2011--The Year in Review

As usual per the year in movies in the current era, I started off thinking this was the worst time ever to be a movie lover. But, by the fall, I began to see an extraordinary collection of largely contemplative films that were, in one way or another, pining for the past. Nostalgia is the dominant theme in 2011's movies: one could lump Midnight in Paris, The Artist, War Horse, Hugo, The Tree of Life, General Orders No. 9, and George Harrison: Living in the Material World all into a category wanting for the comforts and justice of bygone eras, presumably because the present is so trying. Also, the prevalence of end-of-the-world scenarios in films like Melancholia, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Another Earth, Contagion, Take Shelter and 4:44: Last Day on Earth is related to worldwide discord being felt by many. But I also found 2011's films also to be filled with a shining love of life, nature and humanity. It was a resolutely extraordinary period for film, and many of these in my top 25 will deserve to be studied again and again in the future.

Chief among these subjects will certainly be Terrence Malick's resolute masterpiece The Tree of Life, his radically unique take on a family drama centered in on a Texas clan led by a stern father (Brad Pitt) and a dreamy mother (Jessica Chastain, an actress who had a superb year with breakthrough roles in this, The Help, Coriolanus, and Take Shelter). The Tree of Life, with its dazzling tour through the world's biggest and smallest events, certainly deserves to be the third Best Picture spot I have awarded to this one-of-a-kind director. My thoughts on the film are best expressed in my review, which you can see here. But, from that review, I offer this: "Malick's filmic thoughts are resolutely unlike anything mainstream audiences of narrative cinematic storytelling have been treated to since Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. I guarantee 99% of the audience watching the film with you when you see The Tree of Life have never experienced anything like it. That includes you, and me, too, really. Most viewers will be angry at the ultimate conclusion to Malick's film, because it doesn't conform to a paying customer's plotline/revelation payoff. But those who are disappointed will be regretful, or perhaps angry with their own reactions to the film itself 20 years down the line, where it will be commonly seen as one of cinema's most unparalleled visions. So comparisons to the similarly singular, divisive, fantastic 2001 are just. This is a movie for the ages. It's rare to see such a work, but here it is, in front of our eyes."

It hurts, though, to have to ignore other great movies from this year in this process. I had to find room for Nuri Birge Ceylan's stunning Turkish crime drama Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, a gorgeous and emotionally draining yarn that grabbed me from its very first well-constructed minutes and never let go (it contains my favorite shot of the year--an apple's slow motion tumble from the tree to a brook filled with rotting fruit). Asghar Farhedi's tense Iranian divorce drama A Separation likewise had me ensnared in its complex machinations early on, as its screenplay and cast were just too brilliant to ignore (Sareh Bayat, as the fractured family's caregiver who finds her family caught up in another's drama, had to emerge as my top Supporting Actress). The best mainstream Hollywood movie of the year was Bennett Miller's Moneyball, a highly entertaining account of a failing baseball team's winning foray into a controversially exacting brand of sports analysis; the movie was commanded by two fantastic performances--one from Brad Pitt, in his finest hour here as victory-hungry Oakland A's manager Billy Beane, and another from Jonah Hill, a comedic performer who achieved instant character actor status as Beane's apprehensive lead statistician.

Meanwhile, the Best Actress race was led by Kirsten Dunst as the heavily depressed bride in Lars Von Trier's apocalyptic Melancholia, Tilda Swinton as the overwhelmed mother of a psychopathic child in Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Anna Paquin as a manic teenager seeking justice for a fatal accident she had a hand in causing in Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret, an unfortunately troubled production that really wouldn't get widely seen for a couple of years. It was a tough race, there, but I eventually found for the actress that I though dug deepest into her own soul than any other (and this was not an easy decision). I should also point out my adoration for perhaps the most little-known movie in my top ten, a decade-in-the-making labor of love by Georgia filmmaker Robert Persons dealing with the changing face of the Southern United States and, indeed, the ecological transformation affecting the world entire, in his poetic, beautifully photographed documentary General Orders No. 9; if you are a fan of Malick's The Tree of Life, then you definitely must make time for this work that could stand as its wholly in-step companion piece. With other superb films like Oslo, 31^st August, Footnote, Take This Waltz, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, The Kid with a Bike, Goodbye First Love, Damsels in Distress, Silent Souls, Bridesmaids, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Pina, Buck, Contagion and Martha Marcy May Marlene, we can see now this was a shining year for world cinema. Even though I would've chosen differently, I don't even have a serious issue with Michel Hazanavicius' lovely ode to silent cinema The Artist as a Best Picture choice. In its own lighthearted fashion, it, too, was a film totally in keeping with the high quality of film work completed in 2011. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: THE TREE OF LIFE (US, Terrence Malick) (2nd: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan), followed by: A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhadi); Melancholia (Denmark, Lars Von Trier); Moneyball (US, Bennett Miller); Margaret (US, Kenneth Lonergan); General Orders No. 9 (US, Robert Persons); The Artist (France, Michel Hazanavicius); Oslo, 31^st August (Norway, Joachim Trier); Footnote (Israel, Joseph Cedar); We Need to Talk About Kevin (UK/US, Lynne Ramsay); Take This Waltz (Canada, Sarah Polley); Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (US, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky); The Kid with a Bike (France, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne); Goodbye, First Love (France, Mia Hansen-Love); Damsels in Distress (US, Whit Stillman); Silent Souls (Russia, Aleksey Fedorchenko); Bridesmaids (US, Paul Feig); George Harrison: Living in the Material World (US, Martin Scorsese); Pina (Germany, Wim Wenders); Contagion (US, Steven Soderburgh); 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi); Martha Marcy May Marlene (US, Sean Durkin); A Little Help (US, Michael J. Weithorn); Buck (US, Cindy Meehl); Win Win (US, Thomas McCarthy); There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (US, Liz Garbus); The Deep Blue Sea (UK, Terence Davies); The Autobiography of Nicholas Ceausescu (Romania/Germany, Andrei Ujica); Killer Joe (US, William Friedkin); A Dangerous Method (Canada, David Cronenberg); Tyrannosaur (UK, Paddy Considine); Play (Sweden, Rüben Ostlund); Hanna (US/UK, Joe Wright); The Inturrupters (US, Steve James); Into The Abyss (US/Germany, Werner Herzog); Winnie The Pooh (US, Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall); Pariah (US, Dee Rees); The Descendants (US, Alexander Payne); Warrior (US, Gavin O’Connor); The Future (US, Miranda July); The Devil’s Double (Belgium/Netherlands, Lee Tamahori); Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (UK, Tomas Alfredson); War Horse (US, Steven Spielberg); Source Code (US, Duncan Jones); Project Nim (US, James Marsh); Meek's Cutoff (US, Kelly Reichardt); Habemus Papam (Italy, Nanni Moretti); The Guard (Ireland, Michael McDonagh); The Raid (Indonesia, Gareth Evans); 50/50 (US, Jonathan Levine); Young Adult (US, Jason Reitman); The Help (US, Tate Taylor); Margin Call (US, J.C. Chandor); The Beaver (US, Jodie Foster); The Skin I Live In (Spain, Pedro Almodóvar); In Darkness (Germany/Poland, Agnieszka Holland); Jane Eyre (UK, Cary Fukunaga); Disabled but Able to Rock (US, Blake Myers); Elena (Russia, Andrei Zvyagintsev); 4:44: Last Day on Earth (US, Abel Ferrara); Violet and Daisy (US, Geoffrey Fletcher); Red State (US, Kevin Smith); Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (US, Brad Bird); My Week With Marilyn (UK/US, Simon Curtis), Crazy Stupid Love (US, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa); Take Shelter (US, Jeff Nichols); Paul (US, Greg Mottola); The Muppets (US, James Bobin); Hugo (US/UK, Martin Scorsese); Rango (US, Gore Verbinski); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US, David Fincher); Carnage (US/France, Roman Polanski); Puss in Boots (US, Chris Miller); Coriolanus (UK/US, Ralph Fiennes); The Ides of March (US, George Clooney); Midnight in Paris (US, Woody Allen); Sleeping Sickness (Germany, Ulrich Köhler); Beginners (US, Mike Mills); Attack the Block (UK, Joe Cornish); The Mill and the Cross (Sweden/Poland/UK, Lech Majewski); Drive (US, Nicolas Winding Refn); Shame (UK, Steve McQueen); Rise of the Planet of the Apes (US, Rupert Wyatt); Super 8 (US, J.J. Abrams); Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (US, Stephen Daldry); Sucker Punch (US, Zack Snyder); The Iron Lady (US, Phyllida Lloyd); J. Edgar (US, Clint Eastwood); Restless (US, Gus Van Sant))



ACTOR: Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL (2nd: Jean Dujardin, The Artist, followed by: Anders Danielsen Lie, Oslo August 31st; Peyman Moaadi, A Separation; Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur; Dominic Cooper, The Devil’s Double; Mel Gibson, The Beaver; Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe)



ACTRESS: Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA (2nd: Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin, followed by: Anna Paquin, Margaret; Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz; Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn; Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy Mae Marlene; Leila Hatami, A Separation; Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL (2nd: Lior Ashkenazi, Footnote, followed by: Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method; Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close;  Albert Brooks, Drive; Nick Nolte, Warrior; Taner Birsel, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia; Christopher Plummer, Beginners)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sareh Bayat, A SEPARATION (2nd: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia, followed by: J. Smith Cameron, Margaret; Jeannie Berlin, Margaret; Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids; Carey Mulligan, Shame; Octavia Spencer, The Help; Jennifer Ehle, Contagion)



DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE (2nd: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, followed by: Lars Von Trier, Melancholia; Asghar Farhedi, A Separation; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist; Robert Persons, General Orders No. 9; Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret)



NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan) (2nd: A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhedi), followed by: Oslo 31st August (Norway, Joachim Trier); Footnote (Israel, Joseph Cedar); The Kid with a Bike (France, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne); Silent Souls (Russia, Aleksey Fedorchenko); Goodbye, First Love (France, Mia Hansen-Love); Pina (Germany, Wim Wenders); Play (Sweden, Rüben Ostlund); Habemus Papam (Italy, Nanni Moretti); The Raid (Indonesia, Gareth Evans); The Skin I Live In (Spain, Pedro Almodóvar); In Darkness (Germany/Poland, Agnieszka Holland); Elena (Russia, Andrei Zvyagintsev); Sleeping Sickness (Germany, Ulrich Köhler); The Mill and the Cross (Sweden/ Poland/UK, Lech Majewski))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9 (US, Robert Persons) (2nd: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (US, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky), followed by: George Harrison: Living in the Material World (US, Martin Scorsese); Pina (Germany/France/UK, Wim Wenders); 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi); There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (US, Liz Garbus); The Autobiography of Nicholas Ceausescu (Romania/Germany, Andrei Ujica); Buck (US, Cindy Meehl); The Inturrupters (US, Steve James); Into The Abyss (US/Germany, Werner Herzog); Project Nim (US, James Marsh); Disabled but Able to Rock (US, Blake Myers))

ANIMATED FEATURE: WINNIE THE POOH (US, Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall) (2nd: Rango (US, Gore Verbinski), followed by: Puss in Boots (US, Chris Miller))



ANIMATED SHORT: THE THOMAS BEALE CIPHER (US, Andrew S. Allen) (2nd: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (US, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburgh), followed by: La Luna (US, Enrico Casarosa); These Hammers Don’t Hurt Us (US, Michael Robinson))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: THE SHORE (Ireland, Terry George) (2nd: Time Freak (US, Andrew Bowler), followed by: Bear (US, Nash Edgerton); Sati Shaves Her Head (US, Tejal Shah))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhedi, A SEPARATION (2nd: Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret, followed by: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ercan Kesal, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia; Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz; Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin, MONEYBALL (2nd: Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, Olso 31st August, followed by: Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear, We Need to Talk About Kevin; Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants; Christopher Hampton, A Dangerous Method)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, THE TREE OF LIFE (2nd: Gohkan Tiraki, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, followed by: Robert Persons, General Orders No. 9; Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia; Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist)

ART DIRECTION: HUGO, The Tree of Life, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Artist, Anonymous

COSTUME DESIGN: THE ARTIST, The Skin I Live In, The Mill and The Cross, Anonymous, Immortals



FILM EDITING: MONEYBALL, The Artist, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Contagion, The Tree of Life
 


SOUND: THE TREE OF LIFE, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse, Hugo, Moneyball



SOUND EFFECTS: WAR HORSE, Super 8, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo



ORIGINAL SCORE: Ludovic Bource, THE ARTIST (2nd: Amit Poznansky, Footnote, followed by: Alberto Iglesias, The Skin I Live In; Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Tom Rowland and Ed Simons, Hanna)



ORIGINAL SONG: “So Long” from WINNIE THE POOH (Music and lyrics by Zooey Deschanel) (2nd: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets (Music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie), followed by: "The Sambola! International Dance Craze" from Damsels in Distress (Music and lyrics by Lou Christie, Michael A. Levine and Mark Suozzo); "Coeur Volant" from Hugo (Music by Howard Shore, lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir and Isabelle Geffroy); “Sparkling Day” from One Day (Music and lyrics by Elvis Costello); "Life's A Happy Song" from The Muppets (Music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie); "Masterpiece" from W.E. (Music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost and Jimmy Harry); “Shelter” from Take Shelter (Music and lyrics by Ben Nichols))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE TREE OF LIFE, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Melancholia, Hugo, Real Steel

MAKEUP: THE IRON LADY, My Week With Marilyn, Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

NYFF Review #9: MELANCHOLIA

The grandiose opening to Lars Von Trier's newest cataclysm is an upfront shock (unlike most of his other films, which are loaded with climactic jolts). He and his able crew have crafted a nine-minute overture, set to Richard Wagner's urgently emotional prelude to TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, and in this sequence, the story you are about to see is told fully in drowsy, lavish tableaus that floor the senses (they sting even more upon the second viewing). But, first time around, the viewer has no ken; these stunning abstracts leave us unprepared somehow.

MELANCHOLIA peers into the pros and cons of depression. Von Trier, in his upheaval of a press conference at this year's Cannes Film Festival, admitted that he suffers from the disease. As a fellow in this respect, I can tell you that what one depressed individual may find funny is not something to which one who is not depressed can relate. And that's all I'm going to say about that sideshow.

It's seems clear to me, at least, that BOTH of Von Trier's lead characters here suffer from the same affliction. Justine (a transformed Kirsten Dunst) handles the challenge very differently from her sister Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg (both actresses were child stars, which we all know can lead to some serious problems, and I wonder if this is what lead Von Trier to this pairing). Justine is a damaged butterfly; Claire is an overworked beetle. Over the course of the film, the onslaught of a looming companion planet, named Melancholia by soothsaying scientists, threatens our Earth's life. Maybe this is a reference to the pesky global warming debate--will it kill us, or will it not? But fear not, lovelies. This isn't a political film.

Justine's seemingly gilded marriage ceremony is troubled from the start. Flowing gown and all, she has to get behind the wheel of the stretch limo in which she and her husband arrive, attempting to navigate the winding road leading the ridiculously huge mansion where the reception's afoot. Depression is never easy; yep--that snaky road is a metaphor, and an apt one. The incipient celebration is studded with sapping drains on the luminous Justine's energy. She puts up a brave front, because the pressure's on, but her boss (Stellan Skarsgaard) leadens her with work challenges; Skarsgaard's newest assistant (Brady Corbett) sucks at her with a queerly lucrative desperation; her mother (Charlotte Rampling) smashes the party up with her caustic honesty; her lovable but wackadoo father (John Hurt) friskily pockets spoons and pesters the waitstaff for replacements, while forgoing patriarchal responsibilities; her inarticulate new husband (Alexander Skarsgaard) wants most to get on to the honeymoon duties; and Claire is on top of helping Justine navigate this rigamarole, even while Claire's husband (Kiefer Sutherland), from his lofty balcony of logic, sneers at all this cryptic madness.

Enough. It's too much already. Couple this with the upcoming onslaught of the planet Melancholia--which may or may not end the world--and, inevitably, the idea of happily-married bliss becomes absurd for Justine. MELANCHOLIA is split into two pieces, each named after the two sisters, and by midfilm, when the siblings are taking a galloping horse ride through the foggy countryside, past all the frivolous golf courses, Justine is the with-it one who notices treasured stars in the sky have disappeared behind that ever-approaching threat.

The second half of Von Trier's newest and possibly most accessible (but still resolutely strange) tale follows Claire as she tries to make more down-to-earth sense of Melancholia's approach. She has a young son to worry about, and father Sutherland is too bent on showing their boy the planet's progress--via telescope and a more illustrative homemade device--to even address the larger implications of this event; in fact, he denies any implications until it's too late. In the end, it is the seemingly delicate Justine who's a bulwark of strength, even though at the beginning of this episode she's so overfunked she can barely take a bath. As a treat, Claire cooks Justine her favorite meal--a homey meatloaf--and even this fails to cheer her. "It tastes like ashes" a crestfallen Justine says. For me, this was MELANCHOLIA's height; nothing says more about the experience of depression than being presented with a former joy, whatever it might be and then, because you just can't help it, feeling yourself spit that fleshly gift right back into the faces of people you love.

Being depressed is like feeling the world implode each and every day. Justine knows this, and she needs relief. But she also suspects--no, is certain--she's correct in feeling this way. You'd have to be crazy not to (maybe this IS a political film--it equalizes the 1% and the 99%). So it's not surprising Justine's the one best equipped to handle an end-of-the-world scenario; it's possibly the only time being depressed would actually be a plus. For "sane" Claire, the world ends before it really ends, and you realy feel sorry for her because she's tried hard to smooth out all of life's wrinkles. But for the more unfettered Justine--a once fresh-faced but now sunken-eyed goddess--this radically troubled globe deserves its fate, so saying a lyrical goodbye is not at all hard to do. There haven't been many movies made about depression so it strikes me as doubly pleasant that MELANCHOLIA gets the downtrodden spirit so artfully right without smushing your puss into a batch of whiny speeches. It's a puzzle, but what a kooky beauty it is, this blanket of misery.

Film #98: Little Women (1994)

It being Christmas Eve, 2008, I figured I'd offer up a recommendation for a holiday movie everyone should enjoy, but relatively few movie lovers ever site in this manner. Australian director Gillian Anderson delivered quite a lovely screen version of Louisa May Alcott's perennial classic Little Women in 1994, and though it's not a Christmas movie per se, it sure feels like one. In fact, watching Little Women is not unlike cuddling up with your loved ones in front of a warm fire, as the lights twinkle on the tree, the snow billows outside a vast picture window, and the musty scent of hot chocolate wafts in from the kitchen. It's just that cozy a picture.

Episodic, and largely plotless, Little Women charts ten years in the lives of the March women--mother Abigail (called "Marmee" by her hatchlings, and played with verve by Susan Sarandon) and her four daughters: fledgling writer Jo (Winona Ryder), shy Meg (Trini Alvarado), quiet homebody Beth (Clair Danes), and the boisterous Amy (played both by the young Kirsten Dunst, and then in later ladyhood by Samantha Mathis). If the film does have a story arc, it lies in the search by all four of these girls to find love and personal identity as they weather poverty, illness, family strife, and loneliness for their father, who's off fighting in America's Civil War.
The male side of this film's cast is as stellar as its female coterie. Christian Bale officially made the jump from child actor (Empire of the Sun, Newsies) to adult star with his showy supporting role as Laurie, the wealthy next-door neighbor's son who's smitten mightily with the March family. Gabriel Byrne is fine as Friedrich, the wise literature maven whom Jo falls for in her writerly sojourn to New York. And Eric Stoltz--who, that same year, delivered another impressive supporting role in a very different movie called Pulp Fiction--plays Laurie's ultra-serious teacher who's wandering eye is also drawn to the Marchs. Add to the mix veteran character actress Mary Wickes in her final film role as the snooty, headstrong Aunt March, and you get a playbill that's quite difficult to best.

In cinema history, Little Women hit the big screen twice before: George Cukor delivered a 1938 version that starred Spring Byington as Marmee, Katherine Hepburn as Jo, Frances Dee as Meg, Jean Parker as Beth and Joan Bennett as Amy; then, in 1949, Mervyn LeRoy directed a version with Mary Astor (Marmee), June Allyson (Jo), Janet Leigh (Meg), Margret O'Brien (Beth) and Elizabeth Taylor (Amy). Both adaptations are worth catching, especially considering their star power. However, surprisingly, Gillian Anderson's version is the definitive one; it is warm, funny, empowering, and highly, wonderfully sentimental (plus its casting, unlike on previous attempts, is pitch perfect).

Though Winona Ryder was the only lady in the movie to garner an Oscar nomination--in what's certainly one of her finest on-screen showings--I guarantee there will be two supporting performances that will really knock your socks off. The 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst, who'd only debuted in movies months before with a showy role in Neil Jordan's Interview with a Vampire, carved another notch into an instantly promising career with her performance as the young, chatty Amy. She gets most of the movie's laughs with her endless kvetching about bringing limes to school, her witty home truths ("You only need one boy--if he's the right one"), and her silly brattiness (the moments where she takes revenge on Jo in a most unsettling manner come to mind here, as well as here reaction to Jo cutting off her hair to provide money for her family: "No! Jo! Your one beauty!"). If the movie strikes even one disappointing note, it's that Dunst isn't able to appear in the latter half of the film, as she's replaced by the older Samantha Mathis (it's intrinsic to Amy's character that she grows up to be a more refined lady, but Anderson's film loses a little steam without Dunst's brassy presence).

Most surprisingly, though, it's the quietest member of the cast that gets the tears rolling down my face every time I watch Little Women. Clare Danes plays the least ambitious of the March clan, Beth, with a boundless surplus of heart. Sickly and unfailingly domestic, her Beth is unbelievably sweet, and unjustly low of self-esteem. Though she has many fewer lines than her counterparts, she's at the center of the film's two most heart-tugging scenes (which I won't give away here). Suffice it to say that her one monologue in the movie will have you grabbing for a hanky or two--and I don't care how hard-hearted you are.

There are a few sparkling yuletide scenes in this snowy, New England-set tale that cement my proposition that Little Women is an unsung Christmas classic. And there are further gifts under the film's tree: the snappy, never-boring screenplay by Robin Swicord (co-writer of this year's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); the lush, even heartbreaking score by Thomas Newman--one of the 50 best examples of movie music in the history of cinema (and which was also nominated for an Oscar, as was Newman's other shining 1994 contribution to film music, The Shawshank Redemption); Colleen Atwood's perfectly detailed costume design; and Geoffrey Simpson's gorgeous lensing, which offers us creamy pastels, toasty reds, and blinding ice whites. Do yourself a favor: this Christmas, treat your family--especially if you have some budding ladies in the house--to Little Women, and bathe yourselves in its abundant warmth.

My 20 Favorite Actresses

In taking Tony Dayoub of Cinema Viewfinder up on his invitation for me to join the 20 Favorite Actresses meme started by Nathaniel at Film Experience, I tried hard to balance my love of these ladies' acting ability equally with my adoration of their feminine wiles. I also attempted to make my list an appreciation of actresses from all different eras--from the 1920s to now. I think I've done quite well on both fronts. At any rate, here are my current favorites:

Emily Watson (key films: Breaking the Waves, Punch-Drunk Love, Synecdoche NY, Hillary and Jackie, Angela's Ashes, The Proposition, Gosford Park, The Boxer, War Horse. Cradle Will Rock, Corpse Bride, Anna Karinina, The Book Thief)

Meryl Streep (key films: Kramer Vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, Manhattan, A Cry in the Dark, The Devil Wears Prada, Silkwood, Julia, Adaptation, A Prairie Home Companion, Doubt, Ironweed, Defending Your Life, Mamma Mia, Julie and Julia, Out of Africa, One True Thing, The Bridges of Madison County, The Hours, Angels in America, Holocaust, The Deer Hunter, The Iron Lady, Hope Springs, August: Osage County, The Homesman, Into the Woods)

Grace Kelly (Key films: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, High Society, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, Mogambo, The Country Girl, The Bridges at Toko-Ri)

Greta Garbo (Key films: Queen Christina, Ninochka, The Flesh and The Devil, Camille, Grand Hotel, The Painted Veil, Anna Christie, Anna Karinina, Mata Hari, Conquest)

Diane Keaton (Key films: Annie Hall, Reds, Manhattan, Play It Again Sam, The Godfather, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Interiors, Love and Death, Sleeper, Lovers and Other Strangers, The Godfather Part II, Shoot the Moon, The Good Mother, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Something's Gotta Give, Marvin's Room, Crimes of the Heart, Sister Mary Explains It All)

Vivian Leigh (key films: Gone With The Wind, That Hamilton Woman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ship of Fools, Waterloo Bridge, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, A Yank at Oxford, Anna Karinena, Fire Over England)

Audrey Hepburn (key films: Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Two for the Road, Wait Until Dark, Roman Holiday, The Nun's Story, Sabrina, Love in the Afternoon, They All Laughed, Robin and Marian, Always, The Children's Hour, Charade, How to Steal a Million, My Fair Lady)

Jean Arthur (key films: The More The Merrier, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Shane, The Talk of the Town, The Devil and Miss Jones, Only Angels Have Wings, Easy Living, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Plainsman, History is Made at Night)

Kirsten Dunst (key films: Bring It On, Little Women, Interview With A Vampire, Spiderman, Crazy/Beautiful, Levity, Marie Antoinette, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Cat's Meow, Spiderman II, Dick, The Virgin Suicides, Wag the Dog, Melancholia, Bachelorette, Fargo (TV))

Zooey Deschanel (key films: All The Real Girls, (500) Days of Summer, The Good Girl, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tin Man, Live Free or Die, Almost Famous, Mumford, Elf, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, New Girl (TV))

Myrna Loy (key films: the Thin Man series, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Great Ziegfeld, Manhattan Melodrama, Another Thin Man, The Rains Came, The End, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Cheaper by the Dozen, Shadow of the Thin Man, Lonleyhearts, Midnight Lace)

Helen Mirren (key films: O Lucky Man, The Tempest, Excalibur, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, Red, The Queen, The Mosquito Coast, Caligula, Gosford Park, The Madness of King George, Age of Consent, Cal, Prime Suspect, Elizabeth I, The Long Good Friday, Hitchcock, The Last Station, Phil Spector, The Hundred Foot Journey)

Ann-Margret (key films: Tommy, Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Swinger, Carnal Knowledge, The Cincinnati Kid, State Fair, The Villain, The Cheap Detective, Magic, Twice in a Lifetime, Kitten with a Whip, 52 Pick Up, Who Will Love My Children?, Pocketful of Miracles, The Train Robbers, Joseph Andrews, Grumpy Old Men, The Break-Up, Any Given Sunday)

Virginie Ledoyen (key films: A Single Girl, La Ceremonie, 8 Women, The Beach, Late August Early September, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries)

Greta Gerwig (Key films: Hannah Takes The Stairs, Baghead, The House of the Devil, Nights and Weekends, Greenberg, Arthur, Lola Versus, Damsels in Distress, To Rome With Love, Frances Ha, The Humbling, Eden, Mistress America, Lady Bird (as writer/director))

Diane Lane (key films: A Little Romance, Six Pack, Unfaithful, The Outsiders, A Walk on the Moon, Streets of Fire, Touched by Love, Secretariat, Cinema Verite, Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains, Rumblefish, The Cotton Club, Wild Bill, My Dog Skip, Virtuosity, Hollywoodland)

Marisa Tomei (key films: My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler, Oscar, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, In The Bedroom, Untamed Heart, Factotum, Cyrus, Happy Accidents, The Slums of Beverly Hills, Crazy Stupid Love, The Ides of March, Love is Strange)

Chantal Goya (key film: Masculin/Feminin)

Catherine Deneuve (key films: Repulsion, Belle De Jour, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Indochine, 8 Women, Dancer in the Dark, The Young Girls of Roquefort, Hustle, The Last Metro, The Hunger, A Christmas Tale, East-West, Scene of the Crime, Persepolis, A Christmas Tale, On My Way)

Amy Adams (key films: Junebug, The Fighter, Catch Me If You Can, Enchanted, Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, Sunshine Cleaners, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Psycho Beach Party, The Master, Her, American Hustle, Big Eyes. Arrival)

There are so many actresses I painfully had to leave out. So MY 20 RUNNERS-UP are Jill Clayburgh, Ingrid Bergman, Thelma Ritter, Julianne Moore, Liv Ullmann, Veronica Lake, Natalie Wood, Michelle Williams, Ruth Gordon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Charlotte Rampling, Scarlett Johansson, Naomi Watts, Elizabeth Taylor, Isabelle Huppert, Maria Falconetti, Lili Taylor, Sissy Spacek, and Jessica Harper.