Well that’s all folks, the year’s over and it’s time to move on. Here’s a list of the top 6 candler blog posts you all gravitated towards in 2009. Why 6? Well why not kids? Read ‘em again or ignore them once more. In any event, the book is closed and we’ll certainly work to out-do ourselves in 2010. See you there. Read on…

If this is your first time here, welcome. For repeat offenders, you’ll notice that the site has gotten a complete overhaul. This has been a long time coming and it has not been easy deciding a new look and feel for the candler blog. So while you’re here, take a look around and tell us what you think of our new digs. There are certainly going to be a few kinks to be ironed out now that we’ve gone live with this. We’ll get to everything, but don’t be shy, let us know when you find something that looks out of place. If you want to know the thinking behind this overhaul, and get a little history about the site too, click through for the full story. Read on…

Although I detest the idea of lists, I thought I would mention “10” films that convey an amazing articulation of contemporary culture (and they just happen to be a some that I find as my favorites of this year).

Birdsong (Albert Serra)

The limits of plot are less a concern than the grace of an event’s miraculous and personal unfolding for an individual. While the film conveys the infamous birth of a religious figure in a manner that is rooted in secular mortality, the film focuses on the personal contemplation and expressionistic moments inspired by the meaning of the event rather than expository dialog about religious convictions. Amazingly brave in its contemplative execution, Serra continues to allude to things beyond the nature of cinema’s plastics and today’s climate of physicality, technology and the literal. Read on…

After a great deal of discussion on our bests of the decade podcast, we are finally ready to let you in on our director of the decade: Steven Soderbergh. He won an Oscar, made a slew of successful films while keeping his arthouse street cred, legitimized the RED Camera, and pretty much just blew everyone out of the water in the last ten years. But don’t take my word for it, Sunrise provided a great writeup of the man and his decade. Let us know in the comments if you think we chose wisely (or not).

The way in which Steven Soderbergh starts off this decade is with such veracity and force with Traffic and Erin Brochovich, it is a wonder that he not only maintains such consistency towards the end, but implements a fascinating success that is important not only for him as an artist, but for us as an audience.

Leaving the nineties as a “Sundance” poster boy with questionable box office draw, he made a sudden turn with 1998’s Out of Sight and opened the decade with winning one of two Best Director nominations, to which only Michael Curtiz’s 1938 double nomination loss comes close in comparison. While Curtiz was just as much of a workhorse, what makes Soderbergh’s nomination so amazing is the metaphoric weight of self-challenge it represents. This challenge, as it were, is extended beyond his own growth as an artist into the ever-growing challenges he places upon his peers and audience. Read on…

Fetishism is the first word that comes to mind when considering Rob Marshall’s newest musical film, Nine. Take your pick of which element is fetishized: Europe, the 1960s, cinema, Penélope Cruz, etc. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s actually quite an accurate read of how we now view the work of Federico Fellini and his peers. The filmmaker, on whose 8 ½ the 1982 musical, and by proxy this film, is based is known not only for his mastery of film language but for his keen eye for style. Of course, Fellini’s film was not a musical, but a backstage circus in the life of a woebegone director. Converting it to a stage musical must have been daunting enough, but bringing it back to the screen is something of a chore.

Daniel Day-Lewis is Guido Contini, the Italian director whose next film is sold as being his return to his glory days. The problem is that he hasn’t written it yet, and from the outset we learn he begins shooting in ten days. He is also a womanizer, haunted by the dream versions of the real women in his life. Though he is surrounded by men, it is the women who serves as his muses, for better or worse. Day-Lewis brings not only his uncanny abilities of vocal interpretation but also an incredible physicality to the Italian auteur. Gliding across the screen, he feels ten feet tall atop legs made of feathers. Sure, he’s no Fred Astaire, but if someone asked him to he could probably pull that off too. Read on…

And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the best directors of the decade according to the candler blog. I’m going to do this a little differently than our first installments on Notable Events, Writers and Actors. When Sunrise Tippeconnie and I recorded this podcast, we tried to sum up the entire decade in 90 minutes. We found it completely impossible. In fact, the time we spent on directors alone was about that much. The discussion was good enough that I thought we should share it here. Instead of telling you who we pick as filmmaker of the decade, we thought you should listen in and hear for yourself. Okay, maybe we’ll tell you soon so keep your eyes peeled for a post about our favorite filmmaker of the decade. In the meantime, sit back, relax and listen in on the musings of a few cinephiles.

 
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In case your great aunt’s fruitcake wasn’t stale enough this holiday season (as stale as fruitcake jokes, perhaps?), head to the theater where you can get an eyeful of the same-old-same-old in Guy Ritchie’s unbearably boring Sherlock Holmes. The title character, a literary invention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of the few who is yet to find a modern home on the silver screen as the decade of franchises comes to a close. Having seen Superman, Spiderman, James Bond and the Star Trek crew get a bigscreen reboot in the aughts, the next ten years will be dominated by bottom of the barrel heroes who have had a cultural (read: box office) impact in other generations. So before you line up in 2010 for Clash of the Titans, enter the good inspector Holmes and his devoted sidekick, Dr. Watson.

Though most fans will agree that the cadaverous Basil Rathbone’s portrayal of the master sleuth is the truest, it is difficult to deny that Robert Downey Jr. is more than adequately equipped to carry the torch. He certainly throws the kitchen sink at the role, though there isn’t much for the gifted thesp to work with. Penned by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg, this iteration of the Londoner gumshoe has little more than pecks to hang his hat on. Trained with the precision of a Kung Fu master, Holmes’ newfound brutish strenghth may be the result of deductive reasoning, but he is a brute nonetheless. Planting blows where words fail him, this Holmes is more a man of action than any that came before him, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if his intellect didn’t feel like such an afterthought. Read on…

It has been an exciting year of candling and we just wanted to wish you and yours a happy holidays. the candler blog started in March of 2009 and it has grown exponentially in the ensuing months. We couldn’t be happier with our readership’s commitment and we look forward to providing you with insight in 2010. Now enough withthe ushy gushy, let’s get back to candling.