2011. Dir: Tomas Alfredson. Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt. ●●●●●
It's a rare thing for cinema to transport the audience into another time and place for the duration of an entire movie. Sure a costume, flick of cigarette or particular line reading has the power of evoking a period but for the feeling to last for two hours is a special achievement. It is immensely gratifying that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy completely immerses you in cold war paranoia of the early 70's, not just through garish wallpaper and and donkey jackets, but through structure and storytelling. Emulating the pacing of early Coppola or Friedkin this thrilling non-thriller may become one of the most essential additions to the spy genre.
"There is a mole, right at the top of the circus." So say bitter old-school Control (John Hurt - musky and paranoid) and brutish bag-man Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) his stoicism losing to a desperate bid to get out of the game, even officious civil servant Simon McBurney is beginning to believe it. So much so that 'retired' agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is called back to the circus - be prepared for a lexicon of MI6 shorthand - to uncover the mole, to hunt down the source of the rumours and, if necessary, identify and bring to account whichever of the most senior spooks has turned traitor. The prime suspects, who've been allocated codenames from the popular children's rhyme, are Tinker (Toby Jones), Tailer (Colin Firth), Soldier (Ciaran Hinds) and - missing a couple of possibilities - poor man (David Dencik) with Smiley himself as a unlikely fifth candidate.
To say anymore would spoil the tension bubbling through the actual plot, with bluff and double bluff Smiley uses a determined mixture of flat foot detection and psychoanalysing body language to fit together the conflicting evidence. Don't go in trying to figure out the culprit, the same subterfuge that obscures the truth from Smiley will stand in your way but instead concentrate of the subtleties of the filmmaking, of the minor gestures. It is in these undefinable moments, tactical conversations, moving folders in libraries, shared glances at parties, that the masterpiece shows itself.
Film fans used to the high-octane car chases and hand to hand combat of the Bond and Bourne spy franchises will be unused the to unflashy world of real espionage, a world that novelist John le Carre knows well from his own days in the service, but it's the down-at-heel workaday nature of the job that gets the blood pumping when necessary. Brief bursts of gory violence occur off-screen, petulance is the only cause to raise voices, the characters within pine for the glory days of the Second World War when the battle lines were clearer, cleaner, not hidden in murky shadows.
Oldman gives the performance of his lifetime, disappearing under thick rimmed specs and owlish complexion his tendency to steal the scenes is leashed as swoops on the outskirts of the screen, gently allowing the other actors show their worth, giving the characters the freedom to display their tells. The entire supporting cast is first rate too, with special mention going to Kathy Burke as former surveillance expert with a suspicious mind and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smiley assistant, spying on his own and underlying the themes of sacrifice and misplaced loyalty that seep through the production.
The design of the movie is grubby and drab, reflecting the austerity of the low-growth pre-EEC Britain and the inherent murkiness of the cold-war. Every surface is covered in a sheen of cigarette tar and once bright wallpaper and carpets look limp and ageing in the backgrounds of unkempt flats and liberal boarding houses.
In spite of this the movie belongs to director Tomas Alfredson, coming hot off childhood vampire fable Let the Right One In, he proves here his steady eye and tension building pacing are the real deal. He's gambled with a high-profile remake exploring themes the original wouldn't have dared to consider and taken this complex and dense plot yet made it so delicious to follow we accept and understand every facet of the story.
There is no question that I recommend this movie to any filmgoer. A superb piece of work that deserves your patronage.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Friday, 16 September 2011
Who's the Ringmaster (Out this week - 16/09/11)
It's crazy busy this week with twelve different releases heading to a screen near you, although to be fair many of those have very limited distribution strategies. Frankly most of them look quite weak too with really only 4-5 that even look vaguely watchable. On the other hand we've suddenly broken free from the grip of disappointing summer blockbusters and entered the first half of the pedigree movie season with the first movie to get 8 on the excitometer since March, film of the week Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The awards season kicks off smartly with this tense spy-catcher thriller adapted from the classic John Le Carre and directed by Let the Right One In helmer Tomas Alfredson who brings his murky palette and slow-burn tension. With an impeccable cast of Brit thesps including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt and Tom Hardy expect this to be the first big entry into the Oscar fray.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
30 Minutes or Less
In no way related to the recent case of a law-abiding US citizen having a bomb strapped to them and forced to rob a bank, this is a film about a law-abiding US citizen having a bomb strapped to them and forced to rob a bank. I'm glad we cleared that up. Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari star as the hapless robbers.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
I Don't Know How she Does it
I'm not really looking forward to this Sarah Jessica Parker star-vehicle concerning a modern woman balancing her family and business lives whilst proving she's able to have it all, but I am looking forward to reading the critical reaction to this sex-and-the-city-lite rubbish. Greg Kinnear takes the money and runs as SJP's supportive hubbie.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Tomboy
Description on the back of a fag packet, French teenage Boy's Don't Cry, although one hopes the finale for this 12 year old loner trying to fit in with a new crowd is far less tragic.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Atrocious
More found footage hokum with this Spanish/Mexican co-production reassembling the final days of Cristian Quintanilla and his siblings. Mercifully the film is only 77 minutes long, compared to the 37 hours of recorded footage referred to in the back story.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Change-up
Body-swap comedy which proves two things. Primarily that the sub-genre should just be abandoned and ignored for all eternity and secondarily that Ryan Reynolds, whilst cute, does not have the fanbase to open a movie. Jason Bateman is the other swapper and Alan Arkin provides a little support.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Turnout
Hoxton set crime pic with a young, impestuous couple finding themselves in murky water as they try to fund their ambitious holiday plans. Probably will find an audience, if only because it showcases the big screen debut of Ben Drew, aka Plan B.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Vanthaan Vendraan
Tamil action comedy, with a little romance thrown in for good measure. OK, I admit I know nothing about this pic, even having watched the trailer, although it was shot in some lovely locations.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Big Fat Gypsy Gangster
Seemingly titled purely to capture the growing trend to support the UK travelling community (Channel 4 and Big Brother have a lot to answer for) it's another by the books British gangster pic with "the most dangerous man in Britain" regaining his criminal empire after a spell inside.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Episode 50
Making Atrocious (above) look like high-art is this American found footage horror about the final episode of a spook-debunked cable TV programme in which the hosts scepticism is put to the test and all their rationalist assumptions fall apart like badly plotted horror pics.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Thomas and Friends: Day of the Diesels
Very limited release for a pre-DVD showing of the latest variation on a theme by Rev W Awdry. Very little is known about the cast and crew of the project - at least not on IMDb - so I don't know if Ringo Starr is back voicing the titular blue steam engine.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
You Instead
If you wanted to go to V festival but couldn't make it then this may be the picture for you this week with Luke Treadaway and Natalie Tena starring as feuding rock stars accidently handcuffed together at the music/mud event. If you were happy to stay at home then I expect you'll want to give this a miss too.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Colin Firth
Happy Birthday to
Colin Firth
51 today
Coming off his spectacular, if a little late, Oscar win Firth is in a fascinating point at his career in that he can choose any project he likes, like the con caper remake Gambit, from which this picture is taken minus Cameron Diaz, or his suspect role in LeCarre adaptation Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Both of which look like their well worth catching.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
The King's Speech
2010. Dir: Tom Hooper. Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce and Timothy Spall. ●●●●○
January was, as it is every year, a very tough month. In all I made it to the cinema 10 times but there were three films I managed to miss that I really should have made the effort for, so over the next few months (during the dark dismal days that is summer programming) I will be revisiting the gaps. First up is Tom Hooper's royal family biopic The King's Speech, a delightful combination of period stylings, technical brilliance and a warming relationship between an odd couple which nevertheless fails to be more than the sum of it's parts.
On the off-chance that you've spent the last 12 months under a rock and let the Best Picture Oscar winner wash over you completely the film follows the Duke of York cum King George VI (Colin Firth) attempts to deal with his crippling stammer which the aid of hammy actor turned speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). The ups and downs between these two wildly divergent characters, the former a buttoned up, quick tempered monarch in waiting and the later a smugly relaxed Aussie chancer, is set against the tumultuous historical background of the 1930's including the abdication of his brother Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) and the rise of Nazism, culminating in George's first wartime speech - hence the title.
That the film succeeds largely lies with it's two leads. Colin Firth gives an exemplary performance, completely inhabiting the role without over playing the disability. Geoffrey Rush is also superb, attacking the tough supportive role with gusto perfectly balancing the eccentricities with the genuine concern for his patient. The humorous exchanges in Logue's study reflecting the shifting acceptances of each others world and the battling egos both needing control of the sessions.
If this relationship hadn't worked as well then the entire film would've juddered to a halt, but thankfully Firth and Rush have created a fully realised on-screen male friendship dynamic that rivals Redford and Newman in The Sting.
Elsewhere in the cast Helena Bonham Carter and Jennifer Ehle give sterling support as the spouses of our bromantic leads, but beyond that most of the performances seemed out of place. Guy Pearce is one-note and awfully affected whilst Timothy Spall's Churchill seems more like a caricature than a impersonation.
Indeed the various historical events in the background often seem forced or glossed over. Old King dies, check, Brother abdicates, check, war is announced, check. All of these occasions drift by, glibly handled but largely irrelevant to the main storyline, that of a therapist helping a troubled man to find his voice. The irrelevance (along with the indeterminable montages during the titular speech) ultimately belittle the historical context, as if Hitler was purely defeated by George's resilience toward a microphone.
Technically the film is a marvel, so much so it's difficult to argue with any of the production team's stunning haul of five "technical" oscar nominations. Danny Cohen's cinematography in particular is worthy of high praise framing the characters in particular and plot-relevant ways throughout and placing the audience firmly within the world of the movie. Eve Stewart and Judy Farr also contribute greatly thanks to their gorgeous production and set design.
Tom Hooper's greatest achievement as a director is making us forget we're essentially watching two guys in a room together, ultimately this feels much more expansive in spite of majority of the film taking place in the gloom of pre-war interiors.
The King's Speech is a film that everyone can and should enjoy, featuring beautiful work both in front and behind the camera, I just wish it had a little more to say.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
The Voice of the Nation (Out this week - 07/01/11)
Suddenly we've stumbled into 2011, into the thick of the prestige awards season and naturally the quality of the films has increased. Whilst there is no doubt which of this weeks movies seems to be the most interesting you could easily see 5 of them and not be really disappointed. You may notice as the weeks go on that I have slightly changed my scoring mechanism - this should aid films that previous would have got between 1 and 5 blobs, although this week you can't tell because the overall quality is excellent and we also have a one blob that couldn't get anything more! I went to the cinema last night and the biggest queues and consequently the box office champ (I just love anecdotal evidence) is set to be Danny Boyle's latest but my top pick would be 
The King's Speech
It's been winning audience awards at festival after festival and is hotly tipped to be among the top performing films at this years Academy Awards. It's also a fascinating look at the relationship between George VI (Colin Firth) and his speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Helena Bonham Carter completes the acting trio headlining the movie.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
The Next Three Days
Russel Crowe can't cope with his wife behind bars so decides to break her out in this English language remake of the French thriller Pour Elle. Almost certainly hokum but will it be enjoyable hokum?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
127 Hours
Danny Boyle dares to bring the true story of Aron Ralston to the big screen complete with (spoiler alert) graphic scenes of bone sawing. James Franco spends almost the entire film alone as the clock ticks for our trapped hero.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Abel
Diego Luna's directorial debut broke Mexican opening weekend records back in 2010 when it opened to universal praise. With it's tale of shifting family dynamics in modern Mexico and it's focus on the young boy in the family this could be one to watch.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
It's a Kind of Funny Story
Keir Gilchrist is the teenager who checks himself into a mental institution following a bout of suicidal thoughts. With Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directing and Zach Galifrankias and Viola Davis offering support it's difficult to know where this teen One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is heading.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Amer
Not to be confused with Abel above this is a French movie about three key sensual moments in our heroine's life, it almost looks like arthouse porn as "her carnal search sways between reality and fantasies becoming more oppressive".
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
No One Killed Jessica
In our first Bollywood release of 2011 I'm guessing that Jessica is already dead but the provenance of her departure is in question. It's a thriller not an inquest by the way.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Season of the Witch
On the flipside to January seeing the release of award fodder we also get some prime turkeys that the studios struggle to find the best time to release them. Nicolas Cage is outacted by his wig in this 14th Century action horror.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Midgets vs. Mascots
Dire looking sub-Jackass mockumentary about two teams (Midgets and Mascots, natch) competing for a place in the will of a millionaire porn star dwarf. Probably not how Gary Coleman would like to be remembered.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●○○○○○○○○○
Thursday, 6 January 2011
2010 in Review: Best Actor
The Leading actor choice this year was easy, whilst I remain ambivalent about the film few could deny the power and commitment in the lead performance, indeed it should have won the Oscar last year (and yes I did see Jeff's work). Maybe they'll make up for it this year.
1. Colin Firth as George Falconer in A Single Man. I expect you guessed it from the intro. Colin gives one of the most convincing portrayals of grief in screen history, using the British stiff upper lip and the homophobic worldview as excuses to hide his emotions they are there and leak out in poignant and realistic ways throughout the movie. 
2. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerman in The Social Network. In the race to heap laurels on The Social Network by American critics it's surprising that more kudos hasn't been given to Eisenberg's central role. Taking on such a infamous character must have been a daunting task for the 27 year old but he manages to capture the essence of a man who needed to create Facebook.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels in Shutter Island. Leo had two opportunities this year to present characters obsessed with their ex-wives in movies that aren't all they first appear to be. It's the sweaty claustrophobia of his role in Shutter Island that works the best for me, and the final line delivered to Mark Ruffalo on the steps of the Asylum is delivered perfectly.
4. George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air. I think many people wrote off this performance as George Clooney playing himself. But ask yourself this: could any other actor carry off this blend of self assurance and disguised contempt for his life over this sort of character arc?
5. Alden Ehrenreich as Bennie in Tetro. From the moment Ehrenreich appears in his ill-fitting naval uniform you know that here is a star in the making. He carries the film rising above the petty squabbling of his family and slowly realising the truth about his brother.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Colin Firth
Happy Birthday to
Colin Firth
50 today
We're over two thirds of the way through 2010 now and Colin's performance in a Single Man is still the outstanding male performance of the year so far. He has some more obvious awards contenders this year with The King's Speech but I'm yet to convinced that I want to see that - over to you in the comments.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A Single Man
2009. Dir: Tom Ford. Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicolas Hoult and Jon Kortajarena. ●●●●○
I am not a student of film. Like the proverbial boor I know nothing about art, but I know what I like. Indeed it is the way a movie stirs me or causes me to think about the situations of the characters that I most like about films, and that guarantees a positive review. It is with that in mind when I say A Single Man left me cold. I appreciate it's a well made movie, stylistically and thematically stimulating but for me it comes across as an exercise in great film techniques and not as a great film.
The film follows Professor George Falconer (Colin Firth, giving an excellent low key performance) during a seemingly ordinary day. He has breakfast, goes to work, visits his bank and has dinner with his closest friend Charley (Julianne Moore). As the day progresses we become increasingly aware that Falconer intends this day to be his last, he plans to end his life because it is now empty, because his one love (Matthew Goode in flashbacks) has died and he cannot see a way forward without him; "Getting up hurts" without Jim in his life.
Luckily for director Tom Ford Firth rises to the challenge in the role. The wistful way he touches his lips in the opening scene, remembering Jim kiss is painfully real. Another stand-out is the moment when he hears of Jim's death in flashback and slowly sinks into himself. First is able to convey not only the horror of losing a loved one but also the betrayal he feels for it happening elsewhere, where he cannot attend the funeral and start to build a new life. Finally the indignation that his best friend still doesn't understand the importance of his relationship and the cry against "substitute" is a feeling I believe many of us know only too well.
Not only does the camera track Falconer, but it often reflects his state of mind, the cinematography appearing muted and fuzzy during most of the time, with occasional bursts of colour and definition co-inciding with occasions when his senses are heightened. Whilst this could be heightened by a smell or a gesture or, as often as not, by sexual arousal. The camera also focused on little details, eyes, lips in extreme close-up daring us to look for the telling details that show the characters true moods.
Not that we ever really get the chance. As this is essentially Falconer's movie all the other characters are defined purely in terms of their relationship to him, and whilst we have a clear idea of Falconer and his motives the remainder of the cast are more iffy. This does work well - if we take Nicolas Hoult's enigmatic student as en example during the number of scenes he shares with Falconer we understand clearly that the professor is curious about the boy and is stifling feelings towards him by Hoult's actions could equally be defined as callously observant or sexually precocious.
The design is generally light on detail as befits a work about grief, and naturally the costumes are all utterly gorgeous.
On the negative side I suppose I was not taken in by the central conceit. It seemed to me that Falconer was crying out in every conversation that he had that this was his last day on earth and that he wanted someone to stop that. This therefore removed the dramatic tension for me, and whilst the last minute was surprising, the five minutes beforehand were pretty well telegraphed in the movie.
There was also something self-consciously arty about the whole enterprise, the same camera tricks I spoke of earlier with the changing focuses and extreme close-ups seemed to be a case of shoving in too much style. But as I said at the beginning, I'm no artist.
Overall a very well made film, if one that I would struggle to recommend to see.
