|
 |
(500) Days of Summer (Dir: Marc Webb) 75/100
Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zoey Deschannel star in this love story that categorically states that it's not a love story, rather it's a story about love. A big difference when you stop to think about it and a measure of the intelligence and knowing wit this film has in spades. Levitt has blossomed into a fine actor and has consistently chosen interesting parts along the way, and the role of Tom continues the trend. Deschannel has a dry delivery that a lot of people find hard to take to but she's fine here as the self-absorbed Summer of the title. We follow Tom as he meets then falls for Summer and the film then flits back and forth in time to show us various stages of their relationship; the highs, lows, break-ups, chance meetings and so on. Seeing events non-chronologically is refreshingly amusing as one never knows what's round the corner - which is the opposite of most movie romances. It's all presented with such breezy confidence that it's hard not to get caught up in the events that, because the writing is so good, and the performances ring true have a wonderful feeling of authenticity. Anyone who's been smitten by a beautiful girl will identify with young Tom's desperate antics to try to obtain her and will chuckle sympathetically at his futile attempts at trying to work out just what's going on in Summer's head at any given time. This is a great romantic comedy for people who ordinarily don't like romantic comedies. |
 |
Antichrist (Dir: Lars von Trier) 80/100
The first fifteen minutes of so of Lars Von Trier's new shocker sets out its stall in no uncertain terms. A child toppling out of a high-rise window to its death, while the parents (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) indulge in a bit of soft focus hardcore sex all in black and white, high definition slow motion. Reminded me of some sort of twisted Calvin Klein advert. However, after this brief introduction the film settles down to a much more earthy and less glitzy psychological horror (in colour), but the intent to shock remains. The couple retreat to a cabin in the woods to get away from it all after the loss of their child, and shortly thereafter Gainsbourg starts to lose her marbles and sees Dafoe as the cause of all her woes. Cue a lot of emotional hand-wringing, psychological probing and, eventually, a whole mess of very graphic violence and much gore. Von Trier was obviously aiming to make the sort of horror film he believes horror afficianados dream of; an involving story featuring realistic and hard-hitting acts of violence in a believable setting with convincing performances from well-respected actors. Alas he hasn't quite achieved this because as the events unfold they get more and more outrageous and gaping holes begin to appear in the plot, such as it is. However, the cinematography is breathtaking and the performances from Dafoe and Gainsbourg are both fine. Gainsbourg is particularly effective as the disturbed and grieving mother struggling to get over the loss of her child while being increasingly resentful of the control her husband is trying to exert on her life and their marriage. One could spend days arguing about the allegorical subtext and meaning of the various symbols used in this film, but whatever interpretation you come up with the overall effect is deeply unsettlling. |
 |
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call (Dir: Werner Herzog) 80/100
A bit of a departure from German director Werner Herzog, this is at its heart a pretty conventional police procedural starring Nicolas Cage in the eponymous role of unbalanced cop with a host of problems - most of them caused by his incessant gambling and drug-taking. Although Herzog claims to have never seen the 1993 Abel Ferrara film with which this shares part of its title there are obvious similarities - most of which revolve around the main character's headlong rush into oblivion while working for the police department. Cage is having a blast as Terence McDonagh who's crooked because of a back injury and hopped up on some sort of medication or illegal substance at all times. There's much fun to be had as Herzog throws in a liberal dash of weirdness now and again, from singing iguanas to a dead gangster whose soul gets up and breakdances. It's these bizarre touches that elevate this to something much more than what it would otherwise have been without someone like Herzog at the helm. Cage's zoned intensity and fluctuating accent just adds to the strangeness and contributes heavily to how funny a lot of this film is. It could probably be considered a comedy before anything else in fact. The whole package comes off in the end as a fascinating oddity that should be worthy of your attention. Despite the cliched scenario and characters this is one of the better English language films this year. |
 |
City of Life & Death (Dir: Lu Chuan) 90/100
This film deals head on with a subject that is apt to open old wounds or spark political arguments from near and far, so it looks like the people who decide which film is to represent their country at the Oscars thought it best to pass it over in favour of something more palatable. It's a pity though because this is a very well made film - outstanding technically, well-acted and with something important to say about the politics of war and human affairs. It takes place in 1937, and focusses on the Rape of Nanking, a period of several weeks when tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed, and thousands more Chinese women were systematically raped by soldiers from the Japanese Army whose behaviour was condoned by the Japanese military heirarchy, or at the very least was left unchecked during that time. The film switches between various characters caught up in the mayhem, among them a schoolteacher, a Chinese soldier and nazi businessman who ultimately saves many Chinese civilians much like Oskar Schindler did in world war two. It's a pretty unrelenting look at how brutal people can really be when faced with extreme circumstances and the black and white photography was definitely the right choice for this film. |
 |
Crank 2: High Voltage (Dir: Neveldine, Taylor) 0/100
Since when did something as misogynistic, offensive, misanthropic and just plain bad as this flick become acceptable as mass-market mainstream entertainment? I fear for the future of the industry when brainless garbage like this not only finds a distributor but actually gets a nationwide cinema release on hundreds of screens. Should I even bother to pass along a synopsis of events in this film? You really want to know? Well, I actually saw the first Crank, and enjoyed its over the top silliness for the most part, but the main character did fall out of a plane at 40,000 feet without a parachute at the end of that film so I was a little intrigued as to how they would explain this in the sequel. Well, all the explanation you're getting is in the tagline: "He was dead...but he got better". He just lands on the ground, is scooped up by some random guys and taken in a van to a hospital where they take out his heart and replace it with a mechanical doohickey hooked to a car battery. Statham soon wakes up, escapes from the hospital and tries to find those responsible for his predicament, and so it all kicks off same as before, only now he can't let his heart battery die. What was kind of quaint in a Wile E. Coyote sort of way in the first film is now just gratuitous scum-baggery in this film. Everyone sneers and swears constantly, bodies pile up in the most gruesome way and the whole thing eventually degenerates into some violence-soaked pseudo-porno sleaziness that I just couldn't be bothered with in the end. Do yourself a favour and go listen to some white noise in a rat-infested cellar instead - it can't be worse than this. |
 |
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Dir: Wes Anderson) 85/100
If there were any justice in the world this would pick up the best animated film at the the Oscars this year because not only is this a great little stop-motion piece with fantastic voice characterisation from big name stars like George Clooney and Meryl Streep, it's also just a very good comedy that should appeal to a wide variety of people. Children will probably get a kick out of it because it's a spiffing yarn full of colourful characters doing funny stuff, courtesy of the source material by kids' favourite Roald Dahl. At its heart though this is a Wes Anderson film - the fact that it's animated is really secondary to the hallmarks his core audience have come to appreciate; the dry wit, the quietly surreal situations and the quirky characters - albeit this time round they're all foxes, badgers, rats and weasels. Aside from Clooney and Streep a bunch of the Anderson regulars are onboard - Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and they all give a good account of themselves. Michael Gambon voices the villain of the piece Franklin Bean - one of the triumvirate of the meanest farmers around; Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Mr. Fox, who's finally facing up to his responsibilities as a father vows to take them all down in one last heist before hanging up his chicken stealing boots forever. It's tremendous fun from start to finish. The dialogue is frequently priceless and the attention to detail is impressive. This must surely have been a labour of love for Wes and the gang, but the thousands of man-hours that must have gone into the lovingly created world and its inhabitants has really paid off. This is a handsome curiosity of a film and it would please me immensely if it found even a tenth of the success this years Pixar offering will undoubtedly receive. |
 |
Inglourious Basterds (Dir: Quentin Tarantino) 90/100
Tarantino is back with his sixth full length feature. On a technical level it's his most accomplished film yet. There are a few scenes here that are very well put together and quite tense. There are a couple of great performances - Christoph Waltz in particular deserves some plaudits for his portrayal of Hans Landa and should be one of the front-runners to pick up a best supporting actor Oscar this year. The film does however have a few flaws: The ending is far from satisfactory - indeed it's supremely silly, and Eli Roth is truly awful as Donny Donowitz, the Bear Jew. However Inglourious Basterds is really three films - each about a different character, and the three strands come together in the last third: The first is Aldo Raine's story; we follow him and his Basterds running around killing nazis and scalping them. The second is Shosanna's story; she's seeking revenge on the nazi's for killing her family years before. The third is Hans Landa's story; he's sniffing out Jews and having a high old time in his position of power. The first film is pure Boy's Own adventure high jinks and is pretty good as these things go. However, the meat and potatoes of the film are the other two stories - we follow the plight of Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) and her efforts to end the war early and thwart those who killed her family, meanwhile Landa has an uncanny knack of getting his nose into everyone's plans and everything eventually hangs on his actions. As always with Tarantino the cinematography is very nice, and the editing is solid. There's a lot of great dialogue to munch on, some priceless moments and a few great set-pieces. All things considered the whole package is a fine film, but it's frustratingly close to being absolutely terrific - which it could be if only it were fifteen minutes or so shorter. |
 |
In The Loop (Dir: Armando Iannuci) 70/100
Forget the comfy cosy cut-and-thrust of witty verbiage in the British political satire of Yes Minister from a couple of decades back. Brilliant as that was it doesn't really reflect the harsh, cynical, guttersnipe reality of modern Anglo-American politics circa 2009 in the way that Armando Iannuci's breathtakingly savage take on modern politics does. Some of the incidents in the film may be contrived and unrealistic, and some of the characters may seem too much like outrageous caricatures, yet something tells me a lot of the slimy scumbags present here are not too far from real politicians at all, and it certainly seems true that most of them spend the majority of their time and effort trying to look important while not accomplishing much of anything. This film has a pitch black heart, and a willful disregard for anything approaching civility, as personified by the lead character Malcolm Tucker - a man who understands the political process for what it is better than anyone, and will trample anyone standing in the way of him achieving his aims. Seeing these craven bureaucrats interacting with each other is like watching an arena full of rabid pit-bulls tear each other apart. Every character seems hell-bent on destroying all those around them, or at the very least annoying the hell out of them. Peter Capaldi is fantastic as the acid-tongued Malcolm Tucker, and James Gandolfini deserves credit as the blustery General trying to navigate his new political waters, now that his military career is behind him. Foul-mouthed fun. |
 |
Last Chance Harvey (Dir: Joel Hopkins) 80/100
This isn't the type of film I would normally gravitate towards, being something of a chick flick, at least on the surface. But this is way above average as far as those types of films go. Also, over the past few years I've become fond of films that feature neither teen models, cgi effects, or massive explosions and am willing to give any film a go where none of the cast are under fifty regardless of the subject matter. In this film, the naturalistic and believable performances from both Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson lift everything up a notch or two and are aided by a great script penned by Joel Hopkins - who also directed the film with a feather-light touch. It's not going to set the world on fire or change the way you watch films, but it's quite charming, and it might give you pause for thought now and again with its observations about people and family, love, loss and regrets. In an age of instant gratification, melodrama, hype and excess this is an oasis of quiet contemplation and restraint and for that alone it should be applauded. It's also a breath of fresh air to be watching a romance between a more mature couple. Last Chance Harvey is one of those films that, as you get older you're going to want to pop on of a winter evening and wallow in its mature atmosphere and down to earth look at the world, the people in it and the fragile relationships that they form with each other. It would be nice if there were more films like this around. |
 |
Un Prophete (Dir: Jacques Audiard) 85/100
This is the official selection from France for the best foreign language film Oscar this year and a very strong contender it is. In fact it looks like it's a two horse race between this and Germany's entry. While I reckon The White Ribbon should and will win come Oscar night this film is an impressive entry and one of the very best prison movies you'll see. We follow Malik, a young arab thrust into the harsh and unforgiving environment of a Paris prison where most of what goes on is controlled by a connected mafia man serving time and ruling the roost with an iron fist. Very early on in his incarceration Malik is faced with killing a key witness in a mafia trial or being killed himself. The rest of the film details the tightrope walk that is Malik's life and how he slowly gains the upper hand by manipulating situations to his own ends. The film has a raw, unpolished look and feel to it, much like the best films to come out of Hollywood in the seventies - the golden age for gritty crime dramas. The tension is maintained throughout the almost two and a half hours running time and the whole production speaks of an authenticity which is harder and harder to come by these days. The performances are all good, especially Tahar Rahim as Malik and Niels Arestrup as the slug-like César Luciani whose steady decline is beautifully counterpointed by Malik's rise. |
 |
A Single Man (Dir: Tom Ford) 85/100
Colin Firth stars as native Brit George Falconer - a gay professor who teaches English literature in a college in Los Angeles. We spend a day with him and his reminiscences of his life with his lover whom he lost to a car accident some months previous. George tries to carry on with his normal routine despite the fact that this is the day he's decided to commit suicide. The film is focused on his interactions with the people around him - most of whom suspect that something's awry, but aren't sure what. Being set in the early sixties in a middle class suburban environment, George's homosexuality is not something most of those around him are aware of and so have no idea of the depth of his grief for the loss of a partner they never knew existed. This is a stunningly shot, stylish and very moving film with a central performance from Firth that is the best I've seen for years, and certainly the best peformance in any of the mainstream films I've seen this year - including Jeff Bridges, as good as he was in the distinctly average Crazy Heart. It's a wonderfully controlled and understated performance and the film itself is a breath of fresh air with regard to its take on the issues at hand - love and loss, grief and sadness, loneliness and longing - issues that so often and so easily fall into overblown melodrama, but here first time director Tom Ford handles everything with much assurance and understatement. Some have complained about the conspicuous design aspect of the film detracting from the emotional core of it but I found the stolid and slightly sterile atmosphere and impeccably elegant surroundings George was living in only added to the tragedy of his situation. All the trappings of comfort and success were meaningless for him in the face of suddenly having no-one with whom to share them. A Single Man is a great character study, a visual treat and a masterclass of understated emotion played to perfection by Firth. |
 |
Sin Nombre (Dir: Cary Fukunuga) 80/100
Another gut-punch from Latin America about the ubiquitous poverty, gang warfare and desperation facing a large chunk of the population. Pretty depressing to think that people as young as El Smiley - who can't be more than eight or nine - are becoming full fledged gang members and start toting guns around and busting caps, as it were, when most kids would be half way through primary school. Sadly joining a gang and living that life seems preferrable for most young kids than trying to make ends meet in the traditional way. It seems the characters in this film have only two choices if they want to make something of themselves; join a gang or leave the country. This film divides its attention between the two camps. We follow Casper and Smiley through the trials and tribulations of gang life, as they walk the tightrope of staying out of trouble and fulfilling the gang members dangerous demands. Meanwhile Sayra and her uncle are trying deperately to reach the United states by hopping freight trains - an endurance test to be sure, especially as the aforementioned gangs are targetting those fleeing the country as there are rich pickings to be had from those with all their possessions in tow. With Sin Nombre fledgling director Fukunaga has managed to successfully combine gritty realism with slick production values and authentic performances to produce one of the most compelling stories of struggle against adversity in years. |
 |
The White Ribbon (Dir: Michael Haneke) 100/100
Michael Haneke is a difficult filmmaker to pin down. From the minimalist Seventh Continent to the sly and very violent Funny Games to the mysterious Cache he is treading his own path and you have to be adventurous to stick with him. In my opinion this new film is easily the best I've seen this year. It's a black and white masterpiece set in a small village in Germany just before the first world war. There have been some strange goings on in the village, which seem to have been caused by some of the local children. As the film progresses we become familiar with the repressive regimes these children are living under and quickly sympathise with their extreme rebellion. There really aren't too many films doing the rounds these days that pack an emotional punch like The White Ribbon does, and the mastery of it is that it's so understated. The film oozes confidence, technical ability and pictorial elegance from every pore; the cinematography is beautiful, the pacing is spot on and each and every performance is nailed perfectly. I can't fault this film and Haneke easily should bag the best foreign film Oscar this year. One of the very best films of the decade, or any other decade come to that. |
|
