Follow up on Ebert's list

My previous entry provides a link to Roger Ebert's list of the best films of the decade. I wanted to comment a little on a few of his choices. His pick for the second best film of the decade is the Hurt Locker. I believe that this film, scene for scene, equals both the grandeur and verisimilitude of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Locker's director, Kathryn Bigelow, never falters. In scene after scene, she sustains a feverish intensity and a sure directorial hand. Just plain gritty, cinema-verite camerwork with minimal flourish. She is expected to be the first woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director next month at the Oscars. It is also widely expected to win Best Picture. Jeremy Renner, in an Academy Award-nominated turn, burns with brilliant intensity as the ballsy bomb expert. One hardly sees this level of acting in movies anymore. This isn't imitation, it is being. Other notable movies on Ebert's list is Monster. I agree with him that Charlize Theron's metamorphosis is astounding and clearly one of the best and most harrowing performances to ever grace a movie screen. Other, more innocuous efforts include the masterful Juno with brilliantly incisive and witty dialogue by Diablo Cody and an indelible performance by Ellen Page, and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous, which I think is one of the most heart warming and spiritual experiences I've had in my film going life. Its joy is infectious as is its soundtrack. An endearing masterpiece.

Finally, I would urge all who visit Ebert's page to read his online Journal. The last few entries have been brilliant, Dickensian musings on London and his past perambulations there. His pieces are comic, endearing, bittersweet, and fecund with social observation. One can just sit back and admire great writing and bathe themselves in sumptuous settings. His entries are usually of a personal nature and reveal the estimable man, the mensch, behind the estimable critic.