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
The Way Back
2010. Dir: Peter Weir. Starring: Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong. ●●●●○
Peter Weir makes a very odd choice in the early stages of his latest cinematic outng. During the opening credit sequence The Way Back is dedicated to the three Gulag escapees who survived the ordeal depicted in the movie and made it to India. Admittedly when you have a story that is, however loosely, based on factual events the concept of spoilers shouldn't really exist however Weir is gambling on the film succeeding in spite of the release of tension that is a result of this announcement. It's a bold move that tells the viewer that this movie is not about the result but about the attempt, it is less important to focus on who survives but on why the protagonists are making this journey.
The plot is very simple, Jim Sturgess' Janusz has been falsely imprisoned by the Soviet Government under Stalin following his wife's testimony against him - it is inferred that she must have been tortured in order to name him however no evidence of this is seen - after a brief section in the Gulag it becomes clear that most prisoners will either not survive or will lose their sanity so he organises a break with American Mr. Smith (Ed Harris), career criminal Valka (Colin Farrell) and four others. During the journey they als pick up a lone teenage girl played by Saoirse Ronan who helps the group of men to open up to each other in a way they couldn't do as fellow prisoners.
Very early on we are introduced to the hopelessness of the situation when the Prison warden explains the fences are not in themselves the wals but also are the thousand of miles of inhospitable terrain between them and civilisation. The message is clear, break out and you will not survive. Yet our ragtag group of mechanics, priests and accountants do, led by Janusz who's only one generation away from farmers.
The story telling is episodic, we follow the group from one terrain to another, icy forests, rocky escarpments, scorching deserts, with each small section ending either with the death or leaving behind of a character or a lesson learnt. All aspects of survival technique are stripped fom the telling so much so that we don't even see the method of escaping. This methodology doesn't let the movie flow as well as it should do, but it does help build the portrait of the men and reinforces the importance of why over how.
Whilst we may start the movie with the knowledge that many characters will not see the final credits that does not dim the emotions, with the first death there are fantastical images that they see, with another there's a feeling of escape. Janusz even underlines the fact that at least they die free men.
Sturgess is a subdued leading man, Janusz is almost embarassed by his status borne purely out of luck, and perhaps lacks the presence other actors may have brought to the role. The entire supprting cast are superb, Ed Harris has the biggest arc to his story - presenting a distorted mirror image to Janusz - and carries it off extremely well and Farrell is electric whenever he's on screen you can't look away. Gustaf Skarsgaard also stuck out for me as an ex-priest, his wary eyes and resigned attitude perfectly encapsulate a man who knows he has gone so far and understand what the next chapter in his life will bring.
The cinematography is as beautiful and as dramatic as you would expect from a film funded by National Geographic, and I very much doubt there's a shot in the movie that couldn't be used on the cover of the magazine.
There is an odd coda at the end which I feel doesn't work, although I can understand why it's tere dramatically and to tie up some comments and imagery from earlier in the film.
Peter Weir is a unique director in that he isn't an auteur, preferring to let the story be forefront, but at the same time you can see the mark of quality and painstaking accuracy in his movies, there's also an acceptance that the movie may be slow and that that's OK. This isn't Weir at his peak but it is still a superb movie and one that I would heartily recommend.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
2010 in Review: Best Supporting Actor
Supporting actors were difficult to assess this year, on the one hand you have a very recent film that I could have easily put three of the men into here, on the other there were huge swathes of the year where nothing was standing out. Here are my final picks:
1. Bill Camp as Glen McCreavy in 'Tamara Drewe'. The film didn't really hold together but Camp's performance as a Hardy obsessed writer slowly falling for his hostess was a priceless mix of observatory comedy and nervous affection. A missed gem of a performance.
2. Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang in The Ghost. How do you perform a character clearly based on a real person, whilst evoking that person but not doing an impression? Just look at Pierce not doing Tony Blair and you'll know what I mean. Utterly convincing as a man proud but haunted by his place in history.
3. Colin Farrel as Valka in The Way Back. Any one of the supporting cast of The Way Back could have taken this spot but it's thoroughly deserved by Colin as a Russian criminal you can't take your eyes off. The film literally diminishes in energy when he leaves.
4. Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station. You could argue this is a lead performance, in that the whole story is about other peoples relationship to the venerable author and philosopher, but given most of the film involves him being swept along by stronger characters I'm going for supporting. And few actors are able to support a story in the way Plummer does here.
5. Jeremy Renner as James Coughlin in The Town. Renner continues to prove he's a superb versatile actor with this on edge performance in Ben Affleck's latest crime movie. You really can believe Renner may explode at any moment with a palpable sense of menace.
Friday, 31 December 2010
Take Jake, three times a day (Out this week - 31/12/10)
It's the last day of the year, and consequently the last weekend with just three releases battling for screens this week. Naturally the biggest hit will be the one I don't want to see, but what can you do, there's no accounting for taste. Film of the week has to be the one with lots of naked Jake Love and Other Drugs, but I've seen both of the non Jack Black starring releases and the other one is a better film so make of that what you will (or just realise that my exciteability scoring may not be completely related to quality - for proof look at what picture I'm using again). 
Before I run down the releases I thought I'd just spill a bit of background on what has been a fascinating year for cinematic releases. Overall 486 films have seen the inside of British cinemas - not including documentaries and re-releases - that's 14.6% up on 2009. I saw just 41, less than 10%, down both as a proportion and in real terms against 2009. Naturally the largest producer of films has been the US with something like 40% of the total output. The rest of the top five were UK, India, France and Germany. The remaining 15% of films represented 45 other countries. Liam Neeson was in the multiplexes more than any other actor with Chloe, Clash of the Titans and The A-Team being backed by up voice work in Ponyo, The Dawn Treader and the reconstructive doc The Wildest Dream. Julianne Moore was the most prominent female, and I think it's safe to say her work was generally better received.
Perhaps as curious as the films that are released is the group that aren't. As we reach the end of the year there are inevitably some high profile movies that we must assume will never see the inside of a British cinema. There's Joel Schumacher's Town Creek with it's Nazi occult themes and starring the other one from "Prison Break", the short collection New York, I Love You might not have been as successful as Paris, Je t'aime but it's failure to be released - even to be withdrawn one week before a release date - is surprising. Finally I am shocked to see Oren Moverman's Oscar nominated drama The Messenger starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton hasn't had a whisper of a UK release, maybe the subject matter is still too raw for us.
Gulliver's Travels
I actually heard some very positive buzz from an exhibitor earlier this year about Jack Black's latest travesty which probably proves the lengths they'll go to sell tickets. It's a laughably unfunny trailer and even the orange advert they made on the way seems poorly written.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Love and Other Drugs
Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are naked a lot. I'd like to pretend there are other reasons for watching this but I'm not sure I'd be being completely honest. Ed Zwick's a competent director - does that help?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
The Way Back
Peter Weir's latest film follows the controversial story of escaped Gulag convicts trekking from Siberia to India to avoid their Soviet captors. Regardless of the provenance the film was funded by National Geogrephic so you know the vistas will be stunning.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Tuesday Trailers - The Way Back
If last weeks dramedy isn't to your taste then this alternative programming on new years eve may be the film for you. From Peter Weir comes the true (ish - the main premise has been contested by the Russian authorities at the time) story of a ragtag group of prisoners escaping from the Gulags of Siberia and trekking to India to escape the communists. Financed by National Geographic, stunning vistas are guaranteed.
The Way Back is released on 31 December 2010.
Monday, 12 April 2010
Saoirse Ronan
Happy Birthday to
Saoirse Ronan
16 today
Saoirse (which I always think I'm spelling incorrectly) has had a fantastic start to her career. Working with high quality directors as diverse as Gillian Armstrong, Joe Wright and Peter Jackson and picking up her first Oscar nod for the complex and undertstaed performance as young Briony Tallis in Atonement. Later this year she'll be in the hotly anticipated The Way Back and she's currently filming the assassin thriller Hanna. Which means there are at least two good reasons to keep an eye on her career.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
20 for 2010 - Way Back
Back in more traditional territory my number 8 choice of 2010 is Peter Weir's The Way Back.
Based on the discredit memoiras of Polish solider Slavomir Rawicz this covers the escape and 6,500 km trek by a group of Soviet gulag imprisonees. Note the 7 in the picture above could be that same group of escapees. The book describes the details of his original incarceration, the escape during a harsh Siberian blizzard and then the trek south through th e Gobi desert, Tibet and the Himilayas, all the while avoiding the Russian Amry and large towns.
It seems unlikely that Mr. Rawicz actually did this journey, a recent BBC investigation has found evidence that he was released by the Russian Amry as part of a prisoner trade. That is not to say it won't be a fascinting plot line, even if the most outre elements (a pair of Yeti) are including.
Peter Weir is an excellent director who always makes beautiful and thought provoking pictures, so I'm expecting some great things from this. The cast isn't too shabby either with Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong and Colin Farrell (mmm) all with major roles.
The gulags might be a bit of a trend for 2010 as we will also get a chance to see Emily Watson going mad in one for Marleen Gorris' Within the Whirlwind.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Ed Harris
Happy Birthday to
Ed Harris
59 today
Multi-hyphenate Harris adds a touch of gritty realism to all the projects he's involved with, thanks to his thorough and grounded performances. On his forthcoming slate of movies I'm most excited by his second collaboration with Peter Weir in The Way Back.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Film News (10/01/2009)
Tintin
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will continue to be best buddies in films as they have signed on as Thompson and Thomson in Spielberg's long awaited Tintin adaptation. This is great news. I love the comeraderie the pair have brought together in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, should be a riot to watch them bumble around together.
By the way have a look here for a fascinating article in the Times this week arguing the 80 year old Tintin might just need a good man in order to settle down.
The Way Back
I'm a big fan of Peter Weir, director of Gallipoli and The Truman Show. So when I hear his next film, about a ragtag group of soldiers escaping from a Soviet gulag, has enticed the likes of Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and Jim Sturgess then you just know it will entice me.
Juliet
Following a shark like feeding frenzy at last years Frankfurt book festival (honestly I don't just make this stuff up) the rights to Anne Fortier's yet to be published novel Juliet have been bought up with the plan to release the film in 2011. It's a multistranded novel, aren't they all?, flicking between a 21st century girl learning the truth about her heritage and Romeo and Juliet. Could make for fascinating stuff, or at least some desperate casting choices.
