeu 21 Jan - 12:56
Citation :
AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR-OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
CORALINE is a heart-stopping, stop-motion nightmare for the child lost in all of us. Written and directed by Henry Selick, this haunting new creation is a needle-sharp display of animated filmmaking - literate, subtle and sophisticated. The film is a gorgeous translation of Neil Gaiman's novel and a daring marriage of darkness and light, where a young girl's dream world takes her to a place where childhood is seen through a new and unique set of eyes. Read the AFI Catalog entry
THE HANGOVER will have you rubbing your head in the morning and wishing you hadn't had so much fun. Director Todd Phillips and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore have created an anthem to arrested male adolescence that is unashamed, unapologetic and unbelievably funny. Though what happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, THE HANGOVER brought laughter to a world when it needed it most and deserves a toast for its mastery of the comedic form, one of filmmaking's most challenging feats. Read the AFI Catalog entry
THE HURT LOCKER is a cinematic explosion that drops audiences inside the chaos of the war in Iraq and into the minds of American soldiers who defuse bombs with equal parts anxiety and adrenaline. Marked by the bravura direction of Kathryn Bigelow and grounded in Mark Boal's taut, unsentimental script, this grippingly real story detonates an emotional portrait of combat and camaraderie abroad, and alienation at home. An outstanding ensemble cast is led by Jeremy Renner, whose tour of duty is a tour de force. Read the AFI Catalog entry
THE MESSENGER is an emotional minefield where a knock at the door informs us all of the cost of war. Writer/director Oren Moverman and co-writer Alessandro Camon paint a series of deeply personal portraits that bring to light the mounting toll of the conflict in Iraq. Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster deliver riveting performances as soldiers on this "sacred mission" - and in their wake, a new trail of tears for the American war movie. Read the AFI Catalog entry
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE is the celebration of a life lived against all odds. Director Lee Daniels and writer Geoffrey Fletcher bring the spirit of Sapphire's novel to the screen in this movie about a person passed each day, whose story has never made it to the movies. Gabourey Sidibe blossoms in the title role, and Mo'Nique's monstrous turn as her mother achieves the seemingly impossible by making audiences understand her as she understands herself. Together, they lead a powerful ensemble cast in a film that offers no false hope or happy ending, but instead commands us to look in the mirror and celebrate the image that smiles back, because in that reflection, we are all precious. Read the AFI Catalog entry
A SERIOUS MAN is a theological shaggy dog story that could only spring from the miraculous minds of Joel and Ethan Coen. The film marks the 25th anniversary of moviemaking for these American masters, and from its audacious Yiddish-language prologue to its apocalyptic conclusion, A SERIOUS MAN grapples with themes of temptation and divine retribution in a world only the Coen brothers could create. Midwestern isolation and Jewish angst are the frame for Michael Stuhlbarg's Larry Gopnik, the film's Job-like protagonist who finds comfort in the certainty of physics as the uncertainty of his own life threatens to destroy him while he fiddles with the antennae on his suburban roof. Read the AFI Catalog entry
A SINGLE MAN marks the singular and stylish debut of writer-director Tom Ford, whose astoundingly assured transition from fashion to film - from the human body to the human spirit - is a perfect fit for Christopher Isherwood's story of love and loss. As a heartbroken college professor and his lovelorn compatriot, Colin Firth and Julianne Moore offer achingly honest performances that inhabit a perfectly realized 1962 Los Angeles. A SINGLE MAN is a meditation on grief, a sensuous lament, a memento mori that reminds us to love well, to cherish the human encounters that color our lives and to be aware, in the end, that everything is as it should be. Read the AFI Catalog entry
SUGAR shines a bright light on the American dream through the cheers and jeers heaped upon those who embody its national pastime. Writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have shaped a screenplay as elegant as a well-turned double play and assembled a remarkable lineup of acting talent led by rookie Algenis Perez Soto. SUGAR is as ambitious as it is intimate, allowing audiences a clear-eyed look at the immigrant experience while celebrating both the trials and triumphs of swinging for the fences - and reaching for an ideal. Read the AFI Catalog entry
UP is a magical tale of life's journey. Writer/directors Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and their team of high-flying technical artists have created a storytelling experience both uplifting and uproarious as they explore new territories for animation. With outstanding vocal performances from an ensemble led by Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer, the film travels - with childhood in tow - through a deeply emotional adventure of love, loss and letting go. UP takes us all on the balloon-ride of our lives, powered by imagination and filled with equal parts helium and heart. Read the AFI Catalog entry
UP IN THE AIR is a triumphant tale for our turbulent times. With the clarity of perspective that comes from a window seat at 30,000 feet, Jason Reitman proves again to soar among the art form's finest storytellers. Together, with co-screenwriter Sheldon Turner, he has taken the words from Walter Kirn's novel and given them flight in a film that both harkens back to the glory of Hollywood past and assures audiences that smart, witty and painfully human stories are here for the future. This sentiment is best embodied in George Clooney, an American treasure who captivates again with his signature alchemy of gentleman and jester, charmer and chump. The film is also a showcase for two of the most original female characters of the year, played with grace and gusto by Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. UP IN THE AIR is a film that defines the challenges of a generation - to consider what one truly values in life - and where we call home. Read the AFI Catalog entry
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Jeu 21 Jan - 12:56