Essential 5: Wong Kar-Wai

Wong Kar-Wai is often cited as the world's most romantic director. His films are known for characters who go through life as if there is nothing else but romance and they are shot so lovingly as to make even the most stone-hearted viewer agree. If that was all there was to him, he would still be a director worth watching -- genuine romance is almost impossible to find at the movies. His films are also filled with subtext. For instance, Wong always shows clocks and highlights the movement of time in every shot. On one level this merely hightens the sense that all relationships are finite, and so is heartbreak. On a second level though, he is referencing the ticking clock that Hong Kong (where many of his films take place) was under during British rule. Many of those who live in Hong Kong had fled mainland China after the rise of communism there and lived in Hong Kong to escape what they saw as an oppressive system. Wong Kar-Wai shows metaphorically the fear many in Hong Kong must have felt about the hand-over of power that happened in 1997.

Top 5 TV Shows of 2010

The real story of the last 10 years in entertainment is the rise in quality of television. Sure, there were sporadic bursts of genius before the new millennium (Twin Peaks, Seinfeld, and of course I Love Lucy) but finding 5 good shows in any particular year would have been a challenge. Now though,there are at least 10 good shows, of which I haven't seen several (most of Treme, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad) but what I did see convinced me that in many ways any show in the following top 5 could compete with any mainstream film released this year.

Reminder: Movies are an INDUSTRY

"There is a cultural elite, in America, which tries its utmost to manipulate the habits and tastes of consumers. It consists of the corporations who sell nearly everything... and while its methods include some of the publicity-driven hype that finds its way into newspapers, magazines and other traditional media, its main tool is not criticism but marketing." -A.O. Scott

Evidence of Sanity

Assessing Art is difficult always, but it is particularly hard in the online film world right now. It is seemingly impossible to find your own voice and your own opinion. Everyone is writing about the same thing in the same way. Not to say it is entirely fruitless, right now is none-the-less one of the few times in the year when mainstream critics step back from individual films and look at the big picture. Yet, a consensus is easily formed (this year it's The Social Network) and even though that sort of thing is questioned, its always done in the same way.

Most critics are unwilling to adapt but one who is certainly not is Matt Zoller Seitz. He is one of the founders of the excellent and influential film blog The House Next Door and continues to write for Salon.com and the New York Times, among others. He is perhaps best known as one of the pioneers of new media in film criticism. What he has done with slide shows and short videos to both augment the usual review and create new ways of looking at films is refreshing. In this particular instance though, I was impressed by what he said in plain old print media about how two films changed his perceptions this year. The article stands head and shoulders above all criticism I've read in the past few months. And it can be read HERE.