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1. Perfume (directed by Tom Tykwer)
This got generally mixed reviews but I happened to love it. Tom Tykwer (of Run Lola Run fame) directed, and I was afraid that it was going to be a jumped-up, edited-on-crack sorta take on Patrick Suskind's novel, which, thankfully, it turned out not to be. Tykwer took particular interest in the minutiae of the book, certainly one of the more unusual and original stories to be published in recent years, and strangely enough, the inspiration for the Nirvana song "Scentless Apprentice." Some critics made the comment that trying to make a film centered on smell was an unwise prospect, but Tykwer succeeds by focusing first on the story, his actors (great performances by the lead, Ben Whishaw, and the biggest schnoz of them all, Dustin Hoffman) and the arresting imagery.
2. Zodiac (directed by David Fincher)
The Zodiac killings were interesting because there was obviously a lot going on in this guy's head than what the police were able to decipher, although they certainly put forth their best effort given what they had at the time. Or did they? David Fincher (Seven, The Game, Fight Club) examines the case with such painstaking accuracy and detail that it's a little frightening. Fincher's great at setting a mood and creeping the everlovin' hell out of you at the same time, which he does with sadistic aplomb in this film. I doubt I'll ever hear Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in the same light again now that I've seen it in such a horrific context (the first killing in 1969 is directed so well that you can't help but get sucked in immediately). Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. are perfect in their roles, and Mark Ruffalo plays inspector Dave Toschi, who apparently inspired Steve McQueen's use of gun holster in Bullitt. I've held a beef against Ruffalo ever since he starred in one of the worst movies of the past decade (2003's craptastic In The Cut), but he's surprisingly decent in this. Zodiac runs a bit long at nearly 3 hours, but it's worth every minute--by the end, you're left as distraught and frustrated as the characters, considering that the case is still open and the killer was never caught.
3. Blades of Glory (directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck)
I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't a big Will Ferrell fan at first. A Night At The Roxbury was just another OK SNL sketch-turned-movie and it seemed entirely possible that Herr Ferrell was headed straight to the SNL doldrums. Remember, this was a time when we seemed to be in a bit of a comedy recession, what with a crappy Adam Sandler movie coming out every year and Scary Movie after Scary Movie. Then something funny happened: Ferrell proved to be a bit of a comic genius with Old School and Elf and has been on an uphill trek ever since (more or less). This isn't to say he isn't prone to a healthy dose of dumb/physical humor, but he keeps it in check enough that it doesn't entirely ruin the movies he's in. So it goes with Blades of Glory, another movie intent on staying with the idiot manchild character that Ferrell has done so well in movies like Talladega Nights: The Story of Ricky Bobby and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Ferrell plays Chazz Michael Michaels, a has-been figure skater that eventually pairs up with fresh-faced Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) to enter into the pairs competition. The plot is simple, the jokes are many and the writing has enough of the "where-in-the-hell-did-that-come-from?" to keep your brain from going numb. The supporting cast is great, including William Fichtner as Jimmy's hellbent-on-success foster dad, as well as Amy Poehler & Will Arnett as the cruelly competitive Van Waldernberg siblings. I'm not exactly sure where Ferrell digs up this sort of comedy, but he does it well and Jon Heder (of Napoleon Dynamite fame) does not. However, the two work well together overall and the skating sequences ( one of which is set to the worst song of the 90s, Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing") are inspired lunacy.
4. Grindhouse (Planet Terror directed by Robert Rodriguez; Death Proof directed by Quentin Tarantino)
If you go into Grindhouse expecting a whoppin' good time and not an excessive use of your brain, prepare to be blown-the-eff away. Rodriguez's portion is just a plain bloody delight, featuring cameos by Bruce Willis, Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas and more unnecessary gore than you can shake a severed fist at. I've always admired Rodriguez's ability to turn off his thinking cap and just plain entertain, and with Planet Terror, he does it in spades. That might seem like a backhanded compliment, but Rodriguez is one of the few directors working today that really knows how to do it. Quentin Tarantino's film, Death Proof, on the other hand, is a laborious exercise in Tarantino-isms, which to some might seem like a Turkish delight but for those overly familiar with his work, it's a bit of a fork in the zombie eye. The biggest surprise in Death Proof is all of the execrable dialogue. Perhaps QT was trying to pay homage to the old grindhouse films by writing tedious lines, but this reviewer felt like it was more of an exercise in excess. However, Kurt Russell is fantastic, the action scenes are unbelievable, and as usual, Mr. Tarantino has excellent taste in music (I'm thinking in particular of the first crash in which the poor girls are offed to the tune of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's "Hold Tight")--but please, Jabberjaw, enough with the pop culture references already. Probably the best aspect of Grindhouse are all of the fake trailers, including Rodriguez's "Machete" (already planned to be made into a feature film), Edgar Wright's "Don't," and Eli Roth's hilarious "Thanksgiving," not to mention the best of them all, Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS."
5. Hot Fuzz (directed by Edgar Wright)
I was already prepared to love Hot Fuzz right out of the gate, given that it was directed by Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead fame, as well as the fact that the premise of a British action film set in the countryside sounded hilarious. Luckily, we we were right. Although Fuzz has its bits that don't quite work (mostly in the beginning), the inside jokes (one character was "an extra in Straw Dogs" and another "played a cadaver [on the Helen Mirren TV show] Prime Suspect") as well as the final action sequence in the main village are right on the money. It also highlights just how blatantly ridiculous most American action films are, and a loving homage to Point Break, as well as crappy 007 Timothy Dalton as the bad guy seal the deal.
6. 28 Weeks Later (directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
28 Days Later was a terrific horror movie, and particularly since I had gone into it with very low expectations, it was especially rewarding. Although there's currently a new wave of horror films out, very few of them bring anything fresh to the genre, especially now that splatsploitation movies like Saw and Hostel have set new standards in mindless gore and brutality. 28 Weeks Later is in some ways a lot like the original, but also takes a compellingly new approach. This time, everything is leagues more intense and loud (I have a suspicion that the filmmakers pushed the decibel level into the red on purpose). Seriously, this is one loud movie. Perhaps the biggest treat in this one is seeing Robert Carlyle (you may remember him as Begbie in Trainspotting or the male stripper in The Full Monty) as a raving mad flesh-eater. Other than Carlyle, there aren't many recognizable faces, which was another wise approach, seeing as the first one also had unknowns (the pouty-lipped lead in 28 Days, Cillian Murphy, said no to this one). The film opens (yep, you guessed it) 7 months after the first one, and the city of London is under quarantine by the always-reliable U.S. Army. Naturally, there are certain less than subtle references to the Iraq war by having the Army in "code red" status and shooting at anything that moves, including innocent civilians. The only problem with the quarantine is that Mrs. Begbie happens to hold the virus, but is not one of the infected, and due to an unforeseen chain of events, all hell breaks loose. Just like 28 Days, the music is great at establishing the mood, the cinematography is bleak and terrifying and you'll be holding on to the armrests the whole time. Kudos to Fresnadillo and co. for keeping the genre alive and well.
