City Arts: The 2011 Better-Than List
Weve reached the point where movies are less popular than other forms of pop culture yet remain compellingas much for what they recall about the humanities as the inhumanity they routinely deliver. Thus 2011's year-end mania for the specious cultural tributes of The Artist and Hugo, even though both films, while apparently reverential, were actually false to how cinema is made and enjoyed. ---Thus, the critics disrespect for Spielbergs two ingenious state-of-the-art assessments (to be examined in the next issue of CityArts). Thus, this years better-than list, which again finds superior alternatives that defy falsely hyped movies. Art vs. Trash.
Incendies > A Dangerous Method
Denis Villeneuves blood-rich inquiry into the epic complexities of mans inhumanity-to-man defies the nihilistic excuses favored by David Cronenbergs Freudian one-gunmanship and ethnic spite. Catharsis vs. Egotism.
The Adventures of Tin Tin > The Artist
Spielberg restores the essence of cinema (from the Greek kinesis, meaning movement), defying Hazanavicius too-cute silent movie hoax. Joy vs. Inanity.
War Horse > Hugo
Spielberg revives genre esthetics as spiritual expression, defying Scorseses fatuous history lecture. Feeling vs. Sentimentality.
To read the "Better-Than List" in full, head to [City Arts].