I don't feel the need to write too much about why I chose the films that for me define 2010, instead (where possible) I have linked to my review. Each one of these films has been important to my year, and I would recommend catching up with all of them if you haven't done so already.
I don't however pretend to be anything more than a casual film watcher with my own set of biases and as open to media influence as the next man. Indeed it could be argued that I'm just following a trend with my top pick. If you disagree with any of these choices, please feel free to tell me in the comments and if you think I've missed anything particularly special then tell me and I'll look into it.
The Film of the Year:
1. The Social Network Directed by David Fincher. Read my review here.
And the rest:
2. Up in the Air Directed by Jason Reitman. Read my review here.
3. Precious: Basd on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Directed by Lee Daniels. An extraordinary telling of a bleak novel which in spite of it's Dickensian journey of the protagonists maintains haelthy optimism for her future. No review.
4. Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese. Read my review here.
5. Tetro Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Read my review here.
6. The Way Back Directed by Peter Weir. Read my review here.
7. Inception Directed by Christopher Nolan. Read my review here.
8. Brothers Directed by Jim Sheridan. Read my review here.
9. The Ghost Directed by Roman Polanski. Read my review here.
10. The Last Station Directed by Michael Hoffman. A delightful period film with solid performances and easily digestible morals. A lot better than it's reputation would have you think. No review.
Friday, 7 January 2011
2010 in Review: Best Film
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
2010 in Review: Best Actress
I missed out on some performances this year that are bound to get attention (both The Kids are Alright and Winter's Bone will wait until DVD) and some I did see failed to live up to expectation (hello Sandra Bullock and Helen Mirren) but these five actresses were all at the top of their game:
1. Gabourey Sidibe as Precious in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. Both inexpressive and natural the subtlety of Gabby's work could easily have slipped through the net, but it's a wonderfully committed performance as her character falls further and further into a spiral of despair.
2. Natalie Portman as Grace Cahill in Brothers. Next year I expect I'll view this as just a precursor to her work in Black Swan but as the lost and confused wife of Tobey Maguire in this remake she stole my heart. 
3. Maribel Verdú as Miranda in Tetro. Many women fell for the wrong man at cinemas this year but few seemed to be as aware of this as Verdú in Francis Ford Coppola's Soap Opera. A former psychiatrist who now lives with a patient Maribel balanced the resentment and motherly instinct extremely well.
4. Lesley Manville as Mary in Another Year. An alcoholic harridan; it would be easy to lose all sympathy for Mary as she spouts vicious innuendo and desperately tries to hide her age, but Manville manages to show what lies behind the cracks. 
5. Alicja Bachleda as Ondine in Ondine. Is she a mermaid or just an illegal immigrant? The beauty of Bachleda's performance is that she keeps you guessing right until the final credits of this modern fairy tale.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Brothers
2009. Dir: Jim Sheridan. Starring: Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Sam Shepard and Bailee Madison. ●●●●○
The effects of war on the home front and familial relations of warriors has been a common dramatic device that can be traced back to the traditions of Greek theatre. As a narrative techinque is can be used as a shorthand for pro-war propaganda, for bold broad statements about the futility of conflict or for trying to treat the subjects as disconnected to the war, as men first not as an extension of the rights and wrongs of the particualr war and to remind the audience that the soldiers are only trained to fight and kill and not to deal with the psychological after-effects.
Brothers clearly fits into that third category. The legality or morality of the conflict in Afghanistan is therefore completely ignored, instead the film focusses on Marine Captain Tobey Maguire's deployment and how his family cope first with him being reported as missing in action and then the surprising aftermath.
Maguire is the elder of the films titular brothers with Jake Gyllenhaal as his lost younger brother. For every positive character trait exhibited by Maguire Gyllenhaal is able to show the opposite. Maguire is a family man, with an abiding love for wife Natalie Portman and a respect for his father Sam Shepard (following him into the military) whereas Gyllenhaal is a borderline alcoholic ex-con (just released at the start of the picture) with father issues and no long term relationship on the horizon.
I don't want to spoil what happens in the third act, but if you've seen Susanne Bier's original you will know that following capture and emotional torture by the Taliban Maguire's character returns to the family with deep scars and pathological jealousy of how Gyllenhaal has reformed himself in the wake of the tragedy and got closer to Portman. By the end the roles of the brothers, whilst not reversed, are certainly more blurred.
The story veers towards melodrama at many points, but the grounded and tender performances more than keep that in check - our leading trio are all superb with Maguire's wide eyed intensity adding to the characters histrionics as he processes the appalling indignities he has endured, whilst Portman's is torn between the man she loved but no longer recognises and his brother who is slowly emerging as a better man.
The realism of the family scenes are such that we fully believe in the shifting dynamics and Sheridan's sensitive handling is able to succesfully balance the themes of jealousy, redemption and how we are shaped by our parents.
There are problems though. There were a couple of scenes, which I felt didn't fit into the overall picture - Carey Mulligans house visit complete with heavy handed dream references and freaky eyed baby seemed unneccessary and the surprise visit of Gyllenhaal's pickup to a kids birthday party seemed to be unsurprising to either her of the family. On the other hand other aspects could have been extended. For instance the rebuilding of the relationship between Gyllenhaal and Shepard seemed rushed, like there was a scene missing and I would have liked to have seem more trust built between them.
Overall this is a great film that really understands and empathises with it's central protagonists without judging them. It deserves to be lauded and remembered as this conflicts Coming Home.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Out this week (22/01/10)
There are a couple of films this week that I fancy seeing, and a couple more look quite good too. If you're in the mood for something less mainstream then I would suggest trying Un Prophète, but the film of the week has to be Jim Sheridan's Brothers with it's superb cast list and worthy heritage.
Armoured
Or Armored if you happen to live in the US. The premise to this thriller is really interesting, revolving around a security van crew who hijack their own van. With a large portion of the second act taking place with one guard getting cold feet and locking himself inside. Interesting cast too - including Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Boys are back
The first of the two films I fancy seeing this week is based on the true tory of Simon Carr, diarist for the Independent (which is my paper of choice). There have been some changes to the story - Australia instead of New Zealand and a sports journalist instead of politics - but the concept of always saying yes as a parent has stayed the same. Should be a good watch.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Brothers
The more starrier picture is Jim Sheridan's remake of Suzanne Bier's Brode. Essentially it's a family drama about the damage of war both to the men who fight it and to their families left behind in the proud tradition of The Best Years of Our Lives and Coming Home. If it comes close to the power of those films it's well worth the ticket price.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Ninja Assassin
US based martial arts movie starring South Korea's biggest crossover pop star Rain and directed by James V for Vendetta McTeigue.. All about a man turning his back on the ophanage that raised him. Did brisk business in the States, so expect some tills to ring this weekend.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Un Prophète
Just this week Jacques Audiard's powerful prison drama has been listed among the final 9 for the Best Foreign Language Oscar this year, and it's hotly tipped for one of the nominations. It concentrates on a young Arab man (Tahar Rahim) forced to compromise his morals and his ideas whilst inside.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Veer
Hindi movie set during the 1800's and described as an epic love story of a warrior. Extremely bombastic trailer with some ananchronistic costuming and dastardly British supporting roles.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Tuesday Trailers - Brothers
The buzz for the remake of Susanne Bier's award winning movie has been strangely absent. Even the hot right now cast (Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire) doesn't seem to be generating the chatter that you would expect. Perhaps the studio are trying to deflect from a film that just isn't that good - but with Sheridan directing you've got to believe it will have some positives. Here's the shouty shouty trailer:
Brothers is coming out on 22 January 2010.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Sam Shepard
Happy Birthday to
Sam Shepard
66 today
Sam has never been very prolific, prefering to spend as much time writing as starring in major cinema releases, so when he does grace the screens he's usually worth watching. Next up is Brothers for Jim Sheridan, as Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal alcoholic father.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
20 for 2009 - Brothers
Back in 2004 Susanne Bier directed a romantic drama set against the backdrop of the conflict in Afganistan, Brødre. It did pretty well, winning audience awards at Sundance and Boston, and receieving high praise for the performances by the lead trio. In the US it went on to gross just under $400k. Not bad, but nothing special.
It was enough though for some unscrupulous Hollywood producer types to think, lets adapt the story to a US setting and remake the film with a young hot American cast and make loads of money. Why not, that's been done before? You see at this point I wouldn't be interested at all. The original was OK but I found the Danish homefront scenes painfully slow and the chemistry between the brothers a little forced.
Then I saw who was involved and my opinion changed. 
As the bad boy brother we have Jake Gyllenhaal, and whilst the bad boy may be a stretch, the letting him fix my kitchen, my kids and then my hormonal urges wouldn't be an issue at all.
The army brother is Tobey Maguire. It's risky casting but the darker sides Maguire showed off in The Good German may be handy here. I don't want to give the plot away but the experiences his character copes with in Afghanistan and the PTSD he suffers on his return will be plenty of an acting challenge.
As Tobey's wife and Jake's sister-in-law is Natalie Protman. I rally miss the good Natalie performances, you know Leon, Closer and that one knockout scene in Cold Mountain, but over the last 5 years she's been happy to coast in unworthy productions and maybe this is a chance of a turnaround.
All three of these actors are capable of turning this into a fantastic film, but they will all need to be working at the top of their game for the story to suceed and to me that's part of the appeal.
The screenplay has been written by David Benioff (25th Hour, The Kite Runner) and Jim Sheridan is directing. As long as Jim avoids the sentimentality he allows to creep into his productions this could be in safe hands.
