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Gone Baby Gone

Date: December 14
Location: Movies at Delray

I saw this at a trashy little old-school movie theater in Delray Beach, probably days before it disappears from screens altogether, and I’m so glad I did. Definitely among my favorite films of the year, this story about a Boston private eye investigating a kidnapping resonates both as a suspense yarn and a morality tale. Ben Affleck does teriffic work in his directorial debut — he blows away master Clint Eastwood, whose overrated Mystic River is by far the lesser Dennis Lehane adaptation. And Casey Affleck does his best work (unless he tops it in the Jesse James flick) as the young private eye whose inner strength trumps his inexperience. My only minor complaint is of the “I wish it were longer” variety — Michelle Monaghan’s character clearly has a backstory that I wish had been explored. Like No Country for Old Men, this film has me heading to the bookstore for the source material.

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Southeastern Film Critics Awards

So now we’re getting into the deluge of small critics groups chiming in with their awards. I won’t post all of them — they’re already running together — but I like this one because they release a top ten list, and as you know, I’m all about top ten lists.

Javier Bardem and Amy Ryan add to their growing tally — and now that I’ve seen both performances, I must say I’m thrilled that they are the front-runners.

BEST PICTURE
1. No Country for Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Atonement
4. Juno
5. Michael Clayton
6. Zodiac
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
10. Into the Wild

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
* Runner-up: George Clooney – Michael Clayton

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie – Away from Her
* Runner-up: Ellen Page – Juno

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward
Robert Ford

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
* Runner-up: Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: J oe Wright – Atonement

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody – Juno
* Runner-up: Tamara Jenkins – The Savages

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: Christopher Hampton – Atonement

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France)
* Runner-up: La vie en rose (France)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight
* Runner-up: Sicko

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille
* Runner-up: The Simpsons Movie

WYATT AWARD
Waitress
* Runner-up: Black Snake Moan

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The big chart

Every year, the Web site Movie City News compiles a huge chart of every published top ten list they can find. They released the opening chart this weekend. It’s sort of like early election returns, in that the same films tend to stay up top as more results come in, but there are usually some that rise and fall more than others.

This first glance is made up of 33 lists and is dominated by No Country for Old Men (it appears on 22 of those lists). Away From Her, Juno, Michael Clayton, Zodiac and Once are the other front-runners, with a bunch more tied just below them. Should be interesting to see how the ultimate Top Ten shakes out.

Here’s the list.

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Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Date: December 13
Location: Regal Delray Beach

I’m sorry to say I was disappointed with this film, in part because I had such high expectations going in. It’s beautifully acted (Philip Seymour Hoffman is Oscar-worthy once again) and spins a nice web of suspense, but ultimately is just doesn’t hold together. The time-shifting, multiple-perspective narrative sets you up for a payoff that never comes — ultimately it seems the complex plotting is there to mask the fact that this is really just a film about a heist gone bad. I didn’t buy into some of the family dynamics, particularly those dealing with Albert Finney’s underwritten character. Big points, though, for Marisa Tomei, who keeps getting sexier as she gets older. She spends much of the film in various states of undress, and does some fine acting to boot.