Some Kind of Mazzaro World

25 Things about me.

1. My parents were scared of me as a child. That’s true.

2. I was able to summon water spirits as a child. This might explain the fear.

3. I probably should’ve been born circa 1930, because I like things from the 40’s and 50’s a lot more than stuff from the 80’ and 90’s. But maybe if I was born in 1930, I’d like stuff from 1900 and 1910 better than stuff from the 40’s and 50’s. Maybe we’re all just doomed to be nostalgic for stuff that existed slightly before our times. Maybe we all want to be our parents and grandparents. Suck on that one for a while. I’m gonna be over here adjusting my spats and hoarding war bonds.

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Greetings everyone. I’ll be posting thoughts/reviews of every film I see for the first time in 2010. I’ll try to keep what I write free of spoilers in case you haven’t seen the stuff I’m reviewing. And I’ll use a rating system out of 10, basically what my vote on IMDB would be for the film, but with 1/2 numbers as well.

So let’s get started. Read more…

“Lars Porsenna was a persistent man. Frustrated by Horatius Cocles’ stand at the bridge over the Tiber, he decided to put Rome under siege and starve her into submission. No supplies could pass through his lines into the city. Gaius Mucius, appalled at the idea that Rome might fall to the Etruscans, asked for permission to sneak out of Rome and infiltrate the enemy camp with the intent to kill Porsenna. With a sword hidden in his tunic he slipped into the camp and sought the king.

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Let’s start with a quick recap of what we’ve covered so far.

25. Shaun of the Dead
24. Gladiator
23. Sideways
22. In Bruges
21. Lost in Translation
20. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
19. Mulholland Drive
18. Gosford Park
17. O Brother Where Art Thou
16. There Will Be Blood
15. Snatch
14. Borat
13. The Dark Knight
12. Spirited Away
11. The Royal Tenenbaums
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
9. Memento
8. Wall-E
7. Slumdog Millionaire
6. The Hurt Locker

Before I get to the top five, I wanted to mention a few films that just missed this list. The last 10 years have given us a lot of good to great films, and for that reason there’s a glut of films that are all close to, but not in, my top 25 films of the decade. So here, in no particular order, are some films deserving of acclaim from the last decade: Read more…

This is where we stand, with the top 5 to come next week.

25. Shaun of the Dead

24. Gladiator

23. Sideways

22. In Bruges

21. Lost in Translation

20. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

19. Mulholland Drive

18. Gosford Park

17. O Brother Where Art Thou

16. There Will Be Blood

15. Snatch

14. Borat

13. The Dark Knight

12. Spirited Away

11. The Royal Tenenbaums

Before I get started, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a film that won’t be on this list due to timing, but absolutely is one of the top 25 films of the last 10 years. And 15 years. And 20 years. And so on. Read more…

In case you’re just now tuning in:

25. Shaun of the Dead

24. Gladiator

23. Sideways

22. In Bruges

21. Lost in Translation

20. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

19. Mulholland Drive

18. Gosford Park

17. O Brother Where Art Thou

16. There Will Be Blood

Next Wednesday I’ll continue with numbers 10-6, and then the following Wednesday with 5-1.

Let’s get right to it… Read more…

Ok, here we go continuing with my list of the Top 25 films of the last 10 years.

In case you missed it, here are numbers 25-21

25. Shaun of the Dead

24. Gladiator

23. Sideways

22. In Bruges

21. Lost in Translation.

• If you’re new to the party, what I write is just my thoughts on why I feel each particular film deserves merit and inclusion on this list. Anything I write is essentially spoiler free, so if you haven’t seen the films, feel free to read.
• In case you missed it, my friend Andrew Brenner is counting his list down as well. Give it a look.
• Number 15-11 will be posted next Wednesday, with the top 10 following the two Wednesdays after.

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Ok everyone (all five of you) so begins the countdown of my favorite flicks from 2000-2009. A couple of quick housekeeping notes before we go on.

• These are nothing but what I feel the best films are from 2000-2009. The films I feel are the most relevant, lasting, entertaining, and valuable films of the last ten years. What I think is merely the funniest film of the last 10 years is probably not on this list. The film I’ve watched more than any from the last 10 years might not be on this list. But these represent what I feel the BEST 25 films of the last 10 years are.
• Andrew Brenner should be counting his down too. Definitely check his out. He has taste, ours just doesn’t always overlap. Check his out as well if you are so inclined.
• We (as in Andrew and I) will be counting down five each Wednesday, with the final five on Wednesday Dec 30, 2009.
• I still plan to return to my countdown of my top 100 favorites of all time at some point in the next decade. Be on the lookout.
• These posts are written with the intent to preserve the key aspects of the story of the films as spoiler-free if you’ve not seen them. Feel free to read if you haven’t.

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Continuing with “the list” here are numbers 80-61.

And don’t forget to check out Andrew Brenner’s list. He’s getting prolific with this stuff.

No more ado. Here we go.

NUMBER 80 – L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)

Here’s another film like The Royal Tenenbaums that is just perfectly put together. The casting is almost a dream, and the performances are fantastic (Kim Basinger in an Academy Award winning role, plus Russell Crowe, Guy Peace AND Kevin Spacey all shine.) Director Curtis Hanson must be independently wealthy—he’s only made 4 films in the decade since L.A. Confidential. Either that or he put all he had creatively into this one. Either way, this film is alive. The sets and set decoration capture a vibe of 1950’s L.A. leaping right out of stock footage and the pages of pulp magazines and tabloids (it should come as no surprise that Hanson based a ton of what he did visually on old videos, photographs, and postcards.) But seeing those scenes come to life with actual, three-dimensional characters, and one heck of a well-imagined thrilling story, is just icing on the visual cake. To me this film is a masterpiece because the story works so well you don’t even notice everything else that went into the film technically, and yet you can really appreciate it merely for the technical aspects as well if you choose to (the DVD notably has a “music only” audio track, the only such track I’ve seen on a DVD.)

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